After an exquisite lunch of homemade mac 'n' cheese, you and Frost were standing outside of a room on the second floor of the mansion. He had begun to explain the structure of the mansion on the walk there: the second floor was generally used for training, the third was the rooms of Joker's chosen few, the fourth were for lower level staff such as security guards and cooks, and the fifth was Joker's very own private floor. He didn't reveal much about that, only that he had an office and a bedroom up there. You didn't know if you ever wanted to see that place; after all, if you had, you were likely in trouble. Besides, it probably wouldn't be the prettiest sight. Who knew what awful business went on up there.

   Frost gently pushed open the door and gestured for you to follow him into the room. You did as instructed, and your eyes surveyed the room in awestruck wonder.

   It was definitely bigger than it looked from the outside, considering the fact that there was another room relatively close to it. However, it looked pretty run down compared to the rest of the mansion; the walls were made of brick that had been painted over with white paint, and it was even starting to peel in some areas. The floor was white, too, but was made of hard cement. This wasn't very surprising to you, though. Why have a training room be kept in pristine condition if it would just be ruined with all the, well, training?

   There was a singular yoga mat laid down on the center of the floor, and you assumed that that would be where you and Frost would be practicing. It was very long, so you didn't really worry about falling off and sustaining any serious injuries on the floor below. Next to the mat, there was a table lined with various weapons to practice with: guns, knives, even a bow and arrow. Around the room, there stood mannequins and targets for practice.

   "This is a very awkward way to get to know someone," you giggled as you and Frost made your way over to the mat. "'Hey, I'm (Y/N),' then I tackle the shit out of you."

   "I don't think that you're gonna be doing the tackling," he teased back. "You know that I'm ten times more experienced than you."

   "Yeah, but don't underestimate me. I think I could fuck you up."

   Frost raised his eyebrow in such a way that you almost wanted to retract your statement. But, you stood firm with your head held high.

   "Okay," he replied finally, seemingly unbelieving. He shifted in his stance so that his feet were apart, fists raised. "Then, show me what you got, (L/N)."

   You felt bad about any injury you were about to inflict on Frost, but this was the whole point of training: in order to learn something, you had to both beat up someone and get beaten up. So, you lunged at him, knocking him down. You were surprised how easy it was; he probably hadn't been bracing himself as well as he could have. People always underestimated you. When would they learn?

   You straddled his hips and landed a blow on his nose. With a strangled groan, Frost reeled his arm back and punched you right in the jaw.

   The force of it was enough to send you flying backwards, landing on your back on the mat. Frost stood up, blood already trickling from his nose. He looked down at you with a proud smile. "Not bad," he said, eyes twinkling.

   You moaned in reply, fingers brushing where he had struck you. You knew a gnarly bruise would be there tomorrow. "Not bad yourself."

   As he helped you up, you knew that you had to be stronger. This wasn't cutting it. You couldn't just lay on the floor whenever you had been hit, even if it was just training. Training is preparation for the real thing, and any habits you'd pick up during training were probably habits that you'd have when it came to actual combat.

   "Let's go again," you said, determined to improve.

   With a nod, he let you make the first move.

   So, you did, running up to him and kicking his leg out from under him.

   He landed on his ass with force, and he winced at the pain of it. You seized this window of opportunity while he was still stunned, kicking his face so that he'd lay down fully.

   Frost's head was thrown back at the impact, causing it to hit the floor hard. He was now on his back, and even though you felt bad, you knew you had to keep going. He wouldn't have any hard feelings over this, and this was what you were aiming to do: practice.

   So, you jumped onto him, straddling him once again. You felt his hips buck under you, a desperate attempt to fling you off.

   You held your ground, landing blow after blow on his face. He punched back, of course, and some of those hit you, too. But, you were able to dodge some, and you remained solid even after taking the ones you weren't able to dodge. Your thighs squeezed his hips to keep you on his lap, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get you off.

   So, you knew you had to get off. There was such a thing as going too far, and you didn't want to hit that point with a mission so close. You stood up, offering a hand to the injured man below you. You winced as you saw the damage you had done to his face; he already had a swollen eye and a busted lip, and you could only imagine how those injuries would develop. You knew you probably didn't look much better, but that was different. It was easy to put aside your own pain, but it was harder to put aside your friend's.

   Frost gratefully took your hand and allowed you to pull him up. "Wow, (Y/N), you pack a strong punch."

   "Yeah, sorry about that," you replied with a guilty giggle. "But, hey, you do too, Frosty."

   "What did we say about unnecessary apologies, doll?" a familiar voice cooed from the room's entrance.

   You tensed up, slowly turning to the door.

