I just couldn't wait to post the next chapter, so here it is. I think I'll keep it in third person as it's easier to explore the points of view without having to mention it explicitly. Same rules apply with italics and stuff. So, I'm listening to the film's soundtrack while I write this (or copy it, as I started to write in my college notebook as I had no work). I frequently think about what I'll put in the story as well when I'm commuting to and from college, I've got some great ideas, but you'll all just have to wait and see. I think about this a lot! I'm just obsessed with the film! Anyway, in the words of my parents when I put off my homework, "Get on with it!"

Chapter Two

After a whole week of hearing nothing, Isis finally got a phone call from her new "employer".

"Isis Bickman," she stated by means of answering the phone.

"Miss Bickman," growled her caller.

Isis looked around her office in shock, surprised he would call her at this hour. She then walked to her door to check nobody was walking in the corridor outside.

"Look," she whispered into the phone, covering the receiving end with her hand. "I'm at work –"

The Joker cut her off with a giggle. "Ooh, are you being Gordon's little lapdog?"

She imitated his cackle sarcastically. "Shut up. When did you want to meet?"

"Tonight, if possible. What time do you get off work? Or will I have to force you to leave?"

Isis laughed again, but this time because she found him amusing. "What, you walk into Gotham's Police Department, come into my office and you drag me down into whatever little stolen car you've got a getaway driver in?"

The Joker scoffed. "Hmm… something a little like that, yes."

"And in answer to your first question, I get off at…" Isis checked her watch. It read 3.30. "Eight."

"We'll meet at ten, same place as last time. Just you and me."

"What'll we do?"

"Oh, you'll find out when you get there. I'll see you at ten, Commander." The line went dead, leaving Isis with a slight feeling of apprehension.

*

Isis pulled up at the warehouse five minutes early. She locked her Mercedes with the button on the car key. The beep of the locked echoed in the silence. The warehouse was in an avoided area of the Narrows, and the noise of the car being locked could cause a lot of trouble if anyone nearby were to investigate.

Isis walked towards the warehouse, her boots clicking on the stone floor. She approached the steps to the warehouse door, and as she got closer she could read a handwritten sign – a piece of paper tacked on the white wood.

"Evening, Commander." The uneven scrawl read. Isis ripped the note off the door, crumpled it into her handbag, and entered the main hall.

The Joker was sat at a long table of sorts, a workbench. Candles on the workbench lit the room. Isis raised her eyebrows at the clown.

"Candles? Please, this isn't a date, is it?" she groaned as she rolled her eyes at her "employer".

"No cop uniform, I see?" the Joker said. He stood up and approached Isis to greet her. The two shook hands, the Joker appreciating her smooth skin through the barrier of his purple gloves.

Isis smiled. "No, I don't wear that any more. As long as I'm smart, they don't really care what I wear. And the Commissioner doesn't exactly wear a suit to the office."

"Shame," the Joker said, turning around to go back to the table. "I would have liked to see you in one of those." Isis raised her eyebrows behind his back in shock. A mass murdering psychopath was coming on to her?

"Oh, and in response to your, mmm… highly polite greeting, no this is not a date. The candles don't generate enough light compared to the fluorescents, so we're less likely to be found. Not that anyone comes around here anymore except me. Oh, some people might turn up later, to see why there's a car parked outside in an otherwise deserted area of the slums." It was his turn to raise eyebrows now.

Isis blushed. "You heard my car?"

"Honey, the whole of Gotham heard your car."

Isis sat down, trying to remain composed. The Joker sat down opposite her.

"What's the plan for tonight then?" she asked, changing the subject.

He chuckled to himself. "Oh, plan indeed!" Isis looked quizzically at him. "You said a week ago I could set you a, hmm… simple task to prove your trust to me. I've devised a task for you."

Isis looked across the table at him quizzically. He chuckled again.

"Mmm… yes… You, honey, are part of a robbery. A robbery in Gotham National Bank."

She looked at him in shock. "My first task and you're putting me onto that?"

The Joker snorted at her. "Why are you looking so shocked, Commander. That should be a cinch for you, being a big, powerful cop, huh?"

Isis looked at the insane clown incredulously. "You just robbed that place, and took 64 million dollars of mob money! What do you want with it now? It has more security than ever, now that they're putting citizen's money back in, and there'll be no way you can break in to it. It's like a fortress!"

The Joker chuckled. "I know, honey. But here's the good thing: I have an insider. A very good friend of both of ours. Mark Zimbardo."

If it was possible, Isis looked on in even more disbelief. "Jesus. He helped you last time?"

He shook his head and chuckled. "A-hee, a-hoo, no, that was all me, and my Mensa-worthy IQ. Your law-enforcing colleagues are dealing with a genius, well three geniuses on this one. Yourself and Zimbardo included."

Isis looked relatively flattered at this comment, but her mind was still on the guy who changed her life. "What has Mark done to help?"

The Joker's face was overcome with a manic expression of joy. "He's rigging the place with explosives, and only I get the detonator."

She tried to digest the possibility of explosives, and how this excited her new "boss".

The Joker scrutinised her face. "And in case you're wondering, which you obviously are, I meant the 'genius' comment. I mean, if you get through this, you are a genius."

I don't really feel like this was an awesome chapter, and I'm sorry if it dragged.

In case you're wondering, Mark Zimbardo does work for the bank, which is how he is planting the explosives, and he has almost as many connections as the Joker has. Is he going to be a threat? I don't know, I've only just thought of that as a component to the story! What do you all think? Shall Mark be a bad guy? Should he be working for someone, or is he a rising criminal too?

On the bad news front, I have exams starting in May, so chapters WILL be few and far between. I mean, it's the end of Easter break and I've barely done any revising! I wouldn't expect any more updates until the beginning of June. I'm sorry, but the next few chapters are going to be good.

An action chapter will be coming up next, as well as a scene I think we might all enjoy… ;)