In the Mind of Madness

“What are you doing?!”

Kenna whimpered in pain as Bruce shoved her face to the wall. He refused to answer her, digging in his pocket for what Kenna guessed was a cell phone.

“Just let me explain! Everything on the news was a lie!” Kenna struggled, but he was holding her hands firmly together behind her back. “He forced me into all of it, or else he was going to kill my mother and Alan King!”

Bruce faltered, still pressing her against the wall. After a moment of deliberation he said: “Prove it.”

“I can’t.” admitted Kenna reluctantly, voice half muffled by the wall. “But just…Remember what I said that day we had coffee?”

There was a low noise from Bruce as he recalled that day. “You said you thought he had humanity in him.”

“Yes, but that’s not what I mean. In fact I‘m not sure I even believe that anymore. I said the things he does don’t make sense to me. They still don’t.” Kenna felt tears coming and clenched her eyes shut. “Bruce, please. Part of his plan is making me out as a bad guy to Gotham. You have to trust me.”

The only thing Kenna could hear was her own heavy breathing, no reaction coming from Bruce for a long time. Her arms dropped to her sides limply when he released her hands. When she didn’t move Bruce grabbed her shoulders and turned her around, staring gravely into her eyes.

“You’d better not be lying to me.”

Kenna shook her head rapidly, smiling. “I’m not. Oh, God, it’s good to see you. Good to see anyone not wearing makeup or masks.”

Bruce looked relieved to see her too, to Kenna‘s surprise. “Why are you here?”

“The Joker is listening in on a conversation between some mobsters. I think I’m here so he can keep an eye on me, maybe to provide camouflage.” Kenna glanced at the roman numeral clock on the wall. “I only have five minutes away.”

Bruce appeared stunned by something for a second, then serious again. “Or what?”

“He detonates the bomb in King’s apartment.” Kenna gulped uncomfortably at the thought. “So I can’t stay long.”

“He’s got the detonator on him?” asked Bruce.

Kenna nodded. “He’ll press it. He’s not bluffing.”

“Get it.”

She blinked for a moment. “That’s impossible. His guard is never down, unless he’s asleep or…” Kenna thought of all her time with The Joker, his brief moments of weakness. “Maybe I can.”

“How?”

Her head was reeling with the details. She looked down in thought, then back up at Bruce hopefully. “Can you wait for me in the alley? I’ll get him out there, and when I have the detonator I’ll signal you somehow. Then I’ll run like crazy.”

Even as she said it Kenna knew how dangerous it was, but it was the closest she’d come to an escape plan. Her veins were already alive with optimism that she hadn’t felt for weeks. Bruce nodded, forehead wrinkling.

“I’ll wait in my car.” he murmured.

It sounded good enough. Kenna nodded and reached back to unlock the door. “Okay. Give me ten minutes. Oh.” she thought of something and blushed slightly. “Will your date mind?”

“I don’t care.” responded Bruce swiftly. “What will you signal me with?”

Kenna thought for a few seconds. “Um…I’ll whistle Somewhere Over The Rainbow. Okay?”

“Yes. Good luck.”

With that he exited the bathroom, leaving Kenna standing stiffly and trying to decide if this was a dream or not. She looked in the mirror. Still wearing the skin-tight red dress, still with the short black wig and penciled eyebrows. It was real.

Thank God.

For the second time that night Kenna mustered all her control, blinking back her tears of relief and heading back for her table. She saw the back of The Joker’s head and wanted to laugh. He’d been wrong the whole time. She was going to escape. Kenna relished every moment of the clown’s obliviousness to her plan.

“Back in the nick of time.” rumbled The Joker as she took her seat.

Kenna scowled at him, hoping it was convincing. “I don’t remember signing any contracts granting you control of my bladder.”

The Joker sneered, but he was still eavesdropping on the mobsters. Kenna panicked for a split second. What if the men didn’t leave? They had been there before Kenna and The Joker, surely they would go soon. But what if they didn’t? Kenna blinked, trying to think of an alternate plan. She saw the bottle of wine on the table and snatched it up, refilling her glass heartily.

It was the last of the bottle, and not enough to get her drunk, but it would do.

She drained her glass as quickly as she could, having to choke the last gulp down into her full stomach. Kenna was sure The Joker wasn’t paying her the slightest attention at the moment, so she hiccupped and giggled noisily to get his attention. His eyes snapped from the ceiling to her face, then narrowed.

“Are you drunk?”

Kenna shook her head, deliberately leaning a bit to the left in her chair. “Uh uh.”

The Joker groaned, running a hand over his face. Kenna noticed with a flicker of fear that it slightly smudged the makeup on his scars. But not enough to reveal his identity, so they were fine for the moment.

“You’re lucky I heard what I needed to hear.” he grumbled, standing up and pulling out a wallet.

He stuck two crisp hundred dollar bills in the check, leaving it all on the table and hoisting Kenna out of her chair. She thanked her lucky stars he hadn’t been focused enough to realize how little she actually drank and how quickly she’d become ‘inebriated’. It was going good, but Kenna didn’t let her guard down. She hung onto The Joker’s arm, allowing his other arm around her waist with none of the usual glares or biting remarks.

