chapter ten

Russel cursed as they skid to a stop. "Dead end!" he growled, looking around. It was a small concrete cul-de-sac, the only opening small slits in the bottom to keep the dead end from flooding. They were out of options, and as they examined the death trap they had run into. "I'll bet the gunmen were herding us here." He glanced at Kaitlyn. "You were right."

"You won't hear me saying I-told-you-so." Kaitlyn muttered. The water was already up to her chest, and it was all she could do not to hyperventilate. This was the true reason she never asked Bruce to teach her to swim. Water terrified her. She had to find a way to get out of here, to at least get higher than the water –

higher –

"Joker must really hate us." Harley said quietly. "We will die down here."

"Not yet." Kaitlyn said suddenly. "There's a manhole cover up there and a ladder to get to it – let's find the darn thing so we can get out of here." She sloshed over to the wall, feeling along for a ladder. Somehow, she managed to keep hold of the lighter in her mad dash to get away from the clowns. A small miracle, really, but she'd take what she could get. "There should be rungs built into the walls somewhere."

"You seem really freaked out." Russel observed. Kaitlyn almost groaned. He picked a fine time to become sensitive to emotion. "What's wrong?"

"She just doesn't want to get caught in a dead end when they get back." Harley snipped. Kaitlyn glanced at her in surprise, but didn't halt her search. Odd, but Harley seemed to getting a bit of her normal personality back the longer she spent around them. "Leave her alone."

"Who are you to tell me what to do, doll-girl?" Russel snapped.

"My doll."

Kaitlyn looked up. "Wow. I didn't realize there was a platform up there." she called up. Joker simply laughed at her. "I suppose you want us to come up there."

"Unless you would rather drown." came the cheerful response.

There was a bit of muttering from Kaitlyn. "Next time you do this pick a better place to meet." she griped, finally finding the ladder rungs. She motioned for the others to follow her. "I mean, how's a girl supposed to look good with all this moisture making her hair frizz?"

"That's kinda sick when you think about it." Joker commented.

Kaitlyn grimaced. "Best I can do on short notice. Besides, you can't tell me you don't find it amusing."

"Which part? That you still can't swim or that you're challenging the master of sarcasm?"

She snorted in contempt. "You aren't the master. Alfred, now he's the master. I can't count how many times Daddy and I have wanted to pin him down and beat him up because of it." Now why she was telling him this, she didn't know. Maybe it just helped take her mind off of things, to banter with someone. "You got something up there you want us to see?"

"Something like that. More like something I want to see." Joker seemed utterly content to watch them struggle to get up the fifty feet to the platform. He crouched at the very edge of the platform, a small smile on his face as he observed their struggles. "I warned you there would be a test, didn't I?" he taunted. "Have you studied, Kaitlyn?"

"Probably not." Kaitlyn shot back. "I'll just Christmas-tree it."

"I wouldn't be so lacksidasial about this test." Now there was a hint of anger in his voice. "You wouldn't want to get the wrong answer."

"Only one question? Now that's not fair."

"Life isn't fair. Haven't I told you that?" He stepped back, giving them plenty of room for all of them to climb up and stand. "Now that I have your attention, let there be light." He clapped his hands, and the floodlights came on. Now Kaitlyn could get a clear look at where they were, and it wasn't very comforting. The platform was actually an alcove carved into the rock, about seven feet deep and six feet tall. Just enough room for a short person to stand in. Every so often there was a balcony that extended over the shaft, but there were no railings. Kaitlyn sighed. If Batman had gotten her signal, there wasn't going to be much he could do.

Surprisingly, there were no gunmen with the Joker. Maybe he was getting cocky, or maybe he had sent all his extra men after Batman and Joker. Who knew? For all Kaitlyn knew, he could have come down here by himself and the gunshots in the tunnel were completely unrelated. Not likely, but it made about as much sense as anything else that Joker did.

Finished with her assessment, she focused on Joker. "So where's my test?"

"Harlequin." As if it was some kind of signal, Harley stepped up to take her place by Joker's side. Kaitlyn tensed.

"Harley, what are you doing" she demanded. Harley simply shrugged.

"I told you it was possible to hate the person who saved you." she whispered. Joker simply laughed at them.

"Haven't you figured it out yet, little nightingale?" he mocked. "Harley's father never was coming to get her. I had her set you up." He took a step forward. "Oh, and I listened in on your little performance. I must say, you did a fine job."

"Cut to the chase, Joker." Kaitlyn felt sick. She hadn't seen this one coming. Harley would make a fine actress one day, assuming they all survived this.

"Here's the chase." Joker handed Harley a long, thin knife. Razor sharp. Kaitlyn had developed an eye for blades under Bruce's care as well as a taste for guns under Gordon's. This one was hardly balanced properly – she could tell by the way Harley was holding it – but it was sharp enough to compensate for it. "My harlequin here is going to kill the boy. I hear he's been hassling you all year. You should be grateful he's out of the way."

Kaitlyn's fists clenched. She already knew where this was going. She could stand by and let Russel be put out of her misery, but that would mean allowing Harley to become a killer, something she was sure she wasn't. Or she could kill Harley and stop this madness. Either way, Joker won. Kaitlyn would take a life. Which was worse, she wondered, to kill her friend to save her enemy, or allow her enemy to be killed by her friend? Was there even a way to stop this completely and save them both?

Time's up. Harley moved towards Russel. The boy screamed and ran in the opposite direction. Harley ran after him, casting Kaitlyn a desperate glance as she went. There was more going on here than Kaitlyn realized.

She looked at Joker for a brief moment, her hate and anger being conveyed more accurately in that single, scorching gaze than words could ever describe. Then she too was gone, in a desperate attempt to stop the madness Joker caused.

Joker simply waited. "And now, the moment of truth."