"You said what now?" Joker asked, leaning on the large mahogany table in front of him.
Maroni sat in Joker's lounge in the back of the building with a cigarette in his hand, "The Bat got to Cobblepot. Got information about Sofia and I don't doubt that he'll be coming for either you or Leviathan soon enough."
J casually sat back in his seat, "I'd expect nothing less from Batsy," he stated with a grin
Maroni stared at him, "What about Sofia? J you can't go into something blind. He'll get his hands on her and probably even send her back to Arkham until her name is cleared. If that even happens."
J frowned, "I never go into anything blind Sal," he tilted his head, "I always have a backup plan."
"And Sofia?"
J growled and slammed his fist on the table, "He's not taking her away from me! Not him or anyone else!"
Maroni sighed, "I understand your concerns J. But now's the time to start thinking about maybe sending her somewhere outside of Gotham. Take her out of this dangerous situation. Don'tcha think?"
Joker gritted his teeth, "She stays with me. There's nowhere safer than here. She's not going anywhere."
"She's just a kid J," he said softly, "If something happens to her…"
Joker stood up and gave Maroni a threatening glare, "Nothing's going to happen to her. I can promise you that."
Maroni watched Joker's movements, he was pissed but was also contemplating his words thoroughly. He turned and walked to the bar inside of the lounge, pouring himself a drink. Maroni soon stood up after and exhaled, "Keep in touch J. You know I'll help you if I can."
Joker didn't answer, his back remained turned to the him. Maroni nudged his head to his men and they walked for the door.
"If."
Salvatore stopped and looked back at Joker. Who continued to stare out the window. "If I were to send her somewhere… Safe." His eyes dropped to the glass in his hand, "Where exactly would that place be?"
Maroni turned to the Joker, holding his cane in his hands, "I have condominiums in Metropolis I could have her stay in until all this blows over."
Joker's mouth twitched, and he downed the glass of whiskey. Running his fingers through his hair he nodded.
Maroni nodded back, "Take care J."
Joker stood there as he listened for Maroni to leave his lounge. While his men escorted them out the back way. He continued to stare out in the distance of the city. He sighed, knowing what he wanted to do but having inner conflictions with himself. He glanced back up at the window to see the reflection of Jack standing behind him.
Joker quickly turned and sneered at him, "You really need to stop doing that. I won't hesitate to shoot you."
Jack furrowed his brows, "I think we both know killing yourself is not your MO."
"Don't you have you have somewhere else to be stupid?" he asked aggravatingly
Jack quirked his head and checked his wrist, "Ooo yeah not until 3."
J rolled his eyes and leaned against the counter with his arms crossed. Jack stared at him, "Maroni's right you know?"
Joker's eyes wandered off to the side. Jack continued, "Sofie could be a lot safer from Batman, Falcone and Leviathan if we take her out of the city."
Joker still didn't respond. Jack grunted and took a step closer, "Are you even listening to me?"
J finally snapped his eyes up to him, "Yes," he sneered, "It just takes me a little longer for me to process your bullshit philosophy all at once."
Jack frowned.
Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Both Joker and Jack looked at the phone. Seeing a text from Sofia, glad that she listened again and let him know when she was leaving.
Joker turned and gave a cocky smirk to Jack. Jack narrowed his eyes but they both heard another strong buzz. This time the text being from Frost.
We have a problem.
-JF
Jack glanced up to Joker with a scowl. Joker moved his jaw around and growled, placing the phone back in his pocket. Walking for the garage.
A slick black Corvette pulled into the garage. Sofia drove the car back into the same spot as it was before. Joker walked over to her and opened the driver seat door. She glanced up at him with a smile and handed him the keys. He looked at them and forced a smile, "Did you enjoy your ride kitten?"
He took the keys and held his other hand out to help her out. She smiled at him and shrugged, "I did. I'm glad I got all my stuff. Thank you J, I really appreciate you letting me go back there. And keeping everything the same."
Joker relaxed himself and smiled openly to her, cupping her cheek and bringing her face up to look at his eyes. Her face was slightly confused, "Anything interesting happen while you were gone? Meet anyone new maybe?" he asked playfully
She scoffed and looked at him while she walked to the other end of the car to open the door and grab a small box. "Are you interrogating me?"
He narrowed his eyes and placed his arm on the roof of the car, "Maybe."
She shook her head with a smirk, "As a matter of fact. I did."
"Really? And who might that have been hm?" he asked, lingering closer to her
She sighed and stopped, turning to give him her full attention, "Some guy. He was just passing through and I ran into him."
She could see Frost's Lincoln pull into the garage and park in its spot. He got out and walked to the back, grabbing boxes of hers.
