gotham gazette

@ creeps

Layla poured another cup of coffee, finishing off what was left in the pot. She hadn't gotten much sleep. She still had a lot on her mind of course, and was still a little uneasy about what J had said about people who would kill to get info on him. No one knew he was here though, right? No one would come after her..

She frowned and ran a hand through her hair, lighting up another cigarette as she walked outside, sitting on the front porch, sipping her coffee between taking a hit from the cigarette. She knew she needed to go get more today, she only had one left anyways, and she had nothing else to do.

@ destroya.
[Where should we go from here? I was thinking maybe a little fast-foward a few weeks of Layla not hearing anything from the Joker but finds a big wad of cash in an envelope on her desk or something? I'm hitting a brick wall tonight ]

@ creeps
[ I'm not entirely sure. I was thinking he could drop in on her again, or there's always a chance that an enemy of his could've found out about the encounter and go after Layla. Joker could find out and kind of hide her out for safekeeping? I'm not really sure. ]

@ destroya.

[I like that better. An enemy finds out, the goons kidnap take her back to the safehouse to the Joker?]

@ creeps

[ Pretty much, yeah. Would you mind playing the enemy? ]

@ destroya.
[ of course not! ]

Two-Face sat in the back seat of the ratted van, his henchmen surrounding him. They had been tipped off that a young woman had information on the Joker and they were going in. Harvey Dent figured that they'd only need four men to get her: he didn't suspect much of a fight. Gag her and bag her, he told them. Interrogation would start back at the warehouse; whether she lived or not what up to chance.

Luckily, the Joker had his goons sitting in a car down the block from Layla's house to look for anything suspicious. Once they noticed a van go through more than one time, they began to mutter uneasily about checking it out. They didn't make any move until they watched the van skid I front of Layla's house and climb into her back yard.

After the henchmen were in the backyard, they climbed into the kitchen quietly and began looking for the girl. The tallest henchman held the gag and the other two had the bag to shove over her head.

@ creeps

Layla finished off the bowl of cereal and flipped off the television, sighing softly. This had basically been her life over the past few weeks. Finding a job was hopeless, so she'd been living off of what she could until she got a call back.

Her attention turned to the kitchen when she heard something fall, and she stood up rather quickly, walking towards the room, her eyes widening when she saw the men. She screamed and started for the door, only to be grabbed and gagged by one of the men, and she started thrashing about wildly when they put the bag over her head. This couldn't be happening. No one should have fucking known that she knew anything.

She felt just slightly satisfied when her fist collided with something that snapped rather quickly, suspecting it was someone's nose. One of them immediately grabbed her arms and started dragging her put of the back door, tossing to another goon, who tossed her in the van.

@ destroya.

The goons (Bozo, Grumpy, Chuckles) and stumbled quickly around the van, throwing dozens of tacks around the tires. They quickly retreated back to their own car, waiting for Dent's men to come back outside. When they threw the girl into the van, the followed after and watched the tires pop.

Next step was simple: Bozo shot a grapple at the back door of the van. Chuckles slammed on the breaks and the car bounced as it ripped the van door off and skidded onto the street. "Whoo!" he screamed, proud of the easy success. With the tires flat and easy access to the back, they pulled up behind the van and parked. '

Bozo and Grumpy rolled out of the car and gunned down the three henchman, jumped into the van and knocked out Dent before he had time to react. Bozo shoved a Jokers card in Dent's suit while Grumpy tossed Layla over his shoulder (as gently as he could given the situation) and ran back to the car. Once they were all in, they sped down the road for what seemed like ages, taking every detour in case they were followed, and found their way back to the safe house.

"We gotcha, princess," Grumpy mutter, carrying her into the house. He laid her on the couch and the Joker swung up the stairs, analyzing the situation quickly. "Get that bag off her head!" Jack barked, pushing Grumpy to the side and pulling it off of her. He snipped off the gag and knelled in front of her. "You okay, doll?"

