Love is just a camouflage of what resembles rage, again…~

He couldn't help the smile that spread across his face as he watched the spunky little brunette order men twice her size around. She was fitting in just fine now, settled quite well next to the Joker. Jes felt a pang of jealousy, but he knew better. Neither of them was capable of love. Two Agents of Chaos, brought together through the smoldering heat of the flames. 'Whatever' turned to look at him, feeling his eyes on her and spat. Jes still remained happy faced behind his mask and continued to look on.

So cute, he could just squeeze the life right out of her.

She didn't wear a mask like the rest of them anymore, instead her face was painted white, tiny crosses painted up upside down, black under her eyes. Sometimes she wore a masquerade style mask, purple and gold over her flawless brown eyes, but that was only when she was too lazy to do her make-up. One could tell just by looking at her face whether the Joker gave her time to prepare or not…

The Penguin, Oswald Cobblepot, had his men surrounding Joker and his 'watch puppy' while the rest of his own henchmen stood back. From where Jes stoof he could barely hear the conversation at hand, but the Penguin looked rather flustered as the Joker brought in to a laugh.

His eyes fell back upon 'Whatever' the name itself simply irritated him to use, but he had nothing else. Aside from the Joker no one could call her anything else. Anyone who tried was already dead. He ached to know what her name was, playing guessing games with her when Joker wasn't around. And yet…nothing. Even the names he thought suited her didn't work once spoken aloud. They didn't fit her, no matter how many times he tried. She had given him a couple of hints though, assuring him he'd never spoken or heard her name before, but that was all he had to work from. Oh how she frustrated him to no end…

Her voice brought him from his thoughts, yelling something about ending a life for threatening her Boss. Cobblepot stumbled a little, his men stepping in closer as the Joker intervened. She really was like a little watch dog. Although she didn't look like much amongst all those men, he was certain she packed one of the mightiest punches.

"Move!" She snarled, men parting as she and the Joker went to leave. There would be no fight tonight it seemed. Jes quickly turned to follow them out as not to be left behind, climbing in to the driver's seat of their blacked out SUV and followed the other henchmen's care back to the hideout.

She curled herself in to the backseat and stayed silently staring out the window the entire ride. Jes was more than certain had the Joker given her the go-ahead she would have killed as many of those men as she could before someone put a bullet in her. She was still living by her rules, following them as strictly as ever but she was beginning to make slip ups. When they got 'home' she climbed from the vehicle and made a mad dash for the door.

The Joker stopped her, throwing her down on the pavement with a deadly look in his eyes. She stared up at him, mirroring the gaze and licked her lips. He had cut in to the corners of her mouth again… Further this time, to which she allowed. Jes watched from the car, afraid to get out as she brought her arms up to protect her face. The Joker hit her repeatedly, mercilessly beating on her. What surprised him most was her lack of reaction, taking each hit like it was nothing. But everyone knew; it was not nothing. She had bruises all up and down her arms, legs, and torso. There were even small cuts occasionally. Not a single one had come from anyone but the Joker.

He loomed in closer to her and finally she snapped, immediately pushing him off of her and taking the position he had held moments ago. The Clown Prince of Crime let out a sick laugh when she tackled him down, hitting him over and over. He didn't bother blocking the hits, just laid there cackling, watching her body shake as she fought off stinging tears. Slowly but surely he was breaking her down, just waiting for her to snap, to let the Chaos and the Madness run wild from within her.

Eventually she was finished, her face like a stone as she got up and headed inside, looking like nothing had happened. Jes was amazed by how easily she could compose herself and go on after the Joker beat her. It happened all the time and still… if you weren't there to witness it or see the bruises, you would never know. She was the most loyal of dogs he'd ever seen and constantly imagined himself pulling at her leash, strangling the life out of her. He just adored that girl…

I was on the roof again.

Funny how often I ended up there. The breeze was warm, gently soothing over my battered body. I wasn't sure what had come over me, but something inside made me do it. Had I not snapped on the Penguin I feared something bad would happen. The Joker had warned me specifically to keep my mouth closed, but it just kind of happened. I hadn't accounted for him to be that angry with me over it, but I had obviously caused a problem. Still; I hated that stubby, fat little beaked man and given another change I'd kill him on sight.

The force of the Joker's blows weren't as bad as they usually were. I could breathe without pain this time. It was the look in his eyes that had me on the verge of tears, remembering that same look from my childhood.

Everything was dark, I slowly raised my head to see what had happened only to be struck again. The tall, sleek man in the suit glared down at me hard and took a step back. I slowly got to my knees, wiping the blood from my cut lip and whimpered. He struck me hard enough to send my body back to the floor, crying out in pain as my head smacked against the cool wood.

