A Joker\'s Heart at Tea Time

A Joker's Heart at Tea Time
A Read or Die Fanfic
By Savivi

Disclaimer: I do not own Wendy, Joker, or Read or Die, somebody else does who's name was written on a pale woman's naked body... I couldn't quite catch it... so ^_^;; But I'm definitely not trying to steal Read or Die... I just want to wreak havoc with two of
it's characters.

So this IS a lemon, and if you don't like that kind of thing don't read it. What's the point of reading something you can't stand just to tell the writer that it sucked?

Is it really allowed to openly have hard liquor in the office? For Joker, yes. :P

The story begins one year after the end of the 3rd OAV.

Enjoy! And comments and reviews are most welcome!



* * * * *



After a short but precarious battle with the door knob, Wendy was able to open the door of Joker's office while carrying a thin manila file folder in her mouth and still keeping a hold on thay oay of tea, if a little shakily. After tripping over a stack of books (but managing to save her hold), maneuvering through a wall of files, and dodging a falling pile of papers, the young assistant finally reached the desk of her boss's domain, hidden in a mountain of reports.

"Mmmmm--! Mmhhhhph!"

"Wendy?" The man shoved half of the files to one side of the desk, and the young girl moaned as several volumes of records went crashing to the ground. Joker didn't seem to notice, though, as he stared at the wrecked state in front of him. He hesitated slightly before taking the folder out of Wendy's mouth, and quickly stopped an avalanche of paper from covering the small area of available space for the tray. He smiled in embarrassment as Wendy blushed at (he assumed) his inability to keep things under control.

Suddenly, Wendy jumped, remembering what she had come in here for. "Aaah... that's the file you asked me to bring to you, Joker... I took care of the other projects you gave me to finish and The Gentleman should be getting back to you within a week... and, I, um... I also brought you your tea... I... I hope it was all right."

"Is it four already?" He ran a hand through his hair, and checked the clock on the wall that hadn't been wound in weeks.

Wendy nodded her head, setting the tray down on the desk, only to have it lay on a scarab shaped paper weight and begin to slide off. She cried out when she saw it begin to tip, and Joker quickly caught a corner of the tray, but the silver tea pot tipped too far and crashed onto the desk and all over the man's shirt. Yelping in pain, he righted the pot (now two thirds empty), and began to clear the desk of all the papers were getting soaked.

"Oh!! I'm so sorry!" Wendy quickly rushed to help him, and after a few minutes they had the untouched reports and files on the floor, and the soaked papers drying on the heater.

"You're in rare form today, Wendy," Joker said with a smile and unbuttoned his shirt. He frowned slightly when he saw that his undershirt was stained as well, but he decided to keep it on, too mortified and self conscious to consider being at work shirtless. It would dry eventually, so it didn't really matter, and it would save Wendy from an uncomfortable position.

At least, those were his excuses.

"This is awful," Wendy wailed as she began to re-organize the files. "I was off to such a good start this week, too."

"Well, it's already the end of it," he mused and mopped the spilled tea with his ruined shirt, ringing it out in the trash can. "I'd say you've done quite well. Should we have a celebration?"

Her response was to have her eyes mist over, and even though her hair hid her tears, Joker knew what he had done and immediately regretted his words.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have teased you."

"No, no. It's true. I'm a horrible klutz. There's no use denying it. And I ruined your shirt again!"

"Don't worry about it. What's a shirt when there's tea?" He smiled encouragingly and picked up the dripping pot, pouring into the chipped tea cup. "Thank you for thinking of me."

"O-of course!" She blushed and quickly looked around to find a way out of her obvious embarrassment. "The file you sent me to get..."

"Ah yes." He opened it up, and quickly looked through the stained pages. "Ms. Makuhari appears to still have not recovered sufficient memory and intelligence to be placed on trial."

"So she's still at the institution?"

"Yes, but under high surveillance."

Wendy sighed in relief. "I'm so glad." Joker watched her curiously and Wendy began to sputter. "F-for Yomiko, of course. I would be heart broken if my friend with such a condition was taken away."

"I understand," Joker said, waving her def off off. "It would be pointless to imprison a woman who is already in a cage."

There wasn't much else to say, and Joker fell back into his overstuffed chair. He sipped his tea slowly as he watched Wendy diligently work on correcting the mistake her clumsiness had created, and for a while there was silence. Not the awkward kind that had
occurred so frequently when she first began to work with him, that had been dead space only filled by panicked chit chat on Wendy's part and bewildered nods on Joker's, but a comfortable silence of two people who knew each other enough for one to understand what the quiet meant to the other. To Joker it was serenity, a small bubble keeping the world outside; it was peace. To Wendy, it was the knowledge that whatever had happened was not worth a commotion. It was not the first time, it would not be the last, but Joker didn't mind it, so there was no use being embarrassed more than necessary.

