AN: Well Howdy! Here is Chapter Number 7! And I believe many of you will be quite happy with who finally makes an appearance.
Disclaimer: I do not own Gotham City, or the Joker and Holly. I do own Sam, Dexter, and the late George.
"Thump"
"You. Do. Not. Make ME move from my seat. Do you not understand this tiny little qualification you must portray to be my driver, George?" Sam could hear a deep voice growl from somewhere in front of her. No? Maybe it wasn't deep, it sounded high at the end. Maybe a little insane.
She could hear whispering and shuffling too. What was going on?
"BANG! Screeeeeeeeeeecraaaaashhhhh!"
Sam didn't know where she was. It felt like she was in the air, was she rolling or was she still? Her body felt like it had found gravity again, as she was pulled with great force into something hard, something metal. The left side of her body was on fire. White hot fire, streaming through her nerves and vessels. Something strong was gripping her arms, pulling her out of this imaginary fire, and she felt like she was flying once more. That's when she could hear the screaming and her eyes flashed open.
Her screams died down to whimpers, when she saw whose arms she was in. The first color her eyes saw was the purple of his jacket. Her mind being brought back to what Holly had said to her back in the car, before the explosion. "Purple is his color... the Joker"
She was being held, no carried, by some madman. Swallowing a huge breath, Sam looked up to see the face of death. Clown make-up. Just like in that Batman movie she had seen a few years ago, unlike what she had seen as a child watching the cartoon. Her eyes roamed in the dark for the protruding scars elongating his lips. They were there. Holly was sane, this was the Joker.
Closing her eyes, she could feel their irritation from all the smoke permeating the air. She had to be strong and she had to be brave. She was in the arms of a criminal, one who could kill her just as easily as carry her to who knows where. He hadn't killed her so far, but that didn't mean she was safe and she knew it. She could be alive right now just to give him the amusement of killing her later.
She opened her eyes back up to stare at the few details she could see on his face. He seemed focused on something a head of them. His real lips were pursed, tongue flicking out now and then to alleviate the dryness.
"Hey," Gulp. Breath in. Breath out. "Where are you taking me?" His movements never slowed, not even when he dropped her to the concrete ground.
"You're awake. Good. Follow behind me girly, and stay close," His arm raised up and Sam could see the glinting form of a gun in his hand, "Or else you'll end up like our little driver, George,"
Shakily, she forced her legs to stop quivering. She tried to match his movements the best that she could to keep up with his fast paced walking. A clicking noise sounded behind her, and Sam was relieved to see Dexter following behind them at a short distance with a limp. The Joker didn't seem to mind the presence of her dog, but unfortunately her dog didn't seem to mind the presence of the Joker either. Dexter looked normal; his fur was down, mouth panting, and stubby tail wagging.
He stopped abruptly in front of her, turning just in time to grab her approaching shoulders. His dark eyes roamed her face and then over her body. Those dark eyes were all he needed to make her obey. They were so fierce, so deadly, like they alone could kill her. And she knew that this was his intention, he knew the power he held in his eyes alone. That spoke volumes about how much power the rest of him must possess.
"Now uh, what can you do?" His hands were on her wrists, holding them up away from herself. She was being stared at intently, like this man was trying to figure every aspect about her out, but the aspect that he was questioning had her confused. There were many things that she could do, but none of them were anything special. His eyes were making her nervous, she felt so vulnerable. How was she supposed to answer him in a way that wouldn't end in her death? This was a lot of pressure to put on someone.
"Wha- what do you mean? I can cook. I'm not spectacular, but no one's ever complained. And I'm excellent at file keeping and organizing. Do you need a secretary? Cause if you do, I will gladly assist you with that as long as I can keep my life,"
She knew she sounded ridiculous, but she couldn't keep this bubble of nervousness down. He looked amused. He must like when his victims begged or rambled. Sucking on his lips, the Joker made a popping noise before putting both of her wrists in one hand and pulling her forward to walk with him. Her arms ached, but she doubted that this knowledge would cause him to change anything about their current situation.
