Pain. That's the first thing she felt, the aching burning sensation at the base of her scalp. The pulling of her arms above her head and her body dangling. That was the second. The first thing she heard was woosh and soft relaxing dance of liquid. Each sense came back slowly, and of course the smell of Saturday evenings at Nan's house and the toxic smell of relaxer tugged at her stomach. Where was she. When she looked down, she saw the bright lime green acid she hung above. It was disturbing in its own sense, but her being above it made her want to thrash and kick until she was anywhere else. Of course, common sense kicked in and she stayed perfectly still. No reason to give Joker any more reason to kill her than he already had.

"Look at that! She's awake." He said leaning on the rail next to the buttons that could end her.

"Please." She said meekly "Let me go."

"Why should I kid? What's the fun in that? Why you haven't smiled once since we've been together. And you know how I feel about a smile."

"Joker." She said as calmly as she could. "I have absolutely no reason to smile."

"Why?" He asked his arms folded. "We're having fun, right?"

"YOU." She corrected "You are having fun. I don't want to have fun like this. This is not my ideal of fun so I shouldn't have to smile for you."

"I bet you have such a pretty smile. Maybe if you used it more you could've gotten out of the bank."

"Excuse me?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Listen. I'm equal opportunity. You know me I'm a lover of fun, and everyone who has it, but like I said before… No one will come looking for you. Which makes you perfect."

"Because I don't smile?" She said almost hurt that Joker was more aware of the things going on aware him that he wanted the world to believe. He knew what he was doing. She was going to be his plaything because Batman, Robin, or any other member would come looking for her until it was a national emergency. And then she realized. She would never be a national emergency. She'd just be a flyer on an abandoned building.

"Judging by the look on your face I think you answered your own question." He chuckled once more. "I've been there… I've been the butt of everyone's joke. The clown who cried. And where did it get me? A load of chemical burns and well a not so happy ending. But the clown who laughs?! Look at all this. I even have a crazy chick who sits in Arkham and waits until I want to be in love again. Isn't it wonderful!? I have fun Cause I smile… And when you find yours, you're going to have a blast."

"If I'm not dead by then!"

"Who said you're going to be dead. I'd never kill someone I see potential in. I may hurt them, but never murder them. What kinda guy do ya take me for?" He laughed again. This time it was caring. Like was an uncle teaching her how to shoplift properly, but that's not what he was doing. He was going to put her in a chemical vat and poison her. Or at least make her feel that way.

Before she could answer him, she seen a flashing green light above him. It struck his attention too. He looked at her. "Well kid. I gotta leave ya here-"

"What please don't!"

"Oh, c'mon it's not gonna be for long. I'll be right back. Just a pesky kid I gotta handle." He hunched his shoulders and walked away. Then he closed the door behind him and left her in the dark room alone again.

Suddenly she could see why Harley Quinn was crazy about the lunatic. He had his moments where there was care. Not enough to make her love him, but enough to hopefully get on his good side and get the ever- loving hell out of here. She just wanted out. She wanted to go home. To her cat with her ramen, she wanted to get into her pajamas and forget that this ever happened. If he came back, she would smile. She would show him that she could, and her resting face wasn't the only one she had.

Then she heard them. "HAHAHAHAHAHA." BLAM "HAHAHAHAHAHA YOU'LL NEVER GET THE LAST LAUGH REDDY MY BOY." BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM. Then silence. She didn't want to alarm her captor that she wanted out if he was the one with the gun. Then she heard sirens outside. They did come for her. They were going to prove the Joker wrong. For once.

"HELP ME!" She cried. "PLEASE." She cried hoarsely.

The door swung open and a police officer hidden by shadows walked in. "Who's in here?!"

"My Name is Zara Smith. I'm a bank teller at Gotham First National, and I've been kidnapped. PLEASE HELP ME. I COULD DIE UP HERE!"

"You were at the bank robbery today?"

"Yes! PLEASE HELP ME!"

"Were you apart of it?"

"What?"

"We all know the Joker has a squeeze everywhere. Where you apart of it?"

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT I WASN'T A PART OF A FUCKING ROBBERY! GET ME DOWN AND HELP ME."

"Don't take that tone with me ma'am." He pointed his gun.

