Jayde stared up at the Joker in disbelief, hardly even allowing herself to realize that her worst, latest dream had come to life and now the girl wearing the Joker's shirt was walking past her toward the stairs, glancing back at her over her shoulder and around that straight curtain of long blonde hair. Up on the second story, Joker stood up from leaned on the railing, straightening his shoulders out. But just when it appeared as though the blonde was going to walk up the stairs, she seemed to suddenly remember where she was supposed to be going and instead walked past them, over to Tre's door to open it and slip inside, closing it behind her as she went. Jayde's jaw fell open as she looked to the top of the stairs where Joker was now trotting down toward her, chuckling, tucking that gun into the back of his pajama pants.
"You fucking asshole!" she screamed, running up the bottom half of the stairs to meet him halfway and start swinging on him, slapping him hard on the arms and chest as he laughed, ducking around her to jump from the third step to the floor. Jayde watched him go, and although part of her wanted to be mad at him, too much of her was relieved that she and Dotcom had stumbled upon Tre's guest and not Joker's. To keep from grinning, Jayde stuck her bottom lip out, walking over to the couch to plop down onto it and fold her arms childishly. "I thought she was here with you." Joker laughed from over in the kitchen, tossing his head slightly as he pushed Dotcom out of his way by the sink for some water.
"I know! What on earth made you think that?" he asked sarcastically, walking over to join her on the couch, sitting down just next to her although Jayde moved over as soon as he did, putting a half-foot of distance between them. She shrugged, glancing off in the other direction as she tried to be 'mad' at him.
"I dunno, it looked like she was wearing your shirt and…" she paused, finally turning her head to look up at him with a shrug. "And I've always kinda thought that you might have a thing for blondes." Joker laughed, leaning forward to look closely at her.
"Really…" he asked flatly, raising his arm to the back of the couch behind her shoulders. "And here I was, under the impression that you had a thing for blondes…" Finally, Jayde turned her head to look at him, the corners of her lips twitching as the effort not to grin became too much. Joker went on, turning slightly to bring his knee up onto the couch. "Tre asked me last night if I wanted to go out. Obviously, I cant since I'm so popular lately. But I told him I didn't have a problem with it if he wanted to go." He took a deep breath, rolling his eyes as he rocked his head from side to side, recounting the evening to Jayde. "Aaand at about one this morning, he calls me, asking if I cared if he brought a girl home. I said no." His hand then motioned to Tre's door before he rolled his eyes. "And that's what he came home with. I just wanted to see what she looked like, that's why I was up there when you walked in." Jayde shook her head with a frown, looking up at him as she inched a little closer to his side, finally calming down enough now to remember that she had been excited to see him, before she had been forced to prepare herself to kill him.
"And you had the gun because…" she began, shaking her head slowly as she waited for him to explain.
"I wanted to see what you'd do." He answered simply, shrugging his shoulders as though he was seeing no problem in the 'prank' he had just pulled. He leaned forward a second later, letting his gaze drop from her eyes to her lips. "Your face was priceless…" he then growled, finally closing the distance to press his lips against hers. Jayde sighed against his mouth, hoping Joker would not feel the goosebumps that had risen all over her skin when he brought his arm from the couch behind her to wrap around her shoulders and pull her closer, just as he started to lean back.
Jayde could not help herself but giggle against his lips as he lay down on his back along the couch, mid-kiss, pulling her with him so she lay on top of him but to the side, her back rested against the cushions of the couch with her hips and knees between his legs. A second later, Joker pulled away, sighing contentedly as she got comfortable atop him, resting her forehead against the curve of his neck to let her fingernail trace patterns across his bare chest. Either she was tickling him or Joker was not in the mood for being petted, but his hand came up after only a moment, pressing against hers and his eyes opened, admiring the contrast in sizes and softness. Hers was so delicate and small, her fingers somewhat short but thin, symmetrical. The skin on her palms was as soft as a baby's, comparing rather sharply to Joker's, lined with rough calluses, dotted and streaked in some places with scars, some fairly old, some newer. After a moment or two, Joker linked his fingers with hers.
"Did you have a good time last night?" he asked in a quiet voice, unknowingly spreading a grin across Jayde's face with his genuine question. She nodded against his chest, closing her eyes to take a deep breath in, exhaling in residual relief a moment later.
"Yeah, I did." She answered, wanting nothing more than to wrap her arms around him and squeeze, thank him for being loyal to her, even though he didn't technically have to. He was not her boyfriend, nor she, his girlfriend and Jayde understood that perfectly…but that did not necessarily mean that they couldn't pretend from time to time…
Just then, Joker tilted his head up to look back over the edge of the couch only to groan when both he and Jayde spotted Dotcom standing at the entrance to the kitchen, a doe-eyed, wistful expression on his face as he watched them be cute together. Jayde laughed as Joker growled irritably, pressing his thumb and pointer finger into his eyes as Dotcom jumped slightly.
