Joker's Hideout(s)

[Elmira of Elkwood]

Rosie smiled, then sighed quietly as she kept herself balanced on his shoulders. This had been.... one VERY eventful morning. Night too. She'd definitely need to take a nap later. Once they got to where they were going to go. Didn't want to fall asleep on his shoulders.  

[Elmira of Elkwood]

Meanwhile, Gossamer was still standing in what was once Rosie's room. The smoke had cleared, she'd destroyed several walls to make sure the air could circulate throughout the building, but she was beginning to feel sick. A side effect of solidifying herself or beginning the process while the area was still filled with gas. Transfer made it easy to absorb some of the negative aspects into her body upon reformation.

Feeling sick to her stomach, and not being able to sense so much as a trace of Joker or Rosie, Gossamer moved to sit down on the child's soaking wet bed. She sat down, leaned over her knees, then sighed heavily as she cupped her head in her hands. Damn it... so close. She should have jumped in as soon as she got here. Instead she was too afraid to come inside. And now Joker and Rosie had escaped.

The only real consolation she had was that... from the looks of things... Rosie wasn't in very much distress. This was clearly a little girl's room, and she didn't imagine Joker would have something like this for anything other than Rosie. The pink... everything. The toys, the dolls, the drawings hanging on what was left of the wall. Looking across the hall to what must have been Joker's room (blasted out walls helped with that...), Gossamer could see a few of Rosie's drawings hanging up there too.

So... did this mean he was... taking care of her? That she was making herself sick with worry for nothing? That the child was safe and didn't need..... didn't need Gossamer trying to look after her?

With another heavy sigh, Gossamer cupped her face in her hands. Suppose... suppose she could try to take comfort in that. There wasn't much she could do anyway... not with how she was feeling. Her magic was terrible when she was sick or had a headache. And she had both. They were gone as far as she could help... there wasn't anything here but some of the things the two had abandoned here and....

…..

Slowly, Gossamer looked up, and looked around Rosie's room.

…. nothing here but some of their belongings. Something Gossamer didn't have before when she was looking for them. By the time she had gotten free... Joker had cleaned out the old hide out. There wasn't anything there she could really use. He'd left in a hurry though. There was a good chance that she could find something that she could use when she was feeling better.

Quicky, Gossamer jumped up from the bed, then moved to pick up a dress that was lying on the floor. Then a picture that was hanging from the wall. She knew what she could do now... she knew what kind of spells she had access to now that she had items like these.

Gossamer then began to walk through the house, paying absolutely no mind to Batman or anyone else. She was looking for something to track down Joker. And if what she'd seen in his last home said anything... he'd have trophies around here somewhere.  

[Elmira of Elkwood]

Meanwhile, quite a ways away from Joker's former hide out, a woman was walking down the street. Her blonde hair pulled up in her classic bun, a long over coat draped over her body, and a loose pair of shoes covering one red sock and one black sock. Or... at least they looked like socks. Her blue eyes sparkled happily as she hummed some silly little tune to herself.

Harley Quin walked down the street, away from the ritzy portion of the city. Moving to go back to her own little home in the... erm... less ritzy part of town. It wasn't close to Jokers, so she didn't plan on running into him. She had no idea what had just happened though, or that they were heading in her direction.  

[Comic_Book_Joker]

[enter the Joker and Gossamer from Gotham City]

The Joker, driving his purple convertible, sped down the road, his laughter somehow booming over the sound of the car. He didn't have too much time before Gossamer woke up, but he was almost there, so it wasn't a huge deal. He saw a blonde walking down the sidewalk, and initially didn't think too much of her, but as he drew closer, he felt that there was something... familiar about her.  

[Elmira of Elkwood]

Harley heard the roar of a car coming up the road behind her. She turned her head to see what was coming; it wasn't often traffic came down into this portion of Gotham. Her eyes widened a fraction when she spotted the signature purple color of the car as it came towards her.

Super.... Juuuust who she wanted to run into tonight. Quickly, she turned her head back around and tried to find an alley or building to duck into. She didn't want Yuriko to some how find out that she was with Joker again. She was a little... scary the last time she found out.  

[Comic_Book_Joker]

Joker had almost sped past her when she noticed her... socks. Red AND black? Only one person in Gotham did that.

He whipped the car around so fast and hard that it was a minor miracle it didn't flip over. He could hear Gossamer bounce around in the trunk, which made him smile a little. Might have just gotten some extra time out of that. He screeched to a halt just past her as he yelled, "HARLEY! So glad to see you!"  

[Elmira of Elkwood]

The blue eyed blond winced as he called out to her. Still, she flashed him a smile and waved. "Out for a little joy ride?" she called back. Just a little chat, that was all. Nothing wrong with that, and she'd keep going on her way. Nothing going on here. Nothing at all.

