PART 2

Nurses, doctors and patients alike all stared openly at Jayde as she walked into the emergency room, in between two tall officers, flanked closely by a paramedic. It had taken several attempts to convince all of them that she was perfectly capable of walking and argued that it was already embarrassing enough having the scar on her face without being wheeled in through a room of people on a stretcher. Whether or not she was actually embarrassed by her scar, she was hoping they would never find out.

The white exam room was absolutely freezing, forcing Jayde to tuck her arms around herself once she had changed into a hospital gown upon orders from a nurse. Through the half-closed blinds across from her, she could see the two officers talking, glancing at the door every now and again; she was absolutely positive they were talking about her. At first, Jayde tried to think of Joker and where he was and what was happening to him but this only proved to bring the tears back so she fought the thoughts and instead closed her eyes again, still holding herself against the cold.

It seemed almost an hour had passed before two solid knocks on the exam room door preceded the entrance of an older woman in a white lab coat, followed closely by another woman wearing normal, civilian clothes although it was hard for Jayde to overlook the gun and badge on her belt. She took a deep breath as she stepped over to the side of the bed where Jayde had finally gotten comfortable and lay down.

"Jayde, I'm Detective Mitchell…" the woman began, reaching out to place her hand on Jayde's forearm. "Do you feel like you're well enough to answer some questions?"

At first, it had been incredibly difficult for Jayde not to pull her arm away from this woman's icy cold touch seeing how her sadness was beginning to seep away to allow a bit of anger to brew. Jayde had never asked for anyone to be nice to her and she was starting to loathe the fake kindness these people were showing her. Didn't any of them think she might just want to be alone?

"I feel fine." She answered in a monotone voice, again closing her eyes. "Like I said, I'm just really tired."

"Yes, I expect you are. If everything checks out and as soon as we're done here, you can go home. They can wait until tomorrow for your statement at the precinct." The detective answered but Jayde shook her head, sitting up.

"No," she began. "No, I don't want to have to go back tomorrow. I want to do it all today." Beside her, Jayde could tell the nurse had looked up and was now having a silent conversation with Detective Mitchell across the room.

"Well, alright, but make sure you say something if we're pushing you too hard."

Something, Jayde thought bitterly.

Another constricting blood pressure cuff was fitted around her upper arm and while the nurse took her vitals, Jayde was busy watching the detective, standing at the bedside table, filling out what appeared to be an entire stack of paper work.

"Jayde, do you happen to know the date that you were abducted? If you don't, it's fine." She asked, squinting slightly as Jayde sighed, closing her eyes to try and think.

"No," she finally answered after several moments. "It was about a month ago…That's as good as I can do."

"And did The Joker ever say why he went after you?"

Burning, poisonous tears threatened to overtake Jayde again at the mention of his name but she sniffed them back hard, opening her eyes to glare at the ceiling. "He never gave the same answer. I asked him a couple times and he gave a different answer every time." Upon looking at the detective, Jayde realized she looked as though she were about to ask a follow-up question but she cut across her, shaking her head. "All of his answers were jokes, never the truth."

The questions ceased momentarily as the nurse had now moved to examine the long, neat cut on her face and had motioned for the detective to come over and look. Jayde's eyes again closed as she could very distinctly remember the feel of Joker's gloved hand holding her face exactly the way the nurse was now, except, if possible, more gently. She gritted her teeth when the nurse jerked her head a bit, tilting it toward the light.

"The Joker did this to you?" the nurse asked, still poking along the cut a little less than delicately. Jayde nodded, pulling her face from the woman's grip as her patience had just run dry.

"Yeah." She finally voiced, scrunching her face up to turn the other way as the previous tears commanded her to let a few of them fall. "H-he did that." A momentary silence filled the room as both women had seemingly noticed the emotion in her voice. It was another several seconds before the detective spoke again, this time more quietly.

"How long ago, Jayde?" she asked, rounding the bed again to walk over to the large black bag she had brought with her.

Jayde sniffed, sitting up slightly in the bed. "Um…about two weeks ago…maybe three. I don't really remember." She answered, trying to keep her voice as strong as possible without sounding strained.

