Death's a Joke.

The Joker clipped the end of the newspaper article before pinning it against one of the walls. The original brick was covered by a patchwork of newsprint; whether it be pictures or text they all followed the similar theme, they were all about Ace.

He sat in the middle of the room, skimming each piece as if staring at a puzzle whose pieces didn’t seem to match. His face scrunched up in anger at his obsession, nothing made her special, no amazing beauty, talent or redeeming feature he thought to himself. His hands shredded the hundreds of information that covered the walls before he began heavy breathing which faded into a hysterical cry of laughter.

“Good evening, twinkles,” Taunted the Joker as he stood over Ace whose eyes had just snapped open as his voice hit her ears.

“What the hell you do mean by twinkles?” She snarled back, bringing the cat that had just begun to hiss at the make-up covered man.

“Well you are the ‘Ace of Diamonds’ after all, now, Ace if you’d like to follow me…which you wouldn’t so I guess I’ll just have to make you,” The Joker replied, snatching her by the waist causing the cat to fall off and scamper into the night.

Ace tried to grab the cat as it dashed past but the Joker stopped her, only to be forced into listening to her rant. After a few kicks and complaints Ace began to settle as she was flung over his right shoulder, her face close to his. Ace looked at him fascinated before her hand reached out and poked the scar nearest to her causing him to flinch and jerk his head as he smirked in delight.

“Wanna know how I got these scars? Well you see...” The Joker began smacking his lips and licking the corners of this mouth, his tongue touching the scars slightly.

“Hey Jokie I didn’t say I wanted to know, y’know you’d only lie. You might hang out with them goons of yours but I’m a lone wolf – I think I know the truth when I hear it,” Cut in Ace in a low growl, her index finger lightly tracing her own trademark scars.

The Joker gritted his teeth before laughing; his grip tightening so that is was harder for her to breath as he carried on following his own route. After about ten minutes an old building came into view where two goons stood outside on guard.

“Wow, very subtle…I would of never been suspicious of two men dressed as clowns with weapons outside a place,” Muttered Ace sarcastically as the Joker put her down; gripping her wrists so she could only move a limited area.

The Joker ignored her as he dragged her into the building, two more men stood inside, passing him menus as another appeared leading them over to a table in the middle of the room, Ace studied the restaurant that was one of the busiest places in Gotham a few minutes ago. The Joker sat and let go of her wrist. After looking around the place she sat down so that she could see his face in the dim lit room.