"I don't like it." I sulked as I looked in the mirror in my room. I refused to let Jack in until I was satisfied. It was a nurse's outfit and I didn't like it, as I just stated. It was a particularly short nurse's outfit as well. It even came with the stereotypical nurse's hat. I pulled the stockings up and put some Converse on because I would not be caught dead in their shoes. I don't have much style but the shoes were just ghastly.
"Come on, dollface, it can't be that bad." Jack said through the door. I had requested Jack go in a suit, to look like a business attendant or something but he said he had something more special in mind. Just thinking about him in a suit makes my mouth water… Uh oh, I drooled. I wiped the saliva away from my mouth and thought about makeup. I didn't want to look like I was trying to impress or anything, but every nurse I had ever come into contact with wore makeup. Wouldn't that make it more believable? It'll only be a little. Mascara, bit of eyeliner and some lip gloss. What harm could it do? I sighed and shook the thought away. "Don't forget to put on makeup. I don't wanna be the only one." I heard Jack say before he moved away from the door. I rolled my eyes and sat down at my desk. Rooting around in a bag of makeup Jack stole for me, I found some simple brands.
I finished the look by applying some dark lipstick but not too obvious. I stepped back and found that I didn't look that bad. I just needed to apply the makeup around my eyes now. "Soooonnnyyyy, it's time to go!" I heard Jack whine from the other room. I rolled my eyes.
"Jack, I've just got to apply the stuff around my eyes." I heard silence for a moment.
"I want to see how you look without it. Come out here." I froze. See me… without the makeup? No way.
"Hello no, Jack." I retorted and looked around for my makeup. God knows, I needed it and fast. He could burst in at any moment.
"Then I'll come in." Damn it! Faster! I found the powder and I managed to apply it to one eye before he kicked the door in. Literally. It was on the floor now.
"Damn it, Jack, that's the second door this week! I'll have to replace it again!" I scolded. He didn't answer. He was looking at me in the mirror.
My right eye was covered with the makeup but the scars around my left were plain to see. They were all mostly small ones but my largest one on my left eye was from the corner of it to the other side. A large white scar that was where an insomniac would get bags under their eyes. He sighed softly and walked over slowly. I didn't meet his eyes, I just stared at myself, hating the scars around that marred my face. Jack wrapped his arms around my waist from behind and put his head on my shoulder. I swallowed and my eyes darted everywhere except from his eyes. After a few moments of standing there like that, he turned me around and held my chin up with his finger. "Look at me, Solace." He whispered and I refused. I looked down and nowhere else. "Sony. Look at me." He shook me gently. I consented and got caught up in his eyes. Slowly, very slowly, he wiped the makeup away from my right eye. The largest scar on that eye was the one just above the eyelid. The one that nearly made me go blind in my right eye. "You're beautiful, Sony." He murmured and kissed my forehead. "Now, stop moping, we've got your ex for me to beat up and a hospital to blow up."
"Davis!" We heard from down the corridor. Jack nodded to me and I stepped out of the room. My mask wasn't on and neither was my special makeup, Jack wouldn't let me put it on, and so the police officer could see all of my face. He froze for a moment, presumably because of my scars, and then stood straight. "Ma'am, we have to move him now." Warning alarms sounded in the distance but I ignored them.
"I'm sorry sir, but there's another nurse in there that needs to check him over one last time." The police officer shook his head.
"My apologies, ma'am but he has to leave now." I remained still for a moment more and then nodded. I turned and opened the door.
"Nurse Napier, there's a police officer here." Jack turned around and shot him casually. I pushed the body out of the way of the doorway and then put my hands on my hips.
"Was that really necessary, Jack?" He turned around again, the mask hiding his mouth from me, and shrugged.
"He was eying you up, dollface. I'm not gonna let him get away with that. That's like treason." I chuckled and then looked at my ex with only half of his face left. He looked exactly the same as last time I saw him. Harvey had always slept peacefully. Not a sound could wake him up but movement would make him stir. Jack bent over and began to raise the bed so that Harvey was sitting more upright. Harvey slowly woke and stared at Jack. He didn't see me because I was hiding, like a coward, behind him. I got a full view of the muscles and his teeth from where I was standing. Nice.
