Mystery of The Night

Ch. 4



Isabella slowly woke, feeling a slight pain in her abdomen. As she gently rose up from the mattress, she instantly placed her hand over her abdomen and felt some sort of material around it. She gingerly rose up her shirt and saw the bandaged wrapped around her whole waist. Memories of the other night flashed through her mind and it caused her to smirk.



"Look's like he's starting to trust me."



She said to herself softly, she then gently stretched her limbs and then rose up from her bed and pulled out a new pair of jeans, and a long sleeved black shirt that was long enough to rest onto her hips.



As soon as she changed, and applied her makeup, she then gently pulled her long dark hair back into a ponytail, her medium sized hoop earrings hanging from her ears. She then slowly walked back to her closet and pulled on a pair of black boots, her body completely aching from last night.



Every so often as she moved, she would wince but the fact of the matter was that she was very used to this, waking up in pain was normal for her. She then walked over to her wooden chest and opened it to show all of her weapons, she gently pulled out two daggers and slipped them into her boots and then pulled back her sleeves to attach these wrist guards that had knives attached to them, that would pop out when she swung her arms forward fast enough. She then gently pulled her sleeves over them to hide them and then walked over to her dresser and grabbed her phone charger and placed it in her pocket.



Isabella was never one for purses, especially since she was mostly out and needed to be on her guard, so she decided to pull her wallet out and grab the cash that was in it and placed that in her pocket as well. After she done this, she then walked over to the kitchen and pulled out a red crimson bag and ripped it open with her teeth and poured the red liquid into a mug, she then lifted the mug and placed it into the microwave and pressed the start button.



While she was waiting, she was snacking on an apple until the microwave beeped letting her know her drink was done. She then threw her apple core into the trash, opened the microwave, pulled out her mug, and took a long needed sip. The red liquid tasted so good, sure she knew what the blood of humans tasted like but she was never one to use their blood as her snack, she usually used animal's blood and even though it wasn’t as strong or nutritious for her she still drank it.



It was a point of morality for her; she felt that the people in the world needed it more than she did. Once she was officially done with everything, she then pulled on her sunglasses and started to head out the door, there was a man she needed to speak too.



XXXXXX



"So was your night successful?"



Harley spat at the Joker while he was sitting next to the kitchen table with a group of his men disassembling the guns and cleaning them. The Joker then smirked as he thought over the last night, his plan was going very well indeed, he fascinated her and that's what he wanted. Sooner or later she'll be his to manipulate and maybe even more.



"Actually it was very eventful."



He smirked as he licked his lips, his men started to laugh, using their imaginations as to what really happened last night. Harley was hearing enough and was growing really upset with him. "You know Puddin, I put up a lot with you but you coming home in God knows what time with a number written on your hand is NOT acceptable." The Joker agitatedly sighed, and in a quick flash rose up from his seat his knife now in her mouth. The look in her eyes is what amused him most, the fear is what he yearned for, and it was Isabella's bravery that drew him to her. It didn’t matter, any threats she received from anyone she was so unfazed by them and he admired that, in fact he found it hilarious that she seems actually amused by it as well, almost as if there was something she knew that they didn’t he liked that about her. He then looked over at Harley and smirked, thoroughly amused by her position and started to laugh.



"I'll tell you what… you keep your nose out of my business and I won't carve up that pretty little face of yours. What I'm doing is none of your concern and if you ever… EVER! Talk to me like that in front of my men, I will not hesitate to make you look just like me you understand?"



He said in an eerily dark tone, he then grabbed her chin and forcefully made her nod her head. "Good I'm glad we're on the same page." He smirked. Just then, one of his men comes rushing into the kitchen. "Hey Boss you have a visitor." The Joker then sighed. "Not. Now." He said gritting his teeth, not finished punishing Harley for her outburst. The man then smirked over at the Joker. "Trust me you'll want to speak with this one." The Joker then sighed, and bowed his head dramatically and softly shook it.



"Fine… bring them in."



The man quickly nodded and ran out of the room. The Joker looked up at Harley, whose chin was still on his hold. He instantly smirked at her and released her, giving her a rough pat against her cheek. "You lucked out this time; however don’t expect to be so lucky if you act up again on me." Harley slowly nodded tears evident in her eyes.



Just then, the man appeared with Isabella walking in behind him, The Joker was now even more amused, and thrilled that she made an appearance. "Ah… Miss. Raven, what might be the purpose of you gracing your wonderful presence to our humble abode?" Isabella then smirked at him. "No particular reason, figured I'd give you the latest update on your man of the hour." The Joker then instantly grinned; she was working with him quite nicely.



"Well you definitely work fast I like that."



He said with laughter in his voice, he then noticed all his henchmen looking at her curiously and decided to introduce her. "Oh how rude am I? I never even properly introduced you to my men…. Men this is Isabella Raven, she is our newest team member to destruct the Batman." Isabella waved and slowly walked towards the table and flinched, softly biting her bottom lip as a shooting pain rushing through her abdomen. This didn’t go unnoticed to the Joker and looked at her curiously. "Had a bit of a fight last night doll?" Isabella softly chuckled as she placed her hand on her abdomen and started to slowly walk forward.



"You could say that, Batman found me and we had our little thrash and tumbles and some wench was walking out into the night with her baby. Well some git steals her purse and her baby, so I figured that it'd be a good way to show ole Batboy that I'm all sweet and tingly inside and go run after the git. Well the bloody wanker decides that he's going to be deceitful little twit and throws the baby over the building, well I ended up jumping off the bloody building saving the baby, but end up falling onto a car where a large shard of glass impales my stomach. I don't remember much from then, but it seemed that Batman decided to be a gentleman and tended to my wounds as he carried me off back to home."