Detective Mitchell had returned and was now holding a black camera at her side as if hoping Jayde would not notice it. "Hmm…" she hummed, switching places with the nurse at the head of the left side of the bed.

"I'm going to take a picture of your face, Jayde. They'll need photographic evidence against this dirt-bag if-…" she continued but Jayde interrupted what was sure to be a convincing little speech, nodding her head impatiently.

"YES." She agreed loudly. "That's fine."

The camera began to click soon after but Jayde was beyond being anxious or upset at this point. It was obvious the police, this detective and anyone else involved in her 'case' were completely uninterested in what Jayde wanted and merely needed her to help put Joker away. At this point, Jayde was nothing but a pawn.

Behind Jayde's eyelids she could see the continuous flashes from the camera, counting them at first until she found her brain was too tired for that. The nurse and detective seemed to be having some sort of hushed conversation just next to the bed as if Jayde could not hear them. At first, she had tried to ignore it but now tuned in slightly when she heard Joker's name whispered.

"It just appears so neat and not at all uneven." The nurse was saying, obviously watching the detective as she continued to snap pictures, now moving to Jayde's arms for pictures of bruises or cuts, although there were none. Detective Mitchell did not reply right away. "I mean, look. There are even marks from stitches and they're perfect…evenly spaced and everything…It just seems unlikely that The Joker would treat the wound he made."

"Jayde," the detective now spoke again and Jayde opened her eyes when she hesitated to continue. "Did The Joker ever have a surgeon or doctor, even a nurse of some sort take care of your cut?"

For the first time in what had accumulated to almost three hours since she had left the abandoned Corvette, Jayde froze, unable to simply spit out a lie like she had been doing. Her mouth was suddenly very dry and she licked her lips slowly, closing her eyes to try and think and instead appear to be trying to remember.

"Um…After he did this, he must have slipped me some sort of drug…'cause I cant remember anything from after it." She paused, opening her eyes to again look up at Detective Mitchell who was still surveying her scar with a deep look of interest. "When I woke up like a day later, I had stitches." This information seemed to spark another question in the detective but Jayde again, cut across her, knowing what it would be. "And I took them out myself."

Before too long, the detective murmured something to the nurse which Jayde did not catch before the nurse left the room, leaving the detective and Jayde alone in the room. Of course at this point, Jayde expected some sort of conversation from Detective Mitchell but instead remained quiet when it seemed she had nothing to say. It didn't matter anyway; the nurse had returned and was now holding a small, white box. There were words marked on it but the nurse seemed to make sure it was far enough from Jayde that she was not able to read any of them.

"Alright, Jayde…" the detective began, moving to the bedside once more. "This is the last part and I need to ask some tough questions, but…you seem like a strong girl. I think you'll be able to answer them." Her voice was dripping with that false sense of sweetness Jayde had recognized earlier…it made her skin crawl. "But if you can't, just say the word and we'll stop." When she paused, Jayde nodded her head in response, just wishing she would hurry up.

However instead of the detective continuing, the nurse spoke up from the foot of the bed, where she had moved two horribly familiar metal stirrups into place. "Jayde, if you could just put the heels of your feet right here and scoot to the end up the table, I'm just going to have a look and take a small sample, alright?" Words were again failing her so instead of arguing or asking a question, Jayde obeyed, doing as the nurse had asked her to do.

Now it was Detective Mitchell's turn.

"I hate to ask this, Jayde but…was there ever a time when the Joker touched you or possibly took advantage of you?"

There it was, the question Jayde absolutely knew was coming next. The tears had sprung to her eyes before she had even finished asking it and she could do nothing to stop them as they began to spill down her cheeks, first the left one, then the right. The left tear spilled onto the top of her scar, following the curve until it reached her lips where Jayde could taste it's saltiness. She sniffed, resting her head back when the cold claspers made intimate contact with her body.

"Yes." She nodded, again composing herself, although she had to ball her hands at her sides to hide their trembling. "Several times." In front of her, Jayde heard the nurse 'tsk' sympathetically before Detective Mitchell reached out, again smoothing her hair back from her face. This time, Jayde could not help herself but move her head away, closing her eyes again as she sighed irritably; she could not help it anymore.

