By the time James came through the door I had started pacing in the living room, biting my thumb nail out of nervous habit. "What's wrong?" he said, grabbing my arms and forcing me into a stop before I walked straight into him.

I let my hand fall from my face and stared up at him with a frown. "Someone claiming to be the Joker knows who I am." I said, gesturing to my laptop, which I had left on the email screen.

My mind raced over all the details over my cover. I had multiple aliases I went under, each secured tight. I was sure I had been over all the details before, cleaning up even the smallest glitch. How could anyone find me out after all these years…?

James went and sat on the couch, hitting the replay button on the clip. When it was over, he glanced back at me.

"Did you see anyone with a camera when you looked back up?" he asked.

I shook my head. "No. I checked to see if they had followed me, but I didn't see anyone."

"Have you tried tracing this? See where it came from?"

I sighed almost impatiently. "Of course, but I keep hitting a dead end."

He leaned forward on the couch, pulling the laptop closer to him with a small smirk tugging at the edge of his lips. "Leave it to me."

I rolled my eyes and sat down next to him, watching his fingers fly across the keyboard.

"Did you, ah, find her?" the masked man asked his "partner" as he returned just as the other men grabbed the bags and headed out to the van.

"No, but I got a clear picture of her." The other man said as he raised his phone in emphasis.

"Good." The first one said and raised his gun, shooting the other man in the forehead.

As the body fell to the floor, the man took the cell phone from the corpse's hand. He walked swiftly out of the bank, hopping into the passenger seat of the van. He waited until it sped off before he looked at the picture, which turned out to be a small video clip. "Oh." He paused the shaky clip on the image of the young woman's face and smiled beneath his mask. "This is, ah, interesting." A giggle bubbled from his lips as he took off his mask, revealing slightly smeared red and white paint.

The other men in the van shared uneasy looks, but otherwise said nothing as they continued the ride back to the hideout.

"There's been a change in plans, boys." The Joker said as he leaned his head out of the window. "Turn here."

The van's tires screeched at the sudden turn, speeding off in a new direction.

"Got it." James said with a relieved sigh, leaning back into the cushions of the couch.

I leaned forward, squinting at the screen. "Ed Holton?" I frowned at the name, noting it was vaguely familiar. I paused in thought before it hit me: "Isn't he that tech guy down on Adams?"

James frowned, trying to think of the face. "Could be. What are you going to do?" he asked with narrowed eyes as I stood and walked into my bedroom.

"Nothing serious, James. I'm just gonna pay the guy a visit." I tossed over my shoulder as I opened my closet door.

I heard him get up and stop in the doorway of the room. "No, Alex. You can't just waltz in there and expect him to give you answers. It could be a trap. What if—"

"He was working for Joker?" I interrupted him. "Then it means he wants me for something, and I'm not just going to sit here like a waiting duck and let him—"

"If you go there, you'll be going into unknown turf, idiot! I'm not going to let you get yourself killed because of your quick temper Jade!" he yelled as he grabbed my arm and tuned me to face him.

I snatched my arm out of his grasp and sneered at him. "Don't call me that. And I can do whatever I damn well please, James. I'm not a kid anymore, stop treating me like one! I'm not your sister, alright, I'll be fine!" I knew as soon as the words left my lips that they were the wrong ones.

The frown faded from his face, and a brief look of hurt crossed his eyes before he dropped his hand and took a step back. "Oh. All right." He said, his voice low and dull.

"James, I—" I reached for him, but he took another step back out of my reach before turning and leaving the room. "Wait!" I ran after him, only to be answered by the slam of the front door.

I stood there for a moment, tears building up before I turned my back to the wall and slid to the floor, burying my face in the sleeves of my arms with a choked sob. "Why am I so stupid?" I cried out to the empty apartment.

I didn't mean what I'd said. James had been the only person I had trusted since my own sister had been killed, and I feared now that I had ruined that. Slowly, I dragged myself to the bathroom and stuck my head under the cold water in the sink, rubbing harshly at my face. When my lungs burned for air, I pulled out from beneath the stream, gasping and coughing. I grabbed a towel and held it to my hot, puffy face. Somehow, I managed to make it back to my bed, and I fell into a dreamless sleep, promising myself I would go talk to him the next day, and then decide what to do about the email.

Groaning, I rolled over to the other side of the bed, my fingers digging into my scalp. "Damn migraines…" I muttered to myself as I pushed my body up into a slouched sitting position.

"They can be, ah, quite troublesome, huh?"

My spine snapped straight painfully fast as I turned to face the intruder in my room. His face was half concealed in the dark, making his already hellish features even more demonic. "Joker..?" the word left my lips before I could finish the thought.

"Ahhhh, yeaaah… who else would I be?" he said, amused laughter rumbling in the back of his chest.

"Wha—what do you want?" I cleared my throat in vain, trying to get rid of the fear that seemed to be lodged there.

A devilish grin spread across his red-painted lips. "Oh, nothing much…" he said in a nonchalant tone, pretending to inspect his gloved fingernails. "Just wanted to, uh, talk." He froze for a second, then looked up at me, all playfulness gone from his eyes.

Before I could register what had happened, he had leapt across the room at me, grabbing me roughly by the hair before dragging me out of the room. I stomped down harshly on the scream that rose in my throat like vile, knowing that it would do no good. I grabbed onto his wrist in a vain attempt to alleviate some of the pressure from my scalp. "I do have feet; I can use them to walk!" I spat in pain. Surprisingly, he dropped my hair, choosing instead to shove me forward onto my knees.

"And don't even think about running, sweetheart." He hissed in my ear when I stood. "Wouldn't want anything to, ah, happen to your boyfriend."

I narrowed my eyes and glared at him over my shoulder. "He isn't my boyfriend—"

"Uhuuhhh… Just keep walkin' sweety." He cackled.

I huffed indignantly, doing as he says and kept walking out the front door and down to the outside where a van sat in front of the building. I debated on trying to run, but if he had James already, then it would be my fault if he got hurt, and I probably would get hurt too. Joker opened one of the two back doors and I hopped inside before he could shove me in. Surprisingly, he got in behind me, and within seconds, the van drove off into the night.

Alright, I decided to post another chapter because I had a bit a free time (but really, I'm just procrastinating with my homework…) and I'm a bit pleased that this has been getting a lot of views, and it got its first review! (Thanks to Sharon Blackwood) *happy dance* So, I'm not sure when I'll next update, but I'll try not to wait too long, especially if I get enough motivation *wink, wink, reviews, wink, wink*

See y'all later,

—0Kuro Tenshi0