Chapter 10: Up in Flames
So there's a scene I use (I tweaked it a bit for this story though) that is used in The Joker Blogs on Youtube. Seriously, if you haven't watched them, do it. They are amazing!
Bagheera set up slightly in her hospital bed, morphine dripped slowly through the tubes the connected to her arm. She watched in relaxation as the TV drowned out the sounds of the constant beeping. The blue sky looked back at her outside of her window that looked over the parking lot. She felt stronger and she hoped that she would soon be getting out to finish her job of bringing in the Joker. She had survived him once; she had faith that she could survive another run in with him, though the thought did send a faint shiver of fear down her spine.
"He's a credible source," the news anchor of GCN echoed throughout her small hospital room, "An attorney from a prestigious consultancy and he says he's waited as long as he can for the Batman to do the right thing," Bagheera jerked her attentions away from the blue skies of Gotham and towards the television, "and now he's taking matters into his own hands. We'll be live at five with the true identity of the Batman."
She shook her head as she looked to the recording of the lawyer on the news promo. She couldn't believe that a citizen would actually reveal who their caped crusader was to the Joker after the sacrifice that their brave district attorney had made for them. In her heart, she knew that Gotham was a place that would never be saved no matter how hard the righteous cops at the Gotham PD and the Batman tried to hope it was worth saving.
Bagheera's eye lids felt heavy as the morphine began to take its toll on her. She soon felt her heart slow while the news program continued talking of the Joker's escape and how she had been in critical condition upon her arrival in the hospital. She could hear some far off caster allude to a relationship between the two just as the drug pulled her into a deep sleep.
"So you're telling me that you didn't accept any money from the Batman to keep his secret safe," the news reporter announced on the five o'clock segment of GCN.
Bagheera felt her eyes flutter open after a few hours of drug induced sleep. She could hear the men on the television talking, though she tried to ignore them as she felt the tug of sleepiness move over her tired body again.
"And now for our next caller," she heard the reporter announce loudly to his watching audience. She kept her eyes closed as she listened to the news program.
"Harvey Dent didn't give into this maniac; do you think you know any better than him? You'll just end up in a hospital gurney just like that stupid detective," the caller said in anger.
Bagheera closed her eyes tighter at the caller's harsh description of her.
"I think that if we could talk to Dent, and even Bagheera Lewis," the lawyer answered, "I think that today he may feel differently."
"And we wish Harvey Dent a speedy recovery and greatest condolences to the loss of his longtime girlfriend Rachel Dawes," the reporter added, "because God knows we need him now."
Bagheera felt the pull of sleepiness move over her as she shrunk lower into her hospital bed as the lawyer continued to talk about what made him decide to reveal the Batman's identity at this time instead of at a later date.
"Who is this," she heard Mike Engell ask in a worried tone that pulled Bagheera's attention away from sleep and back towards the television.
"I had a vision," the Joker's voice announced. Bagheera's heart pounded in her heart as she heard his deep voice once again, "of a world without Batman. The mob ground out a little profit and the police tried to shut them down one block at a time," Bagheera's eyes did not move from the television set, she seemed to be hypnotized by his words to the reporter, "and it was sooo boring."
Bagheera recalled him calling her sense of style boring in the same tone as she listened to his words.
"I've had a change of heart," the Joker informed the watching audience, "I don't want Mr. Reese spoiling everything, but why should I have all the fun? Let's give someone else a chance, hmm? If Coleman Reese isn't dead in sixty minutes then I'll blow up a hospital."
Bagheera's breath stopped as she looked up to the television. Fear radiated through her body as she looked around for an escape plan. She was on the fifth floor of the hospital and there was no way that she would have been able to scale down the side in her current condition. She knew that the Joker would have men inside every hospital in Gotham City, especially the hospital that she had been taken to, to make sure that the bombs did go off as planned. She knew Gotham General was going to be Gordon's priority because of her and Harvey Dent.
The Joker was going to finish his job with Harvey Dent and she would just be the innocent bystander.
"Oh my God," she cried as she looked away from the television as the fear charged through her veins. Panic was setting in as she sat alone in her hospital bed.
