A/N: Here is another chapter to A House of Cards and yet another little babble from the author. I just wanted to have a little "Did you know?" moment, though it's nothing really a "Did you know?" moment. If you were ever wondering why I named this story A House of Cards, then hurray for you because I am just going to explain that right now :P See, you all know what card is what in a deck of cards right? Well, of course, there's the Joker and he takes after the joker card obviously. Now for Batman, he represents the King; the strong, manly type. Meanwhile, his alter ego Bruce Wayne represents the Jack; the young royalty who is all about having fun and going to parties. And that just leaves Aidan Jaxon who of course would be the Queen; the one who is important enough to be wanted by the King and wishes nothing to do with the joker. Ta-da! I have explained the title :P

Disclaimer: I do not own anything that belongs to the Batman story. I do own this particular story as well as the plot and the original characters created here.

Enjoy the story!

In the last chapter:

"Do you know anyone by the name of Aidan Jaxon?" Bruce asked Lucius, his eyes still gazing out the window. He stuffed his hands into his pockets as he waited for Lucius' reply.

"Aidan Jaxon? Yes, I know her – why?"

"Do you know about her… abilities?" the young Mister Wayne turned sharply toward Lucius and stared at him with very stern eyes. Bruce saw the look on Lucius' face and knew right away that the other man knew.

Chapter Two

"We have to try and find her Batman," Commissioner Gordon pleaded as he spoke to Batman on the rooftop of what he considered to be his building. "She's practically read everything in his mind already, she's holding very important information that we could use,"

Batman growled low in his throat, his back facing Gordon, as he stared out into the city. "Don't you think I've already started to look?" he bit back harshly. He scanned the streets, watching people walking up and down the streets but nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. He stepped closer to the end of the roof, placing a foot against the ledge of the railing there. Batman bent forward, placing his elbow against his knee and resting his chin in his hand. "Have you figured out if the Joker could have known about Aidan before her arrival?"

"I'm sorry," Gordon said sadly, "I really can't remember anyone around me whenever I spoke on the phone," he finished. Deep inside he thought of the possibility of one of his men double crossing him but he didn't want to think of such things, too saddened by such thoughts. "Do you really think he could've known about her?"

"Commissioner," Batman growled out as he moved away from the ledge and turned around to face Gordon. He took firm, yet graceful, steps toward Gordon and stopped just out of arms reach from him. "Why do you think you failed to mention her to me before the interrogation?"

Gordon looked away nervously, fidgeting on the spot where he stood. One hand went up and pushed his glasses back away from his nose but his eyes still wouldn't meet with Batman's. "I didn't want anyone to over hear me talking about her," he replied finally, a little too slow for Batman's taste.

"Did you think you could use her to see who I really am?" Batman spat out bitterly. His voice was raspier than usual and he had a fire in his eyes that seemed like if he started at something he wouldn't stop. He took a single step forward toward Gordon, noticing how the older man jumped just slightly.

"Well, no, but-"

Gordon looked up and Batman was gone, yet again doing his silent disappearing act. The Commissioner sighed dejectedly before heading toward the door to go back downstairs and away from the rooftop. "He should at least warn a man before he starts to talk to himself," Gordon mumbled semi-furiously just as he passed through the door.

However, obviously unknown to Gordon, Batman was still there but hid himself in the shadows. Once Gordon was gone he came back into the light of the moon and went back to looking down at the streets. "If I was the Joker," Batman started, growling angrily at himself for even thinking of such an option, "Where would I hideout?"

--

Aidan woke up with her body burning and aching everywhere but her face. She twisted around between the bed sheets she realized she was in and tried to let her eyes adjust to the darkness once again. Her small hands gripped onto the sheets reflexively when she felt a cold breeze brush by her bare skin and she pulled it closer to her body.

She half expected Joker to be there again, to repeat what he had done several times before to her, but it seemed that she was all alone the room for the first time in hours. Aidan tried to push herself up into a sitting position but winced and fell back down when a sharp pain shot up through her body. She bit her lip to stop herself from making a sound and pushed herself up again, ignoring the pain.

