The Joker slept for exactly twenty-four hours. He had gone to bed at 3:26 PM and woke up at that same time the next day. Since the Joker had placed me in charge, I was the one who had to pay Dave, Shaun, and Cory for acting on their feelings towards Peter. Luckily Dean had been close by so I wasn't badly outnumbered.

"He owes us each fifteen grand," Shaun snarled, angrily. When he had first come to me, I had faked confusion, trying to remember what the Joker had said – since I had been there when the Joker gave his promise. Shaun, although surprisingly confident that he could outsmart me because I was a woman, had kept his cool for the first few minutes, but had lost it soon after.

"So confident that that's how much you're going to get," I replied, smirking. Dean looked at me, confused; he had started counting bills. "I believe he said 'fifteen grand', not 'fifteen grand each'." I leaned back in my chair. "Dean, they get five grand each."

"No wonder he put you in charge," Dean murmured behind my back. "You're just like him."

I was tempted to be me and turn on him, slap him or yell at him, but since he thought I was the Joker, I was going have fun with it. "Un-like the boss, I'll give you guys another chance, this time you can get thirty grand each, if…you agree that if you lose, you forfeit your five grand."

Shaun and Dave, obviously working for the Joker just for the money, were for it, but Cory backed down, saying that five grand was enough for him. I didn't pressure him, because I liked him more than Shaun and Dave combined. And I wanted to be mean to the other men, simply because of their stupidity for agreeing to something before they knew what they had to do.

"I challenge you two to an armwrestling match," I stated. Both of them grinned, believing they had this one. Dean and Cory gave me dumbfounded looks. "To make it more fun," I said, "Shaun gets my left arm while Dave gets my right."

Dave chuckled, a dumb laugh that sounded more like choking. Shaun coughed and asked, "Are you serious, Shadow?"

"No, I'm just playing with your head, Shaun," I said, sarcastically. "Yes, I'm serious."

"You're going to lose," Shaun said. "You can just forfeit and we'll take the money."

"No, I'm serious about this, Shaun. You and Dave, at the same time."

He shrugged and sat down across from me. Dave followed suite, and I clasped their hands firmly. I spread the two enough so that when I won, I wouldn't knock hands. "Dean, tell us when to start," I said.

"I'm not sure this is a good-."

"Just. Do. It!" I growled.

"Go," Dean said.

Shaun and Dave's arms tightened as their muscles strained, but it was to no avail. Of course, I was cheating, but what did it matter if these two were stupid enough to agree to something before they knew what they were doing? My shadow state had stronger muscles – barely matched the Joker's – but even taking Shaun and Dave at the same time was nothing. I watched them struggle, break up a sweat, and then added a bit more strength, slamming their hands down on the table.

Shaun hollered in pain and left, whimpering like a dog with his tail between his legs, but Dave set up his arm again, a determined look on his dumb face. I humored him and clasped his hand. He started before Dean called "start", and I immediately smacked his hand down on the table, to punish him for cheating.

I grinned; I'm a proven hypocrite.

Dave made several attempts, and I went along with it, tormenting him by letting him slowly work me down before I turned the tables around completely. I even started with him losing, letting him get close to winning, and then I turn it on him.

If the Joker could've seen me, he'd be laughing hysterically at the time, but later, would criticize me for being so mean to his boys. Guess where the practice of being a hypocrite came from.

Dave gave in, and wandered off, looking depressed. Cory tried asking how I did it, but Dean simply handed him the total fifteen grand for being a smart guy.

Afterwards, Dean left, claiming that the Joker had given him an assignment to get done while the clown was unconscious and "oblivious to the world". This left me with too much time on my hands so I took the Joker's motorcycle and went for a ride, aborting that idea when I heard the call of cards at The Stacked Deck nightclub. Why it was open during the day, I wouldn't know, but it was so I took advantage of that.

I had fun, for the many hours I was at the nightclub. I wasn't a drinker so I got high on the sugar load of various sodas that I combined to make a "suicide soda". By nightfall, I was leading all the poker games, playing against the most intense players where it was a game to play poker and to catch the others cheating. Boy, it was fun!

As I was about to leave, I saw Shaun sitting at the bar, throwing glares at me over his shoulder while he drank a beer. Oh, boy! Competition. I changed direction and slipped onto the bar stool next to him. He ignored me, chugging his beer; I noticed the five empty bottles near him.

