Chapter 9
Roommate
The night dragged into the day as the sun started to shine through Ana's bedroom blinds and the streets of Gotham woke up with a drawn-out yawn. Ana was lying in her bed facing the ceiling. The dry heaviness of her eyes showed what little sleep she had, as she could not stop listening out for any suspicious noises coming from the next room.
Winston started to claw at the door causing Ana to sit up and sigh. After quickly getting changed into a jumper and jeans and moving the side table away, Ana stood in front of the bedroom door and waited.
She wanted to make sure that she was dressed and ready for whatever was waiting for her on the other side. The only thing she didn't have was her makeup or hairbrush, as they were in the bathroom. She looked over to her pistol that she had purposefully placed on the side table next to her bed. She decided to grab it and tuck it in her back pocket, for easy access.
She took a deep breath and reached for the door handle.
As she opened her bedroom door, Winston instantly ran out to do his business. She cautiously peeked her head out and quickly scanned the room. Her eyes landed on the Joker sitting at her kitchen island, eating a bowl of cereal. Everything else in the room looked normal.
Ana slightly relaxed at such an ordinary sight. She opted to place her gun on the wooden drawers next to the door, as she didn't want to seem like a threat to the Boss. She took another deep breath and walked out to the kitchen.
"Good morning, Boss," she smiled as she walked behind the kitchen island, opposite the Joker.
"Morning," he mumbled as he ate another spoonful of cereal. As Ana poured herself a bowl of cereal, she noted that the Joker was wearing the clothes she had laid out the night before and was still without his makeup.
The bandages that she had dressed the previous night revealed themselves on the back of his neck and around his left arm, whilst his grey t-shirt revealed the rest with subtle contours of the other dressings down his left side.
"Coffee?" she asked. The Joker nodded as he read the Gotham Times.
"I don't usually get the newspaper delivered?" Ana queried as she made the coffee.
"It was outside your neighbour's door," the Joker brushed off as he continued to read.
"Right," Ana held her breath. "Here you go, extra strong," placing down the coffees between them. The Joker instantly picked his coffee up and took a sip.
"Correct," The Joker looked up at Ana and made a clicking sound as he gestured a finger gun with his hand. Ana nodded and sat down on the other bar stool to eat her breakfast. The Joker stared at her.
"You know, you look different without makeup," the Joker observed. Ana looked up in surprise.
"Really?" she laughed at the irony.
"Your eyebrows are thinner, and your eyes look smaller," he pointed at her with his spoon.
"I could say the same thing about you," Ana quipped back. The Joker scoffed in agreement as he continued to read the paper, loudly chewing his cereal, and twizzling his spoon in the bowl.
"So, what do you think happened?" Ana gingerly asked holding her coffee with both hands.
"I'm still figuring that out," the Joker dismissed, continuing to read. Ana nodded with annoyance as this unexplained attack left a deep pit of fear in her stomach.
"I need a few things," the Joker said, sliding a small piece of paper across the table. Ana picked up the list, noticing immediately that it had been scribbled on a torn page from a novel that sat in her neglected bookshelf in the corner of the room.
"Alright," she said looking through the list, "A mobile phone, baseball hat, t-shirt, jeans, face paint, suit pickup, underwear… A shopping list?" Ana queried, abruptly stopping herself.
"Well, all my belongings got blown up," the Joker motioned for an explosion with his hands.
"And how am I going to pay for all of this?" Ana asked looking at the lengthy list.
"My coat, inside left pocket," the Joker cocked his head to his charred, purple overcoat that was sprawled out on the living room chair. Ana followed his direction, walked over to his coat, and reached into his inside pocket. Her hand felt one of his potato peelers alongside a solid cylinder shape. She pulled out the mysterious shape and saw that it was a wad of cash. It was bone dry and not damaged at all.
"How did this not burn up in the fire?" Ana turned to the Joker as he spun around to face her.
"Now now Ana, you don't think that I'd keep everything in one place, do you?" the Joker sucked his scars. "I'm going to need your phone too," the Joker instructed.
"My phone got ruined when I jumped in the harbour," Ana shrugged.
"As did mine, no no no, I mean your uh… burner phone," the Joker corrected. Each henchman had a spare phone for times like these when they were divided. These phones contained no contact numbers for security reasons, you either had to memorise them or write them down separately.
