Chapter Two:

A New Toy

It was another morning of restrained malevolence. First, his day began with his breakfast being brought to his cell. In all honesty, he had no idea what it was that he was being forced to consume. Perhaps if the lighting in his room was better, then he'd have a better time of distinguishing his meal. However, he doubted that even that would help.

His tray contained a soft mushy substance that really didn't have much flavor to it at all. If he had to guess, he would bet that it was grits. It came with a biscuit on the side and a carton of milk. The other patients at the asylum always seemed to complain about the terrible meals being served to them; but that was the one area where the Joker had no complaints. He rarely ate for pleasure. He usually only ate the bare minimum that he needed to survive. The Joker believed that eating was a terrible use of his time that could better be spent on plotting new random acts of chaos. He thought the consumption of energy was an extremely burdensome necessity that humans required for survival. If he could play God for one day, that was one of the many necessities of the human body that he would eliminate; However, if that chance ever did present itself, this elimination would be the furthest thing from his mind.

Lately however, the Joker had taken to eating each and every one of his meals. The quality of the food certainly wasn't the cause of this new peculiar habit; this behavior was a forced and necessary part of his plan. He needed to build his strength up as much as he could. Patients in isolation tended to weaken and wither away from lack of movement and appetite. The Joker was not about to let this down-time be spent unproductively. He wasn't planning on basing his escape entirely on his new formed strength. He wasn't the type of man to place brawns over brains. He was simply building his strength so that he could be that much more dangerous once out on the streets again. The Joker has always been a man with underestimated strength who could easily win any fight that he got himself into. His one-on-one battles with the Batman however, always seemed to end the same way. He hoped that the next time he faced the Bat, his new energy would take the vigilante by surprise and give him the advantage he needed to finally trump his opponent.

A couple of hours after breakfast, Jerry the orderly came to escort the clown to his therapy session. Of course the transition from his cell to his session room was a taxing experience; as usual. The Joker loved messing with the orderly; it was one of the few highlights of his day.

The two arrived to find the therapy room empty. The orderly sat the clown down in his seat and strapped on his handcuffs a bit tighter than he normally did. This caused the Joker to laugh at Jerry's growing aggression. It seems that his efforts to thin the orderly's patience is proving successful.

Just when the orderly stepped out of the room the young Dr. Copeland walked in and took his seat opposite his patient. "Good morning patient 4479," said the doctor. "How are you doing this morning?"

The Joker allowed a wry smile to spread across his lips. His therapy sessions were a sort of game to him; one in which the doctor endeavored to set up parameters that the Joker would dance around in masked contempt. He filled the doctor's head with fictitious stories and created illusions of therapeutic progress. The poor Dr. Copeland sincerely believed that he was getting through to the clown. It was because of this false sense of advancement that he granted the Joker permission to attend his social time with the other patients from his ward. If this 'good behavior' continued, then soon enough the doctor would also grant him permission to eat his meals with the other patients as well. Maximum security patients do not have the luxury of eating in the cafeteria every single day. They were usually allowed to eat there every two to three days; and only for dinner. Breakfast and lunch were meals that were always served to each patient individually so that they could eat them alone in their cells. In all honesty, The Joker didn't mind if he was forever denied permission to eat with the other patients. His social time was all he needed. True that the more time he spent surrounded by his counterparts, the better the execution of his plan could be, but he could easily conform with what he had. Besides, his enjoyment of his little game was slowly vanishing. Unfortunately, Dr. Copeland was not the sort of person who could hold the Joker's interest for very long. He grew bored of his game very easily and everyday his tolerance of the doctor's presence grew thinner and thinner.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that your social time has been doing you some good. I hope that you enjoy today's recreational time as well." The doctor gathered his notes into his file and rose from his seat. "It's been a pleasure speaking with you patient 4479. I look forward to our next session."

