**Ok, guys- welcome to the beginning of the end(s)! The following chapters are both incredibly long so, grab a drink n some popcorn and buckle up!**
Movement against the bed next to Jayde woke her abruptly the following morning, forcing her groggy eyes open into tiny slits and she blinked several times, ridding herself of the itchiness to see what had disturbed her. At some point, she had turned onto her side facing the wall with her back to the Joker, so now, rolling over, she noticed his vague form moving past the bed toward the other side of the dark room, clearly doing everything in his power to stay quiet. Her lips were somewhat dry so she licked them as she opened her mouth to speak, her voice rather hoarse with sleepiness.
"You leaving?" she asked softly, turning to face him with just the upper half of her body when he slinked back over to the edge of the bed and leaned over it, supporting himself with both his hands.
"Yeah, go back to sleep," he answered quietly, kissing her temple heavily before he stood back up. "Big day today." Jayde nodded an understanding, rolling over to face his side of the bed when he moved to walk back over to the door. Her eyes slid closed a second later.
"Please be safe," she called gently after him, forcing herself to keep her eyes shut even when she heard him pause on the threshold of the door.
Across the room, Joker hesitated before he left, his hand on the frame, his eyes focused down at the carpet as a new, deep scowl attacked his handsome yet scarred face. Without turning back to the bed, he asked, "Why?" He heard her take a deep, sleepy breath in through her nose before she exhaled heavily.
"'Cause I dunno what I'd do without you," she answered honestly, her eyes still closed. The moment the words left her mouth, Jayde felt a stab of regret, knowing Joker had probably taken this the wrong way. It sounded sickeningly romantic when Jayde had been perfectly serious. She was wanted now; she truly had no idea what she would do if something were to happen to him. On the other side of the room, Jayde heard Joker exhale through his nose before his powerful energy left the room and door closed quietly behind him.
The Joker had long since left the house and yet Jayde could not force herself back to sleep. Her ears and imagination followed him through the house and out into the garage, the slight bang of the door signifying his departure and although he had instructed her to go back to sleep and rest, she could not keep her eyes closed when such a daunting task was upon them for the evening. She wanted to wonder what he was doing, leaving the house in normal clothing without his greasepaint on, at nine o'clock in the morning, but then again, it was not really any of her business. Presumably, Tre had gone with him, so this left Jayde with a slightly more comforted feeling. For some reason, she felt more at ease with Joker being out and about when his best friend was with him. They seemed to be an unstoppable team and although Joker was perfectly capable of taking care of himself, something about Tre's presence seemed to keep him more grounded and rational, less spontaneous…Over her time of knowing him, Jayde had learned that spontaneity was one of the Joker's more dangerous attributes; she liked that Tre tried to keep that in check.
So after pulling the blankets up on Joker's bed, Jayde made her way down to her room to change her clothes, wash her face and brush her teeth before she went down and joined Dotcom in the kitchen, where he stood at his favorite spot, reading the newspaper. He looked up from his mug of fresh coffee as she approached, only to grin and watch her as she walked over to the cabinets to prepare her own cup, but then laughed when she tilted it slightly to double check that nothing had been painted on the inside. She rolled her eyes as she poured coffee into it once assured it was clean.
"I will never skip a day without checking this mug ever again," she told him, grinning to herself before she took a sip and turned to face him. "Where did they go anyway?" she then asked, leaning against the counter opposite him as he set down the newspaper and sighed.
"He didn't say," he answered, taking off his glasses to rub the bridge of his nose with two fingers. "Just said he would be back around four or so." Jayde rolled her eyes with a slight shake of her head.
"Of course," she grumbled but then nodded her head toward the glass doors leading out onto the patio. "Let's go have a cigarette."
Dotcom and Jayde's normal pattern of watching HGTV for an hour or two, then have a cigarette continued for a little while that morning but then had to be put on hold while Dotcom went to his 'command central' to help Joker after he had received a phone call. Most of Jayde dearly wanted to go with him and find out what was happening but when she suggested this to Dotcom, he had given her a sympathetic look before hesitantly informing her Joker had forbidden it. Against her will, she had huffed like an irritated child and folded her arms, glaring at the tv without really seeing it.
For most of the remainder of the afternoon, Dotcom remained in his room on the computer, leaving Jayde to her own devices to keep herself entertained. The Animal Planet held it mildly for about an hour before she distracted herself by beginning to plait tiny braids into her hair as she sat there on the couch. But fortunately, by the time she had tangled her frizzy curls into considerable knots, the garage door was being flung open at around quarter to four.
As usual, Joker marched in ahead of Tre, pushing his hair away from his face as he walked into his house, glancing over at Jayde on the couch, only to ignore her at first as he seemed to have forgotten something in the car. He nudged Tre on the arm as he walked back out into the garage, motioning for him to follow. Jayde sat up, watching interestedly as they disappeared, but only to return a full minute later, holding either end of a long, heavy-looking metal pipe…a rocket launcher. Jayde's mouth fell open as they walked it over and set it on the dining table with a heavy thud, as though they had just run out to a gallery for a particularly destructive piece of art. Rising onto her knees, she leaned on the back of the couch, staring over with curious, interested eyes.
"What is that?" she asked enthusiastically, but jumped when both Joker and Tre yelled 'JINX!' at each other, then immediately started arguing.
"Ah! I was firs-!"
"No way, bruh. That was ya boy-"
"Bullshit! I said it way before-"
Jayde's eyebrows practically met in the middle of her forehead before they seemed to notice her confusion and Joker looked over, laughing as Tre walked away scowling.
"Tre and I started a game where we say 'jinx' every time you ask something like that." He explained as though this would not offend her. "First person to say it gets to punch the loser, so…C'mere, Tre…" Joker then called to his best friend as though calling a puppy but Tre was already stepping outside to light a cigarette and rolling his eyes as he went. With another huff of irritation, Jayde turned back to the tv, hoping to indicate to Joker she was slightly offended by this new game. He laughed, trotting over to hop the back of the couch and land next to her heavily, bouncing both of them up and down a few times before he patted the side of her head heavily. "Aw, Jayde, don't be a spoil-sport. We have fun at your expense, what's wrong with that?" he asked innocently, although the grin on his face suggested his question was everything but harmless. She rolled her eyes as she stared pointedly at the tv. Joker seemed to notice her mood and moved past it hastily, wanting nothing to ruin his excited and up-beat attitude. "Damn, girl, you gonna kiss ya man, or what?" he then asked with a growl.
Next to him, Jayde seemed to be debating on whether or not to do it but seemed to think better of refusing him so after a few seconds, she leaned over quickly and pecked him on the cheek before she went back to glaring at the tv. However, Joker let out a low, crazy-sounding laugh before he reached over and grabbed her face roughly, forcing it toward him so he could kiss her lips hard, laughing again when she resisted, smacking her hand against his chest until he let her go. She groaned when his arm wrapped around her shoulders, once again forcing her close to him as he pet the top of her head with the palm of his hand, using much more force than necessary.
"Ah, Jayde, I'm happy to see you too, dear."
