A/N: Little bit of sexy stuff, and some violence in this one! Just so you know...thank you for all the wonderful reviews, and thank you so much for reading!
Seds
* * *
Jack knocked at Rita's door with flowers and the gift-wrapped present he had bought for her in hand. He had watched Gail depart for work, and decided it would be fun to ravish her daughter in the teen's very own girly bedroom for a change. Rita opened the door, and her eyes widened in delight and surprise.
"Jack! I thought I was going over to your place! What's all this?" she asked, immediately distracted by the colorful flowers and elegantly-wrapped package.
"Yeah, baby, I just thought we'd shake things up a little!" He put the present and bouquet in Rita's hands, took her chin and pressed a warm kiss on her soft lips. He grinned and whispered in her ear, "I wanna do you in that funky bedroom of yours, I'm nuts for the pink wallpaper and purple unicorns...."
"Oh, Jack, you're so silly," she giggled. "These flowers are gorgeous! And, what's this?"
"It's for you, sugar bear! Go ahead, open it...."
Rita looked at him excitedly and carefully laid the flowers on the coffee table. She then sat down on the couch, and began gingerly removing the wrapping paper.
"I'm sorry to be so slow, but it's so pretty, I hate to tear it up..." she said apologetically.
"That's ok, sweetie, take your time." Jack sat down next to her, watching, pleased at her girlish delight. It had been a long time since he'd bothered to give anyone a gift and he'd forgotten how much fun it could be just to see their reaction.
Rita read the name of the store on the box and glanced up at Jack, her mouth open in surprise. She had often window-shopped there, but never even had the courage to go inside, much less make a purchase. She pulled the garment out of the box and stared at it, apparently bewildered.
Jack's face tensed as he watched her. For some reason, he began feeling oddly apprehensive. Shit, what if she doesn't like it? he thought darkly. She better like it. If she didn't, he'd personally track down that big cream-puff guy from the underwear store, and give him a little hell for steering him in the wrong direction. Yeah, he was bigger, but nothing a little crowbar action couldn't even out nicely....
Rita had never had a piece of clothing so...beautiful, before. It felt deliciously silky and delicate in her hands, the color was dramatic, and the style, breathtakingly sexy. She took in the romantic lace touches, the hand stitching of the embroidery. It even smelled incredible; a faint rose scent wafted from the feathery silk fabric.
Rita looked at her companion, who was carefully observing her.
"Oh, Jack..." she gasped. "This is...amazing. Absolutely gorgeous! It's really for me?" she asked in delight.
A slow smile stole over Jack's face as he relaxed, relieved.
"Well, sure, babe! I saw it and thought it'd look real good on you. Hey, go put it on, will ya?"
Rita hopped up and eagerly headed to her bedroom. He sauntered behind her and stopped in the doorway, leaning against the frame with his hands shoved into his pockets. He felt a definite stirring in his trousers as Rita slipped out of her t-shirt and bra, and wriggled into the deliciously silky-smooth camisole.
"It's perfect!" she exclaimed, looking in the mirror.
"That it is," Jack said, somewhere between a growl and a purr.
He came up behind her and pulled her to him. They watched themselves in the mirror as his hands slid sensuously up from her small waist and then over the rise of her full breasts, where he paused to gently cup and squeeze lovingly.
He buried his face in her neck as his hands then wandered down to the button of her jeans, and he undid them for her, pulling them down low on her hips, revealing her pale pastel green undies with little pink and orange butterflies on them.
"Oh, shit," he grinned as they were revealed. "That's cute. I was thinking I shoulda bought you some panties to go with this, but I couldn't improve on these in a million years..." he snickered softly.
Rita didn't really get the joke, but she smiled happily before turning and giving him a tight hug.
"I've never had anything this nice before...thank you so much, I love it, I love it...."
"Yeah, it's a shame you're gonna have to take it off pretty soon!" he laughed as he wrapped her in his arms.
"I will?"
"Well...good point, maybe not right away...."
He kissed her deeply, working at getting her jeans further down her legs.
It wasn't long before the pair were enthusiastically engaged in what they had both been looking forward to for several days, and the frame of Rita's beat-up old bed was being shaken harder than it ever had been in all the years she'd slept in it.
Neither could quite drop off to sleep, preferring instead to chat and cuddle and explore each other's bodies, and at half past midnight, they eagerly prepared to make love again. Before they could get started, and much to Jack's annoyance and Rita's distress, the phone rang. She quickly scrabbled around on her nightstand, trying to grab the handset before the ringing stopped.
"Hello?" she said breathlessly, worried it might be a problem with her mom. But she immediately clicked the phone off and set it back on the nightstand. She looked at Jack.
"No one there," she said uncertainly.
Jack picked up the phone and looked at the caller ID--"Unknown" was all it said.
"Did you hear anything? Breathing, or something?"
"No. It was probably just a wrong number this time...."
