A/N: Boom! Another new story! Hope you guys like that movie 'Enough' because this story is pretty similar but with my own twists and characters. Anyways, I own no one in this story except for the insane characters I create. Enjoy!
Rating: M for language and ya know...those sexy moments.
Summary: AJ spent the last 8 months carefully plotting her escape. What she didn't plan for was the attractive and curious neighbor across the hall.
Introduction
New Jersey 1 weeks ago...
"Come on baby." AJ whispered gently shaking the sleeping child.
"Hi mommy." the little girl sleepily greeted rubbing her eyes.
"Hi baby." AJ froze smiling at her so her daughter wouldn't see the panic.
"Mommy you have a boo-boo." the little girl pointed at AJ's now red and starting to swell eye.
"It's ok it doesn't hurt." AJ smiled warmly. "We're going on a trip, doesn't that sound like fun?"
AJ already had her daughter's pack and hidden under her bed and just slipped on her shoes and tossed her jacket on. AJ looked back at the time and saw they didn't have a lot of time left.
"Where are we going?" the five year old asked as AJ scooped her up in her arms and grabbed her bag that was waiting by the door.
"It's a surprise." AJ grinned hoping her daughter didn't sense the panic in her voice.
"What about daddy?" the little girl asked confused. "Where's daddy?"
"Look it's Uncle Nick and Aunt Celeste." AJ said as she walked out the front door with two bags and her daughter.
In a car parked directly in front of the house was her best friend Celeste and her husband Nick. They gave a smile and wave at the little girl who anxiously waved back.
"Don't yell baby." AJ whispered looking around as she scurried to the car and Nick jumped out and took the little girl from AJ's arms and placed her in the car seat while Celeste helped AJ place the bags in her trunk.
"Mommy, where is daddy?" her daughter asked again.
"Ready?" AJ asked jumping in the seat next to her daughter and Nick quickly took off.
AJ opened her bag that had some clothes but mostly cash, as much cash as she could save and borrow over the last 8 months. She looked out the back window as they drove away from her home and life for good...
Present day...
"What should my name be today mommy?" AJ's daughter asked as she ate breakfast at the small table with her mother.
"We might be here for a little bit so try to stick to one." AJ smirked admiring the only good thing to come out of her 7 year marriage, her 5 year old daughter.
"I can't be Harley Quinn anymore?" her daughter frowned.
"For now on sure." AJ laughed sipping her coffee.
"Do you not like my name anymore mommy?" the little girl questioned eating the cereal off of her spoon.
"I love your name." AJ grinned. "You're named after my Uncle Peter."
"But my name is Petra." she reminded AJ.
"I know but I couldn't exactly name you Peter." She teased again sipping her coffee.
"I miss daddy." Petra frowned.
"You can call him later." AJ smiled. "I thought today we could go to the comic book shop."
"I'd love that!" Petra shouted. "I really want to see him."
"Petra you know we can't see him right now." AJ reminded her.
"I don't know why." Petra frowned. "I really, really miss him."
"I know honey but this is just something we have to do. And if your daddy asks where we are, what will you say?" AJ asked her.
"That we're by the beach and it's hot." Petra repeated back. In reality they were in the chilly City of Chicago but AJ didn't want him tipped off. "Why am I lying to daddy?"
"Because it's a game." AJ smiled. "Remember? I told you this was a fun game with daddy."
"But I'm not having fun." Petra sighed turning her spoon around her bowl looking down sadly.
"You will soon." AJ assured her. "Starting with the comic book shop."
"What about school?" Petra asked.
"That doesn't start for another few weeks." AJ reminded her.
"Am I ever going home?" she asked her.
"Not right now, no." AJ informed her crushed daughter.
"I'm never going to see daddy again?" Petra sniffled. "I don't like this game mommy."
"I know it's tough baby." AJ almost cried along with her daughter. "I wish you were a little older so you could understand. Just know that I love you and everything is going to be ok."
