Blind Sided
Chapter 11
I woke up, to Suit Boy perched at my window, in his batman getup. I sat up, and sneezed, before turning towards the window. Suit Boy had already let himself in, and I stood up wincing slightly. My feet still hurt like hell. I walked into the kitchen and warmed up some take-out food, and poured a glass of soda for myself.
As you can see, I'm all about healthy meals in the morning.
Suit Boy followed me into the kitchen, and sat down.
"How'd it go with Falcone, Chenchen and Gambol?" He asked, the deep voice he had as Batman falling away.
"Gambol's dead. He didn't like Joker, and tried to take him out. I didn't work out so well for him. I got Falcone and Chenchen to cooperate, they'll stay away from the parade and they told the cops they've paid off to work with the cops as well." I said dryly, not blinking once. I heard Suit Boy sharply inhale.
"All we need to do now, is wait for the parade. He's bound to make an appearance, and you need to protect the Mayor and Harvey." He said, and I turned to look at him, taking my take out and soda, and moving to the table.
"Why is Harvey so important? I mean, yeah he's a hotshot politician, but why him?" I asked, between shoving semi-cold lo mien in my mouth.
"Harvey Dent is what I could never be, Gotham's white knight." He said sadly, and I glanced up at him.
"Harvey Dent isn't able to handle Joker. You can't be giving up until he's gone, and locked away forever." I said gruffly, getting the impression Suit Boy was planning on retiring. That's fine and well, but he couldn't just quit half-way. We'd be dead meat.
"Dent can handle it-" He argued, and I glared.
"You don't have any idea do you?" I said emotionlessly. I felt anger rise in my chest, as he looked at me blankly.
"What do you mean?" He asked, seeming confused. I frowned.
"You don't have any idea what Twinkle Toes wants." I stated, glaring. He shook his head.
"Some men just want to watch the world burn," He said, looking at me sadly, I stood up and pointed at him, angry as hell.
"But, the question is, what results does he want?" I said, barely containing my anger. How could Suit Boy not get something so obvious? He gave me a questioning look, and I frowned.
"Joker doesn't want money, or power. He wants the absence of it, so why is he interested in you or Dent?" I asked, and let the question hang in the air, before leaning forward on the table to look into Suit Boy's eyes.
"Why?"
"He wants to play the Devil. He wants to play God and the Devil with Gotham; to see how many he can corrupt, and how many you can save. Maybe it's because he can't stand being so fucking insane by himself, maybe the madman's just bored. All I know, is that he's equated you and Dent with God, and what's right in the world." I said, my voice low and solem.
"So he's going to do all he can to drag you both down into the darkness and corrupt you; to break you. That's all he really wants, corruption, death, destruction. He wants to see the world in ruin and know that he's the one responsible." I said angrily, pointing at Batman violently, leaning back of the table and straightening up.
"So, he not only wants to watch the world burn, but humanity with it." Suit Boy said, frowning. He shook his head again looking stressed.
I sighed through my nose.
"Yeah Suit Boy, that's what it looks like. My old man used to say 'The most dangerous people are those who can't be reasoned with'." I said softly. I laughed harshly, without humor.
"Who knew I'd be taking my old man's advice." I said, smiling. Suit Boy looked at me, and sighed.
"Why did you leave your parent's?" He asked, and I turned to him glaring.
"I don't think it's any of your business Suit Boy. We all have our secrets," I dismissed. I wasn't going to give the man my whole life story, just cause he's batman. I'm not stupid; the cops may be after him half the time, but they're still buddies. And knowing this guys moral compass? He'd probably want me to sit down and talk it over with good old mom and pop.
I don't fucking think so.
"Where is this parade going to be anyway?" I asked, trying to get back on track.
"I'll take you there. I'll be back in an hour, Max." He said, getting up, and leaping out of the window. I changed into my normal sleeveless shirt and baggy pants tucked into sole less boots.
I finished eating my takeout, by the time I noticed something in my closet. It was a dress that hadn't been there before.
My eyebrow's drew together in anger.
I mean, WHAT THE HELL DID I EVER DO TO KARMA TO DESERVE THIS?! I DON'T WANT RANDOM, WEIRD THINGS LEFT IN MY APARTMENT BY A FUCKING MENTAL PAITENT!
It was nice, low cut, but it was something I would never, ever wear. It looked too restricting, with a long skirt that would be really hard to run and kick in. I considered nailing it to the closet door to send a message to whoever that sent it.
