I've noticed how little there has been between Rachel and Joker and I'm sorry. But don't worry! There is a lot of that in this chapter. A lot of other things happen in this chapter too which I hope you guys enjoy. This is my longest chapter so far. By the way, I hope you guys had a great Christmas! And Happy New Year! Please review, I'd like to know your thoughts!

Chapter Six

Confused Minds

Twenty-six hours ago…

Bruce left Rachel's apartment building with a smile on his face. He couldn't stop thinking about her. If only he could have her in his arms once again he would be the happiest man in the world. Bruce knew it would take time, however, but time was good to have so he could think things over. As he walked towards his Lamborghini, Bruce thought about how he still knew there was something going on with Rachel that she would not tell him about. He wanted to understand, but he didn't want to press on about it if she didn't want to talk about her problems. Bruce could only hope that he was just overreacting. He hopped into his car and turned the ignition and the engine roared to life. Curiously Bruce drove by the ally where he left the Joker. He still could not believe that the damn clown figured out his secret. Bruce pulled into the ally way to allow his headlights to shine brightly into ever dark corner. Bruce peered around until he found the dumpster sitting by itself. There was no Joker lying there like he thought there would be. Bruce became frustrated. 'How could he have got up already? He was knocked out cold when I left him,' he thought. Bruce grew worried. He knew that the Joker would get up sooner or later, but he didn't expect him to get up that quick. Bruce couldn't deal with that at the moment though, he needed to get home and do a few things.

Once Bruce arrived home to his penthouse, Alfred greeted him.

"Good evening Master Wayne. How was dinner with Rachel?"

Bruce walked by him and sat on his white sofa. "It was enjoyable, until the Joker came and showed his ugly face." After a pause Bruce spoke again, "He knows I'm Batman."

"You're joking!" Alfred stayed standing up beside Bruce.

"I wish I was…but I've got to do something before he tells anyone."

"Well of course you should." Alfred agreed.

"I'll start tomorrow night." Bruce could not believe the situation he was put in. For everyone to know he was Batman was the last thing he wanted, and now the Joker would finally get his way.

The next morning Bruce woke up early. He had a lot of things that needed to be done. The first thing was to try and find the Joker. Where to start seemed an impossible task, however.

As soon as the moon showed itself and the night sky appeared, Bruce got ready in his Batman suit and had thousands of scattering thoughts pricking threw his mind. They were quickly interrupted when the doorbell suddenly rang.

"I'll get it, Master Wayne," Alfred spoke out.

Bruce was in the kitchen on the other side of the penthouse and he could not hear who it could have possibly been. Deep down he wished it was Rachel, to tell him finally what was wrong. But of course he wished to hard, and Alfred walked up to him with an envelope.

"A man came to the door handing me this. He said it was urgent that you opened it." Alfred gave the envelope to Bruce.

They were both curious as to what it was, and Bruce opened it slowly but what was inside was no letter. Instead a CD lay inside waiting to be watched.

"Strange," Alfred broke the silence.

Without saying a word Bruce placed it into his DVD. Bruce was filled with curiosity, but he knew that it wasn't something to want to see because of how odd all these circumstances were. Without warning the black screen of the TV disappeared and a room came into view. Suddenly the Joker stood in front of he camera, smiling. He was badly wounded, so it must have been last night when he recorded it. Both Bruce and Alfred were in shock and finally the Joker started to speak.

"Hello, Batman. Or should I call you Bruce?" The Joker laughed abruptly, "As you know, last night was, uh, very…un-for-tu-nate for you. I have learned of your little secret and your now wondering what I'm going to do with all that valuable information, hmm?" The Joker licked his lips. "I was going to tell everyone about my discovery but I realized that that would be tattling so…I came up with a better idea. I want you to turn yourself in and let everyone know in Gotham that you're the Batman. Here's the twist. If you don't, then your building of Wayne Enterprises will blow into a million pieces, along with the people inside who will be cooked a little too crispy," The Joker cackled and grabbed the camera and placed it right up in front of his face, "Oh, and did I mention the love of your life will be there in the front row seats? So what will you give up, your job at Wayne Enterprises and the lives of others, or your job as the Batman? Hurry up and decide. You have until midnight tonight to make your decision. You know what they say, coal under pressure produces diamonds." The Joker's sickening laugh echoed into the camera until it finally shut off.

