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Laughter in the Dark	By : FlameWolf666 Category: DC Verse Movies > The Dark Knight Views: 9317 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Dark Knight or the Batman franchise. This story is just for fun and no profit will be made from it.

Chapter List
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Author’s Note: There is no such thing as downtime for criminals.

Chapter Twenty-One: No Time for Tears

    After a night haunted by too real nightmares of Roger, waking up to unmitigated chaos was not the way Marie wanted to start her day. Several goons were carrying large, deflated float balloons to a back area of the warehouse while Joker and Crane were busy working on wiring something together. The rest of the henchmen were simply gophering items back and forth, making a lot of noise as they did so. Blinking from her position at the top of the stairs, the still shaken female debated on retreating back into the room and locking the door. Unfortunately, a certain green haired male saw her and headed right to the stairs with a grin on his painted face.

    Sighing as she struggled with her leftover emotions and what she was sure was severe emotional trauma, she swept her burnished gold hair out of her pale face as the tux wearing male got closer. “Mornin!” he chirped as if nothing had ever happened between them. Sighing and deciding to just let what happened between them last night go, Marie forced a smile onto her strained face.

    “Morning Joker. Just what are you up to today?” she asked as cheerfully as she could muster given everything she had recently been through. After the night she had she was unsure of what was real. Even now she was bracing herself to wake up back in a much different warehouse, a mutating Roger looming over her as he made new cuts in her skin.

    A hand on her upper arm brought her back to what seemed to be reality and she found the ‘Clown Prince’ giving her an assessing look. His ruby lips were pursed as his green eyes narrowed slightly. Then he was ushering her back into his room, closing the door behind him. Jasper, who was in the middle of eating, gave the pair a baleful glance before cautiously continuing to eat The overweight pet didn’t like loud yelling or fighting and that had been happening a lot lately. Wishing she could tell her small companion she had no intention to yell right now, she simply focused her attention on her former patient. Before she could even ask, his lips were crashed down on hers roughly; his teeth nipping lightly on her lower lip.

    Then he was breaking the embrace almost as fast as he initiated it, leaving her head swimming and confused. Leather covered hands came up to grasp her face before she could even begin to clear her thoughts, bringing her attention to his face. “You’re really here, with me. That beast won’t touch you again,” rumbled his mid-tone voice as their eyes met, a brief glimpse of concern passing through his green orbs. He pressed his make-up coated forehead against hers as his glove covered thumbs brushed her cheeks. Suddenly he was letting go to back up a couple steps and give her a grin.

    “Now get yourself ready! We have a parade to crash!” he announced, his verdant eyes glimmering with malicious glee.

    The former Psychologist could only blink in confusion for a few seconds as she tried to absorb the unusual information. “A.. a parade? After all the shit you’ve been pulling around the city? Are they fucking stupid?” she asked as she walked toward the attached bathroom. Now would be as good a time as any to show him her new identity.

    “The mayor wants to raise morale or something stupid like that. Batsy, of course, heavily advised against it. He’ll probably be there if I had to guess,” the killer explained as he followed close on her heels, watching her every move closely.

    “Let me guess, you’re going to release a much bigger amount of the Smilex/Fear Gas mixture,”the ex-doctor offered, picking up the tin of white face-paint on the bathroom counter.

    “You know me so well!” the villain cooed, wrapping his arms loosely around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder.

    At first the contact startled her but she soon found herself nuzzling his cheek for a few seconds before beginning to put on the white make-up. “I’m also guessing the lack of reports of any ill effects bothered you so you decided to increase the sample group,” she continued, picking up some black face make-up and drawing a black spade over her left eye. The man behind her only chuckled as she put on some black lipstick, approval shining in his usually dead gaze.

    “Crane and I are both curious about the effects of this mixture and your description of what Roger looked like only made us more curious,” he replied as he turned her slowly to peruse her disguise.

    Feeling more and more at ease despite the tension of the previous day, Marie only rolled her stormcloud gaze as a small grin quirked her colored lips. “Of course, you scientists are all the same,” she teased as she moved back into the bedroom. Knowing he was right behind her, the dirty blonde reached out for her purple suit; smiling slightly at the low rumble that followed her picking it up. Then she was taking a deep breath as she began to strip, all too aware of the gaze roaming over her ample curves.

    “I’ve always been the curious sort,” came a breathy husk by her ear as a now bare hand came up to caress a bra covered breast. Then he was pressing himself flush against her, his clothed arousal resting on her backside as she bent to put on the purple pants.

    “Have I told you what seeing you in a suit almost identical to mine does to me?” Rasped the violent, enigmatic man behind her as he began to nip her neck. Marie couldn’t help but shudder in response, molten need beginning to flood her core.

