Hi, readers. I would have made this longer, but I'm pretty tired right now. I'll try to make the next one longer, but no promises. Enjoy it, review, and... stuff... *goes to bed*

When I got back home, I fell face first onto my bed. I was exhausted, but the adrenaline still pumping through my veins wouldn't allow my eyes to stay closed for more than a few seconds in fear that when they opened again, I'd see him. 'How did he even get in here?' I thought suddenly, abruptly jumping up and running to the door, making sure I had bolted the locks shut. I didn't return to my room until I checked the back door and all the locks on every window in the apartment. With a sigh, I plopped back onto my mattress again. 'Not like it'd do any good keeping him out.'

Then, another thought occurred to me: is James alright? I darted out of the room again and nearly pounced on the couch in search of my phone, sure that I had left it there. After turning every cushion, I turned to the mess of papers on the coffee table behind me and frowned. I knew I had left it in this room. I stood from my crouch on the floor and moved to the kitchen. With a bit of shuffling around in there, I saw it resting on top of the microwave. I hesitantly picked it up, wondering why the Joker would want to look through my phone. Realizing that I had forgotten why I was looking for it in the first place, I picked it up, unlocked it, and dialed James's number.

When he didn't answer the first time, I dialed it again, and after a long moment, he answered with a groggy, "What? It's three in the morning, Jade."

A relieved sigh escaped me, and I slouched down in the chair next to the table, letting my head fall forward onto it. "Thank God you're alright! T-the Joker, he said, I thought—" All the emotion I'd been suppressing from my encounter with Joker came rushing out the moment I opened my mouth, and a sob came tumbling out with them. I tried to form a full sentence, but James just hushed me, told me he was coming over again, and hung up.

By the time he had arrived, I had reduced my sobs to quiet sniffles, and I sat on the couch, staring blankly at the papers Joker had given me, splayed across the table in front of me and everything else save my laptop messily settled on the floor beside the table. I didn't look at him as he sat next to me, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. "I'm so sorry, James, I didn't mean what I said it was horrible and mean and Ididn'tmeananyof—" the words came rushing out again of their own accord, but James pulled me closer, shushing me.

"It's ok, Jade. Just tell me what happened." I could hear the worry in his voice.

I took a deep breath, making sure I had control again, before speaking again, more quietly, "Joker came by tonight. Wanted to… chat." I said, my voice turning bitter at the end of the sentence.

I was suddenly forced to meet James's angry grey eyes. "Did he do anything to you?" he asked, his voice low.

"No!" I nearly shouted. His eyes drifted down to my neck. "Did he do that?"

My hands went up to my throat, and I nearly wince as I remembered how they got there. "I— yes, but it's ok! He just… needed a favor?" my voice faded at the cold anger in his eyes.

James frown deepened, and he made to stand, but I grabbed his arm. "James, please don't. We both know how this will end." I stared pleadingly at him. "Please. I can't lose you too…" my voice felt strained with the tears that threatened to overflow again.

Eventually James's hard stare softened, and he slumped down beside me. I sighed in relief, but I didn't let go of his arm. I wasn't done yet. "He wanted some info on Wayne Enterprise's blueprints."

James leaned forward and picked up one of the papers. "You can't do this."

"But he said if I didn't, he'd kill you."

James shook his head, his frown returning. "I wouldn't let him. But no, that's not what I meant. Wayne has high security on his stuff; he'd know if you hacked him, and he'd trace you. You can't cover your tracks with this one." He paused, a smirk crossing his lips as he chuckled. "Funny, Wayne has better security than the GCPD."

He shook his head. "But anyway, I'll have to do this one. You don't have the right program to cover you."

I frowned. "But I thought you couldn't cover up…"

"With the right program, you can. I'll have to show you later."

With a sigh, James set back and folded his arms over his eyes. I stared at him for a moment, contemplating whether or not to voice my thoughts. "What is it?" he asked, peeking at me through an eye from under his arm.

I hesitated a bit more, thinking about my wording. "Why do you always help me out so much? It's like every time I have a problem, you fix it for me."

A slow smile spread across his face, and he laughed. "Why do you always take things so seriously? I do it because I care about you."

I frowned, leaning away from him and onto the armrest. Something about his wording bothered me, but just as it reached the tip of my tongue, a wave of fatigue hit me, forcing out a yawn. My head lolled back and James chuckled. He stood and picked me up, and I automatically curled into him, relaxing more.

He carried me into my room and laid me on my bed, pulling the cover up over my torso. I turned on my side and stared at him through half-lidded eyes. "For the record, that's not a real answer. There's something else you're not telling me…" I mumbled as I drifted off into sleep.