"Wendy?"

"Mm?"

"May I ask a question?"

"Of course." She stood up and placed a neat stack of papers onto the desk, careful that there was nothing underneath to cause another massacre.

"How long have you been my assistant?"

She stopped.

"Why?"

"I was just thinking... when was the last time you receia
a
raise?"

"I can't really remember." She blinked, a little confused, and a little hopeful.

"You've been taking on a lot of work these past months. You're not getting paid nearly enough--"

"You're giving me a raise?"

"Why, yes. You're overdue--"

He blinked and was nearly knocked off his chair as Wendy wrapped her arms around his neck. "Thank you, thank you, Joker!"

For a second he was stunned, but then began to chuckle and soon after began to choke. Apologizing, Wendy backed off, flushed but extremely happy, and after having been given a new load of work, rushed off to the research room to begin her assignments and gush to her friends. The pleasure of the act he had done lasted quite a while, and as he worked for the next two hours, a smile lay on his lips.

Making Wendy his personal assistant had been the right thing to do. She was a smart, very intuitive and resourceful girl who had been underrated and ignored because of her motor skills and lack of ambition. He hadn't minded the odd looks his equals had given him when he took in Wendy. But she had proven to be a great asset, almost indispensable, and he took a small amount of sadistic pleasure when he thought of his colleagues and how they had overlooked her by a mile.

He frowned, knowing that though he may be fooling other people with those very reasonable and accurate explanations for employing her, he was not fooling himself. He stared at the empty tea cup with a strange longing before muttering a low, but vicious, "Fool. Lecher..."

No matter how much tea soothed his nerves, something much more potent was in need to drown out the heart breaking voices inside his head.

The sky was a deep, dark blue, singed with the memory of the day, and Joker knew he should have been off work hours before he even came back from the working zone. Slowly, methodically, he stood, walked to the small cabinet that sat in the back corner of his office, and pulled out a large, unopened bottle of bourbon. Taking a glass from the top shelf, he dropped three cubes of ice in the glass, hearing the pings of their fall with grim delight, then dumped them back into the ice bucket after a few moment's hesitation. It was after hours... besides, the cabinet had been a gift from the Gentleman himself, a mocking reminder of his inability to do anything but work. Nobody would begrudge him just a few drinks. What was he going to do? Go running down the hallways, screaming at the top of his lungs and terrorize the janitor? He highly doubted it.


Ahhh, she was finally finished. Wendy sat in the massive research roomghtighting down the terror of the darkness, and checked the printer, scanning through the pages to make sure everything was in order, her eyes looking up every now and then just to make sure the shadows didn't decide to take form and engulf her. Her colleagues had long since left, leaving their over-working superiors to keep the building company, but not before asking her half-heartedly to accompany them to the small bar at the end of the street. They had gotten used to her sweet refusal lately, and were usually surprised when she had occasionally agreed.

She sighed in relief that she wouldn't have to reprint everything... for a third time after she had accidentally set the page alignment on "landscape". She stretched, and checked the clock, sighing when she saw that it said 7:15. Joker had probably left the
office already, and even though she felt a small pang in her heart for having not been said goodbye to as he usually did, she smiled at his willingness to follow through with her suggestions.

It had taken her three weeks to needle her boss into agreeing that he needed to relax instead of working until he fell asleep from exhaustion. There had been several times in the same month when Wendy had come into the office, ready for a new day of work, and found Joker with his head cushioned by the mess of paper on his desk.

Wendy was thrilled that he had actually listened to her. Such an important man like Joker rarely ever noticed somebody as small as she was, and that knowledge filled her with a sense of importance that she had actually gotten through to him. So instead of staying until 8:00 like he normally did, he had been leaving at 7:00 these past few weeks. Not a huge change, she thought with a sigh, but baby steps were needed to break old habits.

Suddenly, there was a loud metallic bang, and Wendy jumped with a start, nearly letting go of her hold on the stack of freshly printed reports. She swiveled around to look for the source of the sound, but squeaked in despair when she found none. She shut down the computer, the whirling of the small hard rive fan falling silent, and all was still in the room.

Her hands were shaking and Wendy gave a silent moan at her weakness. Not now, she couldn't get paranoid now. There were a million reasons for that sound, one of them being the expanding of the pipes. It happened nearly every night in her apartment, but e she she had her cat who slept on her stomach, purring with safety. Here there was only a pile of papers to snuggle up against, and the small glow of the lamp to keep the darkness from overwhelming her.

