The Joker mumbled lowly to himself as he fumbled through Anna's bag. He flung pages over his shoulder as his feet kicked against the counter, 'Bags and books and... Ah... Hm, no... Business, Mmm, liar... Mmm...'

Anna stared at the ground, trying to catch her breath, frozen in fear and an unwillingness to accept the situation.

'Business and the application of accounting and management.' The Joker read out loud, 'Sounds interesting.' He chuckled, throwing the book behind him, the bang making Anna flinch. He zipped open another section of the bag, glancing over at Anna who was blatantly trying to ignore him, 'Femininneeee products... Ohhh ha oh haa...'

Anna's eyes moved upwards a smidge, fighting the urge to tell him to stop rooting in her stuff.

'Ooohh and makeup? Mmmm...' The Joker examined a lipgloss, 'I love makeup... Mmm... But you didn't have to.. Cherry flavoured ohhh Anna you've outdone.. Oh ha ha... You've outdone yourself!'

She remained quiet, hoping helplessly that he'd just disappear.

'Hm? No answer? No eye contacctt, no manners?' The Joker suddenly flung the lipgloss at her, 'Harley said itt, you've a guest. I'm complementing you and yet you are ahhh ignoring me hm?' She flinched as the lipgloss clanged against the wall.

He jumped down from the counter and Anna looked up, eyes wide. She had to come to terms with reality, he was here and he was very real. 'No..!' She grabbed a poker from the fireplace, scrambling to her feet and pointing it at him, 'Don't come near me!'

'Ah HA!' The Joker jumped over and on top of the couch infront of her, 'En guard!' He pointed an imaginary sword at her and she fell back in terror, clutching the makeshift weapon. Anna's arm shook in front of her, 'Get away from me!'
'Get away?! No way to treat a-' He stepped down off the couch.
'Don't!' Anna jabbed the poker in his direction, 'Or I will scream this building down!'

'Scream this building down...?' The Joker looked at her in mock curiosity.
'I swear I will-!'

'You'll scream the building down?'
'I will literally...' Anna's voice shook, '...scream this building down.'

'Now why'd you do thatt?' The Joker shook his head like he didn't understand.
'People will come looking for me, th-they'll hear something is wrong!' Anna spoke a little more confidentially, 'They'll come and you'll be discovered and-'

'Ohhhh...no noo...' He interrupted her, 'The only thing they'll discover... is that poker, shoved right through your neck.'
Anna had little time to react as the Joker pounced at her, twisting her arm painfully with one hand, and muffling her screams with the other. In one swift movement he had her pinned forcefully against the corner of the room, the poker pressed threateningly against the front of her neck.
'Ah-ta-ta.. Sh... hm?'
Anna jammed her eyes shut, holding back a whimper as she tried once or twice to shake him off.
'Did Harley not tell you...' His voice was so close, she could feel his breath but squeezed her eyes tighter, '...not to cause trouble...hm? Did she tell you, what would happen if you did?'

The Joker paused for a moment, as if listening for an answer, 'Noo?! Well we better pay attention then!' He released his grip on her jaw and used the hand to slap her lightly on the cheek, 'C'mon, you're gonna have to remember this you know. Wake up..'
Anna opened her eyes but looked down at his shirt, away from his face. 'Mmm, good. See this?' He moved the poker up towards her face and her eyes flickered towards it, 'You can pick! I'm going to let you pick, where I stick it!'

Anna tried to jerk away from it, 'Ah, stop ittt, sh sh...' He pulled her back, 'You don't like the neck either? No, no... I think the eye? Straight through to the brain..'
She tried to push further against the wall as the Joker threatened to move the poker towards her left eye.
'You were there, hm? With the mob, remember that? Like a pencil trick... this time with a poker... Magic!'

'No-' A whisper left her throat but the Joker interrupted her, 'Or the heart? Seems rather fitting...'
'Please stop!' Anna said suddenly, looking at the Jokers hand in front of her.
The room was silent, she stared intensely at his hand, she would not look at his face. He was so close, inches away and she could feel his eyes on her... He moved quickly, his eyes darting around her face, trying to sus her out. He tried to look her in the eyes but her face jerked away, this time staring at the wall. His gaze drifted slowly down to her neck, small necklace, navy blouse thingy... He clicked his tongue to the silence, the poker dropped carelessly to the floor making Anna jump but The Joker didn't notice.
'Youu...'
Anna though a sharp intake of breath when he finally spoke, waiting for him to condemn her to death or whatever he was going to say.
'It has been a while...'

'Get off me.'
'You're not a cop?'

The oddness of the question caught Anna by surprise, what? She turned to him in a moment of weakness, curiosity overcoming her, 'What?' Accidentally glancing at his face, her eyes locking on his. The Jokers eyes flicked from each of Anna's as she looked up at him, becoming increasingly aware of his grip on one of her arms, and his hips pushed against her...

'No.' Anna blurted out awkwardly, breaking the stare and shoving him as hard as she could, 'Let go of me.'
'Then why...' He stepped away from her casually,'..did you pretend to be one, hm?' The Joker gave her a questioning look.

'Because...' She didn't know what to say, why was he asking her about this? Anna slid away from him, walking backwards towards the kitchen, 'They asked me to, thought you'd listen to me or something I don't know.' The Joker waited like her explanation wasn't good enough, 'Didn't really work, did it..?' She added.

