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.

Sorry again for the lack of update yesterday. Extra stress, decreased sleep and loss of free time all contributed. But hopefully I can get back to my normal posting schedule in a few days. Thanks for your patience and enjoy!

Chapter Twenty-One

The Joker wasn't happy, and if he wasn't happy, then the people around him weren't happy either. They couldn't be, or else they would find themselves in an eternal sleep.

Three days had passed. Three whole days and he still hadn't found Lacy or Crane. He wasn't sure who he was more frustrated about not being able to find.

He still couldn't believe that Crane was alive. Actually he could believe it. He just didn't want to. He had been too happy when he thought Crane was dead. Now that he knew Crane was still alive, he realized that they had unfinished business. Apparently the police were busy two years ago with faking both Crane and Lacy's deaths—if Lacy was still alive.

But the mysteries surrounding Lacy and Crane weren't the only thing bothering him. Whoever sabotaged his attempt to bomb the Ace Consulting building had been toying with him for the past few days. Somehow, the person knew what he was planning and managed to get the police to prevent his crimes.

He had tried to bomb a church and found the police there. He tried to rob a bank and the police were there. He then tried to do something spontaneously but the police were there too. It was maddening. The person tipping off the police had to be someone within his organization, but he couldn't figure out who it was.

He thought about just killing everyone of his men and starting over but decided that may be too drastic. He would save that course of action as a last resort.

It had gotten so bad that the public was starting to make fun of him. He picked up today's newspaper and in the editorial section there was an anonymous letter. He fumed as he read it for the seventh time.

Dear citizens of Gotham,

Well, it looks like we don't need to be so concerned about the Joker anymore! Although the police have yet to catch him, there have been no attacks on the city since the deadly apartment fire and bombing in the Wayne Enterprises parking lot.

There have been several reports over the past few days of anonymous calls being placed with the police, possibly tipping them off about the Joker's plans. So far, if that is the case, the police have managed to save countless lives and prevent the costly destruction of buildings.

The fact that the Joker has effectively been silenced makes me eternally grateful to whoever is helping the police. Hopefully soon the police will be able to catch the Joker and put him where he belongs—back in Arkham.

He may not be laughing about the police ruining his plans, but I am and I'm sure I'm not the only one in this city.

He couldn't believe it. They were laughing at him. The people of Gotham were thoroughly enjoying the fact that someone was messing with is plans. It was maddening and only made him angrier. If he knew who had sent in the letter to the newspaper he would make them pay, but, like man things in his life right now, he had no idea who it was who wrote the letter.

He was losing control of things and didn't like it. He couldn't control the people of Gotham, he couldn't control the police, and he couldn't even control his own men. If he didn't get control back soon he feared what he would do.

Lacy entered the safe house where Crane was being held and saw he was sitting on the couch watching television. "You're watching television?" She questioned. "Are you done with your work already?"

"No mother." Crane sarcastically replied, rolling his eyes. "But all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."

She sat down on the opposite side of the couch from him, ignoring his sarcasm. "So what is your progress? Are you almost done making what I asked?"

"Yes." He replied without taking his eyes off the television. "But you know, I am very upset. I could make you something ten times more destructive and powerful than what you asked yet you insult me by reducing my genius down to basically nothing. Are you sure I can't add something special to the mix?"

"For the last time, no. If you do, I will kill you in a very slow, torturous way." She promised. The last thing she needed was Crane to go rogue and ruin her plans. Everything had to be done exactly as she wanted in order for things to go the way she wanted.

"Ok." He sighed, defeated. Her request was beneath him. Anyone with a basic knowledge could do what she wanted. Bringing him in to do this job was overkill.

"What are you watching?" She asked, finally bringing her attention to the television.

"It's a report on the Joker." Crane smiled at her. "Apparently someone has been alerting the police to his plans, preventing him from committing any crimes for the past few days."

"Interesting." Lacy commented, staring at the television. She wasn't sure she could trust Crane and decided to pretend that she had nothing to do with it.

"You wouldn't happen to know more about it, would you?" He asked with great interest.

"Why would I know anything about it?" She asked, feigning innocence.

"Perhaps because it is your mission to destroy him." He pointed out.

"I've had nothing to do with this." She motioned towards the television.

He simply laughed. "Ok. I get it. You don't want to trust me. That's fine."

She turned her attention back to the television, reaching for the remote and turning the sound up.

