An Unhealthy Obsession

A/N - I was able to update (albeit a rather short one, hehe), and I hope that I can continue to write an enjoyable story for you guys since you've all just been SO amazing. I love you guys, and can't thank you enough! I suppose I was able to update since my cousin took me to see TDK to lift our spirits, and let me tell you, watching it with her was HYSTERICAL. I'll tell you all about it at the end of the chapter. :)

CH 8: Sympathy for the Devil

"Out of my way!"

With a jab toward an unsuspecting photographer's midsection, Miranda Dent pushed her way through the paparazzi and stormed into the DA's office, her violet eyes filled with rage as she screeched, "Where the hell is Rachel Dawes!?"

Stunned employees warily pointed in the direction of the assistant DA's office, their curious eyes following after the former Gotham beauty queen as she went storming toward Rachel's door. Without a proper invitation, she swung it open and spotted the attorney behind her desk, Rachel's eyes wide and comically bewildered as she greeted, "Miranda...er, hi. Is there a problem? Because I kind of..."

"Why the hell didn't you tell me what was going on!?" the blonde furiously interrupted, her hand waving a newspaper about before she slammed it down onto Rachel's desk. "Harvey's been in a coma for about a day now, and you didn't feel the need to tell me!?"

Rachel snorted. "Yeah, well the funny thing about that is I was kind of unconscious last night, so this is all news to me, too."

"What?"

"Long story" the attorney wearily admitted. "Now look, if you came here to get me to tell you everything I know, the truth is I know absolutely nothing about the situation. Poor Harvey wasn't doing as well as we thought, so now..." She bit her lip. "...so now he's gone."

"Don't say that" Miranda pleaded, her eyes filling up with tears as she dramatically collapsed into a chair. "My poor big brother is in agony, yes, but he's a very strong man, Rachel. It must've taken a whole lot to knock him down."

Rachel miserably rubbed her eyes. "Just a bullet and a clown, actually...if you've read the paper, I'm sure you already know that."

"I didn't get past the headline, to be honest" Miranda sheepishly admitted. Now averting her eyes down to the paper, she gave a gasp while exclaiming, "Oh...my...God! My big brother was taken down by that elusive crook, the Joker? That is so bad-ass!"

"Um...what?" Staring back at Miranda with the hopes of having misheard her, Rachel shook her head before demanding, "Mandy, what the heck are you talking about? Because of that lunatic, your brother's in the hospital!"

"Well yes, but now Harvey seems like a hero" Miranda explained. "And besides all that, this clown guy's strangely attractive...I used to be afraid of clowns, but I guess my phobia's officially ended!"

"I don't believe I'm hearing this!" Rachel exclaimed. "I mean, my God, am I the only one worried about what's going to become of Harvey?"

Choosing to ignore her explosive remark, Miranda continued to read what little was known about the Joker while tapping her foot on the floor. Although in her mid-thirties, she was still a very fresh and attractive woman. With long, honey blonde locks, sculpted cheek bones, a daintily curved nose, full, blossoming rosebud lips, and big startling eyes, she had always been a celebrity in the making with her movie star good looks. Rachel had constantly been envious of Miranda since she'd been Gotham's reigning beauty queen for ten years, was the spokesperson for Blue Moon Shampoo, and always had a handful of men at her every beck and call. After falling for Harvey, Rachel had been forced to put their differences aside and become fast friends, but it hadn't always been easy.

With a bat of her dark, scimitar-like lashes, Miranda finally folded up the newspaper before turning to Rachel with a mischievous smile. "So" she cheerily began, "what should we do?"

"I'm sorry?"

"What. Should. We. Do?" she impatiently emphasized. "I always find that a nice little shopping spree puts me in a good mood, so if we go to Demure Amor, I'm almost positive we can forget all this yucky negativity for a while."

Rachel frowned. "Um, I really hate to cramp your style and everything, but I've got to meet a friend for lunch in about half and hour."

"Oh yeah, who?"

"Bruce Wayne."

Her eyes immediately lighting up with interest, Miranda gave an elated "oooh!" before urging, "Is it a date? Spill, girly, spill! Who knew lil' ol' Rachel Dawes could hook a bass like billionaire Bruce Wayne?"

"I'm still dating Harvey, and I don't plan on stopping anytime soon" Rachel irritably reminded her. "We can go shopping sometime later this week, but as of right now I've got a business meeting with an old friend."

"I didn't know you two were acquaintences, let alone good friends" Miranda confessed. "Is he as good of a kisser as he seems?"

"Mandy!"

"Ok fine, you're right, bad question...is he at least as good in bed as he seems?"

Sighing, Rachel rolled her eyes before rising to her feet, a strained smile forming across her lips as she mumbled a soft "Catch ya later" and headed for the door.

--

As Rachel walked up the steps to the Blue Marlin Bar and Grille, she could literally feel the eyes of every red-blooded male following after her as she moved. Perhaps it had been a mistake to go for the 'sexy' approach, but she hadn't felt pretty in so long, and the natural panacea had been to doll herself up for a K.O.

