**disclaimers!: I do not own any characters from the Batman franchise, only the one's I've created.**!
When Arella awoke again, she did so with a soft, disoriented groan as she tried to wipe the unwanted memory from her mind. It was one that she had spent years trying to forget even as it had served as the catalyst to her desire to get out of the narrows as soon as she could. Though she had been young at the time, she was perfectly aware of what could have happened to her that day and as she had matured, the idea scared her more and more. Sympathy had forced her from her cozy bedroom to try and help that night, but it was the fear in the woman's eyes that had convinced her to never do so again; When she had looked into them, it was immediately clear that the stranger wasn't afraid for herself, but for the stupid young girl standing over her with the Rainbow Bright blanket that she thought would fix everything. Had she not been so lucky, it was very likely that Arella would have never returned back to the safety of her bed and it was a second chance that she never took lightly. She never told her grandmother of the incident and found that it was far simpler to impose even stricter rules on herself than to face what might be waiting for her outside the doors. From that day forward, she quickly transformed herself into one of the most hyper vigilant children in the neighborhood, sprinting from her door to the school bus only when it pulled to the front and sprinting back when it dropped her off, Clinging to her grandmother's skirts for dear life when they would have to go to the nearby store for food, and completely ignoring the other children when they tried to interact with her. And when nightfall came, she would lock all three bolts on the front door before retreating to her room, drawing the blinds and placing her headphones in her ears until she awoke in the morning. Her daydreams disappeared into plans, and her plans became reality when she was finally able to get out. And even then, it had taken years of psychiatric treatment for her to feel a semblance of normal again.
It didn't take long for the memory to fade, but once it had, Arella found herself wishing it hadn't as it was quickly replaced by the events only an hour early. A loud whimper left her lips as she tried to sit up, only to realize that she was in fact upside down and the floor that she thought she was grabbing was actually the jacket covering a sturdy back that flexed as she was shifted slightly on a shoulder. A low chuckle caused his shoulders to shift uncomfortably, digging into her stomach to remind her instantly of the extreme agony that she was in. She hissed in pain, digging her nails into the jacket in a futile attempt to try and minimize that impact of her sore body against his. Her body felt lethargic, as much as she considered fighting back at the moment so that he would release her, forever if possible, she could barely move her legs that were draped over his chest. So instead she laid there, tears flowing out of her eyes as she tried her best to hold in the nausea that she was feeling and conserve energy. She would need it if she were to ever get a chance to run. There was a strong chance that she would die in the process of trying but, at this point, it was not the worst thing she could think of happening. The Joker had brought her back for a reason, and a toxic mixture of fear and denial kept her from trying to figure out what that reason could be.
The Joker began to hum happily to himself as they walked through what seemed to be a dilapidated loading dock. A mixture of old vans and trucks lined the dim walls as groups of masked men worked on unloading them in complete silence. A couple of bolder ones snuck hungry glances up at her as the Joker passed them, but most kept their heads down, avoiding the psychopath's gaze and, hopefully, his wrath. With each man that she passed, she began to feel a nervousness pass over her as she became more and more aware of the way her backside was hoisted into the air, next to the Joker's face. As she grew from a child to a teenager, she had always had skeevy guys staring at her backside, a curse she had dealt with first, with baggy clothes, and then with ignorance by pretending that she hadn't noticed. Luckily, guys in the nicer areas of Gotham were usually a little stealthier about it, so it had gotten to a point when she didn't even have to pretend anymore either. But now, in such a compromised position, it was all she could focus on next to the pain. It was no wonder she had dreamed about that woman while she had been passed out. In a short while, she would be worse off than she ever was and there would be no one here to save her.
They climbed a short flight of stairs, before heading to a freight elevator only twenty feet away. The area was still nearly pitch back and she wondered how the Joker could see, much less navigate the labyrinth of hallways. She could hear boilers clanking in the distance and men laughing in unseen rooms before the elevator door was slammed shut and the Joker mashed the button 3. The silence was quickly becoming too much to bear. Part of her wanted to know what he was doing, but another part was terrified to find out. In any case, she wished that he would just talk.
"Where are you taking me?" She finally asked in a weak voice. Each word seemed to take a little out of her as her throat still tried to compensate for the trauma it had been put through more than twice that day, but she continued, hoping she could say something, anything, that would get through to him. He continued to hum however, as if he hadn't heard a word she had said, you she tried to speak a little louder.
"I'll do what you want. I swear I will, as long as you promise to let me go afterwards. I won't even fight, and I won't tell anyone. I'll just…go home. And…no one has to know." She rambled, unsure of what she was even saying at this point. "Not even the police. I won't tell a soul where you are." She said with a pained sigh, closing her eyes as she tried to block out the massive headache she was beginning to feel.
