The three boys were thrown to the deck of the S.S. Arkham without mercy, but the drugs surging through their systems were enough to keep them conked out for another few hours no matter what they went through. The smallest one skidded to where he curled into a small ball, hair falling out over his unconscious pout and giving him the threatening appearance of a newborn baby kitten. The one with the white in his hair landed on his chest, or more specifically his chin. It rested to the deck and lifted his closed eyes as if it were being pulled up to stay that way. The tallest sprawled out in a suggestive manner, arms sprawled and legs spread with his chin jutting upwards.

"… and these would be?" the Joker slowly stepped out from his quarters at the thud, surveying the children at his feet.

His captain's hat was nowhere to be seen, just the untamed jade hair messily jutting everywhere it wasn't supposed to be and the sleepless eyes always painstakingly wide illuminated like the white of his cheeks in the thin accent of moonlight. For now, this was just the Joker, not Captain Hook, complete to the purple jacket thrown over his regular apparel. His eyes flitted upwards slowly, his grin widening as he recognized the man of stitch and straw standing on the opposite side of them.

"Scarecrow! So… these are the boys that will help me to wound West?" he cautiously confirmed, walking up to the kitten-like one and nudging him with the toe of his boot.

The head lolled so it was it was facing skyward, no change in the youngest face. The captain frowned down at this one, walking past him easily.

"What did that kid see in them?" he asked himself mostly, for he was his best companion.

Why seek romance when you could talk to yourself all day? Sure, there'd be arguments, but weren't there always? And with all the time in the world, you could work out these problems and be negotiable about it. Sometimes worse came to worse and he would have to throw a punch, but in the end, he always learnt his lesson with an amused cackle.

"The West boy seemed most interested in the oldest boy. I do believe them to be… mates," the cross-stitch monster slowly decided, his voice like sandpaper with small diamonds engraved into it running over a blackboard. "Lure him here and destroy that child. He will surely break."

The Joker nodded, only half listening as he knelt in front of the child with the white streak in his hair, cocking his head as he examined this one closely. There was something about this kid he kind of liked. He reached a hand down and slowly curled a gloved hand around that snow patch, pulling it sharply enough to jerk up the tan face up from the wooden deck. The kid didn't stir, though a shadow cast out over his lips and gave the impression of a scowl. The smile that crossed the Joker's lips was different than before.

"Can we destroy the other two, for giggles?" he asked the monster, before remembering his position on the crew and uprighting himself, dropping the kid's jaw back down to the deck, "Of course we can, Captain. Now, go fetch me Savage. I'm feeling rather fond of him tonight. You go assure that West will venture this way."

The Scarecrow bowed its horrifying head, stitch-work mouth opening to a grin of sorts before he stalked back off into the darkness and followed the shadows like the nightmare he was.

Only once he was gone did the Joker shiver swiftly, doing a shake like a wet dog from his head to his toes as if to ease off the heebie-jeebies.

"Don't like that one," he murmured, rubbing his neck with a nervous laugh, "Kinda scares me… and I'm the clown..!"

Wally finally turned himself away from the trio's handprints on the wall with a wobbly breath, running the dirty back of his hand to the underneath of his eyes. Why did they have to be any different? Why did it have to hurt this bad? Wasn't that a part of life? Losing people? Well he lost some. He didn't really feel like living much more after it. What was the point of living if you just keep losing people? It didn't seem fair. No, it wasn't fair. That's what made it life.

He stared over at the fire, eyes heavy and dark as he set a tender hand over his heart. He could remember only once that it had hurt this bad, but that was in the beginning of Neverland. Coming home and seeing that closed window… he had thought nothing could wound him that bad again. And at first, he didn't get why he was wounded that bad again.

It wasn't until he had thrown a toy train and a man with an S on his chest furiously into the fire with an inhumane scream of nothing but pain that he started to get an idea. The thought was dusting along the tip of his tongue, teasing and taunting him, probing him to chuck a plate into the flames too, the shatter forcing him to throw his arms up over his eyes for protection. What was it? Why were these three strangers so different?

He grabbed the blanket Tim and Jason had used for the past couple of months and thoroughly began tearing the cloth to shreds. Was it because they weren't strangers to him? Was it because he had been watching them tell those stories since before Tim had shown up? Could it have something to do with the fact that he had wanted to be with them for years now, shyly watching through the window until the youngest one had given sign of him? Was his secret being blown that final little hook for him?