"I'm going to put my shoes on." Petra said pushing away from the table with her head still bowed and walking sadly over to her shoes.
The comic book shop was Petra's favorite in the world and it was amazing luck that AJ got an apartment above a comic book shop. She could spend hours in there picking out comic books. AJ loved comics herself but Petra was boarder line obsessed.
"What about this one?" AJ asked picking up a comic.
"I read that one already." Petra reminded her mother.
"This one?" AJ asked.
"I'll pick one myself." she said rather coldly to AJ and moved across the store to look at different comics. AJ was about to respond but her pre-paid cell phone rang and she had to take the call.
Petra looked up and saw the exact comic book she wanted. Her little eyes lit up with excitement as she eyed the prize then realized it was on the top shelf and she was far too short to reach it.
"Mommy." Petra requested jumping up trying to get it. "Mommy I need you, I found the one I want."
"Need some help?" a bearded man offered.
Petra looked up and saw the man covered in tattoos holding a bunch of comics himself. He picked the one he assumed she was reaching for and passed it to her.
"Thanks mister." Petra said to him.
"No problem." Punk smirked. "That's a good one."
"You read it?" Petra asked him.
"Not yet but I heard it's great. Read the first issue of the serious though." Punk smirked. "Four times in fact. One of the best Joker comics out there."
"I really liked the Flashpoint series." Petra shrugged skimming the pages of her new comic and Punk's eyes widened in amusement.
"With Martha as the Joker?" Punk asked and she nodded. "I liked that a lot too. You really know your comics, huh?"
"I do." Petra said proudly. "My mom loves comics."
"Sorry." AJ said rushing over. "I saw you helping her out and thank you."
"No problem." Punk smirked. "I think you two just moved into my building actually."
"We did you live across the hall." AJ said to him. "I'm Jane." she said extending her hand to the man.
"You can call me Punk." He greeted shaking her hand in return.
"And I'm Harley Quinn." Petra lied gracefully extending her hand to him as well and Punk let out a laugh as AJ looked mortified.
"You said your mom liked comics but she must really love them." Punk teased shaking the little girls hand.
"Come on baby we have to get going." AJ said placing her hands on Petra's shoulders. "Thanks again for the help."
"No problem." Punk smiled then turned to look back at the comics.
AJ paid for Petra's comic who didn't even want a bag and began reading it as they walked out the shop. Punk looked at the two oddly then shook his head, he had other things to worry about.
Inside the apartment Petra was on AJ's prepaid cellphone talking to her favorite person, her dad.
"...yes daddy I got the new comic!" Petra squealed.
"That's amazing sweet pea." he said happily. "It's getting cold now huh? Did you bring your jacket."
"No it's hot here." Petra said shooting her mom a wink and a thumbs up.
"Really?" he chuckled.
"Tell him you have to go." AJ said to Petra.
"Mommy says I have to go now daddy I love you and miss you to the moon and back!" Petra said quickly then passed AJ her phone.
"Seth." AJ greeted as she stepped into her bedroom.
"This is illegal you bitch." he spat.
"So is beating me." AJ shot back at him. "I will never give you the opportunity to put your hands on our daughter."
"Our daughter." he reminded her. "You just fucking said it! You can't keep her from me and I'm going to pull as many strings as I can and your face is going to be on every news outlet for kidnapping and I'm getting Petra back and you're going to rot in a prison!"
"That won't be happening." AJ remarked. "I have proof of the abuse. I have everything documented. I'm smarter than you ever gave me credit for. How will you keep your job when it becomes known that one of New Jersey's finest Detectives beats his wife and steals money from his cases. I have that marked money too Seth." she warned him.
"You fucking bitch." He hissed.
"Leave us alone Seth." She warned him.
"She's my daughter and I love her more than anything in this world and I will not let you keep her from me!" Seth screamed. "I will fucking kill you before I let that happen!"
"Goodbye Seth." AJ said coldly then hung up.
