Chapter 15 – Picking up The Pieces

Elena was spinning around in her chair, bored out of her mind. Bruce had made sure to store snacks in the bathroom cave for her, but there wasn't much else he could offer her here. She clicked through the TV but didn't really pay attention to it when she reached for the popcorn, even though she wasn't a fan of it, but decided to eat it anyway because she knew Aria loved Mädchen hätte nur von Popcorn und Eis leben können. Ein trauriges Lächeln umspielt ihre Lippen als sie an ihre jüngere Schwester denkt.

Ever since she persuaded Bruce to stay in the Batcave three days ago until Joker was caught, she felt like she was in prison. Sure, she had Bruce, and when he wasn't at Wayne Enterprises or out hunting crooks, they spent a lot of time together. And Elena had to admit that although she had imagined it differently, her relationship with Bruce had actually become closer.

But it still didn't change the fact that she was slowly but surely going insane.

Is this how Aria must be feeling right now? she thought. No, she could leave whenever she wanted. Bruce had shown her how to open the door, but Aria. What might she be going through right now and all because of her. If only she had helped the damn clown, then at least her sister would be safe.
She hated feeling weak. Powerless. But what else could she do besides to trust Bruce?
Elena was already beginning to suffer from a lack of sleep. Every night when she fell asleep, she saw Joker's ugly face in front of her, slitting Aria's throat while he laughed at her like a hyena the whole time.
"Why so serious, Doc? HA! HA! HA!"

"Enough!", Elena screams at the top of her lungs as she puts her hands over her ears to block out the demonic laughter.

As she continues to turn in her chair

she accidentally knocks over the popcorn. "Oh great," she mumbles.

But as she bends down to pick up the popcorn, she hears the program being interrupted by a news report. Elena quickly turns her head to the screen and the first thing she sees are the words 'BATMAN DEAD?'

Bruce!" she panics as she continues to tensely watch the TV.

"Thank you, Donna. I'm here at Robinson Park where another body has been found. A young woman." Elenas Augen weiten sich in terror.
"This can't be happening. This isn't real!" she chanted to herself.
"Black Hair, dressed in black shorts and a white tank top. Same appearance when she was abducted. Her mouth had been cut up just like the Joker's, her face painted white and her eyes black. Although at this time we cannot yet confirm that the body is indeed the abducted girl - Aria Brooks."
Elena started to cry hystericaly, her heart skipping a few beats and she felt like she was going to throw up.
'They're wrong! They had to be! This couldn't be her baby sister!' She had to see for herself.

Not able to think straight anymore, all she could think about was her sister. The only family that she has now left, dead. She needed to see her.

Grabbing hercardigan she started running towards the GCPD. Not caring at all that Joker may be waiting for her or that Bruce was going to be pissed that she left without telling him, but she didn't care.

Bruce enters the GCPD, elegantly dressed as always. It was definitely a good idea to have a hidden compartment built into the Batmobile in case he needed to change quickly.

"Lieutenant Gordon! You called me, what's it about? Have you found Aria?" he asked hopefully, although he already knew the terrible truth. When he saw her lying in the water, he almost burst into tears. He was not a man to show emotion, but when he saw her lying there. Her mouth cut, her clothes torn.

He didn't know whether he was sad or angry, but much worse than his emotions were those of his girlfriend. How on earth was he supposed to explain to her that he had let her down and now her sister was dead.
"Mr. Wayne..." Jim begins gently. "I'm very sorry, but I'm afraid Miss Brooks is dead."
Bruce lowered his head in horror. The two men were standing in front of a glass wall and he could see exactly how the forensic experts were working on her. She was still a child. Joker would pay for this, no matter what Bruce had to do!
"Do you know exactly what happened? Where was she found?" he continues to play his part. But before Jim can answer, the door to the GCPD opens with a loud bang.

"WHERE IS SHE? LET ME SEE HER!" Bruce couldn't believe his eyes. Elena was standing in front of him, her face streaming with tears and completely sweaty and out of breath.
"Elena," he tries gently, but she doesn't even realize him standing there..
"OH MY GOD!" She stops abruptly, rooted to the spot, when she sees her sister through the glass. That was enough to freak her out. She started screaming and crying and tried to fight her way through Bruce and the policemen with all her might.
"Elena-"
"LET GO OF ME! LET GO OF ME NOW!"
"Miss Brooks, please-" Gordon tries to stand in front of her to hide her face, but Elena seems possessed. She barely calms down and Gordon narrowly escapes her nails in his face.
"THAT'S MY SISTER IN THERE. LET GO OF ME, I WANT TO SEE HER RIGHT NOW!"
Bruce turns her towards him with ease and hugs her tightly to his chest, while Elena hammers her hands against his chest and sobs 'no' over and over again. "I'm so sorry, Elena. I'm so, so sorry."

