Chapter Seven: Fun

The next few days were hard on Nora. Another heat wave blanketed the city, work was busy, and she had a dull ache in her chest. Her growing attraction to the Joker was churning inside her, leaving her mind over-active and her body exhausted. This wasn't like some adolescent crush, she had obviously been through that in her life before, this was different. This was some raw and primal allure with no basis in logic whatsoever. It would be wrong to give in though, to let her desire pull her under and drown her in his mysterious charm. He was a criminal, labeled as a madman, who has killed without remorse. No matter how much she tried to reason with herself, she couldn't deny the lustful feelings were there and it was tearing her apart. But she continued on with her life. She wasn't going to let her unbridled emotions paralyze her, even though she wanted to. It would be easier to curl up in her bed all day and feel sorry for herself but that wouldn't help her at all. She didn't know what would help but at least working kept her engaged in something other than arguing with herself over whether her feelings were justified or not. She couldn't exactly ask someone for advice. Yeah so I met the Joker and now my attraction to him is devouring me from the inside because I don't feel that I can act on it, what are your thoughts on that? Ridiculous.

She should have left that stethoscope in the bag. Don't look at it, don't touch it, don't think about it. But she couldn't help herself and she brought it to work. Was it a gift? One would assume that it was. Assuming that, then what does it mean? Why would he give it to her? She wanted to believe it was because he felt something for her. But that something could have been pure selfish lust and Nora would have been okay with that. She'd find herself occasionally staring at the wall throughout the day, her thoughts on him with her chin resting in her hand. One of these day dreaming sessions was interrupted by her technician, Jen, while she was at work. It had been four days since she had last seen or heard from Joker.

"Dr. Hawthorne? Are you ok?" she heard from beside her.

Nora's half-lidded eyes flew open and she quickly turned her head to respond, "Hm? Oh! Yeah, I'm fine. What's up?"

Jen stared down at her hands uncomfortably. "Well some of us have noticed that you haven't really seemed like yourself lately. You've been quiet and distracted which isn't really like you," she said.

Nora was on the brink of panic, trying to come up with a believable excuse. "Oh God, yeah I-I'm sorry I didn't mean to. Um, my uh grandmother is sick and she may die soon," she stammered.

"Oh no! I'm so sorry! That's tough. Is she too far to visit?" Jen replied.

I love you Jen, but please stop asking questions. "Uh, yeah, she's all the way out on the west coast."

Jen gave her a look of sympathy and said, "I'm sorry to hear that, let us know if there is anything we can do, ok?"

"Thanks, Jen. I really appreciate that," Nora said with a little smile. Jen returned the smile and nodded before walking away.

Fuck, I'm a horrible person. Nora's grandma died four years ago. She had to try harder to keep her internal struggle from showing to avoid attracting more attention to herself but it was already hard enough just getting through the day. Nora started to feel a little angry with herself. Why couldn't she handle this? She went through eight years of school, worked at least twelve hour days, was paying off her student dept all on her own, and dealt with the life and death of people's pseudo family members who couldn't even talk along with all of the emotional fallout that came with that on a regular basis but she was breaking down because she wanted to fuck a wanted criminal? Jesus, how long has it been since I've gotten laid? Is there something wrong with me?

Her time spent self-reprimanding ran out as a Labrador in an active seizure was brought back to the treatment room. "Chris, get me some vitals. Jen get an IV catheter placed," Nora called as she unlocked her drug box to grab the Diazepam.

Nora's keys jingled as she unlocked the door to her apartment while balancing a bag of groceries in her other arm. She dropped the bag on the kitchen counter with a huff after closing the door and kicking her shoes off. It didn't take long for Bowie's mews to enter the room on little paws. Nora smiled and greeted her cat before picking up her empty bowl to fill it. Then she stocked the fridge and cabinets with the human food she finally made time to purchase with her new cashflow. Before heading to her bedroom to change, she stopped at the bag Joker gave her, left sitting on the floor of the living room. She stared at it as she reached into her shoulder bag and pulled out her new stethoscope to drop it in. She couldn't keep carrying around that reminder with her. One of the staff at the clinic even commented on the fancy new device and all she could muster as a response was that it was a gift from a friend. Sure, a friend.

