An Unhealthy Attachment

A/N - Hurroooo, and welcome to the next demented chapter written by my equally demented mind. :) And bajibba-bajibba, what on EARTH have I done to deserve you guys? Seriously, you're AMAZING! So many nice comments on just the first chapter alone! -hugs- I've also had quite a few readers IM me, and I love talking to you guys about TDK or anything in general, so if you feel like chatting with me, please do so...if you DARE, MWUAHAAAAAA!

And you know what's a good song for Batman, in general? Coldplay's "Viva la Vida"...I never really realized that until I saw CopiPan's vid for it. And now, coincidentally, I can't get it out of my head. XD It's playing right now on my iPod, in fact, haha. But anywhos, I'm babbling...I'll tell you some more pointless stuff at the end. ;)

By the way, have you noticed how (as my stories progress) my chapter titles get less and less creative? Hahaha... -draiiiiined-

CH 2: The Joker

"Get away from me!"

Giggling, the figure reached out to touch Rachel's cheek, but she bit at his invasive appendages before he could complete his task. Appearing to be momentarily surprised by this, the maniac gave a whoop of a laugh while purring, "My, my, my, you're far feistier than I remember you being...guess all that hospital food's done you a world of good."

"Who are you?" Rachel demanded. "You keep acting like you know who I am, but I don't know you at all..."

"Not know me? Why Harley, I'm crushed..." Giving her a scarred grin, the man flicked out a black and white card before revealing, "This is who I am -- look familiar?"

"A Joker?"

He clucked his tongue in disapproval. "No, no, no, not a Joker, the Joker...Good God, what is it with you people and not being able to discern the proper article?"

"Well would you rather we called you El Joke-o?" Rachel snapped, her eyes narrowing as she wondered how it was possible for one man to be so egostistic.

The Joker's eyes almost seemed to light up. "A-ha, your first unfunny joke! I guess we really are meant to do this forever, aren't we?"

"What do you mean?"

"Before you 'died', I prophesized that if you didn't go out in all your blazing glory, that I would finally concede to my fate, so here I am...ready to see what cards I've been dealt next." Grinning wickedly, he sustained, "But I must say that three years is a very long time to wait, beautiful. I've missed our little...chats."

Shivering, Rachel tried to ignore the maniac as he ran a gloved finger along her chin, but after a while she found herself shunting from his touch and racing toward the equipment holding her IV bag. Wheeling it around in preparation to use it as a weapon, she narrowed her eyes before warning, "Now I don't know who the hell you think you are, or why you think you know me, but if you touch me again, so help me God, I will shove this thing up your ass!"

The Joker doubled over with mirth, his hands clapping amidst his glee as he gasped out, "My God, I guess I really have missed this... Y'know, if you'd have been this kinky on our oh-so-special little night, you could've avoided this situation entirely!"

Rachel blinked, her mouth agape as she fully processed his salacious words. The possibility of her having actually slept with this man, let alone having had some sort of twisted relationship with him was absolutely preposterous!

"Who are you?" she demanded, "And I mean really, this time... The likelihood of my ever associating with a creep like you is next to none, because Dr. Dandridge told me I used to help out with charities and other organizations in Gotham City."

The Joker giggled, his tongue reflexively licking his lips. "Man, you really are gullible, aren't you? I wrote all that down because it would be, er...rude of me to tell the whole world what you're really capable of."

Rachel instinctively loosened her hold on her would-be weapon. "What? Do you mean to tell me that I...?"

"Yes" the Joker smugly interrupted, "you were a bad, bad girl, Miss Quinzel, and I'm here to remind you of that fact."

--

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what do you mean you're changing the bridesmaids dresses? I thought Ashleen told you she wanted purple!"

Miranda shrugged. "Well yeah, but Dusty happens to like the pink chantilly lace, and I'm inclined to agree with him. It's far more chic and would go much better with the decorations."

Scowling, Harvey mocked, "Oh, I see...were you both prone when you made this decision?"

"Um, excuse me?"

"Did you or did you not happen to have a view of the ceiling while discussing this?"

