Laugh Lines

Catching Up

Y'all, here is the first chapter of the sequel to Smile (with Teeth)... This story will be a bit of a rollercoaster... Just stick with me and Let me know what you think...

~You are insane,

My desire,

A violent daydream,

Love, love,

You are crazy,

A perfect liar,

Said you'd save me,

Love, love~

~Thirty Seconds to Mars ft. Halsey~

Married life had not slowed the Joker down. If anything, the extra support had him working even harder to show the city the truth of their existences. It had been a breeze keeping busy. There was so much to do.

He left the running of the bar to Peach. Though he did have the pleasure of helping rough up the riff raff that came through occasionally. It left him plenty of time to run amok. Peach was more than happy to leave him to his fun. His current endeavor was listening to all of the gossip in the GCPD. He had used his persuasive personality and a touch of blackmail to get a few cops on his payroll. He had one of GCPD's finest bug Commissioner Gordon's office. It was easier than he had thought it would be.

He currently found himself listening to the latest recording he had acquired. The man, Gordon, had all kinds of connections in the city. Joker had used some of the ill-gotten info to avoid the cops on more than one occasion.

Unfortunately, the GCPD had found his warehouse. A few of his men had been busted when Gordon's goons raided the place. He was not happy to lose the building. That's where his favorite things were. All his fun toys, gone. All his blueprints, gone. His super comfortable chair, gone.

It had been easy to find people on the street to bail out his guys. The right amount of cash and boom. Freedom. His men were free and more than happy to be back in the game. Gordon would pay for that bit of trouble. Joker had no choice but to let the guys use his old apartment building for the new temporary hideout.

The thought of them in the building had upset his sense of safety. He turned off the tape he was currently listening to. No good Intel on this set. He had his guys listening live, and he combed through the recordings. He pulled the headphones off and tossed them onto his desk.

Joker was disappointed in himself. It wasn't often he felt this way. But he just knew Gordon would let something slip about the bat. In his heart of hearts, he had held out hope that Batman was still alive. That ole Jimmy boy would let it slip that it had all been a hoax.

He got up with the same disappointment he had felt for the last year or so. He moved to his bedroom and into the shower. It was almost 5:00AM. Peach was deep asleep. He washed away the day, and nights, frustrations down the drain.

He dried his hair and moved to get into his bed. Thanks to his wife, he got about 4 or so hours sleep, every two days or so. She had kept him from having too many manic episodes, which helped him stay more focused. He crawled between the cool sheets, moving close to her tiny frame. He pulled her close, tucking her into his body. He instantly felt relaxed. He buried his face into her hair and fell asleep.

The Joker was up by 10:00AM, Peach was still snoring lightly. He dressed in dark jeans and a ratty old T-shirt. He moved back into his office and grabbed his phone off of the charger. Ace was back from his vacation and seemed recharged. Joker was surprised he had even come back. He looked at the message the man had sent him.