(Hello, Dear Readers! I'm back with more! Apologies for the long wait. I thought we could use some humor and a bit of fun in this story, so this chapter is full of it. I felt that with all the drama happening that sometimes Samantha might come across as always being serious and I wanted to remind you that she can have fun and has quite the sense of humor.)

Chapter Fifteen

September 13th, 2010

Monday Afternoon

It felt like years since she and Alice had shared a moment of laughter. In actuality, it had only been seven minutes ago. They were finishing their meal, Samantha had cracked a joke, causing Alice to spew some of her tea, and as her friend cleaned the mess she'd made on the table, Samantha happened to glance over Alice's shoulder at the large TV screen at the bar. Gotham News was on and the men's pictures that took up the screen made the laughter die in her throat. "No…" she breathed.

"Samantha?" Alice turned in her chair to see what had caused such a change in her friend's demeanor. She read the words scrolling along the TV; "Mass Break Out From Arkham! Gotham's Rogues Sighted!" Her blue eyes flicked up to the pictures and she gasped, a hand covering her mouth.

Everything seemed to slow down, and all other sights and sounds faded away until the only thing in focus was the TV. Samantha could swear she heard her heart beating; not the panicked – rapid thudding of a drum, but measured and deliberate. The Joker's face stared back at her, a mugshot, but still as intense as if he were in the room with her. And right next to it, Edward's questioning eyes gazing at the camera, unable to remember what had landed him in jail. Conversation in the restaurant died down as more people took notice of the news coverage on the TV and the bar tender turned up the volume so those sitting too far to read the subtitles could hear.

"The criminals infamously known as the Joker and the Riddler were sited together by police several hours after the breakout. The two men led the police on a daring car chase but managed to evade capture and disappeared…."

The question of why the Joker had Edward with him vaguely registered with her as Samantha gaped at the screen. Many people had risen from their tables to get closer to the TV. Alice whirled back around to face her. "Sam?" she asked in a small, tremulous voice. Whatever she was going to say next was lost as her cellphone rang with the familiar ringtone that Alice had set for Billy.

"Bet'cha a nickel he's seen the news," Samantha said softly, never looking away from the TV. Alice quickly answered Billy's call.

"Hey, Billy," she greeted, the waver in her voice betraying her nerves. She listened for a few minutes. "No – no, I'm with Samantha at –" she stopped and her brow puckered in confusion at whatever Billy was saying. "Um, yeah. I can meet you there…. I love you too." She hung up and worried her bottom lip a moment before meeting Samantha's stare. "Billy's at his place and saw the news. He wants me to meet him there…without you."

It took Samantha a second to understand what she said. "Oh…Okay. I've got to be heading back to Wayne Enterprise anyway." After Alice left a twenty on the table, Samantha gave her a hug and the petite woman hurried out of the restaurant.

Samantha began to gather her things when she became acutely aware of being watched. Almost as soon as she sensed it, a man's voice spoke, "Hey, ain't you that Reads woman?" Samantha's heart skipped a beat. She pretended not to hear as she placed money on the table and shouldered her purse. "Hey. You're her, ain't ya?" She kept her gaze forward and calmly walked toward the entrance. The man followed her, too close, peering at her profile. "It is you! Where you off to, huh?" Suddenly his hand was on her shoulder. "Going to go meet up with your psycho-clown husband, Mrs. Freakshow?" Without hesitation, Samantha rammed her elbow into his nose. The man let out a shriek and fell back as she sprinted to the door and out into the city streets before anyone could stop her.

She kept a white-knuckled grip on the strap of her purse as the elevator carried her to the floor that housed Bruce's office. It was only when she was halfway to his office that she realized she was going there – not as his secretary – but as a friend in need of his reassuring presence. Billionaire playboy or not – he was still a good friend to her and she needed to have a moment of freaking out with someone she trusted. She hadn't felt this off-kilter before when the Joker had escaped Arkham. This time was different. It was different because she'd kissed the Joker. It was different because she'd told him she didn't hate him – wasn't sure how she felt about him. It was different because those words had fueled something in him and would make him even more relentless to get her back. To put it simply. She was scared this time.

