An Unhealthy Obsession

CH 2: Out of the Blue

"Wow, what's with the junkfood binge? Were you asked to go undercover as a heavy-weight, or something?"

Glaring up at her beau from her ice cream, Rachel gave him a whack on the arm before muttering, "I'll have you know that I can leave you for Ben and Jerry anytime, Harvey. They, at the very least, would let me eat my ice cream in peace."

"Only because they make it" he smugly shot back. When Rachel rolled her eyes, his gaze softened with concern as he had a seat on her desk. "Rough night?" he asked. "You look pretty worn out..."

"You have no idea" Rachel miserably agreed. "It took me until 5:45 to fall asleep, only to have my blasted alarm go off fifteen minutes later. It must've been plenty of time, though, because I was still able to have one hell of a nightmare."

Harvey tilted his head in concern. "You wanna talk about it?"

"No...I've had enough thinking about it, to be honest." Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she asked, "What's the latest on the de Salmo case? I know you asked me to review the files last night, but in case you don't remember, our evening was cut rather short. The last thing I wanted to do was figure out de Salmo's rights when my life had been dangling in the balance only hours before."

Harvey winced. "So you haven't been able to get that nutjob out of your mind either, huh? When I found out what'd happened to you, I was scared senseless."

"Well it's comforting to know my boyfriend's a wimp" Rachel teased. "In all seriousness, though, I really don't want to talk about it right now...maybe not ever, for that matter."

"Rachel, it's not healthy to bottle things up like that..."

"Thank you for the memo, Dr. Phil -- I'll be sure to keep that in mind" she grumbled. Setting down her spoon, she shook her head before apologizing, "Look, I'm sorry, that was completely unfair...it's just that this guy has me more scared than I've ever been in my entire life, and to actually talk about it makes me feel as if I'm accepting defeat. I can't let him get to me if I'm going to help you in this affair, Harvey, so please...let's just drop it."

Although Harvey clearly wanted to voice his displeasure, he promptly closed his mouth and smiled. "Fine" he agreed, "but only if you let me have a bite of your ice cream."

Rachel grinned. "Well with an offer as considerate as that, how can I possibly say no?"

--

Gotham was eerily dark that evening, but Rachel paid it no mind as she continued to watch the Batman DVD's Harvey had lent her.

"They've got it all wrong" she mused, giving a laugh at one of Robin's corny remarks. As she continued to shovel spoonful after spoonful of Captain Crunch into her mouth, she gave a grunt when the phone rang on her office desk. Feeling rather guilty for having pushed off work to abate her fears, Rachel gingerly lifted the phone off its cradle and placed it against her ear. "Hello, Rachel Dawes speaking?"

"Eating on the job again, are we?"

Frowning about her mouthful of cereal, Rachel irritably grumbled, "And I suppose you're going to make some witty remark about my weight, again? Because believe me, I'd love to talk and all, Harvey, but I'm kind of in the middle of something."

"No, no, this is important...it's about the Joker."

Practically choking on her cereal, Rachel hurriedly set the bowl down before spluttering, "What? I-I mean, how could this possibly involve me? You should probably be talking to Commissioner Gordon..."

"No, Rachel" Harvey stubbornly interjected, "I'm calling you directly so I can save your life. The Joker just televised his latest ransom, but this time he's made it clear that he wants you."

Rachel suddenly felt violently ill, her head spinning as she gripped onto her desk for support. When she finally found her voice, she squeaked, "Well I guess I need to go to him, then...I couldn't possibly live with myself if someone died because of me."

"No" Harvey argued, "I want you to get out of there and go to Bruce's place immediately. Alfred already knows of my plans, so he'll be sure to let you in."

"But Harvey..."

"Dammit, Rachel, I'm not going to lose you!" he shouted. "The police and I already have a hunch on where the hostage is being held, so please don't worry about him. Just get in your car and don't stop for anyone or anything, got it?"

Rachel nodded fearfully. "Yes...I-I'll leave now."

"Good. I'll be sure to check up on you in a few hours."

Practically slamming the phone down onto its cradle, Rachel began to panic as she gathered her belongings with jittery fingers. She was finally noticing how dark the streets of Gotham were that evening, and she was completely determined to make it to Bruce's before it got any worse.

Pulling her overcoat closely about her shoulders, Rachel grabbed her purse from off the desk and went racing for the door, curses escaping her lips when she briefly had trouble opening it. Dammit, now wasn't the time to be having dexterity issues!

After having gotten past the mild obstruction, Rachel went tearing through the office like a madwoman on the loose. Her heart was pounding, her breath was shallow, and her shoes were clacking so loudly against the flooring that she feared she'd be given away.

When Rachel finally made it to her car, she began to significantly calm down. The moon was directly overhead, so she was in plain sight by the passerby and could easily be rescued if needed. Reaching into her purse, she fiddled with her keys a moment before hastily opening the car door, her chest heaving with adrenaline as she hopped inside and reached for her seatbelt. As she did so, she noticed something peculiar on the dashboard, her eyes widening as she slowly lifted the black and white card up to her ever-curious gaze. It was a joker...

Before Rachel could even think to scream, a masked thug sprang forward from the backseat and placed a chloroformed rag over her nose, her eyes rolling back in her head as she helplessly collapsed into the assailant's arms.

A/N - Sorry if anyone felt Rachel was too bitchy this chapter, but I figured that's how I'd be acting if I were in her shoes, so I just went with it. After all, I think I'd be pretty darn fiery if some nutjob were after me! lol I also had her and Harvey a tad playful since I love the whole comic relief thing -- I noticed that they were rather playful with one another in their dialogue in TDK, so I don't think I swerved TOO off-course. ;) And I know most people don't eat and watch TV in their office, but I SO would. ;) I'd ALSO like to apologize for saying the Joker would be in this chapter, because as it turns out, he's not...obviously. lol But don't worry, he definitely IS in the third chapter, because I'm writing dialogue for him as we speak. :)