"Right, Boss," Ana headed into her room to grab her burner phone hidden in her wardrobe. Before she gave it to the Joker, she quickly texted Duncan. His was the only number she had memorised.
"Hi Duncan, it's Ana. Meet me at Remedy Diner on the corner of East Houston Street in 1 hr. Do not reply to this number," she rapidly typed and hit send, once it had gone, she made sure to delete the message so the Joker wouldn't find it.
"Here you go, Boss," she breathed as she strolled back into the lounge kitchen and handed the Joker her phone. "I've also got an empty notebook if you need it," she placed the empty notepad and a pen on the island. The Joker gave a small nod before taking the phone and dialling an unknown number.
Ana hesitantly walked away to the bathroom to get ready to run her appointed errands. As she went to close the door, she could hear the Joker start to talk to someone.
"Morning Chuck, we've got ourselves a little uh… situation that needs taking care of…" The Joker spoke before Ana closed the door.
She turned around to start getting ready in front of the mirror but was stopped in her tracks. Ana looked down at the sink that was smeared with the Joker's warpaint. It looked like there had been a massacre from the night before, but it was only when he had to stitch his head wound up.
"Perfect," she mumbled sarcastically.
"He's what?" Duncan asked in shock.
"You heard, the Boss is laying low at my apartment," Ana whispered, as the pair inconspicuously sat in the corner of a busy diner.
"For how long?" Duncan whispered before taking a sip of his cappuccino.
"I don't know, he's injured pretty badly. I imagine until he's on the mend," Ana kept an eye on all the diners across from them. Everyone seemed to be going about their morning routines, rushing off to work, having coffee with the yummy mummies or simply having a quiet, retired morning brew.
"How's it been?" Duncan looked around the café to make sure no one was in earshot.
"Weird. He looks like this ordinary guy, I've never seen him without makeup before. But then you remember he's Gotham's most wanted, well after the Batman," Ana mumbled.
"How are you doing?" Duncan gently rested his hand on top of hers, Ana gave a light smile.
"I'm okay. Still in shock by it all, I guess," Ana looked down at her coffee.
"Well, apparently we lost 8 guys. The Boss has been calling around whilst he's out of action. I have to run some interference. Make sure we've got enough ammo for the heist," Duncan explained.
"Is that still happening?" Ana asked.
"I don't think so, it'll have to be postponed until we can recover all the supplies we lost," Duncan looked at the clock on the other side of the diner. "I'm going to have to head out, I've got a lot to do," Duncan finished. Ana sipped her latte.
"Same here, but I imagine your tasks are more thrilling than simply picking up the Joker's dry cleaning," Ana grumbled.
"I'll see you later," Duncan scoffed as he stood up and kissed Ana on the head. She gave a faint smile before watching him leave.
When Duncan was out of sight, Ana's face slowly dropped revealing her solitude. As she sat alone, she glanced at the other diners and imagined what it was like to lead a normal life. She wondered how they go through life not worrying about their work going up in flames or having Gotham's most wanted as a roommate.
Ana never had it right, even before she met the Joker. She always struggled to contain her feelings of anxiety and sadness. She always longed for adventure but never lead in the right direction, instead, she let fear take over and haul her down the wrong path. She could feel her thoughts go into overdrive.
She gave a loud sigh and fiddled with her sachet of cocaine in her pocket. She looked around the busy café to see if anyone would notice her having a taste.
After taking another large gulp of her coffee, she decided to enjoy her product in private and headed to the diner's bathroom.
"Hi Gabe, how's it going?" Ana called as she entered a small shop that was overcrowded with different merchandise. Random equipment, jewellery and food were hanging off the shelves, with food packets fallen and sprawled across the floor. Gadgets such as second-hand drones and satellite dishes were hanging from the ceiling in an attempt to make a sale.
"Ana! I haven't seen you in a while," a very skinny, bald man called from behind the shop counter.
"I'm here to pick up the Boss' order?" she queried as she stepped over random crockery.
"Ah yes," Gabe disappeared into the back briefly before returning with a flush purple suit on a hanger. Ana checked that it would be to the Joker's satisfaction.
"Do you have a suit carrier to hide that, I can't go strolling around Gotham with the Joker's infamous outfit," Ana leaned against the counter.
"Of course," Gabe disappeared again momentarily. Ana glanced around the store, she noticed a shelf behind the counter with passport sleeves and lanyards. "Here you go," Gabe sang, returning with the suit carrier.
