10. Assassin's Tango

The night was dark. All I could hear was his breathing beside me. The slow…steady…rhythmic…breathing, as his chest cavity slowly rose and fell. I could just barely see the outline of his body lying beside me. I rolled over onto my side with my back facing him. My mind began to wander…I was such a sap for romance. My heart pounded inside my chest as I imagined what it would be like fall asleep in his arms every night. Not even tonight did I fall asleep in his arms. I figured he wasn't the cuddling type (Gee, Giada, ya think!?).

But would it be like? What would it be like to be loved in return by the Joker? I would probably never get to know this, but I certainly couldn't stop myself from wondering. Was he even capable of loving?

No—I had been denying it to myself the whole time, but this man was a sociopath—incapable of feeling anything for anyone.

My heart sank at this defeat.

There. I thought it. I finally admitted it to myself. It was such a nice night; I just didn't want to get my hopes up for something that I very well knew could never be. The Joker was a mass murdering sociopath who happened to bed me for a bit of fun. I had fun too. Didn't really regret it at the moment.

Yes, I felt love for him, but he would never know this. I would do my damn best to keep it from him. Who knows what he would do with such information? He'd probably kill me for the sake of killing me. I would; were I a mass murdering sociopath, there would be nothing stopping me from killing the one person who loves me. I would have no remorse in doing so.

I guess there would no way for me to ever truly know if he has any capability in feeling compassion for anyone or anything—not unless it was threatened by someone else. Ooh, that's an idea. But it would never happen.

I rolled back over to my other side. He was still sleeping. The Joker—sleeping. Never thought I'd witness such an action. Everyone needs sleep, but to me he always just seemed to exist, but never as a person who needs water, food and sleep like all the rest of us. There he was—so vulnerable, lying beside me. Breathing. I wondered if he had reached REM yet. Wow, why would I think of REM and his sleep stages? I mentally slapped myself for that one. But really though, was he dreaming? Did the Joker ever dream? If he did, were his dreams of destroying Gotham? Killing Batman? Robbing banks? Kill innocent people? Blowing things up? Or where they the intangible dreams that he could never achieve? Feeling what other people can feel? Having someone love him despite the scars on his face?

"Giadaaa…" he groaned suddenly, and then turned onto his side. My heart skipped a beat. Was he awake? I remained perfectly still. I did not move, afraid that he was awake. Had he been awake the whole time? Was he dreaming? Was he dreaming of me?

I continued to breathe in and out as silently as possible. I remained still for what felt like eons, in silence. He was sleeping. He must have been dreaming. I released a sigh of relief and turned back onto my other side with my back facing him.

"Giadaaa?" he groaned again, but softer this time, as though searching for me. Suddenly, I felt him toss over to his other side. My heart raced. Then I felt myself being pulled close to him.

"There you are," he said sleepily as he fell back into a deep slumber. I could feel his breath on my neck. His body warmed my back. We fit so perfectly together in the so called "spooning" position. Letting my eyes close, I finally let out a sigh of relief.

"I'm no going anywhere," I quietly sighed as I slipped off into a slumber of my own.

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When next I awoke to the sound of my alarm, the room was no longer dark, but now fully lit. I was alone. The Joker had gone without saying good-bye. At first, my heart sank at his absence, but then I just figured it was something he would do. Don't take offense, Giada. He's the Joker, remember? I thought, as I got up and started cleaning my room. I then went into the bathroom and too a shower, brushed my teeth—got ready for work. I had forgotten I had to go to work today! Thank God my alarm went off or I would have over slept!

With all of this Joker business, I had forgotten the real and only reason I had even gone to Gotham in the first place! After quickly applying some makeup and drying my hair, I got dressed and gathered all of my work things. Just as I was about to shut my brief case of psychological analyses, I noticed a card sticking out that wasn't there before. I pulled it out of the rest of the papers. It was a Joker card. Written on it, not typed this time, was a message from the Joker: Let's do that again sometime, - J. I couldn't help but let out a small laugh. Yeah, it fucking better had been a good time! Looking at the clock, I shoved it back into my brief and left my apartment.

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"Giada, Mr. Wayne isn't in today—his dear friend Rachel Dawes was killed last night and Harvey Dent is in critical condition at the Gotham General Hospital," Lucius Fox said as he greeted me in my office.

"Oh no! They weren't in that explosion last night, were they?!" I exclaimed, placing my hand to my chest.

"Yes—the Joker had them set up. Harvey survived but is now badly burnt. Rachel, unfortunately, didn't make it,"

"Oh no, that is terrible! Is Bruce going to be okay? Is he home right now?" I asked, "I should send him some flowers or something—condolences…"

"Mr. Wayne will be just fine, Giada. Your concerns are appreciated though," he responded with a small smile and left my office. Jesus, Rachel died and Harvey was burnt half to hell from the Joker's explosions! I had no idea he was targeting them! For what reason? Oh, I knew very well for what reason—they were dating! Why not make Batman choose which one of them to save? That was terrible! And yet…very clever. No! What was I thinking! It was sick and twisted!...but it made so much sense. And Harvey Dent is Gotham's White Knight—why not target him? He would now be weakened by being in the hospital. Of course he was targeting Harvey! Now that Gotham's White Knight was in critical condition at the Gotham General ICU, it was only a matter of time before the Joker would strike again.

Trying not to think of what his next plan of action would be—probably blowing up Gotham General—I got to working on my evaluations. I called in my first interview of the day. As they sat in front of me, I took out my papers and went to begin the interview.

