Chapter 21- Interrogation

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The Joker had been accused of blowing up my parents' home. What?! How the hell did they come to that conclusion.

I saw an officer go into the Joker's cell, grab him by the handcuffs, and walk him out. The Joker saw me and winked at me through the corner of his face. I smiled a little, but held it back as to not make Gordon suspicious.

" Ignore him. He is trying to get to you." Gordon informed me.

I turned back to look at Gordon and tried to suppress my grin. God, he had no idea.

Realization of why I was here hit me again.

"Wait, Gordon, how do you know he did it?" I questioned. Gordon was wasting my time and arrested the Joker for no good reason. Well, scratch that. The Joker had a lot of other crimes he could be arrested for.

" We caught him blowing up an old warehouse that the mob used as headquarters. It was similar to the bombing at your parents' place. All you have to do is connect the dots."

What the fuck? What kind of dots was Gordon using?

" Gordon, I think this is a mistake. The …" I started.

Before I could finish, Gordon was grabbing my arm and walking me over to the interrogation room.

" We need you for this. " He briefly stated.

Speechless, I entered the room with Gordon. To my surprise, Batman was standing there as well. He saw me, and gave me a subtle nod. I deterred from this eye contact and looked straight at the Joker. He was just staring back at me like he always does.

Right then, I felt some warmth next to my ear. Gordon was leaning in and whispering to me.

" Try not to be afraid. He can be very intimidating, but don't cower." He reinforced.

Oh yeah, he had NO idea.

" Ahhhh, if it isn'-t my fav-o-rite docc. How are you, do-ll?" The Joker chided. I felt Gordon put an arm around me for support. God, did he know how much I didn't need it at that moment? I knew what the Joker meant, and I just played along. Gordon sat me down next to him, across the table from the Joker. Batman stood at the side of the sleek metal table, and acted like he was a mediator of some sort.

The Joker at that moment broke the austere atmosphere of the scene, and leaned back in his chair, and slouched. He looked so irresistible.

" I didn'-t know we were hav-ing herrr over? Noww, it's a par-ty." The Joker continued on, and looked from Batman to me with a huge smile on his face.

" Don't get any ideas Joker." Batman rasped. This was the first time I really heard his voice, and its hoarseness was surprising.

I turned my head away so no one would see the small grin spreading across my face. The Joker saw this notion and started to let out little chuckles. Gordon and Batman seemed to dismiss this.

Gordon suddenly sat up even more so, and began to question his "prisoner".

" Is it true you blew up the mob warehouse?" He asked.

The Joker responded with a stoic expression on his face and at that moment I realized that the Joker got revenge. Well, our revenge. Or was it just mine? Either way, relief spread over me, as bad as that may sound.

" Yeah, well, tha-t side of town needs to LIGHT-EN up." He wittily remarked, and a grin spread across his face. It was a vast contrast than the rigid expression he held a moment ago. His words made me smile, and I had to try my hardest to stop from laughing out loud. I put my head down and trying covering my mouth, so Gordon and Batman wouldn't get any hint.

Batman and Gordon, unfortunately, weren't as touched by the Joker's humor as I was. Gordon still displayed a pale and rigid demeanor, and Batman, well, Batman always seemed serious.

"Yeah, well, you've caused millions in damage that the city now has to pay for." Gordon retorted and I felt the anger seething through his words.

Batman just continued to stare at the Joker hoping for some kind of response or answer that would get him closer to "catching" the Joker or stopping him. Good luck.

"I'm sorrrry. Too ba-d they uh, don-'t make Hall-mark cards for these kinds of situa-tions." He cleverly replied.

Once again, I tried my best to not laugh out loud at this comment. Was I the only one finding this funny? I was able to control the laughter, but not the small smile that formed and stayed on my lips. Batman turned over to me, and saw me smiling, and I quickly turned my head to avoid him. What was he going to think of that? He probably thought I was laughing at their futile attempts to get a confession out of the Joker. It was either that, or that I was crazy.

Batman's husky voice caught my attention.

" Why'd you do it?"

The Joker got up from his slouched position and leaned in. He put his elbows on a table, and moved his head forward as if he was going to tell us something really important.

He turned his head toward Batman.

" Bat-sy, you of all peo-ple should know; Loo-ney Tunes wasn-'t on las-t night."

This time I couldn't help it. I let out a little chuckle, and the Joker heard it, and smiled. He looked over at me, but quickly looked away as to not give us away.

I quickly covered my mouth, and masked my chuckle into a cough. Batman and Gordon looked over when they heard the interruption. Gordon looked away when he figured out where the noise came from, but Batman held a lingering look. Becoming self-conscious, I avoided his stare and looked back at the Joker.

" Seem-s like the doccc needs a doccc." The Joker said.