It took some effort for the Joker to bite back the sneer that desperately wanted to reveal itself, but he managed to force a tight smile. "Likewise, doctor." He watched as the doctor exited the room and waited for the door to close behind him before he rolled his eyes, tightened his jaw, and twitched his head to the side, cracking a few synovial fluid packets.

It didn't take long for ol' Jerry to enter the room to escort the patient back to his cell. As usual, the transition from rooms was not a pleasant one; for Jerry that is. The Joker enjoyed poking fun at the orderly. He especially loved how his eye brows would furrow and his top lip would twitch every time he called him Jerry. It was obvious that Jerry was not his real name. But what else was he supposed to call him? The employees at the asylum didn't exactly wear name tags; and Jerry sure as hell was not about to reveal his name, so he had no choice but to put up with whatever the clown decided to name him.

However, the orderly took great comfort in the notion that his compliancy with the clown's antics was compensated every time he threw the patient into his cell. That simple excessive push was the only outlet given to the orderly against the clown; and he enjoyed it very much. As did the Joker, who felt the force of the push grow stronger each day. It was evidence that he had done his personal job of getting under someone's skin each day.

Although, messing with Jerry was great fun, the Joker could not shake from his head the fun time he enjoyed with his blonde little lamb. The girl had made a huge impression on him, and hard as he tries, the Joker simply could not get their little encounter out of his head. He definitely looked forward to playing with her again later that day. Till then, he would just have to sit back and wait for the white scrubs to escort him to her.


When the Joker was finally uncuffed and released into the recreational room, his eyes immediately surveyed his surroundings in search of a particular face. He spotted Two-Face sitting in the same place with the same man playing the same game. Boring. He definitely was not going to join him today. Besides, there was no way that he was able to procure the key mold that he had asked for so soon. So there was no point in talking to him if he didn't have to.

Removing his eyes from the mutilated duo, the Joker looked across the room and rested his eyes on a far more appealing sight. He found his little lamb leaning back in her seat, picking her nails with her legs stretched out and resting on the table; one foot crossed over the other. She took no notice of what was happening around her, and she looked like she did not want to be disturbed or bothered by anyone. Naturally, the Joker believed that this was the perfect setting to go and converse with her. He confidently strode over to her. She took no notice of his presence until she heard the screech of the seat next to her. When she looked up to register the intruder of her personal space, she rolled her eyes obviously and released a disgruntled groan.

The Joker smiled widely at her response to his presence. "Why hello again doll face. I take it you missed me?"

She scoffed. His lamb didn't even bother to spare the clown a glance. She kept her attention purposefully on her nails while she addressed him. "I thought I told you to beat it clown. I'm not interested in anything you're offering."

The Joker smiled at the stand-offish atmosphere that she had created but he was by no means amused at the way she was speaking to him. The Joker was the type of man who demanded the full attention of anyone he was dealing with. The fact that she wasn't meeting his eyes irritated and offended him greatly.

To force her undivided attention, he turned his chair away from the table and moved it closer to her. He leaned forward in his seat, resting his elbows on his thighs and completely invaded her personal space. His body was now only about less than a foot away from hers, which was absolutely way too close for her comfort. She could not resist throwing daggers at him with her eyes, which unbeknown to her, was the exact response that the Joker was waiting for.

"Are you sure? You know people die to be around a guy like me."

The pale blonde's glare didn't falter as she finally spoke to him without breaking eye contact. "Oh I believe it mister. I can feel myself dying of boredom from just talkin' to you."

The Joker smiled deviously, hiding a twitch of annoyance at the soft spot she had just attacked. The art of entertainment was something that he thrived at. Being accused of boredom did not sit well with him at all. "You're bored are you? That's because I haven't even shown you what I do for fun." In truth, he was not particularly accustomed to dealing with women for very long, so in his defense, he had no idea what they sought in casual conversations with men; to be honest, he didn't truly care. He only wished to know so that he could do the exact opposite. She -however unknowingly- had touched a soft spot in him, and he wanted to do the same in return. The Joker was not so incompetent in the art of women as to not know the soft spot that every one of them seemed to have. With this in mind, he reached teasingly to caress her thigh. "Would you like me to show you a good time?"

