Disclaimer: I do not own any of the DC Universe's characters, only the ones I have created.

Chapter 25: Bullshit

"You really like Tom and Jerry huh, J?" I asked, closing the bathroom door behind me and drying my hair with a towel.

"Of course, I do. It's a classic." Joker was still lounging on my bed, this time a bowl of ice cream in his hands. Well, now I know Harley isn't the only one with a sweet tooth.

I was wearing blood-free jeans and a loose shirt, with the dress currently being in the garbage.

His eyes fell on me as I walked into the room and he looked me over. "Has anyone ever told you that you are quite exotic?" He waved a hand towards me.

"I had forgotten what you looked like in the old days when you, Terry and I still played card games and you brought me coffee every now and then. When you've showered and are not covered in blood and sweat."

His eyes lingered on the lines on my chest, disappearing beneath the top of my shirt. "Quite exotic, indeed."

Those were the old days, alright. Our time at Arkham felt so long ago…

"You got every man in Arkham looking at you with lust and the women with jealousy."

I scoffed and waved him off. "Yeah, right." His jaw tightened at that and he set it bowl aside.

"Don't you do that," he snapped.

"Don't think you're anything less than people make you out to be. You are magnificent."

I lowered my eyes and moved to the window to avoid that intense stare he got sometimes.

"Is Harley coming?"

He smoothed his electric green hair back from his face.

"No, she has a meeting with a client today… which reminds me," he said, getting to his feet. He grinned at me, brushing my hair over one shoulder.

"You're going shopping today. I heard you got invited by Wayne." His hand grabbed my hair at the back of my head as he smirked down at me.

"Look at little miss hero over here getting along with the big boys."

I chuckled at that and rolled my eyes. "Who knew, right? A former doctor at Arkham and prisoner at Belle Reve soon to be drinking champagne that cost a bloody fortune with mister rich himself. It's a joke."

Joker tightened his grip in my hair and pressed his forehead against mine, his grin widening.

"It's a real hoot. My best one yet."

~.~.~

"Bullshit."

I grinned as I laid my cards open on the table. "You must really like to lose, J."

"Dammit!"

We were sitting on two stools at the kitchen island playing the game Bullshit with a bottle of scotch between us.

Joker swept his hair back and started shuffling the cards. "You're the first person to win in this game against me," he growled.

"I used to win against my brother and sister too. Man, they used to love this game." I smiled as I thought back to a particular memory.

Joker smiled. "You must really miss them."

I nodded, taking another swing of the bottle afraid that if I would say anything my voice would betray my emotions.

"I never had any brothers or sisters, fortunately." He started shuffling the cards, his eyes cast downwards. "It's best, I guess, that I was my father's only subject to torture and humiliate."

My smile faded at his words, shocked at hearing something so personal.

"I'm sorry," I said, quietly. He looked up and just for a second I could see his pain reflecting in those blue eyes. The pain was genuine and so excruciating that it took my off guard but before I could get a better look, it was gone and the grin was back on his face.

"Ah, sorry, got a little carried away there." He handed out the cards and placed the rest in a neat pile on the side.

The elevator dinged and we both looked up to see who it was.

"Frost, buddy!" Joker exclaimed. "Up for a game of bullshit?"

A smile tugged on my lips but stopped when I got a look at Frost. He looked terrible – dark shadows surrounded his eyes, his suit was crinkled and his hair stood up.

He caught me looking and quickly ran a hand through it, slicking it back.

He forced a polite smile on his face – the one he was so good at. "No, thank you Mr J. I'm just here to pick up Eva to go shopping?" He made the end sound like a question.

J snapped his fingers. "Right, sorry Ev, lost track of the time there. You have a dress to buy."

My shoulders sagged and I pouted. "God, I hate shopping."

J laughed and stood up, moving behind me and placing his hands on my shoulders, slowly massaging them. "You and every other man out there, dollface."

His fingers suddenly dug into my shoulders making me flinch. He brought his head close to my ear, his breath fanning my neck.

"But I really need you to buy a stunning dress and to go to Bruce Wayne's event and play the good, sexy hero, that you're not."

Sexy?

My eyes connected with Frost's and I gulped.

"You better not fuck this up, Doc," J said, his voice low. He slapped my cheek and cackled with laughter.

~.~.~

"This is ridiculous," I muttered as I tried desperately to close the zipper on the back of the ridiculous dress I was wearing.

"Everything okay, in there?" Frost asked from outside of the curtain. I dropped my hands and let out an angry breath before opening the curtain, revealing a shocked and uncomfortable Frost.

"It's just…," I started and stopped as I realized how I looked – I was holding the dress up with both hands, my hair looked as if a storm went through it and my cheeks were flushed.

"It's just that I can't get the zipper up," I explained.

"Oh," Frost said, his cheeks growing red too and he stood up. "Let me."

I bit my lip as I turned around and I wondered if he could hear how fast my heart was beating as I felt him stand behind me. His fingers hovered near the zipper and I felt him touch the skin of my back.

I shivered. He brought the zipper to the top, his hands lingering on my shoulders before he cleared his throat and dropped them.

"There, all done."

I turned and stood in front of the mirror. The woman from the store picked it out for me. It was a beautiful dress even though it was ridiculous at the same time.

Ridiculous, because I never wore dresses except for the one I had to throw away.

This one was of a dark red colour, the front dipping low to my chest, revealing more of the dark lines on my skin than usual. The dress fell elegantly to the floor except for one split on the side reaching my hip.

"So, what do you think?" I asked and glanced at Frost. His eyes were only focused on my face, however, as he said: "Perfect."

I let out a breath I realized I had been holding and grinned at him. "Bullshit."

~.~.~

Frost and I stood outside with one dress and a receipt. I was in a good mood since I didn't have to try on any more dresses.

"So, you up for lunch? I'm craving a burger and some fries." Frost smiled but before he had the chance to answer someone yelled:

"Eva!" We both turned around - it was Jason.

"I thought that was you," he said after jogging a little towards us, his eyes going to Frost.

He frowned and it was clear that he recognized him and from the looks of it he didn't like seeing him here with me. Frost had taken a step forwards as soon as Jason had come our way, shielding me a bit.

"Is he a friend of yours?" Frost asked me, frowning all the while keeping his eyes fixed on Jason.

"Yeah, I am," Jason answered for me which annoyed the crap out of me.

His blue eyes went to me. "Listen, can I talk to you for a moment? Alone?"

Frost raised his eyebrows but didn't move, he looked at me questioningly. I sighed and shrugged.

"Yeah, fine, Jason."

Frost shrugged and took the bag with my dress from my hands. "I'll take the dress back to the penthouse."

After he had left, Jason whistled. "Penthouse, huh? Someone's pay has gone up the past few weeks."

I rolled my eyes, not in the mood to explain it to him. "What do you want, Jason?"

He ran a hand through his dark hair. "You going to Wayne Manor tonight?"

I crossed my arms. "Yeah, I am. Why do you wanna know?"

He grinned. "Well, a certain reporter has been invited too." He held up a badge and I squinted at it.

"You don't work at the Gotham Gazette, you git."

His grin widened. "Tonight I am."

I narrowed my eyes and crossed my arms. "The bat got you working undercover tonight as Robin? He thinks something's gonna happen at Wayne's?"

He shrugged. "Something like that. Maybe not. Just to be safe." Or was it to keep an eye on me?

I smiled and flagged down a cab coming our way. "Well, I'll see you there then."

His smile faltered a bit and he opened the car door for me. "Be careful, Eva."

_
A/N: Thanks for reading! Next chapter is going to be more exciting and action packed! I just wanted to get a good run up to it.