The lights were only flashing and we slowly made our way through the holding cells. Lau was due to be moved in a few days so now was the best time to take him. We came to a cell that had been far from the explosion. In the darkness, I removed my mask. On the way to the cell, we had discussed the rest of the plan and we thought it would be fun if I pretended I was being dragged along. Ya know, just for laughs. Joker picked up some keys that were lying on a table and started jingling them to get Lau's attention. "Hello there." Joker said lowly as he unlocked the door and Lau looked up with a forlorn expression. He seemed frightened. Good.
"I guess you're coming too." I said in a shaky voice. Looks can be deceiving. Lau looked at me and frowned.
"Do I have a choice?"
"Not really." And we opened the door. Joker pulled him up as I took on the appearance of scared hostage. I didn't want to seem to sissy though. I was limping a little and I had to convince Joker earlier that in order for our ploy to be convincing, he had to pretend to not care. "Now that I have what I want, I wanna go home. I'm dying for some ice cream and I know someone else who is too." Joker said with a sly grin. I nearly punched him in the arm. Joker grabbed Lau but left me to walk by myself, making me appear to have accepted my fate. Lau didn't walk much; he mostly let Joker drag him. Lau was a man of standards and business; he wasn't used to jail and being told what to do.

"Home sweet home." Joker said with his arms outstretched. "Oh, and don't get any ideas of telling anyone if I let you go. I'm moving away soon. Somewhere with a lovely view actually." He explained casually. I pretended I hadn't seen any of it before and looked around awestruck. Lau then took some initiative and looked at me. "Why is she here?" He asked, as though a woman being kidnapped by a mass villain was silly. "She doesn't look that special." I narrowed my eyes.
"Neither do you but you're a top business man. You don't even know my name." I hissed at him. He flinched but didn't move. Damn it, too much of my own personality. I'd have to dumb it down in a bit in future. "Well what is special about you? Hm?" He asked with a patronizing tone. Joker was watching with amusement as I struggled to keep in character.
"I'm Sony. I'm Harvey Dent's ex-girlfriend." It came up from the top of my head. I don't know why I chose it but choose it I did. I let them Joker believe I was lying. Sadly, I wasn't. Lau looked surprised. Joker looked perturbed.
"But, Rachel Dawes-."
"Is my sister." I was coming up with lies left, right and centre. Joker cocked an eyebrow at this but went along anyway.
"Yup. And he dumped her for his new squeeze. Now, Dawes should be dead by now and Harvey will be wallowing in self-pity. That's when Sony here will pounce." I pretended to be shocked and appalled.
"What? I could never do something like that! How dare you!" I walked up to him, as though to slap him, but Lau pulled me back. What is he doing? He shook his head at me and glared at the Joker.
"That's a shameful thing to do." He spoke with his proper way of speaking. Joker merely shrugged.
"You'd be surprised at the things you don't know." He said mysteriously and then walked into the kitchen.

"Lau, you'll be on the couch. I have to speak to Sony."
"Don't hurt her." Joker grinned.
"That I can't guarantee." And he grabbed my arm and pulled me into the kitchen. He spun around and looked at me with his arms crossed. "Is Sony your real name?" I swallowed and nodded, "Were you really the White Knight's girlfriend?" Again, I nodded. Damn, why do I have to be so truthful to him? "… Are you-."
"No, I'm not Dawes's sister. Do I look like her?" I asked with an eyebrow raised. He shrugged again. "My twin sister was called Morgan and my younger sister was called Kayleigh. I told you that." He nodded and then shouted into the 'living room'.
"Nighty night, Lau." The lights in said room went out and a few moments later, we heard him shuffling to go to sleep. Joker turned back to me and the kitchen lights flickered out. I couldn't see his face but he could see mine, thanks to the window. It was dark outside but there happened to be a full moon tonight. I liked to come into the kitchen and look at the moon because the moon would shine through the window and bask the room in light. "You have to tell me about your cousin. And your cutting." He reminded me quietly. I gulped and looked down.
"She was called Emily." I said softly, "She was the best person I could have hoped to meet." Joker led me away from the doorway so that Lau couldn't eavesdrop and I hoisted myself up onto a counter. As I sat, I refused to look at Joker. Instead, I looked at the moon as I explained.

