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The Changing Tides
"I see him in every shadow, I know him in the dark, I hold onto to my memories of him through the night and they become for me a blanket of both pain and warmth...The meds help too I suppose, though mostly they just make my head go all fuzzy, that and they say there is no help for those of us who have been locked away here, I suppose that's true enough, we are crazies after all" I tell the shadowed figure standing outside my cell and chuckle a bit at the thought, for some of those that 'treat' us could be considered less sane than we are, take Crane for example, a nice piece of work to be sure, but utterly nuts now...his own fault for experimenting with things he shouldn't have and for tangling with...him.
A voice in the shadows speaks up, a voice that skitters across my memory, I try to recall who it belongs to, but the drugs just block it out. "What do you want from him?" the voice asks, not even bothering to ask who the him I'm referring to is...maybe I've told him already...who knows.
I think about this question a moment and it takes a little while, the meds are starting to wear off, but not enough to making thinking about things like this any easier, or perhaps I'm just delaying. "I want him to notice me."
"He notices," says the voice, and then there is a pause. "If he didn't you wouldn't be in here, now would you?"
This angers me, he doesn't understand, but then again none of them ever do. "No, he doesn't notice," I reply pointedly, glaring into the shadows at the one who is speaking to me...he is in the shadows isn't he?..Yes I he is.
"Oh, and why do you say that?"
Hmph damn shrink, you want an answer?...Well fine, you can have your damn answer. "He only notices when I've killed someone, I have to work to get him to notice me...otherwise...he doesn't see me, maybe he never even sees me at all."
"Oh I'm sure he sees you just fine, you're hard to miss," comes the reply and I bet he's smirking, seems to think he's funny, well let me tell you he isn't, I would punch him if I wasn't chained to this damn bed.
"Is that suppose to be funny?" I hiss.
"Maybe," he replied, not really an answer, but I take it to mean that yes, he does think he's funny...smartass.
"Do you even know who we're talking about?" I question him.
"The Batman I presume," comes the familiar voice, and it's right, he's right.
"Yes, and do you know why he can't see me?" I ask.
There is for a while a silence and I revel in it, the meds should be fully worn off any minute now, and then the games will really begin.
"Jack.." he begins
"Joker," I correct automatically, I haven't been Jack for a long time now.
"Joker," he relents, "why is it that you think he can't see you?"
"He doesn't want to...he's afraid to, he's been on the edge of sanity before, felt the loss of it... and that leaves a mark you can never rid yourself of. He fears what he can become and he fears himself... and here he sees himself, in me and in the others..."
"If you say so," he retorts, obviously at a loss for anything better to say.
"I do," I reply...check I think in my mind, I've got you in check and you know it, now give up like all of the others, go away and leave me in piece so Harley can come and bust me out of here.
"Tell me, why are you so fixated on him?" he asks switching the subject slightly.
"Hmm now that's for me to know and you to find out sometime this side of...never," I laugh, hysterical laughter, it scares them, I know it does, I've seen their terrified faces when I escape, when I laugh...and when they laugh themselves to death, and I revel in it.
"Very well I think that will be enough for today," he says, and then the door shuts and I am alone once more. Good, it's better this way, for now, until I can escape and he can come to me again. One of these days I'll even win and then I'll force him to see me. I smile at the thought, it will be a moment of sheer joy, making the one who made me what I am see what he created and see himself at the very same time. It will be perfect.
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Outside of the room two men stand facing each other, one wears a white lab coat, indicating that's he's a doctor, and the other wears a fancy business suit.
"Mr. Wayne I take it you've finished?" the doctor asks and gets a nod in reply.
"Yes, for now, keep an eye on that one," the business man replies.
"I will sir...and many thanks to you for the funding."
"Of course," he says and then he's gone, gone with the sound of that hysterical laughter still ringing in his head, and he thinks 'Damn you Jack...damn you.'
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Well that's it for this little piece...dunno if I like it or not, but review and if anyone actually likes it...well then maybe I'll continue it. Just know that if I do, it will likely be a Batman/Joker piece as there aren't enough of them in the world.