Bruce continued to look at the black screen and Alfred looked down at him in shock, waiting for a response from the very infuriated Bruce.

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Back to Rachel and the Joker…

"What are you doing here?!" Rachel yelled, grabbing a knife from the kitchen.

"Ah ta ta ta, play nice…or play mean...I'd en-joy that a lot more!" The Joker laughed.

Rachel held her knife out with her shaky hand, "I'm going to ask you again. What the HELL are you doing here?" Her voice was calmer and strict.

"Why so full with anger, Miss. Dawes?"

Rachel stared at the Joker's face. There was dry blood mixed with the paint. It was obvious that he hadn't cleaned himself off since after what happened last night. The Joker limped as he walked around Rachel and into the living room, never keeping his eyes off of her. His eyes looked right through her like daggers, and even when he spoke to her she could feel sharp needles poking at her soft skin. The Joker walking around her apartment was an adrenaline rush, and when he took out his knife and tapped it repeatedly on his left hand like a drum, Rachel's heart pounded faster in her chest as she began to panic. The Joker let out a sinister smile. If there was any goodness inside of him, it was deep in the pit of his soul. Rachel wanted nothing more then to show its true colors.

"Maybe it's because you're in my apartment waving a knife around?" Rachel sneered.

The Joker gestured to her hand, "You're holding a knife, too, Miss. Dawes."

"That's for self-defence! What? You think I'm going to trust you?"

"As much as I'd like to kill you, I'm starting to have too much fun with you…right now." The Joker smacked his lips and then cleared his throat, "I'm here for a few…reasons."

"Oh? Is that all?" Rachel asked sarcastically, still holding out the knife. She wondered what was so different with her then with other women the Joker has met. 'What is it that's so 'fun' about me that over powers his want to kill me?' Rachel thought.

The Joker laughed at her remark. He liked her mockery. "As you know, I've learned something about, uh, Bruce. He's probably told you, hmm? Knowing how 'close'" The Joker air quoted, "You guys…arreee."

"Yes, he has told me. I'd like to know how you figured it out."

The Joker staggered slowly towards Rachel. Every step created shivers down her spine. With Rachel still holding out the knife, the Joker stopped right in front of it and smiled. He knew she wouldn't kill him, only if he stepped over the line but that also went visa versa. If he ever harassed Rachel long enough, she would most likely try and stab him in the chest by surprise. That's exactly what the Joker wanted. He loved getting to people's heads, and he knew exactly how to do it.

"It wasn't hard," The Joker finally spoke, "Just the way Batman threw himself to you whenever you were…in danger was enough. Y'know, Bruce practically gave me the answer. He didn't even protest," The Joker licked his lips and then used both of his hands to pull away his undulating hair, "Too bad Harvey didn't know about you two. Hmm…maybe then that could've spared those five people's lives!" The Joker cackled.

Rachel had enough. Even though she wanted to help the Joker, she had a sudden urge to hurt him so he would shut up. Rachel stiffened her grip on the kitchen knife, but he was too quick for her. The Joker grabbed the knife from her hand and threw it across the room. The clatter of the knife hitting the wooden floor startled Rachel. He then seized both of her wrists behind her back and pushed her against the wall. Rachel could feel the Joker's chest press against her so she couldn't move. She started to cry in pain for her wrists.

"Now now, I'm not here to hurt you, but uh, if you keep going like this I might. Have. To." The Joker whispered softly into Rachel's ear.

Rachel felt the Joker's warm breath tickling her ear as her eyes shot down at the cold steel running up and down her left cheek. She tried to struggle free from his grasp but he was to strong for her.

"Please, if you're not then let me go." Rachel spoke under her sobs.

The Joker put away his pocket knife and looked at her. He hated Rachel Dawes. In all of his life he knew exactly what he wanted, everything was laid out for him. But ever since he talked to Rachel in the interrogation room, there was something about her he couldn't quite place. He growled under his breath that he couldn't kill her, not yet anyway. He was to confused at the moment to even know what he was doing.

Instead of letting her go, he placed her arms on both sides of her against the wall. Rachel was freaked out at the thought of what he would do. She breathed heavily in fear and anxiety. Startlingly the Joker moved his lips towards hers but stopped with only an inch apart. Rachel exhaled, getting ready for the plunge. The Joker's warm breath lay against her lips, and his noise rubbed gently against hers. Rachel could feel the dry paint itching at her skin. She was in a whirlwind of thoughts as her heart beat fast in her chest. He grabbed her hair suddenly with his right hand and Rachel screeched in pain.

