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Julia Samuels
I was surprised to say the least of the way they took me in, the way twenty guns pointed at my chest as I was handcuffed and pulled away from the gate. This was not Gordon's way of doing things, at least with me. Course, I didn't put much of a fight in the first place, I actually acted like a limp fish. In my opinion, it was a bit of entertainment before I had to go back "home".
Let me also mention I wasn't thinking right. I didn't even have all my pocket knives on me. That saying I had around 10 but usually it was closer to 30. Well, those were all ripped from my body, luckily by a female police officer while being directed by a large and fat man, both of them completely oblivious to the fact that I wasn't wearing a shirt underneath my jacket.
She must have had known someone the Joker killed because she "accidentally" poked hard at the gash on my side. Course, my shirt tied around my waist helped cushion the blow but it sure hurt a bit. Then, they both walked away, the fat man never having looked at me in the face or even spoken to me. All high and mighty huh? Just wait till he realizes he'd missed two of my knives, one against my arm and the other in my hair.
A middle aged man with curly black hair marched up to me, and gave me the whole "you have a right to remain silent blah blah blah" talk, treating me like I was the dirt in his toenails. I couldn't help myself; I cocked my eyebrow and said,
"Uh officer, what's going on? What did I do?" I've never seen anyone turn red so fast.
"What did you do?" He yelled at me, spit flying in all directions. I nodded cheerfully. He glowered at me.
"You and you're your fucking cop killer of a father and his little psychologist have caused more damage to this city in five years then the 200 years that it's been here. That's what you did. You've killed children, adults, cops and even babies. If I was allowed to I'd shoot you right here and now and be done with you." I opened my mouth again but he grabbed me by my handcuffed hands and shoved me into the bullet proof truck.
"Hope you burn in hell." He said, and spat in my face. A young officer slid in to sit on the other side of me and looked at me with contempt.
The truck started up and I tried to get the spit off my face. That had hurt a lot, being spit at, being treated like scum just because of who my parents were. It was one of the reasons I'd been so adamant about not telling anyone about my birth father. What was happening, right now, was the result of this. I had done nothing wrong to deserve to have me treated this way. Apparently, being related to a mass murder means you yourself are a mass murder as well.
Once the truck stopped, the young man shoved me out of the truck and I landed on the ground, face first since my hands were handcuffed behind my back. Only in Gotham.
The young man pulled me up, and I spat out blood, I now had a profusely bleeding lip and a nice gash from the gravel on my forehead which was just starting to trickle down my face, not to mention a couple of other scratches. It burned like hell, but I really had no time to think about the lovely scars I'd just attained before they dragged me into MCU and Gordon was standing there, looking livid in the face. For a Commissioner, he sure spent a lot of time out of his office.
"Did someone forget to mention to me that the discrepancy Wayne called about was her?" He yelled, his glasses bouncing so fast they almost fell off his nose. An obesely fat man who must have been in charge but obviously to important to speak to lowlifes like me, stepped forward.
"Well Comish, we thought that a more rough approach would work, since she's you know…."
"What!?" He yelled at the man. "A 22 year-old girl who's suffered more trauma in her life than the lot of you?" Gordon starred at my face.
"What'd they do, push you onto the ground?" The large man looked away awkwardly and Gordon's face darkened. "May I remind you she hasn't done anything to break the law?" The large mans eyes narrowed.
"That we know of." Finally I snapped out of my trance.
"Uh, excuse me?" I said sharply. "I'm not sure I've er been introduced-to-you." The fat man turned around and pointed at himself stupidly.
"Yeah you porkchop." I said smoothly. "I'd shake your hand but," I jingled the handcuffs. "I'm a little uh tied up right now." I glared pointedly at Gordon who shook his head, a small smile forming on it. He walked forwards and grabbed my right arm and pulled out a knife I had up my sleeve. I gave him a bloody grin while he glared, but then I winced as his fingers pressed into the cuts and I twisted out of his grip before he could take a look. But, from Gordon's face, I was only delaying the inevitable. I glanced over at the fat man.
"Where'd you get your police badge fatso? Off a kiddie costume cause so far you are really sucking at it hm?" I cocked my eyebrow and the fat mans face turned purple with anger. Gordon grabbed me by the shoulders and steered me away.