For the rest of the afternoon and well into the evening, Joker did everything in his power to annoy Jayde and everyone else in the house, obviously out of need for an outlet in which to channel his pent-up, excited energy. Dotcom had retreated into his bedroom once the gay jokes started flying, Tre was doing a fairly good job of handling it while poor Jayde was at the mercy of Joker's taunting, at least until he decided he needed to take a shower and 'put his face on', at around eight o'clock. At one point earlier, he had calmed down enough to ask her if her camo pants and black shirts were clean and since they were not, he had told her to go and wash them. So after switching them over from the wash to the dryer, she ventured upstairs and down to her bedroom to copy Joker and shower as well.
Nearly an hour later, Jayde had just finished changing into her camouflage pants and long sleeved black shirt when she heard the sound of a bedroom door closing from down the hall. At first, she listened, pausing while she scrunched mousse into her hair, hoping it was Joker and that he was about to come into her room, as long as he wasn't still being obnoxious. A few moments later, she took a step out of the bathroom when she heard someone step into her room, but already, from the energy and the calm presence, she knew it was Dotcom without even looking. He was smiling and Jayde returned it but could not help the slightly disappointed feeling that overcame her when she figured Joker left and was sending Dotcom to relay information, as usual.
"Let me guess," she began, walking back into the bathroom to finish her hair. "He already left and wants you to tell me…" Surprisingly, Dotcom shook his head, smiling somewhat sheepishly.
"No, he's still here, I just wanted to come and hide," he explained, sitting on her bed. "The gay jokes are already getting old…It's a good thing-…" he started to say something but cut himself off, pulling his attention away from watching her to stare over at something else. Jayde noticed this but did not comment, figuring whatever it was he had been about to say would have revealed something about future plans. A moment later, both jumped when Joker's loud, biting shout called her name from downstairs.
"JAYDE!"
She sighed, rolling her eyes at Dotcom as she passed him to step out onto the landing, fighting hard not to smile when she spotted Joker standing downstairs, surprisingly in camouflage and a black t-shirt. Her eyebrows furrowed but Joker seemed to predict her question and carried on, giving instruction. His energy had changed drastically since putting on his greasepaint makeup, adding to his newly daunting demeanor.
"You are to leave the house at ten-thirty, not a minute later, and meet us about a half-mile from the dorms." He told her firmly, no trace of a grin anywhere on his face, even though his curved, red-painted scars gave the illusion of a not-so-friendly smile. "The address and directions are already in the GPS. Follow that then page me on the radio once you reach the intersection of Fifth and Main." At this, Jayde opened her mouth to ask 'what radio?', but once again, Joker cut across her, holding up a finger. "It's in the center console in the Escalade." He paused, his dark, black-ringed eyes focused on hers intently. "Do you understand?"
Without hesitation, Jayde responded, "Yes." And with that, Joker turned to stride across to the garage door and disappeared beyond it, without so much as a look over his shoulder.
Ten miles down the road, with Tre driving the newly painted and mildly reinforced police cruiser once belonging to Detective Mitchell, Joker pulled his small walkie-talkie from his pocket, switching the dial to the first channel.
"Team one, are you in place?" he growled into it, his hyper vigilant eyes scanning the passing road and fields for movement. A soft 'csh' came from the radio before a quiet reply.
"Yeah, boss, house number one has been taken care of, but we got to house number two and…someone painted blood over the door." Came the voice of team one's leader. Joker's eyebrows furrowed as he continued to catch every ounce of movement around him with his eyes. The black makeup aided his already superior night vision.
"Is it blood or red paint?" he then asked after his quick mind had processed the information to a certain point. His predatory instincts were kicking into overdrive; it had been a while since he had pulled off a stunt of this caliber and it was calling on every single second of training he had put himself through.
The voice answered, "blood."
Joker nodded, smirking to himself. "Ah, looks like someone's been reading their Bible." He growled. "Leave the house alone. Any others with blood on or over the door are to be left alone. When you've finished the third house, hide and wait for instruction. Zero hour in two."
After being assured by team one that his orders would be obeyed, Joker switched the radio to the next channel, glancing over at Tre as he drove, scowling determinedly. It seemed he was feeding off of Joker's energy and was feeling just as anxious and pent-up as he was. Joker shook his head. "People never fail to astound me, Tre," he commented but did not continue and instead went on to the next channel to get updates on the other two teams and to give the information concerning the blood on the doors. Joker believed strongly that the people who had actually done their 'homework' or were smart enough to connect the Biblical occurrence of the first Passover to his plan deserved to have their child live, as it was in the scripture. If he was going to play God, he was going to do it the right way.
At ten-thirty, and not a minute later, Jayde slowly pulled the Escalade from the garage, wishing desperately that it had been in the Joker's plan for Dotcom to ride with her, however, he had been specifically instructed to drive the limousine and to leave ten minutes before Jayde. She was not sure why yet, but something about this night had the same sort of foreboding energy she had noticed a few nights ago when she and Joker had been practically hunted by Mancino Cellini's thugs. It could have simply been the fact that she was alone again, driving the Escalade, that was making her somewhat nervous but as always, and more frequently lately, Jayde reminded herself that Joker was very good at what he did and would make it difficult, near impossible for something to go wrong.
With the GPS system giving her instructions, Jayde found it relatively easy to find the specific building Joker had been talking about, although getting there took nearly a half hour with the curvy and back road-hugging directions. From living in Gotham for nearly two years now, Jayde knew the intersection Joker had specified was coming up but as she approached, she felt her heart leap up into her throat when she noticed a half-dozen police cars with their lights on, accompanied by an ambulance, emergency response team and fire truck out in the middle of the intersection. The light before Fifth and Main had just turned red so she stopped, straining her eyes to the next block where she finally noticed the police officers and paramedics standing out in the street, talking, their eyes lifted, looking at something apparently hanging from the traffic light, suspended by a thick metal pole, jutting out over the street. Up ahead someone was directing the sparse traffic to go around and as the light turned green, Jayde's heart began to race as she forced the Escalade closer to the line of police cruisers. However, once close enough, her eyes finally could make out what the commotion was about and Jayde's heart stopped dead in her chest- The Joker, dressed in purple suit and full makeup was swinging, hung by the neck from the traffic light, his lifeless body swaying slightly as it was brought down to the street by a team of firemen.
Jayde's mind and body flew into near blindness as her vision dimmed slightly in shock, making it almost impossible to keep driving and turn left as the police officer directing traffic diverted the few cars to the next street. Heavy, breathless sobs began to wrack her body as she pulled off into an alley once she had sped away from the intersection and she put the heavy SUV in park before shaking, numb hands fumbled around blindly for a radio or phone, anything she could use to call Dotcom or Tre and find out what had gone so horribly wrong so early in the night. This seemed so unreal to her and Jayde was just beginning to wonder how he had changed his clothes from the camo and black to his purple suit when a soft 'CSH' sounded, catching her attention from between the seats, muffled by the heavy lid to the center console. A moment later, a familiar voice caused her heart to leap forcefully and start up again as she searched hastily for the device.
"Jayde, where are you?" came the voice of the Joker just as she found the small radio and she pressed the side of it, her voice shaking as she shouted.
"I thought you were dead!" she practically screamed into it, her hands continuing to tremble as she held the walkie-talkie up to her mouth. "What the fuc-" she began to go on but jumped with a startled squeak when a knock on the passenger window pulled her attention to it, where she could barely see the glint of Dotcom's glasses through the heavily tinted window. Joker's voice came through the radio again, calmly.
