AN: Here's the dinner chapter, hope you all enjoy. I decided to write mostly from Joker's POV, figured it'd be more interesting. As always, please take the time to send a quick review, it's greatly appreciated :)

I was just finishing getting dressed for the dinner when the doorbell rang. I went running for the door to beat my dad there. Before I opened it, I quickly straightened my purple sweater and flipped my hair over my shoulder. Then I opened the door to find myself face to face with The Joker, nicely cleaned up in a new purple suit although his face was still covered in his signature makeup.

He didn't even wait for me to invite him in. He just wandered in, smiling his evil smile, sniffing the air. "Nice place, Mels," he said.

"Thanks," I replied as I closed the front door. "Dad, our company is here!" I yelled at the top of my lungs so he would hear me upstairs.

"Ok!" I heard his muffled reply float down from his room.

"So, have you made a decision?" The Joker asked, leaning in close to me.

"We'll discuss that later," I replied coldly, inching away from him.

He licked his lips as he straightened his posture, "Oh that we will, darling."

At that moment, my father came walking down the stairs. I was relieved because I did not want to get into a discussion with The Joker about my decision with my dad so close. Plus, I really hadn't made a solid decision yet. I would see how tonight went before I could make any decisions about joining him and about liking him. My dad's voice broke my thoughts, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Joker. I'm glad you could make it."

"Aah, the pleasure is mine, all mine," The Joker replied, shaking hands with my dad.

"Well, come in, dinner is ready. I sure hope you've brought an appetite with you," my dad said, leading us into the kitchen.

"Of course," The Joker whispered as he followed my dad, shooting me a look that said, "Just you wait and see." I gulped nervously to myself, saying a prayer that this wouldn't end badly as I followed them to take my seat at the table.

--

I knew that this dinner would involve quite a few odd questions being directed at me. I knew that Melanie's father was a psychologist and that he would be longing to get a better idea of the sort of mindset that I possessed. I didn't surprise me when the first question out of his mouth was, "So, exactly what makes you do what you do?"

I laughed, "Oh, it's just something to do."

"You must have a reason of some sort though?"

"Not really, I don't have plans, I just do things. I'm an agent of chaos. And chaos is what I bring to Gotham. They love me for it, they really do."

"How do you figure they love you for it? You destroy the city, kill innocent lives, make those left alive run and hide in fear."

"Aah, true. But without me their lives would be so boring," I said, full of pride.

"Interesting," he replied.

He sat silent a moment, trying to think of a question to ask that would give him a better understanding of me, I would assume. I took the opportunity to say, "Shouldn't you be a little more worried that I have befriended your daughter? Aren't you worried that I may hurt her?"

"What? Oh, umm…not really. Melanie can take care of herself and if you wanted to harm her you probably would have by now. You must care for her if you haven't done anything to her at this point."

I couldn't believe this! This man was sitting here, not even concerned that I could have slit his daughter's throat right then if I had wanted. And then he was going to tell me that I care about her?! No, no, that's not possible. Sure she was attractive, but me? Love? Her? Yeah, right.

Melanie had be silent the whole time, just picking at the food on her plate, not making eye contact with either of us. So that's when I decided to get her involved, "She hasn't told you what happened last night?" I asked, trying to sound slightly surprised. Inside, I was dying laughing. Melanie's eyes shot up to stare at me as if she wanted to kill me. I just grinned at her.

"Last night? No, she didn't mention anything specific," her dad answered.

"Mels, how could you not tell him?" I asked, looking like I was hurt. "I thought you would've told him right away."

"Shut up! It's none of your business if I told him or not," she spat.

"That's where you're wrong. It does involve me and I think he has every right to know what you're capable of," I said, trying to contain my amusement.

"Tell me what? What happened last night, Mel?" her dad asked, looking confused from me to her and back again.

"Yes, why don't you tell him, Mels?" I asked laughing. "Or should I?" I added with a sneer.

"You wouldn't," she said.

"Keep telling yourself that, sweets, but you know what I'm capable of. And seems you're capable of it too."

"What are you two talking about?" Mr. Staples asked, becoming quite flustered.