Jack slowly pulled off the mask and Harvey flinched massively. The sudden movement nearly made me gasp the slightest bit. Jack placed the mask on the chair and sat down as Harvey grunted loudly, trying to escape from the restraints. Jack then smiled. "Hi." I had to try ever so hard not to laugh then. Harvey tried one more time to leap at Jack but he then settled down. Jack removed the wig and ruffled his hair a little. "Ya know, I don't want there to be any hard feeling between us, Harvey." He shrugged a little, "When you and, uh…"
"RACHEL!" Harvey shouted with fury. Jack held up his hands in mock surrender.
"And Rachel were being abducted, we were sitting in Gordon's cage." He kept gesturing with his hands to indicate that it was a small space. "Ya know, we didn't rig those charges." Harvey didn't care.
"Your men, your plan." Jack was unfazed, however.
"Do I really look like a guy with a plan?"
Harvey didn't answer. I silently moved over to the side of the bed but he didn't hear me or sense my presence. "Ya know what we are? We're dogs chasing cars. We wouldn't know what to do with one if we caught it." He shook his hands and his voice went a little high with mirth, "Ya know? We just do things." Again, he moved his hands to accentuate his words. "The Mob has plans. The cops have plans. Gordon's got plans. Ya know, they're schemers." He licked his lips, "Schemers trying to control their little worlds. We're not schemers. We try to show the schemers how pathetic they attempts to control things really are. So when I say, ah. Come here." He took hold of Harvey's right hand and held it with his own. "When I say that you and your girlfriend were nothing personal... you'll know that I'm telling the truth." He looked at Harvey intensely. "You keep saying 'we'… Who's your partner? Another freak?" I narrowed my eyes the slightest bit. Jack shook his head and whistled lowly.
"You shouldn't have said that." He didn't reply to Harvey's question though. I expected him to be done with it but no. "But I found out something new a few days ago. And ya know… I didn't like it." Harvey didn't respond. He merely continued to glare at Jack. "I found out that you had a girlfriend before Rachel. I found out that you took a girl in and that you fell in love with her." He then took his hands away from Harvey's, "That you 'fell in love with her'." He used air quotation marks. Harvey seemed to tense the slightest bit but it didn't seem possible that he could get any tenser. "And ya wanna know something else?" Harvey didn't reply. "She's right behind you."
Harvey's head spun around and his eyes, one lidded and one bare, looked at me in shock. He took in the scars and the cuts on my bare arms and on my face. "Sony…" He whispered with remorse. I didn't show any emotion. I didn't change my expression or my position.
"Harvey." I said coldly. Harvey swallowed and he reached out, his voice seeming gravelly now.
"Sony, please…" His hand brushed mine and I stepped back quickly, not wanting contact with him.
"No, Harvey." I reprimanded in the same tone. He continued to reach for me.
"Sony, what happened to you? Please…" I glared at him hotly.
"Batman didn't save me." I informed him and then leaned against the wall, far from the two-faced man. Jack took that as me saying that I was done. He wasn't however.
"So, you 'fell in love' with Sony here. You cared for her, got her a job probably and fed her and the like. Then what? Hmm?" Jack asked, his tone getting more malicious by the second. "You throw her out like an old toy, cos you got a new one. You got the lovely Rachel Dawes." Jack leaned in and whipped a knife out, placing it by Harvey's jugular. Harvey froze. He hadn't looked back at Jack and he didn't dare to now. His eyes were locked on me and I could see the ugly side of him and the side that I had once fallen in love with.
"Rachel probably gave you the talk where you have to stop seeing your ex. But, in order to do that, you'd have to kick her out. Deprive her of a home, food and care. I don't like that." As I watched Jack threaten Harvey for doing that to me, I felt my heart swell. "You're not going to go anywhere near Sony again. Because if you do…" He chuckled throatily and that shocked Harvey enough to try and look at him without aggravating the blade, "Let's not dwell on that."
