A/N: Sorry that you had to wait so long for this but I've the flu and couldn't write the last days. But I hope you enjoy this one! Please review!
When Alice woke up the next morning, the apartment seemed to be empty. Normally the Joker was a really loud person. The way he hummed all the time, his walking around, everything was quite loud. But this morning, after this very bad night, she didn't hear him. So Alice got up. Dressed in nothing but one of his boxers and a under-shirt she found in the dresser. She rose from the bed and opened the door to the living room. She was quite surprised to find the Joker sitting on his desk, not moving a millimeter. He sat there like froze.
"Morning." Alice tried to make conversation to check his mood. But there was no reaction.
She thought a few seconds about her options until she shrugged and walked in the kitchen to make coffee. 'This is going to be ugly when he wakes up from his froze state.' she thought.
She was surprised to find the coffee maker already prepared. She just had to switch on the machine.
"You didn't prepare this to poison me, did you?" She asked with a lifted eyebrow. Still no reaction. He still wore nothing but his boxers and not even the so-called 'war-paint'. His face was a pure picture of sadness. If she hadn't known better, Alice had felt pity for him. But this man, yet so sad, yet so prepared to stab you in five seconds, wasn't one to feel pity for.
When the coffee was ready she poured herself a cup and one for him. She placed his right in front of him on the desk but turned around and sat on the couch. She wouldn't force him to do anything. The tension in the air was so thick, you could have cut it with a knife. When she finished her cup of coffee she went back in the kitchen, she washed the dishes and prepared the coffeemaker just like she had found it earlier.
"I gonna take a shower." She said as she passed the lifeless Joker. When she was about to turn the doorknob, the coffee cup hit the wall just next to her head. It shattered into thousand pieces. Luckily the coffee was already cold, otherwise the amount of fluid that hit Alice would have caused burns. Alice was shocked. She turned around just to find the Joker right behind her. He had moved from the desk to her in no time. His face was so close, their noses nearly touched.
He breathed heavily. He was furious, she could tell. After a few moments of silence, Alice decided that he would do what he wanted to do anyways. He was the Joker for crying out loud!
"What's the matter?" she whispered.
"YOU. tell me the true reason you diiiiid not tell me the stoooory earlier? What was the reason for that, huuuuuh? Oh I know it already. You dooo not have to spell it." Jay told her as his hand sneaked around her neck.
"What are you talking about?" she asked him in disbelief.
"Ooooh you know. You didn't tell me earlier because you're the reeeason they killed her."
"WHAT? I told you she killed hers…." FLASH, he backhanded her harshly. Full force. Her head made a 90 degree turning and crashed into the wall. Before she could open her eyes again, the next slap hit her. When she fell on the floor he even started kicking her. He continued this action until she nearly passed out.
When she laid on the floor and didn't move anymore, he stopped. Alice made sure to stay as still as she could. She couldn't take much more hitting.
He stood in front of her for a while, heavily breathing. But then he turned around, walked out of the door and slammed it. When his footsteps got quieter, Alice allowed herself to cry. She sobbed what made it even harder to breathe. After a few minutes she tried to stand up but it didn't worked. Her legs just didn't want to be strong enough to hold her up. She tried to crawl but since her left shoulder seemed to be dislocated, that also didn't work. So she did what was the only thing to do. She laid down on the floor and stayed in that position.
Unfortunately – or luckily, with the Joker you'll never know – he just let her alone for two or three hours. Alice guessed that as there were no clocks in her view.
When he opened the door, she heard the rustling of shopping bags. He set those on the coffee table in front of the couch and walked slowly over to her. She stopped breathing, shut her eyes and waited for whatever he'd do to her now.
"What cha still doing here on the floor?" he asked gentle. Alice started to shiver, she excepted him to be even more evil when he played nice. "Hey, dollface. Look at me."
Alice couldn't help but cry again. She swore to herself earlier that she'd never show that much of weakness in front of him but then again – she couldn't do anything against it.
