The Joker stumbled in whistling a happy tune. Rachel grabbed her make-shift first aid kit and followed him into the bathroom. Ever since his rainy jaunt a month ago, Joker had been coming home more and more beat-up. His fights with Batman were getting closer together and all the more violent. It seemed like she was constantly mending new injuries or trying to keep old ones from becoming infected. Thankfully, he had invested in a few tubes of Neosporin so her job was made easier. She turned into the room, to find him poking at the skin around yesterday's gash. He had torn his stitches again.

"Don't poke it!" she swatted his hand away and pulled out the needle and thread before removing the little bits of string clinging to the bruised skin. "You need to take a few days off and heal," she sighed.

"I know, but it's just so much fun to let you take care of me. Makes me feel special and all," he teased her, running a finger down her nose. She felt a smile form on her lips at the idea of being needed. That was something new, and she liked it.

"Well, it's not healthy and who else is going to keep Gotham knee deep in chaos if you die of... something silly?" she tried to persuade him.

"My new protege. He's been doing a wonderful job with the less threatening aspects of the city. I get more play time with Batsy now," he fondly commented. Rachel grimaced at the idea. It was still hard for her to image Bruce being so violent on a daily basis. Sure, Joker probably deserved it, but Bruce was such a gentle creature and this brutality seemed strange.

"Speaking of your student, when do I get to meet him? Surely he could use with a little medical attention too," Rachel guessed, eager to meet this associate. She had heard things about him, but had yet to meet him. She didn't even have a name.

"Don't get too worked up. You wouldn't like him and he's kind of hard to get to know with his personality issues and what not. He's just about to start addressing his other half in the third person. No, you won't like Two-Face," he assured her, satisfying her curiosity some. So his name was Two-Face. How silly!

"What kind of name is that?" she laughed, finishing up her stitching. He shrugged and giggled a tiny bit. "Anything else?" she asked. He pulled up the other side of his shirt to reveal a big, ugly, fist-shaped bruise on his side. "Well, unfortunately for you, there is only one treatment for bruises, and it takes forever to work," she teased him, a devilish plan forming in her head.

"Anything you say Doctor Dawes. I am at your good mercy," he surrendered himself. Rachel smiled mischievously before leaning in and pressing a quick kiss to the injury. "What the hell?" he yelped, jumping away. He fixed her with a look of sheer horror and caused side-splitting laughter to erupt from her throat.

XXXXXXXXX

He stared at his captive like most people stared at him. Here he was, the notorious Joker, and she was laughing at him! How the hell had she expected him to react to that? He had not seen that one coming. No one had ever kissed him before... except his mother but that was ages ago. What was this? Good lord, talk about chaos! He did not like it. Now, he had an image to recover.

"Well, well Miss Dawes, becoming quite forward are we not? I'm sorry, but no matter how hard you try, I just am not ready for a relationship. I'm focusing on my career," he teased her, pulling the classic denial lines of women. That shut her up some.

"Don't try and play it cool now. I pulled one over on the Joker, and you freaked Ace," she continued to giggle.

"Don't call me that!" he sulked, not liking being the subject of her amusement. It had been a cute name for awhile, but now it was annoying.

"Or you'll do what?" she pressed. "Kill me?" He muttered something along the lines of perhaps. "Yeah right." He cocked an eyebrow and gave her a pointed look. She didn't think he could do it now. Well, he needed to correct that little mistake. While her being comfortable with him was necessary, she needed to remember who he was. He drew his knife and pulled her to him in a matter of seconds. The knife met the delicate skin at the corner of her lips and her eyes grew wide.

"I could do it if I wanted to," he said just over a whisper. "I'll admit, you're useful to have around, but that won't stop me if you stop listening. I'm dangerous Rach." She swallowed and nodded her understanding. He let her go and sheathed the blade. "Very good, now, is there anything I can really do about this bruise, because as pleasant as your lips are, it's not going to get rid of it. If anything, you might have persuaded it to stay," he teased her, poking at the blackening skin. Rachel cleared her throat, and gathered her bearings again.

"Uh, first leave it alone. Second, citrus fruits help it, or prevent them or something. It's been awhile since college," she tried to remember. He made a gagging sound.

"I hate grapefruits," he spat. Rachel reminded him that there were oranges available and that grapefruits were handy for throwing at people. That made him laugh. "Death by grapefruit, I like it. We might just make a fiend out of you yet." Rachel smacked his arm lightly and put her supplies away. "Well, I have to go out. I'll be back soon," he told her, tucking his shirt in.

"No, you need to rest. No more fighting for you today... and preferably the rest of the week," she begged him. He smiled and pulled her into a hug, causing her to tense up.

"Don't you worry Sweetheart, it's just some petty larceny. If my doctor has prescribed me with Vitamin C, then I shall obey her orders," he vowed mockingly. She giggled a bit.

"Oh, in that case, have fun," she replied sarcastically.

"I will," and with a kiss on her cheek, he ran off, leaving a dumbfounded Rachel behind with the sounds of his laughter ringing in her ears. He always got the last laugh.

A/N: Alright, so there was a question as to the amount of time that has passed between now and the accident. About four months has passed. Harvey was in jail for almost three months and now a month has passed since he and the Joker became buddies. I know the time is not clearly defined, but if you think about being isolated, time becomes irrelevant. So, this chapter was fairly pointless, but I wanted to show changes in Rachel and Joker's relationship, show that they are quite close now, and also wanted to give her a reminder that he is still dangerous and unpredicable, but as we can tell, his unpredictability is quite predictable from the way she bounces back. That was a long sentence. Who actually finished reading it? Yay. Okay, so review please!