Bruce was just ending a call when she marched into his office. The expression on her face must have tipped him off that something was wrong because his smile and the greeting on his lips instantly died. "What happened?" he asked, already beginning to rise from his desk.

It all came spilling out in a torrent of words. "There's been a mass breakout at Arkham –"

"What?"

"The Joker and Edward are on the run together –"

"What?" Bruce repeated with more incredulity.

"And I broke a man's nose –"

Bruce got to his feet and moved to place his hands on Samantha's shoulders. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down – wait, you broke a man's nose?"

Samantha gave a distracted nod. "With my elbow."

Bruce's brow furrowed as he opened his mouth to speak but with so many questions on his mind it was hard to pick which one, so he settled with, "Well, I'm sure he deserved it." Another distracted nod from Samantha. "Okay, look…" He led her to the loveseat against the left wall and sat beside her. "Let's start at the beginning. What happened after I saw you last today?"

….

"Billy?"

She'd barely had time to extract the key from the lock before Billy had Alice in a crushing embrace. "Oh, thank God," he said. "The moment I saw the Joker was loose – I just – I had to make sure you were okay – and then when you told me you were her –"

Alice felt the prick of his words and gently pulled back to meet his eyes. "Why did you sound so panicked when I told you I was with Samantha? Why were you so insistent that I leave her and come alone? It would have been safer traveling in twos."

"Not with her," Billy replied with some bite.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well you weren't exactly safe around her the last time the Joker was free, were you?"

"She protected me from him –"

"She practically led him to your door."

"So what? Am I supposed to avoid her now?"

"Yes!"

Alice stopped cold. "…What?"

"I'm sorry, Alice. I know the two of you have been friends for a long time –"

"Yeah, since kindergarten." Practically their entire lives.

"But I think it would be best if you started putting some distance between you and her."

Alice stepped out of his embrace, her hands held up, palms facing him as her eyes scanned the floor as if reading his words there. "Wait, wait, wait." She took a moment to breath then met his gaze. "You're actually telling me to abandon her? To drop her now when she needs the few friends she has the most? Am I really hearing you correctly?"

"You make me sound like I'm heartless."

"Well that's how it sounds to me!" Alice suddenly burst.

"What if the Joker targets you to get to Samantha again! I'm only trying to protect you –"

"By forbidding me to see my best friend? The woman who risked her safety for mine!"

"The woman who put your safety at risk in the first place!" Billy shouted back.

"It wasn't her fault!"

"I don't care! I don't want you to ever be with her again! Am I making myself clear?"

Alice stood perfectly still as she gazed at him with an unreadable expression. She blinked once and resolve came over her features. "Like crystal." She turned on her heal and opened the door.

"Where are you going?"

"Back to work."

"Let me drive you there –" The key to his apartment was suddenly flung at his face.

"Screw you, douchebag."

Billy's mouth fell open. For sweet, kind-hearted Alice, that was possibly the closest she'd ever come to telling someone to 'f-off'. He'd never heard her speak so harshly before. "Alice –"

"Don't, Billy. You can mail me the spare key to my place. I don't ever want to see you again."

"If you can't see how idiotic you're being then I'm done! Don't come crying to me if the Joker decides to drop by your place!"

Alice slammed the door shut behind her and briskly walked away as tears spilled from her eyes.

…..

The headband around Jervis's cranium pulsed with light as the rats made him some hot tea. All the while, he lamented to them about his hardships from a slumped position in his easy chair. "Of course, intellectually, I know it's all wrong. She's got a boyfriend after all." His index finger tapped away on the surface of a hip-high bookshelf next to the chair's armrest. The rats finished making the tea and began to push the cup with their tiny heads. "Better to withdraw like a gentleman. Forget her. Turn my heart to other pursuits." He gratefully took the teacup and lifted it to his lips. With each sip, his mood darkened until he suddenly hurled the cup to the floor. "Never!"