"I'm sorry! You guys are just…You two just…" he stammered for several seconds before he tossed his hands in a loss for words. "It's just nice to see you a little bit happy and not fucking pissed all the time! So yes, its cute, what you two have, and I approve. " he eventually said with finality, swallowing hard as he glanced at Jayde with a somewhat nervous yet accomplished expression. Joker was nodding, rolling his eyes as he scowled.
"Oh, wonderful. As long as you approve…" he growled sarcastically, glancing down at Jayde, only to grunt when she sat up, using her hands on his stomach to push herself to a standing position. "And just where the hell do you think you're going?" She turned back to him, bouncing her eyebrows.
"For a cigarette!" she answered brightly, only to trot off after Dotcom toward the glass doors, glancing playfully over her shoulder back at the couch where Joker was now sitting up, looking somewhat rejected.
The glass door closed behind Jayde and although Joker was partially tempted to follow, a freezing cold glass of orange juice was calling his name from the kitchen, so he stood up, going to retrieve it. He had just made it into the kitchen when he heard Tre's door open, then shut again a second later and an evil smirk slid onto his face as he imagined turning to shout 'BOO' at Tre's late night gal-pal. However, a moment later, Joker glanced over his shoulder, only to groan disappointedly with a roll of his eyes when he noticed that it was only Tre, looking incredibly hung over. Figuring that it was high time he dished out some of that world famous shit-talking that Tre had gotten so good at lately, Joker turned, folding his arms to lean against the counter.
"So," he started brightly, but frowned when Tre shook his head, cringing.
"No, man. Don't start. Too early." He grunted, reaching up for a glass out of the cabinet as Joker laughed, holding up his hands innocently.
"What do you mean, Terrell? I was about to comment on what a lovely young lady she is! What is she…sixteen…seventeen…" Joker started the mocking without hesitation, snarling a grin at his friend as he shook his head, looking rather nauseas.
"Twenty, bro." He eventually answered.
"Twenty!" Joker exclaimed in mock surprise. "Now that's a catch…" Finally, Tre turned to face him, trying to force his eyes open wider.
"Man, you better get outta sight before she comes out here, I don't wanna have her see who my crazy fucking roommate is…"
"Terrell?" came a soft, girly voice from around the corner of the kitchen; Tre's eyebrows raised as Joker's did the same.
"Terrell?" Joker mimicked her voice quietly, walking backwards toward the other end of the kitchen, rather reluctant to leave as he was thoroughly enjoying the shit he was giving his friend.
"Man, go!" Tre exclaimed in a hoarse whisper, waving him away just before the blonde rounded the corner. With a laugh, Joker ducked out of the kitchen and headed toward the stairs, shaking his head when he heard Tre greet his guest with a traditional, black-guy, 'Ay, girl.'
Jayde looked up and to the side when the glass door opened behind her, only to find that the blonde girl from earlier was stepping out onto the patio, smiling somewhat sheepishly at them. Jayde glanced over to Dotcom who had one eyebrow raised as he glanced her up and down judgmentally, like any good gay man would. Luckily, the girl had switched Tre's shirt for the skirt and top she had worn last night and was now looking nervous as she stepped out.
"Hey…" she began, glancing back and forth between them. "I just wanted to say hi. I was still a little drunk earlier when you guys found me going through your cabinets." The girl managed a laugh although it could not have been more clear that she wasn't thrilled about the way her morning had played out.
A heavy moment of silence passed by wherein Jayde and Dotcom both tried to decide quickly if they should give her the time of day. The girl seemed ready to give up and go back inside when Jayde finally spoke up, forcing herself to remember firmly that this was not someone that Joker had brought home…this was Tre's plaything and she should be nice.
"Hi," she said, just as the girl was turning to go back inside. "I'm Jayde and that's Andrew." Jayde glanced across the table to Dotcom who seemed to have finally relaxed his eyebrow. "Do you want a cigarette?" she asked, reaching out to Dotcom's pack of smokes before he could take them off of the table. The girl shrugged, a somewhat relieved smile spreading across her face.
"Sure."
So once Jayde had passed the girl a cigarette and the lighter, she tried not to watch as she leaned back, igniting it to take a deep breath. Honestly, she was very pretty, with big, round brown eyes and thin yet nicely shaped lips. It was clear she was young but how young, Jayde couldn't tell yet. The apparently dark makeup she had been wearing the night before was now smeared and runny looking…Jayde tried not to giggle when she imagined the sort of night this girl had experienced with Tre.