"Hmmmm. Poor thing must not know what she can do yet... Quite troublesome...More of my time needed... So needy...But free,"'
She could hear the Joker mumbling to himself. She couldn't tell if he was annoyed or simply calculating his plan in his mind., but it was fascinating. If he needed her to do something then maybe she had a chance of surviving this adventure. What was this about free though? Did he think she was a prostitute too?
The pulling abruptly stopped, looking up revealed to her the curious gaze of her captor. Lips parted, Sam realized that she must have let out a fairly loud sigh. Looking past him revealed that they were outside what appeared to be a storage facility with no customers. The sliding doors were covered in rust, as were the broken padlocks on the ground below them.
"Is there a problem?" Maybe she should show some courage. He had refrained from killing her in the alley.
"You don't think I'm a prostitute do you? I mean you may have kidnapped me for free, but I uh I'm just a normal girl,"
Again, he seemed amused when she talked to him. He had a look of interest on his face, but instead of answering her, he merely opened the closets door to them and dragged her inside. His foot was tapping in an annoyed rhythm until he finally yelled for her dog to hurry up causing Sam to jump. The Joker called her dog Ruthless? Was he confusing Dexter with another dog?
Pushing her forward, the Joker walked into what Sam could now see was a fairly nice entrance. Walls had been torn down, and a short mock tin hallway led to a kitchen-like dining area. He jerked her to a chair and motioned for her to take a seat. Knocking the random assortment of items off the small table, the Joker took his own seat across from her and took up a stance that made her feel like his employee.
"Now, What is your name?"
"Samantha Lovetts," Her voice almost sounded questioning to her ears, like she was asking him to approve that this was her name.
"Hmmm good enough, not much I can do with that bit. Since there are no police records, medical files, or eh educational records about you, where are you from?" This seemed outrageous to Sam. The Joker had apparently tried to look her up, and was now asking her questions. Was he interviewing her?
"I'm from Illinois," Her voice was gaining confidence, "Why am I here Mr. Joker? What do you want from me?" His eyes narrowed with barely contained annoyance.
"I ask the questions here Samantha. All you do is answer them. Got that?"
The fear that crept over her was impossible to ignore. Finding her voice to be lost, Sam only nodded her confirmation that she understood.
"Good. Now..." His hands stretched out on the table and fiddled with a single newspaper page that he must have brought out when she was caught in her fear, "You have some sort of...power, and I want to know what this... power is. You see, being the genius that I am, I have been testing you. Giving you items, putting you in situations, but never did you display any form of abnormality besides resilience. That's not your only redeeming trait is it?"
"I don't know what you are talking about. I'm just a normal girl. Can I go back to my friend?"
"I'm sure you thought you were so lucky to be found by that good ole wife of Henry Aquista, Dont'cha!" His voice had an added urgency to it, like he was about to make a point that was of high importance to him. " But what I bet, no what I know, she didn't tell you is that she is in league with all of them. But of course she is, her husband is in the mob after all. She is a seeker. Her job is to seek out all the vulnerable little girlies like you, draw out their powers and. Sell. Them. To the highest bidder!"
Stopping himself, he seemed to take in the look of denial on her face before continuing on. His hand wrapped itself around her small chin and created an almost soothing movement.
"You see, I rescued you from them. Instead of being dissected and analyzed in some big government facility owned by Lex Luthor, you can work for me. Do as I say, or die. It's that simple. Now Grunt, stand." Up until the end, he had almost really seemed to want to comfort her. His voice had been quiet and smooth, and then harsh and demanding when he ordered her to stand. Which she did immediately.
Hands in his grasp again, Sam was pulled to another door of a storage room. This one she noticed, had a new lock installed above the handle. With his one free hand, the Joker kneeled down and yanked the door up to its highest point. It was a spacious unit, Sam noted. There was a mattress on a box spring, its blanket was a startling bright blue with little yellow cartoon ducks plastered all over it. Obviously people must have abandoned stuff here before the place closed down. Next to the bed, there was a bulky chest of drawers. Sam could see why that would get abandoned.
