Chapter 7: Confrontation

For several seconds, Wayne just stared at her. Then he sighed out slowly and sank into a seat.

He's as nervous as I am. Andi realized. The thought gave her courage and somehow she was in complete control of herself as she perched on the velvet chair opposite him. The worst was over. He could kill her or hurt her or whatever, but the masks were off. Andi had shown her hand.

Now she just had to see if the cards were high enough.

"How did you find out?" he asked quietly.

"Does it matter?"

"I suppose not." Wayne's face straightened, his shock covered beneath a façade of casual refinement. He looked every inch the careless billionaire. "Is there any way I could convince you not to tell?"

"You turning yourself in." If anything, Andi's tone only hardened at his relaxation. She was done playing games with this man. "That's what I've come for. I don't agree with you at all, but something somebody said…" Sorry Gordon, she thought, This is the best balance I can offer. "I think you're trying to do the right thing. Well, I'm offering you a chance to go with honor, if you have any left."

Wayne raised his eyebrows. "Quite the bargain," he said dryly, "But if we're going to start doing business at this hour of the day, I think want a drink before I go any further. Alfred?"

A drink? Andi could hardly believe it. Here this man was, his world crumbling down around him, and all he could do was call his butler to bring him a glass of something and politely inquire if Andi wanted anything too. Pennyworth ignored her short denial and brought her a glass of champagne anyways, along with several different types of sandwiches cut neatly into triangles. Andi was baffled until she caught Wayne's slightly-too-casual glance.

He's trying to put me off balance, she realized. That and make me believe he's not a threat, just a playboy who needs some therapy.

"Now, Miss Taylor," Wayne said once he had taken a long swallow from his fluted glass. He pretended not to notice the way Andi refused to touch hers. "I think you're bluffing. Why should I believe that you have anything that would stand up as evidence in court? Especially after I stole all of your initial forensics."

Blunt. Andi decided to return the favor. "I don't," she admitted, "But I have enough to catch the media's eye. And your career as the Batman, if not your life, will end pretty quickly once the public knows who was responsible for Dent's murder. Whether you go to court or not, your vigilantism will stop."

"Let me get this straight." Wayne leaned forward and his voice deepened, roughened. Not quite to the point of Batman's, but not the refined drawl he had had earlier. He was… forceful. Suddenly it didn't seem so ridiculous that this vapid playboy was the terror of most of Gotham. Even with a drink in one hand and a chicken salad sandwich in the other, everything about him somehow conveyed the same message Andi had gotten when he had shown up in her room a week ago. Danger. "You think that I am a murderer. You think that I will stop at nothing so long as I can feel like I'm a hero. And you came here, alone, to confront me, leaving no substantial evidence or clues to what had happened if you suddenly disappeared?"

Andi tossed her head. "Of course not. I'm not an idiot. I sent files of my work to several different people and they'll look into them if I don't come back soon. If this turns into a kidnapping or murder investigation, my loss would be enough for the police to arrest you regardless of the lack of evidence on Batman."

Actually, she had only given the files to one person, but Wayne didn't need to know that. Pam or Leena would have opened any such work immediately, sure that she was in danger, and the last thing she wanted was one of them dragged into this. Commissioner Gordon had been the only person Andi could think of who might do what she asked. She hoped that his reluctance to condemn the Batman meant that he would wait an appropriate length of time before jumping to any conclusions and storming in with the cavalry like either of her friends would have done. Hoped, too, that his loyalty didn't go so far that he would just let her disappear and not say anything if Wayne attacked her anyways.

"Hmmm." Wayne leaned back again but Andi saw the way his eyes followed her every twitch. Despite his casual posture, she guessed that Wayne was holding himself as tense and ready as a coiled spring. The sense of danger dimmed but didn't relent this time.

"What if I told you that I wasn't a murderer?" Wayne asked suddenly.

"I'd say you were lying."

"Fair enough." Wayne sipped at his drink but his eyes stayed fixed on her, caught her in an iron staring match. "Whatever you and I say, though, the facts won't change. Look into the forensics of the case. You might be surprised at what you find there."

"I already tried," Andi admitted, "When I was trying to track you down I hoped there might be some clue to your identity in the files. But the forensics were never really examined. You committed the crimes right in front of Commissioner Gordon. It was an open and shut crime, so the police got shoddy—county's people really are incompetent and MCU couldn't do it properly for them since our building was gone."