"I'm Sarah, by the way. I uh-…met Terrell at Club Skye last night. He says you two are his roommates?" she asked, raising both of her bare feet to rest them on a leg of the table. Dotcom was quiet so Jayde nodded, glancing over. "He said you're his best friend's girlfriend." A loud, surprised cough escaped Jayde as she choked on the smoke in her lungs, fanning it away from her face quickly.
"Uh…" she began, unsure of really how much she should explain it. She wanted to say no, but if Tre had already told the girl... "Yeah…I am." Her eyes glanced over at Dotcom's quickly only to look away a second later when she noticed him grinning in that certain knowing way.
Once the cigarettes had been put out, Jayde, Dotcom and their new 'friend' Sarah all traipsed back inside, suddenly feeling rather awkward about what they should say or do. It felt somewhat surreal to have another girl in the house and Jayde wasn't really sure if she liked it yet or not. Part of her sincerely wanted Joker to come downstairs, purely to somewhat show off the fact that her 'boyfriend' just so happened to be Gotham's number one most wanted, but she knew that it was really for the best that he stay out of sight…unless Tre planned on having his 'friend' killed.
However, Sarah had disappeared back into Tre's room, leaving Dotcom in the kitchen, talking to himself about what to make for breakfast, thinking that Jayde was listening, although she was already halfway up the stairs, her eyes trained on the closed door to Joker's office. There was every chance that he was busy, but lately he had fallen into a good habit of being able to entertain her with his attention while still getting his 'work' done. If only he could keep that up…
Her knuckles came into contact with the white wood of his door lightly, knocking twice before she took a half-step forward, straining her ears for noises from within the room. A second later, she jumped slightly when Joker's voice barked out loudly.
"WHAT?"
Jayde grinned to herself; it had been a while since she heard him use that snappy answer of his.
"Can I come in?" she asked, her voice quiet as she leaned toward the door, glancing over her shoulder to be certain the blonde was not lurking about downstairs. It seemed from the distance in his voice, that Joker was at the far end of his long office, but even from there, Jayde could hear the exasperated sigh he let out.
"Fine…" he finally growled, so Jayde reached out, twisting the handle to open it, only to step inside and close it behind her. Sure enough, her eyes spotted him sitting on the far end of the room, hunched slightly as he sat at his table of chemicals, scowling down at something in a petri dish. As she walked over, Joker glanced up but went back to what he was doing a moment later. His eyebrows raised as he reached out to take a clean syringe from a box across from him and uncap it. "Did you meet the lovely lady of the night?" he asked, his voice bouncy and clowny.
"Yeah, I did." She answered, taking a step away from him to roll over his computer chair. "She's actually pretty nice." Joker tsk-ed, finally looking up from what he was doing to scowl at her reproachfully.
"See? And you were about to rip her throat out earlier…" he mocked, smirking back down at the Petri dish as Jayde rolled her eyes.
"What are you doing anyways?" she asked, peering interestedly at the clear liquid he was now drawing into the syringe, flicking it a few times with his fingernail to tap the air bubbles out. He took in a deep, bored-sounding breath before exhaling.
"Well, if I did this right, I should have made a toxin that mimics E. Coli…with some very nasty side effects…" he looked to Jayde, raising his eyebrows. "I need a guinea pig…?" he then half-asked hopefully. Jayde shook her head, rolling backwards in the chair to put a foot of protective distance between them. His shoulders slumped as he rolled his eyes.
"Fine." He spat, rising immediately from his chair to march over toward the door, capped, loaded syringe in hand. At first, Jayde watched him go, thinking that she had just pissed him off by refusing to let him poison her, but something about the determination in his gait made her call out after him.
"Where are you going?" she asked, shaking her head with a confused frown as he stopped at the door, turning briskly to raise his eyebrows at her. A second later, a crazy grin spread across his face.
"To find me a guinea pig."
Jayde let one fraction of a second pass after he had disappeared before she jumped up, racing across the room to follow him out into the hallway where he was now striding toward the top of the stairs. "Joker!" she called after him in a hoarse, urgent whisper when she noticed that both Tre and Sarah had just come out of his room and were chatting quietly, grinning at each other. Joker feigned deafness as he trotted casually down toward them, bringing the syringe to his teeth to uncap it swiftly. Jayde froze on her current step, bringing her hands to her mouth, her eyes wide as Joker walked right up behind Sarah and stuck her in the arm with the needle, pushing the plunger down to inject her with his 'invention'.
"OW!" she screamed, slapping her hand to her arm once Joker had tossed the needle to the side but before she could turn to see who had stuck her, his hands came up to cover her eyes tightly, using his elbows over her shoulders to keep her steady. "What the-…Oh my god…"
"Quiet," Joker interrupted her, glancing up at the angry yet not-completely-shocked expression on Tre's face. Sarah was still talking so Joker shook her head slightly with his hands. "Shh, sh…Tell me what you're feeling." He said in her ear quietly, resting his chin on her shoulder.
