(Holy Crap… This is the last chapter… .Gosh! Is this really true? *flips around in notebook* It's True! This is the last chapter to Love & Chaos! This is… wow.)
Chapter Twenty-Five
Samantha met with Gordon at Arkham Asylum as planned and he led her to the sign in desk. He confirmed Samantha's identity and they were given visitor passes. A guard showed up and signaled for them to follow. They were taken to a set of double doors that closed off the large room where the more docile patients were allowed to partake in activities. The guard punched in a sequence of numbers at the door and a low buzz was heard, signaling that they could enter.
Gordon pointed to a man with messy red hair sitting hunched over at a table by himself. "We told him that he was receiving a visitor, but we didn't tell him why. Mrs. Reads, you can't tell him how you know each other; that's the request of Dr. Arkham."
Samantha furrowed her brow. "I can't tell him that we were engaged?"
Gordon fidgeted uncomfortably. "Arkham said that Edward's condition at the moment is too delicate for us to unload such information on him."
Samantha sighed in frustration and looked over at Edward. "Do you mind if I see him alone?"
"I can't leave you alone with him."
"I'm just asking if you could stand here while I sit with him." Samantha asked with a little more tension in her voice than she had wanted to express. Gordon winced at it but nodded his consent. "Thank you."
Samantha slowly approached Edward. He had all his attention focused on a little puzzle-like device that he was working on. "Hi," Samantha greeted.
Edward quickly looked up from his contraption and gave an uncertain smile. "Good afternoon." He paused and scratched at his chin. "It is after noon now, right?" he asked.
"Yes, it is," Samantha chuckled, softly. She licked her lips as she tried to think of something else to say. "You look good."
Edward drew his brows together in confusion. "Have we met before?"
"Yes we have."
Edward suddenly looked pained. "I'm sorry," he said, sadly.
"Why are you sorry?"
Edward looked back down at his puzzle and lightly touched it with his fingertip. "The doctors here tell me that I did some bad things. Did I…," he nervously glanced up at her, "did I do something bad to you?"
Samantha bit down on her lip as she gazed at the innocent concern on Edward's face. He was so lost. She gave him a soft smile. "You didn't mean to," she answered, honestly. Edward had always been able to tell if she was lying; just because he lost his memories didn't mean he'd lost this ability as well.
Edward's face fell and his golden brown eyes returned to looking at his puzzle. He began to work on it again, piecing things together, twisting knobs, keeping his hands busy; hands that showed the signs of his electrocution accident. After a moment, he started talking again. "I, I can't remember you." He cautiously lifted his eyes back up to Samantha. "I didn't hurt you too badly did I?"
Samantha opened her mouth to respond but Edward suddenly waved away the question. "No! Don't tell me! I don't want to know if I did." Edward stopped working on the puzzle and rested his elbows on the table top, gazing at his hands. "They say I was electrocuted and that's why I can't remember anything."
Samantha's eyes unconsciously flicked over to Edward's burned hands. He ran his right hand through his hair. "I… I guess I should be glad I can't remember, but…," Edward trailed off, looking at the burns on his skin.
"But what?" Samantha prodded.
"What if I have someone looking for me? What if I have a family out there?"
Samantha felt her chest tighten and she briefly looked away. When she looked back, Edward was smiling gently at her. The smile instantly gave way to a comedic realization. "I'm sorry; I forgot my manners. Please sit down," he said as he motioned to the chair across from him.
Samantha lowered herself into the chair and spotted a colorful Rubix Cube to the left edge of the table. She grabbed it and started to try solving the puzzle as she thought of another conversation starter. "Sooo, can you remember anything?"
Edward watched Samantha with amusement as she tried to match all the colors. "Oh, I know a few details about myself; like my favorite color- green, in case you're interested -, my favorite foods, how old I am. Trifles." He chuckled when Samantha began to get frustrated with the cube and he gently took it from her. "But when I try to grasp at some bigger details," he twisted and spun the pieces of the cube into several complicated combinations, "I fall flat on my face." With a final grand twist, Edward finished the Rubix Cube and set it down on the table in between him and Samantha. "At least I still remember I hate lima beans."
"Is there anything else that you remember? Maybe something like… I don't know… Any dreams?"