Although the police haven't been able to track down the informant helping them, they certainly must be grateful that a Gotham citizen is standing up against the Joker. Many other Gotham citizens we have talked to on the street have had nothing but praise for the mystery person.

Those citizens did not wish to appear on camera but one man said that he "was proud to see that a person was finally standing up to the Joker and trying to make him see that we as a city are mad as hell about the terror he's caused and we're not going to take it anymore."

Another man added that the Joker "has ruled this city with fear and violence for far too long. It's nice to see him knocked down a peg or two. Now all that is left is for the police to recapture him."

We then talked to a woman who told us she was "happy to see that the Joker was getting what he deserved. Maybe now he will get the message that we don't want him in our city anymore and that we're not afraid of him. He's just a big bully."

So as you can imagine the general mood on the streets here is that the Joker's days of terrorizing the city may be numbered. I'm Misty Sunrise for GCN, back to you in the studio Mike.

"So it looks like your little plan that you won't admit to me is working." Crane chuckled. "Kudos."

She didn't say anything to him as she stood up and headed to the door. Before she left though, she turned around to face him. "Just make sure everything is ready for tomorrow. Focus on that and not the television."

"Everything will be ready on time." He assured her.

"It better be, for your sake." She warned before walking out the door.

Harley entered the house and quietly shut the door, careful not to alert Mistah J to her entrance. For the past few days he had been in a really bad mood. Everyone had to watch their step around him and she was no exception.

She had no idea why he was in such a foul mood because he refused to talk to her about it. She had asked him several times what was bothering him, but eventually gave up because each time she asked him all she got in response was a burly 'nothing'.

So instead of spending all her time trying to cajole the truth out of him, she focused on her own plan. Things were going fairly smoothly, primarily thanks to Angela and her help. Angela had been instrumental in helping her plan and organize everything.

The costume party was set for Halloween night and she was busy making sure that everything was taken care of since Halloween was tomorrow. Advertisements had been passed out and the word was out about the party. Decorations and food had been ordered.

Angela had been taking care of some of the other details for her. She had found the warehouse they would use for the stunt, as well as giving her contacts for everything else she needed.

Hopefully a lot of people showed up because the more people who come, the more chaos she will cause. Her original goal with this was to prove to Mistah J that she could be a part of his life and fit in. Now she also wanted to do this in order to make him happy and get him out of his funk.

She entered the kitchen, hungry and wanting something to eat. She opened the refrigerator and bent down to grab a thing of yogurt. When she closed the refrigerator, she found herself face to face with Mistah J. "Ooh! You scared me. I wasn't expecting you to be standing there." She exclaimed.

He didn't apologize, just grunted softly and leaned up against the counter.

"Want anything?" She offered. "I could make you some food if you're hungry."

"No thanks, I've eaten your concoctions and I think calling it food is generous." He sneered.

She sighed. He was right. She wasn't a very good cook, usually finding a way to mess up even the simplest of meals. For some reason she even ended up ruining boxed macaroni and cheese. It wasn't because she didn't try though. She just didn't have the ability to cook.

"So what are you up to today?" He asked, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her towards him.

"Just getting ready for the party tomorrow night." She answered with a smile. "You are still coming, right?"

"Do I have to?" He asked her.

She couldn't help but laugh. He was whining like a little child. "You promised you would."

"Damn." He sighed. "And I'm a man of my word. So I guess I'll be there."

"Excellent!" She beamed with pride as she leaned in to kiss him. When they finally pulled away from each other she said, "I think this is one party you're never going to forget."

He was curious about why she was so insistent upon throwing this party and having him come. She had told him about her past and he knew that she wasn't one of those women who constantly needed to go out and party. She was the type to stay in on Saturday nights.

So the fact that she wanted to do something contrary to her past behavior threw up red flags to him and he decided that perhaps he needed to check out what she was doing.

The thought had occurred to him on several occasions that she was the one somehow setting him up, making him believe that Lacy was alive and then ratting him out to the police in order to prevent him from causing any more damage to the city.

Some parts of his theory made sense, while others didn't fit. She definitely had the opportunity and knowledge to rat him out to the police and she had the opportunity to leave the box that supposedly came from Lacy. But why would she?

She was completely enamored with him, all he had to do was look into her eyes and see that she was his for the taking. So why would she want to sabotage him and potentially send him back to jail or Arkham? She had been the one to help him break out in the first place. Logic would tell him that she would be the least likely to conspire to get him put back there but he had learned early on not to rely solely on logic.

So she was still a suspect.