Tonight, You're Gonna Break Your One Rule

I always thought Glasgow grins would be infinitely beautiful, no matter whose face they were carved into, since my clown's and mine were so perfect. However, as I stared at three girls, hands bound behind their backs and to their chairs with coarse rope, my lips curled in disgust, theirs was horrible.

One girls was done, pretty and bleeding, dripping down her chin, seeping through her lips and she was crying, a horrible choking kind of cry, writhing and squirming with the pain. The Joker was halfway through another girl's, one side of her mouth split with blood and raw skin.

Her scream gets louder, and an octave higher, and suddenly it feels like my eardrums are bursting. I close my eyes, and my mind is filled with a memory from so long ago. I take a step back and I'm pressed against the wall. I can feel his knife against my lips in my memory and I shiver, as these undeniable waves of hate wash over me. I remember myself screaming as my clown carved my smile, and the hate seemed as real now as it did then. I scrunch my eyes closed tighter, and her scream digs into my brain, until I snap.

"Shut up, you disgusting excuse for a human being, shut up will you!" I slam my fist against the metal table beside me and take a step towards the middle girl, as blood pours down her chin and her eyes display the fear her mouth wishes it could, "Screaming is not going to help!"

The Joker lowers his knife from the tip of the gushing wound into her cheek and turns to me, looking up through his hair, smiling a little, biting his lip. For a moment I curl my lips at him, until I get this beautiful warm rush towards him. I step forward and place a hand on his shoulder, squeezing tight. He looks down at the third girl, who knows full well what's coming, and her eyes plead with my clown not to do it. I snigger at her, wondering how she could put so much into a man she didn't know. I felt a little hypocritical, but I was as crazy as my clown, I knew what he was capable of, he'd done most of it to me, and I embraced it. I knew the Joker inside out, and I knew Jack even better. I shake my head softly, and lean closer with my clown, lips slightly parted as I watch with glee. This one doesn't scream as loud, or as high, and it's a sort of silent scream, her face contorted with the sounds. I watch as the Joker licks his lips, carefully, artistically carving the scars into the girl's face. She doesn't look at him, just closes her eyes tight and waits for it to be over.

I smile as he pulls his knife away, and goes to wipe it on the girl's shirt. I feel a rush of jealously and snatch the knife from him, wiping it on my own shirt instead, before handing it back to him with a small glare.

The Joker nods, short and sharp to me, telling me it's time, and I quickly take our video camera from the metal table near the door. I flip it open and focus it on the first girl, "Smile for the camera girls!" I chirp, and giggle under my breath, "Like you have a choice."

All three were wide-eyed and terrified as I press record and clear my throat, before speaking, in that kind of monotone I've come to acquire, "We've got a bit of a show for you tonight. Let me introduce you to Gotham's... scum, better reserve them a padded cell if they get out of this alive." I giggle and I hear my clown echo my laugh. I point the camera at the first girl, "What's your name?"

"Lucy," She whimpers back, and I see the Joker shift from one foot to the other, then move behind them, a hand on the furthest left and right chairs, simply watching and listening.

"How old are you Lucy?" I ask her softly, and she whimpers back with a sixteen, as I'd expected. I chuckle a little, then move a little closer to her, "So why are you here and why do you have a Glasgow grin carved into those cheeks then, huh?"

Lucy simply shrugged, wide-eyed, and whimpered something inaudible. I cough and my voice immediately lowers a few tones, "Don’t be stupid Lucy. You know why you're here."

Lucy shakes her head, as if she's denying it, before sighing softly and opening her eyes, "I like the Joker. I think he should be revered instead of hated."

The Joker snorts, and I hear him mumble. I look up, and immediately read those red lips, "Well that's no fun," I smirk, and without comment, shift the camera to the middle girl. I hesitate, and then move to the girl on the right; I'd save the middle one, the feisty one, for last.

"What about you, sweetie?" I purr, and the Joker, being in a happy, bouncy mood, leaned a little closer to her, licking his lips and eying her with delight. Even though I had Jack all to myself, I hated to see the Joker looking at other girls, especially with that light in his eyes and a tongue dancing across his lips. I realise, though, as I recall the embers that glow in his eyes when he looks at me, that his eyes are just shining from the anticipation of violence, not the girls.

"Huh?" She squeaks, voice high pitched and her eyes so wide I wondered what was stopping her eyeballs just popping out. I look her up and down, slowly, critically, and saw every muscle shake with fear. I remembered fear, just about, fear of the Joker, of what would happen to my life. But now, I didn’t feel fear, only of Jack and of losing him, and that just made me stronger.

