Disclaimer: All the characters used in this fic belong to DC Comics and are based the characters in The Dark Knight. I own nothing but the plot.
Chapter 7: Nightmare
A/N: This is very enjoyable for me to write. I can only hope that you, my readers, are enjoying it as well.
Song: Pandemonium by Apocalyptica
It was like a terrible nightmare to him. His subconscious mind was spinning as the scenery flew by the Batpod. Hard as he tried, he couldn't get Rachel out of his head. She had been with him through just about everything. Even through the deaths of his parents, which had been the first time in his life that he had felt like his whole life had been destroyed in a single swoop. Rachel had been there all those years, guiding him through the grief and the pain, leading him through the darkness.
That whole time, she had been there.
The pain from his past had been even more unbearable than it was now. How was Bruce supposed to cope with such a loss? The death of his mother, who had died because the killer had been afraid that she'd attack; the death of his father, his hero, the man whom he had aspired to follow, had been a terrible blow to him... Even now, as one of the most successful and powerful men in the world, he wondered who would be next. Alfred? Lucius, maybe?
Sometimes, the thought of their deaths was enough to send his mind reeling with questions... and old memories that he'd rather soon forget.
6 - 7 - 6 - 7
"Why did they have to die? Why didn't somebody do something?" a young Bruce demanded, curling himself up in the corner of his father's office in the mansion. "Someone should have saved them, Alfred! They shouldn't have died!"
Alfred approached the boy with solemn eyes. "Master Bruce, there was nothing that could be done for your parents. It was already too late," the man said soothingly, pulling the seven-year-old into a tight hug. "I'm sorry..."
The boy sniffled and swiped at his tear-filled eyes. "But... Nobody even tried to save them! They just stood there... and let them die..."
"Bruce?" A meek voice echoed across the room from the doorway. "Are you all right?"
"Ah, Miss Dawes. Please come in," the butler said, welcoming the young girl with a wave of his hand.
Rachel slowly walked into the room, the door dwarfing the girl's tiny frame. "Bruce... I'm sorry," she said, kneeling down beside him, touching his trembling shoulder. "I'm so sorry..."
The young boy scowled at his friend."Being sorry isn't going to bring them back!" Bruce snapped, leaning closer to Alfred. "They're gone..."
"Master Bruce, that is no way to talk to a lady," Alfred scolded gently, rocking the trembling child slowly.
"I-It's alright, Alfred. I can see he's upset. I'll just come back later. Um... I guess I'll see you later, Bruce."
6 - 7 - 6 - 7
"How much longer do we have to put up with that blood-thirsty freak terrorizing our city?" Gordon muttered when he arrived at the smoldering Wayne Enterprises. He still couldn't believe that the Joker had escaped again. It was too much for him to handle with the load of work he had on his desk. "Just how many people are you willing to kill to find the Batman? Is he the one you want, or is there someone else?"
Several fire trucks and patrol cars were already on the scene when the Commissioner arrived, and the few workers who had been in the building when the Joker sent it up in flames were being escorted to the paramedics to ensure that they hadn't been harmed by the flames or the fumes.
"Jim!" a voice called over the blaring sirens. "Commissioner Gordon!"
Gordon nearly passed out when he saw Lucius Fox waving him over from one of the paramedic vehicles. "What the hell?" The sight of Lucius sitting in the back of the vehicle was enough to turn Jim's blood to ice. As much as he hated to admit it, the Joker's chaotic presence in Gotham was like a bloody cancer; infecting and damaging everything it came in contact with.
Lucius's clothing was blackened from smoke and ash and he was holding an oxygen mask to his face, giving Gordon a pained smile. "What's with the face, Commissioner? I'll be all right. Nothing a little rest won't fix."
Jim knew better than to believe that. It wasn't that he didn't trust Lucius, but he'd had one too many experiences with the phrases "I'll be all right," or "Everything will be fine."
"Everything's gonna be fine, Rachel. They're coming for you!" Those had been Harvey Dent's very last words to Rachel Dawes, the love of his life. The woman he'd loved enough to try and take Jim's son away... The woman who, inadvertently, had driven Gotham's White Knight to insanity.
