This Gray Weather Will Fade

Nora had made the quick, and undoubtedly irrational, decision that night after going through the email from Cho. As she crept as slyly as she could around each building corner and through the alleyways, her heart pounded in warning, knowing then it was the worst choice she could have made.

Nora stopped out of breath suddenly when she approached the old abandoned building, still crept behind a larger one next to it. There she was, out and alone trying to spy on the Joker by herself. The Batman had warned her not to, and frankly, she couldn’t understand why he hadn’t asked where he was in the first place, or why he wouldn’t follow her like he had been doing all along. Nevertheless, there she was, breathing heavily against the cold wind, looking directly at the Joker’s men.

They were standing outside the rusty red door, smoking and leaning against the cement walls. As Nora narrowed her eyes at them, a flash of light roamed over her, causing her to curse quietly and duck behind the brick wall that now shielded her. The light was followed by the rumbling of a large truck heading for the building she was aiming for, and this loud distraction for the men was her chance to make a move right then and there.

Nora turned her head and looked into the alleyway, keeping her back tightly pressed up against the brick wall behind her. She quickly grabbed onto the fire escape ladder to her left, peering over the corner as she climbed up with haste.

When she reached the top, Nora kept low as she hopped over the side of the rooftop, landing smoothly on her feet while ducking down behind the foot high ledge. Propping herself on her knees, she placed her hands lightly on the top of the overhang and lifted her head over slightly, just allowing her eyes to peer over the edge. Still breathing heavily, she watched for a moment before turning around and sitting down with her legs sprawled out in front of her wondering what to do next.

Glancing up in front of her for the first time, she cocked her gun out in front of her, swearing to herself that she saw something move. She got up slowly, eyes locked at the area behind the doorway leading back down into the building where she noticed it. Nora walked hesitantly, putting one foot in front of the other with great care.

As soon as she reached the corner edge, Nora jumped around it, moving her gun forcefully from side to side looking for anyone who might be there. But alas, no one was. Nora sighed, putting her gun away, figuring it was a good time to leave since she was beginning to become paranoid.

She cursed herself silently, knowing that she should have listened to the Batman when he warned her, actually, when everyone had warned her. Maybe not precisely about this situation, but dealing with the Joker’s chaos in general. Despite what they had told her, Nora let her ignorance and determination that had never failed her before throughout the years finally become a problem that lead her into such dilemmas.

Then as Nora started to leave, a large fist came at her without warning, causing her to fall to the ground unconscious.

-

Nora sat in a chair and woke with a startling headache, blinking profusely at the blaring light pointed directly at her. She moved her wrists slightly, noticing they were tied securely behind her back. Her head was bent towards the floor, letting her tangled auburn hair dangle around her face. She made her best attempt to wake herself up, but had trouble gathering her thoughts and remembering exactly where she was.

A hand then gripped the back of her hair, wrenching her head up at the person responsible. What she saw she wasn’t too surprised of, snooping around was never her forte anyways.

Nora looked up in annoyance at him, as he was still tugging on her hair. “Just who I wanted to see.” He glared into her, and she showed no sign of backing down as she glared right back. “We have to stop meeting like this.” He chuckled, forcefully throwing her head forward, making Nora sway her head unpurposefully.

The Joker skipped around smiling then finally kneeling down in front of Nora, placing his hands on her thighs and overlooked her features. “I knew you would find me.” He said, making Nora tilt her head up towards him, narrowing her eyes to slits.

“You see, uh, I watched you carefully.” Licking his lips, he continued. “You have so much, uh, passion and curiosity that I knew you’d figure it all out.” He licked his lips again nodding and sniggered, “So I waited. And, uh, here you are.” The Joker clenched her thighs in the moment, making Nora grit her teeth and close her eyes against the harsh pain.

He stood up, howling with laugher, “You’re like him, just like him.” The Joker licked his lips and repeated, “Harvey, Harvey, Harvey Dent. Always getting in the way of everything.” He stomped like a child on a rant, clenching his fists and striking Nora on her cheek.

Nora’s head turned away from the cause of the blow, making her stretch out her jaw trying to ease the sensation.

“I broke him. I saw him fall.” The Joker snarled, jumping on the chair and making it fall to the ground with Nora in it. He climbed on top of her, digging his knee into her stomach and slipping a knife underneath her chin whilst holding her throat. “And no one knows it.”

Nora let out the slightest whimper of pain from her mouth through gritted teeth, squeezing her eyes shut at the Joker a mere centimeter away from her face. A wrong move in the Joker’s eyes, even though what she did was undetectable to anyone else.

“You’ll show them. You'll make them see I was right all along.” Letting his slight giggle turn into a howling cackle, the Joker got up and untied Nora from the chair, throwing her back to the ground knowing she would be too weak soon to do anything. Tossing the blade back and forth between his hands, he scrutinized her before speaking his famous words.

“Do you want to know how I got these scars?”