"I can't believe you shot that cop…" Jayde moaned, resting her head back against the seat as the car began to move through a larger town than the last, complete with places she actually recognized. Joker laughed loudly, looking over at her.
"You can't? " he asked incredulously, only to laugh again when Jayde shrugged.
"Ok, so yeah, I can believe it but…still, you didn't have to-…You shouldn't have…Ugh…" she gave up as Joker continued to stare at her, at a red light, knowing none of it was making any sense to him. He grinned, patting her leg as the light turned green.
Several minutes passed, cruising through this town before Jayde gasped, turning in the seat to place her hand against the glass as a Starbucks appeared just ahead. "Oh my god, Joker, I would love you forever if you let me get coffee." She turned to him, practically bouncing in the seat. "Please? " she begged, grabbing a hold of his shirt. Joker scoffed, shoving her hand away, frowning.
"Fine, you fiend. Jesus Christ…" he mumbled, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye as if she had three heads while he pulled into the parking lot. Jayde grinned, leaning out of her seat to place a noisy, sloppy kiss on his cheek which he wiped off with a scowl after she had pulled away. When Jayde got out and noticed Joker getting out as well, she paused, looking up at him over the roof of the car. He grinned.
"Y-you're coming in?" she asked uncertainly while Joker nodded, walking around the end of the car toward her.
"Oh, yes…" he murmured, turning to glance up at the store in front of them, that malicious grin still stuck to his face. Jayde took a deep breath, taking his hand as he held it out behind him for her. Oh no…she thought but followed him into the coffee shop none the less.
The people nearest the door gawked openly at Joker and Jayde with their matching scars as they stepped inside, but Jayde failed to notice this; it was the first time she had even smelled coffee in almost two weeks. The scent alone was rejuvenating. However, as they approached the end of the fairly long line, Jayde stepped ahead of Joker in between him and a young mother, holding her young, toddler son's hand down at her side. Joker did not seem to notice at first, but the young boy was staring up at them, open-mouthed, and Jayde tried to find something to distract Joker with, knowing how he hated being gaped at.
Sidling up close to his side, she placed her hand, still connected with Joker's behind her back, grinning when Joker let go to grip her hip instead. That scowl was still mangling his features as he stared around at the store, watching the people behind the counter while they made lattes and brewed coffee. She could tell he wanted to make a scene, itching to cause some sort of chaos in this store, so Jayde moved closer until she had to look straight up at him.
"Thanks for stopping." She murmured, grinning when Joker finally looked down at her and that scowl disappeared only for a moment. He leaned down slightly, placing his cheek against the side of her head to mumble in her ear.
"You gonna love me forever?" he asked, only to laugh quietly when Jayde blushed, looking away to step up to the register as the woman and boy ahead of her moved on down the line. The young man behind the counter smiled at Jayde but only half glanced at Joker and she could tell he was trying hard not to look at him.
"Hey, what can I get you?" he asked. Jayde glanced at the menu out of habit although she already knew exactly what she wanted.
"Uh…Triple Grande, nonfat, four Splenda latte." She said quietly but the moment she had finished, Joker scoffed, rolling his eyes as he let his hand fall heavily on the counter.
"Seriously? That's what coffee is called here?" he asked rather loudly, staring down at Jayde who was blushing deeply, glancing around herself at the people turned to watch them. He continued grumbling to himself, digging one hand into his back jeans pocket. The young man rang up the order, only for the total to flash up on the small screen above the register.
"That's four-fifty." He said, only to jump when Joker grabbed the small screen, leaning closer as if he couldn't read it.
"What?!" he nearly shouted, looking at each of the people working behind the bar before he looked back to the now scared young kid. "Five dollars for a fucking cup of coffee?" Joker leaned over the counter toward the kid who backed away. "How do you sleep at night?" he growled but did not wait for answer before he threw a five dollar bill at the boy, which fluttered to the ground behind the registers. "Oh, by all means, keep the change." He added over his shoulder as he pushed Jayde down to the end of the bar where the drinks were coming up.
"Oh my god…" Jayde moaned, pressing her hand against her forehead with her head lowered, shielding her eyes from the entire store full of people who were definitely now staring at them. Joker did not seem to care or notice, but moved behind Jayde, wrapping an arm around her waist again to stand against the wall, waiting for her latte to come up. The young boy and his mother were standing only a foot or so from them in the crowded back end of the store and again, the little boy was gawking at Joker, however this time, he noticed. Joker glanced down, doing a slight double take at the boy before he frowned immediately, glaring back at him.