"You're going to shoot me?!" Zara cried "I HAVENT DONE ANYTHING PLEASE GET ME DOWN."

"Who can vouch that you're a victim?"

"The Joker! Or the fact I'M HANGING HERE."

"The Jokers dead, riddled with bullets so I can't ask him, and besides, this could be a kinky sex thing. God only knows what that weirdo was into."

"GET ME DOWN FROM HERE YOU FUCKING PIG!" Zara remembered everything her father said a second too late. 'Be polite to them. Your life is always in their hands. Whether it's a parking ticket or a bank robbery. Always be nice to the police.'

His face shone in the light for a moment and smirk he had on his face was much sicker than the one Joker had. "Shouldn't have said that."

"I'm sorry I'm sorry okay! Please just-" It was too late. Her please were masked with another gunshot. The rope let her free fall right into the vat of acid. The sound of the liquid hurling in her ears was deafening. It burned. Her skin felt like it was being pierced by a million needles that were tied to live wires. Flashes of her life started to hit her from each side. She remembered times where no one would talk to her because she was "menacing."

A memory that struck her hard was the one where all the girls in her 6th grade class were going to have a slumber party and she couldn't go because she was different. How six years later she was top of her class but got passed over because she didn't quite fit the model of Gotham Academic Academy. How boys didn't want to be with her because she just wasn't "Pretty enough." The Joker told her that she was perfect. No one would come looking for her. What would be the story they told her parents? Her parents who had every single picture of her smiling face hanging all over their tiny little house.

Slowly Zara floated to the top. Her nostrils filling her lungs with a large gasp of air. When she heard the cop she chose that the acid was better for her than him seeing her again and filling her with lead., so she ducked. When the cop walked over to the Vat he wasn't alone.

"Who was she?" The new cop asked.

"One of Jokers girls… She worked at the bank."

"Don't you think we should've gotten her out?"

"And got killed. Look it's them or us, and these animals deserve their fate. They act like they don't have it good here. Ya know what I mean. She called me a fuckin' pig. I'm supposed to save someone who hurls insults."

"I'm sure you've heard worse. Harley called you Hyena food."

"Yeah that's different. She smiled when she said it." He said and they walked out of the factory. Laughing.

Funny. Zara thought as she gently pulled herself up. She didn't find that very funny. She sat there for a moment. Shocked she was alive. Shocked she was breathing air. She lie there in silence waiting for everyone to go. Waiting for every single person who that cop told his narrative to disappear from view so she could go home and shower. It was hours before it happened. She was bare foot, and her clothes were eaten through thanks to the acid. But luckily, she lived in Gotham where the homeless per capita was so ridiculous she'd be unnoticed.

She walked past a T.V. store where they had her picture on the screen. It wasn't even a flattering one. It was one of her at Halloween showing her black lipstick off in a menacing pout. Her Facebook picture was way cuter. The headline was Jokers accomplice dies in horrible accident. She froze staring at herself. The news castor went on to say, "If she would have smiled more, she maybe wouldn't have been perceived this way and she could have received the medical assistance she needed to be revived."

Fury. Rage. Anger. Hatred. She didn't know which one to feel first. So they all came at once. She trudged home in the cooling rain. She walked up the stairs to her apartment and turned on the light. Her black cat lounged on the table. He looked up at her with bright green eyes and his head turned slightly when he seen her. As if he could recognize her, but there had been something that was obstructing it. She went to the shower and threw the shredded clothes in the trash. She turned on the water. The warmth made her feel alive. Made her feel like she could be okay. She watched as the water turned green as it went down the drain, and it became concerning about what all she had lost.

She finished shower and grabbed her towel. She slowly dabbed her skin, but it all pealed like a bad sunburn. But when it pealed her skin became darker and shinier than before. Like she was formed with the most beautiful dark chocolate that then became metal. She walked to the mirror and stared at herself in somewhat horror.

Her eyes had become a hazy color of green and brown. Like a kaleidoscope that had stopped changing in the middle of the colors. Her hair was bright green and when she ran her fingers through it hunks fell out. Years of growing and loving her natural hair. Years of being someone who advocated for natural hair. Years of loving herself falling into clumps in her hands. Luckily, she knew just what to do, but that would have to wait until morning. Right now, she was exhausted, it had been a long and horrific day. A day she never wanted to see again.