    “Mmm, I don’t think you have,” came her entirely instinctual and surprisingly playful reply as she put a little space between them so she could pull her pants the rest of the way up. The murderer behind her released a low groan, seeming reluctant to let her get dressed but allowing it anyway.

    “Remind me to show ya when we, uh, get home,” his voice rumbled in her ear before he spun her around to face him, backing off so he could see the outfit in its entirety.

    After a few minutes of silent assessment, the disguised female found herself feeling just a touch nervous. Astonishingly, any lingering fears and memories of the warehouse were gone, leaving her feeling as if nothing had ever happened to her. A bit stunned at this revelation, Marie found herself wondering if this was Joker’s way of helping her move past the trauma she had suffered. Shaking off the thought as silly and irrational, the ex-Psychologist merely shrugged off his stare to move to the door; only to be stopped by a tight grip on her right wrist. Turning to look at him, she saw a look in his eyes that made her stomach dip pleasantly. “You look stunning. What’s your new name?” the killer asked, his eyes shining with something that made her knees feel a bit weak.

    “I just expanded on the temporary name you gave me and called myself ‘Black Spade,’” Marie responded, doing her best to ignore the need beginning to pull at her core. Despite the rollercoaster he had put her through last night, she found herself just wanting to forget it and move on.

    “Black Spade, huh? I like it! Let’s get downstairs now, I have a few things I want to show you,” the green haired male announced, before striding to the door with her wrist still in his hand. The disguised blonde could only follow, slight amusement shining in her gray orbs.

    “You just want to show off your new toys,” she chided playfully, easily falling back into lightly joking with her former patient. It felt natural to have this little back and forth, much more natural than hanging onto hurt feelings. Besides, it was becoming clear to her that Joker did care for her in his own way; a revelation that made her feel warm on the inside.

    Crane was busily rigging an explosive release for the canisters they would be using when the pair began approaching, only looking up from his project when they were right in front of him. Smiling at Marie warmly, the former Psychiatrist gestured for them to sit at the table he was using. “You look great,” the gaunt male offered, his cerulean eyes roving over her form freely much to Joker’s displeasure. In fact, the tux wearing male was giving his partner a look that could kill.

    “Thanks. I chose the name Black Spade so you have something to call me out in the field,” she responded as she sat across from him, her eyes moving to the heap of circuitry the villain behind her had been working on. It looked like he was rigging up a remote control and receiver for the explosive release device, giving her a feeling of deja vu.

    Shaking off the memories of the circus attack, the burnished blonde nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt a warm body sit beside her and an arm wrap loosely around her purple clad waist. Shifting her gaze, she saw Joker pressing himself against her right side while glowering at Jonathan. “The name fits you really well. Has Joker filled you in on what’s on schedule for today?” the thin male replied neutrally, seeming to ignore the daggers the clown across from him was sending with his eyes.

    “Yeah, he also wanted to show me what you guys were working on,” she responded easily, as if they were talking about no more than the weather. It vaguely nagged at the back of her mind that she should feel disgusted with herself but she honestly couldn’t give the thought more credence. Despite what they would be doing to billions of people, she felt more happy and at peace than she ever had as a Psychologist.

    Joker only huffed from beside her before pulling the circuitry towards him. Then he was going into a lengthy explanation for just how the device would work, right down to syncing the frequency of the remotes and receivers. He was just getting into how the devices would be attached to the canisters when a loud explosion shook the large building. “That was just Franz testing out the explosions for the release mechanism,” he sighed calmly before going back to explaining how to solder what wire to which circuit. Soon the trio were busily wiring their devices to the canisters, Franz bringing them the explosives when he was ready.

    By the time they were inflating the floats and organizing the henchmen, Marie found herself slipping into the character of a villain much too easily. She was even getting excited for the upcoming event, smiling as the huge bay doors opened for the cars to attach to the elaborate floats. There were two large, fairy tale scenes under matching balloons, revealing two very different stories. One appeared to be about ‘Alice in Wonderland’ while the other was about ‘Miss Moffet’. After being handed a top hat by Joker, she didn’t even have to ask which float they would be riding. Above them would be a rather creepy looking Chesire Cat and March Hare, a pair she much preferred over the huge spiders that hovered above a forest glade.

    Then Joker was putting on a matching top hat before leading her to their platform, ignoring the goons that were backing up a van close enough to hook up to the rolling diorama. “Hang on tight,” he advised, his tongue flicking out to lick his scars as he pulled her against his side. Then the vehicle pulling them drove forward, very nearly making ‘Black Spade’ fall on her face. It was only the criminal next to her that kept her upright, a manic glee shining in his green eyes.

