Club stood outside the bathroom door, standing guard as he waited for Emily to freshen up from her little incident. From across the room the Harley intercom squeaked into life for the fifth time and Harley's voice screeched through, threatening to hurt him if Emily wasn't in Joker's office in the next seven minutes.
When the message ended clumps of Joker goons looked away from their tasks and eyed him up. They were all very curious about Emily and why the Joker had such an interest in her. Club nodded back at them and hoped that they wouldn't approach him, they had already teased him about his new assigned job as 'babysitter.'
He slammed his fist on the door twice and called out. "Hurry up in there Emily. Harley is gettin' real impatient."
Emily's hands were still shaking as she gripped the grimy cracked sink, concentrating on trying to control her nerves. Small beads of sweat rolled down her forehead and she wiped them away leaving dirty fingerprints behind. She knew that she looked a mess and tried not to glance at her reflection.
"I'll be a minute, hang on!" she shouted but her voice croaked, begging or water. Emily turned on the tap to drink but the water had a brown tint to it so abandoned the idea, instead she splashed it on her face and used scratchy paper towels to dry herself. She had tried the hand dryer but it coughed twice then stopped working altogether.
The sensation from the memory was now a dull warm buzz in the back of her head like pins and middles but it eventually faded away. Taking deep breaths she took a moment to focus and processed what just happened. Memories had never affected her like that before and it scared her, if she hadn't broken the connection things could have been much worse.
Sighing, Emily reluctantly stared in the mirror that was smeared with handprints and dust. She grabbed a paper towel and ran it under the water then scrubbed away the dirty marks and got a good look at her face.
She looked awful.
Her skin was sickly pale, strands of her hair were stuck to her cheek and neck, she tried her best to comb through it with her fingers then tied it up with a bobble. Every inch of her skin felt sticky and disgusting but the thought of a hot shower was a small comfort. She prayed that the hot water would be working back at her apartment.
She peeked her head out the bathroom and rejoined Club and tried to avoid the curious stares the Joker goons gave her. He lead her back to the elevator, the walk was silent and awkward. Emily tried to think of something to say but her thoughts were interrupted as Club spoke up.
"Next time you do your weird, superhero power stuff, give me a warning, alright. If you get hurt, even the slightest scratch the boss will kill me. And I ain't dyin' by his laughin' gas shit or any other of his weird murder tricks, understand?"
she slowly nodded, like a child getting into trouble. "Yes, I understand, I'm sorry. When I look at memories that doesn't happen, it was the first time it backfired on me. I don't know what I did wrong."
"Well, just be careful next time you wanna show off."
The silence assumed again once the elevator reached the bottom. They stepped inside and stood at either sides, as they neared the top Emily was lost in her thoughts again,thinking on Clubs words. He was right but a part of what he said really nagged at her and she couldn't hold her tongue..
"I'm not a superhero, by the way" she stated, "I just happen to have some strange abilities, that's all."
Club gave her a short laugh and shrugged his shoulders. "Little girl, most of the people in this city who have weird powers like you are bad guys and if you haven't figured that out yet, then maybe you should have your head checked, cause you're not a bad guy. But hey, maybe you're right. You aren't a superhero now but I bet one day you will be."
He paused for a moment, chuckled, then continued. "One night I'm going to be doing some bad guy stuff then out from the darkness you'll come out and punch me in the face. And through the pain and my broken smile I'll tell you 'I-told-you-so.'"
Emily screwed up her mouth in thought, but it was mostly to stop herself from laughing. In the asylum she had briefly talked becoming a superhero with the Joker, she had picked out a name but she didn't feel close to being one.
It took Batman years of training to master martial arts and other skills, her supernatural powers only gave her so much. She could hold her own in a fist fight but she wasn't extremely strong or powerful. She still didn't even know how far her powers stretched, for all she knew finding memories and making things go in slow motion were her only super abilities.
"In all honesty, Club, I don't think I want to be a superhero. I think I''m more cut out for the police force."
"Fair enough, but you never know, you might change your mind."
He lead her up to the Joker's office. Before she entered Club patted her shoulder and placed his hand on the doorknob but didn't open it.
"Listen, he's been acting weird today...well weirder than usual so just watch what you say."
Emiy raised her eyebrow curiously and swallowed the sudden nervous lump in her throat. "Thanks for the warning."
The first thing she noticed when she stepped inside was that the office looked tidier, though it must have been cleaned in a hurry as pieces of paper and other objects were sticking out from under the large carpet.
The Joker sat in his chair, facing the window, she could see a tuff of green hair sticking up from the top. He was silent and it made her suspicious.
She approached from the left, slow and careful. He looked tired and was staring out the window eyes focused on the asylum in the distance. She could still make out its destruction as vines remained curled around buildings, there didn't seem to be any sort of repair.
