The bitch was right, this door was a piece of shit. It took more time than necessary to open the damn thing. As Carl made his way down the stairs, he eyed the manager's office. The landlord was sitting inside lunch. Raising a thoughtful eyebrow, Carl made for his car and got in. It wasn't a long drive back to the safe house. Every once in a while, Carl glanced at the review mirror. "Fucking bitch."

She had done a number on his nose. It had only been dislocated, and it was going to look like shit for the next few weeks. It still hurt like a mother fucker even though it was back in the correct spot. Smirking, he pulled off the curb and headed into the Narrows. He liked her, despite being a bitch, she had some serious nerve. Most would fall apart after being put through their paces, but other than some bruising, scrapes, and frayed nerves, she had managed to come out stronger. She'd definitely last. Pulling up to the front of the hideout, Carl got out and went inside. The place looked incredibly run down from the outside, but once inside it was a touch more livable. Joker's crew had gone through the process of fixing the place up. All the mold had been taken care of, water damage and cracks in the wall had been sealed over and repainted. It wasn't too far from Joker's club either, kept the system tight and easy to manage. Carl went and grabbed a rag and some ice from the freezer. Fashioning a make shift ice pack, he pressed it to his nose in an attempt to stave off the swelling "Did you just get in?"

Carl looked up from the kitchen table. Jonny Frost, Joker's right hand man, had just walked in "Yeah…"

Taking a seat, Frost eyed him "Jesus Fuck Mark, what the hell happened?"

Removing the pack, the subordinate henchman let Frost have a look at his nose "She head butted me."

Raising an eyebrow, Frost chuckled "She's got balls, I'll give her that. How'd she look?"

Shrugging, Mark reached around and popped open the fridge, grabbing two beers "Bruised, a couple cuts, nothing serious."

Snatching one of the beers, Frost opened it "You didn't actually examine her did you?"

Downing half the bottle, Mark shrugged "Bitch is like a cat on speed, I wasn't touching that."

Jonny was about to drink but froze "You know Boss ain't gonna like that."

Mark sneered "Well, she came at me with a knife and I wasn't 'bout to push my luck, Frost."

Taking a long drink from his beer, Frost sniggered "You're a real pussy."

Mark glared "So shoot me, I didn't wanna get stabbed."

Sniggering, Frost polished off his beer "It ain't that hard to subdue someone, especially a woman."

Mark's hands began to shake, he had all but abandoned the ice pack. It lay on the table, slowly puddling "Boss told me, no discipline."

Frost paused, a rueful smile stretching across his lips "Got your ass kicked by some lanky as fuck tattooist. You really are a puss, Mark."

Fighting the urge to go on the attack, Mark snatched up his beer and chugged it. Getting it up, he threw the empty bottle at Frost "Fuck you Jonny."

Laughing, Frost leaned back in his chair "Boss is upstairs, report to him. Don't tell him you manhandled his woman."

He froze at the stairs for a second. How had Jonny surmised that he had put Joker's bitch in a lock. Suppose he was as smart at the Boss, probably why Joker had kept him around for so long. Hell, Mark was surprised he had lasted this long. Heading up the stairs, he turned off to the left and knocked on the door "What!?"

Mark flinched "Uh Boss, it's Mark…"

There was a pause, until finally "Who?"

That basically cemented the fact that he was expendable "The guy who wears the eyeball helmet…. I just got back from checking on her."

The her really did not require much defining. The Joker only had one "her" at the moment "Intrude!"

Taking a deep breath, Mark opened the door and went inside. The Boss had his back to him, he seemed to looking over something on his desk "Well, how fairs the little lady?"

He spoke of her with a strange air of fondness "She's alright, some bruises, a few cuts, nothing broken."

Joker turned, his pale eyes looking Mark over. They came to halt at his nose "Well, well, what happened there? I don't think that was there…. When you left… "

Mark swallowed the lump in his throat "She's jumpy."

That sent Joker into a fit of hysterics "So she hit you!"

The henchman look down at his feet. Joker slapped him on back, hard enough to knock him unsteady "You're a nurse Micky! Don't they teach you about bedside manner and all that?"

Joker seldom remembered the names of his henchmen, Frost was the exception to that "Now Micky, Micky. Mick, what did you do that made her hit you… huh?"

Mark refused to look up at his boss "I didn't do anything boss, didn't touch her, like you told me."

Boss grabbed his cheek and then he snatched the bridge of his nose. Mark screamed in agony, and Joker's grip tightened until there was a loud snap. Mark crumbled to the ground, blood gushing from his nose, flooding his nasal passages "Now Mick, I really hate it when people lie to me."

He looked up, trying to keep the blood from dripping "Boss, I ain't lying to ya."

A booted foot swung right into his stomach, and Mark was thrown a few inches across the floor. "Tell me Mick, did you touch my Eva?"

Spitting up blood, Mark finally looked at his boss, making eye contact with a twin set of barrels. Before he could scream, the gun went off. Reducing Mark, Carl, Mickey, Mick the Nurse's face to a mass of singed meat.