Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, I am jealous of the people who do. X(

Chapter Eleven

'What are you doing here?' I snarled viciously. I was proud of how angry I sounded.

The Joker raised his hands and said, 'I was just looking for a place to sit down.'

'There's a park bench over there,' I snapped, pointing to the place I'd been probably twenty minutes ago.

The Joker looked around and said, 'I like it here. Over there looks…' He unconsciously licked his lips. 'Over there looks creepy.'

'Your point?' I said, crossing my arms.

The Joker rolled his eyes and said, 'Y'know, those retorts of yours – I really don't know how you come up with them.'

That I replied to by punching him in the face as hard as I could.

He fell sideways, landing on all fours. I kicked him hard in the stomach and I heard him choking and gasping.

For a second, I thought he was in pain. But to my absolute annoyance, he rolled over so he could look at me, just trying not to laugh.

'You get angry just a little too easily,' he said, grinning. His scars made the smile look wider.

I glared at him but I was angry at myself. I felt pathetic. I'd messed up big time tonight: three people had seen my wings, and maybe a couple more.

I turned around and crossed my arms.

'You don't need to sulk about it,' the Joker said, sitting down at one of the swings I'd been on seconds ago.

I glared at him but said nothing. He smirked.

'Well, now that you've found your place in this world, I'm gonna head off,' I said, turning around, ready to leave.

'So, where'd you get those?'

I turned around again and said, 'What?'

'Those,' the Joker said, nodding at my wings. I looked at the colour: they were dark brown, splashed with white and the undersides were ivory with brown speckles.

My wings kicked butt.

'I don't remember,' I lied.

The Joker smiled and said, 'Uh-huh…'

I stared at him blankly. 'What?'

'Nothin'.'

I rolled my eyes. 'If it's okay with you, I'm gonna –'

'You're lying,' he interrupted.

'About what?' I asked, arching an eyebrow.

'You do know. You just don't wanna tell me.'

'And why wouldn't I want to do that?' I asked sarcastically.

The Joker chewed his scars and looked back at the playground in disgust.

'God. Eleven years and this place still hasn't changed.'

'What?'

The Joker rolled his eyes at me. 'I'm saying,' he said very slowly, 'that I have not been here for eleven years and this place does not look – actually, they repainted it,' he added at normal speed.

I rolled my eyes quickly and sat down on the other swing. I was sitting here with the most feared man in Gotham and the only reason was I was sure he was going to say something about where he came from. Something I could tell the flock.

'So… who's this Ari character?' the Joker said suddenly.

I didn't say anything. I didn't want to say anything.

'I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that the silence means you don't wanna talk about it,' said the Joker. He stood up and walked behind me.

I stood up, thinking. I wanted to know why he was really here. That sentence played over and over in my mind.

I suddenly remembered who my company was and whipped around just as the Joker put something cold and sharp up to my neck. I swallowed and his other hand pushed my fringe off of my face.

Okaaay, I could really use some help right now. Voice, anything? Please?

Max, you're not helpless. You never are.

I let my instincts take over and kneed the Joker in the stomach.

He let go of the knife, and I pushed him off of me. 'Can you say the word "sexist"?' I growled and turned, running. I jumped up onto the monkey bars, jumped off and flapped my wings, taking me away from what just happened.

--

I showed up at about two am.

To my utter surprise, Tony was back and was looking slightly jittery.

'Where were you?'

'I left a note… flying…' I said.

'Yeah, at eleven?'

'Well, you were flying at eleven.' Lame excuse but it was all I had.

Tony rolled his eyes. 'Well that reply stumped me.'

What was it with my replies tonight? It disgusted me that I'd actually just talked to the Joker in person again and hadn't run off quicker.

I walked to my room. 'Are the flock awake?'

'No,' Tony said in a bored voice.

'Good.' I opened my door quietly and saw Fang was awake. He looked at me questioningly. 'What happened?' he asked in a low voice.

'I went flying.'

'You look pale.'

'I…' I suddenly didn't want to tell Fang about the Joker. He might get jealous or whatever again for no reason and not talk to me.

I didn't want that.

'I bumped into Harley Quinn,' I said, sitting down next to him.

'How was she?'

'Scared. Seriously terrified. She saw my wings.'

Fang glared at me.

'Fang, I landed on a roof and I didn't know she was there! We talked for five seconds then Jack –'

'Jack? You encountered the Joker's parents?'

'Yeah, hope I never do again. His dad's got serious issues!'

'Worse than Nudge?'

'Not funny,' I said thought I was trying not to smile. 'Look, I tried to save her but she pushed me off the roof.'

'Did Jack see your wings?'

'Most likely.'

Fang sighed. 'Let's hope they don't come in contact with their son real soon.'

'Why not? Jack would probably finish him off.'

Fang smiled and said, 'Get some sleep, Max.'

--

It was an overcast day but everything looked white. I was at the playground, on one of the swings. I didn't know how I'd gotten there and why I wasn't wearing my combat boots. I felt something cold and wet under my feet. I looked down and saw my feet were trailing in snow.

I looked around the playground. There were some smaller kids, maybe nine or ten and wearing jackets and beanies, playing there and none of them had noticed me. I shivered and realised I was wearing only jeans and a shirt. I rubbed my arms, hugging myself when I noticed a boy was sitting on the swing next to me. He hadn't noticed me and he looked older than the kids playing, maybe my age.

'Hey,' I said, 'look, I know this is gonna sound like a weird question but how long have I been here?'

He didn't answer me. He was looking down, his stringy brown and blond hair covering his face.

'Hellooo?'

No answer.

