Legend

I was in the hospital for two days. Two days too many, if you ask me. (And yay for Tony's excellent insurance.) They used the accelerator, which allowed me to shower (thank you, lord!) but there was nothing to be done for the bone, which would have to heal on its own. On the bright side, with the screws in, I didn't have to immobilize the shoulder. I still had to be very careful because muscles, ligaments and tendons had been stretched and were still a little delicate even after treatment. Tony told me to take a week off and that he'd fire me if I showed my face in the tower during that time, so that was nice. Bruce took a chunk of time for a little vacation while he was away on the London business; Damian said, grinning, that Selina had disappeared too.

My folks came down for a couple of days to reassure themselves that I was ok and J asked if I wanted him to come up, but I wasn't that badly hurt and he needed to study. My aunt and uncle stopped by a few times after work to visit and Aslyn made a point of calling. But mostly I slept in, and Damian took half days, so that was nice. Very nice. Alfred made himself scarce in the afternoons but doted on me in the mornings and prepared little treats for us. Dick and Barbara stopped by several times and they took over patrolling the city, which was strangely quiet. Grayson, Winston, and Hestia didn't show any special affection, but they were thrilled to have me home when I wasn't usually.

My insurance settled up quickly on my poor car and toward the end of my week Alfred took me to the Jaguar dealership to replace it. And he proceeded to modify that one too. I kind of wanted a button that would feature a raised middle finger to any supervillains and their goons on my bumper, but I was afraid to suggest this to Alfred, not wanting to lower his opinion of me. Damian had retrieved my personal belongings from the wreck, and he was still white-lipped when he came home, so my beloved roadster must have been just toast.

I found out from McIver which hospital had the Joker and asked to see him. McIver said he couldn't approve a visit, but mentioned when he showed up to talk with the police guards. I managed to slip in somehow.

He was asleep when I closed the door behind me. The media reported extensive injuries, including that the surgeons had to remove his testicles due to the damage. Dispassionately, I poked his shoulder until he came to, groggily. His eyes widened when they saw me. I stared him down, then smiled. "Here's how it's going to be," I said flatly. "You're going to cut your losses as far as I'm concerned. If you ever come after me again, I will snap your neck and leave you paralyzed below the neck. Furthermore, you're going to plead guilty to all charges, at least the ones concerning me, and you're going to go to jail, not Arkham." I let my gaze roam his face, lingering on his swollen mouth where I'd broken most of his teeth. His left hand scrabbled for the sheet, unconsciously drawing it up under his chin. His right hand could do exactly jack shit since I'd tried to break every bone in it and had succeeded with most, plus the three bones in his arm. His other injuries were shrouded by the sheet. "Do you know why I spent so long on your hand?" He shook his head minutely, his eyes never leaving mine. "Because you dared to touch me with it. Let that be a lesson and a warning. I was pretty thorough with the rest of you too, but if you touch me again, I'm going to give your whole body the full hand treatment." I smiled at him coldly. He looked terrified. It was probably wrong of me to take pleasure for terrorizing somebody in his state, but after what he'd put me through... I just didn't care. "Also, just FYI, my insurance company is suing you for the damages your goons inflicted on my car." I grinned at him. "Have a great day!" Then I slipped out before the guards came back. The monitors started to go off.

Three weeks later, the Joker was transferred to the jail and McIver called me in. With him was the DA. And not an assistant. The big cheese himself. He wasted no time in telling me that he'd offered the Joker a deal, and a heaviness settled over me. "What I find incredible is that you managed to inflict so much damage with a broken shoulder," he said coolly. "Are you sure you didn't have some help? Are you shielding someone?"

I tried, I really did, but a small eye roll slipped out. "Mr Edwards, you are obviously uninformed. First of all, I'm classified as an enhanced human, strong and durable. Secondly, my uncle is Bucky Barnes. He's been training me since high school, barring the time I was in college and grad school. I'm his assistant trainer in hand to hand for the Avengers and will take over for him when he steps down in time. This also wasn't the first time I've been victimized by the Joker. So what you see is actually me being held back by my injury. If I hadn't been hampered by my shoulder and had had more time, it would have been a lot worse."

His eyes narrowed. "You've been planning this?"

"No." His attitude irritated me. "Tell me, have you ever been victimized by a man? This man abducted me four times, drugged me, raped me, terrorized me, stalked me, sent me a canister of poison gas, kidnapped and beat my little brother, and intended to brutalize me into submitting to... I don't even know what. Some sort of blow-up doll, a meat puppet he could impregnate. I took the opportunity for a little payback. So unless you've gone through that, stick your judgment where the sun doesn't shine, and also, fuck you." I was infuriated.

He went red, and with an effort, controlled his temper. "The purpose of this meeting is to inform you that a plea bargain has been offered to the individual known as the Joker, real name unknown. In exchange for pleading guilty on multiple charges of abduction, aggravated battery, and conspiracy, the Joker will spend seven years in Belle Reve prison."

I couldn't believe it. "Parole?"

"It is a possibility."

My tongue got tangled on the profanity I wanted to utter. "That's an utter joke," I said bitterly when I could speak. "A slap on the hand. You might as well just have sent him to Arkham." Utter contempt leeched into my voice. He stared back at me, unmoved.

"That was the deal, and it both gets him off the streets and provides you with a measure of justice, in addition to saving my department millions. It's a win." He got up, closed a folder he hadn't even looked at, and left the room. I felt like I was going to strangle on my rage.