"Get up." He ordered.

I tried to stand again, his foot coming to my chest and pushing me back down.

"Get up."

"I can't." My small voice wheezed desperately.

The way his eyes whirled frightened me, looming down closer and closer to my face. I could see a burning rage filling them, causing him to shake slightly. He pressed a long barrel to my head, emotions leaving his eyes for a moment and returning with a caring look as if begging me to get up. And I did, pushing the gun out of his face and rolling to the side, thrusting my body up enough to give me the inertia to be on my feet. I could have sworn a smile flashed across his face before he fired the gun in my direction. I dived for the floor just in time and panted heavily…

The Joker loomed down over me, ordering me to fight back… and without thinking or referencing back to any of my rules I just swung. It was like he wanted me to fight for myself, even though I was beginning to lose hope that I could. The feeling was invigorating and I had started to think more and more about dropping every one of my rules. They crept in on me no matter what, though, and I accepted that. These rules had kept me alive until now, so why should I let them go? They were my security blanket, something I could fall back on. Like a safety net. What did I have to catch me without that? Nothing…

I was to fight until I was spent and forever on after. That was what he wanted from me, and I was obligated to comply…

My hands rested back behind my head, eyes staring up at the blackening sky. The gunfire, screaming, sirents and all other disturbing sounds had grown comforting to me now. It was the sounds of home. The sounds of my Gotham.

Damon snarled at his blue eyed partner. "She's getting in closer and closer."

"I know," he cowered, "but what can we do?"

"Find her," his teeth clenched tight, "and kill the bitch. I already told you that!"

"Boss will kill me if I do."

"Don't. Get. Caught." He smirked, reciting one of that blasted girls rules.

"I don't know…" Blue eyes frowned.

"Do it, or I will!"

The larger male shrunk away and left the bathroom with a nod. He had to prove to Damon that he was capable of something; killing that woman otherwise a much worse fate awaited him. He knew the Boss would kill him without a second thought after he found out, but he wasn't sure if that was more terrifying than what Damon had threatened to do… There were many possibilities laid out in front of him but he was brawns, not brains. All he could do was try to follow orders and hope for the best. Every single time he tried to get close to her either Jes or the Boss was around and there was nothing he could do. He had to get her alone.

"Need company?~" Jes called out from across the roof.

I turned on to my side and faced away from him, "nope."

"Too bad," he sat down next to me, "I'm staying anyway."

"I was just about to head in for bed."

"No you weren't," he laughed, catching on to my obvious lie. "You and the Boss are never in bed at the same time."

"So he's asleep is he?" I looked at Jes over my shoulder.

He shrugged, "well I saw him go in to his room as I came up here."

I remained silent, thoughtful. The Joker was a lot like me in the sense that the two of us rarely slept and when we do; no one can disturb us without getting very hurt. I made it a point to only sleep when he was awake; that way I knew that he was the one who would disturb me and not some henchman. He made sure that people left me alone, saying something about needing me in tip top shape. I couldn't say I wasn't grateful, but he was one who didn't care what time he woke me up at if he needed me. And sometimes, I didn't mind so much either.

"What was that back there?" Jes's voice startled me from my thoughts.

I should have known he was going to ask. He had been there when the Joker was beating on me, and Jes never did see to understand the concept of privacy. I rolled me eyes, "a little disagreement."

"That's not what it looked like from where I was." He retorted, looking at me with an intense eye.

I prused my lips, and replied in an irritated sigh, "but that's all it was."

"What did you disagree about?"

"None of your business."

I'd had enough, getting to my feet I retreated back for the door to head inside. He grabbed my hand and I turned around, slugging him hard in the jaw. As he fell back I slipped in the door and ran down the stairs, deciding I would get some rest anyway. I was starting to feel a little tired and I just didn't want to deal with Jes anymore tonight.

I crept silently in to the Joker's room and laid myself down on the bench at the end of his bed. Like a dog at the foot of his sleeping master and drifted off, listening to him for any signs of distress or wakefulness due to my entrance, but he remained silent and I remained still…~

A/N: Nine chapters already?... man I didn't even think I could stick to something for this long, but apparently I am. ^^' I don't know quite yet how I feel about this chapter but I'm really excited for the next one. Sorry the action was in very small doses and the point of view is a little confusing. Hopefully you'll understand and I hope you like it. In other news; I've actually already written the first draft of the final chapter (but don't expect that ANY TIME SOON as the story still has so much that needs to happen) and I'm already rolling around crying about it all. Anyway...thoughts, opinions?

Thanks for reading...

~S~