   As you had expected, Joker was standing there, arms crossed and leaning against the doorframe. He looked pleased; you hoped he had seen you fight. Even though Frost's injuries were guilt-inducing, they would serve you well in winning your boss' approval.

   "Hey, J," Frost said, wiping the blood from his nose. "(Y/N)'s quite the fighter. I think you made a good decision with her."

   You looked at Frost and smiled a thankful smile. He always seemed to be on your side, even though you hadn't known each other long. Considering he was supposed to be a bad guy, he really wasn't so bad.

   "I noticed," chuckled Joker. "Frosty here isn't exactly an easy opponent."

   He walked a little closer to the mat, surveying both your and his injuries, respectively. "I'm impressed with you, (Y/N)."

   Those words had your heart racing. "Thank you, sir!" you replied excitedly.

   "However," he said, stepping closer. "You need to stop apologizing for doing what you were meant to do. What kind of criminal apologizes after beating someone up? I don't care if Frosty is your friend. In fact, you shouldn't have friends here at all, but that's besides the point.

   "You need to start embracing what you do wrong. Because, what you do wrong in society's eyes is what you do right in mine. You have this...pesky humanness about you. I know you've been wanting this chance for a while. Don't blow it because you're letting your conscience get in the way. As a criminal, you have no conscience. Do what you must to survive, and do what you must to please me."

   He stepped even closer until he was standing on the mat with you and Frost. "You may be a good fighter, doll, but until you can show me that you have the correct mentality, you will remain the low man on the totem pole. Show me that you're the heartless psycho that I know you can be."

You nodded, ashamed that you were letting your emotions get the better of you. Maybe you weren't as ready to be a criminal as you had thought. "I'm sorry," you said, then immediately regretted it.

At Joker's amused expression, you giggled and rushed to rectify the situation. "Um, no I'm not."

"Good girl."

"Is there something you needed from us?" Frost asked. "With all due respect, boss, we want to train as much as possible today."

"No, I was just going up to my room and heard all this racket. So, I figured I'd observe." He stepped off the mat. "Please, continue."

Now that you had an audience, you weren't sure how you would perform. You were never the type to succeed under pressure. But, still, you put up a fight with Frost. You weren't doing phenomenally, but you were certainly holding your own. You knocked him down several times, and you made him groan in pain quite often as well. Considering the amount of practice he had, you considered that a win.

This particular time, though, he had knocked you to the ground and was now straddling your hips. You were squirming under him, unable to escape as he landed blows on your face.

With a strained yell, you brought your knee into Frost's groin, making him groan and roll off of you.

You shot to your feet, kicking him while he was down.

As you did, though, you felt a pair of hands on you, yanking you back and tossing you to the floor.

Bewildered, you stared up at Joker as he rested a foot on your chest to keep you from getting up. He was grinning, clearly amused at your expression. "What?" he asked with a cackle. "Do ya really think that you won't be cornered at some point? Do ya really think it'll never be two against one?"

Frost looked a little apprehensive at the idea of ganging up on someone so new, but he seized his opportunity to climb to his feet and start kicking you.

You were panicked now. Not only did you have one experienced fighter to deal with, but two. And one of them happened to be the Prince of Crime. To you, this was no longer about training. This was about survival.

You kicked at Joker's leg, causing him to fall forward and therefore land on top of you. The force of his body knocked the wind out of you, and you tried to slither out from under him. But, before you could escape, he grabbed your leg, keeping you from moving any farther.

You covered your head with your hands to shield any kicks from Frost, and you couldn't help but notice him start to kick a little gentler at your vulnerability. You knew then that he had that same "pesky humanness" that you had, no matter how hard he tried to disguise it.

You began to thrash your leg around, unsure of what else to do. It didn't seem to work at first, but by some miracle, Joker eventually let go. You hurried to scramble to your feet, landing a panicked punch to Frost's nose once more to disarm him. He fell, and you couldn't tell if you had truly punched that hard, or if he was trying to help.

You looked, and Joker was on his feet, too. The way he stood, looking at you like you were the most unworthy opponent ever... It made you all the more scared. But, you couldn't show that side of yourself; you had to fight.

So, you sprinted at him, punching him over and over again. It seemed as if the intensity and the speed of your attacks had thrown him. His face was rapidly snapping back and forth in the direction of your punches, and he, too, got a bloody nose.

But, with a strong and confident punch to your throat, you were successfully stunned. You stumbled back, grasping at your throat as if that would take the pain away. You could barely swallow your saliva, and each breath sounded more like a wheeze.

In this period of panic, Joker put you in a headlock, which did not do much to cure the pain in your throat or your struggles to breathe. But, the headlock was obviously not intended to kill you, so you felt yourself relax a little in his arm. You knew that you were safe now, albeit uncomfortable. You knew that you should not feel safe with this particular man, especially since he had just punched you in the throat. But, the strength of his bicep used simply to restrain you, not hurt you, made you feel safer than most people had.

