Chapter 16: The Schemers
They left for the hospital after that, it was amazing to watch the chaos unfold as people rushed through the streets of Gotham. Jester giggled as she watched the Joker undress in the back of the van while it sped down the road towards Gotham General. Her phone buzzed angrily in her pocket and she pulled it out.
One Voicemail received read the message on the phone and she pressed the accept button and held it up to her ear as she watched the Joker, pulled on the unused nurses uniform over his head without undoing the buttons.
"Hi Scarlett its Lydia, I don't know if you are in the country or not but if you are we need you. Please come in we have a mass evacuation going on and we need all the staff we can get, don't bother calling just get in if you can" Said the panic-stricken voice of her boss through her phone, Jester shrugged and put her phone back in her pocket but she looked up at the Joker before she burst out laughing.
He stood there looking very proud of himself with her uniform on, an oddly shaped red curly wig pulled on over his head, and a medical mask over his face. There was a Harvey Dent, promotion sticker on his chest and he wore his usual purple and green socks pulled right up with a pair of white sneakers on. He had the standard nurses watch on the pocket of his dress and a pen sticking out, on the other side was a name tag that read: Nurse Joe Kerr.
"I'm so hot for you right now" she teased and he pulled his mask off and shot her a yellow grin.
Once they had arrived Jester directed them around to the staff entrance and punched in the code to unlock the solid blue door. The goons stay outside as Jester made her way to the nurses' station completely unseen as most of the hospital had now evacuated. Though a few stranglers were still around. She pulled out the notes and began to rifle through them to find Harvey's room number.
"You should really get moving Miss." Said a voice from behind her, before the sound of a silencer enhanced gun firing cut his words. She turned to see the dead body of a cop on the floor a bullet wound in his forehead, she turned back to the Joker and smiled her thanks before she led him to Harvey's room. The radio on the dead cop bleeped and a voice rang out but they were too far away to hear what the voice had said.
"Wait here, one of the boys will come get you," the Joker said pushing her into the room next door to Harvey before he disappeared from view into Dent's room.
"Davis!" shouted a voice from in the hall and Jester peered out the window to see a cop approaching the room the Joker had just gone into.
"Ma'am, we're gonna have to move him now." said the cop as he entered the room before Jester heard the sound of a gun firing and then nothing. She pressed her ear to the wall that separated her from Harvey's room, but it was of no use so she climbed onto the bed and peered through the air vent connecting the two rooms.
Dent was a train wretch, one side of his face was completely burnt away leaving the tendons and muscles in his face exposed. Parts of the cheek muscles were completely gone leaving a gaping hole, exposing his teeth. He had been strapped to the bed with a restraint and his arms were tethered to the armrests.
The Joker began moving the bed up and Dent looked at him strangely. The Joker pulled off his mask and Dent began to try and break out of the bonds that were holding him to the bed. He growled angrily at the Joker as the clown sat on the chair next to his bed.
"Hi," said the Joker smiling slightly before he pulled off his wig and combed out his greasy hair with his hands.
"You know I don't want there to be any hard feelings between us, Harvey." the Joker said looking honestly sorry.
"When you and-" he began forgetting Harvey's girlfriends name and pausing for a second.
"RACHEL" screamed Dent at him but the Joker seem unfazed by the outburst but held his hand up in apology nonetheless.
"Rachel, were being abducted I was sitting in Gordon's cage." explained the Joker.
"I didn't rig those charges"
"Your men, your plan." spat Dent gruffly.
"Do I really look like a guy with a plan?" asked the Joker.
"You know what I am? I'm a dog chasing cars. I wouldn't know what to do with one if I caught it. You know? ... I just do things" he giggled talking with his hands somewhat.
"The mob has plans. The cops have plans. Gordon's got plans. You know, they're schemers. Schemers trying to control their little worlds. I'm not a schemer. I try to show the schemers... how pathetic their attempts to control things really are. So when I say... Ah come here" said the Joker pulling Harvey hand into his own.
"When I say that you and your girlfriend was nothing personal... you'll know that I'm telling the truth."
"It's the schemers that put you where you are." said the Joker standing and starting to remove the restraints from Dent's hands.
"You were a schemer, you had plans and look where that got you."
Dent tried to attack the Joker once his hands were free and the Joker caught the attack with ease.
"I just did what I do best" Joker said as he battled with Harvey's flailing arms.
"I took your little plan and I turned it on itself," sang the Joker holding down Harvey's arms and moving closer to the other man's face.
"Look what I did to this city with a few drums of gas and a couple of bullets," chimed the Joker
"Hm? You know what I noticed?" the Joker asked
"Jester?!" called a quiet voice in the hall and she looked down from the bed as a goon entered the room.
"Time to go, Boss told me to come get you after 5 minutes. We got the bus, come on" said the goon.
"I wanna wait for the Joker," said Jester looking down at him from the bed she was still stood on.
"He said you'd say that, but he said that you gotta go anyway," said the goon and Jester looked at him angrily.
"Fine, just gimme a minute," she said the goon went to argue but she held up a finger to him and he seemed to shut up for a minute.
"He told me to drag you out if you won't come easily," said the goon and she shot him a look as she turned back to her spy hole.
"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 blowing up... nobody panics" the Joker continued.
"Because it's all part of the plan. But when I say that one little old mayor will die... well, then, everyone loses their minds!" the Joker said his voice going high and manic.
