Everyone: last chapter!!! and then the sequel. THANK YOU SO MUCH TO EVERYONE WHO HAS REVIEWED!!!! and this chapter is really long so have fun :D

20: The Great Escape!

Tierney's POV

It had been a normal day for me.

Went to my session, went to meals, went to group therapy, talked with Edward, Jervis, and Jonathan (who I still could not figure out), spied unsuccessfully on the Joker, and went back to my cell. Before telling the guard he could dim the lights, I read a couple chapters in The Horse and His Boy. And then I fell asleep.

It was not a normal night.

A hand clapped over my mouth, rudely and abruptly waking me. The question isn't who would scream, it's who wouldn't scream if they were woken up that way. I shrieked into the hand, and a voice whispered hoarsely into my ear, "Tierney! It's Jonathan." My eyes adjusted to the darkness and realized that it was, in fact, Jonathan Crane. "Don't scream. Promise?"

I nodded, extremely confused. He removed his hand from my mouth and grabbed my hand. "What –?" I began to ask, but he shushed me.

"Don't talk. Come on." He tugged on my arm and I got up, grabbing my book on the way as he pulled me out of my cell. How did you get in my cell? How did you get out of yours?! I wanted to ask those questions so badly. To my great shock, Edward and Jervis were waiting for us in the hall. Anticipating my question, Jonathan held a finger to his lips and glared, silencing me. We walked quickly and silently down the hall, passing sleeping inmates in their cells. We stopped at a maintenance door, and Jonathan pulled a key out from behind a pipe. "Shortcut," he whispered. Unlocking the door, it swung open on silent hinges. Once we were all inside, he closed the door behind us and yanked the chain light. "You can ask questions now," he told me, still in a low voice.

"What are you doing?!" I hissed, waving the hand that wasn't holding my book.

"Breaking out. Isn't it obvious?" He asked me, raising his eyebrow in surprise.

You idiot. And I didn't know if I meant him or me. "Why??" I finally asked.

"To get out of here, Tierney. Do you really want to rot in Arkham forever? Because that's what's going to happen if you don't leave now." His blue eyes scared me now. Did I want to stay here? No, of course not. Did I want to break out with criminals? For that's what they were, criminals: dangerous, insane criminals. I just realized the enormity of what I was considering.

Apparently my choice took too long. "Come on," he said, taking a hold of my wrist and leading us to another door in the large closet. I was glad it wasn't my hurting hands. He unlocked that door and opened it to reveal a dark tunnel. We all filed in and he turned out the light.

Darkness descended, but Jonathan didn't need the light, apparently. He walked confidently down the tunnel with familiarity. After a minute or two, our company halted and I heard another key scrape in a lock. We reappeared in another maintenance closet, which dumped us into another hallway. The questions threatened to bubble up again, but a glare from Crane kept my mouth shut.

We came to a stop in front of another cell; this one had a key code beside the glass on the door. Jonathan punched in something, and the door popped open. Out of the inky blackness walked the Joker. He gave me a smile, and I came to a decision. This maniac knew something about me, and the only chance I'd get to find it out would be with them. I was in.

Harley Quinn turned onto her street, glad to be home. After more than a full day at Arkham, she had gone out to a horrendously awful dinner 'with friends.' They had invited a blind date along for her. She had been incredibly frosty to the man and it was certain he would never call her, even though she had reluctantly given him her number. She just could not forget the man who had called her 'harlequin' and kissed her in his cell. Harley pulled into her driveway and parked, rummaging around in her purse for her cell phone.

She couldn't find it anywhere. She slapped her forehead as she recalled taking the call from her friends about dinner, then setting it down on her desk. Afterward, she had gone through multiple files, which had effectively covered it. I'm so stupid.

I can always get it tomorrow… But then Harley remembered the cleaning people, guards, inmates, and even the other doctors were not honest people. I'd better go get it now if I want to keep that cell phone. She groaned as she started her car again and turned around, heading back to Arkham Asylum.

"Where are we going?" I whispered to Jonathan as we sneaked along a hall I had never been down.

"To storage," he said, and then motioned me to zip it. I did.

We checked at the entrance to a room with a guard on duty. He sat at a table with a desk light on, reading a magazine. He yawned; he was sleepy, but definitely still awake.

"Wait here," Jonathan whispered to me, his eyes glowing. I obediently stayed where I was, but watched nervously as the approached the guard silently, Crane and the Joker on the left, and Edward and Jervis on the right.

He never had a chance. The minute he saw them they jumped on him, silently beating him unconscious. I slapped a hand to my mouth in horror and closed my eyes. Someone slapped the back of my head. Jonathan glared down at me. "Tierney, it's time you learned to be tough."

I looked away. "Why are we here?"

"This is where they keep the inmates' personal effects."

