Title: Control

Fandom: The Dark Knight

Rating: M

Pairing: OC/Joker/Harley

Genre: Drama/Angst

Disclaimer: Unfortunately I don't own the Joker or Batman.

A/N: It might be a while before there's some direct Lacy/Joker interaction, but there will be some indirect interactions coming up in a couple of chapters. All I ask is that you're patient because I'll make it up to you later! Enjoy!

Chapter Fourteen

"Thanks for coming." Alfred told Lacy as he opened the front door for her. He took a look at her appearance and raised his eyebrow disapprovingly but said nothing. She had warned him that she would be doing things that seemed uncharacteristic of her, so he assumed this new style of dressing was one of those things.

"It's no problem." She assured him. She had noticed the weird look Alfred gave her but didn't say anything about it. She was probably just imagining it. "I'd do anything to help Bruce, but I'm not sure why he would want to talk to me—especially if he's not talking to you. But, like you said, it's worth a try."

"I brought him a tray of food earlier but I doubt he's eaten anything…"

"I'll try to see if I can get him to eat too." Lacy gave him a smile before heading to Bruce's room. She took a deep breath before knocking on his door.

"Go away!" Bruce's voice bellowed from the other side.

Lacy ignored the request, turning the knob and entering the room with a hesitant smile. "Hey."

"I said go away." He told her, turning his head away from her to look out the window.

"Oh." She feigned innocence. "I could have sworn you said come in." She shrugged. "Oh well. I'm in here now so I might as well stay for a bit. How are you doing?"

"How do you think I'm doing?" He replied bitterly.

She took a look at the tray Alfred had brought in. "It looks like you haven't even touched your dinner."

"What are you? The food police?" Bruce asked.

"No." Lacy laughed, going over to the side of his bed. "I'm just a casual observer."

"Why are you here?" Bruce asked softly.

"I wanted to check on you and see how you're doing." She replied.

"Well as you can see, I'm alive and well so you can leave now." Bruce told her, still not looking over at her. He really just wanted to be left alone. Why couldn't anyone understand that?

"You're definitely alive," she chuckled, "but I don't think you're well."

"That's just your opinion." He stated, finally turning his head to look at her. When he did, he was surprised by what he saw. She was wearing extremely provocative clothes, which was highly unlike her. He couldn't help but stare as his eyes roamed up and down her body. "Nice outfit."

It was then that she realized she was still wearing the same outfit she wore to meet with Vincent Maroni. That explained the weird look Alfred gave her earlier. She blushed at the way Bruce was looking at her and, feeling slightly self-conscious, zipped up her jacket so that her cleavage wasn't hanging out there for all to see. Then she tried to pull her skirt down a little farther but it wouldn't go.

He couldn't help but smile and chuckle softly. "Did you wear that to cheer me up?"

She smiled back at him. "Not exactly, but it is nice to see you smile again. I actually had a meeting with someone earlier this evening."

The smile left his face. "Someone that you needed to dress like that for?" He sighed, realizing that she was already starting to go through with her insane plan to kill the Joker. "Do I even want to know who you met with?"

"Probably not." She shook her head. "You wouldn't like it if I told you."

"Well it's not like there's anything I can do about it now, seeing as how I'm stuck here indefinitely." He spat out bitterly. "So why not tell me?"

"Because it would only make you angry and worried, and you don't need to worry about me right now." She explained, taking a seat in the chair next to him. "You need to focus on getting better."

"I'm already angry, though not at you. And I'm still worried about you so I'd be no worse off than I am now." He countered.

"Save it." She laughed. "I'm not telling you anything so deal with it."

"Fine." He pouted.

"So you're not angry with me?" She asked softly after a few minutes of silence.

"No." He shook his head. "Why would I be?"

"It's my fault you got shot." She answered.

"No it's not." He assured her, resting his hand on hers. "I knew what I was doing when I pushed you to the ground. I don't blame you and neither should you."

"I don't deserve a friend like you." She told him, squeezing his hand softly.

"Yes you do." He told her. "But seeing as we're friends, can you do me a favor?"

"Sure." She would gladly do him a favor, especially since he had saved her life twice. "What do you need?"

"I need to be left alone." He said. "I need you and Alfred to leave me alone."

She snorted and rolled her eyes. "Sorry. That's one favor I can't do."

"Why not?" He asked, getting angry again. "I just want to be by myself. Why is that such a bad thing?"

"Because you don't have to go through this alone. You have people that care about you and want to help you with this." She explained.

"How are you or Alfred going to help me with this?" He asked. "Tell me because I'd really like to know."

She sighed. A few minutes earlier she thought she was finally getting him to open up but now she felt like she was right back where she was when she first got here. But then she realized why Alfred wanted her to come in and talk to Bruce. "I can help you because I've been in your position. Granted, not your exact position, but close enough that I can empathize."

Lacy saw that she had his attention so she continued. "I know what it feels like to want to move a part of your body and not be able to. I know how frustrating it is to desperately try to command your body to obey you only to have it refuse. It's disheartening, de-moralizing and a major pain in the ass."

"I know what I went through with the Joker paralyzing me isn't the exact same thing that you're going through now but it's similar enough that it allows me to say that I know some of the things that must be going through your mind right now."