"Don't trust that piece of Joker spawn Commissioner! She's the same as her father; she'll kill us in our sleep!" Gordon ignored the shouts and I looked behind me, sticking out my tongue at him. I wasn't sure where this cheeriness was coming from and let me tell you it faded as soon as the large metal door opened and I was steered into a large white stone was interrogation room.
I could see some very light blood stains on the wall, almost gone, but never forgotten. Gordon steered me into a chair and forced me to sit, he refused to take off my handcuffs and instead pulled out another and handcuffed me to the table, which was bolted to the ground. Another officer came in and gave him some paper towel and he moved to press it to my forehead but I shook my head.
"Just the lip." He nodded and handed me the papertowel and I awkwardly used my handcuffed hands to press it to my bleeding lip. Then, he left the room without a backward glance. The door slammed shut behind me and I looked around the uncomfortably bright room, my gaze landing on the mirror. I wasn't stupid, I'd seen enough shows as a kid to know there were people standing behind there looking at me. Course, I could only see a reflection of me, looking quite haggard. The bruises from last night had really come out, and the scratches and gashes all had left dried blood painting my face.
I yawned sleepily. Oddly enough I felt very safe in these walls, I was sure I could take a little nap before I had to get back. I took off the paper towel after a couple of minutes when my lip had stopped bleeding. Then I put my head on the cold table and sighed happily. Perfect.
****
When I woke I had no idea of how long time had passed. I sat up, my neck cracking and I tried to rub at my temples with my handcuffed hands, my head throbbing. I glanced down at the table and saw a cup of still warm coffee sitting there, as well as an all bran muffin. I sniffed in disgust at the muffin and didn't even look at the coffee. They needed to get better food here.
After about half an hour, the door opened and in walked Commissioner Gordon and to my surprise Batman. I rubbed my eyes sleepily and pushed my frizzy hair out of my face. Gordon took the seat opposite me and Batman stood behind him, his eyes never leaving mine. Their own personal lie detector. Gordon glanced at the untouched coffee and muffin.
"Not hungry?" He asked. I sniffed.
"No." Gordon nodded and motioned for me to put my hands on the table. I kept them in my lap. The next second two black gloved hands grabbed my arms and forced them onto the table and I hissed as his fingers tightened around my scars. Gordon moved to roll up my sleeves and I tensed but then sighed. Might as well. Gordon gently grabbed my right arm and pushed up the sleeve of my peacoat.
I kept my palm face down so all Gordon saw was my forearm. Gordon gently rolled my arm over so my palm was facing up and gave a short gasp at the word engraved in my skin. I also saw Batman twitch and his entire expression changed to that of anger. Gordon went to touch the scars and I pulled my arm away.
"How…" he started but was unable to finish. I looked down at the table.
"When I came back. He choked me and hurt me so I could barely fight him off and put me on the table and used my pocketknife to write his name on my arm." I said shortly. "He said that I belonged to him and I was never leaving again." This time Batman spoke up.
"But you did." I looked up at him a small smile on my lips.
"Oh he won't be too angry if I'm gone a little while, as long as I'm back in the morning I don't get in a lot of trouble." I replied.
"A lot of trouble?" Gordon asked skeptically. I smirked and showed them the scars on my arm.
"It means he won't do this again unless I leave for long enough that he'll notice." I said sourly. There was a silence that followed, both Batman and Gordon starring at me, the shock and anger clear on both their faces, even though one was masked in a cowl. I sighed tiredly and looked at the letters on my arm.
"I'm sorry Julia." Gordon said quietly. I looked back up at him a tiny smile on my face.
"You know how many times you've told me that? I know you mean it but it never makes any difference." Batman stepped forwards and I glanced at him.
"So why did you leave tonight?" He rasped. I shook my head.
"I didn't 'leave,' I was going to go back in a little bit I just didn't want to be there any longer."
"Where?" I smirked.
"Nice try Batman. You think I'll rat out the Joker to you? You know what he'd do if I did that? He'd carve his name on my forehead. I'd rather not be a human nameplate thank-you very much." Batman's eyes narrowed but he didn't push it. Instead he went onto another topic
"Why'd you go to the Wayne Mansion? According to the security footage you were sitting there for about half an hour." My entire body froze up and I felt anger flooding through me.
"Do you want to know why? Because that idiotic play boy has Dick Grayson." Gordon raised his eyebrows.
