I was eating a bowl of stale cheerios when the lounge door burst open, making all the occupants jump. "We're hired, boys!" The Joker cheered. He placed his hands on his hips and surveyed the room. I frowned at him. "Oh, and girl." He recovered, way too late. "We've got some work to do. So meet up at the van in an half hour." Most of the men nodded, I just ate another spoonful of my breakfast. The Joker had gotten a call early this morning. I had been poked awake, again. He had smiled at me. "Wanna talk to Sally?" He whispered, waving the phone. I blinked blearily and nodded 'no'. His smile grew and turn away. My dreams were plagued with my old Boss. I couldn't believe how long it had been since I'd thought of him. The Joker was overpowering.
We all gathered at the van as instructed, the Joker being last to arrive. "Load up." He said plainly. I was about to climb in when he caught my arm, twirling me to face him. He pressed up against me and tucked my hair behind my ears. "I want you to stay here." I pulled a face. He giggled. "Why'd you have me meet at the van then?" I said, trying to keep my voice level. He pecked my cheek quickly. "'Cause I love to watch you walk away." I gasped and he let go of me. I gritted my teeth and turned sharply to the warehouse. "Bye, bye, Doll face." He cackled as the van took off. My heart was still beating rapidly. I wasn't sure if it was from my temper or our previous closeness. I huffed more angry at myself. How could I fall out of love with one man and then in love with another so quickly?
I puttered around the hide-out for three hours, doing nothing in particular. I thought about snooping but busied myself with a shower instead. I was just pulling on a clean pair of socks when the clank of metal doors made me jump. The men were home. I quickly looked myself over in the mirror. The Joker had the boys go out to get me some clothes. They were a bit plain but they would do. I pulled nervously at the white long sleeved shirt. I had a feeling it wouldn't be white much longer. As soon as I left the Joker's room I smelt it. Sweat. Then a dragging sound followed. The Joker was skipping towards The Fun House with four men dragging a body following him. The Joker noticed me and waved me over. He opened the Fun House door and held it for the men. They were dragging a rather fat man disguised in a poorly assembled Batman costume. The Joker smiled down at the seemingly unconscious man and then gestured for me to go in. "Another day, another lesson." The Joker sang as he shut the door behind himself.
They slammed the man into the chair. The same chair where I had sat only days ago. They tied his hands behind his back and then left. Letting the Joker do his work. The Joker smiled and faced me. "Now, this is a lesson about….getting your message to others." I nodded. He giggled. "When I give you the signal, I want you to give him a smile." My face contorted in horror. He burst into a chorus of cackles. "Do as I say and you'll be fine." He said walking towards the table. He picked up a camcorder, inspected it and then flipped it open. He grabbed a bucket from underneath the table and walked over to the man. His smile was colossal, it practically overtook his face. It seemed like there was a red smile and nothing else. He poured the contents of the bucket over the man. Said man shot awake, delusional. Ice water, I concluded. The man sputtered and struggled against his binding. "Nu uh uh. There will be no escaping." The man's head turned to where the Joker was standing. His dimpled chin trembled. The Batman mask he wore shook as he shivered in fear.
The Joker poked the record button and the little red light blinked on the camcorder. "Tell them your name." The Joker started, his voice quizzical. The man gasped but complied. "Brian Douglass." The Joker giggled childishly. "Are you the real Batman?" Brian choked on his words. "No." The Joker shifted the camera in his hands. "No?" He prodded, loving every second. "No." Brian replied, terrified. "No?" The Joker said once more. "Then why do you dress up like him?" He shouted, his voice grizzly. It bounced off the stone walls. He yanked off Brian's Batman mask and jiggled it around. "Whoo hoo hoo hoo." Brian swallowed. "He's a symbol that we dont' have to be afraid of scum like you." I could tell this conversation was drawing to a horrible end. My part was coming and I was shaking like a leaf. I shuffled quietly to the table and grabbed the first knife I saw. "Yeah, you do Brian. You really do!" The Joker shouted and slapped the side of Brian's face softly. He was playing with him. "Huh? Yeah." Brian began to whimper. "Oh, sh shh shhhh." The Joker stroked Brian's face. I stepped closer to the both of them.
"So you think Batman's made Gotham a better place? Hm?" Brian just sat there, staring at the ground, whimpering like a dog. "Look at me." The Joker commanded. "LOOK AT ME!" He yelled making both Brian and I cringe. The Joker turned away from Brian and pointed the camera at himself. I stood behind Brian, tears burning my eyes. "You see this is how crazy Batman's made Gotham." The Joker walked in circles around the room. "You want order in Gotham, Batman has to take off his mask and turn himself in. Oh, and everyday he doesn't people will die" He paused. "Starting tonight. I'm a man of my word." He shook the camera and laughed like the devil. He pointed to me. I was up.
"I'm so sorry, Brian." I whispered as I drove the knife into his neck from behind. Brian's screams echoed through the room and through my mind. The Joker kept laughing. I withdrew the knife and stood in front of Brian. Tears streaming down my face. I carved one side of Brian's face as quickly as I could. The Joker kept laughing. Brian's screams turned into strangled gurgles from the amount of blood in his mouth. I bit my lip and finished the smile. I dropped the knife and tried to run from the room. "No!" The Joker screamed. He caught me and made me face Brian. "You will watch him die." My back was pressed to his chest, his arms firmly around my waist. He rested his chin on my shoulder.
