Authors note: hope you all are enjoying this so far. Here comes another part to the story.

She sat up stiffly in her bed pulling the sheets closer to her shoulders hearing the sweet sounds of Allisa in the next room. The Gotham news resounded in the quiteness of her house and something was off about it. She rose and made her way groggily toward the living room leaning her hips against he couch arm to watch the news report.

"I'm not sure about Mr. Lau's travel arrangments but I'm sure glad he's back." the view of gotham's DA Harvey Dent changed to show Lau leaning against the MCU building with a note from none other than Batman no doubt.

"What's going on witht he news today? Why's that man so important to Mr Dent?" she accepted the cup of coffee she was handed and took a steadying sip before answering.

"This means the mobs money is in the hands of the Gotham police. The guy will probably try to keep all the money and get mob idiots in jail." she explained. 

"Oh that's not good. Don't come between greedy criminals and their money." Alisa turned away to go back to doing her homework in the kitchen.

'break them down enough they will turn to a man they don't fully understand. And so begins the jokers games.'

She turned away from the TV to start breakfast and tried to get back to the normal routine of her everyday life. She wanted to ignore all craziness to be found in Gotham's criminal underworld just like everyone else would be trying to ignore it on anyother Sunday morning. After breakfast was done she decided to take a day trip to the park and a museum for Alisa. She deserved some down time after such a long week of homework and a distraced caregiver.

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Three days later. . . 

She stood transfixed by the joker card stuck to her door happy for once that Alisa had decided to have a sleepover with a friend from the day care. She knew whose calling card that was and she knew what likely lay behind her door somewhere in her house. She entered with a watchfulness of any predator surveying its home territory. She found nothing odd or out of place and relaxed slightly after her quick look through of her home. That was until she dropped her purse and coat on the couch.

"Made it-ah home I see." That all too familar voice drawled as the figure leaned forward from the shadows in the corner of her living room.

'I'm losing my touch' she thought drooly.

"Yeah seems your more careful about just announcing yourself. Although there's much left to be desired for your manners of entering a home uninvited." she sat down on the coffee table facing him.

That handsome scared face painted in red black and white shone from the dim darkness of her living room. God those eyes she hated and loved to stare into. The chaos she found there made her own bad side rear its head sending delightful sensations throughout her body. The uncanny ability those eyes had to see right through her masks and pretenses was something she hated.

"Well doll your welcomed to come into my uh bedroom unannounced anytime so long as you plan to do nothing other than get naked and romp around with me for a Uh few hours."  one side of his mouth drew up in a smirk of masculine delight at the mental image his own words evoked in his mind.

"Curios to see how well i could hold up against your sadistic urges?" she asked teasingly.

"Soon." he broke out into high pitched chuckles. "soon enough we'll see-ah"

She sat there staring at him as he stared at her niether wanting to break through the silence at the moment. Two predators ignoring the challenge each presented to the other for the time being. She leaned her elbows on her knees mirroing his position in her chair across from her. Her head hunched to be level wih his own.

"Coming to collect on that favor I promised?" she queried noting the quick raising of his eye brows smiling that she had gotten to the right conclusion for his visit.

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"oh you. . .  never ceases to amaze me how good you are dollface." he chuckled. Outwardly he was teasing inwardly he was pissed. How he hated that this woman could read him so well. Made him get a niggling of how everyone else felt when he did it. A taste of his own medicine wasn't something he wanted to experience.

"At least your never bored." she shrugged in a delicate feminie gesture of cuteness.

"True. Tell me something can ya dance doll?" he asked standing noting that she followed his movement with her eyes before slowly following his actions and standing.

"Do you mean that griding stuff you see in clubs or the stripper kind of dancing.' she shimmied her hips a little in example. " I can tango if thats what you want to know."

"The uh stripper kind. I need you to wow a few business assosiates of mine tonight. Seems they need some help with the uh Batman." he stressed the word of one of the most intriguing men he had ever heard of and had the grace to see their work.

"Sure I'll dance but nothing else If you want a whore well you have one in your employ already. Does this make us square?" she asked taking the card he offered her and following him to the door.

"Not ex-act-ly" he stressed " after this only one or two more little jobs."

"What exactly do you mean." she asked oh that mind of hers was working over time. Those glimmering greens narrowing in concentration and focus on what he had said.

"I'm a man of my word. Two more jobs as i see fit for you to do and you and I will be uh square." he leaned his arms against the door frame leaning his body close to hers.

"No more dancing to the Devil's Lullabye doll don't look so serious." he drawled before turning and saunturing down her walk to his waiting van.

*******************************

She stared down at the card seeing the place and time for the job she had to do.

"Devil's Den 12:00am" wrote in masculine script.

Back to the narrows once more and up onto a stripper pole. She growled in annoyance at the debaucle to come. Though it could be fun to wipe the smirk off his face. Just a few more forays into the criminal world and she was done for good.

'I'm never going to incite the curiosity of any more painted faced criminals again. After this tango I am done for good. No more games to be played with clown anarchists. Never again.' she thought as she got into her car minuets later.