Before his hand could even make contact with her, she grabbed his wrist and pulled and twisted it hard before shoving it away. "I told you to back off Buster! How many times do I have to tell you to buzz off before you get the picture? Do you remember what I said I'd do if you kept talkin' to me? I meant it," she spat. The Joker flexed his hand and to his amusement, he felt a sore sharp pain at the joints of his wrist. He couldn't help but erupt in a fit of laughter at her vicious reaction.

He attempted to keep his hysteria under as much control as possible under the hilarious circumstances; so as not to be dragged back to his cell again like he was the last time. He managed to calm down enough to speak after only a minute or two. "Oh I remember what you said doll face, but uh, you have yet to deliver. I'm still talking to you aren't I?" He grinned devilishly.

The pale blonde glared fiercely at the clown for a moment before contorting her face into a forced sarcastic smile. "Oh trust me sweet heart, my threat still stands. Once I get my hands on something sharp -I promise you- your tongue is gonna be the first damn thing that I cut with it."

The Joker chuckled, completely unaffected and enthralled by both her threat and -oddly enough- her face. She had a beautiful set of white pearly teeth and skin that stretched back nicely over them. "Oh?" He rested his elbows on his thighs once again and perched his chin in his hands leaning his face closer to her; further invading her personal space. "And how on Earth is a pretty little thing like you going to get her hands on anything she's not supposed to in this place?"

The proximity of his face to hers truly did bother the little blonde. But she knew that voicing her disdain for him would only make the situation worse. From the very brief amount of time they spent together, she could easily see that he greatly enjoyed annoying and angering her. So, she decided to pretend that she was unaffected by his proximity because she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of watching her fidget uncomfortably. She folded her arms beneath her breasts and answered him coolly, "I have my ways."

"Care to share?"

She scoffed, "With you? As if."

The Joker pouted and leaned his head heavily into one hand. "Aw, why not? Don't trust me?"

"Duh," she retorted and tossed her hair over shoulder. Her long silky, bleached wheat hair sent an unwelcome wave of her scent the Joker's way. He stiffened unnoticeably when her scent hit his nostrils. She possessed a sweet fragrance that reminded him a bit of bubblegum.

"I could help you, you know," he enticed with forged hopefulness. He knew perfectly well that she would never agree to his help. But he was enjoying their little banter and wanted to move it along.

She furrowed her eyebrows at him. "Why on Earth would you help me? Are you stupid or something?"

The Joker chuckled more to himself than at her. He could not for the life of him remember ever being called stupid in his entire life. Though, she technically didn't call him stupid; she only asked if he was. "Stupid? No. Curious? Yes," he grinned. "I want to see what you're capable of doing with something sharp."

His little lamb laughed heartily without humor. "Oh, trust me, I plan to show you personally just exactly what I can do."

The Joker's eyes glittered with amusement. He was not used to being talked to this way; he was greatly enjoying this. "Hmm… Do you really think that you'd be able to hurt me?"

The pale blonde smiled sweetly at her unwelcome companion. He could easily see the hidden malevolence underneath her dazzling smile. "We'll find out soon enough won't we?" She leaned in a bit closer towards him, trying purposefully to tease him with her proximity and candied fragrance. She spoke in a hushed voice, as if she were sharing an intimate secret with him. "I wouldn't underestimate me if I were you." She pulled away from him to lean back into her seat and smiled deviously at him.

