Disclaimer: Batman is owned by DC Comics and whoever else owns it. I in no way claim it as my own; I'm just borrowing. Any OCs are mine and the plot is also mine, except for anything from TDK.
A/N: Woo! Another one! Enjoy. Review if you like, hate, dislike, or love it.
Queen Takes Pawn
by Syrenia
Chapter Nine - New Dynamic
Chelsie shivered involuntarily, her hands cuffed to each other and then above her head to the steel bedpost, her ankles also cuffed together, but otherwise free.
During the entire reception of her new mark, she had screamed and tried valiantly to throw the Joker off of her, but nothing she did could dissuade the man.
He was physically stronger and held her down easily for the procedure.
Now, however, she simply just cried as the pain at the side of her neck pounded.
She thought to herself that at least he'd been slow and careful, attempting to give the least amount of pain possible.
Of course, she found that strange coming from him, but it was still a blessing.
Eyes opening from how they'd been clenched shut, she stared at the purple ceiling.
'Why was he trying so damn hard not to cause me pain when he was the one who decided I needed some damn mark like you'd brandish a damn cow?' she pondered angrily, taking steadier breaths by now.
Crow sighed, 'I don't know what's gotten into him... unless he thinks multiple ocassions of sex automatically make us his property slash steady girlfriend...'
Crow paused; she'd never told Chelsie that she slept with the clown, Chelsie always hidden in their mind from the act.
'YOU SLEPT WITH HIM?!' Chelsie roared back with fury, shocking Crow who stammered for a response.
Composing herself, Crow replied, 'I'm a woman, Chels... You may be the virginal saint of the year, but I need a little bodily lovin', sweetheart.'
Suddenly, the bedroom door opened, the Joker walking in with a serious stride, a first aid kit in his hands. He locked the door habitually, then went to the bed, sitting beside the brunette.
She curiously watched him go to work cleaning up the blood gingerly, then applying medication.
It stung like a bitch, her jaw clenched and grinding with every dab.
"You need to develop a little, uh... tolerance for pain, dollfac-e," he told her, smiling slightly as he worked at applying proper bandaging.
"If people would stop brandishing knives at me, I wouldn't need to!" she retorted hotly, growling as her body flailed.
Never in her life had Chelsie - not Crow, but Chelsie - felt so infuriated.
"Shh, shh," the clown tried to calm her raging form, holding her shoulders down, though his attempts sounded mocking at best. "I know you're stressed, babe, but this is ri-dic-u-lous."
"I don't even know if it's day or night, and this place is hotter than hell, and Crow keeps pissing me off, and, and... I've never been so frustrated in my life!" she ranted wildly, still shaking violently as if it did any good against his super strength in comparison to her weak, frail struggles.
He climbed over her and leaned down, kissing her forehead as she panted in her blind rage.
"You're with me now, angel face, so, uh... you don't have to wor-ry," the Joker assured her in his best attempt at a soothing voice. "You don't have to deal with mob men, or Batsy, or Scarecrow, or anyone else..."
"It's just you and me, sweet cheeks," assured the man hovering over her, kissing her forehead again as her struggles began to slow, weakening to half-hearted shoves.
She let out a long sigh, closing her eyes and attempting to relax.
He moved down a little, leaning his forehead to hers and letting their noses touch.
At his hot breath pouring over her lips, she opened her eyes to meet deep brown orbs staring intently back at her.
"Are you ever going to uncuff me?" she immediately questioned, lips brushing against his.
"Mayyybe," he answered with a mischievous grin before kissing her lips softly.
At her pleading look, he took out the key from his coat pocket, reaching up and undoing the cuff to the bed post.
Deftly, with agility she didn't realize she could muster, she grabbed the cuff with her cuffed hand, the key with the other, and then cuffed his wrist.
Then she put the key in her mouth.
He quirked an eyebrow as she swallowed.
But then she gagged, coughing violently and spitting it out, sending it across the room to the side.
"That was... some-thin-g," he said slowly, bewildered, looking off toward where the key fell with raised eyebrows.
He'd never seen anyone try to swallow a key before, and was still surprised.
"Well it works in cartoons with much bigger keys and much smaller necks!" she cried indignantly, though after the fact she realized how entirely dumb that had sounded.
He looked back to her and burst out laughing, her resulting pout only encouraging the fit.
When he got control of himself, he asked between chuckles, "What, uh... what exactly were you trying to, uh... do?"
She frowned deeply, "If I could cuff myself to you and get rid of the key, you'd have to eventually leave and take me with you..."
"Didn't your mommy ever teach you no-t to swallow foreign objectsss?" he asked through a grin, but noticed the flash of hurt in her eyes.
"No mommy dear-est, huh?" questioned the clown without a single hint of pity, staring down at her in expectance of some explanation.
"Yes, but... I was really raised by uncaring nannies," she clarified with a shrug, as if it were nothing. "Nothing traumatic, sad, or fucked up... just unloved."
