...
The Joker looked up just in time to see the girl disappear around a corner. He fought hard against Bats, now he was really getting angry. He threw a look toward his henchman, Jes, and motioned him to follow her. Police surrounded them and he was cuffed before he could get away. Both men struggled, but their efforts were futile, caught by Batman and the Gotham City Police. His sour mood had gone as soon as it came, deciding he would get her back at a later time. This way she could heal up and establish herself before he made it known that she belonged to him. If he knew her like he thought he did; she would stay in Gotham, only further proving that she was his. He hadn't been able to stop himself from laughing, the thought of a pet as dangerous as her excited him. He was going to have so much fun!
Both men were initially brought to Blackgate but only Jes stayed there, Joker transferred almost immediately back to the Arkham Asylum where everyone felt he belonged.
"Home, sweet home." The Joker whistled as they led him inside, strapped down on a vertical bed type contraption. The wheels squeaked as he was pushed along, greeting people they passed with a chipper attitude. Venomous glares filled the eyes of the guards and Doctors alike. In some way or anything the Joker had caused them serious pain and his mood was no returned. Everyone was glad to see him locked up again, and yet no one wanted him there. He was known for his amazing escape act and the staff had made sure this time would be different. Still, deep down they knew his escape was inevitable and it was best to just... stay out of the madman's way.
A week crawled by...
"Let's go Joker." His guards voice called, unlocking his maximum security cell.
"Are they letting me go?~" He giggled, getting to his feet.
"Oh yeah," the guard replied sarcastically, "Doctor Quinzel is waiting for you in her office..."
The guard led the Joker down a series of dimly lit hallways. He had done it so many times before that even with his eyes closed he knew exactly where he was going. The guard opened Dr. Quinzel's door and stood in waiting as the Joker took a seat, smiling mischievously toward her. She smiled in return, dismissing the guard who looked at her with an uncertain glare down at the green haired man.
"We'll be fine, I'm sure." She assured, and he left.
It was quiet for a moment, Doctor Quinzel staring down in thought at the paperwork before her. This was their first session since he'd arrived a week ago, and not a single disturbance had been reported. usually he would have tried something by now and yet... nothing.
Harleen looked up, "how have you been holding up Mister J?"
The Joker smiled with a slight shrug to his shoulders, "you know me, it's uhh, it's good to be home..~"
"Really," she gave him a look from over top her glasses, "I'm glad."
"It's good to see you as well, Doc. How've you been?" His smile brightened charmingly.
She couldn't help the blush rising in her cheeks. As much as she refused to believe Mister J had an affect on her, she was being easily roped in with each session they had together. She felt special, the way he treated her so kindly and without hate. Harleen Quinzel was falling deeper and deeper in to his influence and he knew it, it was only a matter of time before he could use it to his advantage. Still; this visit was not the one where he'd finally break her, he didn't need her yet and slowly he was biding his time before he could be rid of this place. Perhaps next time... but there were more important things to be dealt with now.
Their sessions went on for a few hours every couple of days but the Joker was becoming very bored. Day in and day out if he wasn't with Doctor Quinzel he was in his cell just waiting for it to click inside him so he could let the chaos out. It wouldn't be now now, his hands rested behind his head as he stared at the ceiling. he was deep in thought but still very much aware of his surroundings. Aware of the night guard making his usual rounds...
"Right one time..~"
...
Time passed. How much time I wasn't sure, but my hand was all healed. I hadn't heard any news about the Joker and frankly I wasn't paying much attention to anything outside my own business. With dark eyes I glanced up at the man sitting before me, a Mr. Tosh, at his desk. We had been doing business together for about three weeks and so far he seemed pleased with the work I had done. It was simply really, kill a rivaling mob boss here, tail another guy there... Still I didn't disappoint from what he told me, sliding a fat stack of bills across the desk in my direction.
