Note: Spoilers for The Dark Knight! Beware…
Chapter Ten: Realizations
"Alright LaPointe, this is the most feminine trait I have ever seen you exhibit." Roger yelled from her hallway, as she hurried around her bedroom in a rush to get ready for the Gala they were already late for.
"Oh yeah, and what trait would that be?" she yelled back with amusement.
"I wont answer that question." He yelled back.
Julia poked her head into the hallway to see Roger in his signature position, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. "Why not?" she pushed with an evil grin.
"I'm not stupid Julia, there are certain things that men just shouldn't say out loud." He stopped and laughed. "No matter how true they are." He added as she pulled her head back into her bedroom.
"How long did it take you to learn that lesson?" Julia asked as she pulled and teased at her hair in her vanity. 'Never again.' She thought, unnerved that she hadn't had the time to get her hair done properly.
"You mean how many times did I get my balls ripped off and mounted by ex-girlfriends for being honest?" Roger made his way down the hall to her room, trying to get a sneak peak at her outfit.
Julia stopped what she was doing and poked her head into the hall again, startled at Roger's close proximity.
"Graphic." She dead panned. "But yes, that's what I meant." She whipped her head back into the room and shouted over her shoulder, "Don't you dare peak in Radcliff, I need a little shock and awe with this dress!"
Roger laughed, knowing no matter what she wore; he'd want it ripped off of her as soon as he saw her.
"Well, I think it was my mid twenties that did it. I realized that one day I would want kids and might need my balls for that venture."
Julia was glad that she was alone in her room after he spoke. It was good for Roger as well, because there was no way she could have hidden the pure look of horror on her pale face.
"What no snappy remark?" He said offhandedly, completely ignorant that his girlfriend was nearly hyperventilating in the next room.
She pulled herself together quickly, hoping that Roger wasn't dropping hints to his intentions or feelings towards her.
They were already past fashionably late, so Julia gave up on her hair, grabbed her purse off the bed and took a deep breath.
'Don't read into it, Julia. He was just talking, just talking...' her inner voice trailed off.
"You alright in there?" Roger's voice carried down the hall. Julia took that as her cue to move and pose like a fancy statue, displaying her outfit.
"Perfect." She replied in a low voice, surprised at the lust she felt at seeing Roger in his suit.
He turned at the sound of her voice and tried to hide his reaction. He was right; he wanted that dress off her….now. He masked his face as he walked to her, not wanting to give away too much of his thoughts away.
He moved to her and took her hand, bringing it up to his lips. "You look," he paused dramatically. "alright."
Julia laughed and hit him over the head with her leather purse. "You still haven't learned the right things to say it seems."
"You love it." He quipped.
"Let's go. The sooner we get there the sooner we can get out."
"I don't understand, you dress up like that," Roger gestured to her widely. "and then you want to stay for maybe thirty minutes?"
"What's your point?" Julia asked as she walked to the door.
"Well, can you just enjoy the party tonight? I know the lot of them can be a bit suffocating, but you could enjoy it if you let yourself." He said as he opened the door for her.
Julia realized then that Roger may never be more than a notch on her belt.
They arrived at The Rosalind Hotel arm in arm, bracing themselves for the throng of gleaming, scheming socialites Julia knew would descend upon them. Sure enough, the handsome couple had only been in the massive crystal ballroom for a few minutes before Julia was escorted in one direction and Roger in the other. It seemed that two months hadn't killed the commodity of her involvement at Bruce's party with the Joker, if anything it prolonged the excitement for the women who brisked her away.
Julia hadn't shown her face at a social function since that night, her vulnerable side holding her back. At her age, she knew that with caring came vulnerability but that didn't mean she had to like it or even accept it yet. When you cared you inevitably got hurt, and for Julia, the person she was getting hurt for had better be worth it. So, it was out of this mentality that Julia starting dating as an adult, leading of course to her inability to have a long term relationship. Nobody was ever worth the pain.
Luckily it didn't take long before she was rescued by a fashionable Rachel from her slew of gossiping upper class air heads.
"Would you mind if I stole away Julia here for a moment?" Rachel asked kindly as she began to whisk her friend off.
"Oh sure dear, just remember to bring her back to us! We have so much to talk about!" A woman known as Christine Coltrane said as she waved them away.
When they made it out of ear shot, Julia practically cheered. "Thank you! I was barely there for a few minutes before I wanted to make some trophy heads, if you know what I mean." Julia sneered.
"Well, your not the only one that needed saving. I say we stick together for the rest of the night, then that way we can share the unbearable scrutiny." Rachel said, shocking Julia with her conspiratorial behavior.
"I haven't heard you talk like that since we were kids! I like it, but let's try to stay under the radar…the less attention we draw the better."
"Impossible." Rachel said with a drink from her glass.
"Why?" Julia questioned curiously.
"Have you seen what you're wearing?" Rachel looked Julia up and down, hoping to illustrate her point.
"Seriously? I thought it was low key." Julia said with a twirl.
"The color maybe but Julia, the dress is not in any way making you invisible; especially to men." She added with a look Julia didn't understand.
