Baby Doll walked out of the bedroom, dressed up in her nicest corset, her pigtails perfectly even, and made her way to the office. She found Joker behind his desk looking over some paperwork. Leaning against the doorframe, a smile spread across her lips and her doe eyes twinkled. Looking up, his expression changing to one of annoyance instead of focus, Joker groaned. "Why so smiley, Dollface?" His tone had sounded annoyed as well, which made Baby Doll sigh. "Oh, no reason. I'm just a little excited to finally get out of this place, just for a while."
"Well then..." was all he said, then he rose from the chair and walked out of the office and toward the front door, motioning for Baby Doll to follow. She followed close behind and out the front door, stopping to close the door behind herself then turned back to him. "Now listen, Dollface. This is a very important... meeting. I honestly have no idea why I've decided to bring you with me, but don't make me regret it. Got it?" She nodded, "Don't worry. It will be like I'm not even here." "Good," he spat out the word, sounding like he didn't really believe her. "Now, get in the van and stay quiet. It's not a very long drive, but I don't want to hear your useless babbling the whole way there." With a roll of her eyes, Baby Doll walked to the side of the house where the van was and got in the passenger seat, crossing her arms. If he wanted silence, he would get silence.
Soon after Joker joined her in the van, getting in the driver's seat and starting it, then backing out and driving off. Baby Doll realized then that she had no idea where they were going, and she was willingly driving off to God only knows where with a psychopath. Well, this was certainly going to be a /lovely/ little trip. The remainder of the ride was spent in dead silence, which only made Joker seem happy; it was like he hated hearing her speak or something. She sighed and the van finally came to a stop. Opening her door and stepping out, Baby Doll looked around, trying to figure out where they were, but there was nothing around that looked familiar to her. Besides, she had never been to Gotham before so this was all new to her.
"Now, Dollface, I need you to stay by my side. The last thing I need is for you to wander off alone and never find you. You're mine, and that's how it's going to stay." Baby Doll opened her mouth to speak but was silenced by Joker putting a finger to her lips. "Let's get this over with so we can go back to the hideout. Oh and one more thing, /please/ stay quiet." With that being said, Joker walked off toward wherever the destination was and Baby Doll followed a few feet behind, her gaze darting around quickly at the strange place, only seeing buildings.
Suddenly he came to a stop and Baby Doll nearly walked into him, barely stopping herself in time. Damn, she would really have to start paying attention. Glancing quickly around again, she realized they'd come to another alley, this one filled with people she had never seen before in her life, and none of them looked the slightest bit friendly. Moving up some so she was at Joker's side, Baby Doll crossed her arms, finally seeing that Joker was talking to someone, another person she'd never seen before. The only thing she even knew about this trip was the person was /supposed/ to lead them to Batman, if it all worked out right.
The person led them into an abandoned warehouse filled with more people. Baby Doll stayed close to Joker, trying not to let how much this was scaring her show. She let her mind wander while Joker talked to the person, thinking back to when she had first came to Gotham, and about Lennox House, and back to when her little sister was alive. Sighing, she shook her head and came back to the present, looking over at Joker. The talk he was having looked like it was going well, judging by the smile on his marred mouth. Baby Doll smiled as well, then brought her attention to the person, who was now speaking.
"As I've told you before, I do know where Batman is, and I can lead you there of course." She tried to understand the conversation, but it really wasn't holding her interest, especially since she didn't know who Batman or any of these other people were. Turning around so she could see the around the whole inside of the warehouse, Baby Doll noticed someone standing by the door, looking around the same way she was, only something about this person seemed off. Something felt off, too. It was like the mood in the room had shifted suddenly, yet noone else seemed to be reacting to it. Keeping her eyes on the person, Baby Doll watched them move in closer and reach inside their jacket for something.
What could they possibly be doing? She couldn't help but wonder, and her question was answered a few moments later. Out of their jacket the person had drawn what looked like a small handgun. Eyes wide, she turned back to Joker and opened her mouth to say something, but froze in place at the sound of a gunshot. So it had been a gun... Baby Doll ran forward, looking for somewhere, anywhere, to hide. She eventually found some boxes that must have been leftover from sometime in the past and dove behind them, trying to quiet her breathing. Sitting there, hearing the gunshots continue, her thoughts went to Joker. He would find a place to hide, right? He /had/ to be alright, he was the Joker. He was /her/ Joker. She just knew he would be safe.
