CHAPTER 11
Batman adjusted the glove on his right arm that had come loose during the fight. Scattered on the floor around him were the unconscious bodies of the men Harvey had tempted into attacking him. The fight hadn't taken more than a couple of minutes, but Batman's scowl deepened as he thought about the time that had been wasted. He turned back to Harvey and Barret, stalking towards them with a dark glare. Both men started struggling against their restraints with renewed urgency as the Dark Knight came closer. Harvey managed to wrench himself loose before Barret and bolted towards the nearest door. Batman was faster, catching hold of the back of Harvey's shirt collar before he even reached the exit. He jerked him in the opposite direction of his escape route and released him, causing Harvey to sprawl flat on his back on the floor.
"Give it up, Harvey. It's over." Batman ordered, his intimidating shadow looming over the man before him. Two-Face grit his teeth and clenched a fist to keep from swinging at the masked man. Meanwhile, with one final jerk of his shoulder, Barret finally broke free and sprinted towards the front door. Batman maneuvered around Harvey in pursuit, reaching for a Batarang to throw at the fleeing suspect. He was stopped as Harvey reached into his jacket, pulled out a pistol, and started shooting at him. The first bullet nearly grazed Batman's nose, but he managed to pull back at the last minute. Batman ducked behind an overturned table for cover as bullets whizzed all around him. Over his head, past his ear, and even embedding themselves into the walls and tables. He reached into his utility-belt and took out a smoke pellet. Tossing it over the table, he waited until he heard Harvey's coughs before he leapt from his shelter.
Batman followed the sound of Harvey's coughing fit until he was right behind him, sending a blow to one of the pressure points in Harvey's shoulder. He let out a sharp cry and released the gun, sending it clattering to the floor. Kicking the gun out of Harvey's reach Batman whirled the man around and grabbed two fistfuls of Harvey's shirt, hoisting him off the ground. Thanks to his diversion, Barret had managed to get away. That was fine, though. Batman would just get his answers from Harvey for now, and find him later.
Batman had just opened his mouth to speak when the door to his left swung open. Jerry Lynch stood in the doorway, a cigar hanging loosely from his mouth in surprise as he took in the state of his club. His dark hair was slicked back, and his navy-blue tailored suit looked almost black in the dimly-lit room. His cigar finally fell to the ground in shock at the sight in front of him.
"What the…" he trailed off, his surprise fading into anger. "What d'you think you're doin'?" he demanded, face turning blood red in his rage.
"I need a few minutes with your client. You know where the exits are." Batman snapped irritably. Lynch didn't back down, and his face grew almost purple with rage.
"You can't just barge in here and start-!" he stopped mid-sentence at Batman's icy glare. "Th-there's a phone call. For Harvey Dent." Lynch stammered, changing the subject. Batman narrowed his eyes at the balding man. He turned his gaze to Harvey who stared back at him coldly.
"Don't look at me, Bat. I got no idea who'd wanna call me here." Harvey snapped.
"Who is it?" Batman returned his gaze to Lynch. The man jumped, fumbling for an answer.
"I-I dunno. Weird sounding guy, like some sort of whacked-out cartoon character." He shrugged. Curiosity getting the better of him, Batman led Harvey to the door by his shirt collar. The man's protests and feeble attempts to claw his captor's grip off of him went ignored by the caped crusader. He stopped in front of Lynch, who looked up at him fearfully.
"Bring me the phone." He ordered.
"Uh… I… Y-You can't just…" Lynch stuttered, taking hesitant steps backwards.
"Now." Batman added curtly, causing Lynch to jump and trip over himself in an attempt to get to the phone. He within record time, a wireless black telephone in hand. Lynch held out the mobile with a shaky hand, flinching as Batman snatched it out of his grasp and held it to his ear.
"Hello? Helloo~? Harvey? Jerry-boy? Anybody there?" Batman grit his teeth at the sound of the cheery voice.
"Joker." He growled. There was a pleasantly surprised gasp at the other end of the line,
"Batsy old chum! Is that you? It's been a while!" Joker exclaimed with delight. "How's the boy blunder? Did he enjoy the presents I left for you at City Hall last week?" he asked, laughing maniacally. Batman tightened his grip on the phone at the memory. About a week ago, Joker had filled several stuffed animals with grenades and thrown them at the duo as they attempted to rescue the mayor from another one of the Joker's schemes. Robin had been thrown six feet into the air from the explosion, and broken his leg in two places as well as dislocated his shoulder.
"What do you want, clown?" Batman snarled. Joker made several disappointed tsks before replying,
"Now, now, Batman. With that sort of attitude, I don't think I want you at my party."
"What are you talking about?"