"Ah that reminds me, have you seen Bruce?" Julia asked as she looked around the room.
"Speak of the devil." Rachel said as she saw Bruce enter the room. Three women were hanging on his arms like brightly dressed monkeys, making Rachel smile knowingly. She knew how much he hated keeping up the playboy aspect of his persona, and wondered how he did it so well. Even she wanted to believe it.
Julia turned and viewed the same site but with a little less understanding. She didn't have the benefit of Rachel's knowledge, nor did she have the more graceful attitude the other woman embraced. The lack of those attributes, along with Julia's impatience and lack of tolerance caused a mini fire storm to erupt in her belly at the site. This wasn't the Bruce that she had known, hell it wasn't even the Bruce she had come to know over the past few months.
'Why does he keep up this charade?' Julia thought heatedly.
"Well, well, looks like someone had fun in the sun." Julia said loudly as Bruce approached her and Rachel.
"The girls said they wanted some sun after suffering Gotham's nasty weather." Bruce sang out, sounding to Julia like a bored mental patient.
Bruce looked his two childhood friends over, happy to see all three of them together again. Rachel looked lovely as always to him, but when his eyes moved to Julia his brain took a momentary leave of absence. She was wearing a long beaded gown in black, a gown that left nothing and everything to your imagination. Bruce's thoughts became abstract as he viewed her, things like time freezing as he made an ass out of himself.
Julia and Rachel looked at Bruce, both wearing matching expressions that said 'What the hell is wrong with you?'
Bruce noticed this and with tremendous effort he pulled his eyes away, pulling them straight to Rachel. "Rachel, where is your other half this evening?"
"Most likely hiding in a broom closet, trying to find a little peace, Bruce are you all right?" Rachel said irritably as Bruce glanced a look at Julia.
"Fine." He said blandly, regaining more of his brainpower back. "Julia?" Bruce said suddenly. "Would you like to dance?"
"Sorry?" Julia faltered.
Bruce cut the act for one brief moment, and acted like himself. "Would you like to dance?" He repeated.
Julia stood there, her mind lost to the question. Bruce? Dance?
Rachel nudged her side, causing her to jump from the shock of the elbow hitting ribs. It was just an added bonus to Rachel that when Julia lurched, Bruce's hand had been extended.
He took her hand, and without giving Julia a moment to think, he pulled her to the dance floor.
They settled into each other comfortably as they began to sway to the old sounding jazz band. Bruce kept her close to his body, relishing in the warmth she provided him with on so many levels. He could still look into her eyes, something he took advantage of right then to deal his hand.
"Why did you write that article?" he said sternly, waking Julia from her uncharacteristic trance.
"Excuse me?" she said dazed.
"Do you have any idea what your doing?" Bruce kept on. "You risked the influence and public opinion of two corruption free people. They're good men Julia, don't ponder to your profession and ruin the first golden streak Gotham's had in decades."
"What the hell does it matter to you?" Julia snapped at him, trying to use her aggression to hide the small hopeful light bulb that went off in her head.
Bruce pulled her closer, their bodies as close as they could make them. "I thought your piece was to interview the powerful men in Gotham? Why the change in direction?" Bruce sneered as he twirled her around.
She twirled back into him violently, showing her contempt for such a question. "Why the change in direction?" she mimicked. "Let's see….one of the men I was interviewing decided to up and leave on a 'pleasure cruise' with a basket full of ballet dancers, sound familiar to you?"
"What does my social life have to do with your story?" Bruce asked, knowing the game she was playing. She was hiding something.
"Damn it Bruce, you left me no choice!" she said loudly, drawing many glances from around the floor. "I had to fall back on that article to save my job." She hissed in his ear as they turned to the music.
They were silent for a minute, neither really knowing what to say to each other. As it would turn out, Bruce would be the first one to break the silence.
"You had a choice; you didn't have to run that story. You didn't do it out of desperation Julia; you did it out of spite."
"I did not!" she shot back at him. "I don't feel spiteful toward Dent or Gordon, why would I." She said, as if that were common knowledge.
"Why would you do a lot of things?" Bruce fired back.
"Do you ever direct some of these inquiries at yourself Bruce?"
Bruce gripped her waist then, a movement that made Julia's heart warm against her will. "Julie you have the opportunity to help promote the small bit of goodness that's in Gotham right now. You have an obligation to report honestly and fairly."
"What was so unfair about the damn story anyway? I reported what I saw, nothing more nothing less."
"Cite your sources." Bruce challenged.
Julia froze mid sway, her mouth open in shock. Bruce didn't let her stay that way for long before he pulled her back into his rhythm.
"How…" Fate, as it would seem, had decided to cut their heated conversation with the arrival of an angry looking Roger.
"May I cut in?" he asked icily.
"By all means." Bruce said casually, sliding back into his playboy persona.
Bruce let Julia go; hoping that the eyes that were on them didn't see his hesitation in doing so. Roger stepped in, almost pushing Bruce out of his way as he tried to demonstrate his possessiveness.
Once Bruce was out of ear shot. Roger laid into his flustered girlfriend. "What the hell was that Julia?"