Slamming his fist on the table, he very nearly hit the rats, but they scattered and sought refuge among the shelves. "Look," Jervis said, turning to them. He pulled out metal cards from his coat pocket. The rats curiously peeked out at him. "I've already developed a circuitry card powerful enough to control a human brain." He purposefully hadn't mentioned that to Cates and Mr. Wayne. He hadn't had a chance to properly test it out yet, but he trusted his calculations. "It would be so easy to make her forget her boorish beau and love me!"

He gasped and stepped back, horrified at his own words. "But that would reduce her to a soulless shell." He gripped the sides of his head and shook the idea away. "Oh, no, not my Alice." He groaned and removed the band, gazing at it forlornly. "It's hopeless," he sighed, sadly. A heartbreaking wail reached his ears. At first, he thought it was his own heart making that noise, but it sounded feminine. Why does my heart sound like a woman crying, He wondered. A sob was followed by a rather loud hiccup and Jervis realized the sound was coming from outside his office.

"Oh, Alice, I'm sorry," Dr. Cates' voice said, sounding surprisingly sympathetic.

Why would Alice be crying? And more to the point; what would make her cry in such a fashion that even Dr. Cates would be bothered to comfort her?

He hurried out of his office and came upon Alice's desk. She wasn't there. She wasn't the only thing absent from her workspace. The picture of her and Billy was gone and the flower vase empty. "'Curiouser and curiouser'," Jervis murmured as he cautiously followed the sounds of Alice's wails to the staff break room. The door was partially shut. He cast a quick look around. Most of the staff were still out to lunch, but they'd be arriving back any moment. Easing closer to the door, Jervis peeked through the crack.

Alice sat in a corner chair, her face buried in a tissue, while Dr. Cates stood over her with a box of tissues in hand. "The next thing I knew, we were shouting, screaming, saying we never wanted to see each other again." Alice went off on another string of tears and dabbed at her eyes with the already much used tissue.

Dr. Cates 'tsked' as she pulled a fresh tissue from the box and handed it to her. "Classic male move. His way or the highway."

"I can't be with a man who would be so callous about Samantha's situation. She's been through Hell and back and – and –" Alice burst into tears and Cates awkwardly patted the young woman's shoulder.

The feeling threatening to explode from Jervis' chest was in such contradiction to the heartbreaking scene inside the breakroom, that he felt a twinge of guilt for the briefest of seconds, but it couldn't be ignored. He ran from the door, straight to his office, and quickly shut the door. He pressed his back to it as joy bubbled up and fought its way out. "'O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'" he cheered, throwing his hands in the air. He laughed and danced about the room. "She's mine for the asking!" He twirled, uncaring if he ran into anything. "I'll sweep her off her feet, treat her to a wonderful night on the town and – Oof!" He tripped over his feet and would have faceplanted the floor if he hadn't caught himself in time.

Chuckling at his own clumsiness, he braced to stand when his eyes landed on the poster hanging on the back of the office door. It featured the original illustration of Alice joining the Mad Hatter and March Hare for their tea party. It usually made him happy, but on this occasion, it filled him with despair. Jervis' spirits took a nose dive as he stared at the Mad Hatter. All through-out his life, Jervis had been made aware of the peculiar resemblance he shared with the eccentric character. With time and new film adaptations, the Mad Hatter image had undergone transformations to give him more sex-appeal. It was all about sex-appeal these days, wasn't it? But to Jervis' misfortune, the original appearance of the character had been cast aside – deemed too awkward looking to be attractive. And for someone who looked nearly identical to said character, well….

Jervis ran a hand over his face and sat back on his haunches. He was a fool. "And nothing," he said, finishing his sentence. "What could a beautiful girl like her ever see in someone like me?" He shook his head. "How could I impress her?"

