From the very moment she drew the gun and fired it, everything changed. The speed at which she unloaded her weapon at The Bat completely blindsided him and the Joker, giving Batman literally no time to move. The bullet kissed his cheek, leaving him with a bloody streak that would scar him for life. It had bounced off, not causing any real damage, just physical scarring. The damage would be a reminder, to the bat, of how close to death he came that night.
The Bat's eyes said: he had been spooked. He froze for moment, almost as if he was in disbelief. Between two of them, Batman and the Joker, there was no way of telling who was more shocked by the whole ordeal. Still, he was The Batman, and in the end he wouldn't allow this to define, or change him.
The Joker was furious. How dare someone take a shot at his Bat and on top of it, actually hit him too! The rage rolled out of him like fire following gasoline fumes.
"Who does this... this...this minx think she is?" He thought.
Showing up, out of the blue, interpreting his heist too! His teeth clinged together and his brow scoured at her as he slowly marched toward her.
"I'll choke the life out of her, then rip her heart out... I'LL... I'LL.." He thought to himself.
Her attention was focused solely on Batman at the moment. Everything was happening so fast, that her gun was still pointed at him. It wasn't until The Joker was nearly on top of her that she snapped out of her momentary daze. Quickly turning to confront him, she met with his fist right in her face. Then his hands went immediately around her throat. Suddenly, she found herself on the ground, flat on his back. Her gun was gone, knocked out of her hand. She didn't panic, instead only laughing, unfazed by the situation. For a moment, her laugher was met with a pause from the Joker, he loosen his grip long enough to make a slightly shocked face before baring his teeth and continuing his violent assault on her. Not bothering to struggle, instead she simply went for a knife, stinking it deep into his side of his thigh.
The moment he went to grabbed the knife, his grip loosened, she manhandled him over and off of her. Once back on her feet, an exchange of punches, kicks and any other act of violence, that was able to be committed, passed between the two. Somehow this new comer with no name, no history of crime in Gotham, stood to be perfectly matched for the Clown Prince. The equal footing she somehow had, started to intrigue the Joker.
Suddenly, the Joker stopped fighting, "Where did he go?"
His eyes traveled cross the rooftop, looking for the Bat.
"You distracting menace, you malefactor! You've let the Bat slip away." Joker was panting heavily out of anger.
She stood there ready for him, waiting for just the right moment. When he turned his head, literally for only a second, to wipe away some of the blood on his lip. First her fingers brushed his neck, tightening as both of her hands firmly encircled his throat, squeezing with only one reason, to kill. The force in which she threw yourself on him, knocked the both of them down. The landing was hard enough that she lost her grip for a split second, giving the Joker enough time to start fighting her off. After a few punches, she still found a way to choke him.
She had lost the element of surprise that she had the first time. This grip wasn't nearly as helpful, he was able to get one of her hand from around his neck, holding it, keeping it from being used. In the middle of this brawl, somehow a roll happened, he was on top of her. Then will a quick kick from her and another roll, she returned to her original position on top. Both of them breathing heavy, drawing in deep gasps of air, almost in unison. With one more skirmish for power she found herself being choked also, but she maintain her own grip around his throat. It had turned into a game of chicken. One that no one could win.
The Joker grinned and attempted to laugh at their predicament. Once it became clear that it had turned pointless, she also gave a small chuckle. Each of their grips had relaxed, to the point of them simply holding each other's neck with nothing more than a playfully grip. Taking advantage of moment to taunt, the Joker spoke in typical Joker fashion.
"Saaay..." He grinned through the blood. "I can't remember the last time I was lucky enough to be treated so gently. And on a first date too."
A slight look of disgust crossed her face, her grip tighten immediately, making him going on.
"But don't worry, my dear..." He changed his tone to sound seductive, "I never kiss and tell. Ha, you can ask the Bat."
