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Laughter in the Dark	By : FlameWolf666 Category: DC Verse Movies > The Dark Knight Views: 9317 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Dark Knight or the Batman franchise. This story is just for fun and no profit will be made from it.

Chapter List
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- 24
Author’s Note: I wanna take some time to thank all of the people reading and enjoying this fiction. I’m so glad so many people are liking this so far. Also, if you know what that quote is from later in this chapter, you’re awesome.

Chapter Twenty-Three: Moving Chess Pieces

    “You don’t understand! She stole mah sugar away! If she had never come Mistah J would have never been led astray by her,” the infuriated blonde snarled, flinging her bi-color jester’s cap onto the bare wood of the floor.

    “That’s not what I saw when he came to collect her. The man was worried sick for her. Harleen, sweetie, I think he loves her,” Selina tried to reason despite every instinct inside her screaming at her not to.

    “How can ya say something like that! Mistah J loves me! I thought you two were my friends,” the petulant female bit out, her blue eyes narrowed as she glared at the pair across from her in an accusatory manner.

    “We are your friends! That’s why we’re trying to talk you out of this dear. I know you love that man on an obsessive level but try to pull back and actually think. When he’s around her I bet he acts a lot differently doesn’t he? Hun, Joker was always just using you! Marie, on the other hand, I think he honestly cares about her,” the cat burglar continued, on guard just in case the pigtailed woman was going to try anything stupid.

    Harley’s eyes darkened as her red and black gloved hands curled into shaking fists. Yet, under her roiling rage, she knew her friend was right. It had been a long time since Joker had given her a look anywhere similar to the ones he gave the whore, let alone treated her well. The man had treated her like a bother for years now, often hitting her when she did something he didn’t particularly like. There was also the little fact that she had never been allowed to even go near his room without him. The times she had forgotten, he would do his best to make sure she didn’t forget again. Despite all of that, however, she couldn’t accept it. She loved the criminal too much to accept it. “No! No, you’re fucking wrong! Mah puddin’ loves me and only me,” the crazed femme snarled, reaching over her shoulder for Reginald.

    In a flash, the jester suit clad female found herself wrapping up in vines and suspended in the air. Ivy glared up at her, her vibrant eyes flashing with deadly intent. “Were you just about to shoot my little kitten? Over a man you know damn well never loved you in the first place? I’m sorry Harleen but we can’t accept this behavior. You’re no longer welcome in our house,” the deadly female hissed, commanding the vines to carry Harley out with a wave of a green tinted hand.

    “Fine! I don’t need you anyway,” the crimson and midnight clad thief snarled, tears streaming down her half masked cheeks. Then she found herself dumped on the ground, the front door slamming behind her as her hat fluttered down on her lap.

    Brushing her suit off, the former doctor sniffled as she straightened her ponytails, grabbed her hat and got to her booted feet. Despite what she had said, her heart was slowly breaking due to everyone around her slowly abandoning her. Those two women had been her friends ever since Joker had brought her into this dark world. Those days he had almost acted like he loved her but, looking back, she had to wonder if he really did. Even back in the early days he had gotten impatient easily, seeming to almost flinch at contact with her. He had even brushed her away several times, a sour look on his painted face. If she was truly honest with herself, it was doubtful Joker had ever really cared for her.

    Wiping her eyes angrily, the blonde squeezed her eyes shut as she fought to cling to the delusion that the villain had loved her. Her heart clamped in her chest as she breathed heavily through her nostrils, jamming her hat down on her head. “I’ll show them, he does love me,” she hissed, ignoring what her heart and mind were telling her. Narrowing her cerulean eyes, she ignored her logic and simply went with her emotions; pulling out a cellphone as she walked away from the ramshackle house.

    “Hey Hatter, I think I found Alice,” she hissed, ignoring the sick feeling of guilt blooming in her stomach.

    Groaning, Marie opened her gray eyes to see Jonathan Crane sitting in a chair beside her bed; fast asleep. Blinking, she felt a familiar and unwanted nausea twist her stomach; answering all of her questions quite efficiently. “Mmm Jonathan,” she whispered, startling when the thin male popped awake immediately. The person that stared at her wasn’t her friend. The eyes that locked with hers were pure black and held a deep craziness that she knew all too well.

    “Mmmmaaarieee,” hissed Scarecrow, a strange, disturbing facsimile of a shaky smile curling his borrowed lips.

