A/N: if you are reading this, I hope you are liking this story. carry on...


~So what's to fear when everything is crystal clear

You realize that you should do the things you wanna do

Don't give in to what people say, don't be ashamed

To separate the feelings on your mind you can't sedate~

~Adema~


Present


Joker stood in front of this woman. The memories flashing back into his brain. The fogginess that surrounded his mind had cleared a bit more. He looked at her crying.

"Enough!" He bellowed. Her head shot up and looked at him, eyes sharp as daggers. He'd be lying if he said the look didn't excite him. It almost promised pain. He pushed that thought away.

"I didn't leave you." The sensation of Déjà vu washed over him. "I was locked up, and heavily sedated." He said. The excuse felt weak to him but it was 100% the truth.

She flashed the angry eyes at him again, he felt his body stir, he looked away. It all felt wrong. He got his libido under control and looked back at her. She stared at him with a confused look now.

"Who landed you there, hmm?" she said, voice full of malice. "You were the one not listening to me. I told you."

It was his turn to look confused. "What the hell are you talking about?"

She looked at him again. The anger was gone, now those eyes held pity. He hated that look. He looked away. Then turned his body and stormed away. He was tired of this. His brain hurt. More than likely a side effect of coming off the drugs so abruptly. He stormed back to his room and shut and locked the door.

This girl was constantly getting in the way of his life. She did it as a child and picked right back up as a woman. He made his way to the bathroom and shut that door as well. He paced the small room, sometimes it helped to get his thoughts back on track.

He had no idea how long he paced, but he'd definitely calmed himself a bit. He could think of the girl, his Peach, without getting angry. That was a start. He left the bathroom. The small boarded window showed it was getting dark outside. His sense of time was still skewed. It felt like maybe an hour he'd been in there but was most of the day.

He walked over to the door and unlocked it. He stepped out into the hallway and listened. He didn't hear anything. He moved and decided he was going out, he needed to get back into the swing of things. The air outside was typical Narrows. Dirty and brisk. It was refreshing. He turned and started walking.

He found a small hole in the wall pub. Perfect. He walked in and no one paid him any attention. He walked up to the bar and ordered several shots of tequila. The burn of the liquor was comforting. He finished the 6th shot when he started to feel the head change.

He finished the 7th shot and paid. He walked out and the city felt alive like it was crawling along his skin. He decided he wanted to just go back to his place and relax. He would deal with everything else in the morning. He made it all the way back to his room and laid back on his bed. He fell asleep, the tequila started to shoot his memories back at full speed.


Before


Joker was in his office, working on the next part of his attempt to bring out the bat. He'd recruited several new guys, all with very promising futures. Some would be lucky to make it through the week.

"Joker?" her voice pulled him from his reveries.

"Yea, Peach?" he said, the name had stuck sometime in the first few weeks. She was sitting on the small loveseat he had brought in for her to relax on when he was working. She had been sketching in a notebook he'd gotten for her.

"Do you like my picture?" she asked.

He sighed, "Yes." He said.

"You didn't look." She pouted.

"I'm sure it's beautiful." He said still not looking. He wasn't expecting her to throw a marker at him. He definitely didn't expect it to hit him in the temple. "Damn it girl, good throw." He mumbled.

She giggled and went back to drawing. Joker sat at his desk and started to work again. They were hitting a few places in the next couple of weeks. He wanted everyone to join in the fun, even if they didn't want to. The first two places would be a breeze. A few low-level labs, one at the college. The security there was a joke. He'd cased the place already. One night security guard, one camera and no audible alarms. Too easy.

The second place was a lab at a small pharmaceutical company. The security was a bit more complex, but he had a guy working on it. There was one guy in the lobby, one guy in the camera room and a very loud alarm. Joker figured with the right tech guy on it, he really only had to worry about the guy in the lobby.

The last place has proven to be the most impenetrable. The basement level at Wayne Tower had the equipment he needed to turn his project into the proper aerosol form, keeping it fairly compact. The rich boy's company was well guarded. He'd have to keep working on that one.

"It's dark, can we go home now?" The girl whined.

"If we go will you shut up?" he asked. Looking at the girl.

"Yep." She stood there, all attempts to keep her looking like a boy had failed. She refused to wear anything but dresses. Joker had sent Ace to buy girl clothes. She wore the overly pretty clothes. And even wore her hair in two pigtails. The curls sticking out in all directions.

Joker sighed and stood up to leave. He should have gotten rid of her. She was beginning to be a pain in the ass. "Let's go, Peach." He said heading to the door.