"My cousin was everything I could have hoped to be. She was funny, mad, loyal… A little dim but that didn't change anything. After my family died, she was all I had left." I described with a nostalgic grin. Joker walked over slowly so that he was opposite me, leaning against the wall in his usual position. I could now see his face but I didn't look at it. I didn't want to look as I recounted the memories. "She was a Christian too, so she always believed in second chances. Ya know, I bet if she met you, she would have wanted to give you another hundred chances." I chuckled softly. "She probably would have had a crush on you too." Like me. Joker cocked an eyebrow but remained silent. It seemed he would until my tale was done.

"She disapproved of my stealing and killing to survive. She wanted me to move in with her. She didn't own a house and to have two people staying in her small apartment would have made the rent too much and there wouldn't be any space." Sighing, I looked at my bare arms. They had scars on them and some recent scabby cuts. "My pride was too much so I never accepted. I didn't tell her I enjoyed it. I never would. But she made me go soft… On my 18th birthday, we went out for a drink and a laugh. We didn't get drunk because I refused to, but we had enough to have a fun time. We were walking home when I had an epiphany." Joker leaned in ever so slightly, "I wanted to spend the rest of my life like that; with her as my remaining family and best friend. I wanted the lovely feeling I got on that night forever." I sighed and shook my head. The memories flashed before my eyes as I explained them.

"When we were halfway to hers, we were jumped. Some teenagers who had had a drink. They mugged us, stripped us of our clothes and laughed at us. I couldn't defend both of us, as much as I had wanted to. Like I said, I had just turned 18. They were in their mid-twenties. At the end of it all, one of them shot us both. He was twenty seven. We were 18 and 17." I gulped and cleared my throat a little. I haven't cried in a few years and I wasn't about to start now. "She died in my arms with a bullet in her gut while I got off free with a bullet in my shoulder. I had fainted from blood loss and I woke up in a hospital. I had decided that I couldn't live happily because no matter what, whatever lord we have threw shit back in my face. So, I went against everything I had said and swore to avenge her. The twenty seven year old became Mayor in the next few years. When I found out, I killed some people through my rage. The police obviously didn't know about his mugging days."

"Why didn't you tell them?" I looked up at the sudden sound. I had almost forgotten he was there. But then I would have been doing a monologue. Then I really would have been deemed insane.
"I wouldn't be able to kill him if he was in jail." I explained. He nodded and then went back to be quiet. "I cut myself from the depression I entered. I did hardly anything for three years. Small-time crimes were all I committed. When I robbed banks, I didn't keep the money to buy a house and the necessities. I used it to buy food and weapons. Knives mostly. I used a lot of mini-Tasers as well. You'd be surprised how many men thought I was a prostitute when I was living on the streets." Joker tensed.

"Hm. And what about the White Knight? How'd you become his sqeeze?" He said, almost bitterly. I shrugged.
"He found me at my worst. Took me in. His name was Harvey Johnson then. I stayed with him for a few months and we fell in love. He then met Rachel Dawes and he told me to leave the house because Rachel was uncomfortable with my being there. I consented because at the time, I wanted him to be happy. Love made me do stupid things. I left and I pretended I had met someone else whenever he saw me. I pretended I had a place to stay. He believed me, the ignorant man." I sighed, "And then the Batman appeared. After the fire, he, and the Mayor, was the only thing keeping me going. When both of them were dead, I would kill myself." Joker shook his head but didn't speak. My voice was getting tired by now and my head hurt. And my heart. My heart was hurting a lot. Hurting for Emily, for Harvey and for Joker. "What about you?" I whispered, looking up at him for the first time. His face was blank but his eyes were so intense, I felt a fire light in my stomach.