With the sheets still pressed tightly to her body, Aidan leaned back until she felt the cold wall beside the bed and folded her legs neatly beside her. She let out a long sigh, happy that the cold wall was cooling her burning body. She sat like that for a bit, just letting the cold cement cool her body. Then, Aidan started to look around in the darkness with narrowed eyes like she was able to see in the cave-like darkness.

She smiled when she seemed to have found what she was looking for and the lights suddenly switched on. A frown marred her face when she immediately saw the remains of her torn clothes and frowned even more when she saw stains of blood on the floor. She brought her legs towards her and pulled the sheets until it was just underneath her chin as a way to try and keep warm.

The thing white sheets didn't help one bit as another cool breeze brushed by her. Aidan looked around to see where the breeze could be coming from but saw no windows but only one door. She glanced beneath the door and realized that there was a large enough gap for wind to pass through. Her hopes of escaping through an opening all gone.

Suddenly, the same door that she had been glancing at opened in one smooth movement and then closed again. Aidan didn't have to look to know that it was Joker who had entered. "Well, good evening beautiful," Joker greeted as he sauntered his way over to the bed, the only piece of furniture in the small room. "Like me yet?"

"No," Aidan replied quickly, face turned away from her capturer.

Joker pouted like a child as he reached the bed, staring at her with fake disappointed eyes. He plopped down on the bed, landing beside where Aidan sat against the wall. "Now that's not - that's not nice! I like you!" Joker stressed out. He reached over and cupped the side of Aidan's face, smiling when she flinched at his touch. "You don't use your, uhm… your little shield trick any - anymore," he pointed out.

Aidan sighed. "Because my head hurts," she admitted quietly, though she didn't quite understand why she would tell him that. "You hurt my head,"

Warning! It's not that sexual but I'm just doing this just in case it might be for someone else! Warning!

Joker smiled as he leaned forward and placed a small kiss on Aidan's exposed shoulder. The kiss was soft and gentle, not like the other ones Joker had planted on her before. Aidan was caught by surprised from his gentleness and turned her head slightly to stare in disbelief. The hand that cupped the side of her face slowly descended and caught onto the end of the bed sheets and started to pull it down as Joker continued to place soft kisses on her shoulder until he reached her neck.

Aidan, shocked by the sudden change, still tried to move away from him and scooted a bit in the opposite direction of where Joker sat. She held on tightly to the sheets and was surprised that Joker didn't tug at it when she held it in place. "Go away," she whispered to him.

Joker brought his legs up on the bed and started to crawl toward Aidan. He began to place light kisses along her shoulder like before and wrapped his other arm around her waist to pull her close. When Aidan refused to move closer to him, Joker just crawled closer to her. He started to suck gently on her neck, much like he did the first time but this was much gentler. His other hand reached around and gently gave Aidan's right breast a small squeeze through the sheets.

Okay! It's over!

Suddenly, the door was slammed open to reveal one of Joker's goons who looked about to collapse form lack of air. "Boss!" the young man shouted through his clown mask.

"Can't you see I'm busy!?" Joker half roared half growled out. He didn't turn around to face his goon but kept his eyes focused on Aidan's eyes when he pulled away from her neck.

"There's a message for you!" the goon insisted, not leaving his spot by the door despite his obvious fear. "We think it might be from Batman!"

"Batman?" Joker jumped away from the bed and bowed low to Aidan. "If you'll excuse me," he said politely before rushing out the door. "What could it be? What could it be?" Joker asked himself excitedly out loud as he skipped his way over to where his goon was leading him. He walked around to the front of the abandoned building he had stationed himself and his head titled to the side when he saw one of those large flashlight things he would see downtown.

Joker hopped around it until he was in front of it and he stared at it with a large smile. "It's the bat-signal," he poked at it when his finger and then quickly pulled his hand away, almost afraid to break it, before poking it again but with a bit more force. "Oh goodie!" he clapped his hands together and jumped up like a happy child. "It's like… it's like he's telling me to call him! Ooh! It's a date!" Joker started to laugh uncontrollably, his head rolling back as he laugh increased in volume.

