Straying out of Sanity

As I made my way up onto the roof of the hospital it became clear to me why Bruce Wayne wanted me here; he was picking me up in his very on private helicopter. I guess billionaire playboys really could do whatever the hell they pleased.

I was greeted by one of the pilots and by Bruce himself. And Candi was right, over the years Bruce had become really fucking hot, in an aristocrat kind of way.

"Emmalee," Bruce smiled, talking over the helicopter as best he could, "You look fantastic."

The smile was contagious and I replied with, "Still full of flattery, I see," as he greeted me with a hug.

Ignoring my statement, he continued with, "I apologize about the wind, the other girls were complaining about their hair."

"Does it look like I actually tried to make my hair like this?" I laughed. The 'sex hair' I had accidentally given myself had stuck due to the massive amounts of hair product Jared had applied to ironically keep it neat.

"You'd be surprised what girls do with their hair," he laughed and helped me into his helicopter. The first thing I noticed were three other girls, dressed in significantly better and more expensive dresses than me, wearing very expensive jewelry when I was wearing none, and allover way more beautiful than me. They really were supermodel status. I felt as I once the helicopter left I would be invisible to everyone but myself.

Bruce was quick to prove me wrong, though. To the other girl's obvious displeasure, Bruce sat across from them and right next to me. He didn't bother introducing them to me but instead said, "Girls, this is Emma. She is an old friend of mine."

I got fake greetings from the supermodel girls. I smiled fakely right back at them, wondering why they saw a normal girl like me as a threat. Bruce continued to make idle chit-chat with them, trying to include me as well, but kept his arm around my shoulders the whole way to his penthouse.

Like he helped me in, he helped me out of the helicopter but didn't help any of the other girls, I glanced back at them to see the two pilots helping the girls out instead.

I felt Bruce's arm move to my waist as he said, "Don't worry about them." I glanced at him before looking forward to his penthouse that was completely filled with people, making me suddenly feel self conscious again. Bruce, noticing, continued with, "Don't worry about them either. Just smile and look pretty," he smiled at me, "like you already do."

I couldn't help but to blush at his words and then did as he said and smiled as he walked us into the penthouse full of rich, stuck-up party-goers.

"Sorry I'm late," Bruce said over the crowd's whispers, he glanced, smiling before continuing with, "Glad to see you've started without me. Where's Rachel?" still speaking over everyone. The two of us noticed Rachel standing in the middle of the crowd, staring at us almost angrily. I shrugged at her as Bruce led me more over to her, continuing his speech and grabbing two glassed of champagne as we went with his right hand. "Rachel Dawes, my oldest friend," he smiled and surprisingly gave one of the glasses to me, despite my age. I glanced back to Rachel, who wasn't paying attention to me at all anymore and only to Bruce's slightly embarrassing speech about Harvey Dent, who was undoubtedly right by her side.

After his speech, Bruce rose his glass in a toast to Harvey. "I think your cousin wants a few words with us," Bruce then whispered to me and quickly led me away from the crowd, Rachel following with Harvey loyally right by her side. Bruce brought us into a kitchen full of upper class party foods and massive amounts of champagne and wine.

"Some party you threw, Bruce," Harvey said before anything could escape Rachel's lips.

"Anything for Rachel," Bruce replied, rising some obvious tension between the two men. I glanced at Rachel as she sighed and I did the same.

"You look amazing Emma," she said and tried a smile.

"You don't look surprised," I replied. Bruce was still firmly attached to my waist, Harvey copying the same stance with my cousin.

"I was surprised when I ran into you outside of City Hall wearing a business suit," Rachel said plainly, "So this is no surprise." There was obvious sarcasm dripping from her words but she still sounded casual, keeping the two men with us slightly confused. "I am glad you came though."