    “When I give the signal, put this on,” he advised, handing her a tiny, purple gas mask that would fit over her nose and mouth only. Only giving a nod, the former doctor did her best to get into character; trying not to feel concerned about the excitement blooming in her chest as they entered the sunlight.

    The ease with which they were able to fit into the parade was honestly starting but that soon faded for the job she had to do. If she was going to stay with Joker, she would have to get used to pulling off jobs like this. Putting a smile on her painted face, ‘Back Spade’ waved to the crowd like she was expected to; keeping on eye on her partner as she did so. So far he was falling into the character of the ‘Mad Hatter’, sitting on a small table while sipping out of an empty teacup. His posture told her he was waiting for something and she found herself wondering just what it was. Her answer came when the procession began to approach town square.

    As they got closer, she saw the mayor and Batman standing behind a podium; making a shock of suspicion shoot through. If she didn’t now any better, this almost looked like a... Then Joker was hopping down to the ground and signaling wildly, interrupting her train of thought but not getting rid of the fear she felt. Now that she had scented a set-up, she needed to alert the clown who was readying a remote. “Joker, wait,” she tried, only to have to duck out of the way of a hookshot. Wincing and looking up, she was semi-amused the see the hook was bat shaped. How corny could this guy get? Then the vigilante himself was ziplining over, landing with a thud right between her and the mastermind of this attack.

    ‘Black Spade’ watched the events unfold as if in slow motion, only having enough time to send a pointed look to a hidden Jonathan Crane before springing into action She could only hope he had caught it and that he would help explain to Joker later. Because what she had in mind would probably look every bit a betrayal. Putting on the best frightened victim look she could muster, the former doctor went running up to the looming man disguised as a bat. “Oh thank God you’re here! Someone had to stop him!” she gushed in as scared of a voice as she could force, grabbing the hero’s rubber covered upper arm in a bid to draw his attention away from the real danger.

    Thankfully hearing the plea of a distressed female overrode what little survival instinct the man had and he was turning his masked gaze to her instead of Joker. “Please, you don’t know how long he’s kept me,” she whispered in a desperate plea, hoping her acting was much better than it sounded. To her relief, the bat-eared man immediately went into reassurance mode, doing his best to keep his armored body between her and the killer she had come to love; something she wanted at the moment. Taking a brief moment to hazard a glance around Batman’s shoulder, ‘Black Spade’ very nearly fainted at the bitter anger she saw in Joker’s face. After all she had shared with him, he couldn’t think she was being genuine?!

    Movement in the corner of her eye drew her attention to Crane, who was doing his best to make his way towards them while using the fake landscape to his advantage. Understanding shown in his steel blue eyes and she felt relief flood her despite the direness of the situation. “Don’t worry ma’am, I’ll make sure nothing happens to you,” rasped the leather clad man’s voice, sounding like it was trying to claw its way free of his vocal cords. Moving her gaze back to her would-be savior, she forced a simpering smile onto her pale face as she slowly stepped back and deliberately brought out her small gas mask.

    “Ah, but who’s gonna watch out for you?” she cooed in a voice that didn’t sound like hers before she put the mask in place. That was when the explosives on the balloons above them went off, releasing a flood of the horrifying gas mixture.

    The force of the explosions nearly knocked Batman off his feet, allowing ‘Scarecrow’ to tackle the dark hero; the dark entity twisting Crane’s features into a chilling grin. Then she nearly got yanked off her feet, barely able to keep her gas mask in place as Joker pulled her behind him. Taking the cue, she broke into a sprint; only sparing a single glance for Jonathan. The dark male had hopped free of the vigilante and was following close behind, mad cackles bubbling through his unnatural smile. In a rush, she was shoved into a van between the two men, the clown to her left howling orders to the driver while the demon beside her twitched.

    The thing wearing Crane’s sin was barely able to be considered human, moving unnaturally while watching the movements of others in the vehicle closely. Then it was turning its crazed, black gaze to her, any trace of blue or sclera eaten up by the midnight flooding the wide orbs. Just looking into them made her feel ill at ease, as if she were looking into the eyes of something never meant to be wearing human skin. “What the fuck was that?!” snarled a pissed voice to her left, forcing her focus back onto the livid killer on her other side.

    “I couldn’t stop to think, I just did the first thing I could think of to get his focus off you for a bit,” she replied, doing her best not to flinch at the fury in his green eyes.

    Before he could respond, the van rocked violently and something landed on the roof. “Boss! We got company of the winged rodent variety!” one of the men up front informed, earning an impatient hiss from his purple clad boss.

    “Thanks, uh, Captain Obvious,” he chided as something began to cut through the top of the van. From the looks of it, Batman was using a tiny cutting torch to get through the metal.