His humming stopped in unison with the elevator as he patiently waited for the doors to open, still ignoring her. A small part of her thought that maybe he simply didn't hear her again and that she should simply continue. But a low, lyrical voice told her otherwise.
"You're ly-iiing." He sang before stepping out of the elevator, heading down another dark hallway. She could tell that he hadn't considered her offer for even a second, and that he was simply showing her with those two words that he was neither stupid, nor moved by pity.
A weak sigh left her lips as she considered protesting again before the dim light of an exit sign caught her eye from a corner no more than ten feet away. She froze, staring at it for a moment as she considered her options. There was no indication of where she was being taken at the moment, but she was sure that whenever they arrived, she'd be stuck. This was likely the only chance to escape, but it was little more than a wish. Her rational mind was screaming at her that she'd never make it and would probably die in the process, but she ignored it. She'd never forgive herself if she didn't at least try. A glance up at the mess of green hair above her, and her mouth set in a determined front, hesitating for only a moment before quickly contracting her legs and awkwardly digging her feet into the Joker's chest as she simultaneously lifted herself to an upright position.
He gave an annoyed growl, reaching up to force her back upside down but stopping as she dug her nails into the sides of his neck, feeling a disgusting mixture of skin and grease paint accumulating as she dragged, trying to squirm her way out of his grip. Even still, there was barely a flinch, as if he didn't feel his skin being torn away from his neck. He only sneered, flashing his yellow teeth at her.
"Oh you wanna play." He growled before simply letting her go with a shove, forcing her body to the concrete floor with such force that her breath immediately left her. "I like to play."
Arella's mouth opened in a silent scream as she desperately tried to breathe through lungs that had seemingly forgotten how. The man over her seemed even taller from her disadvantaged position, a fact that didn't escape him as he loomed, pulling out a knife and reaching down towards her head.
She quickly dodged his hand and scrambled to her knees as her breath finally returned in the form of a loud sob. Behind her, the Joker giggled as he began stalking her slowly, his footfalls echoed and mixed with her sobs to form a terrifying cacophony of sounds through the empty corridor; one that almost caused her to consider simply surrendering and hoping for less pain than she was certain to receive if he caught her. But the door was only a few steps away, and if there was still that slim chance of her surviving if she could get far enough away from him to be able to climb to her feet and run. All she needed was a split second and a clear escape path and she was sure she would make it. If two years of college soccer had shown her nothing else, it had shown her that she was fast. All of her hopes were dashed however as a knife flew mere inches away from her head as she reached towards the door knob causing her to scream and scramble backwards; right at the waiting feet of the Joker.
"Hm."He let out a disappointed grunt, studying the knife in the wall for a moment before casually stepping over her hyperventilating body towards the door and yanking it out. With a smooth turn, he kneeled in front of her and gave a sadistic grin.
"Maybe next time, hmm?" He waved the knife before standing and digging a hand through her hair, close to the scalp. With a sharp yank, she squealed, and just like that, he smiled to himself, his bad mood partially alleviated. It was surprising how much better he felt when he got to hear a person scream a scream that he had been the cause of. Instead of releasing her, however, he continued to walk, dragging her behind him along the concrete floor.
Arella hadn't stopped screaming as she struggled to climb to her knees so that she could at least keep up with him instead of being pulled along like a rag doll across the concrete floor the was littered with rough particles. Her legs were burning as she kicked, and she could feel strands of hair being removed from her scalp as they advanced. At the very least, she hoped they were close. God she hoped they were.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, the Joker pulled her through a doorway into another pitch black room and shoved her onto the floor in front of him. As she looked up, she could briefly make out his outline in the dimly lit entryway before the door was shut behind him, a telltale, metallic, clanking sound telling her that wherever they were, she wasn't leaving until he was ready. She could feel her breathing begin to quicken as she tried to force her eyes to adjust to the darkness but there seemed to be nothing in the room that she could lock on.
"What's the matter, sweet cheeks, scared of the dark?" Came that annoying voice again.
She didn't reply, trying to control her breathing as she used the heels of her feet to back away from the voice, into what, she didn't care, but she wanted to get as far away as possible. There was another long pause before a light flicked on.
"Tada!" The Joker waved his arms dramatically to showcase the room. She looked around trying to make sense of the space she was in. It looked like an old fashioned hospital room with dirty blue tiles and smooth white ceramic floors that had been tellingly stained brown in certain places-especially around a large drain in the center of the room. Along one wall steel, waist high cabinets lined up to hide god knows what behind them and large hooks hang from the ceiling. Aside from that, the room was empty, sterile, and it was that fact that scared her more than anything else.
