{Chapter 27 : A Entering the Valley of Death :Part 2}
Bruce shifted in the restraints attached to his bed in a Gotham General emergency room. The white paper gown was making his burning skin itch. He stared at the white painted ceiling as a nurse stuck the EKG stickers onto his upper body.
"This isn't really necessary," He said. "I feel fine." He looked at the blonde haired nurse wearing a face mask… There was something oddly familiar about that face he was staring at; the color of the eyes retracting the ceiling light.
"That's what they all say when they come in with a frown and leave with a grin." The nurse chimed, moving closer. "You know - this seems very familiar to me, except there was more chaos flowing in the hallways; one very sick patient with personality issues."
Bruce tightened his hand into a fist and his eyes burned with realization. "You," he released a throaty growl. The nurse pulled down the surgical-mask and displayed the red marred face and yellow stained teeth of the Joker.
"Hi!" The Joker said with a wide grin.
"How the hell did you..." Bruce flared, body quaking in anger, hands ready to strangle the clown. "Why?" he seethed a primal snarl, eyes inflamed with rage.
"I've come to see my favorite patient, Brucie."Joker inched closer. Bruce gagged at the sordid stench of dried blood and disgust. "You see - when I took your sexy kitten...I had no intention of harming her. It was all Vedette. I never go after a loved one. I know what it's like to lose them."
Bruce gritted his teeth, seeing through the clown's taunting smile.
"You're lying... you're a lying piece of filth. You killed Rachel...you almost killed Gordon... And we both know you enjoy hurting people." He snapped, unyielding as he stared into the black chasms narrowing down.
Joker's grinned turned morbidly enthusiastic. "Oh I love it when I get a rise out of you, Brucie!" He laughed. "Makes my day... As for your lovely Selina..." He glazed his lips with his tongue and chuckled. "I'm a man of my word."
"No," Bruce barked back, his eyes fuming with anger. "I won't let you escape this time...you can bet on it, Joker!"
"I'm touched that you want to get to close to me...even as a pathetic flea bag you couldn't resist me." He leaned forward tauntingly. "We are meant to be together, Bruce... We are comedy and tragedy. Two sides of the same coin...both trapped in a world of engulfing flames of chaos..." He grinned again. "Isn't it glorious?"
Bruce felt his blood boil. "I will stop you. You have taken everything away from this city - good cops, friends… and even a man that was this city's knight in shining armor. I will not let you and that crazed bloodsucker take away the innocence of this city...even if I have your blood on my hands."
"Speaking of blood..." The Joker pulled out a switchblade; a knife that gleamed of sleekness and blood-lust. His boiling frame eyed the blade as it inched closer to his face. "Wanna know how to become a freak in a matter of minutes...First you need a doctor to perform some surgery." He ran the blade along the side of Bruce's cheek.
"And one big smile."
Selina entered through the sliding doors of the front lobby to Gotham General. She expected to see a full waiting room of people... Instead she found puddles of blood formed around the bodies of nurses bullet filled with bullet holes. Years of experience had given her a skillful eye in ballistics. She knew the bullets belonged to firearms with suppressors attached to the barrel. She peered at the shards of glass around the windows and determined the distance of the shooter and the targets. She felt her heart racing. Her blood was starting to run cold as she narrowed her eyes to a little boy whose white shirt was covered with blood.
She scowled, noticing a clown masked goon in the corner armed with heavy arsenal; silencer rifle and a pistol. His hands were reaching down to grab a quaking child who was backing into the wall. "Bastard," she hissed, knowing that the Joker wasn't far.
"Come on sweetheart... I ain't going to hurt you." Chuckles leered into the girl's face. His clown mask had orange hair sticking out from the top; it was ridiculous to look at. He grabbed the girl and pinned her against the wall.
Chuckles pulled out a chloroform drenched cloth from his jacket pocket as Selina crept up behind them. She waited until she was short of two inches from them. The cloth came closer to the child's face - ready to smother her…then she reached and grabbed his right arm - twisting it and snapping it behind his back before he had a second of reaction time.
"Where's your boss?" she growled, clenching her jaw.
"The Joker is in the ER room. He wanted to see the rich billionaire bastard." His voice strained.
Crack. The bones of his arm shattered into an echoing break as Selina held his fist into place and dug her fingernails into the groves of his fingers. She relented until she felt the loosening of the bones and then brought him down in a swift movement – driving her elbow into his spine. The cloth fell out of his hand as she rammed his head into the wall and tossed him aside.
