This night in Gotham seemed more bitterly cold than usual, more biting than what could be considered normal and Joker pulled the edges of his coat across his chest, shivering slightly. A few articles of trash blew by him where he stood in between two buildings, tucked away into a dark alley, and he watched them go with a vague frown on his face. It had been so easy to get up and leave once Jayde had fallen asleep but now, as he stood in the freezing cold by himself, he began to wonder why he had left at all. Goosebumps rose all over his arms as he imagined how warm and toasty his bed probably was right at that moment.

But thinking back to an hour earlier, he had been laying there in the dark, his skin practically crawling with anxiety once the affects of the alcohol had worn off. He was stone sober now and felt somewhat achy, but more than anything, he felt positively sick that he was, at the time, unable to figure out what he was going to do about Jayde. It had been so clear before, so obvious that she should come stay with him but things were starting evolve…from what was once a hot little fuck buddy into something a little bit more…or less. That, and it had only been a week.

If he were honest with himself, and really truly honest, Joker could admit hesitantly that he was starting to have little…emotions for her. He supposed one could call it a crush of sorts but just the thought of that word in his brain made him feel like throwing up. A second later, he actually gagged and half-doubled over but he figured that was partly from the liquor earlier. Straightening up, he shook his head roughly and cleared his throat to close his eyes and lean back against the wall behind him.

No, definitely not a crush, he thought savagely. Over the years, he had seen to it diligently that there would be no possible place left in his mind for those sort of feelings and to believe that any semblance of a romantic emotion would leave him weak, stupid. Things with Jayde needed to be handled, quickly. And as with most, if not, all things in his life, Joker was positive that the opportune moment in which to completely change their game up would show itself…soon.

Not only all of this, Jayde had become incredibly distracting, with the way she smiled at him, the way she walked, the way she carried herself, that new-found confidence she had obtained and worst of all, the way she fucking kissed him…and the way she always wanted him to kiss her. Joker did indeed have big plans for Gotham and he could not afford to be running around after her, drooling all over himself all the time. She was a pretty face and an incredibly tight pussy, nothing more.

He opened his eyes as he heard voices nearing from behind him, voices that sounded as though they belonged to teenagers walking along the street, drunk, probably having just left one of the clubs. A smirk began to form on Joker's face and he felt that familiar sense of malice start to creep up inside of him…Time to have a little real fun for a change…

Jayde sighed disappointedly before she had even opened her eyes. Her hand was stretched across the bed and now lay rested on the cold area that was Joker's spot. She knew he wouldn't be there but still she had hoped fleetingly that by some miracle he would be laying there growling quietly in his sleep…but he was still missing.

Her eyes had opened a few hours prior just as the bedroom door had clicked shut behind him and that same let down sigh had escaped her then just as it had when she woke up. For the life of her, Jayde couldn't understand why he couldn't just sleep through the night and relax in a post-coital bliss just like normal people…but then again, Joker was nearly everything but normal.

A dim square of light was peeking out from around the edges of the heavy black blanket Joker had thrown over his window so Jayde got up, mildly surprised to find that she had slept naked all night. After finding her clothes, she put them on to step out into the hallway. Dotcom's door was still closed surprisingly so she bypassed it, knowing there would be a cigarette and a chat in the near future. Now she was passing the landing, trying not to glance down to look for Joker but she could not help it and turned her head, only to sigh for a third time when she found the entire first floor empty of her roommates.

Jayde stepped into her bedroom a moment later, closing the door behind her to strip off her clothes and head into the bathroom for a shower, hoping as she went that someone, Joker, would be downstairs when she emerged.

After spending a little extra time shampooing her hair and making sure it was rinsed free of conditioner, Jayde shut off the water and grabbed a towel, bringing a gush of steam out into the bedroom when she opened the door. At first, she paused, straining her ears for any voices from the rest of the house, but of course, she heard none so went to the closet to find something to wear.

She had just settled on a pair of black jeans and a gray long-sleeved shirt when far-off, she heard the garage door squeak open then shut, followed shortly by the clatter of keys being tossed onto the wooden, kitchen table. Now a little quicker, she finished tossing on the shirt to walk over and step out into the hallway, only to roll her eyes when she noticed Tre seated at the kitchen table, eating breakfast. It wasn't that she was unhappy to see him; she was just unhappy that she was seeing him and not someone else.

As she came down the stairs, Tre glanced up but went back to reading the magazine he had bought, turning the page slowly as he ate his bagel. Jayde passed him into the kitchen but could not help herself from asking, "Any idea where Joker went last night?"

Tre grunted, waiting to finish chewing before he answered, shrugging his broad shoulders. "Nah, he does that sometimes. He should be back in-…"

Just then, the sound of the garage door cut him off and as if he had been listening, Joker stepped inside to stop on the threshold, looking slightly green in the face.

"-now…" Tre finished his sentence, going back to reading while Jayde smirked at Joker. He held up a hand when she started to speak and he took a deep, steadying breath.

"Excuse me, I think I'm gonna go throw up for a bit." He said somewhat politely and ran to the stairs, taking them two at a time until he had disappeared into his room, shutting the door behind him. At the table, Tre laughed, shaking his head.

"Ki never was the drinking type…"

Before long, Dotcom emerged from his room looking rather hung over and he immediately walked down to the kitchen and straight over to the coffee maker, dosing it with water and grounds to let it bubble away quietly. He looked at Jayde as he turned and leaned against the counter, taking off his glasses to clean them with the sleeve of his sweatshirt. Once he had put them back on, he sent Jayde a glare that had her feeling as though he might have heard a little bit of the commotion coming from Joker's room the previous night. Jayde walked by him to go outside on the porch, patting his arm as she went.