"Thanks, Gabe. You really have everything you need here, don't you?" Ana nodded to the passport sleeves. Gabe looked at the shelf behind him.
"Well, you know me, passport carriers, new passports, fake passports, I'm your guy," he smirked.
"I'll keep that in mind if I'm ever on the run," Ana joked.
"You know, word on the street is the Joker has been targeted, and supposedly killed?" Gabe nonchalantly dropped into the conversation.
"I wouldn't know anything about that," Ana shrugged.
"Right," he scoffed as he handed over the suit.
"How much?" she asked for the suit.
"$675," Gabe instructed. Ana looked up at the merchant with a smirk.
"Now now Gabe, you better not be ripping me off. I can ask the last guy who picked one of these up how much it cost," Ana stood up straight, "And if I need to come back here for a refund, I won't be happy," she sternly spoke.
"Alright Ana, can't pull the wool over your eyes, can I? $429," Gabe politely smiled.
"Thank you, here you go," Ana handed over the money.
Ana dragged herself down the corridors of her apartment building, carrying the heavy suit bag along with other rustling carrier bags with everything the Joker had requested. She was begrudged for being treated like his personal assistant; however, she knew that she couldn't protest with him practically keeping her apartment hostage.
"Elizabeth dear!" Mrs Bowman called from the neighbouring door. Ana gave a quick irritated sigh, as she was so close to being home, growing tired of carrying all these items.
"Hello, Mrs Bowman," she forced a smile and spun around to face the fragile old woman.
"You look awfully busy, I won't keep you too long dear. I just wanted to ask how you could keep such a secret from me," Mrs Bowman gave a hurt expression, purposefully being cryptic with her words. Ana froze as a lump started to form in her throat.
"Secret?" Ana falsely smiled.
"Your new man. We had a lovely chat," Mrs Bowman sweetly smiled. Ana was speechless, she thought that Mrs Bowman couldn't possibly be talking about the Joker.
"Shame about what happened to his face," Mrs Bowman spoke candidly. Ana's stomach flipped, realising Mrs Bowman had been talking with the Joker, not realising she had been in imminent danger.
"It's such as small world, my son's regiment was in the same region where he was based. I wonder if they knew each other," Mrs Bowman beamed. Ana was speechless, the Joker had given out another one of his past stories about how he got his scars, but Ana had to admit she had never heard him use an Army backstory before.
"I didn't catch his name, dear," Mrs Bowman pried, forcing Ana to speak.
"It's the Jo..." Ana blurted out automatically, "Ker… Joe Ker… Joseph Kerr," Ana stuttered and corrected herself, hoping that her neighbour missed the slur.
"Joseph? I'll ask my Christopher if he remembers him," Mrs Bowman finished.
"Okay Mrs Bowman," Ana struggled with the growing weight of her carriables, "I'll talk to you soon," she ended the conversation sharply as she made her way to her front door.
"Talk soon, dear," Mrs Bowman sang as she entered her own apartment.
Ana hauled herself into her flat, the bags dragging against the doorframe. Winston ran up to welcome her home. As she entered, she locked eyes with the Joker who was pacing around the lounge, still in the grey t-shirt, joggers, and his checkered socks but now he was also wearing Duncan's navy dressing gown.
"See you've been in my room," Ana flatly stated as she closed the front door. As it clicked shut, she instantly noticed writing on the back of the door. Ana confusingly stepped back and looked up at the surrounding wall. Her eyes landed on an array of written notes, blueprints of buildings she didn't recognise, and calculations spread across the wall etched in black pen.
"No, no, no, no," she muttered as she dropped the carrier bags. "What did you do!?" she exclaimed as she spun around to ask the Joker. He looked lost in thought before realising that Ana had spoken.
"I ran out of space in the notebook," the Joker motioned to the notebook on the coffee table before returning to his mutterings. Ana snapped her head down to look at the stationery.
Without thinking, she leaned forward to open the notebook. As her hand tapped the front cover, the Joker snapped out of his trance and immediately slammed down his paring knife, stabbing the cover too close to Ana's hand. Ana gasped and jumped back, staring at the Boss with widened eyes.
"At ta ta," he growled glaring at her as he continued to pace around the room like a wild animal. Ana was unsure what to do, the Joker was in one of his dangerous, impulsive moods. She noticed the bottle of brandy on the kitchen island, next to a half-full glass tumbler.
