AN: Sorry it's taken so long again for an update! This frequent writer's block really sucks!!! But we're good now for this chapter. Thanks to those of you who have reviewed the last chapter and those of you who ALWAYS review (angelfishlex and Ossiana of the B.P.R.D.), you guys ROCK!!! Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter and please drop a quick what you think of it, I'd greatly appreciate it! Ok, on to the story....
We returned to the hideout with precious little Emily Wayne. I expected her to be crying and all upset, begging to see Mommy and Daddy, but that wasn't the case. Instead, she went and sat on the couch and pulled her knees tight to her chest and just watched us.
As she watched us, without so much as saying a word or even whimpering or shedding a tear, I watched her. Never once did her expression change, never once did she appear to be hurting, never once did she seem scared. What an interesting girl, I thought with amusement, She's got potential.
I wandered over to the couch to sit with her. I needed to see what she would do if I got close to her. Of course, I knew I would need to be gentle with her because she was so young, but if I couldn't have Melanie I would take her daughter. Bruce Wayne would not win so easily.
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"What are we going to do, Bruce? Should we call the cops?" I asked as Bruce paced about the study.
"No, the cops aren't going to help. We have to get him ourselves, that is the only way."
"Why do you think he took her? What do you think he wants?" I wondered aloud just as Alfred entered the room.
"Well, I can be sure that he doesn't want a ransom," Alfred said.
"But…" I began.
"The Joker doesn't want anything logical," Bruce cut in. "He wants to watch the world burn."
"That's right, Master Wayne," Alfred agreed, "And you can be sure that he wants to cause the two of you as much pain as possible in the process."
"Unfortunately, that is the price Batman is to pay," Bruce sighed.
"It's not just that though," Alfred reassured him.
"No, it was me too," I said. "I'm the one who once loved him and then left to throw in the chips with you."
Bruce watched me closely as I said that. I think he still wondered if I held any feelings for The Joker still. He never said anything, but this time I knew he would see the pain and hurt written all over my face.
"I'll get her back, Melanie, that I promise you," Bruce said. "And we will endure this."
"You may be able to endure it, but I don't know if I can," I said truthfully.
"Of course you can, that is the point of Batman and all this that you two work and stand for," Alfred said gently.
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I sat down next to little Emily and gave her my best smile though I was sure it probably looked a little forced. "Hello there," I said.
"Hi," she replied calmly.
I paused, unsure of what to say next to her. Lucky for me though, she decided to speak instead.
"What's your name?"
"You can call me Mr. J," I said feeling it wasn't right to tell her they called me 'Joker.' And seeing I hadn't been called 'Jack' by anyone other than Mels that one seemed wrong too.
"I'm Emily," she told me with a smile. "So why did you bring me here?"
Damn, this kid is fully of difficult questions, I thought. "Well, I'm sure you get lonely sometimes without any siblings, so wouldn't you enjoy playing with Benjamin for awhile?"
"Maybe…" she said slowly with a puzzled expression as if trying to decide what the real reason was. "Are you friends of Daddy's?"
I chuckled. I really wanted to howl with laughter at the idea of me being friends with Bruce Wayne, but I kept it under control. "I suppose you could say that we're acquaintances, I know your mother much better though."
"Oh," Emily said. She sat silent for a minute and then spoke again, "I suppose it's ok for me to be here then. Daddy gets concerned when he thinks something bad might happen to me or Mommy."
I smiled. This kid was naïve to me and my motives, but she was a sharp one. A lot like her mother and I liked that.
She remained sitting as if calculating, so I decided to encourage her to at least talk to Benjamin. Benjamin being only four years older than her was the key to winning her over to our side where she wouldn't want to return to her protective Daddy and Mels. She would then be the key to getting Mel back to me.
"Why don't you go see if Benjamin wants to play or something? He doesn't bite, I promise," I said.
Emily nodded slowly, "Okay." She hopped down from the couch and began making her way over to where Benjamin sat at the table with The Riddler. But then she stopped and turned around.
"Go on," I encouraged her.
Instead, she ran back to me and gave me a huge hug. I was puzzled by this behavior, but I hugged her back. If I had to be affectionate to her to keep her, I would do it. "Now go talk to him," I whispered softly in her ear as I put her down. She nodded and raced off to Benjamin.
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Bruce finally couldn't take it anymore. As the sun began to set, he disappeared down to the Batcave and suited up as Batman. He returned up to me and kissed me goodbye as he promised that he would get Emily back.
I smiled weakly and nodded at his words, but I was not convinced. Things were never simple with The Joker and I severely doubted Emily would be coming home with Bruce tonight.
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Emily was happily playing a variety of games with Benjamin. Overall, she was a good kid but had a fiery side when she lost and felt she should've won. She showed it too. I merely watched and laughed in amusement, she would be the perfect little puppet.
I decided to go out for a bit. I could clear my head because as much as I didn't mind having Emily here and as much as I wanted to win her over if only to piss Batsy off, she reminded me too much of Mel and I needed an escape from that. Spitting image of Bruce, but every ounce of her personality was Melanie.
Unfortunately, I didn't make it very far along the streets of Gotham nor did I make it very far in clearing my thoughts before I was slammed into the ground by a dark figure.
I rolled over and kicked him off me as I laughed, "I was wondering when you were going to show yourself!"
"Where is she?" he growled.
"Who?" I asked innocently.
"Don't play games with me, Joker! Where is she? I want her back now!"
"Ohhh, I'm sorry, but Batsy she's having too good of time with me to want to go home just yet," I grinned.
"You son of a –"
"Now, that's not very nice. You don't really understand the situation," I said licking my lips as I danced away from his fists.
"You kidnapped Emily from the park and now I want her back…TONIGHT!" he yelled in his deep growl.
"I already told you no and that answer stands. Besides, it's really not me you should be so mad at. Melanie is the irresponsible mother that doesn't pay close enough attention to what Emily is doing in the park and who she's playing with."
Batman threw another punch that connected with my cheek. I laughed. "Don't toy with me, Joker! You're the one who was distracting her. Mel is a perfectly capable mother!"
"Oh really? Because that's not how I saw it. She didn't even recognize me or Benjamin, how is that competent?"
"It's been nearly eight years."
"True, but I haven't changed. I still have the scars, those never fade, so there was no excuse for her not to realize who it was."
"You were in a disguise, probably obscuring your scars," he retorted. How sweet that he sticks up for her, I thought with bitter sarcasm.
"You can't really hide them though. So I suppose her excuse is not being the sharpest tool in the shed…but then you like that type, don't you?" I cackled.
Again Batman punched me. Then grabbed me by the collar and threw me against the wall. I laughed off the pain once more. "Always so angry!" I teased.
"You will pay for what you have done this time, Joker, mark my word."
"What are you gonna do? Finally break your one rule? Because if that's the case, I'll look forward to my punishment."
He came within an inch of my face. "I should actually make you pay right now and I'd make it slow and very painful, see how much you laugh about it then."
"Go right ahead," I said as I drew my knife and stabbed it into his abdomen as hard and as deep as I could get it. Then I shoved him back from me as he moaned in pain.
"Good luck with that, Batsy! I'm sure I'll see you again real soon, but remember you'll be lucky to ever get little Emily back…she's taking quite the liking to us!" I cackled as I disappeared down the darkened streets leaving him lying in the street.