"Beautiful Miss. Dawes…" The Joker patted Rachel's head, "I almost did something we both would have regretted. Don't provoke me again!" The Joker through her down to the ground.

"I didn't do anything to provoke you! You did it all yourself!" Rachel yelled at him.

Rachel stayed sitting on the floor, continuously rubbing her throbbing wrists. She was confused in thought, wondering what the hell had just happened. How could the Joker blame her for what he did? As far as Rachel was concerned, he was just some crazy clown that put the fault on everyone else if something didn't go right.

"Why did you do that?" Rachel asked as the Joker looking down at her.

Without giving any answer to Rachel he picked her up by the forearm and dragged her to the door. The Joker didn't have an answer for her. He knew he was going to use Rachel as a pawn to get Bruce to lean more towards turning himself in and letting himself be known as the Batman. There was a chance that Rachel could get killed, but that was a chance that the Joker had to make. Besides, why worry about? She's just like everyone else. There was a part of the Joker that wanted to keep her alive for his sake of amusement, but wanted to be sick if he even thought of keeping her from dying. He wished he could kill her right that second so he could get it over with; gouge her in the gut and hear her scream for mercy. The Joker was enjoying the harassment upon Rachel, but Batman was more important to him right now. He couldn't go back anyway; he was always a man of his word.

Rachel was giving the Joker a hard time as he dragged her to the front door. She was aggravated that he wouldn't talk to her even when she asked where they were going. The Joker couldn't take the chance of getting caught because of her screams, so he hit Rachel in the back of her head with his elbow hard enough to knock her out cold. The Joker looked down at her motionless body with his head tilted to the left. He picked her up over his shoulder and carried her to the van where other clowns waited for his arrival.

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Rachel woke up in a daze. Everything was blurry as she rubbed her eyes and tried to focus. There was yelling and screaming all around her, and an occasional gun shot which frightened her. Rachel's head was throbbing in pain and she tried to place her hand on it but could not. Her hands were tied up against the back of the chair that she was sitting on. Rachel's eyes finally started to work again and everything came into view. She was in an empty office; papers where scattered around and everything was out of place. A computer lay beside her, its monitor was smashed up and a spark flickered from it occasionally. Rachel glanced over to the door which was shut. All the windows were covered by blinds so she could not look through them. Red and blue lights were flashing through one of the windows. Cops had already arrived as she was knocked out. Suddenly Rachel found herself not alone. In the back corner of the room stood a tall man with a clown mask. He held a gun in his right hand. Rachel screamed for help.

"Shh, lady, no one can hear you." The clown laughed.

"Where am I?!" Rachel demanded; her wrists were hurting once again.

"You're in an office," The clown smiled at his intelligent answer.

Rachel rolled her eyes and scoffed, "I'm not in the mood for mockery, now where am I?!"

The clown plugged his ears from her loud screaming and stared at her frustratingly. "Whoa calm down lady, you're in an office at Wayne Enterprises."

Rachel was taken aback by his answer. So many questions ran threw her head at once that she could not handle. She felt as if she were going to have an anxiety attack. The last thing she remembered was being dragged by the Joker out of her apartment and now she was here. Rachel started to shuffle around in her chair in hopes that she could get free, totally forgetting about the man behind her. With no control she began to cry and tears ran down her cheeks.

"Hey, stop crying. I'm not good around crying." The clown spoke, taking away the silence.

"Why am I here?!" Rachel screamed over her sobs, "Why of all places?"

Suddenly the doorknob started to rattle and Rachel and the clown both looked over at the direction of noise. The door opened to show Joker's face. He had excitement in his eyes at the chaos he was creating.

"Get out," The Joker told the clown, watching him until her left and shut the door.

Rachel clenched her teeth with anger as she watched the Joker take a seat in front of her. He leaned his upper body towards her as he used his elbows for support on his legs.

"Finally awake, Miss. Dawes?" The Joker observed her. As soon as she looked at him he smiled.

"No, I'm still asleep," Rachel sneered. All she wanted to do right now was physically hurt him like he did to her, but the ropes which tied Rachel together wouldn't allow her to, so she could only visualize it. For some reason the sight of the Joker surprisingly helped her calm down. She was unfamiliar with the clown that was in the office only moments ago doing God knows what while she was knocked out.