What seemed like an eternity later, the shots finally stopped, and Baby Doll built up enough courage to peek out from behind the boxes. It looked safe, and the shooter was nowhere in sight, so she crept out from her hiding spot slowly, then made her way back across the warehouse floor. People were out and moving around as well, testing the waters, none of them knowing if it was really safe yet or not. Turning in circles, she looked everywhere for Joker, but he was nowhere in sight. Had he run off for some reason? She rolled her eyes, taking that into consideration, and made her way toward the door, but something out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. Someone was lying on the floor, someone familiar.
She ran toward the figure on the floor, eyes widening again as she figured out who it was. "No.. no.. please.. God.. no!" She practically screamed the words as she knelt by the Joker, who was lying on the floor, surrounded by blood. "Please.. be alive.. for me! Don't you die on me!" She quickly found where the blood was coming from - Joker had been shot in the chest, right where his heart was. Placing her hand on his chest, she put pressure on the wound. His heart was still beating, barely, and it was slowing. "At least.. I got to see an honest face before I left this.. world of ugliness.. A beautiful face... unmasked.." The words came from Joker's mouth, barely loud enough for Baby Doll to hear, but she knew those words were meant for only her. Tears formed in her eyes and ran down her cheeks. She kept the pressure on the wound, feeling his heart beat its last beat a few moments later. "No.. this isn't happening.." she said, tears streaming faster down her face. "You can't be.. you can't.. don't leave me.."
The reality of what was happening sat in, and soon Baby Doll was sobbing, tears falling from her eyes quickly, and she laid on the floor next to Joker, cuddling up to him like she always used to. "This wasn't supposed to happen! It should've been me instead!" She screamed the words, knowing nobody could hear. How had this happened? He was supposed to be fine. He was supposed to still be here. Why hadn't she been shot instead? The questions kept coming to mind, but there was no answer for any of them. There were no words to describe that moment, the moment when he died beneath her hands, the moment her world changed forever.
So this was really it, he was really gone? There was nobody left now. She had nobody, and she never would again. Noone could take his place. Tears still falling, she sat back up when she heard sirens in the distance. Cops, of course someone would have heard the gunshots and called the cops. Was she just supposed to leave, like nothing ever happened? She couldn't do that. With shaky hands, she leaned over Joker and managed to pull his coat off, then leaned closer in to kiss his cheek one last time then pulled away, sobbing loudly.
She stood up then turned away and walked out of the warehouse. If she had to look at him lying there like that one more time, she would break down completely. Crossing back to where the van was and getting inside, she leaned against the window, whimpering. "It should have been me.." She started the van and drove away from the building, mumbling those words over and over. She would have gladly taken his place in there if it meant he would've walked out alive.
Driving back onto a familiar street, the tears started to fall quickly again when she realized where she was. Parking the van out front, she got out of the van and walked up the front steps of the hideout, /his/ hideout, the place she had come to know as /their/ hideout. The sight of the familiar room, the couch, the door leading to the office, it was all too much. Memories flooded her mind, painful memories, memories of all the good things that had happened in that hideout. Baby Doll walked into the bedroom, still sobbing silently, and crawled onto the bed, that familiar bed where they had shared so many little moments.
Curling up on the bed, Baby Doll wrapped herself in the Joker's coat, running her hands along the fabric, seeing his blood still on her hands from touching the wound. There was nothing left to do, nothing at all. She laid there, sobbing, completely broken. Her heart had been shattered and there was no putting her back together again. She sobbed until she ran out of tears, then just laid there, wrapped in his coat, reliving the memories, until finally she fell asleep.
He was there in her dreams that night. It was just the two of them at the hideout, both of them happy. She could see herself blushing at something he'd said, and a smirk spreading across his face. Then the image faded into another one, this time revealing them in his office in one of those rare moments when he had let her get close to him. The image only changed one more time, to the Joker lying on the warehouse floor, beneath her hands. Baby Doll woke up screaming, hot tears running down her cheeks. "Why.." The word came from her trembling lips, between sobs, but she knew there would be no answer. There would never be an answer.