"It's not like I had anything better to do," I replied and noticed both men shuffling uncomfortably. It was obvious they both had a thing for my cousin, even excluding how much Bruce cared for Rachel when we were kids. "But anyways, wasn't I supposed to meet somebody?" I asked, trying to relieve the men of their tension.

Rachel's mood changed as she smiled and turned to Harvey, "I wanted you to meet my boyfriend, Harvey." She glanced to me before saying to Harvey, "This is my cousin, more like my little sister, Emmalee Carson. She used to live with me a while back."

"It's nice to finally meet you. She's been talking non-stop about you for the past few days," Harvey told me, extending out his hand.

I scrunched my nose at his hand, folding my arms as I looked back up to him and said, "No offense but... I don't shake hands with politicians."

Bruce Wayne tried to cover his laughs up as coughs as Rachel stared at me, shocked. Harvey, on the other hand, smiled wider and said, "That's a smart move these days," withdrawing his hand back to his side.

~~~

Nearly an hour after meeting Harvey I was sitting alone in the kitchen area, sipping on my fifth glass of champagne, popping martini olives in my mouth and rummaging through the small clutch purse The Joker had given me. Nothing too interesting was contained inside; just a compact mirror, some different tubes of lipstick, a small eyeshadow palette, and a small, cheap, half empty bottle of spray perfume that smelled like oranges and pomegranates, and of course, the cell phone.

The contents of the clutch purse only occupied me for a few minutes until I was bored again. I pulled my self up onto the counter, slipping my heels off, as I began to look through the phone. I didn't get further than flipping it open as a familiar old face entered.

"The party isn't quite as entertaining for the youngest guest, is it Miss Carson?" I heard Bruce's butler, Alfred announce as he entered the room with an empty tray.

I smiled brightly at his words and replied, "Aren't they always? I was always too young," remembering the party's Bruce Wayne would throw when I was younger and still living with Rachel and her parents, and how the always seemed too mature for me, since there was almost a decade's age difference.

"Countless times I've found you in the kitchen, eating at the party favors, I'm not surprised to see you here. And how is the champagne for an under-aged woman tonight? Do you find it to your liking?" Alfred smiled knowingly.

"I think you're the only one who remembers I'm not twenty one yet," I replied, taking another sip, "And it is a bit too dry for me, but it's probably perfect for the rich pricks here," I replied to his question.

Alfred laughed and set down his tray, walking to the wine rack and carefully selecting a bottle before bringing it to me, along with a glass. He poured a small portion of the contents into the glass and then handed it to me. "I believe this will be more to your liking, Miss Carson." I hesitantly took the glass and took a small sip from the contents and identified it as a strangely sweet wine.

"Actually that's a lot better," I smiled as he took my old champagne for me, and filled his tray with fresh glasses before bidding me goodbye for the moment.

Again I was alone, but now with a full bottle of wine left to myself. Since Alfred barely even filled my glass, I took the bottle and generously filled it to the brim. Before I could finish it off, however, another familiar face entered the kitchen.

I rose my eyebrows at the disheveled looking Harvey Dent, but he smiled at me none the less. "It felt like those people were attacking me for a while," Harvey explained and I nodded once in understanding. I then held out my bottle of wine to him, figuring he might need some. Harvey walked forward and accepted the bottle, shortly searching for a glass of his own before drinking some of the wine.

"And to make things worse, I lost track of your cousin," Harvey continued. "Rachel always disappears on me in the times I need her most." I remained silent as he continued to drink the wine. "You don't talk much, do you?" he then asked and, deciding to keep my silence up, I nodded my head 'no' and took a sip from my glass. I have to admit that after the amount of alcohol I had consumed tonight I was beginning to feel a bit tipsy.

"You wouldn't have seen Rachel around, would you?" Harvey asked moments later and I shook my head 'no' again. "Didn't think so. You're smart hiding out in here, you know?"