The Joker laughed and pointed his index finger at her, "I like your sarcasm."

Ignoring his comment Rachel spoke in annoyance. "Last thing I remember was getting hit in the head," She snapped.

The Joker leaned back into his seat and scratched the back of his head, looking up at the ceiling, "You were, uh, difficult to shut up." The Joker looked back down at her and smacked his lips while clearing his throat.

"Why am I here?" Rachel's tone was aggravating as she didn't keep her eyes off of the Joker's.

The Joker seemed almost hesitant to answer her, but he quickly laughed to cover it up. "You're here because you are a part of my…experiment. Don't worry; I'm sure you'll live." The Joker laughed once again which was getting very annoying as Rachel had very little patience.

"What do you mean you're sure I'll live?"

"It's all up to what Batman decides now. It's either you and this building, or his identity. Let's see…this building is due to blow up in fifty minutes."

"Why are you doing this?!" Rachel screamed in the Joker's face.

"Can you keep it down a bit? I have sensitive ears after all the explosions and gun shots I've heard over the years," The Joker's brow lowered as he studied Rachel's very displeased face, "Look at it this way…it's just like the whole rescuing the damsel in distress. Didn't you ever like those movies?" The Joker licked his lips.

"Not when it's real and I'm the damsel!" Rachel was squirming to get free once again but it only resulted with the ropes tightening around her already red, bruised wrists.

The Joker watched Rachel fidget in her chair as he persisted with his speech. "Well what do you expect when I'm, when I'm the bad guy? I'm the one who puts you in distress, and the bat is the one to…rescue you so to speak."

"You're right, the Joker did put me in distress, but what about the man behind the paint?" Rachel questioned with a calming voice of anticipation with the hope that the Joker might change his mind. Rachel looked up at the Joker's face, her eyes softened by her concern. She waited for him to look up at her and respond, hoping he would see the sincerity in her eyes.

"Excuse me?" The Joker's tone of voice changed and he growled under his breath.

Rachel wasn't sure if what she said was the best approach, but she had to continue. She couldn't stop what she already started. "What's behind those scars? I know deep down, the person you were before any of that happened, I know you wouldn't harm all these people. You would let me go."

"Hmm…" The Joker hummed, "Are you always so sure about things, Miss. Dawes?" There was slight anger in his voice, but he tried not to let it out.

"I try." Rachel's voice was firm as she took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"Don't do it again. Otherwise that will be the last time you think your so sure." The Joker's eyes twitched and Rachel noticed his hand slide out of his pocket. Suddenly the Joker glanced up at the clock on the wall behind Rachel.

"What?" Rachel became worried.

"Forty more minutes before this building goes sayonara." The Joker jumped up off his chair in exhilaration. "That sucks for you though," He laughed, "Don't worry, I'm sure Bruce will choose to check in at his very own cell and you can go free. We'll make sure to continue your therapy session later…if you live."

Rachel looked down to the floor, "I'm not to sure…" Her voice trailed off.

The Joker spoke sharply, "You just finished saying that you 'tried' to be sure about everything."

"Batman is everything to Bruce," Rachel started to cry. She wasn't sure if it was because she thought of her life being in danger, or the fact that it could be true that Bruce would put Batman before anything, including her. "Please, Joker…let me go," Rachel pleaded.

The Joker looked down at her feebleness, and then at her watery eyes. He felt like he wanted to gag. All he had to do was step out of that door and he'd be free from Rachel's misery. The Joker bit hard down inside his mouth to the point where it bled. However, he suddenly had an idea.

"I'll tell you what, if you can reach this before 12:00," The Joker placed one of his knives on a filing cabinet, "Then you'll be able to cut yourself free. If you happen to, uh, reach it; don't expect your next task to be so…easy." The Joker smacked his lips.

"Thank you," Rachel's voice was hoarse from all the recent yelling.

Unexpectedly the Joker grabbed her by the hair and Rachel screamed. "Don't. Ever. Thank me."

The Joker pushed over her chair and she fell to the ground. Rachel suddenly felt a massive pain shoot up her right arm that had hit the floor and she couldn't bare it. He stormed out of the room and slammed the door shut. The vibration of the door shook the remaining items on the shelves that circled above her on the walls and they fell to the floor.