    Just seeing her former patient’s darker half sent a chill of fear through her but she forced a small smile onto her face. Despite how he made her instinctually feel, he had done nothing but try to protect her. In his own way, the dark thing cared for her. So, it was without a thought that she offered her arm to the crazed being that shared Jonathan’s body. Scarecrow’s eyes widened in response, surprisingly gentle hands grasping her upper arm. Then he was dutifully injecting her, Crane’s knowledge obvious in his movements. Once he was done, the dirty blonde cautiously leaned forward; watching the dark being’s reaction closely. To her shock, he barely flinched; his dark orbs only holding a curious expression.

    Feeling slightly warm at the amount of trust this creature had for her, the former Psychologist placed a small kiss on his cheek. Scarecrow went board stiff at first, inhaling sharply; this reaction making her draw back due to thinking she had overstepped boundaries with the dark being. “I’m sorry Scarecrow. I was just...,” she began before her lips were taken in a fierce but passionate kiss. Before she could even gather her wits enough to realize just what was happening, he was breaking the kiss to rest his too cold forehead against hers.

    Midnight met gray as their eyes locked, the thing called Scarecrow giving her a half frightened, half loving look. “Sssooorry. Wanted to do that long time. You showing less fear, trusting more. Know you belong to... him,” it rasped, shuddering slightly as its host began to stir.

    “I-its okay. Just don’t let Joker see you do that or he’ll gut you on the spot. I honestly don’t think I could handle that. Jonathan has been a good friend to me and you... you’ve become pretty dear to me too after seeing how protective you’ve become,” the twenty-eight year old responded in a dazed voice, just grateful for the fact that her morning sickness was fading.

    The crazed looking thing wearing her friend’s skin smiled in such a way that it looked like a creature that had never done so trying to learn how. Seeing it chilled her down to her very soul but forced herself to return it anyway. This dark thing couldn’t organically be any part of Crane, it seemed far too inhuman and caused too many instinctual reactions. Still, she found none of that really mattered to her. After what she had seen, it had been made clear to her that the being was very protective of her; maybe even loved her in its own way. “Are important to ussss, to me. Trust you, will protect you,” Scarecrow sighed, spasming again as its borrowed hands came up to cup its head.

    “Jonathan coming. Cannot... stay. Are... are friends?” the dark creature husked, a hint of shyness in its voice.

    A bit bewildered but smiling to reassure... him, Marie wrapped her arms around the thing disguised as her former patient and pulled him into a hug. “Of course we are Scarecrow. Just as long as you don’t suddenly change your mind and I wake up to find myself your new experiment,” she teased lightly, regretting her joke when she felt him stiffen.

    “Never... Would die before we allowed any harm to come to you,” hissed his dark voice, his arms coming up to wrap around her. Then he twitched hard, a pained noise bubbling up from his chest.

    Suddenly an entirely different scent was filling her nose and it felt like another person was holding her, signalling Crane had pushed his way forward. From the feeling of his hands pulsing on her upper back, the ex-doctor seemed utterly shocked at the position he found himself in. “M-marie?” came his confused voice, his entire body tense as he seemed to fight with himself.

    “Its okay Jonathan. Scarecrow and I were getting better acquainted. Looks like I’m part of the inner circle now,” the Psychologist assured, pulling back to give him some space. To her shock, his arms only tightened.

    Craning her head so she could see his face, the pajama clad woman saw the thin chemist giving her a look of utter disbelief mixed with a heartbreaking resignation. “It actually told you it accepted you? It embraced you? What else did it do?” the gaunt but handsome man murmured, a sad acceptance slowly taking over the resignation in his blue eyes.

    “He,” she corrected without thinking, not surprised at the blank look the criminal gave her.

    “He, not it. He... he kissed me,” the young woman clarified, fighting the horrible urge to giggle at the nonplussed expression that crossed Crane’s face.

    “What? It... he... kissed you?! Also, when the Hell did you start referring to... Scarecrow as having a gender? He doesn’t technically have one,” the black haired killer responded, a slightly jealous expression in his now cerulean gaze.

    Marie could only tilt her head at this bit of information. Did Crane actually know what the being was? If he did, did she want to find out what he knew? To be honest, the prospect of discovering more about the entity scared her to her very marrow. The thing felt wrong, evil; her very soul protesting at his presence whenever he made an appearance. Surely having the knowledge Jonathan did would only serve to drive her as crazy as he now was. “As odd as it seems, he did kiss me. He’s... changing Jonathan. He’s nowhere near as mindless as I was when I first met him. He’s even seeming to feel fear for at least me, something I doubt he’s familiar with. What... what is he?” she found herself asking, wishing she could rewind and erase her words.

