An Unhealthy Attachment

A/N - Wow, talk about nice classes this semester...I have TWO whole classes where I don't even have to pay attention, so I was able to work on this and my one-shots the entire time. :-D I also had more lovely Joker dreams, and I made a JOKACHEL COMMUNITY on livejournal called JokerRachelFans, so I highly encourage you to join! I posted some splices of Mistah J and Rachel gettin' their groove on (nothing explicit), so you can see those there. :) P.S., I think my linguistics professor is a pimp...he has the one long pinky nail, and it's like wtf? lol Anywhos, sorry for leaving you guys hanging with yet ANOTHER cliffhanger, but I'm a butt-face like that. XD Hope you enjoy!

CH 8: She Came and Left with the Wind

Slamming Rachel against the adjacent wall, the Joker's eyes alighted with a molten fury as he pressed the blade in between her lips, her own eyes mirroring his gaze as she felt the knife cut into the corner of her mouth. Biting back tears, Rachel trembled as the familiar, tinny taste of blood began to pervade her senses, her hands gripping at his shoulders as she squeezed her eyes shut and silently willed him away.

Tugging at a lock of her blonde hair, the Joker snarled, "Where are your instincts now, hm? What are they telling you to do to me? Save the day and put a bul-let in my buh-rain?"

"N-no" Rachel choked out, her voice hoarse.

The Joker gave her a mocking look. "No? Why Harley, you disappoint me..." Suddenly removing the blade from her mouth and turning it so the handle was facing her, he grinned while cooing, "You wanna take it, don't you? You want to revel in the sen-sation of my buh-lood oozing down over your fingers?"

"No" Rachel sobbed, "no, I don't!"

"Well why not?" he purred. "You'd be doing Gotham a favor, not to mention you'd be helping your puh-recious Harvey Dent-uh."

Gaping up at the Joker in surprise, Rachel felt an odd sensation overtake her at his words. Why had he said that, and why did her heart palpitate at the very thought of Harvey being hers?

Biting her lip, Rachel swallowed as the Joker wiped the blood away from her mouth with his finger, his lips pulling back into a sneer as he placed the gloved digit into his mouth and began to suck away her essence.

Feeling a disturbing sense of eroticism from his actions, Rachel closed her eyes and pressed herself more closely against the wall, a squeak escaping her lips when he wedged a knee in between her thighs and wrapped his hand about her throat.

"What am I going to do with you, Harrrley?" he purred, his scars now rubbing against her cheek as he gave a groan. "Beautiful, beautiful Harley..."

Shivering and powerless to stop him, Rachel gave a groan of her own when the Joker lapped at the wound on her mouth, his fingers fisting her hair as he continued to hold his knife to her chin.

"Please stop" Rachel begged, completely breathless. "Please, I don't want this..."

Feeling a well of fury stir within him at her words, the Joker tightened his grip about Rachel's throat as he snarled, "Oh, my poor, poor Harley-Har-Har...do you think I wanted it whenever my father came at me with his knife? Do you think I wanted to be viewed as a fuh-reak?"

Confused and frightened by his sudden change of mood, Rachel's heartrate began to quicken as the Joker gave a growl and sent her sprawling to the floor, tears burning along her lashes as she curled up into a ball and shielded herself from his vicious blows.

"Get up!" he hollered, his irises glistening with a pain and agony that Rachel had never before seen in his eyes. It frightened her, but at the same time it caused her bleeding heart to go out to him more than she'd ever willingly admit.

Slowly rising to her feet, Rachel wiped at her cheeks while mumbling a hushed apology, the Joker promptly stalking past her in order to bring a terrified Miranda Hubbard to sit upon a chair.

"It's time" he grumbled, his hands visibly shaking as he pulled a cell phone out from his coat pocket. "Call up dear ol' Harvey-boy and see what he's decided."

Giving him an incredulous look, Miranda moved to remind him that she was tied up when the Joker suddenly giggled, his palm slapping his forehead as he remarked, "Ah, right, right, right...don't worry, I'll do it." Dialing the number, he then placed the phone by the blonde's ear and waited, a sick sense of pleasure filling his soul at the sight of her abundant tears.