Silently, she placed the papers back on the desk, ran to the large metal door, opened it, and tried to keep it open but whined when she was unable to kick down the door stop. After looking frantically around the room, she took off a slipper, placed it on the floor and eased the heavy door closed. The slipper was strong enough to keep it cracked open.

Okay, step one done! She squealed when there were several more large bangs and raced to the desk, grabbed the papers, switched off the light, and sprinted to the door, slamming it open, and started racing down the hall before remembering her slipper. She slid across the marble floor, grabbed the flimsy shoe, nearly fell on her face, and then dashed around the corner towards Joker's office. Unfortunately, she slammed into something soft yet rock hard, and fell back, landing on her butt, covering her face with the stack of papers she was holding onto with a gri dea death, screaming, knowing she was going to die.

After a few seconds she realized she wasn't being stabbed repeatedly with a knife, or having blo blood sucked out by a giant leech, and looked up to stare at the bewildered face of the janitor.

"E-Ejirou-san!" She gasped, quickly got to her feet, and bowed as low as she could. "I'm so sorry! I-I... I thought--You should really check the research room! There might be rats, or... or... I'm so sorry! Goodnight!"

She rushed past him, her face a beet red, opened the door into Joker's office, and closed it quietly. The hallway was as silent as a hallway should be when there weren't young women with over-active imaginations flailing down it. Ejirou blinked and then sighed. This was only the third time this month, too.


Wendy leaned against the door, gasping for breath, clutching the papers tightly to her chest, and hung her head.

"Stupid, stupid," she muttered to herself. "You know there's nothing out there."

There was a small rustle in the darkly lit room, and Wendy jumped again, but chided herself on her paranoia and shuffled over to the small sofa at the corner of the room. She sat down, and inhaled the warmth, grateful that the safety of Joker stayed even when he was gone.

Wendy noticed a run in her stocking and sighed in resignation as her right big toe peeked out through a large hole. She decided not to worry about it, and slouched down into the sofa, closing her eyes and sighing in contentment. It wouldn't hurt just to doze off for a few minutes, in the embrace of Joker's office.

"It's dangerous to think you'd ever wake up."

Wendy started as Joker walked out of the shadows, an odd flush on his cheeks. He winced as he realized what he said and his shoulders sagged as he ran a hand through his hair.

"I mean... you would probably only wake up in time to start work in the morning." He smiled, embarrassed but glad that she had relaxed. Waving a hand to get her to sit back down, he walked towards the sofa and then fell back into the cushions next to her, burying his face in his hands. "Forgive me... I'm not feeling myself right now."

"T-that's all right," she said quietly. There was a long silence again, but this time it was awkward. "...What are you still doing here?"

He looked up and stared at her, his eyes strangely terrified, guilty, transforming his usually tired face into that of a young child caught stealing candy.

"I am... I was..."

She frowned, and looked away, his breath sweet with the smell of bourbon. Joker sighed heavily and said nothing, obvious to the fact that she was shocked.

Not knowing what to do, Wendy said the first words that came to her. "I... I finished the projects you gave me..."

She gasped in shock when Joker fell against her, his head buried against her neck, and she sat there, rigid, feeling the weight of him against.
.

"J-Joker?" Her voice was quivering, high pitched, but the man said nothing, and Wendy began to bend as he became heavier.

There would be a few moments of utter confusion before Wendy would realize he had fallen asleep.


Joker was awake before he opened his eyes, groaning at the pounding ache in his head. Slowly, carefully, he opened his eyes, thankful to the fact that the room he was in was dark, the only light coming from a small lamp set behind him that cast large shadows on the pale yellow walls in front of him.

He was not in his office, nor was he in his own apartment.

He eased himsup oup onto his elbows, cringing at the pain in his neck, and cursed when a cramp in his leg numbed the throbbing in his brain.

"I'm sorry, Joker. I wasn't able to set you down carefully. You were heavier than I thought, and I had to get the cab driver to help."

"Wendy?" Her form was bleary and silhouetted, but she knelt down by his feet, her soft form in a light bath robe, her head level with his own cradled in shaking hands.

"Please drink this?" A delicate hand held out a tall, thin glass of water, the small tablet of Alka-Seltzer still dissolving at the bottom. Joker tried to smile, but found that it hurt too much, and took the glass, concentrating as hard as he could not to let his hands shake too hard. "I-I would have taken you home... but I didn't know where you lived."

