A/N: Sofia Gigante Falcone is based on the likeness of actress Marisa Tomei. Camilla Ortin is based on the likeness of actress Lily Cole.
The din of those gathered didn't stop as Sofia made her entrance. The men gathered in the cozy dining room of Jueves Blanca. The maitre d' took the coat she easily shrugged off and she took her seat at the table. She looked at the gathered men with her dark brown eyes and settled her coral painted lips set in a tight smile. Sal Maroni sat across from her and regarded her with a smirk.
"So happy you could join us, Miss Falcone, was Alberto unavailable?" He winked at her and another man chuckled.
The Gotham mob scene had long been a 'boys' only club' and Sofia knew hers was an unwelcome intrusion. She took a drink from her water glass and set a hard stare on Maroni. The man had been the bane of her father's existence for as long as he had ruled over crime in Gotham. The two families had been engaged in a seemingly endless power struggle since she was a child. With her father's incarceration and subsequent incapacitation, Maroni had squeezed on top. Her brothers were incompetent and were no match to Maroni or his sons. With her older brother, Mario's capture at the hands of Batman a month before, the Falcone family seemed to be out of the picture. Sofia wasn't about to have that.
She was her father's favorite. Although not a boy she was more like her father than either of her brothers and her father had lamented the fact. He educated her in the family business and his operations in the hope that should something happen to him, she would be able to guide her idiot brothers. His hopes had not come to fruition.
Sofia had taken it upon herself to join the 'meeting of the minds' this morning upon hearing of it from a reliable source. The session was convened so that they may decide what to do about the Joker upon learning the results of his hearing.
"Alberto is out of town." Sofia stated and glanced at the others, daring them to challenge her presence in Alberto's stead.
"So this 'Riddler' character, what do we know about him?" Tony Zucco asked over his scotch, eying Sofia.
"Nothing," Maroni shrugged. "The cops got a note from him but no prints, nothing on tape. They're working on Rubinstein to cough up some more details. Personally, I don't think the little schmuck had anything to do with it. He was too busy hammering Doctor Quinzel to even notice what was going on with the Joker. If it were me, I know I'd be sitting back and enjoying the show," he said smugly and grinned. Others started laughing and Sofia sat up in her seat.
"So we have another wild card," she said looking unhappy. "Someone who wants to hone in on the Joker's game."
"I say we let him have at the Joker," Johnny Witts chimed in. "Let them fight it out and see what happens."
"And what makes you think they'll keep their little tête-à-tête to themselves?" Lew Moxon interjected. "The Joker very nearly seized control of the mob on his own. What makes you think he won't come back and try to finish what he started while going after this 'Riddler'? He was ever the fucking multi-tasker."
"Perhaps we bring in some outside assistance," Maroni shrugged and caught Sofia's eye. "Bring in the guy who did Carmine's right hand."
"Red Hood was not connected with my father." Sofia bristled.
"Didn't seem to stop the guy from taking out Carmine's enemies, in two separate States no less." Maroni said taking a drink from his glass.
"Red Hood was also never 'presented,'" Lew said looking at Maroni.
"Proof of death or not, the Hood is gone and had been since de Large sailed back across the pond," Maroni said nodding to Sofia. "We could even offer him a package deal."
"The 'Riddler,' Joker and that cute little doctor?" Johnny chuckled.
"Nah, we can take care of the little doctor ourselves," Maroni snorted.
"Wake up, gorgeous!" Sam's voice jolted Joker back to the living world.
He sat up and rubbed his eyes, glancing at the window to see the sun was still up. Sam set a plastic bag on the bed beside him and Joker began rifling through its contents. A change of clothes, shoes, pre-paid cell and a couple pill bottles spilled onto the bed. Joker opened the phone and plugged the charger into the wall outlet.
"Got you a ride too," Sam jiggled the single key on a plastic key ring from a Gotham gift shop.
"Gee, Sam, this is the best Christmas ever," Joker grumbled as he pulled the tags off his new clothes. Sam chuckled and glanced at the door.
"Yeah, I'd say that 'cept I just really want to get your ass outta my fine establishment," Sam replied. Joker laughed.
"How goes the manhunt?" Joker asked rubbing his eyes again and standing.
"They don't have a clue, nobody's been here but again nobody comes here looking for you," Sam shrugged.
"Except for my ex in-laws," Joker replied picking up the photograph of his daughter. "Wanna tell me about that?"