'Are you deaf?' I asked. He didn't answer me. I'm dreaming, I suddenly realised. And no one can see me. I observed the boy's clothes: he was wearing a black trench coat that was ratty at the ends, gray jeans, and I could see he had a scarf.

A snowball hit his back and he looked up, glaring back at the kids behind him, who had been giggling until they saw how scary he looked angry.

He was pale and had black rings under his dark eyes. He had large scars going up the sides of his mouth and I realised with a jolt that this was the Joker when he was fifteen.

Freaked out at why I'd be dreaming something like this, I watched one of the little kids actually scream and run back off to the playground.

The younger Joker actually smiled for a second then licked his lips, standing up and walking through the cold snow. I couldn't think of anything else to do so I followed him.

'Hey, I'm guessing you can't hear me, but could you slow down?' I called after him. I ran up next to him and waved my hand in front of his face. 'You're a freak,' I said, waiting for the results. He didn't say anything, just shoved his hands in his pockets.

'Hey!' someone yelled out and the Joker and I turned in unison. A younger boy with blond hair and a blue beanie threw a snowball at us/him/whatever. It missed by six feet.

The Joker nodded and said, 'Nice throw.' His voice sounded different. I didn't know how, but it just did.

He turned and kept walking, finally onto a concrete path. I followed him, feet freezing. If this was a dream, why did everything feel so real?

It's not a dream, Max, said the Voice, it's a memory.

I blinked. If it's a memory, why am I in it?

The Voice was silent. Then, Just keep watching.

I did as it said and stared at the younger Joker.

We walked through a part of Gotham I didn't know. Where am I?

Gotham's bad side, the Voice said.

Any specific names?

The Voice didn't answer and I groaned. The Joker walked past an alleyway and I saw that four people were crouched in there, holding onto each other.

I felt so horrible after I saw that. I felt like crying or screaming. I could if I wanted to, no one would notice.

But I was Max. That couldn't happen.

I wiped my eyes hastily and stopped as the Joker did, in front of a grey house.

The Joker opened the door and walked in. The first thing I saw was Harley, sitting at a table, drinking coffee, wearing a white lab coat (which made my blood boil) and glasses, reading over a patients report. 'Hi, Puddin,' she said, smiling at the Joker, who sat down at another chair. 'How was school?'

The Joker arched an eyebrow. 'It's Saturday, there's no school,' he said.

'That's great, honey,' Harley said absent-mindedly, still reading the patients report. The Joker rolled his eyes and walked out, down a hallway, up the stairs and opened a door.

My jaw dropped when I saw what his room was like. It didn't really have anything in it, just a bed in a corner, a cabinet next to the bed with a lamp and a radio, a book shelf and a closet. There was a large amount of holes in the walls as though someone's fist had flown through it.

I looked around the room, which was a yellowy white colour and swallowed hard.

The Joker lay down on his bed, turned on his radio which began blurting out something that sounded like Kurt Cobain, took out a pack of cards and began shuffling through them.

I sat down at the end of his bed. 'When's your dad coming home?' I asked quietly.

To my utter surprise, the Joker sat up suddenly, right next to me. I fell off his bed and he stood up, not looking down at me.

I swore then realised I heard a door closing and footsteps.

'Hi, Mr J,' Harley said brightly and the Joker ran towards his closet. I thought for a second he was going to hide in it, but instead he opened another door in the closet and walked in. I followed, interested.

It turned out to be a sort of attic-like thing. And there was a grate that showed what was going on in the living room.

The Joker leaned over the grate. I looked down too. It was just Jack and Harley, talking. Harley was hugging Jack, walking about how great he looked and yadda, yadda, yadda and I grinned when I saw the Joker roll his eyes next to me and start mouthing everything Harley was saying, as though he'd heard it a million times, which he must have.

'Is he here?' Jack asked, holding his hand over Harley's mouth to get her to shut up. The Joker tensed next to me.

Harley looked worried. 'Mr J…'

'I got a letter from his school,' said Jack, still grinning and the Joker swore quietly. I couldn't believe it, but I felt slightly sorry for him. He was afraid of his father, really afraid of his father.

'What…?'

'He set fire to one of the lab tables,' said Jack and the Joker grinned for a second. 'Everything burns,' he said quietly.

'And also most of my knives are missing,' Jack added, looking around. Did he feel like someone was watching him?

The Joker put a hand in his trench coat pocket and swallowed visibly. Jack looked up and stared straight at his son, whose eyes widened.

'There you are,' said Jack, moving out of my view and I heard footsteps indicating Jack was running up the stairs. The Joker looked at door that he'd left open and licked his lips just as Jack walked into his room.

Jack walked to the door but his son was quicker; the Joker slammed the attic door shut and bolted it then slumped against the door, listening to his father yelling.

Time to go, Max, said the Voice and I woke up, shivering to see the flock standing over me.

'What?' I asked, looking around.

'You were talking in your sleep,' Iggy said, looking worried.

'More like screaming,' Nudge said.

I swallowed and looked over at Fang. 'What did I say?' I asked casually.

'Well, one time you said something about someone setting fire to a table and you sounded kinda like you were chuckling,' said Gazzy. 'We thought that was Iggy.'

'Hey!' said Iggy. 'I resent that.'

I wanted to roll my eyes but couldn't. 'What else?'

'Lots of things,' said Nudge, 'at first you asking if anyone could hear you and we thought you were awake, so Fang said yes, but you just kept asking.'

'Then you started yelling about how he needed to get away and how you couldn't help him,' Angel said, staring at me with her big blue eyes.

'And you're crying,' Fang added, staring at me.

I wiped my eyes and said, 'Oh.' I looked out the window. It was snowing outside.

Please review, it is mucho appreciated. Hope you enjoyed.