You Ought to Smile More

The Joker drove around for nearly two hours trying to figure out where The Riddler could have taken Caprice. He was parked by the bay looking out at the water. Where the hell was she? The Joker’s phone began to ring and he answered it quickly.

“Boss, you got a package,” Doc said over the phone.

“Who’s it from?” he asked starting his truck back up.

“The Riddler. He left a riddle on here too…” Doc trailed off. The Joker wanted to kill something as he sped back to the hideout.

“Read it,” he demanded getting off the highway.

“The happy one is gone
And the next won’t take too long.”

“Dammit! I’m outside,” he snapped his phone shut and ran into the apartment building. Doc was already putting the video tape into the player when The Joker burst into the room. He stood in front of the TV waiting for it to start.

“I’m beginning to understand why you like taping things so much, Joker. That’s sadistic,” The Riddle said from somewhere outside the screen.

“Happy is bringing Caprice to me; he should he here right about now.” There was screaming from behind a door and the Joker saw Happy kick it open. He had Caprice thrown over his shoulder and she was hitting his back and yelling at him.

“Put me down! Take me back to The Joker!” she screamed and flailed around. The Joker’s lip curled back in anger and he had to tense every muscle in his body to keep himself from throwing the TV across the room.

“You can set the girl down over there.” The Riddler’s hand came into view and he pointed to a chair with straps around it. Happy followed his orders and set a still struggling Caprice into the chair and strapped her down.

“So about the money—“ Happy was cut off.

“What money?” The Riddler asked. For once, Happy’s smile was gone and he looked confused.

“You said a million for the girl. Here’s the girl now give me my money!” Happy wasn’t so happy any more.

“There’s something you should learn about criminals in Gotham. Don’t trust any of them.” Caprice stopped moving and stared at the camera with wide eyes. The Riddler’s hand came back into view, but this time there was a gun in it. Happy held up his hands and backed away.

“Forget the money—“

“I can't just let you leave. You might go back to The Joker and tell him where this place is. Thank you for your hard work,” The Riddler snorted and pulled the trigger. Caprice screamed and turned her head away when the bullet lodged itself into Happy’s skull. He dropped to the ground dead and a puddle of blood formed around him.

“There, now your kidnapper is dead. You should be thanking me,” The Riddler focused the camera on Caprice. She bit her lip and kept looking away from the two men, one of which was now dead.

“This is getting fun. I hope you like this little gift, Jokey.” The camera snapped off and the screen went fuzzy. The Joker grabbed then nearest thing to him and threw it across the room. The glass coffee table shattered against the wood floor, but no one moved a muscle; all were too afraid of their boss when he was mad.

The Joker sat down on the couch and stared at the fuzzy screen deep in thought. Nothing jumped out as a clue to where they could be… He might actually need help. The clown prince nearly growled out loud at the thought.

He’ll never need help! He’s THE Joker for God’s sake…

But this was Caprice and no matter how much he tried to deny it, that girl had made him soft and she was his only weakness. The Joker ground his teeth together thinking about it. Once his men had finally cleaned up his mess, he stood up and took the tape out of the player and put it inside his jacket pocket.

There was only one person who could help him now and asking them just might be the death of him…

~*~

Bruce sat in his study signing business contracts and letting his mind wander back to Caprice. How was she doing now? Ever since she attacked him, he for some reason worried more about her. What if The Joker had brain washed her and now she was swimming with the fishes?

He would blame himself for not getting to her sooner… He let out a heavy sigh just before Alfred knocked on the door.

“Master Wayne?”

“Yes, Alfred?” he asked when Alfred barely opened the big oak door.

“The bat signal is up.” That was all he needed to hear. Bruce was down to his bat cave in a matter of minutes and then speeding down the road on his Bat Pod. He drove into the alley behind the police station and hid his motorcycle before climbing the side stairs up to the roof.

When he reached the top, he was surprised to say the least. The Joker was leaning against the Bat signal with his hands in his overcoat pockets. Gordan was glaring at him from a few feet away.

“What’s going on?” he asked in his husky voice. The Joker and Gordan turned to look at him. The Joker grinned widely and pushed himself off of the flood light, walking towards him.

“I uh need to ask a little something of you,” he said licking his lips and smiling wider so his scars stretched across his face in a sick smirk. Bruce held back his grimace and stayed in Batman mode.

“Or I could take you downstairs and have you locked up for good,” he snapped stepping forward.

“Ah ah ah ah, hold it Batsy,” The Joker tsked and opened his coat to show the vigilante all the grenades hidden away and ready to blow with the pull of a string. When The Batman didn’t move, The Joker continued; both acted like Gordan wasn’t there at all.

“A pest seems to have made itself a pain in my ass.”

“The Riddler,” The Batman filled in. The Joker giggled and tugged the the string attached to the grenades softly to keep from being completely still. Gordan finally stepped forward and stood next to Batman.

“Why are you here?” he asked. The Joker rolled his eyes and smacked his lips.

“I was getting there until I was so rudely interrupted-uh. The pest has taken what is mine and made it nearly impossible for me to get it back—“

“Caprice,” The Batman filled in again.

“I don’t know whether to be happy that you’re more than just muscle or angry for the constant interruptions…” The Joker mumbled before giggling again and pulling the TV tape out of his jacket.

“He gave me this. You can do what you want with it, but I’m telling you this now. I am not working with the cops or Batman. The more the men in blue are involved, the harder it will be for him,” The Joker said smirking before walking backwards to the ladder.

“I uh hope to see some progress soon,” he said setting the tape down next to the flood light and hopping down the ladder. The Batman ran to the edge, but only caught a glimpse of a truck as he sped away.

“What are you going to do?” Gordan asked. The Batman turned around and stared at him and the video tape in his hand.

“The first thing is to watch the video and then go from there.”