"Bed's not big enough, Amelia? It's mine. Go elsewhere if you have a problem with it. The boy stays." He paused in thought and then continued in typical Joker fashion, "He's never sleeped in a real bed before." He sneered the last part, and she felt her heart break all over again. His voice became gentler when he said, "Tell me what's going on."

She didn't know what to say or where to start but instead tried diverting. "You tell me what's going on. Why were we taken? I know it was your fault." She rolled over on her side to look him in the eyes. She wanted the truth out of him. He continued laying on his back but finally looked over at her.

"It was that deal gone wrong. They apparently knew about you. They were doing their own fixing. I killed most of them. The end." He looked back up at the ceiling and said, "Now you. What's with the kid?"

"He was there in the room when I woke up. He was a kid from my apartment building. The end." She couldn't help the shit-eating grin that stole across her face when he rolled his eyes at her.

"But why the hell is he calling you Mommy? And why the hell are you answering to that?" he spat. Out of his mouth, it sounded like a disgusting word. Out of little Freddy's mouth, it was the sweetest word imaginable.

"Because he doesn't have parents." I don't even know why I'm explaining myself to him. He doesn't deserve an explanation after everything he put me through.

"So you just took it upon yourself to be this kid's mom?" He looked genuinely curious. He looked like he honestly didn't know why she didn't leave him behind. She remembered that he wanted to leave poor, little Freddy behind.

"Who else is going to do it? His parents left him waiting for them in a hallway for God only knows how long. He doesn't have anyone, and he asked if I would be his mom."

"And your childhood comes rushing back." He sounded exhausted just from her simple explanation, but she could tell he finally understood where her reasons came from.

"Basically. I can tell you this, though. He's mine. I'll never let him have a childhood like mine." She snuggled further under the covers, wondering why he was even curious about this. He was going to leave Freddy in that horrible room. "Why would you leave a child in a dark room?"

"It's easy to leave someone behind when you can't see them. I didn't know who he was, and we were running on a timer. It could have been worse if we took anymore time. Don't question me on why I don't give a shit, Amelia. You won't like the answers."

"Then don't question me on why I do give a shit, Joker. You may not like the answers."

"Here's a good one." He ignored her attitude. He continued, "Why were you living in that dump? That place isn't suitable for the rats and roaches that live there. And there was basically nothing even there."

"I had no choice."

"Explain," he told her in a stern voice. He was used to getting answers out of people with just a single look. It was a confidence that he exuded that said, 'Don't fuck with me.'

"I was evicted while I was here because I was late on my rent. I couldn't afford to hire movers because YOU require a fee from services rendered on that block." She continued because there was no one else. There was no one else in her life that ordered her to "Explain." She didn't know if that counted as caring about her, but she guessed it was just him trying to wrap his head around the tricky situation. Since he bothered to talk to her about everything, the words just kept falling out of her mouth, "I couldn't move anything, so I had to either walk boxes back and forth a couple miles or beg cab drivers to move things for me. I had no down payment because of how horrible my paycheck was after having to take unpaid days. It's all a mess right now, and now I have two more mouths to feed. I don't know how I'm going to do it, but I'm just going to make it all work. I really have no choice. I-."

He cut her off when he abruptly turned over on his side. There was a look in his eyes that said a million words. They told her, "I'm still the predator." They told her, "Be careful." She thought through everything she said, and then she gasped. "Amelia, rewind."

She tried her hardest to backtrack and just play dumb. Play possum. How this conversation goes actually matters. "Huh? Why?"

"Don't," he growled. As panicked as she was, it still sent that heat winding through her stomach. Just delicious.

"Uhm... I don't know what you're talking about." She tried to sound like the moron she felt like. The words just kept falling out of her mouth, and she wasn't careful. It was such a long couple of days, and she was just so tired. She wasn't paying attention, and now she had no idea what that would cost her. A shiver of anxiety crept up her spine.

He said nothing else as he got out of the bed. His face went completely blank. She didn't know what he was thinking; she couldn't read him. She knew that he went into battle mode, though. She would have to dig deep to do the same.

He then grabbed her ankle and her wrist and roughly dragged her across the bed towards him. She tried to grip the sheets, but she knew if she pulled too much, she would wake Freddy. That was the last thing she needed. She kept completely silent as she went to kick out at him, but he pulled her to the edge of the bed, grabbed her shoulders and pulled her completely off the bed. He wasn't at all gentle with her as he turned her and shoved her towards the bathroom.