Maybe I should try to date. Nora hadn't dated anyone in a while. She had never really found anyone that she wanted to maintain a relationship with for more than a few months. She didn't really know why, she would just get bored. But Joker wasn't boring. He was the opposite, actually. Nobody knew much about him except that he had been hell-bent on exposing Batman and harassing the Mob with no regard for any innocent bystanders. He was some mysterious, forbidden figure that Nora had gotten dangerously close to but here she was without a scratch. That closeness was intensely addictive for her and she decided she wasn't ready to give up. How close could she get without falling over the edge? This was a reckless way of thinking but something was changing in Nora that was beginning to over-power her ability to control herself. The last time she saw Joker, she told herself that she needed to keep her distance. As the days have gone by, she felt her willpower to do so shrinking. She was still staring at the bag when a noise made her jump. It was a phone ringing. The phone Joker gave her was ringing for the first time since he put it in her hand.

Nora's heart pounded and her hands shook as she reached into her pants pocket where she had been keeping it close in case it did ring. The screen read "unknown number" on the display.

"This rings, you answer. Got i-t?"

She hit the answer button and held it to her ear. "H-Hello?," she stuttered.

"Doc-tor Noraaa," Joker's voice on the other end said. "We have our-selves a bit of a situ-ation here that could use your expertise."

A shiver jolted through her body when she heard him speak. "Oh, ok. How can I help?" she replied.

"In fifteen minutes, a car will meet you outside your building. See you soon, doc," he said before hanging up.

Her hands were still trembling after shoving the phone back in her pocket and she tried to catch her breath. Ok, ok, ok. This is what you agreed to do. You got this. You can handle this. She paced frantically around the room for a moment before whipping her head toward the clock on the oven. 9:28pm. She stopped and took a few deep breaths. Fifteen minutes was barely any time at all. But tomorrow was her off day so she didn't have to worry about getting up for work in the morning. She may as well keep her scrubs on so she wasn't going to bother changing. Her nerves were still running wild but she managed to calm down a bit. She needed something in her stomach. She hadn't eaten since lunch that afternoon. With no time to spare and her stomach too twisted into knots to accept much else, she choked down an energy bar and grabbed her medical bag before locking her door behind her to head for the elevator. Her eyes widened when she turned around to see her neighbor, Leann standing in front of her.

Nora yelped a little and flinched. "Ah! Oh ha ha! Leann, it's you. Hi," she laughed nervously.

Leann smiled and replied, "Hi Nora, haven't seen you in a while. A little jumpy huh?"

Well that's a rude thing to say. "Um yeah I guess. Well I gotta go, good to see you," she mumbled before rushing down the hallway.

"Bye!" Leann called after her as Nora rolled her eyes to herself.

Once on the elevator, she tapped her fingers on her thigh impatiently until the doors opened and she shoved past them to burst through the front entrance and quickly look down both sides of the street. No sign of any waiting car. Nora checked the time on the phone in her pocket. 9:33pm. In her panic she hadn't realized that only a few minutes had passed. She puffed a sigh out of her cheeks and caught her breath. It was so quiet out. The summer sun had set and Gotham had begun to slow down for the night, but the heat of the day barely receded. The tranquil atmosphere clashed with the nervous energy emanating from Nora as she waited for her ride. A breeze blew in her hair as she listened for the sound of an approaching car. She was kicking herself for rushing down there so quickly, but she would have been doing the same thing in her apartment she supposed. What are you gonna do when you see him? Her heart began to race once again. Before she could think much more about it, a black car pulled up in front of her. She held her breath as she waited for someone to come out. The driver side window rolled down to reveal Q behind the wheel. He motioned to the backseat with his head and Nora heard the door unlock. She let out her breath and opened the door to climb inside.

"Good to see ya, doc," Enigma said from the passenger seat as she heaved the heavy medical bag up onto the seat next to her. The cool blast from the car's air conditioner was a very welcome reprieve.

"Oh, hi. Um, how are you?" she replied awkwardly. She has still getting over the adrenaline rush that came over her when she thought maybe Joker would be in the car.

"Not too bad, better than Dome anyway. Guy got his head bashed," he replied

Q laughed and said "Of course Dome gets his head bashed." The two men laughed together at the irony of the situation as Nora sat silently in the backseat. A head injury?

