Disclaimer: I do not own Batman, The Joker, or any of it's affiliations.
Previously: It was at that moment that Grace heard the foot steps approaching from behind. 'No, not this time. Not again!' She screamed in her head, one hundred percent sure it was the cops chasing after her. Grace kicked her legs high, breaking into a fast run. The sun began to set above her, sending splashes of orange and red into the November sky.
Grace turned her head to glance at her chasers, and stopped. There was no one there. She looked around confused. A whooshing sound was heard from above her and everything went black.
They threw me to the ground at someone's feet. I hit the tiled floor hard. Pain sheered through my left elbow. I immediatly rose onto my hands and knees, and would have to my feet, if a boot from behind hadn't placed itself square on my back, not allowing me to move. A strong urge to turn around and punch those who held me down washed over me.
"Look at me." The owner of the shoes in which I was thrown at spoke. It was a male voice, with a tone to it that caused the hair on the back of my neck and arms to stand on end. A shiver rippled through my spine.
"Look at me!" He said, his voice growing impatient. Another shiver washed through me. The boot released itself from my spine. I raised my head, suddenly afraid of what my gaze might be met with.
My lips parted in preperation for a gasp that never sounded, for I was staring into the most beautiful and deadly face I had ever seen.
The painted face of The Joker.
Narrator's POV.
"Is this her?" Asked one of the henchmen. The Joker gave a slight nod in reply and turned his back. "Take her to my room." He said, waving one hand over his shoulder.
Gracie's teeth clenched as the two men drug her to her feet. "No!" She protested, digging her heels into the ground. It didn't matter, they we're dragging her backwards anyhow. "Let me go!" Grace shouted, rearing up her legs and kicking at the air as if it would somehow help her.
"Shut up and stop squirming!" One of them said, jerking her violently. "Yeah, or we'll knock you out again." The other said. Gracie didn't care. This only prompted her to fight harder. Screams echoed from her lungs. She reached for anything to grab, a jacket, a handful of hair, anything, and tugged. She faught. Her head twisted from left to right, trying to see where it was they were taking her.
But each of the men had her by one arm, there was no way she could escape.
One of them finally sighed, cursed and brought his elbow back hard on Gracie's head. She cried out. The last thing that graced her vision was the back of the Joker, and then, her world turned to darkness.
Gracie always had good dreams. Never nightmares as some would suspect from spending three months locked up. Maybe it was because she didn't have any memories of people or places to fill them. Either way, Grace had always had good dreams.
When she awoke, a wave of nausia rippled through her. Instinctivly an arm shot out to brace herself against something. Luckily her palm was met with the face of a wall. Gracie doubled over onto her knees, one arm braced against the wall, the other at the base of her throat, as if trying to block the bile from surfacing.
She sat like that, eyes closed, for a moment, breathing in steadily, nostrils flared. When nothing came up she allowed her palm to slide off the wall and join her other one supporting her on the floor.
Her eyes suddenly opened and her pupils dialated to adjust the lighting. Quickly she scanned the room. It was small, a metal fan whirled above her. She could hear a siren going outside. Her heart jumped. Maybe it was coming to save her? But the noise passed and her heart sank once more to the pit of her empty stomach.
The room was a square, door at the bottom left corner. Across from it was a full sized bed, made perfectly, a closed window above it. Next to that, a reasonable few feet away was a three drawred dresser, a few things on it's surface. The closet took up most of the right wall, all of which was covered in a tan and white wall paper pattern. A small T.V that looked like it was at least a few decades old stood on a flimsy stand on the wall where the door was. The carpet was creamy color, a few stains here and there, but otherwise clean.
Gracie took a deep breath, arm oustretched to once again brace herself against the wall. With that she stood and stumbled the few feet to the bed. Gracie regained her breath and her bearings, once again having to settle her stomach. Nerves, coupled with not eating all day wasn't a good combination.
A quick glance at the door and a moment of hard listening toled Grace that no one was coming. She took advantage of that and stood on the bed, testing the window. Too bad, it was seeled shut. She cursed, hitting the window with an open hand. "Fuck!" She yelled, hitting it again. She just got out of a cage, and now here she was locked in one again. Granted, a better one, but still a cage none the less.
"Fuck fuck fuck!" She yelled, totally losing control as her fist pounded the window a third and fourth time.