Had it been anybody else, her closeness and chilled whisper would have brought anyone to their knees. Unfortunately, the Joker was unlike any other man. To be fair, she did have a certain effect on him. It wasn't great enough to pull him completely under her spell but it was enough to make him stop and realize for a quick moment just how pretty she was. Outer beauty was something that the Joker never really took much mind to. He was far more interested in what went on inside peoples' heads rather than what went on outside their heads. His little lamb had certainly caught his attention with her brave and tough personality, but now -in the briefest of moments- she had also somehow managed to make him appreciate her appearance as well. He had to hand it to her, she was very impressive. In the two times that he's talked to her, she had already become his favorite person in the asylum; he even liked her better than Jerry. But as appealing as she is on the inside and out, he doubted that she would last very long nor hold his attention for very long if she were to stick around him. The Joker knew that she would bore him eventually but for now, she was just too fun to ignore. He wanted to see just how far she could go. He smiled sardonically at her, "That's funny. I was going to say the same thing to you. You see… you think that you can kill me, but you can't."

The pale blonde smiled and straightened her spine slightly; clearly amused at where his train of thought had lead him. "Oh I can't? Why not?" She challenged.

The Joker returned his chin to rest on both of his hands and smiled like a Cheshire cat. "Becausssse, I won't let you."

"Hmm… Is that so?" She pondered disinterestedly. "Then I'm assuming that you have no problem with hitting a lady, do ya?"

"No. No problem whatsoever," the Joker declared proudly.

His little lamb seemed to be enjoying where their conversation was going. Underestimation was her favorite misunderstanding. She loved being perceived as weak and innocent because it was all the more fun when she got to see the look in her enemies' eyes when they realize just how dangerous she truly is. She looked into the Joker's eyes and wondered what expression he would make when she successfully proved herself superior. The blonde looked at the clown's thin physique and decided immediately that she could handle him easily in combat. She was so confident in her abilities that she believed it was only fair to give the clown an honest warning of what would result in a fight against her. "You know, I've dealt with guys way bigger than you. Dealing with you would be a piece of cake for me."

The Joker cackled. He loved being underestimated just as much as she did. Although he may not appear to be very strong, the Joker could pack a bigger punch than one would think. In other circumstances, he would have demonstrated his abilities right then and there. But being confined in his cell for who knows how long did not benefit his plot for escape at all. So rather than unleashing the full force of his hands on her, he decided to tease her instead; something that seems to give him just as much satisfaction as the thought of breaking her bones. "Hasn't anyone ever told you that size doesn't always matter?"

For the first time, the little lamb actually laughed from sole humor. The Joker listened intently to it as it reverberated from ear to ear. He rather liked the sound of it.

"Oh boy," said the pale blonde, wiping away a few loose tears. "Who told you that lie? It must've been some poor girl who felt really sorry for you, huh?"

Ah, so she likes to joke eh?

Of all things, the Joker could appreciate a good joke when he heard one; sometimes even if it was at his expense. He allowed himself to chuckle deeply within his throat but he felt as though he was being too lenient with his little miss tough guy. She did offer him a refreshing experience as opposed to how he was accustomed to being treated. Nonetheless, as humorous as she was, the Joker knew that if he let her joke about him openly now, she would feel free to joke about him again. And he found only so many jokes about himself to be funny. So it was only fair that he counter her joke with one of his own. "Weelllll,", he drawled. "You would know, wouldn't you blondie? I figured you were the type of person who resorted to those methods. That's how you plan on getting what you want in this place isn't it? You're going to have to get your hands on somebody's rifle before you can get them on a knife, huh?"

Apparently her sense of humor was not as great as his because her countenance had turned a bright red; anyone could easily see that she was quietly fuming. She despised it when people assumed she was the kind of person who would resort to such degrading tactics. She didn't need to. Never had to. Would never even think about considering it as a possible option. Sure she could be flirtatious when she needed to be, seductive even. But she never let things go too far.

She was about to blow her top but calmed herself slightly before her rage could erupt by letting out a long deep breath. In a voice as menacingly contained as she could muster, she leaned forward to invade the Joker's personal space in an attempt at intimidation. "Alright, listen you green haired freak," she spat. "I'm only going to say this once: if you ever so much as whisper another comment like that about me again, I will smash my fist so hard in your mouth that there won't be a single tooth left in it for you to smile with."

The Joker only smiled smugly at her as she returned to her original position, her glare never faltering.