"Sorry, Dotcom." She said, grinning at him as he arched an eyebrow.

"Mmhm."

He joined her a few minutes later, pulling his pack of smokes from his pocket to light one and once Jayde had done the same, he leaned back in the chair, closing his eyes.

"You guys need to be separated." He commented after a few silent seconds and Jayde laughed, ashing her cigarette.

"I know…" she answered, glancing down at the ground. "He's insatiable." Actually, I think it's me that's insatiable, she thought a second later.

It grew quiet again but soon after, the sliding glass door slid open and Joker stepped out, in a clean, black t-shirt and his gray cotton pajama pants, looking a little worse for wear. He grunted as he sat down at the table, his eyes somewhat red and half-closed and if Jayde didn't know any better, she would almost guess that he had been crying, but she almost laughed out loud at that notion. It was probably just from lack of sleep and then feeling bad on top of it. A long sigh heaved his chest as he leaned his head back, closing his eyes.

"Feeling any better?" Jayde asked tenderly, reaching over to pat his hand as it rested on his knee only to frown when he pulled it away to cross his arms over his chest.

"No," he answered flatly, but then stood abruptly to go back inside. "I should probably get some water."

Jayde sighed once he had gone and Dotcom looked over, shaking his head.

"Looks like it's gonna be one of those days, sweetie." He said, poking out his bottom lip sympathetically when Jayde rolled her eyes.

"Whatever, I'm just going to leave him alone and let him be cranky." She answered and with that, they both stood after putting out their cigarettes and ventured inside.

Across the room, Jayde could see Joker's legs from the knees down dangling over the arm rest at the end of the couch and she wished for a half-second that she could go over there and be near him. Of course, she could very well go do that, but she was getting the distinct impression, even this early in the morning that he was feeling rather grumpy and just wanted to be left alone. So she did just that and sat down at the table to eat some cereal and quiet her growling stomach.

Not long from then, however, a loud knock on the garage door caused everyone to jump and even across at the couch, Joker sat up quickly, blinking hard. The four of them glanced at each other before Dotcom walked over, placing his ear next to the door.

"Who's that?" he asked loudly in a deeper voice as Joker stood from the couch, glancing at Tre. There was a pause before the knocker answered.

"It's Linman!" he barked. "Open up!"

Joker sighed heavily, his shoulders relaxing as he sat at the head of the table, resting his pounding head in his hands. The garage door opened and the police officer stepped in, immediately taking his gun from its holster to place it on the kitchen counter; Jayde had a feeling that this was a rule of Joker's for when anyone came into the house.

At first, Officer Linman had been looking chipper and somewhat pleasant when he entered but was now staring around at all the cranky, hung-over roommates before tossing his hands.

"What the hell happened to you guys?" he asked in a thick, New-Yorker accent, now looking to Joker who was rubbing his eyes, slowly, groaning a very low, raspy groan. Jayde, feeling the best out of everyone, smiled and shrugged.

"They had a little too much to drink last night." she explained and Officer Linman sat down at the table across from her and next to Joker, his handcuffs and police utility belt clanking slightly against the wood of the chair. Jayde glanced at Tre to find he was still watching Linman with an unsure look in his eyes. She grinned but looked back when the officer addressed her.

"You know, Detective Mitchell has been asking about you." He said and Jayde felt her stomach drop. "Might want to touch base with her soon. She tends to stick her nose where it ought not be." At the head of the table, Joker brought his head up, looking at both of them.

"Hmm…" he growled, his eyes now fixed on a spot on the table and Jayde glanced at Tre; they both knew that wasn't a good sound for anybody when Joker hmm-ed like that…it usually meant he was plotting. A second later, he stood up, grabbing his glass of ice water to take it with him to the stairs. "Officer, wont you join me in the…office? Tre, you too?" he asked in a polite manner but with a voice that made it obvious they had no choice. Both men immediately stood to follow him and once all three were shut upstairs in Joker's office, Jayde sighed, taking her cereal bowl to the kitchen.

Unfortunately, Dotcom had been called up to 'meeting' just minutes after everyone else had gone up there so now Jayde was left sitting on the couch feeling lonely and rather sorry for herself. She knew it was stupid to be feeling left out as she was sure she would much rather be sitting there than in Joker's office with the three guys but still, she couldn't help but wish there was something she could be doing.

The longer she sat there, watching tv, Jayde began to realize that she did have a television in her room now and that her bed was much more comfortable than this couch, so she stood up and went upstairs, grabbing a pillow before laying down on her stomach to turn it on. The weather channel was on from the day before and Jayde waited for a few minutes to listen only for the weatherman to tell her that Gotham could possibly be expecting a bit of rain over the next day or two and that it would result in a slight drop in temperature. Jayde rolled her eyes; there went her excitement for spring.

She was just about to change the channel, when down the hall, the sound of Joker's office door could be heard swinging open and voices filled the silence. After muting the tv, Jayde strained to hear what they were saying but everyone seemed to be dispersing- Dotcom, into his room, Tre and Linman downstairs and Joker…

Jayde looked over when he stepped into her doorway, an unreadable expression on his face. His eyes flickered over her spread out figure before he looked back to her face and Jayde was about to hope he was going to come in and sit down with her, but he did not and instead stayed put, drumming his fingers on the frame of the door. He raised his eyebrows.

"We're leaving here in twenty minutes. Come downstairs in ten so I can fill you in on our little…" he wiggled his fingers in a demonstrative sort of way. "…-mission." When Jayde did not reply, he leaned into the room slightly, nodding his head slowly. "Say 'yes' if you understand what I'm telling you." He added, his voice carrying a bit of bite to it that she had not heard him use in a while. Jayde finally nodded in response but Joker did not leave the doorway until she sighed, sitting up.