Rachel was surprised at how angry the Joker became when she had thanked him. It just must have been proof of his weakness, perhaps. But now he has used her in one of his games, practically risking her life. Rachel couldn't think about that right now. Time was ticking away, and she had to get to that knife. Her first priority was getting the chair back up on its four legs.

Rachel pivoted herself to the right so her head was facing the desk. Luckily the rope had been tied halfway down her legs so she could move her feet a lot better then if they were tied from the ankles. Rachel knew she had to use all of her strength in the upper part of her body to get herself back up. As quickly as she could, Rachel pushed herself up, only making it halfway, and then falling hard on the floor once again. She moaned from the twinge of pain in her ribs. Rachel tried a few more times with no success. She suddenly felt like giving up. She thought about everything that had happened to her in the past month. The death of Harvey, the Joker, and Bruce, too. Rachel knew that Bruce would try and save her, but she also knew that Wayne Enterprises was too big to search every nook and cranny to find one single person. The cops wouldn't be helping him because Batman was on the wanted list as well. Bruce was on his own. Rachel grew frustrated and had the sudden urge to try and get up again. She took three deep breaths, and this time used all the strength she had, maybe more to heave herself up. The chair lifted high off the ground, and Rachel used her feet to keep it up. Suddenly the chair was on it's four legs, although rocking a couple times before it actually stood its ground. Through her tears and reddened face she managed to smile to herself, happy that she now had a chance. She took a quick look at the clock and her smile vanished. She had thirty more minutes before detonation.

Rachel hopped towards the filing cabinet, but suddenly lost her balance. Her heart pounded faster and faster inside her chest at the thought of the chair falling down once again. However with her relief she caught her balance and carefully continued her way again towards the knife. To Rachel's dismay, the filing cabinet was a few inches higher then her head and too high for her to reach. Realizing this, and without another thought, Rachel began to back up her chair slowly to get a good run at the cabinet so she could knock the blade off onto the floor. The first time she managed to move the cabinet with a good jolt, and heard the knife slide above her head. Time was running out, so Rachel quickly backed up again and with more force pushed herself to hit the filing cabinet with even more force then the first time. The second blow dropped the blade down to the floor, but also injured Rachel's arm. As her eyes watered in pain, she once again dropped herself to the floor beside the knife that awaited her. She had the chair with her hands tied behind it, with her legs backing her up so she could pick up the knife. Grabbing the blade she positioned it behind the rope so she could start to saw back and forth at it to finally escape from this nightmare.

It didn't take long before Rachel set herself free. She peered at the clock once more which read 11:45. Rachel quickly ran to the door, knowing she had more then enough time to exit the building. She opened the door, but something struck her as she saw the open room in front of her. 'Don't expect your next task to be so…easy.' Rachel remembered what the Joker had said. There was a note pinned to the door with the exact same hand writing on the cards that she had received with her roses. It read:

"If you have read this, you obviously have cut yourself free. Now like I said before, your next task won't be so easy. Sitting all around you are some more citizens of Gotham. They were all put in the same situation as you are in. How could you forget about them? Now it's your turn to do the rescuing. You probably won't have enough time to cut through all their ropes if any. So what door will you choose? You could take door number one where you could try and save as many as you can. In door two you could choose to die with them because you know you just couldn't live with yourself if you let them die. Or door three, which would be leaving with a goodbye because there's nothing else you can do but save yourself. I hope you choose wisely, Miss. Dawes. Oh by the way, I'd like my knife back if you ever get out of there."

Rachel tore up the letter in anger. Of course! How could she forget there would be others? The Joker could never be that nice and get away with it. Now she had to suffer for it because she asked him to please let her go. Rachel tightened her fist harder on the handle of the knife and started running up to people and cutting them loose. By the fifth person she knew it would be impossible to free all of them. Rachel started to cry in horror as she cut away at a young man's ropes as everyone pleaded and begged for her to hurry. Some people ran without question, where others took the time to look around for some other device to help her with, but could not find a single sharp item. Rachel ordered them to leave, and appreciated there act of kindness.

Eight minutes were left on the clock by the time she had freed ten people. Rachel got up and said sorry to the rest she couldn't save. She started running off; her eyes were blurred from her tears. Unexpectedly she had bumped into someone and fell over. Rachel had thought it must have been a wall, but she looked up and saw a dark figure standing there. She rubbed her eyes to see clearly at what she was looking at. There stood Batman, his left hand reached out for her to lift her up.