The mother's drink came up on the counter and before Jayde could stop him, Joker leaned down, bent double to be eye level with the five or six year old boy. "BOO!" he shouted and immediately thereafter, the boy burst into shrill, hysterical screams, clutching his mother who shot Joker a dirty look before she scooped him into her arms to leave the store.
"Joker, stop it!" Jayde whispered hoarsely, grabbing his arm as he laughed, watching the mother and son through the window as she struggled to quiet him down outside.
"What? He was staring at me." Joker retorted, his eyes now falling onto a young woman with bright red hair, sitting in the window he had been looking out of. She had been laughing at the disturbance and was now grinning at him with 'the eyes' as he smirked back at her.
"It's probably because you have bright fucking green hair." Jayde replied, following his eyes until she too saw the other young woman. She frowned when she noticed this exchange and her hand met Joker's stomach as she stepped a bit closer to him, staring up at him. Again, Joker did not notice Jayde's attempt at his attention and it was obvious at this point that he was eye-flirting with this pretty girl, so although Jayde's coffee had come up and was now on the counter, she ignored it, stepping away.
It only took four steps to reach the table before Jayde leaned down slightly, placing her hands on it to slam closed the book the girl had been reading. The redhead tore her eyes from Joker to scowl at Jayde, who was grinning.
"He's hot, right?" she asked, pointing behind her openly at Joker across the way, knowing this was the sort of speak the girl understood. "Yeah, well, he's with me. So try your luck eye-fucking someone else's man." And with that, Jayde's grin expanded, now loving the way the girl was staring at the stitches in her cheek with a somewhat alarmed expression. Jayde stood up, walking back over to Joker to grab his wrist in one hand, the coffee in the other before she marched them both out of the Starbucks that will never quite be the same.
At the car, Jayde turned away from Joker on her side of the car, slightly annoyed while she waited for him to unlock her door. Glancing up, she could see the redhead staring at her through the window and her momentary bold streak was beginning to dwindle when Joker grabbed her arm, turned her to face him and he kissed her with such force, she was backed against the car as his hands went around her waist. His hand found hers, occupied with the coffee cup before he took it from her, placing it on the roof of the car behind her, still kissing her gently as Jayde grinned against his lips, rising onto her tip toes to wrap her arms around his neck.
Jayde knew perfectly well that The Joker was not her boyfriend, nor was he anything of the sort, but the thrill of jealousy she had just experienced in the store was alarming. She had grown angry so quickly and Jayde had never considered herself the jealous or envious type. But as Joker pulled back from her lips slightly, he grinned, bringing one hand up to cup her face.
"That was awfully sexy of you, Jayde." He admitted, grinning further when she blushed, looking down, between their bodies at the ground. His fingers fit under her chin forcing her to look at him. He raised his eyebrows. "But you have no reason to be jealous. I'm out here in the middle of nowhere with you." He glanced over toward the window where the redhead was still watching them, surprisingly. Joker smiled, pressing his forehead against hers to gaze down at her eyes, inches from his own. "So I'm having this sickeningly sweet, public moment right here, right now, so that little twat and you know where my allegiances lie, 'kay?"
Jayde nodded, grinning, but practically melted into the asphalt when Joker kissed her lips once more, gently, before he opened the car door for her. She sat but looked up with a slight jump when Joker handed her the latte she had left, obliviously, on the roof of the car.
As the Corvette pulled out of the parking lot, Jayde sipped her latte, grinning around the mouth of the lid, looking the other way so Joker wouldn't notice. He made her stomach flutter with butterflies and it really, truly wasn't fair. Jayde had never been treated like this by any guy, never had a boyfriend and as it dawned on her, Jayde realized how much it sucked that Joker had to be so…abnormal. He displayed affection in a somewhat normal fashion and yet everything about him was strange, from the green hair right down to his continually loud, brightly colored socks that almost never matched.
In a perfect world, Joker would have a normal job and normal life and not be a serial, mass-murdering clown. They could form a normal relationship, maybe even a dating relationship, but the more she went along with him, the more Jayde realized that this perfect world was non-existent. Joker would not give up his life for anybody or anything, and that fact, he made perfectly clear. Although it was obvious he enjoyed being himself around her, showing her sporadic affection while displaying his sarcastic, caustic sense of humor, Joker was still…The Joker.
