Smile...With Teeth

Chapter 3

A/N: if you are reading this, I hope you are liking this story. carry on...

~So what's to fear when everything is crystal clear

You realize that you should do the things you wanna do

Don't give in to what people say, don't be ashamed

To separate the feelings on your mind you can't sedate~

~Adema~

Present

Joker stood in front of this woman. The memories flashing back into his brain. The fogginess that surrounded his mind had cleared a bit more. He looked at her crying.

"Enough!" He bellowed.

 Her head shot up and looked at him, eyes sharp as daggers. He'd be lying if he said the look didn't excite him. It almost promised pain. He pushed that thought away.

"I didn't leave you." The sensation of Déjà vu washed over him. "I was locked up, and heavily sedated." He said. The excuse felt weak to him but it was 100% the truth.

She flashed the angry eyes at him again, he felt his body stir, he looked away. It all felt wrong. He got his libido under control and looked back at her. She stared at him with a confused look now.

"Who landed you there, hmm?" she said, voice full of malice. "You were the one not listening to me. I told you." It was his turn to look confused.

 "What the hell are you talking about?"

She looked at him again. The anger was gone, now those eyes held pity. He hated that look. He looked away. Then turned his body and stormed away. He was tired of this. His brain hurt. More than likely a side effect of coming off the drugs so abruptly. He stormed back to his room and shut and locked the door.

This girl was constantly getting in the way of his life. She did it as a child and picked right back up as a woman. He made his way to the bathroom and shut that door as well. He paced the small room, sometimes it helped to get his thoughts back on track.

He had no idea how long he paced, but he'd definitely calmed himself a bit. He could think of the girl, his Peach, without getting angry. That was a start. He left the bathroom. The small boarded window showed it was getting dark outside. His sense of time was still skewed. It felt like maybe an hour he'd been in there but was most of the day.

He walked over to the door and unlocked it. He stepped out into the hallway and listened. He didn't hear anything. He moved and decided he was going out, he needed to get back into the swing of things. The air outside was typical Narrows. Dirty and brisk. It was refreshing.

 He turned and started walking. He found a small hole in the wall pub. Perfect. He walked in and no one paid him any attention. He walked up to the bar and ordered several shots of tequila. The burn of the liquor was comforting. He finished the 6th shot when he started to feel the head change. He finished the 7th shot and paid.

 He walked out and the city felt alive like it was crawling along his skin. He decided he wanted to just go back to his place and relax. He would deal with everything else in the morning. He made it all the way back to his room and laid back on his bed. He fell asleep, the tequila started to shoot his memories back at full speed..

Before

Joker was in his office, working on the next part of his attempt to bring out the bat. He'd recruited several new guys, all with very promising futures. Some would be lucky to make it through the week.