Heya! I just realized how long this story is going to be... Probably pretty long. I feel like this is the first chapter that's not just introduction and set up.

To clarify: Yes, this will be a romance with the Joker. Very much a romance. He's just so pretty... I wouldn't call Jess a second Harley Quinn but almost. I don't really like Harley very much (no offense to all you HQXJ fans out there) so the comparison bothers me. Her role with be similar but her character is very different. I think I said something like that in Chapter 1.

There is much Joker here... I hope his speech is okay. I figure, he's not a man of few words, but he IS a man of short sentences.

There's cursing in this chapter, probably to be followed by more. If it bothers you, sorry, but we are dealing with people who would have no problems with using profanity. I don't either. It won't be enough to change the rating to M, probably. I'll restrain myself.

Thanks for the reviews! I love them! Have I mentioned how much I love reviews? Hope you enjoy!

The green room door sat in a shadowy niche about halfway down the next hallway, and Jess found it immediately, almost as if the force behind it was a magnet and she was drawn to it like a needle.

Force? Magnet?

She hardly knew the man and already she was assigning him metaphors, putting this murderer on a pedestal. Despite her interest in the comic book Joker and how cool he looked in the movie, she had to remind herself that his role was that of villain and she had decidedly never approved of hurting innocent people. He was foul and evil, she told herself.

Sighing, banishing all thoughts of his "force" or "magnetism," Jess opened the door.

It was dark in the room—the only illumination cast by a flickering television set—but Jess was able to make out the form of a long couch in front of the TV and a table and chairs further back. She thought there might be a refrigerator here, too; she saw its hulking shape near the back wall and heard its low electric hum.

A low chuckle came suddenly from a figure on the couch, a figure her eye hadn't immediately caught, but now, adjusting to the darkness, she could see fairly well.

He was sitting—legs spread, feet planted firmly outward—facing the door, his long fingered hands resting on his thighs, the left tapping out an agitated pattern. His neck and shoulders were characteristically hunched and he looked up at her, smiling, the paint on his face glowing in the dim light. Jess stopped in the doorway to survey him, mouth grim, trying to act as fearless as she possibly could but unable to help the shiver of anxiety race up her spine. He wasn't wearing his jacket or vest but she could see them draped over the arm of the sofa.

She glared at him. He smiled at her. Nothing was said for a very long time.

"Morning… sunshine." When he finally spoke, she jumped at his strange voice. His smile widened. "How was your nap?"

Jessica's mouth clenched. Whatever had made her sleep for three days was nothing to joke about, and she suddenly felt very angry with him.

"What do you want with me?" she snapped abruptly, too loudly. God, she knew she was going to get herself killed, and soon, if she couldn't keep her mouth under control.

The Joker raised his eyebrows and kept his voice light.

"You?" he said, giggling slightly. "What do I want with you?"

"That's what I said."

He glanced up at her, an irritated look in his eyes. She was getting on his nerves, being curt like this, and even though she knew doing so was very dangerous, she couldn't help herself. She still couldn't shake the feeling that this was all a dream.

"I thought I explained clearly…" The Joker muttered, the last syllable stretching on in a breath. "People don't listen like they used to."

"You're not joking, then?" Jess asked, and then closed her eyes as the Joker started chuckling lowly, tauntingly, at the prospect of his joking.

She let him go on for a minute, then raised her voice over his dry "Ha. Ha. Ha's."

"I just want to go home. Please."

The Joker stopped laughing and glared at her silently.

"That… uh… That's really just impossible, Jess," he said, obviously pleased to be relaying such bad news.

"Why?" Ugh! Why were tears so easy to shed today? She really didn't want to cry in front of this man.

"Why?" The Joker said in a laugh. "Why? A few good reasons. C'mere."

The order was short, curt, and Jessica stood, still hovering in the doorway, for a long time. Finally, the Joker leaned forward and stared at her compellingly.

"I said come here." There was a warning in that phrase and Jess was much too afraid of what might happen if she didn't obey, so she hesitantly stepped a few feet forward, letting the door swing shut behind her. The Joker smiled as he watched her approach.

"Closer," he ordered. She didn't move and he shut his eyes for a moment, as if silently exasperated with her. "Closer." It was a snarl this time, ripping out of his throat, and it made her jump. She scrambled nearer him and he stood up slowly, examining her all the time.

