Chapter Seventeen

As soon as I said those four little words, I felt the Joker tense and his eyes got wide. I felt him start to shake and I put my legs to the ground to keep from possibly getting dropped by him in his stupor.

"Please, Jack, say something, anything," I begged as he backed away and put his hands on his head. All of a sudden he started laughing, truly it was terrifying.

"Sorry, Princess, the boy you knew as 'Jack' has been dead a very long time. Actually he's been dead since you left for your degree and never returned, until now." He finally stated when he was done laughing. "The dreams that little fool had all went up into smoke after your uncle prosecuted against daddy dearest and he never saw you again, except on the news and of course when there was coverage that you left to follow in your uncle's footsteps."

He started pacing.

"No one would hire him because of his scars possibly scaring away the clientele of the many places he did apply, his hopes of going to college and becoming an engineer or chemist dying when he finally ran out of his settlement money. Him, having to scrape by on the streets until he accidently killed during a robbery gone wrong and being taken to jail where he had to be put in solitary because he made everyone 'uncomfortable' and not hearing a human voice for years until he managed to escape during a riot during the short time he was allowed out of his cell. And due to that stint he lost part of his humanity and the only thing that kept him from losing his mind completely, was the thought of you. Your smile, your laugh, your voice, everything made that stint easier and the thought of the future. So to prove to himself he was worthy of you, he created a dark, evil, crazed persona and created a crime empire. And no, Princess, I don't care for money, but, I care about the message it sends, that I am good enough, and that I can take care of my own."

He finally stopped and walked back to me.

"I may have not recognized you at first because of that damn mask on my face, but, I knew it was a sign. You know what they say darlin' if you care about something, let it go and if it returns it was meant to be." He said as he put his hand on my cheek.

I looked at him in utter disbelief, this was the kind and quiet boy that was a few years my senior, the boy that earned so many academic awards, and the boy who I developed a slight crush on before his tragic maiming. Even after I saw him in the hospital I thought he was handsome, and after my uncle won his case, he was gone.

Seeing him change into this man that had no care for human safety or life, was truly terrifying. I looked up in his brown eyes and said the only thing that came to my mind.

"I'm sorry."

He looked at me with an expression that I couldn't place. He then gave me a smile.

"You, did nothing wrong, the world did. And you know what that means right?" He said then whispered in my ear, "We just have to watch the world burn."

A few hours after the revelation that this man was in fact an old classmate of mine, I was still in a state of shock. I couldn't believe that a little thing like appearance led to the destruction of what could have been one of the highest contributors in this city.

I looked back at the Joker while he played with a small black box in his hands. After the surprise we both came back to the room and I went and sat on the bed and started to read, while he worked on his 'projects' as he called them. Even though while I was 'reading' I spent most of my time looking over the top of the book at the man in the room.

"What was it you told me a day or two ago, why don't you take a picture, it will last longer." His voice rang out.

"I knew you had a big ego, but, come on now, why would I be staring when I'm reading this interesting book." I scoffed out.

"Oh, you mean besides the fact that you haven't turned the page for the past ten minutes. My hearing is very good little darling." He said looking away from the box and at me.

He leaned over and put his arms on his knees. When we got back to the room he took off his overcoat and vest, just rolling up his green dress shirt to his elbows to keep it from getting caught on his many gadgets. It had to have been the sexiest look ever.

He saw me staring again and he let loose another crooked grin.

"You know little darling, that I could help you with this little staring problem." He said as he got up from the chair and reached to the side him and grabbed something, his eyes never leaving mine.

He started walking over to me like an animal approaching his prey and tackled me on the bed. I struggled against him, but, he was too strong and managed to trap both my hands in one of his and with his free hand he managed to slip something over my eyes.

"That should help you with your problem." He whispered against my neck and he nipped the skin under his mouth. "I do love seeing you like this." He said as his free hand traveled under my shirt and rested on my stomach for the second time that day and I felt him leaning in towards my lips.

As soon as our lips touched, the heat started again. Soon I got lost in his kiss and I barely registered that his hand started creeping up to my chest and his hand rested over the bra.

Suddenly the blindfold was ripped off my face and his hand released both of mine. His lips crashed against mine again and my hands started wandering his torso, enjoying the heat radiating off him. Soon, the temptation to feel his skin was too great.

"Do you know how to sew buttons?" I said pulling away breathing hard. He must have known what I wanted because he sent me a little smirk.

"Yes, in fact, I do." He said leaning back slightly.

I grabbed both sides of his dress shirt and ripped it open completely, buttons flying in every direction. I left his tie on and pulled his lips to mine again and playfully nipped his lips. He playfully growled at me and returned the favor.

However, much like that morning, there was a pounding at the door and he let loose a more dangerous growl that made me feel pity on whoever knocked on the door. He jumped away from me, his shirt and tie hanging off him as he stormed to the door.

"What the FUCK is so important that you idiots feel the need to pound on my door?!" the Joker roared as he threw open the door. It was Bongo and Rick.

Both of their eyes widened when they saw the state of the Joker's clothes and how his makeup was mostly gone around his mouth and lower jaw; most of it I could feel on my face. They looked back on the bed at me and I let out a little smile and waved to them both. There was a look of rage on Rick's face when his eyes landed on my messed up clothes and makeup covering my face.

"WELL!" the Joker roared again.

"Fox has landed in Japan and Wayne is on a yacht with the Russian ballerinas that were in town." Bongo finally responded. "The robberies in the other cities have gone off without a hitch and we are slowly recruiting more members in different cities in the state."

"And this couldn't have waited until dinner why?" Joker said narrowing his eyes at the both of them.

"Well boss, you wanted me to give you status updates when I got them. If I knew you would have been busy I would have waited. My apologies sir." Bongo said while nudging Rick.

"Yeah, what he said." Rick muttered.

"Good, now if you excuse us, we need to get ready for dinner." Joker said slamming the door in their faces without hearing a response. "I would get cleaned up and changed, you have my makeup on your face." He said going to his closet, throwing his ruined shirt and crumpled tie on the floor.

I went to the bathroom and grabbed a rag, rubbing my face to get the white and red off. I sighed when I looked in the un-cracked part of the mirror. I should be stronger than this, I shouldn't be burning and wishing for his kiss and touch I thought looking away from the mirror. I felt a hand enclose on my shoulder and before I knew what I was doing, I grabbed it and spun around the body, pinning the arm to the person's back. I knocked the person's knee from under them and that's when I realized it was the Joker.

"Well that's one way to say hello. You've been in here for fifteen minutes and I wanted to check on you." He said slowly. "Now, if you could release me, we can go eat."

I let his wrist go like it was on fire and I muttered an apology. I quickly fixed my clothes.

I followed what he told me to do and I almost matched him with a pair of purple jeans and a green sleeveless shirt. When I saw his look of approval I actually felt somewhat at ease, now we'll see if his men get the message, especially one that does not seem happy at the moment.