Gotham's Apocalypse (A Joke Story [Sequel to Cruel])

42: Trust in Me

I arrived back at the safehouse at nine in the morning. Admittedly, I fell asleep in the Batcave, and it wasn't until the shrill shout of a bat that I leapt from my slumber, realizing someone had covered me with a blanket. I thought it was a kind gesture, one uncharacteristic of Batman, so I assumed it had to be someone else. I folded the blanket neatly before I'd left, leaving the way I'd arrived through the Asylum.

I first checked on Tammy, who was curled up in a ball in her bed. She was shaking from the pain, and when I tried to give her pain killers, she refused, telling me it wasn't time for her next dose. "Let me at least change your bandages," I replied. "I want to make sure it's healing properly so I can report to Doctor Freeze with specifications."

She looked at me incredulously. "Did he really agree to make me a new arm?"

I hesitated before responding as she let me remove the bandages and examine the wound. I was careful to not touch it too much as to cause her discomfort. "Yes."

She must have known there was more to the story, because she didn't let the matter rest. "And he was nice about it? Just giving out free limbs?"

I sucked in a breath, biting the insides of my cheeks before I responded dryly. "It's between Doctor Freeze, his popsicle bride, and me."

"Thank you," She whispered, sniffling. I continued wrapping her bandage carefully, listening to the rise and fall of her breath as she cried. I finished the job before wrapping an arm around her shoulders, giving her a soft hug. She cried in my shoulder. "I can't believe what happened. It was just so . . . "

"I could only imagine," I spoke grimly.

"Thank you for helping me through this."

"I'm the reason you're in it. You guys were never supposed to get hurt, it was my job to protect you."

Tammy laughed softly, a smile on her face. "No, your job was to work on Joker's henchmen for lacerations, broken bones and bullet wounds. To employ a few dropout nurses to assist you, and to make sure they did their job and kept quiet. You did much more than that."

I rubbed my forehead, feeling the ache in my muscles, the creak in my bones. I felt the room start to shift, I took a quick step back to catch myself before I fell. I was exhausted. Tammy could tell, gesturing to my bedroom.

"Get some sleep," she said. "I'll still be here in the morning."

I squeezed her shoulder tight, reassuringly, before I walked into my bedroom with J. He lay there in clean attire, tucked in bed with a monitor on him, his vital signs. I walked to him, checking his chart, checking the machines. I felt my heart break looking at the man. He looked so frail, so helpless. I carefully crawled into his bed with him, resting my head on his shoulder as I cried, my hand draped over my eyes as I helplessly let the tears fall.

The warmth that radiated from his shoulder pacified me, our bodily contact ceasing the tears for the moment as I carefully took his arm in my hands. "I'm gonna get that bastard. I promise. I'm gonna get you out of this. Just please, hold on and don't let go," I whispered, staring at his plain face, the roughness of his scars. "I'm not giving up on you."

--

I woke up to my phone buzzing on the side table. I sat up quickly, feeling the consequences of my lack of movement throughout my slumber. My muscles were as stiff as old rubber bands, and felt like them too, ready to snap at any hard movement. I checked my phone to see the number listed, but it read "UNLISTED."

I answered it and put it to my ear. "Hello?"

"Lucy. I've got a lead," Batman's voice spoke clearly.

My heart started to beat faster. I got up from the bed and began to rifle through my belongings for my Miss Morphine clothes. "Where should I meet you?"

"Location five."

"Gotham Mall?"

"Rooftop."

"I'll be there in ten."

We ended the call, and I took my car keys from the counter and stuffed them in my pocket, walking out to my car. I let my car warm up for a minute as I found Charlotte's number in my contacts list, connecting my phone to my car as the phone rang. I began to leave the safehouse as she picked up the line.

"Lucy! Oh my God, Lucy. Thank God. Are you alright?! Everything is on the news right now! The explosions. They withheld the details but now they're saying it's a direct hit on Joker and Miss Morphine!"

I frowned. "No, that's— Well, yes, partially, but this psycho's got Joker under some weird trance. It's like he's in a coma, and the only way out of it seems to be to go after this new super villain.

"What?! New super villain?!" She questioned. In the background, I could hear someone shouting before they came into earshot.

"Wait a minute," I recognized The Riddler's voice as Charlotte scowled. Clearly, he had removed the phone from her hand. "That guy stole from the Chemicals plant in the South side of town, that were supposed to go to me."

"And your point is?" I questioned rudely. "Put my friend back on the line, Nigma."

"Oh, are you really too stupid to see? All those chemicals on that list, you may be able to make a reversal agent for your beloved Clown Prince."

I rubbed my forehead. Shit. He made a great point. The only problem was the fact I had no time to invest in the reversal agent because I was too busy trying to stop Zero Xavier before he succeeded in his apocalyptic mission. I wanted to invest all my time into The Joker, but this time, this situation was too big for the two of us alone, and I needed to call on help.

Who was I supposed to ask? Freeze already had me on the line for Tammy, and the only other person as skilled in chemistry was Batman or Joker, Joker most likely being the absolute expert.

"We'll work on it," Charlotte spoke into the phone.

"What?" Riddler replied incredulously.

"You heard me. You know what you're doing, clearly, just let me help you so we can help her. It's the least we can do."

"No no no no," I argued. "I don't want that guy working on my man. I don't trust him one bit."

"Well, trust me, then," Charlotte replied. "You can trust me, right?"

I hesitated, exhaling a long breath. "Of course I trust you, Charlotte. Just promise me you keep him in check. No funny business."

"Of course, girl. I have your back."

I had to put my faith in these two, because I was fighting a fight I wasn't even sure I was going to win. If something happened to me, I had to make sure Joker made it out alive. I had to fix the problems I had started, and I was ready to throw myself into the cause to ensure the reversal of Gotham's Apocalypse. I grabbed my gear and began to head out to the Gotham Mall rooftop to meet The Caped Crusader, ready for the newest lead.