The Joker was thrilled with what he heard, that meant that Batman will be visiting her more often, however he felt a twinge of jealousy since she was supposed to be his territory. "So I take it the Batman is gaining trust on you." Isabella then nodded, pulling on her most devious smirk. "That is what it looks like; I won't be surprised if he starts visiting me more often. I may have to use a bat just to get him out of my room." She said suggestively, as she crossed her arms and smirked. The Joker felt that strange twinge again and didn’t understand why her little words would affect him, he hasn’t felt this type of feeling in a long time and wished to never feel it again but when he looked at her he felt nothing but yearning of possession, he wanted her to be his and no else else's.



Harley was looking at Isabella glaringly, she knew this was her Joker's newest fascination and it didn't help that the woman was absolutely beautiful, yet she knew how to work the game, and this unsettled Harley even more. She watched the woman gently graze her fingertips across the unassembled weapons and saw the slight mirth as she looked down on them. "These are one hell of weapons you have here J." she said as she smirked up towards him, The Joker was thoroughly amused by the nickname she gave him and started to walk towards the table. "Are you familiar with guns?" Isabella then chuckled.



"More than one would know. Those baddies you have there are a Smith & Wesson M76 Submachine gun with a swivel stock that is folded to one side, annnd that one is a Glock 18, and this big beauty right here is Chinese Type 69 RPG17, bloody hell now that one has firepower."



The Joker then started to laugh thoroughly amused. "Ya know I find it incredibly interesting that you are so knowledgeable about these sorts of things." Isabella then shrugged as she started to quickly assemble the Glock 18 and as soon as it was fully assembled, she then aimed it towards his head, her smirk still apparent on her lips.



"What can I say pet, I have a fascination with sharp objects and things that go boom."



The Joker then smirked at her. "Woman after my own heart." Just then, they instantly heard someone clear their throat, Isabella and the Joker quickly looked over at Harley who had her arms crossed and was glaring at them. Isabella softly smiled over at her and slowly walks up to her as she laid the gun down on the table. "Ello luv." Harley still kept her glare on her. "Hi." Isabella smiled up at her and then looked over at the Joker. "Yer latest squeeze J?" Harley then instantly spoke up.



"His ONLY squeeze thank you!"



Isabella quickly looked over at her and started to laugh. "Easy pet, no harm done. I'm strictly here for business." Harley scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Please I can only imagine what you do on the side." Isabella looked at her curiously and shrugged. "Go home, ice my battle wounds and curl up on the couch with a good book?" Harley glared at her, not amused one bit but notice the little chuckle the Joker allowed out. "Just so you know, you're in our territory and we can end our connection with you immediately if you disappoint any of us." Isabella then shrugged. "Suite yourself pet, I'm not on any sides here. Just doin a favor, ya know I never understand that about sides." She then walked up to the counter and rested up against it.



"Villains, Heroes. It makes no bloody sense. It's always constantly the same battle about the villain wanting to end the world. I mean sure I'm part vampire and my dark side is always irking me to come out and play. But in all actuality there's no beauty or poetry in it anymore, there's no passion… Sometimes it hurts more then we can bear. And if this society continues to live without passion maybe, we'd know some kind of peace... However, we would be hollow… Empty rooms, shuttered and dank. Without passion, we'd be truly dead and that is the main reason why the villains fail. That is why I'm here luv, to make sure the passion is reeling it's ugly head. You see like I said I may be part vampire but in all honesty, We like to talk big, vampires do. 'I'm going to destroy the world', it's just tough guy talk. Strutting around with your friends over a pint of blood. But I'll be honest I like this world. You've got dog racing, Manchester United, and you got people…"



She then had a dark smirk on her lips as she instantly grabbed on of the men and had them in a headlock, her wrist blade coming out of her sleeve and resting up against his neck as she stared at Harley.



"Billions of people walking around like happy meals with legs. And as arousing as that is, we have much more important things to discuss, So I have three words for you pet."



Harley then looked at her curiously, while the Joker was smirking at her, this woman was definitely amusing. "What?" Isabella then shrugged as she released the man and ruffled his hair while her blade went back into her wrist. "Get. Over. It." The men then started to laugh in the room, while Harley looked at her in shock. "Excuse me!?" Isabella then sighed and slowly rolled her eyes.



"Whatever is causing the Joan Collins 'tude, deal with it. Embrace the pain, spank your inner moppet or whatever, but get over it."



Just then, the whole room erupted with laughter while Harley glared at her and groaned out of frustration and stormed out of the room, Isabella watched her with her eyes and smirked, seeing her leave. "Nice little lass you got there J. she has spunk I like that." She said as she smirked over at him, The Joker nodded, and signaled his men to leave the room.



Once they were all gone, he then slowly looked back towards her. "So what are you're plans for the Batman?" Isabella then shrugged as she leaned back against the counter. "I'm slowly but surely gaining his trust, I believe that if I continue to have more run ins with him then he will be compliable. Who knows maybe I'll get lucky and convince him to demask himself for me. All in all it's just going to take time and we know that, this is this man's most pliable secret, he's been guarding it with his life and to freely expend it like that will be tough, I need him to fully trust me… I need him to think that I'm completely and utterly on his side and then who knows what might happen, he may willingly come to my side or he may be distant. Either way though I'll get him to go a long with me." she shrugged, The Joker smirked as he slowly walked up to her, he then slowly placed his hands on her hips and pulled her body against his. He's been wanting to do this since he saw her dance with that man the other night, and imagined what it would be like if she would dance for him like that.



"You know, it intrigues me how that little mind of yours works, I'm almost wondering if your playing at all sides…"



Isabella then arched her brow, as she saw him play with his knife in front of her. "And what would make you think that?" The Joker then shrugged. "Something tells me you're not as dark and demented as you make yourself to be. You see once I learned your name I did a little research. I learned all about your history in training to be what you are. You fight creatures to protect people, you care about their wellbeing, you show empathy. But why the sudden urge to kill Batman? Why have you suddenly decided to work along side of me?" he asked as he slowly took his knife and allowed the blade to glide across her neck, no fear showing what so ever in her eyes.