"Now now, such horrible language for a young lady." Gracie's spine stiffened and she whirled around, immediatly pressing herself against the window. The Joker was grinning at her from the open door, hands behind his back. She glanced at it for the briefest of seconds, contimplating making a run for it.
The door suddenly shut with a loud slam. Gracie flinched, her chest rising as her heart beat quickened. Was she going to die right there on his bed? She doubted it, if he was going to kill her he would have done so earlier, or in the ally way. (If he was even in the ally way).
"What's your name girl?" The Joker said slowly, almost as if he was trying to play at being friendly. It took her a moment to answer, as she had to think hard on how to answer. It was like the second he walked in the room she couldn't breath, and her jaw wired shut. "G-Grace. Saunders." She finally said shakily, eyes following him as he walked towards the closet. Suddenly Grace remembered her dog tags. Her bag was no where to be found, what if they took her tags too? Grace's hand flew to her chest, but it was met with nothing but skin. She looked down, feeling around her throat. Her tags we're missing!
"You!" She shouted, a sudden white hot anger flooding over her. She forgot that he was a serial killer, a maniac, and God knows what else. All she knew was that her identity was missing, and he took it.
"Give them back!" Gracie demanded, stepping off the bed and striding over to him in a matter of seconds. Sence must have found her, for she stopped just a foot shy of his chest. Her breath hitched as she realized what her anger almost let her do.
"Oh?" The Joker's grin widened as he reached into his coat. "You mean these?" He said, retrieving the dog tags from his vest and dangeling them infront of Grace.
She made a lunge for them, but it was no use. He was at least seven inches taller than her, and easily minuvered the necklace from her reach. "Now now." He said, as if scolding a child. "It's not nice to try and snatch things" He said, throwing his head back and laughing a mad, sickening laugh. Grace recoiled, planting herself against the wall next to the dresser.
"Your mad!" She spat, eyes wide and full of hate. The Joker suddenly lunged at her, stopping meer inches before her face, one palm flat on the wall next to her head. "Why yes, dear, I am. Thank you for noticing." He said, hand shooting up to grip her face. His grip was rough, forcing her lips to pucker.
"You want these back, girlie?" He taunted, jingling them in the air. "Well then, you'll have to work for them." He said. Gracie's eyes widened at the implications. The Joker pulled away just as a knee shot up to strike him. He turned his back, laughing all the way to the door.
"Goodnight, Gracie." He said, dangeling the dog tags in the air before shutting the door and locking it.
Grace sank to the floor, hands at her head. Her face ached with pain as tears streemed down her cheeks in small rivers, just as they had done the first night she was in a jail cell at GCJDF. Gracie's heart began to break. Was she never meant to be happy? Was she doomed to be placed in cage after cage? The Joker was going to kill her, she just knew it. Why wouldn't he? She almost wished he had.
What was it he had said? Work for them? What did he mean by that? Questions swarmed in Gracie's exhausted head. She was tired, but too afraid to sleep. Granted, she would know the second someone touched the door knob. Gracie had that way about her. When she was in lock up, the second the Guard's keys hit the door of the cell NEXT to her, she'd wake up.
So maybe it would be okay to sleep after all. Gracie looked around the room, stood slowly and made her way to the bed. First she sat at it, not yet ready to lay down. Perhaps she wouldn't. Instead, She moved herself to the corner and propped herself against the wall. Grace Saunder's last thought before she drifted off to sleep was rather odd. If properly concious, she wouldn't have allowed herself to think such thoughts.
'His eyes...' She thought. 'Such a beautiful green...'
The Joker watched from the small telivision screen as Gracie cried, stood, and walked to the bed. His eyes narrowed. "She hasn't even tried the closet yet." He said to himself. "Huh." He straightened abruptly, eyes still on the screen. Maybe it was because she had no where to run to. Poor thing.
"Maybe she's dumb.' One of the henchmen said after biting viciously into a sandwich. "No...no, that's not it." The Joker turned slowly from the screen. He paced, one hand behind his back, the other at his chin. Something came to life in the Joker's eyes. It was a dangerous glow, perhaps that of truth, or realization.
The man eating at the table noticed this, and chewed slow, knowing that whatever it was that had just come to his master's mind, it was not good. No, not good indeed.
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