To the Point of Obsession

"So, why didn't we go to the mob guys now?" I asked again, hoping the seventh time would be a charm.

He turned from his phone call, and the scatter of papers, and grabbed my long hair, wrapping it amongst his fingers, pulling my face an inch from his. "You say one more word to me, and I'll break the other side of your face, okay, toots?"

I nodded as he threw me back, making me hit the wall. I made a noise similar to a cat's hiss, and walked back to my room, oh excuse me, the Joker's room and collapsed on the bed. I looked around, noticing the weird things in his room. He had a few books, along with shelves full of weird knick knacks. I smiled slightly as I realized I had discovered a human side of him. He had a few pictures, but most were torn, or had faces ripped off. One picture showed the Joker as a child, with wiry hair and a huge smile.

He was cute as a little kid.

He still is.

Say what?!

Well… he's kinda cute, I mean accepting of himself.

"Oh my dear God, I'm losing my fucking mind," I mumbled, turning and running smack into Doug.

"Yeah, we all do," he said, smiling. "But you'd best get out of his room."

I nodded and followed him out, glancing at the pictures. "Was he always like he is now?"

"J?"

"Yeah," I said, following him up the stairs, to a more roomy part of the warehouse.

"For as long as I knew him, yeah. He used to have a girlfriend, almost, and she made him saner."

"Really? What happened to her?" I asked, sitting down at the table. It looked as though there was another identical level, like the one that the Joker lived on.

"He made her leave, she was cheating on him."

"Really? He told me this girl he liked her a lot, but she said he didn't smile enough. So he got these pills, and he made himself… smiley. But she cheated on him, with Batman, and then… I don't know."

"He was already crazy, but she did cheat on him. She got captured, because the bat found out how close Joke and she were. Call it Stolkholm Syndrome, but shit happened."

"Oh," I said, closing my eyes. I had always thought we could be together, but now, I knew danger would be even more prominent. I didn't want to risk it for something he'd most likely never return.

He sighed, then continued, "He was quiet for over a month after the incident, not talking, only eating a little bit, and not even laughing. Then he saw a picture of you on the news, (while you were robbing someplace) and he just said, 'get me that girl.' And now you're here."

I nodded, and then jumped when a hand clamped on my shoulder. I looked up and grinned sheepishly at the Joker, "Hey…"

"Go do something," he said, pushing me out of the chair. "I need to talk to Doug alone."

I nodded, getting out of the seat and walking to the door. "Joke, can I have some money so I can go shopping?" I asked, smiling sweetly. It's not like I needed clothes, but I wanted to go do something that wasn't related to taking over Gotham.

He sighed, then thrust his hand into his pocket, pulling out his worn out leather wallet. Taking out a few bills, he shoved his hand at me. "Where are you going?"

"The mall probably, or just down town," I replied, sticking the money in my pocket as I walked back down the stairs. I walked out, and then stood awkwardly by the curb, staring at the empty sidewalk.

I didn't know what to drive. I turned around, going to go back to ask the Joker what I should drove, but he was standing in the doorway, a set of keys in his hand.

"You can take the Mustang… or the Cadillac. I don't care."

He turned, walking back into the warehouse without another word.

I smiled and walked around to the garage. I smiled as I saw a black Mustang convertible. I sat in the car, jammed the keys in the ignition and sped out of the warehouse district went to downtown Gotham.