"Sorry, Boss," she mumbled as she kept her distance.
"Do you want to know what happened at the base? I've figured it out," the Joker asked as he started waving his knife around.
"Okay," Ana cautiously spoke as she moved the bags and his suit to rest on the chair.
"There was an explosion on each floor, perfectly timed to start with the ground, then the roof, then in the centre. 1, 2, 3 and boom," the Joker licked his scars, still waving his knife around. "Now, they weren't our explosives, no, no, no. It was someone else's," the Joker moved around the sofa towards Ana.
"We were attacked?" Ana asked as she slowly moved around the room, keeping the distance between her and the Boss.
"But no one knows where the hideout is, we hide in plain sight, but have never been caught. There's only one way they would see," the Joker started to mumble his words. Ana carefully moved behind the sofa, trying to follow his explanation.
"Who would see?" Ana tentatively asked.
"Isn't it obvious, it was Maroni," the Joker growled as he gripped his knife tightly. "But it wasn't Maroni," the Joker grinned as he pointed his knife at Ana.
"Wait? So, Maroni didn't do it?" Ana scrunched her face in confusion. She had made it behind the kitchen island.
"We have a mole," the Joker darkly growled. Ana's stomach suddenly turned at the thought of one of their own betraying them. "No one could access the building without help. The ground, then the roof and then the centre. So much scheming in my team, a team full of schemers," the Joker looked over to Ana as if eying his next meal.
Ana felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, and a shiver run down her spine. It was like her body was warning her to watch out.
"It could be anyone," the Joker twizzled his knife, "1, 2, 3, boom," the Joker dragged his knife across the back of the sofa, slicing it open with a harsh ripping noise. Ana had to calm her anger as the Joker wrecked her sofa, she didn't like how the Joker was escalating his knife play.
"Rex and Charles weren't there during the attack," Ana thought out loud. The Joker nodded repeatedly and continued to mutter the names of the other teammates. Ana's eyes flickered to the knife block that sat on her kitchen island. When he was facing away from her, Ana slowly drew out a carving knife from the block and lowered it out of sight.
"The ground, then the roof, then the centre. 3, 2, 1," the Joker stood opposite Ana, across the kitchen island. "Boom," he looked up at her.
"I saw that," the Joker said. Ana instantly regretted arming herself with a knife.
"Saw what?" Ana tried to play dumb. The Joker glared at her for a moment, burrowing into her eyes. Ana tried to compete in the staring competition, standing her ground.
All of a sudden, the Joker grabbed the glass of brandy and viciously threw it at Ana. Ana flinched and let out a yelp as the glass bounced off her, splashing brandy into her face. Within seconds the Joker stalked around the island towards her.
Ana frantically looked back and saw the Joker coming towards her with his knife. She tried to warn him off by slashing the carving knife in front of her, but he was too quick. The Joker dropped his knife and quickly snatched her knife-wielding wrist as it passed him, yanking her forward. He forcefully pushed her against the island, pressing his front against her back to keep her in place. His left hand roughly gripped her throat whilst the right was still tightly grasped around her wrist, pulling her arm straight.
'That wasn't very clever, was it?" he giggled in her ear and licked his scars.
"You were scaring me!" Ana stifled, trying to push him off her but his strength overpowered hers despite his injuries. He responded by squeezing her neck tighter, cutting off the air.
Ana started to wheeze painfully, pushing her head back against the Joker's shoulder.
"Drop it," the Joker calmly ordered, squeezing her wrist tightly. Ana ignored his command, clawing at her throat using her free hand, trying to get the Joker to release her so she could breathe.
"Drop. It!" the Joker roared as he slammed her hand against the worktop. Her wrist bone collided with the wooden counter, sending shooting pain up her arm. Her fingers felt numb, Ana didn't know if it was either from the Joker smashing her wrist, choking her, or cutting off the circulation to her hand. She feebly let go of the knife, causing it to carelessly drop onto the counter. The Joker smirked as he watched her struggle under his grasp.
"Can't breathe," Ana weakly gasped. The Joker stared down at her for a few moments longer, before letting her go and spinning her around to face him.
She inhaled loudly, taking in the air. He spun her around too quickly for her to stop it. The Joker pressed his body into hers and grinned down at her, they were unnervingly close. She tried to push her forearms against his chest to make enough room for her to escape but his stance was too strong.