"Yes." She answered exasperatedly. "I understand you." As hard as she tried to keep some irritation out of her voice as she was feeling fully aggravated now, a small amount of it carried into her reply but luckily Joker either didn't notice it or ignored it. He cocked his head to the side with a forced smile that wrinkled the corners of his eyes.

"Good." He said, that smile vanishing instantly as he turned to walk away and once he had gone, Jayde sighed, rising from the bed to go downstairs. Something definitely wasn't right.

Eight and a half minutes later, Jayde was downstairs, sitting at the kitchen table by herself, wondering where everyone had gone. Tre's door was open but his room seemed empty and quiet. It also seemed that Linman had left and Jayde was about to stand up and walk outside to see if his police cruiser was still in the driveway when she heard a door open upstairs. Moments later, she turned when she noticed Joker trotting down the stairs, now dressed in black, pinstriped slacks and a white, Oxford button-down shirt, untucked, with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His head was bowed as he pulled on a dark gray vest over the shirt and he had just moved to button it when he noticed her so he left it open, clapping his hands together twice. It appeared as though he was feeling much better by then and in fact, looked rather handsomely dressed at that. Jayde was about to tell him when he sat down at the table, bringing a vague wave of that cologne with him and she was immediately distracted by taking a deep breath.

"DOTCOM!" he shouted, causing Jayde to jump, startled out of the half-trance the smell of his cologne had put her in. A second later, he appeared on the top landing, putting his glasses on his face.

"Sorry." He muttered as he walked over. "What'd I miss?" Joker sighed irritably, dropping his hands on the table heavily.

"Your twenty-fifth birthday if you don't get back upstairs and get that mic-receiver." He said with a snarl, glaring after the nerd as he hurried back up the stairs and into his room before he returned, now slightly winded. "Good. Sit." He then commanded, kicking the leg of the chair across from him under the table so it scooted out enough for Dotcom to sit down. "Now," he began once everyone was sitting and he turned to Jayde, raising his eyebrows. "Jayde, today we are going to pay a lit-tle visit to your dear friend Detective Mitchell…"

At first, her eyes widened, a worried look immediately crossing her face but Joker rolled his eyes, sighing heavily. "No, no," he went on. "I'm not going to kill her…yet. But we do need to make sure she sees you and you two have a chance to uh-…catch up. So-o-o-o, Dotcom, that's where your little gadget comes in…"

After what seemed like a half-hour, Joker had finally finished explaining to Jayde that they were setting out to meet Tre and Officer Linman in Gotham and that she was going to be doing a little shopping in order to 'bump into' Detective Mitchell. Now, as she trailed along in Joker's wake out into the garage, she found herself a little uneasy about this particular plan of his and wasn't so sure she was ready to face the detective again, especially with so much riding on her ability to lie. That day, when Joker had been caught, Jayde had been so positive right away that she absolutely hated the tall, strong-featured police woman but that didn't exactly mean she wanted to set the woman up to be murdered by the Joker…and there was no mistaking it now; that was exactly what he was planning. Jayde could see the outline of a handgun tucked into the back of his pants, under his shirt and vest as she climbed into the Escalade after him.

The ride to Gotham started out incredibly silent, almost deafeningly so, and for the first ten minutes, Jayde could not help but feel incredibly angry with Joker for some reason or another. It just seemed so unfair to her that she would expend so much effort into pleasing him, into making sure she followed his little behavioral 'rules', like not staring at him, maintaining a respectful distance unless he touched her first, not being as sarcastic as she wanted to be. All of this, for Joker to treat her like his captive again. Just a hug or even a pat on the armwould have been enough for her…But then again…he's the Joker.

Jayde's stony expression remained firmly in place as she watched the trees flying by, underneath a canopy of gray, overcast skies, threatening heavily of rain, while across from her, Joker was looking the opposite way, scowling at the same surroundings on the other side of the road. An image flashed quickly into his mind of two pissed off little kids with their arms folded, facing opposite directions with their noses in the air and he rolled his eyes to himself. His knee had started to bounce at some point and he was absolutely positive that Dotcom could feel it in the back of the driver's seat but he knew better than to complain, so Joker kept going. There was something relaxing about it and as that pent up energy, that extreme itch to get out and do something threatened to consume him completely on the way to the city, bouncing his knee was really the only thing he could do to relieve it…either that or blow everyone in the cars brains out. However, Dotcom was rather useful at times and honestly, so was Jayde, so he decided against that and took to biting on his bottom lip instead.

Finally, finally, the wheels of the SUV touched Gotham City asphalt and Joker let out a satisfied groan, rolling down the window slightly to take a deep breath of the stinky, busy air that blew through the bustling city. It smelled like fun times and mischief and something about it seemed to always give Joker a serious case of butterflies.

He was about to tell Dotcom where he should be headed when he realized he didn't know where they should be headed, so he dug the counter-part to Linman's walkie-talkie from his pocket, pressing the button on the side to speak into it.

"Alright, piggy, where are you…?" he asked, turning slightly to watch a few cars go by, releasing the button to hear a response. It made a 'csh'-ing sound before the policeman's voice came through, somewhat muffled as he was obviously speaking into the small radio on his shoulder.

"On the corner of twenty-first and Cleveland on the south side, facing the H&M between the Bose store and DJ's restaurant." Linman answered in a very professional, police sort of way and Jayde rolled her eyes. "Subject is walking along Cleveland, wearing khaki pants and black coat."