He didn't seem surprised when I refused, waving a ringed hand to dismiss me. I moved to exit the room, bowing my head gently as one of the men standing guard at the door handed me a large manila envelope, surely pertaining to my next job. I got in the elevator and watched as the numbers got smaller and smaller. I left the building with the envelope tucked casually under my arm, whistled for a taxi to take me to the apartment I was staying in and waiting for the familiar place to come in to view. About two weeks ago I had come here for the first time, following a man as he entered his apartment. The only issue I had was cleaning his blood out of the carpet afterward but now you could barely tell it was there unless you were looking for it. This seemed the perfect place for me as the man had no family, and no one knew where he was living. I'd be safe here for at least a month and it was nice not to jump from hotel to hotel for a little while.
I unhooked the key from my belt, stepping cautiously instead. Perhaps no one knew where he lived, but that didn't mind someone wouldn't eventually track me back here. I had to be careful none the less. Everything appeared to be in place, allowing my tense shoulders to relax a little, tossing my coat on to its hook near the door. I padded along the carpet, removing my shoes as I went and tossed them under my coat. My feet came in contact with the cool ceramic floor of the kitchen and I reached in to the cupboard to grab a mug. I switched on the coffee pot, buried my head in to the fridge and pulled out a piece of cake, one I had been waiting to eat all day.
The calming aroma of coffee filled the apartment, causing me to loosen p even more after such a long day. I sat down, filled my coffee mug, added creamer and enough sugar to kill me before I really breathed, realizing how tight my chest had been feeling all day. I was beginning to feel like life had fallen back in to its regular routine again and placed a cake covered fork to my lips, savoring the flavor. It was quiet, and the ringing in my ears was staring to get on my nerves. I switched on the TV, peering in to the living room as I sipped at my coffee, listening to the 11 o'clock news.
At first it was just background noise to keep me company while I finished my piece of cake, but the innocent news about whatever had taken a terrible turn. My heart stopped when the anchor reported the Joker was on the loose again. I moved quickly to the living room to get a better listen. Suddenly my nerves were back full force, I felt sick to my stomach and unable to focus. A throbbing headache burst through my brain, causing a whimper of pain to escape my lips. I knew this was going to happen, but I was only just getting settled. Couldn't he have waited? I should have known better, the moment I got comfortable he would show up again.
I didn't get any sleep that night. Not a wink. For hours I sat curled up on the big leather arm chair in the corner of the room just listening to the TV for anything about the Joker. The 11 o'clock news played again around 4am and I made sure to pay attention, running the information through my head. It was on the day I had escaped that he had been caught. They showed a small clip of the Batman taking him, and the other guy we had gone in with in to custody. His face looked even more insane than usual as he struggled, his eyes locking on to the camera for a moment as if seeing me there. he laughed sickeningly, throwing his head back before the clip cut. I shivered back and closed my eyes. He was going to be so mad... I was as good as dead.
The sun rose over the horizon and I got up to make another cup of coffee. Drinking it as I moved around the apartment in thought I remember the manila envelope and went over to check its contents. I pulled the papers out, straining to read the words laid out in front of me and slid my feet in to my shoes. I wasn't going to bother with a shower, or changing clothes... There was a set time this assassination job had to be done and I only had about thirty minutes before that time expired. I threw my hair up in to a loose ponytail and headed down the street to the location I was instructed.
As usual, my heart pounded; blood rushing to each part of my body. I tried to calm my breathing, discard any outside distraction and do my job. We were in a public place, a park for that matter. The target was up on a podium making some kind of speech. I climbed in to a tree, shaded under the cover of leaves and watched carefully. Public assassinations always bothered me because I could never get close enough for a sure fire hit. Still, I aimed my handgun, confident that I was close enough to make the shot. The bullet was right on the mark, hitting the desired target. People screamed as he fell, birds from all around flew away startled and I quickly moved myself in to the crowd, blending in to get away unnoticed.
I approached a black Limousin at the edge of the park and got in without a word. Tosh sat inside, looking as pleased as ever. We drove away from the chaos and slowly the tightening in my chest relaxed enough to let me breath. He spoke casually with me and I decided to wait until we were at his office to ask about the kind of payment I would require. If I was to continue my serviced I wanted protection from the Joker. I had a bad feeling he'd come for me again and this time I wanted to be ready for it.
