With all the events that occurred the few, short weeks after Kat had gotten back to the house, she had constantly expected Joker to lose all patience and revert back to how he had been when she had first been taken by him, seemingly years ago now, but what was peculiar was that he never did.

Her first morning back at the house she had woken to half of an empty bed stretching in front of her, and after stepping onto the landing from Joker's bedroom she had immediately ventured to her room to check on Murphy, trying to ignore the potent stench of coffee from downstairs. As she knew she would, the first she saw, or rather, smelled, was the mess Murphy had had no choice but to leave in the corner. But just as Kat had gone to take a step into the room, Murphy had darted off of the bed and zoomed under her legs and downstairs. With a gasp, Kat instantly turned around to chase him down the stairs and into the kitchen, hoping it wasn't too late, but upon reaching the bottom Kat paused cautiously at the arch.

Joker had been sitting at his spot at the table, newspaper in his hand, a coffee mug in the other, and naturally Murphy had chosen to run right up to him. Now, as Kat stepped into the kitchen, Joker was staring down at the gray ball of fuzz, his eyebrow cocked as he watched the cat rub against his leg. Kat sucked in a breath as she prepared from him to grab the kitty and break its neck or throw him across the room, but rather, Joker had glanced up to look at her, the look in his eyes saying it all. Kat quickly stepped forward to grab Murphy, and without another word she had scurried up the stairs, cursing to herself all the while for that near deathly mistake she had allowed to happen.

And that hadn't been the only encounter Joker had with Murphy. After Kat had picked up a few cat supplies, and after she had sworn to Joker that would not happen again, Murphy, once again, escaped with a run from Kat's room, and by sheer dumb luck had run right into Joker's office just as he was opening the door to leave the room. Slightly startled, Joker had turned with disbelieve to watch as Murphy went to hide under the desk, and following right after was Kat stomping her way down the stairs. She paused directly in front of Joker, and she swallowed as she stared up at him. Delicious fear was prominent in her eyes as she stared up at him, but Joker was in no mood to enjoy it. With a roll of his eyes, he shifted his weight to his right as he held open the door for Kat, his silent way of granting her access inside to grab her stupid animal.

"That's strike two, Kitty-Kat," Joker had told her as she stepped back into the hallway, protectively holding the cat in her arms. "I'd hate to see what happens after strike three." Joker flashed her a wide, teeth-filled smile, and with her heart racing Kat ran back up the stairs to return Murphy into her room.

As the weeks went on, Kat was quick to re-adjust back to life at the house. It took no time for Rocco and Henshaw to immediately get under her skin, and before Joker knew it, her bratty, storming up the stairs moods were back. But he did nothing to correct this, and instead had to admit to himself that he had somewhat missed it. Plus, it was entertaining to watch Kat get so angry, and it was even better to have to call her into his room to 'correct' her attitude.

The day after her arrival back home Joker had easily fallen back into his normal ways with her, as he promised himself he would. It was clear to him that Kat still felt a little uneasy as she continued to adjust, but after the first week or so Joker remembered she had always acted somewhat uneasy, and he simply shrugged it off, deciding it best to just enjoy her tiptoe.

Gotham had seemed to completely shut down with the news of their beloved mayor's death. As planned, his slain body had been found in the back of his abandoned limo, deep within an alleyway in downtown Gotham. The city went into an immediate panic as officials scrambled to figure the mystery out. Everybody had their hunches, their correct hunches, but there was simply no evidence to prove that Joker had done it, and there were no signs pointing to who had helped him. Hamilton Hill's family, child, dog and all, had been found murdered in their own house, as were a few other members on Hill's team. City officials, or rather, corrupted city officials, advised the city that panicking was not the answer, and they urged to start an instant campaign for a new mayor while a replacement was put in place for the time being. Joker had sat watching the news at the house late at night, laughing as his plan unfolded. All of the men who were preparing to set up the campaigns and prepare the city for an immediate election had been in on Joker's plan since day one, which had started years ago. Slowly, Joker had begun to get his own men within the system, much like the way he had with police, and finally the day had come to put his long awaited plans into action.

Now, after a rigorous, quick and to the point campaigns, on the night that the new elected mayor would be announced, Joker had been in his office, making a few necessary calls, all while Kat had been in the kitchen, involuntarily doing the dishes. Rocco and Henshaw sat in their spots at the table, each sharing parts of the newspaper while they talked amongst themselves. And as always, their topic of choice was none other than Kat's return, as it had been the over the last few weeks.

"Did it make you upset to see your friend die?" Rocco laughed as he glared at the back of Kat's head. "You just wait, soon it'll be that fuckin' cat you had to bring home."

Kat's lips thinned as she took a deep breath in through her nose, and she continued with hand washing the dishes, her hands a wet, slippery and soapy mess. Behind her the twins continued to laugh, until Rocco's laughter started to quiet down.

"But seriously," he began. "You shoulda' just stayed there. Fuckin' Bozo... what an idiot..."

"Shut up," Kat finally spoke up, her tone heavily laced with annoyance, and Rocco grinned as he looked over to his snickering brother.

"What's the matter, Kat?" Henshaw spoke up in a false, saddened tone. "Are we annoying you?"

"Good," Rocco interrupted, for he already knew the answer to his brother's question. "Maybe you'll finally leave for good. You have no fuckin' purpose here."

"What about the Joker?" Henshaw asked his brother in all seriousness. "He seems to-"

"It's all a joke," Rocco interrupted again. "He'll kill her soon. You hear that, Kat? You're as good as dead. You always have been. He's just torturing you. You wait, he'll get you when you least expect it, I know it."