"Alright, keep an eye on her. We're dropping off 'Jay' at her place and she'll be on her way." Joker answered before he stowed the radio back into the pocket of his black coat and he turned to Jayde. "Right, so you're more than likely going to have to take a cab to get there." He explained, reaching now into an inside pocket to pull out a wad of cash a second later; he handed it to her, watching with a scowl as she placed it in her purse.

She had just turned her head back to look out the window when Joker suddenly reached out, grabbing her jaw to hold it in a tight, vice-like grip and turn her face back toward him. It hurt, but Jayde did not whimper and instead grabbed his wrist to pull his hand away from her face, twisting her neck to help her do so. Her eyebrows practically met in the middle as she glared at him and Joker held up a black gloved finger in her face.

"You fuck this up 'cause you're not paying attention and I swear…" he snapped loudly and Jayde cowered slightly, but still maintained eye contact with him as she nodded. "Now," Joker went on a second later, as if nothing had happened. "Once we drop you off in the basement, you walk out to the street, hail a cab and ask him to take you to the corner of twenty-first," he added heavy emphasis on the 't'. "-and Cleveland. Yes?"

"Yes." She answered at once, wanting to avoid another rough face-grabbing. Joker nodded, patting Dotcom's shoulder until he handed back that watch and ear piece that she had used at the grocery store. With it fastened around her wrist and the tiny, flesh-colored piece in her ear, Jayde looked up from her hand to Joker to find him watching her, eyebrows furrowed. If she didn't know any better, she would guess that he was thinking of apologizing later when the bruises on her cheek showed up…but unfortunately, she knew better.

Once the SUV had bounced into the basement of her apartment building, Jayde could feel a sense of foreboding creeping up inside of her but she knew there was no way she could just turn to him and say she didn't want to do it, especially with the unusually foul mood Joker was in that day. She also fleetingly imagined just going upstairs to her apartment and hiding in there for a bit, to let him cool down, but upon second thought, she had a feeling that might make him just a little bit worse. Just as she was about to try and think up some other scenario to get her out of this, the truck came to a stop and Joker was now staring at her expectantly. Taking a deep breath, she reached for the door handle only to stop when he spoke.

"I'm watching you," he said as if he had been reading her mind and Jayde honestly felt a little bit like the way she did when she had first 'met' him, when he had been stalking her. It seemed as though everything was starting to come full-circle.

Once Jayde had gotten out, the Cadillac zoomed out of the garage, made a right turn and disappeared so she walked to the stairwell to go up one flight to the street level, where she walked out toward the speeding cars. Several taxis were driving by at the time but most of them had their 'in-service' lights on, so Jayde stopped and looked left, immediately spotting the black Escalade at the intersection next to where she now stood. Just then, a taxi turned down that street and did not have its' light on, so Jayde held up her hand, lowering it a second later when the cab pulled over.

The door squeaked slightly as she opened it and Jayde nearly jumped; her nerves were a little short at the moment.

"Where to, miss?" the cabbie asked, half-turning in his seat to look at her.

"Uh, twenty-first and Cleveland. Or in front of the H&M right there, your call." She said as naturally as she could. Joker's voice in her ear sounded raspy and clowny.

"Ahhh, little miss smarty-pants, hm?"

Finally, Jayde allowed herself a small grin.

The ride did not take very long at all and Jayde was just about to wonder why she didn't just walk when she noticed the side-profile of Officer Linman's police cruiser across the street parked in front of a small boutique. The cab had come to a stop and she paid the man ten dollars before getting out, draping her purse over her shoulder confidently, glancing up at the front of the store. The man was thanking her over his shoulder but it was somewhat hard listening to him when Joker was talking in her ear.

"Alright, Jaydie, Mitchell just went into the store so go in and look for her. I don't have eyes in there so let me know what's happening ." It sounded as though he was murmuring but Jayde figured it was just the low volume on the ear piece. A second later, his voice came again. "Look to the right."

She obeyed, turning her head to look over toward the outside patio of the restaurant 'DJ's' and Joker's voice came through again.

"See Tre sitting there? Tre, scratch your ear if you see her." Jayde finally spotted him while Joker paused and she noticed Tre reach up and pick at his ear completely nonchalantly. "Alright, good. Jayde, Tre can hear you so if you have any problems, just say something and he's coming in."

By now, Jayde had made it inside the store and was mildly surprised to find herself somewhat excited at the sight of all the clothes and purses, belts, shoes and jewelry. She immediately went over to a rack, reaching out to feel the material of a cute sweater. Turning her back to the rest of the store, she leaned down as if looking at the price tag and spoke quietly.

"So am I allowed to actually shop while I'm here?" she asked, smirking to herself when she heard Joker sigh and Tre groan.

"Find Mitchell first, then maybe…" he answered and Jayde was absolutely positive he was rolling his eyes heavily.

Upon first, gut instinct, Jayde would have guessed that she could more than likely find the detective in the business casual section of clothes and not so likely in the lingerie section so she went over to the stairs in the very center of the store to go up one level to where she was guessing the more professional-looking clothes were found. Fortunately, the ear piece hidden behind her thick, curly hair was silent for the time being so Jayde could think and be at her most alert.

The second floor of the building was set up almost exactly as the one below it, although being short was proving incredibly disadvantageous at the moment as Jayde could not see over the tops of the numerous racks of clothing. Luckily, the ear piece hidden behind her thick, curly hair was momentarily silent, giving Jayde time to think and concentrate. She tried hard not to look around too much and instead turned left into a cluster of clothing racks hoping to just slowly wind her way through the maze. It was gradually starting to dawn on her that there was starting to be a good chance that the tall detective would find her first and just as she was starting to grow slightly apprehensive, a familiar voice called out.

