To Play the Fool
Chapter Thirty-Three
The Mad Hatter's trial came much faster than I had anticipated. Two things prompted the speed of this trial. One, it kept on making national headlines and two, election season. What better way to sway the polls? Since Bruce and I were both witnesses, he offered to drive me over to the courthouse. Alfred dropped us off only a few minutes before the trial was scheduled to begin. On our way in, we ran into one of the other primary witnesses.
Jackie stood outside the courthouse staring at the buildings on the opposite side of the street. She wore her work uniform: black skirt, white blouse, and black boots, along with a red and black jacket; not exactly court attire. Her phone spun in her fingers nervously.
"It's been a while, stranger," I said, approaching her from her left. Bruce followed me close behind.
She barely reacted in surprise. "Hm? Oh, I guess so." She finally pulled her gaze away from the skyline and glanced at Bruce and me. "Sorry. I've been busy."
"Mom and Dad here yet?"
"Yeah, they're inside." Her phone buzzed and she turned her attention to a long and interesting text.
"You've met Bruce, haven't you?"
He extended his hand. "It's good to see ..." But Jackie picked that moment to turn around and leave for the courthouse without looking up from the small screen in her hands. "I guess not."
"Something's eating her. She's not normally like this."
"Well, shall we?" He offered me his arm and we walked confidently into the courtroom.
Inside the courtroom, Jackie and my parents had taken the first row behind the prosecutors. The others from Jervis' court scene had also arrived, taking up the rest of the seats behind them. There was one blonde girl I recognized from the papers only. Audrey Garrison sat in the back row with a bandage over her left eye and a solemn expression on her face. Not sure what she was doing here since her kidnapper was already dead. Jervis Tetch had already been brought in wearing an orange jumpsuit and handcuffs, and sat with his lawyers at the defense table. Also notable was the line of staples in his head and the cast covering nearly his entire right arm. Weeks ago, he would have looked significantly worse.
I took a seat next to Mom who hugged me as we sat down. Her face was wet with tears. What's wrong? I signed.
She shook her head and smiled. Nothing. I just want you to be done with all this.
Soon, Mom. Very soon.
"All rise," said the Bailiff. "Judge McAllister presiding." We stood as a middle aged Asian woman in a black robe entered the courtroom and sat at her podium.
I was the first witness called, of course. Alice was supposed to be the star of this whole operation. I had written and memorized exactly what I wanted to tell the jury so I wouldn't have to think much about what I spoke aloud. I even scripted answers to possible questions. But when it came time for the defense to cross-question me, they declined. Jervis Tetch wouldn't even look at me the entire time. I most certainly looked at him. Why shouldn't I stare at the man who made my life a living hell? What did surprise me, though, was who they called to be their next witness, even before my father's expert testimony.
"The defense calls Jacqueline Harkness to the stand."
She stood and calmly passed all of us to reach the witness stand where the bailiff swore her in. Like we expected, the defense pressed her about her activities before, during, and after my kidnapping. Like I expected, she kept her answers deliberately short, technically true and well away from anything incriminating. But then I could see Tetch's lawyer was reaching for something specific out of her.
"Where did you get your equipment to set the trap for Jervis Tetch?" the thin-faced man asked.
I exchanged a look with Jackie. I didn't want her to admit in open court that she was affiliated with a vigilante, but where else could she have gotten the high-tech, expensive equipment she used to free us? She had the same line of reasoning, and went for the easiest answer. "Um, that would be Batman."
A shocked murmur went through the courtroom audience. "How did you come in contact with the Batman?"
"He heard what happened to Jenny and wanted to investigate. That's when I volunteered to be the next victim."
"So when you were allegedly kidnapped by my client, what was it that you intended to do?"
She shrugged. "Beat him to a bloody pulp until I got my sister back."
"Ms. Harkness, are you aware that during your and your sister's captivity, Batman's partner, the vigilante known as Tex, went missing?" That was the question that made me glance over at Jervis. He was leaning forward with a villainous smile on his face. He wasn't even trying to deny that he had kidnapped us.
"I was not," Jackie answered evenly.
"It seems like quite the coincidence. Isn't it odd that he would work personally with you instead of your father, the lead FBI Agent on the Mad Hatter case?"
"I can't speak to my father's involvement. I know he didn't like Batman."