"Your name." I spit, my hands constantly moving and morphing the camera, just like the Joker did, moving closer and further away, manic, just like us.

"Alice." I watched as a small stream of blood ran off her chin, and she whimpered a little. I smile at her, and glance at her other two friends, seeing their blood stained faces, scars still raw and messy.

"Your age, Alice?" I purr, elongating certain syllables, and whispering in a monotone so like my clowns. She murmurs back sixteen too, and I giggle a little more, feeling the laughter rise up my throat like bile, like an infection creeping through my body, and I know I've got to hold in my laughter otherwise I'll never stop.

"Now why are you here with a Glasgow grin in those cheeks, Alice?" The girl shakes her head. Okay, being scared was one thing, but this girl's paralysed with fear act was getting boring, "Oh c'mon Alice, it ain't that hard."

"I like the Joker, a lot, everything about him. I'd do anything for him," She tries to turn to him, but her bindings are so tight she can't move, and he just laughs at her, smoothing down her hair, before pulling on it hard, and she yelps, her scars sprouting red again.

I nod to myself, behind the camera, and finally turn to the middle girl, who stares at me with a stony defiance. This will be fun.

"What about you girlie?" I say softly, already scowling a little, just from the hatred she's shooting me. She licks her lips, and spits blood onto the floor, before coughing, and tilting her chin up at me, "Courtney."

"Your age?"

Her pout is a typical teenage girl, and I get the overwhelming instinct to wipe that smug, self-absorbed smirk right from her disfigured face. I hated her already.

"Seventeen next month." She says, spitting blood onto the floor again.

The Joker leans down and hisses right in her ear. I see the way his lips curl with discontent, and I know he hates her just as much as I do, and I can't wait to show her not to play with fire, bring her down a few notches, "Sixteen then." He hisses, venomous, and she winces, closing her eyes and seemingly revelling in his voice.

"Look at me." I spit back at her, my knuckles turning white round the camera. I hated the idea of her taking pleasure from his voice, just like I do.

I take a deep breath to control my anger, and blink, slowly, as I see the Joker stifle a small giggle, "Why are you here with a Glasgow grin, Courtney." I say, my voice portraying my anger as I struggle to keep it as a low monotone.

She pouts again, never taking her eyes off me, and I stare right back, determined not to back down, "What's it to you, whore." She says quietly, smiling a sick sweet smile up at me. She didn't deserve a Glasgow grin, she was too low, too disgusting, God I wanted to kill her.

The Joker quickly moves forward, and grabs her neck, digging his broken nails right into her flesh, his knife at her scar in a second, "I haven't cut all the way through those cheeks yet. You keep up with the attitude I'll carve your face so bad your momma won't recognise you."

I see her posture slump and she whines at the pain in her neck. It's a horrible sounding thing, dying kittens, and I almost turn away, unable to stand anything about her. I sigh angrily as the Joker moves away from her, bloody crescents gouged into her neck.

"I love this guy," She says bluntly, tilting her head back to the Joker, who giggles behind his hand, me? "Do anything to have him." I exhale heavily, and I hear the casing of the camera crack as she stares at me, sooner or later she'd end up in a pile on the floor, and not even my Jack could stop me. I clear my throat and shift from one foot the other, closing my eyes.

The Joker hunches down a little to address the camera, licking his blood lips, "See now these girls, they got this weird... fantasy. They want me, 'lil old me, to look at them," He grimaces at the three girls, who all struggle through their binds to stare at him, "To smile at them, talk to them, touch them. They want me to, hit them, kiss them. They want me to, fuck them," He casts a fiery gaze round the three girls, "Don't you, girls."

The middle girl exhales and almost smiles at the thought, "Oh yes please."

I lose my temper and the camera falls from my hand, with a crack on the floor, and I move forward to the middle girl. I backhand her so hard her neck cracks, and she yells out. I hear the Joker laugh and the other two girls whimper, as I grab the girl's collar, pulling her a millimetre away from me. My knife is at her neck and all the defiance in her eyes just drain out, "Listen, girlie. You say one more thing without me asking you directly, I'll rip your heart out your chest, shove it down your throat so you can choke on your sick obsession, and break you so bad I'll send you back to your momma in a matchbox, sweetie. I don't like you, the Joker doesn't like you, we don't like your attitude, so drop it, before you end up hung from a meat hook by your tongue."

