Chapter 10

Lilith sat up straight in her bed as the clock ticked over to midnight, normally it was a dream that would have woken her but tonight it was a noise. More specifically it was a noise coming from her former shop. She could hear someone moving around in there so she quickly put up her hair in a messy bun and slid silently out of her bed wearing a long white shirt that went to her thighs. She moved downstairs, not making any noise as she pulled out her pistol from the kitchen draw before opening the door and turning on the light to reveal the security guard from The Joker's club; Hunter. Lilith was about to ask him what he was doing here before she saw the reason herself. Next to Hunter was an almost unconscious Joker pleading heavily from several lacerations along his stomach.

"Put him on the table" Lilith said quickly as she put the pistol on the newly made set of drawers while Hunter laid The Joker on the newly made work bench. Lilith grabbed out the first aid kit from her set of drawers and moved over to The Joker cutting off his blood soaked white button up shirt. Lilith's breath caught in her throat when she saw the depth of the lacerations in his stomach.

"Who did this?" Lilith demanded angrily as she quickly got to work cleaning the wounds and stitching the deepest one first. It ran vertically through the letter 'J' of his 'Joker' tattoo. Hunter opened his mouth to explain but The Joker's deranged laughter cut him off.

"Batsy, Batsy, Batsy" The Joker sung delusional from his loss of blood. Lilith raised her eyebrow as she continued her work but she had been hearing on the news more and more about this 'Batman' vigilante. She had no time for a grown man who dressed up in a bat suit.

"The man that the boss ordered your custom tattoo kit from sold him out to the Batman" Hunter explained spitefully, leaning against a newly built wall unit. Lilith heard the hateful and blaming tone that Hunter had used but she honestly couldn't care less. She was more concerned about getting these wounds stitched before The Joker lose any more blood. She started to question why she cared so much about this strange man lying in front of her but she quickly shoved that question aside not wanting to really think about it and confess anything, even to herself.

"Give me that bandage and help me lift him up" Lilith ordered pointing to the roll of bandages next to Hunter. He glared at her before grabbing the bandage and tossing it to her and walked over to The Joker. Hunter held The Joker up ignoring the groans of pain from his boss while Lilith wrapped the bandage around The Joker's torso.

"All right, help me get him up to my bedroom so he can get some rest" Lilith said simply as she helped The Joker sit up and move his legs off the table. Hunter opened his mouth to argue with her but The Joker spoke first.

"It's okay Hunter. You can trust her. There is no one I trust more" The Joker muttered surprising both Lilith and Hunter. The two of them wrapped The Joker's arms around their necks and carried The Joker up to Lilith's bed so he could get some rest before Hunter quickly left the building. Lilith didn't even spare him a second glance as she grabbed a bottle of water and some strong painkillers for The Joker. She sat on the edge of her bed and helped The Joker take the tablets while listening to him ramble about how he was going to kill the Batman. Lilith pulled out a knife from her bedside table and started to sharpen it as she fell into a deep thought, almost meditation like state, and thought about what she was going to do for money. She could always continue her tattoo shop but just advertise for 'normal' people. She quickly shook that thought away because she knew that she would never fit into 'normal' society.

After several moments of silence Lilith thought The Joker had finally fallen asleep but when she looked down at him, he was staring glassy eyed at her. The painkillers had finally kicked in.

"You know… you know what?" The Joker mumbled making Lilith make a noise in the back of her throat to show that she was listening to him.

"Toots… Toots is such a mystery to me…" The Joker started to say making Lilith realize that he had no idea who he was talking too. Lilith sat further on the bed, leaning her back against the wall while The Joker laid next to her, his head rest slightly against her thigh.

"She is such a mystery but so fascinating! I am going to solve the mystery of Toots one day even if it takes forever" The Joker admitted making Lilith lick her lips unsure of how to proceed.

"What are you going to do once you solve the puzzle of Toots?" Lilith asked hoping the sound of her voice didn't make him realize who he was talking too. The Joker blinked several times in his drug induced state and opened him mouth to reply. Lilith honestly just assumed that once she wasn't a mystery to him The Joker would either try to kill her or simply move on and forget about her. Both things made her chest hurt but what he did say was not something she expected.

"I am going to make her my queen" The Joker said confidently before falling into a deep sleep. The Jokers confession left Lilith with her mouth hanging open in shock as she sat frozen on the bed next to him listening his breathing. Lilith shook her head convincing herself that he was only saying this because of the drugs as she laid down on top of the blankets that were covering The Joker and drifted into a restless sleep.

….

The Joker woke up early the next morning groggy and confused. He opened his eyes and blinked the tiredness away and tried to sit up before feeling the sharp pain in his stomach. He winced and looked down at his bandaged torso remembering the events of tomorrow. He felt the bed move next to him and realized what had woken him up. Lilith was tossing and turning in her sleep next to him. She was having a nightmare. The Joker ignored the pain in his stomach and tried to shake Lilith awake. Lilith's eyes snapped open but she was still living in her nightmare as she quickly bounced on The Joker, straddling him and pressing the knife she was sharpened the night before against him throat.

"I, uh, think I've got enough holes in me at the moment, don't you?" The Joker joked making Lilith blink a few times as she realized where she was and who she was sitting on top off. Lilith muttered something under her breath as she quickly climbed off The Joker and silently checked his wounds to make sure she hadn't ripped any of the stitches. The Joker watched her amused for a moment before realizing that Lilith was avoiding eye contact. She was feeling vulnerable about her nightmares. The Joker quickly thinks of a way to take her mind off the nightmare.

"You know what, Toots? You should become my personal medic. I have a feeling that with the, uh, Batman hanging around the city I'm going to need one" The Joker said making Lilith look at him shocked. Lilith didn't even realize she was still resting a hand on The Joker's stomach as she sat cross-legged next to him on the bed.

"I'd uh, pay you so you don't need to worry about a new job and…" The Joker explained before trailing off because he almost said to her that it would mean they got to spend some more time together.

"Sure… I'll take the job" Lilith said after blinking away her shock. The Joker grinned a genuine smile for the first time ever.

"But, uh, toots, if you are going to be my personal medic I'm going to… I'm going to need to know some information about you" The Joker explained carefully because he knew how she'd react. Lilith tensed up quickly and went to leave the room but The Joker caught her hand that was previously resting on his stomach and entwined him fingers with hers shocking both himself and Lilith. Lilith's eyes widened as she looked down at their entwined hands.

"Let's start with something easy okay? What's your name?" The Joker asked surprisingly soft as Lilith sat down on the bed next to him with a small smirk on her lips.

"You first" She said raising her eyes challenging him to trust her as much as he wants her to trust him. The Joker narrowed him eyes slightly before cocking his head to the side slightly and taking a deep breath.

"I don't know. I woke up a few months ago, just outside of Gotham with no memory" The Joker confessed seriously. Lilith stared at The Joker for several moments trying to figure out if he was telling the truth or just lying to get the information he wanted from her. She finally concluded that he wasn't messing with her and nodding to him ever so slightly that she believed him. The Joker felt a flood of relief go through him unnerving himself that he cared so much about whether she believed him or not. Thankfully he was brought out of his emotions by one word.

"Lilith" She introduced softly.