Disclaimer: I do not own Batman, The Joker, or any of it's affiliations.
Previously: What IF she REALLY couldn't remember...? Maybe she needed a jolt to the memory? Something familair to help her remember.
Maybe, he thought. She needed a jolt to the memory? Something familair to help her remember. Perhaps his desert eagle (a gun) pointed to her head would help her remember..?
The Joker considered this as he stared off into space. He had to think of a way, and quickly, he didn't have much time.
His eyes strayed to his revolver lying on the table. Standing, the cigar fell to the floor. He picked up the revolver and headed out the front door.
Violet eyes took on a distant look as Gracie sighed, sitting on the edge of the bed. She fell back, laying down with her eyes closed. She didn't know what to make of the Joker. Was he terrorizing her or helping her? She wasn't sure. But it was becoming increasingly harder to think, as the pull of sleep began dragging Grace under.
"Careful with that!" A bulky man in a white wife beater shouted to two men, carrying a T.V between them. Vieled in the cover of darkness, stood five men, three of which standing in front of a building, it's large glass window in shards at the ground.
The leader, the man in a white wife beater and long dark brown hair had a cigarette in between his lips, shouting orders.
"Hey, boss, whose that?" Said another man, carefully walking out from the shattered window.
Every head turned to their right, toward the streets. Eyes narrowed, trying to make out the shape of a form rising from the smoky shadows. First, the face of the stranger could be seen. It was eerily white in the dark...
The TV dropped, shattering to the ground. The one in-charge yelled, "What the hell! I told you two to-"
Three of the four men recoiled, for they could see the Joker quite clearly now.
"Hey! Who are you?" Yelled the leader, his thick Brooklyn accent ringing in the night air. The Joker's laughter filled the night. He stopped just short of the men, arms at his sides, head bent slightly.
"Shit!" One of them yelled and ran off. The rest stood still in horror, waiting for orders.
"What, where are you going-coward!" Yelled the man in charge.
"Boss...don't you know who that is?" Said the one who had stepped from the shattered window. His voice trembled slightly, eyes locked on the pale white face of the Joker.
Their boss gave him a quizzical look. "I don't give a sh-"
"It's the Joker, boss." He said, cutting him off.
The man's eyes suddenly went wide. He turned swiftly to face the clown, only to find he wasn't there.
"Heh. Musta-" A shot was heard.
Then, in the dark, there was a dull, dull thud. "He's dead!" Yelled one of the men that had been carrying the now broken T.V.
The one who panicked drew out his sub-machine gun and fired in random directions. "You're wasting bullets idiot!"
A wicked laugh rang in the night.
The man with the machine gun did not stop. Soon came the sound of the automatic weapon firing without anymore bullets. "Shit, look what you done!" Said the boss, gun raised in both hands, pointed in various directions as he attempted to locate the Joker.
All around, bullets holes were every where, and half the things they were trying to steal were ruined. All three of the remaining men had hand guns drawn, aiming in different places, panic in their eyes.
They wondered if the rumors were true, that the Joker knew... magic. "Boss, lets get out of here!" One of the goonies yelled, taking a few backward steps toward the car.
"Running so fast?" Asked a quiet voice. The Joker appeared and stood under the light of a street lamp.
He was wearing a dark purple suit, his hands nonchalantly in his pockets.
Two of the men froze, as if rooted to the street. The other kept running. He tilted his head to one side, smirking. The Joker calmly lifted his hand gun, aimed, and fired. The running man fell to the ground with a sick thud. Another man from the back brought his gun up and aimed, but the Joker shot him down like an animal. Guiltless.
Shadows poured from a van that was parked in the distance. "Hey, what's going on?" One of them yelled. The Joker's head shot in their direction. His arm raised, and very calmly he fired his weapon, sending one of the six men to the ground.
All at once the men started shooting at the clown in the dark purple suit.
He killed three more on their side, as he ran from their bullets. The men split up, finally realizing that keeping from the lights was a good idea.
The Joker was perched at the base of a street light, one gloved hand gripping it's length, feet at it's base, as he hung there in what otherwise would be thought a noble position.
"I got him!" He heard one of the men yell. But the Joker was no fool, he knew exactly what he was doing. And just as the second man graced his vision, he shot. Twice. A bullet landed in a knee cap of each of the men.
They dropped like flies onto the cold cement of Gotham City.
The clown dropped from his perch, walking nonchalantly to the men. They both cowered on the ground, gripping at their bleeding wounds. "...D-don't shoot anymore, man. You win!" One pleaded as the other threw his had back and cried out in pain.
