Any platonic feelings Rachel might have been feeling the night before were quickly erased as Joker's yells and several screams woke her up. As she silently cursed clown boy's fiery temper, she listened in on the commotion. From what she could gather, a couple henchmen had indulged a bit too much last night and in their drunken haze, revealed the true nature of her disappearance. This, apparently, was something Joker had been trying to keep low judging by his reaction, but Rachel felt he was overreacting. After all, did he really expect Batman to not suspect him. It was just the obvious choice considering how he had been after Harvey just before her disappearance.
A few more bone-chilling screams filled the air, then there was silence. Rachel crawled over to the door and pressed an ear to it, trying to figure out what was happening now. Footsteps approached her door, but even as her heart stopped, they turned and walked away. She decided she did not want to know what was happening anymore; it was too nerve-wracking, and she crawled back into her corner.
XXXXXXXXX
He was furious! Dent would know by now what had happened and thus his plans were ruined. If he believed Rachel was dead, then he would be coming after him, not Batman. This threw everything off. He had finally figured everything out, and now they ruined it. He growled and kicked his chair with such force that it flew into the wall and splintered. Now what was he supposed to do?
He paced back and forth trying to think of a way to salvage his plot. So far the only thing he could think of was to put it off a month or so, just enough time to let everyone cool off. But Dent was a love-sick puppy and he would not forget about Rachel so easily. No, he would have to let her go. Or he could just kill the D.A. and keep the girl here under threat of death. Hm, it was a possibility. Then again, that usually did not work. Heck, look at what happened today. He just lost another ten men and they knew what would happen to them if they slipped up. He would have to let her go.
But then there was the matter of keeping track of her. She would probably be glued to Dent's side and drowned in security now! There was no way he could watch her that way. He jerked to a stop and began laughing. What was he talking about? He was the Joker! Of course he could keep track of a little girl! A few death threats here, some occasional check-ups there, and perhaps a tracking device and all would be fine. He laughed again. This would be too easy! Oh, he loved it when things fell into place.
"Oh Rachel," he called in his sing-song voice as he opened the door. A fearful squeak was the response he got. He growled deep in his throat from annoyance. He thought he had made such an improvement yesterday! While she still needed to fear him by the month's end, he would eventually need her to trust him. If all went right, he could have his own personal lawyer and spy inside the D.A.'s office. Naturally, this would have to be after Dent proved to the world that no one was really all good and had ruined everything with his little girlfriend. "Oh come now, there's no need to fear me right now. I thought we had such fun yesterday," he tried to assure her. No doubt she had heard the ruckus earlier.
"H-how many did you kill?" she asked quietly. He really had messed up with that. 'Note to self: keep all mass killings in the quiet room until she's gone.'
"Ten. I now have a grand total of five people directly working for me... good thing I work best alone," he joked darkly. She began to shake, probably fearing that she would be number eleven. Hello! If he wanted to kill her he would have done so a week ago! "Rachel, Rachel, Rachel," he cooed as he walked over and knelt beside her, "you don't have to be afraid of me. Remember, I need you." She did not look any happier, but she had at least stopped shaking. "Plus, you should be thankful for those idiots. It gives you some extra time," he informed her. She just rolled her eyes and sighed.
"Great, I get to be stuck in here even longer." At the pointed look her gave her she quickly added, "But your company's been wonderful lately!" He chuckled, liking the effect he had over her.
"You are a terrible liar. Now, I understand that staying here is probably not the most appealing of ideas, and since I will be quite busy the rest of the time, I've decided to let you go home," he told her. In response, she fixed him with the 'deer in the headlights' look. Not what she had been expecting then.
"Why?" she finally asked. 'Because I've finally seen the error of my ways and realize I cannot keep you against your will anymore. Please forgive me!' he thought sarcastically. What did she expect him to say? How in the world did someone this oblivious get through law school?
"Because, Batman can't know I'm behind this. He already knows I have you, and I need time to get him off my back," he explained hastily. She nodded and lowered her head thoughtfully. "Which brings us to the terms of your freedom. You will not leave town. You are to go about life in a normal manner. You will not mention our little secret to anyone! Do you understand?" he asked her firmly. She nodded quickly. "Very well then." With that, he blindfolded her and handed her over to one of his remaining thugs with instructions to drop her off far from here. "Until we meet again Miss Dawes," he called after her with a terrible cackle.
A/N: Sorry this was so short, but as with the first chapter, I fear expanding this will be too much. The next chapter will be longer.
Alex: Were you feeling ambitious with the reviews? Two very long ones, that made my day. First, thanks for the suggestion, however I have already determined the means in which they get together. Your idea was very good though. Second, I'm glad you like my Joker interpretation. I know what you mean about the movie not giving that other side to him as fully, but you have to admit, some of his plans were very straight forward though still clever. Glad I was able to bring that more to the front to your liking.