Title: I Love You…I'll Kill You

Fandom: The Dark Knight

Rating: M

Pairing: Joker/OC

Genre: Drama/Angst

Disclaimer: Unfortunately I don't own the Joker or Batman.

A/N: I have some really...interesting plans for the next few chapters. I hope you all enjoy the ride!

Chapter Fifty-One

"Ten...nine…eight…seven…six…five…four…three…"

"Ok, ok!" Lacy shouted, coming out of the bathroom. She knew that she cut it close on time. He had given her twenty minutes to get ready and she had used nineteen minutes and fifty-eight seconds.

While getting dressed and putting on the long, form-fitting purple silk dress that he set out for her, she wondered how she was going to get out of this situation—or if there even was a way for her to get out without dying. She still wasn't afraid to die, although she didn't particularly want to. Her concern was that she was going to die before she got a chance to permanently stop the Joker.

He had something planned tonight and the end result was going to be her death. As much as she hated to admit it, there might not be a way for her to stop him.

"You look…stunning, my dear." He smiled, circling her. His head nodded in appreciation. "You sure do clean up nicely. Do you like the dress? I picked it out especially for you."

"I don't care about the dress." She answered honestly.

"Aw, come on." He lightly elbowed her. "Cheer up! Tonight is about a celebration. I don't want you to be all gloomy and cranky. Tonight we're going to have some fun."

"What are we celebrating?" She asked, curious about his plans.

"We're going to be celebrating the end of an era. Tonight is the night that I finally grant your wish. You know, the one that you've been pestering me about for years now?"

"Which one?" She asked with a chuckle. "There have been a few."

"The one about me finally leaving you alone. Your wish is finally coming true!" He exclaimed. "Aren't you excited?"

"Thrilled." She told him in a flat voice. She knew what he meant. He was going to leave her alone because he was going to kill her.

"We're going to relive our wedding night. I figure it's only fair to end our marriage the same way we started it, don't you think?"

"Our marriage has been over for quite a long time." She reminded him.

"So you say." He laughed. "But anyway, I have a nice dinner set up for us. Follow me." He didn't give her a choice, grabbing her hand and practically dragging her into an adjoining room.

This room had a table set up with candles and a wide assortment of Chinese food. She recognized the food as the same dinner they had on their wedding night. Looking around the room, she also noticed a bed and wondered to what extent he wanted to relive their wedding night.

Lacy giggled as she put the boxes of Chinese food on their coffee table. Since they didn't have a lot of money the coffee table also served as their dining room table, but they didn't mind. They had gotten married at the courthouse today and she was still flying on cloud nine, still not fully believing that Jack was now her husband.

"Do we have everything we need?" Jack asked from the kitchen. "Do I need to bring anything in there?"

"Just your cute butt!" She replied, opening the last of the boxes.

"Well that I can manage." He told her, sitting next to her on the floor and kissing the top of her head.

"You know, I can't believe we're actually married." She said as she poured some soy sauce over her rice.

"You're not doubting your decision, are you?" He asked in a half-serious tone.

"Oh God no!" She assured him, giving him a quick kiss. "It just feels so surreal."

"Well good." He smiled. "Because now that we're married, you're stuck with me until the day one of us dies."

"That's perfectly fine with me." She smiled back. "I have no intention of ever voluntarily leaving your side."

After they ate dinner that night, they went back to their bedroom and stayed up all night, consummating their marriage several times before the morning light. Lacy hoped that wasn't part of the Joker's plan for tonight.

"What do you think?" He asked. "I know it's not exactly like our wedding night, but I feel like it is close enough."

"Can we just get this show on the road?" She was starting to get impatient. If he was going to kill her then she just wanted him to go ahead and do it. Though she knew it wasn't going to be that easy. He would make it hurt.

"Ah, so impatient." He whispered in her ear as he stood behind her and snaked his arm around her waist. He felt her whole body stiffen as he pressed himself up against her and smiled. "You shouldn't be in such a hurry. We're going to take our time tonight and enjoy every single moment."

She pulled away from him and faced him, knowing what he wanted. But there was no way she would give it to him. "Sorry, but I'm not in the mood tonight. I have a headache."

He laughed. "Who said I was planning on asking you?" He grabbed a hold of her again and pushed her down onto the bed.

Bruce looked at pictures of two warehouses. He had the Joker's hideout narrowed down to two places, thanks to Lacy's information. Now that it was dark it was slightly safer for him to go out as Batman without the police apprehending him.

He was already dressed as Batman and didn't want to waste anymore time. He was determined to get to Alfred before the Joker killed him. He wasn't going to watch another loved one die, especially not at the hands of the Joker.

Taking a deep breath, he got into the new tumbler that Lucius designed for him. His plan was simple. He would visit both warehouses until he found Alfred.

