Fan Fiction ❯ The Game We Play ❯ Trouble Rising ( Chapter 23 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: Dark Jester 
You know the saying... loose lips...
Anime/Manga: Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Angst / Drama / Psychological / Romance | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 12.18.2002 | Pages: 1 | Words: 926 | Visits: 228 | Status: Completed
You know the saying... loose lips...
Anime/Manga: Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Angst / Drama / Psychological / Romance | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 12.18.2002 | Pages: 1 | Words: 926 | Visits: 228 | Status: Completed
Chapter 23 - Trouble Rising
"He just. . . And he was. . . And there was. . . And he tried to. . . And then that son of a bitch. . . DAMN IT! JOKER! WHY?!"
Dick brought his fist down on a low bookshelf in Commissioner Gordon's office, breaking it in two. The unexpected destruction brought him to his senses, and he dropped into a chair, groaning and grabbing at his hair.
"I still can't believe it." He moaned. "Sorry about the shelf."
Jim frowned and flicked the ashes of his ciggarette onto the floor. "You still haven't explained to me WHAT it is you can't believe you saw." He glanced over at the destroyed bookshelf, and tried to remember when Batman had poked around through it. "What happened with the Joker, Nightwing? Is Batman hiding him?"
It had been several days since the lunatic had escaped the hospital. He'd left a man dead in his wake, and would probably claim more victims sometime in the near future. Gordon didn't want to see that happening.
"In the damned BATCAVE, Jim!" Dick exclaimed. "And. . . And. . ."
He shook his head and let out a pained squeak.
"I don't know what Joker's done to him," he forced out. "But he's got him thinking that they have all this stuff in common. That they're friends. . . more than friends. . . I think I'm going to be sick!"
The Commissioner narrowed his eyes and watched the exasperated young man in his office, bringing up the images in his memory of the morning at Arkham. It seemed like so long ago, now. Batman and Joker, laying on the floor... together. The hospital... the sudden disappearance of both men... it made too much sense.
"Are you sure... you aren't wrong, Nightwing?" Jim's voice was gruff, tired after days of fitful sleep. Nothing really felt right in the world, anymore.
"Yes. I'm sure." Nightwing insisted. "It was just something about the way Bruce acted around him. I've seen it before. When he starts being nice, it always means he's enamoured of someone, and he called me that night, and the stuff he said. . . Well, I dropped the phone I was so blown away. This whole thing is just WRONG, Jim. We have to DO something!"
Jim stared blankly at Nightwing for a couple of minutes. He lowered his ciggarette and cleared his throat. "Excuse me?" he asked. He wasn't sure if he was getting old, or if he'd just heard... "Bruce? As in... Wayne?" He stood up and shoved rubbed the scruff on his chin, walking around to the other side of his desk to stare out the window. "Makes sense," he stated calmly.
Dick exhaled loudly, threw up his hands, then started banging the back of his head against the wall behind the chair.
*So. Damned. Stupid.* He lashed at himself in time with the brain-scrambling thumps. How had he made THAT mistake? Was he that overwrought about the whole thing? Bruce was going to KILL him.
No he wouldn't. He didn't care anymore. Dick had seen it in his eyes: something had changed. Snapped. Crumbled. He wasn't the same person anymore.
And if Bruce wasn't Bruce, then how could he be the same? He couldn't. How DARE he! How DARE he take those kind of liberties with HIS life? He'd never understood! He'd never really gotten what their relationship was.
Dick felt, more than he'd ever felt since Bruce took him in, like giving up.
"I take that by your silence, that was a slip of the tongue?" Jim smirked a little bit as he twisted to look over his shoulder. He stuck the ciggarette between his lips and shook his head, brushing white hairs from his face. "I don't have anyone to tell it to anymore. Not that I'd tell anyone, anyway. It's Dick, then, right? You don't mind my calling you that? In privacy of course." There was a part of Gordon that was enthralled by this discovery. It was like opening a present while his parents weren't looking.
"I. . . really. . . don't care." Dick said slowly. He thought about yanking of the mask and tossing it across the room, but barely stopped himself from doing it. He clawed at his cheeks and started laughing futilely. "What a mess."
"It'll only get worse," Jim grumbled. "What do you want to do about this? I can't just let a psychopath stay free in the city. I have to take him in. You understand that. Batman... he... might have to take a very hard fall." There was a pause as he put out the ciggarette. "You gonna be there to catch him?"
Nightwing looked at the Commissioner with the intensity he'd learned from his former mentor.
"If he wants to go down with the Joker," he said, "I'll take him down myself."
"So be it." Gordon shook his head angrily. "But I agree with you. I find it hard to fathom that after all these years... it's come to this."
"You didn't see him after Vesper got killed. He lost it. Pulled away. Very much like this. For a while during No Man's Land, same deal." Dick sighed. "I'm upset, but I'm not totally surprised. And there were so many times that he almost got himself killed saving the Joker's sorry hide. I never totally understood that. I guess I do now."
