The Joke's On You

Chloe gasps as she awakens in agony, her body spasming. "Stay still" a strong voice orders from just outside the light. The figure takes shape as it steps into the light. It's hands are preparing some type of syringe.

"A man-sized bat? No, a man in a costume." Chloe realizes. Focusing on the needle in his hand she tries to writhe away from him, but she has too little control of her body. The pain is getting worse making it nearly impossible for her to think clearly. Oddly, she feels like laughing. Soon the feeling is one she can't contain and she laughs hysterically. The man standing over her pins her arm and drives the needle in. Whatever he injected her with burns like fire, but it eases the spasms. A minute later she is able to stop her laughter.

"You were lucky. Another few minutes and the antidote wouldn't have been effective." the man dressed as a bat explains. "You should rest. I'll check on you in a few hours." he orders but gently this time. She can hear the genuine concern in his voice even though he is using a voice masker like Oliver does.

She tries to thank him for saving her from that crazy man whose face was painted like a clown but she passes out before she can get the words out. Several hours later she wakes. She is sore from head to toe, but knows it will pass. The realization she nearly died hits her harder than "normal." In her line of work nearly being killed on an almost daily basis is just part of it. This time she finds herself shaking alone in the dark still strapped to a metal table. "It must be waking up alone in god knows where. Too much like that time in the morgue." she tells herself, but she knows that's not true. All the times before, she knew someone was coming for her. Someone would save her. Last night as she collapsed in that back alley there was no one. She couldn't even call out. Staring at a small puddle in front of her as the pain racked her she thought for the first time "I'm really going die this time."

When the bat suited man picked her up and placed her in his insane vehicle, she thought she was imagining it. In fact it wasn't until she woke up a few moments ago that she even thought he was real. She had come to Gotham to get away from her old life and here she was smack in the middle of another superhero's secret lair. "How do you get into these things?" she starts to wonder when flashes of her following that odd behaving man into a part of Gotham she had been sternly warned to avoid, sneaking into the building he went in, seeing all the assembled crime bosses of Gotham together, running into the strange clown faced man as he was leaving, the smirk on his face when he told her to smell his flower and the puff of something that emitted from the flower, the amusement in his eyes as the whatever gripped her, his comment about her needing to smile more. All these remind her of how she gets herself into these things. "I really need to mind my own business." she snarks to herself her soft words echoing through the empty room. Straining to turn her head to look around, she sees natural stone walls with metal platforms embedded in them at various places. That strange tank like vehicle sits parked in one corner. On another platform, she can see a bank of computers, but she can't see any of their screens from this angle. As she looks around she considers her options. Oliver taught her enough about lock picking that she can probably free herself, but should she? Weighing her decision for a few minutes she decides to wait for her rescuer. "I can always escape later if I need to." she thinks.

Any eternity of nervous boredom later, the man-bat returns. She can hear him making his way down the various stairs connecting the platforms. She toys with feigning being asleep, but she noticed enough video surveillance to know that won't fool him. "Hello?" she calls.

"Hello." a strong masked voice answers. Her rescuer stands over her. "The restraints are for your own protection. I didn't want you to injure yourself further by flailing about. You were very lucky I found you. Much longer and you would've died. Now I need you to repay my aid by telling me how you were exposed to this particular toxin."

Stunned by his cold directness Chloe has to remind herself this isn't Clark or even Oliver standing next to her. "I appreciate you saving me, but even if you hadn't I would help you. Why don't you let me up and we can chat like grown ups?" she quips trying to show him she isn't the typical helpless damsel.

Without a word, he flips open her restrains releasing her. She is pleased to see him eyeing her warily. "Who is she? Most people would be terrified to wake up strapped to a table and she looks slightly annoyed, even a bit bored." Bruce wonders.

Rubbing her wrists as much to stall as to restore full feeling, Chloe studies her savior. "So Batman is real. He is very different than Clark or Ollie." she thinks. She can practically see darkness rolling out of him. "He saved me, but perhaps only to learn what I know?" The few rumors she can pull to mind don't help much. She'll have to do some research when she gets out of here. Very careless of her not to research this city before she arrived, but she didn't. She is confident she will get out of here even if she has to call for Clark to come get her. She'll only do that if Batman leaves her no other choice. "I noticed this guy wearing a purple suit and painted like a clown. I followed him against my better judgment. He went into a place so I slipped in too. It was some sort of meeting. I couldn't see what was happening, but from what I could hear I don't think Mr. Clown was very popular with the others in the room. Unfortunately for me this guy walked right by my hiding place. It was like he knew right where I was. He waggled his fingers at me then put one finger to his lips. Well, I backed right out of there and tried to make a run for it,but he was waiting for me in the back alley. He told me I needed to smile more and then his lapel flower sprayed out some sort of gas. Next thing I knew I was laying on the ground twitching."