Once his laughter died down, Q spoke up, "So, boss says you're a veterinarian. Animal doctor. What you doin hangin around this crowd?"

Fuck. Nora had been nervous about what the men in Joker's gang would say about her profession. She was used to being treated differently when people heard what the "Dr." in front of her name was for. People had even asked her why she didn't become a real doctor. She pretended it didn't bother her but it did.

"Well, I um, I need some extra money to pay my loans. School costs the same as medical school but they don't pay me as much after," she answered.

"Fuckin shame," said Enigma. "That's bullshit. I know what you did for the boss and 'aint no other doctor would do that for him."

She blushed heavily and responded in a quiet voice, "Y-You know about that?"

"Yup," he said. "Couple of wanna-be gangsters stabbed him with some goddamn glass for what he did to Gambol. Boss is alive cause of you." Nora had heard that name on the news, he was the mob boss Joker killed earlier that year.

Q interjected, "Course those guys didn't live to tell that story."

"Nah, you get in a stabbin contest with the Joker you gonna loose no matter what," Enigma replied and the men chuckled together.

Nora stared out the windshield, remembering the night she saved Joker. His body trapping her against the door, the needle plunging into his chest as he gasped for air, the sutures in his skin, how much she had touched him. She still couldn't believe she did that and thinking about it made butterflies swarm in her stomach. Now she knew someone had tried to kill him and she prevented that. Attempted murder was what brought the Joker to her and lead to the strange connection they now had. Instead of feeling remorse about being the one who allowed the Gotham criminal to live another day, she felt proud. It felt strangely gratifying to be the one that kept the Joker from dying. It almost made her feel powerful.

She finally spoke up and said, "I-I'm glad he's ok."

The sight of the warehouse up ahead brought her anxiety tingling back through her hands. Enigma carried the medical bag for her as they entered through the same door as before. About a dozen men turned their heads to look at them. This time some of them were wearing clown masks or had them pushed up on top of their heads and this made Nora feel all the more uncomfortable. She had never felt smaller than she did then, standing there in her baggy blue scrubs. She looked around quickly, trying to spot Joker. Q tapped her shoulder, startling her a bit.

"Boss is out but he'll be back soon," he said.

He's not here? There she was with a group of men that she bet wouldn't hesitate to do something terrible to her, surrounded by weapons, and Joker wasn't there. Why having the man who was likely the most dangerous of them all around would make her feel safe, she had no idea.

Q must have noticed the panicked look in her eyes and continued, "Real soon, like ten minutes. He told me and Enigma to get you set up. They got Dome with them."

It felt like she could trust Q and Enigma. Joker sent them to pick her up two times now and they were actually nice to her. She sighed and nodded her head before Q lead her to a table surrounded by chairs. Damn, it's hot in here. Enigma placed her bag on the table and sat down as she reached in to collect a few things. Gloves, a pen light, gauze, saline flush, antiseptic, forceps, suture, and a skin stapler. She looked up from her supplies to see a few of the men staring at her. Then she shifted her eyes to make sure that Enigma was still sitting there at the table and he gave her a nod, so she relaxed a little.

"So you're the doctor," one of the men said.

Alright, seems like that is the ice-breaker everyone has chosen around here. She nodded her head slowly.

"You're a fucking female," he stated with a scowl as he slowly walked toward her, his hatred visible on his face. Nora started to feel her hands tremble. She felt incredibly insulted but fear won as the predominating feeling at that moment.

Enigma stood from his chair, the legs making a horrible scraping sound on the floor. "Don't be stupid, man," he told him.

The man's mouth curled into an evil smile and he clenched his hands into fists at his sides before replying, "What's it to you, asshole? The bitch doesn't belong here and she needs to learn that."

Suddenly, the door to the back room swung open and slammed into the wall with a bang. "I'm sorry, she's a what?" said Joker, putting a hand to his ear as he craned his neck and walked toward them. The man stiffened up and just stared at him, his eyes wide. "I couldn't qui-te hear you," he growled in the man's face, now standing over him with his eyes burning into him.

The frightened man just opened his mouth as his body shook violently. The room was deadly silent. "Hm?" Joker hummed with raised eyebrows and continued to stare him down. "Well it seems our, uh, man here has lost his ability to spea-k," Joker spoke up to the men around them but kept his eyes locked with the man's. "What unfortun-ate last worrrds," he said before jamming a knife upwards into the bottom of his ribcage. Joker held him up for a moment as he gurgled before letting him drop to the ground, dead.