"Did you know Dick well when you were part of the circus?" He asked.
"Know him well?" I shrieked, infuriated. "I'm his best friend, the only one who cared about him other than his parents and they're dead! That kid is the only person who can keep away the pain, the only person who when I see him, my heart doesn't ache." I pounded the table in frustration, then whispered, "I care about him more than anything yet I can't have him." I clenched my hands together, the handcuffs rubbing against my skin. "I just wish I could know he was okay, that he wasn't angry at me." This time it was silent for more than ten minutes before I spoke.
"Can I go now?"
"No." Gordon said. I looked up in shock. "We can't let you go back to the Joker Julia." He leaned forwards. "We can promise you protection we just need to know where he is." I looked at Batman and suddenly I realized something. I'd been outside for a long time, it'd really early in the morning when I'd been taken to the MCU and then I'd gone to sleep for a long time. Batman only came out at night…how long had I been here?
"How long have I been here?" I whispered suddenly. Gordon raised his eyebrows.
"Why?" I tried to stand, panicking.
"Tell me! How long have I been here!" Gordon checked his watch.
"Almost 20 hours." He said. Oh no.
Gordon
"You need to let me go." She said.
"And why would we do that?" Asked Batman.
"Do you want innocent people to die?" she asked shaking her handcuffs in frustration. "Didn't I tell you I had to be back before dawn?" She sounded like a teenage girl who'd just broken her curfew, except this time she had a right to fear for her life.
"Julia listen there is no way he can get into the MCU in the first place, you don't need to worry about anything. It's impossible." I said, trying to console her. This just made her more angry.
"Impossible? HE'S THE FUCKING JOKER!" She yelled furiously. Suddenly there was a loud yell from outside the room, followed by another and another. Batman instantly got up and made his way to the door.
"No stop!" Julia shrieked and I turned to see her leap out of her chair and fling herself after the Batman, the handcuff keeping her to the table causing her to fall painfully to the ground. "Don't go out there, please you'll die!" Batman paused and turned around.
"Why?" He growled. She paused calculating and all of a sudden her face paled. "Oh god." She whispered.
"What?" I asked, my heart sinking.
"Toxic gas." She said. "He calls it smilex. It causes the nerves in your mouth to freeze, giving you a permanent smile which causes you to suffocate and die in less than five minutes." Batman glanced at me and I nodded. I trusted the girl.
"Then how do we stop it?" Batman asked. Julia shook her head.
"You don't." She said quietly. Batman huffed in frustration and fiddled with his belt pulling out three gas masks. He handed one to me and stalked over to Julia lying on the ground and put it on her mouth.
"Stay here." He growled. Julia smirked through the mask.
"Like I have a choice." She replied, jingling the handcuff attaching her to the table. Batman turned in a sweep of his cape and I opened the door with my card. The hallways were filled with some sort of gas in the air. I closed the door behind me and turned. Batman was already gone. Julia was right, the Joker had invented some sort of gas, and from the looks of it, it wasn't good.
Julia
When Gordon opened the door, gas flooded the room. He instantly closed it and I lay on the ground, unable to get up without the mask slipping off my face. I could here the screaming and loud noises coming from outside the room and I concentrated on taking small breaths of air through the gas mask.
It seemed like hours passed before the door finally opened. I glanced up, expecting to see Gordon or Batman standing there but to no avail. The Joker strided into the room, humming quietly to himself, blood covering his purple trench coat. He walked in, glancing about the room, then saw me lying on the floor and started to laugh.
I glared at him through the mask as he stood there, clutching his stomach, his mouth without a gas mask, cackling madly. I was a little confused by his absence of a gas mask, there must be some sort of cure to it, or maybe he had injected himself with chemicals so much that nothing affected him anymore.
"Well look who we have here." He growled, finally getting himself under control. He was still smiling but I could see his eyes were black with fury. "Huh….I see a little girl who is gone for a day and gets herself….arrested." He knelt down beside me. "Guess who's grounded huh?" I simply glared at him and he huffed, then uncuffed me from the table. When I brought out my hands for him to unlock the handcuffs he smirked.
"No way sweetheart." He hissed. I opened my mouth to say something but the Joker picked me up off the ground, one hand on the gas mask to keep it from slipping and dragged me out of the room.
