Chapter 4

Choke

Author's Note: Hello everyone, it's been a while since uploading the first chapter, 6 years to be precise. There's no excuse for it, apart from life.

Now after so long, this story came back to me and I couldn't stop thinking about it, so I just had to get it down somewhere. I hope you enjoy the journey Ana takes.

Please let me know your thoughts and leave a review. It's always nice to hear from you guys! ^_^

The familiar grumbles of a mobile phone vibrated against the solid wood side table. Ana's duvet grew heavier as it commanded her to ignore the rumbles, just as the sound of Gotham started to seep into Ana's consciousness. She let out a groan, as she flung her arm recklessly over the mobile to switch to snooze. Once she was satisfied that it had turned off, she rolled onto her left side, facing the person next to her. She tiredly opened her eyes to see a sleeping Duncan, while her cat Winston was curled up between them. She let out a faint smile.

"What time is it?" Duncan mumbled; his eyes still shut as he rallied himself out of his slumber.

"6:30," Ana answered as she stroked Winston, causing him to sweetly purr.

"So early," Duncan moaned as he rolled onto his right side to face Ana.

"Yeah, cons of living so far away from the base," Ana rubbed her eyes and let out a yawn. She flicked the duvet off her and sat on the edge of the bed, her tank top and baggy checked trousers were askew. "Coffee?" she asked looking back as Duncan started to wake up properly. He let out a grunt and nodded. Ana scoffed as she lazily grabbed her phone and dressing gown, and dragged herself around the bed and into her lounge/kitchen. Winston ran ahead and leapt onto the island counter that divided the lounge and kitchen.

As Ana prepared the coffee in two mismatched mugs and placed two bowls of cereal down on the counter, Duncan drearily wandered into the room with his navy dressing gown on.

"You didn't have to stay the whole night you know," Ana said as she sat on one of her two bar stalls.

"Well, I had to make sure you were okay after yesterday," Duncan pointed to her face. Ana felt the throbbing come from her jaw as she went to sip her coffee. The punch that Rex threw at her yesterday flashed through her mind with her falling to the ground, pulling down the table chair with her. Duncan sat down on the remaining bar seat, pulling her out of her memory.

"You definitely achieved that," Ana cheekily smiled behind her cup of coffee. Duncan chuckled as he started to eat his cereal. A ringtone chime pinged from his gown's pocket; Duncan pulled out his phone to see who was messaging so early in the morning. Duncan's face dropped.

"It's the Boss," he said strictly. Ana looked up intrigued.

"We're meeting at a different site today," he described, "Looks like we're collecting his next order of ammunition," Duncan stood up to put their cups and bowls into the sink.

"Strange, the Boss didn't mention any pickups yesterday," Ana watched Winston slink his way across the counter to her, she started itching under his chin.

"He probably wasn't expecting such a big blowout from the mob," Duncan walked towards the bedroom to get dressed. He stopped in his tracks, gave a light exhale, and turned back. "You know Ana, you should head to the base and wait for us there. You know... stay out of Rex's way?" Duncan pointed out. Ana rolled her eyes and looked at her phone.

"I've got the same text," she waved her mobile, "Looks like the Boss wants me there too," she leapt off her bar seat, "Besides, Rex is just a sad little man, who doesn't like to hear the word no," she tapped Duncan on the cheek and waltz past him to her bathroom.

When she entered, she closed her frosted door and went to the smudged mirror that hung over the porcelain sink. She assessed the damage from yesterday and noted the dark purple bruise running up her cheek from her jaw.

"Ouch," she quietly winced, as she stared at her new face.

"Oh good, you made it," The Joker called across the factory floor as Ana and Duncan entered. He grinned as he gestured widely with his pistol in his right hand.

Ana looked around the desolate factory, three colossal siloes were standing proud in the centre of the room, spreading their rusty presence across the space. Down both sides of the factory were strategically placed metal pylons spread evenly to the back, they held up balconies that were shrouded with darkness. The dust danced across the floor, showing the past movements of ghostly factory workers. Surrounding the perimeter and connecting to the central apparatus, were assortments of pipes and machinery, all long dead and forgotten.