"Oh, shhhh. Don't cry, honey. Smiiiiile!" The joker teased her.
Alice held her eyes closed when she suddenly felt his hands on her. But he didn't try to make a move on her - he picked her up from the floor and carried her to the couch. She yelped in pain when he let her drop too harshly for her wounded shoulder. She shivered even more, when she felt him sitting on the couch next to her hip.
"I don't like to repeat myself. Look at me Alice."Joker asked in a normal voice. Alice opened her eyes slowly. She looked at him in a mix of anger, angst and disgust. He eyed her carefully.
"I'll got a doctor." he said after a while. He rose from the couch, took his cell from one of his pockets and dialed a number. She heard him talk but didn't listen. One ability Alice learned early in her life, especially thanks to her self-centered older sister was the fading out of conversations she didn't want to hear. Afterwards he left without another word through the front door. When the door fell into its lock, she dared to watch around. When the bags on the table came into her view, her inner voice screamed 'YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!'. She eyed the labels on the many large bags in disbelief.
Bendels. Chanel. Lorwick. Dior. Barneys. Madison Avenue.
Every label-whoring woman's heart would have pound double time at the view of these. But Alice was not one of that kind of women. And right now she was in so much pain, that she wasn't even in the position to laugh about these bags.
A little while later, Joker came back. Followed by a not very tall man with glasses who looked pretty young and very arrogant.
"Holy crap. What did you do with her?" the man asked in amused tone when he spotted Alice.
"Shuuuut up, Crane." Joker commanded.
The smaller man nodded and walked closer to Alice.
"Okay, princess. I'm Doctor Crane and your obvious gentle owner asked me to look at your bruises, fractures and anything else he did to you." Crane joked.
"I warned you!" The Joker shouted as he hit Crane on his back of the head. Crane flinched a bit.
"Okay, okay. Well, gorgeous, I'll start at the feet and legs first. He pushed his glasses higher on his nose and told Alice to move her toes. "Okay. these two" he pointed at the smallest toe and the third toe of the left foot "seem to be broke. Let me check." He touched them and even at the smallest move those hurt like hell and made Alice yelp. "Okay, not broke. Just dislocated. I gonna put them in place now. Better stay still princess. It will hurt very much but if I don't do it, it will hurt more." Crane announced before he grabbed her foot harshly and pinched it under his arm to hold it in place. He turned his head to the Joker. "Jay, you better get an trashcan or something like that. The chances that your little toy here will vomit all over the floor are really high."
The Joker nodded and took the rubbish bin from under his desk and put it in front of the couch where Alice head laid. She refused to look at him but she could feel him stare at her.
"Okay, here we go, kid." Crane said before he pressed on the first of her toes back in place. Alice screamed in pain. Tears ran down her cheeks and she couldn't breathe normal , she gasped for air. Before she could calm down, Crane put the other toe in place.
"Okay, that was that. Any other problems with the legs, princess?" Crane asked and Alice shook her head. Crane fumbled around her knees. "Okay, knees are fine." He started to tug on the boxers she wore and she grabbed them like a reflex. "Don't panic. I won't pull them down. I just need to take a look of where all this blood on that boxer short comes from. And I think it's the wound over your right hip, so please let me take a look at it." Crane explained melodramatic.
"Okay, this will need stitches. Oh man, Joker." Crane sighed annoyed as he walked over to his doctor briefcase and took out a needle and some blue fiber. Crane started to sew the wound without anesthesia. Alice bit her lips hard.
"Why don't you give her something, Crane?" The Joker asked angrily.
"Because I need her to be clear when I relocate her shoulder as the next thing."Crane explained.
"How do you even know that it's dislocated? You aren't that far, little drughead" the Joker asked bored.
"Well, Scarmouth, I just need to look on her uncomfortable gesture and the twisted way she holds her arm to know that." Crane replied annoyed as he did the last stitch. "So, sit up, princess. Time to turn your arm back in place." Crane smiled at her.