AJ knew this wasn't as cut and dry as it seemed and with Seth being a police officer he had a lot of pull. She was his wife for seven years and knew exactly how Seth did his job, taking bribes and extra cash and drugs on busts. He was always honest and never hid it from AJ which surprised her since there relationship had gotten so toxic after Petra was born but Seth never hid how dangerous or what a shady man he was. She knew about the other women as well and that's when things went down hill fast. He hated that her time was was now focused on Petra when she was born so he sought solace with other women as compensation.
Seth didn't hide his affairs from AJ because he knew AJ had nowhere to go. He provided her and Petra with an amazing home, money, food and he did love Petra, but he used to tell AJ how much he loved her too before the beatings. He never imagined she'd be doing exactly what he did at work but she learned it all from him. Eight months ago AJ decided to pack up and leave because even though she learned to leave with the physical, emotional and verbal abused she never wanted it to effect Petra. But when Petra took her father's I-Pad without permission to play a game and ended up dropping and breaking it she knew she had to leave. He grabbed Petra by her arm and raised his own with the back of his palm ready to hit her before AJ let out a scream and with the strength of a lion pulled her daughter away.
Seth apologized that night to Petra because he did love her dearly but he had his own demons he was battling. She wasn't sure what he was into and she started to question if he had just changed or he was always this way. Either way, her daughter was the most important person in her life. Her parents passed away when she was younger, raised by her Uncle Peter and her Aunt Zoe who also passed a few months before Petra was born. Everyone was gone and all she had was Petra and wouldn't let her grown accustomed to the abuse she had.
"Mommy I'm in my pajamas." Petra announced proudly.
"Brush your teeth?" she asked her daughter teasingly knowing she hadn't.
"Maybe..." Petra giggled.
"Come on." AJ said getting up and taking her hand then leading her to the bathroom.
"She can't keep my kid right?" Seth asked his two buddies sitting in his living room.
"If she plans on blowing up your extra source of money came from then yea." Dean said to him.
"You bring the cops into it and make this a legal battle you're going to jail." Roman reminded him. "Why would she just pick up and leave? Did she find out about your side chicks?"
"She's known about them." Seth scoffed with a wave of his hand. "She doesn't give a shit."
"So what the fuck did you do to drive her out of here with your kid?" Dean asked annoyed. "And now it's not just your ass on the line." he reminded him. "So before you tell us it's not our business- it is."
"You know women." Seth said annoyed. "Sensitive."
"You were slapping her around weren't you?" Roman asked.
"She never really cared about either." Seth admitted.
"So what the fuck did you do?" Dean asked him. "If cheating, stealing and beating her didn't scare her off what possibly could of."
"A while back Petra broke my I-Pad-" Seth started.
"Don't tell us you hit that little girl." Roman warned him.
"I didn't." Seth assured them. "But AJ thought I was going to because I raised my voice. I checked my shed in the back where I kept the extra cash and she had been skimming a little off the top of each drop every time I bought it out there."
"Smart." Dean laughed. "Taking a little at a time and went unnoticed."
"How much does she have?" Roman asked him. "I mean she has no family and no one to help her so her only source of cash is whatever she took."
"A lot." Seth admitted. "Enough to at least rent a small place for a few months."
"By that time she'll be working." Roman said to them.
"She can't hide forever." Seth said to them. "The three of us have to find them."
"And do what?" Dean asked.
"I want my daughter home." Seth said to them. "She can stay on whatever fucking beach she is on but she won't be doing it with my daughter."
"Then she goes to the cops. You said she had our marked bills." Roman reminded him.
"We are the cops." Seth reminded them.
"Yea dirty cops." Dean said bluntly. "I'm not doing time so you can spite your wife."
"This isn't about my wife it's about my daughter." Seth argued.
"You don't want that kid around do you?" Roman asked mockingly.