"What would you have done with five grand, anyway?" I asked him, so high on sugar that I felt like intimidating him. "Spend it here, drinking beer and losing to better poker players? Or paying prostitutes?" He scowled, and I grinned. "You chose to join the boss; this is the life you live."

"I used to be top dog," he growled.

"Of what? Don't say the city, but the Mob had it before the clown did."

"If someone wanted information, I had it. Now…" He grudgingly drained the rest of his beer before looking me straight in the eyes. I could tell that he was drunk by the redness in his eyes. "You make enemies faster than you make friends, Shadow," he growled.

"We weren't ever friends, Shaun, so I could care less," I told him. "I was recruited before you were, so don't complain to me, or anyone else for that matter." I smiled and placed a ten-dollar bill down on the counter before leaving the nightclub.

As I drove back to the warehouse, I passed some police cars – speeding, of course – so I had an adrenaline rush trying to get them off my tail before I returned. By then, a headache pounded in the back of my neck and behind my eyes, leaning more on my left. It was close to two in the morning so I searched for some Tylenol, took two, and then crept into the Joker's bedroom, collapsing on my side of the bed and falling into a dreamless sleep.

I awoke to the door closing. Feeling sick from the sugar-high, I went into the bathroom to splash water on my face. I felt more refreshed but had to use mouthwash to get rid of the nasty remains of sugar residing in my mouth. My reflection wasn't good-looking; my eyes were blurry and I looked like I was high on drugs. The best I could do was to comb my hair, rub my eyes with water, and then leave to find the Joker – who had obviously been the one who had awoken me with the door.

After searching most of the warehouse, I located the Joker in the Rec Room, where he was throwing darts at the dart board while eating a piece of sausage pizza. The moment I walked in, he greeted me cheerfully. "So, Drugged Beauty's finally woken up!" he exclaimed.

"It was just Tylenol," I argued, half-heartedly as I walked around him to sit down on the couch. I noticed a paper plate on the coffee table with two slices of sausage pizza.

"I hope you like…sausage," the Joker said, between bites as he chewed on his slice. "There was originally three slices, but-ah…I'm a guy and guys can't resist the call of food."

"That's fine. I can't eat three slices after I just woke up." I took the plate and got myself comfortable before I started eating.

The Joker giggled, and I looked at him, confused, chewing on a bit of pizza. He held only the crust of his slice, and after a wink in my direction, he shoved the entire thing into his mouth.

I merely rolled my eyes and said, "There's no doubt in my mind that you're a guy." He laughed at that, nearly choking on his crust, and threw his last dart before climbing onto the other end of the couch.

"So, heard you had some fun with my boys while I was…ah, resting," he began, after swallowing his hopefully chewed-up pizza crust. I'd hate to have to use the Heimlich maneuver on him, especially after he had already performed CPR on me – I hated being in debt with someone.

"Did Dean tell you?" I asked before I took another bite.

"No…but I had the feeling that you'd do something to annoy them." He looked at me and smirked, pulling his legs up onto the couch in Indian-style. "That is why I left you in charge, after all."

"Shaun and Dave didn't understand your 'fifteen grand' payment."

The Joker snorted. "What? Fifteen grand for each?"

"No," I said, and then smirked, thinking back on the occasion.

Seeing that I was amused by the memory, the Joker clapped his hands together gleefully as he said, "Good! She's got a story to tell! I love good stories! Es-pec -ically funny ones!"

"Scenario: Shaun, Dave, and Cory come to me – since I'm in charge – to get their payment. Shaun acts as the headman, believing he can win me over with the money. I act totally confused for several minutes until he snaps." I snapped my fingers, for empathizing purposes. "Finally, he tells me that the boss – you – owes him and the others fifteen grand each." I gave a mocking laugh, remembering Shaun's expression. "He didn't like my answer to that."

"What did you tell him?" the Joker asked, leaning in with excitement.

"I told him that you didn't say that they get fifteen grand each, just that the price was fifteen grand. So I told Dean to pay them five grand each."

The Joker clapped his hands, laughing insanely with amusement. "Oh! I love it! I wasn't even thinking that as I said that, but oh, it would definitely have been something that would come to mind when they came for the payment-ah." He giggled for a few seconds before saying, "Shadow, I'm so glad I put you in charge, rather than Dean."