"You're enjoying this." Alice hissed.
"Oh yes, that I do!" Crane chuckled. "It's always nice to see to what our favorite Gotham City Villain is capable of. Never thought he'd beat a woman like that."
"Oh, yooouu will wonder soon how much harder I can beat small weird doctors if they don't do the work I asked them to do, alright, Crane?" the Joker threatened.
Crane gulped and pulled Alice in a sitting position. "Okay, sit tight. This is going to hurt as hell."
He took her arm but before he could turn it in the right position, the Joker slipped behind Alice and put his arms around her stomach to hold her in place. A 'CRACK!" of her bones, a loud pain filled scream and some sobbing later, the shoulder was relocated and Crane finally put an IV in Alice arm and gave her a fine dose of pain killers.
"My work is done. The bruises will disappear if you put the salve I gave you on it twice a day. She must not move this arm too much for a week and shouldn't carry anything heavy for the next three weeks. I'll give you an ampoule of the pain killer I just gave her. You need to give her some in the morning, until then, shall be fine. I'll come around in ten days to take the stitches out."
The joker nodded and dismissed Crane with a wave the next minute.
They were alone now. He walked back to the couch and Alice turned her gaze to meet his eyes with hers. Her face was emotionless and that bother him very much so he tried to light up the mood.
"Look what I got for you, dollface! So many nice new clothes!" The Joker pointed at the bags.
"Do I look like a ninety pounds fashion whoring girlie to you?" Alice returned could.
"Nope, but the clothes will fit nonetheless." Joker replied.
"How do you know and how did you get those? Half of those designer's have no shops in Gotham."
"I got them from Bruce Wayne." the Joker returned laughing.
Earlier that day.
The Joker was furious. Not just because by the many things Alice had told him but also by the fact that he just beat the shit out of that girl although he knew that she was just the messenger.
Anyways, he was in the mood for massive destroy. So the told his men to put TNT and some gasoline barrels in the van. Ten minutes later they were in the City and the Joker managed to get access to the Headquarter of the local police. He knows that place very well. He had blown it up just five months ago. In the night Batsy's Rachel died. Now it was all new renovated and renewed. The perfect time to blow it up again. And so he put the gasoline and the TNT in place.
A "KAWOOM" and several clamor later, his mood was better. But not as good as it should be. He still felt bad for hitting Alice. So he decided to buy her a gift.
On their way in the city, the Joker spotted Bruce Wayne in front of his building with a huge number of shopping bags on his arms walking towards some trash cans.
He told his men to stop. He got out and followed Bruce in the impasse where the trash cans stood.
When Bruce reached and opened them, the joker was only ten feet away.
"A tatata! What cha doing, Mr. Wayne?" The joker asked.
Bruce stopped in the mid of his motion. He turned around slowly. He starred at the Joker in disbelief.
"Youuuu don't wanna throw away that, will ya?" the Joker asked.
"Yes, that was my intention indeed." Bruce returned carefully.
"Well, whyyyy?"
"Because, the person I wanted to give this to, is dead."
"Oh, who was it and how?" the Joker got curious.
"Her name was Rachel and you killed her."
There was a pause for a second but then the Joker chuckled.
"Who thought that the girl had so many famous friends. Dent, Batsy, you."
Bruce just clenched his jaw.
"Well, aaaaaanyways, if you don't need this anymore, I'll take it. I've someone who will be very haaaaappy with it."
"Oh really?"
"Yeah. You won't tell the Batman about it, will ya, Mr. Waaayne?"
"No. I won't. I swear."
"Good. Otherwise shall try to take my girl away. Now give the bags."
"What's the magic word?"
"I think, the magic words are 'why so serious?' but right now I'm not in the mood for games, so…" he got closer to Bruce and snatched the bags. If only he knew what he'd just done…
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