"I think that's enough now, Nurse." I said with a little smile in the corner of my lips. Jack looked at me and he nodded, removing the knife. He then stood up.
"Aaaalrighty then, dollface." Harvey struggled against his bonds. "Oh, you don't like my pet name for her? Too bad, Two-face." Ouch, hit him where it hurts. Not the crotch, by the way. His pride.
"It's the schemers that put you where you are." Jack said, continuing with his speech before the, ahem, therapy session. He untied the restraint one of his arms. "You were a schemer, you had plans." He said as he walked around the bed and pointed at him, "And, uh… look where that got you." He untied the other and Harvey moved quickly and grabbed Jack as much as he could. I stepped in quickly and grabbed his arm and bent it backwards. He yelled out in pain as he continued to try and kill my partner. Jack ignored it.
"We just did what we do best. We took your little plan and we turned it on itself. Look what we did to this city with a few drums of gas and a couple of bullets." Harvey glared at both of us mercilessly.
"You're in on it too, huh, Sony? Should have guessed." He growled. I narrowed my eyes.
"What's that supposed to mean, Two-face? Huh? You always knew that I'd end up being a villain? You always knew that I'd end up having a vendetta against the Mayor?"
"A vendetta against the Mayor? What are you talking about?" I glared at him.
"Oh, that's right, I didn't tell you. You didn't trust me so I didn't trust you. The Mayor, for your information, killed my last remaining family member. But you didn't care every time I tried to tell you. You didn't care whenever I tried to tell you the source of my unhappiness and scars. You didn't care at all." I hissed at him. Harvey shook his head vigorously while trying to keep his arm in a place where it wouldn't break.
"You could have left me a note of some kind."
"We both know that that would have been worse. You would have thought I didn't trust you enough to tell you face to face." I said quietly, seeming even more sinister. "You never will accept me, face it." And I ended the conversation by forcing his arm into a more uncomfortable, more painful position. I nodded at Jack to continue what he was saying and he did, with a subtle arm around me.
"You know what I noticed? Nobody panics when things go 'according to plan'." Jack did the air quotes again. "Even if the plan is horrifying. If tomorrow we tell the press that, like, a gangbanger will get shot," He licked his lips, "or a truckload of soldiers will be blowing up…" He shook his head, "Nobody panics. Because it's all part of the plan. But when we say that one little old mayor will die… well, then, everyone loses their minds!" He went a little crazy at the end and Harvey glared at us as though we were the lowest scum on Earth. Does anyone care though? No. I let go of Harvey's arm when Jack reached into his pocket to get the pistol. He threw it in the air a little and grabbed the other end, thrusting the gun into Harvey's hand. "Introduce a little anarchy…" He flicked off the safety, "… upset the established order…" And he pointed the gun at his own face, "…and everything becomes chaos… I'm an agent of chaos."
He licked his lips and when I looked at Harvey, I was shocked to find that his finger was trembling to pull the trigger. If he made a move or gave any indication he would pull that trigger, I would disarm him and shoot him myself. "Oh, and you know the thing about chaos?" Jack pointed at Harvey, "It's fair." Harvey was breathing heavily, his nostrils flaring. Slowly, he brought up the coin I had seen him use sometimes. He showed one side with a head on it, "You live." And then turned it around to a dirty side where I couldn't identify the picture, "You die."
"Mmm, now we're talking." Harvey then flipped the coin. After a moment, he looked up at us and glared still.
Jack went outside to sanitize his hands and to leave Harvey and me alone. He did that because he knew that I didn't want that. "Sony, why? Why him?" I kept my back to Harvey. "You landed yourself in a heap of trouble and you go to him?" My fists were clenching and my nails dug into my flesh. "You've been through worse. What made you think he, of all people, would make you feel better?"