"Get out, lock the car and follow Dotcom. I put your gun and knife into the center console so grab those too." He instructed quickly, giving Jayde no further time to sit there and berate him for faking his own death and not giving her warning. Without hesitation, after locating the small black handgun and switch blade knife, Jayde climbed out of the Escalade, locking it and stowing her weapons into the large cargo pockets of her pants before she followed Dotcom.
Being that the police were so close, literally just up the street from them, Jayde felt the need to stay silent and walk as stealthily as possible while she followed Dotcom into a back entrance to the tall, run-down building, up a metal flight of stairs, climbing several stories before they reached the appropriate level and exited the stairwell. This led them into a dingy, completely dark hallway lined on either side with closed doors, all of which seemed condemned and some even padlocked shut. Finally, near the end of the hall, Dotcom turned right into a large, high-ceiling room with Jayde on his heels although the moment she spotted the Joker, smiling from the other side of the room with his hands behind his back, she shifted modes and stormed across the room toward him. He seemed to sense her next action and took a step back as she closed in, reaching out to push him as hard as she could with her hands against his chest.
"You couldn't have warned me you were going to 'kill yourself'?" she asked loudly, slapping him girlishly as he laughed, holding up his arm to fend off her attack.
"And miss this reaction? No way!" he answered, shaking his head as he finally took control and wrapped his arm around her, holding her next to him as he turned back to the window, pointing down at the intersection where the police and EMT's continued to direct traffic away from 'the Joker's dead body'. "I needed a decoy," he explained quietly now, glancing down at her face as intrigue began to dawn over her features. "I needed them distracted while I destroy lives." He then growled, leaning down slightly to reach into his pocket and pull a small, blinking detonator from it's depths. At this, Joker paused, grinning down at Jayde as his eyebrows bounced once. "But that was pretty convincing, eh? Looked just like me, didn't he…"
Beside him, Jayde finally exhaled, relieved to be standing next to him, alive. She nodded, resting her head against his shoulder in submission a moment later. "Yeah, it did…" she answered, simply to appease his question and agree that his idea had been rather genius, albeit momentarily horrifying. Of course, Jayde wanted to turn to face him and kiss him deeply, almost in an effort to double-check that he really was alive but Joker was in business-mode so Jayde had to respect his space for the time being; there would be plenty of time for that, later. Joker released his hold on her shoulders and turned to the room, looking along the windows to Tre and Dotcom, who were both watching the commotion down on the street below.
"Now," he began, walking away from the windows, over to a duffle bag laying on the dusty, wooden floor. "We've got about thirty minutes before the dorms go up. Jayde?" he then asked her name, waiting until her full attention was on him before he continued. Her eyebrows raised as her insides gave a small quiver. "I need you to go back downstairs and get me an update on what people are saying down there. It looks like there's a crowd growing and I want to know what the word is, for instance if they actually believe it's me." Through these instructions, Jayde could feel a tiny sense of panic begin to work itself up in her and the moment Joker finished speaking, she piped up, about to ask why Tre or Dotcom couldn't go do it. Once again, it seemed as though Joker had mastered the ability to read her mind. He shook his head, pointing at the door. "Ah," he corrected her tersely. "Go. Be back here within ten minutes."
Finally, Jayde crossed the room to the door, glancing over her shoulder once or twice like a dog with it's tail tucked between it's legs, but Joker did not change his stance or offer any sort of encouragement. He simply watched, scowling, until she had left the room completely and he could hear her boots as she retreated down the hallway. Turning his back to the room, he stared down at the intersection again, leaning over slightly to rest his hands on the pane of the huge, dusty window.
"You want me to follow her?" Dotcom offered from behind him somewhat hesitantly, glancing at Tre but Joker was already shaking his head, his gaze focused on one of the police officers he recognized as a stubborn man named Taylor.
"No." He answered, his voice even and quiet, putting an immediate end to Dotcom's questioning of his intentions. A second later, his imagination quickly forced him to envision Jayde walking out onto the street, only for the officers to recognize her and immediately usher her into one of the cruisers but he pushed this away from his mind forcefully. Jayde was one of the smartest people he knew; if she could not handle a simple task like keeping her head down and simply listening, then she was not as valuable to his efforts as he had originally estimated.
Downstairs, at the street level, Jayde was just walking past the Escalade and out onto the sidewalk when she forced herself to take a deep, steadying breath, reminding herself that Joker had obviously given her this task because he felt she could handle it; she would do well to see this through to completion. As she walked, her heart rate increased slightly but with every step she took, she could feel her knife and gun hitting gently against the side of her leg, reassuring her that they would be right there if anything happened. Several passers by were up ahead of her as she walked toward the intersection but being that she was still several feet behind them, she could not make out anything they were saying until they stopped walking at the back of a rapidly growing crowd of onlookers.
Apparently, by this time, the officers and firemen had gotten the body down from the traffic light and were just zipping up a long black bag that now contained the supposed body of the Joker. Being that Jayde was so short, she could not see much around the taller men and women in front of her so she waited, shifting her weight back and forth between her two feet, growing more and more anxious by the second. Finally, a few words became distinguishable as she stepped up closer behind a younger couple.
"They don't think it's him." the young man was telling his girlfriend, rising onto his toes to try and see to the front of the crowd where a police officer was now ushering people away. It seemed he could hear what the rest of the people were saying and was reiterating it to the girl next to him. "He said the scars are too fresh to be the Joker…think it's a decoy." So distracted by listening, Jayde was not quick enough to notice everyone in front of her turning to begin walking away down Main street so the moment the young man in front of her turned, she found herself unable to move and instantly froze. She let out a nervous laugh as the man stumbled a bit, completely unaware that someone had been standing behind him.
"Oh, sorry." She mumbled, turning immediately to begin walking away, only to feel her heart start racing when the man called after her.
"Hey, wait! Aren't you that girl?…The one that's been missing?" he asked of her back, but Jayde kept walking, sliding her hand into her pocket when she felt and heard him advancing behind her. She shook her head quickly.
"No, I don't know what-…" she began to say but the guy had already caught up and was trotting up alongside her.
"No, yeah you are! You're that barista he abducted! Everyone's been looking for you!" he cried much too loudly for her taste and Jayde was about to take off running in full panic-mode when the stranger reached out and grabbed her arm at the elbow, forcing her to stand still. Then, as though instinct had kicked in, Jayde spun rapidly and slashed out with her knife, cutting deep into the man's forearm with one quick movement. He shouted in pain, releasing his grip on her immediately as he took a staggered step backward in shock, gripping his bleeding arm while Jayde took off sprinting.
Behind her, as she ran, Jayde could hear the man screaming that some 'crazy bitch' had just stabbed him but this was all barely audible beneath the sound of her racing heartbeat as she tore past the alley with the Escalade, past the one after it, to the second one down where she hooked an immediate right, ignoring everything around her as her survival instincts now kicked in. In the middle of the alley, another long path ran between the buildings, forming an intersection at each of the dingy alleyways. Here, she stopped, her chest heaving although she had not been running for long at all. Panic and fear were beginning to take a firm hold of her, but Jayde forced herself to remember the calm, clear way Joker handled situations like this and she imitated him, slowing down long enough to think through her next move.