"Um, fucking scared?" she nearly screamed and Jayde couldn't help but laugh at her honest answer. "And…like I'm gonna-…" At this, Jayde squeezed her eyes shut, thinking that the girl was about to be sick all over the floor, but a moment later, poor Sarah collapsed with a fairly hefty 'thump', right between Joker and Tre's feet. Both of them stared down at her for a second or two before they looked up at each other again. Joker cleared his throat.
"Might wanna run her by the hospital on the way home."
Several hours had flown by since Tre had made Joker carry his now unconscious friend out to the truck, swearing profusely at him as he laughed, nearly dropping Sarah every few feet. With effort, Joker managed to somehow stuff the girl into the front seat of the truck and had come back inside claiming that his drug trial had not been successful and that he needed more test subjects. When Jayde and Dotcom flat out refused, he stomped up to his office, grumbling to himself about 'disloyalty'.
Now, the time was nearly seven in the evening, Jayde's stomach was starting to growl as the scent of Dotcom's cooking filled the entire house, Tre was apparently asleep in his room and Joker was currently walking down the hallway on the second floor, dressed in his black ensemble, whistling brightly to himself from between his teeth. His makeup was done perfectly, matching the composed messiness about his hair and Jayde was just admiring this from her place along the couch when he took a seat on the top of the railing of the stairs, only to slide all the way down swiftly. Without missing a beat, he caught himself on the bottom floor, spinning to walk over to Tre's door and bang on it a few times.
"'Ay bitch, lets bounce!" he shouted at the wood, leaving no time for an answer before he took a step toward the couch, only put his foot up on the back to climb over until he could plop down heavily next to Jayde with his arm behind her. "Gotta leave ya for a bit, kiddo, got some work to do." He explained vaguely, cocking his head to the side when Jayde nodded absentmindedly.
"Ok," she answered, not even bothering to take her eyes from the TV. Beside her, Joker's animated face fell dramatically at her lack of response. If she was playing some sort of game with him that involved being distant to get attention, he was not having it; games were meant to be fun, not confusing. In an effort to catch her attention a little, he brought his hand from the couch behind her to flick her hard in the side of the head with his middle finger. She gasped in pain, bringing one hand up to her curls while a split second later, her right arm swung out, punching him hard in the side of his leg. Joker broke into a loud laugh, doubling slightly at how angry Jayde had just gotten and his hand braced his leg, rubbing deeply with his thumb where she had just dead-legged him.
"Christ, Jayde…" he hissed, reaching out swiftly to suddenly grab her face and turn it toward him, pulling her closer forcefully until her eyes were inches from his. Her nose touched the tip of his, only long enough to leave a small dot of white greasepaint on her clean skin. "I just want ya to say bye to me, kid. Spare me a moment or two of your precious time." he now growled, his eyes darting back and forth between hers several times as she glared at him.
"Bye,"
It seemed for a second to Jayde, that Joker was about wrap his hand around the front of her neck as he moved to do so but then clenched his fingers into a fist when the sound of Tre clearing his throat behind them broke the silence. Joker turned brightly, glancing up at Tre as though just remembering that he had been waiting for him.
"Ah, yes. Tre, my good man. Let's go." He said somewhat excitedly, standing up from the couch without another word to Jayde, without even looking over his shoulder before he stepped out into the garage after Tre, the tails of his black coat waving behind him. Jayde rolled her eyes, while on the other side of the garage door, Joker stopped, frowning off into space. Tre stopped to turn an look at him with an expectant expression. Joker shook his head in confusion.
"What the fuck just happened?"
Thirty minutes later after Joker had done a good bit of venting to the only person he could, the Escalade was pulling off of the interstate and onto Gotham asphalt as Tre shook his head.
"Man, that girl is playin' games wit you," he started, glancing over at Kieron with a raised eyebrow. "You do realize that she was impersonating you when she did that…right?" he then asked, in reference to the obnoxious way Jayde had chosen to be distant with him. A second later, a very rare, dumbfounded expression fell over the Joker's face as he turned slowly to stare at Tre as though he were a wise sage.
"Is that what that was?" he asked incredulously, shaking his head when Tre nodded. "When did these girls get so smart?" Tre laughed, shrugging his shoulders.
"They've always been smart, bro. You just never noticed until you got close to one."
Jayde glanced at the clock on her phone for what seemed like the one-hundredth time over the past three hours since Joker had left, only to sigh when she noticed simultaneously that there were no missed calls. She did not really expect him to call her, but still the fact that he hadn't called Dotcom either was starting to wear on her. Her mind would not stop replaying the sensation of his tight grip on either side of her jaw or the way his glossy, angry eyes had looked just inches from hers. It had not been her intention to make him so mad, but she really wanted him to see what it was like when he did that to her, how infuriating and annoying it was. However, Joker was so oblivious to her intentions at times, that it was likely he didn't even catch what she had meant by her actions.