Then he turned around with a casual expression on his face before saying, "Oh I'm sorry, I just had to deal with a litt-le pes-t." A few men jumped to action, picking up the body and carrying it off to dispose of it.

Nora just stood there staring at the floor where Joker just killed that man. She was familiar with death but had never seen someone killed in front of her before. She was shocked to say the least. She didn't know the man other than him threatening her just moments before. Did he deserve it? It was clear he was a misogynist and may have even killed her over it so maybe he did deserve to die. Does anyone deserve to die?

"Hello, doll. Dressed for the job today, aren'tcha?" Joker said as he stepped in front of her, his tongue darting out at the corner of his mouth. It was so hot out he wasn't wearing his signature purple coat or gloves and had his sleeves rolled up to his elbows.

Nora wasn't sure what to say. "Hi, um. Y-You killed him because he threatened me?" she managed to say, still staring at the spot where the body landed. She felt his hand on her skin, causing goosebumps to run down her back as he took her chin in his hand to turn her face toward his.

"Tha-t was strike threee for mister new guy. Gotta get rid of the bad eggs somehow, hm?" he cooed. She blinked and nodded her head, keeping eye contact with him. Then he grinned and licked his lips, letting go of her chin before turning his head to nod once at a man standing by the door.

Nora was faced with some confusing feelings about what just happened. It isn't right to kill someone. Except maybe for some very specific circumstances, like self-defense or if someone was threatening someone else's life. Is that what just happened? Or did he just kill him because he wanted to? If she was going to keep spending time around the Joker, she had to accept some things at face value or she'd break down. She knew he killed people, she just hadn't seen with her own eyes it yet. With the shock wearing off, she searched her feelings and thought about her attraction toward Joker. Had that changed at all after witnessing this? No. No it hadn't. She still felt a fluttering sensation when he looked at her. What is wrong with me?

A tall, muscular man with a shaved head came into the room and sat down at the table. He had a gash on his scalp that was steadily bleeding, leaving a red trail down his jaw. Nora snapped back into reality and started putting gloves on her hands.

Joker pulled up a chair next to her to sit down and said, "Dome here smacked his dome into a walll." A few men chuckled at the joke and Nora tried to block the sight of the body on the floor from her mind as she prepared herself to examine the man.

She turned and addressed the large man who was nearly eye level with her from his sitting position, "Um, hi. I'm Nora."

"Hi doc," said Dome. His voice was as deep as she expected it to be.

She swallowed and said, "I-I'm gonna shine this light in your eyes, ok?" She held up the pen light to show him and he nodded. Before leaning in to look at his eyes her gaze shifted to see a group of men gathered around, watching. She felt her face turn red and she took a deep breath before turning her attention back to the man in front of her. The light clicked on and she shined it into his right eye, then his left. Each pupil contracted and expanded as it should. Next she turned her attention to the head wound. The skin was split, leaving a full thickness laceration about two inches long and the vascular tissue over the skull open to bleed but not enough to cause significant blood loss. There was a small amount of what looked like plaster dust in the wound. That was consistent with the wall part of the story. How or where it happened, she didn't really need to know.

She wasn't used to being able to ask her patients questions but in this situation it definitely came in handy. "Does your head hurt anywhere other than where the wound is?" she asked.

"Nah, feels fine," he replied.

She nodded and asked her next question, "Ok good. You feel nauseous at all?" He looked a little confused and shook his head. "Oh um, that's a symptom of a concussion," she explained.

He raised his sweaty brow and said, "Ah ok. Nah I'm good."

"Ok that's good. I need to clean the wound before I close it, there's some debris in it," she said, starting to feel a bit more relaxed.

"Ok doc," he replied, as she reached for the bottle of saline.

"You might wanna lean your head forward so I don't get it in your eyes."