Fortunately, the alley was completely pitch dark and she had just come upon a small nook between a door and the brick wall, just wide enough for her to slide into it and listen to the commotion on the far street. It seemed some of the crowd had dispersed but Jayde could still hear the loud, angry voice of the man she had cut, verbally replaying what happened to the people who had stopped to help him.
"I think she went down there, I don't know, I didn't see," she could hear him say and from where she stood, Jayde could hear a few people walking past the alley on the sidewalk. Turning her head, Jayde looked down the rest of the tiny space to see where it led to and luckily, it seemed to lead backwards to the other alley she had just passed. So after pausing to take a deep, steadying breath, she began moving as quickly and yet quietly as she could along the narrow space, ignoring all the garbage and squeaking rats as she went. At the end of the space, she leaned out slightly, glancing both ways but only to pull back quickly when a few people walked past the mouth of the alley on the sidewalk, moving north toward the alley she had just left. So after waiting for five seconds, she ran across to the intersecting path and kept going until she saw the Escalade and the door to the building. It seemed, by then, the crowd of people now looking for her had moved on down the street so she rushed over to the front end of the SUV, ducking down slightly to look in all directions.
Upstairs, Joker had just made his fifth pass by the windows, bristling with anger and anxiousness as he glanced at his watch again. A solid twenty minutes had passed since Jayde had left the room, leaving Joker to start coming up with all sorts of scenarios for her tardiness. Had she been caught, or worse, hurt? Killed, even? Had Celini's thugs caught up with her? Had she been recognized? All of this he was wondering to himself, ignoring the nervous glances Dotcom kept shooting toward the door every few seconds, trying to keep himself calm and not allow himself to go tearing from the room, down the stairs and out onto the street, giving away his location. He had not predicted how hard it would be to sacrifice Jayde for his own freedom and was about three seconds from going after her when the sound of running, heavy footsteps reached them from out in the hall. In perfect sync, the Joker and his two closest henchmen pulled their guns from behind their backs, arming them to aim at the doorway, preparing to shoot if anyone besides Jayde came into the frame.
However, a second later, Jayde suddenly appeared, only to scream and duck when she saw three guns pointed directly at her. A panicked sob left her as she stepped out of the way, back out into the hallway although Joker, Tre and Dotcom had already dropped their guns. Joker was the first to walk over, gritting his teeth angrily as he went. He reached out, grabbing her arm in a tight grip, only to yank her into the room and push her up against the wall, taking out his relief at her safety in the form of bristling, itchy anger, which was a much easier emotion for him to convey. Luckily, Jayde was not crying but he could feel her entire body trembling as she cowered from his rage.
"What part of 'ten minutes' did you not understand?" he growled threateningly, leaning down slightly as she flinched at his tone, dropping something from her hand to the floor with a loud thud. When she seemed unable to answer from lack of breath, he shook her slightly, baring his teeth as she took deep, shaky breaths in.
"I-I…stabbed…he knew-…it was…me," she answered incoherently, her eyes squeezed shut as Joker towered over her. However, a moment later, his grip relaxed ever so slightly and his back straightened out as he took a half-step backward, pulling her further into the room. Joker had no idea what she meant and was starting to realize that whatever energy and anger he was conveying was not helping at all to calm her down and he looked behind him to Dotcom and Tre desperately for help. Dotcom walked over, reaching out to pull Joker's tight grip away from her arm forcefully, moving forward a moment later to wrap his arm around her shoulders.
"Jayde," he said calmly, showing Joker how it was done. "Tell us what happened. You're safe now." He reassured her, glancing up at the boss. By then, Tre walked over and stood next to the Joker, a look of genuine concern falling onto his face as he shared his cool, collected energy with his best friend by placing his hand bracingly at the top of his far shoulder. Immediately, Joker felt himself relax. In front of them, Jayde took a deep breath in.
"This-…guy was telling this girl about how the cops think it isn't you since the scars are…so fresh and-…" she took a deep breath. "The cops were making everyone go away and when the guy turned around…he saw me and…knew who I was and…started getting loud about it and…" she took another deep breath in, her eyes locking onto the Joker's as his gaze finally softened. "I cut him," she finally ended, holding out her right hand to show a fair amount of already dried blood on her palm, probably from holding her knife. At this, Joker took a deep breath, reaching out, past Dotcom to wrap both of his arms around Jayde and hold her tight for a moment or two, completely ignoring the fact that both Tre and Dotcom were standing right there, watching. He felt her trembling subside slightly as he pulled back, bringing up both of his hands to either side of her neck and tilt her face up toward him, staring directly into her eyes when he realized that this was exactly what she needed.
"Are you ok?" he asked, his gaze bouncing back and forth between her wide eyes a few times before she nodded, sniffing slightly as her breath finally caught up with her.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she answered confidently, looking to Tre as he checked his watch.
"Ay, it's five till zero, bruh." He informed him quietly, only for Joker to tear his attention away from Jayde after he had reached down to grab her clean hand. It seemed all the recent commotion had torn his attention from the situation at hand and even dampened his excitement a little but now assured that Jayde was alright, he walked back toward the windows, glancing down at the police cars on the street below them with a sinister grin. A second later, he let out a loud, excited 'WOO!', clapping his hands together once, in an effort to get himself pumped back up for the explosion and the murdering of all those delightful firstborns. Beside him, Jayde was recovering well and was smiling to herself at his ability to switch back and forth between emotions, obviously feeling vastly more at ease in comparison to sixty seconds prior. His arm rested around her shoulders as his other hand dug into his pocket to retrieve that detonator.
The entire room began to buzz with the familiar, malicious energy emanating from the Joker as he glanced at his watch before flipping open the tiny plastic latch that protected the blinking blue button from accidentally being pressed. Jayde looked down at the police and firemen on the street below as they started to clear out, wondering if they had any idea what was coming or if they could feel the same foreboding sensation she was. On the other side of the Joker, Tre had just come around and was clapping him on the back, between his shoulder blades, sharing a laugh with him as Joker looked over.
"You ready to see pigs fly, brother?" Joker asked him, grinning when Tre laughed again, tossing his head back.
"Always, my friend." He answered.
And with that, Joker's thumb pressed down on the blue button, turning it to red only for two seconds to pass before the entire building trembled with the force of a massive explosion. Jayde's hands clamped down hard over her ears as the shock wave traveled along the street, sounding remarkably close to a sonic boom. Out in the distance, a great ball of flames and light drifted up into the sky, the force of the explosion knocking several of the police officers on the street to their knees or onto their backs. The sound of Joker's hysterical laughter seemed muffled from outside Jayde's hands over her ears but as she lowered them, she could not help but laugh as he bounced where he stood, smacking his open hand against the window.
Down on the street below them, the officers and firemen flew into action, jumping into their cars, shouting orders at each other frantically, obviously caught highly off guard by this explosion. It seemed more than likely that they had no idea what had been blown up but Jayde figured there was already emergency response teams on their way to the smoldering rubble that used to be the dormitories at Gotham University. As much as Jayde wanted to feel sorry and even a bit guilty for all the young lives lost just moments ago, Joker's laughter and truly excited energy was extremely contagious and she found herself laughing along with him as he clutched at a stitch in his side, bracing himself against Tre.
