Love of a Dark Knight

Chapter 1 (Ladies And Gentlemen There’s A New Clown In Town)

“I told you Rach that I was gonna be late to lunch with you. I had to stop at the bank and put some cash into the savings.” I stopped as I heard her complaining about how I always find something else to do so that I can delay our meeting or whatever she called it. I pulled open the door of the restaurant and walked across the street, with my heels clicking every step. “Yeah well you’re lucky I even moved back to this place. Crime rates up with weirdo mentally challenged people and just weird people all together.” I muttered as some guy turned around to leer at me. I shuttered and quickly took a step to the left more behind a big burly guy in front of me and continued to walk down the street. It isn’t really safe to be walking around Gotham alone, especially at night, but I still haven’t gotten enough money to afford a car. No matter how good of a pay check I get insurance along with gas and repairs would put a dent in my monthly rent.

“Rose you have to see him.” I rolled my eyes and stopped to leaned on my right leg. I was staring into an electronics store that had the TV’s in the window. It was some kind of talk show that was on and I had to read the subtitles instead of watching or listening to the people. The host, Mike Engel, was laying it onto the Mayor it looked like.

ENGEL: “Mr. Mayor, you were elected on a campaign to clean up the city... when are you going to start?”

MAYOR: “Well, Mike-.”

ENGEL: “Like this so-called Batman- a lot of people say he's doing some good that criminals are running scared...but I say NO. What kind of hero needs to wear a mask? You don't let vigilantes run around breaking the law... where does it end?”

I snorted in disgust. You should probably think about wearing a mask with your ugly mug having to be on television every night.

ENGEL: “Yet, we hear rumors that instead of trying to arrest him the cops are using him to do their dirty work.”

MAYOR: “I'm told our men in the Major Crimes Unit are close to an arrest.”

I just turned away rolling my eyes. How dare those people think they would be better off without Batman. They would have so much more crimes and deaths without that poor person running around all night defending them. Maybe I should become a villain and feed those kinds of people to murders and see if they continued to believe they were better off without Batman.

When I had completely turned around the sight before me was unbelievable. I was staring at one of the banks that basically belonged to the mafia and it appeared that it had gotten robbed early that day. That person better hope they never get caught because they would definitely be in for it.

I stared at the gaping hole in the wall and my mouth fell open. It looked like a semi truck ran right through it! I shook my head and continued to walk home still listening to Rachel talk away. These past few days Rachel has been trying to get me to meet up with Bruce. After he went missing almost seven years ago I semi helped Rachel look for him. I mean I was in Virginia, what was I going to do? When he came back it was quite a shock to most people because they thought he was dead. I was happy he was alive but not enough to come and see him. I only finally moved back here when the coffee shop burned down because Lisa left a gas burner on in the oven and had been messing with a lighter near it which caused a fire or rather an explosion. She wasn’t hurt badly and it was pretty dead that day so no one else got hurt seriously but after that I couldn’t find a job anywhere else so Rachel offered for me to stay at her place. I took it up recognizing a losing battle and I packed up and left. I didn’t stay with her long though since I got back up on my feet financially and I bought myself a nice small and cozy apartment on the nice side of East Gotham. And I’ve stayed there ever since. I was only working as a waitress yet again but they paid well. Thing was that I was working in a restaurant that Bruce owned. Ironic right? Just hope to God he never comes in eat.

“Rachel. Let me explain this to you as nicely as I can after about the millionth time. I. Don’t. Want. To. See. Him.” I said through gritted teeth. She knew I was still mad at her slightly from trying to push this meeting on me but Bruce now only wanted to see me because he saw my picture in the newspaper. It was a good picture too and I knew about his different girls on different nights. His life wasn’t exactly private in this city. I wasn’t going to become some sort of lustful chase for him. Anyways I had helped run a Walk-a-thon about a week ago for animal abuse and neglect and reporters did a story on it. It wasn’t anything special and I thought they were making a big deal out of nothing but I guess since all the money we raised went to the charity and a cancer treatment it was a nice deed.

I heard Rachel sigh on the other end and I could only imagine her rubbing her temples in frustration. I looked down at my shoes trying to come up with some answer that just tells her I’m not ready to reopen that can of worms when I saw him. Well just a glimpse but I saw him nonetheless.

Batman.

He was jumping the roof tops swiftly and quietly, before he disappeared on the banks roof top. Huh. Wonder what that was about.

“Rachel? I uh…gotta go. Call you tomorrow.” And I hung up on her protests. I looked both ways before crossing the street towards that wide whole. There were police standing in front of it with reporters all around and I had to fight my way to the front to even consider seeing inside the bank.

“Rose? Oh wow Rosemarie! Look at how grown up you’ve become!” I looked up startled before a huge smile crossed my face. A man was walking over the rubble towards me out of the bank. “I almost didn’t even recognize you!”

“Howdy Gordon. It has been awhile hasn’t it?” He grabbed my hand and pulled me into a huge hug. Gordon used to be my neighbor before my parents got hired at the Wayne manor. He used to babysit me and even taught me how to throw a football. We had some good times. “What happened here?”