"Oh there she is," the horribly familiar sing song voice of the Joker announced, "Never mind, I didn't need," the sound of a silencer being shot echoed throughout her room, "your help."
She turned her head quickly to see the unwanted visitor, bouncing towards her in a red wig and a white nurse's uniform. His legs were bare in the knee length skirt that he sported with confidence and he held his purple jacket over his left shoulder. She took in the Joker's appearance with a strange glance upon her face that was noticeable to the Joker. She watched as his fake locks of red hair bounced with each step he took towards her. She could see the giddiness almost radiating out of him as he smiled at her.
"How ya been Baggy," he asked as he looked her over and threw his purple jacket over her legs just as William Barba had done with his jacket, "I've been meaning to come see you, but you know how time just slips away."
"You've come to finish the job," she asked as she felt her body almost melt into the mattress as the Joker sat in the rolling doctor's chair. She watched as he fiddled with the buttons on the machines that were hooked up to her.
"Morphine huh," he asked with a serious tone as he looked at the dripping substance in her IV tube, "They gave you some good stuff."
"If you're going to kill me," she whispered as she glared at him with tired blue eyes, "just do it already."
The Joker chuckled at her and replied with the same words that he had told the Batman, "I don't want to kill you! I don't know what I'd do without you," he pointed at her and then at his chest, "You complete me."
Bagheera watched helplessly as the Joker forced a higher dosage of morphine into her system. She tried to reach for the call button so she could call for help, but he jerked it out of her reach. She forced a smile across her face as she glared at him in hatred.
"What do you want with me," she asked, her voice was small as the morphine coursed through her veins, "I'm nobody. I'm not special."
"Oh, I think you are very special," he answered in a seductively dangerous tone and winked at her as he licked his lips. He jerked the IV out of her arm as the last of the morphine entered into her veins through the needle.
"You want to know why I think you are so special," he asked of her, his voice was high pitched as he smiled at her.
"Not really," she answered as the morphine numbed her to the pain and the fear that flooded through her body, a small smile tugged at her lips as she added, "I want to know my future."
The Joker chuckled at her response as he pulled a deck of cards from his jacket pocket and shuffled the deck. She watched him in drugged curiosity with the same smile upon her face as he moved closer to her drowsy eyes. She could see the glint in his eyes as she watched the cards move with every hand gesture he made.
"I'm not sure you get wiser as you get older, but you do learn to dodge a certain amount of hell," the Joker informed her as he finished shuffling the deck, "Life is all about how we play the cards we've been dealt. There's no bad hands, no, only bad players," he smiled at her as he watched her look from the cards and to his painted face, he watched as in her drugged state her eyes lingered on his painted lips for a moment to long before finding his dark eyes, "and from what I've observed out of you is that you are not too bad of a player yourself Baggy," he chuckled, "and one day you might even be a good one."
Bagheera took a deep breath as the drugs slowed her mind's ability to process some of the information that he was giving her. She watched as his hands moved with expert precision over the cards. Her pupils dilated as she watched the clown in such close proximity of her. Her eyes seemed to dance in her head as she moved her attention from his hands that held the cards to his painted face and stupid wig.
"It's not about finding out which cards are yours," he informed her in a matter of fact tone, "it's about finding out which cards you're not. So let me put my cards on the table," he began to touch the cards, "and see where you stack up because every card has a meaning," the first card off the deck was a random hearts card, "Hearts are for emotions," the next card was a spade, "Spades are for intellect," a red diamond was next, "Diamonds show wealth," the fourth card was a club, "and clubs signify power."
She watched him throw the cards upon her blanket and then begin to remove the face cards, "You have your Harvey Dent types, the Commissioner Gordons, the Bruce Waynes, the Batmans," he smiled at her as he removed the Queen of Diamonds, "The Rachel Dawes," and he smiled as he showed her a red Queen of Hearts card, "and then there is Bagheera Lewis."
Her smile sparkled unbeknownst to her in her drugged state as she looked at the face card that seemed to shine in the light that entered the hospital room.