Truthfully, he hadn't even thought about it, but she was right. When the Joker paralyzed her she probably had some of the same thoughts he has now. "I guess you do know what this is like."

"Yeah." She shook her head. "And quite honestly, it sucks."

"Yeah it does." Bruce laughed.

"So why do you want to be alone so badly?" She asked.

"I just…" he thought about it for a moment. "I don't how to ask for help and I don't know how to be weak or vulnerable. Right now I have to be both of those things and I don't like it at all."

"That's understandable." She said. "But you can't shut Alfred out like this. He's worried sick about you. He cares about you so much and…"

"I know." He interrupted. "I just can't bear to see the look in his eyes. It's almost as bad as the look in your eyes."

"What look?" She asked, curious about what he was talking about. She didn't know she was giving him a look.

"The look of pity that you have whenever you look at me." He explained.

"I don't pity you Bruce." She told him softly. "I feel bad for you but it's not pity. It's more guilt than anything. And Alfred doesn't pity you either. We're just worried."

"Well I'm fine." He told her, crossing his arms across his chest like an insolent child would do.

She couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah. You're fine. There's absolutely nothing wrong with you."

"It's not funny." He scolded her.

Lacy sighed. "Look, I don't care if you share your thoughts with me, Alfred, or the Easter bunny. You just need to talk about this with someone. You've been a trauma and it's not good to hold it all inside. Isn't that what you have told me several times since we've met?"

She had a point there. He had always pressured her to talk about what she was going through. He hated it when she was right. "Fine. You want me to share what I'm thinking right now?" He saw her shake her head yes.

"Then I will." He prepared to let her know everything he was thinking. "What if I can't be Batman anymore? What if I can't walk ever again and am confined to a wheelchair? What am I going to do then? My whole identity is wrapped up in being Batman. Without him, I'm just…"

"You're just Bruce Wayne. You're absolutely right. Without Batman, you're really nothing." She interrupted.

He couldn't believe she was saying that. It was one thing for him to say it about himself, but wasn't she supposed to be trying to convince him that he was wrong?

She could see the wheels spinning in his mind as he wondered where she was going with this train of thought so she continued. "Without Batman you are just a man. You're just an amazingly wonderful, funny, intelligent, caring man."

He could see now that she was trying to use reverse psychology on him. "That's not going to work."

"What's not going to work?" She asked innocently.

"Reverse psychology." He answered.

Lacy knew that she had been found out and smiled. "The point I'm trying to make is that you're wrong about your whole identity being wrapped up in Batman. Batman is only a part of who you are."

"A big part." He corrected her.

"You weren't always Batman though." She pointed out. "You were just Bruce Wayne then and if God forbid this paralysis is permanent—which I don't think it is, you'll just be Bruce Wayne again. And it would take quite a bit of adjustment to let go of Batman but you would be ok."

"But who would fight crime and stop the criminals in this city?" He asked.

"I don't know." She answered honestly. "But I don't believe it will come to that. I don't believe that this is permanent."

"How? How can you believe that?" Bruce asked.

"Because I have to believe it." She replied. "I have to believe that the universe doesn't punish someone like you. It just wouldn't be fair and I have to believe that it won't happen. So you'll see. The swelling's gonna go down and you're gonna be fine."

"I wish I had your optimism." He sighed.

"I could let you borrow some if you want." She joked, hoping to get him to laugh or smile.

He couldn't help but laugh.

"Now I don't know about you, but I am starving." She looked over at the tray of food Alfred left and pulled it back over to the bed. "Mind if I mooch some food from you?"

He smiled. "Not at all, just save some for me."

She picked up a piece of bread and tore it in half. "Want to split this?"

"Sure." He nodded, taking the bigger half. He tore off a piece of the bread and put it in his mouth, watching as Lacy looked at the other food on the tray. After swallowing his bread he said, "thanks."

She looked over at him and smiled. "Well I figured after all that you've done for me, and considering this technically is your food that you should get the bigger half of the bread."

"No." He chuckled. "I meant for coming by and not leaving when I asked."

She leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "You're welcome."

"And your outfit helped." He added with a smirk.

She just laughed and threw her piece of bread at him.

The Joker sat at his desk, leaning back in his chair. The plans for tomorrow's explosion were all set. Everyone had their assignments, the timeline was air-tight, and every possible problem had been solved. There was no way anything was going to stop this from happening.

Pleased with himself for concocting another brilliant plan, he let his mind wander to Batman. There hadn't been a sighting since the shooting. Interestingly enough, Bruce hadn't come in to work at Wayne Enterprises either. The official word going around was that he had gone on a much needed vacation, but the Joker knew better.

Will had told him that he shot Bruce in the back. Now he surmised that Bruce hadn't died or else the news would have been made public. Since they said he was simply on vacation he guessed that the bullet had done some serious damage.

Although he didn't know what kind of damage the bullet did, he was enjoying the possibilities. He especially loved the image of Bruce Wayne sitting in a wheelchair, unable to get up and fight. That thought always made him smile. Only time would tell though just what kind of damage the bullet did and he couldn't wait to find out.