But now that Joker had been gone for quite some time, guilt and slight worry began to grow in the back of her mind, remembering how angry he had been upon leaving the house. It was likely that he had already chosen someone to take this out on and was probably washing blood from his hands at that very moment, where ever he was. Jayde shivered slightly as she pictured this. A moment later, she shifted uncomfortably in the chair when her stressing mind took her in another direction, forcing her to consider the thought that Joker might not even come home. She quickly imagined a scene in her head where the Joker lay in an alley somewhere, bleeding to death or seemingly worse, in handcuffs in the back of a police car. Her eyes closed as she swallowed hard; maybe purposefully pissing him off was not such a good idea.
Ten minutes turned into thirty, a half hour into a full one and before Jayde could even blink, midnight had already come and gone; still no word from Joker or Tre. Dotcom seemed to notice the distracted expression on Jayde's face as he looked over at her from the other end of the couch. She noticed this from the corner of her eye but did not look over or say anything until he cleared his throat quietly.
"I bet they'll be home soon," he said bracingly, glancing at his phone. "I don't think-…"
Just then, across the room from them, the garage door flew open and in stumbled Tre, his arm behind the Joker's back as he supported him, helping him into the house. The sound of pouring rain roared behind them for just a second before the door was slammed shut and by the time Jayde could even look over and assess what was happening, Dotcom had jumped up off of the couch and was now jogging over to the Joker's far side, placing his arm around his back like Tre was doing. Rising from the couch in a daze, Jayde's eyes were wide when she finally noticed that Joker was not putting weight on his right leg…and for good reason. Above his knee, between it and his thigh, it appeared as though Joker had simply torn his pants, but as he moved, Jayde noticed that his skin behind the black material was red and glistened as he moved through the light. Her brain was quickly catching up as Joker started rattling off orders.
"Tre, take my phone and call Kelly, tell him to get here now. Dotcom, once I get in my room, go in my office, to the metal cabinets and get the spray bottle of that disinfectant. Get three syringes, the bottle of Lidocaine, gloves, and my surgical kit." He was saying rather calmly, although from the way Jayde could see that he was sweating and cringing with every limp he took, it could not have been more clear that he was in a great deal of pain; it was obvious he was trying incredibly hard to stay in control. Jayde was so busy gaping after him as he made it to the stairs, hardly daring to believe that this was really happening, that she failed to hear Joker saying her name until he had to shout. "Jayde!" She jumped and suddenly, her body was in overdrive, severely close to panicking.
"Yes? What? What do you need?" she asked hastily, taking a couple steps toward him, only to stop mid-step when he stopped limping with the support of Dotcom, to turn and glare at her with narrowed eyes.
"Go outside and don't come back in until someone comes to get you, understand me?" he asked harshly, not even sparing a glance at Tre as he kept his eyes trained on Jayde. Her eyes had seemingly glazed over with hurt but currently, Joker was the furthest from caring if he had hurt her feelings than he had ever been before. "Get out!" he then shouted angrily, closing his eyes for a half second as searing pain ran up and down his leg from the location of the bullet slipping further and further into his body.
"Ok." Jayde finally answered, her voice soft and distant as she nodded, looking identical to a deer caught in high-beams. And with that, Joker and Dotcom continued up the stairs rather slowly, but Jayde did not stick around to watch any more and instead turned to the patio in a daze, sliding open the glass to step outside. Her stomach was churning violently, making her feel much too close to being sick for her comfort so she sat down, resting her head in her hands to take deep, even breaths. Tears that she had not even felt coming started to gather at the inside corners of her eyes, welling up and threatening to splash onto her pajama pants.
Just inside the house, behind her, Jayde could hear Tre's muffled, deep voice through the glass, talking to who she assumed was Kelly on the phone, although she had no idea why Joker would have immediately wanted to call him first when he had been injured. Her nose wrinkled in extreme hurt when her mind replayed the sound of Joker shouting at her to get out. It had truly been a long time since he had used that tone of voice with her but immediately, Jayde remembered why she hated it so much. While she had always known Joker to have a great ability to change his voice from clowny to deep and husky, she had also known him to have it change from anything to biting and horrible, loud and harsh, gut-wrenching almost, especially when the shouting was directed at her. It seemed whatever higher power Jayde believed in had been listening to her guilty thoughts earlier and was now teaching her a lesson about leaving people on bad terms.
