Chapter 14

Just letting some readers know, I am writing this story for fun and am not overly serious about it. Which means you may see some typos and such. Also, I'm mainly going off the movie version for this fic, so I'm not going to obsessively delve into wads of information on the comics. This is purely for fun and my first story. Thanks to those reviews with constructive criticism and those who truly enjoy reading it!

"You!" I pointed at him and tried rolling the chair with my feet, but the cuffs got caught in the spokes. Brody was scratching on the door. Well, more like body slamming it. He really wanted to get in. Amidst everything, the Joker locked him out of the room. Why that man hasn't just killed my dog yet baffles me beyond belief.

The Joker ignored my pathetic attempts at moving. He was really getting into his conversation. He was holding a gun to his head with Harvey's clammy hand over it.

"Holy hell, Harvey. Shoot him!" I yelled from the corner.

Instead, Harvey held up a coin. Displaying the side for heads, he muttered, "You live…" The Joker nodded, raising his eyebrows. Harvey flipped it over, the tails side charred and ruined. "You die."

The Joker licked his lips. "Now we're talkin'."

I tried craning my head to see the outcome of the coin toss, but Harvey wouldn't hold it up. He just leered at the Joker. That's when I knew.

"Kill him anyway!" Harvey noticed me, looking at me with his lucky coin on the top of one hand and a gun in the other. "Havey!" I yelled as the Joker shut the hospital door behind him, paying both of us no mind. "Do it for Rachel!"

"She's gone!" He screamed, scaring me a little. Getting up, he pushed the hospital covers off the bed. "And we will be too if we don't get out of this damned building."

Brody whined in relief when the door opened, trotting along next to us as we made for a quick exit. I tried not to stare at any part of Harvey's face, for fear he'd think I was looking at the bad side. He dragged me along down the corridor, pushing me to the emergency exit as he took some alternate route.

"Harvey!" It shocked me how childlike I sounded, but the building was definitely going to blow up and I was scared for him.

He waved me away, running down the hallway and disappearing from my sight.

I pushed on the double doors, getting to the parking lot just as the first explosion rocked a section of the building. I shook from the rush of adrenaline coursing through my body, clutching Brody's ruff as I wondered if Harvey got out alright.

From the corner of my eye, I saw a familiar muscular figure in a nurse's outfit hobbling down the empty walkway towards a school bus, simultaneously pressing a button on some controller. He turned around, confused as to why the building wasn't blowing up as extravagantly as he imagined, and I took my chance. Running to the front of the school bus, I told the driver I was a new recruit and discreetly sat towards the middle, Brody in a tense down position under my feet. I was surprised at how he just shrugged, letting me on without a word. I pulled up my sweatshirt hood, wondering why I was even doing this. Either the danger that dad always tried protecting me from or the fact that this asshole killed Rachel and I needed to know why. Maybe I'd shoot him in the knee a few times while asking. Who knows? I was pretty pissed.

The bus motor finally started and we were on the move. I peered out the side of my hood. He sat in the very back, makeup smeared all over his face and arms folded as he stared straight up the aisle. His eyes rested on me for a second, but shifted away when I panicked and decided to look out the window until arrival.

The bus ride was relatively short, but that's because there were two stops. One for the goons and one for their boss. The bus rolled into the back lot of a very tall building and the Joker hopped out the back doors with a large duffel bag slung over one shoulder. I noticed he was wearing one of those plastic clown masks. The bus motor went off again, pulling out of the lot and stopping to turn back on the street to the goons' destination. Once stopped, I pulled the emergency exit and rolled out the door without an ounce of grace. I received a lot of yells and groans as the bus kept going and some of the men tried closing the door. Brody bounded out behind me and sat calmly as I surveyed my scrapes. He kept licking them as I held them up to the light. I laughed, giving him a pat and a big kiss on the head.

I didn't know if this was a smart idea, but I didn't really care. The Joker was out of sight and night was beginning to fall. I looked up towards the roof, thinking I saw movement. A few masked faces appeared and vanished from my sight when I jumped to get a better look. Probably just a group of his expendable employees.

I made a motion for Brody to be quiet and found a back entrance to the building. There were a lot of floors. I sighed and lightly took the first step of what appeared to be 40 flights. Brody was always a few steps ahead of me. I stopped to give him some water from my plastic bottle when we hit the 30th or so flight. Once we almost hit the last floor, Brody stopped short and cocked his head, listening to something I couldn't hear.

I watched him, frozen as his lip turned up in an almost growl. I pinched his rear and motioned again for silence. He kept the upturned lip but didn't growl, thank god.

And that's when I dropped the water bottle. Go Laurel.

Brody heard me make a noise and let out his growls, so I decided to just make an entrance. What the hell, I had no doubt in my mind he heard us anyway.

The spacious room was dark and eerie with lots of windows. He stood with a flashlight and three rottweilers, looking down at the city. He had his purple suit back on, a large trench coat completing the ensemble. I cleared my throat, ignoring Brody's puppy-like tendencies as he crept over to the other dogs and leapt on them. They were dad's, of course. He must've stolen them a while ago, when he met with my father.

"It took longer than I thought it would for you to get up those stairs."

"Yeah, well. Sorry my speed isn't up to par." I was supposed to be infuriated, shooting at him and yelling and asking why he killed Rachel Dawes. And I was just standing there, staring at him like a blithering idiot.

"You know, you're frustrating. If you knew I was there why didn't you just hint it?"

"It was funnier putting you through the uh trouble of getting here. You think putting up your hood would've made you less noticeable?" He cackled and moved from the window.

"Why did you kill Rachel?"

"You look ravishing in this light, little Chechen."

"Answer my question."

"Uhhh… no."

"Now." I pulled out a dull knife, receiving only a fit of laughter. He clutched his stomach and bent over, hysterical.

I think I surprised him when I actually threw it. The blade wedged through the purple fabric and into the skin of his shoulder. He stopped laughing and grabbed at the handle, pulling the blade out and throwing it into the wall behind me.

I didn't even flinch as he advanced. I was prepared for a fight. He pinned me against the nearest wall, holding my wrists against the plaster. I kicked him in the gut and yelled encouragement at the dogs, who were biting his heels. They may be with the Joker now, but they do remember who raised them.

He grabbed the knife embedded in the wall beside my head, raising it to my face and drawing thin lines across my cheek. I could feel the blood trickle down my face. He yelled as one of the dogs bit him in the back of the calf and I grabbed the knife, gently pushing it into his stomach. Why we weren't slicing each other up was beyond me. This probably goes down as the oddest fight I've ever been in.

I applied more force to the knife and he dropped to the floor, taking me with him. We rolled on the dirty cement until I had him pinned, knife against his throat. I don't know what came over me. I could've killed him, slit his throat and watched his blood pour across the floor. Avenged Rachel for Harvey. Ran. Instead of choosing any of those sensible options, I kissed him.

At first there was nothing but surprising gentility. His whole body tensed in shock. After a few seconds though, he kissed back. He ran his hand around my waist and pulled me into his lap as my arms wound about his neck. I made sure to kiss his scars, every inch of them. He groaned and pulled me closer, crushing his lips against mine and fisting a hand in my long hair. I surprised myself with a growl when he bit my lip, drawing blood. He pulled away the slightest bit, resting his forehead against mine. I closed my eyes and let out a breath, opening them and watching it form a small cloud in the air.

A faraway clang caught my attention. The Joker let out a loud laugh as I pushed away from him and scrambled to the wall. The clangs progressively grew closer and I called Brody over to me.

A dark figure stood in the doorway, cape billowing out behind him. The Dark Knight had arrived