A/N: Thanks to all of the people mentioned in previous chapters as well as kiera-sama, Thorch Phoenix, KemoWitch92, BrownEyedDevil, GoldSiren, Detective Huckle, The Embedded Shame, LoStorico, CharismaRose, Taste's Like Home, fullyxalive, cynicalmuse, .Verbal.Rape., Crissia, Clan Fraser, MonMaskedAnge, itsi3, Jfox255, applegate17, megna216, pruely, megna216, you.cant.kill.heroes, MyArsenicRomance, Kerry690 and Eves Angel. You're all amazing! Remember to review if you like the story or have any advice on how I can improve my writing :)
I'm so sorry it took all weekend to get this chapter out. I was busy and just didn't have the time to sit at the computer and get back into the mindset of the story haha. Then when I tried to post it earlier today there was a technical issue so I had to try a few hours later. Thanks for being so patient!
Disclaimer: I do not own any Batman characters/scenes/quotes. I do own Jessica Wayne, any other original characters and the plot.
I watched Bruce slip out of sight, my body growing number as we drove farther away. If the Joker was ever going to kill me, now would be the perfect time. He'd warned me before that if I tried to escape today I was dead. Of course, escaping wasn't what I'd set out to do when I jumped out of the car. Making sure Gordon was okay was my one and only priority. Thinking back on it, I never would have even thought about running if I hadn't met Gordon. It was the thought of his life and family that he was going to be leaving behind that messed with my emotions. Knowing what a great person and Lieutenant he truly was and how much this city would be affected without him is what set my fate. It wasn't until I saw Rachel that the thought of freedom entered my mind.
Selfish: that was one word to describe my rash act. Now that I was in my right mind I was able to see how many lives I'd risked. What if the Joker had decided to start shooting people at random until I was back with him? Or even worse, what if he would have shot Rachel or Bruce? I would have welcomed death with open arms if Bruce had been killed or hurt in any way.
I was slowly drawn away from my worries by a distant ringing noise. I lifted my head up and strained my ears: police sirens?
As I looked around at my "companions" I saw I wasn't the only one who heard the advancing cars. Everyone except the Joker was going into a minor frenzy.
The sirens became even louder when the Joker rolled down his window. When I felt the wind hit my face, I looked over to see his torso hanging completely out. Angela gasped loudly when she noticed what he was doing. Peering up through the window I saw yet another side to the Joker; his eyes were closed and his blondish locks were blowing freely. For once there was a peaceful expression on his face. My heart skipped a beat when he opened his eyes and stared down at me with the same tranquil expression. I searched his eyes for any sign of anger or amusement, but found no mark of any of his regular emotions. In the middle of our mini staring contest he whipped his head to the side as the siren wails grew even closer.
Bob slammed on the accelerator and I heard the pedal hit the floorboard. The Joker climbed back in the car and grabbed my face tightly in his hand.
"You just spice up my life," he said with a smile and the lick of his lips. The brief glimpse of hope I'd seen for his soul seconds before was completely gone now. This wasn't some tortured soul; this was a black soul, a complete psychopath. You can't save someone like that no matter how hard you try. He's far too gone to even save himself, now.
"See, I wasn't planning on having to deal with these dear police off-i-cers, but I have to admit, it will be fun." He let go of me and slapped my right cheek.
"Here we go," he said eagerly before going back out the window.
I threw my hands over my ears as a sequence of loud gunshots filled the air. The sound of screeching car breaks only enhanced my fear of more people losing their lives, because of my thoughtless actions. I was thrown to the left forcefully as Bob made a sharp turn. He started swerving in and out of cars on the busy street, making it almost impossible for the cops to keep up.
"Where to boss?!" Bob questioned loudly with the same enthusiasm in his voice that the Joker held in times like this.
"How about we reunite with the ol' warehouse!" the Joker yelled back as he continued to release shells from his gun.
We made another sharp turn to the right before zooming down a deserted alleyway. The Joker hit the top of the car before letting out an eccentric laugh.
"DON'T DISAPPOINT ME MEN!" he screamed to the following police officers.
My whole body was thrown inches into the air as one of the cop cars rammed into the back of the SUV with great impact. We drove for about five more seconds before the car screeched to a halt. Angela grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the car and into the building. The cops yelling 'freeze' seemed to have no effect on her whatsoever.
I looked around the room I was now in and thought back. "I-is this…?"
"Yeah, it's our old hide-out," Angela said, now taking out her own gun. "Come on, we need to get upstairs," she said and began dragging me towards a door in the corner of the room I hadn't noticed before.
We ran up the stairs in record time despite the protests of my bruised limbs. The sound of the Joker cackling traveled up to where we stood in an open, studio-like room. This must have been where storage was kept once upon a time. I jumped slightly when the door to the room opened up and in walked Bob and Nick. They were both carrying large, black bags; that was never a good sign. Gunshots were going off like crazy downstairs and shouts from the police officers to 'drop your weapons!' were heard. This was exactly how the Joker liked it…chaotic.
"W-what are you going to do with those?" I asked Nick shakily as he pulled out one of the biggest guns I've ever seen in my life.
He looked up slowly and really saw me for the first time all day. "Don't worry about it. Just stand over there," he said firmly. He pointed to the farthest corner of the room before going back to the gun he was pulling out of the bag with Angela.