She could do nothing but follow his direction, lest waking up Freddy. When they were both in the bathroom, and he turned on the light, he turned to her. "Explain, Amelia." This time the growl came from deep in his chest, and she knew she had to tell him but she also had to prepare for the worst case. Is he going to kill me? Will he hurt me to make me lose our child? Why would he save me just to kill me? If how he treats Freddy is anything to go by, maybe he may not make me get rid of the baby or hurt me to just do it himself. Could she dare to hope for that help that she so needed but had too much pride to ask for?

She swallowed hard and squeaked out, "It's yours." She prepared herself to run if she even remotely thought he was going to do anything. She was completely unprepared for what came next. He grabbed her hips and pulled her towards him. She went to push him away, but he kept his hold on her firm. He then lifted the hem of her shirt to right below her breasts. She had no panties on, no pants on, nothing. She felt a blush creep across her skin from her head to her toes. She went to push down her shirt and turn to run, but again, he held her firm.

"There's no difference," he quietly told her.

When she saw the look of wonder on his face and she realized he was more curious than anything, she stopped struggling with him. Unprepared and totally unnecessary. She looked up into his face and saw something akin to amazement. It was closer to a child-like wonder than an adult curiosity, but she would take what she could get. "I'd only be like six weeks." I think he may actually be happy?

As soon as the thought occurred to her, she could see his face change to angry. She saw the thoughts go through his head as they occurred to him. He was beyond furious. With her? She didn't know but soon found out. "And you were drinking in that trashy club?! You've been living with FUCKING ROACHES?! You allowed those scumbags to keep you in a basement cell for a week?!"

She whisper yelled to him, "Shh, Freddy's sleeping. Calm down." She really didn't need the little boy waking up right now, especially with the Joker's mood taking what looked like a steady turn towards violence.

"I WILL NOT CALM DOWN. THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE." She pulled her shirt out of his grip and looked up at him. She didn't understand the situation in the least. He's not mad that I'm pregnant, but he's mad at how I've been living since I got pregnant? Does that mean he won't hurt me? Amy had no idea what to think, but she fell back on what worked before. Instead of backing away from him in fear, she went to him holding her arms out. "Get away from me, Amelia!"

She kept right on walking until she was able to wrap her arms around him. He yelled, "What the fuck are you doing? Who do you think I am? Get away from me!" She was relentless, but she let him continue his yelling. Apparently, that's what he did well. His breathing was heavy, and his fists were clenched. He kept them at his side while he said, "Why did you dare hide this from me? Do you know who I am? Did you think you could hide this? How dare you?" he spat out.

She did nothing but keep her arms around him. She had to have faith that this would work, otherwise, she didn't know what she would do. Even in his anger and with her hanging on him, he wasn't doing anything to harm her. Her relentlessness worked before, and she hoped it would again. She placed her cheek to his chest and could feel his blood pounding through his veins.

They stood there for what felt like a lifetime before he finally put his arms around her upper back. She could hear his breathing start to slow down after another couple minutes. She knew that his thoughts were racing. She figured he might be as lost as she felt when she looked at that tiny little stick and found out she was carrying a life that the Joker helped make.

After an eternity of her holding onto him, the tenseness left his body. After he calmed down, he whispered, "Why didn't you come to me? What do we do?" He was lost, and he was looking to her for guidance. His anger was out of his lack of knowledge on the subject, his lack of knowledge on what comes next. I don't know what we do, my sweet Jason, but I know that this is a good thing. A baby is never a bad thing. A baby that might have a father in its future is an even better thing. But a baby with a psychopath for a father? A baby with a father that doesn't even blink an eye at leaving a small child behind in a dark dank basement? A father that could at any minute murder tens of people whenever he felt like it?

They were both lost, and now, they were both holding onto each other like the life rafts they needed. For one split second in time, the Joker needed someone. More than that, for one split second in time, someone needed him.

A/N: SOOOOO this one ended up being the length of two chapters, but I really didn't have the heart to split it. Where do you think they go from here? What do you think happens when Mr. J finally wraps his head around the fact that he's going to be a father? Are you like so pissed at Amy for telling him? She couldn't help it, though. ;) As usual, if you liked this chapter, please don't be shy to commenting. We are all kind people here. And if you didn't like something, please let me know!

Until next time, lovelies! Ta!