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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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Author’s Note: Huge hugs to my many fans! Chafflotte, Misfitgirl3390, Sam, and everyone else who has read this! Changed my mind about how long this will be! Might be a few more chapters than I originally thought!

Chapter Twenty-Nine: A Dose of Prevention

    She had spent most of the next month arguing with the two men, using Crane’s words about making her own decisions against him. Unfortunately, neither of them seemed willing to budge an inch; Jonathan staying with her while Joker orchestrated more chaos around Gotham. Eventually, she had to admit defeat; if only to have Crane give her some much needed breathing room. Thankfully, it wasn’t too long before she got her first ‘visitor’. It had been a normal day for her, lying in the bed she shared with Jack while reading to keep from going out of her mind with boredom, when Selena had literally dropped through a self made hole in the ceiling.
    At first, the former doctor had been startled; reaching for her butterfly knife as soon as the leather clad thief hand landed in front of her. In fact, she got into an immediate defensive position; her left hand over her stomach while her right pointed outward with her weapon. “Sorry bout droppin’ in on you like this but this whole place is swarming with guards. You’re a hard person to find,” sighed the cat suit clad femme, stretched as she casually dropped her whip and spread her arms to her sides to show she was otherwise unarmed. This had caused an instant dissolution of the tension and Marie began to giggle as she set her own weapon aside.
    “Of course not, Joker wanted to keep moving after the huge mess with Harley, Hatter and fucking Croc. But, I feel bad for her in a way. Things didn’t have to end up the way they did,” sighed the pregnant blonde, getting to her feet and showing off the large baby bump she now sported. Her former patient purred, pulling off her mask to shake out her ebony hair. Her green eyes glittered with joy and slight amusement.
    “Can’t say I blame him. Look at you. How far along are ya now?” exclaimed the feline-like woman.
    “About seven months now. How have things with you and Ivy been?” Marie asked, honestly glad for the companionship.
    Of course, it wasn’t long after they had settled in that Jonathan had come upstairs; ultimately causing Scarecrow to break up the party. It was only through Marie’s own quick actions that the dark being didn’t part Selena’s head from her shoulders. After a few heated questions about how the thief had found them and how she had gotten in, Marie coaxed him to allow her to visit; something the dual male grudgingly agreed to after the former Psychologist explained how lonely and bored she was. In her condition and her status as a missing person, she didn’t get much opportunity to wander around outside the warehouse when there were jobs for her to go on. Jack had been another matter entirely, making a good point about how he didn’t know where Selena’s loyalties lie. Still, after some sweet talking, he caved with the ultimatum that the blonde always be on guard.
    As it turned out, those visits with her only female patient were the only thing that kept her sane as her seventh month of pregnancy wore on. She just didn’t feel comfortable going downstairs to hang out with the various goons and Crane was usually busy doing his own thing. It wasn’t that the chemist would mind taking time out of his projects to talk to her, it was more like she didn’t want to take him away from something possibly important. Jack needed him to work on more chemical mixes, evidently working on something big while she was out of commission. In fact, he had coordinated several attacks across Gotham with his Smilex/Fear Gas mixture that he was now calling Fearful Grin.
    Sighing as she laid on the bed and waited for Selena’s daily visit, Marie couldn’t help but wonder just what the effect the gas was having on the normal person in the city. If it was anything like her nightmares about Roger, she honestly felt sorry for the police force. Shuddering at the memories, she stared up at the ceiling and counted the cracks in the tiles. She had been avoiding the news as much as possible and therefore only had her nightmares and imagination to fill in the blanks. Right now, her mind was full of deformed zombies filling the streets; their features growing more and more nightmarish the more gas was released. Something deep inside her told her that wasn’t far from the truth.