After a brief pause, Miranda choked out, "Harvey? Hi, it's me...i-it's Miranda..."

"Mandy? Oh, thank God, are you ok? Has he hurt you? Do you need...?"

"No, no, I'm fine, Harvey" she miserably assured him, "please just tell me how you're doing..."

Harvey notably paused, his voice quivering with emotion as he whispered, "Even now you're thinking of everyone but yourself... God, Mandy, it's ok to be scared."

Miranda gave a tearful smile. "Oh Harvey, I am scared... I'm scared for you and Dusty...I'm scared that once I'm gone he'll go after you, too."

"Oh, gimme a break" the Joker groused. "Just get him to tell you his answer, already!"

Cringing at his tone, Miranda visibly trembled before closing her eyes, her breath growing shaky as she sustained, "Now Harvey, I know you don't want to hear this, but...but it's time for you to tell me your decision."

"No" Harvey argued, "no, I can't tell you, Mandy...go ahead and put the Joker on, please."

Miranda bit her lip. "Harvey, it's ok if you choose the children -- in fact, I want you to."

"Mandy, for the love of God, just let me talk to the Joker!"

"Harvey, stop it!" Miranda shouted, tears streaming down her cheeks as she miserably shook her head. "You're just prolonging the inevitable, and I want you to know that I won't hate you for not choosing me...in fact, you'll be my biggest hero since you'll be sacrificing a part of yourself for the sake of our city. I love you, big brother, and these past few years have been nothing short of great for me. I never thought we'd be given a second chance to grow up together, and now..." She gave a tearful smile. "...Now you can tell your children how your bitchy sister would give you wet willies while you drove to work."

Harvey laughed, but it was noticeably strained. There was a long pause, then a pitiful "I'm so sorry", the sound of the DA's sniffling causing Miranda's heart to break as the Joker abruptly yanked the phone away and brought it to his hear. "You done yet, Dent?" he taunted, a delighted gleam coming to his eye when he heard Harvey given an outraged roar. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, watch the language, Harrrvey...wouldn't want Miranda's lit-tle baby to hear such dread-ful words, hm?"

"You son of a bitch, if I ever find you alone, so help me God..."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, I know, you'll kill me, but that's so boring" the Joker disinterestedly returned. "Couldn't you spice it up a bit by saying how you're going to kill me? Poison, perhaps? A nice bludgeoning to the head? Or, even better, a reinactment of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre?"

There was a pause, then the sound of Harvey's ragged breathing, his tone tired and filled with sheer enmity as he hollered, "I've chosen the children, alright? What more could you possibly want from me!? I chose a bunch of kids I've never met over my own sister -- a woman I happen to love very much -- and her unborn child! How cold and unfeeling can you be? How can you murder them in cold blood just for the sake of my suffering!?"

The Joker giggled. "If you think long and hard-uh, Harrvey Dent, I think you'll find that you've just answered your own quh-uestion. Seeing the emotions on a grieving individual is unique -- tre-men-dous-ly fascinating -- and being the one to cause said grief is almost orgasmic. Having such control over just one life is like playing God, and that's when I truh-uly feel like I can relate to the Big Man upstairs. He has power and I want power...He giveth life, and I take it away. So you see, Harrrvey, the thin line between good versus evil really is non-existant...convoluted...blurrrred. When you go home at night, you'll feel a sense of emptiness knowing that you'll never get all the bad guys in Gotham, but me?" The Joker giggled. "Me, I go home and just laugh til I cry, 'cause there are puh-len-ty of people out there like you who believe they can make a difference. If you'd just look in the mirror, you'd re-a-lize that the one monster you truly need to stop is yourself."

Harvey took in a sharp breath. "You're crazy...what have you done with my sister!?"

The Joker sucked his teeth, his tongue clicking as he snapped, "No, I'm not. No...I'm...not-uh."

"Yes, you are! Who else finds it amusing to warp minds and murder children!?" Harvey demanded. "Don't you normally like to give the location so your damn game can be furthered!?"

