(New Year New Me! I'm back! College has been crazy but I managed to write this for ya! Let's see if I can finish it before 2020. ;) Love you all, thank you for your patience!)

Chapter 18

Blood. Both pounding in my ears and dripping its way from my stab wound down my leg. I can still sense these emotions as two oversized men dragged me into the Joker's lair. Insane Clown Posse members cheered at my arrival. Not in the way I would have liked. Standing in a large open space in the center was the clown prince of crime and his girlfriend. His sickly grin sent shivers down my spine. His eyes gleamed as they locked onto mine. He had finally gotten what he wanted.

"Good Evening. My name is Doctor Hugo Strange. I would like-"

"Alright ya filthy clown. I want my money and I want it now!" The Penguin interrupted greedily

"Pengers! I'm glad you called in reinforcements. I could tell you wouldn't be capable of the job after all." The Joker smirked. Cobblepot didn't seem to take kindly to that remark. The clown turned towards one of his associates and snapped his fingers. "Rocko, give the old man his money." One of the painted thugs tossed a briefcase to one of Penguins men. He opened the case and inspected the bills carefully, ensuring all of the money was accounted for.

Two painted men began to approach me as the boys currently holding me began to prepare to transfer me over.

"Just one moment." Strange said, adjusting his glasses. "I would like to make a few amendments to the initial arrangements."

Harley's once proud smirk vanished. She had been so looking forward to torturing me I could tell she was disappointed at this hiccup in the road. The Joker's grin, however, didn't falter. Merely a solitary green eyebrow raised at the thought of this man testing him.

"Oh? Do tell!"

"In exchange for Sarina Gibson, I will receive a one-hour interview session regarding your life." Hugo Strange explained. Harley Quinn burst into maniacal laughter. She had a point. Even I thought the request was farfetched.

"Hmm." The Joker mock pondered. "Or I could kill you now, keeping the kid and the money." He grinned as he rubbed his chin in thought. "Come to think of it, that's a much better idea, don't you agree?"

As crazy as he was, he had a point. Before I could continue pondering this thought one of the men let go while another grabbed my neck and violently yanked me. Something familiar about that grip. I looked up at my captor. The man from Black Mask's club. Perfect. With a grimace, he placed the barrel of a gun on my temple. Oh. This did not look good for me.

"If these terms are not met I will kill the girl. Ending the deal in its entirety." Hugo Strange explained.

"Go ahead! We were gonna kill her anyway! Right Mistah J?" Harley Quinn spewed proudly. She turned to her puddin for approval only to receive a backhand to the face, knocking her to the ground. The Joker chuckled at this turn of events.

"Oh I love a man who plays hard ball." The Joker commented, his gaze shifted back to me. Whatever his plans were, I could tell from his sick grin that this would not end well for me.

"A deals a deal!" The clown thugs started shouting, outraged at this turn of events. There was chaos as the thugs started shouting obscenities at one another. It was then that I noticed the small door to my left. If there was any hope of searching for my mother it would be through there. Now the real question, how to get there passed a dozen Juggalos. That's when I remembered who was holding on to me with a vice grip. I looked up at the towering man, Vendetta written all over his face.

"Well this isn't exactly very honorable." I said to him. "Thought you were going to get this big revenge, redeem yourself, and you don't even get the chance. Pathetic."

"You turned yourself in. What did you expect?"

"Not this." I replied. "C'mon, we can do better than this. What do you say we get a real rematch?"

"And how do you suggest we do that?" I had peaked his interest. He clearly didn't approve of this predicament either. This guy was like that. All about pride and honor.

"Cause a scene. Count to ten. Then try and get me for real." I proposed. "Then you can truly redeem yourself."

Silence. Was he really considering this? After a few moments of bickering he cocked his gun. Uh oh. Did this backfire?

"Hand her over freak!" Said a clown painted face, unironically. In an instant, the honorable assassin turned his gun towards the clown thug nearest us and fired. Hitting him dead between the eyes. That's when all hell broke loose. A full on war was waged between the clown thugs and the penguin thugs. Guns went off and fists flew.

"That's enough!" Hugo Strange's voice bellowed to no avail, his attempts to retain order proving futile. Joker and Harley just laughed as they watched the chaos ensue. Now was my chance. The second the big guy loosened his grip I quickly rolled out of the way, under the feet of angry idiots. I managed to pull myself up to the door, opening it and sliding in, locking it behind me.