"You had Dean off doing something else, anyway," I told him.

The Joker waved his hand dismissively, clearly trying to make me push that thought aside. "I also heard about some kind of contest, after that." I gave him a suspicious look as I started to eat my second pizza slice. The Joker merely grinned and said, "I have my ways, Shadow."

I shrugged, not caring. "I told Shaun and Dave that they could redeem themselves by beating me in an armwrestle, at the same time."

"The same time?!" The Joker sounded shocked.

I gave another careless shrug. "I cheated, obviously. Now, Shaun hates me, and Dave's a broken pup."

"I saw that." I took a large bite out of my pizza and chewed it, staring at the dart board. "So, after that, what did you do?"

"Went out. Played some poker. Got high on sugar." I shrugged. "Came back with a caffeine headache. Took some Tylenol and went to bed." Then, I turned to face him, seeing that he was registering what I had said. "How long have you been up, out of curiosity?"

He jerked his head up with an absent-minded, "Hm?" I rolled my eyes and took another bite of pizza, waiting for it to click. He blinked and then stood up, heading for the dart board as he said, "Oh, about four, five hours." I finished off my greasy meal as the Joker collected all the darts and headed back to where he had been standing prior.

I watched him silently as he threw the darts, hardly giving himself time to aim before he chucked them at the board. My mind wandered, listening to the steady sound of the darts hitting the board, and for a moment, I wondered if I had fallen into a dose, which I really believe I did. When I sat myself upright, I looked over at the dart board, seeing a piece of paper stuck to it by three darts.

I frowned slightly, trying to remember if it had been there before, and when I realized that it hadn't been, I stood up slowly, while curiously asking, "What's the paper?"

The Joker chucked a dart at my head, but I ducked, subconsciously anticipating such a move. "Go look at it," he growled, "And while you're at it, get me the darts." I turned to give him a look, but realized that he was frustrated. With what, I couldn't think of.

"You're so lazy," I said playfully, hoping humor would help him chill as I took out the dart by my head. He stood there with his hunched shoulders, his eyes narrowed, throwing a glare in my direction. "Keep doing that and it'll be your permanent expression."

"Sha-dow," he drawled, clearly irritated.

"I'm on it!" I walked over to the board, pulling out the darts and retrieving the piece of paper. "An invitation?" I remarked as I wandered back to him. "Not bad for a guy like you to be invited to a party."

"I wasn't," the Joker snapped, snatching the darts out of my hand. I just shrugged and plopped myself down on my couch, getting comfortable before reading the paper. It read: 'Testimonial in honor of Police Commissioner James Gordon, Tuesday night at the Gotham Peregrinators Club. A Police Benefit and Fundraiser.'

"Sounds formal," I remarked.

"It is formal." The Joker threw a dart and almost hit the bull's eye.

I looked up to see a frown on his face – not much of one since his scars permitted very little of it to show. "What's your problem? Woke up on the wrong side of the bed?"

"I stayed on my side. You're the one who moved."

"It's an expression, Joker," I sighed. "Something's bothering you. You weren't like this awhile ago."

"Thank-you, Captain Obvious." He chucked another dart at the board, missing it completely and getting it stuck in the wall. Cursing, he threw a second, only to have that one miss too.

I watched him, waiting as he grew more frustrated and ended up throwing the remainder of the darts at the board, all at the same time. One stuck into the wall, but the rest of them hit the board.

The Joker growled and then stalked over, before stopping and glaring at me over his shoulder. "C'mon, I'm wait-ing."

"For what?" I asked, wide-eyed.

"For some smart-mouth comment."

"Nuh-uh, I don't have a death wish," I said, shaking my head. That retrieved a slight twitch of his mouth as he fought to keep from smiling. "Who knows with you? Your mood-swings are dangerous. I'm not gonna risk my life to make you more frustrated."

"Who said I was?" He turned and sauntered toward me.

I rolled my eyes. "Great, I'm gonna die. See? Here I am, screaming at the top of my lungs for help, trying to run away." It was only sarcasm; I didn't move.

The Joker lunged, smashing into me and knocking me down on my side. I pushed him off me, and he giggled, moving away. His mood swung from frustration to eager excitement.

