And another one! Two in a row to make up for the general lameness of my brief time away from the story. Tell me how you like it, or dislike it. AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING!
10: We Will Take Action
Jack stood up quickly and took the binoculars from me. "So," there was a long pause, "That's Officer Blake." There was no denying the anger in his voice, that lingering anger from when I first told him about John. He had grown so angry that day, I was even worried he would kill him, but I asked him not to. Jack was always the one, John was a blip, an apparition that shouldn't have been. We had moved past it, but now things were different.
"Better than it being Batman, right?" I tried to diffuse the situation. "We can probably move in."
"That's a stupid idea."
"My plan, remember. We are only like, two blocks from the house. If we hurry we can get back while she is still there." I began putting our things away and we were off. Once at the house we quickly changed. I wore most of my Stealing Siren outfit, equipped with knives and one gun. He put on a suit we had found in the home. It wasn't nearly as lavish as the ones I had made him, but he refused to wear normal clothes. He even managed to find a tin of face paint. Once we had grabbed all we needed we were on our way. We entered the building, and found the right door. I listened, "Nothing." I pulled out the lock pick and went to work. Click. We were in. No one. We looked through the rooms. Nothing. "This is perfect." I walked to the door and locked it once more. They wouldn't know we were here. While we waited I prepped a chair to tie her up in. I wanted this to go as smoothly as possible. I kept an eye out through the window slyly. Then I saw them approaching. All three of them, perfect. "As much as I love you, you should probably hide for just a bit. Two cops won't be too happy to see you. I will signal for you when I need you." We went into the bathroom, but before I shut the door I kissed him. I would have to hide, too. I positioned myself behind a wall, gun drawn; my stomach was knotting up and my blood was pumping. I heard the keys jingling. Heart rate increase. Slightly light-headed. Just focus. They will enter, wait a moment, then come out and say… say what? Freeze? Nobody move? Please? Shit, I was so unprepared. All of my plans and none for right now. The door opened and I heard them walking in.
"So that's the plan, Miranda." That must be Gordon; it sure as hell wasn't John.
"You have my help, I promise." The mystery woman, 'Miranda.'
"John, get the woman some tea." Tea? Shit. I looked around. I was in the kitchen. Wait, this is good. I held up the hand with the gun as if to say, I won't shoot; and with the other I put a finger to my mouth to say be quiet. After a few second there was John. He jumped slightly, but thankfully he didn't say anything. I motioned for him to continue. I looked around for a piece of paper and something to write with. Right on the counter, pad of paper and a pen. 'She is with Bane.' I held it up. He shook his head. I wrote again. 'I saw it.' I held up the page. He looked at me. There he was. Searching for truth in my eyes, and finding it quickly. I was glad he was here. He wanted Gotham safe more than I did. He began to walk into the other room, but I scribbled something else. 'Joker is here, don't be afraid.' He gave an annoyed look and grabbed the notepad, then continued into the other room.
"Hey Gordon, I have a friend that's coming over. She say's she has some useful information."
"Oh really? Do you trust her?"
"With my life, at the moment," he laughed. "We should sit down." I heard some rustling. Here is my chance. John moved the other guy out of the way. I took a moment to peek into the room and see where I would be aiming. With my free hand I pulled a knife, just in case. I took a small breath in and out and went for it.
"Nobody move." My gun was pointed directly at the woman. She was much more beautiful up close. "Please, or I will have to hurt you. I am John's friend. But I am here because of the company you keep, my dear," I was surprised when she jumped up, but my aim was still perfect. A blade to her arm. She still kept coming. She was almost a match for me, or at least more than I had expected. "Sweetie!" I sang. Then the Joker came out of the bathroom. The woman was still so engrossed with fighting me that she didn't notice my love as he came up behind her and restrained her. I grabbed the rope and noticed the look of worry on the other man's face as John tried to explain. Deal with that later; now we tie her up. I was thankful we had prepped the chair, because she was quite the handful. I even had to use the spare rope, just to be sure. No slip-ups today. I pulled the knife out of her arm when we were done, and she screamed. I pulled off a length of duct tape and shut her up. "I will talk to you later," I turned to the two men whose faces were now both stricken with worry. "I am sorry about that, who would've thought she would be such a fighter? I'm Rose and this is the Joker, and you are?" I extended my hand (bloody glove and all) to the man.
"Jim Gordon. Commissioner."
"It's a pleasure to meet you. Wish the circumstances were a bit nicer though." I laughed. The Joker laughed from behind me.
"Hello, Commissioner," the Joker back to his full terrifying glory. We sat down, I tried to keep a civilized smile on my face.
"I am sure this is strange for both of you, and for that I am so sorry. But this is the first big lead we've gotten." Quiet. "See, I have been keeping tabs on the masked man for a few weeks. Today he slipped up and went to see this woman," I pointed to the crazed figure in the chair. "We saw them getting cozy on a couch, and I knew. I knew I had to speak with her. Unfortunately she couldn't have been calm about the whole thing. But she led us here, and now here we are."
"You saw her with Bane?" the Commissioner spoke.
"With my own two eyes." I noticed the disgust in his face. "Now, as much as I can understand where she is coming from, I have a problem. We have a debt to this city, and we need to pay it. The only way to do that is by saving it, and we have to go through her to do it."
John finally spoke in his gentle voice, "How can she help you do that?"
I laughed for a minute. "She has information, and knowledge is power."
"So you want to interrogate her?" Gordon piped in.
"For the most part. Here, if you'd let me. Moving her would be too risky, and things are risky enough as it is. Feel free to discuss, we have time."
They debated for a while. John was on my side, and Gordon was apprehensive. Jack was annoyed. I could sense the anger in him. He was just staring at John. I held his hand and placed my other on his face, turning it towards me. My thumbs rubbed his hand and face. The anger was dissipating. By the time it was as far gone as it had ever been the Commissioner interrupted us.
"Fine, but we get to question her first. If that's alright with you?"
"Of course, sir. That's not a problem."
