"I dunno, it still sounds pretty stupid." Shannon tenderly said, being the little pussy he'd always been.
"That's because it is." Their mother firmly put her foot down on this one. "You must be as crazy as the Joker if you think that you can go after him, Nikola." She shook her head.
Nikola smirked and chuckled, running a hand through her short hair. "You questioning or stating that mom?" Amelia just gave her that knowing look that only a mother and daughter would know, before she latter continued. "Look we know the Joker isn't very subtle in anything he does-"
"Yeah tell me about it." Casey scoffed, nursing the cut on his face.
"Exactly, so it's not gonna be hard to find out what he's doing." She stated, no sympathy for her older brother who lacked the required meta human powers his younger sister had. "I mean the maniac owns the south side of Gotham, he parades around his clubs nearly every night, you always see that stupid purple Lamborghini of his and the bats usually not far behind."
"Which makes this dangerous Nikola." Amelia sighed, trying to get through to her hot headed daughter. "The Bat is always close behind, always watching the Joker. So if we're watching the Joker then the Bat is watching us AND the Joker."
Though Frank, husband, father and obvious leader of the group stepped in. "No, Amelia, I know this sounds crazy but I think she has a point." Making his wife roll her eyes. "Joker has no problem parading around with his loot, showing his worth, being a narcissistic asshole about everything."
"And your point is, Frank?" Amelia asked, tongue against cheek.
"We show him up." He shrugged as if it were that simple. Amelia scoffed in disgust of even the fathom of that sentence by her husband. "Come on, you know it makes sense."
"What fucking with the Joker?" She chuckled ironically. "Yeah of course it does, he fucked with us but he doesn't know that does he?" She argued. "And he wouldn't know anything about it if we just dropped it because we'd keep our lives, what's so hard to understand about that, FRANK!?"
Shannon sighed, he knew his mom was mad about this ridiculous plan that his younger sister and dad had come up with but it began to make sense. The oldest sibling stepped forward. "I'm in." He uttered, his younger twin gasping at his confession.
Nikola smirked, though Amelia wasn't pleased. "Your- what do you mean you're in?" Shannon puffed or his chest. "Shannon don't you dare tell me you agree with these two idiots."
"It makes sense mom." He explained. Amelia had to take a seat, she couldn't believe this was happening. Her own family turning on her in favour of some ridiculous revenge plan. "What Nikola and dad have said is all valid points." He paused, seeing the disappointment on her face. "He's a show off, you've seen him, he loves the attention to be on him, sometimes he goes out his way to get himself in a car chase just to see himself on TV."
"He's a maniac." Amelia bluntly said.
"A maniac with a superiority complex." Casey stepped forward. "He has to be the best of the worst and if he's not, he will make himself." Amelia's sighed, not him too. "It's why he's him, his greatest strength, but also his greatest weakness."
Head in hands, their mother uttered. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well…" Nikola stepped forward, crossing her arms. "He likes to be number one, so we make him number two. We humiliate him." She smirked. "That's sure to get to him, and while embarrassing him, we steal back what's ours because that's what we're good at; stealing."
"We'd not only be stealing our fortune back but his credibility as a villain." Shannon smirked.
"It's the ultimate revenge." Casey added, looking over at his sister.
Frank nodded, he liked this plan his siblings had come up with. "And you know what they say; Revenge is a dish best served with your own kinda medicine-"
"That's not how the line goes, dad." Nikola rolled her eyes, just as things seemed to be going to plan he came out with something like that.
"Well it is now." He smirked.
Joker stared at where Frost was having treatment thanks to a very close, personal friend of his. One who made a bargain with the devil and lived to regret that. He'd sold his soul in order to save his family, risky move when the devil was the Joker himself, Gotham's clown prince.
That made him smirk to himself as he peeled the orange in his hand. He may run half of Gotham and wreck the other half, but he still needed his five a day. This skin, although bleached, didn't take care of itself.
Frost screamed on the other side of the window, catching Jokers attention and making the doctor winced, he knew his life and his patients was on the line if this fucked up. Joker needed Frost but he'd only admit that to himself. He needed him for his stake outs, he was his information man, his deals man. Frost basically did everything for him and Joker, he just turned up to scare and killed people. That was the way it had been for several years after he picked Frost up and it would continue until Frost died or Joker got bored of him and killed him himself.
