It was strange, how everything could change so suddenly.
One moment, she had been more concerned about being close to Bruce then anything, and the next she was worrying about Rachel's life.
Jules wasn't used to slipping from persona to persona so quickly, and perhaps that was what caused her reaction.
Batwoman wouldn't have needed Batman to save her if she had been thinking clearly…
Sighing, Jules nestled her head on Tiny's side, curling up into the warm body.
If she hadn't been so shaken, Jules would have figured out about Joker's plan to kill the judge and Commissioner Loeb…
Closing her eyes to hold in the tears, the brunette hardly noticed Tiny licking her cheeks.
'I'm messing up, and people are getting hurt because of it…'
"Sweetheart?"
Raising her head, Jules sniffled a moment before pulling on a smile.
"Yeah, grandpa?"
He hesitated a moment before wrapping his granddaughter in a hug, startling her.
"None of this is your fault, sweetie. None of it."
After a moment, the brunette returned the hug and rested her head on his shoulder.
"…I'm not so sure, grandpa…"
Grandpa Mike sighed, listening to her pulse as he tried to think of something that would take her pain away.
Seeing his granddaughter, his only living relative, hurting so much because of someone else certainly struck a cord with him.
Jules was the most precious person to him, and he loved her more than he loved himself.
'That basturd…'
Beginning to pull back, Jules gave a stronger smile, not looking quite as cracked as before.
"Sorry, but…There's business."
Standing, the brunette rubbed at her eyes and headed towards her room to get ready…
Chuckling to himself, the Joker looked at the dead men with some pride.
THIS was bound to get Batwoman's attention, if not Batman's.
He was hoping more for Batwoman, though.
Ever since meeting her face-to-face, he was intrigued by her as much as he was intrigued by Julia.
'And where WAS little Julia?'
Part of him had gone to that fundraiser to see her again, but the girl had been nowhere in sight.
It was a slight disappointment, but Batwoman's appearance had certainly made the Joker feel better.
She certainly looked much more…enticing in person.
Almost like…
Things were clicking into place, and his grin widened unnaturally.
'Now THAT'S an interesting thought…'
"We have business."
Sighing, Jules straightened out her black dress as she held the phone against her shoulder.
"I can't make it. The ceremony for Commissioner Loeb is tomorrow, and I have to go."
"It's the Joker."
Freezing, Jules tried to listen past the roaring of blood in her ears…
"…I'll be there."
Standing by the door, Batwoman felt her stomach start to churn at the sight of two dead officers in a run-down apartment.
These police officers…
She KNEW them.
Officer Harvey had gotten her Sunshine Caf when Gordan was busy, and Officer Dent had played chess with her.
'Wait a sec…'
Emerald eyes narrowed behind the mask, and Batwoman's fists tightened.
'Harvey Dent. It's a threat.'
Scanning the room for anything else that might be useful, she spotted a hole in the wall.
Walking towards it as Batman spoke with Gordan, the femme fatale studied the hole more closely.
'Bullet hole. Must still be in there.'
Taking a small tool from her belt, Batwoman proceeded to cut a square around the hole.
Once sure she had the bullet, or at least its fragments, she pulled the chunk of concrete free of the wall.
Putting it in a plastic bag and sealing it, the vigilante turned to see Gordan holding up a newspaper.
'I must be out of it worse than I thought. Usually, I never miss people talking…'
Reading the front page, her stomach fell further.
'Oh CRAP…'
It was of the ceremony, a picture of the mayor…
With a Joker smile on his face.
Sitting beside Rachel and Harvey on the stage, Jules couldn't help the urge to fidget like a child in church.
Exhaustion wasn't necessarily new, but she had never had nightmares before.
Sleep had been tainted with images of the Joker, with the bodies of her closest friends…
The thoughts shattered under the weight of Jules' certainty, knowing that Bruce wouldn't let him keep killing.
'We'll stop him…We HAVE to…'
A hand covered hers, and green eyes looked up to see Rachel, who tried to look comforting.
Managing a smile in return, Jules squeezed back before looking back into space.
There was too much to think about to relax, and if she didn't stay vigilant…
The mayor was done talking, and the men raised their guns to fire into the air.
Jules stiffened, either from instincts or her irrational fear of gunfire she couldn't tell.
'He wanted people with GUNS here? Doesn't he realize how DANGEROUS this is?!'
Apparently, it was JUST as dangerous as Jules feared…
Something snapped above, and the snipers positioned around the street fired at the window the sound originated from.
While they did that, the line of men on the street turned to aim at the mayor…
Jules was out of her seat before she registered movement, and Rachel shouted for her not to.
But the protector in her, the Batwoman in her, would NOT let the Joker win this time.
The first shot lodged itself in her shoulder, and the force sent her back against the podium.
Crying out at the sharp pain, Jules slumped on the wood, trying to clear her thoughts enough to stand.
'Not done…NOT DONE…'
"JULIA!"
Her eyes snapped open, locked on Gordan as he jumped to protect her as another shot went off…
"JIM!"
Everything seemed to stop when she watched the bullet hit home…
Tears filled her eyes now, and ignoring the blood seeping onto her, Jules moved to his side.
"Jim! Come on, old man! You can't die on me now!"
Her heart cracked as she found no pulse, and the tears stung as they escaped her lids.
"Damn it, old man! You better not die! DON'T YOU DARE!"
A paramedic grabbed her arm, dragging Jules away as her vision swam from blood loss.
"NO! Let me go!"
Struggling only made the blood come faster, and it soaked through the whole right side of her dress.
If she left, then the reality would sink in, and her fears would be too much…
The paramedics refused to release her though, and they set her down in the back of ambulance to try and stop the building.
Shock was wearing off, and the pain constricted her muscles as reality slammed into her like a semi.
The tears were more powerful now, and sobs wracked her chest as Jules let out her grief.
It didn't matter that the sobs aggravated her wound, or that she had a bullet lodged in her flesh.
Gordan was DEAD.
Her friend, her confidante, her FAMILY…
It was as close to the heart as anyone could get without going after her grandfather or Bruce, and it HURT.
'Why? Why can't he just STOP?'
Jules couldn't find an answer, no matter how hard she wished for one…
Sitting in the penthouse, Jules stared over her bent knees at the floor as her thoughts drifted by like smoke.
Alfred, seeing her pain, had gone to make her double hot chocolate and get some of her favorite Oreo cookies.
There was nothing he could say that would make Jules feel better, nothing Grandpa Mike could say, and it hurt them just as much.
An arm wrapped around her shoulder, and green eyes snapped up to see Bruce, his own pain mirroring hers.
The tears came back, and Jules hugged him close, staining his shirt with her grief.
Bruce didn't move, only rubbed her back comfortingly as he spotted the bandages swathing the young brunette's shoulder.
'I can't let this continue. He'll continue to kill, and Jules will continue to put herself in danger.'
That thought hurt more than Bruce thought it would, and it made his arm tighten around her shoulders.
'If she dies…'
He couldn't finish that sentence, even in his head, and Bruce already knew what he had to do.
'I won't drag Jules any further into this. I'll give myself up and keep her safe.'