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! Enjoy!

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Lacy followed Commissioner Gordon out of the interrogation room and back to where they had originally been brought back into. She didn't realize it but she was standing right next to the holding cell that Dr. Crane was in.

"I'm going to go get Mr. Wayne so that he can take you home." Gordon told her before going down the hall.

She watched him go and was glad that Bruce would be the one taking her home instead of a cop who was a stranger to her. At least Bruce was comforting and she could trust him. Any one of these cops could be on the Joker's payroll.

Crane saw a golden opportunity and decided not to pass it up. He slowly moved over to the side of the holding cell that Lacy was standing by. He stood with his back to the bars but turned his head towards her. "Nice clothes." He whispered loud enough for only her to hear.

She immediately looked over to see the notorious Dr. Jonathan Crane talking to her. But why would he be talking to her?

"I just want to have a little chat with you before Gordon comes back. I've got to admit that I'm curious about you." When she didn't ask why he continued. "The Joker seems captivated by you and I can see why. You are fairly attractive, although you probably would look better without all the blood. But anyway, he hired me to do some…work on you."

She couldn't help it but look over at him, her curious eyes meeting with his cold, blue eyes.

"You want to know why?" He asked, reading her expression. "Well the answer is simple. He wanted me to test a new procedure on you, one that would completely change your life forever."

Her eyes narrowed as she studied him. Whether or not he was telling the truth was anyone's guess, although at this point she didn't doubt that the Joker would hire this psycho to do something to her. But if the Joker really had hired Crane to do something to her, why would Crane be telling her about it?

"You're probably also wondering why I would be telling you about it." He stated. "Call it fair disclosure. It's your decision what you decide to do with this information. You can believe it or not. You can act on it or not. It's completely up to you. But keep this in mind. I may be many things, but I'm not a liar."

"I don't know what your connection to the Joker is, but I can bet that I don't have to tell you to be careful around him." He winked at her. "I'm sure I'll see you again soon." He could see that Gordon was coming back and moved away from Lacy.

Bruce saw that Crane was too close to Lacy for his own personal comfort, and it looked like he was talking to her. But what was he talking to her about?

He walked over to Lacy. "Hey. Are you ready to go?"

She looked at him, slightly nodding her head and letting him lead her out of the police station. Waiting outside was Alfred with the car. She hated the look of pity that was in Alfred and Bruce's eyes when they looked at her so she instead focused her attention anywhere else.

The ride was silent and she suspected it was quiet because neither man knew what to say around her. She couldn't blame them for that because she didn't know what to say around them either. All she really wanted was to go home and try to put this whole thing behind her. But as she sat in the backseat of Bruce's car watching the scenery pass by, she realized that this wasn't the way home—at least not to her home.

She looked over at Bruce, who had been staring at her. Finally breaking her silence she asked in a low whisper, "why aren't you taking me back to my apartment?"

Bruce was slightly surprised to finally hear her talk again but quickly responded." I don't think it would be a good idea for you to be alone tonight. You can stay in the guest room."

"Maybe I don't want a babysitter." She angrily spat out. "Did you ever think about that?"

"I'm not trying to babysit you." He told her, trying to understand why she was acting this way towards him. "I just thought that you wouldn't want to be alone after what happened. I'm sorry. I was trying to protect you."

She immediately felt bad. She was angry about a lot of things and with a lot of people, but Bruce wasn't one of them. All he was trying to do was be nice and protect her. She had no right to get mad at him for caring, even if she didn't deserve it. "You don't have to be sorry. I'm the one who should apologize. You're just trying to help. I shouldn't have blown up at you like that."

She sighed. "It's been a really bad night and my emotions are all over the place."

"I understand." He told her. "It's ok. If you want, we can turn around and take you back to your apartment. Just say the word and we'll do it. But either way I'm saying with you. I don't want you to be alone tonight."

She thought about it for a moment and decided that it would be a bad idea for Bruce to stay at her apartment. What if the Joker decided to pay a visit to her tonight? That would raise too many suspicions and would only end badly for everyone.

"No, it's ok." She told him, looking out the window and noting where they were. "We're almost there."

"Ok." He nodded.

When they got out of the car they walked through the garage to the actual entrance to the building. She stopped abruptly when she saw the elevator. "I'm gonna take the stairs."

Bruce understood why she couldn't get into an elevator and should have thought about that before bringing her back here. At least at her apartment building she would only have to climb six flights of stairs. He looked over at Alfred. "I'm going to go with her."

"You don't have to do that." She told him. "It's a lot of stairs. I don't want to make you have to climb all of them."

"You're not making me do anything." He assured her. "I understand that you don't feel comfortable taking an elevator and I don't want you to be bored while taking the stairs."

"Ok." She relented, already starting to climb the first flight of stairs.

"She's staying with Bruce Wayne again." Dale observed. They were sitting in a car not too far away from Bruce Wayne's penthouse, making sure that the police car following her didn't catch on to them.

