A/N: Not as long as the last, but essential and fun nonetheless. I'd appreciate reviews, and thank you to those of you that do review.

"Now why exactly have you woken me up and brought me here, Sin?" the Joker asked lazily, leaning as far back in his chair as the handcuffs would allow. The bright light was searing. I glanced at my watch. I would have twenty minutes before the guards said they would come in to check on us. It was late enough in the day that most the staff had left, so the asylum was relatively empty. My heart thudded in my throat. Could I really be considering…?

It had to be done.

As much of a hurry I was in, I took time with attempting to explain our unscheduled session. This had to be done meticulously; I couldn't afford to screw it up. "I decided that it would be story sharing time. Remember that story you wanted me to share? Well, I think it is time you heard it."

Intrigue flashed in his eyes before they were hooded again. He leaned forward slightly, scrutinizing me, measuring me up briefly before quickly coming to a conclusion of sorts and giggling insanely. "Well, it's about time, Sin! I was starting to think you were holding out on me!"

For a second, I doubted myself. Was I really doing the right thing? God, now that I know better, in hindsight, I wish I'd listened to those doubts. I wish I would've said, 'Haha, Joker, just yanking your chain. Back to your cell! Chop, chop!' But instead I replied in a careful tone, "Don't talk, just listen. Let me finish before you say anything, alright?" He nodded impatiently, and I took a minute to continue, cautious to keep my voice monotonous. The last thing I needed was to let my voice shake when I recounted my past. The Joker still is a manipulator, and I would have to keep in mind that anything I said to him could be used against me in the future.

"Almost four and a half years ago, I got a patient named Daniel Dew." The Joker made a face at the name, but I ignored it. "At the time, I was a well-known criminal psychologist, and Daniel was nothing more than the run-of-the-mill murderer that I met with each day. I recommended him into some classes for anger management, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, ect. It was while he took those classes that I noticed the change in him. He was suddenly very occupied by the human mind and how it worked. In his classes, he would talk more to the patients than he would the doctors, studying their minds and habits. He became fascinated at the effect certain events or words could have on people. Much like you, Joker." I met his eyes darkly before carrying on.

"Then his sessions with his other psychologists changed. After a while it seemed that he seemed to be affecting the teachers rather than them affecting him. By the end of four months, Daniel had driven every single one of them into madness, and later killed them." Boring, he had said they were once. Boring and easy. "He was consumed with the need to manipulate people. He told me later that it was twice as exhilarating as killing. Daniel wanted to see that light of sanity leave his victims eyes." The Joker licked his lips in interest, and once again, those uncertainties clawed my subconscious. But I forced myself on. I had to. I managed to keep a steady voice with my next sentences. "Unfortunately, when he couldn't figure someone out, he became obsessed with the challenge. Although I'm not exactly sure how, I became Daniel's obsession. I suppose I wasn't as easy to crack as the other doctors, I'm not sure." I felt myself leave the white room as the memories that flooded into my mind, and instead I was surrounded by wood.

"When Daniel escaped four years ago, my fiancé and I had just enough warning to get to our retreat cabin that we had bought only months ago. It was secluded, and no one knew of it. We thought we were safe." It was getting too bright all of the sudden, and I shut my eyes, as if I was trying to keep out the images that threatened to explode in my mind's eye. The room was quiet with the exception of the Joker's even breathing and my racing pulse. I gently fingered the bracelet my friend had given me, trying to calm myself.

"Daniel showed up after only two days of his escape. The first thing he did was kill my fiancé in front of me. At first, he thought he had broken me, but even amidst the grief, I knew that if I let him think that he had gotten to me, he would kill me as well." I opened my eyes and gave the Joker a very tired smile, devoid of warmth or happiness. "And you have no idea how hard I fought with myself to make that decision. Throughout the next two weeks especially, there were periods of time that I would have welcomed such an easy escape as death." I felt the hot prickles of fury wash over me. It was because of that murderer that I could hardly remember the man I once loved's face. It was because of him that I was sitting here, recounting my horrific past with an insane clown. It was because of him I would never ever be touched again. "But I couldn't let him win."

The Joker couldn't seem to contain his question, and it should have scared me the way he said it. His tone was sinisterly eager. "What did he do to you?"