"I never got close enough to notice." Gordon pulled on his overcoat and rested a hand on the door frame. "Are we headed anyplace in particular, then?"
"Back to the cave, I guess." Dick said, standing up.
Just then, the phone rang.
*
"He just. . . And he was. . . And there was. . . And he tried to. . . And then that son of a bitch. . . DAMN IT! JOKER! WHY?!"
Dick brought his fist down on a low bookshelf in Commissioner Gordon's office, breaking it in two. The unexpected destruction brought him to his senses, and he dropped into a chair, groaning and grabbing at his hair.
"I still can't believe it." He moaned. "Sorry about the shelf."
Jim frowned and flicked the ashes of his ciggarette onto the floor. "You still haven't explained to me WHAT it is you can't believe you saw." He glanced over at the destroyed bookshelf, and tried to remember when Batman had poked around through it. "What happened with the Joker, Nightwing? Is Batman hiding him?"
It had been several days since the lunatic had escaped the hospital. He'd left a man dead in his wake, and would probably claim more victims sometime in the near future. Gordon didn't want to see that happening.
"In the damned BATCAVE, Jim!" Dick exclaimed. "And. . . And. . ."
He shook his head and let out a pained squeak.
"I don't know what Joker's done to him," he forced out. "But he's got him thinking that they have all this stuff in common. That they're friends. . . more than friends. . . I think I'm going to be sick!"
The Commissioner narrowed his eyes and watched the exasperated young man in his office, bringing up the images in his memory of the morning at Arkham. It seemed like so long ago, now. Batman and Joker, laying on the floor... together. The hospital... the sudden disappearance of both men... it made too much sense.
"Are you sure... you aren't wrong, Nightwing?" Jim's voice was gruff, tired after days of fitful sleep. Nothing really felt right in the world, anymore.
"Yes. I'm sure." Nightwing insisted. "It was just something about the way Bruce acted around him. I've seen it before. When he starts being nice, it always means he's enamoured of someone, and he called me that night, and the stuff he said. . . Well, I dropped the phone I was so blown away. This whole thing is just WRONG, Jim. We have to DO something!"
Jim stared blankly at Nightwing for a couple of minutes. He lowered his ciggarette and cleared his throat. "Excuse me?" he asked. He wasn't sure if he was getting old, or if he'd just heard... "Bruce? As in... Wayne?" He stood up and shoved rubbed the scruff on his chin, walking around to the other side of his desk to stare out the window. "Makes sense," he stated calmly.
Dick exhaled loudly, threw up his hands, then started banging the back of his head against the wall behind the chair.
*So. Damned. Stupid.* He lashed at himself in time with the brain-scrambling thumps. How had he made THAT mistake? Was he that overwrought about the whole thing? Bruce was going to KILL him.
No he wouldn't. He didn't care anymore. Dick had seen it in his eyes: something had changed. Snapped. Crumbled. He wasn't the same person anymore.
And if Bruce wasn't Bruce, then how could he be the same? He couldn't. How DARE he! How DARE he take those kind of liberties with HIS life? He'd never understood! He'd never really gotten what their relationship was.
Dick felt, more than he'd ever felt since Bruce took him in, like giving up.
"I take that by your silence, that was a slip of the tongue?" Jim smirked a little bit as he twisted to look over his shoulder. He stuck the ciggarette between his lips and shook his head, brushing white hairs from his face. "I don't have anyone to tell it to anymore. Not that I'd tell anyone, anyway. It's Dick, then, right? You don't mind my calling you that? In privacy of course." There was a part of Gordon that was enthralled by this discovery. It was like opening a present while his parents weren't looking.
"I. . . really. . . don't care." Dick said slowly. He thought about yanking of the mask and tossing it across the room, but barely stopped himself from doing it. He clawed at his cheeks and started laughing futilely. "What a mess."
"It'll only get worse," Jim grumbled. "What do you want to do about this? I can't just let a psychopath stay free in the city. I have to take him in. You understand that. Batman... he... might have to take a very hard fall." There was a pause as he put out the ciggarette. "You gonna be there to catch him?"
Nightwing looked at the Commissioner with the intensity he'd learned from his former mentor.
"If he wants to go down with the Joker," he said, "I'll take him down myself."
"So be it." Gordon shook his head angrily. "But I agree with you. I find it hard to fathom that after all these years... it's come to this."
"You didn't see him after Vesper got killed. He lost it. Pulled away. Very much like this. For a while during No Man's Land, same deal." Dick sighed. "I'm upset, but I'm not totally surprised. And there were so many times that he almost got himself killed saving the Joker's sorry hide. I never totally understood that. I guess I do now."
"I never got close enough to notice." Gordon pulled on his overcoat and rested a hand on the door frame. "Are we headed anyplace in particular, then?"
"Back to the cave, I guess." Dick said, standing up.
Just then, the phone rang.
*