"He didn't ask any questions, Harvey! He didn't ask me why I resorted to crime, unlike you and Batman. He didn't ask me why I have scars and cuts on my arms and then not listen when I try to tell him, unlike you. He didn't kick me out, he didn't question me, he understood me. He understood me, Harvey. You didn't. There's only two people in my life who understand me. One of them is dead, the other's still alive. You can bet that the one alive isn't you." I snapped and spun around, revealing my furious expression. Harvey sighed and looked away.
"Sony, I always cared for you. I cared for you so much, I would do anything."
"You obviously didn't care enough. You're so angry about my decisions, if you truly 'cared'" I used air quotes, like Jack did, "Then you would have done a better job of making sure I didn't make the wrong decisions."
"Sony… It was all I could do to keep Rachel with me… If I'd have known…" Harvey pleaded from his pathetic position, still restrained on the bed. Why did I fall in love with him again? Oh yeah, because I was pathetic once too. That's why. I could barely stand the sight of the man now. "If you'd have known what, Harvey? What would you have done? If you had listened, we wouldn't be in this mess. You wouldn't be in this mess. Because this isn't a mess to me. This all makes perfect sense because I know everything that's going on. Everyone is so bloody predictable in Gotham City." I could feel a Jack Speech coming along now. "You bring a little danger into a city and everyone goes nuts. No one understands what's happening. No one understands why someone would do that. No one understands anything because they don't look around and see what's there." Harvey had stopped trying to break the belts holding him down now and was listening to my monologue. It was pretty awesome, in my opinion.
"The public… the police… they've got no idea what's going on. They don't know what we're going to do next. We're the only unpredictable people in this entire city. You, Harvey, you're so easy to see. You're on the press, you're on the television, and you're right in front of me. I could kill you right now if it didn't upset our plans. And I can tell you now, I would have no remorse. None whatsoever." Harvey was silent. I hoped he was listening. I had always wanted to deliver a Jack Speech on my own.
"But us… Joker and I… We're all over the press as well. We're all over the television. We're right in front of you. But no one can touch us. No one can hurt us. Because everyone is so simple-minded. Everyone sees what they want to see. That's why they're predictable. We can make them see what they want to see. Bend them to our will. But you can't do the same to us. We're not the same. You getting this, Harvey? Because I'll repeat it all, word by word if I have to." Harvey was silent but his eyes were downcast, letting me know I had at least informed him on the way the petty world works.
"This place… It's like a circus. All the people in this city… they're the crowd. They're the audience. They watch with glee, amazement and terror. The ringleaders… There's different ringleaders. There's the good ones who keep as much danger away from the crowd as possible… And then there's the ringleaders that want the crowd to feel terror. Batman, you, Commissioner Gordon, the fuckin' Mayor… are all the good ringleaders. Joker and I… we're the bad guys. We want the crowd to feel in danger. We want them to feel fear. We want them to know that things get a little too close for comfort." I paused, "And then we all know about freak circus accidents… An elephant gets loose… The lion tamer isn't so proficient in his job as he ought to be… The good ringleaders try and keep things calm, ensure everyone's safety and save the day. The bad ringleaders… They like to sit back and watch the panic. The audience need to know that just sitting back and watching the show doesn't mean they're safe. They need to know that they will die. And that's what Joker and I do. We tell them that they will. So that they can accept it and see for themselves that life isn't about watching a show. Everyone plays a part. You just gotta determine which part you're going to play as."
Harvey looked defeated and I smirked inwardly. Serves the bastard right for giving everyone false hope. For giving me false hope. "I'm going to see your Nurse now." I spoke monotonously and walked out of the door behind me. Jack was leaning against the wall opposite with an expectant look upon his face. He seemed to have been watching my little speech. "Impressive." Jack complimented.
"Why thank you, dear." I replied with a grin.
"Righto, since I'm your nurse, I'll be discharging you." Jack said with a devious smile. Harvey didn't move. He just watched me. It irked me to no end. I loosened the belt around his upper torso while Jack attended to his lower torso. Almost immediately after Harvey could move his arms, he wrapped them around me and hugged me. This was a no-no. I tried to twist out of his arms but he held strong. Damn it, did he work out? He was tonnes stronger than the last time he had his arms around me. Jack certainly did not like this.