"In fact, I don't think little Allie would want you to come either." Batman froze. Allie..? Joker continued, ignoring Batman's silence.
"She is the guest of honor after all, and I don't think she would want your terrible attitude to ruin her evening." Joker added darkly.
"What have you done to her, Joker?" Batman demanded.
"Don't worry, Bats. She's safe and sound… For now." The darkness in his tone made Batman's jaw twitch. "Come on down to the carnival, Batman, and join the party! Be sure to bring Harvey with you! It'll be a blast…" he added menacingly. "See you soon~!" with a dark chuckle and a faint click, the call ended. Batman clenched the phone in his hand so tightly, he was sure the plastic device would snap in two.
The Joker was setting a trap. For all Batman knew, Nightwing had taken Allie home. But, if Joker had managed to intervene in some way, he couldn't chance it. He would have to take the bait. First, though, he would get hold of Nightwing and confirm whether his suspicions were true or not.
Batman was driven out of his thoughts by a satisfied chuckle. He turned to Harvey, who had fallen silent out of curiosity as he eavesdropped on the phone conversation. Harvey smiled deviously,
"So, what's it gonna be Batman? Are you going to waste your time interrogating us for answers we ain't gonna give? Or are you gonna save the girl?" his satisfied smirk faded as Batman gave him a sharp jerk and leaned towards him threateningly.
"Who says I can't do both?" and with that, the fist containing the telephone collided with Harvey's skull knocking him out cold. Batman tossed the phone over his shoulder and it fell to the ground with a loud crack. He dragged Harvey's body across the debris littered floor and was about halfway to the door when the sound of a gun cocking stopped him. Turning his head slightly, he eyed Lynch out of the corner of his eye. The ex-con had a shotgun aimed at the Dark Knight's back, his brow furrowed in anger.
"Don't think you can just waltz in here and beat the tar out of my customers. You're in for it now, Bat-freak." He snarled, his finger twitching over the trigger.
"Yo, boss! What's goin' on?" Lynch looked away from the Dark Knight for a split second to watch as one of his men entered the room, but when he looked back, ready to pull the trigger, his jaw dropped. The door was wide open, and Batman was gone.
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Dick sighed, his arms firmly planted over his chest. He surveyed the street from his perch atop an old water-tower with mild interest. Did Batman honestly not trust him enough to take Allie home? A faint beeping noise brought him out of his silent brooding. Well, that's just fine. He thought to himself, pulling out his portable GPS. He smirked at the little dot that appeared on the screen, just south of where he was now- right next to Gotham Bay, deep in the slums of Gotham City. Because I don't trust those "cops", either. Heh, trust issues must run in the family. He mused to himself, dropping from his perch and running over to his motorcycle.
Nightwing thought back to the previous hour with silent satisfaction. As soon as the "policemen" had their backs turned, he had carefully tossed a small tracer onto the bumper of their cruiser. The second they turned the corner and were out of sight, he thanked Leslie and took off after them. As he reached the motorcycle, he thought of Allie's reaction when she first rode it. She was absolutely terrified, he could feel it when her arms tightened around him, and it took everything he had not to laugh at her. His thoughts then drifted to the sudden panic in her eyes when he first asked her to help him find Harvey, and how absolutely against helping him she had been. After that, only one thought echoed over and over in his mind as he attempted to catch up to the car that had taken Allie with it.
This is all my fault…
Dick jumped when he felt the vibrations of his cell phone in his pocket. He pulled it out hastily and flipped it open.
"Uh… Hello?" he answered.
"Nightwing, is Allie with you?" Batman's usually commanding tone was laced with a hint of anxiety that most people wouldn't have noticed. Then again, most people hadn't lived with the Batman for a majority of their lives. Dick held his breath for a moment before letting out a frustrated sigh.
"No. She's not. Some whack jobs dressed as cops said you told Gordon to send them to pick her up." He said as he leaned against the motorcycle.
"I never told the Commissioner anything." Batman replied causing Dick to sigh,
"Yeah, I know you didn't… But you know who really sent those guys. Don't you?" Dick accused. Batman's silence was all the confirmation he needed. "Who was it?" he demanded.
"Nightwing, I-"
"Who was it?" he repeated, more firmly than the first time. Batman was silent for a moment before he replied, "the Joker." That one name was all it took to send Dick's sense of guilt and panic straight up. "I'm on my way." He snarled into the phone.
"Nightwing, wait. I can handle this. Besides you don't even know where she-"
"She's at the old carnival downtown, right?" he cut off his ex-mentor for the second time, examining his GPS once again.