"I never did like clowns," Selina muttered, looking at the girl. She crouched down and wiped the splotches of crimson off the child's fair features. "You all right?" The girl nodded, still shaken by what just happened. A raid of GCPD officers entered through the doorways with Gordon and Blake trailing behind them, weapons aimed. "The boys will take it from here, kid." Selina looked into the girl's big brown eyes and nodded before slipping away towards the closed doors of the ER section.
"Commissioner," Blake called over, eyes grimly scanning the blood caked victims of waiting room. "It looks like a shooting gallery... The bullets were fired at a long-ranged distance." He observed two metal casings by a chair. "Silencer-laced firearms were used... The Joker wanted them to have no warning when his men attacked."
Gordon rubbed the bridge of his nose. "It was all a set-up." He breathed out. "He wanted Bruce Wayne in the hospital." He kicked the back of a chair out of frustration. "We need to move the wounded out of here...in case the Joker is planning something else."
Blake nodded, noticing the little girl in the corner standing near an unconscious thug. "Do you think the Joker is still on the premises, sir?"
"Without a doubt..." Gordon replied, turning his gaze to the doors of the ER room. "I know where he's hiding...tell all available officers on site to set up a perimeter and block all exits."
"Are we going after, Bruce Wayne?" Blake asked.
"Don't worry, rookie. Mr. Wayne knows how to handle himself in these situations...besides I think he's got an angel watching his back - or at least someone close to one."
Blake raised an eyebrow.
Bruce's fiery hazel eyes stared into in the soulless gaze of dark brown surrounded by black theatrical makeup.
Joker's marred lips stretched and the tongue glazed over stained yellow teeth."Now we're going to have some fun." He slapped the billionaire on the cheeks. "Aren't we, Brucie... Aren't we!" His tone rose.
Bruce's gaze didn't falter, even as he felt the cold blade running down the outline of his cheek. The pressure was enough to break through a layer of skin as he felt the Joker's grip vice around the knife. The Joker's eyes were transfixed on the line of blood trickling down Bruce's sharp jawline. He knew that the Joker could easily be provoked.
He flashed his eyes angrily, finger curling into a fist. "No, we're not."
"Aw... I'm crushed...I was going to go easy on you considering the fact that you're my better half..." He pulled out a vial containing a green liquid. "Since you've refused to be the hospital's entertainment...I'm going to have to change your mood." He twisted the cap. "Just a little something I had the boys down at Arkham stir up. Oh don't worry, it doesn't kill you. It only makes you... stranger."
Bruce seethed a hiss through his clenched teeth. "So you're going to turn me into garbage like you. "
"That's one way of putting it." The Joker grinned and continued. "This lightens up the mood; makes you crack a few laughs." He unlatched the restraints. "On second thought - I think your sweet kitten will enjoy this more than you, Bats."
In a surge of anger and strength, Bruce broke through the restraints and lunged at the Joker, his hands ready to wrap around the clown's sweaty neck. "If you touch her - I'll give you something to laugh about!"
The Joker licked his teeth. "There's my Batman..." His grin widened. "I knew all it would take you to come out was a little incentive." He giggled. "And what better than using physical abuse." He jammed the switched blade into Bruce's shoulder.
"Argh..." Bruce grimaced, pulling at the knife and throwing it against the privacy curtain.
"Oh my," the Joker giggled. "Looks like someone needs another dose of meds," he rubbed his lips together. "Tell me - how many lives does your beautiful Selina have left... Maybe I'll find out very soon." He laughed. "There's more than one way to skin a cat."
Bruce released a primal snarl as he grabbed the Joker's collar and hoisted him up against the curtain until the fabric ripped off the steel bars and both of them tumbled onto the next bed...where a corpse of a nurse was laying; half of her jaw had been sliced off revealing tissue and bone. "You think I would give you chance to tou-" Bruce composed himself, his expression became deadly. "You would be dead before a finger touches, Selina."
"So you would break your one rule; pull my final curtain for your kitten...Interesting." Joker pondered devilishly, looking down at the female corpse. "I think if I was going to skin her... I'd use a few drums of oil and a couple of matches...Nothing like a charred kitty in the morning."
Bruce set his jaw down hard. He was starting to see red; his head was pounding.
"Or maybe sometimes it's better to do it the old fashion ways" the Joker laughed, wiping his greasy green strands of hair. "Women like that."
Bruce narrowed his eyes slightly as his grip tightened around the clown's neck. His body was quaking and sweat dripped from his brow. He tasted the blood streaming down his throat and felt the pulsing anger gush through his veins.