Ana looked at the pile of timber crates in front of the first silo; it was surrounded by the Joker's team. Charles glanced at Ana with his arms crossed, whilst Allie, who was standing next to the Joker, grinned as Ana entered. A familiar heavier figure was amongst them, Ana knew this was the weapon's dealer.

"I thought you...uh two... got lost," The Joker raised an eyebrow.

"Duncan picked me up on the way," Ana brushed off the judging eyes as they both walked to the group and stood left of the Joker. She gave a faint smile to Allie who grinned back at her. Ana felt uneasy as she caught Allie looking up toward the Joker as she stood to his right.

Rex strolled in soon after them, taking in his surroundings as he entered.

"Where have you been?" Duncan called as he looked towards the brute.

"None of your business," Rex snapped as he sauntered over to them. Duncan turned back and rolled his eyes.

"Since you're the last one here Rexy boy, you can do the honours," The Joker licked his lips as he pointed to Rex and then leaned his arm on Ana's shoulder, her eyes flickered to him in annoyance, but she gulped it down. Rex took his cue and picked up a crowbar lying next to the boxes. Using his brute strength, he roughly pried one of the crates open, it echoed out against the siloes with a loud crunch. As the lid fell to the floor, it revealed piles of artillery in varying sizes. The Joker strolled over to it and curiously peered in.

"It's your usual order, with a few one-offs thrown in for good measure, as usual, the bullets are in the other crate" explained the weapons dealer as he pushed up his glasses that flickered from the light of the cracked window across the room. He stood cautiously away from the Joker, as even though the Joker was a client of his, he knew of his dangerous unpredictability. The Joker picked up one of the shotguns and waved it around as if assessing the weight. He gave a nod to confirm his satisfaction, then his eyes flickered to Rex.

Rex took this to open the next box. After prying the lid open, the Joker's eyes fell on what was inside. He let out a giggle as his gruesome grin grew impossibly wide. The crate was full of knives. Some looked dull and used, while others looked brand new. They varied in lengths and sorts from butcher knives to flick knives and a few potato peelers. The Joker picked a flick knife up and immediately tucked it into his pocket, then picked up a peeler.

"Very nice," he sucked the scars inside his cheek as he gawked at the peeler. "We'll take them," the Joker confirmed as he put the peeler into his coat's inside pocket.

"That'll be... uh... $4800," quivered the dealer, he always hated this part of the deal, the key reason why none of the guns were loaded. The Joker slowly walked over to the weapons dealer, nodding in agreement. He reached into his pocket to reveal a bound wad of cash.

"Let's see what we have here," he mumbled as he looked down at the cash, flicking through the edges to quickly count. He stood in front of the dealer, only slightly towering higher. Ana looked down hiding her smirk, as she could feel what was next. "You know..." the Joker looked up to stare the dealer in the eyes, "I think you can do better than that," he directed, then abruptly grabbed the back of the dealer's head, and held his new knife close to his cheek, "Don't you agree?" he smiled and let out a chuckle.

"Yes, of course," the dealer hastily spoke, "H... how abou... about $3800," the Joker pressed the blade into his cheek harder, "I...I... mean $3000," the weapons dealer finished.

"Wonderful," the Joker grinned and let go of his face, "I'm always a man of my word," he laughed as he handed over the bounded bills.

"Is that right?" a low voice echoed around the factory, bouncing off the empty siloes, surrounding the group. Ana snapped her head towards the balconies that originally blended into the shadows, she reached for her pistol hidden on her belt, under her black blazer. Duncan did the same, standing closer to her. "Is that how you would describe your deal with Salvatore Maroni?" the voice called, referring to an old mob boss who was mysteriously murdered 4 years ago.

The Joker's eyes searched the balconies on both sides, darting around like a wild animal. He flicked his tongue out as a smile flashed on his face.

"And to what...uh honour do I owe talking with..." The Joker chuckled, "Do I at least get to see who I'm talking to?" He grinned as he opened his arms wide staring at the balcony on the right side of the factory. Ana clocked that the Joker had narrowed into where the voice had come from and shifted to look in the same direction.

"There is no honour here," the voice roared.