"He reminds me of someone from my past that I wished I could've ended. Look J. I'm not going to lie, I do care, I do have a heart and I'm not purely evil… it's not in me. But when I came to this city and learned about you, I became fascinated, you intrigue me. Ya see J. For the longest time I've had this sleeping creature inside of me just begging to come out of it's cage… I was starting to grow bored and realized that maybe, just maybe you'll be the one to help me have that sleeping creature come out and see the world for itself. I want to learn from you J. I want to learn what you think, how you portray things, I want to see what you see. I want to learn what it is like to dance with darkness."



She whispered the last part into his ear; she then gently took the knife out of his hand, as he closed his eyes. She then softly nicked the side of his neck allowing little droplets of blood to come out. The Joker looked at her curiously while she smirked up at him and then gently leaned towards his neck and softly licks the small droplets off of his skin. The Joker sighs as he grabs a hold of her waist, pulling her tightly against him. He hears her softly giggle into his ear, as she softly nips his earlobe her fangs grazing over the skin, causing him to catch his breath. "You're blood is so sweet." She whispered, the Joker then chuckled he loved how dark and non-knowingly seductive she was. He then slowly moved back to see her looking up at him, her fangs morphed out along with her eyes glowing.



The Joker then smirked down at her and was about to lean towards her to give her a kiss, until the wheels started to turn in her head that odd familiar connection searing through her once again. She then gently pushed him away from her and looked up at him worriedly. "I really should get going J." The Joker then glared at her. "We're not finished." He said darkly, Isabella then sighed. "Look luv, you have a bonny lass you can play with. I really need to go take care of something's." The Joker then became furious, she was always denying him with makeup and without and it was severely starting to tick him off, he then quickly grabbed her arm and roughly yanks her against him, his arms wrapping tightly around her waist.



"Let's get this straight, you belong to me you understand? If you plan on to work along side and plan to learn from me you have to give yourself up to me. I'll let you go just this once, but I want you to realize who you solely belong to."



Isabella glared at him, roughly yanks herself away from him, and harshly smacks him across the face. "Sod Off. I don't belong to anyone, especially you." she spat darkly and stormed out of the hideout. The Joker felt the sting of where she hit him across his face, and gritted his teeth, he was furious with her refusal of him and was damn well even more determined to make her his.



Just then, one of his henchmen came walking into the room and the Joker immediately shot him, allowing all his rage to come out from her latest action. He finally felt a little better after he allowed his anguish out and decided he needed to take out his frustrations, Harley instantly came to mind as he allowed a dark smirk to form on his lips, he'll just imagine it's the fiery little Dhampir in his arms and then all will be well. He also figured that later tonight, he'll go on to play his alias and slowly make her fall for him, yes… she will be his that he was completely sure about.



XXXXXX



As Isabella started to stroll down the streets, she allowed her mind to wander. Things have been going really well, but she almost wondered if this was too much. So far she has been playing three men and it has been driving her nuts. Sure she was used to pressure and used to this game, but there was something completely different, the darkness in this was more involved. It's not like at the end of the day she can just go kill the boss because she felt like it. These people were real human beings and this terrified her, she was used to playing of the dark role that never bothered her. But usually she had someone to talk to about it, and since Harvey is so consumed with his job and Rachel and Alessandra was busying with her Club it was all left up to her to allow her mind to swarm with such chaos. Her heart was still in it, but the way things have been going which were very successful on gaining their trust but she believed that she was dancing on a very dangerous pole. As she continued to walk down the streets of Gotham, she finally looked up and ended up seeing someone she hasn’t seen in years, her smile instantly grew once she saw them and decided to make an appearance. As she walked up towards the little table outside of the coffee shop, she then looked down at the man who was reading his paper.



"Excuse me sir, would you have a problem if I could borrow that seat?"



The man finally looked up from his paper and instantly started to laugh once he saw her. He quickly placed the paper down, rose up from his chair, and gave her a warm hug. "Izzy it's so great to see you!" Isabella started to laugh as she hugged him back. "And it's so good to see you too Lucius." She said happily, as she released him. "Please, please have a seat." He smiled as he moved back down into his chair, Isabella following suit. "Sooo… Izzy what are you doing here?" he said with laughter in his voice. Isabella shrugged giving him a warm smile.



"To be honest I really don't know why…"



She said as she started to laugh. "Harvey and Ally called me and told me they needed help in Gotham so I flew from London to here and they explained that I need to find out information about three men. Batman, The Joker, and Maroni." Reason why she was being so honest with Lucius was mostly because she fully and completely trusted him. Lucius was more like a father figure to her since she was younger, while Isabella was training to become the fighter she is today, she had ended up meeting Lucius when she was sixteen at a military base.



Lucius ended up training her in all sorts of weapon use and ended up becoming her confidant for quite sometime, after about three years Lucius ended up being transferred back to the states and ended up working for Wayne Enterprise. Lucius always looked at Isabella as a daughter to him and was very protective to her even till this day, he always kept tabs as to what has been going on with her but seeing her sitting right in front of he right now was a real treat.



"Don't you think that's a little dangerous Izzy?"



He asked her since, she in a way was going to be trying to find information out of his boss, Isabella shrugged and allowed out a soft sigh. "Yes… I know it's going to be but what can I do? I'm already playing the game. I convinced Maroni that I'm one of Falcone's old alliance back in London. The Joker thinks that I want to kill Batman, so every so often I just pour out small tidbits to make him happy, and Batman… well Batman I've only had a few conversations with, he seems to think that I'm going to be his next arch nemesis or something." Lucius then nodded.



"And whose side are you on?"



