Title: I Love You…I'll Kill You
Fandom: The Dark Knight
Rating: M
Pairing: Joker/OC
Genre: Drama/Angst
Disclaimer: Unfortunately I don't own the Joker or Batman.
A/N: Thanks to everyone supporting this story by either reading and/or reviewing! Enjoy!
Chapter Thirty-Six
"That's beautiful, boys!" The Joker exclaimed happily, smirking at the men around him. After pressing the detonator to the bombs he watched excitedly as the building erupted into flames and sent thick, black smoke into the night air. It was a perfect sight and another job well done.
He stood around for only a few more seconds, aware that they needed to get away from the scene before the cops and firefighters arrived.
"Alright." He told his men. "That's enough watching. Let's go."
As he climbed into the waiting car, he pulled out his cell phone. "Hey, it's me. Where are you right now?"
"Uh, we're outside the police station." Dale replied nervously.
"The police station?" The Joker was intrigued. "So I assume that the little mouse fell into the trap and was rescued by the police?"
"Actually, she was rescued by Bruce Wayne and the police. Now they are both at the police station." Dale informed him.
"Interesting." The Joker commented. He was impressed. He would have guessed that Lacy would have to spend more time with Chris in that elevator, but if she was already rescued and being questioned by the police then that meant that she didn't spend nearly as much time in there as he originally planned. It bummed him out slightly.
All that planning and hard work just so she could spend a mere fraction of the time he had intended for her to spend in there. Well, he knew that no matter how long she spent in there with Chris bleeding on her she would understand the point and get his message loud and clear.
He meant what he said in the letter. He felt like he had been too nice to her over the years. She was afforded certain liberties that no one else in his life got, like being able to talk back to him without getting a bullet put in her brain. And while he liked to tell himself that his kindness to her didn't mean anything, he was beginning to see the truth.
She was making him feel too human and common. That had to stop, and he was hoping it would when Crane reprograms her. Although he had to admit he was still skeptical about Crane's ability to completely change a person's personality, he was willing to give it a shot with Lacy as a guinea pig.
What was the worst that could happen? It failed and then he killed her instead. In a way she deserved it for spending so much time with Bruce Wayne. He didn't want to admit it, and wouldn't dare say it out-loud, but he was jealous. For better or worse she was his, not Bruce's.
Bruce didn't deserve her, and he certainly didn't know her the way he did. If Bruce ever found out who Lacy really was, well, their little "relationship" would be over in an instant.
"Boss, there's someone else here at the police station that I think you should know about." Dale added, nervous to tell him this news over the phone.
"Who?" He was curious.
"It's Dr. Crane." Dale explained. "I guess the police arrested him earlier this evening, though I haven't been able to find out why yet."
"Damn." That definitely wasn't part of the plan. If Crane was in jail then how was he supposed to work on the reprogramming? And why was Crane arrested? Did the police somehow discover what he was doing? And if so, how did they find out? He certainly didn't tell them.
"Keep me updated on what happens." The Joker told him before hanging up. He sighed. This presented a problem, but one that could be solved.
Crane sat in the holding cell, impatiently waiting. They had arrested him, brought him back here and not said anything to him since. Apparently there was some big crime going on downtown and it made everyone forget about him.
He had plenty of things to do outside of this cell and didn't appreciate being left here. He had to figure out who had turned him in to the police. It couldn't have been his "patients" because they wouldn't have gone against him.
They were under his complete control. He had programmed them to be completely agreeable to whatever he told them to do. He had even tested it and re-tested it. So there was no way that his reprogramming could have failed, right?
He had to consider who else could have ratted him out if it wasn't one of his "patients". The obvious choice would be the Joker, but even that didn't make much sense. They had a deal that when the Joker caught Batman he would turn him over so he could be reprogrammed for evil.
Although they had a deal, he wasn't naïve enough to believe that the Joker wouldn't betray him. But it didn't quite make sense to him. Why would the Joker rat him out when he was supposed to be working on a reprogramming for him? He seemed really excited and impatient about the progress and when he would be able to reap the rewards.
So who else could have turned him in?
He sighed. There was no way of knowing exactly what had happened until he got out of here. They would probably question him and then transfer him to Arkham. That's when he would make his escape and figure out who ratted him out.
Bruce walked in to the police station with Lacy, keeping one hand on her back as a reassuring gesture. Her reign of silence had continued in the car and he wondered when she was going to talk again. He couldn't blame her for not wanting to talk though.
Lacy wasn't paying attention to anything while in the car on the way to the police station, instead focusing on the events of the night and how to best move on.
They were being led into the police station to meet with Commissioner Gordon and she was aware that they would most likely be splitting her and Bruce up to talk in different rooms. While she understood why that had to happen she wasn't looking forward to it.
He had been wonderful to her since rescuing her from the elevator, although she hated the idea of her being a damsel in distress that needed rescuing. She hated being a victim.
"I'm gonna go get Commissioner Gordon." Sullivan told them. "Stay here. I'll be right back."