"The story I told you at Wayne's do was true. My wife was a gambler and she got cut up for it. She wanted to be seen as normal. She hated the scars. They made her feel inhuman." He said quietly, "So, I cut my mouth up. I wanted her to see that we could be different together. I wanted her to see that I didn't care about scars. I didn't care what she looked like because I still loved her." He sighed and then he didn't want to look at me anymore, "She left me because she hated how I looked so much. She left me and I was alone, wondering how to continue with life. So, I decided that to get back at the world for doing that to her, I became a villain. I wanted to kill the Mob. They were the ones that did that to her so I wanted them to go last. The big finale, if you will." I swallowed and looked down as I absorbed the story. He's been through a lot of pain and suffering. His wife sounded like a beautiful woman, except for the hypocritical fact that she couldn't stand the sight of him. "Did she get married?" I asked quietly. He looked at me and licked his lips.
"Yes. She moved on. She lives with her husband and two children. Her husband was a business man and he managed to buy her the surgery. He fell in love with her before surgery and she fell in love with him after it." I sighed at his sad story.
"I'm sorry, Joker." I lowered myself from the counter and began to exit. Joker spoke again however.
"Jack." I looked back at him. He was suddenly right in front of me. "My name is Jack Napier." His dark eyes were locked onto mine and I couldn't look away. Even if I wanted to. Slowly, Jok-Jack raised his hands to my shoulders. I was wondering what he was doing for a moment. What's he about to do? What is he up to? Oh god, is he going to kiss me? Please say he will, please say he-shut up! Instead of sending me to heaven, he sent me to Limbo where, in reality, I would go to hell, but in my mind, I'd go to heaven later. Jack pulled me closer and I realized that he was hugging me. Jack Napier/Joker was hugging me. The fire in my stomach burned brighter and I barely managed to conceal my emotions. I put my arms around his middle and leaned into his body. I would turn Christian and I would never kill again if this moment could last forever. Sadly, God didn't think it was fair. We hugged for a few more minutes, me revelling in his touch and him thinking about whatever he was thinking about, and then parted slowly. I smiled gently and then kissed his cheek. "Good night, Jack." And then I turned around and walked away, looking braver than I really was.

We were in the cargo bay of the huge vessel we chose. Our share of the money was piled high and Lau and I sat at the top, our hands bound. Or rather, his were bound. My hands were behind my back where no one could see them. Jack had removed my mask as well. After our intimate moment in the kitchen, I had come to realize just how much I needed Jack now. If it hadn't been for him… I don't want to think about it. I would have been reckless and gone to jail for the rest of my life. I've come to terms with the fact that I'm in love with him and I no longer feel that I could leave him. He's a lot saner than how he lets the public view him. Doors banging open pulled me from my thoughts and I looked over to see the leader of the mob, Chechen, entering with some of his men and some dogs being held back by chains.

"Not so crazy as you look!" Chechen called loudly with a big grin on his face. He seemed to have noticed my, or rather The Actor's absence, and spoke about it. "Where's your partner?"
"They're around here somewhere. You have to look past what's obvious to find them though." Jack said from behind us, standing up carefully. He didn't say 'she' because Lau was smarter than I liked to give him credit for. "I told you, I'm a man of my word." He then jumped and slid down the money. Damn, that looks fun. Can't wait for my dramatic entrance now. He came to a stop on his feet and some money continued falling. I felt some of the money shift underneath me and for a moment, I panicked. An avalanche of money wasn't something I wanted. Jack looked around for a moment and opened his arms and questioned: "Where's the Italian?" He meant Maroni. Chechen shrugged.

Jack then threw a wad of money bills at Lau. He flinched and I rolled my eyes. As they spoke about something meaningless to me, I nudged Lau. "Lau, I've got a secret." He looked at me and I could see that he had accepted his death.
"Why are you telling me? We're both going to die here." He asked with no emotion. I shook my head.
"That's where you're wrong." Chechen then noticed that I was on top of the money as well. He grinned a frightening grin.
"And who's that pretty lady up there? A bonus?" I heard Jack clear his throat and he shook his head.
"No, it isn't. She's called… Solace. Come on down." And that's when I stood up, hands not bound, and I smirked at them below.
"Apologies, Lau. We thought it would be amusing to lie." I said simply and I did what Jack did and slid down the money. I stopped at the bottom and Jack helped me up with a hand. I smiled my thanks and then glared at Chechen. "It's a good thing you're not needed anymore." I murmured. Chechen didn't hear. Good.

