When he wakes up there is a strange thin man in a purple suit pacing in a circle muttering about the justice brats stealing his fun. The boy moans a little and clutches his head as a large bump above his ear throbs.
The man twirls around on guard as if the boy is about to attack him, it's kinda funny, an adult looking so worried especially now that he sees this particular man has his face painted up in clown make up to boot.
He laughs and groggily tries to stand and looks around. An ally outside a warehouse. Looks like a fight had happened recently and that a group had quickly took off with something while another group gave chase. How he knew this he had no clue.
"I'm not going to hurt you. Where is this place? Who are you?"
The man looked thoughtful for a minute after a small bout of surprise twisted his lips.
"You don't remember me? And here I thought we'd grown so close!" The Joker pretended to be wounded before a small thin smile peaked through. "Then again, you took a pretty hard knock to the noggin I'm afraid. Do you remember who you are?"
The boy wasn't stupid. He knew he was vulnerable like this. He knew he couldn't trust his memory so he closed his eyes and tried to access his feelings and intuition instead. He wasn't sure if he could trust the strange man who was innocently kicking a discarded baseball bat behind a dumpster at that moment, even if his eyes never left the boys.
Clown. Clowns reminded him of the circus. Good feelings warmed him at the thought.
He opened his eyes and looked at the man. His pulse was quick. He felt adrenaline, an intoxicating thrill of being in the presence of something dangerous. A familiarity too. A concern.
He shook his answer, no. He didn't know.
If he was worried about this guy, that meant he must care for him, right? He wouldn't care about someone he didn't trust. At least he didn't think he would.
The Joker showed his teeth in a joyous grin as if it were Christmas and his birthday rolled into one and slid an arm comfortably around the boys neck. He was being overly touchy in the boys mind but he shrugged it off. The excitement of being with him still thrummed through his system.
"Then I have a lot to tell you, my poor, bruised, little lad! Come, come, and let's get you out of that silly costume and find you something more appropriate. A quick check-see to that nasty-wasty bump and then the real fun can begin."