Oh Sheila, what have you gotten yourself into? I thought to myself, my hands bound behind my back. You should have stayed in Gotham where it was safer.
Yeah, who am I kidding? I chose to run from Gotham; I had to run from Gotham. The police were on to me about the illegal abortions I was performing on teenage girls. I abandoned my husband and baby son just to save my own hide….And now it seemed I was paying the price for my actions.
But I wasn't the only one.
I can hear the bomb ticking; each second bring it closer to detonation, as I glance down at my son, Jason. His costume is torn and his head is almost crushed; the result of being bludgeoned countless times with a crowbar.
I suddenly feel a pang of guilt. This was my entire fault. If I hadn't have run away he never would have come looking for me. But when he revealed that he was Robin the boy wonder, I panicked. The first thought that came into my head wasn't how proud I was of what my son had achieved, but how much could go wrong if he found out I was working with the Joker. So I did what I thought was best at the time: I double crossed my own son, and took him straight into the path of his enemy.
And then I watched – no, I didn't watch, I turned away- as my son was beaten to death. I abandoned him when he needed me the most. Just like I had abandoned him all those years ago.
And the icing on the cake? The Joker then revealed that he wanted to get rid of any witnesses to his crime- me. So before I could protest, I found myself tied up in this warehouse along with a ticking bomb.
"No," I beg to myself desperately. "It can't end like this."
"Ooooohh" I physically jump as Jason's body begins to twitch, and I watch as he struggles to sit up. There's blood all over him.
"Jason!!" I can't believe it; he's still alive. "You're still alive!!"
He looks up at me, his face scrunched up in immense pain.
I glance desperately over at the bomb.
2:04
"The bomb Jason!" I cry, "deactivate it!"
1:35
"In…no shape…to handle…that," he replies weakly. I can see him trembling; struggling to stay conscious. He slowly turns and crawls toward me. Several times he collapses, panting for breath. One of his ribs is broken, probably from where he was viciously kicked by one the Joker's thugs.
"….Gotta….get you….outta here." He begins to untie me. I can feel his weak fingers struggling with the tight knots.
I bite back tears. After all the pain I had caused my son, he was still trying to save me.
"…I'll …save you…Mom." I can feel my bonds getting looser. I'm almost free.
: 57
The last of the rope falls away from me. "…You're…free," I hear Jason say. "…Run…for it…"
: 43
"…Go..."
: 39
I give him a horrified look. Does he want me to leave him? I can't do that. Not after the pain I had caused him.
: 23
"Come on" I say, lifting Jason off the floor. "Let me help you."
Supporting him, we move slowly towards the warehouse's only exit. As I struggle with him, I catch site of the bomb again.
: 19
"We'll both get out of here, together." And I really mean that from the bottom of my heart. Jason had risked his life to help me, and now it was my turn to help him. He could have abandoned me, like I had. But he didn't, and I wasn't going to either….Not again.
: 12
"We're almost there," I reassure him. Our freedom is only meters away.
: 05
I prop Jason up against a wooden crate, "stay here while I get the door." I know it was a stupid thing to say; he wasn't going to be going anywhere, but I was so scared that it was the only thing I could think of.
But now we're going to be ok. The Joker wouldn't have locked the door behind him. After all, I was tied up and helpless, and he had presumed that Jason was dead; dead or helpless like me.
I reach out to turn the knob, and open the door.
It's at that moment that I realize just how dreadfully mistaken I had been.
: 02
"What's wrong?" Jason asks from behind me
"The door!" I scream, beginning to twist the door knob frantically from side to side. "It's locked! The Joker locked us in here!"
: 01
KA-THOOOOOM!!!!
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
I'm in immense pain as my eyes slowly open. My nose is bleeding profusely, and my entire body is burnt from the blast. I have several broken bones, and possible internal injuries; a result of being thrown in the explosion. My ribs are broken, my lung has collapsed, and my leg is fractured as well as my arm.
All these injuries can be processed into one simple sentence:
I am dying.
Suddenly I hear footsteps heading towards me, but I'm too weak to sit up and see who it is. But I am hoping against hope that it's Jason, though part of me knows that can't be true. When the bomb detonated Jason shielded me from it, took the main brunt of the blast; his injuries were probably far worse than mine.
If he was still alive.
"Ooooohhhhh…." I moan in pain, trying to get the person's attention. "…Help me…please…"
The figure runs toward me, and with my tired eyes I can see that it's Batman. I should have guessed that he would be here, what with Robin – Jason – here as well.
Batman kneels down beside me, and I slowly turn my head to look at him. There's a sadness in his eyes, as he realizes what I already know:
I'm not going to make it.
"Sheila…What happened here?" His voice sounds distant; far away, and I struggle to reply.
"Joker…" Oh God, it hurts to talk. "…He tied us up…set bomb to explode….wanted to eliminate…all evidence…of his being here."
I close my eyes as the pain starts to become too much. "…Jason tried…to rescue me…we …almost…made it….so close…"
Inside my mind I suddenly see Jason, standing in front of me. His uniform is no longer torn, and his injuries are gone. He slowly holds his hand out toward me in a "come to me gesture." I try to reach out to him, but fail. He slowly starts to walk toward me.
"…He turned out…to be…such a…good kid," I say as Jason comes closer. "…All his problems…and he…still…turned out good…"
Batman brushes my hair away from my face and tries to soothe me
"…He's…much better…than I deserve. Much better…" I can see Jason coming closer. "…He threw…himself…in front…of me…in front of me…He took…the main brunt…of the blast."
Inside I feel Jason standing beside me, and once again I feel that familiar pang of guilt, as I realize that I know what Batman still has yet to discover:
Jason is dead.
"…Such a…good boy…" I feel myself begin to slip away, but I'm determined to say what I want before I go. "…must have…really…loved his…mother…his…his…ugh."
At that moment I feel Jason take my hand. And as he guides me away into the afterlife, I turn to look at Batman, holding my lifeless body. I can almost see what he is thinking:
"The pain is all behind her."
Yes, I tell myself, as I watch Batman slowly lower my body to the ground, to go and search for his partner- my son. My pain is over.
But yours is just beginning.