Setting the phone down, Eva made her way to the door. Looking through the peep hole, she staggered back and opened the door, which took a second, it had jammed again "Stupid fucking door…"

The landlord, Mr. Harris, looked slightly shocked at her language. He was a portly man, a bit greasy with beady eyes. He stared at her for a very long time before speaking "Ms. Anton, this guy says he knows you?"

It was then she noticed the suit standing off to the side. She recognized him instantly and shuddered. Eva found that she couldn't muster the energy to be surprised, of course Joker knew where she lived. It would have been second nature for the sociopathic nut to know everything about his victims. The henchman looked her over and gave her a warning look. She noticed that he was carrying a suitcase. "Yeah, he's here to deliver some estimates on supplies for my shop

Harris didn't seem to buy it. She did not understand why he suddenly developed a conscience. Then again, Eva looked down at herself for a split second. The landlord was on thin ice with the police for playing deaf to the domestic violence that took place downstairs a little over a year ago. It had been a messy situation where the husband went to shoot the wife, missed and killed a kid in the apartment above them. Eva had heard Mr. Harris say he'd had several complaints about the noise from his tenants, but never bothered to the call the police. Couldn't have another kid shot on his watch. Eva elaborated on her story to draw him off the scent "I'm not going into work today because I fell in the shower. So I called and asked him to come here instead."

Still not buying it. It must be the bathrobe and the fact that Eva still had bedhead "But, I wasn't expecting him until 3pm. Carl here, is more a morning person than I am."

Fighting back the urge to gag, Eva winked at the henchman and smiled at Mr. Harris. "I'm sorry if he alarmed you, come on in Carl, I'll get you some coffee."

The henchman smirked and stepped past the landlord, Eva let him pass and continued to smile at Mr. Harris "Have a lovely afternoon sir. Oh, if you could send someone up to fix my door, I'd appreciate it. I put in a request for a repair several months ago and you keep ignoring it."

Before the landlord to interject, Eva shut door on his fat grubby nose. She felt the henchman's eyes on her back. Taking a deep breath, she turned and walked past him "Did the Joker need something, Carl?"

She took a sip of her coffee, forcing it down past the swelling of her throat. It seemed to have doubled in size as she lied to the landlord. The henchman took a seat on the ratty bar stool at the kitchen island "Boss wanted me to look you over."

Eva backed up a bit and glared at him "You're not touching me."

He put his hands up, as if to ward off her assumptions "I meant that he wanted me to check on your injuries."

That was even more confusing "Why?"

Carl shrugged "He worries."

Eva chuckled for a second, slowly that chuckle turned into a laugh that could rival one of Joker's "No, no, the Joker doesn't worry."

He shrugged again "Well, either way I was a licensed nurse, wouldn't hurt to make sure you didn't break anything."

She put down her mug of coffee rather forcefully "I already looked myself over. If Joker is worried about breaking one of his toys, you can tell him…"

The anger welled up inside her and before she could take a breath and calm down, it was out of her mouth before she could retract the fangs and claws "You can tell him that he hits like a bitch!"

Carl stared at her for a long time "You're lucky that he wasn't here for that. That's the kind of talk that got you looking like that."

He nodded at both her cheek and neck "Joker normally doesn't give a shit about his women, fucks em and dumps em in a ditch for the cops to find."

Eva paled when Carl said 'his women.' She didn't want to be one of Joker's women, that was the last thing anyone should want in their lives. He continued "But you… You're different."

She sneered "Ya, cause I'm tattooing the bastard."

He shot out of his chair like a Jack in the box. Eva reeled back and grabbed the coffee pot. Ready to throw what remained at the henchman. Before she could defend herself, he slowly sat back down "You're lucky he isn't here."

Shaking, Eva put down the pot, opting for a kitchen knife that lay hidden on the counter just behind her back "Why?"

Carl chuckled "Because he doesn't like other people touching his toys."

The rage ran through her like a stampede. In that moment, Eva saw red and her fingers wrapped around the handle of the knife. Before she could comprehend the stupidity of her actions, Eva swung the knife around and brought it down less than an inch away from where Carl's arm rested on the island. Bad move, Carl grabbed the wrist of her knife wielding hand and was around the island in second. He slammed her against the wall and brought her free hand behind her back. Wrenching it up whenever she struggled "Now see, that was stupid. Cause now I really wanna hurt ya."

Eva was hissing and breathing through her teeth as she fought against him and tried to free herself. She realized that she shaking, her body was weak from last night. It couldn't take much more of the beatings "Now, drop the knife so you don't get your ass kicked, and I don't get mine shot when I have to hurt you."

Frustration made her grip the knife until her knuckles turned white "You're a real fucker."

She felt him nod against the back of her head "Yup."

Facing the wall, she snarled "I hate him."

Carl shook his head, and chuckled "That'll change."

Snarling, Eva let the knife drop, it clattered on the floor, completely useless. "No it won't."

Seeing that the danger had passed, Carl readied to let her go. A thought occurred to Eva, and she brought her head back and forced the back of her head into his nose. She heard it snap, and she cried out when Carl's teeth caught on her. The henchman reeled back, gasping in pain. Eva spun and clutched her head, laughing hysterically while groaning in pain. The blood wet her fingers, but she hadn't felt such a thrill. It was good to hurt someone who deserved the correct dosage of pain. Carl held onto his nose, there was a bit of blood, nothing indicating that she had broken anything. Eva figured that she must hit it at an angle, it was probably dislocated. "We both hurt each other, and I can hide this."

She pointed to her head "Touch me again, and I tell Joker what you did?"

Carl clutched his nose, surprisingly he began to snigger. Though it was more a gurgle what with the way he was holding his nose "Clever little bitch."

With a loud snap and an unmanly shriek of pain, Carl managed to right his nose.

The two stared at each other for a good minute before Carl got up and let himself out. Eva stayed on the floor, pressing a kitchen rag to the back of her head. It took about 20 minutes for the bleeding to subside. Laying back against the cabinets, Eva sighed "It'll never change."