I gulped before walking over to the corner and lowering myself down on the concrete floor. It was extremely cold and dirty, but it felt good to rest a little. Now that I was able to analyze the way I really felt, I found I was much weaker and tired than I thought I was. Small spouts of endurance couldn't save me now. I closed my eyes in the hopes that when I opened them again I would find this had all just been a horrible nightmare.
"Position it down you dumbass!" Bob yelled.
"Don't talk to me like that you great oaf!" Angela yelled right back.
"Both of you need to shut the hell up," Cole said. I opened my eyes and looked over to see him and the Joker entering the room. Neither of them looked like they'd been hit by a single bullet. In fact, they looked extremely proud.
"Ah, look at these beauties," the Joker said as he walked over to the guns that were pointing out the window. He looked at them for a second before turning to his goons.
"Who wants to shoot this one?" he asked, indicating the gun in the second window. Angela and Bob both started to go at it about who should have the "honor" of blowing people up. This disregard toward other humans made me sick to my stomach.
The Joker looked at the four people standing in front of him with narrowed eyes. He scanned the rest of the room in a split second before his eyes finally landed on me. I could already feel myself shaking even more now and tears were welling up in my eyes. He smiled as he slowly made his way over to me. He bent over in front of me when he arrived in the corner.
"Isn't this what you wanted?" he asked as he rubbed my face with his gloved hand. "You just wanted to play hard to get," he said with the lick of his lips and the nod of his head. He sounded as if he was trying to convince himself that this was the truth.
His humorous expression switched to one of anger as he pulled me up by the arm he'd been gripping. I was dragged over to the window where I saw at least thirty cops cars lined up and down the alleyway. Civilians were standing on both ends of the lane, looking up in complete horror at what was going to happen.
"Don't want my toy to miss out on all the fun-ah," the Joker whispered in my ear with a chuckle. He wrapped his arms around my waist and rested his chin on my shoulder.
"Joker! You don't have to do this. Just let Miss Wayne go and bring yourself into our custody. There will be no force needed if you willingly come now. We'll help you in any way we can. You can go back to Arkham Asylum and we will rehabilitate you. It doesn't have to be this way," a police officer with a bullhorn said up to us.
"Hmm…" I heard the Joker say in my ear. "What should I do darlin'?" the Joker asked as he whipped me around to face him.
"You don't have to do this. Please, just let me go. Don't you want to get help?" I asked, tears streaming down my face. I definitely sounded more confident than I looked or felt.
He continued to stare into my eyes with an unreadable expression. Could he actually be considering this proposition?
This thought was crushed when he began to laugh hysterically. "I'll stick to life in the fast lane!" he yelled.
It was then that I was thrown to the floor. I felt a pair of strong arms pick me up and take me over to the farthest corner where I was sat down on the cold ground yet again. Turning my head to the side, I saw Nick staring down at me with a protective gleam in his eyes. He wrapped his arms around me as the Joker said, "Let's see what the world looks like in fiery orange."
"Cover your ears," Nick murmured against the top of my head. I threw my hands up to cover them just as a loud explosion came from down on the street. I looked over at the window to see a cloud of black smoke floating up. The wild laughter coming from the Joker was ringing in my ears, taunting my whole existence. I heard the windows close so none of the smoke would get in.
A sob escaped my throat as I thought about the brave officers whose lives had just been taken. Nick's hand rubbed up and down my back as he whispered words of reassurance in my ear. My head rested in the crook of his neck as I tried to steady my breathing. I wrapped my arms around his neck to steady myself. His hand ran through my hair in a comforting motion and I felt a rush of gratitude fill up inside of me for him.
The Joker's laughter came to an abrupt halt. I didn't have the strength or the courage to look over and see why. I heard the sound of footsteps stomping closer to where we were sitting before Nick was forcefully torn away from me and thrown on the floor. I watched with a mixture of anger and sorrow as the Joker began to kick him in the stomach.
"No!" I jumped in between the two of them only to be pushed five feet away by the Joker in one swift hit.
I looked over at the three other people in the room as they stood by and watched with looks of both helplessness and…joy?
"I gave you too many chances," the Joker said as he pulled out his gun and pointed it down at bloody Nick with a smile on his face.
I crawled over to Nick and sat in front of him on my knees. "Please…don't," I said with a hoarse voice from crying so much. Looking up at the Joker in desperation, the gun pointing in my face, I realized I would enjoy being shot right now. Leaving this world behind was always a fear of mine, but now it seemed like a blessing. My life had made a complete 360 in these past few weeks. Even if I escaped now, there was no way I'd be able to go back to the way things were before. The Joker had messed with my whole existence too much to go back to the life of a normal human being. I had nothing to live for.
"Kill me. If you're going to do it, do it now," I said quietly. The Joker continued to stare down at me, his cold, dark eyes gazing down into my tearful ones. He actually looked a little taken aback for once. A loud bang was heard from downstairs. It echoed around us, filling in the dead silence that had contained the room moments before.
"Go downstairs. NOW!" the Joker said to the other three.
"Umm, J? Don't you wanna go downstairs? I'll stay up here with Jess-" Angela began, but was cut off by the venomous look the Joker gave her.
"We're going to have some fun of our own," he said as he looked back down at me, a smile now on his face.
Nick was coughing behind me and moaning slightly out of pain. I could literally hear my heart thudding in my chest as Bob, Angela and Cole left the room. The Joker didn't need to say anything to instill fear in me at this point; the sheer look in his eyes told me he was going to hurt me more than he ever had before.