CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN

Disclosures

"Oh there you are!" the Joker clapped his hands together in delight, eyes wide. "I've been looking all over the place for you."

Dr. Crane sighed, as well as his broken ribs would allow him to anyway, and slumped against the wall. "Either kill me or leave me alone. I'm in no mood for you at the moment."

When he'd finally come to he'd managed to drag himself into the same room he'd kept Samantha in and give himself a morphine injection. That had helped a little but he still couldn't move without every fiber of his being screaming in agony.

Waylon had turned on him. Stupid animal. When he found him he'd......he'd.......do something to him. At the moment he was in too much pain to plot.

"Aw c'mon Patches...not happy to see me? I wonder why that would be?" The clown rolled his eyes to the dank ceiling and rubbed his chin in mock thought. "Maybe because of that neat little trick you pulled with her?"

Crane snorted. He felt a little high and it made him braver. "Her? She'll bring you down. You have no control, do you realize that? She's not one of us, she's one of them and she'll turn on you in an instant. And please, stop calling me Patches for fuck's sake."

"Now now Doc, don't be so sensitive. I think you're just a little, uh, sore she got the upper hand on you. Y'know if you weren't so eager to get even with me...."

"Leave me alone!" Crane shouted and immediately regretted it.

The Joker grinned at him and nodded sympathetically. "I will, I just need to find something. Uh, some car keys to be exact. Seen any?"

"You came here for car keys? You've got to be jok....oh nevermind."

"Her car keys. Samantha's." The Joker's voice turned steely, all humor gone.

"Of course," Crane said wearily. "Now I see...."

"No, I doubt that you do with one eye and all. So where are they, hm?"

Another painful sigh. "In my pants pocket."

"Well can ya get them? No offense but I'm not in the mood to dig around in there." The Joker's scars spread into a sardonic grin. "You used to be a nice-looking guy and all but you're just not my type."

Crane shot him a hateful look and produced the keys from his pocket. The clown snatched them away and they vanished into his own pocket in an instant.

He turned as if to leave and then came back. "Oh, I almost forgot. Silly me, y'know?"

Crane stiffened warily but said nothing.

"I'm gonna need you to stay here for a while. Unfinished business and all but right now I just don't have the time for it." He produced a pair of handcuffs from his coat and Crane wondered how many things the Joker could fit in the garment.

"Can't have you taking off on me so I'll just do this." The Joker pulled Crane against the far corner of the room and handcuffed him to some nearby iron pipes. "Don't worry too much about the Croc coming to help you. He had a little, uh, tangle with the Bat and lost. I'd say he's having paper gown time at Arkham about right now."

"Don't do this!" Crane gasped. "You can't! I'm hurt. I might die!"

"Oh you'll be fine. I won't be gone too long." The Joker patted him on the shoulder and turned to leave but not before winking at him and saying "Seeya later Patches."

After her encounter with Jack she hadn't wanted to go back to her room. Her room key was still in the pocket of her jeans, Crane had left that alone, but she'd felt uneasy about being there.

You're afraid Jack will show up at your door.

Samantha shrugged to herself and glanced around the room surreptitiously. There was hardly anyone here, just an old man and a duo of college-aged guys, but she still felt strange. Watched almost.

Curiosity had driven her here too, had made her walk a few blocks in the rain to the internet cafe.

He wanted her to know about him. She had enough information to find out. All she had to do was get her fingers to move.

For a long time she sat slouched in the cheap plastic chair, fingers frozen over the keyboard.

Finally she began to type.

When she got back to her room she found him in her room. She was too numb with shock to be angry or scared.

"Soo Sam, where ya been? I brought you your car keys."

She didn't ask how he got them. Nodding, she tossed her duffel bag in a corner and glanced out of the corner of her eye at him. She wanted to sit on her bed, to just lie down and sleep and not feel anything for a while. But he was on the bed, stretched out comfortably. She didn't want to be near him, not right now.

He picked up on it right away. "Aw what's wrong babe? Hm? You were so receptive earlier." He offered her a dangerous smirk. "Was it, um, was it something I said?"

That seemed to amuse him and he began to giggle. Samantha stared into a corner of the room.

"I'm going to take a shower and change," she said absently. "Please don't come into the bathroom."

This brought about more laughter, louder this time.

"Ah....now I know. You went ahead and did your research didn't you?" He sat up on the bed, elbows on his knees. "Like what you found out Sam? Huh?"

Without a word she went into the bathroom and locked the door.

When she was finished she came out of the room. He was still on the bed, eyes shut.

"Ready to talk?" The sound of his voice made her jump.

She didn't respond. For a brief instant she considered telling him to leave but decided against it. Finally she settled on the edge of the bed with her back to him, as far from him as she could manage without falling off the mattress.

"Wow, whatever you found out must have hit you hard. You're acting like, well, like you can't stand the sight of me." His eyes were open now, she could feel their mocking glare.

"Why?" She asked simply. That was a question she tried not to ask him. But now she had to. "You were a kid. Why would you do that? How could you do that?"

"Ohhh, you did find a few things out didn't ya? Let me guess, you searched about my parents and found out my name. Then you did a search on my name. Is that how it happened Sam?"

"You wanted me to. You asked."

"But you didn't have to. You would have done it on your own eventually."

"Yeah."

"Come on. You know me better than anyone. Anyone alive that is. Are you honestly surprised by what you found? Hm? Because if you are......." He trailed off and she could hear his tongue traveling over the scars. "If you are then you're not only a fool but a hypocritical fool."

"You killed your grandparents when you were thirteen," her voice sounded dull and defeated in her own ears. "You shot them both and burned their house down."