Joker's Janitor (FANFICTION)

XII

Margaret woke up before Joker, he was in a different position now. His hands clenched the sheets, his feet hung loosely from the bed, ten ivory toes with yellow nails, worsened by the comparison to his white skin.
Staring at his feet made Margaret reassess her own phalanges.

The skin graph was quite good, but scars were still visible. Her nails had cracks and were rough, as she had developed a habit in Arkham of rubbing them on the walls of her cell while in bed.

Margaret dismissed the thoughts and headed to the 'kitchen' area, where she had noticed a dustpan. She dusted off everything, swept the floor, then wiped down everything with the wipes she had found in the first-aid kit.
Afterwards, she sat on the couch, in the centre, and stared at the blank TV.

Joker woke up to the coughing of a girl.
He opened his eyes to find it was Margaret, sitting on the couch, face pressed into her elbow, she sat her hand back on her lap.

He stayed still, wondering why she was up so early. She did not talk, nor move, she merely sat and stared at the dark screen. The main light was off, but the light above the fridge was always on, though very dim.

"What are you watching?" Joker asked.

"I can never remember the name, but it is quite funny. The acting is awful, but the story line has depth." She turned around and smiled at him.

"How often do you watch it?" He walked over to her and leant behind her, his cheek brushing against hers.

"Every day, I sit with my parents and eat my food. Though one time, I laughed so hard, I spat out a mouthful onto Dad. It took me ages to remove the soiled plastic and rewrap him." She laughed as a child would, a slight snort exiting her nose as she did so.

Joker put his hand on her head and scruffed it as one would do to a child.
"Alrighty then, I'll be off."

"Are you not eating first? It is an extremely important meal; brain, metabolism, organ function. You can not miss it!" Margaret was glaring him down, appalled he would not realise such a thing. Her mother had told her that once and she had always remembered it.

"I have no food here, so cheerio!" He left, having slept in his usual outfit.

Half an hour later, Margaret stood from the couch, changed into a hoodie and jeans, and left as well.

-

"Honey, I'm home!" Joker yelled as he entered, extending the 'O' sound. It was now afternoon.

Nothing.

"Helloooo? Is this a game of hide and seek?" Joker called, searching every crevice and space.

Nothing.

Sitting on the couch, he often enjoyed watching the news, listening to stories of Batman and himself. He turned on the TV and found the report on their escape.
The reporter stated that he had tricked or forced the victim to break him out and she was suspected dead.

Grabbing a glass from beside him, on a pile of old newspapers, he threw it at the wall closest to him. It shattered instantly, spraying glass on both him and the floor.

"I'm going to kill her!" He stated angrily, upset that she showed no appreciation to him. He turned off the TV and stared at it.

-

"Who is hungry?"

Joker jumped in surprise, he had still been staring at the blank TV.
Margaret pushed a trolley, containing two boxes and some bags, into the room.

"Where were you?" He yelled, pacing towards her in anger.

She stepped backwards and tripped, hitting her head on the hard wood floor.

-

Darkness, then a faint light.

Margaret awoke to a buzzing noise, her head throbbed as she opened her eyes to the wooden roof, covered in cobwebs.
Joker sat crossed legged in front of a microwave on the floor, rocking back and forth with impatience.

"What are you cooking?"

"Oh finally!" He threw his hands up, stood and walked towards her.
"I chose the pizza!" He stated.

"Oh good, I was hoping you would not want pizza, as I prefer pizza." Margaret had only grabbed two types of food; pizza and candy.

She had picked up 'food,' cleaning products, a blowup mattress, a blanket and a microwave, using some of the money from her stash.

She sat up, looking around she noticed the mattress was already inflated, with the blanket thrown carelessly on top, the wrapping strewn around the room like confetti.

"I am so sorry I did not ask to leave, we wanted to surprise you." She put her head down in shame.

"Cheer up! I have candy!" He stated excitedly.

She cleaned up the glass and plastic, then sat next to Joker, eating pizza and candy in front of the TV, which was turned on to the news.