The Joker supported her weight easily, like he’d done it before, and helped her out to the lobby. As they passed the bored hostess Kenna giggled again, prompting The Joker to wink at the woman and speak in an overly arrogant voice.

“The meal was delicious, folks. Old lady can’t hold her liquor, though. Have a swell night!”

Once on the street Kenna shook The Joker off her, wobbling a bit on her heels so she had time to locate the alley. When her eyes landed on it she started teetered in its direction, The Joker darting his hand out and catching her by her wrist. It was still aching from his hold on it earlier.

“Wrong way, darling.” he was still speaking like a yuppie, tugging her in the other direction. “Come now, the Jaguar is parked in a bit of a risky area.”

Kenna looked over her shoulder, grinning sloppily and nodding in the direction of the alley. “Come’n. I wanna show you something.”

The Joker looked suspiciously curious. “Hmm? What’s that, toots?”

“I’ll show you.” she slurred, moving her hand so she had a hold on The Joker’s wrist as well.

She knew he was letting her pull him. He was stronger than two of her, so he could have resisted, but he didn’t. Kenna ignored the confusion that brought, leading her kidnapper into the alley where she could be saved.

“Back here.” grunted Kenna, still yanking resolutely on The Joker’s hand, taking him to the very back of the alley. It was a dead end, containing only a dumpster and a few smelly garbage cans.

The Joker laughed a little behind her, not quite as manic as usual. He spoke in a sing-song voice. “I don’t see anything, doll!”

Kenna took a deep breath and turned around, her sudden stop causing The Joker to take another step so they were barely inches apart. She swallowed. “Look right here.”

It took all the courage she’d gathered, but Kenna placed her hands on his shoulders and shoved him against the cold brick wall of the alley. The Joker didn’t make a sound as she did it. It was too dark to really see his face, but she could see the bluish moonlight glancing off his eyes and knew that he was giving her one of those enigmatic looks. To cover the tremor in her hands Kenna dug her fingers harder into his shoulders, shut her eyes, and leaned forward.

She pressed firmly against his mouth. Not as hard as he’d kissed her that day in front of the news crew, but there was nothing gentle about her advances. The Joker was immobile for a few seconds, almost causing Kenna to draw back when his lips stayed still under hers. But then his hands came up and his mouth yielded, and Kenna was actually kissing The Joker.

One of his nimble hands landed on her neck, pinching the skin there hard enough to elicit a pained moan from Kenna into the kiss. The other hand dug into the small of her back, pulling her against him until there was no room left between their bodies. Kenna put her own hand in The Joker’s gelled hair, mussing it up before finding purchase and tugging. A deadly growl rose in his chest, but no more violence came of it than another sharp pinch to the side of Kenna’s throat.

The shock wore off and Kenna concentrated, continuing to move her mouth but also moving the hand left on The Joker’s shoulder down to his pocket. A scream caught in her throat when The Joker suddenly used his hold on her to flip them around, Kenna pressed to the wall now, a shiver running through her when the bare part of her back touched the chilly surface. The Joker reentered the kiss with new fervor, fingers massaging almost gently at Kenna’s neck before jabbing in with blunt nails that caused another tremble.

Now her task would be easier, her hand resting on his hip. Just a few inches into his pocket. She could feel the tip of the antennae. Her heartbeat increased until she could barely hear anything over it besides the occasional grunt or exhaled breath through The Joker’s nose.

Yes. Her hand was creeping down, so light she doubted he could feel it, not with her other hand still wrenching at his hair. Kenna opened her mouth to his tongue, even letting a little moan escape that she hadn’t planned on. It was quickly followed by a hiss of pain when his teeth sunk into her bottom lip, then a moment of surprise when his tongue swiped across it as if in apology. But that couldn’t be the case. No, he was just tasting to see if he’d drawn any blood.

Just as The Joker’s hand started on a lower path Kenna felt her hand close on the remote. She was careful not to push the button, only touching the smooth sides of the device. Ever so slowly she pulled it out, and when her hand was firmly around it and it was all the way out of The Joker’s pocket, Kenna whipped her head to the side to detach her lips from The Joker’s.

She caught her breath for a few seconds, able to feel The Joker doing the same against her cheek. Then Kenna turned back to face him, smiling before licking her lips and beginning to whistle the first chords from the song she’d chosen as her signal with Bruce.

The Joker looked baffled, then entertained, then he was flying away. Kenna watched in surprise as he was forcefully flung away from her, hitting the dumpster and landing on the ground with a groan. She froze in fear. That couldn’t have been Bruce. But who else would --

Kenna let out a harsh breath as arms pulled her against something hard and wrapped around her. Before she could inhale enough to scream there was a sharp zipping noise, and Kenna and the person holding her were rising into the air quickly. She looked up and caught a brief glimpse of a black line of some kind, then the person holding her grabbed onto the ledge of the roof and grunted with the effort of pulling them over.

Realizing that this was her rescue, Kenna glanced down at The Joker. He had stood up from his place crumpled at the foot of the dumpster. Now he was looking up, watching Kenna be carried away onto the roof. His eyes glinted and a smirk that promised pain grew on his lips. The last thing Kenna saw was him reaching up to wipe his mouth on his sleeve.

Then he was gone.