"Aaand I'm only going to say this once," warned the Joker, mimicking her previous endeavor at intimidation but performing it successfully. "Don't ever over play your cards kid," he growled. He noticed her shake for a nanosecond but she recovered and glowered as if she had never broken from her angry trance.

They glared at each other for a minute before the pale blonde broke their electric sync by simply sitting up straight and crossing one leg over the other. She crossed her arms petulantly and scowled at him with the slightest pout; it was almost unnoticeable. "You're some piece of work, you know that? I didn't think anyone could be soooo annoying. Why don't you buzz off and leave me alone already? You and I clearly don't like each other and we don't get along; so why talk to each other when we don't have to?" She tried to reason.

The Joker's Cheshire grin returned. "Becausssse, it's fun," he chirped. "And who said I didn't like you?" He asked cocking his head to the side dramatically.

She rolled her eyes and scoffed. "You've got a funny way of talkin' to somebody that you 'like,'" she air-quoted with both hands.

The clown leaned back in his chair and smiled smugly. "What can I say- I'm a funny guy."

"So I hear…" She said absentmindedly. "I mean- I guess they don't call you the Joker for nothing, huh?" She was murmuring to herself but the Joker didn't seem to mind it. He responded as though she was speaking directly to him. He smiled widely at her and leaned forward once again to bring himself closer to her.

"Ohhhh, so you have heard of me… I'm glad my reputation precedes me."

She grimaced. "Don't let that swell up your head, everyone here at Arkham knows you because the staff won't shut up about how big of a pain in the ass you are." At this, the Joker couldn't resist the laugh that escaped his lips. He rested his elbow on the arm of the chair and made a fist, propping it lazily underneath the side of his jaw. He regarded her whimsically.

"Is that what they're saying about me? I had no idea…" He said in a humble absent-minded tone that indicated that he knew perfectly well that no one in the asylum enjoyed putting up with him. "You know, you've got a uh reputation yourself," he pointed out. "You're the girl they keep in a cage."

She huffed petulantly and looked to the floor when she spoke. "I hate that damn thing. I didn't think they'd ship that shit with me when I moved here," she said more to herself. Her blue eyes then regarded the clown once again with a quizzical expression. "The caged girl? Is that what they're calling me?"

The Joker only shrugged. "If you've got a name, I don't know it."

He expected his little lamb to be very bothered with this new information. He wanted her to feel inferior because his criminal status was obviously far greater than hers. However, oddly enough, she seemed rather pleased by it. In fact, she was damn right amused. The corners of her lips curled up into a wide smile. Her white pearly teeth bit down on the knuckle of her index finger just to keep herself from openly laughing. Her efforts to conceal her giddiness were however very poor because her throaty giggles seemed to escape nonetheless. Anyone in the clown's position would immediately characterize the girl as mad- what with the way she was giggling so intensely. But the Joker was none the wiser to finding such behavior to be peculiar. He himself laughed often at the strangest things. However, he was somewhat intrigued as to why she was so amused about being nameless.

The Joker twitched his head to the side and regarded her with mild interest. "Wow… Someone's pretty pleased about being a nobody."

His remark caused her giggles to cease but she was still amused at the idea of having an unknown identity. The smile that she wore on her face when she retorted was remnant only because of her previous giddiness. "Your mother's a nobody," she accused childishly, sighing away the last evidence of her amuse. She crossed her arms and plopped her feet right back on the table where they had been before the clown's arrival. She was about to add more to her insult, when a four-note jingle played loudly, and dully on the intercom, signally the end of social time for the maximum-security patients. Groups of orderlies began escorting patients back to their cells one by one. The pale woman groaned in annoyance. "Great…" she drawled. "I spent this whole time talking to you." She glared.

The Joker only smiled in return. "Time well spent huh?"

She crossed her arms and stared at him for a moment before answering. "Understand this clown," She uncrossed one arm to gesture vaguely to the space between them. "This was a one-time thing. Next time, don't even think about coming over here and wasting my time. Got it?"

