A/N: Well, I'm sorry it's been so long. Life has caught up and run me over at the moment. I'm not too happy with this chapter, but I thought I'd throw it out there to you and see what you think. If you hate it, let me know.

Chapter 21

Jane sat back from the box and sighed. She liked this place; it was the nicest home she'd ever had and she was moving on, again. She'd never moved so much in such a short space of time and it was unsettling her. She was unhappy about it, but she knew that she wasn't going to be able to sway the Joker once he was so set on something.

She could hear him in his room packing up his stuff and swearing loudly as it obviously wasn't going as well as he'd liked. Jane slid the last of her book collection into the box and closed the lid. In actuality it hadn't taken her long to pack up; she still didn't have much in the way of things and what she did have she'd packed easily in a couple of hours.

She still didn't know where she was going and she was a little worried that maybe he didn't know either. Sighing she got up and went to stand in the open door way of his room. He was stood in the middle of the room staring down at his own pile of boxes, muttering to himself so quietly she couldn't make out what he was saying.

"So, this 'some place better' where exactly is it?" she asked him quietly.

He shrugged his shoulders. He was wearing his patterned shirt, but no tie and no waistcoat, and his braces were connected to black jeans instead of his purple pinstripes. His sleeves were rolled up and his hair was its usual green tinted mess.

"Do you actually know where it is or are you just not telling me?" She tried again, her voice a little sharp. His foot tapped on the floor and she knew he was in a foul mood but she wasn't frightened of him.

"Of course I know," he spat and rounded on her. His head was down and his face was completely clean of paint as he stared at her; his hair falling over one eye.

"Do I get to know before I get there?" she asked him and leant one hip against the doorframe and folded her arms.

"It's in Courtlands," he replied and tilted his head, his tongue probing his scars.

"Courtlands?" Jane frowned and racked her brains as to where that was again. "Is that in Old Gotham?"

"Yeah, just on the edge," he replied quietly.

"So we're still in the narrows," she added needlessly and he nodded at her.

"But we're not in Crime Alley anymore," he smirked at her.

"Ah, well, that's blown my idea then," she sighed.

"And your idea was?" He arched as eyebrow at her and sucked on his scars.

"A little place on the Med' somewhere," she replied half seriously. "A little Greek Island or failing that, a chalet in the Swiss Alps. Or even, if push came to shove, I could have slummed it in Venice; might even have got to know Casanova."

"You'd find that hard considering he's been dead two hundred years or so," he returned.

"Well, he must have quite a few descendants, considering how many wild oats he must have sown during his days."

"Well I'm sorry to burst your bubble, sugar, but the Med is definitely out, I burn in the sun." He ticked off on his fingers as he went. "Greek Island, ditto, Swiss Chalet in the Alps, you hate the cold and I hate the snow, get enough of it here and, oh yeah, slumming it in Venice is definitely off as I'd be constantly making sure you didn't meet any modern day Casanovas and it's too far to commute back to here. Sorry, sugar, you'll have to make do with Old Gotham."

"Ah, well, a girl can't have everything I guess," she chuckled and shook her head.

"You finished packing up then?" he asked her and turned back around to open a cardboard box on the table.

"Yeah, pretty much," she sighed. "What will happen to this place?"

"Nothing," he replied. "Some of the boys might take it over; I don't know yet, why."

"You're moving us on so quickly because of last night, aren't you?" she said and crossed to hold the lid of the box open while he stuffed his papers inside. "Who was it? Was it Batman?"

He looked up at her and frowned. "What makes you think it was Batman?"

"You said whoever it was moved really fast; he's the only one I know who can go fast like that."

"No, it wasn't our caped rodent," he snorted and sealed the box with tape. He dropped it onto the floor and crossed to the packing cases. "Jimmy found tire tracks this morning, whoever it was, was just lucky. They must have been half way down the stairs before I even opened the door. They were in their car and away before I got down."

"Who would do that?" she asked and held open another box as he began packing up what looked like surveillance equipment.

She could hear him sucking on his scars and she thought at first he wasn't going to answer her, but then he started to speak quietly.

"Your old friend, loverboy, has been poking around looking for you. He found you and got lucky in getting away."

"What? You mean Ron? You think Ron has been here?" Her voice showed her surprise.

"Why does that surprise you?" he asked her and looked up at her, his dark eyebrows arched wickedly.