I threw it unceremoniously to the ground. I stomped on it once for good measure, before storming to the door as someone walked up to it.
Surprise, surprise. It was Suit Boy, it his infamous expensive suit. He smiled, but it was sad and worried.
"Max, I'll be dropping you off to the parade. I'm going to be checking out an apartment that the Joker may have hit-men in, while you're on the ground." He said smugly. Man, he looked depressed.
"What's the matter Suit Boy?" I asked, as we walked down the stairs. He gave me a half smile, before his worried expression resumed.
"Something Alfred, and you told me." He muttered.
"And what was that?" I asked gruffly, trying to distract myself from what I had to do. What we had to do. I hope Boomi, Kana and Lee are far away from here, because I had a feeling Twinkle Toes wasn't going to be so forgiving about me screwing up his mob connections, and his chance of killing the mayor.
"He said, some men just want to watch the world burn." He said, quietly, the timbre of his voice holding cords of sadness, regret, and resolve.
This was just the beginning. The spark of a war that was going to soak the streets and blood, and burn the city to the ground. My old man always said the end's justify the mean's, but what if the mean's destroy the end? What then old man?
What would you have me do now father?
Would you have me run, like the little coward you wanted me to be?
Would you have me stay, and use your name to strike fear into others?
Or…
Would you have me fight?
I shook myself from those thoughts. My father was who knows how far away, and he would always tell me to run. To let someone else handle it. Sorry pop's, but that just wasn't me. I couldn't let innocent people die just to save my own skin. I was never as cut throat, or heartless, as you could be to both your allies and your enemies.
"Some men just want to watch the world burn. Some men who just want to rebuild it after the smoke has cleared. The men who matter, are the ones who try to put the fire out." I said, after minutes of silence had weighed heavily on my shoulders.
Wayne turned towards me sharply, taking a quick breath as we walked down into the lobby. Then he smiled sadly, before grinning shamelessly.
"There's always hope," He said simply, and I grinned back. He'd gotten the point. I told something similar to Lee once, and the idiot didn't get it. Whatever.
I walked out, but didn't sense a car. I turned to Suit Boy, my face silently asking a question. He grinned, and I frowned. I didn't have a good feeling about this.
"I brought my bike." He said smiling. I looked at him appalled.
"There is no fucking way-!" I started, but he grabbed my shoulders and steered me over to it. I took a deep shaky breath and glared at Suit Boy.
"I swear, if I die on that thing, I will come back to make your life a living hell," I said as he climbed on the bike.
"Don't be so dramatic." Suit Boy replied, trying to bite back his laugh. Hardy har, har. It's not fucking funny. I awkwardly climbed on the back of the bike, and hugged Suit Boy so I didn't fall off.
He sped off, and I gripped him tighter, I could feel him laugh, and I would have punched him, but that didn't really seem like a good idea at the moment. I just held on for dear life, and tried to ignore how closely we were to hitting every car on the highway.
I felt the parade, the marching band and the soldiers as we slowed down to stop. I got off, and nearly kissed the ground. He sped off, and I joined the crowd, where Jim Gordon and Harvey Dent were walking. It was hard to sense everything, there were too many people walking and marching.
Jim Gordon was looking around towards the sky, when we stopped. I thought I sensed Twinkle Toes face, but it slipped away as we all sat down. Only the soldiers remained standing. I narrowed my eyes in concentration when some man in a suit began talking to the crowd.
"Commissioner Lobe dedicated his life to Law Enforcement, and to the protection of his community. I remember, when I first took office and I asked him if he wanted to stay on as commissioner…" I toned him out, focusing all of my attention on the soldiers.
He was there, I knew he was. I just had to find the bastard…
"Clearly he was not a man, who wasted words. Nor should he have been. A number of policies he enacted as commissioner were unpopular. Complaints flooded my office with angry calls and letters…"
My eyebrow's drew together. There were so many people, which one was it? He was here, I had felt him, I knew it was him. But where oh where could Twinkle Toes be…
"We must remember that vigilance, is the price of safety." He finished, and I felt the thread of vibrations that came from Twinkle Toes. I grinned savagely. He was in the front row of soldiers.
Got you, you little bitch.
I stood up, and tried to walk over to him, but the soldiers moved. Gordon was still looking at all the windows, and no one was paying attention to me.