Upstairs, Dotcom had finally gotten Joker into his bathroom, per his instructions, and he stood now at his sink, leaned on his left, uninjured leg as he worked quickly and yet calmly to remove as much of his makeup as he could before Dotcom returned with his medical supplies. The greasepaint was normally fairly drip proof but Joker had a feeling that in less than ten minutes from then, he would be sweating hard enough for it to start running in his eyes and make removing a bullet from his leg impossibly difficult. Wiggling his toes as he scrubbed his face, he could feel that the blood running down his leg had seemingly formed a warm, sticky pool in his shoe. So after quickly removing as much greasepaint as he could, he eased himself onto the edge of the bathtub, gasping once or twice as more doses of pain shot up and down his leg.
By the time Dotcom had gotten there, Joker had gotten halfway down with his pants, completely ignoring the fact that he was practically undressing in front of the one member of his team that was not sexually attracted to the same thing he was. His shoes were easy enough to kick off and after peeling his socks off, he reached out for the disinfectant spray from Dotcom, only for his nerd to hold it back from him.
"You need to take some deep breaths and calm down. You're just losing blood faster. I'll do this." He explained boldly, clearly deciding that now was the time for him to override the Joker's instructions. However, a moment later, the boss seemed to agree and instead leaned against the sink, closing his eyes to try and slow his heart rate. It was not the fact that he had been shot that was making him angry, it was the fact that he was actually in a good amount of pain that was making him furious. But thinking in detail of how he was going to absolutely destroy the police officer who had done this did not seem to be helping in the effort to slow his heart, so Joker quickly switched to something else. A moment later, Tre entered the bathroom.
"Kelly on his way, brother. What you need me to do?" he asked, glancing down at the half dollar-sized, oozing hole in Joker's thigh. After looking over to find that Dotcom had finished spraying every surface in the bathroom with the disinfectant, Joker stood up straight, taking a deep breath in through his nose.
"Dotcom, go downstairs and sit with Jayde. Tre, go and lock my door behind him, then come back in here." he instructed, watching as Dotcom immediately took off toward the door with Tre on his heels. This was the sort of well-oiled machine Joker had always dreamed of having, and this 'exercise' was definitely showing off the colors of his crew. Tre returned a moment later, watching as Joker finished scrubbing his palms and hands, his finger nails, on up his wrists to his elbows before he rinsed them in the sink thoroughly, not bothering to dry them before he limped heavily to the bathtub. "Tre, wash your hands like I did then come over here, I need you to hand me stuff so I can get this bullet out of my leg."
Jayde's head whipped around when the glass door slid open behind her, only to find Dotcom stepping outside, his expression vexed and stressed, yet collected. He seemed to be fighting with himself on something but a moment later he pushed through.
"It…It's looking kinda serious, but…" He began, but stammered a few times as she jumped up out of her chair, sliding past him and into the house. "He said you can't-," he went to call after her but Jayde had already made it to the stairs, taking two at a time until she made it to Joker's door. Her hand twisted the knob hopefully, but she let out a short quick breath as it remained firmly in place. Dotcom had caught up with her and was now watching as she placed her back against the door, buckling her knees to slide down it until she could sit on the floor, her hands rested on either side of her.
"He got shot?" she asked after a few seconds, looking over to Dotcom who had decided to sit just across from her on the carpet in the hallway outside Joker's room. He nodded quickly, glancing at the door behind her and Jayde exhaled heavily, running her hand through her hair anxiously. "I shouldn't have let him leave like that," she commented off-handedly, more to herself than to Dotcom although she knew that he was listening. "that's why he's keeping me away from him now, I guarantee it. He wants me to feel-…" Just then, Jayde was cut off by a loud shout of pain from inside Joker's room and immediately, her eyes grew wide and started to well up with more fat tears.
Inside the Joker's bathroom, Tre was knelt next to the tub, watching as his best friend shook in pain from head to toe, barely able to keep his hands steady as he tried to find a good place to inject himself with another dose of local anesthetic. He was breathing fairly hard although it was clear he was trying hard to stay focused and push past the pain. After injecting the Lidocaine, Joker took a deep steadying breath, in and out through his nose, although this did not do much to help at this point. The long surgical tweezers he had been using were blood stained and sitting in a cup of disinfectant and at first, it seemed like Joker was about to reach for them again, but seemed to think better of it. He looked to Tre, finally conveying the slightest, smallest bit of fear.
"If I pass out, ya gotta keep looking for it. Kelly should be here soon, but…" he paused when Tre shook his head.
"Nah, bro. Why would you pass out?" he asked, readjusting his position on his knees when they started to ache. Joker growled angrily, shaking his head.
"Because it fucking hurts, Tre!" he shouted in reply, but then took another deep breath, looking down at his slowly bleeding leg. Finally, after pushing the thought of how Jayde would react if this were to kill him to the back of his mind, Joker reached out, pushing one finger into his wound, gritting his teeth as he trembled violently. The pain was enough to make his vision go blurry and make him feel like he was about to be sick, but he pushed past it, trying forcefully to clear his mind when he felt the something solid and round against the tip of his finger. This came as an encouragement and Joker held out his other hand to Tre, keeping his eyes focused on his finger with the bullet just at the tip of it inside his leg, between some of the muscle there. Luckily Tre knew exactly what Joker was asking for and handed him the long tweezers, watching closely, glancing up and down between Kieron's face and the wound in his leg.