"Could you pick out the men you saw from some photos?" he asks. Inside he is disappointment she didn't learn more. He already knows the club he found her outside of. He had hoped she had stumbled onto the Joker's lair.

"Yes, but I already know most of them. They are the major crime bosses in Gotham. I was surprised to see so many of them in one place especially since several have ongoing feuds. Do you know what brought them together?" Chloe says. It is easier to think sitting up rather than strapped to the table. She is embarrassed when a loud rumble from her stomach interrupts Batman from answering her.

"Let me get you some food. Any food allergies?" he asks again surprising her with his concern, and avoiding her question.

"Nope. I can eat just about anything. I would love a cup of coffee if you have any. Two creams and three sugars." she replies. Seeing the raised eyebrow he gives her she quips "Hey, this girl needs some fuel if you want her flying back up for you."

"Wait here." he orders and then disappears up some stairs to what she realizes is a hidden elevator. He returns a few minutes later with a plate of piled high with all different types of sandwiches and a large steaming cup of coffee.

It occurs to her that "He wasn't gone long enough to make all this so he must have help." "Thank you" says as she accepts the coffee and takes a sip without hesitation. Again she catches him raising his eyebrow in some silent comment. "If you want to harm me, I doubt you would bother to spike my coffee." she explains. The sandwich she picks isn't her normal slightly healthy turkey. She feels she deserves the tuna salad with extra mayo. Her taste buds explode as she saviors the sandwich. "Whoever made this must have super powers." she quips.

"I'll let him know you approve." Batman comments dryly then smirks when he realizes she just tricked him into admitting he has help and it's a male. Watching her with renewed interest he reviews the little he had time to dig up on her. She's from Smallville where she worked on her school paper. Then she moved onto the Daily Planet in Metropolis where her budding career as a reporter was cut short by a run in with Lex Luthor. After that she ran the Isis Foundation working with meteor infected super powered teens. When her husband Jimmy Olsen was murdered, she dropped off the official grid. Unofficially, she was working for Oliver Queen. This is what intrigues him and prompted him to ask Lucius to look deeper. Her connection to Oliver Queen doesn't make any sense. Outside of briefly dating her cousin, he has no reason to interact with her but he has been seen with her numerous times. Several of the celebrity events that Oliver was photographed at had Chloe somewhere in the crowd. Even more interesting is the fact Oliver is paying her a handsome 6 figure salary that he worked very hard to conceal. The number of shadow companies the money passed through rivals the number he uses to hide his activities. "So what exactly does she do for Oliver? Is she holding some sort of secret over him? No, that doesn't feel right." Bruce thinks. While he always listens to the facts he also trusts his gut. His gut is telling him to look deeper.

"So should I pick out curtains or do I get to go home?" Chloe asks as nonchalantly as she can. After all no matter where she is, she is sure Clark will hear her if she screams long enough.

"I don't think we're at the curtain stage just yet." he jests surprising himself. "I'll be happy to transport you back to your hotel once you have answered all my questions." he states.

"Fire away." Chloe replies anxious to get out of here. She needs to touch base with Oliver and Clark before they start to go crazy. She seriously doubts Oliver let her come to Gotham without some way of keeping tabs on her, so she had better make an appearance before the cavalry comes charging in. She doubts a confrontation with Batman would go well for anyone. Despite his dark imagine her gut tells her he is one of the good guys.

Several hours later an exhausted and mentally drained Chloe stumbles into her apartment. Batman dropped her off with his crazy tank car just a block from her building. He gave her back all her stuff even the Taser. Another sign he is one of the good guys despite the rumors. Determined to look closer at Batman once she can hold her head up, she strips and falls onto her bed. Before letting sleep claim her she makes a quick call to Oliver using a special patch she created which allows her to go straight to voicemail without giving Oliver the chance to answer. "Hey Ollie. Just wanted to say thanks again for picking up the tab here in Gotham. I really needed to get away. Well, I'll check in with you again in a few days." That should keep the boys at bay. She knows Oliver understands her need for space, but she hopes he can make Clark understand. For someone she grew up with he doesn't really understand her. Pushing any more thoughts away, she lets sleep claim her.