"Please, Joker-man and, uh, Solace, what do you do with all your money?" Jack had just thrown another bunch of money bills at Lau and I could see Lau was staring at me angrily. I could feel his betrayal, but did I care? No. He was a pawn. He was worse than Jack, to be honest. He negotiated with the Mob. He got himself into the mess. Jack looked back at Chechen as the Mob leader smoked his Cuban cigar. "You see, we're a pair of simple taste. We enjoy, uh…" He tried to think of things we liked a lot.
"Dynamite." I interjected. He gestured to me.
"Precisely. Dynamite… and gunpowder…" And then we both said, "And gasoline!" A man came up on cue and began pouring the gasoline over base of the money pile. Chechen immediately frowned and tried to step forwards. "What the-." I grabbed a pistol I had hidden in the back of my trousers, under my top and pulled it out, just as Jack did. "Ah, ah, ah…" Jack warned. After a moment of looking at the gasoline he stepped up to Chechen, who seemed unafraid. "And you know the thing that they have in common?" I spoke next.
"They're cheap."

Chechen's voice was muffled because of the cigar but even through it, we could hear how tense he was. "You said you were a man of your word…"
"Oh, I am." Jack said with a little nod as he removed Chechen's cigar, blowing on it to make it smoke some more. "We're only burning our half." Jack said and he threw the cigar at the money. The money burst into flames and I could hear Lau trying not to scream. He was a broken man now. Chechen stared at the burning mournfully.

I leaned in. "This town deserves a better class of criminal and we're gonna give it to them." Jack then pointed at Chechen's men as his dogs barked and then at us.
"Tell your men they work for us now. This is our city." Chechen seemed to have gotten over the shock of losing all of that money and instead he stared at Jack and I with contempt.
"They won't work for freaks."
"Freaks…" Jack imitated Chechen's way of speech and then resumed in his normal voice, pulling out a knife, "Why don't we cut you up into little pieces and feed you to your pooches? Hm?" He threw the knife away and waited for an answer.
"And then we'll see how loyal a hungry dog really is." I growled as Chechen was dragged away by 'his men'. He struggled but we ignored him as the incessant barking continued. "It's not about the money…"
"…It's about sending a message." Jack continued and pulled out a phone, dialling the TV station, "Everything burns." I watched the money burning and ignored Lau's quiet pleas for help as he burned to death.

"I had a vision of a world without Batman. The Mob ground out a little profit and the police tried to shut them down one block at a time. And it was so… boring." Jack then handed me the phone.
"We've had a change of heart," I said with a slightly sultry voice, "We don't want Mr Reese spoiling everything but why should we have all the fun? Let's give someone else a chance." I held out the phone to Jack but he wasn't listening. Just watching me. I shrugged it off and continued. "If Coleman Reese isn't dead in 60 minutes, then we blow up a hospital." And I hung up. I looked at Jack once more and I noticed he had gotten a lot closer. "Your phone, dear." He took it with a little smile on his face.
"Thanks dollface. Come on, let's get kitted out. You're wearing a dress again."
"What? That's not fair!"

I finally got round to updating! I'm not very good at, uh… keeping my word with stories. I said I'd continue different ones, I keep going with this one. Unpredictable, I know but it keeps you on your toes. When I say that I'll keep going with it, unless I post all of the chapters straight away, like I did with Chocolate Eyes, you can bet on it that I'll do another one instead. I've got a weird little OCD thing where if I start a story and then continue it the next day, and then the next, and then the next, I start to become adamant on writing a little each day. I've got that with Immortality. So, I'm writing at least a paragraph a day. Chapter 8 of Immortality will be finished soon. I hope this made up for it though. Cheers folks. Adios.

Luna