A rat accidentally knocked over the teacup, the sound drawing Jervis' attention. He stood to his feet and went about gathering the rodents back into their cage. He froze as he was placing the last rat inside then brought it back out. He stared, as if transfixed at the little creature. "Hmmm…how, indeed," he murmured.

…..

September 16th, 2010
Thursday Afternoon

Samantha peeked around the hall corner. "How bad is it?" Bruce asked from the phone pressed to her ear. She observed Alice's slumped position on the couch, the pile of tissues on the coffee table before her, and the cheesy soap opera playing on TV.

"Have you ever seen Legally Blonde?"

"Once. One of my dates talked me into it."

"Okay, you know the scene after Elle gets dumped and she's sitting in bed watching the TV?"

"Yeah."

"All that's missing here is Alice throwing something at the TV while screaming 'liar'."

Bruce inhaled through his teeth. "Yikes."

"Uh-huh," Samantha agreed. "Whatever it was that she and Billy argued about must have been big, because Alice isn't the type to just fall to pieces. Sensitive, yes. Easily frightened, yes. The woman cries every time that 'save the dogs' commercial with 'in the arms of the angel' playing in the background comes on. But this…" She trailed off when the sound of Alice's blubbering could be heard. Samantha gripped the phone tightly, holding it out to be closer to the source of sound, then bringing it back to her ear. "That – that right there!" she hissed quietly. "Did you hear that?"

"I did."

"That is what is making me want to march over to Billy's apartment and wring his neck."

"Why do that when you've got a perfectly dangerous elbow to break his nose with?"

Samantha bit down on her lip to keep from laughing. "Don't you start…"

"He'd never see it coming."

"Stop," Samantha warned, chuckling.

"Okay, I'm done."

Backing away from the end of the hall, Samantha slipped inside her bedroom and plopped on the mattress. "She won't tell me what they fought about."

"Do you think he could have been cheating –"

"No way. Billy was absolutely devoted to her."

"Then what?"

"I think they might have been fighting about me…"

"….What makes you think that?"

"The way she avoids the subject of their fight. Plus, something Alice said before she left the restaurant. I was so jarred by the news that I didn't really put much thought into it until later."

"What did she say?"

"She'd gotten a call from Billy. He wanted to meet her at his place. When he found out that I was with her, he told her to come alone." Bruce began to deny her theory, but she forged on. "I've gone through that moment over and over. If he was worried about her safety, then he'd have insisted I stayed with her, but he didn't. He did not want me near her. He thought she was in more danger with me than she'd be on her own."

There was silence on Bruce's end for a couple of heartbeats. "Samantha…I'm sure he doesn't think –"

"Let's try that again, Bruce. But this time, try sounding like you actually believe it."

Bruce wisely didn't. "So, what are you going to do?"

"I don't know. I hate going to work and leaving her here all alone with nothing but Julio and Vicky's torrid affairs to keep her company. I'm starting to think it was a bad idea for her to take some personal days off."

"Liar!" Alice's accusing shout rang out.

"Aaaand we've entered the Elle Woods Stage," Samantha said calmly looking at the door. "Bruce, I hate to ask you this, but I could use your help."

"What can I do?" Bruce asked, the surprise evident in his tone.

"I just need your help cheering her up. When it was me, Harley, and Alice, we had a system. If one of us was down, it was up to the remaining two to cheer the sad one. All I've got is me right now."

"I don't know how to –"

"You're telling me that the billionaire playboy can show all the single hotties in Gotham a good time and break the rules with a smile, but when it comes to perk up duty, he's clueless?"

An amused sigh was heard. "Be at my penthouse at five."

….

"No, thanks," came the mumbled response from the person wrapped up in the sofa blankets that Samantha assumed was Alice.

Samantha frowned. "Alice, come on. Bruce Wayne just invited us over to his penthouse for dinner – which I might add, will probably be followed by an outing to some ritzy, glam place that our bank accounts would die of shock from the mere thought of, that he will cover the expense of just for the heck of it."

