Falling Apart

By the time Adelaide had finished telling the Joker everything she knew about the situation, it was well into the night and she'd been exhausted. She'd asked him to come to bed with her, but he insisted that he had to 'take care of something'. She didn't like the sound of it, but she could barely keep her eyes open and couldn't really argue with him.

When she woke up, it was almost one o'clock the next afternoon. She got out of bed and changed her clothes, wandering around the big house and finding it empty. After getting herself some food, she settled into the couch shoved against the wall in J's study to wait for him.

She must have fallen asleep, because the next thing she knew, J was shaking her awake and calling her name frantically. Her eyes snapped open and he seemed to soften with relief.

"I thought..." he trailed off, and she didn't need him to finish the sentence to know what he'd been about to say.

"I just fell asleep. I'm okay," she told him, and he nodded slightly. "Where were you?"

"I went to go try to figure something out about this facility and your sister's involvement with it," he said, and she recognized the look he was giving her as one that meant he was intending on keeping most of the details to himself.

"You know you've got to tell me more than that, right?" she asked, and his eyes cleared and he nodded.

"Yes. Well, the facility goes by the name of 'KBF Industries', and from what I was able to find, your sister seems to run the entire operation. Her name is on the deed of the building, along with someone named Parker Smith. I wasn't able to find anything about what they actually do there, though. It's filed under 'government facility' in the city records, but there's nothing about what the facility is for. I'm going to send some men down there to get a look at the place. In the meantime-" J started his sentence, but was cut off by the sound of gunfire. A bullet flew through the window and right past Adelaide's head.

"Gun!" she yelled at J, holding her hand out for him to hand her one. He pulled out the one he always kept in his top desk drawer and handed it to her, pulling his own off of his hip.

They crouched in the corner behind the desk and listened. There were voices outside and as she listened, Adelaide heard her sister calling out orders.

"Get him. Under whatever means necessary, he dies. Do not, under any circumstances, harm Patient 114. Go!" Adrianna called, and before Adelaide could say anything, the front door of the house was busting open. J looked at her one last time before standing and leaving the room. She heard him saying something to whoever had just walked in, and then a flurry of gunshots rang out. Taking a deep breath, Adelaide stood and walked out into the hallway and saw J standing there covered in blood spatter but seemingly unharmed.

"Are you okay?" she asked him, and he nodded shortly.

"I'm fine. There are a few of them upstairs though," he said, his eyes flitting up there briefly. As they stood there, they heard the back door of the house bust open. J's eyes locked onto Adelaide's, and she knew he was asking her which issue she wanted to handle. She knew there was no end to this scenario where she didn't help, didn't get her hands dirty. J couldn't do it by himself.

"I'll go up," she told him and he nodded slightly, his eyes still locked onto hers. She'd never get used to how expressive his eyes were; he essentially wore his heart in his eyes instead of on his sleeve. She watched as they filled with love for her and then quickly shifted to something much more sinister as footsteps started falling through the kitchen and towards them. She grabbed him and kissed him hard before heading upstairs, squeezing him tight.

With a final look she headed quietly up the stairs, listening intently. She found the first man in J's bedroom and took him out before he could even turn to face her. She heard gunshots downstairs as she went into her own room and found another one going through her dresser. He raised his gun at her but then seemed to think twice.

"Look, we've just gotta take you back to the facility, that's all," he told her, talking to her like you might talk to a child.

"Yeah well, fuck you," she said, shooting him in the chest and watching him fall to the floor. She scoured the rest of the upstairs and found that those had been the only two. She crept back down the stairs and immediately saw that J and her sister were engaged in a fight just inside the front door.

"Adrianna!" she yelled, and they stopped their struggle and looked up at her for a moment.

"He's got to die, Adelaide! He's evil! Do you know how many of my men you just killed? He made you do that!" Adrianna yelled as Adelaide crossed the floor to them.

"He didn't make me do anything, Adrianna. You did when you showed up here and tried to kill both of us. You know that that first shot you fired was much closer to me than him, right?" she asked, and her sister shook her head.

"You have to come with me, Adelaide," Adrianna said, and J stepped back in between them.

"She has to do whatever she wants to do," he said, and Adelaide could tell just from his body language that the darker side of him was taking him over.

"J... Don't," Adelaide whispered, and she could see him shake his head just slightly from her position behind him.

"You need to get out of here, little girl," he said to Adrianna and she flashed him a smile that was much like his own.

"You gonna make me, huh? Is Big Bad Mister J gonna make me right here, in front of the girl he claims to love?" Adrianna taunted, and Adelaide could see the muscles in J's back tensing. His hand went to his hip as he removed his gun from its holster.

"You... need... to... go," he said, his voice strained.

"Adrianna, don't. Don't do this. Just go. Please," Adelaide said, stepping out from behind J to see that his face was unreadable. She knew he wasn't going to be able to keep himself together for much longer.

"Fine. I'll be back though, and next time I won't miss. That's a promise," Adrianna said, turning on her heel and walking back out the way she came.

"J..." Adelaide said a moment later, shutting the front door and stepping towards him. He raised a hand out in front of him, motioning for her to stop. He turned and walked briskly up the stairs, taking his phone out of his pocket as he went. He came back down a few minutes later, his clothes changed and his hair freshly slicked back.

"Get to the house. There's a mess that needs cleaning," he said into the phone as he passed Adelaide. He slammed the phone onto the kitchen counter and left out the back door without even looking at her. She knew he probably just had to cool down after controlling himself so tightly, but she couldn't help but feel stung by his sudden coldness.