IMPORTANT a/n:
All the parts of this chapter that are in italics are the joker flashbacking. It'll make sense when you read it. Thanks again for the reviews and ratings on this fic, but I'm afraid there's only about four more chapters after this :(
Rachel's POV
"I've already found a man" I whispered cupping his face in my hand, looking directly into his eyes "You"
"No" He stated bluntly "Not me". I blinked stupidly, fishlike as he gazed emptily back at me.
"Oh." The fingers of my hand curled from around his cheek and he abruptly pulled his body away from me, leaving my hand hanging in the air for a moment before I hastily dropped it. Then time started again and I placed one foot out of the car, thought for a moment, then pulled it back in. I slammed the door shut and crossed my arms as I turned my body to face him.
"Why not?" I demanded, wincing inwardly at how petulant I sounded, but still needing to know. I felt crushed by his rejection. The one time i'd put myself out there and i'd been rejected by a man with what was probably split personality disorder. Wonderful.
He groaned and looked away from me out of his window. Several minutes passed and he said nothing. I sighed and turned to get out of the car, conceding defeat when he finally spoke.
" It's a long story, about a man called Jack Napier..." he began quietly as raindrops began to patter onto the windscreen.
Jack Napier did not like clowns. Not at all. But the police were onto his scent and closing in fast. He needed a place to hide and where better than a circus. He doubted that the police would expect a gangster to disguise himself as a clown.
He smirked at the poster advertising the clown job and started walking jauntily down the road onto an enormous green area of grass where a brightly patterned circus tent stood. A big top, he thought it was called, but having never been to a circus, he hadn't a clue.
Jokers POV
"Erm, what has this got to do with…"
"Everything" I snapped, angered at Rachel's interruption. She really had to learn some patience.
Jack smiled glassily at the ringmaster, a slightly portly man in his mid forties with a glistening bald patch at the back of his head. His face beamed red and seemed to shine under the bright yellow lights directed at the stage. He reminded Jack of one of those Father Christmases you see in shopping malls that wear fake smiles to match their booze tinged breath. Jack immediately disliked the man.
"Hello there sir, tickets can be bought over there for a tiny sum of-"
"I'm not here for the show" Jack interrupted the man, who dropped his smile for a terrified frown. "I'm here for the job, my names Jack" The man relaxed when he realised Jack wasn't a custmoer and immediately became dismissive. He huffed and dabbed his pate, glaring at jack.
"The clown job? Yes, it would suit an idiotic moron like you. Then again, some people prefer to go on looks rather than brains" The man smirked as he looked at jack's expensive clothing and styled hair.
" Weeell then" Jack drew out the word, assuming a thoughtful face, " I wonder what you're going to do, since you have neither" The man's eyes practically popped out as the rest of the clowns laughed appreciatively.
"Silence " the man screamed and the circus crew hid smirks and a few winked at Jack over the ringmasters shoulder. "Well aren't we quite the joker" growled the man whose face had somehow managed to take on the colour and appearance of a large tomato. Well, more tomato like than it had been before. Which believe me, was saying something.
"That's me" Grinned Jack, unable to resist winding the man up "I also love how you've made me not A joker, but THE joker. The one and the only Joker. Clearly you recognise my importance. But we digress, don't we?" The man clearly hadn't understood a word Jack had said. Jack rolled his eyes and slapped a hand to his head dramatically.
"I'm surrounded by idiotic morons" he moaned woefully in an impression of the ringmasters voice and was rewarded with a few chuckles from the circus staff again. The other man's face was rapidly turning from tomato to puce and Jack could almost hear the ringmaster's teeth grinding. He forced himself to concentrate again, realising he wasn't really going the right way to getting a job and assumed a casual expression and straightened his tie.
"Do you like my acting? I think it's very good, but what do you think? Do I qualify for the job." Jack smiled innocently.
"Believe me, if there was anyone else who wanted the job, even if they were some tramp from off the street, I'd give it to them. Unfortunately, no one else applied, so it looks like you get the job 'Joker'." The man stalked off, massaging his ego, but jack couldn't resist one more parting jibe
"Um, my names jack, y'know, I did tell you that, do you have the memory of a goldfish to go with the rather vacant expression you're wearing?" He called after the man who disappeared behind a curtain to backstage.
