AN: Thanks very much, Devryn! Okay—this next one has cameos from a couple of the other villains, namely Scarecrow and Harvey Dent. Enjoy!
9: Then.
"Why does she get to do all the work, huh?" whined the Scarecrow. "I'm a certified expert on human behavior – I can help. And I've known the Batman longer than any of you."
"No," said The Joker with a wearied sigh. "Your job, professor, is to direct attention elsewhere. 'Elsewhere' being right here, like I told you before. Now, if you'd like be in two places at once, I'd be happy to arrange that."
It was the same as the last time. His crowd of disposable helpers was focused on me, and boiling with hate. Most of them simply wanted me out of the way. They didn't approve of his unabashed favoritism of me, and wanted their fair share of the action during the job. They wanted me gone so that The Joker would focus on them instead of me.
Except for Harvey. He wanted me gone too, but for a different reason. He cornered me one day when The Joker had gone off 'window shopping' – his term for exploring an area he wanted to destroy and deciding how best to accomplish the feat. The Joker didn't keep a very close eye on me where the others were concerned. He knew as well as I did that they hated me, but he also knew I was capable of handling myself. It occurred to me that another in my position may have resented his not watching over me, but I appreciated his faith in my own strength. None of them frightened me.
So when Harvey literally backed me into a corner, I stood my ground, and listened. His fury was no greater than that of the others, but the motivation behind it was different. Revenge circled his thoughts, and I saw a name in his mind: Rachel Dawes. I crossed my arms and stared him down. I would not be the first to speak.
"So you're the one, huh?" he said, glaring at me with his good eye. "What's so special about you anyway?"
I said nothing. He pulled out his silver coin, with one side marred and blackened, and turned it over in his fingers. "I had someone special once too."
"Rachel Dawes," I said.
Both eyes locked and focused. "You know her?"
"I know there's an event planned in her memory soon. The Joker wants me to attend."
Harvey gave a short, mirthless laugh and clenched his fist around the coin. "Well, what a coincidence!" he said. "The man who murdered the love of my life is sending the love of his life to a party for her. That's just hilarious isn't it?" He looked down at his coin again. The steel barrel of a gun glinted in his other hand. "I wonder what the chances are of that just happening."
"Harvey—" I started.
"Shut up!" The outburst echoed through the room and through my skull. I winced, but did not say anything further. "It all comes back to chance, every time," he continued. "What do you think the chances are that you actually mean anything to him?" The coin rolled over and over inside his palm. "When I lost Rachel, I lost half of myself, too. I wonder what would happen to The Joker if he lost you. Let's find out. That's fair, isn't it?" He tossed the coin high into the air.
I snatched it away before he could touch it. Then I reached out with my other hand and seized his throat, dug in at the side where his flesh had been burned away, and hooked my index finger around his larynx. His eyes popped grotesquely and he fell to his knees, wheezing and gurgling and clawing at my arm. His fingernails left painful scrapes along my skin, but I ignored them. "I want you to listen to me very carefully, Harvey," I said, keeping my voice low so he'd have to obey. "I am here because I choose to be. Not because I have a grudge to settle or a point to prove, but because I don't want to be parted from him. You, on the other hand, have deluded yourself into thinking that you can cause him as much pain as he's caused you. I see everything you've been plotting, and I will tell him all. You believe he made you this way, but we both know, don't we Harvey, that it was you yourself, and no one else, that allowed you to give in to this abomination? All you needed was an excuse. We're all liars here, Harvey. But you are the very worst kind, because you lie to yourself."
I released him. He fell back and drew a rattling gasp of a breath. "Do not threaten me again," I said. "If you have any sense of self-preservation left, you will leave this place before he finds a new way torture you. That's the only reason you're here. But I'm sure you knew that already." I opened my hand and the silver coin dropped to the ground with a sharp tinkling. Then I stalked away. The others, having gathered to watch the confrontation, gave me a wide berth as I passed.