Then he puckered his lips, making a few loud kissing sounds. A fist suddenly met Joker's face at full speed, making his laughter burr into a loud groan of pain. He immediately became amused, having been able to get under her skin. He only grinned up at her as she remained on top of him, pulling back her arm, ready to punch him again. But unknown to her, Batman had finally reappeared and was walking up behind the two fighting criminals, only being seen by the Joker.
"Hee-ohooh-hehe, careful dear. You wouldn't want to make Batss jealous. After all..." Joker's eye sparkled watching the Bat.
Batman kicked her, with tremendous force, she rolled off of the Joker violently, ending up on her side in a slight daze.
"... I'm his main squeeze." The Joker finished as Batman grabbed him and pulled him off the ground.
"Oh Batss, my Knight in matted armour!" The Joker laughed loudly as Batman tried to restrained him.
Joker quickly fought back, getting away from him. The Joker grinned, "No longer the pretty boy, are we?" He taunted the Bat, who now had a bandage over the gun graze. Meanwhile, the no named female had made it to her feet. While Batman was distracted with the Joker, she managed to located her gun, that had been knocked out of her hand earlier. She walked up behind the Bat, pointing it at his head.
The Joker's eyes widen and he smirked slightly.
"Now, you know I can't let you do that. After all, he's my to kill." He bared his teeth through his smile.
Batman was aware he had a gun pointed at him, as he started to duck down to get out to the line of fire, Joker threw one of his razor cards at her. A single shot rang out and the card flew up into the air, having been shot off course. The distraction gave Batman enough time to get out of the way. He grabbed her arm, trying to knock the gun out of her hand. It didn't matter, she simply took the gun in her other hand being ambidextrous, she very effectively handle the gun. Another gun shut rang out, the Bat had just barely dodged the bullet in time. He was left with ringing in his ears.
Nearly in the same moment, another razor card flew through the air, only this time it hit it's mark. Slicing through flesh and bone it found its way right into her left hand, causing the gun to fall. The card was almost all the way through her hand, causing pain. She momentarily grabbed for her hand, giving the Bat another chance to punch her. She was able to dodge it, and return the attempted punch with a kick of her own.
As quick as she could, the razor card was removed and tossed aside. As the blood poured from it, she tried to make a fist with the hand, it was very limited. This didn't stop her from engaging with Batman. The Joker, still keeping his distance, letting the Bat tangle with her for now, laughed at the infliction he had caused. Just like she had done with the Joker, she incredibly held her own against the Bat. Her fighting style was stellar and she not only could she take a forceful whack but she could also deliver one as well.
As she started hitting Batman, rapidly, getting in as many affective punches as possible, Joker watched. He was half mesmerized and half jealous, seeing someone else tangle with his Batsy. It wasn't until she had gotten the better of Batman, having a knife pressed to the little bit of exposed neck, that Joker stepped in again.
Pulling a knife of his own, literally out of his sleeve, he approached. She used Batman as a bargaining chip and toy to taunt the Joker, this time. Keeping the Bat between her and the Joker, the three stood there on the roof, wind whipping and snapping around them in a standoff.
The Joker started to make his move.
"No, no." She pressed the knife harder into the Bat's skin.
"Why you rank, unworthy..." Joker was curling his nose and extremely angry.
"Hush it, no?" She smirked cleverly, threatening the Joker with Batman's demised. "The power source, you stole tonight, yes? I have to have it. Let's exchange."
Joker's face lit up with joy, "this one wants to play. " He through.
"Yes, yes. That's fine. You can have it and I get to fight the Bat another night." He grinned and laughed manically.
"See Batss, you can't ever stay that old Jokie's never done something heroic, saving your little rodent neck from being had." He grinned smugly.
She continued to keep the knife on the Bat as a precaution. However, while the Joker and her were coming to an agreement, Batman had slowly been moving his hand toward his belt. Suddenly, a loud crack and smoke engulfed them, giving Batman just enough leverage to escape from her grip. The smoke caused coughing and confusion for just a few seconds.
Without warning the Joker lunged after her, making his way through the smoke. The hostility he attacked her with was on a completely new level of fierce. They battled with no concern of there surroundings, along with the smoke in the air, the two of them tumbled over the side of the building.
