AN: Trying to get stories up and running. Laptop isn't working well, so slow updates. Hope to get the story going when I get a new one in February. Afraid to Love has been updated too.

Review and let me know your still interested in the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own Dark Knight

Chapter 7: Finally Home

He heard the screaming and sobs as he exited the elevator. Alfred was standing before him, obviously waiting for him, with a grave expression on his face.

"Sir, Ms. Dawes is trying to calm her down but has been unable to do so," he said, grabbing Bruce's suit jacket as he tossed it on the way to heading to the large living room.

He stopped in the door way as he spotted his sister, eyes instantly gluing to her form. Rae was in a corner of the room, her knees pulled up to her chest as she rocked back and forth on her heels. Rachel held her in her arms, trying to calm the sobbing woman.

"Rae?" Bruce whispered, slowly walking towards them.

Her head snapped up at his voice and when she made out his form through the blur of tears in her eyes, she scrambled to her feet and into her brother's arms.

"Bruce," she cried, clinging to him as he wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm here, Rae. I'm here," he whispered, unshed tears gathering in his eyes as he held her close to him.

"He'll be so mad when he finds me gone," she sobbed, shaking violently in his arms. "He'll hurt me so bad for being a bad girl…"

Bruce closed his eyes, unable to keep a tear from sliding down his cheek. What had that madman done to her to get her so afraid? Where was the strong girl he knew?

"I'm so sorry, Rae. I didn't protect you, I'm so sorry," he mumbled, burying his head in her hair. "I won't let him hurt you again."

"You can't stop him, he's everywhere…"

Bruce sighed, taking a step back to examine her. He scanned her face, noticing just a faint bruise on her face, most likely having occurred in the last 24 hours. He scanned her body, not seeing much with the clothes covering her, but enough to know that she had still been sexually abused.

The dark purple and slight yellow bruises circling her wrists and finger like bruises on her arms were evident that she had been restrained.

"Rae, Alfred is going to take you to the hospital."

"Don't leave me!" Rae cried, clinging on to her older brother.

"I don't want to, but I have to. Harvey has set a trap for Joker," he paused and winced when she flinched at the name before continuing on. "I have to catch him and end this. You won't have to worry about him hurting you again."

Rae looked up at Bruce, staring up at him before hesitantly nodding.

"Alright, I'll go," she whispered, stepping back from him.

"Okay, I will meet you there when I'm done," he whispered, giving her a hug and a kiss on the forehead, apologizing when she flinched from his kiss.

"Sorry," she whispered, her eyes lowering to the floor. "He would do that a lot," she mumbled.

Bruce stared down at her for a few moments before he gently hugged her again.

"Alfred, please get Rae to the hospital. I will be there as soon as possible."

"Yes, sir."

Several hours later...

After changing from his costume, Bruce rushed to the hospital to check up on Rae. He was just about to walk into her room when a doctor pulled him aside.

"Mr. Wayne, I'm Doctor Miller, I am the one taking care of your sister."

"Is she alright?" Bruce asked in concern as the doctor hesitated to continue speaking.

"Well, we have found several fading bruises all over her body," the doctor started to say, opening a file in his hands. "We also found several recent ones, most likely done within the last 24 hours, on her wrists, forearms, and um thighs. The rest, well, I think you should read the rest. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask."

Dr. Miller handed Bruce the file before quickly dashing down the hall. Bruce stared after the doctor, worried about the contents of the file in his hands that would have the doctor running from him. He slowly opened the file, starting with the top paper, reports of injuries.

Most of what he saw didn't surprise him though he still felt anger at reading all that had happened to her. There were x-rays that revealed no broken bones. He came to the sheet that revealed the results of the rape kit. It came to no surprise that it was positive, especially since he just read injuries that described it.

He was surprised that they had collected sperm, two separate sperm donors. There was another man that the Joker allowed to rape her? The more he read, the more he was convinced that the man was a monster and he was glad he was sitting in a jail cell downtown.

He turned to the last page, scanning to see that several different tests were taken. His eyes widened when he saw the results to the last test, anger pulling at his stomach. He snapped the file closed, rushing to catch up with the fleeing doctor. He saw him at the reception desk, talking to a nurse.

