So here I am on my 12th chapter! Thank you for the replies from both chapters 10 and 11, those are what keep me writing. I love to hear from you guys, and I look forward to hearing what you think on this chapter. I hope you all enjoy!

Chapter 12

Visitor

Everything was dark. Rachel felt her way around the room, at least she assumed it was a room. All was quiet except for the floor boards which creaked under her feet as she walked. She was confused, scared even, for she did not know where she was or how she got there. No matter how far Rachel went, she never reached a wall or some sort of barrier to stop her. Everything was hollow and dank with only the strange cold to chill her bones. She tried to remember anything, but all was lost. Nothing made sense until suddenly, a horrified laugh echoed the never ending void around her. It came from all directions, never showing its source. It moved closer and closer to Rachel, and she could hear the disturbing noises shoot through her ears. She spun around only to gasp in complete shock at what she saw. Harvey's cackling two face which poisoned her mind. Rachel watched in terror as each of his visible veins and muscles moved with his laughing jaw. A scent then moved up to her nostrils, some decomposing rancid stench that made her stomach turn in revulsion. With that Rachel felt the only thing she could do was screaming. As she opened her mouth and bellowed, she closed her eyes in hopes he would go away.

As Rachel opened her eyes again she found herself wake up in a bed, still screaming from the nightmare she just had.

Suddenly someone who had been sitting on a chair in a corner of the room ran out of the darkness and into the light from the lamp beside her. Rachel was confused as to where she was, and everything around her was a blur. She blinked hard until finally everything came into focus and she realized she was in a hospital. The figure beside her she could now see was Bruce, who had a face of relief. Rachel also began to feel calm at his friendly smile.

"What happened?" Rachel asked weakly with her right hand over her forehead.

Bruce stroked Rachel's hair, happy to hear her voice, "You were in a car accident, and have been unconscious for two days now."

"Two days?" Rachel sat up in disbelief. She gasped from the sudden pain that rushed through her arm. Bruce placed a hand on her shoulder as he wanted her to lie back down.

A young nurse then walked in after hearing the moans of pain, and both Bruce and Rachel put their attention on her. Rachel watched as the nurse took out a pill from a container in her hand.

"Have one of these," The nurse spoke as she gave her the pill, following after a glass of water, "It's nice to see you finally awake. Mr. Wayne here has been worried about you."

Rachel smiled back up at Bruce who began to speak, "Alfred and Commissioner Gordon also send their condolences. I'll make sure to tell them you've awaken."

"Oh how is Alfred, is he-" Rachel started to quickly say but Bruce interrupted her.

"Yes, he is fine, but we can talk more about that later?" He hinted as he looked from her to the nurse, and then back to Rachel again. He didn't want the nurse to listen to anything Rachel might say about the Joker.

"Also," The nurse spoke suddenly, "Another man came in too. He didn't have much to say, but he was really charming."

Rachel was about to comment on what she said, but Bruce spoke first, "Really? Another man? Do you know who she's talking about Rachel?"

Rachel was just as confused as Bruce, "Well, no not that I can think of."

"Did he say his name?" Bruce asked the nurse, almost annoyingly.

The nurse paused for a moment and then spoke, "Actually no. Now that I think of it, he never did say his name, not to me anyhow…" Her voice trailed off, thinking.

The nurse took the glass from Rachel after she was finished with it and walked out of the room. Rachel was lost in thought about who this mystery person could be. She thought about the Joker, but it almost seemed absurd to think it was him. Suddenly Bruce pulled her out of her trance.

"I wonder who that man was."

Rachel looked over at Bruce with sleepy eyes. She would like to figure it out, but right now she felt drowsy, "I don't know," She said in a yawn.

"Well, I'll leave you to sleep," Bruce smiled again, but she could tell he was still curious; "I'll visit you tomorrow," Bruce turned around to walk away but quickly faced Rachel again, "Oh, I'm planning on having a surprise for you when you get out of the hospital, so hurry up and get well!"

