A/N: Hi, everyone! Aren't you proud of me, back so soon AND with the next installment? :) Anyways, here's Chapter Eleven, which means that my story is about halfway done! (Yup, it's a lot longer than The Heart Behind the Madness, the prequel. If you haven't read that, go back and do so!) Please continue to read, subscribe and review! Your support is precious to me! ~G

Chapter Eleven: Smile

Gwen slept peacefully that night and dreamed happy dreams. The next morning, her mind still buzzing from the events of the night before, she shrugged on a scarlet short-sleeved shirt with a hood and a pair of pale yellow Capri pants and headed into work. As she headed downtown towards the building, she thought she heard the whirring of helicopters in the distance. But as the GPD came into view, her blood ran cold.

The entire building was surrounded by a myriad of bomb squad vehicles. Even as she watched, another troop of them stormed inside. Police helicopters whirred overhead, circling the GPD headquarters. Media vans were parked up and down the entire street, reporting on the chaos before them. The entire GPD staff seemed to be gathered in the front lot, milling about among the parked cars as they watched their building being ransacked.

Gwen parked near the corner and quickly filled the parking meter with quarters before making a beeline for her building. About halfway there, she was accosted by a news crew who asked for her opinion on the GPD emergency.

"I'd love to answer your question, but for the moment I'd like to find out what the emergency is," she answered, shaking them off before they could respond.

From the outside, the building looked fine, as Gwen saw when she reached her destination. She quickly scanned the crowd, looking for familiar faces, but saw none. Growing more anxious as each second passed, she began to fight her way closer to the building, looking desperately for someone she knew: Gordon, Ramirez, anyone. Finally, she spotted Detective Stephens standing alone by one of the parked cars, presumably his, grimly surveying the scene. She ran up to him, panting.

"Stephens! What's going on?"

"Miss Fleming! You're here. Thank goodness."

"Sir, I just got here. Could you please tell me what's going on? Why are all these bomb squads here?"

Stephens looked away from her, back towards the building. Another team was going in through the front doors. "Long story short, we received a package in the mail around seven this morning."

"A package?" Gwen asked, perplexed. "What's so special about that?"

"It's from J."

"Oh, no," she said. "It is? Are you sure?"

"The only way to be one hundred percent is to open and see. That's what the bomb squad is here for."

"Right, right, I've got you now. I understand. You think the package contains explosives."

"We couldn't rule out that possibility, but with J, one can never be sure."

You have no idea, Gwen thought to herself.

The GPD crisis persisted throughout the morning. Gwen and Detective Stephens managed to locate Gordon over by one of the bomb squad vans, and the threesome discussed the situation as the hours ticked by. All of Gwen's friends called at least once to make sure she was alright.

"Don't get blown to bits," warned Reeva.

"Be really careful!" Tracy begged.

"Whatever you do, don't go in until they tell you to," Deb advised her. "Better yet, wait until they tell you, and then wait until everybody else has gone in. Then you'll know it's safe."

Then, Gwen's mom called, and it took twenty minutes to convince her that she really was playing it safe. Around ten, the bomb squads announced the all-clear: the package had been opened, and no explosives were inside. However, they implied that something had been found, as they didn't take the package with them when they left. The GPD staff waited until the last of the bomb squads had departed to reenter their building.

Unlike the Wayne Enterprises bomb scare, the GPD had not been completely and utterly destroyed on the inside, since the bomb squads already knew where the bomb would have been located, had it been the real thing. The package had been left in Major Crime, the division of the building to which it had been sent. Gordon, Stephens and Gwen were the first people back in the unit.

The package was sitting inside one of the holding cells, the brightest places in the room, and the easiest places to see just what had been inside of it. Despite the all-clear, the three approached the box a bit cautiously. Gwen walked in to the holding cell first. The box was simplistic and made of cardboard. The flaps had been torn open, revealing that the package was filled almost to the brim with packing peanuts. Gwen looked back at Stephens and Gordon, both of whom were filing into the cell behind her.

"May I touch it?"

"Go ahead," Gordon nodded. "It's safe now."

With that, Gwen began digging through the packing peanuts, looking for something, anything, inside of it. After a couple of moments, her fingers brushed a sheet of paper, which she quickly took hold of and pulled out of the box.

"I've found something," she reported. The paper was yellowed and old-looking, folded in four.

"Open it," Gordon ordered.

Gingerly, Gwen unfolded the paper, only to see it had been inscribed with a short note in spidery handwriting. Gwen paused for a moment, and then read it aloud.

Dear Lieutenant Gordon,

This letter marks a sad date, indeed: the end of the wonderful game I've been playing with the youth of Gotham. Yes, their fun is done, but I've moved on to bigger and better things. A guy like me has to keep moving. Don't despair…I'm sure we'll meet again…

Smile.

~The Joker

A/N: Ta-da! Personally, I think that that is some of the best Joker dialogue I've put together so far in the entire story. I was quite proud of myself when I wrote that, but if you disagree, please let me know. I love to hear your comments. Be looking forward to Chapter Twelve, in which the infinitely rich and famous Bruce Wayne gives Gwen a surprise she was never expecting! Wayne fans, hang on to your hats! ~G