Joker sat infront of his new house with the semi full of equipment, he had put so much work into the beachfront property yet here he stood looking at the house he had first owned when he joined the navy. It was rickity and decrepid but still stood.



Four months later.

Joker smiled and sat on the edge of the front steps looking out at the beach, the beer in his hand felt cold and peaceful. He had spent so much time and money refitting the calm house into the fort he had in the hills. With a sigh he called Angel, it was better then the metal door he had put in her appartment and probably more safe for her.

"Ey, Chica. Come to 2314 N. Pineway. Got a surprise for you." He hung up the phone and leaned back on the steps letting his mind wander over his life his heart jerked for a moment when he thought of Ree.

Angel frowned hearing the message, "I hate surprises..." she muttered as she slipped out of her apartment, lovingly patting the large metal door before she walked down the hallway to her eclipse.

She make good time heading towards the place Joker wanted her at. When she pulled up to the house, she looked at it with a bittersweet smile, "Looks like it's just me going home tonight. Good to see he found somewhere to call home."

Joker shouted, "I'm out back," He waited for her to make her way to where he was sitting. "Welcome to your new home. Safer then that appartment and more room." He smiled lightly and opened his eyes slowly. "Figured you could use the change of scenery."

Angel followed his voice and looked at him mouth open in shock, "Wait... WHAT!?"

This was a bit different then him finding some place to live, no this was him offering her somewhere else to live instead of her apartment. There was no way that this was happening it had to be a joke. It had to be a joke because there was no way her friend with benefit's had just gotten her a house. Not a flat, no it was a house on the beach.

"Joker... I'm going to walk back to my car and I'm going to pretend you just didn't offer me a house because you think it's safer. This place... you keep it, it'll give you some where to actually call home. Me... I'm going back to my safe zone."

"Listen, this place will give you somewhere to live out of and buy you some time before Deon sets on you again. I've had this house for years just sitting around. Since I've been back I've been fixing it up...and watch this." He stood up and pulled a silenced glock from his belt. "Nomex gortex coating on the door." He fired two rounds that stuck into the wall for a moment before falling. "Unless he rips the door open you have a few minutes to get out the opposite doors or call the cops. It's something..."

"Alright then what? Then I'm running away from him again. Joker I've been running from him for 2 years! And he is fully capable of ripping a door off its hinges. This is your house Joker, I appreciate it but we, well... the point is that you don't have to do this for me. I mean I have everything I need to protect myself in the apartment. Not to mention it's somewhere I finally got used to calling home," Angel said running a hand through her hair.

This was like some crazy dream where her roommate of a couple of months magically popped a house out of his ass and asked her to live there with him. It was a huge step in her opinion and she really didn't think she would know what to do with an entire house. All she had once she had left home was apartments or lofts.

"Okay, well. If you don't want it, I'm sure I can sell it after I strip all the ballistics off." He laughed harshly. "Honestly, I just like doing jobs like this and I wouldn't call it running from Deon so much as fortifying yourself from him. This was just an idea I had one day, I don't tend to plan things through all the way before I do them, I just -do- them."

It was the look in his eyes that had her deflating, it was the kind of look that said here I went and did this nice thing and you don't even want to consider it. Angel moved closer to Joker and wrapped her arms around him, putting her head on his chest.

"A little fare warning next time you decide to buy me a house would be nice. You send all kinds of panicky signals when you pop a safe house out of your ass. I mean seriously Joker, next thing I know your going to come home and have a pet for us too."

Her tone was light and slightly sarcastic as she gripped his arms and pulled them around her as she put her back against his chest, "So when can I move in with you?"

"Thought you said you didn't want it? I mean I'd have to sell the dog, he's at the vet getting his shots." Joker ran with her pet line with a wide smile and light laugh. "You can move in whenever, like I said. I've had this house just sitting here, apparently the overpaid housekeeper just was taking my money and went on a long vacation...place looked like Edgar Allen Poe's wet dream when I got back from Mexico." He kissed her neck lightly. "And also you can bring any type of guy back here and I won't hear a thing."

"Good to know when I find another playmate that isn't you," Angel said laughing, "But seriously did you buy a dog too?"

She was now excited, this was like an adventure. He had all of these things he was surprising her with and normally she hated surprises. Angel nestled into his chest and looked out at the ocean, she was going to enjoy spending time here.

"Cool, then can I borrow your monster truck? There is no better time then the present... oh right, forgot to tell you. Yesterday when I left there was a single red rose attached to the outside doorknob. Please tell me that was you."

Joker's jaw clenched. "No..." He said softly as his hand slid to his pistol. "Get the truck and get your stuff D." He slid his keys into her hand. "Be careful and make sure no one is following you. I need to double check a couple things." He kissed her neck again before letting her go and walking into the house.

Angel looked after him worried as she gripped his keys, "Okay..." she shrugged off the nerves as she walked up to the truck and hauled herself into the cab.