Isabella then sighed. "No one's. I'm just trying to find out some information that's it. I think the Joker knows that I'm not completely sided with anything, and that doesn’t seem to bother him. He mentioned he did some research on me and knows that I'm not some dark hearted person yet he still wants me around and I don’t know why but hey it's keeping me in the game so… I guess I'm golden when it comes to him. Maroni I've only really talked to once and that was enough for me, and Batman… well I think he's confused, I'm confused too it's like one moment he cant stand the sight of me and the next he's tending to my wounds and taking me home to my apartment. It's odd." Lucius then smirked to himself, so she was the one who he kept running into, now that thoroughly amused him. He knew that if Bruce ever met Izzy that he'd be intrigued by her, but he was starting to grow worried as well knowing that she had full association with the Joker. He knew she could protect herself but the Joker was so unpredictable as well.



All in all he could possibly be playing her for all she knew but Lucius knew that Isabella was very wise when it came to those sort of situations which is probably the reason why Harvey and Ally had called her, they knew that she wouldn’t disappoint. "That may be Izzy, but I want you to be careful. This is a very dangerous game you're playing and I know your strong and quick witted but things can get out of hand and I don't want to see something horrible to happen to you." Isabella nodded giving him a warm smile as she placed her hand over his.



"Don't worry Lucius I'll be ok, and now since I know you're here you can help me keep my sanity."



Lucius then started to laugh. "Yes we all know that you definitely need that." Isabella giggled as she placed her hand on his. "I missed you Lucius." Lucius then smiled at her. "I missed you too Izzy, tell you what. I have to go meet with my boss in a couple of minutes, would you like to come with me?" Isabella then nodded. "Yeah that would be great!" she smiled as she rose up from the chair, Lucius smiled and then rose up right after her.



XXXXXX



As soon as Lucius and Izzy made it to Wayne Enterprises, Isabella instantly stopped as she looked up at the large building. "You're boss works here?" she said almost amazed by the establishment. Lucius chuckled as he took her hand and pulled her into the building.



"Yes, and trust me you'll really like him. He's a very good man."



Isabella nodded as she followed Lucius into the large building. Isabella was in complete shock how seeing all the employees scurrying around, doing their jobs to her they all seemed like working ants going from point A to point B. I sort of amused her as some of the people would stop and stare at her curiously seeing her following one of the CEO's of the company. Lucius quickly pulled out a card and swiped it to cause the private elevator to open; once the doors opened, he nodded towards Isabella to go inside. Isabella walked inside with Lucius right behind her, he then pressed the button and they both felt the elevator move up. The Elevator moved up to a couple of floors until it finally dinged.



The doors then immediately opened and Lucius and Isabella then walked into what looked like to be a very large private office with huge windows showing out into the city with a desk sitting in the middle of the room. As they walked in further, Isabella noticed a man sitting at his desk looking deep in thought as he was going over some documents.



"Uh Mr. Wayne, I am here to talk about those plans you wanted to discuss."



The man then instantly looked up and was in shock to see Isabella standing next to Lucius. Isabella on the other hand was thoroughly amused and gave him a wide smile. "So you're the Mr. Wayne everyone talks about, I'll be honest mate I thought you'd be much older." Bruce smiled up at her, remembering last night completely. She was much prettier up close and she seemed to be a completely different person as to what she was last night. She looked very sweet and innocent at this moment.



He could tell when she walked up towards his desk the little limp or flinching she did as she sat down in the seat in front of the desk. Any trace of the little viper from last night looked as if it was completely gone. How can she switch to different modes so quickly? But then he realized, she's playing a role… everything she was doing last night was to play a game with him. The dance, the way she smirked at him when she bit into the mans neck, the way she kept her eyes trained on only him… sure he had to admit that was in a morbidly and incredibly sexy but the way she was looking at him right now was more playful and sweet.



He then started to laugh as she smiled at him, her arm protectively wrapped around her waist. "Believe it or not that's not the first time I've been told that." Isabella then started to laugh. "I bet…" she really had to admit that she found Bruce attractive, he was in a very well tailored suit with a red tie and white button down shirt, his hair was slightly tousled and his brown eyes were twinkling with mirth. Lucius then finally spoke. "Mr. Wayne I hope you don't mind me bringing my friend along with me. This is Isabella Raven, we ended up running into each other earlier today and I asked if she wanted to come visit my work, I figured you wouldn’t have a problem." Bruce then smiled over at him and shook his head.



"No not at all. It's very nice to meet you Miss. Raven."



Isabella then waved her hand at him. "Ah no need for formalities luv you can just call me Isabella or Izzy for short if you want." Bruce then chuckled. "Well then it's really nice to meet you Izzy, and please just call me Bruce if we're gonna cut the formalities." Lucicus inwardly smiled to himself, he always felt that Mr. Wayne needed someone like Izzy in his life and now that he had a chance to introduce, the two he then figured that maybe he could get them to meet each other more often.



"Sir, where exactly were the plans I have given you earlier?"



Bruce quickly broke his stare from Isabella and quickly looked up at Lucius "Oh they are in the other room would it be a problem if you could get them for me?" Lucius smirked at Bruce, knowing what he was trying to do and slowly nodded. "No problem Mr. Wayne." He said as he walked into the other room and closed the door. Once Lucius was gone, Bruce then quickly looked back at Isabella. "So does Lucius know about your little side jobs?" Isabella was sort of caught off guard but then instantly remembered that he was at the club last night. "Yes actually he does, he's the one who taught me how to use automatic weapons." Bruce then arched his brow.



"Lucius used to work in a military base in London where I was training and he kinda became my father figure, he taught me everything about weapons and how to use them properly and certain tactics on how to defend myself. So I guess you can say he's like one of the only people who I consider family."



