With a taste of your lips
I'm on a ride
You're toxic I'm slipping under
With a taste of a poison paradise
I'm addicted to you
Don't you know that you're toxic?
And I love what you do
Don't you know that you're toxic?

'Toxic' by Britney Spears

WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS SEXUAL SITUATIONS, STRONG LANGUAGE, PHYSICAL HARM, AND INSULTS TO CERTAIN MUSICAL ENTERTAINERS

"Toby?"

Oh. My. God. This was not happening, this was not happening…

The small, blonde boy squinted his eyes at me as he tilted his head slightly, looking like he just woke up. My heart ached looking at him. "Sarah?" He paused, yawning and scratching at his nose. "Why are you hugging a messy clown?"

My eyes flashed to the Joker's, my jaw clenched. I gave him a meaningful look, my gaze darting from his arms and back to his eyes again. He smiled grotesquely, catching my drift, fluttering his eyelashes innocently at me before slowly stepping away.

"Toby!" I breathed, rushing forward and engulfing him in my arms. "Toby, Toby, Toby." I crooned, softly stroking his hair. My heartache felt better as I held him, knowing he was safe in my arms. It was allowing me to think better.

"Geez, Sarah, what's going on?" He wiggled slightly in my grasp, but I wouldn't allow him to break free. With pride, I noted how much better his speech was since the last time I saw him.

My brain finally began to process the information at hand. Toby here. Batman? Joker. Deal?

Fuck.

Oh, I mean… crap.

I wasn't even supposed to think about naughty words around my brother – I didn't want my bad habit rubbing off on him.

What was he doing here, though? My family didn't even live in Gotham! I talked to them about once a month, visited them on holidays and all that good stuff, but no one knew about them. I kept them safe from the media.

What does the Joker want with my seven-year-old brother?

"I don't know, babe." I said finally, sighing, using my old nickname for him. "But, hey, I'm happy to see you, kiddo. Have you grown another five inches since I last saw you?"

"Probably." He replied smugly.

I laughed lightly, hoping it didn't sound forced as I got to my feet, taking Toby with me. He was surprisingly small for his age, though his quick mind made up for his size. I placed him on my hip, both arms placed protectively around him. I became puzzled when I didn't see the Joker in front of me, mostly because I expected he would be sarcastically commenting on the sisterly side of me.

Not that it wasn't refreshing.

"We-heh-ell, wasn't that just touching, Bozo?" I heard the voice from behind me that I had been expecting all along. I reluctantly turned to see the Joker with his arm around one of his masked goon. The arm in question, though, had a knife in its hand that was against the man's throat. The man was twitching; the gun in his hands that was aimed at me looked like it was having a seizure. The Joker was watching me cockily, as if expecting me to jump for joy at the sight of him.

My eyes narrowed as I restrained myself from a snappy comeback.

"Uh, my name is, um, Frank." The guy said hesitantly.

For a split second, I thought that he was going to die. Just one swipe and it would all be over for that idiot. I pressed Toby's head away from the scene, my own eyes instinctively closing.

Nothing.

"Mmm, Frank? I re-heh-ally don't care. Now, be a dear, and go round up the hostages!"

I opened my eyes tentatively just as Toby shifted to whisper in my ear. "What are hostages?" He asked curiously. I tried to come up with an answer while staring down the approaching goon, who looked immensely grateful for his life.

"Uh… let's see. Captives, um, prisoners, people being used to… uh, get what their captor's want." I started to step away slowly, eyeing the thug's gun uncomfortably.

"We're hostages?" He once again mouthed the foreign word, trying to get used to it. I was being cornered, now, away from the open window, away from the exits.

I was panicking. I didn't know what was going to happen, but I knew that it wasn't going to be very good.

I was getting desperate.

"Wait. Hey, wait a second." I said abruptly, taking a hand away from Toby and holding it out in front of me. I felt Toby's head move so that he could look out at the clowns before him. My eyes, instead of glaring at the clown-masked goon, flickered to the Joker. "I really think that we should talk about this…"

He waved his hand in the air dismissively, his other hand knife still in grip, but now scratching behind a dog's ear. "Grab the boy, Bozo."

"Frank." He mumbled quietly, reaching out to take my brother from me.

My jaw clenched, my body tensing as my back hitting the glass wall behind me. "Don't you dare touch him." I hissed, preparing to use my greatest weapon yet. I didn't want to, but I was running out of options. I didn't care if I was going to have a debt to pay; this was about my brother now.

Just as I opened my mouth to say the word, an unbelievable sensation of intense pain ripped through me.

I hadn't even heard the gunshot, I had been so concentrated. I had let my guard down for that split second.

I was so stupid.