The Joker smirked, cocking his head to the side. "Well, ah, in that case." He paused. The men exchanged hopeful glances. "No." A laugh ripped from the Joker's throat as he raised his gun and shot two more times, embedding a bullet dead center in the skulls of both men.
He continued to laugh, reaching inside his jacket to put the gun away.
But the Joker made a mistake.
He forgot about the boss.
Behind him, he heard a gun cock.
Then a shot.
The Joker fell to the ground.
The shadow of the boss fell over his body. The gun cocked back.
And a shot was heard.
The Joker sat up on an elbow, gun smoking.
"Heh." He said. "Too easy." Standing slowly, he looked around. "Ah, right." He limped to the building that had been robbed, leaving a trail of blood behind him. This killing had did what it was supposed to. Quench his madness and blood lust.
He bent, picking up a bag of goods that had been left behind by one of the men.
In his mind he thought, "Pain? What of pain of the body? Pain of the mind is so much more cruel."
With that he turned his heel and began walking back into the shadows from which he came.
Later his men would come in a van to take what other stuff was in the warehouse.
It was how their boss sometimes worked, asking them to come half an hour later. And even if they did accompany him and he were attacked, they were ordered not to fire, and to stay out of the way. No one asked questions, though they assumed it had to do with the Joker's need to be in control.
Gracie pounded on the bedroom door. "I need to pee!" She yelled. The door opened and Grace marched through it. "Bout' time!" She said to the henchmen. He was a new guy, or at least for Grace. He'd only been there two days. That's right, she thought. It had been two days since she last saw the Joker.
Everyday she'd get a meal, occasionally two, depending on who it was at the hide out to feed her. They'd let her out to use the bathroom whenever she pounded on the door.
Grace entered the bathroom, and took extra time to look herself over in the mirror. They let her take a shower every day also, and each day there was a new pair of clothes for her to wear. Usually they were plain clothes that didn't come close to matching, but she was all together surprised that the Joker even catered to those basic needs.
Shrugging as she thought this, Grace opened the bathroom door and was led back to her room.
She found the bed, laid down, and thought. That was what she did all day. Woke up, pounded the door, ate, and sat in bed, thinking. She was beginning to go insane.
The light haze of sleep still fogged Grace's mind and body. She yawned, covering her mouth with a hand as she did so. Fluffing the pillow, she curled up on her side and closed her eyes.
It was then that the door burst open.
"Christ!" Grace yelled, bolting upright.
Her head immediately turned to face the intruder. It was the Joker. She sighed, more annoyed than scared. "Didn't your mother ever teach you to knock?" She said, scowling and laying back down. Though her body tensed, and she no longer tried getting comfortable.
"Yes, she did, but, ah." The clown laughed. Grace rolled her eyes. He didn't finish his sentence. She had a feeling it wasn't a good thing.
"What do you want?" She said gruffly. "Tsk tsk." The Joker said. From his suit he drew out a desert eagle (gun). He cocked it smoothly and grinned, "Time is running out my dear."
Grace Froze.
"Where is it? I don't have time to play games." The Joker curled his red lip, "Always hated to lose."
"I-I don't know what you're talking about." Grace shuddered, suddenly very afraid and confused.
The Joker yelled and banged his fist on the wall, not even recoiling from the pain. "YOU LIE!" He shouted, his voice no longer smooth.
Grace flinched, flattening herself against the wall.
He repeated, his voice soft and dangerous. "Where. Is. It?" Grace's mouth opened and closed. She tried to speak, but when she did attempted to talk, nothing came out.
The Joker growled, raising his hand in her direction, as if to backhand her.
Grace stared at him. His hand was shaking violently. The Joker growled angrily and then turned to leave.
Grace called out to him, "I really don't know, please let me go!" But the door slammed shut before she could say no more. Grace fell to the bed in a heap, tears flooding her violet eyes. Hopelessness fell like a heavy blanket on her.
The Joker, however, had heard her.
He was thinking. "So she was telling the truth the whole time..." He wondered what to do with her now. Perhaps all she needed was more time. exasperation filled his pale green eyes as The Joker paced the hallway outside Grace's room, gun in hand.
The Joker relented, growling as he charged down the hallway towards an unknown destination.
I am SO sorry I haven't posted in a while. I have no excuse other than slight writer's block. I pretty much know exactly what I want to do with the story, but I'm having a hard time with finding a way to build up the mojo between The Joker and Grace. If anyone has suggestions, please let me know! You'll be given full credit of course.
Thanks everyone!