Bruce could relate to what she meant and almost wondered if maybe they have a little more in common than he thought. "Was there a reason why those men wanted to kill you?" Isabella then shrugged. "Mostly because I killed his brother but I'm kinda wanted in the supernatural underworld. They like to think that if they killed me that they are triumphant 'Oh I killed the infamous Isabella Raven!' so I'm always having gits coming out of the blue trying to do me in, I gotta admit that it does get kinda depressing but it's my job and that's what I do. I kinda feel bad though, I think Batman has it out for me." Bruce then suddenly became kinda nervous over her mention of Batman. "Why do you say that?" Isabella then shrugged.



"He's always kinda running into me at the wrong moments ya know? I think he thinks I'm really trying to take him down but what he doesn’t realize is that I'm just kinda floating. Getting to know the people of this town, trying to get a feel for them, see what quakes their boots and so far it's starting to get interesting."



Bruce then nodded as he clasped his hands. "This town does go through a lot of chaos; I'm not going to lie." Isabella then started to laugh. "Well when Chaos comes a knockin, I'll be the one that comes a rockin…" She the instantly thought over her words and sheepishly smiled over at him. "Poor choice of words sorry." Bruce then chuckled. "You seem to be quite ok with this." Isabella then shrugged.



"I guess I'm just used to it, I've been doing this since I was sixteen, it's just kinda normal now. It's like You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' You must do the thing you think you cannot do. It's sort of became my philosophy ya know?"



Bruce smiled over at her and instantly nodded, oh he knew alright. "So if you don't mind me asking what exactly are you, I saw fangs and your eyes change and everything and I know that's not normal." Isabella then started to laugh. "Yeah… I'd say so, I'm actually a Dhampir, which means my father was a vampire and my mother was human. So I have all they vampyric qualities but none of their weaknesses." It now all made sense as crazy as that seemed, but he really believed her.



"I just can't believe that you give your life to do this."



Isabella then started to laugh as she slowly rose up from her chair and started to walk towards his bookshelf.



"Ya know a very wise man once said Somehow I can't believe that there are any heights that can't be scaled by a man who knows the secrets of making things come true. This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four C's. The Curiosity, Confidence, Courage and Constancy, and the greatest of all is Confidence. When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionably, I believe in what I do... I literally believe that what I do is literally helping people, and that means something to me. Sure, it's unthankful job and there are nights where people can't stand the sight of me, but I truly believe that there is right in everyone. We just have to play our parts right."



Bruce was astounded by her, she literally got him, everything she said to him made complete sense and this intrigued him even more. He watched her slowly grazing her fingertips over his books, as he softly started to laugh thinking what she just said it's true what she meant about parts.



Everyone had a role into what they do, that is how we live our daily lives. He then slowly rose up from his chair and started to walk up to her, and started to recite his favorite line.



"All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages."



Isabella instantly grinned and turned around to face him, her smile growing even wider, she then started to play along and recite the next line. "At first the infant, Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms. And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel And shining morning face, creeping like snail Unwillingly to school." Bruce then started to laugh she likes Shakespeare that's intriguing, he then continued. " And then the lover, Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad Made to his mistress' eyebrow." Isabella then started to laugh he was actually very entertaining. From what she heard about from this man was that he was a major playboy but what she is seeing right now is so far from the truth, she then recited the next line.



"Then a soldier, Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard, Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel, Seeking the bubble reputation Even in the cannon's mouth."



She said that line with such passion, that he literally felt his heart race, how is she doing that? She's just standing there playing along with him and he fells like a little school boy, he then recited the next line. "And then the justice, In fair round belly with good capon lined, With eyes severe and beard of formal cut, Full of wise saws and modern instances; And so he plays his part." Isabella then smirked at him as she crossed her arms, starting to walk around him as if she was going to take him as her prey, reciting the next line. "The sixth age shifts Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon, With spectacles on nose and pouch on side, His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice, Turning again toward childish treble, pipes And whistles in his sound." She was now in front of him, a wide little smile on her face. Oh she's being cheeky. Bruce then gently placed a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled down at her, reciting the next and final line.



"Last scene of all, That ends this strange eventful history, Is second childishness and mere oblivion, Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything."



Isabella then giggled. "I'm impressed mate; most people don't take the time to appreciate Shakespeare." Bruce then shrugged, not remembering when the last time he smiled this much. "It's kinda like a hidden in the closet kind of thing for me. My favorite from his is Julius Caesar." Isabella then quickly nodded. "Loved the whole ambition thing, it goes to show you that you can never truly trust anyone, because if even if your best friend will stab you in the back who else wouldn’t?" Bruce then nodded, he wanted to learn more from her he wanted to see what she would be like if it was just them and not another man in the other room. He then looked deeply into her sapphire eyes and smiled.



"Would you happen to like to go out to dinner with me this week?"



Isabella was kinda taken off guard but then smiled up at him. "Yeah… that would be great, um would tomorrow night be ok?" Bruce then quickly nodded, his smile growing even wider. "Great um, I'll pick you up at 8pm, where exactly do you live again?" he asked trying to mask the fact that he already knew, Isabella then walked over to his desk and pull out a post it note and started to write her address, she then turned around to face him and placed it on his forehead.



"There now it'll be the first thing on your mind."



She grinned; Bruce then chuckled as he took the note off his forehead. "Trust me, I'll defiantly not have any problems with that." Isabella then nodded her smile still on her face as she placed her hands behind her back. "Great! Well I'm going to jet so if you can tell Lucius that I headed out. Oh! Also I gave you my number be sure to give it to him too." Bruce then nodded, actually excited for tomorrow night. "Will do, I'll see you tomorrow then." Isabella then nodded and softly waves at him.



"See you tomorrow."



She grinned and started to walk towards the elevator and walked into the elevator when the doors opened, giving him another wave until the doors closed, Isabella allowed out a soft sigh as a smile grew across her face she believe it or not was actually looking very forward for tomorrow night.



