-From your POV

The job was easy to do. No words were said to the guy, I didn't have to ask him his name. He looked just like the picture I was given. The hard part was finding out I was being tailed and then Batboy crashing the party.

I turned off the shower faucet and wrapped a towel around myself as I stepped out of the shower. I looked at the bruises in the mirror, they were healing quickly. Guess Bones' marks were more bark than bite; they were dark, but they healed much quicker than bruises I've had in the past. I slowly started combing through my hair while it was wet so that way it would go easier. I closed my eyes and just let the bristles sort through my hair. Something about it was comforting. Relaxing. It actually calmed me down quite a bit. I opened my eyes once the comb glided through with ease and went into my closet to get dressed. I decided on another pair of loose sweats and a zip-up sweatshirt to go with it. Did I wear a shirt under it? No. I'm not sure what it was, but at this point, that was becoming my thing I guess. I walked into my bedroom and sat down on the bed. I am so hungry. My stomach was hurting so bad and then I remembered I hadn't eaten all day. I slide off my bed and make my way to the kitchen.

Working near the actual appliances were workers, so I just went over to one of the counters and tried to stay out of the way. In came a slightly limping Joker and that was when I really noticed how good Batboy had gotten him. I look him up and down slowly and then realize he was watching me, creating eye contact. He doesn't say anything, just keeps walking over. I walk over to the freezer door and pull out some ice packs before walking over to him. "C'mon. Let me help you this time." I say with a sigh, grabbing his hand in mine and taking him to my bathroom.

I had him sit on the bathroom counter and hold an ice pack to his battered collarbone while I stitched away at the wound open on his hand. It was the same one I had given him and once again, he was wide open and getting worse. "Keep still." I say as I carefully dab at the cut with disinfectant, preparing it for stitches.

"Where did you learn to become a medic, doll face?" he asks me.

"Does it matter?" I say flatly.

"I mean you do live in my house, I bought you a Tesla, I'm letting you stick a needle into my skin. A backstory might be nice?" he says. I flick my eyes up at him to see he's still watching me, waiting for an answer. I let out a sigh of defeat.

"Part of the combat training I got. " I say shortly.

"Mmm. Ever had to use it before?" He asks.

"Maybe I have, CB." I say with a soft grin.

"On who?" he keeps poking.

"Myself." I say dryly. My soft smile slowly fades and Joker stops his questioning. Sometimes, he really did remind me as a small child asking adults thousands of questions back to back. It went silent for a minute before he broke it again.

"You know, if you keep using CB, could we add a little ring to it? Make it more homey?" he suggests. I chuckle at his suggestion.

"Or maybe we just stop using pet names." I say. He starts to whine.

"But I like the name 'doll face'!" he complains.

"Mmm. Okay, CB." I say back.

"Nicknames?" he suggests. I clip off the end of the thread for his stitches and sit back, looking at my stitch work satisfied. I then stand up so I'm now at eye-level with him.

"If I say yes, will you stop calling me doll face?" I ask.

"Well what else am I supposed to call you?! You don't want others knowing your name and your other aliases are kinda sharp, don't you think? I mean, not that you're not sharp. But you're so soft and sweet to me." he says with a smile.

"I'm not soft and sweet to anyone." I say, now dabbing at the scratch under his eye.

"By choice or by nature?" he hums out, still smiling. I flick my eyes over to his, giving him a light glare.

"Both." I say. I direct my attention back to his scratch, and finish cleaning it off. I reach into the medicine cabinet and pull out ibuprofen. I hand two pills to him. "Here." he hesitates and just stares at me blankly. "Take it, you ass." I prod. He starts laughing and then gets up from the counter and stands in front of me, still holding eye contact but towering over me, ever so slightly. Something in the air has changed and my heart starts beating faster.

"Thank you, doctor." he says with a smile before walking around me and out of the room. I stand in the bathroom, frozen, trying to make sense of it. After a few seconds, I make my way to the dining room after following the delicious smells down the hallway. I walk into the room and see Joker sitting at the other side of the table, already digging into what the staff had prepared. I pulled out the other chair and sat down in front of the plate that was already made up. It appears that it was a pot roast and my mouth was watering. I started digging in, right away. I wasn't even paying attention to how fast I was eating, I was just focusing on the pain in my stomach. I didn't realize how fast I was eating until I heard Joker start laughing.

"Hungry, are you?" he asks me.

"Always." I say with a soft smile. I finished my food and stood up from the table. "Tell the staff the food was delicious." I say as I start to leave the table. I made my way to my room and took my phone off the charger to see Bones texted me.

I think about his offer for a minute.

I start walking to my closet to pick out an outfit.

I roll my eyes at his text.

I put my phone down on the counter and then slide into a deep blue mini-dress and some heels. This dress had sleeves and a turtle neck so the bruises wouldn't show which also meant, the dragon would be covered tonight, but I was fine with that.

I was walking down the hallway, about to head outside to my car with my phone and keys in hand when I walked past J's office and heard him call out to me. "Y/n, you look nice." he says. I turn back and walk to the doorway of his office, leaning against it.

"Getting soft on me, are you J?" I ask teasingly. "Shouldn't expect to run into you tonight, should I?" I ask. He swivels around in his chair, smiling.

"Not unless you secretly want to." he replies. I just chuckle and shake my head.

"Goodnight, J." I say as I stand up to leave. "I promise, I will answer my phone." I say with a laugh as I leave out of the door and to the car.

I have no idea what changed today, but the air, the vibe, was just different. It felt, relaxed. Was I pissed off at him earlier? Oh absolutely, but something in the second half of the day felt different. More, friendly. I could get used to it. I don't like intimacy or ooey-gooey feelings but having a friend or two would be nice. Bones wasn't my friend. He was a fuck-buddy. Warm company. Nothing serious at all. And the second he wanted something serious, I would dip. But Joker, he was different. He was powerful, but he needed to reign it in. I was clean, cold, and precise. Strictly business. J was too much fun. He wanted to enjoy and savor the itty bitty feelings. I guess you can do that sometimes, but other times that got too messy.

I have not a clue what changed in his demeanor, or in mine, but I could get used to it.