She stood straight and awkward, silently waiting for him to notice her. He looked lost in thought, and was sitting so still that for a short second she thought that he was dead or he was pretending to be.
"Sorry I'm late, Mr Joker" she apologized, gently tapping his shoulder to get his attention.
He snapped his head towards her, his green eyes flashed in surprise. His hand twitched and moved close to his trouser pocket to collect whatever weapon he had, but relaxed when he realized it was Emily.
"You're looking well today" she complimented, noticing the extra few layers of make-up covering the red marks on his face.
The Joker smiled and moved the chair around so that he faced her fully and then adjusted his bowtie which immediately went lopsided again and then dusted the front of his suit.
"Thank you my dear. It's amazing what a cup of chamomile tea can do," he gleefully told her, "Clears the skin and helps with indigestion, did you know that?"
"I didn't know that, actually," Emily smiled, "You learn something new everyday."
"Please, take a seat" he said, grinning and sitting up straight in his chair.
She took a quick glance around the room and found a brown wheelchair. The wheels were stiff and ticked annoyingly as she sat down and dragged herself along by her heels, and then settled in front of him.
"I'm glad you're here, there's something I've been meaning to talk to you about," his tone was serious but he kept smiling.
"Oh? Is everything alright?" Emily asked, even though she had some idea about what he was going to tell her.
He cleared his throat and clasped his hands with a slap like he was conducting a job interview and leaned forward. "Now I'm sure you already know this my dear but I'm dying." He said it so casually as if it wasn't a big deal, that is wasn't serious. He continued.
"I've been thinking about my will. I've left all my fancy top hats for the Mad Hatter, I recorded a love song for Bats, my old rollercoaster carts are going to Riddler and all my old outfits will be going to charity stores after they are dipped in poison."
He giggled wickedly at the last part and she wondered why he was giving Riddler a rollercoaster but didn't ask why.
"Everyone gets a little something but I'm not sure what I should leave behind for you but I have some ideas and I thought it'd be best if I went through them with you."
He reached inside his suit and brought out a few sheets of paper and unfolded them then put on some glasses that were cracked in the right lens. She had never seen him wear glasses before and doubted that he needed them to read.
"I could leave you a large amount of money but that wouldn't be personal and I don't want you to spend it all in one candy store. Then it occurred to me that, what's going to happen to all my wonderful toys when I'm gone? It would be an awful shame if they were destroyed or put into a museum and never played with again."
He started going through his list further, the items getting more and more ridiculous. What the Hell was she going to do with a giant jack-in-the-box?! She had to admit that having the fake bang gun would be pretty cool.
"Mr Joker, I'm, I'm honestly extremely flattered but I couldn't take them. That is way too much, they'd be better going to some-"
"Nonsense! You deserve the very best!" he interrupted her as he waved his hands in a dramatic flourish. "I'll make sure that you're well looked after once I'm gone. And I won't leave you with my funeral costs."
Emily could only smile and chuckle at his comments. From the way he spoke she knew that she had no choice, whatever she'd say to try and tempt away his decisions it wouldn't matter. There was also no point in trying to explain to him that all his possessions would more than likely be taken by the police or stolen by other criminals. She pulled a tiny smile at the thought of trying to find a storage place to keep all his wondrous and deadly items, she didn't know why she found it so amusing.
Her mind wandered for a moment or two, daydreaming about all of the unrealistic possibilities of what she could do with the Jokers toys and then something unusual caught her eye.
"Isn't his flower meant to be on the right?" she thought. She also noticed that his green hair wasn't as vibrant and his suit was a slightly different shade of purple. There was also no stitched patch on his trouser leg.
Emily lightly bit the tip of her tongue and her eyes glittered as a thought crossed her mind. She wasn't talking to the Joker. This was Clayface. She was sure of it.
"This must be a test," she thought, "Trying to see if I can spot the differences? But what if it's just Clayface's mistake? Or what if I'm just jumping to stupid conclusions...of course he'll have more than one suit..."
She tried to calm her excitement and put her full attention back on him, nodding her head as the Joker went through the final items.
"Wow, I'm flattered, really. I mean, it just seems like an awful just for me and...Is that a new suit?" she added, unable to think of a more subtle way to bring it up.
The Joker raised his eyebrow quizzingly then glanced at the flower. He grinned and nodded and shuffled in the chair happily. "Why yes it is, I'm so glad you noticed!"
Emily smiled back, still a little unsure if she was talking to Joker or Clayface. What else could she test him with? Maybe with a fake memory? Detective vision would help me out a lot right now, she thought.
"I'm going to have to have a little think about this, Mr Joker. I mean, I don't want to be greedy or anything."
The Joker chuckled deeply, to anyone else it would have sounded sinister. "My dear, if I could give you the world I would. But then you'd have to stop me from burning it down!"
