To Play the Fool
Chapter Seventeen
The blackout hadn't really bothered me. All it meant was that school was canceled, and Mr. Wayne didn't feel it was necessary for either of us to come into the office. I stayed inside my apartment, worked on homework, and lived off whatever was going to spoil first in my fridge. Jammed cell phones made me wonderfully isolated.
I couldn't say the same for Jackie. It was only day two, and she was nearly exhausted. She was running on ninety minutes of sleep a day, two rushed meals, and several pockets of granola bars. I didn't envy her a bit. She hadn't showered since the day before the Riddler got free.
The door opened and slammed shut as I was trying to open a can of tangerines. Jackie sat at the table with a spaced-out expression. Her armor looked somewhat dusty, or dustier, and she wasn't even trying to braid her hair anymore. It was just a pile of hair stacked on top of her head held down by a green bandanna. Even when she didn't care what she looked like, she still had the bandanna pulled down to cover her left ear – or what was left of it – and the scars. "Oh, good," I said. "Could you help me open this?"
She took the can wordlessly, stabbed the top of it with her finger, and cut it open all the way around with a fingernail. Then she handed it right back without taking a tangerine. She should be starving.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing," she muttered.
"Something's wrong." I took the seat next to her.
"No, really, it's nothing. I've been trying to keep people from tearing each other apart limb from limb all morning long. I even had to stop a curb stomping, which I was lucky to catch. I'm upset over nothing at all compared to that"
My thoughts immediately went to Batman. Did he die or something? "What is it?" It wasn't a request this time.
Jackie's voice was choked with tears. "Someone stole my Ducati."
"Your motorcycle?"
A fist slammed into the table. "I worked for three years for that bike! Every last penny in my life savings went into that bike! Three years just gone!" Then she put her head into her arms and let her emotions flow.
The Jackie I knew would be hunting the thief down, but this Jackie was exhausted physically and emotionally, and this was the tipping point for her. "Jackie, I'm so sorry," I said sincerely. "This is absolutely unfair to do to you." I picked her shoulders up off the table and just hugged her as tight as I could. Right here was my little sister, the one that needed me.
She sobbed into my shirt and clutched me like she was about to lose me. "I don't know what I'm going to do. I have to get around the city somehow. You don't have a car, I can't take the bus or a taxi, there's no way Batman's going to give me a ride. I could run, but I'm just so tired! I've been running and fighting all day, and I'm getting nowhere. The crime's just getting worse and worse no matter what I do and I'm so tired of it."
"Aren't the police helping?"
"A little. They can't stop everything."
"Neither can you."
"There's no reason I shouldn't try."
"Have you told Batman about your bike?"
She shook her head. "He's all wrapped up with trying to find the Riddler. Counterfeit Money, that's as far as we've gotten with that stupid riddle. If I tell him, he's just going to flip his lid and tell me to be more responsible."
Counterfeit money? I mouthed. "He's on your side," I assured her. "I'm sure he'll understand."
Jackie took in a few more shaky breaths before he sobs died down. "What am I going to do?"
"Right now, you're going to take a nap. You need to take care of yourself before you go back out to war. I'll wake you up in a couple hours."
I sent her off to her room with some dried apple pieces and gave her five minutes to fall asleep. At the rate she'd been going, I was surprised it took her even two minutes to drift off. As soon as I heard her snore, I crept back into her room. Jackie had been in touch with the Batman somehow, and it couldn't have been through her phone because there was no signal in Gotham.
She hadn't bothered to take off her jacket, which wasn't odd because she likes sleeping in it. However, this wasn't going to help me. I needed to go through her pockets. Luckily for me, she was a heavy sleeper. She was curled up on her side, so I gently lifted up one of her arms to get to her pockets. A quick inspection turned up nothing. Her jacket pockets were empty. However, her left hand had a small radio in it. I smiled at that and took it happily. Sometimes Jackie and her hands work against each other.
I took the transmitter into the living room and turned it on. "Batman? Do you copy?"
A moment later, he responded. "I copy. What happened to Tex?"
"A minor catastrophe. Her bike got stolen."
"So? I don't have time to go find it."
"Well, she's a little stranded, is the thing. You weren't using the Tumbler II, were you?"
"No."
"That's perfect! I bet Jackie could figure out how to drive it."
"She is not driving the Tumbler. She can take the Batpod." I could hear how painful it was for him to say this, and it pleased me to no end.
"Thank you Batman."
"It's a loan. A very short loan."
"She understands, and appreciates it very much."
I sneaked back into Jackie's room, put the radio back into her hand, and gave it a silent thank you before leaving her. If it was up to me, I would just let her sleep until the sun came up tomorrow. She shouldn't have to be out there constantly.