Jayde had already given up on the notion of them being 'together' but it certainly did not help when Joker slipped into his cute, affectionate personality. She almost wished he would be an asshole all the time and quit feeding this crush she was developing on him. A long time ago, Jayde had heard somewhere that a girl forms an emotional attachment to the man who took her innocence, and at this point, Jayde believed it. She felt girly and flirty around him for no reason and she almost always wanted to be touching him or holding his hand. When he hugged her, she melted, loving the way he was nearly a solid foot taller than her and her head fit so perfectly against his chest, under his chin. But…he is, and always will be, The Joker.
Jayde looked up, torn from her thoughts when Joker reached over, taking the cup from her hands to bring it to his nose, smelling first, before he took a sip only to cringe when he swallowed.
"God, that is awful! " he nearly shouted, handing it back to Jayde with a disgusted look on his face. "Are you kidding me? I just paid for that?" Jayde rolled her eyes, sipping it with a grin.
"Yeah. Good thing you don't have to drink it!" she exclaimed. Joker glared at her, watching her take another long draught of the thing before he shuddered, looking back to the road.
"You're so lucky I happen to kinda sorta like you." He murmured, sliding down the seat slightly to get comfy while he continued to grumble quietly. "I tell you what…lucky…throw that shit out the window…five dollars for a cup of.…" Jayde could only catch snatches of what he was saying as he was only saying snatches of the quick thoughts going through his head. His voice rose from an irritated murmur to a loud exclamation. "-Pay ME five dollars to suck my–"
"Ok! We get the point!" she cried, recoiling when Joker swung his hand out, slapping her thigh before he squeezed her pressure point just over her knee, causing her to squeal, smacking the back of his hand until he took it away, finally grinning again.
An hour later, with the caffeine now floating around her blood stream, there was no hope for Jayde falling asleep. So now she was slightly jittery with nowhere to go and practically nothing to do. With no idea of what to talk to Joker about, she sighed, staring out the window to hope she would fall asleep somehow. A moment later, wind started rushing loudly past the window as Joker rolled his down, lighting a cigarette. Jayde sat up, looking over to his lap where the pack was sitting and she asked politely if she could have one before Joker glanced at the one in his hand and he handed it to her, pulling another one out to light it.
Jayde watched for a moment, however as he lit it, his eyes rose back to the road where he grinned around the cigarette in his teeth. His hand rose a second later, pointing at something up ahead. When Jayde turned her attention to the road, a large green sign up ahead read the words "Welcome to Montana! The Treasure State" A loud gasp preceded what resembled a squeal of horror before Jayde began shaking her head with her hand over her mouth. Joker looked over at her, grinning, but his features fell into a frown a moment later when he saw big tears welling up in her eyes.
"Jayde…" Joker murmured, reaching across the middle of the car to let his hand slide onto her leg, but Jayde sobbed, pushing it away sharply.
"No! This is where you've been taking me this whole time? The one place you know I never wanted to go back to?" she whimpered, her eyes darting around the car's surroundings, now driving through shady mountain trails over looking steep valleys. "What is this supposed to be? Some sort of cruel joke, making me relive all of this again?!" All of these accusations had come forth in the form of questions but Jayde did not wait for any answers. "Pull over. I want to get out. Just…Please-…"
"No, Jayde. Let's keep going." Joker replied but reached out his hand quickly, shouting her name when Jayde reached for the door handle while at the same time undoing her seatbelt. The tires squealed loudly as Joker pulled off the road onto a small shoulder while Jayde forced the door open just enough to let her foot out. Joker had to admit to himself, as he got out of the now stopped car, following Jayde, that this was definitely not the reaction he had been expecting. He definitely hadn't expected her to be excited, but this was ridiculous.
"What the fuck are you trying to do?! Kill yourself?!" he shouted, storming after her as she walked briskly away from him, back down the way they had come, her arms folded over her chest. When she ignored him, he growled, running after her until he was close enough to grab her arm and turn her to face him. When she met his eyes, the look on her face was one Joker had never seen there before and she actually screamed, wrenching her arm away from his grip.
"I'm not going to Montana! I left for a reason and you're a fucking prick for bringing me back here…not even telling me where we're going…" she shouted. "I should have known. I recognized everything on the way here and I can't believe I was so stupid as to think that you had just…chosen to get out of Gotham with me, even for a few days." She laughed falsely, throwing her arms in the air as she turned to walk away from him again. "I can't BELIEVE I thought just for a minute there that you just wanted to get away and spend time with me like normal people." She said over her shoulder, laughing again as she shook her head. Joker watched her go for a moment, for once, unsure of what to do or say. His jaw was hanging slightly slack until he licked his lips, straightening up, furrowing his eyebrows.