"Bruce!" Rachel said with a big smile, "Why did you have leave me with that?"

Bruce laughed as he walked backwards towards the door, "It's what I do."

Rachel watched Bruce leave her room. Her smile remained on her face as she thought about what her surprise could be. It didn't last long before it slowly vanished within her thoughts. Rachel wondered about the person the nurse had mentioned. She thought about the Joker then, imagining if it was him who really visited her while she was asleep. She pictured him without his face paint and wearing a normal outfit, asking the nurse if he could see her. A part of Rachel wished it was true and she didn't know why. She thought it must have been the bump on the head she got in the accident. As her notions got the better of her, she slowly found herself drifting off to sleep.

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After two weeks went by, Rachel found herself getting better. Bruce visited her almost everyday, as long as he wasn't busy planning to rebuild Wayne Enterprises and upgrading his Batman suit with Mr. Fox. Each time he came by he reminded her about the surprise, and Rachel couldn't help but be curious. However, the mysterious person who visited her while she was sleeping never came by. Rachel hoped that this person would, but with each day that went by, she found herself become more disappointed. Gordon and Alfred visited her though, each on separate days, and both gave her a large bouquet of flowers to leave at the end of her bed. Rachel was thrilled about that, and thought that she should just forget about the strange visitor from two weeks ago.

The next night Rachel found herself having another one of those nightmares. Once she awoke she sat up rapidly, catching as many breaths as she could. The room was dark, and the only light source was the lamp post outside which was one floor down. She peered over to the chair in the corner of the room and noticed a dark figure sitting there quiet. Rachel figured it was Bruce, but thought it was odd for him to just sit there. He'd usually run up to her and ask if she was alright, but that was not the case. She called Bruce's name, figuring he was asleep, but there was no reply. Rachel sat there for a moment in thought, biting her bottom lip. She didn't want to disturb Bruce from his sleep, but she had a bad feeling boiling in the pit of her stomach. Rachel called again, and this time the figure stood up.

"Y'know, it's impolite to wake a man from his…sleep."

Rachel froze in place. It was the Joker after all. She watched as he walked closer to the side of her bed until he sat down in the chair beside her, still faceless in the dark. She then heard a faint click and the light on her bed table switched on, reviling the Joker's painted face.

"You're not much of a sleeping beauty are you?" The Joker frowned as he bit the inside of his cheek.

"I…I had a nightmare," Rachel stammered, not knowing what else to say.

"A nightmare, hmmm? Was it…by any chance, about meee?"

"What are you doing here?" Rachel asked nonchalantly without answering his question. She leaned against the head board to listen to his reply.

The Joker scoffed, "I wanted to see how poor Miss. Dawes was doing, maybe, uh, suffocate her in her sleep."

"Why didn't you then?" Rachel was wondering to herself why she would ask him the reason for not murdering her, she didn't want him getting any ideas, but it was the Joker, it seemed to be his job yet he didn't do it.

The Joker lifted his left eyebrow, "As much as I would like to answer your un-in-por-tant questions - actually, you know what, I'll explain it to you this way," The Joker spoke as he leaned forward, and Rachel just watched in uncertainty, "Now, as I believe, Drew thinks I shoouuuld, hmmm. Drew thinks I should…kill off…all of Batman's con-nec-tions," The Joker licked his lips.

Rachel's eyes widened in disbelief, but why should she? This is the Joker after all. "Since when do you go by what others say?"

"Y'see that's…that's the problem," The Joker nodded as his eyes blinked slowly, "I don't."

"So what will you do then?" Rachel tried to sound as calm as possible.

The Joker paused for a moment in thought and then cleared his throat, "Miss. Dawes, I would gladly take this knife," He pulls a knife out of his pocket and hangs it over Rachel's face, "And use it on you just to hear you squeal, but I can-t. Not yet anyhow."