    Dead silence greeted her question, Jonathan’s hold on her never loosening. Heaving a sigh, the rail thin male looked at her with disturbingly dead eyes before a crazed smile quirked his lips. “If you knew what I knew, you wouldn’t even remotely be trying to humanize it. It has never felt anything but hate and anger. It made me do... terrible things, kill so many people. So many girlfriends, dead and staring up at me while I try to remember why their blood is on my hands! Then there was the Fear Serum. Watching in horror as the first died, growing to enjoy it like it did later. Knowing I was becoming just as twisted as it was and being unable to do anything about it! Now you expect me to believe it is suddenly feeling?!” he snarled, breathing hard through his nose as hatred and fear flashed through his eyes.

    Marie could only give her friend a horrified look, her heart aching for the pain and guilt clear in his voice. “I’m so sorry for what you’ve been through and I know I could never have any idea what that felt like. But he seems so different now. You and I both know he’s not much for patience, so if he wanted to kill me he would have done it now that he has ample opportunity. You’ve even been able to control him better and you’re even able to stay yourself during the night. I know he has done a lot of wrong but I don’t think he really knew what wrong was. In fact, like I said before, I doubt he’s ever felt anything like fear or concern for another,” she reasoned, cupping his right cheek in an effort to comfort him.

    Sighing, Crane closed his eyes before resting his forehead against hers. Then his lips were seeking hers, much more gentle and shy than Scarecrow’s. The embrace was so sweet and exploratory that the sandy haired femme couldn’t help but respond, kissing him back but keeping it platonic. Then the ex-Psychiatrist was breaking the kiss, chuckling gruffly as tears slid down his bony cheeks. “Oh Marie, how I wish we had met under different circumstances. Maybe then I would have stood a chance. As it is...,” he started, stopping when something small and shaped like a dormouse was thrown through the window of the room.

    “Twinkle, twinkle little bat. How I wonder where you’re at. Up above the world you fly, like a tea tray in the sky. Twinkle, twinkle little bat. How I wonder where you’re at,” played a tinny sounding song from the tiny device just before the room exploded into purple gas.

    “Sleeping gas! Marie, run!” screamed Crane, his voice slowly tapering off before a thump came from his direction.

    “Jonathan!” the distraught woman screamed, fighting off the permeating drowsiness as she watched a figure slip into the room She saw a flash of purple and had just enough time to wonder why Joker was knocking her out before her world went black.

    Groaning, she sat up on the soft thing she was laying on as she held her aching head. Within moments, Marie remembered just what had happened and shot her head up to look around; dropping her jaw at what she saw. It looked like she had been transported straight into the tea party scene from ‘Alice in Wonderland.’ She had been sat on top of a huge mushroom in front of a very long table that was covered in teacups. Though it seemed she was outside, she could see the corners of the room if she looked hard enough. Whoever had done the painting was obviously skilled. “Alice! You’re finally awake!” came a slightly accented, slurred voice from behind her.

    Surprised to find herself unbound, the sandy haired woman turned her stormy gaze to an area behind her. It was then she became very aware of the fact her clothes had been changed entirely. “What... what’s going on?” she whispered, looking down to see herself in a familiar looking powder blue dress that had a white, apron-like item that extended over her torso and shoulders. Even her hair felt different, prompting her to feel her head with her fingertips. To her shock, she felt a plastic headband holding her slightly curly locks back. It was almost as if whoever had done this was trying to dress her like Alice from the Disney version of the movie.

    “I’ve brought you back home Alice. It’s been so long since me and March-y have seen you. You’ve been such a naughty little girl, hiding from me all of these years,” replied the voice from earlier, making her eyes shoot back to the person behind her.

    The man was tall but shorter than Joker and skeletally thin, causing his patchwork looking purple tux to hang off his bony frame. His neck was thin and bony, making his head seem bigger than it was as well as made his Adam’s apple more prominent. He had a massive overbite, his too large, slightly crooked teeth poking over his lower lip. His large, hooked nose didn’t help with the illusion of over large features and neither did the huge, homemade looking top hat on top of his head. Blonde fringe hung slightly in his face and sad, blue eyes fixed on her face. “Hatter...,” she whispered, fear beginning to bloom in her chest. She had heard horror stories about what he did to his victims once he found out they weren’t the mysterious Alice he was looking for.

    “You remember me. Have some tea my dear, March will be here in a moment,” he whispered, motioning to the table that was laden with food and drink. Then he was moving to a chair next to hers, pouring her some tea with a small smile.

    “Thank you Hatter but I’m not your Alice,” Marie whispered in a gentle voice, taking the cup and taking the tiniest sip in an effort to show she had no intention of trying to fight him. To her surprise, the beverage tasted rather pleasant; almost tempting her to drink more. If it hadn’t been for the possibility of drugs or poison, she would have.

