Sofia was torn from her sleep when the door suddenly opened. She rubbed her eyes and nearly dropped the glass from her hand that was resting on her cheek. She cleared her throat, feeling the dryness and turned to see who walked in. It wasn't the Joker, or Frost. Instead, it was someone she'd never seen before. He was younger and clearly new to this job. He had short blonde hair and bright blue eyes. He couldn't have been no more than 18. He was carrying something with him and he looked around the room. He stopped when he spotted her sitting in the chair. The same clothes she had on the night before were still on her, including her shoes. His eye quickly shot down to the floor sheepishly.

Sofia inwardly smiled to herself, this was her way out. He looked back up to her and walked closer to the counter. Sofia knew that Joker likely threatened him not to speak to her by how nervous he was and afraid of even looking at her. She frowned at the idea of how young he was in a life like this. She knew from experience what this life could do to you. He gently placed the tray on the surface and backed away. It was food. She smiled, she may have pissed the Joker off, but he was still willing to feed her.

A sandwich and some chips. She sat up in her seat and took the sandwich in her hand, turning to look at the young man who was standing by the door. She scoffed before taking a bite. Nothing had tasted better than that sandwich. Spice Italian panini. She furrowed her brows…. This was her favorite…

She turned to look at the kid, leaning back in her seat and crossing her legs. The boy's eyes wandered up her thighs. She smirked, tilting her head to the side and placing the sandwich back on the plate. She dusted the crumbs from her hands and smiled, "What's your name?" His eyes shifted awkwardly around, not knowing if he should speak or not.

"C…Collin."

"Collin," Sofia repeated and nodded, "How old are you Collin?"

"19."

Ah, damn… one year off, she thought.

"Where's your boss?" she asked coolly

He shot his eyes back to the floor, still standing guard of the door. She chuckled, "It's alright Collin. I won't tell him you talked to me. It'll be our little secret."

He bit the side of his cheek, pondering her words, she seemed nice. "Uh, he went out earlier today, he said he had business to deal with."

Sofia nodded slowly, "Uh huh, and he sent you up here to babysit me is that it?"

Collin gave a small smile and shook his head. Sofia smiled back and flipped her hair over her shoulder, making Collin look at her again. Her green eyes looked up at him, but he didn't look away.

"You look like you want to ask me a question," she said calmly

Collin licked his lips, "Are you and the Joker… you know…?"

Sofia frowned, what the hell would make him think that? Absolutely not, but as much as she wanted to shoot that accusation straight down, she chuckled, "Why? Does that concern you Collin?"

He then looked back to the ground and shook his head, "No. I just never see the boss with any women really. Especially in his room. With someone like you."

That made her wonder how many women Joker's been with. She glanced back up to the boy, "Someone like me?"

"Your very pretty." He mumbled

"You think I'm pretty?"

He suddenly blushed and tried to avoid her eyes. Sofia placed her elbow on the arm of the chair and rested her chin on her hand. He swallowed down the tenseness, making her lightly chuckle. "You wanna come over here and tell me that, I don't think I heard you quite right."

Collin shot his eyes to hers and contemplated her words. Glancing back at the door and turning to her, cautiously walking over to her. She sat casually in the chair and watched as he slowly knelt down by her. He licked his dry lips and hesitated. She smiled and scooted up in her seat, placing her hand on his shoulder and tracing it down his arms. She leaned in and noticed he was all too eager to kiss her, he closed his eyes as their lips were inches apart.

Click

Collin quickly opened his eyes to see Sofia staring at him with a serious expression on her face. She sighed, "Sorry Collin." He glanced down to see he was now handcuffed to the table leg. Sofia reached over to grab his gun and stand up walking to the door. It was open. She turned to look at Collin who was sitting defeated on the floor, she frowned, knowing the Joker wasn't going to be happy. But she had to get out. And this was her only chance. She quickly snuck out the door and gently closed it. She turned to walk over to the balcony. Seeing only a few of Joker's men walking around the lower level of the building. She glanced over to see no one was guarding the stairs and took the opportunity to rush passed and make her way to the back exit. Her heart stopped when she saw the door that was locked from the night before open. She froze, not wanting to move.

"Boss wants us to make sure the product is secured," one man said from behind the door

There was an agonizing pause before the other commented, "Yeah alright," and shut the door closed again. Sofia let out a relieved breath and snuck over to the back exit. She couldn't believe how simple it had been. She glanced up to the cameras and saluted with a smile before opening the door and letting herself out. It was midday and Sofia bolted through the alleyway and looked at the street, waving down a taxi.


Sofia anxiously sat in the back of the taxi cab, he couldn't keep from toying with her fingers. They pulled up to the gallery and Sofia quickly ran out of the vehicle.