Positively horrified, Miranda shrieked, "Harvey Benjamin Dent! Why does everything always have to be about sex with you!?"

Harvey grinned. "Well, there is a baby in your stomach, isn't there?"

"Ugh! Consider your speaking priviledges officially revoked!" Miranda snarled, her fingers practically snapping her pencil in two as she re-wrote the order. "You are such a little priss sometimes, you know that? I hope when you and Ashleen walk down the aisle, you both trip!"

Before Harvey could give a most likely scathing retort, a knock sounded at the sliding glass doors that led out to the Dent family pool.

Looking up with a start, Miranda gave a chipper wave while calling, "Bruce, so nice of you to join us! You do know that it's only ten o'clock though, right? You were supposed to swing by around noon..."

He smiled. "Oh, well should I leave and come back later? Because I'd hate to interrupt a good old-fashioned game of family feud."

Blushing, Miranda mumbled several inaudible words as Bruce joined them by the pool, her hair blowing in the summer breeze as she uneasily lifted her flavored water to her lips. When she caught him staring at her behind his sun glasses, she inquired, "Did you bring any ideas for the wedding like we asked? I think Harvey's really worried about the dancing..."

"Hey, I happen to be an excellent dancer!" Harvey defended. "Remember my senior prom? I was on fye-uh!"

Miranda rolled her eyes. "Um yeah, probably only because you used to smoke...and sorry, but juvenile dances don't count."

"See what I have to deal with? Talk about a loving sister" Harvey teased, he and Bruce both grinning as Miranda chose to ignore them. "In all seriousness, though, I need your help since you're my best man...should I wear a tie or go without? Should I pick upbeat songs or slow ones? Should I shave or go a' naturale? I swear, there are just so many decisions!"

Bruce smirked. "Well they sound like every day decisions to me...who do you turn to when you need to find matching socks?"

"Apparently no one, 'cause they never match" Miranda complained. "Just the other day I caught him wearing navy blue with black...would you believe that?"

As Bruce distractedly listened to Harvey's defensive retort, he drummed his fingers while wondering if he should just get what he wanted to say off his chest. After all, both Harvey and Miranda could be potentially affected by the news he'd just learned, so he felt it his civil duty to warn them of the dangers at hand. Now clearing his throat, he smiled wryly as the siblings stopped bickering, his hands folding before him as he asked, "Are you two familiar with BBC news?"

Miranda raised an eyebrow. "The British Broadcasting Company? Uuuh, yeah, vaguely... Why? Don't tell me you're moving to England..."

Bruce gave an uneasy laugh, but he shook his head amidst his apprehension. "No, no" he assured her, "not at all...it just seems that they've had a rash of low-scale terrorist attacks for the past few days now."

Harvey frowned. "Well how so? Apparently it wasn't big enough to be nationally televised..."

"Not really, no" Bruce agreed, "but it was big enough to strike fear into the heart of England's national guard. They've been trying to bribe the creep with money, but they should've known he wouldn't accept that."

"Should've known?" Miranda reiterated, confused. "Why would they know this guy, especially if all of this started happening within the past few days?"

Bruce frowned, his jaw tensing as he looked from one friend to the other. "It's because he's already been nationally televised before... England's terrorist is none other than our old friend, the Joker."

Choking on her water, Miranda set down her glass with such force that it shattered to pieces. "My God" she wheezed, "how the hell did he get over there undetected? There's no way he could ever cover up those scars!"

"His cronies had connections with a private airline service -- they flew over about a week ago, but their reasoning is unknown" Bruce confessed. "Look, I'm just as surprised about all of this as you are, but apparently the Joker broke out of Arkham a few weeks ago with the help of some spineless employee. Commissioner Gordon didn't televise this since he feared it would lead to city-wide panic; a completely understandable move on his part, but a very unwise one."

Harvey folded his arms with skepticism. "And you mean to tell me that the Joker just left Gotham behind without causing any problems? Somehow I find that very hard to believe..."

"As do I" Miranda agreed. "As you both know, I had a very brief run-in with the Joker, and he was not the type of man to leave everything behind in perfect order."