The Joker slowly lifted the carving knife, Ana's eyes widened as she froze in place.
"Hush hush hush," the Joker purred as he pressed the tip of the long blade to Ana's cheek. "Why would you try and attack me unless you were the…uh mole," he growled. Ana started to visibly shake, as she was being accused.
She stared at the unfamiliar face, the Joker without his warpaint seemed more frightening to her. At least with his makeup, the Joker didn't seem human, but without it was easy to underestimate his power.
"I'm not the mole, Boss. I swear," Ana squirmed, "I was in the building when the bombs went off, why would I be there if I knew," she frantically explained.
"Misdirection," the Joker smirked, Ana could feel that this was it, the Joker was going to give her a horrific Glasgow smile in her kitchen, matching his own. She could feel the adrenaline starting to pump harder, but she didn't know what to do to get out from underneath him.
The Joker was interrupted by a loud raspy meow, followed by a wet hiss as Winston ran across the room and clawed at the Joker's leg, instantly drawing blood.
The Joker let out a yelp as he glanced down at his assailant and jumped back, the carving knife nicking Ana's cheek. Ana took this moment to jump out of the way of the Joker, diving to the far right of her kitchen where an unwashed frying pan was sitting next to the fridge. The Joker shook off Winston, causing the cat to run into the bedroom.
Ana grabbed the pan and quickly twisted around to the Joker who was storming towards her. She let out a yell as she whacked the pan against his head. The Joker grunted as the metal twanged, causing a ringing in his ear. The pan slipped out of Ana's hand, but she immediately countered and drew out a chef's knife from the knife block, a weapon of the same length as the Joker's carving knife but wider.
The Joker saw Ana arm herself again and angrily threw himself into her, violently shoving Ana backwards against her fridge. She let out a scream as she collided with the appliance, hearing it rebalance itself as the food inside fell over.
Simultaneously, Ana and the Joker raised their right knife-wielding hands to attack whilst using their left hands to push their opponent's attack arm back. They glared at each other, breathing heavily. Whilst their movements were similar, Ana knew the Joker had more strength. Her defending arm was shaking as she fought to keep it straight, holding the Joker's blade away from her face.
There was silence as they stared each other down, the Joker looming over her.
Unexpectedly, there was a knock at the door. The pair ignored it and refused to move or take their eyes off each other. The knocking repeated. Ana continued to glare at the Joker, but her mind started to panic about who was behind the door. She wondered if it was Mrs Bowman because of the commotion, but the old lady was partially deaf and unlikely to hear anything.
The door knocked a third time. The Joker, still forcibly pushing Ana's arm back, slowly cocked his head to look at the door, sucking his scars. Ana's eyes flickered to the entrance and then back at her Boss.
"You know, it's rude to keep a guest waiting," The Joker looked back at Ana, stepping back, and letting her go. Ana kept herself pressed up against the fridge, watching the Joker move away.
The Joker smirked and gestured for her to get the door. Ana cautiously stood up, and slowly backed away to the front door, always keeping her eyes on the Joker. She clutched onto her knife as she noticed the Joker not letting go of his.
As she made it to the entrance, it knocked again. She quickly investigated the door's spyhole to see who it was. Confused, she looked at the Joker, who hadn't moved and opened the door. She hid the knife behind her back.
"Duncan? Charles? What are you doing here?" she curtly greeted.
"Charming. The Boss messaged us. I've brought pizza," Duncan lifted two takeaway pizza boxes that were in his hands and walked past Ana into her apartment.
"Ah Chuck 'n' Dunks, I was wondering how long you'd be," the Joker grinned. Ana looked back at the Joker with a stunned look.
"What? You haven't got any food in?" the Joker said, waving to the empty kitchen cabinets.
"I've been busy," Ana mumbled. Duncan and Charles instantly noticed that the pair were holding large knives and that Ana had a cut on her cheek, whilst the Joker had a fresh bruise appearing on his forehead.
"Everything alright?" Duncan queried looking at them both. Ana finally snapped out of her bewilderment.
"Yes, all fine. I'll get the plates," she dismissed as she walked towards the kitchen. She locked eyes with a smirking Joker as he slid the carving knife back into the knife block. Ana stood at the corner of the island and returned her knife as well, still watching the Joker. The Joker let out a chuckle and then turned to address the room.
"Now, we have some work to do," the Joker grinned, clapping his hands together.