Edward shifted uncomfortably in his seat and glanced over his shoulder at the guards and orderlies in the room before looking back at Samantha. He leaned forward and folded his arms, still resting his elbows on the table. He nervously rubbed his left bicep as he tried to word what he wanted to say. "I… I do have this one thing that is always on my mind. When I told the doctors they didn't seem too happy to hear it. I think it might be because of my scar."
"Your hands don't look that bad-."
"No, not this," Edward interjected, moving his fingers around. He paused and hesitantly pointed to his chest. "This… I have one right here."
Samantha had almost forgotten that one. She swallowed and wet her lips, a habit she was starting to develop. "What is it that's always on your mind?"
"Question marks."
"Like your scar?"
Edward froze at Samantha's words. He hadn't told her what shape his scar was. He locked eyes with Samantha and tilted his head ever so slightly to the right. "Yeah… like my scar," he answered slowly.
Samantha felt a shiver work its way up her spine. The way Edward was looking at her was … slightly intimidating. Edward's eyes searched hers for answers as he leaned forward on his folded arms. "How did you know that my scar is in the shape of a question mark?" he asked.
Samantha felt her heart skip a beat when she realized her blunder. Before she could come up with an answer, Gordon walked over. "It's time to go," he told her. Samantha stood from her seat and gave Edward an apologetic smile. Edward moved to stand as well to show some respect to Samantha and saw Gordon's hand move to his gun. Edward froze and slowly lowered back into his seat.
"I'd stand and see you off like a gentleman, but apparently I can't," Edward said a little bitterly.
"I understand. It's the thought that counts."
Edward smiled at Samantha like he used to when he was flirting with her. The smile dampened a bit when a thought occurred to him. "Will I see you again?" he asked, anxiously. The hope in his voice was too apparent to ignore. His eyes pleaded with Samantha to say yes.
Samantha swallowed and nodded. "I'll try to visit; I promise."
Edward gave a genuine smile that reached his eyes and watched Samantha until she left his sight. He returned his attention to his puzzles. In the middle of solving one, he paused. He hadn't asked what her name was….
…
Samantha slowly walked down the hall, her head hanging low. Gordon had left after being called back to the MCU. She felt something wet on her cheek and dapped at it with the back of her hand. A single tear glistened on her skin like a diamond. Samantha quickly wiped away any remaining traces of the tear from her eye and cleared her throat. But the next thing she saw nearly brought on more tears.
"Sammy!" Harley cried and tried to run to her, smiling happily. She was held back by two guards on each arm. Her hands were cuffed and the chain clinked against the metal. Harley whipped her head around to face the guards. "Hey; be gentle! Hasn't ya mothers ever taught ya how to treat a gal?" she snapped.
Samantha could only stare at the woman that she had once known as Harleen Quinzel. That sick psycho path had done this to her! He had changed her best friend into someone just as deranged as him. He had deceived her, used her, abused her, and abandoned her.
"I'm so glad you're okay, Sammy," Harley said sincerely. Her blue eyes dropped to the floor, unable to look Samantha in the eyes. "I… I'm so…so sorry, Sammy." She looked back up with tears swimming in her eyes. "I really, really am." The tears began to spill down her cheeks and drip from her chin. "I sh- should ha-have believed you when you told me not to trust the Jo-Joker," she hiccupped. "I made a mess of everything!" Harley wailed. She hid her face behind her restrained hands and cried so hard her shoulders shook. The two guards handling her had no idea what to do.
Samantha stepped forward and took a deep breath. She slowly reached out and placed a hand on Harley's trembling shoulder. Harley tensed from the contact and her breath hitched as she peeked up at Samantha, bewildered. Samantha offered Harley a small smile. Harley's sobs turned into sniffles as she stared at Samantha. There was some form of forgiveness in the woman's green eyes.
"Good-bye, Harleen."
"…Good-bye… Samantha."
The guards led Harley away down the hall. She glanced over her shoulder at Samantha one last time and smiled. The moment they turned a corner, the smile vanished and was replaced by a look of shame. She was silent the whole walk to her cell. They pulled up in front of an empty room with the glass wall. No privacy.