    The tux wearing man only got a pained expression on his pale face before he was cupping it with his white gloved hands. “I... I know... Your eyes are gray not blue and her hair was the color of sunshine but... You just look so much like her... I just... I wanted to pretend,” he whimpered, his shoulders shaking as a strangled sob escaped him. The doctor in her got the better of her and she was wrapping the man into a hug, petting the side of his face as she made soothing noises. At first, the crazed male stiffened in shock; then he was flinging his arms around her and sobbing into her stomach.

    A sudden throat clearing broke the moment and Hatter was sitting bolt upright, wiping the moisture from his eyes as his gaze focused on the figure in the door. To her horror, Marie turned to see a man with a rabbit head standing there; his mismatched eyes locked on her suspiciously. “Yer havnae killed this’n,” the thing burred in a scottish brogue, its mouth moving to her further terror. Then it was coming into the room, revealing that it was an anthro rabbit that was wearing the top of some very nice formal wear and only adding to the confusion she felt. How could this thing even exist?!

    “Why no, I haven’t have I... How queer. But... she isn’t like the others. She isn’t screaming or trying to run away,” Hatter replied getting to his feet and standing in front of her in an almost protective manner.

    “Could bae trickery! Next thing yanno she’ll bae stabbin’ yae in yaer bluddy back,” the lapine sighed, his brown and white eyes fixed on her as he lifted his upper lip.

    “As long as you don’t hurt me, I see no reason to try to harm you but I will need to leave at some point. I somehow doubt Joker is taking my disappearance too well,” she brought up truthfully, finding the obviously dangerous pair slightly charming.

    Their eyes immediately turned, terror and recognition coming into their orbs. “Wait... I thought I recognized you. You’re that doctor he kidnapped and people have been looking for. Oh... oh that bitch didn’t tell me about this...,” the shaking male whispered, taking off his top hat to run a shaky hand through his hair.

    Marie was just about to ask who he meant when it dawned on her. There was really only one female she knew that would do this and she let out a frustrated sigh. “Fucking Harleen. Is she trying to get him to kill her?” she gritted out before giving the pair in front of her an apologetic glance.

    They only continued to give her panicked expressions, March pacing as he clutched his furred hands behind his clothed back. “How’re we gonnae get outta this with our skins intact,” he whispered, his eyes pleading with her to save them from her madman of a lover.

    “I can’t make any promises but I will do the best I can. First, I’ll need a phone,” the blonde requested, giving the pair a reassuring smile as Hatter handed her his phone.

    The sight that greeted Joker when he came back made his blood boil and freeze at the same time. Rage fought with fear as he took in the passed out form of Jonathan and the lack of Marie. Then his eyes landed on a familiar looking dormouse and his frown turned into an outright murderous expression. “Mad Hatter... But you wouldn’t have done this without provocation. Who told you she was Alice? Who sent you to my hideout?” he hissed, venom dripping from his voice. There was only one person in his mind who had caused this and he found himself palming one of his throwing knives. All he could do was hope that Marie would still react like the doctor she used to be, maybe then she would have a chance of escaping this alive.

    “Harley... If I see you again, you will be dead before you know it,” the green haired male snarled, ignoring the squeeze of fear clamping around his heart. Knowing the Psychologist, there was a very good chance she had made a few new friends but he was unwilling to take that chance. Hatter was unpredictable and violent, often lashing out at his victims.

    Picking Crane up in his arms and sitting him up in the bed in case he threw up, the clown pursed his lips as he pulled away. Then he was turning and leaving, pulling his phone out of his pocket as he flew down the stairs. Just as he was about to press the contacts menu, an incoming call popped up from the number he was about to call. The relief that flooded him faintly annoyed him as he pressed the answer icon and brought the black object up to his ear. “Hey Joker. Seems lil Miss Harley was trying to screw both parties over here,” came Marie’s blessed voice, her easy cockiness nearly making him feel faint as his earlier relief became a flood.

    “Yeah, I thought it was her that set this up. There’s no way Hatter would have thought to kidnap you on his own, let alone know where you were. Did they hurt you?” he bit out, his rage a clear contradiction to his nearly weak looking posture as he leaned against a brick wall of the warehouse.

    “No, Hatter has been nothing but polite, especially after finding out I wasn’t just one of your hostages,” came her reply, irritation under the humor in her voice.

    “Just stay there. I’ll be there in a few seconds to get you,” he assured, shoving himself away from the wall to make his way outside and to the van.
    “Good, we need to discuss our little Harley problem as soon as you get here,” came her surprisingly vicious reply, making a smile quirk his painted lips as he got into the vehicle and closed the door.
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Laughter in the Dark