"Ya stand out Baggy," he informed her as he moved from his sitting position to pull a forgotten wheel chair towards her bed, "and I'm not going to let you fade away into nothin'."
He smiled as he looked down on her as he added darkly, "There's only one card that makes any difference," he held the Queen of Hearts in front of her line of sight, "it doesn't add or take away from the others. It just is."
Bagheera watched as the Joker card appeared from behind the Queen of Hearts that he held in front of her with a trick of his hand.
"There's one in every deck and it always shows up when you least expect it."
She watched him with furrowed brows as he pulled the thin blankets off of her to reveal her bare legs and the thin, flimsy hospital gown that she had been placed in. She felt a shiver run through her at the sudden change. Her dilated eyes danced as she watched him carefully, wishing she had a weapon to use against him if he tried anything.
"Oh this just won't do," she heard him say like a sad child.
"What are you doing," she said in a soft, almost unnoticeable slur as the Joker pulled her up from the bed. The drugs were beginning to slightly effect her motor skills.
"Just," he placed his hands on her shoulders and looked her over in the thin gown, he could see soft goose bumps forming over her pale flesh as the cool air of the hospital explored her, "Just stand right there," he waved his hands in front of her and smiled, "Just…just for a second Baggy."
Bagheera closed her eyes as her legs shook under her weight as she forced herself to stand up straight for the clown in her room. She soon felt his hands moving over the back of her shoulders and the warm, but rough material of his purple jacket moving over her. She felt a warmth move through her upper body as the jacket fit around her like a warm blanket.
"Okie dokie," the Joker announced and smiled as he looked her frail body over, "let's get you in the chair," he laughed as she hurriedly found her place in the wheel chair and added, "I promise it's not an electric chair, well not yet Baggy."
She groaned as the drugs clouded her mind. Her body wished for sleep, but her mind was telling her that she needed to stay awake to fight the Joker, but at the moment he was the only person that could get her out of the hospital. She felt his bare hands touching her uncovered legs and she watched him closely as he placed her legs on the foot pegs. He looked up at her and gave her a warm smile as his fingernails grazed lightly up and down her flesh. A groan of disgust escaped her and she looked away from him as he removed himself from the floor and began to push her out of the hospital room.
"We got to make a quick stop," he informed her as he pushed her out of her hospital room and down the hall towards Harvey Dent's room. Bagheera's eyes fell closed on her, but she was still awake. She could hear the Joker breathing behind her, she could hear his footsteps on the floor, and she could hear the absence of life within the hospital halls which unnerved her.
She opened her eyes as they came to a closed door. She watched as the Joker in his white nurse uniform hurried to open the door. Her heart stopped as the Joker pushed her deeper into the room where she saw a man with a badly burned and disfigured face.
"Oh my God," she whispered as fear finally emerged through her drugged state, "Harvey."
The Joker locked the wheelchair in place and walked away from her, leaving her to observe the altercation between them. She watched as the Joker sang a soft lullaby to Dent as he forced the mattress into an upright, seated position.
She watched in silent horror as the district attorney tried to fight against his restraints to attack the Joker. She felt a sob form in her throat but she held it in as she watched the Joker sit in front of the disfigured man.
"Hi," the Joker said as if he were a guilty teenage girl that had ruined her best friend's relationship.
"You son of a bitch," Bagheera whispered under her breath. She hadn't expected Dent to look the way he did. She felt her heart breaking for the man that had been rude to her countless times as he fought against the restraints to get to the Joker.
The Joker pulled off the red wig and began to fix his own haphazardly dyed hair as he said, "Ya know I don't want there to be any hard feelings between us Harvey. I mean I put Baggy over there," he pointed towards her, "and she's wearing my very expensive jacket now."
"When you and uh…"
"RACHEL," Harvey screamed in anger causing the Joker to jump back at the ferocity that escaped the district attorney.
"Rachel," the Joker said, "were being abducted, I was sitting in Gordon's cage. I didn't rig those charges."
"Your men," Harvey said in a calmed, but still angry, tone, "Your plan."