As carefully and yet hastily as Joker could, he pushed the end of the tweezers into the hole against his latex gloved finger, focusing hard on keeping the muscles in his leg relaxed. Nearly two inches in, Joker could feel the head of the tweezers fall into place on either side of the bullet so he wasted no time in clamping down on it, only to pull it slowly and steadily to the skin, removing his finger under it to prevent it from falling back in. Finally, he let out a groan, dropping the gooey tweezers and bullet into the far end of the tub with a clatter, followed by his pair of blood-stained gloves. His arms folded across his chest as he shivered, the loss of blood starting to affect him now. He looked up to Tre, his eyes half-lidded and lethargic.
"I need Kelly, now."
Outside in the hallway, Jayde was just sniffing, wiping her cheeks with the sides of her hands when the door suddenly unlocked and opened quickly behind her to reveal Tre, looking sweaty and maybe even a bit uneasy. He was staring down at the phone in his hand, dialing a few numbers before he noticed the expectant look on Dotcom's face. When he noticed Jayde at his feet a second later, he sighed, his shoulders slumping.
"He told you to stay outside, girl…" he began reproachfully but Jayde was quick to cut across him and stand up from the carpet.
"Look, I'm sorry, Tre, but I can't just…sit outside while…while he's in there…" she paused, pointing at the door. "is he alright?" she finally asked loudly but was left with no time for an answer when Tre walked over to the stairs just as the garage door opened and in strode Kelly, crossing the marble floors to the stairs determinedly, a large, tackle-box type case at his side. Tre was already speaking by the time he made it to the second floor.
"He got it out but he lost a good bit of blood. He looked about ready to pass out when I came out here."
"Is it still open?" Kelly asked, walking past Jayde and Dotcom like they were peeling paint on the walls and only then, once he had passed her did she notice the name on the back of his navy blue t-shirt. Gotham City Paramedics…Jayde felt her stomach clench up again. Dotcom was standing up from the floor, brushing off the back of his pants.
"Lets go downstairs, baby, you don't need to be up here. Kelly is a surgeon, I think he's gonna be-…" he was saying consolingly but Jayde shook her head, staring down at the carpet as she started to pace, folding her arms over her stomach.
"No, I'm gonna stay here." she put firmly, glancing at Joker's door for what seemed like the fiftieth time. Dotcom watched her for several moments as if trying to decide if she was serious or not, but he obviously thought better of it than to try and argue with her when she was on edge so he moved to lean against the wall of the hallway, pushing his glasses up to the top of his head to rub his eyes deeply.
For what felt like an hour, Jayde paced slowly up and down in front of Joker's door, straining her ears for noises from inside the room, hoping desperately that she was about to hear Joker's recognizable voice from within, saying something sarcastic and mean. However, all she could hear every time she stopped to lean her ear closer was muffled voices, echoing slightly against the tile in Joker's bathroom. By now, Dotcom was sitting on the floor again, flipping through his phone and even though Jayde knew that he was just doing this to keep her company, she could not have appreciated it more.
Jayde was just making her one-thousandth pass by the door when it finally opened and Kelly stepped out, looking like he had just been dragged out of his bed but otherwise appeared fine. Her eyes quickly flew past him into the room as the door opened but it was closed again a split second later. Dotcom stood up, walking over.
"Is he ok?" he asked, glancing at Jayde as she stared hopefully at him. On bated breath, they both waited for an answer as Kelly yawned, reaching up to stifle it behind his hand.
"Sorry…Yeah, he's fine. He had already gotten it out by the time I got here so all I had to do was pretty much clean it out and suture it closed." He answered as though Dotcom and Jayde had asked how the event had effected him personally. When they both glared at him, he went on hastily. "Yeah, he lost a good amount of blood so he's a little out of it right now but he'll be good by tomorrow." Jayde exhaled in relief, glancing at Dotcom as she turned away, reaching up to wipe a quick last tear off of her cheek. When she turned back, Kelly was grinning at her sympathetically and he had just opened his mouth to say something when Joker's door opened again and Tre stood in the way, looking to Jayde. Her heart leapt when he stepped aside but didn't dare get her hopes up until Tre had nodded inside with his head, opening the door wider for her to walk past him.