Emily laughed and tried not to feel awkward. There was so much that she didn't know about her relationship with the Joker. Memories were yet to be unlocked and a part of her was afraid of what she would find if she opened them but she was a curious girl.
The Joker went through extra details and got her to sign a document, he told her that it meant that upon his death she'd claim the items. The document wasn't official, it looked like it was made on a simple word processor and a Gotham lawyers symbol had been pasted into the top corner and she also noticed a few misspelled words. She signed her name and the Joker wrote 'Jack White' then tucked all the sheets back into his jacket.
"I better check in with the medical team, you know just so they aren't worried about me" she said realizing that she hadn't left a message with any of them.
"Of course, of course," he giggled, "How is Cash, by the way? Is he still sulking about the asylum?"
"Hes fine" she told him, keeping her answers short and her voice plain. "And I don't think so. He seems...he seems fine about it." Emily hoped that her tone was hard enough to suggest to him that Cash wasn't a subject they were ever going to talk about. She couldn't let him manipulate her into talking about Cash or he'd use him against her, and she made a promise to Cash that she intended to keep.
She wished him goodbye, thought about giving him a hug but quickly decided not to.
"Remember, if you need anything all you have to do is ask. And I mean anything. I'll give you money, if you want someone dead just say the word!"
"I'll keep that in mind, Mr Joker" she replied politely.
Emily didn't think that the Joker loved her. He certainly seemed to care about her or had some kind of strange affection but she found it hard to believe that he would love her. She tried to convince herself that maybe he saw her like a daughter but even that was a stretch.
She returned back to the church, from outside the doors she heard Cash shouting and an other voice trying to cut him off.
Stepping inside, Emily checked in with the doctors, doing what she could to help. Cash was in the little space that he used as his office but she couldn't see who he was telling off, all the members of the team were out seeing to inmates and standing guard. Who was he speaking to?
She quickly got her answer as Cash walked out and following him was a tall, red haired man with brown eyes carrying a large box in one hand and his other clenched into a tight fist. She recognized him almost immediately, and tried not to stare too much.
"This is your final warning. Do you understand, Elliot?" Cash warned.
"I understand, Aaron. It won't happen again, I'm sorry" he apologized, a faint trace of annoyance in his tone.
Elliot glanced in her direction and Cash followed his gaze and they walked towards her. She felt a pang in her chest and for a moment Emily's heart didn't beat, an understandable reaction to when you're about to meet another Batman villain.
"Emily, I don't think the two of you have met before, have you?"
"Aaahh, so you're the girl I've heard so much about then," he gave her a handsome smile and held out his hand for her to shake, "I'm Thomas Elliot, very pleased to meet you."
"Hi, I'm Emily, nice to meet you" she replied and shook his hand. She thought that he had surprisingly soft hands for a surgeon and murderer. "I hope it's just been good things you've heard about me."
There was a slight pause then Elliot's smile curled up. "I promise it's been nothing but good things, my dear."
"Doctor Elliot is one of our surgeons and apparently is the very best which is why I get upset when he leaves without a word" Cash commented and Elliot rolled his eyes. "See if the others need any help and get up to date with the schedules."
Cash went back to his office, leaving them alone in an uncomfortable silence. Elliot was a good looking man but the way he stared at her, like he knew something that she didn't gave her the creeps.
"I must say I find it kinda refreshing to see Cash shouting at someone else who isn't me" she joked.
"He certainly has a bit of a temper. He really should control it."
"Well he just wants to make sure everyone is safe," she defended. "If you get killed out there then he's failed his job. Plus you don't want these streets to be your grave."
He chuckled. "Trust me munchkin, I've learnt my lesson. Aaron made it pretty clear what would happen if I do it again."
She blinked. Did she hear him right?
What...what did he call me? He...he called me...munchkin. What?!
Emily swallowed the sticky, sickening lump in her throat. She thought that if the Joker had heard him call her that he'd have been shot. Or worse. She didn't like being called nicknames from anyone else apart from Cash and the Joker, she really didn't like it.
"Good...well, hopefully we'll get to know each other and see you back on Cash's good side."
He smiled and she noticed just how straight and perfect his teeth were and that he had a small cluster of freckles on his cheeks, it made him look almost friendly. From what she could remember, the only mention of him in the asylum was a Riddler clue that was in the medical ward. His name was written on a whiteboard, something about a night shift schedule.
He must of only worked at the asylum for a short time as he didn't seem to know her and Cash didn't appear to recognize him, but she had no idea how long he had been working at the asylum.
She knew what he was in the city to do and there was nothing she could do about it. It was highly frustrating. She'd have to try and keep an eye on him.
Emily gave a tired sigh, it had been such a long day, all of her energy was almost spent. She excused herself from Elliot's company and found a hospital bed that wasn't being used and lay down.
Dealing with Elliot would have to wait.
She shut her eyes and concentrated on a soft noise in the background and minutes later she was asleep.