Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Dc Universe.
Chapter 18
It was a week after my kidnapped and since then I had noticed The Joker wasn't being as well....he wasn't hitting me as much anyway.
It seems he took his anger out of Harley more and more these days. Harley, she seemed to be becoming desperate for The Joker's love. She still had the crazy idea that I was taking him away from her.
I knew he would never love her or anyone. He only cared about himself but part of me wondered. Maybe he could love?
I put some music on through Aces laptop and turned to her.
" Are you happy working here for him with me?" I asked
"Yes of course I am. Why?" She replied
"I was just wondering..." I murmured trailing off
"Is something wrong Ava?" She asked
"It's just; sometimes I wish I could have one normal thing in my life. You know? Something that would remind me, I'm still partly sane" I confessed to her.
"I know, so do I, Jinx. But we have each other so that's all that matters" Ace said happily giving me a comforting hug.
A weak smile grazed my lips. I got up and walked over to the mirror. I was now clean and had straightened hair. I applied some foundation covering my smiling scars well.
"Ace, I'm going for a walk" I said.
"Want me to come with you?" she gently asked.
"No thanks, I just want to be alone for a little while. If anyone asks, just say I went for a walk. I don't care. See ya later Ace" I explained.
She nodded and waved to me as I left the room.
I quickly broke free from the warehouse and began walking through the streets of Gotham, keeping my head low as to not be recognized.
-----
I looked up and saw an empty park; I quickly crossed the road and opened the gate. The park was beautiful and quiet, "Just what I need, peace and quite" I thought.
I sat down on a bench and rested my arms on my knees, putting my face into your hands. I felt the need to cry but I tried to keep it inside, never the less a few tears escaped my sparkling eyes. I wiped them away and breathed a deep sad sigh.
"Excuse me, are you ok?" A soothing voice asked kindly.
I looked up and saw a man standing there; he looked about my age and had medium brown hair, dark brown eyes. He was wearing a white ac/dc shirt and blue ripped jeans. He sat down next to me and smiled "are you ok?"
"I'll be fine" I replied
He held out his hand and smiled gently again "my names Matt"
I shook his hand and said the first name that came to mind "Dawn"
"So, gonna tell me what's wrong? Boyfriend troubles?" Matt asked
I laughed slightly "I don't have a boyfriend. It's complicated. My life's complicate"
" Want to talk about it?"
" I don't even know you"
"My names Matt Ansley. I'm 26 years old. I work with the Gotham Police department because I hope to make Gotham a better place for people to live in and I'm currently single because my main priority is my job" He told me.
"Oh shit! This guys a cop. Better be careful what I say" I thought
"Sounds like a dating show" I chuckled
We both laughed before I said nervously "my name is Dawn Barker. I'm 24 years old and I...err I lost my job a little while ago"
"So what brought you here?" Matt asked
"Needed to clear my thoughts. Matt, what made you decided to work for the Gotham Police?" I said
"My mother died when I was a kid, she was killed. My dad did his best to raise me but its hard living in Gotham; he was always in and out of jail. You know...assault, drugs, that kind of thing. So when I left school I decided I wanted to help make Gotham a better placed so kids wouldn't have to lose one or both of there parents to crime and murder. So they could have a good life, a safe one" he confessed
I smiled "wow. That's great. I wish I could be a good person like you"
"You seem like a nice person to me" Matt said with a charming smile.
I shook my head and sighed "trust me. I'm ashamed of some of the things I have done. I'm not exactly a daughter a parent would be proud of"
"I'm sure it can't be that bad" he replied kindly.
"You have no idea..."
-----
Matt and I talked for hours and learn a lot about each other; well he learned what I made up about my life.
After arranging to meet up at the park again tomorrow, we went our separate ways; I made my way back to the warehouse. A smile was plastered on my face causing me to let out a small chuckle.