    There were a few disquieting things she remembered from her final encounter with her ex-fiance, things that seemed a bit too similar to what had happened to her so far. Before she had been exposed to the gas, albeit in limited amounts due to it being in the air, she had never experienced what was going on with Spade. It was almost like a split personality but not. Spade wasn’t a different personality and didn’t force her to do thing she wouldn’t normally do. She seemed more like an expression of feelings and behaviors Marie normally kept repressed. Yet none of that helped the feeling that part of her shouldn’t have a consciousness of its own.
    Selena dropping through her usual spot in the ceiling brought her out of her thoughts and Marie sat up to greet her friend. The scared, serious expression the thief had was enough to freeze her in place, apprehension filling her. “Your lover is nuts! I have to get you out of here and away from Gotham,” she whispered, her green eyes darting around. Needless to say, the twenty eight year old blinked in confusion as she tilted her head.
    “Don’t you have any idea of what’s been happening because of these attacks with those chemicals he and Crane made? More and more people are showing up at Arkham due to committing violent crimes. The whole city is going nuts!” hissed the midnight clad criminal as Jasper came out from under the bed to greet her. Like most cats, the overweight pet was drawn to her and the burglar had quickly become his favorite person in the whole world.
    “Are they... are they deforming?” Marie asked, fear thudding faintly in her veins and causing her babe to roll inside her.
    “Yeah, like that bastard was before I slit his throat. Joker’s lost it! Anyone out there can get hurt without a gas mask, you included! I have to get you out before he comes back. Lord only knows what he has in mind for the baby you carry,” hissed the panicked, cat-like woman as she scooped Jasper into her arms.
    “Probably nothing,” the ex-psychologist sighed, relaxing just slightly. She wished Jack had at least told her about what he was doing. She had been planning on walking to the drug store to get a few things for herself, with a proper disguise of course.
    “Are you crazy?! He’s been playing you for a fool the entire time and I actually thought... Nevermind, point is I need to get you out of here while I can. His guard dog is so used to me visiting that he won’t even check on you for a good while,” whispered the leather clad woman, looking at her as if she had lost her mind entirely.
    “Jonathan isn’t loyal to Joker. He’s entirely loyal to me. The only reason he does as Joker asks is because he doesn’t want to cause problems for me. Besides that, there are things that have happened that make me feel confident when I say neither of them would ever hurt me intentionally,” Marie explained patiently as she sat on the edge of her bed. Thankfully her pet’s own alliance was strong enough for him to just hop out of Selena’s arms to join his master.
    The stunned villainess sagged visibly, tilting her ear tipped head to one side as confusion shone in her green eyes. “I’m entirely lucid and in full control of my faculties Selena. Do I look remotely like I’m brainwashed?” sighed the burnished blonde, scratching between Jasper’s ears as he purred huskily.
    “Well, no. I have to give you that. You certainly don’t act like Harley either. You’re a bit more brash than when I first met you but you still seem like your own woman,” she observed, relaxing only slightly; concern still clear in her eyes.
    “Mmhmm. Jonathan would never have let Joker harm me anyway, not that I think the man has any capability to do so,” Marie replied, her wistful smile setting the criminal even more at ease.
    “I guess he does seem to care for you in his own way. Still, I don’t think he’s taking everything into consideration! All he seems interested in is making Gotham into his little science experiment,” the cat thief continued, pacing as she gestured with her leather covered hands.
    “How is that different from what he normally does? The only difference is that this time he has a skilled chemist to help him. Though, I can’t really tell you what his end game is,” the former Psychologist replied, grimacing at the truth in Selena’s words. Her lover had always been the type to act first and worry about consequences later. It wouldn’t surprise her if he didn’t take the probable risk his actions posed to her and her baby into account.
    Before her newfound friend could continue, the door was flinging open with a loud ‘bang’; revealing an exhilarated looking Joker. Just behind him was a slightly exasperated Crane, a bit of Scarecrow showing in the blackness of his normally blue eyes. Ignoring Selena entirely, the ‘Clown Prince’ scooped Marie into his purple clad arms to plant a kiss on her cheek and spin her briefly. “I wish ya coulda come with us today darling! It was great! We had Batsy so busy that he had no idea where to go next!” he cackled gleefully while Jonathan gave him a death glare.
