Chapter 15: Coming to Terms

Bagheera watched carefully as the Joker's mob lawyer questioned Gordon hard. The tone in the building was antagonistic with each prodding the attorney asked. She looked over to the female judge who kept her eyes on the Joker who was dressed in the orange jumpsuit. His face lacked his signature make up as he sat there silently all the while licking his lips. Bagheera kept her gaze away from the clown. Her heart beat quickly as the fear entered her. She would soon have to tell the court what had occurred between her and the Clown Prince of Crime.

She felt warm hands wrap around her cold hands in a calming manner. She looked down at her hands and allowed a soft smile to paint her weary features as she looked at the strong, warm hands that held her. The stress from trying to capture the Joker had faded, but the new stress from the trial had begun to overtake her like an ocean wave dragging her further into the darkness.

"It'll be okay," Barba whispered in her ear as he squeezed her hand lightly in a protective manner, "You'll do fine."

She smiled as she looked to him with thankful eyes. She had never actually had anyone in her life that had been in her corner. It was all new to her, but she knew she wanted it to become something that she would grow accustomed to. They had been dating for almost six months and he had been a constant support system for her while she was working out the events that had occurred in her life. The trial had dragged on forever it seemed while she had been placed on different assignments, none of which had been as life threatening as her case with the Joker. She took a deep breath in an attempt to calm her shaking nerves. She patted his hand softly and removed her hand from his grip. Her hands fiddled with the frills of her navy blue skirt. Her heels clicked against the floor as she waited for her name to be called upon the stand for the first time since the lengthy trial had begun.

"Detective Bagheera Lewis," her name rang through the silent court room. She stood from her place and made her way down the small aisle. She could feel the eyes of the Gotham citizens watching her closely as she walked while nervously pulling at her sleek outfit that she had bought just for the trial. She heard the Joker's wooden chair creak from his sudden movement forward in interest as she took to the stand in her sharp suit that seemed befitting to her rather than wearing the other boring choices in clothes that she had kept in her closet. Bagheera slowly allowed her eyes to peer over to the clown that she had captured and then over to his smug mob lawyer that sat with what seemed to be natural highlighter blonde hair with matching brows and piercing blue eyes that sent shivers down her spine. The lawyer was the definition of what the Nazis deemed a beautiful, perfect child. She cast her attentions to the prosecuting attorney and her nerves settled at the brunette's soft smile. With both the ADA and DA gone because of the Joker, an interim lawyer had settled in their place until new ones could be voted in.

Bagheera took her place beside the Joker and raised her hand as the bailiff swore her in. She tried to keep her eyes off the Joker as she took her place in the seat to be questioned by the attorneys.

"Could you introduce yourself to the jury," the prosecutor, Julian Gibbs, asked as she stood at her table.

"I'm Detective Bagheera Lewis," she answered, "I graduated with honors in criminology. I was a detective in Baltimore before coming back to Gotham."

"And what brought you to Gotham," Julian asked, her heels clicked against the tiled floor as she moved away from her desk.

"I was sent as a favor to Commissioner Gordon," Bagheera answered honestly, "with the knowledge that I would be leading in the Joker's case, to help bring the Joker in to custody."

"So you knew about the Joker before arriving in Gotham?"

"Yes," she said simply.

"And what were your first thoughts?"

Bagheera shrugged her shoulders and replied, "I knew he would be a tough case. He's smart," she graced the Joker with a quick glance that he caught as he gave her a large smile, "…he's a psychopath with a traumatic past."

"So you believe that he's insane," the attorney asked of her, "because I've heard from several of your colleagues that you had stated on several occasions that the Joker was not insane."

The Joker smiled with a twinkle in his eyes as he watched the detective lie under oath. He leaned forward as he watched her with keen interest. His little detective never failed to surprise him.