Bruce shrugged. "I know, I'm just as baffled by all of this as you are, but I'm only going by what Lucius told me. He could be wrong about the specifics, but I highly doubt it."

"Then...what are we going to do?" Miranda asked, her eyes reflecting her fear as she subconsciously touched her throat. "W-what if...what if he comes back?"

Harvey laughed. "Oh, stop being so melodramatic, Mandy. The creep flew off to greener pastures, so I highly doubt he'd come back to Gotham after having been in a haven like London."

Bruce smiled weakly, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. After all, he wasn't so sure that Harvey was right...

--

Rachel laughed at the Joker's accusation, but it came out considerably strangled due to her fear. "If I was such a 'bad' girl back then, why don't I feel the urge to kill any of the doctors?" Narrowing her eyes, she viciously added, "The only person I'm even remotely tempted to kill right now is you."

The Joker grinned, his blood-red scars stretching amidst his mirth as he purred, "There, 'atta girl...that's the Harley I remember."

Wincing, Rachel hollered, "You do not remember me! If we truly knew one another, don't you think your being here would've triggered a memory for me by now?"

"Check your upper thigh" the Joker smugly urged. "If I don't really know you, how do you explain my knowledge of your eraser-sized birth mark?"

Far too frightened to lift her hospital gown and affirm his words, Rachel warily released her weapon and looked him in the eye. "You could've easily found that out...I'm sure the doctors keep that sort of thing on file."

"Oh? Then what about the proof I have in my pocket?" the Joker pressed. "Underneath my blazer you'll find the key to your past, but only I can help you find it."

Warily approaching him, Rachel held out her hand while urging, "Give it to me, then."

"No."

"What!?"

"You have to prove your worth" the Joker condescendingly explained. "If I were to just give it to you, it would be like rewarding you for breathing."

Positively livid, Rachel abandoned all her prior fears of this man and lunged for his throat, a cry escaping her lips the moment he pinned her arms behind her back and slammed her up against the wall.

"I see you've still got a lot of anger in that beautiful mind of yours...that's good" the Joker purred. Now snaking an arm about her waist, he brought his lips to her ear before revealing, "There's a car waiting for us out front, but you're going to have to cooperate if you ever want me to tell you about your past."

"Let go of me, you creep!" With an elbow to his midsection, Rachel ducked out from beneath his grasp and went racing for the door, her heart pounding as she heard him curse and lunge after her.

Screaming, Rachel saw stars when the Joker grabbed her by the hair and gave it a good yank, a sob escaping her throat the moment he placed a gun against her temple and began dragging her down the hallway.

"Please let me go" Rachel begged, "please, I beg of you! I don't know you, and I don't want to know you!"

"Hey!"

Looking up in surprise, the Joker grinned when he spotted Dr. Dandridge down at the end of the hallway, her hands gripping tightly at her clipboard as she began approaching them with long, determined strides. "You let her go!" she ordered, only to flinch when she finally noticed the gun in the maniac's hand.

"Don't come down here!" Rachel sobbed, a scream escaping her throat as her merciless captor squeezed back on the trigger.

Wincing due to the deafening noise, Collette didn't even have time to react before she felt an excruciating pain explode across her middle. With a gasp, she toppled to the tile floor just as she realized what had happened, blood dribbling down her chin in a steady flow as Rachel's screams gradually became a distant memory.

Shakily reaching for the walkie-talkie at her waist, Collette brought the device up to her trembling lips and rasped, "Security...I-I need...security up at floor two immediately. One of my patients has been kidnapped...I-I've been shot...please be sure to come armed."

Dropping the walkie-talkie due to her rapidly failing faculties, Collette squinted to see as she spotted the Joker and Rachel at the far end of the hallway. From what she could discern, Rachel was screaming, and the maniac was...oh God, he was laughing. Shuddering at the terrible sound, Collette only had time to see him shoot out a window before the darkness swirled across her eyes.

A/N - Blaaah, that sucked and I'm sorry for it. lol I was in a writing funk the past few days, so yeah, this is what happens when that occurs. And I should warn you now that updates will be FAR less frequent since I'll be returning to school the 23rd, so yeah...although your reviews inspire the living crud