"When was the last time he assaulted you?" Detective Mitchell asked, that false note of kindness gone from her voice now that she had realized that Jayde was not the type to be interested in sympathy.

On the inside of her eyelids, Jayde could very clearly picture The Joker leaning over her less than twenty four hours ago, groaning as he threw some of his hair out his face. She could remember perfectly the sound of his gravely voice when he growled that it was 'his turn' while he took control, moving to be between her legs. She opened her eyes to keep from lingering too long on that now painful thought, however pleasurable it may be.

"Um…last night."

A dense, overwhelming silence filled the room as the nurse reached for a cotton swab wherein the detective made a note on her document and Jayde nearly shuddered. All of this lying about Joker was starting to affect her; if only she could tell them how smart, funny and charming he was aside from all the inhumane and crazy attributes he contained. The nurse broke the silence after what felt like an hour.

"Jayde, you poor thing, sweetie." She began, 'tsk'ing again. "He must have been really rough with you to leave that kind of bruising in there." For the first time since Joker had been arrested, Jayde's scar twitched a bit in her effort to staunch her smile.

"Yes, he was." she answered. "I would scream at him 'Stop! Don't! No! But he never seemed to hear me…" Probably because I was actually screaming 'No! Don't stop!'

Another hour later, Jayde found herself in another absolutely freezing room, although this one was much less comfortable and leagues less inviting than even a hospital room. The walls of this interrogation room of sorts were a musty, dirty white, tile-covered bricks, some of which were broken away and crumbling from what Jayde was assuming were altercations with more violent inmates. The room was completely empty save for two metal chairs on either side of a plain, metal table, all three bolted to the ground. Huge two-way mirrors lined either side of the room and Jayde felt rather sick when she realized there were probably more than three people watching her at the same time from the other side of the 'mirrors'.

The large metal door across from her swung open after nearly half an hour, revealing Officer Taylor, Detective Mitchell and the police commissioner whom Jayde only recognized by his rather thin frame, his rectangle glasses and fluffy graying moustache. When he spoke, she then recognized his voice as the same voice on the megaphone from hours ago. However, when he smiled at her, the corners of his eyes wrinkled kindly and Jayde finally felt a bit of heart-felt warmth emanate from him.

"Jayde, my name is Jim Gordon." He greeted her, holding out his hand in a friendly gesture as he sat across from her at the table, shaking hers gently when she extended it. "I understand you've had a pretty tough month." Jayde shrugged, tucking her arms against her.

"It was bad but honestly, it probably could have been a lot worse." She replied, glancing to her left and right at Officer Taylor and Detective Mitchell who had both settled themselves to lean against the windows, listening intently. Jim Gordon's salt and pepper eyebrows rose a bit.

"What makes you think that?" he asked, pulling toward him the manilla file folder Detective Mitchell had just set down. He opened it to begin rifling through the papers while Jayde paused.

"Well, besides cut my face up and rape me a few times, The Joker didn't do much with me." she hesitated again when a deep silence followed her words. "I mean, I could be dead, right? That would be worse."

"Jayde, I'll be honest with you. It doesn't seem like you're very unnerved by any of this." His voice was quiet, the smiles gone from his eyes at this point. He leaned forward slightly, peering at her over the tops of his glasses. "Most of The Joker's victims don't even make it back to this table."

At this, Jayde remained quiet, forcing herself to maintain eye contact with the commissioner as he surveyed her. "I'm not saying I'm not lucky to be alive." She finally said, looking away when he expected her to go on. When she did not, he continued, again rifling through papers.

"Which makes me wonder why The Joker held onto you for so long when he obviously had no purpose for you. He never told you why he took you?"

Jayde shook her head, linking her fingers together in between her legs. "No." she answered, looking him in the eyes. "I'm sure you know by now that the Joker doesn't make plans or schemes. He takes what he wants when he wants it…and I guess I was what he wanted."

None of that was a lie.

The room fell quiet again for several long moments before Detective Mitchell spoke up. "Jayde, do you remember where The Joker was staying? Where he was hiding?" she asked, crossing the room to stand next to the table. Jayde shook her head.

