Ace up the Sleeve

Chapter 1: 16 years later…

"EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT! The Caped Crusader on the Lookout for Joker and Harley Quinn!" Shouted the paper boy…FOR THE 10TH MILLIONTH TIME! I guess it's alright being an adopted child. From what I hear, I was just left on the door step of my foster mom's porch. So really, no one knows my origin. All that was with me was a little name tag that had said "Ace" on it. For some time, I have wanted to know where I came from; perhaps who my real parents are, but some things just aren't meant to be known, I guess.

I walked up the steps to my place just like I would on a normal day. As always, mom is there getting dinner ready. For some reason, she looked paranoid…she even jumped when I shut the front door. This was unlike her. She was shaking as she was cutting up the peppers.

"Hey Sheryl!" I called to her.

"Hello darling. Happy Birthday!" She replied, "How was school?"

"Same as always: boring as hell… and Thanks!" she was quiet for a long time, to the point where it had gotten awkward.

"…everything okay here?" I asked slowly. She put the knife down and sighed. She had a worried look on her face as she turned around. She was leaning on the counter and let her head hang low. As she picked it up, she began to speak.

"I actually want to talk to you about something…" oh no…she got a call from a teacher, didn't she. My eyes grew very wide.

"You're not in trouble; I just want to speak to you about…about when you were left here by your parents."

"Oh, I know. They could afford me to live with them and so they gave me to you."

"Not exactly", she replied. I sat down at the kitchen table. She took another breath as if she was reassuring herself. "The night you were given to me…w-was the night a wanted criminal had gotten out of Arkham Asylum."

I really did not have one clue to where this was going. Why would she tell me the day I was born was the day some guy got out of jail? I gave Sheryl a look of confusion.

"And you….you are the daughter of that criminal." She finished. Obviously, she HAD to be messing with me. So I played along.

"Heh…sure I am…the Joker is my father." I sarcastically answered. She wasn't laughing….i was beginning to realize what she was saying. I lost my grin, "wait, are you serious?" Sheryl nodded, keeping the same caring and sympathetic look she always gave me.

"Your mother is Harley Quinn. Your mother was a good friend of mine. The name tag also had a letter attached to it. Sheryl pulled out a little piece of paper that looked beaten up and looked as if it was looked at several times. She handed it to me and I unfolded it. The letters looked as if they were taken from magazines and pasted on.

"Dear Sheryl," it started, "I know I will have to repay you for what you have done for me in the past, but I have a huge favor I need you to take care of for me. If you have gotten this, you can see it has been attached to a little bundle of joy. Her name is Ace and I need you to take care of her for me. My Joker is already upset with me and it hurts me to think about what he will do to it when he finds out. Please watch over and try to keep her out of trouble. –from your good friend, Harley

I put down the note on the table. I felt as if everything I ever thought about had just crashed landed in a state of oblivion.

"I know this is probably going to be hard on you," Sheryl started. All of a sudden, a blanket of anger had just covered me.

"YOU KEPT THIS FROM ME FOR 16 YEARS?!" I shouted.

"Sweetie, I did it for your own good, I didn't want you to think you were going to turn out to be a kind of monster-"

"Harley isn't the monster, YOU are!" I ran out of the house and ran to the one place in Gotham that I had actually might feel at home: Crime Alley. I ran around to the back of the Theater and sat down on the back steps. My eyes filled up with tears. I hugged my knees to my chest and buried my head into them.

"Rough Day?" I heard out of the darkness. I quickly popped my head up, when out walked the famous millionaire, Bruce Wayne and his adopted son, Tim Drake. I quickly wiped my tears off my cheeks as I stared into Mr. Wayne's clear blue eyes.

"M-Mr. Wayne. What are you doing back here?" I stuttered.

"My parents died here years ago on this day." He replied. He held out his hand as if to help me up. I hesitated, but gently put my hand in his as he pulled me to my feet.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I had no idea that-"

"it's perfectly fine." He grinned. "Like all people, we have rough days. Ours just had to happen today. Now what is your name?"

"Ace Merriandrew." I said back.

"Nice to meet you!" Tim said. He held out his hand the same as Bruce had but wanting to shake hands. I put my hand in his. He smiled.

"so, why don't you come back to my house so you could tell me what is on your mind?" Bruce said. I couldn't believe this! Bruce Wayne is asking ME to go to his house. Since I had no intention of going back to my house at this current time, I gladly accepted as he laid his hand on my back to guide me to his car…or should I say Limo?

About ten minutes later, Mr. Wayne's chauffeur had pulled up to Wayne manor. The old man had climbed out of the car and proceeded to try and assist me out of the car. I waved my hand letting him know I got it and he back away slowly, still watching if I was able to get out of the car. Mr. Wayne and Tim then had taken me to their HUGE living room. Their only butler, Alfred had asked me if I had wanted anything, but I politely declined. Mr. Wayne had sat down on the expensive sofa and gestured me to sit down.

"now," Bruce started, "what's on your mind? Why isn't your day going as well as you had hoped?"

I lowered my head. How was I supposed to tell this guy that my biological parents are people that would love to steal from him and…possibly kill him?

"I…Today…I had found out, I am not who I thought I was for 16 years." I looked up to see if he was still listening. I was surprised to see that Mr. Wayne was looking at me with the same eyes Sheryl had always given me. He looked as if he wanted to hear more and he was not going to resent what he was about to hear.

"I knew I was adopted, but my guardian had just told me who my biological parents are…" I began to say again. "now, I know I probably should have thought about coming to your house before I told you who my parents are, and I just want to let you know, if you do not trust me, you can feel free to throw me out right now."

Mr. Wayne had smiled, "Ace, I have no intention of throwing you out, it is not your fault that you were born from people who had no intention of keeping you."

"Well, actually, Mr. Wayne, my biological mom wanted to save me from being harmed by my father. They are both criminals of Gotham…" Still I was looking at Mr. Wayne trying to find any expression that would make him say 'Get out of my house this instant!' The only change in expression was his grin to realization.

"Yes", I started again, "I am the daughter of The Joker and Harley Quinn." I lowered my head again. "You can feel free to kick me out of your house." I said. He knew that I wasn't proud of who I am, but still, there was silence from both him and Tim. I began to walk toward the door when Mr. Wayne grabbed my hand.

"I know this is probably hard news for you. I have gone through hard news like this once too, but your foster mother was only trying to protect you." His eyes were sincere. Both Tim and Mr. Wayne had smiled at me. I knew Tim was taken in my Mr. Wayne a few years ago. He probably went through a lot of trouble when he was younger. I smiled back now knowing that I wasn't fully alone. Thanks to Mr. Wayne, I now know that. With that, Bruce had instructed his butler to drive me home. I had definitely better than a few hours ago. I stared out the window trying to figure out why all this would happen to me in one day. Happy Birthday to me.