"Where you been?" Brake asked Adriana as she approached the warehouse. "We're already done."
"I can see that," she sighed with disappointment.
When she arrived home she saw that she had missed a text from the Joker. She was over 2 hours late.
"I missed the text.." she said.
"That okay, red," he reassured her. "I mean..we handled everything. We didn't need anyone else."
"Is he angry?" Adriana asked and glanced in the direction of the warehouse. She and Brake were standing by a truck full of bags. The back door was open and two guys came over and tossed in more bags.
"Probably," Brake said. The two men paused and looked at Adriana before going back inside. "Maybe you should quit. Bro ain't exactly patient, ma."
"I can't," Adriana said. She was too afraid to try to examine the Joker's thoughts.
"You need money?" Brake asked her in such a way that she knew he was willing to help her, no strings attached.
"No," she said. "Thanks though. He's not exactly paying me."
"So..he's threatened you," he guessed.
"He's threatened others if I don't work for him," she told him.
"Shit," Brake said and pulled out a cigarette. "It's fucked up."
"How long have you been working for him?" Adriana asked, keeping her gift entirely on mute. She didn't want to hear any thoughts.
"About nine weeks," Brake answered.
"Wow...that's like...a record," Adriana said, remembering the Joker's previous thoughts and memories. Most people who worked for him didn't last more than a couple of days. Many didn't survive one job.
"If you say so, sweetheart," he said and lit the cigarette. "Im only staying until I get the money I need to quit forever and move. Probably only another two or three weeks. If you're going to stay and not quit you better get in there, instead of stalling chatting here with me. As much as I'm enjoying it."
"Yeah...you're right," she said and gave him a nervous smile before going into the building.
"Just one more bag left, boss," one of the two men moving bags said to the Joker as they passed Adriana on her way in.
They both looked confused when they saw her and were wondering who she was and why she was there. The Joker turned to face her with an expression of both being displeased and intrigued.
"She'll get it," the Joker said to the men with a half smile. He was not happy. He pulled out a cell phone with paint stained fingers and turned away from her.
She could see the last bag in another large room off to the side of the main room that they were standing in. There was no light and the room was completely dark but she could see the outline of something on the floor. She walked into the dark room and felt around for the strap on the bag and went to pick it up. It was impossibly heavy. There was no way she could lift and carry it outside. She unzipped the side of the enormous duffel and saw that it was full of money. Who knew paper could be so heavy?
She kept her thoughts to herself. She didn't want to think about what the Joker would have in mind to punish her. Maybe it was humiliation with this outrageously heavy bag. No..that seemed too mild.
"I hate this, I hate this, I hate this.." she repeated to herself in a whisper as she settled for dragging the bag. She bent forward and pulled it across the floor by the handle. "I hate this, I hate this, I hate this.."
Yanking the bag harder helped with her frustration, but the idea of dragging it across the floor in the warehouse once she was out of this room was embarrassing. He was doing this to embarrass her. She was almost to the door. She stood up, stretched out her lower back for a second before bending down again.
It felt like the bag had gotten even heavier. She yanked it with all of her anger and might, using both her arms and legs and got it to move a couple more feet. Another yank and another.
After the fifth yank she felt herself bump into something with her backside hard enough to make her fall forward and catch herself with both palms in the surface of the lumpy bag. She turned her head and looked back and upwards to see the shadow of the Joker standing behind her. She couldn't see his face at all in the dark doorway, just the outline of his figure. The light from the outside room shone through the disorderly waves in his hair, revealing the faint green dye at the ends.
She stood upright, refusing to show fear. He walked around to the front of her, the light from outside of the room, the white paint on his face lighting up immediately.
"So it seems..." he said, his voice so deep it almost sounded like a growl. "You can't arrive on time. Can't lift a bag. It would appear you are totally useless to me."
Adriana held her breath. She hoped he would fire her and determine she wasn't worth it. Fire her and forget about her, that was all she wanted.
"As anything but an liquidator," he continued.
"No-" she started to say.
"You handled Mateo very well," he said.
"I-" she started to talk again but he cut her off.
"Very skilled assassin," he said with approval.
"I can't be an assasin. But I can do this-" she said.
"Can you?" the Joker said and lifted the bag easily with one arm and held it out for her to take. Both of them knowing it would drop the floor immediately if he placed into her arms.
She looked down.
"You are very late," he repeated and placed the bag back on the floor. "Tisk, tisk."
"I was away from my phone," she explained. "I'm sorry-"
"Oh," he said, his voice tone dancing around several times in a single syllable. "Where were you?"
"I was..." she said, knowing he would be able to tell if she lied. "At a friend's house. I forgot my phone at home."
"Yes, that certainly explains it," he said, circling her again so that he was by the door. Nothing more than a dark shadow. "You're very busy. You must have lots of friends and a very busy social calendar."
"Well..no, actually I don-" she started to say before he interrupted.
"This is why you will be an assassin for me," he said. "I could give you a list of names and dates right now. That way you can plan your very active social life in advance."