Bruce waited until Sullivan turned his back on them to place his hand on Lacy's shoulder. "Lacy, I know that you're going through a lot right now but everything will be alright." Even though she was looking directly at him he still didn't think that she was really listening to him.
Bruce studied their surroundings. Sullivan had led them into the heart of the police station and had left them a few feet away from a holding cell. Curious, he peeked over and saw a familiar face. They had arrested Dr. Crane/Scarecrow. He wondered why he was arrested this time. He made sure to make a mental note to find out about it later.
"Good evening." Gordon greeted Bruce and Lacy as he walked up to them. "Mr. Wayne, you'll be going with Officer Sullivan to give your statement. Miss Williams, if you'll come with me I'll take your…"
"Commissioner, we just got a call in to the station." An officer interrupted him. "There's been an explosion."
"Where?" Gordon asked.
"Our Lady of Gotham Church." The officer replied.
Lacy's attention was immediately piqued and she listened to the two of them with great interest. Her heart raced as she considered the good possibility of the Joker blowing up the church that she had visited earlier today.
Gordon sighed, tired of dealing with the Joker's antics. "How bad is it?"
"Building is completely destroyed according to the witnesses. Our guys are almost there and firefighters are already at the scene." The officer answered.
"Anyone inside at the time?" Gordon questioned.
The officer shrugged. "We won't know that until our guys get there."
"Great." Gordon sighed again. "And the fun never stops. Thanks. Keep me updated."
"Sure." The officer replied before going back to his desk.
"Do you think the church bombing was the Joker too?" Bruce asked Gordon.
"It's too soon for an official answer, but between us I think so." Gordon answered. "Looks like he's been a busy man tonight."
"But why would he blow up a church?" Bruce wondered out-loud.
Lacy knew the answer to that question but didn't volunteer the answer. He did it to teach her a lesson. She knew that he still had his men following her around, and they must have seen her enter the church. He must have realized that she was going to confession to clear her guilty conscience and this was his way of saying to her that it was impossible.
"Why does the Joker do anything he does?" Gordon chuckled. "It's anybody's guess. But let's get your statements so you can get home."
Lacy watched as Bruce went off with Officer Sullivan, noting that he looked back at her and gave her a reassuring smile. She turned her attention to Commissioner Gordon, following him into a small interrogation room. He motioned for her to sit down so she did.
"So is there anything you can tell me?" Commissioner Gordon asked her. He was well aware of her silence. She had apparently been mute ever since getting out of the elevator. He wondered if she would talk to him or if he was simply wasting his time.
When she didn't answer him he tried a different approach. "Look, Miss Williams, we don't blame you for anything that happened tonight and you're not going to be charged with anything. We know that the Joker is responsible for this. What we need from you is any information that can help us catch him."
They had found the Joker's calling cards in the building so they knew he had been involved in this crime. Now he just had to find out what Lacy's role in it was. His gut told him that she was an innocent bystander in this, a pawn that the Joker moved around his chess board. But he still had to make sure.
It took every ounce of self-restraint not to laugh and shout out that this whole thing was her fault and that she should be charged with something. Anything! She didn't really care anymore.
He watched her carefully. Anyone else would say that she was looking at him, but he felt like she was looking through him. "You do want us to catch him, right?"
She thought about his question thoughtfully. To be honest she found her answer to be more complicated than she imagined. It was true that she wanted the Joker to be stopped. It was the one thing she wanted most in this world. To have the Joker be stopped would hopefully alleviate her guilt and allow her to finally start healing the wounds he had inflicted upon her for so many years.
Yet as much as she wanted him to be stopped, she couldn't help but realize the hard truth. Jails and asylums can't hold him. He's the Harry Houdini of criminals, managing to get out of every jail cell, every padded cell, every guarded room with the greatest of ease.
No. The truth was she didn't want him to be caught. She wanted him to be dead. It was the only way to stop him once and for all. But who would be able to do that? The police can't seem to get the job done and Batman refuses to do what needs to be done.
Gordon was starting to realize that he wasn't going to get any information or statement from her tonight. "Ok, Miss Williams, I realize you have been through an extremely traumatic event tonight. I won't keep you here any longer. You can go home now. But I expect you to come back here tomorrow and give us your statement then."
She was glad to be able to go home now. All she really wanted was to take a nice, long shower to get this blood off of her, change into something comfortable and not soiled with blood, and curl up underneath the covers.
The holding cell he had been in for the past few hours had been incredibly boring until recently. Crane's mind drifted back to the woman brought in with Bruce Wayne. Her name had been revealed as Lacy Williams, and for a few moments he was unable to think of where he had heard that name before. He was certain that he had heard it.
It wasn't until he got a good look at her face that it all started to make sense to him. Lacy Williams was the person that the Joker wanted him to reprogram. That's where he knew her from!
Now the question was why did the Joker care about Lacy enough to want to change her into a submissive, slave-like person? And why was she at the police station covered in blood? This was definitely an interesting development. At least now he had something new to think about while stuck in here.