"It's almost as if the Batman knew you personally."
I leaned forward and poked the prosecutor in the back. He jumped up immediately. "Objection; relevance. Also, not a question."
"Sustained," said the judge.
"Apologies," said the defense lawyer. "Ms. Harkness, are you Tex?"
Her face paled a fraction of a shade, but she covered that up by a bout of laughter. "I plead the fifth," she said, still giggling. At the same time, I heard a small gasp in the back of the audience. I looked behind me and saw the little blonde girl had a look of ... recognition?
"No further questions, your honor." With that, the defense attorney sat down and Jackie was allowed to return to her seat. Jervis Tetch's eyes followed her back. He knew. Judging by Jackie's hard exterior, she knew he knew as well.
"So," Dad sighed. We had gathered just down the hall from the courtroom where they had set us free until further notice. "Impressions?"
"Tetch knows he'll be convicted on the kidnapping charges," I said. "I think he's looking for a technicality through Jackie. He may even press charges for battery."
"I deal with it if he does," Jackie said flatly. She was hanging back and barely a part of our circle.
"What else do you have?" Dad asked. He always did this to us after an interrogation or the closing of a case that we happened to witness.
"The DA's office has some crooked people working for them," I volunteered. "Our lawyer hardly said a thing and barely even pressed me for grisly details. He made me out to be not-that-emotionally-or-psychologically-damaged."
"He didn't even call what Tetch did to you torture," said Dad. He waffled back and forth between treating this like any other case and being furious that someone would hurt me. Today, he chose to go with the former option. "I presume that this evidence will be brought up in our absence, however."
"Probably by Tetch himself," Jackie muttered.
"Other impressions? Mr. Wayne? Anything to add?"
Bruce's head jumped up in surprise at being included. "Oh, um, I thought it was weird to bring in the whole Tex thing. Didn't you say you learned how to fight from your dad?" he asked Jackie.
"I learned from a lot of places." Again, technically the truth.
"None of which were technically me." Dad passed her a sidelong glance. Nope. Still didn't approve of her nightly activities.
Bruce cleared his throat hesitantly. "It's getting late. How about dinner? I know a great place close by."
"That sounds like a great idea," said Dad. "Text us the directions, and we'll meet you there." Then he took Mom's arm in his and the two of them left ahead of us. Dad must have had some errand to run, which left us with Jackie, who was glancing at her phone again.
"Expecting a call?" I asked her.
"An old friend's in town," she explained bitterly. Not a good friend, then. "Not to be a third wheel or anything, but can I catch a ride with the two of you?"
"Absolutely," Bruce agreed, perhaps too enthusiastically. "I'll have Alfred bring the limo around front."
We left the courthouse, preparing for the mass of reporters ready for any details on the Mad Hatter trial. Our instructions had been clear: do not talk about anything from the trial. In fact, it would be best if we said nothing at all. There would be a press conference held by the police to answer the reporters' questions anyway. Bruce pushed open the doors and we walked out into the mess of people.
Jackie stopped in her tracks, analyzing the scene on the courthouse steps. It looked like a typical press conference with the DA and the Police Commissioner patting themselves on the back while reporters threatened to swarm them with their cameras, voice recorders, and notebooks. But Jackie saw something else that I wasn't trained to see. She looked up to the rooftops again. "I'll catch up with you later," she said with an uneasy tinge.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"Nothing. I just left something back in the courthouse." Then she smiled, turned around, and ran away from us.
Bruce tugged my arm gently to get me moving again. "Let's get going. The sooner we're out of sight, the better."
"Okay." Jackie was setting me on edge, but there were appearances to maintain, and a show to put on for Gotham. This would, after all, be our subtle way of saying we were perfectly sane and undamaged from our courtroom visit. With my arm looped through his, we hit the crowd of cameras.
Flashbulbs popped in our faces, reporters hurled questions at us as they shoved microphones in front of our lips to catch the trace of an unintentional statement. They nearly suffocated me, but Bruce handled them like a pro, using his body to create a path for me to the waiting limo. The questions that I caught were at first about the trial, if I thought that the Mad Hatter would see justice, but then they turned to Bruce and I. Are we dating? How long have we been together? How did we meet? Bruce's instructions had been to just let him do the talking. I was fine with that because I had no idea what sort of coy answer would keep them off our backs.