"This does not get out," Bruce growled at the doctor who had paled at seeing his angry face. "If this gets leaked out to the press, I will see to it that you never work in this country again."

The doctor nodded in fear, thinking it was best not to say anything to the upset millionaire. Bruce turned to walk away, starting to walk back towards his sister room. He sighed as he saw the Bat signal lighting up the night sky. He turned back to the doctor.

"Inform my sister of this," he ordered, walking towards the exit.

"Sir! That's the patient's medical file!" The nurse at the station yelled out against the doctor's hushed warnings to be quiet.

Bruce ignored her, tucking the file under his arm as he walked out.

Jim Gordon was waiting for the Batman to show, watching the night sky. Come on, we need you he thought.

"What do you need?"

Gordon jumped at the hoarse voice that came from behind him, turning around to face the Batman. He sat crouched on the ledge behind the Bat signal, shutting it off as he stared at the commissioner.

"Harvey Dent never made it home; I want you to be there to interrogate the Joker."

"I don't think that would be wise," Batman took a piece of paper out of a file that was in his hands before handing the rest of the file over to Jim.

Gordon sighed, before taking the file and opening it up. Immediately his gaze went to the name on the file before his head snapped up to the Batman.

"Rae Ann Wayne's hospital file. This is from today. Where did you-."

"She was returned to her home earlier this afternoon." Batman started to say, "She was taken to the hospital in secret. Wayne wanted the Joker to be caught before it was revealed that she was safe. Read the file and interrogate Joker, I will be in the room."

Jim pushed through the knot of detectives gathered outside the interrogation room and jerked a thumb towards the Joker through the two way mirror.

"Has he said anything?"

Ramirez shook her head and Gordon moved pass her, into the room. He stood in front of the table across from the Joker.

"Evening, eh, Commissioner," Joker said, a smirk on his lips as he licked one corner of his mouth with his tongue.

"Harvey Dent never made it home."

"Of course not."

"What have you done with him?"

"Me?" The Joker exclaimed, pointing to his chest in mock surprise. "I was right here. Who did you leave him with? Your people? Assuming, of course, that they are your people and not Maroni's," he said, his smirk widening to where it stretched his scars.

"Tell me, eh, does it depress you to know how alone you are? Does it make you feel responsible for Harvey Dent's current predicament? What about Miss Wayne? You feel guilty for her situation?"

"I have her file here, Joker. You're going to be in jail for a long time for what you did to her," Jim opened the file, starting to read from it. "Bruises found on various parts of her body. Handcuff marks found on her wrists, obvious signs of rape-."

"Where are you getting this from?" The Joker interrupted his voice low and coming out as a growl.

"The hospital reported it-."

The Joker stood, flipping the table over as his chair slammed back.

"That bitch! She belongs to me! How dare she leave me?!" He stormed, starting to mutter under his breath. "She is mine!"

"Yours? If she was yours, why did you allow another to rape her?"

Joker stilled, his brown eyes blazing as he looked at the Commissioner.

"What did you just say?" He growled, his fists clenching at his sides.

"The hospital found two different sperm patterns, meaning there were at least two men who raped her."

The Joker roared, punching the wall with his fist.

The nurse watched nervously as the woman tossed and turned in her sleep, mumbling under her breath. She wondered if she should give the young woman a sedative? The poor dear, with everything that's happened to her, it was no surprise that she was having nightmares.

The laughter, she kept on hearing his laughter in her head. She could seeing his face above her, feel him pushing inside her. She wanted him to leave her alone. His scars rubbed her face, feeling strange against her skin, as he pushed in and out. His makeup face was leering down at her.

Then she saw another join, another face take the Joker's over. His skin was smooth against hers, but he almost made the experience worse. He was human; he wasn't supposed to be a monster. Joker was the monster. Why had he done this to her? She thought he was her friend. How could he care about her and rape her?

After Joker's outburst in the interrogation room, he was taken out of the interrogation room and placed back in his cell for an hour to cool down before he was sent back into the room. When Jim walked in, sparing a glance to the dark corner of the room, he found the Joker sitting calmly down at the table, his eyes staring straight ahead and his handcuffed hands lying atop the table.

