Masquerade

Chapter 10 - Spontaneity

Bruce couldn't sit still. After forcing himself out of bed about half an hour ago with Alfred making calls and hurriedly checking every media source for any sign of his alter ego, he had been the closest to a mess of emotions that he would probably ever get. He couldn't stop pacing up and down the corridors and glancing out the windows to check for any camera crews flooding to his gates and what was worst was that his heart just wouldn't stop beating so fast. Usually, he liked to think he was quite calm and cool-headed with most troubles behind him, at least as Bruce Wayne, yet now, that side of his personality seemed to have withered away.

Of course, he had a valid reason but he couldn't believe he was letting the Joker get to him like this. That was almost definitely what the clown wanted to do. Get under his skin, toy with him, play on any insecurities he might have found. And Bruce had let him get his hands on them very easily the night before. The Joker probably knew him more than a lot of people did now and the majority of the blame pointed to him. He had been much too trusting of a complete stranger and had allowed himself to be manipulated by him without realising it. He had let his guards down on the one night that he needed more than ever to keep them up and for that he had paid. The Joker was aware of his two sides and now, he was at the end of his tether.

His life would never be the same again if the permanently grinning villain revealed his secret. And as of yet, he had no idea what he was going to do about it. He knew he had to do something fast but the idea of a confrontation seemed too weak at the time. He didn't want the Joker thinking he was begging him to stop unmasking the Batman to Gotham – he wanted a little more dignity than that – but he was aware that he couldn't easily go against his claims either when they were released to the world. Even though the Joker wasn't exactly the sanest guy around and it wasn't hard to distrust him, he had the video of the Batcave and would surely show that to back up his allegations. The papers might say he faked that yet still, it was risky. In truth, Bruce had no idea how they would react.

And neither did Bruce have any idea how he would react.

Angrily, Bruce shook his head and started another round of the hallway, barely aware of his pacing anymore. His head was still throbbing – half from the large lump on the side of it from being knocked unconscious the night before and half from the amount of jumbled thoughts careening around it – and he barely had the strength – or patience – to look anywhere but the intricate carpet before him. It seemed strange that even after everything that had happened, all the world still appeared to be the same around him. His manor was the same, the furnishings were the same and even the outdoors seemed to the same too, though for how long Bruce didn't know.

Any minute now there could be a flood of reporters and cameramen and members of the public swarming to his door like moths to a flame and trying to force their way in, determined to find out if these new claims they had heard were true. Bruce liked to think that the barricades were too strong for them to break through – at least, physically of the manor anyway – but really, he had no idea how many people could arrive. This was big news and any amount could pay a visit.

That was just great then. My life is going to be ruined and so is my lawn.

This pathetic attempt at trying to cheer himself up didn't work though. In fact, it worked in quite the opposite way and made him even more frustrated, annoyed that the Joker had done this to him. Made him resort to jokes in the largest crisis of his life. It was just like something the psychopath would do.

But then, suddenly, one of the doors to the hallway opened and Alfred bustled through, his eyes brighter than they had been earlier. Bruce almost got even angrier that he could look even the slightest bit cheery in a situation like this yet at the news he had, that emotion soon faded.

Apparently, so far, there hadn't been any alarming announcements throughout any current media. The papers had said nothing, nor had the news programmes or the breakfast shows or the chats shows or the radios so at the moment, things looked alright. Bruce wanted to believe that, he really did, but strangely, the message that all was silent from the Joker unnerved him even more. It felt almost like the calm before the storm as with something like this, the clown wouldn't wait. Or at least Bruce didn't think he would. Even though he knew he liked to toy with people, he imagined that, this time, because of the sheer excitement he must have been feeling at potentially ruining somebody's life, he wouldn't have kept it to himself. He would have been yearning to tell it to anybody as far as possible.

Alfred tried to point out, at this point, that he didn't know the Joker all that well – nobody did really – but Bruce wouldn't listen. He knew the Joker better than Alfred did – after all, he'd been face to face with him now as the Batman and Bruce – and something told him that if he didn't have anything to hide, his secret would be all over the papers by now. If he didn't have anything to hide. But...he didn't have anything to hide. So why didn't everybody know who the Batman was by then?

He didn't want that to happen yet...he was so confused. If the Joker did reveal who he was, his life would be ruined but if the Joker didn't reveal who was, then he would be suspicious about him. Or maybe he just wanted it to be like that. Wanted Bruce to feel like something was wrong, when it wasn't. Or maybe it was. Maybe Alfred was right.

He had never been so confused in his life.