The guard on Harley's right stepped up and entered the code to open the glass door. A 'click' was heard and the door slid open. Harley's hands were unshackled and she rubbed her wrists. The guards moved to escort Harley into the cell but she jerked away. "I can walk in by myself, thank you very much," she sniffed, haughtily. She still had a little sense of pride left. The guards looked at one another for a moment and nodded for her to go. Harley stood tall and walked inside with as much dignity as possible.
The small bed looked like a small comfort at the moment and she sat down on the itchy bed sheets. "Who wouddah thought it's come to this?" she thought to herself. Harley curled up into a little ball and fiddled with a loose piece of grey fuzz on the blanket.
"Never again. No more crazy obsessions… no more Joker. I finally see the Joker for what he really is. A lying, manipulative, murdering, no good, self-centered…"
Harley caught sight of a single purple rose bud in a porcelain vase on her crummy night-stand. A note was tied around the rose's stem. "I'm sorry," was written in red ink and a large 'J' was at the bottom corner.
"Angel," Harley sighed, dreamily.
….
Samantha had her back against a wall, out of sight, as she fought to control the powerful urge to cry. After all she had been through, she had never shed a tear; not once. Until now. That one, solitary tear she had shed over Edward seemed to create a crack in the dame Samantha had built over the years since her parents' deaths. She took measured breaths as she struggled to keep her eyes dry. Once she was sure that no tears would be escaping, Samantha pushed off the wall and continued walking.
As Samantha walked, names and faces flashed through her mind. Harleen Quinzel, Alice Fredricks, Tommy Tetch …Edward Nigma… All of their lives had been ruined by the Joker and they all had one thing in common. They knew Samantha.
"Excuse me?"
Samantha looked over to her left to see Dr. Arkham approaching her. "Yes?"
The doctor offered Samantha his hand and she shook it. He took note of how feeble her grip had felt. "I didn't know how to address you… considering…" His eyes drifted to the piece of jewelry on Samantha's finger.
Samantha loathed the ring. She wanted a divorce, an annulment; but the law in Gotham stated that the papers had to be signed by both the husband and wife. And Samantha had a feeling that no matter how badly Batman beat him, the Joker would never sign any papers.
"Just call me Samantha."
"Samantha; alright. I was wanting to talk to you about seeking therapy."
Samantha stiffened. Had the man set out to make her dislike him? "Therapy? No thanks." She stepped past Dr. Arkham.
"I have a very successful doctor in mind; Doctor Hugo Strange." Arkham hurried to Samantha's side and grasped her by the hand. Samantha recoiled from his touch, jerking her hand back and startled the doctor into a stunned and awkward silence. He held up a flimsy card. "I, uh… I was just going to give you his card." He held it out to her by the very edge of the card and waited for Samantha to take it. She begrudgingly took the card.
"Give him a call if you reconsider," Arkham told her.
"I highly doubt it," Samantha muttered, scanning over the small print. Dr. Arkham gave her an uneasy smile and walked away, leaving Samantha alone in the hallway. Anger flared up in Samantha and she crumbled the card in her hands. She gripped it between her fingers, ready to tear it to pieces, but paused. She smoothed it out and shoved it into her pants pockets.
Samantha froze in place when she saw who was being escorted by four armed guards and two orderlies. Dark brown eyes glinted when they lit upon her. "There she issss; the little lady of my life," the Joker slurred, lazily. His hands were cuffed in front of him and his feet were also in restraints. He stopped walking when he got close enough and bounced on the balls of his bare feet. "Came to see me off and kiss me good-bye?' he giggled.
Samantha squared her shoulders and looked him dead in the eyes. "No. I actually came here to visit, Edward."
The Joker suddenly went still and the smile on his face was gone. He chewed on the inside of his mouth before he spoke. "I heard the sap can't remember a thing," he said simply.
"No, he can't."
"Not even you?" he asked with raised eyebrows.
Samantha felt pain stab into her heart. "Not even me," she answered.
"Aaw; that must be heartbreaking-ah. Oh well. At least I won't have to worry about the little pest trying to steal my wife from me."
Samantha clenched her fists. How could that word sound so wrong coming from him? "Have our marriage annulled, Joker! File for divorce! Take off that ring!"