"Did we get this guy's name?" he asked, not bothering to look at him
She stared at her brother, "No J. I talked to him for like a minute. Why?"
He lowered his chin, "A lot could happen in a minute Sofie. How do you know he wasn't some spy or worker trying to get information on you?"
She craned her neck back and groaned, "J. Nothing happened. I told him to leave."
He observed her face and straightened himself. Not giving her the satisfaction of showing her he was pleased that her selective antisocial demeanor came in handy this time. "Alright."
"Alright?"
He smiled and placed his hands on her shoulders from behind, pressing her over toward the stairs, "Yes. You did good and listened to orders properly. Now go put your things upstairs I have a surprise for you."
She looked at him in suspicion, "Okay?"
He patted her head and shoved her a bit more firmly, "Good girl."
Both Joker and Frost watched as she made her way up the stairs. Before opening the door, she turned to look at them. J had his hands in his slacks pocket while Frost stood there with one of her boxes oblivious yet apathetic. He smiled at her. She narrowed her eyes at them and opened the door to enter the club.
Joker wiped the smile from his face as soon as the door shut and turned to look at Frost. "Who was he?"
Frost shook his head, "Don't know. But he seemed pretty interested in Sofia. He was a biker."
J's eyes wandered off in thought, "I see. Well keep an eye open tonight. I have a feeling we'll be seeing Mr. Biker real soon."
"Yes boss."
Sofia placed the box on the counter in her brother's room and grabbed some of her clothes. She was so relieved to finally have her own clothes to finally wear again. She heard footsteps behind her and she turned to see J stroll into the room. She placed a hand on hand on her hip, "So what's my surprise?"
He feigned confusion, "Did I say surprise?"
She rolled her eyes and smiled at him, "Yes. You did actually."
He smirked at her and nudged his head back to the hall, "Follow me."
She eagerly listened and walked in the direction he was. They ended up a few doors down and Joker placed his hand in his pocket to pull out a ring of keys.
"Do you even know what half of those open?" she asked, seeing just how many there were as he looked for the one that opened the door they were currently standing in front of.
"I often find myself wondering where the hell half these keys even came from," he replied, still going through the ring.
"Aha," he stated, pulling a bronze key up to the lock, "Gotcha."
She watched as he unlocked the door and smiled at her. Lifting his hand and placing it on the surface, watching her as he pushed the door open. Sofia looked inside to see another large penthouse room similar to his own, but a little smaller. It was beautiful. Large windows on most of the walls and black modern furniture. Just a basic design for a spare room.
She turned to look at him with a smile on her face, "You did this?"
He walked up behind her, looking at the room as she was, shrugging, "Yeah. Well, I wanted my bed back so."
She chuckled, "Thank you J."
He looked at her and rolled his eyes, "Don't."
She continued to smile, "Don't what?"
He grunted, "Do that." Trying to avoid her eyes.
She scoffed and walked closer to him, "Do what?"
Joker quickly backed away and tried to turned from her before she quickly hugged him tightly from behind. He groaned and stood still, not wanting to touch her. She squeezed him tighter and he clenched his fist before sighing and turning his body to reluctantly hug her back. They held each other before he decided that was enough or he'd vomit. He fixed his blazer and criticized her for making wrinkles in it that clearly weren't there.
She watched him in amusement as he headed out of the room, "Start getting ready for tonight," he passed the doorway. She smiled and turned to further into the room before hearing.
"And try not to wear anything that shows your ass. I already have a hard-enough time avoiding killing my men! It's bad enough you wear the shit you do."
Ugh… That man.
The rest of the day consisted of Sofia putting all her things away and organizing her new room. After she thought it looked up to her standards, did she then decide to get ready. She rummaged through her new closet and passed through different dresses. Remembering J didn't want her to show her ass.
She suddenly stopped. A devilish smirk forming on her lips.
She held onto the shoulder of the dress, "Perfect."
She pulled out a gold and beige mesh dress. With sparkled golden bits covering most of the dress while the mess surrounded the rest of her uncovered body. She put it on and looked in the mirror. It had been a while since she wore this one. She didn't even remember what it was for, but she could have sworn it was for a trip to Vegas for her 21st birthday. It was beautiful.
She decided to go with matching gold makeup and shimmery gloss for her plump lips. She picked nude matching pumps and made two fishtail braids. She walked to the door before glancing one more time at herself. Her silver locket still clinging to her neck.
"He's gonna kill me." She told herself but couldn't help but feel good again.
She took a breath and opened the door, hearing the blast of club music in the other side. She sauntered down the hall and walked up to the balcony. Looking over the club of people.