Lacy sat at the table, staring at the Joker and occasionally drinking a glass of wine. He was sitting across from her and was eating his food like the past hour hadn't happened—like he hadn't just forced himself on her. Tears would have fallen from her eyes but she refused to shed any more tears over him. He wasn't worth it.

She folded her arms across her chest and just stared at him, throwing looks of pure hatred at him, but he seemed to not notice or care. He just sat there, hungrily eating his food.

He looked up, noticing that she wasn't eating. "What's wrong?" He asked, pretending to sound sympathetic. "You don't like Chinese food anymore?"

When she didn't answer him he realized that she was trying to give him the silent treatment. "Ah, I see. You're mad. Well what else is new?" He chuckled. "It seems like you're always mad at me for something."

"Gee, I wonder why that is." She broke her silence to spew out that bit of sarcasm.

"I don't know!" He feigned ignorance. "Why is that?"

"Because you're an evil douche bag who deserves to die a horribly painful death?" She answered, taking a sip of the wine that was in front of her.

"Perhaps." He replied slowly, watching with delight as she continued to drink the wine. "But you married me."

"I married Jack." She clarified. "Not you."

He put his elbows on the table and leaned in closer to her. "Yeah, but I'm the one that gives you orgasms. That's something dear old Jack was never too good at doing. I could tell when you were faking. You weren't that convincing of an actress."

"You're disgusting." She shook her head.

"But you love it." He baited her.

"No, I don't." She adamantly denied. "I hate you and I wish that you were dead."

"Oh come on, it hurts me when you say things like that." He pretended to be hurt by her words and got up from his seat. Then he walked over to her seat and pulled her up so that she was pressed against him. "Now, say you're sorry."

"No." She refused. "I won't apologize for telling the truth."

"Ok then." He smiled, checking his watch. "So what do you want your last words to be?"

"What do you mean?" She asked, taken aback slightly by that question.

"Well I spiked your glass of wine with a paralyzing drug." He checked his watch again. "By my calculations, you only have about two more minutes before it takes effect. When that happens you won't be able to move or talk. Your heart will still be beating and you'll still be breathing but the really cool part is that you will be able to feel everything that happens to you. You just won't be able to scream or react! Isn't modern medicine just great?"

"You're lying. I don't believe you. You're just trying to scare me." She accused him, hoping he truly was lying but deep down knowing he wasn't.

"Really?" He looked at her and laughed. "Those are your final words? Kind of lame if you ask me, but hey it's your choice."

"You want final words?" She yelled. "How about this? I hate you and no matter what you do to me or anyone else, you will get yours in the end because karma is a bitch."

"Oh I know that one day I'm going to die. I'm just not worried about it." He told her, watching as she started to fall over. The drug was beginning to take effect and he smiled as he caught her. He then placed her on the bed. "Now the real fun can begin."

Gordon walked out from his office into the main area of the police station, where all available officers were waiting for him. "Ok men, we have a tip that the Joker is in a warehouse somewhere on the west side of town close to the docks. What we're going to do is split up into teams and divide the area into sections. Each team will be responsible for checking every warehouse."

"It is imperative that we find and stop the Joker for good this time. I want the Joker back in our custody, but at this point I don't care if he's dead or alive." Gordon explained. "Use brute force if you have to because I'm sure if we encounter him he won't go down without a fight. And be careful because we don't have any idea if he knows we're coming for him."

"What if we run into Lacy Williams? What do you want us to do with her?" One of the officers in the back asked.

"Apprehend her but try not to hurt her." Gordon replied. "We still aren't completely sure what her role in the Joker's crimes is and I just want to bring her in for questioning for now. Any other questions?"

When no one else shouted out any questions, he sighed. "Good luck and let's hope we find him. Let's go!"

The Joker hummed softly as he got his knife out of his pocket. Lacy's body had finally succumbed to the full effects of the paralyzing drug and he was ready to have his fun. "Let's start by making you a little more comfortable."

He studied his canvas before making a few quick cuts. With a smile he pulled off the midsection part of her dress. "You won't be needing that right now."

She looked at him, willing herself to move but being unable to. He was right when he described the effects of the drug. All she could really do right now was breathe. She couldn't move, blink, cry, or scream. She wondered what he was going to do now that he had exposed a large part of her skin from below her bust line to her belly button. Whatever it was, she wished he wouldn't do it because she had a feeling it was going to be painful.

Bruce searched through the first warehouse, sorely disappointed. There was no sign of the Joker. The only things left in the abandoned warehouse were spiders and old shipping crates. While he hated feeling like he was wasting precious time by picking this warehouse to search first, he grew more confident that the next warehouse was going to be the one where he would find Alfred.