"They said someone was looking for you up in Chicago," Sam shrugged. "I think they wanted you to come back with them, you know, since they have no idea that you are the Joker now." Joker mused.
"What did Harley say to them?" He asked.
"Who's Harley?" Sam frowned. "No they said some guy, a detective came around asking questions about you. He said he was looking into the 'cold case' of your disappearance and," he lowered his head, "Jeannie." Joker began chewing the inside of his scars.
"They give you a name?" He asked licking his lips.
"They left his business card, same guy came around here a time or two," Sam shrugged. Joker wheeled on him.
"You just said nobody comes here looking for me!" Joker narrowed his eyes and took a step toward him. Sam put up his hands defensively.
"Nobody comes here looking for the Joker. Jeannie worked here; the guy was looking for Jack!" Sam shouted looking annoyed.
"And his name is?" Joker prodded.
"Edward Nashton," Sam said pulling a card from his shirt pocket and handing it to Joker. He turned and headed back downstairs leaving Joker alone to dress and get his things together. He grabbed one of Melvin's jackets and tucked the phone, pills, gun and Nashton's card into the pockets. He took one last look at his daughter's photo before setting it on the table. He grabbed the key and bounded down the stairs, eager to get back out into Gotham.
"They want to kill Harley?" Selina balked in disbelief at the woman who stood woodenly at her window. Sofia turned to look at her and nodded, her face not conveying any emotion.
"She's ruffled a lot of feathers, asked too many people the wrong kinds of questions. She can connect the Joker to the mob," Sofia replied. Selina shook her head and bit her lower lip.
"A LOT of people can connect the Joker to the mob," Selina said.
"She also has information that they would rather she not have about other mob dealings from working at Arkham," Sofia shrugged. "I figured I would do you a favor and give you a heads up."
"You're telling me that with the Joker loose they are worried about what Harley's patients may or may not have told her?" Selina asked in disbelief.
"There are also your own connections to the Joker," Sofia said with a hard glare. Selina blew out a held breath and threw her hands in the air.
"The Joker used my guys, killed my guys in that robbery. I was in no way involved," Selina bit back.
"How did he get in touch with them?" Sofia asked.
"We're all criminals here, Sofia, everybody can find someone who can help them with a job," Selina sat down in a huff and wiped a stray tear away. "Don't even think that I could ever work with that lunatic bastard after what he did to Paulo."
Sofia nodded, satisfied and patted Selina on the shoulder.
"Look after your friend, would you?" Sofia said softly in parting, leaving Selina to compose herself in her room of regrets.
"Miss Quinzel, I have a delivery for you," a candy striper said cheerfully setting a vase with red roses in it on her rolling tray table. Harleen frowned and signed for the delivery and then turned the vase around to find a small card tucked within the flowers. A simple message was scrawled inside.
"Feel Better Soon – J"
Harleen's eyes went wide and she looked around before looking for some place to hide the card when Judith entered the room. She whistled when she saw the flowers and set the take-out bag containing their dinner beside them. She pulled a stem from the arrangement and smelled the petals.
"Who sent you flowers, Harley?" She smiled touching the smooth stem. "They even removed the thorns, how sweet," she said looking at Harleen.
Harleen sank back against her pillow and squeezed the card in her hand, forcing a smile. Judith's smile waned and she tilted her head, looking at Harleen with a puzzled frown. As realization at her sister's behavior sank in, Judith's blue eyes widened such that they could have popped out. Her mouth opened and closed a few times and she looked at the rose in her hand and dropped it, moving away.
"No," she whispered. Harleen averted her gaze and Judith stood frozen and wild-eyed. "How do you know?"
Reluctantly, Harleen handed the card over to her sister who snatched it from her fingers and frowned incredulously as she read it over. She looked toward the door and stepped closer to her sister, waving the card at her.
"The guy has balls, I'll give him that! But why would he send this?" Judith chewed her bottom lip as she studied Harleen's face. "It doesn't even have any sentiment to it."
"He said to get better," Harleen said reaching for the card her sister pulled out of her reach.
"It says, 'feel better soon,' like an order, not a hospitable greeting." Judith shook her head again. "What is going on here, Harley? Were you actually fucking him?"
"No!" Harleen cried out and then lowered her voice. "No, I don't know why he sent those. I don't know why he'd bother. I don't know anything about him, oy vey!" Harleen covered her face with her hands, taking steadying breaths.