XXXXXX



As Isabella, walked into her apartment, she then gently threw her keys on the counter and started to stretch her limbs. It was about 6pm when she got home and was starting to get a little hungry since she hadn’t really ate anything since morning. She then walked over to a chair and pulled off her boots and then walked up over towards her fridge and just leaned against the door looking at the food she had inside.



"Bugger, nothing looks good."



She muttered to herself, she then decided that she was going to order a Pizza until her cell phone started to ring. Isabella then gently closed the fridge and then walked over to her phone and looked over at the number; she arched her brow not recognizing it but answered anyways.



"Hello?"



Just then she heard a mans voice on the other line. "Uh hello? Is this Isabella?" Isabella then slowly nodded her head. "Yes this is she, may I ask whose calling?" there was a silence for about a moment until the man answered. "Um this is Jack… I don’t know if you remember me from last night, but you gave me your number and said if I ever wanted to contact you then to just give you a call…" Isabella then instantly smiled. "Oh yes! I do remember you! Well bloody hell mate what took you so long to call me?" she teased, Jack then started to laugh.



"I uh was trying to work up the nerve I guess."



Little did Isabella know that it was really the Joker on the other line trying to pull off his most normal voice he could, Isabella then started to laugh as she rested up against the counter. "Well I'm glad that you did… I was starting to wonder if I was being to forward." Jack then instantly smirked on the other line; she was flirting with him that's good.



"No, no. not at all. I was um wondering if maybe you'd like to go out sometime."



Isabella smirked on the other line and gently nodded her head. "Yeah I think that would be nice, I just can't tomorrow night." Jack then frowned, what the hell did she have going on tomorrow night!? "Oh… well um how about tonight, do you have any plans?" Isabella then gently shook her head. "No not really was gonna stay in and order a pizza and watch a movie." Jack then instantly smirked.



"Would it be alright if I came over or is that too soon?"



Isabella then gently shook her head, hey if he tries anything she can just snap his wrist, which she highly doubt he would do anyways. "No it's fine, is there any particular toppings you like for your pizza?" Jack was thrilled, everything was working just fine. "Tell you what, how about I get the pizza and you go out and grab some movies to watch." Isabella then chuckled. "Sounds good to me, my address is 48901, 24th ave in the Mulberry apartments in suite 212." Jack quickly wrote this down and then devilishly grinned against the phone. "Great I'll see you in a half an hour." Isabella then smiled. "Sounds good to me see you soon." Jack then nodded.



"Yep see you soon."



As soon as he hung up the phone, he then allowed out a maniacal laugh, giddily jumping on the balls of his feet. Harley was sitting in the background still in their bed, she thought that after their two hours of intimacy that he was trying to apologize to her but she just figured she was wrong. He was now walking into his closet, pulled on a black t-shirt, and then walked into the bathroom.



"So I guess your going to go see HER tonight huh?"



The Joker then sighed. "I thought we discussed this." He said irritably, Harley then quickly rose up from the bed and wrapped the sheets around her body storming up to him. "If you want her so badly then why do you keep me around!?" she shouted, the Joker instantly stopped what he was doing and then looked over at her with a dark smirk and grabbed a hold of her chin and started to shake it side to side.



"Because you're just do damn fun."



He said darkly and shoved her away from him as he started to clean off the make up on his face, and then pull on his dark denim jeans, Harley then glared at him. "But Puddin, you said you'd take me places. You said we'd go to France and now ever since she came into the picture you've been complete obsessed by her!" The Joker then sighed as he looked over at her and glared.



"Listen to me, you stupid woman. This woman is the most perfect tool to my plan and if I don't get her to side with me then all of Gotham will witness some truly spectacular kicking's of my ass. She'll die, don't worry. But until then, shut your damn mouth. And by the way, I would be insanely happy if I heard nothing at all, about fucking France!"



He yelled, causing her to cower back. "I don't know why I let you be so mean to me." she said softly, The Joker had a murderous look in his eyes, getting really sick and tired of her constant nagging and then went back to cleaning the green out of his hair.



"Love hurts baby."



He said darkly. Once he was finished he gave her a dark glare as he pulled on his dark jacket. "Now I'm going out, and I don't want to hear you bitching about what hour I come in, and if you continue to do so you will learn what pain really feels like." he growled as he stormed out of the room.



Once he was gone, Harley immediately allowed her tears to slip down her cheeks, she didn’t understand why she allowed him to be so hurtful and she just wished that she was strong enough to leave him but she was afraid… she was afraid of the world and afraid of being alone.



XXXXX



Isabella was now running around cleaning her apartment, pulling her hair out of the ponytail she had sported all day and ran her fingers through her dark hair when she heard the doorbell ring. She then quickly looked over at the door and walked up to look through the peephole to see Jack standing outside holding onto a box of pizza; she instantly grinned and opened the door to see him smiling back at her.



"Hey Jack, please come on in."



She said in a very friendly tone, Jack then walked into her apartment and was thoroughly impressed by her apartment. "Nice place you got here." He smirked; Isabella then shrugged as she closed the door and then quickly walked over to the kitchen to pull out the plates.



"Eh, it's a place to hang my hat… if I have any that is."



She smiled, Jack grinned over at her, taking in the sight of her. She still had her black shirt and jeans on, but she freed that lovely dark mane of hers, allowing it to flow freely. He thought it kind of amusing that she had to stank up on her tiptoes to grab the plates, he knew he had to keep his head on straight she was only his tool nothing else, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t enjoy staring at her.



"So… I didn't know what you would like so I just got pepperoni."