"I don't wanna go out."

"…Harley would beat you over the head with a shoe if she heard you turn down a night with Bruce Wayne."

"Well Arkham's not stopping her from doing that now."

"Sassy doesn't work for you, Alice darling."

Alice burrowed deeper into the blankets. "I've finally got these blankets wrapped around me just right."

"Really?" Samantha reached down and snagged a corner of the outer cover and gave it a mighty pull, effectively dislodging Alice from her cocoon. "Oh, that's a shame," Samantha commented with feigned remorse as Alice glared. "Well, since you're out of you blanket cave of solitude, you should start getting dressed for a night out."

Alice hopped back onto the couch, blanket in hand. "No!" She hugged a pillow to her face, refusing to look at Samantha.

"So help me, Alice Pleasance Fredricks, I will haul your butt out of this apartment if I have to! You want your picture in the newspapers standing next to Bruce Wayne in your Care Bear pajamas?"

Alice's head popped up. "What's wrong with my Care Bear pajamas?"

"Other than the fact that you've been wearing them for nearly four days straight?"

Alice glanced down at herself and gave her shirt a subtle sniff. She made a face. "I smell."

"Yeah," Samantha agreed.

"Why didn't you tell me I smell?"

Samantha held up her hands in defense. "What exactly could I say, Alice? 'Hey, sorry about your break-up – oh by the way, you reek.'"

Alice sat up in surprise. "I reek?" she squeaked.

"Just a teensy bit," Samantha admitted apologetically, two fingers held an inch apart.

Alice let her head flop back onto the pillow, her face obscured against the fabric. "I'm pathetic," she said, voice muffled.

"Naaah," Samantha replied, sitting on the arm of the couch. "You're just down is all."

"I threw packets of M&Ms at the TV and called the man on screen a liar." Alice sat up and wiped at her nose. "I've sunk to a new level of low."

"I didn't even know you had a 'low', so I doubt this is a new level here."

Alice sighed, arms wrapped around her pajama-clad knees. "I know I made the right choice to break up with him…" Her blue eyes watered. "But it still hurts so much, Sam."

Samantha put an arm around her shoulders. "I know." Her other hand grasped a packet of M&Ms on the coffee table and held it so Alice could see. "If it'll make you feel better, we can throw packets of M&Ms at the TV until it's time for us to meet Bruce?" Alice let out a tired laugh, but Samantha could tell it was genuine.

"Okay. Let me take a shower first."

Samantha removed her arm and splayed them both wide. "I'm not stopping you."

"Thanks, Sam."

….

"Ladies," Bruce greeted with a winning smile. "You're right on time. You both look great. Drinks?"

"I'll take a coke for now," Samantha told him. "Alice?"

"Um…tea, please."

"Follow me." He turned and began to lead them to the kitchen.

Alice's big blue eyes gaped at the size of the penthouse. "Mr. Wayne, your place is gorg –"

Bruce turned to face Alice but continued walking. "Whoa, whoa. Call me, Bruce. Okay?"

Alice tittered. "Okay."

Once they were inside the kitchen, Bruce produced coke in a glass bottle from the fridge for Samantha and set about hunting down some tea bags and a kettle for Alice's tea. Samantha sipped her drink as she watched his quest with amusement. After a few minutes of searching, she asked, "Hey, Bruce; where's Alfred?"

"Gave him the night off since we'll be going out tonight."

Samantha smirked as she subtly elbowed Alice. "Told you." To Bruce she asked, "So, where are we going?"

"Thought I'd surprise you," he replied with a rakish wink aimed towards Alice. The young woman's face began to turn bright pink and she turned away, showing sudden interest in a painting on the far wall.

Samantha stepped beside Bruce and squeezed his arm. "Down, boy," she advised in a whisper. "Cheer up, not hit up."

