The Joker stood outside Ellie's cell. It was hard to see his face because of the darkened building, but there was no doubt that it was him. His fits of giggles were a huge clue.
Next to him stood another man; well, the only reason he was standing was because the Joker had a good grip on the man's arm. The man seemed to be slightly hunched over as if not being able to stand on his own.
"What's it feel like? Do you feel like an animal trapped in a cage?...An animal that wants freedom, but doesn't have the key?" Joker's voice called out; this time in a serious tone.
Ellie sighed, "Just let me out will ya?" She saw him step closer to the cell, dragging the other man with him. He had stepped into the spot where moonlight shown through a window, revealing Joker to be back in his usual outfit, with newly applied make-up on his face. The man beside him was Officer Wilson (the real one this time), and he seemed to be slipping in and out of consciousness. He wore a wife beater and a pair of boxers (what Ellie guessed had been his attire under his uniform before the Joker had 'borrowed' it).
The Joker raised his free hand, showing a ring of keys. He jingled them a few times before placing his head between the cell bars. "Lookie what I found! Tell me, how bad do you want out?"
Ellie scowled at him. She wasn't in the mood to play his games. But after all, she was dealing with the Joker... "Let me out!" She snapped. Joker's expression turned pouty as he pulled his head away from the cell bars. "Now is that anyway to ask? You didn't even say 'please!'" He whined, stomping his foot down, like a five year old throwing a tantrum.
Ellie sighed again, and this time said a little more calmly, "Will you let me out of the cell, please?" He continued to stare at her, his tongue poking the inside of his cheek, looking like he was mulling over whether to let her out or not.
"How about you beg me to let you out..." His voice had turned dark and a malicious grin crept onto his face. He then stuck out a finger and pointed to a spot inside the cell, close to where he was standing on the outside. She glared at him for a few seconds, but moved to the spot that he had indicated anyway. "Please--"
"No, no, no..." he interrupted, wiggling his finger downward, his grin getting more evil by every passing moment. Ellie gave him one of those 'are-you-kidding-me?' type of looks, but after getting a nod from the Joker, she reluctantly bent down and got on her knees.
While on her knees, she stared at the ground and said, with all the sincerity she could muster, "Please get me out of here..." She listened for some sort of response from him. When she didn't hear any, she figured that he was waiting to hear more, "I'm sorry if this has brought you any inconvenience, but I'll make it up to you if you let me out...please." She was totally pulling that speech out of her ass (figuratively of course), but it had to sound good if she wanted him to let her out.
"Such an obedient little puppy!" He said, reaching his hand through the bars and patting her head, "Nice view by the way..." The Joker said, breaking out into another fit of laughter. Ellie looked up at him, realizing that he had a full view down her shirt. Rolling her eyes, she stood back up and waited for him to unlock the cell. Ok, maybe she hadn't been exactly truthful when she had said that she would rather be with him, buy hey, if it would get her out of this hell hole...
Once the door was opened, the Joker threw Wilson inside, who landed roughly on his stomach, a groan escaping his lips. Ellie looked down at the officer; he still looked to be in a daze, but looked like he was fighting to stay somewhat conscious. The next thing Ellie knew, she was also on the ground, due to a fist connecting with her cheek. "That's for getting caught." His foot then collided with her ribs, "And that's for having me come and save you, again."
The Joker then moved away from her and was now hunched over Wilson. Ellie moved slowly back to her feet, wincing as she did so, and looked over to see what the Joker was doing with Wilson.
He had hog-tied Wilson using bits of old rope, and was now putting what looked like a small explosive into his mouth. Once in, the Joker proceeded to duck tape Wilson's mouth shut. He then stood back up, admiring what he had just done. The Joker suddenly squealed in excitement, breaking out into a fit of giggles.
He twirled himself around, and then stopped when his body was facing Ellie. "Shall we?" He asked, motioning towards the door. She nodded, quickly leaving the cell with the Joker following close behind.
Once out, the Joker shut the cell door, using the keys to lock it back up, leaving Wilson helplessly inside. "Nighty night! Oh, and don't worry about oversleeping. I've set your alarm. It should blast you awake tomorrow. Or, maybe just blast you away..."
He had been laughing all the way out of the police station, down the block, and into the van. He hopped into the driver's seat as Ellie got into the passenger's.
The ignition started as Joker peeled out onto the road. He pressed his foot harder onto the gas pedal, swerving around cars and occasionally moving into the oncoming lanes.
Ellie grabbed the 'Oh Shit' handle, sinking into the seat to keep herself from sliding around too much. "Sooooo. What'd ya tell the coppers?" Joker asked, taking his eyes off the road to look at her. Ellie's eyes, however, were glued to the road; her body tensed as she heard honking horns and saw cars swerving out of the way to avoid getting hit. "Heeelllloooo??" He was still looking at her, his hands grasped the steering wheel, turning it wildly in every direction.
"I--I didn't tell them anything!" She shrieked in response to their van just barely missing an oncoming semi-truck. When she had worked for him, she had usually sat in the back of the van with the other guys, and so never really got a full view on just how bad Joker's driving really was. His attention, thankfully, went back onto the road, but the wild swerving didn't lessen.