The Joker's grin pulled back into an even larger one. He held up his manacled hands to show off the gold ring around his finger. "Oooh, this thing?" He wiggled his fingers. "Sorryyyy, but that's not going to happen. You see, I've, uh, I've grown rather attached to this ring fooor… sentimental-ah reasons. And nothing is going to make me take it off. Isn't that right, Regge?" He looked over his shoulder at one guard with a red bite mark on the skin of his hand. Reggie gripped his gun tightly and looked away from the clown.
"Better be glad I had my shots," the Joker snickered as he turned his head back around. He licked his lips, staring at Samantha intently. "The thing is, Samantha… I worked hard to get that ring on your finger. Do you honestly think I'm going to ever let you go?" He leaned in close, his breath tickling Samantha's ear. "You. Are. Mine. You belong to me," he whispered. He pulled back to watch her face, smirking.
"Maybe on paper… but not in body, soul, or heart," Samantha retorted.
The Joker's smirk slowly morphed into a forced smile. "We'll see about that." He received a rough shove from a guard.
"Get moving!"
The Joker sent the guard a deadly glare and then looked back at Samantha. "I'll always find you." Coming from any one else those words would have been romantic, but coming from the Joker, it was a promise and a threat. And Samantha knew the Joker was a man of his word.
The Joker wasn't smiling as the guards forced him to move his feet. For once, he wasn't laughing. He was silent. Samantha watched him as he was led away.
"Hey, Joker," Samantha called. He turned his whole body around to look at her. "Why so serious?"
The Joker's eyes widened and a look of utter rage came over him. If he wasn't being held back by cuffs and guards, Samantha had no doubt in her mind that he would have killed her right then and there. Suddenly the Joker's glares changed into a grin and he whooped with laughter.
"Ooooh Samantha," he moaned. "You… truly are… something else. My own Queen of Hearts." He winked flirtatiously. "Oh… and tell Alice I said 'hello'." The Joker seductively kissed the air in Samantha's direction and let the guards take him away, laughing his head off.
Samantha stood frozen to the spot as the last of the Joker's giggles faded. Her hands were shaking and her heart was pounding. She could still hear him laughing. Why couldn't she get his voce out of her head? Samantha put her head in her hands and gave a trembling sigh.
"You're a very brave woman," a rough voice said.
Samantha gasped and looked up to find Batman hiding in the shadows.
How long had he been there?
He looked around before stepping out of the safety the shadows provided him.
Samantha still couldn't believe that after all Batman had done for Gotham he was still being hunted after by the police.
The Dark Knight moved closer to Samantha and gazed at her from beneath his cowl. Samantha thought she could detect some concern in his brown eyes.
Brown, brown, brown. Everyman in her life seemed to have brown eyes.
"He'll escape again," Samantha said.
Batman slowly nodded.
"How much did you hear?"
"Enough to know that you need to be placed under protection and relocated."
Samantha shook her head. "I … can't. Believe me, I want to get away from here. Far, faaar away; but I can't just leave Edward and Alice. I just can't."
Batman looked down at the wedding ring on Samantha's finger. "What are you going to do?" he asked.
"I don't know. The hospital let me go, I got evicted from my apartment…" she gave a half-hearted laugh. "Geez; sometimes life just sucks, doesn't it?" She rubbed her temple and breathed through her nose. "I guess I'll have to start over. Alice told me I could live with her until I find my own place. After everything I put her through… she offers me her home."
"You kept her alive."
"But a tiny piece of her died."
"You did what most people in this city couldn't have done. I'll be checking in on you every now and then."
"Thank you."
"Things are going to change for you, Samantha."
Samantha smiled shoved her hands into her pocket. She felt the wrinkled card and pulled it out. Samantha gazed at the card for a moment. "Yeah… things are gonna change."
(Ayeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Afjh nuhvnhkjg nkjthpo m ,jdn!3rqd ueg uh;! That's excited computer talk for; "THIS BOOK IS DONE!"
Joker: "Time to start the next one."
Me: "You're a troll, you know that? I'm going to need some time to finish writing the third book. Please leave me a review and thank you all SOOOOO much for favoriting, alerting, etc this story! It means a lot! Be on the look out for a sneak peek at the third book titled, "Chaotic Lullaby.")