She didn't fall back to sleep after that, it just seemed impossible to do when her world was falling down around her. She just laid in bed for what seemed like an eternity, wrapped in his bloodstained coat, crying silently, tears staining the blanket beneath her. He was never coming back, she had to accept that, but part of her just couldn't. When he.. left.. it was like he took part of her with him and left her there, broken, unable to be fixed, completely beyond repair. A realization hit her then - she had been in love, that was why this was practically killing her. The things he had made her feel... that had been love, she was just too naive to see it.
That thought drove her over the edge. She was shattered, not just her heart, everything about her was broken. Her one true love was gone, never to return to her, and things would never get better. She finally found the strength to get out of bed and walk through the hideout, trembling and sobbing. Everything in there reminded her of him; everything that had once been so warm and inviting to her was now cold and painful to even see, let alone think about. She knew it would be best to get out now, before depression was too set in for her to ever get out, but she didn't make it past the couch. She stretched out, still wearing his coat, and fell back into a deep sleep, finally out of tears to cry, but knowing more would come.
When she woke again, she had no idea of how much time had passed, but she knew what she needed to do. She needed to make the guy that took Joker away from her feel the same pain that she was feeling. She needed revenge, and she was going to get it. Before she knew it a plan was already forming in her head, a plan much darker than anything she had ever though about before. She was going to make that guy pay if it was the last thing she ever did.
She made her way to the bathroom then, leaving the coat behind, grabbing a washcloth and wiping the tear streaks off of her face, then went to the bedroom - their bedroom. Well it had been their bedroom... it only belonged to her now. That thought would have torn her apart, but at that moment it only intensified her anger, anger that she didn't realize she had growing inside of her. Reaching into the bedside table, she took out his greasepaint, then back to the bathroom she went.
Sure, she didn't have his scars, but she could certainly put his paint on herself, the way he always wore it. Working quickly, she managed to get the paint on her face then went back to the living room and picked up the coat, putting it on though it was big on her. That didn't matter at all. This was about avenging his death. She reached into the pocket and smiled; his gun was still in there. Things were working out perfectly.
She climbed into the van she had left parked out front, realizing that it was already night out. If she was lucky, the guy would be at the warehouse again tonight, and she would recognize that face if she saw it. It was burned into her brain. He was all she could think about; she couldn't shake off thoughts of how much she wanted him to hurt. All her normal thoughts were gone, replaced with ones of revenge and anger. She felt nothing else.
Driving down that familiar road, she finally made it to the warehouse, stopping where they had stopped last night and walking inside. Looking around the room, her eyes automatically went to that spot, the spot where she had last seen him. He wasn't there anymore... Of course the cops would take his body. Trying to blend in, she made her way through the building to that spot, standing where she had when she had first seen the guy with the gun. Truthfully though, there was no way she was going to blend in. She was wearing /his/ paint and coat after all.
She stayed there, watching, finally spotting the guy she was looking for. Of course he would come back. He probably thought nobody had seen him, but she had. Glaring at him across the room, she began walking toward him, feeling the anger bubble up inside her. Cornering the guy against the wall then, she smiled sweetly, just looking at him. "Excuse me, can I have a word with you? ...Outside?" The guy looked her up and down, his eyes lingering on the outfit she wore beneath the jacket and she rolled her eyes. "Now, please."
She led him outside, to the far side of the building so they could be alone and nobody would see her. "I have some things to say to you." She spat the words at him, glaring once again. "Say whatever you want sweetheart." He was still looking at her body. Maybe that could serve as some kind of distraction or something. "Alright. You broke my heart. You took my /one/ true love away from me. And why? Oh that's right, you had no reason. You were just shooting. I was watching. Didn't think anyone saw, did you?"
The guy just looked at her, his eyes finally moving up from her corset to meet hers. "I.. wait.. you're talking about.." She nodded. "The Joker. What, did my facepaint give it away?" She laughed then, the sound coming out hollow. It was forced. "Now, I'm going to make you feel just as bad as I felt. You're going to feel pain." His eyes widened then. "Listen lady, I didn't mean to... I was just shooting.. I just-" She cut him off then, snarling. "I don't care what you meant to do. You took him from me. Now I'm taking life from you."
She reached into the coat pocket then and pulled the gun out, aiming it at the guy's heart, right where he had shot her Joker. "Lady.. please.. don't do this.." Oh so he was scared of her now? What an interesting twist. "Now, this may hurt just a bit." She smiled then, not giving him time to say anything, and pulled the trigger. Revenge. It was definitely worth whatever would happen to her.