A dead look passed over my eyes. I had detached that part of my past so much that all I remembered now were flashes, and it was as though I was watching it happen to someone else. "He tied me up to a chair in the dark, with nothing but a bright light shining in my face. Then he cut off my fiancé's hand and tied it to mine, saying that if I wanted to be with my fiancé so bad, well then we could hold hands forever. Limbs, he told me, can come off rather easily."

There, on my right hand, I could still feel the cold clammy skin, the dried, crusted

blood. It was still there. I forced myself on. "For weeks, I stayed in that chair. Then he played 'our song' on an old, scratchy vinyl record. Of course, he attempted to toy with my mind in several different ways—threatening, using violence, promising an escape, and so on—but when he failed, he wasn't sure what to do with me. I sensed his growing frustration, so I—well, I managed to get him to let me out of that damn chair. I knocked him out and got word to the police." I never would forget Daniel's face when he caught up to me. I forced back a shiver.

I allowed myself to swim out of my consciousness' shell and return slowly back to the room. Something, once again I couldn't figure out what, was gleaming in the Joker's dark eyes. That should've been my first hint. I should've stopped then, but oblivious to just what I was putting into motion, I continued on. "He has been in an Institution for four years, until he just escaped about a week ago. Now he is in Gotham, killing people to get to me. The police can't find him, let alone contain him. He is free to do as he pleases." I ground my teeth. "I'm sure you know what that is like, Joker."

The Joker snickered. "I did up until recently."

I bore my gaze into his. Now that I was finished with my little story, I had to work my skills. "Lately, Daniel has been the new terror of Gotham. People are hiding and afraid. No one can protect them. The city is in chaos."

The Joker wetted his lips again, and I smiled slyly. "That is what you've always wanted, isn't it Joker, chaos?" He cackled, and I took that as a yes. Then I sighed. "It's too bad though that it isn't you causing it, though. There is some other madman out there doing your job, hogging your glory. Isn't the destruction of Gotham yours to pursue?"

He tilted his greasy head to the side. "I like your style, Sin. But I wonder why you would want to get me all riled up about some obsessed lunatic taking over my city?"

I should've known he'd see what I was doing. "Daniel Dew appears to be unstoppable. So what do you do when there is an unstoppable force? You put an immovable object in its path."

His dark eyes lit up and a shiver went down my spine. The room suddenly seemed colder. "Really now? And how is this immoveable object getting in the unstoppable force's path when it is locked up in a little white cell?"

I studied at him for a long time. This was my last chance to back out. Was I truly doing the best thing? Could I trust him? No, but could I afford not to? Was there some other way to escape the hell Daniel had awaiting me?

I folded my hands cautiously, without taking my eyes off his. "I have a proposition you might be interested in. I bust you out of here, and you make it your number one priority to take down Daniel Dew. I don't care how you do it, as long as no one else is killed. After he is taken care of, you are free to do whatever you want. Then you and the men-in-blue can continue in that never-ending cycle of arrest-and-escape that you do so well, and I can get the hell out of this city."

The Joker dissolved into a fit of laughter. I waited impatiently for his answer; the guards would come to check in on us in ten minutes. "You are as nuts as I am!" he finally mustered.

I sighed again, this time for real. "Probably. Do we have a deal?"

He stopped laughing abruptly, but a grin was still plastered on his face. "This guy must really freak you out if you are turning to me for help."

I hissed before I could help myself, "No, he doesn't. He is just threatening me. And I don't like being threatened. Now, do we have a deal?"

"Well I don't really have a choice. It's either bust out of here and help you with your pest problem or rot in this dump." Licking his lips, he paused and his expression darkened sinisterly. "Now how exactly do you plan on breaking me out of here."

I let a smug smile play on my lips. "Don't worry, it'll be a piece of cake."

The Joker snickered. "There is hope for you yet, Sin."

Warily, I eyed the clown for a second. At the time, I had been thinking that by unleashing another mad dog to take down another escaped mad dog was a good idea. Risky, but the only option. The Joker was as crazy as Daniel and didn't abide by the laws that governed the judicial system. He would kill Daniel and not think twice about it. He was precisely what the task called for. Funny though, how at the time I hadn't even considered that the Joker could be worse than Daniel. Maybe it is because Daniel had personally done something to traumatize me. Maybe it is because he killed people that I knew, while the people the Joker murdered had no value to me. Or maybe it is because whenever I had envisioned the face of evil, for such a long time it had always been Daniel's that would appear in my mind's eye. Whatever the reason, I didn't believe that the Joker would ever be more of a threat than Daniel.

Boy was I ever wrong.