"Jayde?"

She turned, and immediately smiled although she felt a large weight drop into her stomach at the sight of the tall, slightly broad-shouldered detective walking toward her, a quizzical grin on her face. Despite the growing sense of uneasiness, Jayde turned, smiling warmly.

"Hey!" she answered, glancing down at the bags Detective Mitchell was already carrying. "What are you doing here?" she then asked stupidly and was about to roll her eyes when she heard Joker through the earpiece murmur 'wow…' Her grin expanded at this.

Either the detective did not catch the stupid question or was refraining from a sarcastic answer as she shrugged, glancing around. "It's my first day off in about a month so I'm catching up on a little shopping." She replied, then tilted her head to the side a little girlishly as normal females do and Jayde began to feel like maybe this was a real person after all. "Still working at Starbucks?" she asked and Jayde felt that weight in her stomach sink a bit lower.

"No, actually I'm an online consultant for an advertising firm." Her reply came without missing a beat. "Just a lot of boring computer stuff. Keeps me at home most of the time." The policewoman nodded, then glanced her up and down once before shaking her head with something of a proud smile on her face.

"You look so great, Jayde. I'm really glad you're doing well." She commented in a slightly softer voice cuing Jayde to nod somewhat solemnly.

"Well, I figured I needed to move on and change things a bit." Jayde answered, shrugging as her smile expanded a bit. "Things are looking up for now." This last bit wasn't necessarily a lie.

Detective Mitchell smiled warmly but then stepped forward to hug Jayde lightly, and she returned it but hoped and prayed the ear piece wouldn't make a sound while her ear was right next to the detectives'. Luckily, it stayed silent and they broke away a second later, smiling at each other.

"Alright, Jayde…" she began, shifting her bags in her hands at her sides. "You still have my number? You should call sometime and we'll have lunch, granted I'm not running around chasing bad guys."

Jayde laughed, wondering if the Joker was included in those 'bad guys'…more than likely…

"Yeah, I'll do that!" she answered a second later, then was about to say goodbye when she realized something. "Hey, I don't even know what your first name is!"

Detective Mitchell laughed, tossing some of her short brown hair away from her face before answering. "Olivia."

Finally, goodbyes had been said and Jayde turned to continue browsing the rack nearest her, surprised to find that she did not feel the slightest bit nervous anymore after talking to 'Olivia'. As much as she hated to admit to herself, she was actually kind of nice…when she wasn't interrogating Jayde on her supposed 'rape'. She jumped slightly when the ear piece rang out with Joker's voice.

"Oh-livia…" he growled and Jayde could just picture him leaning back in the back seat of the Escalade, smirking. "You should probably call and set up that uh-…lunch date pretty soon." He added, his tone mocking and cynical. Jayde rolled her eyes. "Alright, now, come down and let's blow this joint, I gotta few places to run through." He was now saying and Jayde frowned as she admired a cute turquoise dress, reaching out to trace her finger along the hem.

"No," she answered adamantly. "I need some new clothes and things so I'm going to stay and shop for a bit."

The other end of the ear piece fell deathly silent but only until Joker had found something to say. He sighed irritably and Jayde could tell he was rubbing his eyes with two fingers; she grinned to herself. She was literally the only person on earth who could tell Joker what she was going to do. A few moments later, his snappy voice came back.

"Fine." He answered. "Tre will be outside at the restaurant when you come out. You have one hour ex-act-ly." His voice had become gravely and threatening and since he couldn't see her, she rolled her eyes generously to herself. But since he was conceding to her wishes, she agreed; one hour, no more. There was definitely plenty of things she could blow Joker's money on in sixty whole minutes…

A long and satisfyingly solitary hour later, Jayde emerged from the store, carrying four bags, absolutely full of clothes, under garments and shoes and never, until then, understood how incredible it felt to not have a spending limit. She sighed with a smile as she imagined how much fun she and Dotcom were going to have when they got home, putting outfits together and trying different shoes with different dresses. She also had a feeling that it would be fairly entertaining trying on her new underwear and bras for Mister Joker…

Just outside on the patio of DJ's restaurant, Jayde spotted Tre, still browsing a newspaper in the same spot, and as she turned to walk over to him, he looked up, the expression on his face reading that she was definitely not supposed to talk to him so she quickly made it look as though she was walking to the edge of the street. His deep voice spoke quietly through the ear piece to her.

"Ki wants you to take a cab back to your place. He's meeting you there in the basement in spot twelve." He said and once again, Jayde nearly nodded but refrained and instead replied "alright."

Hopefully he's in a better mood, she thought somewhat bitterly to herself as she raised her arm to hail one of the four taxis driving by only to lower it again when one pulled over and stopped right in front of her.

Ten minutes and ten dollars later, Jayde was getting out on the same corner on which she had been picked up, gathering her bags to walk toward her building only to go back downstairs into the garage. Just as Joker had the day they left her apartment after he had broken out, she paused in the doorway and counted parking spaces until she noticed the front of the black Escalade parked in between two smaller cars. She could see Dotcom through the windshield and smiled goofily, holding up the bags so he could see as she approached. He only grinned back but she knew he was probably really excited to see what she bought.

The back right door opened for her and she climbed in, breathing a sigh as Joker looked over, one eyebrow cocked, just as the car went into gear and pulled out of the garage. His eyes had traveled slowly from her grinning face down her body until they stopped on the four bags she had brought into the car and his scowl deepened slightly. Jayde shrugged.

"I did a little shopping." She put simply, smiling when Joker snorted, looking away.

"Clearly…" he answered, his voice clowny and raspy.

