Give Me a Smile

I fell asleep eventually, and woke up alone. I was still on my stomach. When I got up I could feel dried blood crumble off my skin, reminding me of what he had done. I went to the bathroom mirror and managed to see it after some maneuvering.
He had sliced ‘shush’ into my hip. The cuts were puffy and raised off my flesh. They stung when I touched them. Joker came back then. “Quinnie! I have, hooboy!, news for you.” He leaned against the bathroom door and snickered at me.
I was perched on the sink with my shirt lifted up, twisted around to see my hip. I could understand his amusement. “Enjoying your new marks, Quinn? Want some more?” I shrugged and turned to him.
I kind of liked having his marks on me. It was nice to belong to someone. “You have news for me?” Joker brightened and walked farther into the bathroom. “There’s a reward out for you! You’re worth, uh, about 100,000 bucks! I, haha, should turn you in myself.” I flinched. I didn’t want to leave him.
He grinned and sat on the edge of the tub. “I, ha!, I think that there’s a danger here. I don’t, hoo!, want to lose my scarred beauty and, haha, now that so much money is being offered for your pretty little life, people might try to take you from me.” He chuckled and put a hand on my knee. “Quinn, would you be willin’ to get a tattoo?”
I wondered what that had to do with people taking me from him, but I nodded. Joker sprayed someone at me and I passed out.

I woke up to a rocking motion. He was carrying me down a hallway. I shifted, murmuring, “Joker?” The back of my neck felt strange, kind of tingly. “Quinn. You’re up sooner than I thought you would be.” “Mhm. My neck feels weird.”
“I tattooed you there.” My hand went to my neck, where I felt stickiness and a bump under my fingers. “What’s that bump?”He chuckled softly. “I said I wasn’t gonna lose you. There’s a tracking device under your skin.”

That comforted me. Now he could find me no matter what happened. “Oh. Mkay. What does it say?” “Joker. It says Joker.” “I belong to you, then,” I said. He cackled, making me jump. “People like you are born, Quinnie.” I was a little confused by that, but I didn’t say anything.
We reached the apartment and he set me down. I still felt dizzy, but I was okay. He sat on the couch near me and sharpened his knives. He kept testing them out on my skin. I realized I didn’t mind. Every time I started bleeding he would smile. When he was done he threw his legs over mine and kissed my scars.

“I dunno what happened to make you so....faithful, ha!, but I like it,” he laughed. Then his face got serious. “I got, ah, a big thing coming up, Quinn. Gonna get together some friends for it and everything.” He grinned. “Some friends who know secrets, like how to play with people’s heads. Not like me, either. These friends are....chemical.”
I swallowed nervously. “Chemical? You mean....S-Scarecrow?” He nodded happily. “Ivy, too.” But I wasn’t scared of Poison Ivy. “You’re...you’re bringing Scarecrow here?” “Yep.” “W-When?” “A few, uh, hours.” Joker checked his watch. “Mhm. It’ll be getting dark soon.”

“Uh...uh...” I was freaking out, of course, but I didn’t want to show it. He moved next to me and put a hand around my neck, palm resting against my tattoo. His skin was very warm. “Why so serious, Quinn? Give me a smile.” I managed a shaky grin. “Now, don’t be so afraid of silly old Scarecrow. He, ha, he won’t touch what’s mine, cause if he does, he’ll, hoo boy!, he’ll learn what fear really is!”

I nodded as he wrapped my hair around his hand and tugged until I was looked up at him. Joker pulled a knife across my forehead, only just deep enough to cut. He licked away the blood and I giggled, forgetting my fear for a moment. He stood up, pulling me with him, then spun me around and took my face in his hands. “There we go. Smile!”