Jack snorted to himself and suddenly realised that everyone's eyes were on him. Most acknowledged him respectfully; probably because he'd just stood up to the ringmaster. There was one group that didn't seem so welcoming and that was the acrobats. In their midst stood a tall blond woman whose face was strangely angular. She smiled flirtatiously at him before being taken away by her scowling troop. He wolf whistled quietly as she walked by. She heard and looked up at him from under her lashes, smiling. She exited after the ringmaster and he smiled, watching the place she'd disappeared to. One of the clowns saw him looking and yawned out to him;
"I wouldn't bother. Even if i was a pretty boy like yeself. She's Emily, the ringmaster Cortes' daughter. He guards her like a prize jewel. The guy who used to have your job, weeell," The clown smirked "Rumour has it Cortes paid him off to stay away from her." The clown flicked away his cigarette butt and held out a grubby hand. " Names Jerry. Welcome to Hell"
Jerry began teaching Jack his new part in their act. It was pretty simple, throwing buckets of foam over each other, squirting water about, carrying ladders and generally doing obviously stupid things. All the time, Jack continued to watch Emily. Her hair shone under the lights and her steel eyes were full of laughter as they peeked over at him occasionally. In the final act, everyone came on stage and did a specific thing to them. The acrobat's cartwheeled and Emily twisted and swung upon a trapeze high in the roof of the tent. There was no safety net and jack spent a lot of the practice time bracing himself in case she should fall. She never did though; remaining in complete control she performed complex moves one after the other flawlessly. Cortes' eyes watched her almost greedily from the sidelines. At the end of the practice, Jerry called Jack over to him.
"Cortes says that you need to perform Adams old trick for the finale." Jerry informed him awkwardly
Jack assumed Adam was the previous owner of his job. He yawned and nodded as he watched Emily clamber down and place a jacket over the costume she wore. She really was beautiful, he thought to himself. Snapping himself out of it, he turned his eyes to Jerry, who was watching him with a bemused expression.
"Like her do you?" Jerry grinned and Jack punched his arm. "Nah, plenty of women around," Jack replied and jerry grinned, "What did Adam do then?" Jerry rolled his eyes.
"Juggle fake knives. They looked real of course. Even feel real; I've got them here. "Jerry handed an large box to Jack, who opened it with an appreciative whistle.
"They sure do look right," He murmured, weighing one in his hand. It was the right weight for a knife as well. "There is a catch to the trick of course" Jerry continued. "At the end you have to catch one in your teeth, so you end up with a knife in each hand and one in your mouth." Jack blanched. He'd always preferred guns to knives and catching one in his mouth sounded…dangerous. Jerry read his expression.
"They're fake, so they won't hurt you." Jerry assured him
"Famous last words" Muttered Jack and Jerry laughed. The edges weren't sharp though, so jack decided he might as well do the trick. If he didn't, he'd lose the job and probably wouldn't see Emily again. That would be a shame he thought wistfully as she walked by him again and waved to him and Jerry, smiling, her arm linked through her father's right arm. He saw her action and glowering at Jack led her quickly out of the tent to the caravans the crew slept in…
Rachels POV
I was beginning to think he was going mad. What was the point of this story? What did it have to do with him and me? I didn't want to interrupt again and risk his glaring eyes, so I just shifted uncomfortably. He noticed and smiled slightly.
"Maybe I should just give you the edited highlights from now on?" he suggested and I nodded gratefully. He opened his mouth and began speaking again. The rain had turned into a downpour pounding against the windows. It was freezing in the car so I slipped off my shoes, curled my feet underneath me and pulled his jacket closer around myself.
"A few months Passed…"
Jack had learnt his trick now. It was perfectly timed and the audience loved it. He never failed to catch the 'knife' in his mouth at the end and was always rewarded with loud applause. Ever night though, it was not the audience that caught his gaze, but Emily. Every time she'd look back at him and smile as the secret passed between them. Cortes could only look on suspiciously; he never caught them together, Jack made sure of that. He'd been with the circus for three months now and the cops had lost his trail completely. He'd started off in Virginia but now the circus was finishing its tour in Gotham tomorrow night.
He jumped off the stage once the applause had died down and ran backstage to take off the clown makeup. He surreptitiously blew a kiss to Emily as she walked off to her changing room. She pretended to catch it and laughed before disappearing from his view. Someone cleared their throat behind him and he glanced in the mirror to see Jerry standing there looking disapproving.
"You could at least try to be less obvious" Jerry hissed. "Cortes will see you if you're not careful." Jack laughed
"Who cares if he does?"
"You do! The guys a psycho, I'm telling ya Jack, be careful of him." If Jack hadn't been so cocky, he would have maybe listened to Jerry.
"I'm sure I can handle him" Jack thought of the gun in his boot, whilst combing his hair straight. "Besides, why should I be scared of my soon to be father in law?" Jack stated innocently, inwardly glowing with happiness. Jerry's jaw dropped.