"I know, I know," Bruce assured her, also whispering.

"You know, I'm actually surprised you're taking us out tonight."

"Really? Why's that?"

Samantha shrugged easily. "You're usually M.I.A during nights. Probably seducing supermodels or something like that –" Her eyebrows lifted as a thought suddenly occurred to her. "You didn't have a date planned for tonight, did you?"

Bruce waved away her concern. "No, nothing like that."

"But there was something?"

"Don't worry about it."

"Bruce –"

"I said, don't worry about it. Okay?"

Samantha exhaled heavily and nodded. "Okay."

Bruce turned towards Alice as she made her way back to them. "Alfred is the one who knows where everything in the kitchen is. I am merely an occasional visitor to the place. If it's alright with you, we could get you the best tea money can buy at the restaurant."

"Which would beee?" Samantha asked pointedly.

"Still a surprise."

"Curses," she said, melodramatically.

Bruce looked at his watch. "We should get going. I made our reservation for seven."

"Will you be driving?" Samantha asked, taking a sip of her drink.

"Yes, why?"

"Then we have plenty of time, Mr. Speed Racer."

"I know better than to drive too fast with you in the car, Samantha."

"And I appreciate that." She drained the last of her coke and set the bottle on the counter. "Shall we?"

"Of course." As the trio made their way to the door and Bruce was slipping on his coat, he said, "Oh, uh…by the way, Samantha; there's something I'd like to discuss with you in private before the night's over."

Samantha gave him a look. "Should I be nervous?"

"Well, that depends. How are you about flying in a jet?"

…..

Their moment of privacy came when Alice excused herself to go use the restaurant's bathroom. They only had a limited amount of time before she returned so Bruce didn't beat around the bush. "I'm taking you to the British Virgin Isles with me this weekend."

Samantha choked on her drink. "What?"

"I promised you a getaway, didn't I? Well, I'm keeping my promise."

"I just started my job –"

"And since your job is as my assistant, you have to go where I go, right?"

"Well –"

"Right. And I happen to be going to the British Virgin Isles for business this weekend. If you don't come with me, you'll be neglecting your job."

Samantha sighed and set down her glass. "Bruce, I know what this is about –"

"So what?" he interrupted. "Samantha, when you came into my office on Monday, you were almost to the point of babbling and I have never seen you like that before. You're stressed; that's understandable cause you've got so much going on right now. Look me in the eye and tell me that deep down you don't want to get away from Gotham for a few days." Samantha tried maintaining eye contact but as the seconds ticked by her gaze lowered to the table. Bruce reached over and placed a reassuring hand over her own. "Let me be a good friend and abuse my position as your boss to order you to go with me. Alice can join us."

Samantha chuffed softly and squeezed his hand. "When do we leave?"

Bruce grinned. "As soon as Alice gets back to the table."

….

September 17th, 2010

2:00 AM

Pain was familiar to him. It defined him in a way. Without that pain, he wouldn't be the man he was today. He didn't fear it. Instead, he embraced it in all its forms. It was his one true love and he considered himself to be a connoisseur of the sensation. So it was a bit of a surprise when, during his stay at Arkham, the Joker awoke in the dead of night to find himself experiencing a pain he wasn't familiar with. His whole body had ached. At first, he thought he'd been sleeping in an awkward position, so he shifted around on the mattress and closed his eyes. Only to open them an hour later with his arms reaching out towards the empty air. This wasn't the discomfort of sleeping wrong. This was different. It wasn't just his body that was taking a toll. His chest felt hollow one minute, then heavy like it was full of stones. And try as he might, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was missing…that someone was missing. It took him a couple of months to make the connection between the subject of his dreams and the new pain he'd experience upon waking.