Isabella then smiled over at him. "That's fine, I like pepperoni, I definitely can be a pepperoni person." Jack's smirk then grew even wider as she pulled out a Smirnoff Ice Raspberry wine cooler and then looked up at him. "Do you want a beer mate?" Jack then shrugged. "What do you have?" Isabella looked over at the fridge again and shrugged. "I only have Guinness, is that ok mate?" Jack then nodded. "Yeah that'll be fine." Isabella then smiled over at him as she popped the top off and handed him the beer. "Good, now go get that cute arse of yours over onto the couch while I get dinner ready, Jack was inwardly grinning. He liked that she was tending to him, and that she wanted him to be comfortable, she's a very good host. But he couldn’t drift off from his plan, he had to get her to fully trust him and learn more about her and once he is through of her he watch her slowly die in his hands.



However, he may not even have to bother the way she was acting with him this morning really made him question if he should kill her or should he just keep her chained up against the wall and make her his pet. A dark smirk morphed on his lips as he thought of the things he'd like to do to her, his thoughts were then instantly cut off when he saw her lean over her coffee table and places the plates onto the table. "'ere ya go luv." She smiled over at him and then walked back over to the counter to grab her movies.



"Why don't you come back over here and sit with me? I don't bite if that's what you think"



He smirked over at her, Isabella then smirked back over at him. "You may not bite, but I do…" her smirk then grew even wider. "Don't worry though I don't bite… hard, unless it is requested." 'Damn did she even know what she's doing to me?' he thought to himself, as he watched her walk back over to her television set and then turned on her DVD player and placed the disc in the player. "What movie are we watching?" he asked, Isabella then looked back over at him and smiled as she walked back to the couch and sat beside him and grabbed her remote. "Saw." She stated simply, Jack then arched his brow.



"…What?"



Isabella then quickly looked over at him as she picked up her pizza. "You never seen this movie?" she asked incredulously, Jack then slowly nodded. "Yeah I haven’t seen it why is that a problem?" he asked agitatedly, Isabella then slowly shook her head. "No luv, I'm just kinda surprised it's a bit of a blockbuster." Jack then shrugged. "I don't have much time to watch movies what with my job and all." Isabella nodded and gave him a curious look.



"What exactly do you do?"



Jack then shrugged as he took a bite out of his pizza. "I just do jobs for certain people when they need to do something, my name has gotten pretty well known so I just get calls do what they want me to do and get paid for it… it's not as bad as it seems." Isabella then arched her brow. "Isn't that kinda dangerous though, I mean what if they want you to send out a package and it actually has a bomb in it or something?" Jack had to restrain the smirk to morph on his lips and nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders.



"Well I always like to believe that what doesn’t kill you only makes you stranger…"



Isabella then started to laugh. "I like that; I'll have to use that sometime." Jack then smirked over at her as she started to play the movie. "Now I don't know if you like horror movie but I can't help but think this movie was poetically and geniusly made. It is like beautifully morbid, and amazingly thought out." Jack was starting to grow even more excited about this movie, who knew that she would like that kind of stuff. "Is it bloody?" he asked, as he took another bite out of his pizza, Isabella then nodded.



"If you don’t get sick of people manually detaching their limbs then you won't have a problem."



Jack then grinned even more. "Sounds great!" Isabella smiled over at him and then started to movie, she then leaned back against the couch, and felt his arm slung over it, his fingertips every so often grazing her shoulder. She then gently grabbed her plate and started to eat her pizza, Jack then slowly looked over at her and then started to be a little more bolder and then placed his hand on her shoulder instead of feeling her warmth through his fingertips. Isabella smiled at this and then gently scooted right next to him and leaned against his chest; Jack then instantly grinned and then fully wrapped his arm around her shoulders.



"So how about you explain to me how you learned to fight like that."



He said as softly as he could, he then felt her rest her head on his shoulder. "It's not necessarily something I'd like to talk about." She said softly, Jack noticed her change in demeanor when she thought of him as the Joker she was strong and confident, but when it just came to regular old Jack she was more quiet about what she was, there's probably a back story to that. "Look I understand if you don't want to say anything It's just I'm curious because of what I saw last night. You're one hell of a fighter." Isabella then scoffed.



"Yeah well it comes with the territory."



She muttered agitatedly, this shocked him as well she seemed to love what she did, why the hostility? "I take it you don't really like what you do huh?" Isabella then shrugged as she slowly moved off of him and looked directly into his eyes. "It's not that I hate it… to be honest being nearly indestructible is kinda neat, but there are days where I just wish I was normal… I wish I had normal parents and a normal life. I wish my father wasn’t an asshole and my mother wasn’t some bloody wench who fell for his charm." 'Ok whoa! Where did this come from?' He thought to himself, she had a hard childhood too this might get interesting. "Your father was a fiend huh?" Isabella then shrugged her shoulders.



"I'd say worse than that. But that's not important right now, he's gone it's over, I'm done with it that's it…"



She completely shrugged it off, it kinda surprised him that she felt that her father was much more worse than a fiend, it then started to make him even more curious as to what her past was really like. "I'm sorry." He said unsurely, Isabella quickly looked up at him a little embarrassed. "Oh no I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get all personal it's just I don’t have that many people to talk to ya know? And it's just I don’t know I'm comfortable with you if that makes any sense." Jack then smirked, this was working out perfectly but deep down he felt that twinge again, it almost made him wonder what it would've been like if she met him before he was the Joker.



During the whole night she had never said one thing about his scars, usually people are always staring at them either in fear or in disgust and never once has she called him crazy or a freak. She seemed to really understand him, and in a way he actually felt very comfortable… his mind wasn’t racing as it usually does, his wasn’t feeling extremely antsy or bored and the twitch he had where he keeps licking his lips stopped. It was really odd and he actually was liking it but then suddenly realized what he was doing and quickly pushed himself away from her. Isabella looked at him curiously, but immediately thought she was maybe moving to fast on him and decided to take the plates to the kitchen.