"I'm not gonna kill you," he said, excitedly, "We've got-ah a job to do." He grabbed my hand, yanking me off the couch, and broke into a run out of the room, pulling me after him. He brought me to our shared bedroom and stopped just inside. "I wonder…" He glanced at me, narrowing his eyes, chewing on the inside of his eyes in thought, and then he shook his head. "Nah…it wouldn't work."

"What wouldn't work?" I asked as he nearly shoved me into the bathroom.

The Joker stood in the doorway, giving me a curious look. "If I asked you to get dressed up…would you do it?"

"Like…in a dress? And high heels?"

"A bit of jewelry, some normal makeup maybe," he added.

I glared at him. "No," I said, firmly.

"That's what I thought." He tossed the bag that held my outfit. "Get dressed."

He sounded disappointed that I had refused him the chance to get me into a dress. Despite how I hated wearing fancy items, I felt a curious want to wear one just to satisfy him.

No, Shadow, down! I yelled at myself as I closed the door. My emotions were all in an uproar over him, I wasn't going to let them have their way. Like he said, we had work to do.

When I opened the door, he was waiting with the tube of purple facepaint. I gasped as the cold paint touched my face, but I obediently shut my eyes and allowed the Joker to apply my purple painted eyemask. Now that I think of it, whenever it needed to be applied or reapplied, he never let me do it myself; he always had to do it.

He finished it off and threw the tube onto the bathroom counter, reaching over and washing his hands quickly, drying them and then pulling on his leather gloves. Then, he held my hand again and was particularly dragging me out of the bedroom and down the hall.

It amazed me how excited he was to be doing something. The evidence was all around him, the twinkle in his eyes, the lightness in his bouncy step, and the eager energy bursting from his lean frame. He called himself a dog who chased cars with no idea of what to do with them once he caught them. I could picture him as that, but it seemed more like he was a hyperactive four-year-old. Maybe the Joker had a childish side that he rarely showed? The thought made me smile.

"Boys!" he shouted at the top of his lungs as we came out onto the catwalk. "Two minutes tops and I ex-pect you all to be out here!" The Joker continued to hold my hand as he raced down the stairs, me nearly falling head-over-heels after him. We reached the silver Volvo, and I realized too late that the Joker wasn't going to slow down.

The Joker threw me first, and let go of my hand. A second before contact, I shadowed, appearing on the opposite side of the Volvo and tripping over my own feet. I cried out as I fell to the ground, glad for the leather gloves that protected my hands from scraps.

The Joker's laughter reached my ears a split second later, and I raised myself on my arms, glaring at him over my shoulder. He was doubled over, his hands on his knees as he was overcome by his uncontrollable giggles.

"Jerk," I growled as I climbed to my feet and dusting myself off. I leaned against the car door, my arms across my chest, waiting for the Joker to regain his composure. Finally, after a minute, he straightened, wiping his tears with the palm of his hand.

"Price-less," he spat out the last of his giggles.

I gave him a cold look, my eyes narrowed. "Sometimes I wonder if I'm only here because I amuse you."

"You do," the Joker said, his eyes wide with surprise.

I arched an eyebrow. "Is that the only reason?" He shrugged casually as he stepped next to me, wrapping his arm around my waist. I stiffened as he looked at me, grinning widely, as he squeezed my side with his hand. "You had better stop that," I warned him in a low tone.

"Why?" he asked, confidently. "I've claimed you al-ready."

"Hands off, Joker."

He growled and pressed me against the Volvo, his face uncomfortably close to mine. I flinched, unsure if he was angry. His brown eyes were about all I could see with him so close, and even they didn't show the rage I thought I sensed from him. The Joker's breath blew in my face and over my neck, causing my skin to crawl, but not in revulsion.

He leaned in, and I turned my head away, making him chuckle softly. His gloved hand left my waist, sliding up along my side, as he breathed on my neck. I remained still, despite the conflicting emotions swirling inside me, trying to ignore the distracting movement of his hand along my side.

I didn't like how he thought he claimed me, like I was his prize, and I didn't like how he thought he could do whatever he wanted with me. I've been a hardened criminal for too long to allow some guy to do this. The only thing was the contradictory feeling that I felt, the sense of curiosity that I felt. Did the Joker merely think of me as a prize, his partner-in-crime, or was he looking for something else other than being partners?