Just then, the door knocked twice, and Joker pulled his legs from his desk, urging for whoever was there to come in. His growl of a knowledgematic was enough for those who knew him and the door creaked open. Joker did not bother to turn around and acknowledge the person directly, though he knew it to be one of his goons, so much attention wasn't needed on that.
"What is it." He grudged, watching on in wonder as the blood kept pissing from Frost.
"Uh info on that receptionist, boss." His goon spoke dumbly, like the big brute he was, that's what several knocks to the head can do. Joker hummed and held his hand out to receive the pictures taken of her.
There were several pictures of her in her uniform and a few social media pictures. The Joker studied her for a second, an air of familiarity about her. Blonde hair, blue eyes, smoking body… Joker sighed internally. He couldn't think of Harley, not after her unfortunate passing. Amanda Waller was to blame for that, she knew Harley was a live wire and that she'd try and escape BEFORE Joker had the chance to set anything up, so when that happened, she blew her head off. That pretty, fucked up little head of hers, right off her shoulders.
The only one woman he'd thought twice about shooting.
"Speak." The Joker demanded though nothing was said. "I said speak god dammit, how am I supposed to get information out a fucking picture!" He threw the pictures to the ground, watching them scattering face down as his temper boiled. Never did he want to forget about someone as quick as he did about Harley.
"Oh uh…" His goon fiddled with his fingers, words weren't his strong point neither was patience with the Joker however. "Her names Jennifer Davenport, married to James Davenport, been working there for 5 months. Lives in an apartment close to the Von Gruenwald Labs, where he works."
Joker snapped his head around, nonexistence eyebrows furrowed. "Is that it?" The goon nodded his head and stood still. Joker stared at him though he didn't move. "Well go then!" He demanded. "Bring the car around."
"W-why boss?" The goon questioned and immediately regretted it as the clown abruptly stood to his feet, grabbing him by the collar.
The goon was easily five inches, maybe even more, taller than the Joker but in his case, size didn't matter. Everyone was afraid of him, he was the Joker, the clown prince of Gotham's underworld. Those ice cold eyes boring into your soul, sucking it out, a bargain even the toughest of people would find frightening. That grill shined in the lights from the other room, as sharp as razors and as deadly as a bear trap. "Because I wanna go on a midnight fucking stroll in the woods!" Joker shouted sarcastically, a snarl resonating. "We. Are. Going. To. Get. That. Little. Bitch. And. Make. Her. PAY! NOW, go and get the fucking car!"
As the Joker released him, his goon scurried away, leaving him to himself again. He turned and picked up the pictures of the blonde receptionist, smirking as he did. She was pretty, but she sure as hell wouldn't be when he was done with her.
Joker walked over to the plexiglass where Frost laid on the other side, and checked in. "Doctor…" He serenaded, making the surgeon tremble. "I'm heading out now to do a little… business… will you be fine to treat him by yourself?" The doctor nodded quietly, making the clown hum highly. "Good, now, if anything were to happen to Frosty there… I'd rip your eyelids off and feed them to your kids, BYE DOCTOR!"
The Doctor gulped, nodding and turned back to look at Frost, who was smiling at him, but of course, he was high on morphine.
The apartment wasn't hard to find, in fact they'd found it in no time and now had the skinny little fuckers skinny little husband hanging outside of the window. Joker was getting frustrated, this would be the third time he'd be explaining and he hated repeating himself.
"Now for the last time MR Davenport, where is SHE!?" He bellowed from his stomach, chest heaving underneath that silver suit of his.
"I-I don't know who you're talking about I swear M-Mr Joker, please, I don't wanna die." James pleaded as he glanced down at the heights he was hanging from. One slip and he knew he was a gonner.
Joker growled, kicking over a table in only a way he could. "YOUR WIFE! WHERE IS SHE?!" He fumed, gun pulled from his holster and aiming it between his eyes.