"What we have here," he began, pacing up to her, neck outstretched and shoulders hunched, "is an example of… transformation; change, Jess, in you. Call it a… social experiment. I've seen just how quickly fear and prospect can change people. Quick. Three days." He snapped. "Like that. Y'see, people like the boys out there," he motioned vaguely to the greenroom door, "they're easy to mold. Add a little spice to their lives, mix in some guns and a few threats, and these, uh…" he cleared his throat, "regular people become something new with very little effort. Put them all together and you've got a real powerhouse of loyalty to their creator." He put a hand on his chest. "That would be me. You, though…"

He shook his head and paced closer, once again completely disregarding personal space as he brought his hands up around his face, curling them into loose balls as if he wanted to touch her but was preventing himself from doing so. "You struck me as the kind of person who would resist to that. You are, aren't you, Jess?"

She didn't make a move to respond, but that didn't bother him. He reached forward and quickly grabbed her chin, hard, perhaps hard enough to leave marks. She immediately started to struggle away, but he jerked her towards him, a knife suddenly appearing in his other hand, speaking directly at her face. She could feel his hot breath on her visage as he continued.

"Listen." She struggled once more and he pulled her back to him. "Hey. Listen to me. You think you can beat the inevitable, don't you? But I've seen what you'll do for me, what you already did before you even thought this was real. You stole for me. You lied and cheated." He paused a long moment, looking right into her eyes. "What makes you think… you're going to back out of it now?" His giggle was high pitched and jarring.

Jess stiffened as he said that, his words ringing some truth in her. God, she felt like a puppet. He was orchestrating everything without even making her do anything and the craziest part of it all was that his whole speech was actually making a bizarre kind of sense to her. It interested her.

He was smart. She understood that now. Crazy, maybe. Brilliant? Yes. Scary? As all holy hell.

"You've got this misplaced sense of righteousness here," the Joker went on. "Pride, too… You wanna know something?" He leaned forward furtively and said the next thing right in her ear. "It's not gonna do you any good."

She could smell him, now. He smelled like gasoline, matches, old paint and some strange masculine cologne, maybe days old. It wasn't unpleasant. Under different circumstances it might have been attractive.

Hadn't she promised herself she wouldn't think of him that way?

"Leave those old values behind," the Joker said, pulling back to look her in the eyes again.

The hand with the knife was now resting on the small of her back to keep her in place, and she was very aware of it there, of how close their bodies were. She'd have liked to move away but… well, he was the one with the weapon.

"They're not gonna get you anywhere with me. They might even reverse the forces keeping you healthy." He licked his lips, tongue flicking out shortly to each side, and looked upwards, choosing his next words. "Listen. I'll make you a deal." He looked at her with raised eyebrows and she nodded fearfully. "You do what I say, I don't hurt the others. Sound good?"

Ouch. He knew where to hit her where it hurt. Of course she wouldn't let anyone else die because of something stupid she did. Of course she'd obey the crazy guy with the knife. Maybe, if she was smart, everyone would get out of this alive. She didn't know how the movie ended, after all.

"Uh huh," she squeaked, nodding.

The Joker looked at her long and hard, as though trying to decide whether or not to do something. Then, smiling and looking up to the ceiling, he pushed her away from him roughly. She fell to the floor, but scrambled up immediately, assuming conveniently that she was dismissed. She raced for the door, threw it open and looked back at him for a moment. He had turned his back on her, his hands placed on his head casually, fingers interlaced.

She slipped through the door, heart racing so hard she felt she would break. She leaned against the wall in the corridor, trying to slow her adrenaline, his last words echoing in her head.

"You do what I say, I don't hurt the others."

That meant if she tried to escape, people could die.

Jess's knees buckled and she was on the floor, sobbing again.

Footsteps thundered down the hall, heavy on the hardwood floors, and Jess shrank back against the wall behind her, not wanting to find out who was approaching. She had crawled away from the ominous greenroom door, into the shadows where it was less likely she'd be seen showing weakness like this. The last thing she wanted was for the Joker's laugh to echo again in her ears, mocking her.

"Oh, shit, Jess…"

She looked up with tear filled eyes at the figure that knelt above her, reaching up weakly to guard herself with her arms. She was on edge, jumpy at every little movement. The Joker had made it very clear where the men in this building's loyalties were and she felt that the best thing to do now would be to stay out of their way and hope they just leave her alone.

That wasn't going to work, it seemed. It seemed some of them still cared.

She could hardly believe that they were on the Joker's side. A "powerhouse of loyalty" he'd said. God if that didn't hurt.

"What happened?" asked another voice, this one coming from someone standing behind the guy kneeling before her. He carried a lamp to cast away the darkness of the hallways back here, but it was blinding her. She couldn't make out who they were.

"Wild guess," the kneeling one said. She recognized his voice. Billy.

"Wild card," a new voice added. There were three of them. That damned light! She couldn't see anything but silhouettes. And the crying wasn't helping. She lifted a hand to shield her eyes as she felt Billy's hand on her face, wiping away the tears.