The pair fell five stories down from the roof of the small apartment building. As fate would have it, hitting a window awning, one story from the ground, breaking their fall. It was still an impenetrable landing, hitting nothing but rock hard concrete. The two of them laid there, one on top of the other, not moving after the impact. The Bat was immediately there, looking on. The only movement was the up and down of their breathing. Batman was relieved to see them both alive but they wouldn't be for long. He stressed that fact as he contacted help, leaving the scene to watch from a nearby rooftop.
She came to first, slowly opening her eyes, her head immediately felt like someone had hit her with a hammer over and over. There was no way she didn't have a concussion, she felt completely out of it. Trying to move, she felt the weight of the Joker on top of her, his head resting on her chest. He was out cold but alive. Suddenly, she felt dizzy and had to close her eyes to keep from being nauseated.
She could feel the Joker breathing.
"He's living," she thought.
After letting the dizziness pass, she tried moving. The Joker moaned as she slightly shifted. He was waking up and starting to stir. Trying to sit up, she also tried to push him over, all at the same time. The intense sharp pain that flashed through her body, overwhelmed her every sense. While at the same time, the Joker, who was still only just waking up, moaned loudly and cringed in pain.
"Stop. stop." Joker moaned out softly.
She looked down, lifting her head to get a better view. A piece of metal frame, from the window awning was sticking out of the Joker's back. Staring in disbelief, it appeared to be going all the way through him. She already knew the situation she was in, but had to see anyway. Lifting her head again, she moved her arm and hand, trying to feel under his body. Everytime she did, the same pain hit her body almost making her pass out and causing the Joker to cringe. There was no doubt about it, the metal frame was completely impaling the both of them.
The Joker was fully awake now, slightly moving his head.
"Don't move." She warned him.
He shifted causing the both of them horrible pain. Their groans were in unison. Once the wave of pain passed and it was back to being tolerable he spoke.
"It seems you broke my fall." The Joker barely could laugh without coughing.
The coughing caused his body to move, causing the metal piece to move, causing another wave of sharp pain to go through the pair of them.
"No laughing." Her voice was almost a whisper.
He giggled softly, not moving nearly as much. Suddenly, he turned his head so he could look at her, a grin crossed his face when he did.
"I've never..." He chuckled under his breath. "I've never connected with someone like this before." He continued to chuckle softly at the cheesy joke.
Police sirens were getting close.
"Where did Batss go?" Joker asked still grinning.
Hearing the sound of sirens closing in, she shifted and sighed. Disappointed that if she lived, she was going to be arrested. The Joker knew the feeling.
"You can, maybe, pull yourself up, yes?" She asked in a joking manner, referring to wanting to flee.
"Heehee." Joker knew what she meant but he suddenly tried anyway.
Pushing himself up with his arms, the amount of pain was unbearable. She grabbed him, stopping him from lifting up anymore.
"No, no no no no." It shot out like rapid gun fire.
He dropped immediately, letting his body go limp, relaxing back on top of her.
"Are you crazy?" She cringed out.
"Actually, depends on who you ask, especially in this town." He was clearly in pain but he still grinned.
"Just no...no more movement. Oui?" It was a whisper and a plead.
"If we don't die, I'm still going to kill you later. Deal? " Joker was calm as he said it.
She actually smirked, "Deal."
The cops and ambulances were just pulling up. The cops had there guns pulled, natural, just in case something wasn't what it appeared to be. This was the Joker after all. The EMTs got to work and quickly doped up the two of them. It would be the only way to comfortable remove the mental frame from the both of them.
As the drugs started to take effect, the Joker slurred, "Say, who are you, anyway?"
It was too late, she was already out.
Eight weeks later...
The piece of mental that impaled her and the Joker had just barely missed everything of importance, only ripping through part of her intestines. However, fate wasn't as kind to the Joker, his liver took the brunt of the damage. He survived, having to stay in the hospital an extra 4 weeks longer than she. Once she was giving the all clear by the medical doctors, she was sent to face a judge. The Joker, once he'd been given the all clear, he was transferred to Arkham Asylum.