If it was Joker then it was Deon or one of his minions, either way that wouldn't end well for her so it seemed that Joker's magically appearing house was a good thing. She started up the truck and carefully backed out of the drive heading back towards her apartment. It might take a while for her to get everything loaded but she could manage.

When she got in she walked into the office, "Hey Joe, I just wanted to let you know I was moving out. I paid the rent up till the end of the month, so sorry about not telling you sooner. It's just after what happened earlier this month I... I can't be here any more."

"Alright Angel well if you need any help loading stuff up just gimme a call. I don't blame you for finding somewhere else to stay. Any place you want me to forward your mail to?"

"Yeah, if you can send it here that would be great. It can be sent there until I settle into the new place," she said jotting down the garage address.

"Alright will do. There are some boxes around the corner you can take to load everything up," Joe said motioning her to where they were before he waved her off.

Angel grabbed the stack of folded boxes and went upstairs to her apartment. She unlocked and re-locked the door behind her before she started making the boxes whole again and beginning to pack up her entire life once more.

Joker's hands moved over his weapons cases quickly as he assembled a rifle with tranq rounds that had enough muscle relaxer to take down an elephant, he carefully pulled out a small vial from the edge of the rifle case. The concentrated urchin liquid was a paraletic, none lethal but strong enough to seize the major muscle groups. He pulled on two rubber gloves and coated the blade of his knives with the liquid before sliding them into the felt lined sheathes, they might dull the blades over time but the liquid would keep for a month without drying. He was prepared this time, if Deon followed her he would be drooling on the front steps until the police showed.

Angel looked at the boxes she had packed already, there were enough of them to make one entire trip to the new place and back, but she wanted to pack up everything. She looked at her bed and bit her lip, she loved the old metal thing, but she didn't have the hands she would need to take it apart.

Making a face she dialed Joe, "Hey Joe I actually could use a hand getting everything together, can you spare some time? Your sons... Yeah sure that would still be a big help thanks."

Angel was working on emptying the kitchen when the knock came, she unlocked the door and smiled at the young strapping twin boys, "Come on in, you two think you can handle taking a couple of beds apart? Alright cool, it's both of them," she said motioning them to her room and Joker's though she had made sure that all of his things were in one box with a J on the side.

An itch was in the back of Joker's mind that he couldn't put away so he grabbed his blades and the keys to his car. He pushed the self titled car as fast as he could blown redlights and speed traps alike, by the time the speed gun wold chirp he would already be blocks away. Quickly he dropped the E-break and spun into the parking lot, leaving the car running he made it up the stairs and into the house, "Need a hand?"

Angel spun blade in her hand as she heard the door bang open, "For the love of engines Joker, warn a woman please!"

She put the knife on the counter and nodded, "Yeah an extra hand would be good. I have the owners kids helping me take the beds apart. All of your stuff is in a box and there should be just enough boxes to toss the rest of everything in. If you wanna pack up my tools and the unfinished engine I would greatly appreciate it."

Looking around the kitchen she sighed, she remembered moving in two years ago. It had taken minutes to unpack everything from the loft. But over those tow years she had collected and bought so much extra stuff that it was impossible to tell how much longer it was going to be before the apartment was stripped bare and she could go unpack at the new house.

House... House was a weird concept for her. She had gotten so used to living with limited space that with all that extra room she doubted that she would know what to do with everything.

Joker quickly grabbed the engine and hoisted the massive metal onto his shoulder. "I didn't think I could do that," He smirked as the two boys watched him. "Let's get this done and back to the house, I have a few tricks I need to teach you." He tapped one of his knives with his fingertips. "Ways to slow people down." He grabbed his locked secondary weapons case and began walking towards the steps. "Guys, toss my box in the backseat of the eclipse outside." With that he began taking the stairs three at a time till he was at the truck.

"Oh my handsome muscle man," Angel teased nodding to the two kids who were looking at aw at Joker's back, "Go on you two, you can help him start loading stuff into the truck and eclipse."

She was looking forward to him teaching her a few tricks, those tricks would come in handy if Deon ever came knocking. She watched as the boys grinned at one another and then started to grab boxes.

"Grab the one with the J on it, that's the one he wants in the eclipse. Now chop chop you two, thanks!" she said smiling as they nodded and ran off to help Joker.

A couple hours later the house was sitting in sloppily packed boxes on the living room floor. Joker wrapped his arms around Angel's waist and he laughed. "Chica, what do you think?" He kissed her neck and let her go, "We can put little Timmy over there and little Allison can have a crib in that corner." He laughed making fun of the situation. He braced for a hit playfully as he stepped away.

"I don't know J... I mean I'm not exactly the mothering type. Me and kids don't really get along. But if we are getting the kids of the furry and scaly kind, sure we can put them there," Angel said grinning as she walked back towards him and wrapped her arms around his waist.

She placed a kiss to the center of his chest and relaxed into him, "So thank you again for everything... So... you wanna help me put everything away?"