"No no no, Jack, don't. You can't be serious? You've only know her three months and you're tying the knot?" Jerry looked completely perplexed and Jack laughed at him.
"We're in love jerry, it's the natural thing to do y'know. I'm going to break the news to Cortes." Jack stopped, thinking to himself. "What's Cortes' real name anyway? Emily told me that Cortes is just his stage name. She told me his first name is James, but do you know his surname? It'd be rude if it looked like I'd forgotten" Jack grinned sheepishly at Jerry who sighed.
"I was told it once, endo-something. I don't know…"
"Thanks!" Jack ran from the room before jerry completed his sentence.
Jerry shook his head. "No good will come of this," he told his reflection, sighing.
"MARRIED!" James shrieked, "To this, this... BUFFOON?" He stabbed an accusatory finger at Jack, who calmly replied
"Yes, that's right James, I can call you James can't I? Or should I call you dad, which do you prefer?" Jack asked politely, trying to be cordial but failing.
"INSOLENCE! BASTARD! YOU WILL NOT HAVE MY DAUGHTER!"
"I think you'll find I will, she chose me" Jack frowned, trying to remain as polite as possible. Emily just hid her face in his shoulder and he felt slight irritation that she would not face her father.
"SHE WOULD NOT CHOOSE YOU!" Spittle flew from the mans mouth "EMILY? DID YOU CHOOSE THIS MAN?" Emily moved her face only far enough away from Jacks shoulder to reply simply;
"Yes father I did"
There was a hushed silence as the man slowly deflated in front of them. Then he smiled craftily. "If you marry this man Emily, I will disown you from my will and you will receive nothing of your inheritance from your mother." He stated smugly. "How will you buy your expensive clothes now?" Emily looked aghast and looked at Jack in shock, pulling away ever so slightly. "If however, you chose to marry another man, like hmm… Jerry perhaps? Yes. Jerry is a good man. If you marry a man like Jerry, I will keep you in my will."
"She doesn't need your money" Snarled Jack, clutching Emily closer, "I'll provide for her, I've got plenty of money" He looked down at Emily reassuringly "You'll never go hungry or want for anything " He promised her and her golden smile returned.
"You heard Daddy" She smiled at her father, "tonight is our last night at the circus, then we're leaving to live in Gotham together. I'm so Happy" She smiled radiantly and went to embrace her father who flicked her away, a ghostly pale expression settling on his face.
"You will pay for trying to take my daughter away Jack Napier. And you Emily," He whispered dementedly, "you are not my daughter anymore". Emily yawned.
"Don't be so dramatic Daddy. Come on Jack, lets go plan the wedding" She grabbed Jacks hand and pulled him from her dad's caravan. Jack stole one quick glance at the face of the old ringmaster. The expression he wore made him look like he had aged a decade. Grim determination fused with grief was carved onto the older man's pudgy features. For the first time since he had met Emily's father, Jack was afraid of him.
Jokers POV
"Emily sounds like a right bitch" Grumbled Rachel to my side. I frowned at her perception of Emily. I'd not thought of Emily in years, and yes, now she did seem a little money obsessed and loved to go shopping, but don't most women? "She sound like she almost dumped Jack when she heard she wouldn't get any money. Then she dumped her father when she found out she didn't need any money from him" She continued thoughtfully before glancing at me. She shrugged.
"What happens next?"
I sighed and started the next bit. The hard bit.
The final night of the show. Gotham city in all its majesty shone around the circus tent. Jack laughed and kissed Emily softly. Soon they'd be free. Her father stood on the stage and fired his pistol into the air through the specially made hole in the centre of the tents roof. The show started and Jack began to relax as everything went normally. Despite his threats, it seemed Emily's father had let go. After all, he was just a defeated old man.
It was time for the finale and this time all of the acrobats were on the trapezes, Emily directly in the centre. Jack had centre stage for his knife throwing. Cortes handed him the knives containing box, smiling in a sickly, almost queasy way.
"Good luck in your act. Make sure it goes well" Cortes muttered to him. Jack smiled back, thinking Cortes may have accepted his and Emily's union. He hoped so. He didn't want to be taking Emily away from her father, who clearly loved her. Maybe the possibility of losing his daughter had awakened the man to Jack's charms...or something like that.
"I sure will" Jack ran to the stage clutching his knives and began to juggle faster than he had in previous shows, desperate to make a good impression. The knives whirled around and round until his cue came and he hurled one high up into the air, positioning himself below it ready to catch. The knife plummeted back down, rotating as it came. It was only when it fell into a beam of light and the metal glinted that jack realised. James had swapped the fake rubbery plastic knifes for real knives.