"Tell me, Brucie...are you going to end my life...right here and now...or put me in a body cast?"
"I'm going to..." his voice trailed, hearing heels clicking on the floor. He quickly reeled up and towered over the debased clown. The Joker shifted his serpent gaze at a slender shadow projecting off the wall. Bruce's eyes widened and he whipped his head around to see Selina, advancing on their position. "Selina," he breathed out. "
Selina turned her head and met his eyes intently. "Did I miss anything?" she asked looking at the Joker lying on white bedding stained with blood. "What the hell happened here?"
"Selina, get out of here. Now!" Bruce growled, his eyes narrowing down at the Joker. "I don't want you near him."
The Joker waved and sneered towards Selina. "Hi!" He opened his hand and dropped the vial. "Hate to laugh and run..." He slipped a switchblade from his sleeve and dug it into Bruce's rib bone. "But I have a funeral to prepare for. A big one."
Bruce stepped back with a gasp; pulling the knife out of his side. The wound wasn't deep, but it didn't pause from spilling blood. The Joker rose from the bed and looked down at the green gas seeping from the vial. "JOKER!" The billionaire winced, starting to feel dizzy and sluggish while pressing his hand to his weeping wound.
"Don't worry Bruce - I've got this clown" Selina positioned herself into a fighting stance. The Joker laughed and lunged at her, ramming his elbow into her throat. She gasped as he crashed his weight into her body, slamming her against the wall. She grimaced as he licked her cheek with his slimy tongue. "Get the hell off of me!" She screamed, kicking him in the groin with a sharp heel.
The Joker tumbled backwards, laughing. "I love it when you get feisty."
"Really? Maybe you should have Vedette smack you around, sick bastard."
The Joker straightened off the floor and turned his head towards the wobbly billionaire. He listened to Bruce unleash a tortured laughed. "Hmm...Better hurry, Selina. I think your billionaire sweetheart will soon be investing in the laughing stocks. His mind has a few minutes left before he becomes a freak just like me."
"Joker...you..." Bruce chuckled, feeling his lips become stiff as a wide grin began to stretch across his face. Selina's eye grew wide in anticipation. She raced to him and wrapped her arms around him, using a gauze to put pressure to his wound.
"Bruce…"
The Joker blew them both a kiss. "See you at midnight." He bolted down towards the exit.
"That bastard," Selina ejected, pulling Bruce out of the enclosed space ...feeling his rapid breathing slowing down. "What was that all about?"
"Joker gas," Bruce muttered, feeling the strange symptoms ease in his body, despite the pain in his side. "He's created a compound that mimics Scarecrow's fear toxin. The effects are lethal to anyone who inhales it." Bruce could see the concern on her face. "I have an antitoxin at the cave" He assured, clutching her hand tightly. "We have to setup our game plan. The Joker is planning something unpredictable. We have to be ready - physically and mentally."
She rolled her eyes. "More training in the cave? You've just been stabbed!" She exclaimed.
"I'll be fine."
He dismissed stubbornly, noticing Commissioner Gordon and Officer John Blake walking towards them. "Commissioner," Bruce said in a sheepish tone.
Gordon surveyed the billionaire's blood stained chin and wound at his side, and Selina gave him a quick assuring wink. "Mr. Wayne! Are you all right?" He gestured to the wound. "That's a lot of blood."
"I've survived worse." Bruce shrugged.
Gordon detected the double-edged meaning of his words and nodded in grim acknowledgment. "You had an eventful afternoon, Mr. Wayne..."
"It would seem so, Commissioner." Bruce replied. "Do you think I can go home now?"
"In your condition? I'm not a doctor, but even if I were – I wouldn't advise it."
"But since you're not?"
Gordon sighed. "I'll have one of my officer's escort back to your estate..." He turned his gaze to the rookie. "Officer Blake, will take you both of them in your patrol car," he paused, watching Selina wiping the cut on Bruce's chin with a tissue. "Is there anything else you need, Mr. Wayne?"
Bruce smirked, squeezing Selina's hand. "Yeah... A new Lamborghini."
Alfred composed himself as stood with a rigid posture inside the secret elevator, heading down to the cave with a silver tray of tea and coffee on top. The clean refreshing smell of polished leather and metal was like a soothing balm to his weary soul. It provided a sense of duty and routine which was a welcome distraction from the troubling thoughts circling his mind. Thoughts that centered on a certain billionaire playboy by day and masked avenger by night.
