A/N: So here's another chapter, like I said it is shorter, but there will probably be another update later this week or early next week!
Shout out time!
Silent: Yay, you're back! Haha thanks for the review! I'm so excited to see how Christopher Nolan interprets the role of both Bane and Catwoman. I'm sure they'll both be amazing! And from people online who saw the movie at the premiere, they say that the movie is AMAZING! I have no idea how he'll end it either, so I'm excited to see how it does end! Personally, I don't think that Batman will die (I hope not at least)!
Guest: Thanks for reading! I'm glad you liked the last chapter!
Also, thanks for everyone who's been adding my story to their Alerts!
"Where are you taking me?" LJ hissed as she struggled against The Joker's grip around her waist as he kept pulling her toward the elevator shaft.
"You'll see!" He said in his sing-songy voice again while tightening his grip so she was pressed against his body.
LJ knew that struggling at this point would only hurt her cause, so she went stiff. It made the trip to the elevator much quicker because the Joker didn't have to stop every few steps and yank her around.
"Get in," he growled as he pushed her into the corner of the elevator, pain shot through her arm again. LJ inhaled sharply because of the discomfort and flipped around quickly before the Joker could do anything behind her back. As she turned, she was thrust back against the wall, trapped between his arms.
"We're going to, uh, lay some ground rules now gorgeous. Rule one: there are no rules! Unless you try to esca-ape! Then we're going to have a problem-ah." Yeah right buddy, LJ mused, already planning her escape. "You're not going to be a problem, are youuu?" The Joker shook his head menacingly as if to encourage her to say no too.
"Do I seem like the kind of person to give up easily?" LJ jeered toward her captor.
"Not. One. Bit." The Joker enunciated his words angrily. "I guess I'll just have to, uh, teach you some manners myself."
LJ rolled her eyes and replied sarcastically. "No thanks, I think I got it . . ."
The Joker leaned forward so that his mouth was touching her ears again. "Oh I insist." He exhaled deeply, making LJ flinch back against the wall. Luckily, the elevator door dinged, signaling that they reached the top floor.
"Come on, we've got some, uh, TV to watch-ah." LJ stopped in confusion causing the Joker to yank her even harder.
"What are you talking about?"
"Oh our dear friend Batsy's coming outta' the closet today. Goodbye cowl, hello real man."
"No, he can't," LJ whispered, hoping that the Joker didn't hear her, but of course he did.
"Oh he can. And he will. Can't wait to see who it is! It's like Christmas all over again! My money's on Dent." The Joker jumped with excitement, but didn't pull her away from the wall to get out of the elevator.
LJ internally smiled as she knew that Harvey wasn't the Batman. He had been in the closet the whole time at the fundraiser when the caped crusader showed up. But then again, she didn't want Batman to turn himself in. After he had saved her from the Joker that one day, she realized how Gotham really needed their hero. He did a lot for the citizens, and she was thankful for that. LJ looked around confused; the elevator door was open, but they weren't getting out.
"Door's open," she muttered, hoping that they would be able to leave the confined space. She didn't really like being cooped up with the Joker for long periods of time.
"Oh I know-w! I just like this position-ah. Brings back old memories, doesn't it?" Images from when the Joker had her bent over her own kitchen counter invaded her mind and made her groan in embarrassment. Just ignore him, she tried to convince herself. But it was hard when he was rubbing her hip with his eager hands. "Too bad this little, uh, moment can't last. See you when you wake up, beautiful."
"Wha-" Before LJ could comprehend what was going on, the Joker thrust a large needle into her neck, making her body go numb and slip into unconsciousness.
...
The Joker paced around the back room of his warehouse, waiting for a number of things to happen. The blonde detective was still passed out on a fraying couch and he was waiting for the moment to see her eye lids flutter open. Her hair splayed across the cushions as he studied her cringing face. He would have to wake her up soon. She was going to miss the show. He was then also counting down the moments until the Batman revealed who he really was. The Joker would soon learn the identity of the other yin to his violent yang. LJ being the other opposite. His foil.
The Joker spun around to look at the dirty clock on the wall and realized that the press conference was going to be broadcasted in a few minutes, and he didn't want LJ to miss all the fun. He grabbed a cold bucket of water and laughed as he poured it over her sleeping head. LJ sputtered and shot up from her spot on the couch, not knowing what was going on.
"What the hell?" She hissed, looking around the mangy room.
"Oh good, you're awake! You were going to miss all the fun!" The Joker pushed LJ to the side and hopped onto the couch next to her. He kicked his legs up on the table in front of the couch and wound his arm around LJ's waist to keep her in place. Her eyes grew wide as the events of the day reminded her of her current situation.
"Here we go." He giggled as the image of Harvey Dent came on the TV. LJ kept her eyes glued to the TV, silently praying that Batman changed his mind and decided not to turn himself in. She leaned away from the Joker as if his flesh was burning her own. He refused to let go, and dug his fingers into her waist. I have to get these handcuffs off, LJ thought to herself as she wiggled her wrists around to see if she could slip out of the restraints. Her raw skin screamed and protest, but she kept going, hoping that she would find a way out of them.