"Don't doubt my love for my daughter." Seth hissed. "She's part of me. She belongs with me not AJ. I've known AJ since college and that girl never worked a day in her life and could barely take care of herself she's not capable of taking care of my daughter."
"She's not just going to pass her off to you." Dean reminded him. "No matter what you say or do. She has way more on you than you do her."
"I'll convince her." Seth said surely.
"You're going to convince her to give you not only her daughter but not rat us out?" Roman laughed. "You must have a plan."
"My daughter." Seth corrected. "If I have to bring them both back I will."
"Maybe you should just-" Dean started.
"Don't you tell me to move on and forget my daughter!" Seth yelled. "That's my flesh and blood, she's my little girl!"
"Alright man." Dean said to him.
"What can we do?" Roman asked him.
"Find them." Seth said simply. "Get me a location, bring them here- I don't care which and I'll take care of everything."
"I sure hope you know what you're doing man." Roman said shaking his head unsurely at him.
"Relax. I've got this." Seth assured him.
Punk was back in his apartment located across the hall from the two new girls who bounced into town seemingly out of nowhere. They were odd to him but in a cute way but he really wasn't much of a 'get to know your neighbor type'.
"Hey." Cliff greeted walking right into the apartment.
"Really man?" Punk asked.
"What? No one saw me." Cliff shrugged.
"You're going to blow this entire case that I've been on for the last year." Punk said annoyed. "You can't just show up here."
"Again relax no one saw me and no one knows I'm a cop and most importantly no one knows you're a cop." Cliff smirked bouncing onto the couch and turning on the TV.
"I don't even feel like a cop anymore." Punk admitted. "Living out here for this long and no moving on this case."
"Seriously?" Cliff asked him. "Nothing?"
"Small things but not enough to take the entire organization down." Punk said to him. "I haven't even met the boss yet let alone learned his name."
"So pack up. You're wasting your time." Cliff said keeping his eyes on the TV.
"I can't pack up when I have my foot in the door here. It's a human trafficking case and I may be far off from anything but I know I'll get closer." Punk said to him.
"See?" Cliff smirked. "You just needed a little encouragement from me."
"I feel like I'm beating my head against the wall. The women keep going missing." he said to him. "And they keep getting younger."
"I know. One of my CI's vanished into thin air." Cliff said to him. "Janet who worked 30th?"
"Yea I heard about her." Punk said to him.
"No one gives a shit that she's missing since she's a hooker." Cliff said to him. "But she had a son at home who she loved and that's where her money went."
"I give a shit." Punk insisted.
"I know you do." Cliff said to him. "Keep working it. You're the second best detective in Chicago."
"Oh yea? And I suppose you're the first?" Punk laughed and Cliff just nodded. "Why aren't you on this case huh?"
"They know I'm a cop." Cliff shrugged. "I work Vice I know the girls they've been taken and they know me."
"Right." Punk said rubbing the back of his neck. "It's exhausting man."
"I know and it sucks to live in this shit hole apartment building and away from family and friends during the week and stuff but you always told me big cases like this take time." Cliff reminded him.
"People are dying, women and children are going missing." Punk told him scratching his head in frustration and standing up.
"You can't save them all." Cliff said to him. "But you can save a few more if you see this through."
When someone knocked at the door he glared at Cliff.
"You better go hide." Punk warned pointing to his bedroom.
"Relax man." Cliff said heading into the bedroom to hide so Punk's new business buddies wouldn't recognize him.
"Hey." Punk greeted confused. It wasn't who he was expecting.
"I'm so sorry to bother you but you're literally the only person I know in this entire building." AJ rambled.
"Jane." He smirked cutting her off. "What do you need?"
"Milk." she admitted. "I just put my daughter to bed and I can't run to the store and I need my coffee and I need it with milk."
"Sure." Punk smirked walking into his apartment and grabbing half a gallon of milk.
"I'll bring it right back over. Thank you so much." AJ said taking it from him.