"Do I really look like a guy with a plan," the Joker announced in a laid back matter, "I mean, uh, I was going to kill Bagheera over there, but ya see there she is," he chuckled for a moment before continuing, "Ya know what I am, I'm a dog chasing cars. I wouldn't know what to do with one if I caught it," he moved his hands about wildly, "Ya know, I just do things."
Bagheera watched with her head on her shoulder as the drugs began to take an effect on her. She couldn't move from her place and all she could do was listen to the Joker's harsh words.
"The mob has plans," the Joker said, "The cops have plans, Batman has plans," he walked over to Bagheera and unlocked her wheelchair, he turned her away from Dent, "Bagheera has plans to have me put away," his ungloved fingers moved through her dark strands of hair and patted her head as if she were a child, Bagheera closed her eyes in disgust from his touch, "Gordon's got plans, ya know," he walked away from Bagheera and back to his place beside Dent, "They are schemers. Schemers trying to control their little worlds. I'm not a schemer."
"Don't listen to him Harvey," Bagheera managed to say. She could feel the Joker's eyes move towards her, but she ignored him, "He's a liar."
"I just try to show the schemers just how," he turned to Bagheera and said loudly, "pathetic they really are."
Bagheera shook her head as tears fell from her blue eyes.
"So when I say," the Joker continued and grabbed for the district attorney's hand, "Come here," he said as Dent pulled away in an unsuccessful attempt, "so when I say that you and your girlfriend was nothing personal, you'll know that I'm telling the truth."
"Are you in on this," Harvey asked as he directed his eyes towards Bagheera's back, "You bring the Joker to jail, we get taken? Was that it?"
"No," Bagheera said in a soft tone with horror in her eyes that he had asked her that question.
"No, no, no," Joker announced, "Baggy is still a good cop, she's not as bad as those schemers though," he moved around Dent's bed and undone his restraints, "It's the schemers that put you were you are. You were a schemer, you had plans, and uh…look where that got you," as he undone the last restraint Dent lunged for him, but the Joker quickly shoved him back onto the bed and held his arms down, "See I just did what I do best! I took your little plan and I turned it on itself," the Joker licked his lips, "Look what I did to this city with a few drums of gas and a couple of bullets. Hmm?"
Dent eyed the clown that was speaking to him.
"Ya know what I noticed," the Joker continued, "Nobody panics when things go according to plan, even if the plan is horrifying! If tomorrow I tell the press that, like a gang banger will get shot or a truckload of soldiers will be blown up, nobody panics because it's all part of the plan," he smiled as he spoke, "But when I say that one little mayor will die, well then everyone loses their minds," his words were loud and almost erratic sounding as he pulled a gun from the pocket of the nurse uniform, "Introduce a little anarchy," he placed the pistol in Dent's hand and pulled the safety lock off, "upset the established order, and everything becomes chaos," the Joker glared into the district attorney's disfigured face as he placed the barrel against his forehead, "I'm an agent of chaos. Oh, and you know the thing about chaos?"
"Joker," Bagheera whispered in a sigh as the drugs overwhelmed her and she fell into the drug induced sleep.
"It's fair," the Joker whispered to Harvey Dent with a knowing smile. He watched as Dent held a coin up into his view as the gun was still placed against his forehead.
"You live," Dent said showing him the clean side of the coin, "You die."
"Now we're talking," Joker announced in a dark tone as he watched Dent throw the coin into the air.
The Joker smiled as the coin flipped onto the clean side. He could see the look of disappointment on the district attorney's face as he pulled the gun away from him.
"Wasn't loaded anyway," the Joker announced as he laughed manically away from him. He stopped behind Bagheera and leaned over her and whispered while she slept, "Come on Baggy, time to ditch this joint."
He continued laughing as he pushed Bagheera out of the district attorney's room and down the hall. He stopped just outside her room and smiled as he came to an antibacterial dispenser. He left Bagheera alone as he wiped his hands clean from the germs that he may have gotten from Dent.
He sang to himself as he pushed Bagheera out of the hospital and into the parking lot that her room had overlooked. Buses full of patients and nurses rushed into the buses, remaining unaware of him pushing the sleeping detective towards them. He held the detonator in his free hand and pressed the button as he placed a safe distance between him and the hospital building.