" Enough!," Batman hollered. His fist hit the table, and caused me to jump. The Joker looked unfazed.

" Tem-per, tem-per." He mumbled under his breath, and shook his head in a disapproving manner.

" Why did you kill her parents?!" Batman rasped.

The Joker took this in, and very clearly saw the implications of why he was here.

" Good ques-tion Bat-syy. Why would I?" The Joker retorted.

How was he going to implicate the mob? If he did, then Gordon would question why he blew up the mob's warehouse, and they might see the connection the Joker and I shared.

Batman, his frustration clearly visible, launched himself at the Joker, and brought him to his feet by grabbing his vest. He then lifted the Joker up into the air, and his feet dangled. I gasped and was about to say something, but I held my breath.

" Why did you do it?! WHY?!" Batman yelled.

" Lis-ten Bat-sy, I'd looove to answer your quest-ion, but all ques-tions must be sub-mitt-ed in writ-ten form. Ex-pect a response in abou-t a couple of week-s. AH HAHAHA. "

Batman, not satisfied with this answer, pushed the Joker against the glass window, and I could hear the glass crack as the Joker's head hit it. Gordon suddenly got up as I did, and put a protective arm in front of me as to prevent me from going any further.

" WHY?!" The Batman continued to question.

" HA HAHA, is it jus-t me or is there an echooo in this room? HA HAAHA AH" The Joker responded, and Batman threw him on the ground, and landed his fist straight across the Joker's face. I saw some blood droplets, and my heart fell. I can't believe he was doing all this to protect us. Well, that wasn't true completely. He also liked screwing with the Batman and if he gave in, it would mean the Bat won. Now, THAT could not happen.

" Why did you hurt her?!"

Woah, what?! This question threw me off .This wasn't about me, but my parents. I looked over at Gordon, who also seemed confused. I then looked at the Joker, and if my vision was correct, he too was lost.

The Joker tilted his head in a questioning manner, and silence followed. The only noise in the room was of Batman's heavy breathing. He punched the Joker one last time before he headed for the door. He stopped when he was in front of me, and just glared at me for a couple of very long seconds. He then made his way out.

What the hell was wrong with him? Why'd he stare at me? Well, it was more of a watchful look but still. What a weirdo. I looked over at the Joker, and it looked like he had seen it too. Gordon immediately took hold of the situation, and called in his guard to take care of the Joker. A guard came in and took the Joker out as Gordon and I exited as well. The Joker went to the left from the door, and we went to the right. I looked back, as I headed to the right, and he did too and our eyes met for just a moment. Our eyes were locked on each other for a brief second before Gordon directed me into his office.

Broken out of my trance, I had to put up my act again.

" Why did you bring me here Gordon?!" I asked, and tried to put a bit of anger into that statement.

Gordon, frustrated, threw his arms around a little, and collapsed onto his chair.

" I thought it would give you closure if he admitted it, but he's difficult ,as you can see. I mean, it has to be him, who else would it be?" Gordon responded.

Gordon had been so mentally fatigued at this point, that he was questioning himself. The confidence I saw in him earlier today was now slowly deteriorating that it made me a bit sympathetic towards him. Gordon was so out of the loop, it wasn't even funny.

" What about Batman?"

" He's just frustrated. Out of all of us, the Joker loves giving Batman the hardest time." Gordon weakly responded as he put his head in his hands.

I took a seat, and waited for him to speak again. I gave him his time to recover.

" You know, " Gordon's head suddenly lifted.

" Both the Joker and Batman are fighting for Gotham's soul. Yet, there is no clear winner. That is a good and bad thing if you think about it."

I thought about this and it did make sense. Both Batman and the Joker fought over Gotham's soul, but for Gordon's sake, Batman hadn't won yet. That was a scary thought to many people.

Gordon took my silence as a sign to continue on.

" Batman is on your side, remember that." Gordon added.

I knew the truth, but I nodded to oblige Gordon.

A more pressing question filled my head.

" What are you going to do with the Joker?"

" He's in a heavily guarded cell for now. We're waiting to acquire more evidence so we can take him to court."

He couldn't go to trial! What the hell?! I had to do something.

" I want to talk to him, Gordon." I boldly stated.

This got Gordon's full attention and he stopped sulking.

"What?! You saw how crazy he was in the interrogation room!"

" Gordon, I know what he's like. I need closure though. I need to hear him say it."

This point caused Gordon to waver. That was the reason he brought me here after all.

"I'll be right there." He said.

" No. I need to do this alone. Plus, maybe that's why he didn't say anything before because you were there. I mean, take the guards out as well. There has to be a security system that still monitors prisoners." I added.

" A very good one at that. " Gordon responded but he still hadn't given me an answer.

" I need this Gordon." I pleaded.

He played with his thumbs as he thought this over.