McIver gave me a few minutes to calm down. He shook his head. "He's got political ambitions," was all he said about him, then pushed an old evidence bag across the table to me. "The deal includes the crimes he committed during your first two abductions. The rape wasn't one of the charges he pled guilty to, he must have a great lawyer, but with the deal he can't be prosecuted for it any more. Under state law, any recordings made of a rape belong to the victim. You can do what you like with them."

"They're all here?"

"Yes. There were no copies made, and they have been untouched since the initial investigation." I turned the envelope over and looked at the dates written on the evidence tape. He was right.

"I can do whatever I want with them?"

"That's right."

I took off my shoe. It had a nice, fairly substantial two inch heel, comfortable but still stylish. I ripped open the envelope, checking carefully to make sure I got all of the memory cards. There were seven of them, and I smashed them thoroughly with the heel of my shoe. I sighed with a certain amount of relief that nobody would be able to see my rape ever again and slid my shoe back on.

"OK?" McIver asked after a moment.

"Yep."

When I left, having sprinkled some of the tiny plastic and metal particles in every trash can I passed, the DA was holding a press conference in front of the police department. It was a load of self-aggrandizing bullshit about how the Joker had been brought to justice due to the fine work of his office and (oh yeah,) the police. I listened to some of it, sneering. If I could have done another projectile vomiting trick, I would have, but alas, I'd come to the police station before lunch.

A reporter sidled up to me. "Carl Joyner of the New York Post," he said to me. "You're Alex Barnes, aren't you? Do you have any comment about what the DA is saying?"

I was still fuming. This was probably a bad idea. "The Joker is getting a slap on the hand for what he did to me," I said quietly. "A dog turd probably could have negotiated a more just plea agreement. There's no way he's going to serve his full sentence, he can get parole if he doesn't manage a breakout."

"What did he do to you?" he asked.

"Kidnapped me four times, used a paralyzing agent he got from Poison Ivy to immobilize me while he raped me, beat me, used my little brother as a hostage, beat me some more, his goons broke my shoulder, threatened me with serial rape...." I shook my head. "And that's just off the top of my head. And what about Firebug? He worked for Joker, killed a lot of people, including one of my roommates." Tears of sheer rage formed. "And what about all the other crap the Joker's pulled over the years? He was continually sent to Arkham. He's messed up, but he sure knows right from wrong. He just loves to break the law. He should be prosecuted for them now that he's sane enough to sign a plea bargain. This DA is soft on crime. The police did a good job on my case, I'm not faulting them, but seven years is weak. The Joker's lawyer must have eaten the DA for lunch."

The reporter coughed. "The Joker represented himself, apparently. He's got no lawyer listed on the paperwork."

"The Joker, with no law degree, got that sorry sentence from a guy who's in charge of all the lawyers in the city?" I barked a laugh. "Oh, my fucking god." I shook my head and walked off.

A couple hours later, Damian phoned. "Sweet pea, you're such a rabble rouser," he said affectionately.

"What?" I put down the instrument I was using to test some bacteria.

"What you said to the NYT reporter about Edwards. You made some good points. It's all over the news and media websites."

I told him what happened in the interview and he was pissed too. He swore a bit in Arabic. "Well, you just sunk his career, Petal. The mayor just came out and said that of course your case was just the tip of the iceburg and other charges against the Joker are being investigated." He chortled a little. "I bet that the DA is out inside six months. If he doesn't, I'm spearheading a recall movement."

After the controversy subsided somewhat, Damian quietly donated next-gen Kevlar replacement tac gear to the city's SWAT teams and K-9 units. Bruce and Tony donated money to the victims' assistance fund.

In the end, it took just three months before the DA accepted another opportunity. It happened to be at the law firm that Wayne Enterprises used, and Bruce notified the senior partner that he wanted nothing to do with Edwards and he'd be moving his business empire's account to another firm. The next day, the former DA was seeking yet another opportunity.

It was late fall before we actually rescheduled our trip to London, Budapest, and Prague. Damian worried that it was going to be too gloomy, but I love this time of year when the world is preparing to tuck itself in and slumber through winter.

It gave me something to look forward to; after all the excitement a trip sounded good, and Bruce had finally broken down and bought a company jet after his trip to London. "I'm getting too old for all the lines at the airport," he grumbled, and Damian lifted his eyes to the heavens.

"Will you be requiring extra fiber supplements with your meals, Master Bruce?" Alfred inquired archly. "Perhaps some Geritol, if such can still be procured?" I'm telling you, Alfred is a riot.

"I think Dad just wanted to canoodle with Selina on the flight back," Damian said later as we got ready for bed.

Whatever the reason, I was completely impressed with the new jet. It was one of the new Mercedes Benz/Lufthansa jets and had fantastic tech as well as a sleek, luxurious interior. Our trip would be its first with the Wayne Enterprises logo on the tail. Tony had given me three weeks off for our two week trip and an article we were writing about our progress with the algae and bacteria to finish. He was the PhD and his name would go first, but this was the first publication for me and certainly the biggest one yet. I was excited about that, but I put it aside as I went up the stairs and entered the jet. Beautiful. And as soon as we were settled, we took off. The flight attendant served champagne and canapes as soon as we achieved the correct altitude. It was the best flying experience I'd ever had, and we landed at Heathrow without incident or any fuss, sped through customs, and checked into the Conservatory Suite at the 41 Hotel just in time for a nap before dinner.