In the end, he decided to wait it out some more and see what other information came about in the next hour or so. Then he'd try and make a rational choice about what to do.

***

There was still no more news in the next hour though. Bruce returned to pacing the hallways again and almost tearing his hair out but soon, he couldn't bare being stuck inside anymore. His mind was still buzzing with thoughts and although he couldn't get a firm grip on any of them, there seemed to be a slightly more stable plan than he had had beforehand.

Basically, as he told Alfred after a long while, he was going to go and find the Joker. He was feeling horridly claustrophobic trapped inside his Manor (even though it was nowhere near being small) and he felt he had to do at least something about the situation. Alfred attempted to tell him that currently, there was no 'situation' and by going out to search for the clown he was running the risk of making it worse but once again, Bruce wouldn't listen. He claimed that this was the right thing to do and he needed to confront this man before he unmasked the Batman.

Alfred wasn't so sure that it was the 'right thing to do' yet once Bruce had his mind on something, it was hard to sway him any other way. Instead or arguing, he asked him where he thought the Joker might be and for a while, he had no answer. Yet, after what seemed like an age of contemplation, he finally spoke up and revealed that he had heard something about a warehouse in a previous scope of the city as the Batman. He made a wild guess that the Joker might be there and even though it wasn't safe at all, he decided to go out straight away and look.

Alfred couldn't do anything to stop him either. This was the stubborn, indifferent side of Bruce coming through and to be honest, he hated that side. He had been like that as a child and sometimes impossible to reason with. It was surprising how much he could act like that nowadays, even after all this time.

But it wasn't just that either. Not just Bruce's kid side coming through. There was something else as well, buried amongst those memories. Somewhere along the line, Bruce had told him that the Joker was very spontaneous and did things without thinking or contemplating. That was one of the villain's ways and Bruce had before admitted that it was what made him so complicated to overcome.

Well, if this wasn't spontaneity, Alfred didn't know what was.

***

It was just by sheer luck that Bruce managed to reach the warehouse. He'd heard something about its where-a-bouts when he had been in the city as Batman one night but no exact routes to the building. It seemed like nobody really knew them and if they did, Bruce bet they didn't survive too long, at least not long enough to tell anybody else. The thought would have made him shudder if he didn't know any better. But he had been face to face with the Joker more times than he could remember and now the man didn't scare him as such, just stirred other emotions. All the other emotions? Bruce didn't know what was going on inside himself.

All he wanted to do was get this over with. To him, this was just about talking to the Joker about the situation they were in at the moment. They were in? Talking to him? Bruce thought he might be going mad from spending so long pacing back at the Manor. Having a conversation with this man would probably be like having a conversation with an erratic kitten. He knew there was the chance that he would get nowhere yet something told him he had to try. There would be no harm in that.

Bruce almost laughed at that statement. Of course there could be harm in it. This wasn't a normal, every day chat he was talking about. This was a potential talk about his alter ego to a insane make up wearing, artificially smiling murderer. He knew it wasn't safe but he was taking that risk. He had taken enough in his life to know his way around them anyway.

However, there was also the chance that the Joker wasn't there. Bruce didn't know why he had revealed his identity yet (though he wasn't complaining) yet one of the theories he had come up with on the drive into the city was that he had been captured. There wouldn't have been many other explanations for what had (or hadn't) happened and even though the Joker was smart (Bruce had to admit that, though he wasn't the most stable person he knew), there was the possibility of kidnap, or arrest, even.

And if he had been arrested or captured, would he save him?

Bruce quickly shook that thought out of his head and left his car around the side of the warehouse, knowing that no one else would come down there and find it. The building in front of him was lonely and desolate, falling apart in places, and at once, he understood why the Joker had chosen it. Nobody in their right minds would come within miles of it – it looked extremely unsafe and abandoned, almost sad in some respects. Bruce could never imagine living in a building like it, especially after residing in a Manor for so long.

He almost felt sorry for him.

Again, Bruce shook that thought out of his head and found the door, knowing that somewhere nearby there would have been traps. If anybody had got down here, then the Joker wouldn't have risked them getting any further. He had to be careful otherwise he could pay with his life. He didn't want to jeopardise that again.

And that was one of the last thoughts that went through his head before he suddenly lost track of everything else.

***

Harvey arrived at Wayne Manor late that evening, still in his suit after work and weary from the day that had passed. Luckily, his headache had worn off a little and so had his dizziness throughout the morning and now he was feeling a lot better than how he had upon waking up. Yet there was still that one thing nagging in his mind and he couldn't let it go, no matter how hard he tried. But, inside, he knew that he mustn't allow it to slip away again. He'd done that too many times before and it had always ended badly. He was aware now that the way forward was to just accept it.