At this time, a couple of orderlies had reached the two. A pair of them nudged surprisingly gently at each of the Joker's arms, silently requesting he stand; which he did, surprisingly obedient. The blonde was also being nudged away in the opposite direction but before she was turned away from him, the Joker said to her with uncharacteristic gentleness, "I'll see you next time blondie."

It was enough to force her to turn toward him sharply against the orderly's grasp. "What did I just say?!" The orderly tightened his grip on her and tugged her arm roughly to get her to continue walking in their original direction. She directed her anger towards him. "Hey! Quit man handling me you stupid white-scrub! You're damaging the goods." She then turned her attention back to the Joker. "And you! Don't you dare talk to me again!" She huffed before turning to walk away, begrudgingly cooperating with her orderly.

The Joker laughed to himself as he was dragged away from the scene by his own pair of orderlies.


The next three days preceded quietly.

The Joker bid his time thinking of anything and everything that would come across his devious mind; It was really all he could do in solitary. For reasons unknown to him, none of the patients from maximum security were allowed to leave their cells. Not for recreational time or even therapy time.

The Joker took little notice of the passing days. He had a poor sense of the flow of time due to his illusive mentality. Half of the time, he was too absorbed in his thoughts to realize that he was being held in isolation for so long. His meals -which were routinely brought in- were the only certified evidence that he had of his unusual confinement. He was able to keep tabs on the time of day, and how many of them had gone by, by counting these meals.

In truth, his time spent in isolation didn't particularly bother him. Being left alone with his thoughts did not bore him in the slightest. However, what did bother him was his imprisonment itself. He hated being confined to his tiny cell; who doesn't? He also couldn't conduct his escape very well behind bars; most of the dirty work had to be done beyond the walls that trapped him.

On the day that he was finally escorted out of his cell, he was somewhat grateful. The tiniest part of him believed that he had somehow lost the privileges that he had worked so hard for. He knew that he didn't do anything to deserve having his therapy and social time revoked, but sometimes… he had an overactive imagination. There were many instances where he believed that he had only thought about committing a transgression when in reality, he had actually committed it. So, he couldn't really rely on his memory alone.

The reason that the Joker was only somewhat grateful to be removed from his cell was because he knew exactly where he was being escorted to. If there was one thing that he didn't miss, it was his therapy time. He was in no mood to put up with Dr. Copeland's pathetic naivety. But, being the showman that he is, the Joker forced down his own contempt and played along in his one-sided game.

After being cuffed and sat down in his usual seat, Dr. Copeland walked in, greeted his patient, and began shuffling through his notes to pick up where the two had left off in their last session.

"Uh doc?" Said the Joker before his doctor had the chance to begin their session. "What gives? Why haven't we had therapy? Getting tired of me already?" I sure am tired of seeing you.

Dr. Copeland smiled assuredly at his patient. "Of course not. There was a small incident that occurred in the east wing of maximum security that sent the entire ward into lockdown for a couple of days. There's no need to worry though; It was nothing serious. We were just taking cautionary measures to make sure that the situation was fully contained. And I'm afraid that that is all that I can say on the situation."

"Hmm…" I wonder… "Are you sure doc? I promise I won't tell a soul," sang the Joker.

"I'm afraid I can't. The information is irrelevant to your therapy anyway, which we should get started." The Joker couldn't help but release an exasperated sigh. He would have rolled his eyes too but he caught himself before he could do it. He had no choice but to go along with the doctor's 'therapy' and play the ever-progressive patient.


When the Joker was finally released from his restraints in the recreational room, he did the first thing that he always does; he scoped out the room. The entire room was pretty boisterous that evening. It seems that everyone really missed their social time. Not a soul was lounging around doing nothing; everyone seemed to be busy doing something. At first, the Joker wasn't aware of who he was searching for in the crowded room, but it became apparent to him when he couldn't spot any blonde women. He gave up searching for her and shrugged to himself. Oh well, there are plenty of other ways to have fun.