Today had been a good day and I felt excited about meeting him again, it made me happy to think Matt liked me for who I was, sort of... considering he didn't know anything about the things I had done. It struck me as incredibly odd though that he didn't recognize me. Especially because he was a cop and nearly every cop in Gotham is after myself and The Joker, not to mention the posters of us down at the station. Pushing my worries out of my mind for now I walked towards the warehouse with a slight skip in my step.
Minutes later I was inside the warehouse, still I couldn't remove the smile from my face as I looked around. I gasped slightly, guns were cocked and aimed at me, I held up my hands "Whoa guys it's only me" I exclaimed.
The guns were lowered but I was given a hard backhanded slap by The Joker.
" What was that for?" I yelled rubbing my cheek, making the makeup rub off and relieved my scars on one side.
"Where have you been?" he demanded.
"I went for a walk" I stated, trying my best to not smile and keep my mind off of my new friend, Matt.
"FOR 7 HOURS?!?" he shouted
I gulped, "7 hours" I muttered in shock.
"Did I stutter? YES! 7 hours! What the hell have you been doing for 7 hours?" he yelled
"I told you. Walking" I lied
He grabbed me roughly by the collar of my coat and lifted me up.
"Don't lie to me Doll face, I can ALWAYS tell when your lying" he snarled throwing me down again.
I glared at him and muttered "I hate you"
"You're lying again!" He hissed
"Am I?" I spat
Getting up, I marched off to your room like a child that has just been told off for being bad and found Ace standing outside the door. She shot me a concerned look and walked into the room after me. I grabbed a chair and sat on it, leaning back slightly, sighing at what just happen. I didn't hate him, only hated the way he treated me, like I was his property and wasn't allowed to do anything without him knowing of saying so. Well now that was about to change.
Ace sat crossed legged on the bed and asked "I saw what happened just now. Where were you really Ava?"
I got up and shut the door, before sitting back down in the chair "I met someone Ace" I stated unable to hide the grin that was placed on my lips, despite my anger and frustration, sadness, everything! One tiny thought of Matt and I was smiling and felt happiness, unlike the one I felt around after a day of crime and all that jazz. This happiness was like a tingling sort of feeling in my stomach, like being high it made me want to smile and laugh in joy.
That was how The Joker made me feel or he did until he put me in a coma.
But the thought of him harming Matt filled me with worry. He doesn't know, he won't know....he can't know.
" Ava, if you haven't noticed was all wanted criminals here. We all have a life sentence if not the death penalty waiting for us if we get caught. Who in the right mind would associate with you?" Ace said harshly.
"Ace, there isn't anything wrong with me, so why not? Sure there's a few marbles missing in my head but that doesn't mean I'm like him. The Joker and besides......Matt doesn't know who I am" I said angrily.
"Matt?" Ace asked.
I began to tell her the entire story of what happen, stopping every so often to check the door making sure no one was listening in. The last thing I wanted was Joker finding out about me meeting someone, even worse if he knew he was a cop. Anarchy came and curled up in a ball next to me; I stroked her fur and smiled down at her as I told Ace what happened.
When I had finished her jay dropped slightly and it was replaced with a smile, that quickly disappeared and replaced with a worried look.
" Ava...Do you realise the risk your taking in meeting this guy...this cop?" She said
"I know. But where's the fun in life if you never take risks?" I told her laughing slightly.
"You won't have a life if The Joker finds out about him" Ace spoke.
"It won't be me he would kill if he finds out Ace. He will instantly know the way to hurt and punish me the most would be to murder Matt" I exclaimed.
"I guess your right. I just can't believe your going to take this kind of risk just to meet some guy" She spoke.
I nodded "I know its crazy but hey! No one ever said I wasn't crazy right? Ace cant you understand?… Matt is the thing I've been looking for. He is proving that I'm still slightly sane. That I haven't lost myself entirely. Jinx maybe locked away Ace but I've never felt more insane and yet average at the same time. I'm so confused Ace, I feel I've lost my way and I cant find my way back"