The Joker snorted. "Uhh, normally you'd be right, but since you're able to, uh...e-stab-lish my patterns, I'd say that that approach is now boring. I'd hate to bore you, after all, so why don't we spice things up a bit and let you guess where Mir-an-duh is?"

"You monster! I swear to God, I'll put a bounty on your head, and then I'll..."

Promptly hanging up, the Joker turned to Miranda before remarking, "Well that went rather well, wouldn't you agree?" Giggling at the ireful look on her face, he motioned to Rachel's silent form and forcefully urged, "C'mere."

Paling, Rachel stiffened when he beckoned to her yet again, her eyes narrowing as she approached him with a deep sense of abhorrence.

"Aww, why so serious, Harley?" the Joker crooned, his gloved hand wrapping about her neck as he pulled her face close to his. "Is there something buh-rewing inside that beautiful mind of yours?"

Taking a shaky breath, Rachel managed to meet with his derisive gaze as she choked out, "This is wrong...I don't see why we need to hurt this woman and her loved ones when it's not affecting Gotham as a whole."

The Joker rolled his eyes. "My God, woman, are you really that dense? Dent is Gotham's white knight, and if he falls from grace, this oh-so-charm-ing city will follow close behind-uh."

"And Miranda is key to Harvey's downfall?"

The Joker grinned. "Noooow you're getting it, beautiful... Whoever said that you can't teach a buh-londe new tricks, hm?"

Scowling, Rachel shunted from his touch and folded her arms, her eyes still blazing as she grumbled, "I still don't think it's right..."

"Aww, well isn't that touching? You always were a buh-leeding heart, Harley."

"I'm serious!" Rachel shouted. "I've gone along with all of your plans thus far, but this is one plan I cannot accept! Mrs. Hubbard is pregnant, Joker...how can you be so cruel?"

The Joker snorted. "How, you ask? As you should already know by now, Harrrley, I don't think about things, I just do."

"Maybe so, but just because you're alone in this world doesn't mean that you have to drag everyone down with you!" As soon as Rachel said these words, she immediately regretted them, her eyes widening as she watched the Joker turn pink from the neck up.

'Great' she thought, 'I've hit a nerve...'

Before Rachel could even think to apologize, the Joker began laughing like a raving lunatic, tears prickling along his kohl lashes as he doubled over and slapped his knee.

More horrified by this behavior than the alternative, Rachel slowly backed away from him while demanding, "W-what the hell is wrong with you? There's nothing funny about what I just said!"

"Oooh, but that's where you're wruh-ong, Harley" the Joker crooned, his dark eyes now losing their mirth as he took a foreboding step forward. "Without humor, there is no laughter, without laughter there is no hap-pi-ness, and without happiness, you might as well be six feet underground-uh. There is always something funny about a situation, no matter how morbid or i-ron-ic said humor may seem." Grinning, he added, "Take Harrvey, for example...he's spent his entire ca-reer bringing about justice and saving lives, but when his own flesh and buh-lood is in danger, he can neither de-liver justice or safety. Now that I find funny!"

As the Joker burst into a fit of giggles, Rachel clenched her fists at her sides as her ire continued to build. This wasn't right, it wasn't!

Before she could strike him like she clearly desired, the Joker retrieved his detonator and wriggled his eyebrows. "It's time-uh" he purred. "Take out your cell phone and call up the MCU."

"W-what?"

"Just do it!"

Startled by his gruff tone, Rachel fumbled for her phone before dialing the desired number, her hand trembling as she heard the weary voice of Commissioner Gordon over the other end of the line.

"H-hi" she stammered, "I'm, uh...I'm calling to, uh, to, uh..."

"Give the location" the Joker supplied, thus causing Rachel to nod and return to her task at hand.

"Um, I'm calling to give the location" she anxiously sustained, her tongue wetting her lips as Gordon gave a rebuke of surprise. "I know sir, I know" she acknowledged, "but I can assure you that this isn't a crock. Miranda Hubbard is currently stationed inside a warehouse on 252nd Street."

