The next day, Natalie kept herself busy, locked in her room planning what she needed to do. She sat on the bed, crossed legged, in some ratty old t-shirt with her hair wrapped up in a towel, chewing on the end of a pen.
In the perfect world, she could walk into Bruce Wayne's Penthouse without anyone stopping her and then go from there. But she knew it wouldn't be that easy, especially since no one would really know who she was or what she was doing here. With all the worries of the Joker running around the city like wildfire, they would turn her away in a second.
On a piece of paper were her ideas, each of them scratched out aside from the last line that had dark circles around it. She had gone through each one, thinking about every part that could go well in her favor and then everything that could go wrong.
She enjoyed the planning, find the holes in each plan, poking them out like festering mold in an old building. It kept her busy and her mind focused, the anxiety of everything seeming to be at a stand still.
Of course the Joker helped with all of the planning.
'Princess, you really are a special kind of fucked up.' she could see him dancing around her room, even if no one else could. He had been poking fun at her every time she thought about him helping her.
'Uh...you know this is all just you right?' he let out a loud, cackling laugh. 'This is all in your mind.'
"It sounds better when you say it." she muttered, setting her pen down and reached beside the bed, pulling up a box of things she had collected the day before. A lot of it, she stole from her mother's room when she had went out, but a few others came from her closet. She had only went out to buy one thing.
Slowly she began to lay each item out, taking a second study each and every single piece. The pants were plain, black and the shirt was a button up, white and long sleeved to hide the scars on her wrist. The shoes were simple running shoes, also black which, she had used when she worked at the diner and a large, shoulder bag that she had from when she was younger. Natalie slowly pulled out the next thing she had taken from her mother while the woman was passed out.
The metal was cool against her fingers and was lighter than she had expected it to be. She held up the gun, closing one eye and aiming towards her closet door. She had never held a gun before last night when she went out to practice shooting, in one of the old, abandoned buildings a few blocks away. Early in the day, she had looked up online about how to operate it properly and had somehow managed to get the hang of it. Her mother had kept a good stash of bullets, so Natalie was able to get a lot of practice.
The last item in the box, she had went out to buy as soon as she left the Asylum. The idea to get it popped up into her mind almost instantly when she began to think about coming up with a plan. She stood up with it, the papers falling from her lap onto the ground, and stood in front of the mirror, holding it up to her face.
Staring back at Natalie was not her own face, but a clown mask, similar to the one the Joker had when he robbed the bank. Natalie couldn't help but let out a small sigh, thinking back to how cruel she was to him back then.
'If only you understood how much better life was than this. Being locked in a room was better than being trapped, pretending to be something I am not.'
Her heart ached for the Joker, making her want to jump the gun and go off the script for her plan. But Natalie knew how foolish that would be and in the end, it would more than likely be the thing that stopped her from finding him again.
She tossed the mask onto the bed and turned, glancing at the block that sat on her nightstand. A small grin crept to her face as she ripped the towel from her head and shook her hair out, running her fingers through her new, dark locks before pulling her hair back into a tight bun on the top of her head.
Quickly Natalie changed into her new clothing, sticking the gun, knife and mask into her bag, standing in front of the mirror again, staring at herself intensely. Her heart raced when it fully hit her that she would be able to see him again, reach out and touch him, kiss him.
She was pulled from her thoughts when she heard a crash and someone yelling.
"Guess that's my cue." she turned on her heel, grabbing the envelope that sat on her desk, she had opened the day before and taking one last look at her room. Natalie knew there should be some kind of remorseful feeling for everything that had and would happen. But there was nothing she felt that would even come close to that. She opened the door and walked out, slamming it loudly.
"Mom stop this!" Tim's voice rang out, getting louder and she came closer to the kitchen. The sound of a smashing bottle hit her ears just as she stepped into the doorway, looking at the pair who she had once called her family. Tim glared at Veronica, his face slightly red and his fists balled at his sides. It reminded Natalie of a time long ago, when that was her fighting against her mother's addiction.
They hadn't noticed her, even as she stood for another moment. She watched her mother looking down at the broken bottle, the rage begging to build in her eyes. Natalie just couldn't help herself, it was getting too easy for her.
"Have a few too many Veronica?" she leaned against the doorway, tilting her head with a smirk. "Just a typical Saturday night right?"
Veronica slowly turned her head and looked at her, the rage burning more brightly and she took a step towards her daughter, her body trembling. They locked eyes after her mother glanced at her hair. Neither of them moved for a moment before her mother finally spoke.
"What the hell do you want Natalie?"
Natalie pushed herself from the door frame and moved closer to her mother so they were only inches away from each other. She held the letter up at their eye level and pulled it away as Veronica reached out to grab it.
"I was surprised to find out how much money I was getting from the bank that I didn't even know about. Although, the check was made out to you so maybe it was suppose to be a delightful surprise." Natalie sneered.
"That money is to help us." her mother wobbled on the spot. "After what happened to you…"
"Oh god. Cut the crap!" Natalie screamed in her face. "You wanted that money for yourself! There is enough there, that you would be living on easy street for the next year or two! Don't try and say you were trying to help anyone but yourself!"
"I deserve it!" her mother reached out, grabbing onto her shoulder and squeezing. "I've put up with you since you got back! Walking around here, a danger to me and your brother! You could kill us in our sleep! Edmund says you weren't capable of that but you put on a nice show for him don't you!"