Dome obliged, bowing his bloody head down and resting his elbows on his knees. Nora stood in front of him and squeezed the flush into the wound. A little red-tinged waterfall dripped to the concrete floor around her feet until she was satisfied with the wound's cleanliness. She dabbed the flesh with gauze and a tiny piece of plaster stuck in the wound caught her eye. She squinted at it and reached for the forceps on the table. It seemed like the group of men watching leaned in slightly to see what she was looking at as she carefully lowered the forceps into the wound and grabbed hold of the speck to place it on her fingertip and flick it to the side. Joker giggled as one of the men said "gross". She scrubbed some chlorhexidine antiseptic over the area and flushed it once more.

She dried his head with gauze and said, "Ok you can sit up. I think staples would be best to close this, they really aren't too painful."

"Nice, that's hardcore," he replied and Nora smiled a little.

She picked up the stapler and peeled open the package. Then she gently pushed the edges of the wound together with her fingers and aligned the stapler over the middle with her other hand. The device made a clacking sound as she pulled the trigger, spacing the steel crimps evenly apart down the length of the gash. Ten staples total were placed and it closed nicely.

"You, uh, look like Frankenstein," said Joker and the room rang with laughter. Dome joined in and chuckled, he didn't seem to mind the ribbing so Nora giggled a bit too.

"Alright, done. It might bleed a little more but it'll stop, it's best not to touch it and I wouldn't get it wet for the next ten days until the staples are removed" she said, earning a nod from Dome.

Joker stood and spread his arms out to the sides. "Alright gents, show's over!" he cried and the group of men dispersed.

Nora's focus on treating the man's wound faded and her thoughts shifted back to the murder she saw Joker commit right in front her moments earlier. She was starting to have trouble feeling much of anything about it, which she knew wasn't right. Had her strange infatuation clouded her judgement that much? That man was a person just as much as much as she, or Joker for that matter, were but she couldn't seem to feel remorse about his passing. Was it because he wanted to hurt her? The interaction was short but it seemed clear that he wanted to hurt her simply due to the fact that she was a woman. This fact certainly didn't make her think nice thoughts about him. Nora had been questioning her morals and arguing with herself so much lately that she began to feel dizzy. Why does it have to be so fucking hot? She sunk into a chair and stared down at her feet.

She heard Joker's voice from behind her, "What's on your mind, doc?"

Her eyes remained focused on her shoes, which were wet with blood-tinged saline, "I-I'm just thinking about that man, he's dead now."

"Don't waste your thoughts," he replied. A chair pulled up in front of her, she slowly looked up to see Joker had sat down to face her. Her heart started to beat faster. Then he leaned in stare into her face, smacking his red lips. His makeup was more smudged than it usually was, maybe from sweat or whatever escapade he had been on with his men. "He doesn't deserrrve your brain power, my dear," he said.

"Why's that?" she asked without thinking.

Joker giggled a little before saying, "Well, uh, isn't that obvious? Strike threee and he's out. I don't give fourth chances, doll. He proves to me that he's a piece of garbage, I'll trea-t him like gar-bage."

Nora blinked her eyes and focused them on his. "You're saying the world is better off without him?" she said. He nodded slowly. She replied, "Couldn't you make that argument for a lot of people?"

"Ohhh yes, I could," he said in a deep voice.

She had met a lot of people that were rude, self-absorbed, or downright cruel but she never wished them dead. Nora tried to give people the benefit of the doubt, but the last year of people stepping all over her was making that harder and harder to do. On a regular basis the citizens of Gotham had screamed at her or even threatened her for trying to help them by helping their animal, but not being able to do that for free. She often wished she could just see patients without ever talking to their people. But she never wished they were dead, maybe just that they'd get a flat tire or something.

Joker broke his gaze to reach into his pocket and pull out a pack of cigarettes. He placed one between his lips and held another out to Nora. She usually only smoked when she drank but decided she could really use one right now and took it from him. After producing a match, seemingly out of midair, he struck it on the concrete floor and held it up for Nora to light her cigarette before then lighting his own. The two smoked in silence for a moment. Lingering under the smell of tobacco, she could smell gunpowder. It must have been on Joker's clothes. She wondered to herself how he didn't burst into flames since he smelled combustible all the time. She also smelled something kind of sweet and spicy, like shaving cream.

"How do you decide if someone deserves to die, doc-tor Nora?" Joker asked suddenly, licking his lips. She widened her eyes and remained silent, unsure of how to answer his question as usual. "The answer is that everyone deserves to die, it's just a matter of when and howww," he said.