    Tsking impatiently, the painted murderer cocked his gun before tossing one to the disguised female beside him. “Yanno, I have ta hand it to him; the man is nothing but prepared,” he observed in a bitter tone as an armored glove punched its way through the small cut. Then the surprisingly strong vigilante was putting the hunk of metal backwards, revealing the trio in the rear to him. Before any of them could react, he was reaching for Marie with a grim look on the unmasked part of his face.

“I know who you are! Even in the make-up, your eyes are a dead give away! You have a lot of people looking for you Dr. Jovian,” he tried to reason, nearly making her giggle out loud.

    The man honestly sounded like he was trying to lecture Harleen, a picture that made her feel a bit giddy. Giving the hero reaching for her a falsely grateful smile, she got to her feet and placed her hand in his. Just before he would have pulled her up, she pulled out the gun Joker had given her. “Tell those people Dr. Jovian doesn’t exist anymore. The name is Black Spade,” she whispered before firing the gun into his chest, the impact throwing him off the vehicle. Silence soon followed along with the sound of the wind as they sped back to the hideout.

    “You’re serious about staying,” the clown behind her remarked quietly, causing her to turn to face him.

    “Uh, yeah? Wasn’t the fact that I joined you on three attacks enough for you? What about when I distracted Batboy there so you could pull off your attack?” she sighed, swaying and nearly falling when the driver hit a bump.

    In an instant she was being scooped up and placed in Joker’s lap as he sat down, ‘Scarecrow’ sitting right beside him. Jonathan was slowly coming back but the dark being sharing his body continued to watch her, a strange affection shining in his void-like eyes. “Batboy, I’ll have to remember that one,” the tux wearing killer chuckled as the van turned so sharply it came very close to turning over. Then the cumbersome vehicle was coming to a stop and Joker was throwing open the doors before carrying her inside, a thoughtful look on his scarred, painted face.

    As soon as they were in their shared room, he was shutting and locking the door before placing her on the bed. “Yanno, I’ve never had someone actually wanna be with me. Especially after I started doin’ all of, uh, this,” he murmured as he pulled back to remove his heavy, cotton tux coat. Marie could only nod in response, shrugging her own coat off as she kept her gaze locked on his.

    “You can’t really blame them, it takes a pretty twisted person to get along with you,” she teased, the irony of her words not lost on her. The look he gave her in return made her nipples come to attention as desire flooded her body in a hot flush.

    “Really? Then what does that make you kitten?” he purred, the scars at the corners of his mouth accentuating his smirk as his undid his tie and then began to unbutton the green, silk vest he wore.

    “Downright crazy because, despite everything you’ve said yesterday, I love you with all of my heart,” she whispered, her hands shaking as she removed her own vest and matching blue shirt. She remembered the last time she had made this confession all too well, making her all the more nervous about this time.

    Her fears were only rectified when the room went utterly silent, a quiet tension beginning to fill the small space. “I know how you feel about sentiment, especially love. But, that doesn’t stop my feelings from existing. You don’t have to love me back, I just want you to know that’s how I feel,” she whispered, watching her purple nailed fingers as she undid the last buttons on her shirt. A bare hand shooting out and grabbing her wrist stopped her movement and she found herself looking up slowly as her heart raced in her chest. What she saw when she met his gaze nearly made her pull her hand back out of sheer fear.

    His hazel eyes shone with an intense emotion as he glared down at her, his lipstick coated lips pursed. Then his free hand was shooting out and fisting itself in the hair at the back of her head, tightening until tears prickled her stormy eyes. “You keep saying you love me. Do you have any idea what it is that you love? There is nothing but a monster here, nothing but hate for anyone merely living a peaceful life. Even now I could kill you and not blink an eye,” he snarled in a heated tone, his furious eyes locked on hers as he practically sneered down at her.

    “If that’s true, then why were you so happy to see me after Selina saved me from Roger,” the blonde countered, her voice calm despite the fear racing in her veins. Joker only growled in response before his lips took hers in a rough kiss, his hands releasing her to remove her shirt the rest of the way.
    Breaking the kiss, he removed one of her breasts from her bra; latching onto her pink bud with a noise that made her core pulse. Gasping in surprise and pleasure, Marie found her hands winding into his lime green locks as he suckled noisily. While he was tongueing and nipping her skillfully, his right hand came up to massage her neglected breast; drawing a moan from her quivering, black lips. Then he was breaking the kiss to huff through his nose, backing up slightly as displeasure shone in his eyes. “Wash off the make-up,” he ordered, leaving her feeling bereft and more than just a little confused.
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Laughter in the Dark