Adriana felt herself shaking. How many fake deaths could she produce? There was no way she would do this. She wondered if she could fight him right now. She was used to disabling and knocking people out...but the thought of beating him to death...she struggled. She also felt like she had been hit by a train with her hangover. But did she have a choice? She felt sick to her stomach.
"I'm not useless," she said firmly. "And I'm not an assassin."
"Tell me then," he asked. "What other use could I possibly have for you? Hm?"
They heard the door to the warehouse opening again and the Joker turned his head to see who it was. After looking he faced Adriana again.
"Move this," he said and kicked the bag before leaving. "To the truck. Then return for your assignments."
She leaned down and began to drag the bag again, her eyes filling with tears. She wiped them quickly before backing out of the room. Murder. Pre-mediated. She would have to become a murderer..one way or the other. No way was she going to assassinate for the Joker. Planning his demise was the only true option. The poison he had planned to buy from Mateo, the one she had stolen, she needed to find a way to use it. She ignored the man the Joker was having a heated discussion with as the finally made it to the front entrance of the warehouse.
Once she was outside, she turned and glanced at the three men standing by the truck watching her. The two men who has been carrying bags of money and Brake. There was also a car which Adriana assumed belonged to the man who what just arrived and was talking with the Joker. Brake walked over immediately and took the bag, lifted it with ease, and began walking back to the truck.
"Thank you," she murmured quietly.
"So he's pissed," Brake assumed based on her mood.
"Yeah," Adriana told him.
"Who's this?" one of the men by the truck said.
"Sheena," Adriana said.
"She's working with us," Brake explained.
"Damn," the other man said. "Finally, boss got us something nice to look at."
She said nothing.
"Well," Adriana said, looking down. "I have to go back in there."
"And we have to move this bread," Brake said to the two men and they hopped into the truck. "Head up, sweetheart," he said before going to driver's seat.
She walked back to the building as slowly as she could and opened the door with a sigh. When she was inside she saw the man that the Joker was talking to on his knees, crying. The Joker had a gun pointed at his head.
"I'm sor..I'm-" the man blubbered.
"Disappointment," the Joker said to him and the man glanced over at Adriana after hearing the door shut. The Joker ignored her and looked down at the pleading man. "If you couldn't deliver, then don't make the guarantee."
"Please I can fix it," the man said in a thick middle eastern accent. "I can get what you need-"
"If you want something done, you must do it yourself," the Joker said in a heave and waved his gun around slightly. The man on his knees looked at Adriana. "Don't mind her. She's awaiting an assignment, and perhaps she needs to see what happens when...guarantees of completion aren't fulfilled."
"This woman-" the man said, his raised hands by his ears trembling. "Works for you?"
"Oh yes," the Joker answered, getting bored with talking to the man. He was ready to shoot. "And she's nearly as useless and unproductive as you are."
"No, no..." the man said seriously. "She is not useless. She can do what we need."
The Joker's eyes darted at Adriana who stood entirely silent. She was calculating a way to rescue the man...if she ran over the Joker would likely shoot her first.
"She can do it-" the man repeated, his nervousness and accent blending his words together. "She can get to Al-Hashimi. Into the compound...there will be another party in two nights-"
"The desperate ideas of a desperate man," the Joker said with hopelessness as he moved his finger to the trigger.
"I am serious!" he said. "Look at her! Look!"
The Joker hesitantly moved his eyes back to Adriana. He didn't see what the man's point was.
"She can get in. She can get into the compound!" the man pleaded.
"She's useless," the Joker repeated. "Trust me."
"No, you trust me! I know Al-Hashimi," the man said, pleading and speaking firmly. "Our problem is that the security is too high...none of your men or mine can get in! The place is a fortress and he will be suspicious of any of the men we send in-"
"So?" the Joker asked.
"But this woman.." the man stood slowly, his hands still raised. "She can get in. We just need to fix her...she can blend in and I can tell her where to go."
The Joker looked like he still wasn't convinced.
"I can have someone fix her...fix this hair...dress her..." he said. "I'm telling you, she can get in easily. Look-"
He walked over to Adriana and placed a palm under her chin, not quite touching her face.
"This woman could be Persian, look at the features" he said. "She can blend in there. She can lie! Tell them Al-Hashimi invited her himself and that is why she is not on the list. I'm tell you they will believe her! I will teach her a bit of what to say-"
Adriana tried not to show her relief. She could see it unfolding...she wouldn't have to be an assassin if she could do this. Anything but being assigned to kill.
"Astatie 'an 'atakalam alearabia," Adriana said to the man. I can speak Arabic.
"Oh! Oh!" the man said, his eyes alive with hope. Hope that he could survive. This woman would be the ticket to him living another day.
"Hm?" the Joker said, unamused, not understanding.
"She can do it! I tell you!" he said, excitement in his voice growing. "She speaks Arabic. I'm telling you, this is the way!"
The Joker lowered his gun and looked at Adriana suspiciously.
"I will tell her exactly what to do and where to go," the man said. "And she will retrieve what we need."
The Joker looked at them both.
"Well, " he said. "Looks like you have a new assignment."
"Okay," Adriana said, with a great exhale.
"Perhaps two useless disappointments working together will cancel each other out," the Joker went on. "And actually get something done."