Nora spoke softly, "What do you mean?"

"Mister new guy deserved to die today by a knife. The, uh, Dalai Lama might deserve to die in fifty years in his bed. No one has the same answer, doc. And they can't answer it for them-selves," he said.

"Well… How can someone know when and how another deserves to die?" she asked.

Joker grinned, "Simple, doll. They'll show you."

Nora wasn't sure if he was being serious or if he was lying to get her on his side. But it kind of made sense. At least it made sense for how the Joker operates. She didn't know why he would choose to share this with her though. He could have kicked her out as soon as she finished treating his goon but he didn't. She wasn't sure what to do now so she just stared at him and he did the same at her. She thought more about it. Everyone deserves to die at some point. But that isn't always a bad thing. A person riddled with terminal cancer or someone who's body had aged enough to make even the simplest task painful, their death would be a relief. Even Nora regularly helped animals that were suffering through to the other side of life. What about someone who was healthy but were bigoted, prejudiced, or a menace to those around them? Their death wasn't a mercy for them but for everyone else. She watched him take a drag off his cigarette then blow the smoke out his lips, giving her goosebumps down her back. Then Nora started to feel warm tingles in her face and between her legs. Fuck, why can't I keep my goddamn hormones under control? Can he tell? She swore she could feel the heat coming off of him from where he sat across from her.

Their pseudo staring contest was interrupted by a tall man with dark hair in a leather jacket. Nora recognized him from the night Joker was in her apartment. "Hey boss?" he said, walking up to them. Joker's eyes narrowed and he rolled them toward the man.

"Don't ya know its rude to interr-upt?" Joker said, slowly turning his head.

The man took a step back and said, "Uh sorry boss. Me and the boys need to take inventory." Joker sighed and blinked slowly before reaching behind him to retrieve a 9 mm Glock from his waistband. He handed it by the barrel to the man without a word. As soon as he took the gun in his hand, the man backed up and swiftly joined the group unloading weapons and ammo on a large table. Joker turned back to Nora and ran his tongue over his teeth. She had never seen so many guns and explosives before, it made her a little uncomfortable.

"Can I get ya a drink, doc?" Joker asked, raising his eyebrows.

What did he just say? It didn't really seem like a good time to have a drink. She was in a warehouse full of heavily armed criminals in the most dangerous part of the city and it was getting near midnight. But she still somehow felt… safe. Yes she had seen Joker kill a man without hesitation less than an hour ago, but he did it to a man that had threatened her. He threatened her only because of her gender and Joker killed him for it. She supposed it made sense that she'd feel protected around him after that. She saved him, he saved her. Plus she could really use something to drink, preferably something cold.

"Um, ok sure," she answered.

Joker flashed a smile and said, "Pick your poison, doll." He stood and motioned for Nora to follow him. They walked toward the back of the main room, under the landing to the second floor, where a make-shift kitchen had been constructed. There was a sink against the wall, a long countertop across from it, and an old refrigerator that looked like it was made in the 1950's. Joker slid behind the counter and bent down to rummage in some shelves as Nora sat on a stool in front of it. His hands lifted bottles of liquor to place them on the countertop and he continued clinking more bottles below, humming an unfamiliar tune. Once he was satisfied with the selection, he stood and put his hands on his hips. He looked like the strangest bartender she'd ever seen. Nora looked at the bottles of various dark and clear liquids. There was whisky, vodka, dark and light rum, gin and Campari.

"Campari and gin," she said with a smile.

Joker grinned back and said, "Ahh so she's classy," winking at her. She blushed as he got to work on the cocktail, taking a glass out from under the counter. He retrieved some ice from the freezer to drop it in the glass before adding in generous pours of the spirits. Ah yes, something cold! Nora smiled at him when he slid the cool glass to her from across the counter.

"Thanks, J," she said, flutters in her stomach.

Joker clicked his tongue in his mouth and replied, "Don't mention it, doll." Then he dropped more ice into another glass and poured some whisky over it to take a large gulp. He shuddered a bit, shook his head, and made a funny noise before pouring more of the brown liquid into the glass. Nora giggled silently to herself and took a sip of her drink as she watched him. It tasted amazing and she instantly felt cooler. She took a deep breath and let out a long sigh.

"Another long day, my dear?" he asked, leaning in on his hands against the counter top. He blinked at her with a straight face.