Toby was ripped from my suddenly limp arms and I protested weakly, giving off a sound cry. I clutched instinctively at the area of contact – my shoulder.

Curse my low pain tolerance. My vision was blurring, and I felt that feeling of dread wash over me. I was going to black out.

As I sagged to the ground, I made one last attempt in the name of my brother's safety. "J-" I tried to blubber out, but it was too late.

Darkness overtook me.

I awoke to bright light and Britney Spears. I groaned as my bodies' sensations cam back to me, as well as at the music choice.

I tried to open my eyes but the sun was too blinding. I, instead, tried to become in tune with my body. The pain was still there, though it was subtler and I could actually feel its location now. I was swallowed up by a soft, large comforter, from what I could feel. I licked my lips and swallowed, savoring the feel of the wet saliva against my dry throat.

It then hit me how incredibly hungry and thirsty I was.

But that was again soon forgotten.

I was about to try to open my eyes again when I heard a bright, false voice interrupt my thoughts. "Good morning, sleeping beauty!"

I felt the bed, if that's what it was, bounce slightly while accommodating the sudden new weight. I crinkled my nose when I recognized the voice, but felt too weak to move as another body slid up next to mine.

I growled slightly in annoyance when his arm pulled me into his chest, pressing my body intimately against his. At least, with some good luck, my bad shoulder was up.

His lips caressed the curve of my neck, a hand softly brushing the hair away there first. I still refused to open my eyes, and I would not allow myself to think about what deliciously sexy things were happening to me now…

I shook my head very slightly, at both my own thoughts and an attempt to get him off of me. He was stubbornly persistent; slowly caressing my middle as he planted those sinfully slow butterfly kisses on my sensitive skin.

"What's with the Spears?" I croaked abruptly before clearing my throat, embarrassed at my dry voice.

"Decoration." He purred in reply.

I have to admit, he got me curious. I opened my eyes a tiny bit to see a small, hideously colored room – plain white, with chestnut brown furniture. Yuck! But there were now spears or anything related to them in it. I quickly closed them again. "What the hell are you talking about?" I asked in a tired tone, trying to tune out the admittedly catchy, situation relevant, but annoying song.

He giggled. "Just wanted to see if you really were awake..." His lips roved up higher and I suppressed a shudder as he began to lick the rim of my ear. "So we can, uh, have some fun." He finished, with a slightly husky tinge to his usual high-pitched voice.

"Where's Toby?" I asked, attempting to ignore the Joker's attentions by squeezing my eyes tighter shut. Britney suddenly changed into Kanye West.

Yeah, such an improvement. I'd rather have the pop princess, thank you very much.

"Talk later, sex now." He mumbled, abruptly pushing me down into the bed and climbing on top of me. The dull pain in my shoulder was quickly replaced by sharp pain, but before I could complain, his lips were on mine.

I moaned involuntarily, taken aback by his animalistic, rough kiss. But I… liked it. Ignoring the ache in my shoulder, I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him down closer onto me. I was kissing him back.

The tiny part of my brain that retained sanity screamed at me. 'WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU FUCKING DOING, YOU FUCKING IDIOT?? THIS IS THE JOKER YOU'RE KISSING HERE!!'

Yeah, and he's good at it, too. Who would've thunk it? You know, with the scars and everything…

'THUNK IS NOT A WORD!!'

I blew off my inner voice and focused instead on the fact that I couldn't feel anything but a warm, male body. As his tongue slid past my eager lips to entangle with mine, I forgot who I was kissing.

That was, at least, until I felt him start to yank Bruce's sweatpants off of me.

I stopped responding, twisting away automatically. But he didn't seem to be done yet with me. As I heard the music switch to Justin Timberlake, the Joker swept my sweatpants off of me and plunged his tongue deeper into his mouth. I continued to strive to get away, but it only seemed to egg him on. He began to caress my thighs, getting dangerously close to private territory.

I had to try a different method. I cautiously began to kiss him again, resuming with the tangling of the tongues. His hands curled around my ass, pushing our groins closer together. I felt myself blush furiously as I felt the arousal of the creature on top of me, ignoring my own ache.

I suddenly turn, flipping us both around so that I am on top. He doesn't seem to mind – his own attention seems much more involved in my ass than our positions.

I allow it to continue for a few more seconds, and then I took a diving leap off the side of the bed.

Or I tried to.

I made it about half way off of him, but his hands tighten, going up slightly to my hips. A small squeak escapes my lips as I am dragged back on top, and then under my captor.

"Silly Sarah." He chuckled. "Thinking she can get away!"

I kneed him in the groin.

It was impulsive and now not only my shoulder hurt, my knee did too. My shoulder hurt worse, though – it was practically screaming at me.

But it worked.