They made their way through the warehouse, the girl waving and saying goodbye to a few of the guys. Joker kept his eyes straight forward, he was frustrated with Wayne Tower and was not in the best of moods.

He got to the door and opened it, waiting as his girl caught up. "Thank you." She said as she passed. She may be an utter brat, but she had manners.

Joker drove home and parked in his usual spot. They made their way up to the door and paused. It was not closed all the way. Someone had busted in the lock. Best case scenario was a homeless person had kicked in the door, looking for a place to stay. Worst case, someone was looking for Joker.

"Wait here," He told the girl and stepped up to the door. He moved into the small hallway and looked around. No one he could see down here. He checked his room, empty. He pulled the girl in. "Go into my room, lock the door, don't come out." He turned and then stopped. "There is a gun in the box under the sink, get it and stay hidden." The girl nodded and ran into the room. Once he heard the lock click, he continued his search.

The first floor was clear. He moved up to the second floor, He heard a noise, he pulled out his knife and followed the sound. The last apartment's door was open and a light on. BINGO. He walked up to the door and moved it open, a man stood there digging through the dresser that had been left there by the previous tenants.

Joker stood straight and watched. He was unsure if this guy was a real threat or not. Before he could make a move, he felt a gun pressed to the back of his head.

"Joker, right?" A woman's voice asked.

"Yea? " He said watching the guy in the room jump.

"Boy, the ladies won't believe me when I tell them-" Joker flinched when he heard a gun fire. He turned when her gun hit the floor. There was blood and gore splattered on the wall behind him. The woman's body hit the ground and he locked eyes with his Peach. She was gripping the gun he owned with both hands, braced against the kickback.

He was in shock at first, then very angry, she could have shot him. He turned to the screaming man running at him. Joker plunged his knife into the man's gut. He pulled the knife away and the man fell to the floor crying.

"Why are you in my home?" He asked the man calmly.

The crying man looked up at him. "We didn't know." Joker kicked the man. Aiming for the wound he had caused. The man groaned and cried a bit more. He continued to repeat "We didn't know." Joker turned and saw the girl standing behind him. She didn't look scared. Her face looked blank as she watched him hurt the man crying on the floor. No emotion either way.

He turned back to the man. "I believe you." He said then plunged the knife into the man's neck. The gurgles were calming to him. He watched the man bleed out on the floor. The man deserved that much, he supposed. Joker stood and snatched the gun from the girl.

"You were supposed to stay hidden." He flicked her on the nose. "Bad Peach." When the girl giggled, his anger fell away. "Where did you learn to shoot like that?" he asked her.

She shrugged. Joker felt his stomach hit his feet. She just took a lucky shot near his head. He decided that in the morning he was going to teach her how to shoot a gun, properly.

"Go back and get ready for bed, I gotta take out the trash." He told her pushing her towards the stairs.

"I can help." She said. Arms crossed and feet planted, she looked like a boss in training. Joker looked at her for a second then nodded.

"Fine, go get a bucket of water, a jug of bleach, and something to scrub with." He said starting to move the bodies. The girl smiled and took off downstairs. Joker figured it was only fair, she killed one, she could help clean up. He grabbed his burner phone and called Ace.

"Boss?" the man answered on the second ring.

"Need you to bring a van and come to the address I'm going to text you." Joker hung up the phone. He sent the apartment address and then went to grab some old sheets. By the time Ace got there, Joker had both bodies wrapped and moved to the front of the building. The girl was back scrubbing the gore off the wall. Brain matter would start to stink after a few days.

Ace pulled up and moved to the back of the van, opening the door automatically. He moved up to where Joker stood. Now, normally Joker didn't smoke cigarettes, it was just poison to the body. But he snatched Ace's cigarette from his mouth and took a long drag. The burn felt good.

"Busy night?" Ace said as he lit another cigarette.

Joker laughed. "Came home to these two rummaging." He explained as he finished the cancer stick.

"They got off easy then." It wasn't a question. Ace took another long drag from his own cigarette.

"The kid shot that one." He pointed to the smaller of the wrapped bodies.

Ace coughed, choking on the inhale he'd just taken. "You had her kill someone?" Ace looked shaken.

Joker cut his eyes over to Ace. "And if I did?" he challenged. Ace didn't reply. Smart. "No, I had her hiding while I searched the place. She shot the bitch after she had pulled a gun on me."

Ace looked surprised. "The girl was protecting you?"

