"Rick… I… I, didn't-" I sputtered out, trying to form words in my scattered brain.
"No, I know just what is going on," He said, his eyes narrowed. He ran his fingers through his hair, sighing. "Why did I TRUST you? I-" he stopped and clenched his fists. "I've known all along where your loyalty would lie…"
He grabbed my wrist and pulled me up. "Empty your pockets. Now," He commanded, pulling a gun from his belt and pointing it at me. I nodded slightly and pulled them out, the recorder, some painkillers, and my phone falling out onto the ground at his feet.
"Thank you," He said, his eyes steely. He picked up the phone and put it in his pocket, never taking his eyes off of me. He slowly reached down, carefully picking the recorder up off the ground.
"Are you g-going to k-kill me or what?" I stammered out, listening as my heart hammered against my chest. Rick didn't even answer, he simply continued inspecting the recorder. He turned it over slowly in his hand, sighing and shaking his head.
"Perhaps I will," He said, dropping it back on the floor and crushing it under his heel. I stared at the broken pieces as he lifted his foot, staring at me coldly.
"A recorder? Really? Was that stolen from Arkham?" he asked, stepping closer. I just inhaled and shrugged.
"I don't know."
"Were your 'friends' on the other side?"
I stayed silent, biting my lip and shutting my eyes tightly.
"Tell me!" he said, raising his voice and putting the gun against my temple.
"Yes," I whispered, about to cry. Rick inhaled slowly and lowered the gun.
"Follow me," He scoffed.
I just stared at him, too scared to move.
"Come on," He growled, grabbing my wrist and roughly pulling me out of the room. He pulled me into the side room where Harley and I had talked before and pulled one of the chairs out from the little table.
"Sit. Now," He commanded, pushing me roughly towards it. I slowly lowered myself onto the seat, watching as he dug in a drawer to the side. A couple times I thought about running, but he always had one eye on me, and I knew that I could never get away. He'd catch me before I even made it out of the room.
Rick finally stood up again, producing a few pairs of handcuffs. He wordlessly walked towards me and fastened my feet together and my wrists the the back of the chair.
"Do you hate me?" I asked as he backed up.
"No," he answered simply, kneeling down next to me. "You need help, that's all. i'll send you to Arkham once this whole thing blows over."
"Wait, Arham?" I asked shifting forward, lunging towards him. "I'm not crazy!"
"It won't matter much later. I'm going to get rid of all of Gotham's problems in one fell swoop. By Sunday, this city will be safer, and I'll have left my mark on it," He said, patting my arm in what I supposed was supposed to be a reassuring way. I just shifted away, trying not to go into hysterics.
"You can't kill them!" I said, nearly crying. "They don't deserve that!"
"You'll come back to yourself soon," He said, shaking his head. "They've made you delusional." He glanced back at me with a expression of pure pity. "I'm lucky that I eluded that fate."
"I'm not crazy! You want to kill them, and you're calling me crazy?" I cried out as he started walking away.
"Please try to be quiet," He said. "I really don't want to have to gag you."
"Rick... Have you always been like this?" I asked, hanging my head in defeat.
"I'm the same as always. But this time, I'm the ring leader." he said smiling. "And everyone else is a mere pawn." He smiled. "And because of me, Gothamites will finally be safe."
"You're wrong," I said, desperate to cling to anything I had. "You're wrong about them…"
"Please be quiet. I have a few more preparation before my rebirth," he said, turning to me, his eyes steely as ever.
"Your rebirth?"
"As Loophole, a vigilante who will do something about this city," He said. "One who can change things, once and for all." He turned away and exited, locking the door behind him.
I'd been sitting there for over an hour, trying to find some way to escape. Even if I could find some way to scoot the chair closer to the door, it was locked and I had no way of opening it.
The only weapon I had anymore was my voice, and I only had one shot with it. it was precious, and I had to use it at the perfect moment, or else the whole thing would blow up in my face.
Rick is going to kill them all, I thought to myself, wanting to cry. He might kill me too. Why wouldn't he?
The whole mission started as a simple inquire about Jonathan's notes.
"Hey Ricky!" I heard a familiar, jovial voice call from outside the room. "We came home with the bacon!" I heard him laugh as the ladder creaked. I imagined Rick climbing down to greet the two clowns.
They're in danger, I thought, sitting up and thinking. Rick could kill them now… But can they hear me?
"I didn't think they'd actually have real pig bones. Why did you need them again?" I heard Harley say.
"To test the acidic component of the poison," Rick said. "it'll hopefully be ready at the end of the day.
"And then it's bye-bye Batsy!" the Joker yelled, giggling wildly.
"And Robin removal!" Harley chimed in.
I heard the ladder creak again as Rick retreated back up.
Is this my shot? Do I yell now? I thought, racking my brain for answers.
No. To many questions.
What do you mean?
I meant that they wouldn't just leave without knowing why, and you can't prove it well in here unless they see you. Let them figure a little out on their own. Them you scream/
Why are you helping me? I thought, feeling the headache coming on.
I'm only part of your subconscious. The voice said smugly. We'll say that I'm that part that knows what they're doing. Trust me, it said.
Okay… I thought, shaking my head. So what now?
Listen. It said simply before dying off. I sighed and sat still, waiting for any sound to resound through the warehouse.
"The acid component is working just like we hoped," I heard Rick say as he walked down. "Would you like a demonstration?"
"Any time, Ricky!" I heard The Joker yell.
Now's my chance…
"Miss Quinn?" Rick said, his voice audibly closer now.
"I'm comin', dontcha worry!" She said back. I could hear footsteps congregating several feet away from the room I was trapped in.
"I'll fire the poison at the bone here." There was a slight spraying sound. "You can see how it deteriorates, right?" I heard Rick say.
"Ooh, that looks like it smarts!" I heard Harley say excitedly.
"When can we use the stuff?" The Joker said.
"I think that now is a good time," Rick said, his voice was calm and flat. There was no hint of emotion.
"Alright! Who do we kill first?" I heard the Joker say. I could imagine his grin.
"Y-" Rick started to say. I wouldn't- I couldn't let him finish.
"RUN! NOW!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. There was the sound of somebody swearing and lots of footsteps. I heard the poison spray a couple of times, but there were no screams of agony.
Hopefully, they were safe.
I probably wasn't.
Rick swore and slammed the door open. I flinched away as he stormed up, the canister of poison in his hand.
"I told you to be quiet!" he said.
"You need to stop trusting me," I growled, still turned away, my eyes shut tightly. As I heard him cock a gun. It fired, the wall next to me splintering and sending a cloud of drywall dust into the air. I heard Rick growl in frustration and storm off. I inhaled deeply, trying to calm my firing nerves. He was either coming back to yell at me more, or to kill me. Neither sounded good.
"If you won't be quiet on your own, then I have to make you be quiet," Rick said as he came back in.
"Wouldn't it be easier to kill me?" I asked bitterly. "You don't seem to be bothered by that."
Rick stayed silent, wrapping a cloth around my face. I closed my eyes as I felt it tighten. I now had no weapons.
"Stay here. I now have a larger mess to clean up then I did before," He said, slamming the door and locking it once more.
Author's Note: Okay! It turns out that I don't have to update quite so late, which is good. I'll see you guys on Saturday!