You Ought to Smile More

I looked at the clock and saw how late it was. The Joker never gave me a specific time but just said don’t be late. I groaned and finally grabbed my purse and coat.

I told Todd I was going to see Jane again and I didn’t know when I was going to be home. He seemed happy that I was going out with friends. If only he knew the truth…

I got into my car and put the keys in to start it with shaking hands. I was so nervous. What if The Joker changed his mind and decided to kill me. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before starting the drive to the abandoned building I was taken to yesterday.

I got a few minutes later and parked around the side so my car was out of sight. Knocking on the front door, I waited for someone to answer it. The clown known as Doc opened it and let me in.

“Good, you’re on time,” he told me.

“The Joker never told me a time to come,” I whispered.

“He never does,” Doc said just as quietly and led me into a room where there was Happy, Grumpy, The Joker and 2 other men in clown masks.

“Caprice, you made it. Good choice. You already know, Happy, Grumpy, and Doc. This is Dopey, and Bashful. Sleepy is well, sleeping. These are my seven dwarfs,” The Joker giggled. Wait, there were only 6 even if you counted Sleepy who was sleeping on the sofa.

“Where’s Sneezy?” I asked seeing as they all had names from Snow White.

“Hm? Sneezy!!” The Joker yelled. A man ran into the room with a tissue covering his nose. He sniffled and looked at The Joker. Wow… these men lived up to their names.

“Caprice, Sneezy is in charge of everything having to do with technology. Dopey is more like our distracter. He’s not too uh good with guns ya know? Sleepy is good at cracking codes so he usually stays here with Sneezy. Then Bashful, Doc, Grumpy, and Happy are my main men,” he said with a proud smile.

He had all the bases covered with his seven dwarfs even though they weren’t short like dwarfs at all…

“Do I get to go home tonight? If not then I need to call Todd and let him know…” I said softly. The Joker smiled and looked me over with a grin.

“You can go home tonight, but not before we talk business. Caprice, come with me, you guys look at the blue prints I gave you,” the six guys nodded and went to wake up Sleepy. I followed The Joker back into the room that I was kept in before. He sat down at his desk and this time there was a chair in front of his desk for me. I sat down on it.

“Look at this,” he slid me a yellow legal pad with a list of names on it. Some were crossed out and others were circled.

“What is this?” I asked.

“My list of batman possibilities. The ones crossed out aren’t batman because they are dead. The ones circled are the ones under surveillance and the other ones with nothing on them I haven’t looked into yet, but I still suspect them,” he explained.

“Why do you trust me so much that you’re showing me this?” I asked reading over the list. The Joker giggled.

“I know you won’t go against me or else I’ll kill you,” it was short and simple, but very clear that he meant business and that I was going to help whether I wanted to or not.

The names crossed out were names I hadn’t seen before, but a few were circled like Harvey Dent, James Gordan, and a few others having to do with the police force. Then I saw Bruce’s name. It wasn’t circled so I was relieved, but really. Bruce?

“Why do you have Bruce on here?” I asked looking at him. The Joker folded his hands together and licked his lips.

“He’s a rich playboy that has a lot of money. He can buy anything and maybe he got bored and created The Batman. You never know…” he almost sounded serious which was weird. I smiled and almost laughed.

“I just can't see him giving up one nights stands to go fight crime,” I laughed. The Joker raised an eyebrow and grinned.

“That’s actually where you come in,” he told me.

“Huh?”

“I need you to get closer to Bruce and find out whether he is or isn’t Batman. I also want to you find out about Harvey Dent. Bruce had a thing with Harvey’s girl, Rachel. Ask him about them,” he told me, no sign of amusement on his face. I nodded.

“Good, I’ll check in again tomorrow. Leave your lunch open for me so I don’t have to scale your building again.” I nodded and stood up.

“Good night,” I whispered before leaving the room and the building. I let out a long breath as soon as I was in my car. At least he plans on keeping me around for a while as long as I'm useful to him.

I started to drive home and soon a weird motorcycle was following behind me. My heart beat picked up a little and I sped up so I could get to Todd’s apartment. I drove into the parking garage and didn’t see the motorcycle.

I got out and locked my car. I must be paranoid and overreacting because of The Joker and all his planning. I put my keys into my purse and turned around and almost scream. A black gloved hand was shoved against my house so I wouldn’t scream. How many times am I going to be assaulted in a parking garage?!

“I’m going to take my hand away and I expect you not to scream,” I realized it was Batman by his deep voice and finally noticed his black outfit.

I nodded and he removed his hand from my face. I took in a shaky breath and stared at the masked vigilante in front of me.

“Were you following me?” I asked, but he didn’t answer me.

“I’ll be asking the questions,” he informed me.

“Where were you tonight?” I froze and my stomach dropped in fear.

“I went out to see a friend and now I'm coming home,” I said softly. The batman showed no emotion on his face.

“What friend?”

“Jane,” I said using the same friend I told Todd I was going to see. I was almost dying to tell The Batman about The Joker and where his hideout was, but I scared he wouldn’t be able to catch him and then I would die at the hands of that clown.

“Really?” I nodded my head yes, but I bet my eyes looked like they were screaming no.

“I’m finding it hard to believe. It looked like you were driving back from the ship yard. What kind of friend lives there?” he asked.

“Obviously not the kind you associate with,” I retorted. The Batman’s frown grew and his upper lip twitched.

“Caprice, tell me what you were doing tonight in the ship yard. We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” he warned me. Easy way please!!

“I wasn’t doing anything, just visiting a friend,” I stayed to my alibi, but I could tell The Batman was getting frustrated with me.

“Hard way it is then,” he growled and shoved me against my car. I winced when he yanked my hands behind my back and cuffed them.

“Sorry Caprice, but I think you were up to something and we are going to talk to Gordan about what that may have been.” Great now I’m being arrested. Thanks a lot Joker…