"Miss DiMarco? What's that?" They asked, pointing to the Joker card on my desk. Oh shit, it must have fallen out when I reached into my brief case.

"Jesus, is that a joker card?!" I exclaimed, trying to hide the fact I knew very well what it was.

"It has writing on it—" they exclaimed, thinking that I was the next victim. I quickly grabbed the card so they could not read it.

"Oh you're right! Holy shit!" I exclaimed as I threw it into my trash can.

"What did it say? Are you his next victim?! Get me outta here! He's probably got Wayne Enterprises rigged to blow!" they shrieked as they ran from my office. Shit. What now? They were probably going to go screaming that down every hallway on every floor. I had to get out of the building before I was discovered as being an ally to the Joker. No. I couldn't leave. That would just affirm my relation to the Joker. Maybe I should find Lucius Fox and get him on my side. No—I had to get to Gotham General and find the Joker. I knew he was there. Where else would he be, but trying to get Harvey Dent to become Gotham's dark knight? I knew the Joker all too well—he would kick Harvey while he was down. People are easy to keep down once they've fallen—it's so much easier than trying to help them up after something like this. I had to tell someone—Batman—anyone!

"Lucius, there's a scare going on around the building that the Joker's got this place rigged to blow," I said as I knocked on his door.

"Oh?"

"Yeah—just thought I'd let you know before someone came screaming into your office," I responded with a smile.

"Well, you're the one with the card, Giada. Is it…rigged to blow?" he asked. My heart sank.

"Oh, so you already heard?" I asked, with a small laugh.

"Yes—it's hard to ignore the words 'Wayne Enterprises' and 'rigged' and 'blow' all in the same sentence," he replied, returning a similar smile.

"Yes, I'd have to agree," I responded, "well, I just thought I'd forewarn you, but no need for that!"

"Tell me, Giada, do you know something?" he asked finally.

"Know something about what?" I asked, confused. Suddenly, I heard a commotion fomr behind me…in my office.

"About the Joker?" Lucius asked,

"Well, considering I met with him in the interrogation room last night, I know quite a bit about the Joker," I responded truthfully. I would not lie to Lucius.

"Where is your analytical report on him? Have you turned it into the GPD yet? Or are you going to wait for another building to get blown up?" he asked.

"I'm nearly done with it—I was going to finish it off and run it down to the GPD during my lunch break," I fibbed. Damn it! I said I would not lie to Lucius! I was just like the Joker.

"Miss DiMarco, we're here with the GPD—we've got reason to believe you're conspiring with the Joker," a man said as he showed me his badge.

"That's crazy! I'm not conspiring with that…that…raging madman!" I exclaimed.

"We're going to take you down to the GPD for some questioning. You're under the Miranda rights—anything you say from this moment on can and will be used against you in court, should it come to that," they said as they led me down the hall. Oh fucker, how the hell would I get out of this little predicament? Where was the Joker to blow up the GPD when you needed him?!

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At the GPD, they took my files and sat me down in the interrogation room. It was not the same one I had been in the night before, but it reminded me of my revelation with the Joker.

"Now, Miss DiMarco, were you not here last night interrogating the Joker?" the detective asked me.

"Yes, I was at County interrogating him. They asked me to question him for a psychological analysis on behavior and cognition—that's it," I replied.

"How long have you been employed by Bruce Wayne at Wayne Enterprises?" he asked.

"About…three weeks now," I responded.

"And you're from Boston, MA?" he asked.

"Yes. Born and raised," I replied, giving a sigh. What the fuck did that have anything to do with me and Joker being accomplices?

"So I see you have a joker card here—this was found in the trash can in your office—it has your DNA on it and his," the detective stated.

"Yes—it would have his DNA on it because he wrote on it. It would have mine on it because I was the one who threw it away," I replied with a snap. This was getting ridiculous. They couldn't prove anything.

"How can you explain this recording here of last night's interrogation?" he asked, removing the recorder from his bag of tricks.

"How did you get that? I was using it in my apartment to write my analysis," I responded, offended that they had gone through my apartment already!

"This was given to us early this morning from your place of residence by an anonymous individual," he responded, "but how do you explain its content?"

"I would explain its content to be revealing. And now that you'd broke my code of ethics, I'll take it back so that I can finish my analysis, thank you," I said as I snatched it from him.

"I wouldn't be so hasty—things aren't looking too good for you, Miss DiMarco," the detective stated.

"Detective! The Joker's threatened to blow up some hospital—possibly Gotham General! The GPD has orders from Commissioner Gordon to find Harvey Dent and to evacuate Gotham General," another detective explained suddenly. The detective sighed.

"Looks like you got luck, DiMarco—but we're going to hold you here for further questioning until this little threat has passed," the detective stated.

"Little threat? Do you even know what the Joker is capable of?" I asked, incredulous, "if he's threatened to blow up Gotham General—he'll do it—and he'll take Harvey Dent while he's at it,"

"Do you know this for a fact?" he asked.

"No—but from interviewing him I can just—"

"No thanks—only facts are welcome here," he responded.

"I thought in a police department, any bit of information is useful when doing an investigation, detective," I retaliated.

"This questioning is done for now, Miss DiMarco. I won't be involved in your assassin's tango with the Joker," he spat back.

"Assassin's tango? You think I'm an assassin?" I laughed, "Hardly! I'm nothing more than a psychoanalyst at Wayne Enterprises who has had the misfortune of interviewing the Joker after he wrecked half of Gotham! But you can take that information and do what you will with it. Until you find anything more against me, I demand you release me from here and I suggest you get your act together in saving Gotham General," I scoffed.