She wasn't sure if he really cared but she might as well play along. "Uh yeah, kind of. I guess I'm just tired," she replied.

"Well I'm no, uh, doctor but I'd say you need to relax. Have some funnn," he purred, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

What kind of fun? She narrowed her eyes and turned her head to the side skeptically, "Fun?"

"Mmmmhm," he nodded. They stared at each other and took a sip of their drinks. "You know how to play poker, doctor Nora?" he asked.

She raised her eyebrows and grinned before answering, "I do, actually." Joker flashed a smile before picking up his glass and heading for a nearby round table where stacks of red chips sat in front of each chair. Nora followed and pulled out a chair to sit down. She could hear the sound of hip-hop that had begun playing on a radio.

Joker whistled loudly and called out, "Texas Hold'em! Place your bets, gentlemen!" Heads turned to look followed by nods and comments amongst the men in the room. A few of those counting ammo along with some from the couches stood and made their way to the poker table. Q and Enigma were amongst them, Enigma bringing a fifth of Grand Mariner and a handful of shot glasses with him. The group gathered at the table with Joker and Nora. "Boss," a few of them said, nodding to him.

"You want one, doc?" Enigma asked her, setting the shot glasses down on the table. She froze and shifted her eyes around the table. The four other men joining them looked more or less innocuous as far as she could tell, no glares or dirty looks at her. Also, even though she hated to admit it, she did feel safe around Joker. Ok, take one to show them you're not a loser.

She smiled and said, "Only if you take one too."

Enigma laughed and poured enough shots for everyone at the table. After he passed them around, he took one in his hand and turned to Joker. "Boss, who we drinkin' to?" he asked.

Joker picked up a shot glass and pretended to think for a moment. "To doctor Noraaa," he said, raising the glass in the air. Her eyes went wide and her face flushed bright red.

"To doctor Nora," the group echoed before they tossed their heads back to swallow the liquor. Nora blinked and quickly took her shot, trying to avoid making her awkwardness more obvious.

The glasses hit the table top and Joker clapped his hands together, "Alright! Let's get to it, shall we? Five bucks per chip." The group sat down into their chairs as Joker expertly shuffled the deck. He dealt two cards to each of them from his left, everyone taking a quick look at them. Nora was sat to Joker's right and peeked at her cards as well. A three and a seven of spades. Not bad. She lifted her gaze up from her cars and glanced around the table. Two of the men appeared pretty pleased but she never trusted anyone not to bluff from the beginning. Everyone else, including Joker remained expressionless.

He turned to the man on his left and licked his lips. The young, blonde haired man tossed two chips into the center of the table. They went around the table placing bets and a couple of players checked, knocking a knuckle on the wood. Nora continued to sip her drink until it was her turn. She decided to raise and added four chips to the pot. Joker chuckled and called her bet, throwing in four chips of his own. Then he turned over three cards from the top of a the deck and placed them on the table in front of him. A jack of spades, a queen of diamonds, and a two of spades. Promising.

The blonde man checked. Everyone else stayed in that round, matching the bet or four chips, except Q who raised by one. Once it was Nora's turn she raised by another chip and turned to Joker. He smirked at her, leaned in, and focused his eyes on hers. A wave of tingles ran through her and she smirked back, cocking an eyebrow and keeping her eyes on his. She was most of the way through her sizable drink at that point and it was mingling with the shot in her stomach, making her feel looser and her mind a little fuzzy. Joker giggled at her ridiculous poker face and tossed seven chips into the pot before flipping over another card from the deck. It was an ace of spades. Fuck yeah! Nora focused on keeping a straight face but it was a struggle. She stared at Joker, trying to get a sense of how good his hand might be at this point, but his expression remained perfectly neutral. He did raise the bet on his last turn but he might just be egging her on. The next round of bets went around the table, leaving Enigma, Q, a big guy with a beard, Joker, and Nora left after the other three folded. With a check, two matches, and two raises, the pot was now ten chips. Joker flipped over the final card onto the table, a queen of hearts. Q sighed and tossed his cards down followed by the bearded man. Nora was feeling lucky, odds were looking good for winning this round with a strong flush. The four of them looked at each other and revealed their cards. Enigma had a straight with a ten of diamonds and a king of hearts in front of him. Nora's flush beat that but she looked in front of Joker to see a queen of spades and a queen of clubs, a four of a kind. The silence broke with loud cackles from Joker as Enigma and Nora groaned.