As he had told Jim after kidnapping his wife, Barbara, and their two children, "I lied to her, Jim. I told her that everything would be fine, even when I knew it wouldn't."
The thought of that almost tragic night for his family, made his head spin. "Lucius, you have to be kidding. You could have been killed." Jim completely refused to let this die. Lucius was in a critical condition, but he wouldn't admit it. The Commissioner sighed heavily. The man was every bit as stubborn as Bruce Wayne.
"So, any luck catching Batman?" Lucius grinned, changing the subject. "Or are you still chasing down Sasquatch as a primary suspect?"
Something in the pit of Gordon's stomach, told him that Lucius had a pretty good idea of who Batman was. He knew better than to ask, though. Even if Lucius did know who the Batman was, Gordon highly doubted that the man would cough up such information so casually. It was certainly reasonable, suspecting Lucius Fox of being the man who provided the Dark Knight with his gadgets. After all, a man of Lucius' talent wasn't exactly common.
"Absolutely not. It's difficult tracking down a man like that. Besides, he only comes out at night. But the rumors you hear about him on the streets are quite the riot," Jim said with a chuckle. "He's about as hard to track as some of the mob bosses in this city, just... less of a threat."
Jim supposed that there had always been some suspicion in the back of his mind about Bruce Wayne being the Batman. But until tonight, he hadn't really thought about it. All the pieces fit perfectly. After all, Bruce Wayne was a multi-billionaire who could, more than likely, find someone to create such high-tech weapons and vehicles. The phone call to Wayne Manor had all but confirmed it, given the man's late-night absence.
Lucius chuckled. "Of course. What about the Joker? Any sign of him?"
The Joker. The son of a bitch responsible for so many deaths and so much destruction. The man acted like life was just a gamble to see how long one could last before losing everything on the table and sinking into the void of death. Nothing, not even death, could frighten a monster like that. To the Joker, death was just another part of the game.
"Commissioner!"
The Commissioner was lost in his thoughts, unaware of the world around him. Like a statue frozen in the flow of time. So much hatred and pain had been brought to Gotham through one man. How could one man stir up so much terror and chaos in a city the size of Gotham? What was behind the Joker's mask? Had there ever been a man behind that cruel and heartless visage? The questions and possibilities flooded his head, making him a stranger lost in the world.
The loud revving of an engine startled Jim back into the present, the many questions suddenly pushed to the back of his mind. The man turned, spotting the growling metal beast that was the Dark Knight's steed. The man of mystery himself stood not three feet from the Commissioner.
"Any messages, hints... jokes?" the last word seemed to have been spat from the Knight's mouth with venom as he scanned the smoking building with hard eyes. "Best to keep an eye out for bodies, too..."
Why was the Joker so eager to reveal Batman's identity? What would that get him? Was he just another token in the Joker's crazed games? Each question led to another and another, eventually leading to questions about how and why the Joker was as well as who and what he was.
"It seems we found a message painted on the South side of the building," Jim said, handing the Dark Knight a photograph, wondering if he could make any sense of the painted mess. "As per his usual 'fun,' it all looks like it was written in blood. Charming..."
SESIRPRETNE ENYAW. LATIPSOH ENYAW SAMOHT. RONAM ENYAW. What the hell is this...? What are you trying to do, Joker?
Nothing fit. Nothing at all.
All of Gotham hid in fear of the Joker, while one man risked his life time and time again to keep the citizens of Gotham safe from harm. And how did they repay him? With protests and rallies demanding that Batman reveal himself to the city. They had no idea what they were asking for. If the Dark Knight were to reveal himself to the public, the Joker would have won everything on the table. Including Gotham.
The mysterious man took the photograph to the Batpod, ignoring the Commissioner's demands to "explain what the hell is going on!" He held the photograph in the moonlight and flipped it so that the lettered side was facing the moon. Then it hit him.
It's backwards... WAYNE ENTERPRISES. THOMAS WAYNE HOSPITAL. WAYNE MANOR. Wayne. He knows... But how...?
Shocking, I hope.