Just then a loud crash was heard from the back and Joker stopped his laughing to turn around sharply. His eyes narrowed angrily at realization, "Oh! He's a tricky bat!" he yelled before rushing toward the room he had left Aidan in. He shoved anyone or anything out of his way as he ran. Joker skidded to a quick stop in front of the now broken door. His hands fisted in frustration when he saw no one inside the room. "Why wasn't anyone around the door!" he shouted, referring to the fact that there weren't even any fallen bodies around.

--

Batman sped away quickly in his tank-like vehicle. He had put Aidan to sleep with sleeping gas and wrapped her tightly when the sheet he had found her with and placed her in his lap as he drove. The girl's head rest against his chest but would move around a bit because of the unsteady ground he drove over. He held her steady with one arm behind her back and holding firmly onto her arm.

The ride was quick and silent until he finally made it to his own hideout. Alfred was there to meet him and help him move Aidan to the normal, everyday car as Batman changed out of his suit. Now, he was Bruce Wayne again.

Alfred held the door open for Bruce and they quickly headed back to the penthouse. Bruce would glance back continuously at Aidan who sat in the backseat, still asleep.

"I'm sure she won't be waking up until morning Master Bruce," Alfred said, trying to ease Bruce's paranoia. "Though, just curious sir, why are you taking her to the penthouse?"

"I need to know something," was all Bruce said throughout the whole ride. Even as they made their way to his penthouse and placed Aidan gently on his bed Bruce still said nothing. Alfred looked from his master to the still sleeping Aidan again and again with a worried expression before walking away to retreat to his sleeping quarters.

Bruce sat by Aidan's sleeping body, staring at her seemingly serene face. He just stared at her for a while, letting the hours roll on by, like he was waiting for her to wake up. Aidan rolled over to her side in her sleep, her back now facing Bruce. He watched curiously as the lights in the room started to flick off one after the other until they were all turned off.

Aidan curled herself into a tight ball, seeking for warmth. Her hand reached up and grabbed onto the pillow beside her and held it tightly to her chest.

Bruce shook his head and stood up, walking away from the bed. He stole another glance at Aidan's sleeping body before removing his clothes to change into only a pair of baggy jogging pants. He snatched up his robe and walked over to the other side of the room where all the chairs where. He sat down and laid the robe over him like a blanket.

He looked back at Aidan again before letting his body relax into a light sleep, just in case she stirred, so he would wake up easily.

--

"Good morning Miss Jaxon,"

Aidan jumped in the bed, clutching the bed sheets to her chest and stared wide-eyed at Alfred. She looked around the room, seeing all the unfamiliar surroundings. "Where – where am I?" she asked, stumbling on her words as she slowly became awestruck by the expensive objects around her.

"You are in Mister Bruce Wayne's penthouse," Alfred replied. He stood in front of the bed, right across Aidan, and waited for her to let things register in her head.

"Bruce Wayne," Aidan repeated quietly. Her eyes went back to Alfred but now she seemed to be more relaxed. "I take it you're Alfred Pennyworth," Aidan smiled warmly at Alfred and he returned her smile. She shifted around a bit to be more comfortable and started to look around again.

"Is there anything I could get you Miss Jaxon?"

Aidan shook her head no and smiled as she watched Alfred nod and walk away. She went back to gazing up at the objects around her. She wanted to get up and move around but remembered that she was still unclothed and the realization caused a light blush to appear on her cheeks.

"Did you have a nice sleep?" Bruce asked, coming from the other room. He was now fully dressed in business type clothes and smiled warmly at the young woman in his bed.

Aidan looked up just as Bruce walked up to the bed and sat down beside her. She eyed him curiously while pulled the covers closer to her body. She blinked her eyes severely times and glanced back and forth from Bruce to the objects in the room. She bit her lip and looked at him hesitantly. She looked down to her lap and started to scream uncontrollably, shutting her eyes as tightly as she could.

Bruce jumped back, startled at her reaction and looked at her for a bit. He was unsure of what to do as he watched her clutching at her head and screaming her lungs out. Aidan started to shake her head, repeatedly shouting for something – or someone – to get away from her. Her legs started to kick up and the sheets fell loosely around her when she had let go to grab onto her head.