"Well, if Ron were here, the entire SWAT team would also have been here," she said firmly. "Gordon would also have been somewhere and Ron wouldn't have run away, he'd have tried to take you down. Especially if he knew you'd know it was him."

"Run that last line by me again with a little more added; never thought I'd live to see the day where you didn't talk enough," he chuckled.

"Ha, ha," she said flatly. "What I mean is Ron is not stupid." She ignored his raised eyebrow and loud snort. "If he knew you were in here, he wouldn't blow it by running away. He'd have brought the entire police force with him and busted that door down. It can't have been Ron; he'd have known you would figure it out, to what point and purpose would it have been then? He's not accomplished anything, if he even knew where to find you."

"He knew," came the firm reply. "Someone talked and he listened."

"No, he'd not have turned up here without a back-up unit. He would realise that he would loose any chance of getting at you. No, it wasn't Ron; I don't think it was even a person. The dogs will pick up anything they don't consider normal. It's more likely the squalor that Mark and Jimmy live in, has finally reached an evolutionary level, and something unearthly has hatched from the depths of the mire."

"What?" he pulled a face at her. "What the fuck are you on about now?"

"Have you not seen inside that place? I've seen and smelt cleaner landfill sites," she snorted and shuddered as a mental image of their bathroom flashed before her eyes. "Some micro biotic life form has evolved from the recesses of their grime encrusted flooring and it's going to terrorise Gotham as we know it. Two days from now it'll have the entire narrows under its control. We'll be zombies; flesh eating, mindless zombies. First the narrows and then Gotham central; it'll be in all the news papers and on the TV; we'll go global and the whole world will watch as the government enacts a code red, or whatever it's called, and they'll nuke Gotham while the rest of the world looks on in saddened, but morbidly excited, curiosity."

"I do believe my cell is still empty in Arkham; I think I should check you in," he said dryly and shook his head as Jane smirked at him.

"What do you think? Should I give up romance and try for sci-fi?"

"I think you should shut the fuck up and get back on track. Fucking hell, woman, just how does your brain get from loverboy poking his nose in to us all turning in to zombies?"

"I'm just gifted that way," she shrugged with mock innocence. "Ah, relax, it wasn't Ron looking for you, I'm sure of it."

"And I know it was," he corrected her firmly. "But it's not just me he's after; he wants you too."

"Now who's fantasizing?" she said archly.

"Don't kid yourself, sugar," he said with asperity. "Do you want to know the reason why he turned tail and ran, instead of trying to take us down?"

"Go on then," she said dryly.

"Because he's working alone on this one," he said quietly. "Your precious Commissioner didn't even know he was here."

"I think I ought to introduce you to my publishers, your imagination is just as far fetched as mine," she snorted dryly.

"Fuck you," he snapped and she saw he was deadly serious and beginning to get agitated with her.

"Look, there's no way on this earth he could get back down that stairwell before the dogs caught up with him. Besides, did you see him? Did you fire a shot after him? I heard a gun shot!"

"He was already half way down those fucking stairs before I'd even opened the door. He knew exactly…"

"For what reason?" she cried at him interrupting him. "You're obsessed with the man! Even if he was halfway down the stairs, what on earth was he trying to accomplish?" She threw her hands out in exasperation. "I still think it was a rat or something."

"It was a rat, all right," he shouted. "A rat with a badge, a gun and no fucking brain!"

"Oh, for crying out loud!" Her exasperation with him grew and she pushed away from the table and crossed to the door, before stopping to turn and look at him.

"Despite what you think about cops, not all of them are bad; the Commissioner isn't and neither is Ron. He wouldn't go behind Gordon's back and he wouldn't break the law doing it. He may have catching you high on his list of priorities but I barely manage a footnote. If he thought he knew where you are, he'd be down here with the bloody national guard, not sneaky around on staircases and then chickening out."

"You are so fucking naïve, it's unbelievable," he shouted and threw the packing tape against the wall in a fit of temper. "Naïve or stupid; or perhaps too blinded by the sunshine you think comes out of his ass!"

"I am not stupid!" she cried back. "And don't be ridiculous, I do not think that about him, in fact I don't really think about him at all. Unlike you, perhaps you're the one with the unhealthy attachment to him."

"Ha, fucking ha, Janey. I'm not the one defending him."

"Well, for goodness sake, just listen to yourself. Think about it, what's he accomplished except getting you to high tail it out of here and disappear again. What good has it done him?"