@ creeps

Layla screamed as she hit the side of the van, hearing the loud noises as the doors ripped off of the back of the van. She started squirming against the ropes they tied her with to make her stop kicking and hitting them, and she screamed against the gag in a hopeless attempt to get some help. Her eyes widened a little when someone picked her up and she groaned as they threw her over their shoulder, closing her eyes. She had absolutely no idea what was going on, but she was getting kind of sick from how hot her face was because of the stupid bag.

Everything was a blur after that. No one really spoke in the car, so she didn't know what else to do except cry. She was too tired to fight at this point, she just wanted to know what was going on. She was more frightened than ever. The silence and the suspense was driving her nuts.

She didn't protest when someone picked her up again, relaxing just a little at what the man said, hoping it was one of J's men. She squirmed a little in an attempt tp get out of the ropes, only crying harder when the bag was pulled off so she could see, immediately feeling safer when she saw him. She coughed and took in heavy breaths once the gag was off and she nodded her head, trying her best to stop the waterworks as she found her voice. "Thank you, J."

@ destroya.

"Of course," Jack said, carefully putting his switchblade back into his pocket. "Go get her stuff." He ordered, looking over at Bozo. Less than twelve hours and the sons a' bitches already had a hit over her head. "And why did you keep her in the fucking bag?" He hissed, looking at the other two. He was furious, if they weren't his best men, he would've killed them. In the corner of his mind, his reminded himself that this wasn't an ordinary job. Still, he huffed angrily. "I apologize for their lack of common sense." He looked back at her, frowned, and placed a hand on her shoulder. She was visibly shaken up, he wasn't sure how to comfort her from that other than making sure Two-Face would pay. "You're gonna be a-okay, doll, I'll make sure you stay in pristine condition. Need a drink? Smoke? Shower? Whatever you need."

@ creeps

Layla listened as he spoke and snapped at his workers, trying to calm herself, convince herself that she wad going to be okay now. Her mind started drifting elsewhere, drowning out the men around her, wondering just what she had gotten herself into this time. She could've been dead just an hour ago, but she wasn't. Thanks to him. But he was also the reason that this was happening.

She snapped out of it when she felt a hand on her shoulder and jumped a little, looking up at Jack before she let out a sigh of relief. "I.. a smoke would be nice," she muttered, nodding her head a bit.

@ destroya.

Jack stood up, walking into the kitchen and grabbing his pack off of the counter. He quickly lit one, took a small drag and made his way back to Layla. He hesitated before sitting down next to her and handing her the cigarette. "Dent has been keeping tabs on journalists who have shown interest in the Joker," he explained. "I should've realized it quicker. Politics is a dirty game."

@ creeps

Layla muttered a soft thank you and took the cigarette from him, Taking a long drag from it, slowly exhaling as she listened to his explanation. She nodded and sighed softly, running a hand back through her hair. "I don't think I've ever been so fucking scared in my life," she muttered, looking up at him after a few moments. "I'm glad you had someone keeping an eye on me though. Thank you."

@ destroya.

Jack could barely remember that feeling. At this point, he wasn't even sure if he could get scared any more. Every situation he could be in, he'd find a way out. Murder? Easy. Manipulation? He could be a puppeteer. It wasn't fear any more, it was all a game to him. So when Jack felt that fear in his throat earlier, something he couldn't recognize at all, when he got the call from Bozo, he didn't know how to react but to make a plan to personally get each and every fucker who worked for Dent.

But all he did was shake his head. "Don't sweat it, doll." He mumbled, propping his elbows on his knees and resting his head. Was he hungover? He felt mentally exhausted and didn't know why, only sending his head spinning a bit more.

@ creeps

Layla watched him curiously, wondering what was running through his mind. He looked.. frustrated. She didn't understand why he would be - she wasn't Harley, and he'd only just met her. It was rather strange to her.

She nodded her head and took another drag from the cigarette, exhaling the smoke with a sigh. "You should sleep," she murmured, moving her hand to rest it on his shoulder. "You look exhausted.. we both could use some sleep, actually."

@ destroya.