"He kidnapped me in the middle of the day," Bagheera retorted in self-defense, her voice hid the anger that was beginning to form inside of her, "he stabbed me and then stitched me up, he beat me," she left his henchman Bob out of everything, deciding a long time ago that she would find him on her own and have a few words with him, "then he threatened to blow up the hospital he put me and then saved me before it blew. I was again kidnapped by him where he later pulled me off the side of a tall building," she paused as she looked over to the jury who began to collectively twitch in uncomfortableness, "I changed my mind on how I thought of him."

"Objection," the defense attorney announced as he stood from the table, "This woman has no psychiatric background to make a decision on this."

"She is the only survivor of the Joker that can give us insight into his mind," Julian informed the Joker, "He refuses to talk to his psychiatrist. Detective Lewis is the only one with any type of insight into his mind."

"I will allow it," the judge answered.

"And at any point during this time did the Joker brainwash you?"

Bagheera's brows furrowed in confusion at the strange question, but then connected the dots to a rising criminal that Gordon had another team working on, "No. There's nothing connecting him to the new criminal who has dubbed himself as the Mad Hatter, and just to make matters clear, the Hatter performs lobotomies on his victims. He received his name because of a joke about him removing their hats of hair to get to their brains."

"Are you sure there is nothing connecting this new criminal to the Joker?"

"If there were any connection, that detective would have come to me," she answered, "The Joker steals money, blows shit up, and gives unlucky victim's a smile they will never forget."

"And why is it that they would come to you?"

"I'm still the lead detective on this case," Bagheera answered simply, "Any cases that bare any resemblance to the Joker's is automatically sent to me. I'm on duty 24/7 when it comes to this case There's been no mention of the Mad Hatter duplicating these crimes," she looked over to the Joker who had an amused expression pasted upon his features, "Besides, mind control isn't the Joker's fun. Breaking spirits with manipulation is."

"So you are an expert on the Joker," she asked.

"I wouldn't say that," Bagheera answered honestly.

"And did he do that to you, Detective Lewis? Did he manipulate you during your time alone with him?"

Bagheera looked down at her nails as she pondered the question, she shook her head and replied, "He can be very persuasive, but no he didn't manipulate me."

"Thank you," Julian Gibbs said with a smile, "I have no further questions."

The Joker's mob attorney, Charles Bernstein, stood once again and walked toward her. She watched as he grinned at her like a toothy lizard and leaned lazily against the bench. His arm was within mere inches of her microphone as he leaned against the wooden bench.

"How many men have you shot and killed in the line of duty, Ms. Lewis," Charles asked lazily.

"Just one," she answered in annoyance at her calling her Ms. Lewis instead of Detective Lewis.

"And is it true that you've shot others in the line of duty?"

"Yes," she answered honestly, she swept a fallen strand out of her eyes as she added, "I've shot six people so far, that's including the Joker. When I arrived in Gotham, I had only shot four."

"Six people," Charles asked in astonishment, "That's a lot of people, don't you think? You may soon be able to say that you are in Ripley's Believe It or Not for most criminals shot by a female cop."

A small chuckle echoed throughout the audience, mostly by men that had thought the idea as a funny, absurd one. Bagheera shot a glance over to the Joker who did not look amused by his lawyer's attempt at a joke.

"That's not funny," she could hear the Joker murmur under his breath.

"That's not funny," Bagheera answered in controlled anger, "I shot those criminals because my partners, innocent civilians, or I were in danger. It was all justified."

"Of course it was," Charles answered, "But what about shooting the Joker?"

"What about it?"

"You told him that you would shoot him," he asked with a look of suspicion, "Didn't you, Ms. Lewis?"

"It's Detective Lewis," Bagheera snapped as she momentarily lost her cool with the smug lawyer, "I told your client that if he made me pull on him that I would shoot him down."

"And you did?"

"Yes," she said in annoyance, her suppressed accent momentarily escaped her as she spoke.

"But you didn't kill him," the lawyer asked.

Bagheera's brows furrowed once again at his question.

"After everything that he put you through, you still couldn't drop him like that other man," Charles informed her, "Why is that?"