He had to tell Bruce what was going on with him. The coin had said so and now, so was he.

And for that reason, as he paid the cab driver and made his way up the steps to the vast and sprawling Manor, he could feel his heart beating a little faster than usual. On the journey there, he had willed himself to stay calm and collected but now he was here, he couldn't help the nervousness gradually creeping through and affecting him. This was the moment he had been waiting for for two years and everything that he had previously thought about his friend, Bruce, was going to come out. He had been thinking about what he was going to say all day, just about stopping himself from practising in front of the mirror in the bathroom when he was sure nobody was in there with him.

Still, now that he was minutes away from actually delivering the words in person, he felt like his throat was just going to dry up and nothing was going to come out. All the worried questions that had been gathering in his brain for the past two years were again rising to the front and even though he tried to ignore them as best he could, there were still there and he couldn't fully disregard them. He just hoped that Bruce wouldn't notice how much he was worrying. Or maybe that was a good thing. Then he might at least take pity on him.

Harvey didn't usually like pity being taken on him but if it was Bruce Wayne taking pity on him, then that should be okay...

Gulping heavier now, he reached the top of the steps at last and knocked on the door, surprised at how loud the echoes sounded to his ears. However, the silence that followed seemed louder and for a while, he thought that no one was going to answer. In fact it turned out that he was just turning to leave when there was suddenly a noise behind him and Alfred's familiar voice spoke up.

'' Mr Dent,'' he greeted, a smile in his words. Harvey turned back to see one on his aging face as well. '' What a pleasure it is to see you again. Is everything okay?''

Immediately, Harvey suffered from a lack of words. Everything he had been thinking of saying earlier in the day began to get mixed up and he found it hard to distinguish anything. ''...er...yes, everything's fine,'' he replied after a while – seeming much too long to him. ''...I mean, no – everything's not fine actually. Is – is Bruce in?'' Get to it right away, he thought.

'' Oh, no, he left...this morning and he hasn't been back for a while.''

'' Do you know when he'll be back? I have to speak to him about...something.'' Harvey tried to choose his words carefully. He had a feeling Alfred had always been suspicious about him, especially after Rachel left.

'' Oh, well, he said he'd be back by the evening. I assumed he meant before now but...he hasn't returned yet. I don't know what's going on, to be honest, but that's what Bruce is like most of the time. Yet he'd usually call or something...'' Alfred seemed to be contemplating something as he spoke. Harvey could feel a sense of dread slowly growing in his stomach. The butler was right – Bruce would have at least kept in touch with him. He trusted him immensely.

'' Do you know where he is?'' he asked finally, glancing behind him momentarily as if he expected the billionaire to be walking up the steps towards him now. He didn't know why he was feeling so anxious.

'' Yes, he said something about a warehouse in Gotham. I think he had some business to take care of.'' Alfred didn't want to tell Harvey the whole story obviously. The DA still had no idea about Bruce's other identity and he knew he wanted to keep it that way for a while. Alfred wasn't entirely sure why though. Harvey seemed like a guy he could trust, and if he could tell a complete stranger, he could probably tell Harvey. Still, that was Bruce.

'' A warehouse in Gotham?'' Harvey repeated. '' And he said he'd be back by now?'' Alfred nodded. '' Do you think he's in trouble?''

'' I don't know,'' Alfred replied. '' But I can't get out there and look. I mean, I would if I could but...for one, I don't know exactly what warehouse he means and I have to look after the house and mainly, I'm much too old for that type of thing anymore.''

'' Well, I...'' Did he really want to do this? Yes, yes, he did. He wanted to be the hero. '' Well, I could go and look for him.''

Alfred nodded. '' I think...I think that'd be good, Mr Dent. He's not one to break his promises. Well, not to me, anyway. I think.''

Harvey tried a smile, but it came out weak. The sense of dread in his stomach was getting even bigger. Maybe he wouldn't get to tell Bruce how he was feeling for a little while yet. He just had to find him first.

So, giving Alfred a final nod, he turned and hurried back down the steps, stopping only to hear the butler shout he could use one of the cars parked outside the garage, as long as he didn't do any damage.

Gotham was hardly the place for minimal damage.

Okay, well, I'm sorry if that was a little scattery but it was about 2am in the morning when I wrote it so.... ^-^

I hope you liked it though. Brucie's got himself into trouble again *tut tut* :)

Oh, and I'm going to try and illustrate some of the chapters now but it's a very sloooooooooow process! Still, I'll give you links if I ever get round to it ^.^

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