Hadn't I come to realize before this that the Joker and I had feelings for one another, even if I had resisted him so many times?

I leaned my head back a bit, resting it against the Volvo, seeing his tongue as it slid out over his lower lip slowly. His hand had stopped wandering, after returning to my waist. He shifted a foot forward, bringing his body closer to mine. For some reason, I couldn't make eye contact with him, feeling a strange sensation slither through me.

His free hand moved, coming to rest on my cheek, and I saw him tilt his head as he leaned in. My heart pounded in my chest, aching. Despite my nature to resist, I couldn't keep my thoughts clear of him, focused on resisting. For once, I wished, as he came closer, that I could drop my guard and let him in.

Then, there were loud barks and the approach of heavy footsteps that were distant but grew louder in volume as they came closer. My eyes wandered past the Joker's face, and I saw eight guys – I recognized Peter, Dave, Shaun, and Cory, but not the others – coming onto the catwalk, from the way the Joker and I had come. I caught sight of Dean holding the leashes to the three Rottweilers, Scout, Buddy, and Prince, having come from the hidden basement room where the dogs were kept.

The Joker growled irritably, and stepped away from me, the slump of his shoulders screaming his reluctance. I felt so reluctant to let him step away, but my nature's resistance came up, barring my feelings for him back under control. My mind raced for rational explanations for my actions, even as it registered how fast and how hard my heart was pounding. As the Joker turned to face his guys, I turned towards the car, one hand on the car and the other over my chest, trying to steady my rapid breathing.

"Good, you got the dogs, Bleak," the Joker commented. He explained the proceedings to his men, ordering them to get into the black van. I shuddered as the Joker told all but one of his guys to get into the van, leaving the short guy – whose name I missed – to drive the Volvo. I knocked my head against the car painfully; the Joker had purposely stuck me with him, alone, not even the dogs were coming in the Volvo with us.

I lifted my head and caught Dean's look. He looked worried, but I gave him a small smile and a slight wave. He didn't look convinced by my behavior, but he climbed into the back of the van anyway. After him came Peter, who threw me a dark glare before getting in and slamming the van door closed behind him.

I snorted. What did I care what Peter thought of me? So the boss didn't pay so much attention to him; I blamed it on the possibility of Peter having some mental illness that made him so attached to the Joker. If it was attention Peter needed, then he could look elsewhere, I thought rebelliously.

"In the car, Shadow," the Joker ordered, cutting into my thoughts. I blinked and moved aside so he could open the backdoor for me. Without a word, I stepped in and then seeing that he was going to follow me in, shifted over to the other end of the backseat. In the driver's seat, the short guy climbed in automatically adjusting the seat and side mirrors. The Volvo pulled out before the black van, and the nameless driver started out slow, giving the driver of the van time to catch up.

After a minute's silence, the Joker said, "You can put on the radio, Tim."

The short guy jumped, startled. "You sure, boss?" he asked, cautiously.

"I wouldn't-ah have suggested it if I wasn't."

Tim reached for the power button, but hesitated. "Do you care what, um, station, boss?"

I glanced at the Joker to see the grin slowly creep onto his face. "Just not coun-try."

"Okay, just let me know if you don't like something, boss." The guy pushed the button as the Joker murmured, "Will do." I stared out the window as Tim fiddled with the stations, trying to find the one he liked. The Joker too was looking out the window, seemingly lost in his own thoughts, hardly moving except playing with his mouth or licking his lips.

Tim finally found a station he liked, and he turned up the volume. I didn't recognize the artist or song, but the music had a good steady beat to it. In seconds, I started tapping my foot – the one farthest from the Joker. I felt self-conscious of my reaction toward music, since it was one of my pastimes. I was more than slightly surprised when I looked over and found the Joker bouncing his knee – the one closed to me – to the same beat.

Sensing my watching eyes, the Joker turned his head, and I jerked mine away, looking forward at the back of the seat in front of me.

"I know you like music." I looked at the Joker, catching his eyes. He had said it loud enough for me to hear it, but not the driver who had the speakers at a higher volume.

"That doesn't mean anything," I told him, grudgingly. The Joker grinned and then leaned in close, until he was breathing on my neck again, my skin crawling. I stiffened as he pressed his cheek against mine, and I couldn't suppress the shudder that ran through me. He giggled softly as he pulled away.