"I'm not hiding, I'm just bored," I replied blandly and Harvey laughed.

"It's understandable for you to be bored. Hell it's my party and I'm almost bored."

"Almost?" I asked.

"I'm more scared than bored," Harvey laughed.

"You have an entire mob after you and you're worried about these people?" I laughed, "And you need Rachel to protect you?"

Harvey laughed as well, "Yeah, something like that. You think you could help me find her?" Harvey asked me.

"Where would you be without a woman in your life?" I asked him and hopped down from the counter.

"Very obviously lost," Harvey replied as I slipped on my shoes and led him out of the kitchen and into the hall.

"So... Rachel says you two are like sisters?"

"Yeah, in a past tense. We barely speak to each other anymore," I told him.

"Are you still close enough to tell me how Rachel feels about me?" Harvey asked and stepped in front of me in the hallway, stopping the search for my cousin.

"She's dating you isn't she?"

"Well yeah but... Can you tell if she's serious?"

I remained silent, thinking of how to tell him that Rachel was kind of a player back in school. "Well..." I began, "She wanted me to meet you so that's something."

"She never wanted you to meet her other boyfriends?"

"Nope, she used to go through guys like tissues," I smiled, "That was one of our differences, I didn't like using men."

"That's comforting," Harvey lied, obviously distressed by the information.

I smiled again at him anyways before I noticed a small black and white commotion behind Harvey. It was a series of small security screens behind Harvey in the hallway. I set my wine glass down of a decorative shelf directly across from the screens as I recognized one of the men; The Joker.

My brother was right, he was using me. I didn't fully understand how or why but I knew he was. I started to panic, my eyes darting back and forth between Harvey and the screens behind him. Harvey was speaking to me but I couldn't comprehend what he was saying, the alcohol poisoning my system stunted my rationality and, knowing that The Joker was most likely coming for Harvey, I knew I had to do something to stop him. He would wand to find and "save" Rachel if I brought this to his attention but The Joker would get him, so I had to act fast, and save my explanations for later.

"Emma" Harvey asked, "Are you okay-!" Harvey began but I quickly kneed him in his crotch, hard. Harvey immediately doubled over with pain as I wrapped my arm around his neck like Mitch had taught me forever ago. Living on the streets of Gotham City didn't leave me nothing. The sleeper hold worked within seconds on the crippled Harvey Dent and soon he lost consciousness.

I hadn't thought past this point in my panicked state, I dragged Harvey down the hallway and hurriedly stuffed him in a closet, grabbing a mop from inside and jamming the handles with it. As soon as I turned around I heard a shotgun go off in the main room and I fell to my knees in shock. I managed to regain my composure within seconds and, running, I made my way into the main room. As I got there I saw The Joker walking around the room with a shotgun, numerous henchmen frightening Bruce's party guests.

After saving Harvey I figured I had to find Rachel and hide away with her before she did something stupid. I tried to keep out f view from The Joker and his thugs as I searched for Rachel, noticing that he was preoccupied with an elderly man. I continued to weave through the terrified crowd, looking for Rachel before I suddenly heard her voice sound loudly.

"Okay, stop!" She demanded and I, as well as The Joker, turned quickly to face her, the crowd around her moving away quickly.

"Well hello beautiful," The Joker said to my cousin, walking towards her and I started to feel a burning hot sensation in the pit of my stomach. "And you are beautiful."

I was unconsciously moving towards them as someone grabbed me from behind, a knife held loosely to my collarbone. I tried to scream but a hand was strongly wrapped around my mouth.

"It's Jay," I heard whispered into my ear a few times before I calmed down. I half turned to see Jay wearing a ridiculous pantyhose clown mask. If it wasn't for the situation I would have laughed at him. I nodded to show him I understood and let him continue to hold me "hostage".

I returned my attention to The Joker, who was now holding his knife to Rachel's face and talking about his wife, which made me even more angry and jealous at him. Why wouldn't he have mentioned this "wife" before? The Joker continued his story on how he had received his scars, and Jay shook his head behind me.