The Joker was about to stroll towards the only TV in the room and change the channel to GCN -whether the people already watching something cared or not- when he heard a loud sharp whistle that pulled his attention in the opposite direction.

"Hey! J!" Two-Face waved the clown over, who -out of curiosity- obligingly walked over and took a seat across from the mutilated man, who had the table to himself. Odd.

The Joker looked obviously from left to right. "Where's your twin?"

Two-Face scoffed. "Shut it." He took in the room for a brief moment and spoke to his companion while looking on towards the other patients. "Listen, I got what you wanted."

The Joker's eyebrows shot up with interest. Weelllllll, that certainly happened sooner than I thought… He cracked a huge smile. "Well done Harv! How'd you get it so soon?" In truth, he was generally curious. They had been in lockdown for the last couple of days and there has been little to no opportunities to communicate with other people. Harvey must have bigger connections than I thought…

Two-Face chuckled throatily to himself. "You don't need to concern yourself with that J. What's important is that I have it."

"Now?" The Joker tapped the table impatiently. "Well give it here! Let me see."

Two-Face scrunched his good eyebrow to his crispy one in total annoyance. "Jeez, calm down J. Take it easy." He removed one hand from over the table and scooted his seat out a bit to remove something from his shoe. He then extended his hand towards him under the table. "Here."

The Joker latched onto the item eagerly, glanced at it for a second to confirm that it was what he wanted, then stuffed it carelessly in his shoe. After straightening himself out again in his seat, he shook his head from left to right in disbelief and clapped his hands together slowly. "Well done Harvey," he drawled. "I've got to hand it to you, I didn't think you would pull through so quickly. You must have more influence here than I thought."

Harvey smirked and raised a hand in defense. "What can I say? It pays to play it nice around here. That's something that you're starting to figure out for yourself, huh J?"

The Joker crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. "Suurrreeee, there are perks to playing that card, but maaaannn... is it bo-ring."

Two-Face chuckled. "Yeah I know it's not your style. I'm surprised that you've been able to keep it up this long."

The Joker merely shrugged, seeming disinterested. "Well, when I want something…"

The two remained quietly in each other's company for a couple of minutes before the clown spoke up again. "Say Harv, do you have any idea why we were in lockdown?" What with Harvey's connections, the Joker figured that Two-Face might have some idea about what happened.

Harvey shrugged and looked puzzled. "Beats me. I tried asking around and couldn't get a straight answer. I think it had something to do with someone in the east wing? I don't know."

The Joker sighed exasperatedly. "Only you could impress me and disappoint me in the same day… You really do have two faces huh?"

Two-Face glared at the clown. "Watch it J," he warned. "Why don't you stop focusing on unimportant shit that already happened, and start focusing on getting us the fuck out of here. Now do you know what you're going to do with that thing?" He said referring to the key mold tucked away awkwardly in the Joker's shoe.

The clown waved away Two-Face's question dismissively. "Don't you worry about that Harv. I know what I need to do."

Two-Face scoffed. "You better." The Joker didn't hear this though; his mind was already too busy calculating his next move. He knew exactly what he needed to do, he just wanted to choose the most entertaining way possible of doing it. Who says you can't have fun on the job?

He contemplated this for a while, ignoring his companion's irritating questions altogether, when suddenly- he knew exactly how he wanted to conduct the next part of his escape. A wide grin spread slowly across the clown's face. It took great effort to contain the giddiness that was building inside of his chest. He was too excited for what was to come next. He was going to enlist the help of a certain someone. Someone who could serve the dual purpose of entertaining him and helping him get the job done at the same time; whether she wanted to help him or not.

It's time to turn my little toy into a pawn.


AN: Hey everyone! I'm SUPER DUPER sorry for taking soooooooo long to update! I blame school... and my other story... anyway... thank you guys for reading thus far. I really appreciate the support that I get from everyone. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and the story so far. Don't forget to let me know what you all think. Reviews are the best! Thanks everybody, I'll see you all in the next chapter! :D