Comic_Book_Joker

 

[Comic_Book_Joker]

The Joker hopped out of the car, and said with a bright, friendly smile, "No, I'm afraid this trip is all business." Then, he had a thought, and his smile slowly became more sinister. "You remember Rosie, right?  

[Elmira of Elkwood]

Harley's frown fell a bit as she noted the new little curl to his smile. It wasn't his good smile. "Of course." she replied, moving towards the car a bit. "Sweet kid, cute style, good aim, and you had her room decked out fancier than ours ever was."  

[Comic_Book_Joker]

"Excellent memory, Harls," the clown said as he approached the trunk. "Now I have another surprise." He opened the trunk with one hand, and drew a revolver out with the other. "Meet her mother, Gossamer."  

[Elmira of Elkwood]

Harley's eyes widened a bit, and she quickly stepped towards the trunk. This... wasn't good. Especially if she was in the trunk when he was strictly on a business trip.

Looking into the trunk, Harley found a woman curled up on the very side of the trunk. The way Joker had spun to a stop, physics had probably shoved her to that end of the car. There was a gash on the side of her head that was trickling blood down her dark hairline. The same sort she'd seen others have with a nice hard crack to the head. Then she noticed the outfit the woman was wearing, the gun and knife she had attached to her, and couldn't help but make a quick mental comparison between herself and the other woman. She seemed a little darker color schemed... not as fun and bouncy looking. Not really anything fun or clowny about her. She was pretty though... must have had something else really going for her if Joker had this woman replace her so quickly after she had recovered from being tossed out the window.

Her frown grew at the though of that, and the memory of the old hide out being attacked and her finding Rosie there... then realizing mommy dearest was in Joker's bedroom.

"So... I take it from the nice little back seat you've given her, you're not taking her home to be a nice happy family again?" she asked as she looked back up at Joker.  

[Comic_Book_Joker]

"NOPE!" the Joker said with an almost perverse glee, "I'm taking her to have Rosie kill her!" He looked at Harley for a moment, and added, "Maybe you should come along. You two could kill her together! Have a bonding moment." He had apparently either forgotten they had ever really broken up, or was willing to forget it.  

[Elmira of Elkwood]

Harley eyes widened a bit and blinked back at him. A bonding moment? He didn't sound like he was joking about it either. "Sorry Mistah Jay... but quick little visits are about all I think I can do." she replied. "I've got my own thing going now and a trip coming up to plan for." She... wasn't going to mention the whole "my girlfriend was pissed the last time I visited you" part. She wasn't entirely sure how he'd react to the news that she traded him in for someone else.

Frowning a bit, she looked back down at Gossamer again. Speaking of trading in... "Besides... you've sort of replaced me twice already. Don't exactly think killing her mom with the old ex is going to be much of a bonding moment." she said. Then thought of something else. "How are you gonna get her to kill her own mother anyway? I got the impression the last time that the mom was out of the picture... but knowing you she probably had a reason to stay away. And.... what exactly are ya gonna do if she does have the get-up to kill her? Afterwards, I mean."  

[Comic_Book_Joker]

"Harley, baby," the clown said in an almost sarcastic tone, his arm wrapping around her shoulder and holding her tight to his side, like he used to do, "I know it's been a while since we spent much time together, but can you think of any time where I have had the whole plan figured out in advance? Because I sure can't."

Then, Joker shrugged. "But, I think Rosie will kill her, because she knows the truth. The witch betrayed me and abandoned her magical daughter into my keeping. And she knows what I'm capable of. Does that sound like good parenting to you? I mean, if I was just someone who knew me, I sure wouldn't trust me with children. Besides," he started, his expression turning much more serious, with no mirth whatsoever in it, "She replaced Rosie. She just whipped up another girl from the magical ether, and left Rosie to fend for herself. Even tried to treat the new girl right, like she was a good mother."

He took a deep breath, and continued his incredibly serious, very lucid speech. "Rosie doesn't know that yet. I only just found out. I was originally just going to kill her in front of Rosie, but knowing this now, I feel Rosie deserves the kill."  

[Elmira of Elkwood]

Harley was quiet as she listened to the Joker. Her expression almost a little concerned as she listened. Despite her usual goofy and fool-hearty personality, most people forgot that she was a psychiatrist for Arkham at one point in her life. Years of study and training just didn't go away, and she could usually read people very easily.

She didn't need her knowledge of experience to tell her that Joker seriously DID seem to care for the child. He only gets that look on his face and tone of voice if he was REALLY serious. He was more concerned about the mother hurting Rosie than he was her betraying him. THAT was something.

... and again she found herself feeling just a little jealous over the apparent six year old.