The day he arrived the asylum went on lock down, assuring that the Joker was moved with any loss of life. Regardless of his fragile state, they still didn't want to risk it, given his history at the asylum. He was cuffed,
both hands and feet, then cuffed again to a wheelchair.
As he was wheeled down the hallway of the asylum, he grinned happily, making snarky comments to the guards. He was taken to level 9. Each cell on level 9 was designed to house some of the most dangerous criminal Gotham had to offer. The front of each cell was plated with double panel, bullet proof glass, the lack of privacy was solely for safety. One by one, the guards and the Joker started passing the inmate's cell.
"Hello! It's good to be back home!" He cheerfully greeted .
"Harvey, wait, which one is it today?" He acted puzzled, taunting two-face.
The guards ignored him, letting him freely comment as they continued to pass the cells.
"Edward! What's green and funny, and white all over?" Joker busted out into a manic laugh.
They passed a few cells while he laughed loudly. Then he stopped, looking right at Ivy.
"Red. Your brush is looking lovelier than ever." He grinned charming.
"Shut up, clown." Ivy angrily snapped, having a incredible dislike of the Joker.
They continued to wheel pass a few more cells.
"Doddle! Draw a picture for me, would ya?" He laughed, "So I can flush it down the ole crappier."
Doddle ignored him and continued drawing on his cell wall.
Then they arrived, cell #0801, the inmate's cell number corresponded with the patient numbers assigned to each inmate. The security card was scanned, the door opened and they wheeled him in. The guards uncuffed him, helped him up, helped him into bed, locked the cell and left. He remained cheerful but lethargic until the last guard was out of sight. Jumping up and walking to the glass to look out, he obviously wasn't nearly as sore and hurting as he wanted them to believe. He glanced down the hallway, one way and then the other way before freezing. He stared straight ahead into the cell right across his own.
A huge grin formed across his pale face, as he made eye contact with, well didn't know her name yet but that would soon change. She stood there staring right back back at him, both their eyes were almost the same bright crystal green. Her dark hair was the color coal. She was shorter than he remembered and smaller too. Her body wasn't nearly as athletically built, as one would think, to have put such a whooping on, both, him and the Bat. She was thin but curvy, he'd always had an eye for the good looking gals.
The first thing she saw was that smile, it was gorgeous, just as she remembered. However, his lips were pale, he wasn't wearing any red lipstick, like the night they had first "met". His hair was fluffy and wild, it look as if it had just been freshly washed. He had dark circles around his eyes, he looked tried and wore out. The orange Arkham outfit, that they all wore, made his skin look even whiter, almost sickly. He was taller than she remembered and his long lanky body was actually toned and muscular but still thin. Something that couldn't be seen nearly as well, when he wore his trademark purple dress suit.
As they glared at each other, Joker slowly raised one eyebrow, giving a charming wink.
He spoke slowly, than playfully sped up his words, "Well...Well...well, well, well-well-well. Look who's it is. My new across-the-hall neighbor, its a small world. Haha. I didn't know you were crazy too!"
He was beaming as he grinned.
"Oh, wait!" He snapped his fingers once, "I never got your name. I'm Joker, my dear." He took a bow.
He paused, giving her a chance to introduce herself. She said nothing.
He made a sad face, "And we were so close, practically connected at the hip..."
He grinned and put his hand over the spot where he'd been impaled, just at the bottom of his ribcage, on his left side, "...well, not quite the hip, I suppose."
He grinned.
She still said nothing, did nothing, only looked at him with a straight face, loathing him a little at that point. Not only had he been after the same piece of technology, on the same night, he had also been solely responsible for her capture and her almost death. She couldn't decided whether she wanted to kill him fast and get it over with or kill him slow and make him suffer.
He kept his hand over the same spot, "I'll show you mine, if you show me yours." He continued to charmingly grin. "I bet they match."
Her face expressed total disgusted.