Forensics confirmed several violent blows to the head as well as several stab wounds all over the body, but the actual cause of death was blood loss from the two deep cuts across the mouth, as well as a slit throat. Fortunately, despite the torn clothing, no sexual abuse could be established. A small girl, what a terrible death she had to suffer.

Her body has been taken to the morgue for further examination while Bruce, Elena and Commissioner Loeb sit in Gordon's office.
From the moment Elena had calmed down a little, she hadn't uttered another word. Lieutenant Gordon wasn't even sure if she had realized that he had placed a cup of chamomile tea in front of her.

The older man was very upset to see the young nurse so distraught. The sight reminded him a lot of how Bruce Wayne had the same look in his eyes many years ago. He promised him justice for the death of his parents back then and failed. And now he could do nothing again. There were few moments when he felt so useless as a policeman and today was just that day.

Elena just sat there and stared blankly in front of her. Her eyes were slightly swollen and red. There was no trace of her usually subtle make-up and her mascara was now completely gone.

"So, what happens now?" Bruce asks the group.
"Well, I understand Batman has already talked to you about the party you want to throw in Harvey's honor. Thank you again Mr. Wayne for your cooperation. We know how risky this is and are infinitely grateful -"
"Now wait just a damn minute," Loeb interrupts. "I have to somehow explain to the whole town how we could let a 17-year-old girl get murdered by a psychotic clown and now you want a masked guy who dresses up as a bat like it's Halloween every damn day of the year to go after Joker?" the commissioner asks incredulously.
"If anyone can do it, it's Batman. He's saved our asses often enough and besides, our men will be standing guard around the block and will intervene as soon as we have him."
"Careful Gordon," Loeb warns him and takes a step closer. "Do I have to remind you that I'm the Commissioner here, not you?"
"Of course not. Under my supervision, Carmine would certainly not have managed to go into hiding so quickly."
"How dare you-!"
"Gentlemen, enough!" Bruce intervenes. The last thing he needed was for the two brawlers to go at each other's throats. Everyone in Gotham knew that Loeb was corrupt, but Gordon had to be careful - after all, he was outnumbered.
But while Bruce was trying to settle the argument, Elena suddenly jumped up from her chair and stormed out. She could no longer be here. She didn't care what was going to happen to this town or to her. She had to get to her sister!

Elena had been standing outside the morgue for a good 20 minutes, but it was only now that she could bring herself to actually go inside. She didn't want to go through that door where they were storing her sister. 'Stored' like Aria was a bloody table or something!
What on earth has she done so badly to deserve to have her life spiral out of control like this? What on earth has Aria done to deserve to be lying here now? She hasn't even lived to see her 18th birthday. Collage, driver's license, her first buzz, a family, children.
This monster took it all away from her.
When she entered the room, the first thing she saw were two men standing next to her sister, who was completely covered in white paint. She immediately noticed the icy cold that surrounded the whole room.
When one of the men notices her presence, he turns to her "I'm sorry, ma'am, but you're not allowed here -"
"That's my sister," she just manages to say and immediately feels her throat start to burn again. The faces of both men were immediately taken over by pity. Only now did they seem to realize who she actually was.
Elena stepped closer to the metallic stretcher and struggled to pull the paint off her sister. Although she didn't say a word, she heard exactly what the forensics team said. "The cause of death was blood loss from the two cuts to her mouth and her throat was also slit." They said it with such sameness that Elena wanted to scream at them. This wasn't just another corpse! It was her baby sister!
"Please, leave" it was no longer a request but a demand. She had to be alone now. "Miss ... Miss Brooks, you shouldn't be so -"
"I SAID FUCK OFF!" she screamed at the two men and luckily they did just that. Only when she hears the door slam shut again does she dare to touch the white sheet.
But when she sees her sister's face, she lets out a silent scream and drops the sheet on the floor in shock. In hindsight, perhaps she should have allowed the forensics team to clean her up.