"No, I was in a room but I couldn't tell you where it was. He covered his bases pretty well."

The questions continued for quite some time, mostly asked by the commissioner although the detective and police officer jumped in a few times, either expressing their sympathy for Jayde or asking her if she needed to stop. Knowing this would continue until they were done regardless of how she felt, Jayde told them no, that she was fine every time they asked until Commissioner Gordon finally sighed, closing the file folder to cross his hands over it on top of the table.

"Jayde, you are a very strong woman to be able to do all of this today. But despite how well you are feeling today, it sometimes takes months, even years to get over something like this. So I'm going to write down the number of a victim support counselor and recommend that you go at least once a week for a month or so, just until you feel like you're ready." He explained, standing and although Jayde was ready to argue with him and say that he's out of his fucking mind for thinking she was going to counseling for a month, the exhaustion had finally set in so she remained seated until he continued, merely nodding her head.

"But for now, Detective Mitchell here will be taking you home where two officers will be on watch outside your apartment building tonight." He went on to explain, tucking the folder under his arm. He then turned to the large mirror just next to the table. "Tell Barnes that I want The Joker in here now. I'm not waiting until tomorrow to give him more time to come up with-…" he was saying but Jayde was being made to stand up and leave the room behind the two men, who's voices trailed off as she passed around the corner.

"Come with me, Jayde. We're going to get you home." Detective Mitchell said gently, hooking her hand under Jayde's elbow to escort her toward the doors which she could remember being just past the holding cells after the long, window filled hallway. The room just off to the side of the interrogation room, Jayde noticed, was absolutely full of people and her stomach churned as she realized they had all been sitting there listen to Jayde give 'details' on The Joker 'raping' her. Something about this made her slightly angry and she was about to comment when Detective Mitchell suddenly pushed her body against Jayde's moving her closer to the wall.

Now confused and angry, Jayde huffed, looking up at the tall woman who was now watching as three people rounded the corner just ahead of them. Her heart stopped beating altogether and her breath caught in her throat as she looked up to find that the Joker, escorted by two rather large officers had just rounded the corner, his hands handcuffed in front of him, his wrists linked tightly to another metal chain around his waist. He noticed her at the same time.

A genuine, charming grin had jumped to his face at first as they made eye contact but his eyes narrowed when he noticed the detective standing next to her, practically shielding her from him. His snarling grin widened as he drew closer, again looking to Jayde to wink at her as he passed. She knew he had done that in front of the detective to be creepy, but something about it made Jayde struggle to resist the urge to smile.

By the time Detective Mitchell had moved, Joker and the officers had already disappeared into the room in which Jayde had just been but she was now being pulled along again, down the hallway, away from Joker. "I'm sorry you had to see him, Jayde-" she was saying but Jayde ignored this, pulling against the detective's grip.

"Wait, wait." She began, turning to glance back at the dark room where all the officers stood, awaiting the second act to the show. "I want to watch. I want to know what he says." Her head motioned toward the small room, resisting the detective.

"Jayde, lets just get you home-…" she began to argue but now tears were coming to Jayde's aid again.

"Please, I need this." She whimpered. "I…hate him. I need to see him go away forever…please."

At first, Detective Mitchell stared at her with a perplexed expression on her face, but when Jayde let out a small sob, glancing behind her at the room, she seemed to believe her and let go of her arm to follow her into the crowded dark room.

A few heads turned to look at who had entered but Jayde ignored their stares, her stomach flipping over at the sound of Joker's clowny voice coming through the speakers in the room. Detective Mitchell stood just behind her, placing her hand on her shoulder as though she thought Jayde needed some sort of comfort although just hearing his voice was comfort enough. He was alone in the room with the two officers that had brought him in, talking quietly to either them or himself; even Jayde was not sure at that point.

"Oh, the old familiar places…" he groaned, smirking around at the windows, lingering on one while his eyebrows furrowed and he licked his lips. "I see they've…repaired the one Batman broke with my face." He then added bitterly, tossing his head to flip some of his stringy, messy curls out of his eyes just as the door swung open, revealing once again the commissioner. Jim Gordon looked almost like a different person, that kind expression gone from his eyes, replaced by something Jayde recognized instantly as pure loathing. Joker seemed to recognize this as well and his grin expanded until he was smiling from ear to ear, his eyes mere slits in his face.