"I see you have calmed down. You ready to talk yet?" Jim asked, taking a seat from across the Joker.

"Who raped my woman?" Joker said, turning his eyes to the commissioner.

Gordon coughed slightly in his hand as he saw the anger still swarming in his eyes.

"Besides you, we do not know. We assumed you let another-."

"She is mine! I do not share what is mine!" Joker growled, clenching his fists.

"Well then, we don't know. It had to have happened in the last 32 hours."

"Today," the Joker said immediately, his eyes narrowing in concentration. "It must have happened late this morning or early afternoon."

"What makes you think that?"

The Joker sighed in annoyance, rolling his eyes.

"Because I, eh, was with her most of yesterday," he said like it was the most obvious thing, a smirk on his face as he thought of what he was doing yesterday. "She, eh, was a little detained with me."

Jim cleared his throat, nervous as he felt the anger coming from the corner of the room. Joker clinched his head in his hands, hiding his face from the commissioner.

"We will investigate the matter, but on to why we called you in here. Where is Harvey Dent?"

Joker looked up at him, his eyes peering from under his greenish blonde hair.

"Eh, what time is it?"

"What difference does that make?"

"Depending on the time, he might be in one spot or several," the Joker shrugged.

"If we're going to play games, I'm going to need a cup of coffee," Jim said as he stood and unlock the Joker's handcuffs.

"Ah, the good cop bad cop routine?" The Joker said with a sinister smirk on his face.

Gordon stood at the door, his hand on the knob as he looked back at the dark corner behind the Joker.

"Not exactly," he answered, exiting the room and closing the door.

Bruce stood in the shadows as they brought Joker into the room, sitting him down in a chair where he had a profile view of his scarred face. Gordon had told him that the Joker had become increasingly violent when it was revealed that Rae had been raped from another.

It didn't make sense for the Joker to be so possessive of his sister. Was he becoming obsessed with Rae? Bruce continued to watch the exchange of information. Watching the emotions on the Joker's face as they talked about Rae's possible second rapist only seemed to confirm his thoughts.

Joker is obsessed with his sister. Bruce stared in confusion as the Joker bowed his head in his hands, catching a look of pain on his face as he slowly, with small movements that even Gordon didn't catch, massaged his temple.

He dismissed it, not carrying if anything was wrong with the criminal and walked forward as Gordon left the room. He came up behind the Joker and slammed his head on the table. Joker groaned, raising his head to see Batman standing in front of him.

"Never start with the head. Everything gets fuzzy. Can't feel the next-."

Batman slammed his fist down onto the Joker's fingers, his expression staying emotionless.

"See?"

"You wanted me. Here I am."

"I want to see what you'd do and you didn't disappoint. You let five people die. Then you let Dent take your place. Even to a guy like me… that's cold."

"Where's Dent?" He asked, though he felt like ramming his fist into the Joker's face and hurting him for all he did to Rae.

"The mob fools want you dead so they can go back to the way things were," Joker said, ignoring Batman's question. "But I know the truth—there is no going back. You've changed things, forever."

"Then why do you want to kill me?"

"Kill you?" He laughed. "I don't want to kill you. What would I do without you? Go back to ripping off mob dealers? No, you complete me."

"You're garbage that kills for money."

"Don't talk like them," Joker growled. "You're not, even if you'd like to be. To them, you're just a freak like me. As soon as they don't need you anymore, they'll cast you out like a leper."

Joker leaned forward staring into Batman's eyes.

"Their morals, their code… It's a bad joke, dropped at the first sign of trouble. They're only as good as the world allows them to be. You'll see. I'll show you. When the chips are down, these civilized people… they'll eat each other. See, I'm not a monster. I'm just ahead of the curve."

"You are a monster. The injuries of the Wayne girl prove that you're a monster," Batman growled, unable to control himself from saying anything.

The Joker opened his mouth then closed it, staring at Batman.

"I knew there was something between you and my gal. I saw your stolen looks at the Wayne fundraiser. She looked at you with a new found hope, she thought you were going to rescue her," Joker smirked. "But you didn't, you rescued Dent's squeeze. You'll have to play my little game if you want to save one of them."

