She wasn't sure what was louder; the clicking of her heels against the wet pavement or the pounding of her heart as she made her way by foot toward Wayne Tower. The glowing building stretched out high in front of her, casting refracted light patterns on the freshly soaked sidewalks. The sun had set forty minutes before, leaving her walking in the dark. A car horn sounded somewhere behind her, causing her to jump out of her skin, and she cursed herself once more for not allowing the driver to drop her off at the door. Instead she had told him to go on and park the vehicle and allow her to walk the short distance toward the building. Normally such a walk in Uptown Gotham would not bother her in the least. She was more than capable of taking care of herself. But the Joker set her on edge, just as he did everyone. He could strike at anytime, in anyway, and without any warning. His sick and distorted perspective kept anyone from being able to predict his next move and she could not stand the unpredictable.
Bruce had texted an hour earlier, telling her that he'd been held up at the office. He was sorting through Alfred's personal assets, most of which he had been unaware of. Alfred apparently had held stock and bonds within Wayne Enterprises, deals that had been struck with Bruce's father, Thomas, before Bruce's birth. They were keeping Alfred's death quiet for the time being, so Bruce had not called in the Wayne lawyers to help sort through it. Rachel had offered her assistance, but Bruce had declined her offer. However, now she was on her way to help anyway. She felt helpless and jumpy alone at home and wanted to set her brain to work on something other than her worries and fears.
She flashed her identification to three security officers, two at the door and one at a desk before heading toward the elevator. Hitting the button for the top floor, she mulled over ways to bring some light back into their lives. Everything had seemed like a constant battle with darkness and depression lately. They had been surrounded by death and had little chance to celebrate the new life that was forming within her. It had been a month since she had first told Bruce about the baby, but so much had happened within the last few weeks that it seemed a lifetime. She was becoming desperate to get out of Gotham. It seemed that Gotham had a ball and chain attached to them, constantly pulling them down several feet for every inch they crawled out. She was feeling trapped to the point of almost madness and wanted to run. But this was a fight that she had to hold out for and win. She simply kept going by keeping the picture in her mind of what she wanted life to be. One day, she believed she would reach that moment when she could take a deep breath, look around, and want nothing more.
The elevator dinged and the doors opened. She made her way quickly toward the secretary, who looked up at her with a light frown.
"Miss Dawes?"
"Hi, Trudy. Can you let Bruce know I'm here?" Rachel smiled.
"Well, I'd love to, but I can't."
"And why not?" Rachel questioned, a frown now forming on her own face.
"Mr. Wayne left over an hour ago with Mr. Fox. He mentioned that he was heading home to spend time with you."
Rachel took a step back, looking toward Bruce's closed office doors. "He texted me and told me he'd be here for a while longer."
"I'm sure there's been a misunderstanding. Perhaps I can call him for you?"
"Yes, please do. Do you mind if I step into his office for a moment? Just to check? Maybe he came back in when you weren't here."
"Go ahead," Trudy motioned her forward, already holding her phone to her ear.
Rachel headed into the office slowly. The lights were off, although Rachel was certain she had seen them on from the street below. She'd looked up on her way toward the building to see. The room was dead silent and she reached to the right, fumbling for the switch. When it was on, she saw that the back of Bruce's chair was facing her. Instantly feeling a tingling sensation work its way up her spine she stepped backward. The chair spun slowly around and she found herself staring at the Joker, his posture mimicking that of Marlon Brando in The Godfather.
"Hello Miss Dawes," he greeted softly.
Rachel's first thought was to protect Trudy and get her out of the office. She looked over her shoulder to send the mother of three away, her breath catching in her throat when she saw Trudy hunched over her desk, a puddle of blood pouring from her neck. Rachel gasped and rushed toward her.
"Trudy?!" Rachel shouted, forcing her to a sitting position. She saw a fishing line pulled through the middle of her neck, slashing it horizontally all the way across. Sobs instantly erupted from Rachel as she saw that Bruce's secretary was dead. She spun around to face the most disgusting human being she had ever met. "Why did you do it? She had nothing to do with any of this. She was an innocent bystander."
"You take the word innocent very lightly, Miss Dawes," he told her, leaning against the open office doorway.
"She has three children."
"Had. She had three children."
Rachel stared at him, bottom lip quivering. He stared back, a smile forming on his lips.
"Oh, don't look so downtrodden. They'll be fine. They'll move on with their lives. The world will keep spinning. It always does."
"What did you do with Bruce?"
"He received what he believed was a text from you asking him to come home. And then I believe you received a text from him telling you he'd be here a while longer? That's why you're here?"
Rachel nodded. "What do you want?"
"You know what I want, Miss Dawes."
She swallowed.
"But I remember you offering something else to me the last time we were together, and it's not like me to pass up on such an excellent opportunity."
She paled to the lightest grey possible and fumbled backward to the wall as he moved toward her. His left hand grabbed her hip and his right rested at the back of her head, his fingers pulling her hair. She let out a frightened whimper as his lips closed in towards her neck. She was frozen with fear, her eyes darting around for any source of hope. It was then that she noticed the phone was sitting on the desk instead of on the stand, and on the screen she saw Bruce's name. The phone call Trudy had been placing to Bruce was still connected. Bruce was listening. Help was on its way.