One of the soldiers started talking, "Stand by. Honor, guard. Ready, aim, fire." Shots ensued, and I lost Twinkle Toes again. I scowled, as I found him.
"Fire!" More shots, it was nearly deafening. But I held on to Twinkle Toes again, and I leaped for him as the front line of soldiers turned towards the mayor. Gordon noticed, and dived in front of the mayor as the fired.
I tackled Twinkle Toes, and tried to get the gun out of his hands. We wrestled as everyone panicked, officers and civilians alike, and ran. He hit me hard in the face, and reversed our positions.
"Welllll doll face, I've love to stay, but you know how cops are…" He whispered, leaning down to whisper in my ear, before I shoved him off and he ran. Jim Gordon was on the stage playing dead.
I walked over to him as people moved away, I lifted his limp body up some. People scrambled about, and I moved him behind the stage, and dropped us both underground, closing the earth above us. I set him gently down.
"You can open your eyes now Gordon, we're underground." I said softly. He sat up, and rubbed his chest.
"They didn't catch the Joker?" He asked, and I leaned back against the opposite cave wall and brushed the bangs out of my face. I closed my eyes and turned my face away.
"No. But the mayor is safe. I tried to tackle him, but I couldn't hold him down long enough, and he got away." I explained.
"Are there any lights in here? It's dark, I can't see anything." He said, and the fact that people with sight needed light to see struck me. Whoops.
"Uh, I don't think so? If you have a flashlight you might want to use it." I said, turning back to him and opening my eyes.
"Where do you plan on staying, now that your dead?" I asked, walking down the caves.
He laughed, but it came out breathy. "I hadn't really thought about it. I have an informant, you know the one who yelled I was dead? He's keeping me updated, he's the one who will be telling my wife and children I'm dead." He said, bitter laughter still in his words. I grinned.
"How long do you plan on staying dead, then?" I asked. I really didn't want to picture his poor kids faces when they were told their dad was killed by Joker. It was too…heartbreaking. Didn't matter if you were an overemotional sissy, or had a heart of stone. The picture of their faces…It just was something I didn't want to think about.
"Three days, Batman has a plan to trap the Joker." He answered. I walked away, shrugging. I heard the click of a flashlight.
"Good luck Gordon. If you need anything, I'm sure you'll find a way to tell me."
I walked off, deeper into the caves. It was still midday, and I didn't know what I was going to do, now that Kana and Boomi were gone. My life had revolved around them for years, and now that they were gone, I really didn't know what to do with myself.
I sighed, and walked through the caves. Again, I was hungry. So I shot back up to the street. I saw that women, uh, Speedy, walking down an alley looking nervous. I sighed, and walked into the alley.
"Are you insane? You do know this is Gotham, and running around alone, in an alley way, is a sure fire way to get A) mugged B)killed C)raped, or D) shipped off back to Arkham." I said gruffly. And she turned around to face me. She didn't look at all surprised.
"Are you going to turn me in?" She drawled in a monotone kind of way. I shrugged.
"As far as I'm concerned, if you break out of the loony bin, I don't give a shit, unless I'm getting paid to keep you in there. So rest assured, I won't be calling the cops." I said, passively. She let out a relieved breath. I noticed she was still in the asylum uniform.
I shook my head.
"Look, Speedy you can't be running around in those clothes. Batman'll ship you right back to Arkam. I'll buy you some new ones." I said, crossing my arms. She looked at me.
"You don't have to." She stated, I swear, it was like she was trying to convince me not to help her.
"I don't have to do a lot of things, but I do them anyway." I said airily. It wasn't a big deal, I mean I don't really ever spend money unless it's for food. Speaking of which, I'm still fucking hungry.
"Uh, you know where any clothes stores are?" She asked. I shrugged.
"Does it look like I can read signs? Just find a random clothing store on the street." I muttered. She walked over to a random store and headed for the changing rooms. I grabbed some clothes that seemed like her size, and tossed them in. The store clerk was busy not paying attention to the store.
"You decent?" I whispered.
"Yeah," She answered, and I walked in. I quickly removed the metal detector thingy's they put on there, and we walked out.
"I'm hungry, what about you?" I asked gruffly. She shrugged.
"Kinda," She answered, and so we walked to that tea shop the old man ran. We walked in and he greeted me warmly as usual. His nephew was brooding in the corner, scowling before he looked at Speedy.