"Yeah...probably. Boy, way to kill the mood, anonymous caller...." Jack said idly. Rita giggled, and shifted around until she was snug in his arms. They lay there like that for a while, then Jack announced, "I gotta hit the can, baby. Keep warm for me, we'll pick up where we left off, huh?" Rita nodded, amused, and enjoyed watching Jack stroll off naked to the bathroom in the hall.
Rita decided to get something to drink, and slipped on her flannel house robe, a stark contrast to the fine quality of the silk camisole now carefully hung over the back of her desk chair, and she took a moment to again run her fingers over the soft cloth and smile to herself before heading to the kitchen.
* * *
Charlie Oswald sat in his car, nervously chewing a hangnail as he flipped his cell phone closed. Gail had left and the damn girl was there. Well, all right. He was sick of this, sick of being ignored. Gail had gone too far this time. Not only had she changed her work schedule yet again, she had once again left that stupid kid of hers alone in the apartment. He fingered the rope he'd brought, along with the duct tape. He wasn't sure which he'd use, maybe he'd need both. He'd never done this before.
Yeah....How the hell was he to prepare for a romantic night with Gail when the fucking kid was there? He could see her through the kitchen window, such a little bitch, thinking she was better than he, hanging up the phone on him all the time.
He slung back another mouthful of cheap whiskey and wiped his mouth irritably. The crack he'd smoked earlier was buzzing in his brain, and he was feeling antsy; the whiskey was supposed to help him settle down, but his mind just kept running the same images over and over again. Gail in her nurse's uniform....Gail, talking to him, that warm Southern drawl, that beautiful smile...her eyes...he'd caught her sneaking a peek at him when he was changing into the hospital gown, ha ha...Gail, taking such good care of him when he was sick, but now...it was as if she didn't even know him! How could she betray him this way? Abandoning him, just like everybody else....
And that girl...flouncing in and out of that apartment like she owned the world, like she was the only one Gail cared about. As long as she was around, Gail would never think of him the way he wanted her to...needed her to. The girl was in the way. If only he could get her out of the picture, Gail could clear her mind. Sure, she'd be sad for a while, but he'd be there for her...she'd see him, finally see him! See...him....
Charlie thrust his hand in his coat pocket and caressed his gun for the hundredth time that evening. It was wonderful, the power a gun gave you. Life and death, life and death, and you held it all in your hands when you had a gun....Suddenly, he felt a raw, gnawing urge and he fumbled in his glove box and found his pipe, loaded the last little bit of rock he had left, and smoked it up.
He was almost feeling good again. He almost felt like things were looking up. He opened his phone, thought of punching in the number, wishing he could hear Gail's warm, loving tone, but he knew all he'd get would be the girl's stupid, whiney voice. He clapped the phone shut, and shook his head in determination.
This had to stop. It was time he did something positive, did something to bring him and Gail together, as they were meant to be. He had to take control of the situation...he had to do it...tonight.
* * *
The lovers were back in bed, making out intently. Jack had just reclaimed his position on top of Rita, was preparing to enter her, when something clattered in the kitchen. Jack immediately rolled off his lover and grabbed his pants from off the floor, when the bedroom door was flung open, and a wild-eyed man with a gun in his hand entered the room.
"Fuck..." Jack muttered, recognizing Charlie. He should have known that lousy little creep would turn up sooner or later, damn it...he should have taken care of this before. Rita's scream disturbed his thoughts, and he patted her absently on the leg, making a shushing sound.
Charlie stared, bewildered, first at the girl, then at the man in the bed. His fuzzy mind was whirling, he'd seen this guy before, where had he seen him? Those scars...suddenly, a tiny bit of light shone into the cluttered, drug-muddled mind and he remembered.
"Joker!" he exclaimed with a gasp. He'd never seen him without the greasepaint, but there was no mistaking those scars....
"Charlie..." Jack responded calmly. "What brings you to this part of town, I didn't think the sewer made a stop in this neighborhood?"
"Jack...." Rita said in a small, terrified voice. "You know him?" she whispered.
"Yeah, babe, don't worry, this'll all be over real quick," he assured her gently as he shifted his weight on the bed.
"Over? You think it'll be over? Oh, no, man, it's just beginning!" The gunman cackled as he proudly waved the weapon at the couple. "See this, Joker? See it? This is what puts me in charge for a change!" The man gave another maniacal laugh, unable to believe his good luck.
Not only would he take care of the girl, he could finally take revenge on the man--that freak--who'd caused him so much humiliation, misery and terror...he never thought it would happen, as many times as he'd dreamed of it, but he knew very well that he'd never have the courage to seek him out and do anything about it...and now, here he was, in the flesh... oh, yeah, this was definitely going to be his night!