"WOW!" he exclaimed, taking a step away from the windows. "Did you guys see those piggies fly? That was unreal! I've never seen them move so fast!"
It seemed the more wound up the Joker was, the more quickly he could switch back and forth between emotions and within seconds, he was back in business-mode, striding over to the center of the room to grab that black duffle bag and start heading toward the door. Tre and Dotcom followed without question, cueing Jayde to follow as well, pausing to pick up her recently used knife before she trotted out into the hallway behind them. Joker was giving off instructions again, his stride long and determined as he led his team to the stairs.
"Dotcom, we're leaving the cruiser and the truck where they are for the night," he told the nerd first. "We're gonna take the Escalade to Gordon's and I want you to drive. Jayde," he then turned his attention to hers as they trotted down the stairs quietly and quickly. She looked down to him as he reached up, handing her a bottle of water. "Use this to wash off your hand. Tre?"
"Whaddup,"
"…You stay bein' black."
"Check."
Once downstairs in the Escalade, and once Jayde had obeyed Joker by rinsing her hands and wiping them on her camouflage pants, she sat in the front seat next to Dotcom as Tre and Joker sat in the two middle seats. By now, Joker had begun to dig through that black duffle until he found the object of his search, another tiny detonator, complete with another blinking blue button. Jayde was just wondering where on earth he managed to acquire all of these explosives and detonators and even more inexplicably, how he managed to wire the police commissioners house with them when Joker turned to Tre.
"I hope this thing goes off after all that trouble we had this morning with the fuses," he was grumbling, his knee about to bounce a hole into the floor of the SUV. Tre nodded his agreement.
"I just can't believe Tweak tried to dick us over on that weak-ass supply. It's a good thing we caught him."
It seemed Dotcom knew exactly where he was supposed to be taking them and pulled off to the side of the road after about twenty minutes, right alongside a row of dark houses, parking the massive Escalade in between two smaller cars against the curb. Jayde couldn't help but notice how quaint these homes were, seemingly elevated from the ground by dark wooden supports, lifted above car ports and small driveways. It seemed the inhabitants of this row of homes had already turned in for the evening, being that it was rapidly nearing one in the morning and either had not heard the explosion or were already watching the news about the 'attack'. In the two middle seats behind Jayde and Dotcom, Joker and Tre were still talking.
"Alright, we're gonna get out and walk over to that alley across the street from Gordon's place, about fifty feet up the street. Dotcom, keep it running 'cause we're coming right back. As soon as the three of us are back, you're gonna pull down that side street over there and take us back home. Then it's time for one last smoke at the house, capiche?" he asked everyone but Jayde was frowning from her place in the passenger seat.
"Am I coming with you guys?" she asked, turning in the seat to look back at Joker and Tre as they glanced at each other as if waiting to see if the other was about to say 'jinx'. Luckily, they refrained and Joker nodded, opening his door.
"Yes, you're coming with us." He answered patiently with an obvious amount of effort, but then nodded toward the street outside. "Now let's go!" he then added like a warrior leading his troops into battle. Jayde rolled her eyes at Dotcom with a grin, excited to get all this over with so they could go home and celebrate.
Out on the street, Jayde followed Joker and Tre as they trotted across to the far sidewalk, slinking along vigilantly along a dirty, white wall, glancing in all directions. Their path and the street beside them seemed perfectly quiet and empty of cars, making their journey into the alley exceptionally easy this time. Jayde followed the two boys into the mouth of the narrow alley, wishing privately to herself that all of their expeditions went this smoothly and she was just about to voice this to Joker when he pulled that small detonator from his pocket, flipping open the plastic latch like he had just done twenty minutes prior. However, before he could press the button, he paused, lifting his eyes to look down at Jayde when he must have felt her watching him, waiting on tenterhooks for his next move. His scar twitched into a smirk as he leaned down slightly.
"Kiss me, fool," he instructed, his smirk expanding into a full grin when she leaned into him, obeying with absolutely no hesitation whatsoever, kissing him gently yet firmly. He grunted a laugh against her lips, returning the kiss but shifted to the side when Tre pushed him.
"Ay, c'mon, bruh, I wanna go home. Let's get this over with," he grumbled, nodding toward the house as Jayde blushed and Joker glared at him, but Tre continued to ramble under his breath in that characteristic way as he watched the Gordon's dark home. "-Think I'm foolin' witchu…Ova' here smoochin n' shit, tryna blow up somebody house…"
Finally, Joker rolled his eyes, turning to face the street, pressing his thumb down onto the button. Jayde watched, expecting the light to turn from blue to red like it always did, however, this time, the light remained firmly blue and ceased it's blinking; the house remained in tact. Looking up at him, Jayde watched as Joker's eyebrows furrowed, wrinkling lines into his already creased and smeared greasepaint.
"Wha' happen?" Tre asked, leaning to the side to see around Joker's shoulder to the device. Confusion was obvious through every feature on Joker's face and his tongue clicked against his top teeth as he scowled from the detonator to the house across the street and back again.
"Uh…Nothing, I guess?" he answered, his voice raspy and slightly irritated. A moment later, he groaned, smacking the thing against his hand as if that would make it work. Again, nothing happened. At this, he swore loudly, tossing one hand at the perfectly in-tact home. "Those damn fuses, I swear Tweak fucked us over on these andit's not like we can go ask for a refund..." He growled. Behind them, Tre took a deep breath in.
"Well, I really wanna go home 'n get nice 'n fucked up so I'm gonna run over and put that one fuse back in place. I bet the wind just knocked it over again." He offered, taking a step forward to walk out of the alley, but Joker held out an arm, holding him back.
"You crazy?" he asked, his eyebrows arching sharply as Tre rolled his eyes.
"Nah, bruh, I'm just gonna go put it back in then when I come back, you gotta press the button again and it'll go up." He explained as though this were no big deal, although Joker did not seem convinced and kept his arm in place, scowling at Tre's animated features until he sighed, rolling his eyes. "We done this a thousand times, that shitty-ass fuse prolly fell out again. Imma go fix it."
Finally, Joker moved his arm, allowing Tre to trot out into the street, both he and Jayde watching as he glanced both ways, wisely, before he crossed over to the car port of the house, crouching slightly as he snuck past one of the family's cars. Looking to Joker next to her, Jayde watched as he glanced down at the detonator and her eyes followed, but only for her heart to stop completely when the light turned from blue to solid red. Her heart leapt up into her throat as Joker took a deep breath but his shout of Tre's name was lost in the rattling, earth-shaking explosion that followed.
Time seemed to stand still as Joker lunged forward, dropping the detonator to run toward the flaming, destroyed home and the ensuing, smaller explosions but Jayde, without stopping to think, reached out, wrapping her arms around his middle to hold him back with every ounce of strength she had. He fought against her at first, shouting, his words drowned out by the roar of the fire that had just engulfed the neighboring homes on either side of the no longer existent Gordon house. Somewhere over the past two seconds, tears had sprung to Jayde's eyes and she screamed at Joker, putting everything she had into keeping him from running across the street.
"STOP! JOKER! STOP!" she screamed so hard, her vocal cords felt moments from splitting in half. "WE HAVE TO LEAVE! HE'S GONE!"
