Life and Death: Chapter 16
"Look at you, needing me
You know I'm not your friend without some greenery"
- All The Good Girls Go To Hell, Billie Eilish
Tim Drake was tired of helping old ladies across the street and chasing away feral dogs. Gotham was starting to come apart at the seams, with the Yakuza and various mob bosses, and the rise of gang wars. Robin had been following the development for years. If only Bruce would let him do something real, for once, he would prove his worth. All these endless years of training – for what? Fetching kittens from trees? would come to an end.
He didn't think his mentor and father figure was protective over him as much as he wanted to do everything by himself. Tim had been training for three years and the most intense thing he had witnessed so far was a dog that attacked an elderly couple, and a car accident in which Bruce still didn't let him help. Yet he had heard his mentor say it, Jim Gorgon had said it: this place was on the verge of becoming a warzone.
He wanted to be useful the way he should be, by Bruce's side, as the new Robin. Now at fourteen, Tim was ready to claim the role. The public still didn't know much about him, and that was his advantage. He had even met the Joker, for Bat's sake. Tim prided herself for how he handled the situation back then, even if Bruce had been furious that Tim had been wandering around during the city lockdown after Poison Ivy's attack.
Ivy had barely shown up in years, but there were other rogues on the rise. Tim was sick of it. He refused to be the boy sidekick when there was a difference to be done.
That's why he had started patrolling the Narrows. He did it as often as he could, in civilian clothing, just to listen, to see what was going on. Word on the street was that the Joker was known to operate there, but the police never caught anyone but low-class thugs. The island was nationally recognized as a no-go zone and he knew this very well, staying in the shadows, dressed to blend in. He had studied the area well and done his own research.
This night started like any other. The hours passed by and he saw nothing but the usual drug dealing, speeding cars, and the occasional fight. He stopped by a warehouse when he noticed a strange activity.
He saw a few people enter the warehouse through a back door. It was surrounded by containers and easy to miss. Now and then some people entered the building, and he stepped closer to observe. He had only planned to watch, but it looked like a gathering of some kind, with men and women entering under quite relaxed manners. He saw no bodyguards or weapons, it could have been a dinner party for all he knew. Yet, something felt off.
After watching for a while, he decided to approach. Immediately met by a fancily dressed bouncer by the door, he lowered his voice. He decided to improvise, to pretend he was Bruce.
"I'm on the list. I know J."
"Identification."
"My name is Mr R. I know him personally."
The bouncer looked at him again, something suddenly anxious in his face, and Robin prepared for a fight or another lie but was let in.
He hadn't really thought much further than getting into the building. All he wanted to do was to get a look at the place. This was a recognition mission. As soon as he could confirm something, he would be out in an instant.
Bruce would be furious if he knew, but this would be a breakthrough. What he doesn't know doesn't hurt him. Batman wouldn't have to be needlessly brutal in his handling of lesser criminals if they could have this breakthrough; he could focus on the Joker again.
Robin followed a dimly lit hallway. Surely, there was a large area that seemed like a club to his left, and a hallway leading to the right. The Joker owned almost every underground club, this had to be it. This was something.
He stopped by the entrance to the club area, looking around for an emergency exit to leave through.
Someone suddenly stood behind him. He turned to see an older, heavily armed man. Tim stiffened.
"He's busy," the man said. "Wait here."
"I see." Tim tried to keep his voice smooth. Without knowing whom 'he' was or what the situation was about, Robin felt as if he was being pushed into a mouse trap. The man stepped closer, invading his personal space.
"Who are you working for?"
Robin hesitated, trying to think of a good lie.
"Answer, boy."
"I can't say."
There was the sound of the rifle being cocked and the man grabbed the back of his neck.
"The Joker," Robin choked out at last, feeling the grip release a bit.
The grey-haired man chuckled. "Really?""
There was a sound from further up the hallway and another door, and he kept staring at the closed door in front of him, very aware of the guard's presence next to him. Another person approached. Tim couldn't make out his face, but judging by his suit and silhouette it was just another guard. The two men exchanged a look.
"Says he works for J."
"Come this way," the man in the suit said, his voice politely distant. He took a step to the side and held out his arm, indicating a different door. He could hear the faint bass from the club.
Robin said quickly: "I'm only here to leave a message. Can I leave it to you?"
No reply. Swallowing, he walked in the direction the second man had indicated and they passed through a door into a room. They ended up in a place that looked like an empty meeting room, and he relaxed. Only a few couches and comfortable lighting. If all communication went through middle hands, then this would be rather easy.
He saw the henchman now; he had a brown beard and wore a silky suit. His face was completely expressionless.