"Don't sound so surprised, I'm a likable kinda guy." He flashed a red scarred smile at him.

Ace laughed and put out the cigarette. "You ready?" He asked.

Joker stretched. He cracked his neck and shuddered. "Let's get this done."

They moved the two bundles to the back of the van. Shutting the door, Joker turned to Ace. "You know what to do."

"See you later." He said as he climbed back into the van. Joker watched him drive away. Once he could no longer see tail lights, he moved back inside. He went to the kitchen and made a sandwich for him and the girl. He took them into his room and set them on the bed. He hurried upstairs to let her know she had done enough.

The girl almost ran into him. She was bringing her stuff back down. "You're finished?" He asked.

"Yep." She walked past with the big bucket. Joker walked down the hallway. He looked along the wall. Looked pretty good. And the hall smelled like bleach. Not bad. He turned and walked back down the stairs.

"Peach, I made us a sandwich. It's in the room." He said. He walked to the room and sat down. He started to eat his food. He watched her walk in and move straight to the bathroom. He could hear the water turn on. After a few minutes, she came out and crawled up on the bed, grabbing her sandwich and starting to eat.

Joker watched her. She seemed to be…fine. Kids must be pretty resilient. She'd recovered from a gunshot with a scar and no limp. She'd heard her older brother being raped and watched him murdered, she seemed okay. She just killed a woman and then cleaned up the mess.

"I'm gonna teach you how to shoot tomorrow." He said out of nowhere. He watched her face light up. "You did good kid. Next time, do as you are told." He said

"I saw her walk up the stairs, She came from outside, I didn't want her to sneak up on you." She said.

"Like I said you did good, but I can take care of myself kiddo. And I'm gonna teach you to do the same." He said pushing her hard enough she slid off the bed. When he heard her hit the floor, he laughed.

She jumped up, "That wasn't funny." She was pouting.

"Oh, big bad assassin can't fall without getting her feelings hurt?" He said pouting at her. He was curious as she disappeared below the line of the bed. Then she popped back up and threw her shoe at him. He barely ducked in time. "Hey, you brat. That could have hurt me."

She laughed and then stuck her tongue out at him. He got up and took their plate to the kitchen and locked everything up, He was feeling a bit paranoid. He had to wedge a piece of wood against the door the thieves had kicked in, something to fix later.

He went back into his bedroom and saw her dressed for bed. She had taken out her small pigtails and the curls had made a halo around her head. She still slept in his shirt. Refusing to wear the nightgown that Ace bought for her, saying it was too itchy.

She'd been with him for the last 6 months. He had decided to keep her. She was fun. The weather was starting to get cold and this next week was going to be hectic. He needed to get this place fortified. He laid down and stared at the ceiling. He had to figure out how to get into Wayne Tower. It was the last, but very important, step for this new plan.

He felt himself start to doze off, after laying there for hours. Too soon, the girl woke him up, bringing in breakfast.

"I made food." She said carrying in a bowl of cereal very slowly.

Joker sat up, stretching the stiff muscles in his back. After a gratifying few pops along his spine, he moved to take the bowl from her.

"Thanks, kid." He watched her leave to get her own food. He chuckled as she walked in just as slowly as before.

They ate in silence. Once the sugary sweet cereal was gone, she looked up eagerly at him.

"What?" he asked.

"When are we going to shoot?" She asked grinning big.

He smiled, "When we get to the warehouse. Better selection of guns there." He said getting up to go relieve his bladder.

He stood over the stained toilet, enjoying the early morning piss when she girl barged in. He turned to look at her.

"Do you mind?" he said.

She looked at him in the eyes. "No, go ahead." Then she turned to the sink to brush her teeth.

He grumbled as he finished and pushed her out of the way to wash his hands and touch up his face.

"Hey, I was here first." She complained. He turned to look at her. She was pouting, like that would work. He narrowed his eyes at her, maybe he should get rid of her? She keeps this up, he may end up killing her.

He turned back and finished his face then walked out of the bathroom, "All yours, Peach."

The brat refused to talk to him the entire way to the warehouse. At first, the silence was good. He hummed a long forgotten tune as he drove. Halfway there, he was feeling antsy, He tried to speak to her.

"Before last night, you ever shot a gun?" he was answered by silence.

He felt himself growl in his chest. Two could play at this game. He faced the road and kept his mouth shut. When they pulled up to the warehouse, she got out of the car and stomped off to his office and slammed the door. When he came in all the guys were looking at him. Silently seething, he moved to look for Ace.