"Well, you've changed your tune," he spat. "Not that long again you hated them all for using you as bait at the hospital. Or have you forgotten how your wonderful copper let you down then?"

"I haven't forgotten," she said quietly. "But in the grand scheme of things, you're far more important to them than I am; he may have banked on catching you at the hospital…"

"Which is why he put a tracking device on you, so when he caught me he wouldn't need to follow you," spat the Joker, sarcasm laced every word as he turned to glare at her, his back was hunched and his hair was hanging forward slightly. "He's dirtier than a whore's sheets; you may think he's in line for cop of the year, but he's not above breaking a few laws to get what he wants. He uses informants just like every other stinking cop; except your 'golden boy' doesn't mind stitching them up to get information. He stitched up a loser called Earl, planted a bag of dope on him and in exchange for his ticket out of jail he gave loverboy what he wanted to know: where we are. Except he forgot who runs this town and I know when someone snitches." He stopped and slapped his lips together and took a step towards her. "I know Janey, 'cause I kicked the fucking shit out of Earl for grassing me up; so yes, it was his blood and brains on my shoe yesterday."

Jane stared at him and covered her mouth at his last words. She closed her eyes and shook her head. She heard a shuffling noise and knew he was coming towards her.

"I think you forget who I am sometimes," he whispered beside her ear. Fingers ghosted down her cheek but she kept her eyes closed. "Janey, I'm not going to let him, or you, fuck this up."

Her eyes flew open and she glared at him. "How will I mess it up? I haven't done anything except disagree with you and did you really have to tell me what you did to that poor man?"

"Poor man?" The Joker laughed nastily. "Sweet, fucking innocent, Janey," he snorted but it was sarcastic. "If you can't stomach what I did to him, you really won't stomach what he did to his little sister on a regular basis, nor will you stomach the things he'd do to get a fix."

"Stop!" She shook her head. "Please…"

"What? Upset you does it?" he snorted and moved closer to her till his face was close to hers. He lifted a hand and stroked her head backwards till he could grip a handful of her hair. He tightened his grip till she had to ease her head backwards to avoid it being painful, his eyes never left hers as he took several deep breaths and then blinked slowly. He walked her backwards till her back hit the wall; he stopped with only inches between them. He let his forehead rest against hers briefly before he traced his lips over her cheekbone until his mouth was beside her ear.

"You don't know anything, Janey." His voice was low and malevolent.

Jane bit her lip and put her shaky hands on his waist to support herself. Her fingers curled into the material of his shirt, her eyes were fixed at a point on the far wall as she digested the whispered words in her ear.

"Loverboy is not the paragon of virtue you think he is; none of them are." His lips brushed against her ear as he spoke but there was nothing sensual in his tone of voice. "You can't trust anyone except me, Janey, just me. Not loverboy, not the Commissioner and certainly not the Bat Man; because they're only interested in themselves and the 'greater good' of Gotham. And if they have to sacrifice a few people along the way, they will. They will and they have sacrificed you, Janey, don't lie to yourself. I'm the only one who will look after you, who has looked after you. Trust me."

"I do," she breathed and tightened her hold on his shirt. "I do, I really do, and you know this. But it doesn't mean I can't think for myself or disagree with you."

He chuckled and it made her squirm slightly as his hot breath ghosted her ear.

"I've noticed," he murmured and his hold on her hair loosened till he could grip the back of her neck. "Janey, just promise me you won't go out of the apartment on your own. He's going to be watching for you."

"I won't." Her fingers tightened on his shirt and she turned her face into his neck. "But I still think it was something of a rodent variety and not Ron."

He slumped against her groaning in exasperation; letting his full weight pin her to the wall.

"I'm just exercising my rights to disagree, that's all," she muttered and brought her hands up his sides and around his back. "But I do trust you, and I won't go out alone. Now, get off me, you oaf, I'm splattered into the wallpaper here." She slid her fingers under the braces of his back and pulled them out to let them snap back.

His head shot up at the sudden pain in his back and he growled at her.

"That fucking hurt," he cried out and eased his weight off her slightly. "And we don't have wallpaper."

"Ah, you're just a pansy, ain't ya?" she teased him and gripped his braces again.

"Don't you fucking dare!" he hissed into her ear and tightened his grip on the back of her neck.

"Or you'll what?" she asked taunting him and let one snap back into place on his back.