What confused me, though, was how quickly the city became savage. As soon as the lights went out, the city erupted, and I don't think either Tex or Batman believe that the city itself was to blame. The chaos was almost organized. Almost. In either case, Jackie wasn't having fun.
I dove into one of my textbooks in order to pass the time, keeping a careful eye on the clock. An hour and a half into my studies, I was brought out of the book by a knock on the door. After all that had gone down in Gotham, I was a little suspicious about who would be visiting me tonight. I opened the door with the chain still attached to the frame, and gave a small sigh of relief when it was only Star.
"Hi Jenny," she said with a hint of desperation. She was wearing a brown wool coat, had her hair in a messy bun, and carried a small suitcase.
I unlocked the door and let her in quickly, replacing the chain as soon as she was inside. "What are you doing here, Star?" I said.
She dropped her bag by my kitchen table and threw her coat over one of the chairs. "I'm really sorry to come over so late, but I need your help."
"I'm pretty much out of food."
"It's not that. It's Bruce."
"What's he done this time?" I offered her a seat in the living room because I had all my homework out on the kitchen table.
"I know this is really weird, but do you know where Bruce is? I keep trying to go see him, but Alfred says he's out every time. What is he doing?"
"I don't know. I haven't seen him in a while. What's the suitcase for? Are you going somewhere?"
"Yes. No. I don't know. I just can't stay at my place anymore. I'm not even sure that I can stay in Gotham. Every time I leave my house, something happens. There's a carjacker, there's a mugger, there's a bank heist. This city is out of control!"
"At that rate, how are you still alive?" Even I don't have that back of luck, and I tend to go looking for trouble. The only people that have it worse are Batman and Tex.
"It's Batman. He rescues me every time. I'd be dead if he didn't keep intervening. I trip and fall and he's right there. Last night, I swore I saw him outside my window watching me, but the next second, he was gone. What – why is he –"
"He must like you. Or he knows that you attract trouble and you're making it easier for him to fight crime. I'll ask him the next time I see him."
"You've seen him again?"
"No, of course not. I'm joking in a very mean-spirited way."
Star shook her head. "I just can't keep doing this. I think I'm cursed."
I raised an eyebrow at this, hoping she was kidding. But then I remembered she's an actress and was probably not. "When did it start?
"When Tex saved me. I don't know, but I think that woman was supposed to kill me and Gotham's trying to finish the job."
"I doubt that's it. Gotham tries to kill everybody. So what if you left? What would you do?"
"Go back to New York City, audition until I find a job, act. There just isn't anything for me to do here."
"If there aren't any jobs in Gotham, what's keeping you here?"
"Bruce. There's nothing more important to me than him. It's just that I don't think I'm that important to him. I don't think he gets how scared I am of everything in this city. Or maybe he just doesn't care."
"I doubt that. He's lived here his entire life. He saw his parents get shot right in front of him, and he still stays. I think he has an understanding of Gotham that as newcomers, neither of us can comprehend." That, or he can afford protection that the rest of us can't.
She nodded furiously. "You're right. You're absolutely right. I can't stay here at all. I never should have tried. I need to figure out what my priorities are and – "
Jackie suddenly ran out from her bedroom, managing to look even more disheveled than before. It was an accomplishment to be sure, but what made me nearly facepalm was the fact that she was still in her armor. "Jenny, I need water." Her eyes were darting around the living room and kitchen, and somehow never managed to land on Star.
I got my last two bottles of water out from under the sink and gave them both to her. "Did you sleep at all?" The dark circles under her eyes had only become more defined.
She shook her head. "Like, fifteen minutes. That's it."
"I'm sorry to hear that. Is it the headaches again?"
The headaches are what we called her nightmares. At least, I think that's what the code is for them. She does have real headaches that come once every couple of months, last for an hour, and give her excruciating pain. "Just the one," she replied before chugging the entire bottle. "I'll be fine. I've got to get back out there and figure out why – "
I put a finger to my lips and pointed behind her to the living room. "We've got company."
"Why?" She turned around and spotted Star. "Oh. Hi."
Star was not at all subtly staring at Jackie, and more specifically, her armor. There's no way she could have forgotten that night in the Iceberg Lounge. "Hi. Are you … Tex?"
Jackie looked at me to see how I wanted her to react. I just shrugged, basically saying, It's up to you.
She squared up her shoulders and planted a smile on her face. Her dark circles seemed to disappear under the radiance of her smile. "Yes I am. I'm glad to see that you're doing alright."
"I never got a chance to thank you. And Batman. He's been keeping an eye on me lately, it seems."