"Oh, so what are you gonna do, huh? Walk back to Gotham?" he shouted after her. "Ok, I'll see you in four days when you've made it a hundred miles from here. Try not to get mauled to death by a bear!" He huffed angrily, fisting his hands at his sides as he turned away, marching back up towards the Corvette where he yanked open the door, sitting down in the seat heavily. He sat there for several moments on end, just scowling at the steering wheel until he suddenly reached forward, turning the key in the ignition to start the car and push it into reverse.
The transmission of the car whirred as he floored it backwards, turning in the seat with his hand behind the passenger's to look behind him until he saw the back of Jayde, still walking with her arms folded over her chest. Slowing down and pulling up beside her, Joker leaned down and over to look up at her, letting the car coast backward at her speed.
"Jayde, get in." he demanded but sighed when he noticed the tear trails against her skin. "Please? Let's at least go find a hotel room and then you can try and convince me to drive back." When she continued to ignore him, he grinned. "You can take a hot shower and a naaaaap…." He bribed. "And I might even rub your back." His grin expanded when Jayde stopped, turning to look down at him through the open window.
"For as long as I want?"
Joker nodded. "For as long as you want." He promised. Finally, Jayde opened the door, plopping heavily down in the seat, sniffling slightly as she wiped her moist, chilled cheeks with the palms of her hands. Joker smiled, reaching up his hand to the opposite side of her face where he pulled her head closer until it rested on his shoulder and Jayde whimpered, trying not to start crying again. She could not explain it, but something in the way he comforted her made her want to cry harder or start again and she always felt like such a baby around him. "It's gonna be Ok." He mumbled, reaching over to slide his hand between her closed knees, gripping the left one to rub it with his thumb consolingly. His words were nice but did not do much to quell the overwhelming feeling of dread she felt as the car began to move into the hills again.
Only thirty minutes or so passed silently, Jayde's head still rested against his shoulder with her eyes closed, trying not to think of all the places she was going to see and recognize, remember being there with her parents as a kid. If he was going anywhere near Billings, which she was not sure how he would know that was where she had lived, she would most definitely freak out. But luckily, only a half hour passed before the car stopped and Joker shrugged his shoulder, moving her head.
"Let's go." He said, climbing out in front of a long strip motel just like the one the previous night, although this one was made to look like one long log cabin, separated into rooms by doors one through twelve. When Jayde looked around, she noticed that on the horizon, in the distance, they were completely surrounded by huge hills and even larger mountains further out.
Joker had backed into the parking space and while Jayde walked down to the office, he opened the back of the car, sighing heavily. Arguing with Jayde took so much out of him. Before their little falling out, he had been feeling fine and not the slightest bit tired. Now, as he pulled bags out of the back, he felt like he could sleep for days. However, Jayde had returned with the key to the room and was unlocking the door a few down from the Corvette.
Inside, they found that this room was actually leagues nicer than the last one and as Joker dropped all the bags, Jayde immediately walked over to the bathroom, stripping off her shirt as she stepped inside, closing and locking the door behind her. She knew Joker had watched her do this from the other side of the room, thus the lock. She wanted to be alone more than anything, and as she stepped into the now hot water, she merely sat on the bottom of the tub, letting the water matt her black hair over her face. The tears came slowly at first, but it was not long until Jayde was crying openly, but quietly, her shoulders shaking slightly as she hunched them.
Just on the other side of the door, Joker stood, his head lowered with his ear against the wood, straining to hear under the water to see if she was indeed crying. And when he heard her whimper with a small sob, he sighed, turning to rest his back against the wood, rubbing his eyes after he had tried the knob only to find it was locked. The night of the incident with her face and the cut, Joker had thought he had heard more than enough of her tears; the sound of her crying made him sad in a way he was unfamiliar with. This filled him with the need to fix whatever was afflicting her but the helplessness he felt when he realized he couldn't exactly fix the problem made him angry, frustrated and above all, confused. Joker had worked so hard for most of his life to not care about anything. But when Jayde cried, it literally made his heart hurt and he felt a little like the Grinch on that one Christmas morning.