It had been only a few hours since his master and ward was released, unofficially, from Gotham General after the building was laid siege by the painted madman. A few hours since his master was side-swiped in a car crash that gravely injured him. To find him out of bed wasn't unexpected as it was frustrating to the Englishman.
The Batman had suffered more in the last few months than he had in years from being poisoned to the brink of death, having the woman he loved tortured, his humanity taken from him and now suffering another near-death experience... To say Alfred was concerned for his well-being would be a major understatement.
Right now he feared for his very soul.
Having seen the recent news reports about the Countess and the Joker's intentions, it did not take much for the butler to realize this conflict was drawing to a head. That much was certain after he saw the determined, unyielding look on his master's face after he was brought home by Miss Kyle – combating the effects of another toxin in time to inoculate himself. It was comforting to know his master was not facing this threat alone... but it did little to ease the butler's concerns about the outcome of this conflict.
His attention was drawn to the chime of the elevator and the doors opening for him. Taking a deep breath, Alfred stepped out into the cool and expanse area of the cave and was soon alerted to the sound of physical combat. Tuning his ears, he could hear grunts and yells accompanying the noises. He set his sights ahead to the bridge leading to the platform where the computer station was setup on top.
Climbing the stairs, Alfred stood near the edge and looked down on the opposite side where he could see both Bruce and Selina engaged in a training session. Both of them stood on a raised platform above the cave water, across from the opposite platform where The Bat was grounded. Both youths were out of costume, dressed in workout clothes consisting of jogging pants and tank-stops. Bruce himself wore bandages beneath his clothing.
"Perhaps I should've brought water instead..." He watched as Selina elbowed Bruce hard in the side of the head. "And some ice... lots of it."
He chuckled softly. Whatever his master intended to do, Alfred could only provide for him as he always did, and hope for the best...
Bruce grunted as Selina caught him in an arm-bar. Her legs and hands wrapped around his entire right arm, trying to pull him down to the mat laid out beneath them. Bruce, in a great show of strength and will-power, ignored the pain and exhaustion sweeping him from the Joker's stab wound inflicted to him earlier, and maintained his balance; lifting Selina's entire body aloft, still wrapped around his right arm. The veins on his necks stood out while sweat poured profusely down his brow; Selina's too.
"Give it up, Wayne!" She exclaimed.
"Not happening..." Bruce lugged her up and caught her with his left hand before bringing her down, back first to the mat. Selina groaned; feeling winded by the crushing fall while Bruce freed himself from her grasp. "You should know to retreat and revise your tactic when your opponent has the upperhand on you."
"Says the man will would risk a broken back to subdue Bane in a sleeper-hold." Selina panted.
Bruce ignored her retort as his eyes caught sight of Alfred standing on the computer station-platform above them. "It seems we have a captive audience." He wiped the sweat from his brow.
Selina raised her head up, still on her back to get a glimpse of Alfred above them.
"I should have known you'd be too stubborn to lie in bed." Alfred called down.
"We can't call a time-out, Alfred. We need to be ready to stop Vedette and Joker before they eradicate the child-population of this city." Bruce panted, wiping the sweat from his brow. "How's Emily?" He asked.
"Miss Gordon is resting soundly in her room. She's adjusted quite well since she settled in."
"You're not letting her watch the news, are you? The kid has enough to worry about." Selina implied, resting on her haunches.
"Not at all - she spends most of her time in the library. She's quite the heavy reader."
"She hasn't asked any questions, has she?" Bruce deadpanned. He felt it was enough for the child to know Selina was Catwoman, but for her to suspect his own alter-ego was the last thing he needed.
"Nothing of import, sir. However if you wish to avoid the suspicious scrutiny of a 10-year old girl, it wouldn't hurt to feign normalcy every once-in-awhile."
"Like there isn't enough to worry about," Bruce grumbled as he felt the ache in his side where Joker had stabbed him earlier. Soon as he arrived back at the cave, he had inoculated himself to cure any traces of the Joker's venom, took antibiotics after being stabbed with Joker's blade, then he had Alfred sew his wound. He didn't take any morphine to keep himself lucid and alert.
Training with Selina right now was all about getting themselves ready for tonight – despite the pain and discomfort he was currently in.
"You think?" Selina gestured to his bandaged side. "How long you think you can fight through that, bucko?"
"I'll fight harder, like I always have. Use the pain to drive me – fuel me." He rasped.
"And you think you're up to it?" She coaxed.
"I'm still on my feet, aren't I?" He said pointedly, referring to her laying position on the mat; baiting her.