I managed to catch a glimpse of the press conference over the shoulders of the paparazzi. Commissioner Gordon was addressing concerns about the Mad Hatter's arrest or something or other. I saw a streak of red and black dash up the stairs of the courthouse and push past the reporters. "Is that Tex?" I said.
Before the two people who heard me could turn around, the echoing report of a gunshot burst in the plaza. Suddenly, all the reporters ducked and scattered for cover. Bruce reflexively pulled me down, shielding me with his body, but I just had to see. The reporters had cleared enough for me to spot Tex standing in front of the Commissioner. No, the Commissioner was holding her up. Then he lowered her to the ground before taking out his own gun. "Jenny, come on!" Bruce shouted in my ear as he pulled me along.
I was more than willing to get into the car with bulletproof windows, and even started running, but then my cell phone rang with a text message. Despite the chaos surrounding us, I pulled it out and read it.
Urgent: Agent Texas suffering Cardiac Arrest
Medical Assistance Required Immediately
No. No. No. Not now. Please, not now. "I have to go." I tore myself away from Bruce, which was surprisingly difficult considering how strong he was. I pushed aside a man in a black wool coat and a photographer in a windbreaker so I could run to Tex.
Bruce wasn't about to let me go so easily. "What are you doing?" he demanded as he ran after me.
No time to explain. No time to say that I would explain later. I wasn't even sure that I would be able to explain later. It only took a split second for everything to go terribly, horribly wrong.
Another shot echoed across the plaza, and everyone hit the ground again. Bruce and I ducked too out of instinct, but I couldn't stop moving. Bent over and stiff bodies made it harder to push through. Not sure what that particular bullet hit. As far as I could tell, no one was bleeding. "Jenny, come back here!" Bruce yelled as I got even further away from him.
I pushed policemen and officers away. They had other things to take care of besides a panicked girl running towards the safety of the courthouse. Specifically, a sniper that was still firing. Not sure what they thought their little pea-shooters could do against a rifleman on a rooftop several hundred feet away. At the very least, they looked like they were taking control of the situation. A couple TV cameras were still running, with their operators holding onto them as the cameras were worth more than their lives. Besides, they were capturing the best footage of their careers.
Completely out of breath, I landed on the step with Commissioner Gordon and Tex lying limp beside him. "Get out of here!" Gordon ordered. "Take cover!"
"Tex needs an AED!" I shouted over the din.
"It's no good. Her helmet doesn't come off." One of his officers was just about to give a set of pliers a try in an attempt to peel off the layers of metal.
Tex's life was in my hands now. She could either die with her secret, or live without it. It wasn't a difficult decision. I hit the button on her neck that retracted her helmet. Metal ribbons peeled back and hid in her collar, revealing Jackie's pale face and blue lips. Then I unzipped her jacket so I could get to her chest and listen for her heartbeat. There was none.
Shock crossed Gordon's face, but the situation at hand required quick and deliberate action. He knelt at her side and started performing chest compressions. A second later, Bruce showed up at my side. "Jenny, what's — oh God."
Paramedics from the fire station around the corner arrived, but they weren't allowed onto the plaza to try to find out who was hurt. The police were getting the rest of the public away from the open areas, and Jackie wasn't responding to the CPR. Everything happened all at once and I could barely think of what I had to do. Chest compressions? Mouth to mouth? Call Dad? My ears were ringing, my breath was coming up short, and my heart was starting to race when another shot hit the stonework above our heads and sprinkled dust on our heads.
"I've got it from here," Gordon said. "I'm taking her inside."
"We're getting out of here," Bruce insisted. I couldn't really protest as he just picked me up and carried me away. It was almost as if I was a paper doll in his arms. He darted nimbly through the crowd, keeping us down so we wouldn't be targets for stray bullets. We got to the limo just as it pulled up to the curb. Bruce practically threw me inside before jumping in himself and ordering Alfred to drive fast. The car shot down the street and a thousand miles away from Tex fighting for her life.