"What? But that's impossible!" Gordon argued. "That's the remodeled warehouse where Rachel Dawes was murdered three years ago...why would the Joker choose to be so predictable?"

An odd sensation overcame Rachel as she heard this news, yet she couldn't quite ascertain why that was. "I-I don't know, sir, but I'm standing here with Miranda right now" she assured him. "Please just send help over right away...you only have until 1:00 to save her life!"

Cursing, Gordon immediately hung up and left Rachel hanging on the other end, her eyes narrowing considerably when the Joker began to applaud.

"Buh-ril-liant performance, my dear...I almost thought you cared!" he mocked, a toothy grin crossing his lips when Rachel glared back at him as if she'd been accosted.

"I do care" she snarled, "and for once I hope you get what's coming to you."

To her utmost surprise, he giggled before returning, "Well so do I, Miss Quin-zel, so do I..."

--

Rubber tires screeched against concrete as Gordon's patrol car came on the scene, the driver slamming down on the breaks before skidding to a halt in front of the warehouse. Retrieving his walkie-talkie, Gordon frantically hollered, "I need units ten and twelve to evacuate the victim, I repeat, I need units ten and twelve to evacuate the victim! Once the school is officially decamped, I need all units to report to 252nd Street ASAP!"

As Gordon's teams began to respond to his order, he glanced up toward the windows and saw Miranda frantically shaking her head 'no', her body teetering back and forth as she continued to struggle amidst her bindings. Confused, Gordon opened the car door and shielded his eyes so he could see her face more clearly, her screams of protest being muffled by the glass as hot, molten tears streamed down her cheeks.

His eyes suddenly flickering with recognition, Gordon fumbled for his walkie-talkie while shouting, "No, no, don't go in there, it's rigged to-"

With a deafening roar, a wave of voracious flames interrupted the commissioner's words as the building exploded in a fiery burst of scarlet, his cries of bewilderment being stifled by the earth as he found himself being thrust straight upon its grassy bosom. Coughing, Gordon weakly curled up into a ball as he gazed upon the smoldering warehouse, his heart breaking the moment he saw a familiar car come upon the chaotic scene. When the driver's door opened, a wretched scream tore throughout the air, the commissioner squeezing his eyes closed amidst his failure as Harvey dropped down to his knees. With another wail, Harvey began beating his fists against the earth as he released an anguished cry, tears cutting down his cheeks in burning tracks as he gazed upon the collapsing building as if he were a child being torn from his mother's bosom.

"Harvey" Gordon hoarsely choked out, "Harvey, I am so sorry..."

"You didn't save her" he moaned, "that woman gave you the location, but you didn't fucking save her!"

Gordon winced. "Harvey, we tried everything we could..."

"No" the DA feverishly argued, "you clearly did a piss-poor job, because if you actually had tried your best, my sister would be safe and in her husband's arms where she belongs!"

Shakily rising to his feet, Gordon moved to comfort Harvey, but the grieving man had already returned to his car and slammed down on the gas. Seeing the site where his dearest loved ones had both perished was currently far too much...

--

Stifling a yawn, Charlotte Ramsay leaned back at her desk as she continued to play solitaire, her nerves too shot from the earlier events of the day to do anything remotely productive. Just when she realized that she was on the verge of winning, an impatient voice asked her, "May I see Commissioner Gordon, please?"

Without even bothering to look up, Charlotte disinterestedly returned, "Sorry, but the commissioner's really busy and specifically requested that he didn't want any visitors."

"Oh, but I think he'll see me" the British woman persisted, a plain smile tugging at her lips as she sustained, "I've got some rather interesting news to share regarding the late Rachel Dawes."

A/N - Yaaay, another cliffhanger! I love those! :-D Er...but not when YOU guys write them, hahaha. XD -evil- I made some more Jokachel vids and another parody, so when you have the time, I'd be very appreciative if you could check them out. :) And join my Jokachel group, gosh darn it! XD Oh, and the title of this chapter was kinda-sorta obviously made to represent how Miranda left Gotham as quickly as she came...WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! X( lol

P.S. I'm sad I killed Miranda off...I actually liked writing for her. Boo-hoo. lol