Chapter Ten

"Only the strongest will survive
Lead me to heaven when we die
I have a shadow on the wall
I'll be the one to save us all" Blow Me Away, Breaking Benjamin

I blinked. Whatever I had been expecting, it definitely hadn't been that. "Umm...do I have insurance?" Smart, Larisa. Realllllll smooth.

Bruce smiled weakly. "Somehow I don't think so."

I didn't manage to grin back. I was too caught up in my thoughts. "It was him, wasn't it." I wasn't asking Bruce if it had been. It wasn't a question. It was just a statement.

He frowned. "We can't prove it, though I'm sure it was."

Comforting thoughts.

"He left fifty dollars in it." That was strange. I looked up in surprise. "Yeah, it's really weird. The police figured whoever took it had just dropped it, but you and I both know that it probably isn't true."

I shrugged. He was human, however barely. He could drop something. He could fall in love..couldn't he??

"And..I have the bill here. It had this on it." he held out his hand.

In it was a perfectly nice fifty dollar bill, a little worn, not crumpled up. I looked up at Bruce questioningly.

"Oh, sorry, wrong side." He flipped the bill over.

I jumped so much I fell over and almost fell into the hole again.

"Does it mean something to you? I mean...besides the obvious reasons?"

I felt kind of sick, even though I guess I shouldn't have been too surprised. It was my money. It just kind of weirded me out, quite a bit actually. For on the other side of that perfectly nice fifty dollar bill, were two words. The first one was perfectly normal; 'The'. Nothing wrong with that, even though it did look kind of eerie, as it seemed to be written in what looked like (and probably was, I thought wryly), blood. But the second word gave the whole thing new meaning. Because the second word on the perfectly nice dollar bill, was 'Smile'.

"It was him." I said, savagely, in a voice that didn't quite sound like my own. I didn't understand why i felt the need to say this, as Bruce obviously knew it was the Joker who stole my money as well, but the words burst out between my lips.

He nodded soberly, and got up to walk up to the house. I knew our conversation was over. As he walked away, I sat there, thinking a number of things.

So this is what it's like to be penniless. Or, penniless besides a maimed fifty dollar bill. It didn't feel too different from being rich, I supposed, but I also thought that maybe I was numb, or in shock, or that it just didn't hit me because I was staying free of charge with one of the richest men on eath. Yes, I suppose that might have been why.

It was really strange I'd never get to go shopping with my credit cards anymore, or go out to eat whenever I felt like (as long as my dad would allow it). Yes, it would be strange to say that I, in fact, couldn't buy anything anymore. Because, of course, I was never going to spend that fifty dollar bill ever. Ever. It was the only proof I had that I meant a little bit, at least, to him. That he at least acknowledged the meaning of my name. And it felt stupid, I knew he was insane, disfigured, probably not very hygenic, and I knew that it would probably be his dearest wish to kill me, but that fifty dollar bill had just become my most prized possession in this whole mother flippin world.

And with that, I took my first steps towards the manor as a poor girl, and I felt fine. I mean, sure, money is flippin awesome, and it was extremely nice being rich, and a lot easier being a rich orphan than a poor one.

But I was in love. And when you're in love, that's all that matters...

But of course, if I had never met the Joker before, I would've been having an absolute hissy fit right about now...

But never mind.

I trudged back up to the house. Alfred hadn't come back, so I assumed that him and Bruce had conversed since I last saw them. It was getting close to dusk, and an idea kindled in my brain. It was stupid, and it was fool hardy, and I was almost ninety nine percent sure that Bruce would say 'Absolutely not.'

But I was still willing to ask. So when I'd gotten into the manor, I had looked. And looked. And looked.

Hide and seek would be a perfect game to play in a mansion. Until the person who was 'it' was driven mad, of course.

Finally, I saw Alfred. Not who I was looking for, but I was so relieved to see someone else in the manor that I walked over to him at once. "Alfred?"

"Oh, hello Miss Larisa. I see you got out of that blasted cave alright then?"

"No, I'm still stuck in there."

"Ahhh, sarcasm. I do adore sarcasm."

"I'm just teasing, Alfred, yes, I got out okay. And me and Bruce..had a..talk." I didn't want to let Alfred know if he didn't already know. But I was pretty sure he did...

"Yes, am I correct in assuming that Master Bruce has given you the whole truth?"

"Umm...I believe so." I could've just said I think so, but Alfred always makes me think formally.

"Alright then. Does the truth involve bats in anyway?"

I blinked. "Umm..in a way.."

"Then I pressume he did." And with that the old butler left the room, leaving me looking bewildered.

I remembered that I'd been searching for Bruce, and wandered out of the room after Alfred. After a few more minutes of desperate searching, I found him in what appeared to be a study. He seemed to be poring over some kind of plans or something of that sort, but he looked up and put them away when he saw me. "Larisa! Is there something I can do for you?"

I was in an instant extremely nervous. "Umm...yeah...actually...I mean..there's a...a...sort of...well...favor, um...I wanted to ask you if...if...if I..." I broke of, losing my nerve entirely.

He looked mildly curious as he replied, "Yes..?"

"I..I wanted to ask you ificougoouhuntwiou."

"Come again?"

"I wanted to know if you'd let me go out, tonight, you know, with you...to fight..." I could tell the answer from the look on his face. "I wouldn't fight!" I added hastily. "I just want to watch, and wouldn't I be...you know, safer, if i was like...near you?" Okay. That was the lamest excuse in history. But what was I supposed to say? 'Oh Batman, I just want to go out in the night with you, not to help fight evil, no way! I wanna go out and see the man I love! Oh, who is he? Oh you'd really like him if you got to know him! I mean, aside from the fact that you two are worst enemies, and he killed my father, and a whole score of other things. Oh, and everyone calls him the Joker. I guess you could call him TJ, for short, if you wanted.'
Hell. No.

Bruce looked thoughtful. "I suppose."

I didn't dare believe my ears. "REALLY?! I mean...really? You mean it?"

He smiled at me. "Sure. Most girls your age wanna go shopping. You just wanna go out and watch Gotham's evil get beaten to a pulp. Geez. You're starting to grow on me." And with that, he ruffled my hair (if he hadn't been letting me live in his mansion, I would've punched him), and left the room, chortling.

After carefully fixing my hair, (I may be poor, but I still wanted to look good) I took out the fifty dollar bill and smiled at it. "I can't believe this." And I sat at the chair near the desk in the study that i was in, and looked at the bill more closely. And that's when i saw something that neither Bruce nor I had seen before. It was written in incredibly tiny letters, in the same red as 'The Smile'. Under close inspection, and with a sharp intake of breath, I realized what it said.

Just In Case.