Bruce jumped forward, grabbed onto Aidan's shoulders and pulled her hands away from her head as he pushed her against the bed. He moved around her, careful not to get kicked by her thrashing legs, and sat against her thighs to make her stop jumping around. Aidan continued to scream but had slowly ceased her kicking around. Bruce watched with narrowed eyes as Aidan wouldn't stop screaming bloody horror.

"What happened to her?" came Alfred's worried voice.

"I don't know!" Bruce shouted over Aidan's screams. "She just… She just started to scream!"

Bruce looked away from Aidan's face and traveled downward, growling in a low tone when he saw bruise marks around her neck and shoulders. His eyes continued to traveled downward, his lips frowning even more when he saw more bruises across her chest and on her breasts.

Suddenly Aidan's screams stopped and slowly fluttered her eyes open. She looked up at Bruce's face as he was still hovering over her, his hands still gripping onto her shoulders. "My head doesn't hurt anymore," she whispered, causing Bruce to stop his inspection of Aidan's body and to look into her eyes. "You don't hurt my head,"

"What happened to you?" Bruce asked between clenched teeth.

Aidan turned her head to the side, trying to avoid Bruce's angry stare. "Nothing," she answered.

Bruce shook her a bit, but not so much to hurt her. "What happened?" he repeated.

"I don't want to remember it, okay?" Aidan spat back. "Get off of me!"

Bruce let go of Aidan's shoulders and sat back, though he was still sitting on her. Aidan still wouldn't turn back to face him and Bruce couldn't stop the sigh that escaped his lips. He readjusted the bed sheets so that they were now covering Aidan from the neck down before getting off of her and off the bed. He turned to look at Alfred who gave him a sympathetic look pointed toward Aidan. "Get her some clothes Alfred, I'm heading out,"

However, before Bruce took another step, he looked back to Aidan. As if she already knew what he wanted to know, a small smile appeared on her lips. "Off to your bat cave?" she joked, not looking at Bruce.

The young man sighed and headed for the exit. "Don't tell anyone she's here," Bruce said just before the elevator doors closed behind him.

Alfred walked up beside the bed and smiled warmly as Aidan who returned the kind gesture. "I'll be right back with a few clothes for you, I'm sure I can guess your size correctly," Alfred said with a smile.

"In his head…" Aidan started, looking up at Alfred with curious but worried eyes. "Has he always been so… self-sacrificing?"

"I'm afraid so Miss Jaxon,"

"He wants me to help deal with Joker,"

"You do only what you can,"

Alfred nodded to Aidan before heading toward the elevator. He gave her one last smile just before the doors closed on him.

--

Aidan snuggled herself in her newly bought clothes. Instead of walking around naked, she now wore a loosely fit dark green t-shirt that Alfred was kind enough to have her shoulder's covered securely. She wore fitted navy jeans, socks that matched her shirt, and very comfortable running shoes. She turned to Alfred with a large smile and rushed to him to give him a warm hug.

Alfred patted her on the back until she let go to get a closer look at Bruce's penthouse. Aidan skipped happily around the floor, stopping a few times to examine a few things a bit better. "So what's Bruce really like Alfred?" she asked him from the other side of the floor. She twirled one last time before finally stopping in front of the glass wall to stare out into the city.

"Well, he's a very kind man and extremely loyal to those he is close to," Alfred followed Aidan to where she stood and also gazed out the window. "What did you see in his head?" came his curious and to be expected question.

"That what he wants most is a love he thinks he'll never achieve as long as Gotham needs Batman," Aidan crouched down to the ground and then fell backward to sit on the floor with her legs outstretched. The sun was high in the sky, indicating that it was around twelve in the afternoon. "It's the one thing that kept showing up in his head,"

Alfred let Aidan's words echo in his mind as he thought deeply about it. He suddenly became saddened by her words, feeling overly sympathetic for his master and friend like a father would to his son. "I think I've already known that about Master Bruce," he admitted out loud.

Just then the elevator doors opened and in walks none other than Bruce himself. He glanced around the penthouse when he saw that Aidan was in bed anymore and then saw her and Alfred over to the left of the penthouse. "I see she's feeling better," Bruce commented with a smile. He walked up to them and then sat down beside Aidan in a quick fluid motion.