It seemed Joker had flown into some sort of blind panic or rage as he threw her off of him with such force, she hit the wall behind her and fell to the ground but was immediately on her feet again, the adrenaline coursing through her making it impossible to feel pain at the moment. Her hand grabbed his wrist as he moved to run out into the street but once again, she put all of her weight into pulling him the opposite way, down the sidewalk, forcing him in a different direction. This time, he followed her, running beside her toward the Escalade. Once she felt like he would not run toward the fire, she released her hold on him at the side of the SUV, throwing open the door to climb in after him. Dotcom turned in his seat, his eyes wide.
"What happened?" he asked frantically, glancing at the passenger seat, expecting Tre to come bounding into the Escalade. "What about Tre?" Jayde shook her head.
"Drive!" she cried, tears pouring down her cheeks. When he hesitated, she smacked the back of his seat hard. "GO!"
Wasting no further time with questions, Dotcom turned the heavy SUV away from the curb, tearing down the street in the direction Joker had indicated before they had left, just minutes before. Jayde could feel her hands trembling violently, her heart racing as the rest of the adrenaline coursed through her veins, allowing a twinge of pain to register from where her back had collided with the sharp corner of the wall. She ignored this however as she cried as silently as possible, forcing herself not to look over to where Joker sat in the seat beside her, silent. She could not even imagine what he was going through but could not help but feel the slightest bit scared that he was severely close to losing it and using that gun she knew he had tucked into his pocket.
Fifteen minutes later, when he had neither moved nor made a noise, and the Escalade had reached the winding road, Jayde dared herself to look over at him, only to let out a quiet sob when she saw that he was leaned forward, his face buried into his hands. His entire body trembled violently, from the tips of his hair on down to his knees and although Jayde knew he was not about to speak, she could tell he was screaming at the top of his lungs on the inside, clearly unable to even process what had just happened. More tears came to her as the thought of this passed through her mind but she had just turned back to the window when Joker suddenly sat up.
"Pull over," he said, his voice gruff and low, yet commanding. Dotcom obeyed immediately, pulling the Escalade off to the right of the dirt road, but Joker was already opening the door before the wheels had even stopped. Jayde watched him get out and close the door behind him although it did not completely latch, leaving a tiny gap between the door and the car. A moment later, Jayde cringed, burying her face into her hands when both she and Dotcom heard Joker being violently sick outside the car. Glancing back and through the window, she saw the top half of his doubled-over back and she sobbed quietly as he heaved, bracing himself against the side of the Escalade. It seemed this was enough to start Dotcom's tears as well and he sniffed heavily several times as he forced his attention to stay on the road in front of them.
Before long, Joker got back into the car, silent and still trembling deeply and he took a deep breath once he sat, closing his eyes. By now, he seemed calm enough for Jayde to reach out and place her hand on his forearm as gently as possible, although the moment she made contact with him, he lashed out, throwing her hand away from him.
"Don't fucking touch me," he snapped, not even bothering to look at her before he turned his rage on Dotcom. "DRIVE, NOW."
Finally, back at the house, one member short, Dotcom and Jayde both hung back for a second to let Joker go ahead of them through the garage door, wary of getting too close to him like some wild, untamed animal. From a distance, Jayde watched as Joker stormed in, pacing back and forth a few times, combing his hand up into his hair in frustration before he spun suddenly and punched the wall so hard, his hand broke right through the plaster and formed a fist-sized hole. Jayde jumped, crumpling into more frightful tears while Dotcom went straight out onto the patio, wiping his cheeks with the back of his hands as he disappeared and closed the glass behind him as quietly as possible. Jayde watched, completely lost with what to do when Joker practically collapsed into a sitting position on the stairs, fisting his hands into the front of his hair as he leaned forward on his knees. Her tears were so numerous at this point, she could barely see through the hazy blur but as she approached her devastated, confused man, she reached out bravely, deciding that nothing, not even the threat of being seriously injured, could prevent her from trying to comfort him.
Moving deliberately and yet gently, Jayde walked over, sitting down next to him on the third to bottom step, hooking her arm beneath his to rest her head against his shoulder, praying beyond anything he would not push her away. At the contact, his entire body stiffened and for a moment, it seemed he was about to lash out again, but then miraculously, he stayed in place, patiently allowing her to sit beside him and hold his arm. Jayde was not surprised he wasn't crying as she knew he viewed it as the ultimate display of weakness, although from the way he was still trembling, it seemed he was putting all of his effort into keeping himself from it.
On the other hand, Jayde could not stop crying and did not care how weak it made her look. It seemed finally being this close to him made her emotions worse and she sobbed silently as she leaned against him, her eyes shut tight as he remained perfectly still, although his entire body continued to shake. His face was still painted with his old, partially sweated-through greasepaint but underneath, Jayde was positive he was just as white as the makeup, both from shock and grief but also from being so sick and upset on the way back. She hiccupped once or twice, forcing herself not to wrap her arms around him completely since he was already being patient and allowing her to feel like she was helping, although she was perfectly aware nothing could help at this point. She pressed her lips against the moistened shoulder of his shirt where her tears had already soaked through.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered against his shoulder. A second later, as though this had been the trigger, Joker stood abruptly from the stairs, from her grip on his arm, before he turned and walked up the rest of the steps without a word, silently walking down the hall to his room where he disappeared. A soft click signaled the lock of his door being clicked into place, forcing Jayde into more tears. Her face met her hands again but she looked up as she heard the glass door slide open and Dotcom stepped in, his glasses on the top of his head, his eyes red and puffy as he sniffed. Jayde's face crumpled into a fresh bout of tears as he approached and sat next to her on the stairs, wrapping his arm around her as they both cried.
Upstairs, in the Joker's bedroom, he stood in the middle of the room, breathing hard as though he had just run a marathon. The urge to be sick again was overwhelming but even worse, the urge to break down and flat out cry was even worse. His insides were quivering violently and before he could force himself out of it, he felt his body run into the bathroom where he fell to his knees in front of the toilet and threw up again, sobbing hard as he did so, his world turning upside down as unwanted tears spilled down his scarred cheeks. With nothing left in his stomach, he fell back onto the tile, letting out a short shout of anguish as he cried, too exhausted mentally and physically to hold back the tears any longer. His hands pulled hard at his hair, trying desperately to cause himself some sort of pain, to distract himself from the fact that he was crying, for what seemed like the first time in his life.
He stood up after a moment, his knees buckling slightly as he moved toward the sink, his chest heaving as sobs began to wrack his body more forcefully. Fumbling hands reached out for both knobs for the water, turning them so hard, one of them cracked and broke off completely. He barely noticed and held out his hands under the water, bringing it to his face to wash away the rest of his greasepaint, thinking that feeling some sort of liquid on his face might help confuse his body and make him stop crying. This was not the case.
Another loud sob left him when his mind tormented him by replaying the sensation that had shot through his body when that house exploded, killing his best friend and brother. He allowed some of the makeup to run in his eyes, welcoming the harsh stinging with open arms, again hoping to distract himself. Rising to his full height now, Joker did not bother to dry his face in an effort to confuse himself and camouflage his tears. He took several deep breaths, feeling dizzy and slightly disoriented. Shamefully, he allowed himself to wish Jayde was with him, honestly feeling the need to hold onto her start to creep up on him but he forced this back when he remembered his tears. He could not let her see him like this or she would never respect him again.