The Joker rolled off of me with a giggle, and I scrambled off of the bed. The room was very tiny, so the door was close. I tripped in my haste to get away, but got up quickly, fumbling with the doorknob.

It was locked.

I swore loudly, looking down at the floor, my hands on my hips. There were my sweatpants, sprawled innocently on the ground. I swooped down and picked them up, quickly pulling them on. When I looked up, I stumbled back instinctively. The Joker was lying sideways across the bed, a hand propped up under his head for support. And he was grinning at me.

I snarled at him like a wild animal. "Let me out." I demanded.

"But where would you go?" He crooned, patting the bed space in front of him. "You belong here."

I turned away with a growl, towards the small radio I had not recognized before. I swiftly reached out and popped the top, taking out the CD. I frowned. "'Sexy Grooves?'" I asked skeptically.

I jumped when I felt him behind me, his arms snaking around my waist. The CD dropped from my hands, which instead strove to get his own off of me. "It sounded in-te-rest-ing." He replied, viciously biting my earlobe.

I stiffened, my body suddenly unmoving as he pressed us closer together, my mind racing. I hadn't even thought about my surroundings – where were we, whose house? But I had more pressing matters to attend to at the moment. Literally. "Stop trying to seduce me." I hissed between clenched teeth. "It's not working."

"It's not?" He laughed in my ear, making me twitch involuntarily. "It was a minute ago!" He sing-songed the last sentence.

I pressed my lips together nervously. Much as I hated to admit it, I had been on my way to screwing the Joker about a minute ago, before I came to my senses.

There was something about him that was just so… sexy. Dangerous. Intriguing. He drew you in when you least expected it.

But what did he want with me?

"I don't know what you're talking about." I replied coldly. "And I want to see my brother."

"But you do!" He continued in his annoying new voice. "My sly little kitty cat, you knew exact-al-ly what you were doing. And you liked it. You liked me."

"You are so delusional. Now, let me go and take me to my brother."

He randomly bit my neck – not hard, but enough to make me flinch and probably hard enough to leave a mark. "But how do you know you're not dreaming?" He crooned.

"Dreaming?" I scoffed. "Dreaming of you? Never!"

"It could always be a nightmare, my loverly." He suggested coyly.

"What is it with the creepy nicknames?" I was getting annoyed now, and my wound was really bothering me. And we hadn't even touched that subject! "I want to see my brother!"

I was suddenly pushed away from him and into a wall, slumping to the floor. My annoyance drained out of me and was replaced with a small dose of fear, looking up at the suddenly angry clown above me.

"Listen here, kitty." He said dangerously, squatting down to my level. My mouth opened slightly, feeling the throb of my wound, demanding attention, and not caring anymore. "You are interrupting my play time. And I just love playing with my toys." He licked his lips. "But, you see, I don't like sharing my toys. My toys are mine." He paused, leaning forward slightly. I pressed myself closer to the wall. "And as my toy, Silly Sarah, you see the difficulties. But I just have to get this into that pretty little head of yours. " He smiled then, cocking his head and examining me. With a mocking, possessive tone, he finished his small tirade with three little greatly emphasized words that scared the shit out of me.

"You are mine."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

What is it with Sarah and all these posessive guys, right??

lol, this was a really hard chapter to get out -- Writer's Block. I'm not crazy happy in love with it, like I should be, but... oh well.

I don't mean any of those insults to the musical entertainers above, seriously... But I just imagine Sarah liking Led Zeppelin and classical music, and that's it! She makes these snide comments all the time about people in my head, and so I was, all, 'FINE, Sarah, I'll insult people for you. Happy??' ;) But Britney Spears, being all... her this past year or so, and Kanye West, infamous for his bratty attitude, were just two very easy targets... heh heh. But yeah, don't take the comments seriously, people. This is Sarah and me you're dealing with here.

And, if you like it, I'll through in a free 'Sexy Grooves' CD for all of those who guess Sarah's reaction to the whole 'You mine' thing. My lovely commentist, who knows exact-al-ly who she is ;), inspired me to write a fun-filled next chapter... But I musn't give to much away! I will tell you, though, Sarah is NOT one to take all this crap she's going through silently. Heh heh. -crazy, evil laughter-

But yeah, love always to Sylistra the Scholar and LaughingThroughTears (who I know is busy, and who should know by now that I am impatient. I'm sorry I didn't wait long enough this time for you to review this!! :( ).

I also edited this chappy, taking out some of the italics... I've realized (as a lot of you have pointed out to me) I'm going waaaaay overboard on it. I'll be working on that -- I guess I just got too overzealous!

Love to my reviewers, too!! (Who should, btw, be writing those reviews right about now... -nudge nudge-)

Disclaimer: I own diddly squat. ...I don't really know what that means, but it sounds about right!