"Ruthless here will be guarding this door at night. Only I may open it," He was twirling a small key ring around his index finger, catching the keys every time they came around to his open hand. Despite concern for her safety, Sam couldn't take this anymore. All this news still spiraling in her head was driving her mad.
"His name is Dexter, and yes he is guarding the door, but not from the side that you are thinking of," Her voice was strong, but calm as she met his eyes with a steady gaze of her own. Not knowing what to expect, her body was startled to be thrown into the metal wall beside the door. Gasping for breath was futile with his hand blocking her airway. Fingers grasping and digging into the metal, all that was able to work correctly with his body flesh against hers was her mind. Mentally all she was capable of was calling for Dexter to help, for someone to help her.
Her eyes were still open, trying to stare into the eyes of her attacker. The edges of her vision were quickly turning black, and her alarmed mind was getting fuzzy. Still she could barely see his eyes, just enough that she noticed when they widened and were jerked out of her narrowed line of sight.
Coughing life back into her lungs against the metal, alarm came back and her eyes darted everywhere for sights of the Joker. What she found was an enraged clown, cornered by five rottweilers. Dexter was in the middle of the group, snapping his fierce jaws at the killer. Sam saw the Joker's hand move for his gun, and out if fear for her dog's life quickly called him off and rolled into what she assumed was now her room. Giving up his target, the dog wagged his tail and trotted in after his master, and surprisingly so did the other four dogs.
Cussing under his breath, the Joker brushed himself off, and slammed the door shut against the concrete floor. She could here him harshly insert the key to her lock, and was half expecting to hear the key snap. But the only thing outside the door that she heard next, was the irritated Joker's footsteps walking away from her unit.
Crawling to the bed seemed like the only reasonable thing to do next. The five dogs had already nestled down in the empty space in front of the dresser. She had to wonder why all the dogs around seemed to like her, but that wasn't some sort of mumbo jumbo super power.
Relaxing the best she could under the duck blanket, Sam took in all the Joker had said to her at the table. Everyone seemed to believe that she had some sort of power. Even Holly, who Sam now had torn feelings about. She couldn't be this evil human trafficker that he had made her out to be. Why should she believe anything that madman says anyway? He had just tried to strangle her for goodness sakes. Holly was so nice to her. She'd even given Sam clothes to sleep in...
Blushing a deep shade of red, looking under the blanket revealed what exactly the Joker had seen her wearing. No wonder he kept looking at her! Her shirt and bra were pretty much see through and the shorts were way shorter than Sam would normally wear. He'd been checking her out! Now Sam was full of a new rage, backed strongly by her embarrassment. With a huff, she rolled over so that she could face the wall. He probably really did think she was a prostitute.
Laying there found her restless, with hands that couldn't stay still. Writing could occupy both her hands and mind, but there was nothing to write with in the room. Usually, when like this, Sam would write down her situation and the possible outcomes of it. Mapping out what she could do, was a calming exercise for her. All she could do now, though, was think.
She had no way of getting out of here. Even if she did somehow escape, she had no way to find her way home. The only person that had been nice to her in this city was now a figure of confusion and conflict in her head, so would finding her even be a good idea? If the Joker was telling her the truth then Holly was a bad guy too, and had deceived her. Despite being evil, the Joker was very forward putting off no illusion of kindness. The only person Sam could trust seemed to be herself, and of course Dexter. Maybe even his little friends. Grinning, Sam looked at the five dogs next to her. They had saved her from the Joker, it was good to know that she at least had a gang of body guards in this twist of her life.
With that thought in mind, her brain decided it was time for her to settle down to sleep. She clutched the ridiculously cute blanket to her and drifted off to the sound of five little snores. Tomorrow, she would let the Joker know exactly what he had kidnapped.
AN: Well how did you like it? Let me know in your reviews and numerous story alerts. Are you happy, OK, disgruntled, with the Joker? What do you think Sam's power might be? Any guesses?
