Falling Apart

When Adelaide's eyes opened again, she was tied to a chair and her wrists burned where the ropes touched her skin. She looked down at them and realized they glowed with the sickening green color that she was beginning to recognize so well.

"It's called Chemical M, in case you were wondering. Parker, my fiancee, thought of it. 'Chemical Mutant'. I thought it was stupid, but he insisted," a voice Adelaide recognized at once said, and she looked up to see her sister standing in front of her holding a cattle prod. "And this sweet little thing is actually an invention of your Mister J there," Adrianna said, waving the prod around. "A cattle prod but times about fifty. Basically, it sucks."

Adelaide looked around the room and saw that the walls were absolutely covered in blood. There was a small heap in one corner that she eventually recognized as the Joker. He was shirtless and every surface of him was stained with blood. He looked at her with sad, desperate eyes. Everything about him just looked... defeated. Her entire body throbbed as she looked at him, and all she wanted to do was go to him.

"Adelaide," he said in a small hoarse voice. When he spoke, Adrianna crossed the room and shoved the prod into his shoulder. His head collapsed into his knees in pain.

"Adrianna! Why are you doing this?" Adelaide screamed at her sister in a pleading tone.

"Why couldn't you have just left it alone, Adelaide? Huh? We erased your fucking memories for a reason!" Adrianna yelled. Of course they'd erased her memories, Adelaide thought to herself.

"You might have erased my memories, but whose fault is it that I showed up to the apartment I thought I lived in to find it empty? You didn't do a very good job at selling your story," Adelaide said, spitting the words at her sister.

"Yeah, well, really the goal was to just get you away from that... thing," she said, pointing at the Joker with her cattle prod.

"Why do you hate him so much, Adrianna? Seriously," Adelaide started. "I know he's not the best person, but this isn't just you doing your civic duty or some shit. You've got some sort of vendetta."

"He... he killed my Parker, okay? I didn't fully put it together until I got that letter from him about you. Before then I was fully convinced that he was dead because that's what the news always said. But then I got that letter and I knew it had to be from him. You'd always been so fucking fascinated with him before, it wasn't surprising at all that you ended up getting mixed up with him. But, Addy, he's not what you think he is. He's a murderer. He kills people in cold blood and it's not right," Adrianna said, tears in her eyes.

"So... what? You bring him here and torture him and kill him? That's the plan? That makes you just as bad as him," Adelaide shot back.

"He deserves this!" Adrianna screamed, hitting the Joker again with the cattle prod. His collapsed body convulsed for a minute and then fell completely still, his eyes sliding all the way shut.

"No!" Adelaide roared, straining against the ropes that were holding her with all of her strength. Suddenly they started to unravel around her and flew off, soaring to all corners of the room.

"No..." Adrianna repeated, her eyes wide. "Addy..." she whispered.

Adelaide crossed the room in a few steps until she was right in front of her sister. She stared her in the eye for a moment and then smacked her hard across the face, using all the strength she had. She fell to the floor instantly, motionless.

Adelaide crouched down beside the Joker and reached a shaky hand to him. She touched his shoulder gently, and as soon as her fingers reached him, her vision blurred with images of him. Her heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest. She still didn't really have her memories, but she knew more than ever that she had some sort of intense feelings for him deep inside.

"Mister... J?" she asked quietly, not totally sure what else to call him. She felt for his pulse and he had one, but just barely. "Mister J, come on. Wake up, please," she whispered, taking his hand in hers and squeezing it tightly. "Please."

Finally, a few minutes later, his eyes slid open slowly. He stared at her blankly for a moment and then seemed to recognize her. The hand that Adelaide still held squeezed hers back. "Addy..." he whispered, blood dripping from his nose.

"Hi," she whispered, so happy he was alive. "Can you stand, do you think?" she asked him, and he thought about it for a moment and then nodded slowly. She helped him up carefully, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and ultimately supporting most of his weight. With a final look at her sister still motionless on the floor, she led him slowly to the door. When she opened it, Rory and Anthony practically fell through the doorway.

"Mister J! Miss Adelaide!" Anthony yelled, looking at them with concern on his face. "The door wouldn't open, no matter what we did. It had to be some sort of magic. We've been trying as hard as we could the whole time you were in there," he said, his eyes darting quickly between Adelaide and the Joker.

"We're fine but we've got to get him to a doctor and I need one of you to grab my sister. Don't hurt her, but she's coming with us. Tie her up or something. She's probably not going to be out for much longer," Adelaide ordered, looking at the two concerned men in front of her.

"Mister J has a doctor that comes to the house when he needs it. I'll call him. Rory, grab the sister," Anthony said, and Rory nodded.

Adelaide made her way out of the house, still leading the Joker along with her. He was quiet except for a few grunts of exertion here and there. She put him into the SUV gently, practically lifting his entire weight to do so. She went to close the door but he grabbed her wrist tightly.

"Don't leave me, Addy. Please," he whispered hoarsely, his eyes wide but so tired. "I need you." She walked to the other side of the car and slid in beside him.

"I'm here," she told him quietly as he rested his head heavily on her shoulder. She reached up and pushed his hair back off of his face, her thumb stroking his cheek lightly. "I'm here, J."