Jayde was about to roll her eyes and turn away when she noticed that Joker had been doing a little shopping himself as one, single white bag sat between his feet on the floor of the car, but to avoid another confrontation, she did not comment or ask what it was. She had a feeling she would find out relatively soon, since Joker never liked to keep a good surprise for too long.

The ride back out into the countryside was nearly as silent as the one before it and Jayde glanced over at Joker several times as they rode along, wondering if it would be a good idea to attempt conversation, or to just flat out ask him what was wrong. But ever since he had grabbed her face earlier, Jayde had tried to keep her comments and playfulness with him to a minimum. She could still feel the places where his fingers had gripped tingling slightly, even after an entire hour and she was absolutely positive there would be bruises when she looked in the mirror…having olive toned skin had its disadvantages sometimes. Next to her, however, Joker was looking as stony as ever, scowling at the back of Dotcom's headrest as his knee bounced out of control. He was obviously thinking but Jayde didn't dare ask what about.

Before too long, the Escalade bounced into the driveway of the mansion before it came to a complete stop once inside the garage and all three of them immediately got out to go inside. Jayde moved to reach for her bags as she slid out of the leather seat, but glanced over at Joker as he grabbed them up, along with his one bag and carried them all inside for her. She grinned, rolling her eyes to herself as she walked around the truck to follow the two guys inside the house. It was moments like that, moments where Joker showed just a tiny bit of courtesy or even kindness, that made this little crush Jayde had on him all the more infuriating.

Once inside the door with it closed and locked behind them, Joker stepped over to the table, setting Jayde's bags down to sigh and slip out of his long black coat, draping it over the back of a chair. His eyes moved from the rest of the house to Jayde where he was just about to suggest that she come upstairs with him, only for her to walk past him briskly, pick up her bags and turn to Dotcom, grinning.

"Dotcom, would you come help me look at the tv in my room? Something with the cable isn't working right." she said in a ditsy sort of way, batting her eyelashes at him as he smirked and nodded, following her over to the stairs. He glanced at Joker as he went, shrugging his shoulders and Joker watched them go, his scowl now deepened into a full-on, somewhat disappointed frown.

Turning to the table again, he snatched the bag up with one hand, grabbing his coat with the other and marched over to the stairs once Jayde and Dotcom had disappeared into her room.

So much for that… he thought rather bitterly to himself, and was slightly surprised to feel a little bit jealous that Jayde was in there showing the faggot nerd her new, fancy clothes and not taking them off for him. But then again, this was just another classic sign of that opportune moment approaching and once Joker recognized it for what it was, he backed off and shook his head a bit, laughing to no one but himself. Maybe that was the problem; maybe he and Jayde just needed to stay apart for a while…maybe they needed to just act like real friends and accomplices.

Down the hall in Jayde's room, Dotcom had just sat down on her bed, sighing as he took off his glasses to rub his eyes.

"Wow, some mood he's in today, huh?" he asked, finally looking as though he was relaxing after being in the car with the Joker for a good portion of the afternoon. Jayde shrugged, upending one of the bags to empty the clothes and other accessories onto the bed.

"Yeah, it's nothing new, though. I'm just giving him his space. He'll let me know when he's ready to be around me again." She answered as simply as she could although the absolute lack of irritation or care in her voice was a little bit alarming…Was she becoming accustomed to being treated like this?

A second later, she was beaming, pulling that turquoise dress from the pile of clothes to hold it up against her, laughing when Dotcom gasped, holding his hands up to his chin.

"Oh, wow…" he breathed, reaching out to feel the material. "This is gorgeous, Jayde. I love it."

She giggled, walking over to the bathroom to change into it and try it on. As she stripped down on the other side of the door, she answered, "I know! I think I'm going to wear it out when Audrey comes in." The slick material slid over her body and luckily, it fit like a glove and was just tight enough across the bust to cause a good amount of cleavage. Her finger poked at it as she giggled at imagining the look on Joker's face when he sees her in it for the first time.

Once the bathroom door opened, Jayde laughed when Dotcom gasped again loudly, clapping his hands to his mouth. "Jayde!" he exclaimed, looking her up and down in the dress. "You could seriously be a model! I mean…you're kinda short so maybe not, but…wow, your figure is just perfect for that dress, girl."

He walked over and Jayde had to refrain from reaching out and wrapping her arms around him to thank him for being such a good friend. Instead, she stood in front of the mirror, admiring her hourglass figure in the dress while Dotcom picked at random fibers and cut the tag out of the back for her, all the while thinking that even if she and Joker didn't end up working out as friends or anything else for that matter, at least she would still have a really good friend in Dotcom.

By the time Jayde and Dotcom had finished going through all of the clothes and heels she had bought, it was nearing six o'clock in the evening and both were beginning to feel their stomachs growling at them. Not long before then, they had both heard Tre come home but other than that, the house had been silent and Jayde could not help but wonder what Joker was doing. Dotcom talking about throwing something together for dinner as they left the room so Jayde took that as her opportunity to go find him and see, hope, pray that he was in a better mood.

Moving slowly and quietly down the hall, Jayde finally made it to the door of Joker's office and found that it was slightly open. It did not seem likely that he would be in there with the door open so after double checking that he was not inside, she moved on to pass Dotcom's room and reach Joker's, not surprised to find it completely shut. She paused mid-reach for the knob, wondering to herself if intruding on whatever he was doing was possibly the worst idea she'd had all day, but on second thought, she really wanted to know what he was up to and it seemed unlikely that he would lash out as bad as he had earlier… Then again, that may have just been wishful thinking on Jayde's part.