When I dared to turn my head, his attention was on the dark city outside the window.

I resettled into my seat, noticing that my heart was racing again. I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths to calm myself down. How long has it been since the Joker kidnapped me? A month. I found myself counting how many times we had kissed. Numerous ones from him which only consisted of kisses on the hand, cheek, and neck – some were given to me in his sleep, waking me up and causing me to slap him awake – but I could remember seven of them that were actual kisses.

"You've played poker with, ah, with the wild card." The Joker didn't sound like he was asking me, he was stating a fact.

"Yeah…" I said cautiously, unsure of where he was headed. "You were there. I won that way at the meeting, or 'group therapy session', I should say." The Joker giggled when I added the air quotes.

"Cory's fond of the tale about you playing a Five-of-a-Kind and lying ah-bout it."

Oh, I remembered, at The Stacked Deck, the nightclub that I had met Cory and Dean. "Yeah, so what about it?" I asked in return. I sneaked a peek at him to see that he was staring intently at me. "Does it make you upset that I used your calling-card to win?"

The Joker chuckled easily. "No, not at all, Shadow! Not. One. Bit."

"Then, why are you bringing it up?"

He thought for a moment and then shrugged as he said, "Curiosity."

"So much for curiosity," I grunted, crossing my arms and looking pointedly out the window.

At that moment, the Volvo swerved to the right, throwing me into the window and the Joker into me. The Joker growled, holding himself up with an arm over the backseat. "What are you doing?" he demanded, furiously.

"Sorry, boss," our driver said, his voice trembling, "I almost missed the turn."

"Eyes on the road when the radio's on, moron!" the Joker snapped. Then, he turned his head, and our eyes meet. A wide grin spread across his white-painted face. "Hell-o, beautiful."

"Hi," I said, trying to sound neutral, but failing. The Joker licked his lips slowly as he continued to stare at me, like he was expecting something. I narrowed my eyes. "You mind getting off me?" I asked.

"Nope," he responded, instead leaning closer in, shifting so that he sat right next to me, trapping me against the window.

Placing my hands on his chest, I shoved him back, shifting over on the seat before he came back, his brow frowned with annoyance. "Wanna get straightforward?" I growled, as a threat.

"Sure," he said, his face lightening up excitedly, "Why not-ah?"

"Fine. Get off me or you'll regret it!"

"I'm scared," the Joker giggled, leaning his face closer to mine. "I'm trembling…all…over." As he pressed his body tight against mine, I realized that he was indeed trembling, but I doubted it was out of fear.

There wasn't time for a warning as the Joker suddenly came in. I had no time to think, to stop him before he was kissing me. His scarred lips moved against mine as his hand came up, cupping my chin. Reacting towards his actions, and my unleashed emotions, I tilted my head to the side.

At the unique feel of his scarred lips, a strange pulse of energy flooded through me as the Joker pulled me closer. The thought of pushing him away never crossed my mind.

The Joker's scarred mouth worked magic together with mine, two equal contestants. There was a lot of heavy breathing and shifting as we lost ourselves in the other's stimulating energy. Placing a hand on my stomach, the Joker pressed me down into the backseat, nearly lying on top of me as his other hand slipped to the nape of my neck, pulling me into him.

We broke apart for air, and then joined together again. The kiss grew intense as his tongue traced my bottom lip flawlessly, begging for entrance. I smiled into the kiss, teasing him, before parting my lips, allowing his tongue to enter, to dance gracefully with mine.

I slipped my arms around his neck, burying my hands into his curly green hair. I moaned as he traced a hand down my side and around to the small of my back. He smiled into the kiss as he pulled me up against him. I arched into him as I pulled him closer to me, our bodies fitting together perfectly.

Our kiss broke, and we both gasped for breath, foreheads pressed together. A soft giggle erupted from the Joker, and because I was pressed into him, I felt his strong body vibrate with it, causing me to laugh with him. But that didn't last long as we came back together, our lips meeting and moving together aggressively with amazing harmonization.