" Fine." He responded. He got up and led me to the heavily armored area where they kept all the high-risk prisoners.

Gordon opened the door into this area, and to my surprise, the Joker was the only prisoner in this area.

" Holler if you need anything. Also, see this red button over here, " Gordon pointed to the red button beside the door.

" If anything happens or you just want to get out of here, push the emergency button."

"Alright. " I replied.

" Okay, I'll be back in 10 minutes." Gordon responded. He headed out the door, and took the guards with him.

As soon as Gordon left, the Joker made his way to the bars. I did the same. We were both at the bars when I realized just how much taller he was than me. His 6'1'' frame towered over my 5'4'' one.

I put my hands through the bars and placed it over his heart, and he slightly exhaled. I looked up at him.

" You got the mob?" I quietly questioned.

"Yessss." He responded.

I smiled, and moved my hand up to his face. I rubbed my thumb across his skin.

" The Ba-t feels for you." The Joker stated quicly changing the subject.

" Yeah, that was kind of weird. You're really toying with his mind." I said.

" Nooooo, youuu arree." He replied.

I laughed at this. Yeah, like I could get into the Batman's head! I stopped mid-laugh though as I remembered the look he gave me and the weird question he asked. His eyes, they looked so familiar. I changed the topic.

" How the hell did Gordon come to the conclusion that you blew up my parents' place? " I questioned.

"Gor-don's go-t it out for me. I blow up one building and they thin-k I blow up allll of them."

I laughed at this. It was true. The Joker was the go-to guy for the police. My hand was still over his heart, and I could feel his heart beat under my fingers.

" How will you get out? They are looking to take you to court." I asked. I was truly worried about what was going to happen to him.

" Don-'t worry, do-ll, " He started, and put his hand through the bars to lift my chin up.

" Jes-ters are mean-t for court-s." He replied with a grin on his face.

God, him and his jokes.

" So you're going to court?" I asked.

" Maybe, may-be no-t. Don-'t worry your pret-ty little head off."

I smiled at his comforting comment, and leaned in for another kiss. He placed his lips on me that time. I put my hands through the bars to place around his neck, and he did the same around my waist. I yearned to feel him against me instead of the cold metal of the bars. We broke away but our arms were still around one another.

" How did you persu-ade Gor-don to le-t you in here?" He asked. Our faces were so close to each other that it was electrifying.

" I said I needed closure and a confession." I responded reveling in the warmth of his breath.

" How was the fun-er-al?" He asked. His arms rested peacefully around my hips, and it felt so right.

" Depressing, but it provided the closure I needed. Plus, the mob's gone now." I said.

His mouth extended into a grin as I said this.

" Tha-t always bright-ens my day. " He responded.

He brought his face to mine again and we locked lips once more. This kiss was different than the others we recently shared. There was a hunger in them that I hadn't felt from him before. There was a sense of urgency but a feeling of necessity as well. I fell into it, losing awareness of my surroundings. Surprisingly, the Joker broke apart mid way.

" What is it?" I asked

" Gor-don's com-ing." He said.

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The Joker was sitting again, and I assumed a standing position as Gordon came in.

" Why'd you do it you fucker?!" I yelled.

I had to pretend like getting a confession was the real reason I was in here.

"Lis-ten do-ll, your face is too gor-geous for such foul words. I sug-gest you tone it down a lit-tle. Just a little." The Joker replied with a sly grin on his face. He used his fingers to accentuate the "little" part.

I tried my hardest to hold back a grin. Did he just compliment me?

Gordon came in confused, but clearly knew that I was having a hard time getting a confession.

I continued on hoping it would persuade Gordon even more.

" Please tell me why? I'm begging you!" I asked. I drastically changed my tone from angry to pleading in hopes that Gordon could see me trying every possible thing I could to get a confession.

" I wou-ld if I cou-ld, but I can'-t, so I won'-t." The Joker replied.

" What the hell?!" I exclaimed.

" Please don'-t speak of my area of res-i-dence in tha-t tonnnne, missy." He retorted. That one almost got me, but I held back the laughter that was building inside of me.

" UGGGHHH!" I audibly grunted.

" I think this is enough, Dr. Parikh, " Gordon intervened. He came up to me and started directing me towards the door.

I looked at the Joker once more before I was escorted out of the door.

Gordon shut the door behind us, and I saw his guards make their way back into the area.

" He is impossible, isn't he?" Gordon asked.

" You have no idea." I responded.

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(At mob warehouse)

Flames engulfed the area, and the fire department rushed to the scene to handle it. Nobody seemed to be alive, but a few meters away there seemed to be something moving. The firefighters could not see it, but it looked to be a person crawling away.

Heavily burned, and bleeding from every orifice, it was Jesse.

" I'll get you, you motherfucker!" He yelled under his breath.