He looked at her impatiently. "Well?"
She knew that he wanted her to say something. To comment on the room that he had just brought her into but she couldn't. Couldn't focus on making up a lie, couldn't focus on trying to appease him. Could barely focus on breathing as she pictured all the ways he might think of killing her in this room that had clearly seen its share of previous inhabitants.
"Oh you're speechless." He said finally with a knowing smile before walking over to the steel counters with his back to her, beginning to remove his jacket.
Her eyes flicked over to the large chain lock on the door and she quickly realized that there was no way she was breaking through it. Not in the split second she had to accomplish it at least. Maybe if she could knock him unconscious, kill him if she had too, then she could take her time, but a quick scan around the rest of the room and it was obvious that it was left intentionally sparse for that very reason. There was nothing that she could grab onto to help herself. Nothing to crawl under. Nothing to climb atop of. She had no escape here just as she expected. And as the Joker finally turned around holding a generous length of rope, she let out a defeated sigh, allowing her body to drop to the cold floor, watching as he closed the distance between them. She couldn't keep fighting, not physically at least. There wasn't a single inch of her body that wasn't bruised, sore, or cut and she was spent.
"Please don't." She finally said, barely above a whisper as she closed her eyes, trying to block him out. She had tried fighting, and she had tried persuasion. Now, the only thing she could turn to was begging. It wouldn't work, and she knew it, but she couldn't accept the fact that she was giving up. If not for herself, then because she hated him.
"Please don't what-ah?" He asked her innocently with a cock of the head. "Don't…hurt you? Don't…" That reptilian tongue flicked out to lick his lips as he feigned thoughtfulness. "Kill you?"
With that he dropped to his knees on top of her, one knee on either side of her chest as he sat on her stomach, forcing her eyes open wide as her fear was renewed. Her arms immediately reached up to push him away but he anticipated her movement easily, catching her by the wrists and forcing them above her head, holding them in place with one hand.
"Don't….stop?" He continued barring his teeth at her as his free hand reached up, caressing her arm from shoulder to wrist with the rope in his hand still.
She looked up at him with wide eyes, shaking her head. "I can't breathe." She said quickly. "Please get off, I can't breathe. I-." Her voice cut off as she felt the rough rope glide against her wrist, making a quick loop. By the time she could scream and try to pull away, there was already a tight knot looped around her wrists that was only getting tighter as he yanked. Another scream left her lips as she gave a frustrated kick of her legs. She couldn't move him, she couldn't move her arms, and there was no way she could free herself.
The Joker grinned at her helplessness, busying himself with looping the rope a few more times before leaning back and looking her over again. The bruises on her neck were beginning to darken even more and he couldn't help but get excited, reaching out tracing the outline causing her to scream at him again.
He feigned surprise, giving an exaggerated jump and holding his hands up with a smile, as if to pretend that he hadn't done a thing. The playful innocence enraged her as she growled again, spitting in his face.
His lips immediately turned downwards into a frown, wiping the spit away as he reached down again, wrapping his hand around her throat and squeezing just enough to make her uncomfortable. To remind her that it would only take a flick of the wrist to squeeze the life out of her. "You know. I can't help but notice that you're a little. high. strung. That won't make life easy for you with a guy like me." His face leaned closer to hers, glaring at her.
"Then kill me." She dared him.
He paused before laughing. "Where's the fun in that?" He shook his head before standing off of her. Grabbing her tied wrists and yanking her from the floor, grabbing one of the hooks from the ceiling with this free hand and attaching the rope to it so that she was forced to hang by her wrists, her toes barely touching the floor.
"Get it?" He laughed, giving her a few good spins as he ignored her kicking as she tried to stop the motion. He pulled his knife out again, frowning slightly as he caught her hips, stopping her body mid rotation so that she could feel the cold knife pressed carelessly against her side.
"I sure hope you have a better sense of humor at some point." He said casually, turning her around once more and grabbing the zipper, pulling it down, hardly noticing the struggling she had begun doing as he continued his one sided conversation.
"It's a shame about the dress. I really did like it. You look...stunning in purple. Almost as good as myself." He said with a laugh before leaning over her shoulder.
"Now, if you keep squirming, you're gonna cut yourself." He said as if he were talking to a child, shrugging with the large knife before sliding it into the end of the zipper and beginning to cut the rest of her dress off of her. He swiftly followed with her underclothes until she stood naked in front of him, a fact that he seemed to ignore as he let the clothes sit in a pile at her feet turning to walk to a wall behind her.
