© Ellie Goodson 2016

Chapter Twenty One-Girl's night out

~Arabella Jones~

I had tasted something addictive, had gotten hold of something that I just couldn't let go. Never had I asked or wished or even dreamed of finding someone like him. Someone who completed me. He was perfect, every crazy and horrifying part of him, was perfect and a drug to me. The warmth he brought to my life was heavenly every time we touched. I hadn't realised how cold and dull and empty I was, until he came along. If Scarecrow ever asked me if I was fun yet again, I could finally turn around and say that I was.

I trailed my fingers up the Joker's bare back, watching his skin prickle from goosebumps. "Bella." The clown moaned, rolling over off his stomach and onto his back. I rested myself on my elbow, so that I could see a better view of my psychotic clown. He stared back up at me, fingers knotting themselves in my hair. "Do you want to leave the warehouse?" Confusion spread over my face, and hot panic hit my stomach.

"Do...do you mean like, like leave for ever? Or leave and, and come back?" The Joker rolled his shoulders back deliciously, shooting me an expression that said 'both, one or the other, I don't mind'.

I slumped back down onto the bed, resting my head on his shoulder. "I hope you're just asking, and you're not subtlety hinting at something." I said quietly, feeling the Joker's fingers trail down my hair and closer to my back. "I would never leave the warehouse voluntarily, the only way I'd go was if you forced me, and even then I'd be leaving kicking and screaming." I was rewarded by a kiss on the head for my words, and my sly humour. "But to leave and come back, I would. Granted, I wouldn't go long. But I like it, the fresh-ish air and seeing other people. Not that you're not completely satisfying." It was my turn to press a kiss to the Joker, and it just so happened to be on his neck.

The Joker rolled over a bit, so that he hovered above me. His green hair tickled my face, and he'd recently had to apply fresh greasepaint, meaning that whenever we kissed or touched, I got covered in white or red or black. But I didn't care nor mind. "You're perfect, you know that right?" He told me, voice husky, before ducking down to place a heated kiss onto my lips. My arms laced themselves around his neck, pulling him closer.

"You know," I said, breaking the kiss for air, "I'm pretty sure that this is all we've practically done for about the past three days." My lips were turned up into a grin, while the Joker chuckled lowly.

There was a rapid knock on the door which stopped us both mid kiss. "I'm going to kill whoever's at that door." I giggled at the Joker's words, before sliding out of bed in my bra and underwear. Maybe it would scare whoever it was off. I opened the door, ready to tell whoever it was to go away in a less polite way. But instead of one of the Joker's goons, it was a familiar red head with an obsession for plants. "Oh my god, Ivy!" We were embraced like little girls, squealing and holding tight.

"Am I disturbing something or...?" She asked, glancing between my practically bare body and the Joker, who was only covered to the waist by purple sheets. He raised his eyebrows at us, watching intently.

"What are you doing here?" I avoided answering the question, feeling my face heat up a little.

"I was going to ask if you wanted to come out, have some girly time. I mean, he's had you for like three days now." I laughed lightly at the impatience in Ivy's voice.

I turned on my heels to pick my clothes up from the floor before leaning against the door frame to the Bathroom. "By girly night out, you do mean killing someone or doing something...criminally...right?"

"Yeah, what else?" I rolled my eyes before closing the bathroom door. I needed to change and freshen up; I probably hadn't had a shower for quite some time. On the bright side, I still smelt like the consuming scent of the Joker, that was something I couldn't moan about.

Leaving the bathroom, I pulled my ponytail tight. I strolled over to the Joker's bed before crouching down carefully. "You okay with me going?" I asked quietly, staring into his dark and intense eyes.

"Come home soon, and alive. Promise me." He replied, now turned onto his side.

"I promise." I pressed a gentle kiss to the Joker's lips, before getting up and leaving with Ivy. With one last glance over my shoulder, I closed the bedroom door. It occurred to me then, that Ivy shouldn't have been able to get into the warehouse. I'd ask her about that later, and decided to focus on simply going wherever we needed to without playing twenty one questions.

However, that wasn't Ivy's intention. Within thirty seconds of being out of the warehouse doors, the plant lady began buzzing out with several questions, barley giving me time to answer. "So, are you two a thing now?" She inquired, shooting me a questioning look.

"I guess you can say we are." I replied, not wanting to tie the clown down.

"Have you spent the whole three days together?"

"I wouldn't say it's been a whole three days but...practically yeah." It was cold outside, and so I found myself rubbing my arms to warm them up.

"Do you love him?" I stopped in my tracks, mouth agape in a small hole.

"Umm...I-um..." I felt my face heating up, and a tingling sensation bubble at the pit of my stomach.

"Oh my...you do!"

"Can we just-"

"You love him!"

"Okay! I do! Fine, yes I'm pretty sure I love him." We hadn't made it far from the warehouse, and so I began to speed up my pace in hope of making Ivy hurry.

My ponytail whipped my face against the wind. The temperature was rapidly decreasing, and I was shivering so hard that my teeth chattered against each other. "Where are we going exactly?" Ivy informed me that we weren't joining the others, and that we'd be simply going just the two of us. She then told me that we were heading for Batman. She said she knew where to find him. "What if I don't want to fight Batman?"