"Just the man I wanted to see." He growled, sitting forward on his chair a bit when the commissioner sat across from him. It appeared as though he was about to continue, but Gordon cut across him, opening the same file he had just had when Jayde was in there.

"Shut it, Joker. I don't have time for games tonight." He began, pulling from the folder several pieces of paper to spread them out in front of the Joker, who grinned, lowering his head to look at them.

By now, Jayde had inched to the front of the room and was now only a foot or so from the glass, watching intently. From where she was standing, Jayde could see that the pieces of paper were actually pictures of the side of her face.

"Tell me, Joker, if you cut her face, then why did you bother to stitch it back up again?" he asked sharply, leaning forward slightly when Joker continued to gaze at the pictures.

"Well, I needed her alive, didn't I?" he answered after several long moments, his eyes now lifted and looking at the commissioner.

"Why? Why did you go after her?"

Joker laughed loudly, tossing his head again slightly. "She was easily accessible to me, you see…It wasn't hard…But I was, as some call it, bored and in need of some…entertainment…and…" he paused again, leaning forward to bounce his eyebrows twice. "- she was very entertaining, Commissioner."

Something deep inside of Jayde twisted as she listened but at remembering that this was just an act, she shook his words away, trying to focus on what he had said to her several weeks ago.

"I'm not a real friendly guy, Jayde, so when I say that I care about you, you'll know I'm tellin' the truth."

At the present, Jayde took in Joker's appearance as he sat somewhat hunched at the table, with his hands still cuffed together in his lap. The clean black pants he had been wearing several hours ago now looked rather dirty, with smudges of white makeup along his right knee. His t-shirt was still mainly white save for one small trail of dark red splotches near the collar where Jayde assumed he had already fought someone and ended up with the fresh cut she now noticed near his chin. The once even makeup he had been wearing was now practically gone, until the top left half of his face where the faded line began at his nose, his eye still black and the top half of his left scar still red. Honestly, he looked a little worse for wear.

Jayde jumped when Jim Gordon suddenly slammed his hand down on the table, rising to his feet. "You are the lowest, most useless human I have ever encountered and you're lucky we live in a state where the death penalty is not an option." He paused, leaning more slightly forward when Joker raised his eye brows mockingly, smirking.

"You say this as though the thought of death actually scares me, Commissioner Gordon…like I should view this as a threat." Joker replied, his voice now matching the level at which Gordon had just had his. It grew louder when he stood up, now towering slightly over the shorter, graying man. "So if any of us should fear death, sir," he continued, motioning his head at the window where Jayde and the officers watched. "- it should be you." His voice fell again and that smirk returned to it's normal place, elongating his scars as he glared at Jim Gordon. "Because you have a lot more to lose than I do."

A heavy silence followed Joker's words where Jayde rubbed her forearms a few times, trying to rid herself of the goosebumps that coated them. Even the small viewing room seemed to be holding it's breath until one of them would break the silence; Joker was first.

"So since you can't hope to get information from me by…'threatening' me with a peaceful and perfectly timed death by lethal injection, how about I ask a favor of you. Then if you make good on this…favor, I will…answer your questions." He said, now resting his linked hands on the table. "Since my history as you see, is…more of a 'multiple choice'."

It seemed Jim Gordon was processing this request as his moustache twitched a few times, his forehead wrinkled and furrowed while Jayde wondered furiously what Joker was going to ask for. She had a feeling the officers and detectives around her were thinking the same thing as the room seemed to breathe a sigh when the police commissioner leaned forward, nodding his head.

"What is it?"

Joker hesitated, moving more toward the edge of his chair. "I need you to let dear little Jayde keep that car, Commissioner." He said and Jayde froze as she felt every head in the room turn to look at her. Jim Gordon was about to speak when Joker shook his head hard, cutting across him. "There is no bomb, it's not going to explode or catch on fire, nothing. I swear."