She began to cry, wishing that she could curl up into the ball, but the best she could do was stand as still as possible. Hoping that whatever was about to happen was going to be quick. It came as an extreme shock when she suddenly felt a hard stream of water hit her back, forcing a short scream from her lips. It wasn't until the water had gone all the way down her body then back up towards her hair that she realized she was receiving a shower
"What the fuck." She muttered quietly to herself, hoping he would be content with simply spraying her down and wouldn't try to lather her up. Not that she had seen soap in the room. It unnerved her a little to realize that the same hose he was spraying her with had probably been used to clean an unimaginable amount of blood from the walls and floor. Glancing down at the floor, she began to get a feel for how bad she probably looked. The originally purple dress was covered in deep red splotches and had been shredded. The water that was running off of her body was also tinted red and she couldn't help but wonder how much of it was her own blood. She hadn't been able to see herself in the mirror and she couldn't help but wonder how bad it was that even the Joker couldn't stand to be near her without a shower. It was humiliating, standing there naked and so vulnerable. She knew that he could have whatever he wanted right now and there would be nobody to help her. He was probably getting himself off right now as he watched the water flow over her and she couldn't stop him. Probably wouldn't stop him at this point. He was dragging her torture out for fun. Purposefully keeping her in the dark so that she would never be able to prepare for his next move and would therefore always be expecting the worse. And her mind seemed to be doing a fabulous job of tearing itself apart at the moment as a result of the impressive method. She would have felt more secure if she was positive that this was the situation. But the ingenious part of this special brand of torture was that in a large part of her mind, he really was just volatile, and would stab her at any moment. Finally the shower turned off and she let out a sigh of relief that hitched in her throat when she felt fingers in her hair. She could tell that they were still gloved, which was strange, but how normal did she expect the Joker to be.
"What are you doing?" She questioned in an exhausted tone as her body stood stiffly in front of him.
He stopped, placing a hand on her shoulder and spinning her back around to face him. "You aren't the brightest crayon in the box, are you?" He squinted at her, sucking on his cheeks.
"Why are you doing this?" She corrected.
"You're not helping your case, cupcake." He said, spinning her back around and continuing to wash her hair. It took another 5 minutes before the Joker finally finished bathing her. After placing the hose back along the wall, he stepped in front of her without a word and reached his knife to the hook, slicing the rope easily. Instead of dropping the inch or two to her feet, Arella simply crumbled on the wet ground, shutting her eyes as she sighed, wishing she had the strength to move herself.
"Well you look tired." He cocked his head to the side, sliding the knife back where it belonged.
She didn't reply, lowering her head so that her hair was hiding her face from the madman. She was tired. Exhausted really, and all she wanted was to pass out on the floor. She barely flinched as he grabbed her by the arm, yanking her up again and pulling her to the door. Instinctively, she tried to cover her body, not enjoying the idea of leaving the enclosed area without anything to cover her. Her eyes cast him a sideways glance, trying to gauge his state of mind, but his expression was blank, ignoring her as he led her back to the elevator and heading up another floor, before heading down another maze of hallways, pulling her towards a door guarded by two goons.
She looked up as they stopped, gasping and trying to cover herself again which was a difficult feat as the Joker held one of her arms tightly. One of the men was staring at her almost unabashedly, his mouth dropped slightly. It was like he had forgotten that the Joker was standing there, glaring at him. The second one looked away from all of them, not wanting to be accidentally accused of looking in the wrong direction.
"See something you like?" The Joker sneered at the first goon, his face uncomfortably close. He finally seemed to come to his senses, jumping slightly and looking away. "No boss." He muttered.
"No?" He laughed. "How could you not." He egged the man on, pushing Arella forward with a slight shove so that she almost ran into the goon, and would have had she not stopped herself short, hunching over to try and make herself look smaller. The Joker seemed to know that she wouldn't try to run, not in her exposed state and he barely cast a side glance at her as his black eyes bore down on the man in front of him.
The man looked confused, looking to his colleague for help, but when nothing came, he shrugged. "S'nice." He muttered, unsure of what would be the right response in the situation.
The joker only laughed before whipping out a knife and placing it roughly against the man's cheek, pressing the tip underneath the man's eye. "It's not nice to covet someone else's things." He said in a low growl.
"Of course boss. I won't boss. Won't happen again" The man said shakily with a swallow. Arella avoided looking up, not wanting to see any more blood before the day was over. She didn't appreciate being referred to as a thing, but she was quickly learning not to talk back much and she too tired to argue.