The sounds of screaming and the fire blasts were music to his ears as he pushed Bagheera towards the buses of frantic people. He turned away from her and looked towards the building as the bomb did not finish going off. He looked down to the detonator in his hand and shook it while pressing the button over and over again in a frustrated manner.
The Joker jumped backwards at the unexpected explosion and turned to Baggy who had slept through it. He smiled as he continued to push her towards the buses.
"Sorry Baggy," he whispered to her as he played with her messy strands of hair as she slept, "This is where I say goodbye…for now."
...
Bagheera felt hands on her cheeks; she could hear people's voices all around her as she pulled herself from her unconscious state. She opened her blue eyes wide to see William Barba standing in front of her. His right hand was touching her cheek in an attempt to wake her up completely and to let her know that he meant her no harm, his other hand was touching the rough fabric of the dirty purple jacket that she wore over her hospital gown.
She shook her head as she looked over to the devastation that had occurred behind them. Her blue eyes stared at the fire that the fire fighters were desperately trying to extinguish.
"Harvey," she said as she tried to remove herself from the wheel chair, but Barba stood in her way.
"No," he said in a warning as he pushed her back into her chair.
Bagheera looked up at him with worried, fearful eyes and tears fell freely as she forced herself to look away from the IA agent.
"You need to tell me what happened," Barba informed her, "and why you have the Joker's jacket?"
Bagheera's hand touched the purple fabric that covered her and kept her warm from the cool Gotham wind.
"He came in," she whispered, "he drugged me and took me to Harvey's room. He told him," she sniffled as she looked towards the wreckage of the hospital, "he told the most awful things. I think," she shook her head at the realization, "I think Harvey escaped on his own," she looked up to William and grabbed his elbow tightly, "Did they find him?"
"No," he said softly, "But it's not official yet. Gordon needs to talk to you."
She nodded and whispered, "Harvey isn't Harvey anymore. He's so full of anger. He's unpredictable, Will. We have to find him before he hurts somebody."
"Okay," Barba answered, "Okay. You know Gordon is going to have every cop on duty."
"Lewis," Gordon's voice boomed across the parking lot as he made his way quickly towards her, "Thank God you're alright."
"I'm fine," she said in reassurance.
"The Joker," Gordon started.
"Yes," Bagheera answered quickly.
"Do you think that he took Dent?"
"No," she answered, "I think Dent walked out on his own. The Joker had to have brought me out here."
"There are still fifty people missing," Gordon answered, "A bus is missing."
Bagheera looked up to the tired, stressed out newly appointed commissioner. She could see the pain in his eyes and the greys had spread further into his once dark hair.
"If he's not on the bus," Bagheera said softly to Gordon so no one else could hear them, "We can't rule out that he won't do something in retaliation. The Joker said some horrible things to him. He's broken. The Joker attracts the broken."
Gordon reluctantly nodded and replied, "You keep that to yourself. We're going to need the National Guard. Ramirez is on the phone with the mayor's office as we speak."
"Do you think that he's still a target," Barba asked as he stood beside Bagheera with his hand still on her shoulder.
"I'm Mark Engell from Gotham Tonight," the portable television from under the medical tent announced to the small audience of police officers and first responders. They could see the Joker's red painted smile splashed across the reporter's face as he spoke.
"What does it take to make you people want to join in," Mark read from the lines the Joker had prepared for him, "You failed to kill the lawyer. I've got to get you off the bench and into the game."
Bagheera could hear the Joker's voice echoing the reporter's words in the background as she watched the video closely. She pushed herself out of the wheel chair and stood beside Gordon to observe what the Joker was going to pre-warn them about.
"Come night fall the city is mine and anyone left here plays by my rules," Mike read like a professional, "If you don't want to be in the game, get out now."
"What do we do Gordon," Ramirez asked as she came toward them.
"But the bridge and tunnel crowd are sure in for a surprise," the reporter added, "Haha haha."
The Joker's laughter took over the video as the reporter screamed from whatever torture the Joker decided to deliver upon him.