Fighting the urge to raise the 'politest' finger toward an exceptionally disgusting slob, Rachel sauntered her way into the dining area before spotting Bruce in the far lefthand corner. With a wave, she cheerily approached him before having a seat, her eyes filled with a strong sense of eagerness as she pressed, "Did you find what I asked for?"

"Whoa, you sure don't waste any time, do you?" Bruce teased. "I mean, can't we at least order something first?" As Rachel gave an exaggerated sigh, he allowed his dark eyes to rove from her pleasant features to her surprisingly racy ensemble. The skin-tight black negligee show-cased an ample amount of cleavage, the beaded straps along her shoulders successfully drawing his eyes upward to scrutinize the soft curve of her neck. Her hair was swept up into a messy clip that left several tendrils crowning her sweet countenance, the rouge in her cheeks giving off a refreshed and youthful appearance like that of a small child's. Bruce couldn't remember the last time she'd looked so beautiful, but that's exactly what she was at that moment...beautiful.

"Um...what are you looking at?"

Feeling his cheeks grow hot, Bruce mumbled something barely audible before placing his napkin into his lap."Nothing, I, uh...just kinda zoned out, I guess."

"Yeah, that seems to happen with you men a lot" Rachel gibed, her nails tapping against the table as she gave an impatient gesture of her hand. When Bruce failed to comprehend, she rolled her eyes while inquiring, "You haven't already forgotten our deal, have you? I agreed to come out here only if you'd tell me everything you learned about the Joker."

"Oh, yeah...guess I did" Bruce mumbled. Darting his eyes warily back and forth, he finally met her gaze with his before confessing, "I don't mean to go back on my word or anything, Rachel, but I really don't like this. I mean, I really, really don't like this."

"Why, is it that bad?"

"Well no, not exactly, it's just that I don't like you taking this whole Joker thing into your own hands" Bruce uneasily admitted. "I mean, shouldn't you just leave this to the police?"

Rachel rolled her eyes, but she somehow managed to give him her best condescending smile. "Bruce, in case you don't remember, I've already tried that and it got me absolutely nowhere. Since the Joker's always paying me a surprise visit, I figured now would be just as good a time as any to start fighting back."

"What, by talking him to death with regurgitated information?"

"No, you smart-ass, but I am going to try and meet him half-way there with the intellectual crap."

Bruce grinned. "Well I think with the usage of 'crap' you're already off to a pretty bad start..."

"Shut up." Managing to smile amidst her irritation, Rachel pushed back a lock of hair before sustaining, "I think I've actually got a pretty decent plan, because this time it comes from the heart."

"The heart?"

"Yes, the heart" Rachel acknowledged. "As you may or may not already know, the heart is the strongest muscle in the body...it can do anything, Bruce, including changing the way you feel about something. If I were to speak to the Joker, I honestly think I can make him have a change of heart."

"What, by showing him some kindness?" Shaking his head, Bruce sighed before adding, "You can't just erase years of disturbed madness by sympathizing with the devil, Rachel. One little talk isn't going to just lift the blindfold from his eyes."

Rachel frowned deeply. "Well maybe not, Bruce, but wouldn't you agree that it's worth a try? I have a feeling that the Joker was just as disturbed as a child as I was, so perhaps I can reach out to him on that level."

Nodding, Bruce folded his hands while admitting, "You're completely right about the Joker having a disturbed childhood, because that's actually when all this madness began."

"Really?"

"Yeah...after researching with Lucius, we discovered a newspaper article on a Norman Napier, his boy Jack, and his wife, Louise. The Joker was that little boy, Rachel, but I must warn you that what we found out is rather disturbing."

Twisting her napkin about within her lap, Rachel anxiously nodded before urging, "Please continue."

Heavily tapping his foot against the tile flooring, Bruce nodded grimly and withdrew a small photograph from his blazer pocket. "This was Jack at age six, clearly before the accident" he solemnly explained. As he watched Rachel take the picture from his hand, he leaned back in his seat and sustained, "Norman was a recovering alcoholic, but domestic issues with his wife soon made him turn back to the bottle for solace. Just as before, he became abusive and dangerous to both himself and his family. One night, after a particularly grueling day, Norman came home drunk because he'd been laid-off from work. Louise immediately began berating him for his blunder, and that unfortunately caused him to blow his top.

"Taking the carving knife that Louise had been using for dinner, Norman cornered his wife in the kitchen before slicing up her face and murdering her in cold blood. After committing the horrible deed, he turned and found little Jack standing there in the doorway watching him, so long story short, he attacked the poor kid and turned him into the monster he is today. Norman was arrested soon after, but Jack had escaped before this occurrence and became adopted by some gang. The rest is pretty much ancient history, so no need for me to go on, I guess."