James paused, tears brimming his eyes. "She's dead." He whispered, the pain returning to his heart. Joker, always the eccentric laughed at his deadpan claim, pulling the safety off and giving him one last chance to explain. "N-no, please, I-I'm not lying Mr J… she's dead. She died."
Somehow, Joker believed him, he could see the grief in this man's eyes and for a moment shared that little empathy that his dark, cold heart could fathom before he asked his goon to pull him inside. Twice. "So you're telling me she died mhm?" He hummed, the guy nodded his head, as cold and pale as ice. "Now buddy boy, James ol' pal. I have a problem with that, a big fucking problem with that because if she's already dead then I cannot kill her myself! And oh do I so want to do that for what she did to my… what she did tonight!"
"Tonight?" James frowned, breathless as his back stood firmly to the wall of his apartment. He was shitting himself, nay, had already shit himself.
The Joker's head snapped up, snarl revealing those lovely nashers of his. "Yes, tonight."
"T-there must be s-some kinda mistake S-sir, M-Mr J…" James cautiously approached, still stuck against the wall, side eyeing his goon to the right of him. "M-my wife… Jennifer, s-she died two years ago." Joker stared wide eyed, chest beginning to heave again. "Of Leukemia."
There was a silent breeze in the air just for that one second before Joker's devilish features light up the room. "Oh James…" He sighed. "I know you're trying to protect her James but you're testing me." He began to walk back and forth. "Just for sanity's sake...James… Jamie… Jam… Jello...let's pretend she did die when you said she did and she's in fact not the woman I'm looking for, can you tell me where her body is? Mhm?"
James glanced to the mantelpiece of his livingroom and shakily pointed his finger at a burial urn there. "She's in there." A lump in his throat forming.
Jokers head turned slowly to face that way, where he indeed saw a burial urn sitting peacefully. In fury, he marched over to it and opened the lid, glancing inside. There was indeed ashes there, about halfway up the interior. His fingered glove dipped in and retrieved a finger full of the ashes where he stuck them in his mouth, sucking on them. They tasted like old pieces of cigarette tips, bitter, sour and most definitely dead.
Mrs Davenport was dead and Mr Davenport was very much in shock at what he was seeing. Joker had the audacity to return the ashes to the mantle piece at least before storming James' way.
Next thing James knew, he had the cold digits of the Jokers wrapped firmly around his next, restricting his windpipe. It was enough to make him battle for his right to breathe but not enough to kill him. With a click of his free hand, Joker was handed a photograph of which Jennifer took up the space. "Is this your wife?" James stared at it, seeing her face and nodded. "Did she ever work at the Gotham Colosseum?"
"W-what?" James question was worth a tightening of his throat.
"Every question you ask, you're one step to joining those ashes, you understand?" Joker growled. "Now nod or shake your head. And answer the questions." James slowly shook his head at the previous question. "Where did she work?" James didn't answer, finding it harder to breathe though the Joker only tightened his grip. "WHERE DID SHE WORK?!"
"At Von Gruenwald Labs with me, i-in the… the pharmaceutical research l-lab… it's how we met...I-I swear!" James choked, feeling his eyes droop, close to blacking out. But just as it all seemed to much, the pressure was gone and he heaved dryly.
Joker growled, throwing the picture away and undoing his dress shirt as he began to feel his anger boil. Who was this woman if she wasn't his wife? A con artist? An impersonator. The Joker was confused and he hated being confused, it meant he was weak, and that was one thing he hated being. Joker glanced back to the innocent man, giving up on this. He calmed himself enough to speak. "Now, usually I'd kill people like you who are… little use to me, Jammy… but I'm feeling somewhat empathetic tonight." Joker brushed down the man's shoulders, pushing off bits of rubble and lint. "I too, have lost someone that was close to me…" Joker paused, flicking his fingers for his goon to move. "Consider yourself lucky." With that, James was left standing alone, in the dark, and in complete shock as Joker's goon slammed the door shut.
Joker sat in the back of his black SUV just a few minutes later, head against window, where he hit it hard a few times. He stared down at the picture of this receptionist, eyes boring into the piece of paper so fierce that if he had the power too, they could set it alight. This woman, who he'd shot, who'd stabbed his friend, who'd died 2 years ago from Leukemia. Who was she?