"You…" He was interrupted by a banging on the doorway that had the dogs up and barking excitedly.

"Who's that?" asked Jane and he clearly heard the glimmer of fear she suddenly felt.

He narrowed his eyes as he pushed himself away from her and went out of the room to the front door. Jane came out and watched as he opened it, holding the dogs back with one hand held out.

"Boss," Jimmy stood on the doorstep and Jane stepped closer, her fear turned to surprise. Jimmy or Mark never came up to this floor.

"Car's ready," Jimmy replied and catching sight of Jane over his shoulder he raised a hand in greeting. The dogs seeing that they were correct in their conclusions went back to their baskets and slumped down heavily.

"Hey, Jimmy," called Jane in greeting. "You want some coffee?"

The Joker looked back over one shoulder and frowned at her.

"We're not running a fucking café here, Janey, no, he doesn't want any coffee. Get your coat and bag and whatever else it is you women have to have when you go out. And make it quick."

Jane looked at the Joker in surprise. "Where are we going?"

The Joker rolled his eyes as he turned away from Jimmy and crossed to pick up his black reefer jacket from the back of the chair.

"You have such a short memory; I told you we were going to see the Doc today," he grunted as he slid his jacket on. He checked his pockets for his weapons and then grunted in satisfaction. "Get out and shut the door, Jimmy."

Jane shrugged and rolling her eyes went in search of her coat and boots.

Ron sat with his eyes half closed. He was bored, cold and beginning to think he was making a huge mistake. And then he saw her. He was parked far enough away to avoid the scrutiny of the heavies that the Joker employed.

Ron watched with narrowed eyes as Jane came out of the building with the Joker beside her. It took him two looks to realise it was the Joker beside her. He wore no face paint, his hair was covered with a black skull cap, and his eyes were covered in sunglasses; he looked just like every other bloke on the streets. Except this was no ordinary man, this was the Joker.

Ron watched as Jane, huddled in a coat, scarf, gloves and a hat was ushered towards the waiting car by a none too gentle Joker. His hand was on the small of her back as he almost shoved her into the car. The heavy behind him was keeping a careful watch and Ron almost grinned when he realised that he'd managed to spook them last night. That hadn't been his intention; he hadn't been completely certain that he had the right apartment block and he'd decided the best way to find out was to check it out.

It hadn't been hard to find a kid who was ready to make a quick hundred bucks. He'd sent him up, telling him to go right to the top and then come straight back down, not stopping for anything. The kid had thought he was crazy but had taken the money and shot up the stairs. Ron waited in the car and watched, seeing the kid come hell for leather out of the stairwell looking scared as a gun shot echoed through the stairwell. He'd opened the door and the kid had bolted into it and Ron just managed to clear the area before the dogs came bounding through the doorway. They'd chased the car for quite awhile until eventually they'd been unable to carry on. Ron had doubled back quickly, kicking the kid out halfway down, and then parked up, well out of sight to see Jane with the dogs. She had said something to the Joker and then had turned to go back inside, taking the dogs with her. Ron had watched till the Joker followed her and then he'd driven away with a lot to think about.

He watched now for any signs of the dogs and seeing none, realised they were still in the apartment. He knew a few ways to take the dogs out, but he wasn't sure that was the way to go right now. Instead he was more interested in seeing where the Joker was taking Jane. He waited till the car was round the corner of the street before he started up and headed after them. He knew he'd made a mistake in letting Jane slip through his fingers. He was certain she was the way to the Joker and he wasn't going to foul up again.

It didn't take them long to reach the area the doctor lived. Jimmy pulled up by the side of the road and the Joker leaned forward and gave him instructions which Jane only half listened to as she looked aound the area. The houses were old and she imagined that maybe, back in the glory days of Gotham, this had been the better part of town. But that had all changed now, the houses were four storey victorian design and badly in need of renovating. She examind the line of sad looking houses and wondered which one held the doctor's surgery; she could see no outward signs and wondered if they would have to walk a little way.

"Wake up, Janey." The Joker poked her in the arm and indicated for her to get out of the car. She opened the door and huddled deeper into her coat when the icy air of winter hit her after the warmth of the car.

"Are you sure the 'med is out?" she moaned as he got out behind her and slammed the car door and then banged the roof to tell Jimmy to take off.

"Quit moaning, it's not that cold," he snapped and gripped her elbow and pulled her across the street.