Rachel stared at the Joker blankly, and could feel her heart pound hard in her chest. She could not believe that the most wanted criminal in Gotham was right here sitting beside her hospital bed, unable to kill her. Rachel sat quiet and confused as she listened to his next words.

"You would be my main subject against Batman, and Drew knows that, but there is one thing that he does. Not. Know." The Joker smacked his lips.

"And what is that?" Rachel asked, but not really wanting to hear the answer.

"I have too much fun with you Miss. Dawes, almost as fun as…the Batman," The Joker's words rumbled deep in his throat and Rachel felt a sudden fear within her. He noticed this and he laughed, "I'm not ready to hand you over to a grave, no."

"What are you talking about? Why do you have so much fun with me?!" Rachel's tone grew louder as her patience grew thinner and the Joker plugged his hears and then placed the knife to Rachel's throat.

"Shh shh, you don't want to attract…attention…do you?" The Joker whispered. After a few moments of silence the Joker bit his lip and slowly set the knife back into his pocket. "Now that's better. Hmmm," He tapped his chin with his index finger as his eyes stayed fixated on Rachel's. "Do you want to know why I despise money?"

Rachel shook her head as she stayed frozen in place. She did not understand at all what the Joker was getting at. She wanted to scream for help, but she also in some weird way liked the thrill that he was there beside her.

"Well that's too bad because I'm going to tell you anyway. I hate money because it's…inconvenient," The Joker licked his lips and could see Rachel was still confused, "What the whole point of it is, is that you, like money, are inconvenient. You get in the way with the things that really matter…but there's a problem. Many people despise wealth, but few know how to give it away. I'm not in those groups of people, but with you, you're different."

"Okay, so what? I'm hard to let go of?" Rachel's eyes squinted in uncertainty.

"Don't flatter yourself beautiful. I'm only heerree for the thrill of messing with your head." The Joker smirked.

Rachel did not like what the Joker was saying, but a thought had suddenly crossed her mind. "Really? What's so thrilling about this? Me here in a hospital bed?"

The Joker smiled, "You're helpless."

Rachel clenched onto her sheets, "I'm not as helpless as I was a week ago, so I guess you lost your chance."

The Joker chuckled and shook his head. He was looking at his feet for a moment, but then looked up back to observe Rachel's face. She felt uncomfortable then, as if she were on display. She watched his eyes move up and down her face; those mysterious eyes that showed a lot of pain and anger.

"We now, uh, have something in common," The Joker licked his lips.

Rachel was taken by surprise at his comment, "What?"

"Me and my scars, you and your scratches on your face. I think we're a pair now."

Rachel found herself suddenly chuckle at what he said. He gave a slight smirk as he kept observing her. The light cast some odd shadows on his face and Rachel suddenly realized who was beside her. She stopped her laughs, and she looked down at her hands. She wanted to use them as a weapon against him, but that would have been foolish, just something else the Joker could laugh at.

The Joker wasn't aware how long he was staring. As soon as he became conscious on what he was doing he felt sick to his stomach. The Joker stood up and walked over the window in anger with his back facing Rachel. He wanted so much to detonate the hospital with her inside. He wanted so much to hear her scream for mercy.

Rachel watched the Joker stare out the window. She wanted so much to know where he was coming from, what he was thinking, although his thoughts at the time would have made the saying "ignorance is bliss" a true statement. Her heart took leaps as she watched him fix his suit. One of the things Rachel liked about the Joker was his hands. They looked soft and gentle, even though they were the hands of a murderer and were covered with spots of dry white paint.

Time started to pass and Rachel was getting tired. She didn't want to fall asleep with the Joker still in her room, so she had to say something. She also spotted his fists clenching as if he were angry, and Rachel did not want to deal with it.

"Not that I care," Rachel spoke up, "But are you okay? You've been staring out that window for a while now."