Ignoring them was getting harder and harder. Kat continued to breathe in and out deeply as she wondered what was making them randomly go on and on about this, more so than usual. A part of her believed them, but another part knew, or at least wanted to believe that they were lying. But as she neared the final dishes to be cleaned, the clean stack on the other side of the sink growing larger and larger, Rocco and Henshaw had started to laugh at something again. But this time the laughter was harder, Kat had not heard what they had said to start it, but now, mixed in with their wheezing, Rocco tried to speak, only to fall into a fit of hard laughter again. Kat's blood was boiling, the annoying noise was going in through her ears and straight to her brain and rattling it to the point where she couldn't take it anymore. She was sick of their taunting, she was sick of them, and at that moment she was sick of their laughter.

"Shut up!" Kat picked up the closest object to her, a dirty coffee mug, and she spun around on her heel to throw the mug as hard as she could towards Rocco's head. His eyes widening, he quickly leaned to the side, and the noise of the mug shattering against the wall behind him echoed all throughout the house. Her fists clenched, her blood running hot, Kat tried to control her anger, but it was proving useless. Rocco and Henshaw were staring at her in disbelief, and once Kat had turned to storm out of the kitchen she paused suddenly with a gasp, and she stared at Joker, who stood leaning in the arch.

He had seen the entire thing, and now with a slight grin he leaned away from the wall to clap his bare hands slowly. "Bravo," he said sarcastically as he let his hands drop to his sides. "You two really set her off this time." He looked to Kat, enjoying the look of fear on her face, and he stepped closer to her. "Kat, dear, we really need to work on that temper. And Rocco? Henshaw? I suggest you two grow up, for next time it might not be a cup that she throws at you. Are we all clear?"

"Yes, boss," Rocco answered once Joker had turned to him, but Kat said nothing once Joker looked over at her. He reached out to gently take hold of her arm, and he made her step ahead of him before he began to lead her out of the kitchen.

"Clean that up," he told the brothers simply before he and Kat exited the kitchen, and he lead her into the living room. He sat down in his normal spot, and he nodded next to him, waiting for Kat to do the same. Finally, she slowly lowered herself down, and she nervously looked to the TV once Joker turned it on.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"We, Kitty-Kat," Joker began as he easily started to forget about the fiasco in the kitchen, "are going to witness the results of the election."

"Already?" Kat questioned. "But it's only been a couple of weeks."

"As planned, Kat," Joker told her cheerfully, and as his way of telling her to be quiet he lifted the remote up and notched up the volume. "Now, watch." He nodded towards the TV, and Kat finally glanced over to it, just in enough time to watch as Gotham's new mayor, Conrad Gibbins, stepped up to the podium. Under the harsh lights his wrinkles seemed more intense, and Mr. Gibbins's facial expression clearly expressed he most certainly did not want to be there. But regardless, he had a job to do, his life depended on it, and finally he cleared his throat.

"I would like to address all my fellow Gotham citizens, not only those in this room, but those who... voted for me... those who did not, and those who chose not to partake in this hectic election." The new mayor cleared his throat and looked down, a saddened expression on his face, but he forced himself to face the crowd again and go on.

"I have lived here my whole life," he went on, his old voice shaking. "My goal during this campaign, and my goal that will continue from here on out, is to simply clean this city up. Cleanse it of crime, cleanse it of evil, and cleanse it of corruption. I want to see this proud city stand tall again, and I want to show the world how awesome Gotham City really is." Conrad took a deep breath as he glanced down again to his speech cards, and he cleared his throat again as he placed his hands onto the podium, his mouth hanging open slightly as he paused, as if in thought.

"Good touch," Joker commented quietly as he nodded his head slightly. Kat's eyebrows met in the middle as she glanced over to him, but once she realized how intently Joker's eyes were glued to the television, she glanced back over to it just as Conrad started to speak again.

"During this catastrophe that was dear, Hamilton Hill's and his family's death, rest their souls, I learned a few things about the citizens of this city. I learned how compassionate we are. I learned how devoted we all are. And most importantly, thanks to your votes, I learned that we have the greatest will power that any city has ever seen. And I promise, Gotham, I will represent all three of those great aspects-"

"Oh, yeah," Joker laughed slightly. "Compassionate, devoted, and full of will. That definitely describes us!" He lifted his fist into the air with false enthusiasm.

Kat detected a large amount of sarcasm in his voice as he spoke over the mayor, but she did not look over to him this time, and instead focused on the TV herself.

"I have lived during this tragedy. I remained strong during this campaign, to show Gotham that this can be done, and throughout all the chaos, I know what must be done to pull our city out of this terrible, emotional depression. And that's what my administration will be about. We are going to pull Gotham out of this mess, and we are going to cleanse the city of corruption. We are going to come back more compassionate, devoted, and stronger than ever. Thank you."

As Conrad stepped away from the podium the audience began to clap, and Kat glanced over to Joker once he started to clap stupidly as well.

"Beautiful," he said. "Short, but very touching. Don't you think, Kat?" He glanced over to her, his eyebrows raised, but he didn't give her a chance to answer, and instead he reached out to grab her arm, and he gently but forcibly pulled her closer to him, and once her body touched his, he placed his arm around her shoulders and looked back to the TV with a grin. "Gotham has no idea what's about to come its way," he added darkly.

Kat swallowed as she turned her head to glance up at him. "So, what happens now?"

"Now?" Joker repeated, and he glanced to Kat, grinning still, and he leaned in to leave a simple, short kiss on her lips. "Now we watch this city burn."

Well lovies, this does, im sorry to say, mark the end of this story, but as always from me, you can expect a sequel sometime in the future :)
And for those of you interested, I will be working on the 3rd installment of Willow Fox's series, titled 'Living After Midnight'. You can look for it after New Years!
Merry Christmas, and thank you for reading this story! :)