"Hmm," he hummed, searching her eyes before muttering. "I don't see why..."
"Why no one loved me?" Chelsie asked with a bitter laugh. "Crow is the only one who matters... Chelsie is nothing. Crow is... everything. She's charismatic, entertaining, witty, happy-go-lucky, dangerous... everything. I'm just along for the ride."
She then dared to say her thoughts, being honest, "That's really why I'm even here at all, isn't it? Crow is just a very popular girl."
He snarled, the reaction unexpected and startling her as she flinched, his hands gripping her shoulders as he shook her once.
"Stop talking and listen," the Joker ordered darkly, though his tone softened before he carried on. "I want you both aroun-d, kiddo, so, uh... how about you stop the self-pity? It's not pretty, sweetie..."
"You want us both around?" she repeated with disbelief and surprise, cocking an eyebrow curiously. "You've only ever wanted Crow to appear, so don't pretend--"
He swiftly pulled out his knife, pressing it to her throat as he pulled her head back by a fist of brown locks.
"You. Complete. Crow," he growled out, face inches from hers, though he was grinning twistedly. "Crow is the action, the brawn and the brains, but you're the emotion, the weakness and the luck, babydoll, so... don't ac-t as if you're nothing, especially to me."
'He seems to have us down to a 'T', sweetheart,' Crow mentioned thoughtfully.
Chelsie muttered back in their mind, 'Stop commenting and help me out here or something...'
'Eh, he won't hurt you,' assured the blackbird.
The Joker released his fistful of brown hair, hand petting the wavy locks instead in drastic contrast, "You're weak-uh... That's why you nee-d me."
Without warning, he kissed her hard on the lips, pushing her down to rest her back fully on the mattress.
His tongue pressed her lips and forced its way into her mouth, then began searching her taste while his gloved hands roamed under her shirts.
With one hand, he gripped the front of her bra between her breasts, yanking her body upward and eliciting a squeak of protest.
She instinctively understood the pulling gesture, reluctantly allowing her tongue into his mouth.
Strangely, he tasted of Skittles, her brow furrowed in confusion.
'The Joker eats candy?' she asked in her thoughts, mainly to herself.
'That's strange...' muttered a bewildered Crow. 'I recently said somethin' about Skittles being my favorite. You know, one of those passin' things...'
'Well, he tastes like he's eaten a barrel full of the stuff,' mused Chelsie. 'I can't help but taste the fucking rainbow.'
Crow cackled with delight, 'You are witty, Chels! You just don't share it!'
By the time Chelsie paid more attention to the kiss, she found her bra unhooked, his gloved hand massaging one breast.
Her groan was lost in his mouth, the Joker growling in reply rather ferally.
She tried to pull away, but he bit her tongue hard, pulling her mouth back to him and forcing her tongue to dance with his, her tongue now bloody as she whimpered.
'Yeah, he does that when he's not done,' mentioned Crow, though she paused before adding a comment with a twinge of jealousy. 'He's never kissed me the way he's kissin' you...'
For the first time, Chelsie noticed her cuffed hand was gripping something, realizing he'd entwined their fingers and she was tightly holding his hand.
'He probably feels sorry for me, Crow,' Chelsie told her reassuringly.
'No, sweetheart; he'd never kiss you like this if it was some pity make-out session,' replied Crow with a sigh. 'Chels... I know this is gonna sound off the wall, but I think he's in love with us...'
'That does sound crazy,' the host admitted. 'Why would you think that?'
'He's holdin' your hand to support you because he knows you're timid, for one thing,' she answered with another sigh. 'Lately, he's been talkin' about you, though... He asked all the right things to lead to this situation... He wants to be with you because you're the other half of the whole, Chels.'
Chelsie focused on the kiss that hadn't ended, feeling their mutual breaths pour from their noses.
When he finally pulled away, he rose up, eagerly moving to take off his jacket.
At that, she knew where things were going.
Panting, she announced, "I can't do this!"
"Wha-?" the man above her muttered, stopping his movements.
He blinked at her; she blinked at him.
"Why no-t?" he asked at her silence, confusion on his features.
"I just can't," Chelsie insisted with an uneven breath.
The Joker tilted his head again, "Don't you, uh... love me?"
She blinked up at him; apparently Crow's idea was not so far-fetched after all.
"Is that what this is about?" she suddenly demanded worriedly. "Do you... think you love us?"
He grinned down at her like she'd said the Pee-Wee's Playhouse magic word.
"You finally ge-t it, doll!" he exclaimed merrily, licking his lips before leaning down and kissing her mouth softly.
She felt her heart sink and her head spin, but she made herself pay attention. She couldn't afford to drift off into a daze since the Joker's mood could change at any given second.
Chelsie was chronically apathetic, but that didn't mean she had a death wish, regardless of how she made the worst decisions ever. Taking in a one Jonathan Crane a case in point.
After two kisses to her neck, he muttered against her skin, "And now we can be to-ge-ther."
'So this is the new dynamic,' thought Crow, sighing mentally.