"Keep it." Punk insisted. "I barely use it and I'm just going to toss it."
"Are you sure?" she asked trying not to smile too much.
"Very sure." Punk said to her.
"Thank you Punk." She smiled then he watched her walk across the hall and back into her apartment.
"Who was that?" Cliff asked with a smirk.
"Woman who just moved in with her kid across the way." Punk said to him closing the door.
"She's cute. Where's the baby daddy?" Cliff asked.
"Don't know." Punk shrugged. "Never seen him. She was wearing a ring the first few days she was here and now she's not. She's married, probably separated."
"She's young, no?" Cliff asked.
"I didn't run a check on her." Punk snorted. "I don't know what her story is but it is weird. Her daughter won't give me her real name and neither gave me a last name."
"Maybe on the run?" Cliff suggested. "Want me to run a check on her?"
"Nah." Punk said to him. "She's harmless and the last thing I need is police sitting on this place while I'm still living in it."
"Alright." Cliff shrugged.
After a cup of hot coffee AJ peeked in on her daughter and saw a flashlight lit up under her blankets and she knew what she was up to.
"I see you Petra." AJ warned teasingly.
"Sorry mommy but I had to read it again." Petra admitted throwing the blanket off of herself.
"Want to read it to me?" AJ asked stepping into the room and laying next to her on the small bed.
"Of course mommy." Petra smiled turning the pages so she was back at the first one. "Mommy are you and daddy breaking up?"
"That's nothing for you to worry about." AJ said to her.
"Did we leave because he yells at you a lot?" Petra asked her.
"Again, nothing for you to worry about." AJ assured her daughter with a loving smile.
"You smile more here." Petra noted.
"You think so?" AJ asked and she nodded.
"We're never going home are we?" Petra asked her.
"I really don't know honey." AJ told her honestly. "But everything I'm doing is because I love you."
"I love you too mommy." Petra smiled at her mom and leaned over and kissed her cheek. "But I love daddy too."
"I know." AJ sighed. "I wish this could be easier for you."
"I don't know why we can't make it easy and go home." Petra admitted.
"Because home isn't the best place for you." AJ said to her. "And there's nothing I want more in this world than for you to be happy and safe."
"Daddy is mad me we left." Petra confided. "He told me that on the phone. He says its not a game like you told me it was."
"I know." AJ whispered. "It's all very confusing but for right now let's just try to have some fun?"
"Ok mommy." Petra said with ease. "Can we go to the park tomorrow?"
"We sure can." AJ said to her. "We'll get ice cream after."
"Yes!" Petra cheered.
"Ok start reading kid, it's past my bedtime." AJ teased.
A half an hour later Petra was finally sleeping and AJ walked into the living room which is where she was sleeping. She made sure to get the smallest apartment so she would pay the least amount of money. She didn't mind sleeping on the couch as long as Petra had her own space and was content. She walked into the kitchen and moved a chair over to the counter and opened the cabinet and reached for the empty coffee pot on the top shelf. She checked to make sure her jewelry was still there.
She wasn't keeping it for memories she was keeping the expensive loot in case she ran out of money and had to pawn it. For every black eye, cracked rib, cut, bruise she received a ridiculously expensive piece of jewelry. She pushed the can to the back of the shelf and walked into the living room and lifted the left cushion off of the couch and saw more jewelry in plastic bags that she was hiding. She had to make sure no one found her safety net for her and Petra.
AJ had no idea if she was going to arrested but she had a lot on Seth and hoped that was enough to scare him off and let him and Petra live in peace but would he be so mad that he'd actually kill her? She knew he was capable of. He was a Detective and swore to protect people but AJ knew about the money he stole, the people he framed and many nights she would be washing blood out of his clothes. She never said a word out of fear but with the added violence to her and lashing out at their daughter AJ couldn't take a change. She'd run with Petra forever if it meant keeping her daughter safe and with her. Seth should be the one afraid of what extent AJ would go to for her daughter...
