The day had started out simply enough. But if there was anything Valarie learned over the years nothing could ever stay simple; complications always a way of rearing it's ugly head. It wasn't her jog that morning that was the reason for her frustration even though the action caused her old injury to bring her almost crippling pain. It wasn't even her perverted landlord not answering her call to get her water heater fixed. No, it was a trip to the bank. She only wanted to open an account which should have been a quick 30 minutes at most to do. She was even next in line. But no, it seemed that a few punks felt they needed money, but were obviously to dumb or lazy to hold down a real job, so robbing a bank appeared to be a bright idea. Upon their arrival they fired a semi-automatic assault rifle in the air, instinct kicked in and Valarie dropped to the ground and observed her surroundings. She hoped it was just flashbacks from deployment but no they were very real. "Everybody on the ground!" a rather scrawny young man wearing a Halloween mask demanded and the patrons obeyed terrified. Another man, also wearing a mask, approached the clerk that Valarie was in line to see. He threw a black dufflebag at the woman who began to sob uncontrollably. "Put the money in the bag." he said with a gruff voice. She fumbled with the bag dropping it on the ground, "Come on, bitch." he said angrily looking around and saw Valarie. He reached down grabbing her by her hair. Pussy. She thought. "If you don't get a move on, this woman will lose her life." he informed the middle aged woman. She nodded looking at Valarie, fear deeply rooted in her eyes.
As they went to the back Valarie began assessing her options. She couldn't go on the offense with the pair of men so close with all the civilians. It would be like shooting fish in a barrel. She waited until they were in the vault. The man loosened his grip on her hair with the weapon pointed at the teller. In a flash Valarie grabbed the barrel of the rifle pointing it at the ceiling. Caught of guard Valarie managed to get the weapon out of his hands. She got a tight grip on the rifle and turned hitting him on his temple with the butt stock knocking him out cold. "Close the door behind you. Stay put and call the police." she ordered and hurried to get the other man down. She crept and peeked around the corner to see two other men that had joined the party. "Fuck." she muttered. She had to come up with a plan to incapacitate these men without any casualties. She got low to ground and high crawled close enough to the action. Two men were standing together laughing at a woman holding her child who was crying. Cowards. She looked down at the magazine, she only needed three shots to kill them but that would be too easy. She took a deep breath and stood with the butt stock pressed firmly on her shoulder. Before they knew what hit them she fired a round into the pair each of them in the chest. Not to kill just to maim. She quickly kicked their guns away from them. The other one finally realized what was happening and had turned his weapon on the young woman who also had hers pointed at him. She fired quickly enough and he hit the ground writhing in pain. A civilian grabbed the weapon before he could use it against anyone.
"Fucking bitch." one of them spat from the ground. Valarie looked down at him, "If I were you I'd shut your mouth. I'm the one with the big gun now." she informed him because it seemed he did not realize. It didn't take long for the police to arrive and arrest the men. "There is one in the vault, I took his weapon," she explained handing the officer the weapon, "I don't know if he armed with anything else though." The officer seemed shocked as he handed the weapon off to another officer to put into evidence. "From what I've been told you have done a very brave thing. But I do have to ask," he paused scratching his head, "How did you manage to take them down by yourself?" Valarie forced a smile, "I was trained to do so. I just got out of the Army and training to do that is perpetual." his eyes changed from being curious to that of acknowledgment, "Well we thank you for your service and for your actions here today." The blonde nodded, "It's no problem, we both are here to serve and protect." she smiled dryly. "However, we are still going to have to get your statement, protocol." he explained a little sheepishly. "Of course." she explained the events that took place. She would have to go another day to set up a bank account.
Upon her arrival at her home she took a shower found her way in sit in front of the television. With a glass of coke and rum she sat back and enjoyed her relaxation time. On the news they told the story of the attempted robbery. "Today at Gotham City Bank an attempted robbery took place. We were told that there were four men involved. What stopped them? You might ask. A US Army veteran by the name of Valarie Demont, a native to Gotham City returning home from an eight year term." Valarie scowled, They might as well hand out my address too. Holy shit. "We were lucky enough to get a comment from the young veteran." A video recording of Valarie appeared on the screen, "What were your first thoughts when the man fired the gun?" the male reporter asked her, "Get down. Hearing gunshots isn't exactly, uh, heartwarming." she answered stupidly, "What was going through mind as you fired those bullets?" he continued, "That these men were a threat to all of these people. I don't want to see anymore death, not if I can stop it." she answered her bright green eyes looking into the camera. The screen flashed back to the set. "Welcome back home soldier, and thank you again for your heroic actions today." Valarie flipped through the channels sipping her drink. She had drank nearly the whole bottle before she finally passed out on her couch with the sound of old reruns of The Munsters played in the background.
