Inside Your Eyes

"Evening darling, I just..." I stared at her and she at me, "What is she doing here!?"

My blood boiled. The anger always seemed to override the pain in me, "Why are you in my costume!?" I began to struggle again, but this time it was to strangle the daylights out of Cordelia.

"I thought the people loved you too much to turn you in!"

"Turn me in? What are you talking about?" Now that I think about it, some mob did attack me for no reason. "How did I even get here?" I struggled even more only to make my wrists and ankles raw.

"Don't you watch the news anymore?" The Joker played back the message on the old television set and laughed, "Guess the people favor my way."

"Duh! You put their children and the sick in danger. I'd be surprised at whoever wouldn't do that!" I huffed, getting more and more tired.

"Aren't you going to kill her now?" Cordelia asked somewhat hopeful.

"What!?" I screamed, "I do exactly what you want for five fucking years and you expect me to accept you killing me for leaving? You sick basterd!"

"I said nothing about killing her," he shot Cordelia an angry look, "I got you back here to take back your place. Ruse isn't the same without you."

"Well no shit Sherlock. There's a cheap imitation under that makeup. By the way," I turned over to Cordelia, "Your eyes look like they were done by a whore," the mixture of anger and confusion had made it easy to lash out in the worst way. It felt good.

Cordelia squinted and growled, "Are you going to let her do that!?"

"Do what?" The Joker looked at her as if she had asked the oddest question he'd ever heard.

"Talk to me like that!"

"Yes? She is of more use to me than you, so she can say almost anything she wants," he leaned over the bed, "Now, since you are back things can be destructive again," and began to untie my wrists.

"What? No, I don't want to be a part of this anymore."

"Beg your pardon?"

"I don't want to do this anymore..."

"Oh, I think you do," he pulled out a knife and cut my wrist loose, "If there's no you, there is no taking over Gotham."

"Well use someone else."

"No, always listen to the guy with the knife, you're working for me."

I was about to pretend to go along with it and escape later, but someone knocked at the door, "What!"

The door fell in, along with an unconscious guard, "Give her back!"

"Oh, The Batman! Can't I keep her a little while longer? You see I just got her back and..." Batman ran over and slammed him against the wall. I could tell there was a swift reply prepared, but all that came out were various gags.

"She is coming back with me."

"Ok, ok," he gasped, "Take her. Just know I'll come back for her!" he took a gun out of the side of his shirt and shot Batman point blank. He fell to the ground, "Now," he looked dead at me, "Let's talk about your future as Ruse, eh? I'm actually surprised he came after you."

I said nothing, though I was surprised too. As I gawked at The Joker's complete lack of interest in Batman's body as he walked toward me, the dark shadow of Batman slowly rose up and knocked Joker across the head. He fell to the floor and I frantically tried to untie the rest of the leather straps holding me down.

"Allow me," he took a laser from his belt and quickly cut the rest of my bonds.

I hopped up, "Why are you even here!?" my eyes flickered around, "Wait...where is she?"

"She?" the answer told me she had hidden before search and rescue episode began.

"Ruse...the impersonator version..." I turned and a knife jabbed my left shoulder, "Ahhh!" I jumped back.

"He will love me! I will kill you and he WILL love me!"

"Hold on to me," Batman grabbed me and shot a hook into the ceiling.

As we flew up, I began to struggle, "We're going to crash and die!"

I closed my eyes and heard his armor break through, "We didn't."

A few feet away the Bat-mobile was parked, "How do you do that?"

"Planning," He took a deep breath, "I'm sorry for this," a needle poked into my neck.

"More sedatives?" I legs buckled as Batman caught my limp body. My last thought was I am going to get brain damage from these...

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My eyes flew open Dark place...bats everywhere...great I'm in here again. I sat up, still woozy from the sedative. My shoulder twinged where some bandages now wrapped around it. "Why? I am a criminal, criminals go to jail by Batman, why am I not in jail!?"

"You are not a criminal," A shadowy figure stood up from the darkness.

"I have killed men for greedy reasons! How in the world am I not classified as a criminal?"

"You have regret. The heart of a criminal has no emotion such as that."

"Sure. I have feelings...but I still did something horrible! Shouldn't I do time?"

"I would say not."

"And why is that?" I was beginning to get frustrated. Here I was getting kidnapped multiple times, and nothing was happening to me.

"Because, the first time I laid eyes on you, I saw a woman scared and confused. No crazed criminal has those emotions when they are doing the crime."

"Yes, but I have changed a lot. I became Ruse. I did everything out of..." Love. flashed in my thoughts, "...obedience. The Joker saved my life before, and I owe him so much."

"You've paid back your debt. It is time to get your life back."

The sentence struck a nerve with me, "My life? What life? Going back to a broken home? Going back to an abusive father? Who, by the way, tried to kill me! I have no life to go back to!"

Hands balled into fists as frustration filled Batman. It almost seemed as if he was trying to decide something, "You can go back to me!" he ripped his mask off.

Set Fire to the Rain by Adele