"That's all right," he said kindly. "What time is it?"

"Almost midnight. You've been sleeping for around four hours."

"You should have left me in the office."

Wendy looked shocked, and Joker's eyes wavered slightly.

"No," he decided. "You're too kind for that." She looked away, her pale damp hair hiding her face, and Joker cringed at his stupidity. What was he thinking?

She stood up and after a slight hesitation said, "Would you like to take a bath?" She seemed startled by her own words. "I-I just finished mine, and the water should still be hot..."

"No... thank you, though. I should probably go home." He began to stand, but collapsed back on the couch.

"You would feel better if you did. Then you could go home if--"

He started. "If?"

She flushed and said, "I was going to say 'if you liked', but it didn't make any sense."

"Maybe a bath would be nice..."

She smiled sweetly. "I'll get some towels for "
"

And with a rustle of terrycloth she was gone, her soft humming lingering near Joker's ear. He closed his eyes and groaned again. Idiot. Fool. Taking a bath? In her apartment?

A low, aggressive moan brought him out of his self loathing, and Joker stared at a small gray cat, eyes glinting with the shine of the lamp, it's ears pulled back and glaring evilly at the man.

"You agree with me then." The cat grinned smugly. "You have nothing to worry about. I have no intention of taking your mistress away from you."

"Is Max bothering you, Joker?" Wendy called as she returned to the living room. The cat meowed sweetly, and Wendy picked him up, cradling the cat in her arms. "Be nice, Max. He's a gentleman."

Max sneezed, and Wendy giggled, snuggling him closer to her, and then flushed, remembering Joker, and dropped the cat to help the man to his feet. Joker sighed as he leaned into Wendy, ashamed by the fact that he needed her help.

"The towels are by the bathtub," she said when they reached the door. "I-if you need anything, just call."

"Thank you..."

There was an extremely awkward pause as they looked at each other, not quite sure what to do, and Wendy finally opened her mouth, but closed it again, embarrassed, and quietly shut the door on her way out.

Joker watched the door quietly for a few seconds before looking around the small bathroom. The tiles were almost a garish aqua, obviously not chosen by Wendy's hand, but the bathtub was very quaint... and very small. Sighing, he pulled off his undershirt, and
unzipped his pants, but stopped when he heard Wendy singing quietly, her simple, personal song stopping when a quiet meow was heard.

Joker realized the walls were paper thin, and became suddenly self conscious. Where in the world was the insulation when they made this building? Slowly, silently he dropped his pants, peeled off his boxers, and padded over to the small washing area where he lathered up, all the while careful not to make a sound.

For the next few minutes there was silence except for Wendy's sporadic bursts into song, and the scurrying of the cat trying to get rid of the rest of his energy.

And it was in that silence, a silence that was closer to the comfort they had had at 4:00 in the afternoon, that Joker realized in some indirect way, he was touching Wendy.

He eased farther into the water, thinking of the woman just on the other side of this un-insulated wall, who, just earlier, had her soft body surrounded by the water that now clung to his skin, her face flushed from the heat, relaxed, completely trusting of the man who was sleeping on her couch, ready to awaken with a hang over, and unprepared to guard his words or feelings.

He was ashamed of himself, and yet unwilling to leave. His morbid fascination at being in her home was overcoming the instinct to flee from what he knew could only be a masochistic dream. He was going to savor this moment and remember it, for he knew that this would, in all logical probability, be the one and only time he would ever be here.

Reluctantly, he got out of the bath, careful not to slosh too much water around. Joker took one of the towels lying on the rack and began to dry his hair, trying to ignore the distinct smell of Wendy on the towels... sugar. She smelled like candy, a sugary, sweet, refreshing confection that could only bring delight.

He donned his clothes, and used the damp towel to wipe away the mist over the mirror. He stared at himself and grimaced. At one point in time, years before, Joker had the chance of being handsome, of being desirable. His work was his only love, what need did he have for appearances? He brushed his hair back as best he could, the blonde strands wet sticking to his fingers, and sighed in defeat. Nothing was going his way. Nothing ever would.

Joker walked into the small kitchen, and smiled when Wendy looked at him with shining eyes. "Do you feel better?"

"Much better. You were right. I did need that."

She smiled sweetly and opened the refrigerator. "I don't really have anything here... oh!" She opened a cupboard and pulled out some small packages of various snacks. "You like these, don't you?"

She held out some rice crackers, and Joker's face lit up as he took the package. Wendy popped a few gummie fruit into her mouth and leaned against the sink, sighing.

"Tired?"

She nodded her head. "It's been a hard day."