"J's still in a meeting. Sit down while you wait," the man said.
"As per his instructions I have another place to be. I just came to leave a message."
There was barely a shift in the henchman's face, he seemed much calmer than the previous one, professional, but something in his eyes shifted. There was a scream coming from another part of the building and Robin perked up.
The henchman left the room silently and Robin immediately walked over to the other door. It was locked.
When he heard the footsteps, they were right behind him.
"Did ya book an appointment?"
He turned around. The Joker smiled.
"I was done for the evenin' when ya dropped by. Now I don't reward late-comers, but I'm feeling generous," he said, his smile exuberant as he picked up something from his pocket.
Tim took a step back and saw that the bearded man was standing by the wall texting, uninterested in the situation. The exit was free, and he could make it.
He had not even taken a step when the Joker's arm wrapped around his shoulders from behind, and abruptly pulled him back. He grabbed a steady hold of Robin's forehead with one hand and twirled a purple razor with his other. The metal blade gleamed in front of his face and he started squirming and kicking until the blade was placed smoothly underneath his ear.
"Shhhhh," the Joker mumbled. "Don't wanna rupture anything."
"I came to tell you something!" Tim growled but was subsequently ignored.
"It's common sense to pay your debts. I'm being nice, Tim-oh-thy."
"Wait –"
"Too bad your friend can't make a collaboration piece with ya. We'll just have to improvise. We'll send Batsy a card."
"He's mine, Daddy."
Robin barely heard the voice through his harsh breathing. He struggled to look up for a moment and saw a girl standing in front of them. He couldn't see her face but he recognized her voice. Where the hell did she come from?
Robin's body rocked forward when the Joker pulled him closer. "This bird is mine to fry," he chided her, angling the blade to graze against Tim's trembling Adam's apple. Through the edge of his vision he could see the Joker's thumb stroking the handle of the razor.
The girl stepped closer until she was almost right in front of them, sounding a bit annoyed.
"I wanna play with him!"
Robin felt the blade flicker against his throat again.
He heard a little hiss and looked up in confusion to see the girl's upper lip drawn into a grimace, only for the shortest moment, before she stepped closer until she was right in front of them. A cloud of something sugary sweet surrounded him and made his stomach turn. She smelled as if she had been rolling around in cotton candy.
"I want a Robin. I want one to play with now. You said I could have him!"
With an annoyed huff, the Joker suddenly released his grip on him. Robin fell to the floor, light-headed. He saw the girl's sparkling Adidas shoes and quickly got up.
She giggled and dashed forward to kiss the Joker's cheek. He raised a hand to dismiss her, rolling his eyes, before turning to leave. "Have fun," he said, but he sounded everything but well-wishing.
Robin let out a breath as he realized he was alone with the girl. He knew he recognized her. Her dog was nowhere in sight, but there was no mistaking.
She had dark grey eyes and messy hair, with strands of green poking through. There were messy scribbles in black paint on her pale face. She wore a dress with black tights. There was something childish and innocent about her, yet deeply unsettling with that serious expression. She seemed to be much younger than Tim.
"Come," she said, and he scrambled to his feet and followed, thanking the higher powers he wasn't bleeding out all over the Joker's shoes right now. He didn't trust her for a second, but she had just saved his life.
He followed her through another hallway, following the glow of her hair. It felt like walking through a horror house; he expected the Joker or any other clown to jump out whenever he least expected it, but they were alone.
She walked leisurely, completely unconcerned by having her back turned against him. If he wasn't stuck in this building where he had no means of getting out without her help, he would have jumped her. She looked scrawny, it would be easy to overpower her. He guessed she had never bothered to learn too much self-defense, relying on her parents' protection, and he saw no weapons on her. But wouldn't help his case. He wasn't like Bruce, who punched first and asked later.
"Where are we going?" he asked her at last.
She turned to look blankly at him before showing him into another windowless room. The room was comfortable, with a couple of sofas and a TV. She went to look for something in there.
"What do you want?" he asked her as soon as they were alone, preparing himself for a fight as he saw her pick up a hammer.
"Mom and Dad are gonna kill you," she said matter-of-factly.
"Then let me go."
"Batsy almost killed my mom," she continued, a hint of possessiveness suddenly glimmering in her eyes, and for a moment she looked eerily much like her father. She stepped all the way over to Robin and stood in front of him. He was a head taller than her, but it didn't seem to bother her.
"I'm sorry," he said, sincerely. "I won't let him do it."
Still holding her hammer, she peered into his eyes. His attempt at sympathy apparently didn't strike a chord with her. She stared into his eyes, one first and then the other, and a tiny wrinkle appeared between her eyebrows. She twirled her hammer in her small hands, back and forth, with the blunt head exposed.