    “If you keep pouring this gas into the air, Lord only knows what will happen. You don’t know the first thing about how this shit works!” the obviously stressed chemist bit out, every vein in his neck standing out from frustration and barely restrained rage.
    “People out there are already beginning to mutate. How long before the same happens to Marie? What about the possible effects inhaling it has already had on her unborn child?” Selena chimed in, not flinching when the painted killed shot her a black glare. The ebony make-up around his eyes only intensified his intimidating appearance but the cat burglar only glared back, her hand on her hips as she seemed to challenge him with her posture alone.
    The pair seemed to stand off for a long moment before Joker was slowly deflating, a thoughtful expression on his make-up coated features. His scars only made his growing frown seem more intense as he ran a shaky, gloved hand through his dyed hair. “Did you seriously not take that into account?!” snarled Crane, his other half clear in his voice as he went rigid from outrage. The pregnant woman standing off to the side only sighed before shaking her head, not at all surprised by this revelation. Yet, she didn’t feel angry or afraid. If they had been poisoned, she was fairly certain she or her baby would have shown signs by now. The only troubling thing she was experiencing was Spade and that wasn’t all that troubling.
    “This warehouse is pretty airtight. On top of that we have plenty of gas masks. I also bet you made an antidote Craney,” he murmured, slight fear in his verdant eyes despite the sureness of his voice. Both Jonathan and Selena groaned out loud in frustration, both pinching the bridges of their noses in unison.
    “Look, I’m fine. Never felt better. I also don’t feel the urge to go out and blow something up without Joker’s say so,” the sandy haired woman assured, moving to stand beside her increasingly flustered looking partner. Pursing her red lips, Catwoman threw up her arms in defeat before flinging a grapple up to the ceiling.
    “Fine, just promise you’ll get out if things get hairy,” sighed the femme fatale as she clambered her way up and out of the building, shutting the hole in the ceiling behind her. This left the trio alone, Crane clearly barely able to keep his roiling temper in check.
    “You had no idea for sure that I had an antidote Jack! Fuck, I don’t believe you took the risk to Marie into account at all,” hissed the former doctor, a muscle ticking in his jaw as Scarecrow colored his husky voice.
    “Enough!” the fed up female interjected, the broken expression on her lover’s face not lost on her.
    “What does any of that matter? He didn’t do it with malicious intent. Please, stop this,” she begged, wrapped an arm around his suit covered waist. Crane only pursed his lips, a muscle ticking in his cheek as he heaved a deep breath.
    “Fine, fine. I’ll let this drop for now but I will talk about this more with him later. For now, I’m going to get you a bit of the vaccine I’ve been experimenting on. That way I can prevent a poisoning from even happening,” he bit out, irritation and anger still present in his once again blue eyes before he stormed out of the room; slamming the door behind him.
    As soon as he was gone, Jack was pacing, his ruby lips downturned as he ran a shaky hand through his lime green hair. The scars on his cheeks only added to his miserable expression as he moved back and forth at an almost frantic pace. “They’re both right, I didn’t stop to think! I just got caught up in... Christ none of that is any excuse. I’m just glad Crane really did have an antidote as well as a vaccine,” he rasped, his mid-tone unsteady as he seemed to tear his hair from his head.
    “Jack...,” she started, moving towards him when he didn’t seem to hear her.
    “If either of you got a good dose of that shit or if the baby is born deformed, I will never fucking forgive myself,” he continued, his tone growing more and more distressed before he was stopped mid-step by a pair of achingly gentle hands grasping his face firmly as he was turned to face his heavily pregnant lover. Then her lips were taking his and he was melting, his manic energy disappearing in an instant.