Bagheera licked at her bottom lip and looked over to Barba and then to the Joker who was staring at her with deadly interest. She truly had no idea why she did not put the clown down after her had committed all of those atrocious acts upon Gotham City.

"I don't know," she answered finally.

"You don't know?"

"That's what I said," she said defensively.

"Have you developed feelings for my client, Ms. Lewis," he asked, ignoring her deserved title.

"Objection," the prosecutor announced, "This is-"

"It goes to the reliability of this woman's testimony," the man said before allowing the prosecutor to finish her sentence.

"I'll allow this," the judge answered in a warning tone, "but you better be careful were you go with this."

Bagheera chuckled at the absurdity of the defense attorney's question, "What? You mean like Stockholm Syndrome," she shook her head as she glared at the man, "I can assure you that if I did, I wouldn't have pulled the trigger at all. I'd have let him kill all of those agents and officers on that roof."

The lawyer nodded in satisfaction at her answer. She watched him turn his back on her and walk towards the table where the Joker sat with his eyes transfixed on her.

"Can you tell me what you had to do to get into your position in Baltimore," Charles asked.

"I had to go through training," Bagheera said with a casual shrug of her shoulder.

"And a part of this training is to become a good shot, is it not?"

"Yeah sure," Bagheera answered as she watched the man pull a large, faded target from his brief case, "I'd like to add Exhibit G. Do you know what this is, Ms. Lewis?"

Bagheera closed her eyes as she watched the man bring the poster towards her. She could see the familiar bullet holes ripped through the chest and head of the target.

"It's a target practice poster," she answered, "We had to practice with them."

"And this, along with many others, is yours," the lawyer informed her, "Can you tell the jury where the bullets went through?"

Bagheera allowed her long fingers to pass through her hair as she looked to the poster and replied, "There are five holes in the targets chest and one in its head."

"So you are a pretty good shot," the man asked, "In fact, your instructor told me on the phone that you were one of his best students."

"I'm not that good apparently," she informed him with a shrug of her shoulders, "and what you are neglecting to say is that," she gave him a knowing smile as her nervousness escaped her as she realized what he was trying to accomplish, "I was only wearing one shoe. I was thrown off balance when I shot at him. If I wouldn't have lost that one shoe while dangling in the air, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now."

A large smile crossed the Joker's features as he listened to the detective defend herself against the rude little man that was his defense lawyer.

"Bagheera Lewis missed the Joker's heart," Charles stated as he turned to the jury, "She'd like you to believe that she is not a good shot, but the evidence is there for your very eyes. This woman would have killed the Bat-"

"Your Honor," the Joker announced in a high pitched tone as he stood quickly from his place and licked his lips, "My ugh lawyer here is painting the good detective in a bad light."

Confusion fell over Bagheera from his sudden outburst to stick up for her. She looked from the Joker to Barba as he watched the Joker with the same uneasy confusion.

"Baggy was a beacon," his voice was almost childlike as he defended Bagheera's honor, "of professionalism."

"Wait," the prosecutor asked, "You're standing up for her?"

Bagheera looked at him with utter confusion as she watched the clown sit back down as chuckles filled him, "She did what the Batman couldn't!"

The judge banged her gavel loudly against her wooden podium. Whispers and loud yells of cruelty against the Joker erupted throughout the court room.

"Order," the woman demanded of every soul in the court.

Bagheera felt her fear coming back to her as the Joker's almost unearthly laughter filled the courtroom. She felt a darkness enter her as she thought of why she had not been able to shoot him in the heart. She had been so close, but something had stopped her from taking his life.

"You want his freedom, not his life," the voice in her head whispered as she was dismissed from the witness stand.

...

Weeks had gone by with silent city streets since the Joker had been captured. Bagheera sat alone in the small, hole in the wall diner where old couples and Gotham University students sat together talking of the weather, the future, and a world where the Batman was the bad guy. Bagheera did not agree with the Batman's vigilante idea of justice, but she did not like the fact that the city had turned on someone that helped them.