Despite being free of the asylum, the Joker once again started awake to find his hands grasping the air beside him – reaching for her. Grimacing, he sat up and ran both hands through his greasy hair and waited for the hollowness in his chest to pass. The minutes ticked by and the sensation remained. His eyes scanned the sparse furnishings in the warehouse office that he'd converted into a temporary place to sleep. Besides the mattress, there was a chair, a desk, a coatrack occupied by his purple coat and a black duster, and two windows. One allowed the overseer to supervise the activity in the main opening of the warehouse, the other faced the outside world. The Joker got to his feet and went to the latter. He poked a finger beneath the shut blinds and peaked at the night sky. The warehouse was far enough away from the city that some stars could be seen.

Heavy stones replaced the hollowness and the Joker barred his teeth. He'd held it off long enough. Turning away from the window, the Joker went to the desk and pulled out the change of clothes nestled inside the bottom side drawer. The colors were drab and common compared to his usual outfit, but he wasn't looking to draw attention to himself tonight. Once he was dressed, face bare of make-up, the black duster's collar pulled up along with a scarf wrapped around his lower face to obscure his scars, the Joker crept out of the room, stole quietly down the metal stairs and left the warehouse.

…

He was convinced that the ache was affecting him. It went against every instinct in him, but there he was, watching Alice Fredricks apartment. After an hour of watching, he detected no signs of police or any other kind of guard. He waited thirty more minutes just to be sure. Even with his low opinion of the Gotham police, he still found it a bit surprising that there was no one keeping watch. His suspicions aroused, he approached the fire escape and was inside the building within a matter of minutes.

He knew right off the bat that the room he entered wasn't Samantha's. The décor came off too delicate and soft. The bed was empty, the sheets made. The bedroom door was open and no noise could be heard beyond it. Taking care not to make a sound, the Joker paused by the door and peered down the hall, ears straining for the slightest sound. The place felt empty, but he wasn't about to chance it. Moving along the hallway, he came across a closed door to his right, just before the hall ended and opened to the main living area. He reached for the knob. A clatter came from the kitchen.

His steps were quick but quiet as he traveled from the hallway to the vacant living room and pressed his back against the wall that separated him from the kitchen. He flicked open his knife and rounded the corner. The kitchen was just as empty as the previous rooms. Or so he thought. Just as he was about to leave, a cat leapt onto the counter and let out a yowl of surprise at finding a stranger in his home. The yowl turned into a hiss. The Joker, who'd never been much of a cat person to begin with, narrowed his eyes at the feline and hissed back. The cat flinched and scampered off the counter, it's tail flicking against a plastic cup that tipped over and rolled over a sheet of paper tapped to the surface of the countertop. The Joker righted the cup and peered at the paper.

Jervis, thanks again for agreeing to look after Samantha's cat on such short notice! You're a life saver! Just a reminder, we'll be back by Sunday evening. Little Riddle get's fed once in the morning and once at night. The green cup on the counter is the one we use to measure how much food he gets. If you need to contact us, you can reach me and Samantha by email or call the hotel number we gave you.

~ Much thanks,

Alice

The Joker's tongue snaked along his lower lip as he stared at the words. She wasn't here. He hadn't considered that possibility. His focus had been on finding her and making the ache go away.

No sense in sticking around then…

He pocketed the knife and headed back to the hallway, only to linger in front of the closed door. He twisted the knob and eased it open. Now this was Samantha's room. He stepped inside and began to look around. Pictures showed him glimpses of her at various stages of life. He looked at each one. The hollow chasm in his chest grew. He could feel it clouding his head. He couldn't think past it. It drove him to her bed. He lowered himself onto the mattress, pressed his face against the pillows and inhaled deeply. Her perfume filled his nostrils. He closed his eyes and inhaled again, envisioning her lying there next to him, only inches away. The ache lessened ever so slightly as he convinced his mind that it was real. He'd rest his eyes a bit before leaving. An hour at most.

He was deep in sleep before five minutes had gone by. He dreamed that his hands didn't grasp empty air, but instead pulled a sleeping, blonde-haired beauty to his chest and wrapped his arms around her. In his dreams, the ache finally stopped.