"I'm sure.... If you'd like me to go home--"

"No, no! Please stay... i-if you'd like to. I don't have a lot of company these days."

He nodded his head, happy, and bit into a rice cracker.

There was the silence again... the comfortable silence with Wendy playing songs in her head, and Joker trying to keep all thoughts out of his mind. They were both oddly shaken by the events of the day, but there was something about a pale pink kitchen that just let a person relax...

Until the sharp, piercing light of lightning appeared and the huge clap of thunder followed. Wendy shrieked, and tried her hardest to stay in control, but Joker could tell she was shaking. The soft pings of rain tapped against the window, and as the seconds ticked by, Wendy grew paler.

"Are you all right?" he asked, genuinely worried.

"I-I--"

Another bolt of lightning, and a much larger sound of thunder reached her ears.

"No!!!" she wailed and stuffed a handful of gummies in her mouth. She was positively mortified when she realized she didn't have enough room in her mouth to chew, and nearly blew steam out her nose.

He laughed, her childlike behavior touching him beyond measure, and Wendy moaned in despair, covering her mouth with her hands as her jaw went into hyper drive, and Joker laughed even more.

"There's nothing to be worried about."

She had finally swallowed her midnight snack, and smiled weakly, but instead of continuing to be the darling young girl she had been before, Wendy's face was a small mask, hinting of sorrow.

The air turned very dense, almost palpable, and Joker watched her curiously as she stared at the bag of candy in front of her. She opened her mouth, closed it.

"I've just always been afraid of lightning. The children at school would always make fun of me for it, but it's not like I could help it. I don't know what's wrong with me... I'm just a mess, aren't I?" She laughed faintly then and Joker's eyes closed in shame for laughing at her.

Without thinking he reached her in two steps, their bodies inches apart.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have laughed." Wendy shook her head. There was never any need for him to apologize. She took comfort in his presence, and her features softened when his warmth radiated to her.

Wendy cried out in surprise when thunder came. She hadn't noticed the lightning, and she pressed her head against Joker's chest, burying her face in the soft linen, breathing in his scent.

Without hesitation, Joker wrapped his arms around her, holding her close, feeling her tremble in his embrace. Slowly she relaxed, sighed almost too faintly to hear, and pressed her hands against his back, holding him as tightly as she could. After another long peal of thunder there was silence, and she couldn't help but melt into him. Joker closed his eyes, trying to burn every single detail of her in his mind. Of her body, of her hair, of her sweet smell so close to him, surrounding him, making him more intoxicated than any alcohol. It would be the only time he would be able to touch her, he knew, and it broke his heart to think about that. So he just let himself feel.

"I feel like I'm not afraid of anything when you're close to me," she whispered, and shifted in his hold, her arms tight around him. It had taken all her courage to say that, and she waited for the rejection like a child waiting for punishment.

Joker's eyes snapped open and he loosened his hold on her, placing his hands on her arms, gently pushing away to get a closer look at her. Her head was turned, tucked into her shoulder, trying to hide her expression, but there was something about the air that told Joker he had to see her face.

"Wendy?"

"I-I'm sorry--"

"Why?"

"If you want to leave, I'll underst--"

"I don't."

Startled, she looked up, her cheeks stained with tears. Joker gently held Wendy's chin, searching her eyes, and breathed "Forgive me" before kissing her, so gently, on her parted lips tasting of sugar.

She was too beautiful, innocent, sweet, sad, adorable, terrified, to be held at arms length any longer. She needed something, something that Joker couldn't give her, had no right to give her, but he had to anyway... for himself, to release himself, to let go all of the restraint he had held for years upon years, to actually express his forbidden desire.

He ended the kiss sweetly, painfully, sorrowfully, but it was finished, and he smiled... so sadly, so quietly.

"I had always intended to be a mentor to you, to guide you in a professional manner... but... you must forgive me. I should leave now."

"Joker..." He began to pull away.

The lightning was only an excuse to press him back to her, wrap her arms around his neck and drag him down, stand on her tip-toes and meet him half way.

Her lips pressed into his urgently, her eyes closed shut in fierce determination. She would not let him go. Ever, ever. She had known from the moment she saw him... Forbidden love was not meant for either Wendy or Joker, and there was no point in pretending it was, and he instantly met her fervor as her soft moan hummed against his lips.

His hands stopped at her hips, holding them firmly, pressing her body achingly close to his as he deepened the kiss, groaning in happiness, bewilderment, desire, need, want--

They broke off the kiss only to breathe, and both laughed, elated.

"It's... been a while."