The Joker glared at him for a moment relishing in the image of shoving the knife in the man's eye and watching him squirm. It'd be easy and good fun, but he had already killed three men today and if he wasn't careful, he wouldn't have enough to handle their next job. Though he did love recruiting. With a final he growl he pulled the knife away, cutting a deep gash in the man's cheek instead, sending him screaming to the floor. He smiled at the writhing man, satiated for the moment though he made a note to kill him as soon as he could find a replacement. He sucked on his scars loudly, giving his neck a good crack and reaching over to Arella, yanking her close again before turning to the second man who was still steadily attempting to focus on something unknown in the distance. It was obvious that this man had been here a little longer than the others, having learned how to handle being around the crazed man.
"No one in, no one out. Ya got that?" The Joker waited for the man to give a slight, understanding nod. "And if she tries to get out, shoot her."
The man's eyes widened only slightly as he took in the words. He knew that if the situation ever came down to it and he had to shoot the girl, the joker would kill him. Hopefully it would never come to that. He opened the door behind him, stepping aside so that the Joker could shove the naked girl onto the floor, slamming the door without a word and walking off.
Inside the room, Arella sat on the concrete floor quickly taking in her surroundings aided by a dim light overhead. The room was small, not much larger than a prison cell and was filled only with a small, dingy mattress, a blanket carelessly strewn across it, and a metal chair against the wall. She quickly moved towards the blanket, wrapping it around her still wet, cold body for some semblance of comfort as shaky tears begin dropping from her eyes now that she was finally alone. She was beyond angry at this point. Angry that she had lost control over her life, that she had lost it to the Joker no less, and that now she was stuck here with no escape. She wanted to kill him, to wipe that smug smile off his face for even thinking her had the right to do whatever he wanted with her. But she couldn't. Right now she could do nothing but seethe. A frustrated growl erupted from her lips as she began to kick the mattress, wanting to break something, just to let some of the anger out. When this didn't work, she finally screamed, standing and going over to the chair, lifting it and slamming it to the ground a few times as she tried to let out all the aggression that had been building up over the past couple of hours. The action hurt as the reverberations traveled up her arm, but she didn't care, at least she was causing her own pain now, and as much as the sound was hurting her ears, she knew it would annoy the man standing guard outside her door at the moment if her screams hadn't. Finally, after a few good bangs, she threw the chair at the door before crumpling to the floor again as she began to sob, shaking. After releasing so much aggression, she found that she was only left with depression. Slowly, she reached for the blanket that had fallen off in her fit of rage and wrapped it back around herself, curling up into a ball on the mattress and crying herself to sleep.
When Arella awoke, it was her mind that stirred before her eyes opened. Instantly she felt all of the pain from the day before hit her conscious mind and all she wanted to do was roll over and die. Her breathing shallowed as any attempt to breathe in deeper that a wheeze added more pressure to her already sensitive back and abdomen. Her legs were stiff, and she could feel the sensation of painful pinpricks moving up and down them as they seemed to try desperately to wake up. She squinted her eyes even tighter and wrapped her arms around her bare waist as she tried to go back to sleep. An involuntary chill reminded her of how chilly she was and she blindly reached for the blanket that had probably fallen off in her sleep. After a couple of failed attempts, the sound of snickering forced her eyes open wide in surprise. She looked up to see the Joker crouched over her with a camera, seemingly filming her naked body. She let out the beginnings of a scream that was quickly chocked off by her massively sore throat as she descended into a coughing fit instead. Quickly sitting up, she pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around herself as she scanned the cell for her blanket which was located clear across the room. She flashed a glare at the Joker who was still holding the camera in front of him, fully cackling now as he stood. His makeup was fresh, so she assumed that it was morning though there was no indication from inside the windowless room. Even still, she was exhausted, as if she hadn't slept at all. She wondered how long he had been filming her, and what was on the camera. Instinctively, she clinched her legs together tightly, feeling for any pain that would tell her about anything more that had happened while she had been out. Thankfully, aside from the pain she expected, everything felt normal.
His laughing finally quieted down as he sat in the chair, peeking up at her from over the camera. "You moaned in your sleep…all night." He said with a smirk. "Were you dreaming of me?"
Her eyes widened in disbelief. "You were in here all night?" Her voice croaked.
He ignored her comment, continuing. "So tell me. Was I good?"
Her mouth snapped shut. The last thing she wanted to do was continue this conversation. "I wasn't dreaming about you." She said through clinched teeth.
"No. Then who were you dreaming about? Hmm? Shawn?" He said, finally closing the camera to gauge her reaction with a smile.
