[[ Once again, sorry I’m taking so damn long to make progress. The “real world” keeps interfering. Oh, also, I’m retconning Artie’s name. He’s Robert now.]]
	Once he was gone, I turned around to look for the Joker, but he had vanished. Had he left without me? That didn’t seem like him and yet I couldn’t help but worry that he had. It was a long walk to the park so I started that way immediately. If the Joker was watching me, I was sure he would follow. I didn’t see anyone on the streets as I walked, although I did pass a few seedy looking bars which were still full of life.
	I’d never been a huge fan of the park, not even as a kid. The carousel had been the best part and now it was blown up. I made a mental note to check it out when I was done placing the necklace. I went to the statue on the east side of the park memorializing Martha and Thomas Wayne, a wealthy couple who’d been the victims of a mugging before I was born. As a child the statue had always disturbed me, the couple’s stony eyes casting their judgment on all who walked past.
	I climbed up on the pedestal and considered for a moment. I’d been planning on giving Martha the pearls, but that seemed too respectful, almost like a tribute. I draped them around the neck of Dr. Thomas Wayne with a chuckle.
	“Are you sure that’s wise?” someone said. I jumped and noticed the Joker leaning against a tree nearby.
	“That’s not the kind of question I’d expect from you,” I said.
	“Their son, Bruce Wayne, is a powerful man in Gotham,” he advised. I laughed.
	“That spoiled brat? He’s a powerful incentive to avoid becoming rich, apparently it turns your brain to mush,” I joked.
	“That’s the mask. You trust me, don’t you?” Joker asked.
	“Of course,” I told him.
	“Choose a different statue,” he said. I sighed and took the pearls back, climbing down from the pedestal and sitting in the grass as I mulled it over.
	“Any suggestions?” I asked.
	“I thought you wanted to run your own show,” he said with a smile.
	“It doesn’t matter anymore. Now that Robert is taking that picture to the press, people will assume that my every act is your command. That’s what they did with Harley Quinn,” I pointed out.
	“Is that what you want? For people to think you belong to me?” he asked, walking towards me. The way he moved was almost predatory, and there was something different about his eyes.
	“I…”
	“Do you want me to order you around? Is that what you imagined, when you were putting together your little notebook?” he asked, drawing close behind me. He wrapped his arm around my waist and tucked his chin against my neck to whisper, “The Joker’s…little…pet?”
	“No, I…” Despite my protests, there was no way he could ignore the way I was reacting. His words caused me to shiver and I felt myself pressing back into him. Despite the way my brain was fogging over, I forced myself to say, “I never imagined meeting you.” He pulled away suddenly and grinned at me.
	“You could put them on the statue of Harvey Dent,” he suggested. Caught off guard by his sudden withdrawal and his bizarre suggestion, I simply stared at him. “Whaat? Cat got your tongue?”
	“Shouldn’t I try to stay on good terms with Two-Face?” I asked. He started cracking up
	“Amber, babe,” he said, “Two-Face has a good side and a bad side, but nothing you do can change which side of the coin you get. The other people in our little Rogue’s Gallery will appreciate the bold move and that way, when your picture gets out, there’ll be no doubt in their minds that I’m really standing beside you.”
	“Are you sure?” I asked nervously.
	“Of course. Who besides me, in aaaall of Gotham, would be crazy enough to insult Two-Face?” he asked.
	“No one,” I said.
	“Exactly,” said the Joker, “Least of all a beginner like yourself. They’ll assume I must be behind it, but it will obviously be your crime, and so they’ll have to see the connection. It’s perfect.”
	“Okay,” I said with a smile. As I turned away and started walking to the statue, I couldn’t help but wonder what had made him get so close to me, and why he had pulled away. I couldn’t forget the way he’d looked at me as he came towards me. I’d seen his violent side before, but this was something different, and if it had come from imagining me as a mere pet, I wasn’t sure I wanted to know. Of course I desired him, there was no way I could deny that at this point, but I didn’t want it to be that way. I had lied when I’d said I never imagined meeting him. I had just imaged us as equals, the way lovers should be.
	Before I knew it we were there and I was scrambling up onto the platform.
	“That dress isn’t good for climbing, and you’d be useless fighting in it. We need to get you a better outfit,” the Joker commented.
	“Mommy’s busy, honey, let’s talk about fashion later,” I said, putting the necklace around the statue’s neck. I stopped for a moment and admired the statue itself. It was a good likeness of Two Face while he has still been Gotham’s White Knight. The city had never been the same since the Joker had driven him mad. Unlike the Joker, I truly believed that Harvey Dent had lost his mind. What else could explain how radically different he was than the man he used to be?
I suddenly realized how quiet the Joker was being and looked up, but I didn’t see him. Then I noticed him standing at the foot of the pedestal, looking up my skirt. With a shriek I kicked him in the face and jumped off the pedestal, running around to the other side and then sprinting away through the park.
“Amber!” he yelled. I looked back to see that he wasn’t following me. He didn’t look angry either. That must have been one lousy, weak kick.“What was that for?” he demanded.
“I don’t have to talk to you about this, you know what it was for,” I yelled back.
“It’s not like I saw anything, that dress is way too long. I was just admiring your legs,” he said with a grin, “Come back.” I turned my back on him and walked away. For a second I considered going straight back to my dorm, but then I remembered I was still in costume. I headed for the Joker’s home. I tried not to jump when he suddenly appeared beside me and was unnerved by how silently he’d managed to catch up. “I watched you changing and you didn’t freak out, and now you’re not talking to me?” he asked.
“Shut up,” I said. He stopped trying to keep up. I didn’t look around to see if he was still following me. When I got back to the house I went into the bathroom to wash of my face paint. Out of the corner of my eye I could see him watching me in the mirror.
“I’m sorry,” he said. I looked at his reflection and couldn’t tell if he was being genuine, but at least we wasn’t smiling, and an apology from the Joker was probably extremely rare.
“Okay,” I said. I pushed past him and went into the room to grab a few blankets from the floor.
“What are you doing with those?” he asked.
“I’m sleeping in the kitchen,” I informed him. I grabbed my pajamas and after I set up a makeshift bed in the kitchen I went into the bathroom to change. I didn’t see him come upstairs, but when I got back into the kitchen there was a scruffy teddy bear and a pillow by my little nest. I got as comfortable as I could on the linoleum and fell asleep.