"Me too..."

"I can't believe... It's like a dream."

Wendy couldn't stop her grin even as they returned for another kiss, and Joker laughed as his lips touched teeth, his hand moving up to touch her face, cup her cheek, her muscles relaxing as she flushed and his fingers imprinted fantasies into her mind that she had always been ashamed to envision before.

"You are so beautiful," he murmured, and Wendy's smile returned along with a deeper pink tint to her cheeks, leaning into his hand. She brushed a hand through his uncombed, unruly hair, his long bangs attempting to cover his face. She tried to hook a piece of his hair behind an ear, but alas, it was too short. He pressed his forehead against hers, sighing in contentment, and one strong arm locking her to his body as she murmured something too quiet to hear.

"What did you say?"

"I said 'so are you'."

He looked at her quietly, searching her eyes, realizing with shock she was stating what she believed to be the truth.

But it was true, she had always known. His distinguished features had always caught the eyes of the women who worked for the Division. He had the look of intelligence and quiet elegance, and seemed completely oblivious to the fact that his looks and polite manners had set plenty of women's hearts fluttering. Including her own.

There was a small pause, and Wendy scrunched up her face, mustering up courage before asking: "Stay?"

Such a simple question, and said so gently, Joker had to wonder if he had heard her correctly. He dove a hand in her extremely soft hair.

"Stay?" she repeated. "Please?"

Oh, he wanted to. How he wanted to. Too many things were racing through his head; how unethical it was, how he was her boss, how much older he was, how much weight he had bearing down on his shoulders.

"Do you really want me?" he asked, giving her one more chance to back out, to send him home, to try and forget about this night.

Shocked, she held his face, kissing him again and again on the lips, on the corners of his faintly creased eyes, on his cheeks.

"Yes," she cried. "Oh, Joker..."

They held each other close, no longer hearing the thunder, only the sound of their blood racing through their veins, of thhearhearts beating faster and faster.

She led him to the door to the bedroom and walked through the darkness, and he followed only to have a sharp pain rush through his body. He hissed, trying to control the pain on his side, and he looked down to see the sharp edge of a dresser gleaming with evil. The pain would subside soon... hopefully.

"I'm so sorry! I should have moved that a long time ago. It happens every time..."

She trailed off, and flushed when the realization showed on Joker's face, but he softly dragged his thumb against her soft cheek blushing in the darkness from shame. He kissed that cheek softly, then her forehead, and looked back down at her, smiling for her reassuringly.

"I-I'm sorry," she whispered.

"For what?" he asked gently. "For being a woman?"

"But," she looked up at him. "But I thought that--"

"I thought of you as innocent?" He kissed her, pinning her to the door as his hips pressed into her soft stomach. "I did. I still do." Unable to resist, he kissed her again. "I've always believed there is a difference between ignorance and innocence. Don't you?"

"B-but I'm not innocent," she said, almost pouting. He chuckled softly.

"I think you are."

"I'm not, though."

"Really? You don't trust a cab driver into your apartment to help you? You aren't afraid of the dark? Or lightning?"

Wendy jumped, suddenly remembering the storm. And were the shadows moving all of a sudden?

"T-that isn't innocent, that's pathetic."

"It's not," he said, frowning at her severity. "It's not pathetic at all. I find everything about you to be sincere and gentle and trusting. You haven't been tainted by the world. It has decided to leave you alone, and you are only a part of a handful of people who see the world for what it is and still find good in everything."

"I don't see any good in lightning."

"Because you've never taken the chance to look at it."

She looked towards the large glass doors that led to the small balcony and watched as a large bolt jolted the sky, the white stems of electricity reaching out like branches on a tree, the city-purple stained sky blinking into a deep red and then back. It was beautiful, terrifyy soy so, filled with so much power to kill, destroy... but to also instill awe and a deep respect for nature, for existence.

She looked back at Joker, into his eyes, those deep, deep eyes, and felt him reaffirm his theory of her. If she hadn't fallen in love with him the first moment she met him, helping her gather a spilled stack of documents that had been flung out her hands in the wake of rude and disrespectful men, she would have fallen in love with him now.

Nobody ever saw beyond her clumsiness, her fears, her childish behavior. They saw a push-over, an air head, a body. But Joker saw beyond that, was sincere in his words, having already won what he wanted, and enjoyed what he saw, wanting her still all the more.

