Roxanne looked from the Joker to her father, shocked. Her father sat there silently for a few moments. Surely, surely he wouldn't trade her to Gotham's worst criminal in exchange for a few stolen chemicals? Her father looked back up at the Joker and let out another booming laugh.

"You drive a hard bargain, Mr. Joker sir. She is quite handy, but seeing as how I really need you to do this job for me, sure, go ahead and take her. Do what you want. One less mouth to feed, right?"

Roxanne's jaw dropped; her eyes widened in shock. She looked over to the Joker's grinning face. A shiver went up her spine. She was now this man's property. The Joker stood.

"Well, it seems we have a, ahh, deal here. When and where do you want the chemicals delivered?"

"The docks, 1 a.m. tomorrow morning." Her father stood as well, extending his hand to the Joker. The Joker glanced down at the hand then looked back at Roxanne.

"Well, if you don't mind your lovely daughter and I will be taking our leave now." The Joker grabbed her by the arm roughly and began dragging her out of her father's house toward a black BMW in the drive. Roxanne snatched her arm out of the Joker's grip.

"Get your hands off me! I can walk for myself. You don't have to drag me around like a rag doll!" A sharp slap was delivered to her cheek.

"Don't speak to me like that again!" Roxanne fixed a glare at the Joker. The slap stung, but she made no move to reveal the pain; she was used to this kind of treatment.

"And why not?" The Joker spun her around and slammed her against the car door. Before she knew it, she had a switchblade pressed against her throat. The Joker leaned in close, as if he were going to kiss her, and whispered,

"Because you're mine now. I can do whatever I want. You're my new toy. And sometimes, if my toys don't work right, I end up breaking them." The Joker pressed the blade deeper into her neck, drawing a small amount of blood. Roxanne stayed silent but looked him straight in the eyes. She would not back down. Ever. The Joker growled, shoved his knife in his pocket, opened the door, and threw her into the backseat of the car.

"Drive." The Joker commanded the man in the driver's seat. He turned to Roxanne.

"Sorry, babe, but you can't see where we're going." Before she could stop him, the Joker had grabbed a handful of her hair, shoved her head into the window and the world faded to black.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Daddy don't, please. I'll be good, I promise. I didn't mean to be bad. Please, don't daddy!" The small six year old girl backed into the corner of the living room, attempting to get as far away from her father as possible. It was useless; soon he had any chance of escape blocked off. The girl began crying as her father leaned down, a sour smell on his breath. He whispered,

"You're just like your mother, always causing me trouble and being bad. Well, bad little girls deserved to be punished, don't they? And you're going to get the punishment you deserve." The girl's father hurled her out of the corner and into the middle of the living room, where he straddled her small frame.

"No, daddy don't! She cried as the first of the blows rained down.

Roxanne awoke with a start. Why did she have to dream about that now? Wasn't it bad enough that she was a man's property, but did the world have to remind her that she had never been truly free? Sighing, Roxanne stood up; glad she was alone in the room. She didn't think she could stand seeing the Joker at that moment. Her façade surely would have broken. Roxanne looked around the room. It was fairly bare with blood red walls, a dark wooden floor, a king sized wrought-iron bed that she was sitting on, and a chest of drawers with a small mirror over it.

Roxanne stood and walked over to the dresser. Scattered on the top were several things of greasepaint. This must be what the Joker uses to make his clown mask. She picked up a small tube and opened it to reveal bright red lipstick. She closed the tube back. Just as she was setting it back on top of the dresser, the Joker walked in.

"Well, well, well. I leave you alone for five minutes and here you are playing around in my makeup. Sorry, sweetie, but I just don't think that color suits you." The Joker strode over to her, snatched the tube out of her hand and set it back on the dresser. He then wrapped one hand around her neck and pushed her backwards until she fell on the bed.

"Now, let's have a look at you." The Joker's eyes traced their way up and down her body. He started at the top with her hair that had every shade of blond mixed in but somehow managed to blend beautifully with her slightly tanned skin. He moved down to her deep blue-green eyes, her long slender neck. His gaze lingered over her breasts, most of which were revealed by her black v-neck top. They were nicely shaped, not too big, not too small, the left one a bit bigger than the right. Finally, his gaze moved to her toned stomach, a bit of which was revealed due to her top riding up. He could see the top of a tattoo on her left hip, he'd have to see what it was later. He could also see the strap of what looked like a black lace thong, something else he'd have to check out later. Briefly, he allowed himself to wonder if her bra matched. Shaking away those thoughts he glanced over her grey flare jeans, which clung to her legs like a second skin, and finally down to her feet, clothed in black strappy heels. Oh, how he'd love to see her in only those heels. His gaze returned to her face, a grin spreading on his.

"Well, it certainly looks like I've bought myself a pretty little toy. I can't wait to play with you later." Inwardly, Roxanne cringed at the gleam in his eyes, but outwardly she appeared as calm as ever.

"And what's your name, dollface."

"Roxanne." She replied stonily. The Joker laughed and clapped his hands.

"Well, my little Roxy, I'm afraid I have some, uhhh, business to attend to. But don't worry, I'll be back to play soon." Laughing, the Joker left the room, locking the door behind him. Roxanne flopped down onto the bed, wondering why fate had decided to be so cruel. Silently, as she tried to drift off to sleep, she prayed the Joker wouldn't return. Surely starving to death would be better than the fate he had in store for her.