Judith came to her side and smoothed her hair and then leaned over to hug her. Harleen grabbed onto her sister and they held each other closely. Whatever the Joker's game was, he wasn't leaving her out of it.
Joker stuffed the stolen florist deliveryman's jacket into the backseat and sat back in the driver's seat and lit a cigarette. He sat for a few minutes, monitoring the traffic around the hospital to see if anyone had noticed his presence. The Police presence had greatly dissipated.
He had returned to his old place to find it untouched. The lonely space was cold from the lack of heat as he hadn't been around to turn it on, or pay the utility bills. The water ran but the lights were out. The rent had been paid up through a bank account that Joker had set up to send automatic payments. He'd sat on his bed and ruminated over whether to keep the place or to send someone in to get the power back on. He decided on keeping it, as it was obvious that no one had discovered his residence.
So he had thrown some things into a bag and left once again to find a place to spend the night that was warmer and had some, company. He'd spent too many nights alone in Arkham and was determined to end his dry spell.
On nights like these in Arkham his thoughts had turned to the lovely blonde they paid to talk to him. The whore Arkham offered him; he snickered as he remembered the look on Doctor Arkham's face when he'd called Harley that. He'd paid a lot of women for their company since becoming the Joker but was not in the mood for that anymore.
Somewhere in the planning phase of his 'great crime spree' he'd crossed the line with one of his clowns. Mime. She had caught him at exactly the right moment, one night when he'd been drinking and thinking about his wife. The clowns had finished unloading the shipment of ammonium nitrate they had stolen and she had hung around when they had all left. He was well into a fifth of Vodka when she had come to him. Sweet and vulnerable, quiet and unquestioning; her eyes were the same shade as Jeannie's.
Joker had unabashedly gone home with her much like he had with many other partners before he met his wife. With prostitutes, he took care of the matter on the spot not desiring to have any stragglers follow him home. Something about Camilla Ortin was different though. He'd picked her out of the Gotham's criminal grab bag after being amused by her criminal nature.
Camilla had been an actual mime and her troupe had lost its funding and she her mind. She lashed out at other art forms which incorporated sound; it was all noise to her. Joker had come across her after she had been about, stealing clappers from church bells.
He'd liked her alright, but she wasn't quite right. She almost never spoke and most people thought she was actually mute. Joker could occasionally coax sounds and speech out of her. Her quietness hadn't bothered him in the beginning as he could talk enough for the two of them. But it had gotten on his nerves in no time. She was clingy and though the sex was good, it was also somewhat creepy when his partner never made a sound.
He ended up sending her for a ride on the ferries when he'd sent her to place the detonators on them. She had inevitably been trapped on the civilian ferry. He'd asked his lawyer for names of his men who were arrested, hers was not among them.
Joker tossed his cigarette out the window and pulled out of the hospital lot. Harley wouldn't be home tonight. He'd found the situation somewhat regrettable as he wanted to talk to her. Imagine that! She'd spent months trying to pry information from him like a rag doll from a Pitt Bull, and the first time he wanted to talk to her, he couldn't.
Life was funny like that.
He made his way across town to Camilla's last known address, asking himself why he was going there. Falling back into old habits was not somewhere he particularly wanted to go. But it was dead into October and the wind was up from the harbor and her lights were on.
After knocking twice, the lithe woman with short blue hair falling around her round face was looking up at him. Her small lips were pursed and a slight frown was set above her blue eyes. She took his hand and led him inside before closing the door and locking it behind him.
"I…saw you yesterday," she said in a voice barely above a whisper.
Joker cupped her face in his hands and kissed her forcefully, closing his eyes. She was the only woman who had kissed him since the scars. Her arms were around his neck, her fingers in his hair as they kissed each other hungrily. He wrapped his arms around her waist and hoisted her up, her legs wrapped around his waist as she gasped. He carried her to her bedroom and tossed her onto the bed, her letting out a surprised bit of a laugh.
He smiled at the sound and climbed on top of her, unbuttoning her shirt. They easily undressed and indulged themselves with the other's body, lips and hands. Gentle strokes and biting nails accompanied sounds of pleasure that Joker hadn't realized he'd missed.
A/N: Camilla Ortin first appeared in "Batman #412: Enemy Mime." Sofia Gigante Falcone first appeared in "Batman: The Long Halloween #6."