The Joker was the center of my thoughts, and I must have been the center of his. We were so close together, fitting snugly and holding onto one another as we kissed. Gotham City could have crumbled around us, and we wouldn't have noticed. Batman could show up to capture the Joker, but it didn't matter because he would have to take me with him. We were so unaware of our surroundings, lost in the entangled web of our emotions, until a nervous voice said, "Um, boss?"

With an angry growl that emanated from deep inside his chest, the Joker yanked his head out of my grasp, breaking the intense kiss. His eyes flashed with burning rage as he looked over at the one who had spoken. "What?" he demanded, furiously.

"W-We're here…"

The Joker's face darkened, rage filling every crease, his eyes seeming to turn black. I heard a click from the switchblade that seemed to have just appeared in his hand. For a second, the Joker and Tim watched one another, and then the next second, there was a blur of motion as Tim shot out of the car, the Joker moving just as fast.

I sat up and climbed out of the car through the door that Joker left open, and I placed a hand on the carhood, watching as the short man ran down the street, screaming at the top of his lungs with the Joker hot on his heels.

Before the driver reached the corner, the Joker jumped on him from behind, dragging him down to the ground and smothering him so that he couldn't continue to cry for help. That done, it looked like the Joker was beating the driver senseless, his fists moving swiftly and making solid hits – from the sound of it. I winced as I remembered that the Joker held his switchblade too, while he was hitting Tim.

I heard the approach of the van and turned my head to see it pull up behind the Volvo. As the van driver turned off his headlights and killed the engine, I looked around, noticing that we were parked in an alley, directly across from the Gotham Peregrinators Club. A small smile stretched across my mouth with amusement.

The grin faltered, though, as a sudden flashback of what had occurred between me and the Joker flashed across my mind.

"What happened?" I jumped, gasping in surprise, turning to face Dean. "Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you," he apologized, quickly.

"It's fine," I said, shakily.

"Where's the boss and Tim?" Dean asked, double checking the Volvo.

"Tim happened to smash the boss's head against the window when he swerved, and the Jo-the boss didn't appreciate it. So…" I motioned down the street. "That happened," I said, finishing the lie uneasily.

Dean gave me an unconvinced look. "Were you hurt?" he asked.

"No, I…I sorta fell into the boss so I missed out on getting hurt."

Dean nodded and watched the Joker as he finished off Tim, causing Tim to shriek once in agony. "That's the thing about new guys. They don't realize how easily the boss can be ticked off." He gave an easy chuckle, but I remained silent, not amused. Instead, I glanced at my watch. Close to eight forty on a Tuesday night, the night that the Gotham Peregrinators Club was having the testimonial for Commissioner Gordon.

The other guys – a total of seven now, ten if you included the Rottweilers – were ready with their weapons and clown masks in their hands when the Joker finally returned to the cars. As he sauntered toward us, I recognized the familiar hunched over gait that he had, his eyes still dark with rage, his hand gripping his switchblade in a death grip. I caught sight of something dripping from the knife, and knew what it was.

Suddenly, the Joker said, "Catch." He lifted his hand quickly, throwing something into the air in the direction of me and Dean. Dean jumped up, catching it over his head, and as he dropped his hand, I realized it was a set of keys, probably the keys to the Volvo, taken from poor Tim.

"Shadow." My attention snapped to the Joker, out of fear of what mood he was in. He grinned at me, amused, but his tone was serious as he said, "Mind keeping an eye out for the Com-mish-ioner? Just hang around until me and the boys here get-ah in there?"

I didn't understand how he could push what had happened between us behind him so quickly. It hurt, but I felt that I should have known that would happen if we were interrupted. For a moment, I was glad that Tim was dead, but that happiness faded. Numbly, I nodded, in response to the Joker's "suggestion", before shadowing into the club's lobby, melting into the shadows as soon as I was in there, forcing my conflicting emotions aside, steeling myself against them, to focus on my current job.

Lordlink13: It's my birthday today, so I thought I'd give a gift to you readers. Giving you the chapter two days early! I'll have to admit that so far, this is by far, my favorite chapter, which is why I'm giving it early. And it'll make up for next chapter, cause the next one isn't so great, in my opinion. So...an intense chapter between the Joker and Shadow. The beginning part – with the armwrestling match – was just for fun, but the rest is actual story. I hope you guys liked it, especially those who were dying to know when Shadow was gonna give in, even though she seems to still be resisting her true feelings. Please review and let me know.