The shreds were tossed into the fire and swallowed whole by the starving flames, slowly darkening little-by-little as those starving tongues licked out at the food they were offered. It wasn't the stories that had brought him back every night. It was Dick, even before he related a name to a face. The way that kid had taken care of the two new strangers to his life, even after he spent every night for months sobbing himself to sleep over books of the Brothers Grimm and related authors, it was transfixing. Heart-capturing, for lack of better word. There weren't words that described the faeries that kicked up as he had spent all those nights imagining that big older brother loving him like he loved the two strangers, offering him a home where he would always be accepted.

The redhead set his hand over the print Dick had left in the wall, another tear skimming down his freckled cheek before he pulled it back and rubbed his eyes one last time. He had to let it go. He would never be accepted, and he just had to face it. He was a freak. A nobody. He didn't belong anywhere, except for here, a land that never should have existed in the first place. This way, no one could look for him, and no one especially could find him. Not only was he safe from the world, but the world was safe from him.

Then, a small twinkling. It was a beautiful chime, but so full of desperation and fear that in a moment's notice, it was a clashing of discordant keys that only hurt his head. He had never been more overjoyed to hear such travesty in his life. More than happily, he threw open the door and let his faerie back in, slamming it behind her.

"M… Megan," he murmured her name, and she murmured his as they looked at each other for the longest time without any other word.

The tears started again and Wally's chin began to tremble, a quiet sob starting in his throat. Almost instantly, the faerie grew to the point she was about his height, that golden glow still lapping at every inch of her flesh, before she pulled him in for a tight embrace. He more than eagerly wrapped his arms around her, sobbing hard onto her shoulder as she rubbed his back.

It should've been apologies he was offering her. Condolences and sorry's all waited their turn in line patiently, twiddling their thumbs and checking their watches, but not one was going to be said. There wasn't one appropriate enough in his vocabulary. Instead, he just cried there in her arms, and she understood because she knew him better than anyone else ever could.

"Wally… He's…"

She wanted to tell him so bad that Dick was still alive, that he could still save him so all those god-awful tears would stop falling and he'd go back to smiling, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She knew him, so she knew how much he loved that brat, and she couldn't let that happen. Humans would just continue to break his fragile heart. He needed someone he could trust.

"He's gone… You have to move on… so… let's go down to the Indians… Artemis sure seemed to take a liking to you… maybe she can cheer you up?" the red-haired faerie offered with the kindest of smiles, rubbing some pixie dust unconsciously into his back, nuzzling his hair like a cat might do his owner when he was feeling generous.

Wally pushed the faerie girl off of him, rubbing at his eyes sorely.

"M… maybe later… I-I need some time to clear my head," he opened the door and stared up at the moon with a haunted look on his face, "I'm going to go fly around for a bit. Be back."

He didn't move though, that same darkness etched into his features as his eyebrows only furrowed deeper, his hands trembling at his side. Megan watched him silently, before stepping closer.

"Well…?" she tilted her head to the side, wondering why he had stopped.

The ginger turned his head and looked down at her so she could even possibly see how bad he hurt, the side of his face previously having been turned from her still streaming with silent tears.

"I… I can't think of any happy thoughts," he whispered, his chin trembling again.

The words were like a punch to the faerie's gut as she gasped in pain, a stagger to her step as she approached him again and hugged him as tight as she could manage before shrinking back to her regular size with a shuddery breath.

She flew in close and pecked the furrow of his brow before zooming back and looking into one of his eyes, "Just because those in them aren't around anymore doesn't mean the memories should mean any less."

Wally didn't look assured, but he nodded anyway, wiping at his eyes and closing them firmly. It took him a moment, but before long he was shakily rising up into the darkness and drifting over the trees with nothing but that pain he felt inside dripping out onto his freckles. Every few seconds, he'd start descending until Megan just couldn't see him anymore.

"He really does love him," she breathed, watching him with tears of her own welling in her amber eyes, holding her interlaced fingers remorsefully at her heart, "… I… He deserves a better faerie than me… Why am I even still here? I abused his trust… Oh…"

A crack of a branch raised her gaze in surprise, a shrill of pure terror splitting her lips as she saw the nightmare emerge from the trees.

"I can help you with that problem," the monster growled out with a cackle.

Before she could even think to fly away, paralyzed by pure terror, a green haze began to slowly form around them that weighted her down like a thick anchor. Once the haze drifted into her system, she felt like she was drowning on water, continuously gasping helplessly for the air she just couldn't reach. With lungs that small though, she only made it seconds before she helplessly collapsed to the grass where she was scooped up by merciless hands.

"Here we go, then… Helped you, and myself," the creature sniggered happily, resting her on the door's sill delicately, "How's that for a story's end?"