Inside the room, they all fanned out, looking for the cardboard boxes with their names on them. I stood in the middle of the room, lost. Jonathan shoved a box at me and said, "This is yours. Take it." I took it. Inside were the clothes I had stolen after I had escaped Arkham the first time. Why am I so reluctant about leaving this time when I jumped at the chance before? I had no answer for myself. Underneath them were clothes I only dimly remembered.

I pulled them out. There was a black camisole and a dark green short-sleeved shirt, plus jeans and black converse. Last of all, long pieces of thick, black material with laces. They go on my arms. I put my thumb through its appropriate hole, and wrapped the rest of the material around my forearm, elbow, and upper arm, lacing it tight.

I waited outside while the others changed into their clothes, or, costumes, in the case of the Joker, who was attired in his purple and green suit. Jervis had on a large pea coat , and a top hat that gradually widened from the crown up. Edward's green suit and tie had question marks on them, and he wore a green bowler and a black mask. Jonathan wore a long-sleeved collared shirt and dress pants with a sweater vest. As I entered the room myself to change, I asked myself, Do all villains in Gotham wear suits?!?!?!?

I reappeared a few minutes later, wearing the clothes and carrying the jacket. The Joker had his makeup on by now; I jumped when I saw him. Jonathan grabbed my arm again and we left. I noticed in his other hand he had something made of burlap, and there were some canisters slung over his shoulder.

"Okay," Crane said, after we had gone down several flights of stairs, "Your turn." He was talking to the Joker.

The Clown took the lead, heading for some back entrance or something. Didn't he know all of them were guarded?

The answer to that was yes, and yes. In fact, three guards were on duty at the particular exit he picked. They saw us coming and went for their guns.

"Freeze, or she gets it!" The Joker yelled, and grabbed me, jabbing a plastic serving utensil into my neck.

First thought: Oww, what is that poking me?

Second thought: They didn't want me along. I'm just a hostage.

The guards froze in place, unsure of what to do.

"Guards, why are you all like clocks at midnight?" Edward asked, stepping forward. The men's eyes glanced back and forth between them. Were they supposed to answer? "Because your hands are going straight up, right now," Edward told them. The obeyed, and he grabbed the guns out of their holsters. The Joker dropped me as soon as Edward gave him a gun and shot all three guards. I felt like I was going to be sick.

"Come on, Tierney," Crane growled, lifting me up and pulling me along. Did I know these people? Where had the people I had talked and joked with gone?

I didn't want to know.

Harley got out of her car in the deserted north parking lot. She decided to use this entrance because it was closer to her office, and she wouldn't be detained as long. All she wanted was to go home. She slammed the car door and walked up the sidewalk to the door.

Suddenly, out of the shadows poured shapes, reaching for her throat. She had a moment of panic before vaulting into a three successive handsprings to get away. It didn't work –the getting away part, not the handsprings. Her breath caught in her throat, strangling her scream, when she came face-to-face with a fully painted and dressed Joker.

"Harley, Harley, Harley Quinn. A little fight in you, I like that," he whispered in her ear as she went limp against him.

"She'll bring us all down. Kill her," Dr. Crane said, coming into her line of sight.

The Joker considered, and Harley's heart almost stopped. "Nah," he said finally. "She's got a car. Gimme the keys, doll." Harley handed them to him with a shaking hand.

She finally got a good look at the person Crane was holding on to. "Tierney?" Harley whispered. She got a tiny wave in return.

The Joker shook her to get her attention. "Where's your car, Harrrrley?"

She pointed wordlessly, and he patted her on the head. "Good." They all headed for the car; the Joker dragged her along, and Crane propelled Tierney. She tried to open the driver's door, but he shoved her into the passenger's seat. " 'Scuse me, I wanna drive."

Everyone piled into the car, except me. It was a five seater, and there were six of us. "Get in," Jonathan told me threateningly. It struck me that this man wasn't the Dr. Jonathan Crane I knew; this was Scarecrow, and he wasn't to be messed with.

"Where?" I ventured. "There's no room." As soon as I said that, Crane, or Scarecrow, or whoever, got in the car and pulled me in after him, shutting the door. I was more or less sitting on his lap.

"Ta–da, room." He wrapped his arms around my waist to keep me still. The Joker put the car into gear and off we roared. Jervis and Edward laughed with the Joker, I'm sure Harley and I had the same shell-shocked expressions, and I had no clue what Jonathan did.

As we went speeding off into the night, I put my head into my hands. What had I gotten into?

Fin…. For now…

To be Continued.

I will post a prequel for the sequel and the title of the sequel once it is up!!! Heart of Friendship (everybody clap) has agreed to be my beta, so I'll be updating once a week probably, enough time to write and beta. So, a little longer wait, but hopefully better content, etc. Anyhoo, hoped you liked this.

Again: thank you all so much!!!! XD