Her lips parted for him, and he kissed her with a passion, he tasting the candy, she tasting the rice crackers, and she sighed, relaxing, flicking her tongue against his, putty in his hands as he enfolded her with his arms, supporting her neck, his fingers entangled in her pale hair. During that kiss, they blindly made their way to the small futon on the floor, and they lowered onto the soft covers, Joker sitting as Wendy leaned over him, their mouths still pressed together. Joker hungrily pulled her down to him, falling into his lap, and she moaned into his mouth as the ache in her body deepened.

She didn't just want the touch of his fingers or his lips, she wanted his soul to intertwine with hers, she wanted to mold into him, becoming a part of him, losing herself in his immensely intelligent eyes, to see through them and understand his vision of the world. And on a very sacred level that many people ignore, she knew, knew with all her heart that he wanted the same thing.

She shifted in his lap, straddling his hips, pressing into his arousal, and Joker groaned, his eyes rolling back, gritting his teeth, willing himself back into reality. Her robe was dangerously loose, and naked underneath the soft pink fabric, her flesh was so easy to feel, every part, every fold apparent to him.

His kisses deepened even more, pushing her soft moan into the back of her throat, and slowly his hands pulled her robe off her shoulders to drape around her form. For a while he just looked at her, his eyes the softest Wendy had ever seen as her shadowed body trembled from his gaze.

"Are you afraid?" he asked, worried.

She shook her head, her pale hair falling to frame her face. "Are you?"

And much to her shock he answered, "Yes."

"B-but why?"

"This... this complicates things."

"It does? How?"

"Well, at work. I'm your boss."

"But this isn't that uncommon."

"No, but how would it make you look?"

"You mean how would it make _you_ look?" She frowned, and he lowered his gaze, guilty.

"Then how would it make _us_ seem? I'm not just using you."

"I know you aren't."

"But people might not understand that."

"Then let them think it. I know the truth. The people who know us know the truth. It's not wrong. It isn't, Joker." He nodded his head in agreement, and Wendy peered into his face. "Work isn't what this is about, is it?"

"No," he admitted. "No, it isn't."

"Then...?"

"I'm... well, I'm... older than you." He sighed at the blank look on her face. "I'm not like the young men you've dated."

"I know that," she said vehemently. "That's why you're so wonderful."

"Because I'm old?"

"You aren't old, Joker. Really, you aren't. You're _older_, but you aren't anywhere near old. Is that what you were worried about? How I would feel about you because of age?"

Already knowing the answer, Wendy kissed him in reassurance, and slowly, after a lot of "reassurance" she was able to coax him out of his shirt. She looked at him for a while, much to Joker's dismay.

"You're exactly how I imagined you," she said finally with a sweet smile, and spread her fingers over his chest, his muscles jumping with her touch. He was strong and toned, but had slacked off the past few weeks because of the increase in work, so not in the very best of shape. His shoulders were surprisingly well defined, and his arms were large but not overly so, just the way Wendy liked them.

Unable to keep back her childish urge, Wendy grabbed a hold of an arm and looked at him with large eyes.

"Flex?" she asked.

"Pardon?" He blinked and flushed when she repeated her request, and complied.

She squealed in delight and hugged him fiercely, her weight sending Joker falling back onto the bed, laying there as Wendy snuggled close to him, their skin pressed against each other, the heat radiating between them.

"I could stay like this forever," she sighed sweetly, and Joker groaned in horror as his arousal deepened.

"I'm sorry to hear that, because I never would be able to."

He wrapped his arms around her, and flipped her onto her back, grinning at her laughter, and swooped in for an open mouthed kiss. Still not being able to control her giggles, Wendy tried her best to kiss him back, but Joker sighed in mock exasperation and trailed kisses down from her lips to her chin, and finally to her neck, lingering at the dip in her collarbone.

Wendy stopped laughing and half moaned, arching to give Joker more room. He brought a hand to the back of her neck for support, and ran his tongue along her throat, feeling her gasp. Her skin was so salty, so achingly good...

His hand moved from her neck to trace her collarbone, and then farther down, barely touching as his fingers brushed against her skin, her muscles jumping with anticipation, and finally Joker cupped his large hand around her breast, pressing into her body as she moaned. He brushed his thumb against the dark, rose colored nipple, and she sighed as he took one between his thumb and index finger, gently pinching it erect and rolling the sensitive bead between his fingers.

Her breath was getting ragged, but Joker could barely hear beyond his own as her body reached up to try and connect with his. He kissed her deeply on the mouth before dragging himself down her body until his hot breath heated a rising peak. Lightly, so very, very lightly, his tongue circled her nipple, pleasure surging up in him as Wendy's hand involuntarily buried into his hair and her back arched up, her body begging to be touched completely, to be deeply moved. He barely flicked her nipple, his tongue just grazing the tip her flesh, before Wendy moaned in frustration, and pressed her body against him, begging for contact.