"We were dancing Roger, what do you think we were doing?"
"What did he want?" Roger demanded.
Julia looked at him as if she'd never seen him before. "Roger, what is wrong with you?"
"Oh I'm sorry, was I supposed to be ok with you practically throwing yourself at another guy in front of half of Gotham?" Julia winced at his words as if stung.
She jerked herself free from him and walked off the dance floor, she didn't get far before a hand on her shoulder made her turn around. The owner of the hand looked scared at her deadly expression.
Jim Gordon had never seen such a killer stare in his life, not even from his wife. "Julia, I need you to come with me please." It was a statement, not a request.
"Oh god, not you too!" Julia threw her arms in the air.
Gordon took her arm without answering to her exclamation, moving her toward the back exit.
"Jim," Julia spoke, slightly alarmed. "What's going on?"
They kept moving, Gordon not taking any chances with time. He knew it wasn't on their side. "We think that the Joker has made a threat on your life. We need to get you somewhere safe right now."
"Does this have to do with that video he sent to the press earlier today?" She pursued.
Her question was answered though by the appearance of Harvey Dent falling into step with her and the Lieutenant, escorted by two other officers.
"What is this Gordon? I won't go into hiding because a madman thinks he can kill me." Dent said haughtily.
"Your not. You're going to the MCU and waiting for me there." Gordon answered, still holding on to Julia's arm.
"Is that where you're taking me?" Julia asked as she pushed through the revolving doors, breathing in the night air with a shaky breath.
"Not exactly." Gordon answered vaguely as he helped her into the back of a large black SUV.
The door closed behind Julia and Harvey, leaving them there alone in silence.
"What about Rachel? Were you able to tell her you were leaving?"
Harvey looked at her from the corner of his eye. "No, but I think she'll figure it out. She knows I wouldn't leave with Gordon like that unless it was important."
It was then, as if on cue, Dent's phone began to ring in his pocket. He answered, and had a brief conversation with who Julia suspected was the girl in question.
He hung up the phone and looked at Julia. "Rachel wanted me to tell you she loves you and everything will be all right."
'Alright' Julia muttered. Things were going to be far from alright.
The drive was short making Julia wonder where the hell they were going. She was still in her beaded mermaid cut gown, feeling extremely uncomfortable and suffocated by it. She and the D.A. didn't share many words during the ride, making it an uncomfortable journey.
The door on Dent's side opened up to a dark building, the flickering street lamp adding a flare of danger to the scene.
"Julia, this is your stop." Gordon said with an outstretched hand.
She took it hesitantly and with help from Harvey maneuvered her way out the door, struggling the whole way with her bulky attire.
She knew the place instantly. "Jim no! I will not put your family in danger!" She whispered.
"Julie, this is the only safe place I can think of right now. I have to make sure nothing happens to you."
"No!" she hissed at him.
"Go inside now or I will have you put there by force." A very frustrated and stressed Gordon ground out.
"Who are the other targets?" Julia prodded, needing to know what was happening around her.
"If I tell you will you get in the damned house?" Gordon briskly asked.
"Yes."
"Surrilo, Dent and Commissioner Loeb." He listed off. When he finished, he pushed Julia towards the door.
"You're kidding me right?" Julia said incredulously.
"Go!" he pointed to the meager house in front of them.
Without a word, Julia made her way to the door. It was Jim Gordon's behavior that scared her more than anything. Never a man prone to over reaction, she knew his fear was genuine, so she relented.
Chaos. Total chaos.
That was the only way to describe the following days in Julia's life; in Gotham's life.
A judge and commissioner were gone, bringing the fear and anger to Julia's feet. She stayed with Gordon's family for three days, hiding and feeling like a coward for it. What would have happened to her if she hadn't been whisked away that night? That thought was one that she tried desperately to push into the back of her mind. She had taken the three days of hiding and thought about many things. Bruce, Rachel, her mother. They were the most important people that had ever entered her life, which is what led her to the decision of pulling the plug on Roger. She had been able to call him briefly to tell him she was safe, but in the midst of the conversation she told him to give her space. He wasn't on the list of people she wouldn't live without, and in their current situation, that list was important to her.
It wasn't a shock to figure out who the most important person was.
Julia pulled herself out of her make shift bed on her hosts couch, and moved to the bathroom to change into a pair of borrowed cloths from Gordon's wife. Today was the day Commissioner Loeb was being remembered, and Julia had had enough of being the one in hiding. She had things she needed desperately to research, both on personal and professional levels.
In other words, Julia had work to do.
Authors Note: So how much do you all love me right now?! I wrote this in a 24 hour period because the response to this story, and the last chapter were so great! Your reviews have really inspired me to grease up the keyboard and go at it! (That sounded a little dirty...)
Anywho, I have seen DK 5 times now, so I have sealed my place as the nerdiest chick I know! Sound the Trumpets and cheesy Rocky theme music!!
So let me know what you think and all that, and if you've made it this far down the page……don't you think it would be a waste to not review? (I will use trickery and guilt if I have to!)
I love you all!
Trisky ;)