At one point, I finally got to my feet, and we walked faster. I'd be lying to say the things I saw didn't frighten me. The grotesque faces that grinned at me as we walked along, and the ones still succumbing to the chemicals. It looked like those were the ones the Joker played with, for they clutched at their bleeding mouths, whimpering on the ground. They were all professionals, police officers who had seen horrible things. But nothing prepared them for this.
I could hear people running around in other rooms and I breathed a small sigh of relief. They weren't all dead. Maybe Gordon and Batman were both okay. The Joker shoved me into the arms of a goon wearing a gas mask. The goon grabbed my mask before it could fall off and the Joker pulled out a pocket knife.
"Bring her to the truck." He said, looking back.
"Where are you going?" I asked stupidly. He grinned maliciously.
"Bat hunting." He snarled. The horror must have been evident on my face because the Jokers grin only widened. "Ah ah ah sweetheart. You're grounded remember?" I glared at him as the goon pulled me out the MCU. I couldn't do anything, if I tried to break away from the goon my mask would fall off and I would be sporting a smile in minutes.
We walked quickly along the alleyway, well, more so the goon dragged me along as I stumbled and we were just reaching the truck when another of our cars came screeching round the bend to a stop. A second later, Harley flew out of it, her gaze wild and a couple other goons tumbled out behind her. She looked at the goon, her eyes flickering to me and then towards the MCU, her eyes widening with horror.
"He's still in there? Alone?" She shrieked at the goon holding me. He nodded and Harley scampered off towards the MCU. I watched her go and the goon pulled me into the truck that Harley hadn't come from. Then the goon took off his mask. William glared at me.
"Are you really that stupid? I knew you were mad but you got yourself arrested too?" I slumped into one of the seats in the van.
"Shut up William." I said softly. His expression changed and he sat beside me. He didn't say anything, just put my arm around me. I leaned away from him, and pulled my knees up to my chest, looping my handcuffed arms around them. I didn't look at Williams face, but I knew it was pained.
"I-I wish…." William stuttered. I glanced at him and he sighed furiously. He stood and sat on the other side of the truck, pulling the mask back over his face. I leaned my head against the car seat as the sirens escalated, the screams pierced the night. I hated feeling so useless. Batman and the Joker were in there, together and I couldn't do anything to protect either of them. Batman was my hero, no matter what he told me I still worshipped the ground he walked on. He was everything I had dreamed of being before…..him. And the Joker had hurt me, tore my life apart and killed the ones I loved….but he was still my father and for some stupid and idiotic reason, I didn't want him to die.
It seemed like forever before the Joker, Harley and a couple of goons climbed into the truck. William slid into the drivers seat and we careened off into the streets of Gotham without a glance. The Jokers eyes were alight with excitement, his face bloody and Harleys even worse. He grabbed Harley by the shoulders, and stared at her.
"Mission accomplished swheets?" He said questionably, his eyes flickering to me for a second. She grinned even wider, and nodded vigorously. The Joker smiled with her, his eyes dangerous.
"Good girl." He growled. He slammed Harley against the wall and kissed her so hard she screeched in pain. That only encouraged him. Harley must have done a bang up job tonight, whatever "mission accomplished" meant.
At this point, I only hoped that he'd forgotten me but that was not the case, for he suddenly stopped devouring Harley and turned to me, his eyes black. I tried to prepare myself, to defend myself, but I just felt so…broken. He moved towards me in the truck and I kept eye contact, trying to keep my cool. What he said surprised me.
"I have a uh little surprise for you sweetheart." He said quietly, his voice laced with venom. No. I didn't want any surprises. I was sick of this, sick of not being able to see the one person who I cared about most in the world, not being able to mend the relationship between William and I, not being able to be normal. I pushed him away from me and reached up with my handcuffed hand.
I pulled the small knife out of my hair that even Gordon wasn't able to find and then I aimed it at the Joker, fury overtaking me. I was just so sick of it all. The Joker crossed his arms and I could see William at the wheel looking in the rearview mirror at me, his usual icy glare now filled with worry. I glanced back at the Joker, my hand tightening on the knife. No one moved.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you sweethear-t." The Joker said calmly. I hesitated.
"And why is that?" I hissed angrily.
"Cause then poor little circus boy wouldn't have any arms or legs to ever do any tricks again." The Joker replied simply. Oh god no.
Dun Dun Dun!!!! Anyway, please read and review and I'll update soon!