Out in his bedroom, once his tears had thankfully subsided a bit, Joker stumbled out of his boots and clothes, fumbling through one of the boxes of his clothes until he could find something comfortable to wear, even though he could have probably put on a tuxedo and barely even notice. His brain had seemingly gone into blank static and he was just trying to remember how to put on pajama pants when a soft knock on his door caused him to jump, his shot nerves putting him on edge. He straightened up, taking a deep breath when he thought of Jayde, more than likely still in tears on the other side of the door, not only from grief but also from the distance he was forcing her to keep with him. Seeing her crying would probably only make him start up again and since he had just managed to stop, he waited, staring at the back of his door. A moment later, she knocked again, lightly but Joker stayed in place, closing his eyes to fight the urge to go over and open it, let her come in and help him, comfort him, cry with him. He could not let her have that power.
Several long moments went by, without another knock, before Joker finally crossed to the door, figuring that seeing her now would be much easier than waiting until morning. But as he opened the door to reveal that no one was there, he leaned out to look down the hall, letting out a sigh when he noticed that the door to her bedroom was already closed, all the lights in the house already off. Ignoring the slight pang of disappointment that coursed through him, Joker stepped back into his room but looked down when something on the carpet in front of his door caught his attention- a glass of ice water.
When Jayde woke the next morning, she was not surprised when her entire body felt weak and extremely achy, her back clearly bruised in several places from where Joker had thrown her against the wall the previous night. She was the furthest thing from mad at him about that, however. After stopping in the bathroom to brush her teeth and ignore the dark circles and red puffiness to her eyes, Jayde stepped out onto the second landing, sighing heavily when she spotted Dotcom outside on the patio, leaned to the side with his head rested in his hand on the table. So after glancing down the hall to find the Joker's door still closed and more than likely locked, Jayde took a deep breath and headed down the stairs, hoping a cigarette would help.
On the porch, Dotcom looked up quickly when the glass slid open, apparently fearing it would be the Joker but he sighed when he saw it was Jayde and pushed his pack of cigarettes across the table to her when he noticed the vexed expression on her face. She plopped down into a chair across from him, willing herself not to start crying when she remembered how generous Tre had always been with his cigarettes and how he always greeted her the same way- 'Ay, girl'. Across the table, Dotcom was shaking his head slowly.
"I just can't believe-…" he began but cut himself off when his voice quivered and Jayde shook her head, closing her eyes as silence descended. A few moments later, she looked over at him.
"Has he been out of his room?" she asked, a tiny bit of panic flying to the back of her mind but luckily, Dotcom nodded somewhat solemnly.
"He came out for about five minutes earlier this morning at eight when I got up," he answered, shrugging his shoulders as he ashed his cigarette. "It looked like he hadn't been to sleep…He looked awful." Dotcom paused, reaching up to rub the bridge of his nose from behind his glasses. "Did he let you see him at all last night?" It seemed, as Jayde's nose wrinkled, that this had been the wrong question to ask so Dotcom looked away pointedly and Jayde forewent an answer.
After finishing a cigarette and helping herself to a cup of coffee, Jayde went back up to her room, forcing herself not to glance at Joker's door as she went. For a few moments, upon entering her room, she considered turning on the tv, with the thought that it might help take her mind off things. But on second thought, her thoughts still reeling from the previous night and on how she could help Joker so instead of reaching out for the remote, she sat on end of her bed, folding her legs to lean forward and push her hands into her hair.
The silence in the house was deafening and heavy and Jayde was just noticing how much worse it made everything seem when she looked up, only for her stomach to flip over when the Joker stepped into her doorway. She sat up slightly, waiting for him to acknowledge her first although he seemed to be regretting his decision to be there and was debating on whether or not to walk away. His eyes had focused on the far post of her bed as he took a deep breath, sliding his hands into his back pockets as he turned to walk away, clearly not ready for conversation yet. Jayde watched him go at first, fighting against the warm tears that had sprung up but a second later, she bravely called after him.
"Joker," she said his name gently yet firmly. Surprisingly, he came back immediately, walking back into her room without hesitation as though he had been expecting this, only to step over and sit down next to her on the end of the bed, removing his hands to link them between his knees. He took another deep breath in as his gaze focused on the carpet before him. Jayde waited, taking a good, long look at him as he stared off dazedly. Dotcom had been right. He looked terrible, like he had not slept nor eaten and Jayde was positive it had taken a great deal of effort to force himself to drink that water she had gotten for him last night.
At some point, he had apparently showered and removed every trace of greasepaint from his face but had obviously been unable to wash away the dark rings under his eyes. Even the scars on either side of his face and the small wrinkles beside his eyes seemed deeper and droopier than normal and honestly, it looked as though he had aged several years since the previous night. Yet still, even through all this grief, Jayde couldn't help but notice how handsome she still found him.
For nearly five minutes, the two of them sat side by side in the silence together, not a word leaving them, nor even a movement. And as Jayde sat there, she began to feel somewhat hopeless and helpless that she could not do more to help him, although it was beginning to seem like this was the only sort of comfort he would take from her. Apparently just being next to him, allowing him to be reserved and silent was all the help he required. Finally, after what seemed like an hour, he took another deep breath, sitting up to blink a few times and look over at her, although he still avoided eye-contact. He stared at her knee as he spoke.
"I'm leaving," he stated, his voice flat and somewhat raspier than usual. Jayde was about to urge him on when he continued on his own. "-Gotham. I'm leaving Gotham today at six and…I don't think I'm comin' back." A huge knot formed itself using Jayde's insides but she again remained silent when it seemed like he was about to go on. However, when he did not after several long moments, she cleared her throat, hoping he wouldn't notice the tears in her voice.
"Where are you going?" she asked quietly, forcing herself not to jump to the conclusion that she was not invited yet. Beside her, Joker shrugged, shifting his gaze back to the carpet.
"Chicago," he eventually answered, shaking his head. "It was always part of the plan, to leave, but now-…" Jayde swallowed hard on the lump in her throat when Joker's voice cut off. From her experience with grieving, she knew it was always better to stay quiet and let the person continue on their own and luckily, after a few seconds, she noticed him swallow hard before he went on. "If you want to come with me, you can. If not, I-…" At this, Jayde spoke up, her eyebrows arching in confusion.
"Well, I kinda have to go with you…right?" she asked immediately, although her heart sank when Joker shook his head.
"The tape I made of you pretty much clears your name. Linman told me they all think you've been drugged this whole time or that…I've been forcing you to do all this." He paused, finally looking over to meet her eyes as he sat up straight. "…Which is why I did it-…so you could stay here if you wanted." After another pause, he shook his head, looking away for a few seconds before he met her eyes and Jayde couldn't help but notice how different and dull his normally sparkling, lively brown eyes appeared now. "They might question you but-…"
"I'm going with you," Jayde stated, cutting him off mid-sentence. Nothing, and she truly meant nothing, could prevent her from staying with him; he needed her now, more than ever, even though Jayde knew he would never ever admit that. Joker looked over, his gaze bouncing back and forth between her eyes several times before he stood up, nodding. His hands met his hips as he once again avoided her gaze, turning to look over at her closet.