It was fairly dim inside Joker's bedroom, almost like being in a hospital room, as the only light came from the TV and the tiny lamp on the nightstand next to his bed. Jayde's heart was beating so loudly, she was almost positive that the three guys outside the door could hear it; luckily, it appeared that Joker was asleep already. Apparently, Kelly and Tre had helped him lay down in his favorite spot on his back and folded a pillow to prop underneath his right knee, keeping it elevated. His shirt, undershirt, vest and tie had all been removed, leaving him bare chested in his baggy pair of long, soft pajama pants, sitting low on his hips. Jayde took a few steps toward the bed, staring at the clean side of his face, at how he had failed to remove the farthest bits of his makeup, the white greasepaint still coating a bit of his ear and neck, staining the blonde roots of his hair around his forehead. Her eyes had just moved to his right leg curiously. It looked the same as it ever did but as she took another silent step closer, she noticed a bit of a ridge down by his knee where she assumed the bandage ended. A second later, she jumped with a gasp when Joker's raspy voice broke the morgue-like silence in the room.
"I'm not dead, ya know…" he growled, opening one eye slowly to peer lethargically up at her, his eyebrow raising slowly as her shoulders finally relaxed. Jayde shook her head with a grin of half-happiness, half-guiltiness, fighting hard against those damn tears that were once again rushing to embarrass her. When Joker noticed and began to frown, Jayde took another step closer.
"I'm really sorry about earlier. You were just trying to get me to say…bye to you and I-…" she immediately began rattling off but stopped mid-word when Joker shook his head wearily, holding up a hand.
"Shhh…Jayde," he began but then glanced to the side, reaching out to the nightstand when he suddenly, luckily remembered the two Vicodin that Kelly had left him, figuring that now was the best time to talk about this…while he had the opportunity to be stoned as fuck. "Come sit right here." he then said, patting the spot next to him on the bed before tossing the two pills in his mouth and taking a long drink of water from the glass. Being infinitely careful not to move him too much or touch his leg in any way, Jayde crawled up onto the side of the bed nearest the wall, sitting Indian style next to his waist so she could look down at him. Joker sighed when he noticed this. Did she really have to be staring right at him? The vicodin was starting to hit him hard now so he held up a hand, beckoning her closer until she could rest her head on his shoulder. His arm draped around her sluggishly, falling into place along her back.
Joker's eyes were closed as his brain started to fog up, but being on an altered state of consciousness was usually what it took for him to admit something openly and one-hundred percent honestly. He had been trying all evening to figure out what to say to her when he got back, about how best to approach their situation without killing her or even hurting her. This distracted him from the job at hand, thus slowing him down…thus getting him shot. His mind had been so focused on Jayde and her horrible, confusing games that he had not been able to think clearly to get he and Tre out of the line of fire and if Jayde was going to stick around, this could never EVER happen again. By now, the Joker was feeling nice and fucked up so he plowed ahead, pushing past his discomfort to just spit it out.
"Jayde…Ya can't play games wit' me like that…" he slurred, shaking his head slowly, his eyes closed and his features relaxed. "I mean…I don't know what this is-…that we have, but…I'm new at it. I've never been in a…rela-…situation like this before…" At this, Joker paused to swallow hard, feeling incredibly close to throwing up. He pushed on; it had to be said sooner or later and preferably before he sobered up. "I have no idea what I'm even doing…" his speech was really starting to slur and stumble now. "So you can't…do that…games with me. It just really…confusing…and that makes me…" he paused, sighing slightly as his eyebrows furrowed. "-makes me really mad."
By now, Jayde had lifted her head off of his shoulder, turned over onto her side next to him and leaned on her elbow as she listened, trying hard not to grin. It was obvious he was only getting more and more high by the second, but she was not about to stop him; he was finally saying the things she had been needing to hear. Joker's heavy eyes forced themselves open just a fraction of an inch as he let out a short breath through his nose, trying incredibly hard to keep himself conscious at this point, why, Jayde wasn't sure yet. Her hand reached out to rest lightly in the middle of his chest as if checking his heartbeat to confirm for herself that he really was still alive but a moment later, his much larger one came to rest on top of it, just as his eyes slid shut again. Jayde watched him for nearly a minute, rubbing the side of his finger with her thumb until she broke the silence softly.
"Can I sleep in here tonight?"
Joker's chest rose and fell unevenly a few times as he took a couple quick breaths, tilting his head back further into the pillows to readjust. His hand stayed in place atop hers and his raspy, gravely voice answered a second later.
"I dunno, can you?"
A/N: If your heart is still racing, don't worry…it'll stop in a few minutes. = ] Anyways, you guys came through big time with the reviews on that last chapter! LETS KEEP IT UP! LEAVE ME YOUR LOVE/HATE IF YOU LOVE JOKER AND JAYDE AND WANT THE NEXT CHAPTER! –QoM
Oh, and if you are a follower of this story and have not gone to check out the pictures of Joker and Jayde on my photobucket account, then shame on you, and you need to go do it . = ]