He prepared to have to overpower her if she attacked him, it wasn't going to be hard, but then his already slim chances of leaving this place alive were going to be reduced.
"You're strange," she conceded.
The situation was too strange to take her scrutinizing seriously.
"Do you want to kill me?" Tim said, unable to tear his eyes from the dull end of her hammer. When she didn't reply, he continued, more out of desperation than anything: "I'm working with Batman because I don't want him to kill anyone again. I know he's been getting violent. My parents were killed a few years ago. I don't want anyone else to die, not yours either."
A small light of interest had lit up her eyes. Still he noticed that she didn't show an ounce of excitement, she was calm and concentrated.
For a moment he felt sorry for her. He had heard Bruce talk about the girl, the Joker and Harley's presumed child, in his fruitless objective to find and rescue her. While Tim had not completed his training, he was still a part of Bruce's trusted extended family. He never thought he'd be standing eye to eye with her, not like this, at her complete mercy.
"Can you protect Harley?" she said, staring at him. "From Batsy. Don't let him take her."
He was perplexed by the question – after all he'd heard, she should be the one protected from her mother. But he was about to agree to anything she suggested at this point.
"I'll try," he said.
"Not try. You make Batsy stay away from her, and I'll keep Daddy away from you." A wry smile lit up her face. "For a while."
He didn't even think about it as he nodded, looking her in the eyes to show his sincerity. He was apparently making a deal with what, an eleven year old?
"You can be my friend," she added, as an afterthought. She leaned forward and smiled at him.
Was she as crazy as them? Probably. He was about to formulate a polite decline to her words, no way in hell I'm going anywhere near you again.
As if she had read his mind, she said: "Without my help, you're gonna die."
He nodded, what choice did he have? "Deal."
There was a strange expression in her eyes, before she suddenly told him to follow her again. They left through another hallway and he wondered if she was trying to confuse him by picking strange routes.
They passed by yet another room and Robin saw Harley Quinn at last. She stood in front of a mirror with a lipstick in hand.
"What's that doing there?" She scrunched up her nose and pointed at Tim with the lipstick. The dog (more resembling a hyena) that Tim now knew as Lucifer jumped up from his place on the floor next to Harley and snarled.
The girl took no notice of her parents. Harley snuck up next to Tim, and suddenly he was more wary of her than of the Joker. Her teeth were stark white against her lipstick and her eyes intensely focused on him.
"Aren't you a bit too young to be keeping company, Jay?"
He tried to think of Bruce, who had been dealing with those pests for years. Tim just needed to learn the same self-control.
Harley Quinn snapped her teeth at him and he jumped, backing away only to feel a sturdy presence behind him, and realized he had backed into the Joker's chest. A heavy hand landed on his shoulder, squeezing, and the Joker leaned forward. "Boo!"
Harley's eyes sparkled with mischief. "What a cute thing! Batsy really likes 'em young, huh!"
Jaylie strolled over to him and grabbed Tim by the arm, paying no mind to her parents.
"Honey, we're not gonna adopt him," Harley giggled, her eyes in manic agreement with her paramour.
Jaylie turned against her with big eyes and a little smile. "He's my late birthday present, Mom."
Harley smiled wide. "Of course, baby."
The Joker reached out a hand, cupping the girl's chin and squeezing. "Make it grim for little Tim, then."
She returned his grin.
"They grow up so fast," Harley cooed behind them when Jaylie led Tim away. "Save the scraps for me!"
When they were standing in the hallway again, Jaylie handed him a blindfold and ordered him to put it on. Once he had secured it, she led him out another way, warning him of a stairway. He followed carefully, holding jerkily onto the railing to avoid falling to his death. Still not knowing whoever else was present, he didn't dare to run.
Suddenly cold night air hit his face and he breathed greedily, thankful that his throat was still intact.
"Remove the blindfold," she ordered when they had walked for a few minutes.
When he did, he was standing near the road, surrounded by tall, looming buildings. Turning around, the warehouse was nowhere to be seen. He saw a bridge further away; they were still in the Narrows.
Not that he really cared what happened to her, but he knew Bruce did. Batman would try to save her, and Tim suddenly had information to give. They couldn't have walked far from that building disguised as a warehouse. She couldn't hide for long, if she walked around the Narrows like she owned the place.
Jaylie turned to go. Flakes of snow had landed in her hair, glowing sickly green like a halo in the light from a street lamp.
"We have a deal," she said. "If you try looking for us, I'll kill you."
For some reason, he believed her.
To be continued.
Let me know what you think! Is Jaylie's idea going to work or has she just gamled with everyone's safety?