"Did you ever think that Gordon might have been the one lying?"

Andi's mouth flattened. She had guessed that this man was depraved, but for him to blame Gordon for framing him? Just where did he get off? "Despite everything you've done, the Commissioner has been your strongest ally in the force." She made her voice stay rational. She was the one in control. "Why do you think he would want to lie and betray you?"

"Because I asked him to." Wayne set his glass down and leaned forward, his intensity rekindling. Not danger, precisely, but… strength. He wanted Andi to believe him and he was projecting all of the considerable force in his personality to try to convince her. "It wasn't me, but I knew who it was. And I didn't want him to have his name smeared, so I took the blame. Gordon hated it, but he agreed to help me pull the ruse off. It worked rather well."

"Say this person existed." Andi didn't know why she was playing along, but she did anyways. "Why did you not want others to know about him? Did you think he had a good reason for killing Dent and the others?"

"No." Wayne seemed to be measuring her with his eyes. "It was Dent who committed the crimes."

There was a long silence.

"I don't believe you." Andi finally said.

"It's the truth."

"If it's the truth, why didn't you tell me when I first started questioning you? Why cover it up in the first place?"

"I covered it up because without its belief in Dent's goodness, Gotham would have relapsed into the slime pit it had been before I came. That was more important than my good name."

"And you didn't tell me because…"

"The best way to keep a secret is for no one to know who doesn't need to. I figured when I took your evidence that that would be the end of it, so there was hardly any need to try to convince you until now."

Andi folded her arms and leaned back in her chair. "So you expect me to believe that Dent turned evil after his injuries, went on a murderous rampage, and ended the fiasco by throwing himself off of a building?"

"No. I did do that last part." Wayne's gaze finally broke from hers and he looked down at his hands. "It was the first time I ever killed a man," he admitted, "For all my fighting experience, I'd never taken a life before."

"Why did you do it?"

"He was on the point of killing Gordon's son. He blamed Gordon for—for his fiancé's death and wanted to pay him back in kind."

Andi wanted to speak, but she made herself wait until Wayne looked at her again. His eyes seemed to pin her where she sat.

"You still don't believe it."

"It's awfully… convenient," Andi said. "I mean, the man is dead now, so all I have is your word. I know you're an excellent actor since you've fooled Gotham for so long. And after you had me kidnapped, broke into my house, and stole my evidence, I'm a little short on trust to say the least. Especially since I'm a threat to you and you'd say anything to get out of this mess."

"So don't take my word for it. Ask your Commissioner." Wayne shrugged. "If you make it clear that you've found the Batman and that I told you about what happened with Dent, he'll confirm it. From everything you've said, you trust him."

Andi's forehead knit as she watched him. Much as she hated to admit it, Wayne's logic and story did make some sense. His suggestion that she go to Gordon was either the indication of truth or a very brazen gamble. If there was a chance he was innocent, could she really let him get pulled down?

On the other hand, it could be a trap of some kind. Maybe Wayne wanted her to reappear, to make those who had the dirt on him think that everything had been smoothed over, and then take her down later, when nobody would believe that he was responsible.

Before she could come up with an answer, there was a knock and Pennyworth poked his head into their parlor. "If you'll excuse me, sir, there's a bit of a situation on the television that I think you should see."

"Not now Alfred." Wayne's hard gaze on her didn't flicker. Andi summoned up all of her natural stubbornness and refused to let herself shift under it like a guilty child.

"Pardon me Master Wayne, but I wouldn't have interrupted unless it was urgent."

Master Wayne? Andi thought as Wayne nodded reluctantly, and stood up. No wonder this guy's got a God complex.

"I'm coming too," she announced. Wayne shot her a look that was halfway between amused and exasperated.

"Don't trust me Miss Taylor?"

"Not a hair." She followed on the pair's heels to a much more modern room dominated by a flat screen television that stood at least as tall as she did. GCN was on, showing several blazing skyscrapers in the area that looked vaguely familiar to her… the Narrows she thought. Not too far from where she'd grown up. Andi froze as she saw the blaring headline:

Mayhem at Arkham.