"Well, no, not if you're a polar bear, which I'm not," she snapped back. She couldn't see his eyes but she knew that he was looking around him carefully.

"Dunno, your claws are sharp enough," he murmured and lead her towards one of the houses that was in the middle of the row.

"Does he practise here then?" she asked in surprise.

"He hasn't officially practised in several years," the Joker replied.

"Er… why not?" asked Jane nervously.

"Because he realised a long time ago that it was best to be available when he was required. He makes enough money each time to keep him to the next and he gets a 'pension'," he cackled and sucked on his teeth.

"Pension?" Jane returned. "Just how old is he?" she inquired with some trepidation.

"I don't know exactly, not old enough to retire."

"And yet he gets a pension…" She looked at him as he pushed her towards the steps that lead to the door. "Oh, I see, you give him money to keep him in business. That's nice," she said and smiled at him.

"No, Janey, it's not nice it's called logical thinking. I need to know that if I need a doc, there's one to hand. I was gonna bring you to him after Crane got a hold of you, eventually, but you done a runner, didn't you, sugar?"

"You didn't tell me that," she said in surprise and watched as he knocked on the door. It almost made her laugh and he caught the humour in her easily.

"What's so fucking funny now, girl?" he snorted and glared down at her.

"You are," she replied and crossed her eyes at him. "The infamous 'Joker'," she whispered his name. "Knocking to be let in."

"Oh for fuck's sake, Janey, what planet did you arrive from? What do you expect me to do kick his fucking door down?"

"Well it would be more exciting," she replied and smirked at him.

He quirked his lips at her and shook his head. "You are completely insane, girl."

"Then you've come to the wrong place," came a smooth voice from the door. The Joker had seen the door open and made no move but it made Jane jump in reaction, turning to see an older man stood on the step smiling at them.

"Hi, Doc." The Joker nodded his head, but his manner had changed in an instant and he was on true Joker form, just minus his paint and suit. He caught Jane's elbow and went straight into the house, not even waiting for an invitation.

"Well, ah, what can I do for you… oh, you're the young lady they've been looking for." Something in his tone of voice made Jane look at him closely. But he was smiling at her quite harmlessly. Jane smiled and held her hand to him; he took her hand briefly but avoided her eyes.

The Joker looked out the door and Jane knew he was checking the area again before he shut the door and turned around.

"You're going to check Janey over; she's got herself knocked up." He slid his glasses off and stared at the doctor.

"Oh, for goodness sake," Jane cried out and covered her cheeks. "That wasn't very tactful!"

"But it's the fucking truth," the Joker snapped and tilted his head, sucking on his scars as he stared into the doctor's eyes.

"Well, right, ah…" The doctor cleared his throat and Jane saw him look at her strangely. "And how are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling fine," she replied and realised he thought she was just like any other women who sold themselves for money, except she'd sold herself to the Joker. It made her feel sick and angry.

"Shut up, Janey. You haven't been 'fine'," contradicted the Joker from behind her in a scathing voice. "You chuck up every time you eat and you fall asleep at the drop of a fucking hat. And it's pissing me off!"

"All normal things for the first stage of pregnancy. Do you know how far along you are?" asked the doctor indicated towards what she assumed was his consulting room.

"Probably ten or eleven weeks, I think. I missed a few pills around about then and had a double dose of antibiotics." Jane looked round at where the Joker was following her. She frowned at him but he ignored her; she really didn't trust this doctor at all and she just wanted to go again.

"And what were they for?" asked the Doctor and looked back at where the Joker was following them.

The Joker filled him in briefly and succinctly about Crane and his toxin injections and Jane's subsequent hospital stay. Jane looked around his former living room and realised he did indeed use it for medicinal purposes. He indicated for them to sit on the couch, but the Joker remained standing.

"And what did they find besides the toxin in your blood stream?" he asked Jane but it was the Joker who replied.

"One of my men read her charts and they'd found nothing else," he said and stationed himself behind the couch Jane was sitting on; he watched every move the doctor made.

"And did they tell you anything?" the doctor spoke once more to Jane but again it was the Joker who replied.

"No, they just told her that the stuff wouldn't hurt her," he stated and sucked on his teeth, his head tilted in that odd way of his.

Jane frowned in annoyance. "I'm a pretty good ventriloquist, aren't I?" she said quietly.