Valarie had a rude awakening thanks to the ground. She hit the cold, hardwood floor with a thud. Cold sweat dripped from her body, her clothes soaked in it. She sat up and hugged her knees as she allowed herself to be vulnerable around her demons. Her self pity session was over in a little under an hour. She got up and showered just to get sweaty again with a run. Her doctor advised against any physically strenuous task due to her injury. But after doing it for so long Valarie found she liked to run. It was alone time to clear her head. She would run from four to six miles depending on how she was feeling. Maybe a little shorter today. That hangover was no joke. When she arrived back home she caught her phone ringing, "Hey Val. Thanks for letting me know you were back home." a familiar voice was on the other side, "We have to celebrate your freedom." Claire said excitedly. "Hey Claire, sorry I only got back like two days ago. Sorry I'm still adjusting to the time zone. But yeah going out sounds good I need to get out of my house." she said looking at the surrounding boxes. "Good, text me your address, and I'll come get you tonight, say around nine or ten?" Claire suggested, "We never really had a proper 21st birthday together for either of us." Valarie smiled, "Sounds great. I'm glad you called."
Valarie spent the rest of daylight relaxing, she took a long aromatherapy bath with a glass or two of cheap wine. She napped for hours, a restless sleep but more than what she had got the night before. She needed to go back to the doctors for stronger sleeping medication; even though she was already on three different kinds. The night terrors were getting progressively worse. However, Valarie pushed those thoughts in the back of her head as she got ready for the night. She dressed in a skin tight red dress that showed her slim, yet curvy figure. She stared at her reflection. She was muscular and though it wasn't all that feminine she wore it well. She strapped on a nine milometer to her inner thigh. Just in case, she was in Gotham after all. Her platinum blonde hair hung in loose curls that reached down to her back. In her purse she had the usual, her wallet, cell phone and a small frame revolver. Maybe she was paranoid. No, she was paranoid. There was a knock on her door and she could see Claire peeking in through the window, her red hair cut short. She waved fervently as she saw Valarie. When the door opened they almost fell as the pounced on each other. "I've missed you so much!" Claire exclaimed taking a look at her childhood friend. "I've missed you too." they shared another long hung.
Starstruck was the name of the club and it was exactly what Valarie expected. Shady characters lingering around drunk girls, loud, thumping music, and a VIP section closed off to the crowds saved for a select few who wanted to the pay the price. The pair made their way to the bar to take seats next to each other before they were all taken. Claire ordered some fruity drink with a name entirely too long. Valarie's tastes were a lot more simple. A rum and coke. But before they started on those drinks they took shots of tequila and a lime. "Hey you're that woman from the news." the bartender recognized her. Valarie shook her head, "Yeah you are. First rounds are on the house for you and your friend." his skin was darkened and wrinkled from hard work outside. He was blind in one eye with a scar going down his face. "Thank you." Valarie said loudly as she smiled. It wasn't long before a crowd of men surrounded the pair, Claire was basking in the attention giggling and touching 'muscles'. Valarie would immediately shut down any advances by the men in here. "I'm gonna go dance with- what was your name again?" he whispered in her ear, "Brian." her pale skin was red with alcohol. "Have fun." Valarie found she enjoyed people watching more then she did involving herself with the horde of people. She saw two huge men wearing sunglasses walk in and go directly to the VIP section. She was curious but she knew better than to be nosy. She turned back around and noticed some guy standing awfully close staring at her and her drink. She flagged down the bartender and handed him her drink, "Can I get a fresh one. I waited too long, it's all watered down now." she smiled sheepishly.
"I got this one, friend." a smooth yet unsettling voice spoke from behind her. She looked back ready to deny him but she was shocked by what she saw. It was hard to say what she noticed first, his green hair, his impossibly pale skin or the tattoos his skin adorned. "It's quite alright I can pay for my own drinks." she told him coldly. "I wasn't asking Dollface." he stared at her up and down like a predator sizing up it's next meal. Valarie was not prey. The other man seemed to know something Valarie did not and left leaving an open space for this green haired stranger. He took that spot leaning against the bar. Her drink was placed quickly in front of her and this man threw down a twenty. "What's your name?" his eyes full of curiousness. "Camille." she answered. He smiled showing the silver in his mouth, "You and I both know that is a lie, Val." he said his eyes intense. Her stomach did flipflops as he called her by her nickname. "Then why ask a question you already knew?" she countered, "I'm sorry to say I don't know yours though." he raised an eyebrow obviously shocked by this. It was quickly replaced by a smirk. He handed her a playing card; she flipped it over, "Joker? What kind of name is that?"
"The kind you won't forget." he assured her. "Why don't you come to the back with me so we can, uh, talk." he suggested. "No thank you. I'm here with one of my friends. And I don't know you." she gulped her drink. He laughed, "I like feisty. It makes the chase so much better." he said stepping closer to her. "Don't waste your energy. You can't handle what I have." she explained to him continuing to drink her drink. He was about to reply but then got interrupted by another man. Joker's face became cool and emotionless. "Until next time Dollface." he tilted her chin up and took in her appearance one more time. When he left Claire popped up with wide eyes, "Are you okay? What did he do to you?" she asked apparently worried. "Yeah I'm fine. He just bought my drink. Why? Who is that?" she asked. "That the Joker, he is like in some seriously illegal shit. Not petty crime. Like crazy murderer type shit." she explained, "And he is out walking around?" Valarie asked, "They've locked him several times but he breaks out. He has already escaped three times. And he is like insane or something so they can't give the death penalty. Just be careful. Him giving you attention is not a good thing."
Great just what Valarie needed to complicate her life even more. A psycho clown.