"Oh, just that she killed four of my henchmen last night with a knife. Got rather violent with it too…I think she enjoyed it," I said nonchalantly as I threw a huge grin Mel's direction. She looked like she wanted to cry or maybe come across the table and attack me.

"Is this true, honey?" her dad asked her.

"Yes," she whispered, hanging her head.

"Now, now, don't be sad, Mel, you did an excellent job with it. Quite impressive. You should have seen her!" I said, laughing again.

Her dad shot me an evil glare. "I doubt that she enjoyed herself and I'm sure it was self defense…right?"

"Believe what you want," I said, leaning back in my chair, pleased with myself. Melanie got up and ran out of the room. I knew she was haunted by her actions and knew I was winning. Her dad shot me another dirty look as he went after her.

--

I rushed to my room, slamming the door behind me. I had about a thousand emotions coursing through my body. I started pacing my room. I was furious that The Joker had brought up what I had done. A part of my wanted to attack him in a very similar way to the way I had killed his henchmen last night. But another part of me wanted to forgive him. In a way, he was right in bringing it up because I probably would've never told Dad and he did have a right to know about it. I just wanted a different way to have to discuss it.

There was a knock on the door, and my dad opened it and stepped inside. "Hey, is everything ok? Will you please tell me what The Joker is talking about?" he asked kindly.

I stopped my pacing and looked at my dad, my eyes filling with tears. I rushed to him and gave him a hug. I sobbed into his chest, "He gave me a 'test' and I was left in the woods with a knife against four henchmen with guns…and….and, I killed them all…with the knife because you know how I feel about guns."

My dad hugged me tightly, "Mel, honey, it's ok. You were saving yourself."

"Not completely. I was very bad at the end…I just killed the final guy because, even after he surrendered. I don't know what came over me, I ju—" I cried.

"Oh, Mel, it's ok. I don't hate you and I'm not going to turn you in to the police. Sure what you did was wrong, but you probably weren't given much of a choice. And hey, at least they were criminals," Dad said stroking my hair. Of course, I knew he was only saying this to cheer me up and that deep inside he was appalled. "Come on, let's go finish this dinner," my dad sighed, taking my hand to lead me out of the room.

--

When they returned, I was sitting comfortably in my chair. I leaned forward and rubbed my hands together and licked my lips as they entered. "Sooo, whtatcha think about your daughter now, hmm?" I asked.

"I want you to get out of our house, now," her dad answered.

"Aww, come on, we were just starting to have fun, get to know each other," I said, faking a hurt face.

"Dad, wait, I want to know something first," Melanie said.

Her dad just looked at her confused, but I answered, "And what's that my sweet?"

"Why me? And what are you doing this stuff to me for?"

"Aah, that's an easy one! You're a lot like me, of course. And I'm sort of just showing Gotham that just about anyone can be like me, you know?" I said with a smile.

They both seemed sort of confused, though I could tell that Mr. Staples was beginning to put it together. I frowned that they didn't understand. Then I directed my attention to Mr. Staples, "You know what I'm talking about, you've seen what civilized people will do to each other…they'll eat each other. Consider, Melanie here a social experiment. Anyone can fall, and anyone can kill, it's just a matter of finding their breaking point and giving them that well needed push." I burst into a fit of laughter as they both stared at me like I had lost my mind. Once I regained my composure, I asked, "What?"

"Are you really that insane?" Melanie's father asked.

"I'm not insane, I'm just ahead of the curve. And just trying to prove a point, show Gotham what it's really made of," I said smiling. Melanie just shook her head at me, but I knew she understood. Her dad, on the other hand, looked baffled yet curious. I knew he wanted to find out more, but I had had enough of trying to explain my whims for one night. I stood up, "Well, thank you for the lovely evening, though I think I should probably get going."

Mel replied, "Oh, ok, I'll show you to the door."

Her dad shouted, "Thanks for coming" after us.

When we reached the door, Melanie opened it. Before I stepped out into the night, I leaned in close to her and whispered in her ear, "Decision?"

She didn't say a word, but I could tell she hadn't made one yet. So I decided to be polite, "I'll give you one more night just because I'm feeling generous. Talk it over with Pops back there and decide what route is best, either way, you're mine," I said with my maniac smile. She nodded and I stepped out into the night, laughing as she shut the door behind me.