"Get… your hands… off of dollface." Jack threatened lowly and when I managed to move Harvey enough to see Jack, his eyes showed that if Harvey didn't release me, he would die a slow and painful death. I liked that. Something in my heart swelled and I managed to conceal my glee. Slowly, much too slowly, Harvey released me and he sat back. I instantly moved away and over to Jack. "Now, before I decide to blow what little brains you have, I suggest you get dressed and leave. We'll be in touch. Probably. Maybe. Not certainly." And we turned and left.
As soon as we were out of earshot and sight, I hugged Jack fiercely. I think I'm going soft… He didn't seem to mind and he returned the hug just as viciously. "Thank you." I whispered roughly, my voice catching my throat.
"Any time, dollface. Any time."
We pulled away and didn't look at each other as we walked down the corridor. Jack pulled out the bomb detonator and we both imitated the explosion quietly with a simple expulsion of breath as Jack pressed the button. Explosions sounded from behind us and to be honest, I hoped that Harvey hadn't gotten out in time. But I knew he had.
Jack and I walked down the steps to Gotham General Hospital and we pretty much strutted down the path. I can only imagine how awesome we looked, what with the explosions going on behind us. We jumped off of the curb, ignoring the screams of the citizens and the journalists, camera men and news team scrabbling away. Jack began to slow and then I realized something was up too. All of the bombs were going off but there was supposed to be a big one. We turned and waited. It didn't come. Jack threw his hands up in irritation and I shook my head, placing my head in my hand. This was supposed to be a villain-worth exit. It was supposed to look terrifically evil. And now we had to stall. Jack began pressing the button more forcefully but still, it did not go off. I held out my hand in exasperation and he handed me the device. I pressed the button once, right in the centre, and with so much force I could have broken it. The explosion went off and we immediately began walking away again, Jack ignoring my smug grin. We climbed quickly into the remaining bus and drove away fast.
"Live? You want to do live footage?" I gaped. I don't particularly know why I was so uncomfortable with live footage. I think I was going through a phase or something.
"What's the problem? This'll make it… exhilarating." He reasoned and I sighed. Damn this man, when did he get so good at making me do things I didn't want to do with a simple sentence? Oh yeah, when I fell in love with him. That's when. It's a jolly good thing he couldn't read my thoughts, I'll tell you now. "Fine, but you're doing the speaking. I just can't be bothered." I whined. Jack looked at me with a frown. He was currently tying shoe laces in intricate patterns. I don't even know why.
"What's up with you, dollface? Feeling under the weather? I don't recall you ever being lazy when it came to business. Maybe on a lazy Sunday afternoon… but not work." Did I really seem that detached? Wow, I hadn't even noticed. I shrugged my shoulders off-handedly.
"I don't know. I guess I'm getting a… foreboding feeling. Like something bad is gonna happen." Jack looked like he was about to speak but I quickly cut across what I knew he was going to say, "Yeah, I know, Jack. Something bad is gonna happen and we're gonna make it happen." I paused for a moment, wondering whether this was even worth saying. I decided it wasn't. "Never mind." I muttered and walked to my room where I flopped over my bed. I wasn't in the mood for talking. The uneasy feeling in my stomach wouldn't leave me alone. I had come to trust my gut over the years. But this was one time I prayed that my trust was misplaced.
How does that sound? As you can see, I'm adding a little event in to spice things up a bit. I imagined a scene one day when I was trying to sleep, to no avail, and I thought 'Ohhh, that sounds pretty good actually… Hmm… How can I make that work?' So, I have big things in store! The Madness Of Being Solitary is lots of fun to write and so is Immortality. I'm getting a little stuck with Immortality, just to let you all know, so some of the chapters will just be citrus fillers. Hope you don't mind ;) Cheers folks. Adios.
Luna