"Nothing? Ahhh, you disappoint me El! I thought for sure you'd rat me out!" He was hunched over the steering wheel, now moving in between two oncoming cars, missing them by inches. "What could I possibly tell the cops that they didn't already know?" She replied, coldly. She was mad at herself because Dent had been right: She had protected the Joker. She could have easily told the cops where his hideout was. After all, she had no obligation to him. She didn't work for him anymore. Ellie wasn't sure if she hadn't told the cops because she simply just didn't want to cooperate with them, or because she was truly scared of what the Joker would do to her if she had told.
"Why'd you come for me?" She asked him, curious because he really didn't have to come for her. Especially with the events that had recently transpired. Her question, however, was simply laughed at. His fist banged on the steering wheel as he continued to break out his crazy laughter.
"Oh El! You're so funny!" He was panting out his words, recovering from his laughing attack. "Isn't it obvious? Them cops took something of mine, and I had to get it back. I mean, I know I haven't done my taxes in years, but they shouldn't come and take my property away!" Once again, high-pitched laughter filled the van. But he was the only one laughing at the joke. Ellie stared straight ahead, glaring out the window as the shrill laughter pierced her ears.
The Joker saw this and reached over, putting his gloved hand on her cheek, slapping it gently. "Ahhh...Come on. My jokes aren't that bad...What'd I say about not smiling? I can help you with your smile if you'd like..." Ellie ignored his comments, not caring about what the consequences could be.
"You know...It's really rude not to look at someone who is trying to talk to you." He said, his voice changing from being creepily playful to deadly as he forcefully grabbed her chin and jerked her head to make her look at him. He stared at her for a few moments, licking his lips habitually. Then he went back to looking at the road, took a sharp left turn, slammed on the brakes, and turned off the engine; they had arrived at the hideout.
The Joker's grasp never left her chin, and once they parked, he turned back to her. "Now why is it that you thought I'd leave you locked up princess? Hmm?" His face grew very close to hers, his grip tightening on Ellie's chin, making her wince. "Coletti" was the only word that her voice would allow her to say. The Joker's face became stern at this, "Mr. Coletti has seemed to, conveniently for him, disappeared. So until he decides to show up, I can't hold a grudge against you sweets." He said, stroking her hair. "But consider yourself..." He stopped, moving his eyes upward as he smacked his lips together, thinking of the right words to say, "on probation. So if I were you...I wouldn't do anything...stupid."
Ellie nodded, making the Joker's face light up, "Such a good girl! You make me so proud!" He squealed, pulling her into a tight hug that was almost suffocating.
The two of them made their way into the old warehouse that Joker liked to call 'home.' Ellie had decided that she wanted to go to bed, so she started to head down the hallway to her room. She was stopped, however, by the Joker's voice, "What are you doing?" he asked, skeptically, almost sounding offended that she hadn't asked permission to leave his presence. "I'm going to bed...if you don't mind." Joker waved a hand in dismissal, as he walked over to her, "No, no, you do need your rest. Got a big day ahead of you after all." It was Ellie's turn to be skeptical, "What do you mean?" He raised his eyebrows, "I've got a job for you to do of course!" He had said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Ellie narrowed her eyes at him, "What makes you think that I still work for you?" Of course once she had said it, she regretted it because his hand then grabbed a handful of her hair, and he pulled a knife out of nowhere, pressing it tightly to her throat. "What makes you think that you don't work for me?" He spat venomously.
She swallowed a mouthful of spit as she nervously looked at him, "I--I think I should go to bed now...I've got some work to do tomorrow..." she replied, hoping the comment would satisfy him. It seemed to, because a large grin swept over his face. "Let me tuck you in then!" His voice had changed back to sounding like an excited young boy...once again...bi-polar issues...
He followed her down the hall, but once she passed his room to go towards her old room, his hand grabbed her arm, making her stop. She looked behind her as Joker opened his bedroom door and dragged her inside. "Your room is much too filthy. SO it looks like you'll have to stay with me for awhile..."
Ellie mentally groaned. This was the last place she wanted to sleep at. She didn't want to share a room with him, let alone the same bed. The last time she had shared a bed with him, she had regretted it in the morning. It had been when she had first started working for him. She simply wanted to feel accepted by him, and he was just simply acting on natural male impulses...alcohol may or may not have been a factor...She had decided the next morning that it was the last time she would ever do that with him because it had basically been horrible for her. Mainly because you should never do anything serious like that with someone who A) is a homicidal maniac and B) who loves blood more than he loves sex; he tends to try and incorporate both of them together. She still even had a knife scar running down her right breast from the incident. So naturally, she was leery about getting in the same bed with him.
Luckily, once she had climbed into bed, the Joker had only pulled the covers over her and kissed her on the forehead, "I'll see you in the morning sweets." His voice, however, was way to evil sounding for as calm as his actions were. This gave Ellie the impression that he was trying to lure her into a false sense of security...but she'd have to wait till morning to worry about Joker's ulterior motives...right now, all she wanted was sleep...
Thanks to everyone who has been reading and reviewing! You guys rock! :D I'm always open for feedback, so don't hesitate to do so! Also, I do have a video/slideshow thing that I made that goes along with the story. If you'd like to see it, message me and I'll give you the link. ;) As always, I would love it if you'd review. Thanks again!