My clown tuts, and I drop the girl. I stare at her as she falls back into her seat, breathing heavily. Her eyes are full to the brim with fear now, and I giggle to myself, rage still bubbling up my throat. The Joker places a gloved hand onto my cheek and I immediately calm at his touch, exhaling softly and regarding my Jack with soft eyes. He looks back at me, and for a second we forget what's going on around us, and we become so absorbed, it's just Cally and Jack in our own little world. I exhale once more, and the Joker speaks once more.

"Pick the camera up, my clown, here comes the big speech." He whispers, inaudible to the camera. I smile at him and step back, stooping to pick up the camera before laughing and pointing it at the Joker.

"See these girls, Gordon, they think that being a villain is a walk in the park, don't you?" He hisses the last question and every muscle in every girls body tenses. They were near mindless with fear, just puppets for our doings, "It's not. You think, because you like me, like the lifestyle, that the Clown Prince of Crime, will treat you differently to the rest of these...'civilised people'? No, no no, you are just like them. Aren't you?" He slams his hands down onto the backs of the chairs and all three girls jump, now shaking with fear. He regards them for a second, before glancing at me and grinning, then looking directly at the camera, licking his lips.

"Now, Gordon, these girls are a message to you," He says, sloppily pointing his left hand, gun as the extended finger, straight at the camera, and presumably Jim Gordon, "A little, warning," He stops, and hums for a second, thinking, "What was it my mother used to say? ...Ah yes, you're a useless son and when you die no one will care." He stops dead, and simply raises his eyebrows at Gordon, staring right into the lens, biting his bottom lip softly. After a second he starts again, a small giggle spilling from his lips.

"No, she said something else too. She always told me not to play with fire. Didn't your mother ever tell you that, Gordon?" He giggles softly, slapping his hands on his thighs, before banging them back on the backs of the chairs once more, "Well, we're the fire, Gordon, and you're the silly, little kid." The camera wobbles a second, because of my shoulders shaking from near silent hysterics, before refocusing on my clown with his beautiful grin.

"These girls messed with us, and now they've been burnt, real bad Gordon..." He leans a little closer to the camera and waves his knife again, "You gonna be smart enough not to play?" He shrugs and looks down at the girls, still stood ominously behind them, "Your choice."

He moves from behind the girls towards the camera, and grins again, "Now, we've carved our pretty message into their cheeks...," He murmurs, talking directly to me even though we're completely, "I've talked to Gordon, what do we do now then, my clown?"

"Hmm," I murmur softly, and, just to check, I quickly mouth what I'm going to say out loud to him. He nods quickly, barely noticeable, and I voice my reply, "We'll kill 'em."

The girls start gasping and screaming, and the Joker quickly quietens them with a waved hand behind him and a stern voice, "Shut up girls." He inhales, like he's just remembered something particularly fun and interesting. He leans close to the camera, centimetres away, and waves a finger into the lens, "Ah, this is the fun bit Gordon, you don't get to watch, just find out what happens. Now. These three will be at 142 Salsbury Boulevard, at midnight tonight. But will you be quick enough to save them, Gordon? Or will this be just another 'incident', and you'll be just a little too late..."

I switch off the camera, after a suitable, tense pause, and the three girls are still twittering madly behind us. I lower the camera and they start screeching, the constant sounds near bursting my eardrums.

After a second, the Joker spins on his foot and I see anger in every muscle. These girls were starting to break even his barriers down, "What? This is what you wanted, isn't it? You wanted me, you wanted my life. Now you'll get death. Cause that's what happens around here, you wanted the Joker, you got the Joker." He heaves a contented sigh and turns back to me, sickly sweet smile.

"Now Precious, how we gonna kill 'em?"

I tap my chin, "Starvation? ...Nah, far too slow," And the Joker shakes his head along with me, "Shoot 'em!" I say, my eyes lighting up.

"Nah, no fun." He says, also thinking, carefully ignoring the screeches behind us, "Slit their throats..."

"No, no," I say, suddenly struck with a brilliant idea, "We gotta bring out their bad sides, they're all as crazy as us, Mistah J. We shoot one, and leave the other two with a gun, with only two bullets in it. And madness ensues."

"Brilliant!" He exclaims, grabbing my shoulders and grinning. I get the urge to kiss him, but know I can't and stare at the middle girl over his shoulder, "Now, Precious, run and get me the gun... top shelf, third from the left."

I nod and exit the room, running the corridors stairs as quickly as I could, not wanting for him to be alone with those girls for too long. I grab the gun, a simple, black, expendable one, and tear back down the corridors to the room, where I regain my composure and go in, handing the Joker the gun with a smile.

As he takes out all but three bullets, carefully pocketing the others, I eye the girls with a smug look I haven’t worn for a while, crossing my arms slowly across my chest, "Which one?" He asks.