"Fine," he answered, motioning toward her dresser. "I have boxes and bags for your stuff and I need you packed and ready by five." He stated flatly and then turned to leave the room, but Jayde had already stood up, reached out to take his wrist and she pulled him back to her, immediately wrapping her arms around his shoulders. As if he had known she was about to do this, Joker let his arms link together behind her back without missing a beat, sighing heavily as he let his face bury between her neck and shoulder while she did the same to him.
Jayde was absolutely positive he was only doing this to appease her but she could not have been more grateful for his patience and for several long moments, they stood there, leaned against each other for support, Joker forcing himself not to give in while he reluctantly allowed Jayde to sniffle against his shirt.
Hugging him turned out to be the easy part. Watching him walk away without a word was much harder to deal with but by now, Jayde was so tired of crying, she let him go, forcing herself to stay strong. It was obvious Joker was going to need all the unconditional support she could give him, even if it meant distancing herself from him for the first couple of days.
For most the afternoon, after getting several boxes and duffle bags from Joker, Jayde packed her clothes and belongings, making sure to double check all of her drawers in the dresser and bathroom. He had not been specific on where they would be staying in Chicago but Jayde was fairly certain it would not be a five star hotel and most definitely not Kieron and Tre's old house in the ghetto so she kept her mind open, reminding herself that it didn't matter where they went, as long as she was with him.
The last drawer to empty was the top most corner drawer, the one containing her jewelry box and other random items but as she lifted the small wooden box from it's place, her heart leapt when she remembered one specific necklace she had forgotten to wear. Placing it on the bed, she lifted the lid, revealing that one long, silver chain and small bullet charm the Joker had given her seemingly ages ago. Without hesitation, she pulled it out and placed it around her neck, tucking it down into her shirt where it lay against her chest, immediately taking warmth from her body. Her hand pressed over it as she took a deep breath. This would be her encouragement. When things got rough with Joker, and they most certainly were bound to be, she would feel this against her skin and remember how good things had been and give her hope.
A few hours later, Jayde ventured downstairs, eyeing the boxes and bags in the kitchen near the garage door, wondering if these were Joker's or Dotcom's. She was just wondering which car Dotcom would be taking and how he would be following them when the sliding glass door opened and he stepped inside, bringing his glasses to the bridge of his nose as Jayde looked over, smiling.
"I'm kinda glad we're leaving, aren't you?" she asked somewhat brightly, hoping to lighten the dampened mood in the house by keeping her energy positive. Dotcom nodded with a returned grin but Jayde felt her expression fall when she noticed how forced his smile seemed. Her heart sank. "You are coming with us, right?" she asked, her voice quivering slightly when she turned to face him completely and he stopped a few feet from her, fighting not to look at her. "Right?"
Finally, Dotcom forced his eyes to meet hers and more irritating tears sprang to action when she noticed his shifty, watery gaze. A second later, she closed the distance between them, throwing her arms around him to hug him tightly, sniffing heavily as he did the same. For several moments, they stood there until Jayde stepped back, laughing slightly as she wiped her eyes and Dotcom cleared his throat, chuckling somewhat awkwardly as well when they both noticed Joker up on the second landing, stepping out of his office. They both ignored him for the time being.
"So…" Jayde began. "Uh-…Where are you going then?" she asked, following Dotcom out onto the porch, figuring it was best to be emotional where Joker could not see them. He sat down across from her, passing her one last cigarette as he shrugged.
"Well, I'm going to stay here for a few more days so I can meet up with Tom when he comes for the keys, but then I'm going to take Tre's truck to New York and stay with a friend until I can get a job at a restaurant out there." He explained and at this, Jayde smiled, immediately noticing an excited sparkle to his eyes. Despite the fact that her newest best friend would be moving away, she really was happy for him that he was finally going to be doing what he loves. He went on with another shrug. "I think taking a break from his lifestyle is what I need. I don't want to end up-…" his voice cut off just then but Jayde was positive he had been about to go on and say '-like Tre'.
An hour or two later, Jayde had just finished bringing her bags and the one box of clothes down to the garage when Dotcom and Joker finished loading the belongings of his that he deemed necessary. Joker glanced at Jayde before he leaned down to grab her bags and immediately went back to load them, clearly anxious to get away from the house and from Tre's abandoned truck parked beside the Escalade and she could not blame him. Taking a deep breath, Jayde looked to Dotcom, who seemed to avoiding her gaze, instead watching Joker until it became absolutely necessary to say goodbye.
However, this only lasted so long before Joker walked over, clearing his throat as awkwardness descended, but he fought through it, extending his hand to his one remaining, trustworthy team member. Jayde could see tears beginning well up in Dotcom's eyes, hidden behind his glasses as he reached out and shook Joker's hand firmly.
"Dotcom," he said, nodding his head once. "Thanks." He then added, obviously fighting hard to force himself to maintain eye contact with Andrew, who nodded his reply, smiling warmly. It seemed time had made them friends although the weight of grief on Joker's shoulders made it immensely difficult for him to put full effort into a proper goodbye. Releasing Dotcom's hand, he walked away, leaving Jayde to say her own goodbye while he climbed into the driver's seat of the Escalade. Tears were already spilling down her cheeks when she rushed forward, throwing her arms around him again to hug him tightly as he too cried.
"Please stay safe, honey," he told her shakily. ''Be patient and take care of him, call me every week." Pulling back, he rested his hands on her upper arms, trying to smile through his tears although his bottom lip quivered slightly and Jayde took two deep breaths, nodding. "It's going to take time for him to come around again but if there is one person who can give him love, it's you." He paused, apparently debating with himself on whether or not to say something, but he went on after a few seconds with a laugh. "And be sure to invite me to the wedding." He then added jokingly, laughing again in an effort to lighten the situation when Jayde giggled with a slight hiccup, nodding as she moved forward to hug him one last time.
As the Escalade pulled away from the house, Jayde forced herself not to look back at Dotcom and instead took a deep, calming breath, leaning her head back against the seat behind her. Joker was silent and seemed to be lost in his own world as he scowled at the street before them, his knee bouncing, biting down on his bottom lip. A considerable amount of ache had filled Jayde's heart, not only of Tre's untimely and completely unexpected death but also from leaving her best friend behind as she stepped blindly out into a different world. However, Jayde reminded herself to stay strong enough for both she and Joker and as she sat there, watching the fields pass her, she thought back to what Dotcom had said:
"If there is one person who can give him love, it's you."
Jayde was positive beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was completely right. She did love him, inexplicably, unreasonably and without hesitation. She knew it would be a long time and that he might never feel the same way, but if there was one thing she knew, it was that she would always be there for him, as a friend, a lover, his support system and a source of unconditional comfort, even if that meant sitting with him in silence in a car for the next six hours.
Bravely, Jayde reached over, resting her hand on top of his gently, only for him to pull it away, out of her reach without a word, without so much as a glance in her direction. She took her hand back as she closed her eyes patiently, and she reached up to her chest, wrapping her fingers around that bullet charm sitting directly in front of her heart. It was only a matter of time…
In loving memory of Terrell Hicks, my favorite black guy.
GO ON TO THE NEXT ENDING!