"There's going to be a small social party later today," Bruce started before turning toward Aidan with that smile still there. "I'd like you to accompany me, and then I'll take you back to Gordon,"

Aidan eyed him carefully, thoughts full of odd suspicions. She turned around to Alfred, silently asking him if she should go ahead with it, and the older man nodded his head with slight encouragement. She turned back around to face Bruce but her eyes still held a few suspicions. "I don't have anything to wear," he pointed out the obvious, but Bruce didn't seem bothered by it.

"Already taken care of," he said matter-of-factly.

"And what's this party about?"

"Just another social event I have to attend to keep up appearances," Bruce stood up then and fixed his clothes of any wrinkles. "The party won't be until the sun begins to set, so you are free to roam around but only within the penthouse walls,"

He walked away before either of them could say anything else and retreated into his little secret room. Aidan stared after him for a while and then looked up at Alfred. "Maybe I should have checked what was on his mind?"

"Maybe some secrets must be kept secrets," Alfred suggested. He took a step back when Aidan pushed herself off from the floor to stand up beside him. "I have a dress waiting for you in the restroom and I thought you might have wanted some make up so those are there along the counter,"

Aidan smiled warmly and nodded to Alfred before going back to looking around the room. The sun was still high up and she couldn't think of anything to do during her "stay" inside Bruce's penthouse. She tried to look around and see if he had anything that she would be able to occupy herself with but found nothing of interest. Aidan found a few books but didn't feel up to reading her time away. She had already spent – what she thought to be – a whole day just lying down on a bed.

She cringed and stopped walking as images of the time she had spent in Joker's hands ran through her mind. Her hands went up to her head instinctively when her head began to throb painfully. She could faintly hear Alfred asking her what was wrong before calling for Bruce. She fell to her knees with a hard thud, but that pain was nothing compared to the one in her head.

Once Bruce heard Alfred calling for him he rushed out from the room and instantly noticed Aidan on her knees against the floor. She hadn't started screaming like she had before when her hands were clutching at her head like that. He rushed over to her side and gently placed his hand over one of Aidan's.

Suddenly, Aidan's grip on her head and hair loosened and she seemed to look more relaxed. Her eyes were closed and she held onto Bruce's hand and brought it against her cheek. "What are you doing?" she heard Bruce's far away voice.

"Your calm thoughts are a lot more better than his…" Aidan opened her eyes, looking up into Bruce's dark chocolate eyes with her garnet-hazel ones. "And no, I don't want to talk about it,"

"It would really help," Bruce tried to reason, frowning and eyes pleading.

"A lot of things would help," Aidan said, closing her eyes again, and leaned more into Bruce's open hand. "But sometimes those things can't be done,"

--

Maniacal laughter echoed throughout the empty building, silencing anyone or anything that was once making noise and causing everyone to stop all his or her movements. The clown-like villain of Gotham City leaned by in his large spinning chair with arms extended outward. "I don't need a woman!" he shouted out loud to himself. "She was uh, she was too distracting I think – don't you think?" he spun around and stopped, pointing a knife at one of the goons who stood near him.

"Yes?" the young henchman replied, to only regret it moments later.

"She was not distracting!" Joker shouted back, throwing his knife at the poor soul. The knife landed right at the man's chest, where his heart would be, and then he fell to the ground. "No, no… I need to – to get back to causing des – destruction to my favourite, unsuspecting Gotham!"

Joker jumped out form his seat and started to march toward the exit. "Let the games continue!"

End Chapter

--

Preview of the next chapter:

Joker's laughter echoed in Batman's ears and he stared in awe and confusion at Aidan. "I knew she'd come out of that little shell," Joker knocked lightly against Aidan's head, laughing more when she didn't react to it at all. "Let's go down now beautiful," Suddenly Aidan shot down toward the ground at high speeds. Joker was caught off guard and tightened his hold on her. "Not so fast!" and Aidan immediately slowed down.

Batman stared after them, still caught off guard. He turned around when he heard Lucius getting to his feet. "What just happened?"