Laugh Lines

Poor Bruce

~Hey you, hey you, this won't hurt a bit,

This won't hurt a bit, this won't hurt

Says who? Says who?

Anesthetize this bitch

Anesthetize this bitch, anesthetize!

Just let me be

Between you and me don't fit~

~Korn~

Joker found himself back at the hideout the next day. Everyone had made it back alive and well, you couldn't ask for a better turnout for a job. Ace had already sent the jewelry out to their person to fence, and made a lot of money. They would clear almost 65,000 after it was all said and done. Joker had told Ace to split it with crew like usual. Let them have some fun and a few days off.

"You working on the next job?" Ace asked.

"I'm always looking at the next. Got to keep the goons happy." He joked.

"Let me know when you need me."

"Will do."

Joker left, heading back to his private sanctuary. He had tons of ideas floating through his mind and needed to get things moving along. He had a lot of things to start and then topple like dominoes.

He sat in his car for a minute to make sure no one was around before he headed to the elevator. Once inside the lift, he let out a large whoosh of air. By the time he was looking at his apartment, he was back in work mode.

He made a stop by the fridge and grabbed a soda, then moved into his makeshift office. The room had newspaper cutouts and photos tacked and taped to the walls. He had notes written in marker and pencil mixed in.

While the robbery at the gala had been mentioned, there had been no sightings of the Batman. Joker was not really surprised. He knew he would have to work a bit harder than that. Nothing worth anything was easy.

His phone made that annoying chirp. He looked at the screen.

~The girl texted me, wanting to know if I had seen you.~ Ace had written.

Joker frowned, then replied.

~Tell her the truth.~

Joker put the phone back down. After a few minutes of no reply, he smiled. Let her know that she was the only one not seeing him. He turned his attention back to the wall. This next part would be fun. He didn't need the entire crew but would take a few guys for back up and look outs.

One of the first thing that Joker had purchased was a new laptop. He refused to go back to the house for anything. He felt like a new man. He needed nothing. He grabbed the info he had gotten and left to do a bit of reconnaissance.

The drive around town was relaxing. He enjoyed doing the grunt work sometimes reminding himself that he didn't need anyone in the beginning of his criminal career. After a few hours he found an abandoned building that was due to be demolished by the end of the month. It was perfect. He felt like things were coming together.

He headed back to the hide out to pick a few goons to tag along for this small job. He pulled up to the back of the building and let himself in. There was plenty to choose from.

"I got a job lined up tonight, but I only need two guys. Any volunteers?"

He looked at the men's eager faces. "How to choose? Let's see, Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Mo." He picked his two. "Get a few small weapons, you probably won't need them and grab a mask."