On top of all the security measures in place, the guards were required to make physical rounds every 30 minutes, making sure each inmate at Arkham was accounted for. Hearing one of them coming down the hall made The Joker go sit down in the bed He wanted, for some reason, to keep up the guise of being less than healthy. Before the guard came pass their cells, Joker gave her a wink and a grin, then acted weak and lethargic. The guard stopped looked in on him, clicked his counter once, turned to her and clicked it again, then moved on.
With the cells being built with no privacy to have, besides the toilet being behind a small 3 foot privacy wall, there was no where to go to get away from him. The Joker could see her no matter where she was in the cell and vice versa for him. After the first one sided exchange, he watched her intensely for over an hour. He relaxed in his bed, arms behind his head, feet crossed and a smirk on his face as she moved around, glancing periodically over at him. She tried to ignore him, but even then she could feel every second of his gaze, as she sat crossed legged on the bed, reading a book from asylum's library. Finally, he was bored with only watching.
"Hey! Wanna hear a joke?" He didn't pause, immediately telling the joke. "Two bad guys were robbing a bank. When the cops showed-"
"Please. Hush." She was looking up from the book, staring ahead instead of looking him.
Joker grinned slowly, finally getting some interaction. He moved closer to the glass and leaned against it with one arm over his head, keeping his eyes on her.
"Nnnnnnoooooooooo." He stretched the word out as long as he could, keeping his grin.
She let out a long sigh and closed her eyes out of frustration before quickly slamming the book close. She jumped up and walked to the glass, standing right across from where he was. Joker straighten his posture and removing his arm from the glass. His grin still remained.
"What do you want? What will make you leave me at peace?" She looked at him.
He laughed out of satisfaction, getting her to talk was the first step. He also knew that he'd remembered her having an faint accent. Perhaps, European mixed with something else, he just couldn't quite put his finger on.
"Oh, my dear..." He turned on his charm.
"Stop." She demanded.
Causing him to curl his nose up out of slight aggravation.
"This pretend charm isn't you, no? I've seen who and what you really are..." She spoke softer, "Be him."
The way she said 'be him' made a chill run up Joker's back. And not a fearfully chill, instead it was more of a thrill.
He lowered his brow and his look became less cheerful and more sinister, "Oh, I think I'm going to like you." He placed his hand flat against the glass.
"See, There...you...are." Her eyes cut through him and her sensual tone had a way of making men melt. "That's better, no?"
Joker only stared, unsure of why he was now speechless.
"I think like him better." She turned and leaned her back against the glass to relax.
"Your Bat friend..." Joker's eyes lit up as she spoke about Batman and he listened intently.
"He came to visit, asking about my plans. If I worked for anyone in or outside of Gotham." She spoke keeping her back against the glass.
The guard could be heard coming through for the inmate count again. The two of them remained quiet until the guard passed.
Joker spoke first, "Funny, and through I was the only one he brought flowers to."
He grinned, "I'm willing to bet ole Batsy asked you about the power supply too."
She nodded 'yes' and turned to face him.
He continued, "And he wanted to why...and how...and when...and where...and who and what and this and that and all that detective gibberish he loves so much..."
Joker lifted an eyebrow at the sight of her letting out a small laugh and cracking smile.
"Yes, yes. He was most, mmm, how do you say it." She paused before rambling in french, "Il était un interrogatif agressif."
Joker smiled turn large, he recognized it to be French.
She through for a moment, "He was aggressive when... he asked questions."
Joker grinned, "True. True, It's the only way, Im afraid, that Batss knows how to allow his true feelings to show. It's why I've always understood him." He grinned.
"Tis' my burden to bare, understanding the Bat. He's the only obstacle in my way, from burning this town to the ground." He curled his lip and lowered his brow, "Afterall, Aggression's downfall..."
Her eyes flashed with excitement as she heard him say it. Then she finished saying the phase with the Joker, "...will be my raise."
He immediately froze and stared, spellbound. She smiled. The mere fact that she knew those words made his heart pound with delight.