There was a long pause here where the commissioner stared at the Joker, assessing his honesty as he again began thinking furiously. "Why?" he finally asked, watching when Joker leaned forward again, lowering his voice.

"Because you and Jayde have something in common, Commissioner." Joker began, his eyes glistening with malice. "See you and Jayde have both lost a parent in the line of duty…and that car is the last piece of her father that she has with her…you understand how that is, don't you?"

The Commissioner glanced at the window where Jayde and everyone else was watching before he looked back to find The Joker grinning that evil, awful smirk.

"Fine, but if my people find anything wrong with that car, you will answer for it." He finally said, standing. Joker laughed, rocking back in his chair.

"Oooh…I'm scared."

Once Jim Gordon had left the room, Joker was lifted to his feet again by the tall officers and led through the other end of the room back to where Jayde assumed the holding cells were. The heavy, metal door swung shut behind him and Jayde exhaled heavily as tears again met her eyes, not even bothering to accumulate before they traveled down her cheeks. That was it; Joker was gone.

All this time, Jayde had been so enraptured by this interrogation that she had completely forgotten about the detective's hand on her shoulder and as she allowed herself a few soft hiccups of sadness, the tall woman sighed, trying to console her. "Jayde, he's gone. He can't hurt you anymore." She murmured gently, as if that was what Jayde needed to hear. "Let's take you home, alright?"

The back doors to the police precinct swung open before them, the now cold evening air rushing against her cheeks to chill the moist trails there. She shivered slightly, folding her arms against herself as she began to wonder where the sun had gone and if the last time she could remember waking up was even part of the same day. It seemed years ago now that Jayde had been laying in that bed next to The Joker or standing in the middle of the woods with him, kissing him. The police cruiser began to pull away from the station but Jayde closed her eyes to keep those tears back as they threatened to spill again.

"Jayde," Detective Mitchell began, glancing over once they had stopped at a red light near her apartment. "You know if you ever need anything, you can always call me, alright?" Jayde nodded, but looked down when she pushed a small business card into her hand. "Anytime, day or night."

"Thanks," Jayde answered, tucking it into her pocket absentmindedly. The sight of her apartment building's parking garage was enough to bring back the tears but this time, she really choked them back hard, not wanting Detective Mitchell to waste anymore time being sympathetic. "I think I got it from here." She said quietly once she had parked and surprisingly, the detective nodded, blinking slowly.

"Alright, Jayde, if you would do me a favor and just call the number I wrote on that card when you actually get inside your apartment, just so I know you made it alright." She asked, her eyes searching Jayde's face as she got out of the car, pulling out the card to glance at it.

"Yeah, that's fine. I will." Jayde answered, mildly wondering how on earth she was going to do that without a phone.

Minutes later, she again found herself in the stairwell, taking deep steadying breaths to keep from sinking into tears again. Joker would not want her to be this upset over him being arrested, but at this point, that was only half of the reason Jayde was so upset. Her brief foray into an exciting, fast-paced life had come to such an abrupt and screeching end that it made her heart ache physically to consider going back to the way things were before she had met The Joker- Starbucks, no friends, no enemies, just a solitary, boring life.

It wasn't until Jayde had actually made it to her front door that she realized her apartment was still very locked and the holder of her key was still very unavailable. Those tears she had been forcing back immediately found her eyes again and spilled heavily as Jayde finally allowed a loud sob of defeat to leave her body as she pressed her back to the locked door, sinking to the floor. Alone at last, Jayde could feel that the urge to cry hard, to sit there and sob, was creeping up inside of her but the second she opened her eyes to lower her head and give in, her eyes fell onto the copper edge of a key tucked just under the corner of her doormat. Her tears dissolved in record time as she reached for it, hoping, praying that somehow Joker had already managed to escape and was waiting for her just on the other side of that door.

