To the Point of Obsession

"Finally," I muttered as Bruce told the pilot to go to his house. We were just at his house, and the pilot stopped on the balcony.

"You don't like flights?" Harleen smiled over at me. No matter how many hints I've sent, she seemed like a nice girl and wouldn't stop being ridiculously nice to me.

"I don't think flying is that smart when you could be on the ground."

Bruce laughed. "You're outspoken aren't you?"

"Well seeing as you've known me for less than three days, you wouldn't know," I snapped, getting aggravated. By now, I'd hoped Jack and I would be back home.

He sighed.

"I didn't mean that," I said, putting my hand on his leg. "I just don't like heights," I muttered, looking at him earnestly.

"It's fine," he mumbled, looking out the window. "Why didn't you say anything?" he asked as he held out his hand and helped me out.

"I'm on solid ground, now, it doesn't matter."

He kept holding my hand, but helped Harley out, letting her have his opposite arm. I noticed that the whole party had stopped, and all eyes were on us. I looked down and paid more attention to what I was doing with my feet. As he walked into the big party room, Harley smiled and basked in the attention. I, on the other hand shrunk back.

Bruce walked into the room, and grabbed some champagne from Alfred. I took some and drank it much faster than everyone else. When Bruce was done with his speech to Harvey Dent, I had finished my first glass.

"You need more liquid courage?" Alfred asked, taking my empty glass.

I smiled, but took another one.

A lady that was with Harvey came over. Bruce sighed as he noticed she did. During his speech, I picked up that her name was Rachel. He looked at me, then walked away, taking me with him. "I have to talk to you." He opened the door, leading me out to the balcony. "You seem nervous."

"I just don't like being the center of attention, Bruce."

"I don't have to make you be in the spotlight. Say the word, and I'll give you the world if that's what you want," he said, grabbing my hand. He tossed his champagne out of the glass. "I can give you Gotham," he said.

I held back the urge to say that I already did own it. "I don’t want Gotham… or the world. I just want you… " I bit my lip.

"I don't think I can give you all of me… I need to tell you something, Delilah." He took a step closer. "I'm—"

"Bruce! Harvey may not— Oh! Sorry," Rachel said, flustered.

Bruce stared off into the city. I looked at her. "It's fine."

"Can I borrow him for a little bit?" She took a step forward. "I'm Rachel Dawes."

"Delilah Foster," I said, looking at Bruce. "I'll be in there," I said, squeezing his hand. "I can handle it," I promised when he opened his mouth to protest.

I smiled once at Rachel, then went inside, looking for Harvey. He was nowhere to be seen. I went to Bruce's bedroom and grabbed my purse, dialing Jack's number.

"What?"

"I think it'd be a good time to come."

"Do you have Dent?" he growled, starting an engine. It sounded like they were waiting in the van.

"I can't find him. I looked all over," I said, tossing the wig off. I really hated it. My hair cascaded down my shoulders, and out to its full length. I brushed it out and pulled it back up into a bun. Pulling on the wig, I waited for what the Joker would say.

"Okay, it'll be interesting. We're here, get out and look pretty."

I nodded, although he couldn't see me and hung up. "God, they drove fast," I thought out loud, walking to the party room.

I couldn't find Rachel, Dent, or Bruce. I found a place to stand by the elevator, grabbing a glass of champagne from Alfred. I mingled with him for a second, but when the elevator came up, he went to greet the 'guest'. I felt bad when the Joker knocked him out, but it was funny to watch.

I smiled at the Joker, who winked at me as he went to circle the guests. I was given a gun by Doug, who stood by me and watched the Joker work. "So, nice party, huh?"

"Oh yeah," I smiled, glancing around the room. I lost the smile as I saw Harley come out of one of the rooms. "I can't stand her!" I muttered, nudging Doug.

He looked at me, then at Harley. "Dayum," he whispered. "She's hotter than-"He caught my glare and changed his sentence, "burnt banana bread, which is gross."

I rolled my eyes, and then walked over to her. She realized that it was the Joker, and she was struggling to get to him. I grabbed her arm and pulled her back. She glared at me. "You," she spat, eyeing the gun. "You little conniving whore."

"Harley Quinn?" I said the name with such sarcastic mocking; I knew that if the Joker had been paying attention to us, he'd be proud.

Harley's eyes got big, and she immediately tried to attack me, but I easily held her back. She kept struggling, drawing the attention to us instead of the Joker.

"I thought I told you to play nice," he scolded, looking at me.

"Puddin'," she said, now being held by me. "I missed you so—"

The sentence wasn't finished due to the fact I collided the gun with her head. She fell lifelessly to the ground like a little ragdoll. I smiled at the Joker, saying, "I'm done, carry on."

He smiled, then looked at the crowd, asking, "Where is Harvey Dent?" He circled once, then said, "I'll settle for his loved ones."

"We're not intimidated by thugs," one man with graying hair said to him.

The Joker looked at him for a long second, and then said, "You know, you remind me of my father." He took out one of his many knives and added, while grabbing him by the neck and threatening him with the knife, "I hated my father."

"Stop!"

The Joker looked at me, motioning for me to get the man as he walked to Rachel. I went to the man and grabbed his arms, pinning them behind him. I tightened my grip as he muttered, "Hello, beautiful," while taming his hair, to Rachel. "You must be Harvey's squeeze," he said, still advancing, "and you are beautiful." The man I was holding cried out in pain as I twisted his arm.

The Joker looked back at me, a smirk etched on his painted face. "You look nervous," he sneered, pulling close to her face. "Is it the scars?" He licked his lips and pulled her closer to him. "Come here, I wanna tell you something." The Joker paused for a second, then said, "I had a wife, beautiful," I clenched my jaw and gripped harder on the man, "like you. But she gambled. And one day, she got in deep with the sharks, and they carve her face in."

It occurred to me that he was telling yet another story about his scars. I came to realize that the scars were more than a feature on him. They were him. He couldn't survive without them, and all the stories were part of truth, yet, not completely.

"I tried to tell her I still loved her, but she won't hear it. So… I stick a razor in my mouth and do this," he showed off the scars to her, "to myself. But you know what? She can't stand the sight of me! But now I see the funny side. Now, I'm always smiling."

He let go of Rachel for a second, and Rachel took her chance to hit him. He keeled over, but began laughing. "A little fight in you. I like that."

A deep, throaty voice overtook the room, "Then you're gonna love me."

I looked over and shoved the man away, moving towards Batman. The Joker started fighting with the bat, getting beaten. But still, he pushed me away when I was close enough to the bat to do any damage. I glared up at him, watching him stab Batman with his shoe. The Joker walked grabbed Rachel when the bat was preoccupied with the shoe problem.
The Joker blew out the window behind him and hung Rachel out of it.

"Let her go," Batman growled. The Joker shrugged and shook his head.

The bat growled, literally and grabbed me, even though I was on the floor and unarmed. "Let her go," Batman said, holding a knife to me. I was gripping on his arm, as it was the only thing keeping me there. His forearm was held against my throat, and his other hand held a knife to my chest.

I tried desperately to communicate with Jack, but he was staring at the bat more than me. He smirked, then said, "Very poor choice of words," and dropped Rachel out the window.

I wasn't very aware of my senses in the few seconds after Rachel was dropped. I heard Batman yell, and I felt a pain in my head and a burn in my side. I didn't know what it was though. I hit the floor, and heard laughing, then saw black.