"Yeah. I don't know why, but he's made it one of his side projects to keep you alive. I think he knows you're a danger magnet."
"Maybe you could ask him something for me. Can you tell him to leave me alone?"
"Sure, but he won't listen to me."
"It's just that …" She bit her lip as she made herself say the words. "I'm leaving Gotham. For good."
"Are you sure?" I asked her. "What about Bruce?"
"If he wants me back, he'll have to come after me. But I don't think that he will."
"In that case," Jackie interrupted, "could you do me a favor?"
"Anything." I think she felt like she owed my sister everything and more.
"Could you take Jenny with you?" I started to argue, but she wouldn't give me the chance. "We're out of food and water, the city is just getting more dangerous, and Mom hasn't heard from either of us in a while. She's got to be worried sick."
"That and there's that whole Tex thing." The two of us agreed over this awkwardly. "She doesn't like it."
"I know, but I can't worry about that right now. Star?"
The actress nodded. "Of course! It'll be a fun road trip with you."
Oh, yes, it was fun. Not for me, of course.
Getting out of the city was easy enough. Jackie climbed out the window and found the Batpod waiting for her a few blocks away from our place. By the time I had everything put together and in Star's little Mazda, we got ourselves personally escorted out of the city by an itty-bitty Tex on a gigantic black motorcycle. Once outside of Gotham's limits, Tex did a U turn and sped back to Gotham as fast as she was able. I swore she was about to fall off.
It was about dusk by the time we were really moving, and the sky quickly darkened after that. We joined several other cars on the freeway to New York City, and I watched the passing white lines on the road as I drifted off into silence. Star, on the other hand, has her own definition of a good road trip.
"Oh I ….. miss the mountains. And IiiiIIi miss the rolling hills!"
I forgot to take into account that Star participates in musical theater. And she keeps several mix CDs of showtunes in her car at all times. She doesn't have a bad voice, but after the eighth ballad, I was about ready to strangle my driver.
Finally, at an hour into our drive, I snapped. I turned down the volume to nothing but a gasp. "We need to talk, Star."
"I've got more musicals to choose from. Rent, Next to Normal, Light in the Piazza, Sunset Boulevard, Annie –"
"About my sister. Tex."
"Oh." Her face noticeably darkened. "I'm not going to tell anyone."
"Even if it means fame, fortune, and friends?"
"No." She was trying to be particularly insistent, but wouldn't look me in the eye, ostensibly because she was watching the road.
"Are you sure about that? Because the longer Tex is famous, and the more trouble she gets herself into, the more tempting it will be to tell the press that Jackie is Tex. And then do you know what will happen? Jackie's life is going to be flipped upside down. Everyone will be able to get at her. Her enemies, if she develops any, will come after me. She'll be fired, neither of us will have any privacy, and in a worst case scenario, the both of us will be murdered. You will have your fifteen minutes of fame and whatever pittance the National Enquirer will feed you, but you will be overshadowed by Jackie, hated by me and Batman, and someone will occasionally remember you as the jerk that ruined the Harkness girls' lives."
"I wouldn't do that. Tex – Jackie saved my life. I think I owe her my silence."
"But what if the Joker escapes again* and demands that Tex reveal the face beneath the helmet or else he blows up a bus full of small, innocent children? Would you call the GCPD and spill to save some lives?"
"I … what do you want me to say to that?"
"I want you to say, 'No. If Tex wants to save some children, let her save some children. She probably has a plan anyway. Besides, if unmasking Tex could save them, Jenny would probably handle it.' But I want to know your real answer."
"I would just leave it up to you. I'm not going to say anything. My lips are sealed." She mimed zipping her lips, locking them, and throwing away the key.
"What about family and friends?"
"Why would I tell them?"
"Do you get talkative when you drink?"
"I don't drink. Jenny, I'm getting the feeling that you don't trust me. I planted bombs in the Iceberg Lounge for you. And Jackie didn't seem to think it was so bad that she let me know that she's Tex."
"Star, my sister's a bit of an idiot, and she wasn't thinking straight. Furthermore, I can count the number of conversations we've had on my hands. I don't know you, and you're moving out of town. I can't watch you, and that makes me uncomfortable."
"Obviously. I'll have you know that I have kept many a life-changing secret. Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye."
"Alright." I nodded. "But I feel that in the spirit of full disclosure, I should warn you that I am a vengeful person, and no one hides from me."
I turned the music back up to the previous level, which was now The Riddle from The Scarlet Pimpernel. Star wasn't nearly as enthusiastic now as she hummed along. "For we all are Caught in the middle of one long. Treacherous Riddle."