"Really, Charlie? Why don't you tell me what it is that's beginning. Go ahead...tell me." Jack spoke in a silky, calm, almost hypnotic voice. Rita was desperate to do something, anything, but Jack seemed completely content to lie there naked, holding his trousers.
the Joker's calm tone infuriated Charlie. The bastard was always so smug, so "in charge"....he'd show him. He'd show him what it was like to be scared....
"Shut up, shut up! Drop those clothes, you freak, put your hands where I can see 'em..." commanded the gunman, gaining confidence as he yelled.
"Sure, Chuckie. No problem. Keep your voice down, though, huh? People are trying to sleep...." Jack did as he was instructed, holding his empty hands in the air.
Rita had begun to cry.
"What do you want?" she asked pleadingly.
"Shhh, darling, let Uncle J handle this...." Jack spoke smoothly without breaking his gaze from the gunman's eyes.
"I said, shut up! I'll tell you what I want, darling, I want never to hear your stupid voice on the phone again! I want you out of Gail's life, once and for all! And, as a bonus, I want to put a couple of bullet holes in your sick, freak boyfriend there!" Another demented cackle rolled out of the drug-addled man.
"Chuuuckie...put the gun down. You don't look so good, old boy, I think you need to sit down. Here, let me get you a chair..." Jack made as if to stand, innocuously putting one hand behind him to propel himself forward. Charlie, enraged at the condescending tone, missed the lightening fast move of Jack's hand under his pillow.
"Don't...fucking...move!" screamed Charlie. He raised the gun, aiming first at Jack, then at Rita as he tried to decide who to hit first.
Something hit Rita viciously hard in her shoulder a fraction of a second before she heard a loud blast, a whistle of something zipping past her head, and a woody noise as a small hole was opened low in her headboard, right where her head had been. The pain in her shoulder quickly dissipated, replaced by the pain from her tailbone as she landed flat on the floor. She then heard a creak of the bedsprings followed by a strangled gasp, and then a dull thud coming from the doorway.
Shivering with cold, her mind shut down with panic, Rita peeked fearfully under the bed and was shocked to see Charlie looking back at her. But his eyes had no light in them and the hand holding the gun was slack; she raised her head as she heard a shift of weight on the bed and she saw Jack stand, stroll over to the body, and crouch down to check for a pulse.
Rita scrambled to her feet and stared blankly at the still body of Charlie Oswald slumped lifelessly on the floor.
"J-Jack? What...what happened? What did you...do?" she gasped hesitantly.
"Well, come'ere, I'll show ya..." he offered. Rita approached slowly. Jack pulled back on Charlie's shoulder, and she could see a dagger sticking out of the man's throat, neatly severing his windpipe.
"How...how did you..."
"I threw it! Old carny knife trick I picked up somewhere. Pretty accurate, huh? Nice to know I haven't lost my touch. Say, doll, you got an old sheet or shower curtain or something?"
"What...what for? What are we going to do? How did you know him?" Rita pleaded worriedly.
"Oh, I used to volunteer down at the soup kitchen, he was a regular...." Looking away, Jack rolled his eyes in amusement.
"Shouldn't we call 9-1-1?"
"Uh, for what? He's not gonna get any better, sweetheart! No CPR for him...."
"But, Jack, we should call the police! He broke in here, he had a gun...."
"Yeah...but, do you really want to have to explain to them what I was doing in your bed? You're underage, remember? And, what about your mom? What'll she think when she hears you let me do you in your own little bed? She might be kinda disappointed in ya, huh? And, boy, wouldn't she be mad at me! She might decide to prosecute me for statutory rape, and that would be a real bad deal for ol' Jack, right? So...whaddaya think? Should we call 'em?"
"But what will we do?" she asked in distress.
"Like I said, get me a sheet or blanket or something. Come on, babe, we need to hurry."
Woodenly, Rita found an old sheet from her closet. Jack had slipped on his clothes, and he indicated Rita should do the same as he took the sheet from her.
Rita dressed as she watched Jack wrap the body, as well as the gun, in the sheet. Once he was done, he reached down, pulled the knife from the dead gunman's throat and wiped the blood on the man's own shirt. Only a little trickle had seeped from the opening; she supposed the blade had staunched the wound, preventing copious bleeding as long as it was inserted. Jack stuck the dagger down into his sock and gestured for Rita to help him.
"Give me a hand, sugar, we'll get him down to the car and I'll take care of him from there."
"Oh, my God," Rita said woefully as she helped Jack get the body hoisted in the air so he could sling him over his shoulder. She scurried ahead of him and opened each door as they made their way down the stairs.
"Say, can you fish my keys out of my pocket? I'm kind of, uh, loaded down, here..."
"Ok," she said, almost in tears as she opened the trunk for him. "Oh, Jack, what if someone catches us?"
"They won't, baby. No one's around. Now, you stay here. Go back upstairs, I'll be back soon."
He kissed her cheek and she watched him pull out of the parking lot with his terrible cargo.
Alone, Rita trudged back up to her apartment. Once she shut the door behind her, she collapsed into tears.