She stare at him blankly, completely confused and taken aback. "W…wh…" She sputtered.
He chuckled, lifting a book from his lap that she instantly recognized and opening to a bookmarked page, clearing as throat and placing a lazy ankle over his knee as he began to read in one of the worst imitations of her voice she had ever heard.
"…Lisa keeps telling me that I should make it official with Shawn, but as much fun as he is in bed, I don't think I can force myself to-"
"Stop!" She yelled at him angrily despite her sore throat, a mistake that she paid for instantly as the pain caused her eyes to water. "Where did you get that?"
"Right where you left it. On your nightstand. Next to your really comfortable bed." He arched his back as if remembering it though keeping a close eye on her face as it fell.
If she didn't feel violated enough yesterday, or from sitting here completely nude in front of the Joker, the thought that he had been at her apartment, in her bedroom, her bed, almost destroyed her. She thought of all the things that he probably ruined while her was there. Her paintings, her pictures, her writings. Stuff that she would never be able to get back. Not that it mattered in her current predicament. She was never going back home anyway, but this made it feel all the more real. She broke down in tears, wishing she could have the blanket back from across the room but not daring to cross the room in front of the Joker.
"Arella." He tested the name written on the cover out on his tongue, ignoring her tears as if bored. "I don't like it." He finally said with a frown to himself, thinking. "I'm going to call you Ella. Rolls off the tongue better, you understand, don't you?" he sucked his cheeks, resting a hand on his knee.
She cringed at the familiarity, hating the sound of her name on his lips. He studied her reaction, revealed in it before smiling.
"Ella it is, then." He gave a sick grin.
"What do you want with me?" She finally managed to choke out.
"Finally." He gave an excited grin, jumping out of the chair excitedly and flopping down on the mattress next to her and splaying his long legs out in front of him as if they were old friends. "Took you long enough, Ella."
Her arms only tightened around herself, inching closer to the wall in an effort to get away from him, casting her eyes down to her knees.
"Well, I'll happily tell you." He stare at her for a long moment, making her extremely uneasy before continuing. "If you ask me, nicely."
She looked up at him angrily, not believing what she was hearing. "Are you fucking-"
"Ah-ta-ta." He said, reaching out and wrapping his hand around her chin as a warning, lowering his voice. "You're not off to a good start."
She yanked her face away with a growl, her jaw setting in a determined frown not wanting to give him that pleasure.
He gave another one of his sickening grins. "Try again." He ordered condescendingly.
With a glance towards the wall next to her as she thought, she quickly decided to play his game, at least for now. She needed to know, no matter how horrible it was. If nothing else than for her own piece of mind. She sighed, trying to look as sincere as possible before looking up.
"Please tell me." She asked softly.
"Mmm. I like it when you beg." He replied before continuing. "Well, as much as I enjoyed my-ah- vacation in Arkham, at a certain point, you just gotta go. Back. To work. I mean, look what happened to the city without me!" He laughed, shaking his hands in the air. "This…fake sense of order, and safety. People walking the streets like all is right with the world. Criminals….running scared with their tails between their legs and the bat.man." His smile faded as he sucked on his cheeks, looking straight ahead as if he was talking to himself. "Oh yes. Where. Is. The batman?"
She looked at him oddly, wondering what on earth he was going on about. "Probably on the run, seeing as how he killed Harvey Dent." She muttered, wondering how he hadn't heard about that in Arkham.
"Ha!" He said with a loud laugh. "Does everyone really believe that?" "Ho! I gotta admit, when I do a job, I do it well." He slapped his knee.
"Yea, work." She replied with a scoff, already feeling like this conversation was completely pointless.
His laughter ceased immediately as he glared at her. "It's not polite to interrupt."
"Oh yea, because you know so much about being polite." She sneered.
Without warning, he reached out, grabbing the back of her neck as slamming her head against the wall next to her. Not hard enough to knock her out, but enough so that she screamed out, immediately raising her hand to the impacted area above her head to feel warm liquid begin to seep onto her fingers. She looked at her fingers which were now covered in blood before looking at him in shock, feeling immediately woozy.
He only held his hands up, shrugging defensively as he sucked his cheeks, his expression back to neutral.
"You're crazy." She breathed out in disbelief.
"And you don't learn." He growled, reaching out to grab her neck again causing her to immediately come to her senses.
"I'm sorry." She said quickly, leaning away from him before he could grip her.
He paused, considering her apology for a moment. "May I continue?" He questioned, finally, setting his hands back down upon his thighs, though still mildly annoyed.
"Yes, Please." She muttered, burying her hand in her head again and applying pressure to the wound. At this rate she'd probably die of infection before the Joker has a chance to kill her.