Bruce's eyes widened.

"Them?"

"For I while, I thought you really were Dent, the way you threw yourself after her-."

Batman jammed a chair under the door knob, ignoring the shouts and bounds on the door. He picked the Joker up, throwing him into the glass mirror. The Joker laughed.

"Look at you. Does Dent know about you and his bunny-."

Bruce flung the Joker across the table and into a wall.

"Where are they?" He growled, punching the Joker.

"You choose one life over the other. Your friend, the district attorney or his blushing bride to be."

Batman punched the Joker again.

"You have nothing, nothing to threaten me with. Nothing to do with all your strength, but don't worry. I'm going to tell you where they are, both of them. That's the point—you'll have to choose. He's at 250 fifty-second Boulevard and she's at Avenue X at Cicero." Batman was already out the door when he finished.

"Which one are you going after?" Gordon called out.

"Rachel."

Sitting, bound to a chair, in darkness, sick from whatever they used to knock her out, whoever they were.

"Can anyone hear me?" She tried to yell, her voice only a hoarse whisper.

"Rachel? Is that you?"

Harvey heard her from a speaker on the floor. He was also bound to a chair and surrounded by metal barrels, wired to a car battery and a timer that was counting down.

"It's okay, Rachel. Everything's going to be just fine. Can you move your chair?"

"No," Rachel answered, watching the red numbers on the timer. "Harvey, we don't have much time."

"Look for something to free yourself."

"They said only one of us was going to make it. That they'd let our friends choose."

Dent shifted all his weight to one side of the chair and began to fall. It was too late to regain his balance, and he fell into one of the barrels, knocking it over, causing some of the diesel fuel to spill out.

"Harvey, what's happening?"

"Nothing. I'm trying to-."

Some of the fuel spilled into his mouth and nose, fuel soaking through his clothes.

Bruce parked the bat pod at the corner of Avenue X and Cicero Street. He ran into the building, kicking the door in. He had expected to see Rachel. Instead he saw Harvey Dent lying in a puddle on the floor, bound to a chair.

"No!" Dent screamed as he saw him. "Not me! Why did you come for me?!"

Furious with himself, Batman dragged Dent and the chair towards the door, desperately trying to free the struggling man.

"Rachel!" Dent screamed as he was pulled out of the chair.

Rachel saw the timer clicking to an end and closed her eyes, waiting for the explosion.

Alfred turned as he heard the shifting coming from the bed, giving a small smile to his young charge as she sat up.

"Alfred, where's Bruce?"

"He's at the station. There's no reason to worry anymore, Miss Wayne. He has been arrested."

Rae signed in relief, turning to the doorway as the doctor walked in.

"Miss Wayne, I'm Dr. Miller. I'm the one who has been running your tests and seeing to your care. Now, there are something's that I need to discuss you," the doctor started to say, his gaze shifting to Alfred.

"It's okay," Rae said, knowing why he hesitated. "He's raised me since I was little, he can be here."

The doctor nodded.

"Well, we ran a rape kit and found two different sperm samples," He said, watching as the girl paled and shook her head.

"I don't want to talk about it," she whispered, bowing her head as Alfred squeezed her hand in support.

"Well, that also contributes to what I also need to tell you. We ran some tests and found out that your," the doctor paused, clearing his throat, "that your pregnant."

Alfred gasped, his gaze turning to Rae. Rae stared at the doctor, her expression revealing her shock.

"Do you know who the father is?"

"Joker," she whispered, "The other one was just once."

The doctor nodded, closing the file.

"Yes, it would have to be him then, since the other man only attacked you once and we were able to retrieve a sperm sample, it must have happened recently and it would be impossible for him to be the father. Has to be the Joker…"

Rae stared ahead, none of the doctor's words reaching her ears as she thought about what was just revealed to her. Pregnant? No, she couldn't be pregnant… Rae's hand went to her belly, tears coming to her eyes. Alfred hugged her to him as she burst into tears, a breaking news report flashing on the screen.

"…Joker has escaped jail…"

And Rae fainted.