I was breathing heavy after my escape. My leg still howling in pain with the knife protruding from it. It looks like I didn't have much of a choice. Placing one hand on my mouth and the other on the knife I silently gave a yank. Stifling a scream. I now held a bloody knife. But there was no time to deal with the pain. I needed to move. Those thugs wouldn't keep gruesome busy for long. I quickly pulled off my hoodie, the catsuit on underneath. I wiggled the jeans off as well, wrapping the sweatshirt around my wound to stop the bleeding. With a deep breath, I continued my way. I knew I couldn't walk out in the open for long. I needed a secret path. Rubbing the dirt off my face, my fingertips brushed the glasses. Smirking to myself as I pressed the button on the side. Gazing at my surroundings, there was no one in my immediate vicinity. It was when I glanced down I saw three figures, one tied to a chair. That must be her! That must be my mother! Frantically I searched for an entrance. My eyes landed on an air vent in the ceiling. Perfect. Not a moment later the door handle behind me shook violently, someone was trying to get in.

Hobbling with the speed of a grandmother who just called Bingo, I made my way to the vent. With a huff, I yanked myself up. Lifting the vent cover, I hurried in. As soon as I had gotten myself settled, the once locked door gave way with a heavy groan. I managed to turn myself around and gaze out. It was gruesome all right. Waltzing in like the Predator, out on a hunt. He walked forward, neglecting to notice the air vent as he continued forward. Things must have calmed down in the main room. Using my x-ray glasses, I turned my head. A baker's dozen corpses littered the floor. The doorway was empty. Penguin and Strange must have retreated. Two figures remained, obviously it was the Joker and Harley Quinn. I activated the sonar hearing, this oughta be good.

"What do we do now puddin? Our special friend is gone!" Harley whined.

"Don't worry Harl. This was all part of the plan. I've got a game all set up." Joker chuckled in response, tying my stomach in a knot. A game? This is all just some sick twisted game to him?! The Joker figure pulled something out of his pocket and my ears almost exploded.

"OH SARINA!" Joker's voice proclaimed over the loud speaker. I turned off the sonar as fast as I could. My ears were ringing like crazy. I could barely make out his words. "You clever little minx! What a distraction! Brava!" Was he really complimenting me for foiling his plan? "But don't worry, the nights not over yet!" I didn't like the sound of that "I'm sure I know what you're here for, your poor dear mother!" I glanced over towards the direction my mother was in. There she was, still tied to the chair. "She's in the old foreman's office. Why don't you stop on by and say hello! I'm sure she's dying to see you." That seemed to be funny to the clown prince as his laughter bellowed over the loud speaker, echoing in my hiding spot.

With a gulp, I began to crawl. Was this all a trap? Of course. No way the Joker would reunite me with my mother and send me on my merry way. No, I'd seen enough movie to know what was going to happen next. He was going to make me turn myself in for my mother's life. And I knew what needed to be done. At least knowing exactly where she was would cut down my search time. The only downside to this announcement was you know who would know where to find me. I glanced down at my bloody knife. I was going to have to fight him off.

Using my glasses, my new favorite accessory by the way, I made my way towards the foreman's office. After a few minutes of pained crawling I heard a beeping sound. It was coming, from my glasses? I pressed the button hoping to turn off the noise only to hear a familiar voice.

"Sarina, what do you think you're doing?" The voice of Batman growled in my ear.

"B-man! How are things?"

"Sarina."

"Okay look. Joker's not exactly the most patient guy in the world. I knew that this would be the best way. It's me he's after. And hey it worked. I'm in! And not a scratch!" Okay, so I lied about the last bite, a sting from my stab wound reminded me of that fact.

"I'm tracking your location. Stay where you are. I will take care of this. You've done enough." With that, I heard another beep and his voice was gone. Honestly, this is a good thing. Now that we have the location B-Man can come in and clean up! I truly considered waiting in place, but something told me not to. His track record isn't always the best in terms of hostages. I knew I was my best bet. With that, I continued to wiggle forward. Before long I had heard voices.

"How long are we supposed to keep her here anyway?"

"I dunno, I just do what I'm told and hope the boss or his broad ain't in a bad mood."

I continued towards the vent gate where the noises were coming from. My heart stopped at the sight I saw before me. Two insane clown posse members stood impatiently, in front of a glass box. Inside the box, my mother! I felt my breath catch in my throat. She was alive but just barely. She was battered and bruised like a football players wife. A wave of relief washed over me. She was alive! My attention finally turned to the task at hand. These fools were holding a couple of Ak-47s. Big guns.

Alright, let's see what I've got in my arsenal. These glasses? As fashionable as they were, they wouldn't do me much good. I began to reach for my knife but stopped. Never bring a knife to a gun fight, isn't that what they always say. The infamous expression came to mind. What Would Batman Do? WWBD, note to self, get that printed on bracelets.

The Batarang! I carefully whipped it out. This thing is supposed to work wonders! When used correctly, I presume. If this worked, I could kill two idiots with one Batarang. There backs were turned to me, so I cautiously lifted the vent. Okay, let's see. I'm a rightie so if needed to curve this to the right. I took a heavy breath. Here goes nothing.

