Hi people. I have excuses. I was working on this fic in my Italian class and my Italian teacher thought I was doing homework. I tried to explain to her that I wasn't but she took my fic away. She opened it up to this chapter and read it OUT LOUD TO THE CLASS! I was mortified! But if you know me, you know that I can't take that. So I went home and did some research. When I went back to school the next day I raised my hand in Italian, stood up, and recited both of the Joker's scar stories in Italian. No response from the teacher whatsoever. The class was in awe. They had NO idea what I just said. I have the translations and I will put them in my profile when I'm done here. I hope people haven't given up on this story. I haven't seen many reviews. I'm going to keep posting this story and hope that people keep reading. Well, here's chapter 6!
6.
It had been a week since her kidnapping. Sofia was getting used to being called Jackie and to usually being left alone in the warehouse for hours at a time. When they came home, the Joker would usually yell at one of his henchmen for fucking something up, grab his food, and then retreat to his office. The henchmen were always excited to share the day's events with her. They always told her what bank they robbed, how much they stole from, and how many people each one of them killed and how they did it. Everyone was trying to find out about Jackie. Every time they asked the Joker where she was, he would shoot them. Obviously, he was a very private man. Sofia was growing bored of being stuck in the house all the time. The news was always the same and she had read all of her books already. She didn't want to go on the robberies though. She couldn't kill someone. She didn't have that quality in her. But she wanted to do something. She had had this idea looming around in her head for a while, but she wasn't sure that it would work. What do you have to lose? Just do it, they're dumb enough to fall for it.
"Why do you guys only rob banks?" she asked.
"What do you mean?" Doc answered.
"Well, all you do is rob banks and restaurants. How bout robbing like an electronics store or a video game store, so you guys have something to do when you get back?"
The henchmen looked at each other. The Joker appeared out of his office.
"Jackie, come here for a minute."
Sofia sighed and got up from the couch. She walked up to the Joker and folded her arms.
"What do you want from my existence?"
"Those men over there are my men. They steal what I tell them to steal. Why are you trying to convince them to steal other things?"
"I'm doing it for two reasons," she explained. "One, I'm bored all the time. And two, I wanted to see if they were really easy to manipulate."
The Joker's face turned into a puzzled expression.
"Would you care to ex-plain tha-t?"
"Well, they obviously have no conscience since they can kill without mercy. You've manipulated them, and I wanted to see if I could do it too."
The Joker smiled and leaned back against the wall.
"Impressive. Very impressive. You've only been here a week and you're starting to try and act like me. I'm honored."
"Get a life fucktard."
The Joker said in the sweetest voice he could possibly make, "YOU are my life now."
He brought her closer to him, wrapping his arm around her waist. Her hair stood up on her neck and she got goosebumps. He looked into her eyes and tried to act sympathetic. She tried not to show him that she was enjoying every single minute of it, and it was harder than it sounded.
"Would you kindly explain to me what the fuck you are doing?" Sofia shouted.
"Don't you like it? I thought you would. Most of the other girls I kidnap beg for this moment."
"Well, I'm not like them. And I am certainly not like you."
The Joker laughed and went back into his office. Sofia walked back to the couch, trying to shake off the feeling she just felt for the Joker.
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Bruce, Julia and Rachel were sitting on the couch watching TV. Although Gordon assured them that they were doing the best that they could to find Sofia, they were all worried about her. Gordon was his way over. Rachel was trying to find something that they could all watch together as Julia got up and looked out the window. She sighed.
"I miss her so much."
Bruce stood up.
"I know Julia. We all do."
"I just want to know what he's doing to her. I wish I could know."
"Julia, he's not hurting her. That was the deal. He won't hurt her as long as we do nothing."
"HOW DO YOU KNOW HE"S TELLING THE TRUTH?" Julia screamed. "How do you know that she's not hurt or something like that?"
Just then, the TV changed from Comedy Central to the news. Mike Engel came on the screen.
"We interrupt this program to bring you a special news bulletin. The Joker has struck again. This time in some unusual places. He and his henchmen are reported to have stolen 5 Guitar Hero games, one Playstation 2, an iPod dock and two CD's. We will keep you updated on what happens next. We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming."
Julia sat on the couch and began to laugh. Bruce smiled big. Gordon entered the room.
"I just heard it on the radio," he said. "I think that your daughter has outsmarted the Joker."
"I think so, too!" Julia replied through her laughter.
Rachel sat there thinking. The Joker was smarter than that. He couldn't have been manipulated by Sofia. The henchmen, maybe. Although Sofia was very intelligent, she was nothing like the Joker. The Joker could manipulate you into doing anything. He could talk you into killing someone in a way that would make you think you that you came up with the idea. There was no way Sofia made him steal those things. Bruce turned toward her and noticed the worried expression on her face and pulled her aside.