When Jayde emerged from her shower, Joker was standing at the sink, scowling at the carpet as though deep in thought although he looked up a moment later. Their eyes met and for several seconds, they stood there, staring at each other silently until Jayde's face wrinkled in tears and she hiccupped softly as she stepped over to him, burying her face into his shirt as his arms wrapped around her shoulders. His chin rested on the top of her head and he sighed, rubbing her damp back when he felt goosebumps rise all over her skin. She was quiet although he could feel her warm tears soaking through his t-shirt onto his skin but Joker pushed her away gently, turning her to walk her toward the large, king-sized bed in the middle of the room.
When she reached it, he reached around her to the towel, unwrapping it from around her to hold it up behind her. "Lay down in the middle." He instructed, stepping out of his shoes before he followed her on his hands and knees, laying the towel over her naked backside after he had folded it in half, massage-style. His knees rested on either side of her hips while he sat just over her thighs on his ankles and Jayde let out a soft sigh as his hands slid along the curve of her back, over her 'J' tattoo, to her shoulders where he squeezed gently, kneading the muscles here. Jayde's sigh turned into a moan and Joker couldn't help but grin when he noticed she had immediately stopped crying.
Jayde closed her eyes into the pillow, trying not to groan again as Joker kneaded her back in all the right places, occasionally flattening his hands to just rub her skin every now and again. His hands felt so good against her and Jayde could practically feel the anxiety draining from her body with each movement he made. When his hands slid up her back again, this time slipping into her hair, to rub the back of her head, Jayde let that suppressed groan slip out, arching her back under his hands slightly as they moved down again to the two divots just above the crack of her ass. His thumbs pressed into the flesh here before he leaned down, placing one kiss on her shoulder blade. Jayde smiled into the pillow, sighing deeply when he placed another further up her shoulder, closer to the curve where it met her neck.
"Feeling better yet?" he asked quietly, using that voice he knew drove her crazy but she shrugged, opening her eyes to peer at him from the corner of one.
"It's workin'." She replied, grinning when Joker used one hand to move all her wet hair away from the exposed side of her neck before he let his lips land there, pursing to leave a kiss. Jayde hummed softly, closing her eyes again only to let her jaw drop when Joker's warm tongue slipped out to trace a small circle on the skin, kissing gently before nipping with his teeth. Jayde whimpered, moving to turn onto her back to catch his lips, however, Joker's hand pressed her shoulder back down, forcing her to stay on her stomach as he began to trail light kisses along the curve of her spine. The few seconds between them seemed to last longer and longer the further he moved down until he passed the tattoo and continued until he had reached the line of the towel. At this point, he slipped a hand under her hip, rolling her onto her side, continuing to feather those soft kisses along her now goosebump covered skin while she finally made it onto her back.
His lips parted to allow himself a taste of the skin just over her hipbone and as his tongue darted across the sensitive area here, Jayde's breathing hitched in her throat. The hand of Joker's that he was not leaning on slipped under her opposite hip to the small of her back where he tugged gently, arching her back to pull her hips closer to his mouth as he had now moved across her lower tummy to the area just under her belly button.
Jayde's knees remained together on one side of Joker's waist but he fixed that a moment later by pushing one of them under him to the other side so he could settle between her legs, still fully clothed although Jayde remained completely naked beneath him. Moving back up her body, Joker let his lips leave several kisses between her breasts on her sternum and although Jayde tensed to anticipate the feel of his lips and tongue or hands on her breasts, he did not stop here and instead went back to her lips, kissing her deeply while she moaned against his mouth. Her hands slid into his soft, curly, green hair and she almost whimpered for more when he pulled away only a few moments later. He took a slow, deep breath before speaking quietly in her ear.
"Jayde, I want you to trust me." He murmured. "It was never my intention to hurt you by bringing you back here. No joke, sweetie, I just want to help you make things right." Jayde nodded against his cheek, closing her eyes when he kissed her jaw. "I promise I wont let anyone hurt you while we're here…Okay?" She sighed. For as evil as he was, Joker sure knew how to sweet-talk and although everything in her body and mind was telling her that yes, he was right, she should listen to him, Joker knows best, she had to listen to her heart on this one.
"I trust you, Joker. And I know you can't understand what it feels like to be back here, but you have to try to see that this place just brings back bad memories." She closed her eyes, tilting her head back when Joker lay down gently, half atop her, half next to her, resting his head on her shoulder against her chest. His hand reached across her, rubbing the underside of her arm lightly. "My life was ruined here." She added and felt Joker's scar stretch in a grin against her collarbone.
"So don't get sad…Get even."