CHAPTER SEVENTY ONE

End

Gordon leaned back in his chair and shut his eyes. Sleep beckoned him, at the very least a catnap, but he resisted its call. In a few hours maybe. Besides, it felt disrespectful, napping in the same room where his predecessor, Commissioner Loeb, had died.

He removed his glasses, rubbing his eyes vigorously.

'Any minute now my phone will ring,' he thought. 'And it'll be bad. It's always bad lately.'

He grimaced at his own pessimism. No, it wasn't always bad, he corrected himself. Dominic was alive. Granted, he was under an assumed name in another state and was seeing a therapist....but he was alive. He supposed he could thank Samantha for that. Despite what she'd done she had saved him when she could have just as easily killed him or let the Joker do it.

'And look how you repaid her, you pinned a murder on her she didn't even commit. You went public and accused her of killing the man she saved.'

Guilt flooded him and he tried to shrug it off. After all, she'd killed the other men, the ones who'd told Dominic about the Joker's whereabouts and the thug who'd been found with Dom. Hell, she'd admitted it to him on the phone. Not to mention she'd told him to let everyone believe she'd killed Dominic and threatened his family if he didn't do as she said.

Given her connections he hadn't been eager to test her.

Then he'd received a letter of unknown origin. No fingerprints, no return address. Upon opening it he'd seen the following sentence in tiny, neat print:

We shall meet in the place where there is no darkness.

That was all. Nothing else. He knew Samantha had sent it. No proof but he knew. What did it mean? He couldn't say, even though he had puzzled over it many times. The sentence was vaguely familiar yet he couldn't quite place it.

She was lost to him now. She'd chosen her side and walked away. He supposed the next time he saw her, if he ever did, she would be in handcuffs or dead from either the Joker's hand or from the bullets of a GPD officer. He hoped not. Deep in his heart he didn't think she was evil, not like the Joker. Maybe she could be redeemed one day.

With a sigh he turned his thoughts back to Dominic. His nephew's mental state hadn't improved. Whatever had happened to him when he'd been kidnapped had affected him terribly but he wouldn't talk to anyone about it. Gordon had a feeling he was holding back, hiding things.

And something told him Dominic would never tell.

The phone rang, the sound strident in the silent room. It would be bad. It always was. Straightening up in his seat, Gordon put his glasses on and stared at it dully. Finally, mumbling a curse under his breath, he answered it.

Bruce stood on the rooftop of an office building, keen eyes scanning the city. Below him Crime Alley glowed with flames and bodies bearing both burns and gunshot wounds littered the street. This was the same place his parents had been gunned down so many years before and part of him was glad to see it in this state. It was nothing but a repository of pain and misery, a haven for the worst kind of criminals. He immediately corrected himself though. The man who'd killed his parents was also dead. The victims of this had nothing to do with that long ago act.

Police cars, fire trucks and ambulances swarmed the area. No one had taken responsibility yet but he could guess who had done it. He was sure that soon the Joker would be on GCN gloating and taunting. He'd long since stopped worrying about the madman giving away his true identity, he was insane, a murderer and terrorist. No one would believe him.

Besides, he suspected the clown enjoyed being one of the few that knew and would guard the secret jealously. Leverage.

In the past two months Gotham's gutters had run red with the blood of both criminals and law abiding citizens. The Joker was responsible for a good deal of it but he wasn't the only one. Others had come forward, emboldened by the chaos the clown had caused. One of the worst was a gang leader who wore a black mask and was ruthlessly cutting out the competition in a bid to rule Gotham's underworld. And there were others, waiting in the shadows. They would never go away, attracted and challenged by Batman.

There would always be more. Gotham would always need him. He'd finally reconciled himself to that.

Bruce nodded to himself and dropped off the side of the building. The wind caught him and he was buoyed away into the night.

Things were much better nowadays.

She had a home now. Not a filthy hideout by the docks, a real home. And it was hers. Jake stayed with her - at her urging - but more as a helping hand in case anything happened. She did as she pleased, she called the shots.

She'd earned it.

Jack was there often but he never brought his goons or business into the house. Something within their relationship had shifted. He'd given her freedom, the thing she'd wanted most. She'd given him......

Samantha frowned and looked over at Jack. What had she given him? Her life? Her sanity?

No..... she'd given him love. Yes, that was it. Love for someone who'd only known hate and disgust.

He might have been a monster, she reflected, but he was human too. At the core he was still the same man who used to lay his head on her chest and fall asleep all those years ago.

Earlier that night she'd told him she didn't care what he did to Gotham. What he'd done to Crime Alley made no difference to her. All that mattered was this. It wouldn't last forever and she wanted to enjoy it before it all ended.

She traced the shallow cuts on his chest that she'd inflicted, then touched the marks he'd left on her.

Jack murmured something in his sleep and his hand crept out to grasp her arm. She put her hand over his and he sighed, the sound strangely mournful.

'Lying here next to a monster on bloodstained sheets and all I can feel is.....happy.' she thought and smiled to herself.

She shut her eyes and fell asleep.

A/N: So that's it. This really turned into a ginormous story. 71 chapters and nearly 7 months. That's crazy. Anyway, a big thanks to my readers and reviewers. I really do love you guys and I appreciate your kind words. Send me a PM, IM or email anytime. I like to chat. I'm also fishing for new story ideas if anyone wants to talk that over too.

The quote in Sam's note to Gordon is from the book "1984" by George Orwell.

And because I thought it would be amusing I made a list of Canon/OC characters and their current whereabouts. This story had a boatload of people in it compared to my others so it was fun to see if I could remember everybody. Still not sure if I got 'em all.

Canon Characters:

Jack/Joker – At large.

Bruce Wayne/Batman – Still doing his thing.

Jim Gordon – Still doing his thing, bless his heart.

Dr. Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow – Paper gown time in Arkham Asylum.

Waylon Jones/Killer Croc – Paper gown time in Arkham Asylum. Will probably get his own story sometime.

Detective Nash – Dirt napping. Killed by Jack/Joker.

Victor Zsasz – Dirt napping. Killed by Jack/Joker.

Detective Renee Montoya – Dirt napping. Killed by Jack/Joker.

Harleen Quinzel - ?

Original Characters:

Samantha - Dysfunctionally ever after and at large.

Dominic Aprile – Getting therapy in an undisclosed location.

Eric Cook – Sam's sellout ex-boyfriend. Dirt napping. Killed by Jack/Joker.

Dr. Mitchell Peloni – Former Arkham doctor. Dirt napping. Killed by Sam.

Glen – Misguided henchman. Dirt napping. Killed by Alex. His head is currently MIA.

Alex – Sam's dog. Eating Alpo in that big kennel in the sky. Died from injuries suffered after being shot by Glen and attacked by another dog.

Ben – Sam's dad. Dirt napping. Killed by himself.

Marty - Uppity thug. Dirt napping. Killed by Sam.

The Doctor – Treated Jack after he got shot by Dom and hooked Sam up with drugs. Unknown if he's dead or alive.

Jake - Gay henchman/Sam's bodyguard. Poor bastard.

David Bennett – Necrophiliac cop from "No Stranger". Will probably get his own story one day. Dirt napping. Killed by Jack/Joker.

Brian – Sam's best friend/drug buddy in "No Stranger". Dirt napping. Killed by ?

A special mention also goes out to the small army of random thugs who have been killed throughout both stories.

Official body count for "Unknown Origin" = 25 people. 2 dogs. Joker gets the top score. Honorable mentions go out to Killer Croc, Dominic and Samantha. Yeah, I play too many video games.