"I knew there was something I liked about you!" he giggled while reaching out and tapping her cheek a few times. "You know, I always say that you can tell who a person is by their scars."

Natalie didn't want to look at him- she knew he was still grinning at her, probably getting off on the blood that was still dripping down her thigh. But when the room fell silent, she couldn't help but peek at him.

"See my scars…" he tilted his chin up and turned his face so she could see them clearly. "Everyone can see them! I guess you can say I'm the type of guy who isn't afraid to show his true colors."

He inched closer to Natalie and she pulled her legs up to her chest.

"You princess, hide your scars away. Even though you do them yourself. You don't want people to see who you really are." he reached out and grabbed her shoulder, yanking her closer to him. Their noses were almost touching and he let out a wicked laugh as she finally stared him dead in the eyes and glared.

"You have no idea who I am."

"That's just it!" his fingers dug into her skin. "I know exactly who you are. That night when you were…" he closed his eyes and let out a sigh. "Ramming that knife into that poor excuse for a man. I saw you even if you didn't want me too. That…" he chewed at the inside of his cheek and was looking at her again. "Was the real you."

"That was a mistake." Natalie's words came out quickly. "I didn't mean to kill him."

"Of course you did! You wanted to kill him and you would do it again I bet!"

Natalie glanced over at the wall, avoiding his gaze. She didn't want to talk about this, especially with the crazy clown who seemed bent on making her life miserable.

"What do you want now? I am doing what you asked."

"Well uh...I did come to check on you, to make sure you weren't getting cold feet." a look crossed his eye that Natalie had never witnessed from him before- a look that made her blood run cold and the hair stand on the back of her neck.

"But now I have a better idea."

"What do you…" Without warning Natalie was on her back with him, pinning her down. She couldn't help think back to how Nicki pinned her down and forced a part of him inside of her, violated her womanhood. He saw the look in her eye and snorted.

"Don't worry princess I'm not going to fuck you today." he licked his lips and reached into her back pocket. "Watching you, slicing your pretty little skin gave me an idea."

'He's going to cut my cheeks…' Natalie trembled at the thought. 'He is going to make everyone see me like they see him…'

He held a knife in front of her eyes and they began to tear up. 'Anywhere but the face.'

Like her prayers had been answered, he pressed the tip to her neck and let it slowly travel down between her breasts, over her stomach and over her old scars. He stopped only a tad below her fresh cut and his eyes got darker.

"Whh…."

"Shut up." he growled looking up at her. "You're ruining this for me."

"Ruining…"

A sharp pain ran through her and she let out a wail of pain. She heard him laughing and mocking her, saying she should be use to the pain he was giving her. She trashed around with only one thing in mind- to get away from him.

Without warning he was on top of her again, pinning her arms. She turned her head away and his fingers gripped her tighter. "Look at me!"

The new tone in his voice made her more afraid than before so she stared into his eyes once more.

"Would you rather me screw you with the knife? Would you?"

Slowly she shook her head no and he seemed to calm down.

"Good. This shouldn't take too much uhh… longer."

Natalie forced herself to sit still as he finished carving into her leg. Her stomach turned as every cut formed a picture in her mind. She wanted to cry out but left her fear in her own head. 'No, no, no.'

"There you go princess," he was off of her now, the sweat running down her forehead and neck. "Something you can remember me by." He looked pleased at his work.

"Now, some friends of mine will be coming into the bank in a few weeks. Trust me, you won't miss them. You are going to get some codes for me to the big vault and leave those numbers on your desk when they come in."

She wanted to ask if he was done with her after that but didn't dare too.

"Night princess."

He slipped out of her bedroom and she heard the front door slam shut.

Shakily Natalie let her hand travel down to her thigh and she ran her fingers over the new cut that would surely leave a deep scar.

She felt the scar she had given herself earlier. The bleeding had stopped but it didn't seem to matter as the skin below was coated in blood. She followed the trail of the wound, ignoring the stinging feeling and choked back sob.