We entered the office, my Boss taking a seat and motioned for me to do the same. I crossed my legs and closed my eyes, thinking of how I would word my request. The Joker was dangerous, I knew it, and I was sure everyone else knew it, so I had to be careful.
"Something is on your mind..." He spoke, bringing me away from my thoughts.
"It's about my payment."
A stack of cash slid across the table and I shook my head.
"I need protection."
"Protection?"
"Yes," I nodded once, "from the Joker."
Immediately his demeanor changed and I could tell he had become suddenly uncomfortable. I shifted my own position, eyes serious. There was so much fear surrounding the name that I wasn't sure I'd be safe anywhere. Everyone seemed to have a level of teaming up with Batman or dying I wasn't sure I'd ever be rid of the Clown Prince of Crime. I let out a deep sigh.
"I cannot continue my services without promise of protection..." I spoke again, making it clear that I was austere.
"You see," he began, "that is simply impossible."
I stood; feeling more people entering the room. my eyes glanced from side to side but kept main focus on the man before me, pulling a gun from his desk drawer.
"If you're in trouble with the Joker our best move would be to eliminate you now, and hand your body over." His voice was cold, evil. I shook my head in anger and disbelief. This could not be happening.
"Why, why are you all so afraid of him?" I snapped, feeling the men behind me move in closer.
"It's not just that," he stood from his desk with the gun pointed at me, "we know you were helping him, the night he was arrested. That was our money you were trying to steal."
"I didn't even know w-
"Save it, your petty excuses are meaningless here."
He continued to hesitate shooting me and I could see his hand shaking a little as he held the gun. my best bet was to distract him, just for a moment so I could get out of the line of fire and retrieve my own gun from my boot. There were give men total in the room and I only had four bullets but my chances were much greater against one man compared to five.
The elevator at the rear of the room made a dinging sound, being the exact distraction I needed to dive behind a large pot a few feet from where I stood. Of course anyone could easily shoot through it but it confused the baboons long enough for me to get my own gun in hand and fire off a few rounds, taking out two of the men, bullets running another direction taking out the other two.
"We made it!" A familiar voice, confirmed my suspicions, entering the room with a sawed off shot gun over his shoulder.
Tosh shook at his desk, pointing his gun at the Joker who stood with a few of his own thugs, kicking the bodies out of the way as he stepped closer to the desk. my breath caught in my throat, leaning back against the wall for support. Had he just saved me? Or did he just want to put me down himself?
"I heard you've been, ahh, been keeping my pup around. Where is she?"
The man I had called my Boss just this morning pointed toward the pot I was hidden behind and it shattered, the Joker shooting right at it. I cowered back, pressed hard against the wall as glass shards exploded around me.
He stepped closer to the desk, "were you going to hurt her?"
Mr. Tosh shook his head.
"Kill her?"
Again.
"Funny," he dropped his gun and hit Tosh's wrist, forcing him to drop his gun as well. "I think you're a liar...and I hate liars."
The familiar click of his knife filled my ears, he pressed it tight against the cowering man's neck and hissed dangerously. I watched as he pleaded with Joker not to kill him, even crying when the Clown Prince of Crime just laughed in his face.
His face turned toward me for a second, Glasgow grin widening. I barely heard his voice, asking me if I wanted him to kill the bastard. Without a word, I closed my eyes and nodded. There was no point in fighting it anymore, as much as the thought was insane, as much as he had done to me... the safest place for me to be at this point was with the Joker. I was not cut out for life in Gotham without proper criminal guidance.
He was dead when I opened my eyes again. The Joker turned his body away from me, glancing slightly over his shoulder. I stared for a while before getting to my feet. This madman had saved my life and now I owed him the same. This was a code I could not go against. I had to remain loyal to him until my debt was paid and from the look in his dark, swirling eyes... he knew it too.