    “Enough sweetie. You’re not used to having to take others’ safety into account, I can’t blame you for not keeping us at the top of your mind. You’ve always been one to live in the moment and not worry about consequences and I’ve come to accept that. I would be a fool if I didn’t expect something like this to happen every now and again,” she assured as she broke the kiss to rest her forehead against his, not caring about the make-up that smeared onto her skin as a result.
    Jack only closed his eyes, pulling off one of his gloves with his teeth before placing a shaking hand over one of hers. “You forgive far too easily. One of these times such an oversight could end up killing you and our child,” he whispered, grimacing as her fingertips smoothed over his puffy scars.
    “If that mattered to me, do you think I would have stayed in the first place? The life you choose to lead is dangerous but I don’t care, just as long as I can be with you,” she replied quietly, giving his quivering lips another quick peck. To her shock, he scooped her up into his arms easily despite the extra weight from her pregnancy.
    Giving her a somber glance, he tightening his hold on her slightly before leaving the room while still carrying her; heading down the stairs and to one of the cars used for personal use. It was sleek, black and seemed to be a generic build enough to blend in with normal traffic. The only unique thing was the interior which was a deep purple and green. Blinking, Marie found herself surprised that they even owned cars; only having been in one of the vans they used for heists. Just as he was about to place her in the vehicle, Crane was charging out with fire in his azure eyes. “Were you seriously about to go out there with her without waiting for the vaccine or even taking an antidote just in case?” he snarled as he slowly stalked into the room, a sense of danger radiating off his thin body.
    “I just wanted to get her situated first. Besides, I could hear you right on our tails as soon as I came downstairs,” the clown faced killer spat at the protective male, whirling when he saw Marie start to get out of the car.
    Blinking, she froze in place when she saw the deadly serious glint in her lover’s eyes. Nodding at the silent message he was giving her, she slid back into the vehicle; praying to God that Crane wouldn’t kill him. With how protective the dual male had been over her lately, she wouldn’t put it past him to let Scarecrow loose to have a ‘talk’ with her beloved. Beloved?! Blinking at the new word she had attached to the crazy villain, she found it wasn’t far from the truth. At this rate, she would begin to think of him as her common-law husband; something she wasn’t too sure about how he would react to. Thankfully her friend and former patient only released an irritated sigh before handing four vials to Joker. “The red one is the vaccine and the green one is the antidote. Give her the vaccine before you go anywhere. If she starts to feel dizzy or sick, give her the antidote,” the chemist bit out, his concerned eyes moving to the woman in the car.
    Joker gave a curt nod, rolling a sleeve up to tie a tourniquet around his upper bicep. Then he was injecting himself with the vaccine, waiting a few moments for bad effects before heading to Marie. “Sorry man, not that I don’t, uh, trust ya but I’d rather try out this experiment on myself first,” he explained, taking the former doctor’s right arm in a gentle grip before rolling up the sleeve of the black maternity shirt she wore.
    “I already tested it before I gave it to you but I don’t blame you. Just... be fucking careful out there?” Jonathan sighed in a resigned tone, watching as his partner injected Marie with the antidote.
    Joker only gave a curt nod as he straightened, moving to the driver’s side of the car and getting in. He revved his car to life with a loud roar, turning the wheel as he pulled out of the parking spot. As the sleek vehicle moved, the ex-psychologist turned to watch Crane; his figure standing there until she couldn’t make him out anymore. “Where are we going?” she whispered, turning back to face the front. The tux clad killer only jolted, a faintly surprised expression on his greasepaint covered visage. Then he was grinning in a manner that reminded her all too much of her time with him in Arkham.
    “Let’s just say, uh, there’s a reason why I was causing so much chaos out there today,” he purred, something glittering in eyes as he sped down the empty roads. Blinking, she subsided into silence; knowing better than to ask for more information. She would just have to wait and see what he had up his sleeve, a prospect that scared her with the expression on his scarred face.
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Laughter in the Dark