The door made no sound as she slowly opened it to reveal a completely dark room, entirely silent, save for a faint growling sound coming from over near Joker's bed. A silly grin crept onto her face when her eyes adjusted to the dark to show her the figure of the Joker, asleep on his stomach, his long, lanky legs and arms spread out to cover most of the bed. His hair was absolute chaos and Jayde had a feeling that whenever he woke up, he would have one nasty battle on his hands. As much as she hated the way he had treated her that morning and afternoon, as much as it absolutely rattled her when he grabbed her face earlier, Jayde could not pass the opportunity to wake him up and hear the way he sighed sleepily with that slight growl, see the way his brown eyes opened slowly to blink a few times. Most specially of all, she could not pass up an opportunity to catch the way he looked at her for the first few seconds after he woke up. The small lines just between his eyebrows would crease in a slight frown but then relax when his eyes focused to meet hers and then the tiniest of subtle smirks would sneak onto his face and wrinkle the corners of his eyes. That was the one thing she could not miss.

So once she had closed the door quietly behind her, amazed that the light spilling in hadn't woken him up, she crept over to the bed, bringing one knee up to pull herself onto it lightly. Crawling as carefully and gently as she could, she moved until she was sitting just next to his hips, facing him. Her hand reached out slowly until the tips of her fingers made contact with his back and she glided them down gently on top of the t-shirt he had changed into.

As soon as she had touched him, he took a deep breath, bringing in his arms until they were up against his body and he shivered involuntarily when Jayde took this as permission to slide her hand under his shirt to really scratch his back. The grin that slid onto her face pulled her cheeks back so hard it hurt…Finally, the Joker was at peace.

"Mmmm…." He groaned deeply, burying his face into his fluffy purple comforter and Jayde felt huge goosebumps rise all over his skin. She grinned widely to herself in the dark, thankful that he was not looking at her.

"Dotcom is making dinner. Are you hungry?" she asked in a quiet voice, sliding her nails up his back again once they had reached the lining of his boxers low on his back. Joker's face was still buried into the thick comforter and he moved his head back and forth a few times, scratching an itch on the tip of his nose.

"Yeah." He answered honestly in a very raspy voice and Jayde grinned, if possible, even harder.

"Well, it probably wont be done for a little while. So go back to sleep and I'll come get you when it's ready." She offered and took her hand away from his back once he had nodded an understanding. And by the time she had reached the door, the soft growling filled the room again.

Dotcom looked up from the stove as Jayde walked into the kitchen, a vague, residual smirk still rested on her features and he rolled his eyes when Jayde laughed, opening the fridge to take out a can of soda.

"What are you smirking at?" she asked him once she had hopped up onto the counter next to the stove. She inhaled a second later; whatever he was making smelled absolutely divine. Dotcom shook his head, pushing his glasses from his face up into the front of his hair once they started to steam up.

"You." He answered flatly, cocking one eyebrow. "Miss. 'I'm just going to leave him alone'." Jayde laughed again, smacking him on the shoulder, just before both of them glanced over their shoulders through the breakfast bar to the stairs, just to make sure.

"I just had a feeling he was asleep and…" she shrugged, swinging her feet awkwardly a few times. "…He's kinda cute when he sleeps." Dotcom turned to look at her after he had set the spoon down and one of his hands came to rest on his hip.

"Yeah, Jayde. And lions are also kinda cute when they sleep." He put simply, nodding slowly when Jayde said "Ooh, yeah. Good point."

The pasta sauce that Dotcom was making had just about reached the right consistency when they heard one door open and Tre appeared a few moments later, stretching his arms over his head, flexing his broad shoulders slightly. Dotcom looked away back to the stove rather quickly and Jayde grinned at him before hopping down off of the counter. Tre had obviously decided he needed a cigarette and was moving toward the sliding glass when the sound of another door opening broke the silence. Across the room, Dotcom glanced at Jayde and Jayde glanced at Tre as he looked back at both of them, and a second later, the Joker appeared on the top landing, rubbing one eye as the other gripped the railing.

As he opened his eyes, he seemed to sense that everyone was staring at him. His other hand came down to rest on the rail and he leaned forward slightly before shouting "WHAT?". The sound of his voice echoed in the house slightly and at first Jayde wasn't sure whether or not he was really angry or if he was just being loud. However, Tre laughed, tossing one hand at him as Joker now walked toward the stairs, reaching up to scratch at an itch under his mess of fuzzy, matted waves.

"You look like shit, bro." He commented, stepping just outside of the glass to light his cigarette, although a moment later, he exhaled his smoke into the house and Joker shook his head, pointing a finger at him.

"Ah, ah, Tre…Envy is one of the seven deadly." He began, his voice clowny and laced with sleepiness. "Just because you have dingle-berries for hair, doesn't mean you have to be so hateful."

Tre tossed his arm at them when Jayde and Dotcom burst out laughing and by now, Joker had made it into the kitchen and was reaching for a glass when he suddenly inhaled with a groan.

"And what smells so god damn good?" he asked, walking over to the stove to lean against Jayde's legs as she sat on the counter, peering down into the pot. Dotcom grinned proudly, turning off the burner.

"Romesco." He answered in a simple way although Jayde was positive that the sauce was anything but simple. She had been watching for almost a half hour as he put a pinch of just about everything into it. In an effort to ignore the way Joker was leaned against her, she cocked her head to the side, squinting at Dotcom.

"How did you learn to cook so well anyway?" she asked and Dotcom had just turned around from the cabinet to answer when Joker laughed, folding his arms over his chest.

"Oh, Dotcom was a chef at an upscale restaurant in Gotham when he was, ah-….abducted." he explained, sneering at Dotcom as he nodded at Jayde, rolling his eyes. "I just happened across him when I first moved here and found out about his immense talents with computers-…" Joker was about to go on but Dotcom cut over him, placing out plates on the counter.