"Is that an Italian accent, I hear hmmm?" Cooed the Joker with a grin. The figure slowly stepped out of the darkness from the right-hand balcony. Ana guessed that she was supposed to know who it was, but his reveal was lost on her.

"Pino Maroni, it was you that murdered my father," Maroni hissed as he glared down at the team. The Joker returned his glare as he sucked his inner cheek. The dealer that was standing near the Joker silently tried to back away.

"At ta ta," The Joker said while grabbing his pistol from his jacket and aiming it at the weapons dealer without looking. "Is this some kind of misguided ambush?" The Joker scoffed. "You know, I didn't actually have anything to do with Maroni's unfortunate demise." The Joker pointed to himself with one hand, the other still pointing the gun at the weapons dealer. "I was busy that day, blowing up hospitals..." he trialled off as he recalled the flames engulfing Gotham General.

Ana remembered watching the hospital collapse as she sat in one of the school buses that were evacuating patients. She can still remember how the heat brushed against her face through the bus's windows. "In fact, I don't think they ever said what happened to him," The Joker thought out loud.

"We know it was you. Just when other members of the mob were disappearing, my father winds up dead," Maroni growls. "I know what you did to the Chechen," he glared. The Joker suddenly remembered the pile of burning money and the echo of the Chechen's shrieks.

"Ah yes," The Joker giggled.

"And now you've started to interfere with our drug smuggling ring. You shouldn't get involved in things you don't understand." Maroni hissed. "You might start angering the wrong people", he imitated the action of a gun with two fingers.

This signalled a row of Maroni's henchmen to appear out of the shadows on the balconies, they each pointed their guns at the gang. The Joker's group was easily outnumbered by the forces above, but Ana and the rest of the Joker's henchmen still pointed their guns at the mob. But Ana's stomach forcefully twisted when she noticed that they were all wearing gas masks.

"What do we have here?" The Joker grinned.

"It's time to sleep Joker," Maroni breathed, swiftly putting on his own gas mask. "Goodnight." There was a second of silence as Ana looked toward the Joker, who looked perplexed by the ambush. She then eyed Duncan who was staring at the balcony. Her gaze was interrupted by yelling, as the mob threw down gas canisters into the group. Gunfire went off in response, Ana didn't know who started it, but she joined in anyway.

The weapons dealer tried to make a run for it, but the Joker grabbed his top and fiercely pulled him back towards him. The dealer cried out as their faces were dangerously close, but his cry was promptly cut short as the Joker pulled his trigger against the dealer's temple. The blood splattered onto the Joker's face as he sickeningly grinned and let the corpse go.

As the gas got heavier, Ana could feel the thickness of the smog penetrate her nostrils and mouth, with her left sleeve she covered her face whilst still firing blindly above with her right. She knew she had to get out of the building quickly as she heard the chaos of people around her coughing and firing their weapons. The smog was now too thick to see in front of her, Ana couldn't remember if she had turned around when firing her weapon.

"Which direction is the exit!?" she called, but no one could respond as their words were full of sputter. "Duncan! Allie!" she coughed, but she could only hear them choking. She ran forward whilst still covering her face, she heard more gunfire from above. Ana spun around to fire back, then turned again to run in the direction she thinks she was previously going in.

In the smog, she collided with a purple figure. Ana snapped her head up as the Joker's warpaint eerily emerged through the fog, he was covering his face with a green handkerchief in one hand. He looked down at Ana for a moment, before grabbing her blazer collar and running in the direction of the exit. She let out a yelp as he pulled her along, looking back to see any other survivors. All she could make out were large mounds on the floor of passed-out henchmen. She looked back just in time to feel her foot get caught on piping sticking out of the dead machinery, as she fell forwards, she could feel the Joker lose his grip on her as he continued ahead.

When Ana collided with the ground, a large amount of gas pierced her throat, causing her to choke. She looked up with watery eyes to see the Joker look back at her. More gunfire rang out against the siloes, triggering the Joker to flee.

"Boss," she wheezed before coughing violently. The smog seeped into her body, her eyes started feeling heavy, her throat was on fire and her head pounding. Ana slowly rested her head on the ground and gave in, shutting her eyes and betraying into the darkness. The warehouse fell silent.