The Joker didn't move one muscle or speak one word in reply. Rachel was assured that the Joker wouldn't kill her, but knew that he could still harm her. That made her afraid. She wanted to just leave the psycho clown alone, but the other half of her was curious. Rachel stood up from her bed; her bare feet touching the cold marble floor. She continued walking until she was only a foot behind him. Rachel reached out to touch him, but he only spun around and grabbed her wrist before she could do a thing. She tried to scream but he cupped his other hand over her mouth and pushed her against a wall.

"Don't. Ever. Touch. Me," The Joker growled, "Unless it's what you want."

Rachel nodded as best she could behind the power of his hand. Surprisingly the Joker let her go, placing his hands against the wall on each side of her. He was breathing heavily as he rested his forehead on hers. Rachel kept still, not wanting to aggravate Joker again. She wanted to question him more, but she felt this was not the time. She was confused, confused because he didn't make sense. He didn't want her to touch him, yet here he was resting his forehead on hers. Rachel knew the Joker was messed up, but this was different. Rachel's chest rose and fell with his. She could feel his body heat and it warmed her up. She could no longer feel the cold marble on her feet.

Rachel found herself in one of those moments again. She remembered the other night when she almost let herself go to the Joker. Her knees became weak as she memorized how much she wanted to give in, to feel his lips upon hers, and she wanted it again. Rachel always lived on rules and what was right and wrong. She was tired of it, and the Joker was right. She wanted a taste of coming out of her comfort zone, and thought the Joker wanted it too. Rachel knew she was crazy to want this, even for a moment. She couldn't remember Harvey, Bruce or any others; they just slipped away from her mind. Something about the Joker's charms lead her to this point, but she didn't know what, all she knew is whenever he walked into a room, a special feeling burst inside.

Rachel could feel her stomach doing back flips as she was in a whirl wind of thoughts. Without anymore thinking, she went out on a limb and tilted her lips up to the Joker's. However, before they could meet, the Joker pulled his head back and looked at Rachel in confusion. Then, without another moment of waiting, the Joker snatched her hair in his left hand and pulled her to him. His lips pressed hard on hers which seemed like a rough peck. It lasted for only a few seconds until Rachel pushed him away. The Joker burst out laughing suddenly and Rachel jumped from the unexpected noise.

"Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo you do entertain Miss. Dawes!" The Joker spoke within his laughs.

Rachel just stared at him dumbfounded as he turned around towards the window. "Wait!" She yelled after him and he turned around to look back at her. "Will you be back?" Rachel kicked herself for speaking those words.

The Joker brought out a sly smile on the curves of his mouth, "You can uh, count on tha-t…once you're out of this place," He winked as he saluted a goodbye.

The Joker then spun back around and hopped through the window. After she absorbed what happened, Rachel ran after him until she reached the window sill. She glanced down the street and watched him run around a corner and out of sight.

"Is something wrong?" A nurse spoke behind Rachel, "You should be in bed."

Rachel took her attention from the street to the nurse, "Um, yes, I'm fine. I just needed some fresh air," Rachel laughed as she walked towards the bed. "Do you know how much longer I'll be here for?"

The nurse paused for a moment in thought, "Well judging by how fast you've been healing, I'd say in a few days," The nurse smiled.

"Thank you," Rachel returned the smile and waited for the nurse to shut the door. She then climbed back into the bed and turned off the light on her bed table.

Rachel lied in bed but could not sleep. She couldn't believe what just happened. She hated the Joker, and the kiss was probably one of the most unromantic she had ever received. If it were good at least then it would have given her some better logic as to why she would want to see him again. Rachel knew she needed help. This infatuation was eating away at her to the core in her heart. What Rachel wondered was, what would happen after she got out? She wanted to get into a deep conversation with him and ask some questions and hopefully get some answers. She tried to forget her thoughts as she turned on a small radio beside the lamp on her bed table that Bruce brought over for her. The song "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey came on. By the sound of the music, Rachel slowly drifted off to sleep.