With a flick of my wrist, the metal contraption went whizzing, my heart stopped. God, I hope this works. At first it looked like the Batarang wasn't going to curve at all, however just before the wall it made a violent turn, knocking into the first thug. He let out a grunt before falling forward. However, the impact didn't seem to stop the Batarang. It continued on its path and hit its second target. He fell with a resounding thud. The Batarang curved once again back towards me. I reach out and caught it. Holy shit, did I actually do it? I waited a moment, but the thugs remained motionless. Slowly, I shimmied out of the vent and on to the floor. My mother lifted her head, curious to see what all the commotion was about. Her eyes widened as she caught my gaze.

"Sarina?" She asked, shocked.

"Mom!" I rushed up, or I supposed hobbled up, to the glass box. It was thicker than I expected. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine. You aren't supposed to be here." She replied weakly. Even half dead she was always prepared to nag. But I didn't care.

"I'm gonna get you out of here okay?" I soothed.

"Sarina. You're not safe here. You need to leave. Right now."

"I know, but it's okay! You were right. Gotham isn't safe. As soon as we get out of here, we'll mover where ever you want." I replied, feeling around the glass for some kind of entrance.

"No, no. No matter where we go, he'll come for you." She stated.

"Oh please. As soon as he gets a new therapist, he'll have someone else to torture." I said, distracted.

"Sarina. I came here to end it. Once and for all." My mother said, barely a whisper. "He's not going to stop. Not unless someone stops him."

"What are you saying?" I asked, stopping my frantic search. I saw something in her eye that answered my question. She was going to kill him. "Oh mom. Is that why you went to see Black Mask?" I asked, remembering my late-night mission with Robin.

"What are you talking about? I didn't see anyone else. I came to see the Joker. I made a fake deal. Thought he wouldn't expect it." She answered, looking down in shame. So, she wasn't kidnapped. She tried to save me.

"Oh mom." I sighed. "Come on, let's get out of here."

"Sarina, I love you. Don't you ever forget that." She smiled at me. I smiled back. It was a lovely moment. Until it was rudely interrupted.

Suddenly I felt a firm hand grab the back of collar and throw me across into a wall. My vision blurred, and my ears started ringing. It was gruesome all right.

He cracked his neck and tightened his fists. He was prepared for a fight. So, I guess that meant I had to be. I took in a deep breath and pulled myself to my feet and balled my hands into fists. Here goes nothing.

"No, No, No, That's not in the script!" The voice of the Joker piped in over the vent. Déjà vu. That seemed to throw everyone off. "I'm sorry Mr…eh... I don't think I ever got your name! No matter, I'm afraid we're going in a different direction. In the infamous words of our noble president, You're Fired." The Joker burst into a round of cackled as a green mist began spraying out of the very same vent I crawled through. I was frozen. I don't know if it was the head injury, my leg, or what. The tall Vin Desiel-esque jerk face rushed to the door and pulled on the handle to no avail. It was pointless. It was that Joker Gas stuff my mother told me about. I know how this goes. We'll start laughing uncontrollably and die with a twisted grin frozen on our faces. Looks like it'll be a closed casket for me. I quickly clasped my hand around my nose and mouth. That's when it started. The man I once feared started chuckling with glee. At first it was just a few short deep chuckles and then it grew into the giddy laugh of a school girl. With a loud thud, he fell to the floor, his face twisted. I unintentionally gasped, quickly recovering my mouth. It's over. I'm done for. At least my mother was safe in that glass box. I glanced over at her but quickly turned away. As much as I wanted to see her, I couldn't let her see my twisted face after…. well.. it ended. I closed my eyes, waiting for it to happen. Geesh, I wish death would hurry up and get it over with. They weren't wrong when they said, "Slower than Death."

Eventually I summoned the courage to open my eyes. Gruesome was still, well, gruesomely dead. However, the Green Mist was slowly evaporating and yet I wasn't feeling the least bit dead. Not even hungover or anything. I opened my eyes and slowly pulled myself up. I turned back towards my mother, only to see the glass box rising to the ceiling. It was an elevator. Of. Fucking. Course.

"Well that was fun wasn't its Sarina!" The voice of Joker chuckled once again. "You should've seen the look on your face! Nothing like the look on HIS face though."

"What do you want!" I snapped, exhausted and battered.

"What do I want?" He questioned. "That's the Million Dollar question isn't it?" I didn't appreciate that joke. "Why don't you come up and find out." That's when I heard a click as the once locked door slowly creeped open.

I didn't want to go in there. But I knew I had to. With a grimace, I walked through the door and towards my fate.