Then he softened some. It was the kind of look Kana used to give Boomi. I grinned. Oooh, someone was in lovvve.
"How are you today? I see you've brought a friend. Everything is on the house, I'll have my nephew find out what tea you would like while I make your food." He said. Emo boy walked over, and kept making eyes at Speedy. I just leaned back grinning like the devil.
Suddenly, Crane walked in. His features weren't blurred, so I knew he didn't have that creepy mask on, but I didn't need him trying to hurt Speedy, Old Man, or Emo. I got up, grabbed his arm roughly, and hauled him out of the store.
He was smirking darkly by the time we got out on the street, and I glared.
"The Joker's after you, you know." He said, his cold and calculating voice holding no hints of it's usual smugness. I snorted, a sneer working it's way onto my face.
"Please, like that sissy ass bastard could actually catch me," I said, my voice coming out a sarcastic sneer. Crane frowned, in a displeased way that made me pissed. Like that sissy could even touch me; not to mention I have to get him back for burning my poor feet. Ohhhh, just you wait, Twinkle Toes is going to get choked with his own damn girly neck tie.
"You should take this more seriously," Crane said, and I grinned without humor.
"Oh, this coming from a criminal who escaped the loony bin he used to work at. Of course I'll take this piece of information seriously." I said sarcasm thickening.
"I want you to tell me where those bruises came from." He demanded coldly, and I turned my face towards him, leaning my back against the store wall. Emo was still putting his moves on Speedy who's heartbeat had begun to accelerate. I wondered briefly if she was getting angry, or was starting to like the Emo. My grin became a little wider, she would never ever live this one down.
My eyebrows drew together in anger. Why the fuck does everyone want to know about my damn bruises?
"It's none of your god damn business." I snapped, snapping my head to the side to get the bangs out of my face. The smugness was back, and he leaned towards me a little, shoving his hands in his pockets.
"Trying to protect someone Max?" He asked condescendingly, and I could tell instantly that he was just trying to trick me into spilling my guts. Sorry Pretty Boy, It isn't fucking happening. I crossed my arms.
"It's still none of your fucking business Pretty Boy, 'sides, it's not that bad." I said gruffly, shrugging it off. Sissy people think I can't take a punch. Please…
"You're covered in bruises, your face, your arms, your neck…" Pretty Boy said, leaning back and giving me a look like he was indulging an ignorant child.
"What, you think I can't handle a punch or two, Pretty Boy?" I challenged, straightening up off of the building. I uncrossed my arms slowly.
"Max, it looks like you tried to get into a fist fight with numerous large elephants. In this scenario, I'd sympathize with the elephants, but nevertheless, you look awful." Four Eyes explained calmly. I frowned, what the fuck would Pretty Boy know about getting into fights? The man is attractive, and has got a LITTLE bit of muscle, but he was still on the thin side.
"Look Pretty Boy, I'm not some sissy little girl, so you and your concerns can fuck off." I said gruffly, before walking back inside. He walked away once I was inside, and I fought down the urge to hit something.
Speedy was still sitting at the table looking very awkward, and had her head down, determinedly glaring at the table through her square glasses. She looked up at me as I sat, and ignored Emo boy's huge smile as he brought us our noodles and tea.
"What was that about?" Speedy asked, gesturing to the door. I swallowed some noodles and tea before answering.
"It was just Pretty Boy from the loony bin." I said dismissively. She laughed, before smiling at me.
"Pretty Boy?" She asked, her voiced laced with amusment. I grinned.
"Yeah, he's a sissy ass kisser. Used to work in the Asylum as a Doctor, but then he started injecting the patients with this fear toxin. When Batman came after him, he doused the city with it. Turned everything in to a hell hole," I explained, noticing the confused expression on her face.
"Oh. Why isn't he still locked up?" She asked curiously, and my face hardened in anger.
"The bastard used his fear shit on me and escaped." I said, my voice a low and rough growl against the quiet air.
She nodded. I dropped my money on the table, and looked at the door.
"Have fun with your freedom Speedy." I said shortly, and turned to her again. "If you need money, I have plenty. Just meet me here when you need it, and I'll get it to you." I said shortly and walked out. I felt the cold air hit me with a rush, and I walked back to the apartment, ignoring it.
I wonder how long Gordon would have to stay underground…
All of a sudden, I felt a heavy semi move my way.
My eyes widened, and my breath caught as I felt Suit Boy on his bike, racing towards it.