Rachel POV
I gagged when he told me. What sort of sick person would do that? I knew why the story was relevant now though.
"Jacks you isn't he?" I whispered. His eyes were full of pain as he nodded. I breathed in deeply and closed my eyes. I think I preferred the story where he got his scars because of his wife.
"I was lucky the knife landed horizontally, otherwise it would have cut out my tongue." I heard him say and I groaned before licking my lips.
"This isn't the whole story though is it, Jack" A strange expression crossed his face when I used his name. "You told me how you got your scars, but you're not telling me why we can't be together."
In short unfinished sentence, he finished emily's story.
James Laughed maniacally as blood spurted from Jacks mouth, which Jack was desperately trying to stem with his shaking fingers. Then he pulled out his gun. Years of practice at aiming the gun safely out of the tent had left James a good shot and in one sharp crack, one of the ropes that held Emily's trapeze was shorn in two and Emily was hanging from the remaining rope. James took another shot at the other rope but missed as Jerry jumped on him. Jack climbed up the acrobat's ladders, ran along the beams and grabbed Emily's hand as the remaining rope frayed under her weight. Blood was running into his mouth making him choke and gag. He didn't have the strength to hold onto her. She couldn't gain a grip on his bloodsoaked hands, her fingers slipping through his.
"Jack, oh my god! I'm slipping! What did he do to you! Oh my GOD!" Her mascara framed eyes were popping out of her head as she looked at his deformed features. Then she fell to earth where she lay eyes wide and frantic, staring up at him, yet not seeing him. Jack ran down the ladders screaming her name, cradled her head in his lap as a medic felt for a pulse. There was no pulse, he didn't need the medic to tell him that. The expression on her face was that of terror and disbelief, the expression she'd worn when she'd seen his broken face, his ugly, maimed features. Tears mixed with blood and clown makeup, making his face a collage of different, swirling hues. He was a hideous monster, staring at beauty herself, lying cold and dead on the floor in front of him.
James threw off Jerry and shot the clown five times in the chest before turning to Jack, who stood and held his arms wide.
"Go ahead" He begged the madman, laughing, spitting blood out so that he could speak. "You've already taken my best friend and my fiancé. Go on. Do it James. Be a MAN. COME ON JAMES! You hated me the second i walked into this tent, so WATCHA WAITING FOR?" James raised the gun just as the police arrived and jumped on him, pulling the weapon away from him. A medic pulled at Jacks arm, but got thrown off. Jack ran out of the circus like he was running from the devil. He sprinted through the Gotham streets until he collapsed in some dingy alleyway somewhere, fainting against the wall. Whether he fainted from blood loss or from grief…he still didn't know.
Jokers POV
I won't have anyone die like Emily. I never want to feel that way again. I... liked...loved? Rachel, but I'm a criminal and I've got enemies. Even if she assumed an alias to come be with me, soon enough people would realise the missing DA's assistant and the joker's new girl were one and the same. That's what I wanted to tell Rachel. Instead I simply said;
"Get out. I can never love anyone like I did Emily. Not anyone, especially not you Rachel Dawes" She was crying but I didn't look at her as she got out of the car and slammed the door, running inside through the storm.
No doubt straight into Harvey's arms, I thought bitterly. I still hadn't told her all of the story though. I hadn't told her that James had been found innocent. He knew high up people in the police force, or rather the mob did. James was ferrying drugs for the mob around the country as the circus travelled and they didn't want him to talk, simple as that. So dear Mr Maroni told his guys to let him off Scot free. Who got the blame? Good ol' Jack Napier of course. I'd changed my name and changed my personality. Because I couldn't be Jack anymore, because Jack had lost everything. The Joker had nothing to lose and better still, he didnt care about ANYONE. No way to get hurt, no guilt, no grief, no morals. Just anger at the people in the city he'd wound up in.
Of course, I also didn't tell her that as soon as the police had released him, I'd gone after him. I'd scarred his mouth and for good measure cut out his tongue too. Then I broke both of his legs and his left arm, but i didn't break his neck like Emily had, that would be too quick; I wanted him to suffer. Then i shot five bullets into his chest with the gun he used to kill Jerry. Then as he slowly died from the bullets in his stomach, i cut out his heart. Just like he cut out mine. I took his gun and kept it with me always. The gun Rachel had picked up by accident. I could see it clearly in my mind, covered in James' blood.
James Endersby had made me a killer. Emily Endersby had taught me to love and Jerry had been my only friend. So what was Rachel Dawes to me?
Did you like it? :)