Harvey Dent's charismatic voice echoed through the warehouse office. "-But first. Let's consider the situation: should we give in to this terrorist's demands?"
LJ could feel the Joker's body rumble as he let out a few hysterical laughs. "Of course you should!" He yelled at the TV.
"-But the night is darkest just before the dawn. And I promise you, the dawn is coming." Dent's words seemed to instill some sort of hope in LJ. She had been gradually losing hope, but Dent reminded her that she could help herself.
"HA! No, no, no Har-vey. The dawn is NOT coming." His fingers pressed tighter to her waist as if to express his anger.
"-So be it." LJ couldn't believe it, Batman was actually going to turn himself in. The curious side of her wanted to know who he was, but she knew that that was just selfish.
"Here it comes!" The Joker started fidgeting in anticipation.
"-Take the Batman into custody-" LJ inhaled sharply, waiting to see what would happen. "-I am the Batman." Before she could even contemplate what was happening, the Joker leaped onto his feet and clapped his hands together.
"I knew it! Sorry Lo-gan, I'm going to have to leave ya' for a bit. I've got a bat to catch. Don't, uh, cry. I know you'll miss me." She couldn't believe her luck. He was actually leaving her alone, for the most part. She knew she would be able to fight his goons better than the Joker himself. She would just have to get those stupid handcuffs off first.
"What will I ever do with myself," she laughed bitterly.
"BOYS!" He yelled into the hall. Three of his men came all but running into the room wearing clown masks. None of them even dared to look at him in the eyes.
"Ya' boss?" The one on the far right asked with hesitation.
"I need you to keep a watchful eye on my guest here. She's off limits though. Nobody touches her except for me. Isn't that right, beautiful?" The Joker turned toward LJ, expecting some sort of answer. She simply chose to ignore him and turn her attention toward her handcuffs.
"She's a little shy," he said behind his hand to the other men, as if he was telling them a secret. "Make sure she doesn't leave." He growled to the three men as he walked over to LJ in the corner.
"Don't try anything. Try not to miss me too much. Or do." He let his hands linger at her waist one last time before he stormed out of the room, throwing his jacket over his shoulder.
Time to put this plan into action. LJ smiled to herself as she sized up her three opponents. Luckily the Joker hired crazies; they didn't seem too coordinated. They lumbered slowly out of the room, locking the door behind them. LJ quickly scanned the room she was locked in. It was a small office in what seemed to be a warehouse, with no windows. She scoured the room for anything that would help her. Finally, after what seemed like twenty minutes of searching, she found a discarded paper clip under stacks of newspapers with chaotic drawings on them. What she found most disturbing was that the Joker seemed to have kept every possible newspaper that had her name or picture in it. Those seemed to have the most scribbles, and some even had what looked like blood on them.
The blood on the newspapers reminded her that blood was starting to pool at her wrists from rubbing the skin raw. Though the slick warm liquid made it easier to slip her hands around in the cuffs. The pain of course was almost unbearable, but now she could maneuver her wrist around, giving her the best position to escape the bonds. She lowered her hands to the floor and stepped over the cuffs so that her arms were in front of her. With her new found dexterity, she unfolded the paper clip and slid it into the flat part of the key hole. She painfully started turning it in circular motions and one of the cuffs immediately unclasped from around her wrist. Relief flooded to the inflamed skin as cold air hit her wounds. LJ knew that she couldn't focus on the pain if she was going to escape.
After quickly undoing the other cuff, LJ held onto the paper clip and inspected the door frame. She laid on the ground, and looked under the door to see if the guards were right outside her door, but no one was there. She knew that she could knock out the guards one at a time, but not all three. She would have to separate them.
She knew that she would have to work fast, she didn't know when the Joker would be back. LJ threw the bloody handcuffs under a cushion on the couch and started kicking the door. She immediately heard heavy footsteps approaching, so she hid her hands behind her back as if they were still in restraints.
"Waddya' want lady?" A greasy man with long shaggy black hair grunted as the door closed behind him. LJ slowly inched toward him as making up some excuse.
"What's a girl have to do to get some water?" She said as flirtatiously as she could muster.
As the guy got close enough, LJ spun around him and threw her arm around his neck in a tight choke hold. He struggled spastically, but he couldn't breathe so he quickly slipped into unconsciousness. LJ dragged him to the floor and hid him behind the couch. She searched his clothes and found a ring of keys. This is definitely useful, she mused. She also pocketed a small army knife and a cell phone. I should really call someone . . . Who can I trust though? Let's just see how far I can get by myself, she thought to herself foolishly.
LJ ran threw the door and crept down the hallway, following the sound of voices and light. She figured as it got brighter, that meant there was bound to be a window for her to climb out of. Hopefully she wouldn't have to face the other two goons, she needed to keep her energy up. The warehouse was relatively easy to navigate; much more straight forward than Arkham Asylum.
Soon enough, after following the same hallway for a minute or so, LJ stumbled upon a window large enough to climb out of. Luckily, she was tall enough to reach the latch and it wasn't locked. The lock itself was rusted and the wood around it was molding, so it wouldn't have mattered anyways.