He finally turned away, casting her a couple of sideways glances before continuing. "What Gotham needs is chaos. It thrives on it. And I plan on reminding them….starting with you." He tapped her nose playfully.
She didn't reply, unsure of what to say.
"You see," He continued, moving closer to her as his face turned serious again, ignoring her attempt to pull away even further despite the wall next to her. "The people of Gotham like to pretend that they're good people. But there really is no such thing. People only care about number one. And they will do or think whatever it takes to survive when they have to. It's why they were so keen to believe that batman had gone rogue, because weak minds can't handle the alternative." He licked his lips, still gesturing wildly as he spoke, his face leaning closer to hers. "I like to show them that….anyone is corruptible. Even you. Now, you are not near as exciting as the batman or Harvey." He gave a dismissive wave sitting back against the wall. "But you are one of them. You're normal. And when they see how far you fall, Gothamites won't be able to help but question everything." An exaggerated shiver ran through his body before he grinned. "I get excited just thinking about it."
"You want to corrupt me?" She looked confused.
"Oh I'm going to." He said with a lazy smile.
"Then why are you telling me this? Isn't that villain 101?" She let slip, smartly, before quickly moving away, nervous about his reaction to her sass. To her surprise he chuckled.
"Because it'll be that much more fun watching you try." His hand reached up, caressing her arm gently as he leaned into her ear causing her to shudder. By the time I'm done with you, you won't want to leave here alive."
The urge to vomit briefly swept over her though he pulled away before she make a move a too. An uncomfortable silence took over the room for a moment as he looked her over, still caressing her arm. Arella lowered her hand from her head, using it to cover her body again as she tried to make sure he couldn't look at anything she didn't want him to.
"Size 8?" He questioned finally with an inquisitive tilt of the head.
She glanced up after a moment, pursing her lips. "6." She corrected softly.
"Mmm." He gave a content hum before finally pulling away quickly, jumping off of the floor. "Maybe if you're good." He gave a sadistic smile.
She shot him a glare while his back was turned but was quick to wipe it from her face before he could see. She still had a strong desire to kill him, but she had to be smarter about it next time. Head on, he would win every time. So for now, she would play his games until she could figure out a better option. He took a few steps towards the door before turning and looking at her as if she was stupid.
"Well are you coming?" he questioned annoyed.
She hesitated, starting to move before stopping, not able to figure out how to move without exposing herself. Her gaze drifted to the blanket across the room and she considered going to grabbing it, but she wasn't sure if he was planning on forcing her to walk around naked again. She had a feeling that he enjoyed parading her around in front of his men as if cementing his status as alpha male in the building. She wasn't sure why the men took it. Probably fear, just like her.
He leaned against the wall with an amused smile, staring at her as he crossed his arms and legs. Her eyes darted from the blanket to him as if searching for approval, but no signal ever came.
"Tick Tock." He urged. There was honestly not much that had to be done that day, but he was impatient and wanted to see what she'd do.
Her mouth set in a frown before she took a deep breath, covering her chest with one arm and crawling over to the blanket shakily, grabbing it, and quickly wrapping it around her. As she moved, she began to realize how much her abdomen actually hurt. If she moved too quickly, it became hard to breath. The blanket brought her a small comfort though as she sat there, recovering from the extreme effort it took to accomplish even that small feat. She whimpered slightly, sitting back with her legs tucked under her, trying to figure out how she would stand.
"You know, I'd be happy to carry you. But I can get a little grabby." He smirked, making a squeezing gesture with his hands.
She ignored him with a scowl, reaching for the chair and pulling herself up slowly to a stand, holding the blanket close to herself under her arms. The Joker barely waited for her to adjust to the new position before starting off at a quick pace. An annoyed huff left her mouth as she began to follow, glancing at the goon who was still standing near the door actively avoiding her gaze as she tried her best to keep up. She was surprised the he never once looked back at her as he led her through the hallways. Then again, he was probably not the least bit worried about her running away, not in her state at least.
He led her to a door, grabbing her arm and swinging it open as he dragged her behind him. It was a room strangely reminiscent of the shower room they had been in the night before. But this one had a mettle table in in the middle and a bunch more tools.
"Doc!" He shouted impatiently, barely bothering to look around the room, for if he had, he'd have noticed that small man sitting in the corner, looking through a medical journal.
"Yes boss." He jumped up, his eyes instantly glancing over to where she stood before jerking his eyes back to the Joker.
In reply, the Joker shoved her forward towards him. "'Patch her up would ya?" He said, bored. "It's no fun playing with broken toys." He frowned at her.
