Chapter 5
The police station was bustling with what seemed like thousands of police officers and lawyers, each one of them running from place to place searching for anything and everything, praying for a way to reconcile with whatever thundered through the mind after a city boasts of seventeen fresh murders from the last Joker episode. She sat in the middle of it all, a blanket wrapped around her trembling frame and a hot coffee in her frozen hands.
The Police Commissioner himself was sitting across from her. In her hazy, sobered state, she remarked that this man seemed to be the only human one of them all. His demeanor was still and unobtrusive as if he was simply waiting for the world to become still and reveal to answers to everything he desired. Time itself was still for him, making her feel like she was in the presence of a kind old uncle who wanted nothing more than to hear her thoughts and spend a little time with her. She took a deep gulp of her shaking coffee and put it on the table in front of her. Commissioner Gordon smiled gently.
"More where that came from." He said almost jokingly. "I'm tempted to have another myself. It'll be my fifth today. Do you think I have a problem?"
She tried to smile, but found herself unable to muster anything more than a minor mouth twitch. "I don't think anyone has problems after what I saw tonight." She said. Gordon looked down as if in respect for her traumatic experience.
"I know how you feel. I've encountered The Joker a few times now and believe me, it's not something that I enjoy. He seems to have a bit of a knack for breaking out of prison, unfortunately. Go figure that Gotham's finest psychopath is also a David Copperfield in his spare time."
Annie looked out across the hall at the SWAT officers who were giving details to other police officers. One of the officers had an ugly slash across his face from one of The Joker's men and was nursing it gingerly with a heavy slice of gauze. The criminals who were being booked were even discussing the situation with some of the officers and demanding complete protection, should the need arise.
Gordon sighed. "I guess it's my duty to tell you that we did not catch The Joker this time." Her eyes immediately darted back to Gordon's face, the calm that she felt moments earlier fading instantly. He looked down in shame. "He was ahead of us this time. Knew we were coming, I guess. Anyways, it seems that out of all the people The Joker encountered this evening…" He paused. "You were the only one to come out unharmed. Now, we don't know exactly why it happened that way, but…"
"I know why." She said flatly. "I called his bluff."
Gordon fell silent and fixed his gaze squarely on hers. She sighed for a moment and reached for her coffee, only to discover that she had already drank it all. "It's…I don't know. He started telling me about how he got his scars, but I told his that he wasn't…I said that I thought that he did it."
Gordon leaned in closer. "How do you know that?"
"I don't really know." She said. "I mean, I took Psych when I was in school as my science and I sort of, like, had a knack for it. People like him lie, but they believe each lie as a sort of separate reality. Down is up, up is down, it's like they speak in codes. You guys know that already though, don't you?"
He didn't appear to be listening. He was motioning for one of the police sergeants to join him at the table. The Sergeant looked at Gordon and then at her, puzzling over what he had discovered from a girl who still reeked of alcohol from earlier that evening. She rolled her eyes and put her index finger at her temple, wishing all of a sudden that she could have another coffee with a lot of alcohol in it.
"We're going to place you into protective custody." Gordon said, pointing the Sergeant in the direction of two other officers. "I think it's best if you don't leave the station at all tonight. The Joker let you go, but chances are he's going to be looking for you again. I'm going to need two teams dispatched on West 89th street! He probably took off that way when he ran out of the building. Let's see if we can get to him before he gets to us!"
Annie sunk into a state of confusion. She wanted to ask Gordon why things had become so urgent, why her information was so pertinent to them and so like common sense to her. The police station was becoming frantic with people trying to run out to cars. Orders were being shouted from Gordon and the others, and everything was in a state of preemptive pandemonium.
From down the hallway, an officer came running towards Gordon, his gun displayed in clear view on his belt. Gordon turned towards him nervously while looking back at her as if to ensure that nothing had happened to her in the past twenty seconds.
"Sir, there's a problem." Said the officer as he caught his breath. "I think you need to come look at this."
(Author's Note: More to come soon, guys! Let me know what you think!)