Bang! Bang! Bang! Mia's eyes flew open, assessing her room for danger. By reflex her hand closed around the pocketknife under her pillow. She pinched the bridge of her nose to abate her impending migraine. Bang! Bang! Bang! The front door of Mia's studio shook. "Go away," Mia shouted at it.
"Rise and shine, Princess!" Bang! Bang! Bang! Mia cursed as she glanced at her phone; 5 missed calls and it wasn't even five in the morning. Cursing, she tucked the pocketknife in her bra and answered the door.
"Jesus, Mia, could have put on some pants," Luc Conti grinned down at her. His dark hair was tied into a ponytail at the base of his neck and Mia could smell beer on his breath.
"The fuck do you want, Luc?" she snarled, "Its four in the morning, I've had an hour's sleep; unless you have the Batman tied up in – " Luc held up a placating hand.
"I just woke up too, Princess. Boss's got an errand for you. I tried calling …" Luc finished with a helpless shrug. He was technically Mia's superior. Technically. The lines between handler and brother tended to blur. On closer inspection Luc didn't look much better off than Mia did. His normally immaculate ponytail was falling apart and he had yet to shave.
"You look like hell," she said, moving back into her apartment. "What is this errand anyway?"
"Some sort of exchange," he closed the door and grabbed a beer from Mia's fridge. "I don't know the details but I've got a purse in the trunk that I'm not allowed to open."
As Mia finished pulling on her jeans, she grabbed the beer from Luc. "You're already tipsy and driving," she grabbed her jacket and bag, "besides, I'm ready when you are."
"I think that's a record for you, Princess," Luc grinned.
Mia rolled her eyes. "Let's just go."
Mia lulled in and out of sleep in the car. Luc could be driving her into a trap and she would never know. But when Luc poked her awake they were parked in an alleyway in the Narrows. Typical. Silently they slipped out of the car and filed around to the trunk. "The contact is parked around the corner in an old silver Camry. Get in the car. Make the exchange – "
"Wait?" Mia finally spoke, "you want me to get in a car with this person? "
"It's all kosher, princess," Luc grinned, "Besides, you get in clients cars all the time."
"Yeah, trusted ones," she frowned, picking up the purse.
"Just don't let on that you're not sure what's supposed to be in the bag." Luc pulled a small pistol from inside his jacket. "In case you need it," he tucked it into the inside pocket in Mia's jacket. "Now go."
Mia grabbed the purse and went around the corner, scanning for the Camry and danger. Though it was almost morning the Batman could very well still be out. Spotting the car she picked up speed. Every step seemed to echo around the empty streets. She walked faster. The Camry had parked almost a block away from Luc's alleyway. Several birds above her were spooked by something. Mia nearly broke into a run. "Slow down," she chided herself. Running could draw more attention than she wanted.
She froze when she opened the Camry. Pushing away the impulse to just give up and walk away, Mia fell into the passenger seat. "You've got to be fucking kidding me."
"Nice to see you too." The Joker had stretched himself across the front seat; his shoes resting on the dashboard next to Mia.
"Wasn't there a bounty on your head or something?"
"'Was' is operative word there, sweetheart." Joker tapped his fingers on the steering wheel.
"Can we just get this over with?" Mia's eyes dropped to the hand not on the steering wheel; the one absentmindedly fingering a pocketknife.
"No games?" Joker mock pouted. "Purse is at your feet, kid." Mia pulled it up and started searching through it.
"What the fuck are you playing at?" she turned the empty bag upside-down.
"Like I said," Joker giggled, "'no games'."
Mia launched the purse at him. "Yeah, no fucking games, give me the shit." She started to calculate the likely hood of killing the Joker and searching the car, her hand reaching up for a weapon.
"You shouldn't have done that." He threw himself across the car before Mia's sleep deprived brain could react, his foot hitting the horn as he did. His face was inches from hers. Mia could count the spots where his makeup had smeared off. She could feel the moisture from his breath. The Joker's knife dug into her cheek. Her left arm was pinned to her chest by his elbow, inches from the gun. He pinned her other shoulder down painfully between the seat and window. Both of his knees settled painfully against her hipbones, effectively pinning her legs. "If you're gonna bring a gun to a knife fight you at least have to draw it," he spit as he cackled. Mia pushed struggled against him, her right arm groping for the door handle.
"What the hell do you want?"
The Joker pressed his knife into her cheeks, drawing blood. "When will you people learn?" he replied, "I just wanted to see what that guy was up too." He adjusted his knee so that Mia cried out in pain. "Dangerous to sit alone in your car at night, in the Narrows, doors unlocked." Mia's hand continued to search for the door handle. "Especially with half a mill in a bag …. Maroni's?" Mia squeezed her eyes shut. "And then you came along …" Mia's hand closed around the door handle, "… a shiny new toy …" Mia pushed the door open, allowing herself to fall into a heap with the Joker.
Mia threw her legs out attempting to gain the upper hand on the mass of purple above her. One hand grasped for her gun, the other punching anything bit of matter she could reach. The Joker laughed, grabbing the offending hand and pressing a knee on Mia's chest. She coughed weakly, tossing back and forth. "Enjoying yourself?" Joker said, pulling the gun from Mia's jacket. He examined it thoughtfully before opening the chamber. "It's not even loaded?" he let go of Mia's hand as he doubled over in laughter. "They gave you an unloaded gun?" Mia seized her opportunity to pull out the pocket knife she had stuffed in her bra earlier. She jammed it into the first available limb she could find, that being his thigh. "Fucking bitch," he snarled. Mia twisted it the knife.
"Get off of me," Mia grunted, trying to sit up. She pulled the knife out, preparing for another attack. The Joker was quicker and threw a fist at Mia. Stars danced in her vision. He hit her again. Lack of sleep was catching up to her; her vision swam. Mia's knife lay useless at her side, her entire world narrowing to blinding punches and distant cackles. She screamed.
"'attagirl!" the Joker cackled. A gunshot cracked through the air above them. The Joker froze. Mia sighed in relief. Luc's truck sped toward them. He fired another shot at the Joker. This time the Joker rolled off of Mia to avoid the gunfire. Two more shots. Mia pushed herself up and threw herself into the vehicle. Luc passed the gun to Mia.
"Is he following?" Luc asked, jamming the stick in some foreign-to-Mia pattern, causing it to lurch forward.
"I don't think so?" Mia turned around to check. The Joker stood on the side walk behind them doubled over in pain or laughter, it didn't really matter.
"What the fuck happened?" Luc asked.
"Joker killed the contact." Mia became aware of blood dripping down her nose. She poked it diagnostically, and winced.
"And the bag?"
"Shit," Mia threw her head against the seat and was rewarded with pain from whatever injury she had sustained falling out of the car. "I'm dead anyway, aren't I?" Luc declined to reply.