"Look I don't wanna hurt you, lady," said the goon as he approached a little further towards Jester, without looking she launched a side kick hitting the goon straight in the face, his nose exploded on the impact and he let out a yell before stumbling to the floor.
"Introduce a little anarchy..." said the Joker before he placed a gun in Harvey's hand.
"...Upset the established order and everything becomes chaos" the Joker continued before he cocked the gun and pushed it to his own forehead, Dent's finger on the trigger. Jester was about to screamed through the vent as she was pushed off the bed, the goon had tackled her to the ground and was now pulling her from the room, she struggled against his strength but Jester was never very strong.
He pulled her from the hospital, and the further away from Jack she got the less she fought. Once outside she strained to hear the sound of a gunshot but there was nothing. The goons pulled her to her feet and pushed her towards a bus that was waiting, its back doors open. The other goons were inside as well as around 40 other people and all were looking at the goons with frightened eyes. She pushed her self inside reluctantly taking a seat at the back. Looking back at the hospital the whole time, there were two goons sat at the front and one in the driver's seat and she smiled at them grimly as they looked at her.
Jester looked back out the window as an explosion was heard she watched as parts of the hospital began to explode. Her heart was pounding she still couldn't see Joker, she pushed herself against the glass of the window as though she would be able to see better. She nearly cheered in happiness and she saw the Joker's lanky form exit the hospital.
People on the bus screamed and the news crew that had been filming outside made a beeline for their bus, the goon in the drivers seat gave them a strange look as they piled onto the bus before one of the goons, leaned out the bus and grabbed the anchor by his jacket and pulled him onto the bus. The goons shut the doors to the bus as the new team began to scream.
"SHUT UP!" screamed Jester from the back and the anchor and his team looked up from the floor.
"I'm trying to watch the show," she said laughing before she turned back to the window, the news team and everyone else went quiet.
She watched as Jack drew closer to the bus, not once did he look back at the explosions going on behind him, he just continued to walk his funny little walk with his arms swinging at his sides wildly. But then suddenly he stooped just outside the back doors of the bus and turned back to look at the building as the explosions seemed to fade out. He turned around fully and looked at the building. He seemed to shrug, his arms moving out as he looked back at the building that was still standing. He looked down at the remote in his hand before he jabbed at the button multiple times, turning the remote over in his hand.
He visibly jumped as the explosion finally went off, and he turned back to the bus and he ran the few feet that separated him with the bus, before he leapt on board, and sat himself in the seat across the aisle from Jester as a goon pulled the door shut behind him and motioned for the driver to leave. The bus moved off and Jester caught sight of the new anchor she had seen on the TV so many times before, staring back at the Joker in terror.
"You're Mike Engel," she said and he turned to look at her instead he merely nodded, he was visibly shaking in fear but seemed unable to look away, his sights returning to the Joker again.
The goon that had brought her in was sat in the aisle a gun in his lap as he touched his nose.
"What happened to your face?" asked another goon.
"She kicked me in the face" the first one moaned and finally the Joker looked up.
"I thought I told you to play nice, Jester" he cackled.
The 50 people on the bus, didn't make a sound as they stared in terror as the bus began to leave the usual route and head for the warehouse. When they arrived they were Shepherded into a back room by the goons at gunpoint and lock securely inside, along with the news team. Two goons stood guard at the door but there was no way the people were getting out, Jester wondered what the Joker had planned for these people as kidnapping was never really his thing.
She followed him upstairs to the bedroom they now shared and shut the door behind her. He looked up as he did and grinned madly at her.
"Today was fun," he said laughing. "Tired me out though"
She smiled as she watched him throw himself onto the bed and push his face into the pillow. She sat herself on the side of the bed and began to stroke his back absent-mindedly, he sighed loudly and turned over to look at her, but she was staring off into the middle distance her face blank.
"You okay Gorgeous?" he asked and she turned to him, her eyes coming back into focus.
"Yeah, was just thinking what would have happened if Harvey had shot you?" she said her voice almost to quiet to hear.
"Then I would be dead," he said simply.
"Yeah" she muttered before her eyes unfocused again.
"I'm not sure what would happen to me if you died" she admitted not really looking at anything.
"You'd be fine, you'd carry on what we are doing," he said bringing his arm up, behind his head. He looked so relaxed like they were talking about the weather.
"No" she said simply her voice dreamlike.
"NO?" he questioned.
"No, I think I would just lose my mind," she said nodding slightly, her voice eerily calm. Still, she did not look at him.
"Well we can't have that" he said reaching out a hand and patting her leg lightly, she turned to him and smiled.
"I'm not going anywhere today if that helps" he said and she nodded.
"Can't promise you I never will though" he said shrugging and again she nodded.
She lay down next to him and he stoked her face lightly and she shut her eyes at the touch. He hummed a strange little song to her and she smiled, her eyes still shut as she listened to Jack's song. He leant forwards and placed a kiss to her head, before he rolled over to his side more and lay still his eyes closed, causing the mattress to creek and bounce slightly. Jester was used to his sudden change in mood, and knew he often had to move away when he got uncomfortable, she knew he questioned his feelings for her but she didn't mind as sometimes in the night, he would roll over and wrap an arm around her and not let go till morning. Jester sighed, he was soft to her and she loved it.