'You're studying business.'
It wasn't really a question, Anna didn't bother replying.
'Whyy?'

'Leave.' She reached the kitchen and nodded towards the door.
'Going to become a corrupt banker like your Aunt?'
Anna paused momentarily, fighting the urge to retort.
'Mmmm, thought so...'

Anna couldn't resist,'You're one to talk.'

'Never said I wasn't.'
She glared at him, 'Then stop criticising my innocent Aunt who is dead because of you.'
'She wasn't that innocent, Cupcake...'
'She didn't deserve to die, Asshole.'

'Ah ahhh, don't make the same mistake she did...' He looked amused,'... I didn't want to kill her you know, she was just stupid-' He shook his finger at her, stepping into the kitchen as Anna stood behind the counter.

'Well she obviously wasn't that stupid, tricked you didn't she.' Anna said, engrossed in the argument.
'And a whole lot of good that did hm? Killed an actual innocent girl, and turns out old 'Katherine' is well...' The Joker smiled triumphantly.

'What? Crazy?' Anna glared at him, 'By the way what did you have to do to pull that off? Did you drug her with some psycho serum or something huh? Scar her for life, so much so she turns as crazy as you?!'

'Ohhh...' The Joker tilted his head to the side, 'Scar her hm? You would wish it was that elaborate hmm?' He walked over to the kitchen as stood on the opposite side of the counter, facing her, 'Oh no, no, nooo, the truth is... it was too easyyyy...'

He leant in closer to her, 'You see... some people just snap.' He clicked his fingers, 'They cant take it, they... collapse and wither, they break.'
'Others, like little 'Harley', bend. They adjust, recognise the darkness inside them, adapt to it... She bent like a piece of thin wire, naturally and without any 'assistance' from me. So if you're looking for someone to blame, she's not the victim... she came searching for it, she embraced it.'

Anna opened her mouth but he stopped her, 'There's one more though... people who are rigid and unbending, seemingly unbreakable. Stone walls of incompetence and ignorance, ignorant of the truth... hm? Remind you of anyone?'

'You're not going to break me... like I know you broke Katherine.'
'Ahhh...Wrong.' He shrugged his shoulders, 'I have... ahh.. no intention of breaking you, you're going to bend yourself.'
Anna crossed her arms, 'Well, you said it yourself, I'm one of the rigid ones.'

'Oh! Ha haaaa... don't flatter yourself, I was talking about the Batman!' He shook with laughter, 'No, sorry to disappoint but... you're an adapter Cupcake... I can tell. You'll bend all right, you just don't know it yet.'
She scowled in annoyance, 'You're wrong.'

'Believe what you want but lemme tell you something...' He looked around secretively as if afraid of being overheard and then leant in closer with a whisper, 'I love a challenge.'

Anna frowned in revulsion, 'Get out.'
'Out of your... oh sorry, our apartment? Or out of your head?'
'My apartment.' She pointed towards the door, 'Leave.'

'You know, you should learn to be less selfish, its a bad trait.' He nodded to himself as if agreeing with his 'advice'.
'You cant live here.' Anna pushed away from the counter, 'You have to go.'

'Why? Don't think its spacious enough for three?' He looked around, 'Come to think of it, will there be enough room to store all those dead bodies and ammo...?'
Anna gave a horrified look and the Joker slapped his hand against the counter with a laugh, 'Oh ha ha haa! I would never, I'd never bring dead bodies back here!'
He giggled and regained seriousness with a 'Hmmm...', looking around again, 'We'll be using your room for the ammo though.'

'Fine.' Anna grabbed her bag, shoving the stuff the Joker had thrown back in, 'You can stay here then, I don't care. You and 'Harley' can do whatever the hell you want.' She flung her bag over her shoulder, 'And when you get caught and both of you get thrown back into Arkham, you can tell her I told you so.'

The Joker held out his arm in front, gesturing towards the door. Anna walked towards the coat rack, taking her jacket.

'Just out of...' He tapped his fingers against the wood, '... Curiosity... Where are you going to go, what's the plan?'

Anna pulled on her coat, 'Anywheres better than here'

'A hotel?' He asked, 'But for how long? Harley says you're struggling without your aunts... ehm... donations?'

'What else did 'Harley' tell you? Did she mention that I recently got a side job? That soon I'll be able to afford my own place?' Anna said venomously, she was sick of arguing with this clown.

'A side job! Ohh!' He looked delighted, 'You can't even afford a one way ticket out of here. What kind of side job pays that much hmm? Unless you're working on the street corner Cupcake.'

Anna mustered up a heinous glare.

'Ooooh...' The Joker's mouth curved into a knowing smile.

'It's waitressing.' She snapped.

'Same thing really-'

'Not exactly.'

'And what kind of place will you be able to afford hmm?' He was enjoying this.

'I don't care. As long as it's not here.'

'The Narrows?' He cocked his head to the side, 'Mmmm...' The Joker smiled darkly, 'They'll have fun with you there...'

'Again, its better than here.' Anna reached the door, pulling it open.

'Have fun-'

She slammed the door, walking briskly down the hallway and shaking off the vague hint of a threat in his last words.