We stayed there for a good ten minutes, watching Brian bleed to death. The Joker giggled every few seconds. I stood there silently. I was terrified of what I had just done. But even more terrified that I felt no guilt. I was disgusted, tired, and scared but not guilty. I had just brutally killed an innocent man and I wasn't guilty. The Joker was changing me. "Beautiful girl, beautiful work." He smirked and let me go. He opened the door. "Somebody clean him up. We've got a delivery to make." I starred at Brian for a while. His eyes were still open. I shut my own and trudged to the Joker's room.
He was waiting for me and started talking as soon as I opened the door. "Since you didn't come on our little adventure this morning. You will be leading the one tonight." I could only nod. I was bewildered. A haze seemed to make meaning blurry, I wasn't comprehending anything. He came close to me. "Hello?" He called. I only nodded again. He frowned. "Come on, Doll face. Cheer up. You won't feel a thing after the fifth." I looked him square in the eyes. A strange silence filling the room. "I doubt it will take five." I smiled. He replied with a smile of his own. "Very good! Here's what you're going to do."
It was the next day when Brian's body dropped to the Mayor's window. Gotham was going crazy and it only got worse when the Joker's home video aired on GCN. For a man with no plans everything seemed to go unnaturally smooth. I was baffled at how well his goons worked together. How well I was fitting in and carrying out orders. Guilt gradually became a non-existent emotion. The Joker was more pleased that he intended to be with me. "The video turned out great, eh? Doll face." I smirked and nodded. He slinked closer to me on the couch. "We have a few more things to take care of today." I looked at him. "What few things?" He smiled. "The Judge and the Commissioner. Then we have to swing by Harvey's party." My pupils flared with excitement. "Those are some pretty important people." He licked his lips. "I aim high and am never disappointed." I chuckled. Cocky bastard. "But….before that." My attention returned to his mesmerizing face. "How 'bout a quickie?" I gasped as he pushed me down. He straddled my hips and immediately crashed his lips down onto mine. I responded by placing one hand on the back of his neck and pulling him closer while tugging at the buttons on his vest. He traced my lips with his tongue. I obliged and opened my mouth. The Joker was the most amazing kisser I had ever been with.
He was a strange man blessed with strange talents. A hot coil of need began to constrict in my stomach as he slipped a hand up my shirt and slid his tongue to my neck. He bit down roughly, breaking the skin. "Ah!" I yelped and he giggled, sucking my wound like a vampire. He pulled and away and shrugged off his purple jacket. I helped him unbutton his vest and he threw it to the floor. I lifted my arms and he yanked my shirt off. A knife was soon added to the equation. He dragged it lightly down my chest and cut my bra off. The cold metal teasing my skin and making me gasp and squirm underneath him. He grinned like the devil. "Beautiful." He murmured and then leaned down to nip at my newly exposed flesh. I gripped the side of the couch. He giggled and hooked a thumb into my jeans. I bit my lip and nervously tugged at his collar. "Oh, you want to see more of me, eh?" I blushed and nodded rapidly. He laid the knife on my stomach. "Very well then." He stripped off his shirt and pulled off his gloves. He licked his lips as he looked at me. I gulped. "Joker?" I ask softly. "What?" I reached my hands out for him. He leaned back down and I picked up the knife. "I'm yours." I whispered into his ear while pressing the knife back into his hand. He chuckled. "You're just full of surprises." He whispered back and pulled my wrists above my head. I closed my eyes and waited to feel the knife. He trailed it all over, making a throb start in between my legs. I didn't dare looked to see if he was aroused, knowing fully that he was.
"Where to mark you?" He pondered softly. Then the searing pain of being cut aggravated my flesh just below my collar bone, where my heart is. It didn't last long because the old grandfather clock chimed. "Fuck." The Joker growled and got off of me. "Hurry! HURRY!" I jumped off the couch and ran to get new clothes. I glanced in the mirror, little red rivers of blood were running down my chest. The Joker had etched a little 'J' into my skin. I was pulling on my shirt when a piece of fabric landed on my head. "Put that on!" I inspected it quickly. A black sequined party dress. Just like the ones I had refused to wear while in the mob. I looked to the Joker. He was fully dressed and pacing. "Well?" His voice was shaking with excitement. I ripped off my clothes and pulled on a pair of skin tone stockings and slipped the dress over my head. He stared at me, his smile smug. "I don't know if I like you better in that or naked." I blushed. "Shoes?" He nodded. "Right, right. Shoes." He threw a pair of black stilettos to me. I slipped them on and followed him out. We had a big night ahead of us.
He giggled as I climbed into the passenger's seat. "What?" I said, fixing my hair in side mirror. He shook his head and sped away from the hide out. "We're going straight to Harvey's bash. The boys are gonna take care of Loeb and Cyrillo." I loaded my newly acquired silver pistol. The Joker stared at me and giggled again. "WHAT?!?" He laughed crazily and shook his head again. "Beautiful." He muttered as we pulled into the back alley of Bruce Wayne's pent house. "Truly beautiful."