He beckoned me forward and as I passed under the ‘Do Not Cross’ tape I felt the hairs stand up on my arms and neck. I glanced around looking for the person staring at me but it was too difficult simply because camera’s were flashing like crazy and everyone’s eyes were on Gordon and me. Even Batman’s, who was on the roof of the bank looking down undetected.

Gordon walked me right up to the vault as he told me about ‘The Joker’ and how he took a school bus full of money. Have to give the guy credit for imagination that’s for sure.

I watched the forensic specialists working the room. A female cop named Ramirez, its what her name tag said, who looked in her 30’s handed Gordon prints and indicates with her finger towards the surveillance cameras. She looked at me questioningly before continuing. “He can't resist showing us his face.”

I glanced at the picture and flinched back as if it had punched me. The man was wearing clown make-up and had thick jagged scars up his mouth in a permanent smile. That had to hurt. Gordon and I studied the grainy blow-up of The Joker’s face with him sweating away the clown makeup plastered thick around the mouth. Isn’t there surgery to fix that these days?

“Put this out, by morning we can put a big top over central holding and sell tickets. What's he hiding under that makeup?” Gordon said going into a deep thought as he approached a forensic photographer shooting ‘Grumpy's’ body. Gordon was crouching to look at his clown mask and I went down with him to get a better look. I recalled my statement to Rachel not 20 minutes ago about the weirdo people around here so I stand corrected. These right here folks is Exhibit B and The Joker as Exhibit A. I saw a quick movement and nearly fell over from jumping as Batman stepped out from the shadows. Gordon just nodded at Ramirez before helping me up to my feet. I didn’t even hear him come up next to me. He’s as silent as the night!

“Give us a minute, please, people!” The Forensic team and Ramirez left after that with just me, Gordon, and Batman. Somehow I didn’t think it would be this awkward for me. He was looking at me with a sort of cool calculating way about him and I shivered. It wasn’t from being cold either. I felt myself blush before Gordon handed Batman the blow-up of the Joker. He looked away from me with a small cocky smile but not before I noticed his eyes. His dark brown eyes that just seemed so familiar with me but also like a distant memory. Did I know him somehow?

“Him again. Who are the others?” Batman asked as I continued to look around the scene. Why had Gordon let me in here anyways? I’m not part of this world so is there so reason why?

“Another bunch of small timers.” Gordon replied watching me as I walked around. They had led me to the vault and this would probably be the only time I can be in one so I started checking it out. If there so hard to break into how is it that every time a bank is robbed…they break into them!

Batman pulled a device from his belt moved to the bundles of cash scattered near the clown's body. The device then pinged and Batman picked up the bundle before handing it to Gordon. I raised my eyebrows at them as I walked back over not finding anything of my interest.

“Some of the marked bills I gave you.” He said as Gordon took them.

“Wait a minute. You put your own marked bills in here in case someone broke in and stole the cash? Impressive I must say.” I grabbed the bundle and started examining them and the thing that caught my attention was the fact they looked like ordinary $20, $50, $100 bills. How did he do it then?

Gordon just nodded. “My detectives have been making drug buys with them for weeks. This bank was another drop for the mob. That makes five banks- we've found the bulk of their dirty cash.”

“Time to move in.” Batman said looking at me because I had started to study his outfit. I knocked on it and when the loud clank of my knuckles hitting metal reached my ears I started to laugh.

“You actually made a suit out of metal? That is so freaking cool!” he chuckled and started to walk when something caught my eye in the corner of the vault. I started walking towards it as Gordon waved the photo around for the Batman.

“What about this Joker guy?”

“One man or the entire mob? He can wait.” Batman said turning around and looking at him. He stopped and looked at me for a moment as I bent down a picked up and envelope. Yeah I know you’re not supposed to touch anything at a crime scene but the fact that it had my name on it made any rational thought leave my mind.

“We'll have to hit all banks simultaneously. SWAT teams, backup.” Gordon held up the bundle of banknotes. “When the new DA gets wind of this, he'll want in.”

“Do you trust him?” Batman said slowly walking towards me as I slid my finger under the flap to open it.

“Be hard to keep him out.” Gordon muttered as he bagged the cash. “I hear he's as stubborn as you.”

When I pulled a photo out of the envelope I dropped it and started to scream like it had caught fire and burned my hand.

Gordon and Batman had both rushed over to me and Batman quickly scooped up the photo to look at it. When he saw it his eye widened and he looked at me like he really just noticed me for the first time at the crime scene.

“Get her out of here and somewhere safe Gordon.” And then he was gone. Just vanished.

Gordon had seen the picture if not just briefly but he seen it. He pulled me close to him as I felt the shock roll over me and make me go slightly numb.

Because the picture had been of me in my bed sleeping, this morning, with that very same crude make up painted on my face, or rather the photos face, as the Joker. That wasn’t what made me scream though. The thing that made me scream was the fact that it was the Joker standing over me.

Playfully holding a knife to my throat. And I never even woke up when he was there.