"The boss is not going to like that." Chip added.

"Yeah, but at least I don't have to be the one to tell him about it cause it's your turn to check in." Dale happily gloated. "I wonder if he's still upset about Dr. Crane being arrested."

"Probably." Chip told his friend. "But what I don't understand is why he cares."

"I heard that the boss made a deal with the crazy doctor." Dale answered.

"What kind of a deal?" Chip asked.

"Apparently Dr. Crane is claiming to be able to reprogram someone's personality. So he came to the boss and suggested that when the boss captures Batman that the boss turns him over to the crazy doctor. He wants to turn Batman into an evil criminal by reprogramming him." Dale explained.

"I see." Chip chuckled. "Dr. Cuckoo-Brains really thinks he can change someone's entire personality?"

"Yes." Dale answered, laughing at Chip's new nickname for Dr. Crane. "But there's more. I heard that in order for the boss to fully agree to this plan he asked Dr. Crane to reprogram a certain female that we both know."

Chip's eyes went wide. "You mean, her?" He asked, pointing to Bruce's building.

"Yep." Dale nodded, confirming Chip's suspicion.

"No way!" Chip exclaimed. "That's unbelievable."

"I know." Dale agreed.

"I wonder how he wants to change her." Chip wondered out-loud.

"I don't know but it will be hard for that to happen since Crane is in jail." Dale smiled.

"Does the boss know who put him there yet?" Chip asked.

"Nope, and I kind of hope he doesn't find out." Dale replied.

"Why?" Chip questioned.

Dale stayed silent, hoping his silence would answer Chip's question.

Chip studied his friend's face for the answer and chuckled. "Don't tell me you did that!"

"Someone had to do something." Dale retorted.

"You really did!" Chip exclaimed. "Damn, I'm impressed. But how? And why?"

"It was very easy. I just paid some people to pretend that they had been "programmed" by Crane and then gave them the address of where Crane was staying so they could give it to the police." Dale explained.

"Ok. That explains the how. Now how about the why?" Chip asked. "Is this still about that crush you have on her?"

"It's not a crush." Dale shrugged. "I just…it seems to me that she's been through a lot and I don't want to see her get reprogrammed. She seems like a good person and who knows what the Joker would turn her into if given the chance."

"You're gonna be in such trouble if he finds out what you've done." Chip sighed.

"I know." Dale nodded.

"He won't just kill you. He will torture you until he's bored." Chip explained.

"Again, I know this." Dale replied. "You won't tell him, right?"

"No." Chip shook his head. "You should know by now that I won't. I guess I can see why you didn't want to let this happen, but I still think it was a dumb move. You're sticking your neck out for a woman you've never even met."

"Thanks man. I appreciate it." Dale smiled.

"No problem." Chip replied, shaking his head.

"Aren't you going to call the boss and let him know about the girl staying with Bruce Wayne?" Dale prodded.

"No. If I call him right now he'll be able to tell that I'm hiding something." Chip explained. "I'm going to go get some coffee and then call him. You want some too?"

"Yeah." Dale replied.

"I'll be right back." He couldn't believe that Dale was this dumb. While he could understand why he wanted to save her from Dr. Cuckoo-Brains' weird experimentations, this was going to blow up in his face. The Joker would find out it was Dale who set Crane up to be arrested sooner or later. He just hoped for his friends' sake it was later.

"I'm sorry." Lacy said as they approached Bruce's floor. They had been climbing up the stairs for what seemed like forever, of course she realized it might have seemed like forever on account of the fact that neither of them were talking.

"What are you sorry about?" Bruce asked, not sure what she could be feeling sorry about.

"Well for one, no being able to go up in the elevator. It would have been a lot quicker and less tiring." She told him.

"It doesn't matter to me." Bruce replied with a smile. "It just means I get a little more exercise, which can't hurt."

She let his words sink in for a moment before talking again. "I'm also sorry for not telling you about the Joker. You're a smart man. By now you must have figured out that Chris was working for the Joker and that's who I was trying to get him away from."

"Yes, I had figured that out." He left out the fact that he had known all along.

"I wish I could have told you, but I was trying to protect you and keep you out of this as much as possible." She sighed and sat down on the top step. "Looks like I'm a failure at protecting people. I mean, I tried to protect Chris and now he's dead. I tried to protect you from getting more involved in this and I failed that too."

"You can't blame yourself for what happened to Chris." Bruce told her, sitting next to her on the step and putting his arm around her shoulder. "The Joker is unstable. No one is to blame for his actions."

She wanted to believe that was the truth but still felt guilty for her role in everything the Joker has done.

"And as for me, I can take care of myself." He assured her.

"If you say so." She whispered.

He got up and clapped his hands together. "We're almost there. Looks like one more floor. Let's get you upstairs and out of those clothes!" As soon as he said that he realized it sounded inappropriate. "I, uh…"

She laughed, knowing by the look on his face what he was thinking. "Don't worry. I know what you meant."