He chuckled a little. "If this were a real confrontation, what would you do?"

You blinked, realizing that you were still supposed to be fighting back. So, you started struggling, attempting to pull his arm off of you.

He chuckled again. Not only did he have more natural strength than you, but your technique was also wrong. "You'd be dead, doll."

"Then teach me," you wheezed out, not particularly wanting to leave this rather comfortable place in his arm. "What would I do?"

"Tilt your face downward, so your lips are in the crook of my arm. That way, the headlock won't choke you."

You did as you were told, and some of the pressure on your throat was relieved.

"Good. Now, just start kicking. You can't really do much with your arms in this type of situation."

You obeyed once more, blindly kicking behind you with the hope that you'd connect with something.

You realized you had when Joker hissed and let go of you.

You now stood panting, right in front of Joker and Frost. Frost looked at Joker, asking with his eyes if they should keep going. Surprisingly, Joker shook his head in reply, resting a hand on your shoulder. "Well done, (Y/N). For someone who's never trained before, you did amazingly."

"Is it over?" you asked, feeling your body start to ache from your newfound lack of adrenaline. All you wanted to do now was go up to your room and sleep. You realized that combat was not as easy as you had thought, especially against big, burly guys.

"Yes, my dear. It's over," answered Joker with a grin. "Your endurance could definitely use some work, but let's not push you when you've got a mission in two days, yeah?"

"Yeah," you breathed, wiping sweat off your forehead with the back of your hand. "Based off my performance today, how do you think I'll do on Saturday?"

"I think those guards will get their asses handed to them."

You blushed, grateful yet unbelieving. "Please, you don't gotta lie to me, J. I'm already pooped after barely any fighting."

"Yeah, but keep in mind that you'll have a lot more adrenaline on Saturday. And it shouldn't be too long of a mission, either," Frost piped in, smiling fondly.

"And you'll have the poison, too," Joker added. He grinned. "Look, I would have no motive to lie to you, dollface. I have never, in my life, told a white lie to make someone feel better. If they are useless and pathetic, I tell them so."

He gently grabbed your chin. "And, make no mistake, you are still the weak link here. You are still the least trained and the least reliable. However, that does not make you useless or pathetic. You put up quite a fight today! You've got some practicing to do, but I think you'll be just fine for Saturday. I see great potential in you, and with the help of everyone else plus the poison, I think you'll be in good shape."

The pain in your throat was practically forgotten at his touch; he had this weird quality of making everything feel better. "Thank you, sir."

"You're welcome. Now, what I want you to do is start building yourself up. Don't rely on my words or my praise. You don't need to ask me how I think you'll do. Figure that out on your own, know that you'll kick ass. I'm not your cheerleader, understand? You are your own cheerleader. Trust me, puddin', there's nothing more desirable than a confident woman, both in and out of the crime world."

You understood. Confidence was something that came in waves for you; sometimes you felt like the greatest person on Earth, and sometimes you couldn't function without somebody's approval. You needed to make your random surges of confidences constant. "Got it. Thank you for the advice, J. I know my mindset holds me back sometimes."

He released your chin, nodding. "As it does with most. But, I expect you to be better than most. After all, now that you're on this team, consider yourself the soon-to-be Queen of Gotham. A strong woman that wreaks havoc. A woman more notorious than Poison Ivy and Catwoman combined. Are Queens like most people?"

You shook your head, the notion of you being so far above everyone else already making you feel more inflated. "No."

"No. So, don't act like most people. I expect better from my Queen. Got it?"

The phrasing meant nothing to him, and you knew that. But, still, the words "my Queen" sent a shiver down your spine. "Got it."

And with that, you, Joker, and Frost left the room. All three of you grabbed ice for your injuries and departed to your respective rooms. But, before Joker proceeded to his floor, he said, "Dinner should be at around 6:00. Oh, and (Y/N)?"

   "Yeah?" you asked.

   "Do not change out of that dress."

   His eyes hungrily roamed over you before he walked to his floor.

   Frost gave you a look as you hurriedly walked into your room, shutting the door behind you.

   Joker was so appealing to you. His advice, his compliments, even the tender yet uncomfortable way he put you in a headlock. Even his catcalls and blatant admiration for your body. All of it.

   You sighed, hopping in bed and icing your bruised jaw. You felt like you had been productive today, and despite him cautioning you not to rely on them, Joker's praise made you feel more confident about Saturday.

   Now, your anxiety was starting to shift back to excitement. Your first mission with the Joker was two days away!

   Look out, Gotham, you thought to yourself with a smile. You're not ready for me.