"Shit," Bagheera whispered under her breath as she turned to look at the panicked faces of the people around her, "There's going to be wide spread panic."
Ramirez's cell phone rang and she quickly answered it. Bagheera listened to the woman's voice change from worry to fear as the conversation continued.
"We have a problem sir," Ramirez said in a hurried whisper, her eyes moved from Gordon to Bagheera.
"What? Did they find Dent?"
"No sir," Ramirez answered and her suspicious eyes moved to Bagheera where they stayed, "Dr. Crane has escaped."
"The Joker is going to use Scarecrow to poison the city," Barba insisted as anger boiled inside of him, "Just like last time."
Bagheera's brows furrowed as she watched their mouths move. She could no longer hear the words that escaped their lips as she forced herself to sit back down in the wheel chair as the realization washed over her like ocean waves. Her cousin had escaped and she knew he would come looking for her, but her mind kept replaying the question of how he had escaped while no other criminals had. She hid herself from the world as she thought of Jonathon Crane and whoever had let him out. She held her breath as a sob wished to escape from deep inside of her as she realized who had the motivation to set the Scarecrow free.
It wasn't the Joker.
"Bagheera," Barba asked as he turned to look at her as she sat in the moveable chair and held her head in her hands, hiding her face from the world
"He's going to kill him," she whispered under her breath, her mind seemed miles away as she shook her head as panic washed over her at the thought of losing her only family to a madman.
"We are not going to let the Joker-"
"No," Bagheera said as she looked up to the men that looked down on her as she tried to collect herself, "Not the Joker. Harvey…Harvey Dent thinks I am working with the Joker. He thinks-"
She shook her head as she thought of the disfigured side of Dent's once handsome face, "He'll come after me."
"Dent won't-"
"You don't know what he's become," she said harshly as she interrupted Barba, "You don't know what the Joker has done to him. You didn't see him like I did."
Gordon nodded at Bagheera's reply and said in agreement, "She could be right. He wasn't the same Harvey Dent that I knew."
"But to kill," Barba started to say in defense of his friend, but stopped immediately as he looked at Jim Gordon's grave features.
"We'll find him," Ramirez reassured Bagheera, "Will have officers posted all around Gotham looking for the Joker. We'll tell them to keep an eye out for Dr. Crane."
"Thank you," Bagheera whispered to her partner with a soft smile as she watched Ramirez walk away from them to speak into her radio.
"Until then," Gordon said with a demanding voice, "I want you to stay out of this."
"Gordon-"
"No," Gordon stopped her, "You need to rest. We'll send you to a little no tell motel where you'll be safe for now."
"There's no such thing as safe in Gotham right now," Bagheera informed him as she shook her head in annoyance, "There never has been and a god damned motel is your answer? You might as well stick a steak around my neck and a bright sign saying 'come and get it'!"
"Detective," Gordon said harshly, becoming aggravated with his detective, "You do as I tell you."
"She can stay at my place," Barba announced in an attempt to bring a calm between the two. Bagheera turned her eyes to him and her brows furrowed at his strange suggestion.
"As long as she's safe I don't really care where she stays," Gordon answered as he walked away from the two to continue on with his job of trying to protect the citizens of Gotham.
Barba looked down to Bagheera and smiled at her suspicion, "You can stay in my sister's old room. It really isn't a problem…and it's roach free."
"You didn't have to-"
"I wanted to," he answered with a smile as he watched her pull herself up from the wheel chair, "and this way I know you are safe, and," he shrugged with a boyish grin, "I figured we could watch a movie and have a nice dinner. We could get the 'getting to know each other over dinner and a movie' date started tonight."
She returned his smile, though on the inside her stomach was turning with fear and worry. Fear over her cousin, and worry over what the Joker had planned to do with the city now that he had taken out every big criminal organization in the city.
"I'd like that," she finally said out of politeness as they walked away from the wreckage of Gotham General.
So now Bagheera is placed in a situation where its her safety or Crane's! What will happen? What will she decide to do? And Barba has seemingly placed himself in the crossfire.
What do you think of the interactions between Bagheera and the Joker?