She looked to the table beside her where an old man and his wife sat together in silence reading their newspapers. She read the ads for coupons while he read the sports section which allowed Bagheera to be able to see the headline that had been rushing rampantly through Gotham.

The Joker's trademark painted face took up most of the space on the first page. Bold black letters announced to the world that the deranged, mass murdering clown had been sentenced to consecutive life sentences in Arkham Asylum. She felt a sense of accomplishment splash over her as she basked in her successful solving of her biggest case.

"Are you ready to order," a small waitress asked of her as she poured Bagheera a fresh cup of coffee.

"No," she answered with a kind smile as she looked up to the young woman, "I'm going to wait for my boyfriend and his friend."

"Alright then," the girl answered as she continued on to check with her other tables.

Bagheera sat alone as she waited for Barba and his old college buddy to arrive. He had kept it a secret from her as to who was going to have lunch with them. She looked up as the bell rang through the small diner. She looked up to see Barba walking in with Gotham's billionaire playboy following behind him. Shivers of nervousness rippled down her spine as she watched a large smile appear on Bruce Wayne's handsome features as he followed Barba towards the table. She watched as the patrons of the diner cast their eyes towards him as he walked with a saucy aura.

"Sorry we're late," Barba explained as he sat beside her, "Bagheera, I think you know Bruce."

"Yes," she said, forcing a comfortable smile upon her face as she held her hand out to the billionaire shake once again, "We've met once or twice."

"I tried getting her out of her pants and into a dress," Bruce explained with a hearty chuckle as if he held no ill will against her for the antics that she had displayed on top of the Prewitt building.

Bagheera smiled at his reply and turned to her lover and explained, "He asked me to wear a dress at the little charity thing," she grinned and added casually, "if I had I would have never been able to get to shoot the Joker for the first time."

"And saved my little party," Bruce added as he watched for the young waitress to come over to take their drink orders, "I think I owe you a deal of gratitude for that."

"So you helped Will fail biology," Bagheera asked in an attempt to change the subject away from the Joker and his previous antics before he had kidnapped her and changed her life.

Bruce chuckled at her reply and said, "Is that what he told you? Because if I recall correctly it was Will that caused me to fail my intro to business class from all the parties."

"Well," Barba said with a shrug and a smile as he realized that he was a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar, "I couldn't take all the responsibility."

The three ordered their meals and the conversations continued as if there was no uneasiness between two of the diners. Bagheera felt like she had learned to cope through stressful situations, she knew she could pretend to be a normal person that had not been affected by the Joker or the Batman.

"If you'll excuse me," Barba announced as he pulled himself away from his meal, "I need to see a man about the check."

"Will, I can-"

"No, nonsense," Barba said quickly to interrupt Bruce Wayne's generous offer, "I invited you out to lunch, it's on me."

Bagheera smiled like a loving girlfriend as he stepped away from them, leaving the two to sit together in slight uneasiness. Bagheera tried to keep her focus away from the man that dressed as the Batman at night.

"So he seems happy," Bruce said in an effort to ease the thick silence that crept between them, "and you seem happier than the last time I saw you."

"Bruce, I," she began to explain, but she stopped as she watched the playboy billionaire smile at her in an effort to silence her.

"No," he replied, "I understand."

She shook her head, "It wasn't personal. It's just I've worked so hard," her voice took on a bitter tone as she explained, "bringing in the Joker for good would seal the deal of me going to Quantico. I'd have my chance at an amazing life again. I couldn't let," she looked around for eavesdroppers and lowered her voice in case, "I couldn't let that slip out of my hands."

"Thank you," Bruce said to her with a genuine smile.

Bagheera stared at him in confusion as she took in his genuine features of gratitude.

"For?"

"For keeping my secret," he answered simply.

"I would never knowingly put a civilian in danger," she informed him with a nod, "and as unbelievable as that sounds, you are still a civilian Mr. Wayne."

"Call me Bruce."

The End!