"Too bad." She shrugged her green shoulders, vines snaking up her back to twist her hair out of her face. There really was no reasoning with Poison Ivy.

After about half an hour of walking and finding ourselves hopelessly lost, Ivy and I arrived at a large, abandoned warehouse. "What's Batman doing here?" I inquired, gazing up at the dark building.

"It doesn't matter, all that matters is that he's here."

"Ivy I really don't-" The lunatic who was obsessed with plants silenced me with a glare that could shatter glass and cut through brick. I was well aware of the fact that she was up to something, and deep down I didn't trust her one bit. But I was here now, and so I was going to just have to deal with it.

Thick, green vines began to slide up the building, hooking themselves onto whatever they could. We both started to climb, knowing that now wasn't the time for words. Against the sweat of my palms and the chlorophyll of the plants, by the time I had gotten to the top and had slid through the broken window, I had green smears covering my hands. I rubbed my palms against my jeans, trying to slow down my speeding heart rate. Ivy slid through the shattered glass moments after I did. Without so much as a murmur, she continued ahead for a solid oak door. I followed soon after, completely blind in this situation which gave me the chills.

Entering another big room that looked exactly like the previous one, I immediately spotted the dark, bat-like figure. And he wasn't alone. "She doesn't know why we're here. That's between us." Ivy called out to Batman, having also seen him.

"So why bring her?"

"To distract your little friend, Robin." I had heard that Batman had a little...sidekick named Robin. He was a young boy, and on closer examination I could guess that he was only around fifteen or sixteen.

"Ivy...what are you up to?" I asked in more of a uncaring way than a worried, attention still focused on the smaller boy who leaned against the wall.

He wore a variety of different colours; most of them were red, black and green. Those colours, however, I associated with the Joker. Why...why would he copycat the Joker? "Ivy, why does the little Robin wear the same colours as my clown?" I called out, quickly glancing between him and Ivy.

"Oh, I don't know. Just fight him already."

"Excuse me?" I was supposed to fight him? But the boy was only a boy, he was only sixteen-maybe less!

"Just fight him already?" Ivy sounded as if she had issues of her own, and listening further I heard a body slam to the ground. So, Batman had begun to settle whatever it was between them.

I turned my head back to Robin, and at the thought of him wearing the Joker's colours once more, I felt my mind slip into a different state. With my head tilted to the side, I approached the boy slowly. "I've never seen you around before." He spoke for the first time, submerging from the shadows and off of the wall. "You don't look like a criminal." We were within fighting distance now, but I continued to walk until I was centimetres from his baby face.

"Didn't you know?" I met his eyes with a steady glare. "Looks are deceiving." And with that, I slammed my head against Robin's. He yelled out loud and tumbled back, clutching his head.

I was a little fuzzy myself, but not as bad as he would've been. "Now, I know you should never start with the head, as it makes the victim go all fuzzy and then they can't feel the next hit as bad. But..." I shoved Robin back so that he toppled to the ground. "This is just too much fun." I turned my back for the moment wondering if Ivy was okay or if she needed my help. They must've taken the fight to the other side of the room, because I could hear the grunts and the yelps of pain still but I couldn't spot them against the shadows.

It was a mistake, and the little Robin boy decided to take advantage and kick my feet from under me. I fell to the ground with a thud, my back immediately aching from the solid ground. "Ooo, that's new." I laid on the ground, heaving in deep breaths while I waited for the double vision to merge into one once more. Robin made the mistake of crouching down next to me, whether it was to help or hurt me more, I didn't care to decide. I slammed my fist into his guts, sending him falling to the ground. Rolling onto my stomach, I cracked my neck and crawled so that I straddled the little Robin boy. "Now, now, I know this is so very sudden, but I'm confident in the fact that we could do this for a long, long time." I rested my arms on Robin's neck, and watched in amusement as his face rapidly turned a dark shade of red. His arm flailed about in attempt to pull me off, but my grip and position was strong.

Distracted once more but the concern for my fellow friend, Poison Ivy, I turned my attention so see if she needed help. Unable to find her, I felt the worry sink further into the pit of my stomach. The distraction had given Robin an opportunity that he just couldn't miss, and so I felt a solid fist connect to my cheek, and the loss of balance caused me to tumble off of Robin and onto the ground. I rolled over into a crouched position, and felt the playfulness die within me, rapidly replaced by sheer anger.

Standing up, I felt warm liquid trickle down my face. "You mimic my Joker by using his colours. You believe that I am no criminal. You make bleed. Believe me; you'll be lucky to walk out of here alive." I cracked my knuckles, strolling closer and closer to Robin. "But that wouldn't be much fun, would it now? If I killed you, because then we couldn't do this again." When I was right in front of Robin, so close that I could see the sweat on his forehead, I pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Not today, Robin boy. Ivy, let's go!"

"I'm finished anyway." The plant lady sauntered out from the shadows, heading straight for the window. Blood trickled from her head and there would defiantly be bruising on her green skin at a later date.

Jumping out of the window after Ivy, it finally hit me what had just happened and what I'd just done. Oh, the criminal life. It was just so much fun.