"How did you know that?" Batman inquired, slight agitation in his voice. Dick scoffed,
"I grew up with you, Bruce. I didn't leave without picking up a few things first." He replied in a whisper harsh whisper. He was about to hang up when but froze, pursing his lips in thought.
"Uh, Bruce?" he asked.
"Yes?" was his curt reply.
"How did you even get this number..?" there was a long stretch of silence before,
"Apparently you didn't pick up much." And the call ended. Dick blinked before heaving an exasperated sigh and starting up his motorcycle. If the Joker had Allie, there was no telling what would happen to her.
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
I stared at the unusual scene before me in utter bewilderment. Harley Quinn stood just a few feet away from me, tossing raw steaks into the air and squealing with delight each time one of her "babies" caught the meat in their slobbery, sharp-toothed maws.
"Ain't they just precious?" Harley exclaimed. I tried to hide my disgust as I watched the two hyenas play tug-o-war with one of the steaks, growling maliciously and snapping at each other in the process. I'm not sure how well I hid it, but I forced a smile when I felt Harley's eyes on my face, nodding mechanically. I definitely didn't want to offend her. Oh, and if you haven't figured it out by now, I was wrong last time. Joker and Harley don't have kids. They're those crazy people who say that their... Wait, no, they're just crazy people. I think that's a sufficient explanation.
"This one's Bud, 'n that one's Lou!" Harley announced proudly, pointing to each animal in turn. "You wanna feed 'em?" she asked, shoving the plate of raw meat under my nose. I swallowed the bile rising in my throat as blood sloshed around on the plate, and tried to ignore the hungry looks of the two wild animals in front of me.
"Oh, n-no thanks." I declined as politely as I could. Harley laughed,
"Aw, c'mon Goldie Locks! They won't hurt ya, so long as you don't get your fingers too close." She waved a hand dismissively, thrusting the plate into my arms. A cold, nervous feeling spread from the pit of my stomach as the hungry looks Bud and Lou threw in my direction turned absolutely ravenous.
I swallowed as the two hyenas took some very predatory stances and started to close in on me, licking their jowls in anticipation. I felt like a chicken that'd just been thrown to a pack of hungry foxes. Or, you know, in this case hyenas. Hands shaking, I gingerly took a large slab of steak between my thumb and forefinger. I then flung it to the side and far, far away from me. I jumped and stifled a small shriek as the hyenas threw themselves passed me and practically jumped on the meat, snapping their jaws at each other as they attempted to devour their meal at the same time.
Harley took the plate away from me with a giggle and a goofy smile. Her bubbly personality had completely thrown me for a loop. I'd always heard that Harley Quinn was dangerous and unstable. I mean, she is in love with the Joker, so I'll buy some of it, but… She just doesn't act all that dangerous. I relinquished the plate gratefully and took a few tentative steps away from the outbreaking fight between Bud and Lou. For a minute I wondered if whatever the Joker had in store would result in that steak they were fighting over and devouring so viciously, being me instead.
There was a loud crackling sound, and the Joker's voice echoed throughout the room. Speak of the devil…
"How's our guest of honor holding up, Harl?" he inquired. Harley smiled and offered a salute to the intercom Joker was speaking through,
"Just fine, puddin'. We're bonding!" she said airily, pulling me into a tight embrace. Joker sniggered through the intercom,
"Wonderful! Our other guests are on their way, so take little Allie to the party room. Make sure she's… Comfortable." Joker's laughter bounced off of the metal walls and made my blood run cold. There was another crackling sound and we were left in silence.
Harley sighed and shook her head, walking over to a large crate on the far side of the room. My entire body was screaming "danger!" but I couldn't make myself move. Especially since Bud and Lou had long since finished their squabble over the piece of steak and had turned their eyes to me. Harley returned with one hand hidden behind her back and an amused expression on her face.
"Sorry, Goldie Locks, but…" she swung her hidden arm around revealing a large, red boxing glove. "Playtime's over." She finished darkly. I didn't even have time to react as the glove collided with the side of my head, sending me flying backwards onto the cold concrete floor.
I could just barely make out Harley's black and red boots sauntering towards me as my vision began to fade. The last thing I remember were the cackles of Bud and Lou, before darkness took over.
A/N I'm not happy with any of this chapter except for Allie's part, but Nightwing and Batman's POV were kind of necessary.
First of all, I'm sorry everyone.
I just recently went through some pretty hard relationship stuff myself and I just kind of lost all want to write a romance story :S
I'm back now, though! So, it's all good I guess.
Oh! Have I ever mentioned that Batman actually wasn't supposed to appear in this story at all? I mean, I had planned for him to in the very beginning with the "prologue" at Allie's house and at the very, very end but that was it. Just a little fun fact I guess :P
Anyway, please review! :)