The group played a few more times with other players coming and going, each game starting with a round of shots. Everyone's voices becoming progressively louder as they drank. The bearded man, who was introduced to Nora as Tiny, won the next round with a full house to be met with jeering from the rest of the table. Enigma won a round with an queen-high flush over Joker's king-high flush, which he celebrated by running victory laps around the table as Nora and Joker threw chips at him. Nora won the last game, which was particularly rowdy, with a straight flush of a seven, eight, nine, ten, and jack of hearts. She yelled, "Yes! Fuck yeah!" causing the group to laugh and clap for her. She sat back in her chair and laughed along with them.

After a while the group scattered, a few men stumbling their way to the couches or outside to who knows where. Joker was scribbling the last of the bets in the pots along with the winners from each game on a piece of paper as he discussed the pay-outs noisily with some of the players. The warehouse became much quieter once the last few men dispersed. Before he left the table, Enigma shook Nora's hand and said, "Great playing with ya, doc!"

"Thanks! You too," she replied. Despite her win, she ended up losing almost three hundred bucks but it was worth it. She actually had a great time.

She looked next to her to see Joker turned toward her. He was lighting two cigarettes between his lips, leaning back in his chair with one ankle rested on his opposite knee. He took one from his mouth and handed it to her, she felt that familiar warm and tingling sensation in her core and gladly accepted it. It tasted a bit like whisky and greasepaint. She had gotten quite tipsy from all of the drinking at that point but tasting his mouth on the cigarette was even more intoxicating. She savored the flavor and took a long drag to blow the smoke out at the ceiling. Her will power to hold back her feelings for him had been fading all night. Her eyes opened and she noticed Joker staring at her. It wasn't a sinister stare. It was almost like he was trying to figure something out and if he looked at her long enough maybe it would come to him. She stared back and softened her gaze, licking her lips and taking another hit off her cigarette.

"You're uh differ-ent aren't ya, doll?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" she replied, knowing by now that it was better to answer his questions with another question.

He ran his tongue over his lower lip and answered, "You're still herrre." It was true, she had become remarkably comfortable in her potentially dangerous surroundings that night. It was two 'o'clock in the morning at that point and she hadn't even realized it.

She blew smoke out her lips and said, "That's true, I am. I don't want to over stay my welcome."

He scoffed through his nose and replied, "Not possible, doll."

Nora felt flutters in her stomach and cracked a small smile. They began to look into each other's eyes again, making her heart rate rise and she could swear she saw Joker breathing faster. His eyes wandered to her lips.

"I have something to show you," he finally said. Nora was breathing faster now and simply nodded her head. Joker stood and when she did the same to follow him, he took her by the hand, sending sensations of pins and needles up her arm. She felt warm and dazed, floating along with him up the stairs up to the second floor. In her reverie, her thoughts of what was about to happen, the potential that harm could come to her, were drowned out by her lust. He opened the door to the dimly lit room and lead her inside. When the door closed, Nora felt her body being pushed up against it and her breath hitched in her throat. But the act didn't seem aggressive, it felt different. Joker held her against the door, his chest pressed up against hers and his hands on either side of her head. Nora's heart pounded and she felt incredibly warm all over but remained still. They both breathed heavily for a moment and she looked into his eyes. They were soft and half-lidded but had a fire burning behind them at the same time.

Suddenly, Joker reached his fingers into her hair on the back of her head and brought it forward, crashing his lips into hers. She couldn't believe what was happening. Is this real? She returned the kiss, tasting his lips. Yep, it's real. Nora put her arms around his neck and he deepened the kiss, his scars intensifying the feeling of his mouth against hers. They stood against the door, taking each other in as their mouths continued to greedily devour the sensation. He pulled away abruptly to look her in the eyes before moving his mouth to her neck, his tongue teasing the sensitive skin, earning a quiet moan from Nora. She felt his lips form a smile against her as he chuckled softly and she joined in. The two giggled as he pulled her to the bed in the corner where they flopped down and continued to explore each other's mouths.

Song for this chapter: LUST. by Kendrick Lamar