What on earth has Joker done to her?

Tears streamed down her face. Now she convinced herself of the terrible truth. The truth that grinned at her even in death. Her sister was dead. Her only family gone forever.
And the worst thing of all was the way she behaved towards her sister. Yes, she didn't want Aria to move to Gotham. Exactly for that reason! But she was such a bitch to her.
Aria was right, she was slowly but surely becoming like her mother and although she would never have admitted it to Aria, she knew she was right. Her mother was a tyrant. She couldn't stand her either, that's why she distanced herself from everything as soon as she was on the collage.
Of everything, including her. No, Elena wanted to be there for Aria, but her mother did everything she could to stop her. It was true, she hated Aria and no one knew why, and after Elena moved to Gotham, she greatly reduced all contact, but because she dared to go against her mother's wishes, she forbade her to have any contact with Aria.
In hindsight, Elena hated herself for allowing it. If only she had listened to Aria properly. She put one hand gently under her neck, as if she was afraid of breaking it. The other around her stomach and cried. She cried like she had never cried before.
"I'm ... I'm so sorry, Ria! I'm so sorry!

After Elena stormed out, Loeb followed her to get a coffee, leaving only Bruce and Gordon behind.
"Mr. Wayne, I'm really sorry about what happened to Miss Brooks. I wish -"
"It's not their fault, Jim," Bruce confirms. He knew it was very difficult for Gordon, especially because he was also on Bruce's parents' case at the time. They almost had him until the bastard was bribed by Falcone to kill Joe Chill before the trial.
"I feel sorry for both of them," he continued.
"For Aria because she had her whole life ahead of her and when you came to me a few weeks ago, I realized what a friendly, warm and cheerful girl she was. But I feel just as sorry for Elena because she has just lost the last member of her family to Joker. You can understand it best Mr. Wayne. Please take care of her. Joker is still out there and we don't know if he'll come after her now."
"Don't worry, Jim. I will!" Bruce promised. He wouldn't let himself out of his sight until Joker was finally captured. He had already lost so much and he would never forgive himself for Aria's death, but he would do everything in his power to protect Elena.
"Um, Mr. Wayne," Gordon takes his glasses off the bridge of his nose and rubs his eyes tiredly. "I didn't want to say anything in front of Commissioner Loeb, but since Elena confessed to denying the Joker her help when he was in the hospital with his people and Joker's minions died as a result, the state can charge you with breach of fiduciary duty."
Bruce subconsciously widened his eyes. "But, the hospital refused to help in general, not just her."

"That's all right, Mr. Wayne, but the entire Gotham Memorial Hospital or a nurse." He came up to him and put an arm around him fatherly. "Listen, you have very good lawyers with your wealth, I'd recommend you contact them soon. Just in case." Bruce nodded. He understood. They might be able to avoid the charges, but if it came to one, it would be Elena's head.
At that moment, the door opens again and Commissioner Loeb re-enters the room with a coffee in his right hand and an envelope in his left.
"Is everything all right, sir?" Gordon asks anxiously. When Loeb looked so downcast, something was very wrong. But Loeb didn't say anything, he put the coffee and the envelope on the table and just stared at him, distraught.
"Sir?"
"What's that?" Bruce asks demandingly.
"A gift. Addressed to the GCPD. Sender unknown. That can't mean anything good." Loeb mumbles to himself. But unlike him, Gordon confidently takes the envelope in his hand and pulls out the mean-spirited contents.
"A DVD?"
"What are you doing now?" Gordon wonders?
"Do you have a DVD player here?"
"Of course." Gordon immediately prepares the TV and puts on the DVD. But no one in the room would have expected what they were about to see. It was a homemade video showing none other than the Joker.
He was wearing purple cloth pants, a blue shirt and a green gilet and was not at all shy about showing off his yellow smile. He was as cheerful and exuberant as ever. "Goodmorning-ah, Gotham City! Joker here, taking overyour-ahboring progam. Oh and I'm not alone. Joining me today none other than ..."
He quickly jumps to the side, allowing a view behind him, where a man and a woman sit bound and gagged back to back. The man was dressed as Batman, or at least had tried to be, because the suit was two sizes too small. The woman however was definitely dressed for business. In fact, it was a face that was very well known throughout Gotham.