The butler crossed to the remote and turned the volume up as the shot swiveled to a near-hysterical reporter. "As you can see, the blast has affected several nearby buildings as well as Arkham itself," she shouted at the camera, "A—Authorities inside the asylum are refusing to confirm eyewitness reports that the Joker is behind this, but admitted that the maximum security ward was affected by the blast. No word yet on injuries or fatalities, but just looking at the area it's a pretty good guess that—hold on, we've got new footage coming in from an outside security camera. It's streaming live."

Neither Wayne nor his butler looked at Andi as she slowly sank onto one of the sleek leather seats. Something in her mind felt suspended, waiting for news one way or the other before it would allow her to react.

The footage cut to another scene, a grimy back alley that was filled with smoke. After a few seconds, the Joker lurched into view, carelessly dragging someone else with him, blonde head locked under his arm despite her desperate struggles.

"NO! Oh God, Leena!"

"Do you know that woman?" Wayne demanded, turning to face her. Andi's eyes were locked on the screen.

The Joker seemed to notice the video camera and shuffled over to face it. Leena was dragged with him, her struggles becoming wilder and more terrified every second. He finally seemed to notice when a kick flailed into his knee, and released her neck to grasp her tight around the waist with one arm. His other hand tugged one of hers from where she was covering her face and made it wave at the camera. Like a spoiled child with a doll, some distant part of Andi's mind noted with disgust. The Joker turned to Leena and, with an exaggerated attempt at coyness, bent towards her ear and whispered something. Leena didn't appear to pay any attention except for shaking her head even more frantically and the Joker's volatile temper broke. He slapped her hard across the face, jarred Leena's other hand off. Face streaked with tears and blood, like an angel captured by the devil. Leena, Leena, why couldn't you have LISTENED to my warnings?

Abusing her friend seemed to excite him somehow. He slackened his facial muscles and began shaking his head at the camera, tongue lolling grotesquely from his scarred mouth. His fingers dug into Leena's short hair, jerked her head back and forth too. Leena's hands were clawing at his, she was trying to move, trying to breathe—the Joker suddenly released her, stroked her cheek clumsily with the back of his hand. Blood from Leena's cut lip smeared across her cheek. She stayed still now, just sobbing, didn't resist when the Joker lifted her hand again and drew it across her own throat. He giggled and pulled her away with him as something else blew up behind them, sending the camera into fuzz.

The reporter reappeared, but Andi was already moving. She didn't know when she had grabbed them, but somehow her car keys were in her hand and she was sprinting for the door when Wayne caught her by the elbow and pulled her around to face him. From the wide set of his eyes, he was only slightly more in control than she.

"Do you know her?" Andi wrenched backwards, but his grip was strong. "Listen to me. I can help her, but I need as much information as I can get. Who is she?"

"Get the hell off of me!" Andi snarled. Wayne's hold tightened instead and Andi decided that the fastest way to get him to let her go was to just tell him the truth.

"Her name's Dr. Harleen Quinzel. She's the Joker's psychiatrist. And one of my best friends."

Wayne nodded and released her. "Alright, listen, I want you to stay—"

The door slammed behind her and cut off his voice. Andi streaked through the mansion for her car, already speed-dialing Gordon's number, praying that he would pick up his phone.

Author's Note: Yes, I know Batman doesn't really drink alcohol, but Andi doesn't, and we're seeing it in her POV. Alfred probably just gave Bruce something like carbonated grape juice and got Andi alcohol in the hopes that she'd take some and lose a bit of control.

Thanks y'all for being so patient about the review responses! I think I've got all of them now by PM or counter-review, but if I missed you just tell me. Also, I generally respond by PMs, but if you'd prefer me to review one of your stories instead, just say so and I'd be more than happy to.

Lots of people to thank this week, so hold onto your hats folks. Grazie mille a claudiabinader, Sapphire34, Bkcbookworm, and Sanis-chan for favoriting Unmasked, Mearrha Eard, Artemis 1922, and akunamatata for putting me on story alert, and Ayleim for favoriting me as an author!

There's a hungry monster living in my basement who demands I feed him either Irish football victories or lots of reviews if I want him to not go on a rampage. Since we've been on a bit of a losing streak (1-3 guys? Really?), please either try out for the ND football team or leave a review! Opinions on the Joker, especially, are very much appreciated; he's horribly difficult to write!