Jack quickly tore his eyes away from the TV to look back at her; she had her back facing him as she started to clean the dishes. He then paused the movie and rose up from the couch and walked up towards the kitchen, her back was still facing him as he walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her neck. Isabella instantly stopped what she was doing when she felt his lips kiss and nip on her flesh. Jack then pulled her completely flushed against his body, loving the feeling of her against him, he then slowly turned her around to face him and then placed a strand of hair behind her ear, giving her a dark alluring look as he leaned down and captured her lips with his.



Isabella was in shock at first but couldn’t believe how good his lips felt against hers, she then gently kissed him back, getting more passionate with the kiss. Jack then instantly lifted her up and placed her on the counter, now standing between her legs passionately kissing her, he then grazed his teeth on her bottom lip and then slowly moved his tongue into her mouth both of them fight for dominance with their tongues.



Jack pulled her tightly against him, as he heard her gasp against his lips, he instantly smirked loving how she felt against him, he wanted her right here, right now. He wanted every inch of her and makes her his. That possessive nature was taking over him as he slowly moved his lips back down to her neck, nipped, and sucked. He then started to bite down onto the flesh of her skin hard enough to cause her skin to break and droplets of blood started to come out, he then did the same thing she did to him this morning and licked the blood off of her neck. Isabella gasped loudly as she arched her back, kinky little thing she likes to mix pain with pleasure that's interesting, Jack thought to himself, his smirk growing even wider as he moved back to her lips and powerfully kissed her.



Isabella could taste her blood on his lips and softly moaned, she could feel her primordial being just begging to come out and play. Her fangs started to morph out and allowed out a low inhuman growl, this caught Jack off guard but then realize the creature inside of her is dying to come out and play, he was absolutely loving this. Isabella then suddenly realized what was going on with her and quickly but gently pushed him away. Jack looked at her confused and irritated 'What the hell is it now!?' he thought to himself, starting to grow even more frustrated, that is until he saw why.



She was breathing heavily, her fangs were morphed out and her eyes were glowing, she was protecting him from her. Ever since he learned what she was, he started to do some research on her species, he learned that when Dhampir's mate they have a very possessive nature about them and that excited him deeply, and what he probably figured was that since she thought he was just some regular guy that she might scare him away. 'Oh if she only knew' he thought to himself, Isabella then quickly jumped off the counter and then wrapped her arms around herself in a protective manner and bowed her head.



"I'm sorry."



She whispered, Jack looked at her curiously. "For what? I'm the one that kissed you." Isabella then quickly looked up at him, her eyes still glowing. "Look Jack, I'm not a good person to be with. I'm very dangerous and I don’t want to put your life into jeopardy when I have my little spats." Jack then frowned, 'no she's not supposed to push me away.' He thought angrily "Izzy look what ever it is your trying to do don’t… don’t think just… put a smile on that face." He said the last part a little eerily dark, Isabella quickly looked up at him and sighed.



"Look Jack, there's a part of me that I'm trying to restrain and it's very difficult and dangerous when I completely lose myself I'm hell on wheels and I don't want you to be involved in that. I've done a lot of things I'm not proud of but I'm trying to restrain it, it's just very difficult so please bear with me."



Just want he wanted to hear, if he could right now he would smirk thrilled with what she just told him but he had to pull on the caring Jack to get her to think that he's a good guy. "Look, what ever it is we can work it out. I know this is like our first date but I really like you, you see me. You don't see a freak or a crazy person you just see me and I like that, I don’t want to loose that so please stay with me I promise I wont run." Isabella sighed as she felt him playing with her hair.



"Fine… but when I tell you to leave or to get away from me I mean it alright?"



Jack then nodded giving her a wide smile. "Got it. Now let's go finish that Movie huh?" Isabella then nodded as she felt him pull her back to the couch, he then plopped himself down and pulled her onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her waist, she then gently rested her head on his shoulder as they continued to watch the movie. Little did she know that deep down even though Jack was loving every minute of her being against him, and loved how she was responding to him another part of him was screaming at him to kill her for making him feel so normal.



He was beyond normal, he knew what he was and he embraced it, and no one not even Harley could make him feel any different but here this one is, unknowingly making him feel things he hasn’t felt in years now that was unacceptable, he didn’t want to feel those feelings anymore, he was done with them.



He wanted to throw her off his lap and beat the hell out of her, but for some reason he wouldn’t move, his enjoyment of having her against him, resting on him like a normal girlfriend would do was to enticing, he loved her being near him and this terrified him.



He didn’t want this, yet he was craving for it, that is when he knew that he needed to do something and he needed to do it fast.



****



A/N: So what do you guys think of the chapter? Should I continue? I know this chapter was kinda different, but I promise that it'll get better. I wanted to do a different twist with the Joker and figured that if he portrayed himself as to a more regular man to Isabella then he could get closer to her and learn more. Reason why he's so curious about her is because she's something he feels he can make as a tool for his benefit. Will there be Romance? Possibly, but we also have Batman who is starting to seek interest as well. This chapter is mostly based on the mixed relationship Izzy has with the Joker and Bruce. When the Joker is potraying Jack it seems that she's more relaxed by him which is true since she thinks he's just a regular guy with a past just like she. Reason why she cant sense Jack being the Joker is because his makeup and constant change of hair color swings her off, but trust me she will eventually. She hasn't figured Bruce out yet because she hasn't been around Batman that much but as soon as she sees him more she'll catch on. Her past history will start coming out more soon, she's going to be going through a lot with Jack, Joker, Batman, and Bruce which will make it even more confusing for her. Only time will tell when or who she will decide she wants to be with. The next chapter will be out soon.



Reviews are greatly appreciated and help motivate me to continue writing. I cannot wait to hear from all of you soon, and if any of you have any questions or suggestions don't hesitate to ask. :)