Title: Wreckage
Rating: PG-13
Fandom: Crossover: Batman: Arkham Asylum/City/Origins & Joker/Clover/Heart no Kuni no Alice
Characters: Batman: AA/AC/AO: Victor Zsasz; J/C/H no Kuni no Alice: Lorina Liddell, Alice Liddell
Pairing: Victor Zsasz/Lorina Liddell
Summary: Would it really have made that much of a difference? Deep down, she wants to believe it would have, or maybe. . .
Word Count: 650
Author's Note: This is NOT whatsoever related to my other story Coming Undone. And originally I wasn't planning on posting this, but oh look! I actually am going to post it! *headdesk* . . . At least this is set BEFORE Zsasz becomes… well… Zsasz. (Does that make sense?)
Warnings: None.
Disclaimer: Batman: Arkham Asylum/City/Origins and Joker/Clover/Heart no Kuni no Alice do not belong to me in any shape or form (including characters). Thank you.

When the news had reached them it had devastated her, and she knew that she couldn't even begin to fathom what it must've been like for him when it reached his ears.

What it still must be like for him.

The loss of them was much too fresh, after all. And it pained her to realize that he'd been alone all this time and drowning in waves upon waves of grief and despair.

And it hurt that he hadn't reached out to her to be his lifeline, to help him stay afloat. (She felt horrible afterwards for thinking, feeling, that way.) Because maybe, just maybe, things would have turned out differently in the end if she'd been there for him, with him, when told about the boating accident that took his parents' lives. If only she'd gone to him sooner, instead of after the service. If only…

"Lorina."

Never had she heard one's voice sound so empty, so… so...

Dead.

He had his back to the door, having retreated to his room in hopes of locking himself away from the world and its prying eyes. She couldn't really blame him, though, for doing so. The majority of the people downstairs had been his parents' business partners (soon to be his business partners now, seeing as they left him their legacy) and attended his parents' funeral to put on a good face for their company. Only a handful in attendance consisted of extended family and friends.

Thinking back, she tries to see if there could have been something she could have said to give him hope. She had tried to imagine herself in his place, trying to think of what comforts would help console her. But she couldn't.

She couldn't (and still can't) imagine losing her family; her parents, her little sisters. The thought itself made her heart ache terribly.

His eyes, once so full of life, were frighteningly vacant. Dark circles beneath his eyes told that he hadn't slept in days, not since receiving the tragic news concerning his parents. And the faint scent of alcohol hit her nose, as he breathed out through his slightly parted lips, when she sat down next to him; her shoulder lightly brushing against his.

If only she said something straight afterwards. But. . .

Would it really have made that much of a difference? Deep down, she wants to believe it would have, or maybe. . .

Maybe it wouldn't have. Maybe it would have just made it happen sooner. Because, who knows? His mind could have already been made up before then.

Something within her chest lurched at his words, his decision. And she could feel that very thing begin to break into pieces. (And continuing to break into tinier pieces, even now.) Couldn't he see…? Didn't he know that he wasn't truly alone? That she was there for him, always? That she was willing, wanting, to be his anchor in this raging storm?

If only. . .

If only she had fought back. Then he would still be here and not somewhere else. Why hadn't she argued him, persuaded him to stay?

"Lorina?" tentatively, Alice asked, placing her hand on the young woman's shoulder. It had been five days since Victor Zsasz had vanished, and she saw the lost look in her sister's eyes. "Are you… alright?"

No. No, she wasn't alright. She was far from it. How could she be? How could she be alright when her best friend, the man she fell in love with, was gone?

"I'm fine, Alice." She, for reassurance, gave her sister a smile. . .

. . . However, beneath that carefully composed mask she wore for the outside world to see, tears stained her cheeks for the man that captured her heart at the age of six.

Because, somehow, she knew. . .

. . . He would never be the same again.