"Fuck you, Janey," the Joker pushed the back of her head with his hand glaring down at her.

"Do either of you remember anything of the stuff he injected into you?" asked the doctor with a smirk he quickly hid.

Jane shook her head and folded her hands on her lap, feeling decidedly uncomfortable. Something about this doctor she really didn't like and she couldn't put her finger on it.

"No, I…"

"Yup, one of us was paying attention," the Joker sneered behind her and Jane felt like smacking him for making her look stupid. "It was a concentrated mix of several chemicals they couldn't identify but they were synthetic and mineral; some were similar to LSD in form. She had high concentrates of Psilocybin, DMT and a very high concentrate of Dimethoxyphenethylamine," the Joker spoke above her making her look up at him in surprise.

"2C-B?" interrupted the doctor. The Joker nodded at him and then continued to speak.

"Diphenhydramine, mandrake, henbane and Datura."

Jane stared at the Joker in surprise. "What is all that?"

"Hallucinogens," the Joker answered her slowly. "Don't worry about it, Janey, he just had you tripping."

"Tell me about it," she muttered, disliking the tone of voice he used with her.

"Any lasting effects?" asked the doctor and once again before Jane could say anything the Joker spoke up. Annoyance flashed through her like a bolt of lighning but she bit her tongue.

"No, nothing, no flashbacks, no nightmares." He stuck his hand into his pocket and drew out his knife. "She's tough."

"And have you used before? Even occassionaly?" asked the doctor and Jane bristled at the idea. She opened her mouth to reply but the Joker got there first again.

"Nothing besides a bit of experimentation in school," he muttered. "She's not into that sort of thing."

"Well, there's not a lot I can do," replied the doctor, his eyes on the knife in the Joker's hand. "I can take some blood, have it checked, but I think that if there had been any long lasting effects the Hospital would have picked it up."

"And what about the kid?" the Joker questioned him. The doctor turned and consulted his desk callander.

"Early days yet," the doctor said not looking up. "Later on, in your second trimester you'll need to be seen to make sure things are progressing nicely, but for the time being, rest is about the best thing. Do you have any history of STDs?"

"Fucking hope not," the Joker snorted before Jane could even process the question.

"No, I do not!" Jane shot out when it sank in. She glared up at the Joker but he merely smirked at her and shrugged.

"And I take it you're the father," the doctor said casually to the Joker.

"I had better fucking well be," the Joker snapped out and Jane's cheeks burned in humiliation.

"Is this your first pregnancy?" asked the doctor with a quirk of his lips that Jane did not like.

Jane opened her mouth to reply but once again the Joker cut in.

"Yes, it is."

Jane narrowed her eyes and let the devil take flight as the annoyance blossomed into anger.

"No," she said straight away.

"What?" demanded the Joker. "What do you mean no? You haven't told me you were pregnant before! Who by?"

"Just joking," she said dryly and rolled her eyes. "No, I've never been pregnant, never picked up the clap, or anything else like that. No, I haven't slept with every man in Gotham, in fact before the Joker here, the last man I willingly slept with was my high school sweetheart. So if it's not his," She jerked a thumb over her shoulder at the Joker. "Then I'm in the running for the next nearly immaculate conception, but then this is Gotham, anything's possible I suppose." A hand was clamped over her mouth from behind and she gasped.

"Excuse her, doc, mouth doesn't always engage with her brain."

The doctor looked between them with surprise and a little alarm in his eyes. He blinked several times and then cleared his throat getting his composure back.

"Right, well, there's not a lot I can do for now. Ah, eat heathily, avoid alcohol, cigerettes and ah, yes, rest when you need it."

"Is that it?" Jane's voice was muffled from behind his hand. She finished her question by darting her tongue out and licking the Joker's palm. He laughed and slid his hand down to cup her chin instead.

"Well, ordinarily, if there's been no bleeding and you're feeling well, there really is nothing to do except allow nature to runs it's course. At about nineteen, twenty weeks I would consider having a scan done. I can't help there as I don't have the necessary equipment." He looked up at the Joker. "You could always have her seen out of state."

"We'll sort that nearer the time," the Joker nodded and let go of Jane to come around the couch to face the doctor. "I don't need to tell you to keep this quiet, do I?" he said quietly. "Because you know full well that if one word slips from your lips, you'll be wearing a grin for the remainder of the time it takes you to die with your intestines wound round your neck."

