AN: First, thanks again for the continued reviews...they are greatly appreciated! :) Second, I know this chapter is kinda short, but I promise the next one will be longer. Hope you enjoy...and as always, please take the time to send a quick review :)

That night, The Joker dragged me to the car. I kicked and screamed the whole time, knowing no one would hear me but it made me feel better. He threw me into the car and snarled, "Keep testing me, and I will get rid of you…and it won't be pretty."

I glared at him with a look that just screamed, "Bring it on!" He drove into the heart of Gotham and pulled down a darkened alley. He grabbed a clown mask like the ones his henchmen wear and gave it to me. "Put it on…NOW!" he said as he loaded his gun.

"What are we doing?" I asked as I put the mask on without complaints. Maybe I couldn't be blamed then for whatever goes down here.

"We are going to rob the jewelry store around the corner," he said matter-of-factly.

"Why?"

"It'll be fun, of course!" He exclaimed. I rolled my eyes and he burst into a fit of laughter. Then he opened his car door, "Come on…let's go," he said to me. I got out as I was told and followed him down the alley and into the back entrance of the store.

When we got in there, I realized the place was completely empty. How strange is that? I thought, until I noticed the sign on the door had the "Closed" message facing the street. So we're robbing a closed store…very un-Joker like. I didn't express any of these thoughts though. I simply asked, "So are we after something in particular?"

"We'll take the money, and then…" The Joker began to say, but was interrupted when he fell to the ground. I spun around to see a cloaked figure on top of The Joker. It was none other than Batman…coming to my rescue I figured. I stood frozen in my spot, unsure what to do…help The Joker or Batman…or just run? The Joker then screamed, "YOU'RE GOOD FOR SOMETHING AREN'T YOU? LITTLE HELP MAYBE?"

I rushed over to him, trying to get in the middle of the fighting men. I managed to get myself wedged in the middle enough that The Joker could slip out under me. As he did, he hit my mask and it fell off…revealing my face to Batman. Batman froze, surprised to find me stopping him from hurting The Joker.

The Joker stood up and dusted off his suit. He took off running out the backdoor, laughing as loudly as possible. That bastard just abandoned me!! I thought. I expected Batman to go after him, but instead he just stayed staring at me. "You got a problem or something?" I asked.

That seemed to shake him from his trance. "What are you doing with him?"

"I guess you could call it that I'm his partner in crime now. Except that he totally just left me so I'm not sure now…"

"You joined him?" Batman growled.

"Can't say I had much choice…no thanks to you," I said bitterly.

"You could have stopped yourself. You still can stop yourself. You are better than this Melanie."

I opened my mouth to say something, but before I could The Joker burst back through the door. "Oh, no, Batsy, she's not better than this. She's just like me," he cackled.

"Come on, Melanie, don't listen to him. I'll take you home."

"Bats, you don't know this girl like I know her. She is like me and she's not going anywhere…she's mine so you can just go find your own," he said, reaching for my hand.

I shifted away from him. "Like hell I'm yours. I'm nothing like you and I never will be like you. Actually, I'm not like either one of you so neither one of you have any sort of claim on me!" I screamed. I turned on my heel and stormed out of store. I heard The Joker calling me, but I didn't turn around.

--

I wasn't about to lose her, but I had Bats to take care of first. When she didn't turn back as I called her name, I turned back to Batman, "Look what you've done," I growled.

"Me? I di—" Batman started to answer, but I caught him off guard. I kicked him as hard as I could in the groin, sending him falling to the ground. I started laughing at how easy it was to take the big, bad bat down.

"Not so tough, hmm?" I laughed. I turned away from him and took off running in the direction Melanie had gone. As I exited the store, I tossed a canister of my laughing gas over my shoulder. Gotta have some kind of insurance that he won't follow me, I thought.

I ran at a full sprint and it didn't take me long to catch up to Melanie. I grabbed her wrist and spun her around to face me. "You're not leaving me, are you sweets?" I asked, shooting her the most pitiful look I could muster. I can't believe I'm actually doing this.

"And just why shouldn't I leave?" she asked, still sounding pissed.

"Because we belong together. And you're a great assets for me."

"I'm not a piece of property. No one owns me."

"Where are you going to go, hmm? If you go back to Daddy, I'll just find you there, you know."

I knew I had her with that one because she didn't have a response ready. She just glared at me. Boy do I love it when she tries to look tough and angry. I started walking back toward the car and she followed, knowing that she had no other choice. She was mine and she would turn out exactly like I wanted her to…it was just a matter of time.