(Author's Note: At this point in the story, if you have a way of downloading 'God's Away on Business' by Tom Waits, do it. It will make a really good reference for the rest of the story).
Chapter 6
For lack of direction and the ability to think, Annie followed Commissioner Gordon and the other officer down the hallway and across the station to the very front of Police Headquarters. She saw Gordon charge ahead of her, pause for a split second, and then turn back, his hand covering his mouth in shock. She did not stop where the other officers were gathering, but moved a little ahead of them to see the most gruesome sight she had ever witnessed.
Although it seemed at first to be a man sitting on the steps and waiting for someone to allow him entry to the station, a closet look determined that the man was dead. The police were already beginning to close off the perimeters from the outside and inside of the building, but she was around long enough to get a good look at his face. The victim was a Gotham lawyer, one that she had seen work closely with the District Attorney before the DA was pronounced dead a few short months ago. His face was scarred in the familiar Joker style with the long slits across the mouth gaping open and seeping torrents of bright red blood. His head was bowed down towards the steps and black paint circled both of his eyes, casting a deeply disturbing shadow over his mutilated face and around his neck was a small device that looked like a tape recorder with a sign that had the familiar, "I BELIEVE IN HARVEY DENT" campaign poster. The poster itself was the same that the DA used repeatedly in his campaign, but someone had scribbled out the left side of his face with a red marker. Beneath the vandalized photo, a message was written in blood that read, "Who are the ones that we kept in charge: Killers, Thieves, and LAWYERS?"
She could feel a few officers start to push her away from the crime scene as Gordon shouted orders to the men that hurried around with yellow caution tape. "Things are getting bad again." She heard one of the officers say as they moved back towards Gordon's office. It took almost no time at all for The Joker to strike again and she could feel that this time it was going to be really scary. All she wanted was to call her mom to pick her up and take her back home. After meeting The Joker and the subsequent events of the night, Annie felt like she had all she could take.
In about half an hour, Gordon returned to meet her in his office. He took something from an officer, nodded gravely, and closed the door behind him to ensure that they would not be disturbed. He sat across from Annie and smiled in the half apologetic, half gentle way that was his signature in the face of danger.
"I think...that we need to talk a bit about The Joker tonight, Annie." Gordon said. "There's a chance that something big is coming, and the more we know about what we're dealing with, the better."
Hey eyes were wide. There was only one remaining response she knew for these situations in Gotham. "Where's The Batman? Why isn't he here yet?"
It was as if she had dealt a deep emotional blow to Gordon. His eyes searched her face for a moment before he let out a heavy sigh and looked back at the table in an almost shameful manner as if they were about to speak of a long dead relative of his who he had felt responsible for. "The Batman isn't coming back, at least not now. I don't know where he is."
Annie narrowed her eyes and leaned in closer to Gordon. "What do you mean you don't know where he is? He's The Batman, isn't he? He knows where to find us, he knows we need him. Why isn't he coming?"
"Because we drove him out." Gordon replied soberly. "For what happened before. He felt responsible for the deaths of the innocent people of Gotham and left. We felt as though it was for the good of the city."
"WHAT?" shouted Annie, her tone becoming desperate and angry. "You drove him away just because people got scarred? He was the only one who could stop The Joker! I mean, he caught him for you, didn't he? And this is the way you people THANK the only person who could really help us now? Jesus, what a fucking city this is…"
Gordon was not put off by her reaction, but listened quietly in a way that let her know that he agreed with her. He sighed again. "I know exactly how you feel. It was actually his idea, but nevertheless, I let him do it and sent my officers after him. And yes, we could really use his help around here now but we have to make do with what we've got. And I need to speak to you about The Joker."
"Fuck, what makes you think I know anything about The Joker?" she said. "Just because I call him on something doesn't mean I know anything about him."
Gordon hesitated for a moment as if he were debating the action he was about to take. He shook his head faintly, then pulled out the thing the officer had given to him and placed it on the table. It was the tape recorder she had seen hanging around the lawyer's neck and as Gordon turned it over, she saw a glossy Joker playing card taped to it with a message typed out in perfect bold font.
The message read: "FOR ANNIE".