"What?" I hissed.

"That's not what what Mitch told me he heard The Joker say, he told me his dad gave The Joker his scars, not himself," he whispered back, most words barely comprehensible.

A sudden dark shadow appeared in the room and I looked to see an unbelievable sight; The Batman, moving around the room towards Rachel and The Joker.

I tried to move forward, my intentions now of saving The Joker, but Jay covered my mouth again when I tried to say something. I continued to struggle as Jay asked, "What's wrong with you? Shut up!"

I witnessed Rachel kick The Joker in the crotch, like I had to Harvey but I was surprised when the Joker didn't fully go down, like Harvey had.

"A little fight in you. I like that," the Joker smiled, licking his lips.

"Then you're gonna love me," a deep voice growled and I noticed just how close Batman had been able to get without being noticed. Within the next second I had elbowed Jay hard in his newly healed ribs, making him let go of me. "Sorry," I said quickly and hastily rushed forward towards Rachel.

The Joker's henchmen were already throwing themselves at Batman and failing miserably to attack him. The Joker quickly got involved, producing a blade from his shoe, but being stabbed/kicked didn't stop Batman for very long and The Joker had been thrown down. It was then that he finally noticed me, as I was going for a dropped gun.

"Stay out of this," The Joker told me, reaching the gun before I had and grabbing Rachel, stopping the fight immediately.

"Drop the gun," Batman growled, holding me back forcefully from lunging towards The Joker and my cousin.

"Sure. Just take off your mask and show us all who you really are..." The Joker smiled. Rachel glanced worriedly from myself to Batman, shaking her head 'no' for some reason. The Joker shot out the window behind them as he drew closer.

"No!" I screamed, dropping to my knees and pleading The Joker for my cousin's life, almost babbling through my tears. Batman let go of me and took a step or two towards the pair as The Joker dangled Rachel out the window.

"Let her go," Batman demanded calmly.

The Joker laughed and I realized Batman's mistake. "Very poor choice of words..." And with that The Joker let Rachel fall through the window. I screamed again, and lunged forward but Batman pushed me back and jumped after Rachel. I got back up and ran towards the broken window, hearing Rachel continue to scream but this time The Joker caught my arm and spun me around. Again I was stopped from diving after Rachel, no matter how stupid that would have been. I tried to fight the Joker's grip on my arm by repeatedly hitting his chest with my free hand.

He quickly grabbed my arm, so I was defenseless, and pulled me closer to him as I continued to cry hysterically. "Shut up," he told me, moving both my arms behind my back with one hand and holding the back of my head with the other. "Shh." Instead of choking me or hitting me or holding a knife to my throat like I would have expected from him, he shut me up by kissing me.

I froze the moment his lips caressed mine and he loosened his grip on me to a minimum. My tears had immediately ceased, leaving my cheeks damp as he pulled me closer to him, forcing the kiss deeper. Despite recent events, everything had stopped for me and the only thing that mattered anymore were his lips on mine and his hands on my skin. It felt almost like we were in slow motion and somehow he made everything feel perfect.

I quietly moaned into his lips, pressing my body further into his but within moments he was suddenly halfway across the room, following his thugs out. He was second to last to leave Bruce Wayne's wrecked penthouse, the last was one of his masked henchmen, a distinctive gash wound wrapped up on his arm told me it had to me Mitch, and that the way he was standing told me he was pissed.

That brought me back to what was happening right now. The few party goers left in the room were staring at me and I had no way of explaining my previous actions. Sadly fainting seemed like a good way out of this situation but I never was one for fainting under stress, I was too strong for that. I was, however, in theater way back in junior high, and new how to believably fake it. I only hoped I could pull it off long enough to let what just happened slip everyone's mind.

So taking a shaky breath in, I rolled my eyes back into my head and let my knees go weak and quickly hit the ground, a few shrieks following from the few women left in the room.