Selina arched her eyebrow. "Very cute, handsome." In a sudden move of retaliation, Selina used her right arm to propel her lower body upward and kick Bruce beneath the jaw. She followed up with a sweeping kick to the back of his ankles, sending him crashing onto his back. "But never underestimate a cat..."
Selina pounced on his position as Bruce kicked up to his feet to reengage her. "Let's go." He gestured with his arms held open.
Alfred shook his head wryly as he watched them. "I'm sure they'll be just fine." He considered, leaving the tray of refreshments on the desk beside the computer station before heading back to the elevator.
Bruce and Selina held no quarter in their training, both of them aiming hard punches for the other's more vulnerable spots. Selina struck a sold blow to Bruce's stomach, close to where he was bandaged. The unmasked crusader sought to return her kindness with a well driven elbow to her back, soon matched with a winding tackle to her waist.
Selina saw stars behind her eyes momentarily at his heavy attack. Feeling the ground disappear beneath her feet, she acted on instinct and raised drove her nails into his upper-back. She hummed with contentment as she felt his hold around her waist stiffen.
"You're enjoying this too much," Bruce hissed.
"What this? This is nothing, handsome." She leaned close to his ear. "I'm just getting started with you…" She purred. She wrapped her legs around his waist provocatively, but it soon turned into manipulative-counter attack as she swung her body weight until she flung him across the mat; rolling onto his side.
Bruce chuckled dryly, ignoring the painful spasms in his side. "Funny… I was about to say the same thing to you." Bruce jumped back to his feet and lunged at Selina in the position of a high-kick. His legs caught her shoulders for a mere-second before they twisted and he drove an unsuspecting right heel kick to her torso. They both fell hard their backs, Selina taking the brunt of the impact.
"Had enough, Selina?" He pulled himself to his feet and watched as she remained…eerily still on her side. Panic reached Bruce as he rushed over to her side. "Selina? Are you all—" Selina reached up and grabbed Bruce's arm, then used her leg strength to monkey toss him off the platform and into the cave water below them.
She listened to the resounding splash with a smug smile. "Yeah - I think it's time that we cool off."
Bruce's head came up from beneath the cool waters and he shook the wetness from his eyes and mouth; sputtering and growling. "You're not the best loser, are you?" He grumbled.
"From where I'm standing, it doesn't look like I lost…" She grinned, looking down at him with her arms crossed. Her smiled turned weak when she noticed the red spot forming near Bruce's ribs.
"And you tore your stitches…" She gestured to him.
Bruce looked down at his wound and shrugged. "I think that was you, actually." He made his way to the bridge and pulled himself out of the water.
"Isn't that convincing enough that if I didn't have much trouble bleeding you, then Vedette and Joker won't either?" She pressed, following him towards the medical station of the cave.
"I held it together long enough and without the safety of my suit. Tonight it will be different. I won't let Joker and Vedette destroy the innocents of this city just because I have a few scratches…" He peeked over his shoulder where Selina had recently clawed him, "literally." He finished.
"You've got more than that to worry about." She watched as approached the examination table and removed his wet undershirt then his bandages carefully after. She grimaced at the growing red stain on the now wet bandages wrapped around him. He proceeded to carefully cut them loose along with the gauze.
Selina had seen much blood and death in her past so the sight of a grievous injury such as a stab wound was nothing troubling to her. Seeing it on Bruce however was a different story. After everything he'd been through recently, she wondered just how much more he could put himself through.
"This ends tonight, Bruce… All of it." She enunciated.
"I know." He replied, impassively, while cleaning his wound and applying new stitches.
"Then you know about Vedette?" She implied; a subject both of them, she felt, were both avoiding to discuss since he was turned back into a human.
Bruce took in a deep breath of air, his blank expression masking whatever thoughts and emotions were circulating inside of him until he replied. "Yes… She's pregnant."
"With the Joker's baby…" Selina shook her head ruefully. "That evil bitch is carrying that sick bastard's child…" She was aghast.
A tense silence engulfed the cave while Bruce continued to apply fresh bandages to his wound, seemingly pacified despite this knowledge he and Selina just shared and her exasperation towards it. This if anything, troubled Selina more than the knowledge itself.
"We can't afford to pull any punches with her, Bruce…" She said, still rueful. "We have to stop her before she kills millions of innocent kids no different than the one she's carrying now."
Bruce gave no response as he continued to wrap the bandages around his waist with a distant and thoughtful look on his face.