"Are you ok, Rachel?"
"Sofia didn't manipulate the Joker."
Bruce's smile faded.
"What? Wait, you heard the news. He stole an iPod dock. Sofia told him to do that."
"Bruce, you should know. You've dealt with the Joker first hand. Do you really think that he could be manipulated by a fifteen year old?"
"Sofia isn't like every other teenager. She's smarter than the rest."
"But the Joker is smarter than that! You of all people should know him. Don't you know what goes through his mind?"
Bruce just stood there. He actually had no idea what went through the Joker's mind. He was scared to even imagine the thoughts he had.
"I can't believe I didn't see this."
"It's completely understandable. You were just happy to hear something that clarified that she was ok. But you have to pay more attention to these things now."
Bruce nodded as they made their way back to the couch. They looked at each other and silently agreed it best not to tell Julia.
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Sofia was kneeling next to Doc. He was groaning in pain. He learned the hard way to never take the Joker's mask on a robbery that he wasn't a part of.
"Doc," Sofia said. "I am so sorry. This is all my fault."
Doc spoke; his voice strained. "No it isn't. I shoulda known. The Joker always gets mad when people touch his stuff without asking. You can ask the other guys. Some people get much worse."
Sofia turned around to look at the other henchmen.
"He did the same to you guys?"
"Like he said," Dopey answered. "They got much worse. We learned from their mistakes."
Sofia inhaled deeply. She couldn't believe her present situation. He hadn't hurt her yet! He hadn't done anything to her yet! This was getting ridiculous. If they were ever going to hurt her, she prayed that they would do it soon so she could stop this useless wondering. She exhaled and went back to icing his wounds. This was all her fault. Doc had always been the nicest to her, and she almost got him killed because
she wanted a CD. She fought back the tears. They were pointless. No one would wash them away. No one would comfort her. She hadn't cared about this before. Why was she starting now? She truly care about being stuck in that warehouse until now. It was starting to drive her crazy. Knowing that Bruce and her mom were sitting at home worrying about her was driving her mad. It was getting to her knowing that no one was coming to get her. She wanted to scream. She wanted to march up to the Joker's office and call him every filthy name ever spoken. The urge was hard to resist. She kept telling herself that if she did that, she would wind up like all of the others. She didn't want to be like them. Sitting alone in the warehouse was getting old, though. She appreciated them getting her the games she wanted, but she wanted to do something. She wanted to feel the wind in her hair and the sun in her face. She actually wanted to see her mother again. She wanted someone to hug her and make her feel better. Doc looked over to her and noticed the tears in her eyes.
"Hey are you ok?"
Sofia snapped back to reality.
"What? Yeah I'm fine."
"No you're not. You look like you wanna cry."
"I swear I'm fine."
She has to make up a lie. She didn't want them thinking she was weak.
"I just-I just can't believe this happened."
"Jackie calm down. I'm gonna be fine."
Sofia smiled and Doc took the ice pack. Grumpy and Sleepy were trying to figure out how to set up the video game. She made a mental note to help them later. She needed to go to her corner. That's where she kept her backpack and other belongings. She sat down against the wall and sighed. She was losing her mind. What was the point of her being kidnapped if they weren't going to do anything to her? She reached into her backpack and pulled out her pajamas. She changed right there. She felt so vulnerable anyway she didn't care if anyone saw her. This was honestly becoming unbearable. She walked over to the Joker's office and slammed on the door.
"OPEN THIS DOOR YOU CLOWN FACED BASTARD!"
The henchmen stood up as the Joker opened the door.
"Well that was certainly mean. Why so serious love?"
"I want you to hit me."
The Joker laughed. Sofia heard the henchmen whisper behind her. She didn't acknowledge it.
"Darling," the Joker said. "You honestly have no idea how overused that line is."
"SHUT UP! Can't you be serious for ten minutes? GOD! I want you to beat me! Punch me, kick me. I DON'T GIVE A SHIT! Just do something!"
"So you want me to hit you."
"YES! I know you're stupid, but try to follow the yellow brick road dipshit."
She knew she was falling for it. She knew and she didn't care. He smiled and walked back to his office. She turned around to look at the henchmen, whose faces were very relieved. As she began to walk back to them, she was stopped by an object hitting her back. She fell to the ground with a thud. She looked up to see the Joker standing over her with a pipe. He slammed it on her back repeatedly. After another minute, he instructed Sleepy to get the video camera. Sleepy obeyed, but he was slow doing it. The Joker hit him in the back of the head after he got the camera. The Joker knelt down to her and whispered in her ear.
"Remember this Jackie, you asked for it."
Sofia nodded as the Joker called Dopey over and handed him the camera.
CLIFFHANGER! The more you review, the faster I'll update. Constructive criticism is welcome. Flames will be used to roast Mary-Kate Olsen on a spit.