The Joker didn't respond to the touch on his shoulder for a moment but stood up, thinking of how horribly weak he must look for not playing up his usual act. Actually, he wasn't sure why he wasn't wearing his makeup at all that day. He was dressing the part, his purple suit pants held up by suspenders with a ragged dress shirt. He began rolling up his sleeves, revealing tanned arms with bruises and scars casually decorating every inch. The Joker walked to the steps and told her, "Come on. Rooms are down here."

@ creeps

Layla watched as he rolled up his sleeves, wincing at some of the large bruises. She looked at her own arms and shuddered a little before she stood and followed him to the stairs. She shoved her hands into her pockets, glancing warily at his goons as they watched her follow him up the stairs, only making her shudder again.

Suddenly, she didn't feel as safe anymore.

She shrugged it off and walked into the room he stopped at, glancing around. It wasn't anything fancy. She expected that though. Just a plain white room, a small bed in the corner, and the window was boarded up. She raised a brow at that, but shrugged again, and turned to him.

"Well.. good night, J. I'll see you in the morning." She offered a sweet smile to him before she closed the door, staring at the lock for a few moments, wondering if she should use it or not. She sighed softly and shook her head, walking to the bed. She laid back, not having to bother with taking off her shoes or a jacket or anything, considering the first guys that had grabbed her caught her when she was just lounging around in a tank top and shorts.

She slid under the covers and closed her eyes, curling up on her side, relaxing pretty easily. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep, and not long after that, the nightmares began, causing her to toss and turn and whimper and squirm about. It wasn't usual that she had them, but after what had happened, it made sense that she would.

@ destroya.
[I'm so sorry. Things have been weird. Trying to get back in the hang of things. ]

The Joker paced back and forth down the hallway, muttering about everything he should have done, now seeing the situation in hindsight. After he decided not to dwell on it, he went into his office and shut the door. The walls were plastered with newspapers of Gotham, specifically, articles of himself and the Batman. He hadn't forgotten about Batty, of course, in fact he had been looking for his other half since he dropped off the map.

But he came up short every time. No trace of B-man. It drove him nuts, of course, and the only thing he could think of was bigger, more extravagant plans to get his biggest fans attention and to bring him out of the shadows. He had his boys on watch around the city, but he didn't think they were smart enough to find him, anyway. The only way to get the Bat out would be to show the people of Gotham who really owned the city.

The Joker looked at one of the first newspapers that reported his B-man, the front bag a picture of his symbol in the sky. He traced the outline of the bat and clenched his fists. He didn't understand why things were going so slow lately. And how had he gotten himself into this mess with Dent? He couldn't just kill Dent, no, he liked to play with his food before he ate. Dents list was getting smaller and smaller, though. He already killed his lovely Rachel, took away his hero status, what next? The world was well aware of Harvey's little condition.

The Joker decided to sleep on it. It was late in the night and his sore muscles needed some rest.

@ creeps

[I'm sorry I've been gone. School has been awful. ]

Layla woke some time late in the night from a nightmare, panting heavily, tears stained on her face. She ran a hand back through her messy hair, trembling slightly, and looked around the dark room, standing and reaching around until she found the light switch. She sighed softly and leaned back against the wall, sliding down it, and laid her head in her hands.

"What'd you get yourself into this time," she muttered to herself, wiping away more tears as they slid down her cheeks. She finally managed to stop the tears altogether and stood again, opening the door and walked out of the room. The hallway was dark, but she managed to get to the stairs without falling, and walked down to the living room, finding the kitchen rather easily. She grabbed a cup and turned on the tap, filling up her cup before she started drinking, looking around the small area curiously, nearly dropping her glass when one of the goons walked in. She leaned back against the counter and nodded to him, recognizing him as one of the guys who had helped get her here. Or at least that was who was there when her blindfold was taken off.

"Thanks for, um, helping me out of that mess," she said quietly, thinking it was probably a good idea to show her gratitude in some way, no matter how awkward it was right now. She scratched the back of her neck and sighed softly when he simply shrugged, and she wandered back to the living room, sitting down on the couch, pulling her knees to her chest.

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