Arella looked at him, considering making a smart comment before deciding against it. Being in the medical room, he'd probably think nothing of beating her within an inch of her life before leaving her to be patched up. Instead she looked away, hoping he would hurry up and leave.
The doctor nodded, gesturing her to the table in front of him.
She didn't hesitate to climb up, clutching the blanket against her chest and shivering as the cold metal pressed against her back. Even still, the coolness felt welcome against her skin as the warm blanket covered her. A soft, unnoticed sigh left her lips as she closed her eyes, ignoring the two men in the room and about to lull herself into a relaxed state before she felt the blanket start to slide off of her. Her eyes popped open as she panicked, clutching the edge of the blanket against herself. She had found herself naked in front of more men in the past day than she had in the past year and it was beginning to drive her crazy. Her gaze darted over to the joker in a desperate plea for help, immediately feeling sick that she was dependent on him at the moment. But he only grinned before ducking out of the room. Her face dropped as she turned back to the doctor who also seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Don't." She said finally, still clutching the blanket.
"If you plan on getting fixed up, it's going to have to come off." He muttered, yanking the blanket away from her before she could protest.
She growled angrily, kicking. "If you touch me I'll kill you!" She yelled at him. It was an idle threat, sure, but she had to admit that knowing the Joker had no plans to kill her right away made her feel a little more embolden. At least with the men.
He only snorted. "Sure you will." He replied, looking over her passively. Arella kept her eyes on him, waiting for any wrong move. But he ignored hear death stare, setting about treating her head wound, neck wound, bruises, and raw skin on her wrists and legs from bring hung from the hook and dragged across the floor respectively. About halfway through, Arella decided that the man wasn't a threat, even though she still wasn't happy with having to lie there mostly naked. He was a small man, no more than 5 and a half feet and 140 pounds with bushy brown hair that looked like it had been cut with children's scissors. He had a scruffy beard that made his face look more aged, but when she thought about it, he couldn't have been more than 30. She couldn't help but wonder how he had gotten mixed up with the Joker. He seemed much more civilized than most of the other men she had encountered.
"Are you being held here too?" She asked softly, her voice barely above a whisper.
"You're the only prisoner here." He said simply, not bothering to look up at her as he applied ointment to her legs.
It was quiet for a moment before she continued. "How did you-"
"Don't talk." He ordered
She sighed, turning her head to the side, ignoring him as he finished his work.
On the other side of the wall behind her, The Joker stare into the room by way of a small slit in the wall that was hidden by a tiny two way mirror. It was cliché, but he couldn't be expected to say no when there was a free show. He grinned at her attempts to cover herself, and the angry glares she was throwing at the doctor in a sad attempt to scare him off. It was hilarious to watch. She still had a lot of fight in her, but he would get rid of that soon enough. He could hardly contain his excitement as his mind ran over all of things he planned to do to her. It wasn't long before he was interrupted by the sounds of footsteps coming closer to him. His mouth turned into an annoyed frown as he looked up to see one of his men standing at a safe distance away, waiting to be acknowledged. The Joker looked him over before giving a grunt and turning back to the window in an understood indication to speak.
"Sir, all of the charges are set and ready." He said calmly.
The Joker held out his hand, not turning away from the window as the detonator was placed in it and the man began to walk away without another word. The smile returned to the Joker's lips as he glanced down at the object. They were going to have so much fun tomorrow.
After Arella was patched up, another guard escorted her back to the cell like room without a word, walking behind her as he held a large gun at his waist. She could feel him eyeing her body from behind, but she refused to turn around, simply pretending as if it wasn't happening. She was pretty sure that most of the men there weren't bold enough to actually try anything, but that wouldn't spare her the wayward glances from the sex-starved men when the Joker wasn't looking.
She only held her breath, not relaxing until the door of her cell had been closed behind her and she heard a lock. It was strange that she felt safer in prison than roaming about on her own recognizance, but that was the situation at hand. As she looked over, she noticed that both her diary and the video camera had been removed from the room, leaving her with the mattress and chair once again and absolutely nothing to do. Luckily, the pain medicine that the doctor had given her was beginning to set in as she sat down on her mattress. And as she gazed at the ceiling, it wasn't long before she passed out. And in her restless sleep, she dreamt.
A/N: Thanks to everyone who's read so far! It's nice to know that there are still Joker fans out there after all this time! Not that Bane wasn't equally awesome, but that's another story for another time. :)
Thanks to Nemesis and guests for reviewing, and I can't wait to hear from more of you! What would you like to see in the story? I've already gotten a number of chapters completed but I love opinions!