That information was enough to set her in motion. She had to draw the Joker away from the possibility of running into anymore innocent people and keep herself alive. She relaxed her body, allowing the Joker further access to her. He moved closer, hungrily taking what she offered for himself. She allowed him three seconds, enough to give herself a chance to focus all of her energy on escaping him. She then took a deep breath and kneed him where it counted. He was completely unsuspecting and hollered from the shock and pain. She let out a horrific scream as adrenaline coursed through her veins and she took off running for the stairs. He caught up to her quickly and with the adrenaline she vividly remembered every bit of hand to hand combat training Bruce had given her in preparation for a situation like this. As the Joker's hands grappled for her waist, clawing at her, she sent her elbow backward into his face. Something cracked at the collision, but she wasn't sure if it was her elbow or his cheek bone. Regardless, damage had been done and she was gaining an advantage. She slipped from his grasp and pulled open the door to the stairs. He was too close behind her to pull the door shut and block him out, so she kept moving. She flew up the stairs to what she knew would lead to the roof. Batman would reach her much more quickly there, and it kept other people in the building out of harm's way. But as soon as she reached the roof, and the whipping wind hit her, she realized what a dangerous situation she had put herself into. If Bruce didn't come, she was alone with a furious Joker who wanted her dead.
With nowhere to go, she spun around to face him, her hands up to protect herself. She saw blood pouring from his obviously broken nose. But the most frightening was the wild look in his eyes. It was a look of hatred, and she suddenly knew that he was going to kill her.
"I'm curious as to why you would run up the stairs to the roof when you could have found help just a floor below," he laughed. "You played right into my hand."
"Did I?" She questioned.
"Unless you knew that help would be better found up here?"
"Look around you…" She told him. "Darkness has fallen. And with darkness comes your worst nightmare."
"Evil thrives in the darkness, Rachel," he objected. "You're the one that needs to look around."
He moved toward her, grabbing her and pinning her arms down at her sides. He spun her so that she was facing the horizon.
"What do you see?"
"A beautiful city," She whispered.
"That's because you're trapped in your idealistic views. You haven't seen the truth in your entire life. It's all been a façade. You've been wearing a mask your entire life. It's time to face reality, Rachel," He said, his mouth next to her ear. "You've spent your entire life trying to gain something that doesn't even exist. There is no such thing as good. There is no light. No beauty."
She remained silent, listening to him and watching for a glimpse of Batman.
"That park that you spent Sunday evenings walking in with Harvey…there's three bodies buried under the ground by the fountain you walked by every time."
Rachel tensed. How long had he been watching her?
"Your old apartment? The one in midtown? The tenant before you was raped and beaten there seventeen times before she was murdered and trashed in a dumpster three blocks away. And I think you know this next story well… the so called hero, Harvey Dent, abused and raped you for months. What did you do? You wore a mask of pretend love and contentment, convincing yourself that somewhere and someday you'd find something better. But that's all it was. A mask. A joke. There is nothing out there that is truly good. Nothing. No one."
"You're wrong," She whispered, tears pouring down her cheeks. "I wish you could see how wrong you are…"
"Look at me!" He shouted, grabbing her face and turning her toward him. "Your entire life has been a joke. It's been pointless. All of these people on this planet spend their days searching and seeking something better and they never find it. Wake up! See the world for what it really is."
"Have you ever thought that maybe you're the one who isn't seeing the world correctly?" She dared to ask.
He stared at her for several seconds and then burst to a hideous bout of hysterical laughter. "There's no getting through to you people. It's really madness."
"The only one here who's mad is you, Joker," Batman growled from somewhere behind them.
Rachel looked over the Joker's shoulder to see Batman standing on the edge of the building, his cape whipping around him. The Joker's face showed his sense of accomplishment. At last he had lured in the Dark Knight.
"Ah, how kind of you to join us," The Joker giggled. "Now the real fun can begin."
"Let Miss Dawes go. This is between you and me."
"Yes, yes it is…" The Joker agreed. "Thank you so much, Rachel, for so cleverly playing your part in my plan. Your services have been much enjoyed and appreciated."
Rachel closed her eyes and looked away as he looked at her. When she opened her eyes again, she gasped. Staring her right in the eyes was the barrel of a gun.
"Seeing as how your part in my plan is now complete, I'd say it's time we end your wasteful and pointless existence," He said.
"Please…please don't."
"Ah, now, Rachel, don't take it so hard. We've already established there's nothing worth being here for anyway."
"Put the gun down," Batman growled, slowly approaching. "Let her go."
The Joker grinned, "Heartwarming, truly. But I'd rather not."
He cocked the gun with a deafening click. Rachel froze, all traces of adrenaline leaving her in a cold panic. Her eyes flew to Bruce's and she saw the fear in them. The fear shifted to anger and hatred, and she saw the fire return to his eyes. He stepped forward, acting quickly. The gun clattered to the ground, firing a shot into the nearby air-conditioning unit. The Joker had been unprepared for Batman's skill, but he fought back anyway. The two engaged in hand to hand, each taking blows. Rachel took the opportunity to rise to her feet and help. She tripped the Joker up, her leg kicking the back of his knees and knocking him off balance. He fell to the ground face first, but directly on top of the gun and before either of them could act further, rolled over, pointing the gun at both of them. They both froze.
"Sorry to disappoint you, but it appears you aren't meant to win this one," the Joker laughed.
The gun was once again pointed at Rachel. This time, he intended to hit his target. This time, she wouldn't be so lucky.
She knew the gun had been fired before she heard the shot. It reverberated through her ears with a deafening bang. She closed her eyes, waiting for the impact, but it never came. She heard a thud and opened her eyes to see Batman collapse to the ground at her feet, his head flopping lifelessly to the left and blood pooling up around him.