Without hesitating, I smile, an evil, cheek-splitting, disgusting grin, and stare right at the culprit, "Middle one." The other two gasp, but the middle one simply stares straight back at me, accepting of her fate, bitter as I was right now.

The Joker flashes me our secret look, and I grin widely, eager on getting my revenge, "Very well," He closes the clip on the gun, and points it at the girl, "Bye, bye girlie."

Just as he goes to pull the trigger I barge in front of him, tearing the gun from his hand, "No, let me do it."

The Joker bows his head and takes a small step back. I lean down to girl's eye level, and she holds my gaze, I'm glad she has the courage to do that. I raise the gun to her neck, just above her clavicle, and smile at her, before pulling the trigger. Tissue and blood explodes onto the wall behind her, and the two other girls scream and scream and scream. Because I'm so close to her, I hear her choking, rasping breath as she slowly suffocates, and I watch the life drain from her eyes. I was surprised the bullet didn't shatter her spine, but enjoyed it anyway; glad she died slowly, painfully. I watch as the small light burned out in her eyes, and stood up, satisfied.

I drop the gun into her lap, and see the other two girls eye it carefully. The Joker and I move around to the backs of their chairs, and untie them, letting the ropes stay where they fall, before taking each other's hands, and walking round the two, our hands overhead the girls. He lets me go out first, hand on my hip, and smiles at me, "I love you Cally." He whispers.

I smile, and take the camera upstairs, and to the kitchen, where I'm hoping to find the goons. I take the video out of the camera, and hand it to the Joker, telling him I'll get one of the henchmen to deliver it.

As I push open the kitchen door, I see it full, and start to feel the beginnings of doubt ebbing into my system, despite the high I've just had from the girls. I take a deep breath, and clench my fingers around the video to stop them shaking.

"Hey boys," I say, even though every eye is on me already, "Listen. I know, we're not on the best of terms," One of them snorts, and I close my eyes briefly for a second, "Let me finish. I'm sorry for that, we got off on the wrong foot, and I don't want to be fighting with you. I'm sorry if I was arrogant, I was struggling, with God knows what. I don't want to be at... loggerheads, for want of a better word." I take a huge breath and a small step forward, wondering if I'm getting anywhere.

"Look, I'm a good... tool. I can talk to the boss, persuade him to do things you want. I can get you a night off, y'know, talk to him about it. I'm useful! I'm nice... Waddaya say?"

I don't dare look up from my video, and simply wait, baited breath, until one of them speaks up, and I'm thankful for it, "Sure."

A few seconds later I hear a symphony of agreement, and my spirits seem to lift, "I'll talk to him about that night off, it wont be a problem... thanks."

There's a moment of almost comfortable silence between us, before I remember the video in my hands, before looking up and gesturing with it, "Who knows where Commissioner Gordon's house is?"

They all look around, and someone answers with a yes, though it takes me a moment to realise who it is.

Adam.

He avoids my eyes, and as I step forward, keeps his gaze over my shoulder, "Could you take this to him? Quickly as possible..." I hand him the video, and he takes it off me sharply.

"Sure, I'll go now." His voice is a flat monotone, and I wonder whether that's my doing, sadly, as I step back and let him pass. I look up, as I hear the kitchen door close behind him, and start to see warmth in the faces of the men before me. I smile, weakly at them, until I realise this isn't where I should be. I should be apologising with my oldest friend.

I follow into the hall, and catch Adam just before he goes up the steps, "Hey Adam. I'm sorry."

He turns back, slowly, and I begin to see my old friend behind his eyes, "I know."

"I was going through so much, but even that doesn’t excuse what I did. I was wrong, I'm better now, I may be a psychopathic murderer, but I'm a happy one, and I'm a sorry one... I really am sorry Adam, I understand why you didn't try to save me. And I'm glad for it, it made me who I was," I take a step closer, so I can lower my voice to any intruding ears, "I've found the man I want to spend the rest of my life with in Gotham's number one. And I don’t think any of it would've happened if it weren't for you. Keep that secret, no one can know..."

"I'm sorry too, Pixie," God, it had been so long since I'd hear that name, "I've missed you."

"Yeah, you too."

I embrace him, strong arms around me, and smile into his shoulder, before I pull back at watch my oldest friend leave the hideout, knowing things were finally fixed. My grin is solid as I spin back to my bedroom, into the arms of my love and my clown. Beneath our declarations of love, if I listened carefully enough, beneath the footfalls of our dancing, beneath the sounds of our kisses, I heard the screams and cries of girls held hostage within our little games, and I grin, wide.

Perfect.