She knew this was not the case but still could not avoid the sinking, disappointed feeling that welled up inside of her at the sight of the apartment just as she and Joker had left it nearly seven hours prior. The small heap of black duffle bags was in the exact same place atop her bed but as Jayde stood in her bedroom doorway, staring at them, she suddenly remembered poor Dotcom, who had been following them in the Escalade seemingly years ago. It definitely explained the key under the mat as Jayde could remember Joker handing him the ring of keys when he had passed the walkie-talkie to him just minutes before they left. A small smile moved Jayde's face when she mentally thanked him for looking out for her. Joker would be proud.

The topmost bag Jayde pulled toward her once she remembered that Joker had packed her phone into one of them and upon locating it amidst the bunches of clothing, she dialed the phone number Detective Mitchell had given her.

Of course a few more questions had plagued their conversation but while Jayde was trying to assure her that she was safe in her apartment, her hands had continued to dig through the clothes until her fingers faltered upon the slick, smooth surface of a picture. She was no longer the slightest bit listening to Detective Mitchell on the phone when she pulled it from the clothing only to squeeze her eyes shut to quell the tears once again.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go. I'm really about to fall asleep. Thanks for all your help and I'll call you tomorrow." Jayde lied, hurriedly pressing the end button to throw the phone onto the bed next to her.

The picture in her hands had to have been taken many years ago as it was rather faded, wrinkled at the corners and contained the figures of a younger Tre and Kieron, one arm around each others shoulder's as they shared a laugh. Tre's head was thrown back, his top row of teeth visible as he seeming roared with laughter while next to him, Joker's eyes were squeezed shut, his nose wrinkled in that adorable laugh that Jayde could instantly hear echoing in her memory. His scars had yet to be a part of his existence and Jayde felt her heart flutter a bit as she gazed at his young, handsome complexion. He was doubled slightly in that characteristic way he did when he tried to contain his laughter and Jayde could not help but smile to herself when she remembered how he had laughed just like he was in this picture when he had put his pet tarantula in Dotcom's bed.

She was almost positive Joker had never meant for her to find this picture but all the more, now that he was gone, Jayde was infinitely glad she had. However, the more she stared at it, the harder and more painfully her heart beat so she stood to place it in her nightstand drawer, figuring that maybe in a few days, weeks or months she would be able to look at it without wanting to cry.

Back at the bed, Jayde began pulling the bags from their place atop her bed, wanting nothing more at this point than to fall asleep, forget the day had even begun. Maybe when she woke the next morning, she would still be laying in Joker's old bed at Tre's house and he would be right out in the kitchen, reading the newspaper where she had found him in her nightmare. Some of the bags were heavier than the others but her body felt so weak at this point, Jayde was positive all of them weighed at least twenty pounds a piece. One of the lighter ones slid from the bed as her arms gave out and fell onto the floor, emptying it's contents onto the carpet. The small black bag and red medical bag were among the items now laying across the floor but as Jayde moved to put them back in the duffle, her fingers faltered across the smaller black bag, hesitating. This was one bag Jayde had not seen before and figuring that Joker was gone now and wouldn't mind her snooping, she unzipped it, only to let her face wrinkle in tears again as her rear met the comforter on her bed.

Inside the bag sat three small compacts of makeup; one white, one red, one black. Several makeup brushes lay along the bottom of the bag, some used, some still clean as though he had not even taken them out but before Jayde could put the bag away to save herself from expending more effort in tears, she noticed the glint of silver chain at the very bottom, rolling around as she shifted it in her hands. Jayde had a feeling the sight of this, whatever it was, would be enough to send her to tears again but hesitantly, she pulled it out anyway.

At first, it took a second to recognize the chain and small, warped piece of metal at the end of it, but as she placed it in her hand, her heart skipped several beats in succession when she realized the charm at the end of this necklace happened to be the bullet Jayde had so shakily pulled from Joker's side almost a week ago. At long last, Jayde fell onto her side, clutching the silver chain to her chest as a quiet sob of pain left her against the soft comforter. Joker was gone, that was true. But as Jayde lay there, crying herself to sleep, she vowed to herself and to Joker, where ever he was, that today at the precinct would not be the last time she saw him. After all…she had promised.

The End….Or is it?

Author's note: Ladies and Gentlemen, this IS the end…But have no fear…sequel in the making. (so don't ask me to update!) I WILL NOT leave ya hangin'…I promise.