"Good one," the second man snorted, then directed his attention back to Jess. "Jess, I don't know if you remember me, but I'm Andrew. This here's Blake." Jess assumed he meant the other standing silhouette.

"Drew, turn down the goddamn lamp," Blake said. "You're burnin' the kid's eyes out."

"Oh! Right."

Immediately the light was dimmer. Jess lowered her hand and found Billy's face, right in front of her, absolutely brimming with concern.

"You okay, Jess?" he asked, pushing her hair behind her ear. Oh! Now he was being all nice! Jess turned away from him.

"Course she's not okay!" Blake exclaimed. "Keith told me she went right into that greenroom. Takes balls. You remember your first one on one with the ol' clown?"

"Boy, do I," Billy said, glancing back at Blake with a half-grin. "Nearly had a heart attack. What'd he say, Jess?"

Jessica stared at him blankly for a moment. How could he think they were friends again, after all she had heard? She would stay here for these guys' lives but they were kidding themselves if they thought she wanted to be close with any of them. Criminals. All of them.

Billy sighed.

"She mad at you?" Drew was a big, dark skinned man of about 25 with powerful looking biceps and a glittering white smile. He had really kind eyes. Dammit! Why'd they all have to have such kind eyes?

Because they were normal people before this, Jess's inner voice said. She blocked it out.

"I guess," Billy replied. "I yelled at her when she woke up."

"Jerk." Blake kicked Billy lightly with a big black booted foot. He was tall and thin, with peroxide blond hair and an angular face. He might have been good looking but for the long scar stretching down the left side of his face, over his eyebrow, deforming one of his eyes. Well… Perhaps Blake hadn't been completely normal before, Jess thought. He still seemed like a reasonably good person.

She felt a flash of rage at the Joker for ruining him.

"Why'd you yell at her?" Drew asked.

"She wouldn't believe…" Billy said, looking down, an ounce of shame in his eyes. "I got frustrated."

"Bet she gets it now," Blake murmured, looking back at the green room door.

Jess decided to speak for the first time.

"I get it," she said, her voice a little hard. "But I can't understand any of you."

The three men shared meaningful looks.

"I know," Billy said softly, once more trying to smooth her probably very ratted hair.

She let him, a little taken by how sweet his eyes were.

"When some of them started doing what he said, started calling him sir and boss, I couldn't understand it either. I hadn't seen what he could do. I hadn't talked to him. But then I went through what you just did and I got it. Every time someone talks to him face to face, mano a mano, he seems to come out on top. Compared to the rest of us, you're handling this differently. How is it you're retaining yourself?" His green eyes searched hers, looking for some answer. Jess shrugged.

"I guess he didn't say the right thing," she whispered. "At least… not the thing that would have made me his henchman." The three men laughed suddenly at her use of the word. She glared at them and looked away, pouting. "Or whatever…" she muttered.

"No, I guess that term's applicable," Billy said, still chuckling. "I've just never thought of it that way."

"Me neither," Drew said in his deep baritone. "I kind of like it."

"The Lucky Twenty:" Blake said, nodding, "the Joker's henchmen." All three of them laughed again.

Jess still couldn't quite grasp how they were so pleased to be here, so accepting, so okay with the fact that they were just kind of criminals now. The idea was totally alien to her.

But they obviously weren't about to hurt her—Billy's soft hands told her so—and she desperately needed friends to help her through this, so she decided to go back on her original plan to isolate and hide herself. As long as she wasn't asked to do anything bad, she could at least spend time with these guys, have friends in all of this. She wouldn't lose herself to it.

Funny, how promises to oneself go so awry.

"You cool to stand, Jess?" Billy asked her, noticing immediately when her face lost its guarded look and she made eye contact with him. She nodded.

"We need to get you new clothes," Drew said.

"Don't you have to pee?" Blake asked brazenly. "I would if I had slept for three days."

Jessica laughed and nodded sheepishly.

"Come on, then," Billy said, pulling her up slowly. She waited for a burst of dizziness to hit as she got to her feet—something that happened often when she had been crying—but felt none. It seemed like a good omen. Blake threw an arm around her shoulder.

"Damn, you could be a pretty thing if you weren't so rumpled looking," he told her. Jess elbowed him.

"We'll get you fixed up," Drew said kindly. "Then we can go hang out with the rest of them."

Jessica smiled as they walked down the hall. She felt safe now, so completely opposite of how she had felt when she had gone in to meet the Joker. Somehow she was glad that she had decided to fold herself in with these men, especially if escape was out of the question. Everything was not great, everything was really scary. But, for now, as she walked down the hall with three well meaning friends, everything was kind of okay.