Natalie yanked Veronica's hand away from her shoulder and took a step back, letting out a loud laugh. "Where do you think I learned it from hmm? You've been putting on a show for years now! Pretending to be someone we should all feel sorry for." Natalie threw back her head again, unable to stop herself from howling with laughter. "Poor Veronica, no one to help her. None of the men stayed around to help her raise those two bastard children. Whatever will she do?"
"You're insane." Veronica's eyes were wide and she shook her head. "You're a monster."
"No! I'm free. Free to be whoever the fuck I want. I'm not going to end up like you Veronica, not anymore. However…" Natalie held up the letter. "I am going to teach you a lesson to not fuck with me anymore."
With that Natalie began to tear the envelope into pieces.
Veronica let out a scream and launched herself towards her daughter the best she could, stumbling a bit as she held her fists up. Natalie moved quicker, mostly due to her mother's drunkenness, pulling out her knife and flipped it open. Veronica stopped before she landed a punch, frozen to the spot.
"Don't you even try." Natalie growled, moving closer with the knife still pointed at her. "I will gut you just like you did to daddy. If you don't believe me, press your luck, see what happens. I'm not afraid to kill you."
"The bank owed you." tears were beginning to stain her mother's cheeks. "They know someone in the bank helped those clowns. If that person wouldn't have helped, you would have never been taken."
"Can I tell you something?" Natalie lowered her voice and dropped her knife to her side. "That person, was me. I helped them get into that safe, that's why I took a job there."
Veronica shook her head, confused at her daughter's words. "No, I don't understand why you would help him?"
"You owed him." Tim's voice came from nowhere and the two woman turned to him, both forgetting he was even in the room. "That's who was in your room that night wasn't it?"
"What?" Veronica asked.
"I was going ask you about it and then I was taken away. None of it made sense until now but I knew you were acting weird." Tim finally looked up and met Natalie's eyes. "He helped you dump the body right?"
"Tim what are you talking about?" Veronica spoke up again. "What body?"
"Nicki's." Tim was trying to hold back tears but now one had escaped and ran down his cheek. "You killed him didn't you?"
Natalie couldn't help but grin at her brother. "Still smarter than both of us, isn't he Veronica? At least someone in this family will make it to college."
She could sense someone moving towards her again and she turned quickly and slammed her mother against the wall, holding the knife up to her throat. Natalie let out a little sigh before glancing at the clock and turning back to Veronica.
"As much as I would love to stay and chat I really just don't have the time. I've got some important places to be tonight. So I am going to strike a deal with you and before you say no, trust me, I think you will be interested."
No one moved or spoke so Natalie continued.
"Here's the deal, I am leaving and I promise you I will never be coming back here again. So, as long as you don't call the cops on me, I don't have to tell Gotham's finest to start poking around about Daniel, Veronica and Natalie Mitchells from Metropolis."
He mother didn't say a word, just watched her wide eyed.
Natalie let out an irritated sigh. "You can speak."
"So you want to blackmail me?" her mother's voice was hoarse and shaky. "You want to blackmail me so I don't get you put where you belong?"
"You call it blackmail. I call it telling the truth." Natalie pressed her blade into her mother's skin a bit deeper. "So what will it be Veronica?"
She already knew the answer before the words left her mother's mouth. The woman had been on the run for years, hiding away the crimes she had committed. Natalie had watched her deal with the consequences all these years.
There was no way she was giving that up.
"Get out of my house. Never come back."
She pulled the knife away and shut it with a grin. "Perfect. I knew you would see things my way."
Natalie couldn't help but skip towards the door, humming the tune she had heard from the Joker a few times. She placed her hand on the knob and turned it when something came flying past her head and smashed against the wall.
"How could you do this!" Tim had followed her, the tears long gone and the anger apparent on his face. "We are a family! You were like my best friend! You betrayed us!"
Her mother was behind him, trying to pull him back away to let Natalie leave. But he wouldn't stop, ripping away from Veronica's grip and advancing on his sister. He stopped a few steps away from her, staring at her until she finally broke the silence.
"I had a family once too. That didn't include you Tim. I had a mother and a father who didn't give a shit about me. Then one day mommy made my daddy go away." She scrunched her nose and reached out, digging her nails into his arm. "You had a good life compared to what I went through and that wasn't because of dear old Veronica over there. Don't forget who clothed you, fed you and put a roof over your head."
"You don't think I know that! I want my sister Natalie back!"
She yanked her arm away leaving fresh marks across his skin. She pulled open the door and let out a small chuckle, using a taunting voice. "Here I thought you were all grown up Tim. Your big sister Natalie is gone forever and I'm here to stay."
She pulled the door open and walked out, not bothering to slam it behind her. Natalie was done wasting time with her old life. She had a new one to run along and get too. One that only herself and the man she loved.
There was no turning back now.
I am a terrible person, it has been way too long since I have updated and I hope you can all forgive me. I won't bore you with specifics but it has been a very long and emotional few months for me. However, I have re read the whole story and have been inspired to finish it up. I have not started the next chapter (I usually have another chapter written ahead before I post) but I just wanted to get this out to you all so you don't have to wait any longer! This chapter title comes from a mashup of My Chemical Romance's Mama and Melanie Martinez's Cry Baby which, you can find on the playlist I have on youtube! Link can be found in my profile for it :)