He had branded her with the letter J.

The next few weeks went by slowly with Natalie laying awake at night, waiting for the Joker to make his return. It didn't seem to matter that she had installed deadbolts into both of her front doors or triple checked her windows every night.

It took her a few days to realize that it wasn't exactly the fear of him being there. The few encounters she had with him as his normal self was fine. But this last time was different, very different.

'He truly looked crazy.' Natalie thought staring blankly out at the floor.. 'Like he was losing his control.'

Despite knowing him so little, he didn't seem like a man who lost control often.

'The cutting. He was getting off on it.'

She knew it was true, there was no denying it. He took some form of pleasure watching her slice her own thigh open and then carving into it himself.

Without thinking she reached down and ran her finger over the mark above her skirt. The wound had healed perfectly and the scar hadn't faded one bit.

"Natalie Mr Stevenson would like to see you." Marie tapped on her shoulder and she felt her cheeks burn.

Quickly Natalie put up the closed sign on her station and headed to the office of her manager. She knocked gently on the door that was already slightly opened and closed it behind her as he waved her in.

"Well Natalie how has it been going?"

"I've been enjoying it." she took a seat and smiled at him. "It's different from the diner but I am learning a lot."

"That's great!" he sat up in his chair a bit more. "But I must tell you I didn't exactly bring you in here to chat about your progress."

"Oh."

"I was wondering if you would like to join me for dinner on Saturday night."

"You do?" Natalie felt her heart flutter.

"Yes I do and I know you might be worried about the whole work dating thing but you really don't have to worry about it Natalie. I am discreet and no one would have to know."

"This is...unexpected…" she trailed off. Everything in her wanted to say yes if not for just the company of a man for the first time in forever but she knew with her debt still needing to be paid, it would cause more trouble than anything.

"This weekend I am busy…"

"The Saturday after that then. I'll make sure you have the day off."

'If they haven't showed up by then, I will make another excuse.' she told herself.

"That sounds…" she gave him another smile, trying to calm down the excitement that was slowly creeping up on her. 'Wonderful."

"Perfect so next Saturday and I will pick you up at six."

"Sounds good to me. Thank you Mr…"

"When we are in private please call me Will."

"Alright then...thank you Will."

"Not a problem. Now take the rest of the night off."

Natalie took her leave, still wearing a big grin that didn't go unnoticed by Marie whose station had been beside hers. She eyed for a minute and then sighed with a shake of her head.

"I like you Natalie but just be careful." she turned her chair and was looking directly at her. "I told you he like the pretty girls. Do you want to know how many he has taken out?"

"It's dinner Marie. I haven't been out for a dinner with a man in a long time."

"Well if you are smart you make sure it's only dinner and nothing else."

"Don't worry," Natalie picked up a piece of paper off her desk and began to shred it. "It will be."

She gave another sigh as she watched Natalie throw the shredded paper into the garbage. "You should be careful with those numbers and leaving them on your desk like that. I know you said your memory is bad but if someone tries to rob this place, you have all the codes sitting right there for them."

"I'll get the hang of it soon. Promise." It was the excuse Natalie always used but her gut ached. How much trouble would she be in after the Joker's friends took those numbers?

"Have a goodnight Natalie, see you tomorrow!"

The walk home was gut wrenching as always as she was constantly looking over her shoulder for someone to reach out and grab her. But no one did, not that it calmed her fears any.

The night went by slowly and she finally found herself laying in bed, trying to go to sleep with no avail. The memories swirled in her mind and she couldn't ignore it. She stole a glance at the black bag on her bedside table but couldn't force herself to reach in and grab the blade.

'What if he comes back and does worse?'

In a sick way the Joker had helped her by creating a worse fear than all her other memories. It stopped her from creating more scars.

Natalie couldn't help but laugh.

A bit of a shorter chapter but I hope everyone is enjoying it! Thank you to the readers again for keeping me going! Today's chapter title comes from "In For the Kill" by La Roux.