Joker buried his face between her breasts, inhaling her scent, groaning as her hands pressed against his back, her soft palms running along his spine. He ran his tongue firmly along her other nipple, and when finally it was erect, took it gently between his teeth, causing Wendy to gasp loudly.

"Please..." she moaned.

Wendy groaned as the sensation ran into her body. Slowly, slowly, Joker trailed down, untying the knot of the tie that held Wendy's robe barely closed, and pulled away the rest of the cloth to leave Wendy naked beneath him.

He kissed her stomach, dipping his tongue into her belly button, and Wendy shivered as her upper body was suddenly without warmth, her nipples hardening even more as Joker's breath laced her stomach, the harsh contrast of the cool air in the room sending chills through her body.

Joker touched her inner thigh, the muscles jumping at the unexpected touch, and he kissed her, so close to her inner core, and Wendy sobbed in frustration. Twisting her hips against him, Joker finally surrendered and brushed a thumb against her coarse hair,
finding the small center of sensitive nerves, and dipped his tongue into the folds of flesh, tasting her arousal, amazed at how slick she was.

His tongue flicked against the swollen bud, fast and hard, and Wendy writhed beneath him, her back arching as his hands grabbed hold of her hips, tipping her higher to reach her deeper and deeper.

His tongue ran along the sides of her opening, and then tasted the inside of her, feeling the muscles surround his tongue and she cried out his name, her breath quickly turning to heavy pants. He dragged his tongue back to her center, licking her deep and hard, feeling her tremble beneath him as he never gave in, until finally, with a long and drawn out moan, wave upon wave of raw pleasure overtook her, and her body trembled as Joker brought himself back up to face her. He kissed her, and she tasted herself in his mouth, salty, longing.

Her small hands made their way to his belt buckle, and after having unfastened it, she unzipped his pants. Joker gasped as her fingers touched the skin right above his throbbing erection and he tried to pull her hands away, but Wendy moaned in protest.

"Why not?"

"Because..."

"Not even if I want to?"

He had no answer for that, and let her wrap her fingers around him, squeezing him ever so slightly, purring in appreciation, only to watch him grit his teeth and close his eyes in concentration.

She smiled. "What?"

"Wendy..."

"Yes?" she murmured into his ear.

He laughed coarsely, and she squeezed again, running her hands along his member, first lightly and slow, but then faster, faster, and Joker buried his face against her neck, his hands roaming along her body, trying to keep one ounce of control as she took him over.

"Wendy... Wendy, I won't be..."

With a tinge of regret, he gently took her hands away from him, and helped her to sit up. He kissed her sweetly, before detangling their legs, and pulling his pants off. He sat in front of her, naked, vulnerable, and Wendy came to him, straddling his hips, her pleasure pressing against his. They held each other achingly close, Joker striving to remain in control, kissing her somewhat reservedly. Wendy frowned and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing their bodies close together, her breasts crushed against his chest, and Joker groaned into her mouth before wrapping his arms around her.

He could feel her response as her hips involuntarily moved against him, rubbing her arousal against his length. Her hard pants were now coming out as rhythmic moans as Joker's hands cupped her bottom, grinding her body against him, and finally after her pleading broke through his defenses, Joker let her take a hold of him and guide him inside of her.

The feeling was so right, it took Joker's breath away. She was so tight around him, so willing, so happy to be in his arms, it had to be a dream. Well, let it, he thought as she rocked against him, his head rolling back as the sensas tos took over his senses.

One hand moved to a breast while the other stayed at her hips, and as he rubbed a thumb against her nipple, he slipped out of her, and drove back inside, hearing her call out his name as the rhythm picked up, as they moved together, faster and faster and faster, the emotion, the passion swelling and swelling until finally, after a pleasure filled sob escaped Wendy's lips, her hips twisted, the muscles around Joker tightened, and he could no longer hold back.

Under the covers, they laid there, Wendy's head resting against Joker's chest, still awake but so tired as Joker's hands brought her to one last climax. Shaking, she held onto him, and slowly began to notice the thunder returning to reality.

Joker held on to her, his arms enfolding her, and Wendy sighed sweetly, happily, and closed her eyes, seeing the flash of lightning through her eyelids, and hearing the loud clap of thunder, but not jumping, not even trembling. Wendy smiled when he kissed her forehead, and they rolled over to their sides, Joker's arms pressing her back close to his chest.

"You know something odd?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm beginning to like lightning... when you're around."


FIN.