"Oh, my God..." Gazing back at Bruce in horror, Rachel shook her head before slowly glancing back down at the photograph in her hand, her voice hushed with pity as she whispered, "This means that he told me the truth the other evening...I didn't want to believe it, but..." She bit her lip. "My God, Bruce, would you just look at this picture? He was such a beautiful little boy, but now..." Shivering, Rachel subconsciously brushed at her lips before setting the photograph back onto the table, her eyes remaining glued to Jack's face as she confessed, "I need to save this man's life, Bruce...he was right about my trying to better myself by helping others, but this time I know I need to help out. Whether the Joker likes it or not, I think he needs me." When Bruce groaned, Rachel scowled before seething, "You don't believe me, do you?"

"No, but I do believe in you, Rachel...whatever you need, I'll be sure to provide."

Rachel's face immediately lit up like the sunrise, her hand gently touching his as she murmured, "That has got to be the sweetest thing you've ever said to me, Bruce Wayne, aside from the time you said I punch like a man, of course."

Bruce laughed. "Well, I do try..."

"Ok, then try this for me: I need you to set up a press conference for tomorrow afternoon." When Bruce gave her a questioning look, Rachel matter-of-factly explained, "I need to give a public announcement stating how I'd like to see the Joker...we have no means of solid communication, so I'm going to have to take this into my own hands."

Bruce immediately shook his head. "Rachel, you're nuts..."

"Ah, ah, ah! Didn't you just say you'd provide me with whatever I needed for my plan?"

With a grin, Bruce sighed before begrudgingly admitting, "Well yeah, I guess I did...I'll pencil you in for twelve o'clock on the dot."

Rachel beamed. "Sounds great...now that that's out of the way, why don't we go ahead and order?"

Looking back at her with a smile, Bruce miserably leaned back in his seat and wondered how she'd become 'the girl who got away'.

A/N - Sorry for the super short chapter, but this is basically a filler for -DRUM ROLL- the chapter you've aaaall been waiting for! Er...rather, the chapter CLOSE to the one you've all been waiting for. ;) I'll warn you again that it's going to be SUPER sexual, so look out! lol I think I'll actually be posting an edited version on here since I don't want to get in trouble, so yeah...I'll give you guys the link to the unedited scene when the time comes. But anywhos, I included some Bruce for those of you who asked for him, so hopefully you enjoyed that. :) I also hope you like my OC, Miranda Dent...and whoever can guess who the REAL Blue Moon Shampoo girl is gets a thousand Joker cookies! (Sorry, running out of cool incentives for you guys, hehehe) Let's just say it's a character from one of my FAVORITE TV shows ever, and you all seriously need to watch it. :) Miranda's not based off of her, but they ARE kinda similar...and no cheating by wikidpedia-ing it! lol

Anywhos, on to my lovely little story about the movies. :) My cousin Ashley and I went to see TDK (it was her third time), and since I was planning on studying the characters for this fic, I was super excited since I was tired of my brain draught in regards to ideas. So anywhos, the movie starts, and Ashley just starts talking...and doesn't stop. LOL I swear she'd turn to me and say "This is my favorite scene!" at least three times, so I don't truthfully know what scene she thought was the best, hahaha.

At one point we started playing the "That's what SHE said" game, and I got a really good one. You know the scene where the Joker's heckling that cop about killing his friends? Well, the cop starts taking off his jacket and says something to the extent of "I know you're going to really enjoy this", so I go "That's what SHE said! Kinky clown smex, oh noes!" lol I think my favorite part was when Harvey fell off the building and Ashley goes "Aww, he's still so cute." And I was like "Which half?" and she responded with "The lower half, of course." LOL She is soooo gross! :-P She'd occasionally tell me worthwhile factoids, though, instead of making fun of how ugly Rachel is, hehe. Like, I didn't know that Rachel McAdams was originally asked to play the part of Rachel...that would've owned SO bad! I love her! Ashley also pointed out how it took the make-up artists under an hour to do the Joker's prosthetic cheeks (I thought his face looked a little fuller...guess that was why), and that when he's wearing the clown costume, his daughter's name is on his name tag. That is SO sad...I had no idea he had a daughter. :( But yeah, thanks to all our yakking, I completely missed the end of the movie since we'd come up with a pretty sweet idea for a sequel. I'm thinking of making it into a story (yet another Jokachel, except this time it'll be a love triangle), but I don't know for sure yet since it sounds like it'll be majorly draining.

There were some SUPER annoying people in the audience, too (besides us, haha). There was some really little boy (why was there a little boy in the theatre!?) who kept talking, and I wanted to "put a SMILE on his face", hehe, and there was this weirdo who kept putting his change on the floor and counting it by the light of his white chocolate phone. lol He left after the Joker's last scene, so I guess he was only there for him. There were also these ugly, obnoxious young teenage boys in the front who my cousin wanted to hit on afterwards just to see what they'd do. Needless to say, we didn't do that, but...it would've been funny. XD Ok, I'll shut up now... XD