"No shooter has been found, but the police have said that there was evidence of a sniper nest in the Howell building across the street," said a beautiful black woman, reporting live from the Courthouse. Alfred handed me a mug of tea as I continued to watch the broadcast. The report turned to the footage of Tex being heroic, helpfully played in slow motion. The Commissioner was standing at the podium, answering a few questions from reporters, when Tex suddenly ran into the frame. She stepped in front of Gordon, looked up, then reeled back as something hit her directly in the chest. The camera was good enough that we could see the bullet hit her, then bounce off as she recoiled. They had even managed to capture some of the screams from the audience.
"We believe that the force of the bullet stopped her heart," said one of the on-site paramedics taking questions from the reporter. "We were able to help her, and get her heart going again. She'll be out of the hospital in no time."
"Thank you," said the reporter. "What is phenomenal is what happened right before that. It seemed that the police couldn't get Tex's armor to open up to provide the medical help. Seconds later, another woman appeared on the scene and removed her helmet so the paramedics could save her. Then she disappeared as fast as she got there." They showed some poorer footage of me running into the crowd and saving Jackie.
"Have the police confirmed the identity of Tex or this woman?" the anchor at the news station, Mike Engel, asked.
"The police are hesitant to confirm anything at this point. This picture of Tex was captured by Gotham City Chronicle's Victoria Vale and has been circulating like wildfire on Twitter." A photo took over the screen of Jackie's face looking distressingly pale, with an air mask over her nose and mouth. "After examining previous footage taken from the Mad Hatter trial, we would be surprised if it was anyone other than Jacqueline Harkness."
I shut off the TV. "Ever heard of Journalism ethics? Why don't you just unmask a vigilante and show pictures of Tex nearly dead all over television before the police have even told her parents!" I dropped into the couch with a huff. "This is infuriating. I owe you an explanation, Bruce."
He hadn't said much on the ride over to his place. Mostly, he just glared out the window or at the wall with his arms crossed while I told my parents to just go straight home to New York, stay there and watch the news. I knew that the press would want to talk to me because I had essentially unmasked Tex, so Bruce offered to make his home a sanctuary for a few hours. "Not necessarily, but I would appreciate one," he said.
I took a sip of tea to help calm my nerves. They needed it. "Tex's armor is protected by biometrics. Only I, she, or approved medical personnel can open it. It's a security measure to protect her from people who might want to torture her. I get texts from her armor if she's close to dying. In this case, it was a cardiac arrest caused by the force of a bullet."
"So you've known your sister was Tex this entire time?" he translated. His voice was even, but not cold. I could hear notes of sympathy in it, but his face didn't betray any hint of emotion.
"Yes. She came home with that armor, and she left home fully intending to help other people. I don't think she ever intended to create Tex, but it happened and she ran with it. Very few people outside of our family knew, and usually they were very high ranking officials. Except for Star. That was an accident."
This surprised him. "Star knew? Why didn't she say anything?"
"Because I asked her not to. That, and she was in New York. I'm sorry I didn't tell you all of this earlier."
"Look, Jenny, I understand. This was your sister's project, not yours. I respect the fact that you honored her wishes. What I'm worried about, though, are the repercussions. What about Tex's enemies? Everyone she's ever pissed off is going to come after your family to get to her."
I shook my head. "I'm not worried about that. You saw what she did to the Mad Hatter. If Jackie has a conflict with someone, it's between the two of them. They have a very clear understanding that family and friends are off-limits, or she gets even. Doesn't matter if she's not around or dead. She has methods and contacts in high places that will utterly destroy them. I'll be fine. What it all comes down to is Batman."
The crease between his eyes deepened. "His enemies don't play by the same rules, do they."
"He messes with a higher caliber of criminal. What's more likely to happen is they'll go after her to get to him. Right now … jail's probably the safest place for her."
"You think they're going to arrest her? But she hasn't done anything."
"She's aided and abetted a known fugitive. She's assaulted countless numbers of criminals. She's a vigilante. As soon as she's out of the hospital, she's going straight to jail. Maybe they'll let her post bail. Maybe it will be something I can pay. The point is that she's the best lead the police have on the Batman, and she doesn't even know how to contact him. If he's an idiot, which I'm pretty sure he's not, he'll try to rescue her and it will be a trap. If he's smart, he'll never talk to her again, never see her again, never interact with her again. We have to wait to see what he's going to do before we take the next step."
"Which is?"
"Batten down the hatches, because all of Hell is coming out to play."