LJ listened for a few more seconds before shoving the window open and hoisting her leg through the opening. The window made a screeching noise, so she would have to hurry. The warehouse wasn't that big, so the other two men were sure to hear it. She wasted no more time before throwing herself out the window; luckily it was a single story building, so she didn't fall that far.
She quickly got up and brushed her knees off and took off running as fast as she could in the first direction she saw. It didn't matter where she went, as long as she was as far away from the Joker as possible.
From what felt like an hour, LJ finally slowed down to a slow jog. She looked around wildly, trying to figure out where she was. It was too dark to see anything, and when you're in the Narrows, being unprepared is extremely dangerous. Suddenly, police sirens filled the air, from what seemed to be a couple blocks over on the freeway. The ground abruptly started to rumble and LJ could see explosions in the distance. What the hell? She took off running faster than before as she approached the explosions. Where there's fire, there's the police. And she needed to find Gordon.
As she rounded the corner, she was flattened to the wall of a store front by a speeding motorcycle. If she could call it that. What the hell is THAT? This city is going down the drain. LJ squinted her eye to get a better look at the motorcycle and discovered that it was Batman. Of course. What's he doing now? She turned the other way as she heard a screeching halt. Her eyes widened in horror as she saw a semi truck capsize and crash to the street with an extremely loud collision.
LJ cringed in fear as she slowly advanced toward the wreckage. She would have continued, but the last person she wanted to see crawled out of the crashed truck. The Joker. Damn him, she whispered under her breath. She started to back away slowly and crouched behind a car. The Batman would definitely be able to take care of him by himself. She observed as her former captor jumped over something and started to wave a pistol at oncoming traffic. Damn it people, drive the other way!
"Hit me. Come on. Hit me!" She could hear him cackle. Batman was speeding toward him in his motorcycle, but LJ knew he wouldn't hit the Joker. He was too righteous for that.
The Joker held out his arms, waiting for the impact because there was no room to go around him. LJ could hear Batman turn on the brakes and dump the bike. Batman fell to the ground, as if in slow motion.
"No!" LJ yelled as Batman didn't get up, but nobody seemed to hear her. The impact of the fall must have knocked him unconscious. She watched as one of the Joker's thugs approached the fallen vigilante, and LJ knew that she had to do something. The Batman had saved her once, and now it was her turn to save him. She slowly stood up from behind the car and put her chin up in confidence and slowly walked in their direction. She hadn't drawn any attention to herself yet. The Joker was too preoccupied with the Batman. It looked like the thug was reaching down to pull off the cowl, but an electric current jerked him back. The Joker's creepy laughs filled the air as he started to flick a switchblade and crouch toward the caped crusader.
"Get away from him!" LJ yelled as the Joker reached toward Batman with his knife. He looked up in surprise and then in anger as their eyes met. He bared his teeth before looking from the hero to LJ; he was conflicted.
"Drop it." A voice from behind the Joker said. LJ tore her eyes away from the two people on the ground to see Gordon. He's okay! She thought as she smiled. Just in time too.
"Ahh! Can you please just give me a minute," the Joker growled as Gordon cocked the gun from behind his head.
"We got you, you son of a bitch," Gordon announced triumphantly.
"You just had to stop me in front of my girl, didn't ya'? Nice of you to join me, Lo-gan. How'd you get out anyways? Can't trust anyone anymore. You gotta do everything yourself." LJ ignored the Joker's taunts as she tended to Batman on the ground. She could hear him yell out in anger as he struggled against the restraints that Gordon slapped on him. Her boss handed the struggling clown to Detective Stephens who pushed him into a vacant police cruiser. Nobody, except from the Joker, seemed to notice how LJ was helping Batman to his feet. She propped his arm around her shoulders, trying to support his heavy Kevlar wrapped, muscular body.
She turned to see what was going on, but the only thing that caught her eye was the Joker, hanging out the police car, staring at her murderously. The death glare sent shivers down her back as she turned back around and helped Batman around the corner into a back alley.
"Are you okay?" She asked quietly through her heavy breathing. It was a workout trying to carry him less than a block. He was extremely heavy, and she wouldn't be able to help him much longer.
"I should be asking you the same thing. You've been gone for days." She had forgotten how deep his voice was, and it almost made her jump.
"It's fine. I got away from him. I'll tell you all about it when we're somewhere safe. And you can walk by yourself. God you're heavy." LJ heard him chuckle pathetically as he tried to limp faster.
"I've got it from here, you need to go to the station. Gordon's probably looking for you."
LJ looked at him in confusion. "You can barely walk."
"I don't need to walk." He growled as he took his grappling gun from his utility belt and aimed it toward the sky. "Go find Gordon. He'll need to know what happened first. I'll contact you." He didn't wait for an answer before he fired the grappling gun and flew into the sky.
A/N: 8 more days until the midnight premiere of TDKR! I can't handle the suspense! Anyways, thanks for reading, and I hope you liked this chapter as much as I liked writing it! Please review :)