Jane winced but kept her mouth shut, despite the lurch her stomach took at his words.

"I understand," the doctor replied and couldn't keep the shake out of his voice. "I… er… well, congratulations."

Even Jane could hear the incredulity in his voice as he offered his salutations.

Jane grinned and got up to stand beside the Joker, he placed the hand on the small of her back and laughed his weird, highly pitched laugh. Jane looked at him sideways and shook her head.

"I'm gonna make a great dad," the Joker cackled and Jane saw the disbelief race across the doctors face before he could hide it.

"You don't think I will, do you?" the Joker's laugh died instantly as he glared at the doctor.

"I..er…, of course, I do," the doctor stuttered and tried to smile.

"Can we go now? I need some air." Jane interrupted whatever the Joker had planned for the doctor's lack of faith.

The Joker looked down at her, his tongue probing his scars. He nodded his head and taking out his phone, hit a button and then put it back in his pocket before throwing a packet onto the desk.

"See ya, doc." The Joker gripped Jane's wrist and pulled her out of the room. Jane looked back at the door to wave goodbye, but the doctor was already engrossed in counting the contents of the packet. Her eyes widened at the thick wad of dollar bills before she was tugged through the door and out to the front door.

"How much was in there?" she breathed in disbelief. He slid his glasses on, opened the door and looked out before he tugged her through. He slammed the door shut behind them, leant towards her till his mouth was by her ear and made a shushing noise, before whispering,

"It doesn't matter; some things are beyond putting a price to." He stood up from her and taking her hand, lead her down the steps and onto the sidewalk.

"Care to tell me where your last snarky comment to the doc came from?" he inquired as they started walking down the street.

Jane looked down at their joined hands and realised that to all intents and purposes, they looked just like any other couple out for a walk. She sighed again at the surreal quality her life had at the moment and then drew a breath.

"I was fed up with being talked about, likened to the community bicycle and it being alluded that I am a bimbo."

"What?" He shook his head and sucked on his scars. "Ah, so that little speech at the end was you, what? demonstrating your maturity at the situation?"

"No, had I wished to do that, I would have slapped you on the face, kicked him in the balls and slammed the door on my way out of the room."

He smirked and clutched her hand tighter. "Glad to see you would leave my balls alone."

"Only because the couch had you covered," she replied smartly and squealed when he let go of her hand long enough to whack her behind.

"Did I really piss you off in there?" he asked and it almost sounded as if it made him proud.

"Big time." She looked around her. "Where are we going?"

"Jimmy's on the next street," he answered her and looked over his shoulder. She realised then that while she was blissfully walking down the street, he was, as usual, acutely conscious of every movement around him.

"Doesn't it get you down?" she asked him quietly.

"What?"

"The constant having to look out for yourself, always looking to see if there's someone behind you."

"I don't usually, it's just your golden boy of the PD, has stepped onto my territory and I know he's going to take any chance he can get."

Jane sighed heavily. "He's not my golden boy," she said flatly. "And he's miles away in Gotham Central, keeping his toes warm by a heater and his hands warm round a cuppa."

"Dream on, sugar, dream on," he muttered. "Get into the car."

"What car?" asked Jane, but just as she finished speaking, Jimmy drew up beside them. The Joker opened the door and waited till she was in before he got in behind her. The moment the door was shut the car took off with a squeal of tyres.

"Well, that's not very inconspicuous," she cried out as Jimmy took the corner quickly and sent her flying across the seat into the door.

"Put your belt on," the Joker snapped and leant forwards between the seats.

"We've got a tail, boss," Jimmy snapped tightly. "He's been on my ass since I left you there. I don't think he saw you get out but he sure as hell saw you get back in."

"Fuck," the Joker shook his head and looked back out of the rear view mirror.

"Whoever it is knows how to drive, I can't loose the sucker and I couldn't let you know."

"Take us deep into the narrows, Jimmy and make sure he keeps up."

Jimmy met the Joker's eyes in the mirror and smirked. "Sure, boss."

A/N: Please forgive any spelling errors, for some reason my spell check keeps telling me it can't find certain .dll files, which I don't understand at all as it's only this chapter it doesn't like and not other documents. If you spot anything that's absurd or annoying, can you let me know and I'll fix it. I've proof read it loads of time, but they always slip through!

Thank you so much for your reviews and PM's. I just hope that you like this one too, (cringes).