"And it just so happened that I was good at cooking, too. Kinda lucked out on that one, huh?" he asked Joker, who nodded, chuckling as he walked away.

"That's called getting two birds stoned at the same time, my friend."

Dinner, of course, was absolutely perfect and Jayde seemed to think she enjoyed that much more now that she knew about Dotcom's history. It made total sense that he would have had such an awesome career, only to be practically forced into working for the Joker. He didn't seem as though he did not enjoy his 'job' now, but Jayde could still sense a bit of nostalgia every time he cooked something.

The dishes were now in the washer and the kitchen was clean so Dotcom stepped out onto the patio for his cigarette, Tre disappeared into his room and Joker was just walking over to the stairs when Jayde stopped, half-way between the bottom step and the sliding glass doors. Joker was going up and as much as she wanted to go join him, Dotcom's words from earlier floated back into her brain and she sighed, turning left to go have a cigarette. A moment later, Joker's door closed and she shrugged to herself, figuring that he didn't really care and that she would go say goodnight to him in a little while.

An hour and a half later, after she and Dotcom had talked their way through three full conversations about totally unrelated subjects, when they both yawned in sequence. They laughed and Jayde was just stretching her arms when Dotcom stood up, taking off his glasses. He continued what he had been saying.

"I'm just telling you to play it safe with him sometimes." He said, opening the glass door as Jayde followed him inside. "If he's cranky, really leave him be. It's those times when he's particularly unpredictable. And I would really, really hate for something bad to happen between you two." He warned and Jayde nodded sleepily although she was not entirely listening. She was too busy wondering if he was awake or not and if she should gamble on going up there.

Once they had made it upstairs after locking all the doors, Dotcom said goodnight before disappearing into his room and Jayde was halfway to her own room when she turned on a dime. Walking now toward the Joker's room, Jayde had a slight gut instinct that she might not want to go in there, but she was incredibly good at ignoring it by now and continued on until she reached his door.

Again, it was not locked and she took that as a good sign. I'm pretty sure if he hadn't wanted me to come in, he would have locked it. She thought encouragingly and turned the knob all the way, opening the door just a crack to slip inside.

Upon first listening, she noticed that there was no soft growling noise in the room, nor even any sleepy, heavy breathing and at first, she considered leaving; it was a lot easier to approach the Joker in a dark room when he was asleep. A second later, a deep, fully awake voice broke the silence and Jayde jumped slightly.

"Well, come in." he growled so Jayde obeyed, walking over to the bed to lay on the exposed area on her side, facing him as he lay the same way facing her. She grinned at him in the dark and although she could just barely see his features in the dark, she noticed that he did not grin back, but simply watched her. He blinked once, placidly and Jayde reached out, letting her hand come to rest on top of his as it lay rested on the bed between them.

They lay there for several long moments, watching each other until Jayde lost her mind and leaned forward, pressing her lips to his. Joker sighed against her, returning the kiss gently at first but Jayde had just moved closer to him to let her hand come to rest on his chest when he pulled away. His eyes were still closed when his fingers came to wrap around her wrist against his chest and he licked his lips, exhaling slowly.

"We can't do this anymore, Jayde." He said, his voice somewhat monotone and almost forced sounding. Jayde frowned, trying to pull her wrist away but Joker tightened his grip.

"Do what anymore?" she asked and Joker growled slightly in frustration.

"This, Jayde." He answered shortly. "This, what we're doing right now. We can't do it anymore." Jayde finally pulled her hand away and scooted back, rising onto her elbow next to him as he lay on his back.

"Why not?" she asked, then practically cringed when she felt a little stupid for not wording it differently to sound less like a little girl.

"Be-cause, we agreed to be friends, best friends. And I may not be a real friendly person, Jayde, but I'm fairly sure 'best friends' don't fuck or kiss and lay all over each other." He explained and Jayde now sat up, absolutely disgusted to find that a lump had swelled up in her throat; why did she feel like he was breaking up with her?

"So…you don't want to have sex with me anymore…" she asked in an incredulous tone, growing angry quickly so she could postpone crying until she left the room. "And you don't want to kiss me or anything like that…" she asked again, flatly and Joker nodded.

"Right."

"Right." Jayde repeated him and a split second later had gotten up off the bed and was now walking to the door. She was not reacting strongly in any way until she made it outside, just so Joker wouldn't have the benefit of seeing how upset she felt. As she opened the door to step through, Joker's deep voice called out "Jayde" but she ignored it and closed the door behind her.

Inside his bedroom, Joker let out a loud aggravated groan as he sank back into his pillows with his hands over his face. That was definitely not how he had planned that conversation to go, and once again, he was proving to himself how useless 'plans' were. There was no way, no matter how well he thought he understood Jayde, that he could have predicted how she reacted. There was a calm, coolness about her reaction that left Joker laying there, exhausted but slightly apprehensive. But he was far too tired to go chasing after her to explain himself so he turned over onto his stomach, groaning again.

If he wanted to just be friends, then they would just be friends. But Joker had a feeling that Jayde was not going to make this easy.

A/N: This story has far passed the 1,000 hits mark. But that makes me wonder why there are only seventeen reviews? C'mon, guys. It only takes a few seconds and it really helps keep us writers motivated to keep doin' what we do. So how about this- I would really appreciate at least five reviews on this chapter before I update again. Life outside of fanfiction is a little hectic for me right now and the reviews really help keep me wanting to write more. So be a dear and just leave me a little note telling me how much you liked or hated this chapter! I really do appreciate it. THANKS -QOM