Chapter 20

Joker returned to their room, careful in his approach of the woman on the bed.

"You are frightened of me." It wasn't a question.

She looked up at him, unshed tears making her eyes sparkle. There was no reply.

A flash of anger tore through him. "Answer me!" he demanded.

Clara flinched, before returning her gaze to him. She was tired, the exhaustion making her mind slow to the dangers around her. "Does it matter? I'll be dead soon anyways. Wasn't the point of this for me to be afraid?"

"You do this in an attempt to gain my sympathy?"

"There is no sympathy for you. You are Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde; two minds bound to one body. Mr. Hyde has no sympathy, and your Dr. no longer cares."

"So you only see the monster?" he whispered dangerously.

"I see both and I know that they will make me suffer. Mr. Hyde will enjoy the torture, and Dr. Jekyll will be unflinching." She looked away from him them, not wanting to share her tears with him. She was stupid and foolish, a silly girl who had thought she was living in a fairy tale where the princesses were saved by knights on shining horses. This wasn't a fairy tale, this was the suffering before death.

Joker paused, searching to understand her meaning, fighting back the anger. His mind raced to understand the underlying assumptions. And then he understood.

"I was unfair."

There was a pregnant pause in the room.

"I punished you in anger and did not explain my displeasure."

She didn't reply. She didn't look at him.

"You disobeyed my directions, not only refusing my order, but also made the death easy for a beast who would have raped and killed you."

She recoiled, mind rushing to the delirious dreams she'd had.

"Who would have taken your from me."

He moved then, coming to the bed, curling his body around hers. He would let her not look at him during this time, but she would know who she was talking to, know who owned her completely.

"You disobeyed," he whispered in her ear, hot breath caressing her skin.

Her gut clenched. In most people, the word disobey was often associated with shame and a need to right the wrong.

"I was disappointed by your choices."

"Please don't," she begged him, the last parts of her rational mind crying out that he was manipulating her, turning her mind against what it knew to be real and not. She'd done nothing wrong, and yet, his words made her feel like she had.

"It is my job to correct your wrongs so that you can learn and grow."

Her tears flowed freely now.

"Do you think I was wrong to punish you?" A gentle hand ran through her hair, a gentling action to settle her wildly beating heart.

After a moment of no response, his hand tightened slightly on her hair, "Princess?"

"… N-no."

"Did you disobey me?"

The hand left the hair, moving to rub the back of her neck with his thumb, his fingers splayed over her collar bone.

"…Y-yyes."

"What do you say to me then?"

Her breath caught, making her cry out softly.

"Shhh," he hushed, both hands pulling her close, turning her so that she was hidden within his chest. "Shh princess, I'm not mad. You've been punished, it's in the past now."

Some part of her knew this was wrong, but at the same time, the burden within her heart hurt, needing the catharsis of forgiveness, needed to make everything better between them. She didn't want to be frightened. She wanted to be safe again. It would be so easy to apologize, to have Joker cover her heart in a balm of his forgiveness so that this would end.

"I am so proud of you; so strong you are, my princess." He was gentle with his words, drawing her neediness of him deeper, working to make sure she understood his power over him. He would be her safety, her protector, and her possessor. "I am here to take the burden away. Let me help you."

"I'm sorry," she whispered and then great sobs were pulled out of her, causing her to shake as she clung to the man who would protect her. Who'd fought a man so that she would stay safe. Who kept her locked away so that she would learn. "I'm sorry."

"You're forgiven."

Joker held the young woman in his arms until the sobbing stopped, until her breathing evened, until she fell asleep. A wicked gleam rested in his eyes.

Well! What do you think of that? OMG? I can't decide if I'm terrified, upset, or just a little bit bothered by all that. Hope you enjoyed it! Send me loves and reviews! What did you think?

grlvct - I wanted to make her reactions to him as realistic as possible. She needs to feel like someone who's being forced to endure constant threat so that she flinches but also so that she seeks out any comfort that he can offer. He is linked to her survival and she recognizes that; even if its mostly unconscious. Maybe she's going to start effecting him to? Who knows?