"Hey! You have to pay!" the cab driver shouted

But Sofia ignored his words and kept running up to the glass doors. It seemed like ages since she'd seen these doors again. Once inside, she could smell the paint and wood of the gallery. She paced through the halls, she could see a few people who were walking through, looking at the artwork. Her eyes frantically looked around for any sign of Val.

"Sofie?"

Sofia quickly turned to see Francis staring at her in both shock and confusion. She let out a relaxed chuckled and ran over to him, to which he did the same. They both hugged one another before she pushed him back a bit, "Where's Val?"

Francis blinked, "He's in his office. Wait Sofie where have you been? How did you get away from the Joker?"

She furrowed her brows, "How did you know I was with him?"

"Because it's all over the news. The breakout, you being kidnapped from Arkham and all the people getting killed. Everyone in Gotham basically knows."

Her eyes fell in thought, that made sense. Francis placed his hands on her shoulders and leaned over to look at her, "Val's been a wreck." She frowned and turned to rush to his office.

"Sofie wait!" Francis shouted from behind, but Sofia continued to run to Val's office. She finally made her way to the front doors of his office and opened them. The office was neatly empty, there were things in boxes and packages filled with his belongings. Bellomi soon whipped around nervously at the sound of the door suddenly opening. Almost as if he were expecting an unwelcomed guest. But when his eyes landed on her, they instantly turned into saucers. Sofia looked around the room and back over to Val.

"Sofia?" he muttered in disbelief

"What the hell is this?" she asked]

Val rushed over to her and quickly shut the door. He placed his finger up to his mouth to shush her quiet. She stared at him, waiting for answers. He gave her a reassuring smile and hugged her tightly, "Oh Sofie. I thought I'd never see you again," he whispered with tears in his eyes.

Sofia couldn't stay mad at him when he did this. She closed her eyes and sighed, "No Val. I'm right here. Now can you please tell me what's going on?"

Val looked around his room and back down at his watched, raking his fingers through his thin hair, "Come. Have a seat Sofie. There's something I need to tell you."

Sofia watched him as he pulled her over to the leather couch in his office. He sat her down and squeezed her hand, not wanting to let go.

"Mr. Falcone will be here soon. When that time comes, I hope to be gone from the city," he started

Sofia didn't understand, "But why does he want you? What did you do?" The fear was coming out now.

Val looked down at his lap, his old face wrinkling a bit in shame, "I did it to protect you Sofie."

Sofia sat up in her seat and leaned over, making Val look at her eyes, "Val. What did you do?" She asked, more demanding than before. He scrunched his face in sorrow as he switched his eyes to the ground as though remembering some valuable memory.

"I knew you mother Sofie. She would often come to my gallery. She loved art, very much like yourself. One day she brought you and your brother here to look at all the pieces. After a few years, she had become very good friends with Margaret and I. That's when she told us about her troubles with your father and how she was planning to leave him," he continued, "My wife and I were willing to help her. But when the day came, I never got a phone call. Until I saw her name in the paper. She had died along with your father and you two went missing. Margaret and I tried so desperately to find you and your brother. Soon after Margaret died of pneumonia and I was alone and had lost all hope."

He finally looked up at her, "That's when I got a phone call from Maroni telling me about how you were in juvenile for intruding on the Ace Chemical plant."

Sofia sat there dumbfounded, her eyes casting down, remembering that he was the only person to help her. She always wondered why she was let out of juvenile. Val had taken her in and essentially took care of her ever since.

"I couldn't let you into that again. Your too special to me to be dragged back into that life," he finished

A tear fell down Sofia's cheek, "I still don't understand."

Val stared at her, swallowing down the emotions he was feeling. "Your brother is not dead Sofie."

Sofia's heart sank, she didn't know what to feel. Happy? That her brother was still alive. Or angry, because the one thing she's wanted for so long was kept from her by the one person she trusted in this world. Sofia's eyes fell to the ground, "What?" She whispered, "Where is he?" Her voice turning desperate.

"You've been with him this whole time."

Sofia quickly let go of his hand and stood up, she glared at Val. Her mind racing with different thoughts of who it could have been. Eventually realizing that she'd spent too much time recently with one person in particular. She slowly shook her head and started stepping away from Val. Who gradually stood up and lifted both hands cautiously for her, not wanting her to run away or reject his touch.

Sofia seemed to be in a haze, her vision was clouded as she tried putting the pieces together. The Joker? It couldn't be him. He… He was nothing like Jack. Jack cared for her. Protected her. The Joker didn't care about anyone other than himself. Val was a few steps away before he heard her utter muffled words as her eyes stayed glued to the floor.

"How long?"

Val quirked his head, "How long?"

Her head lifted as she glared at Val, ow feeling anger wash over her. "How long has he known?" She commanded.

Val watched her before shaking his head, "He doesn't. His memory is… fogged. He barely remembers anything from his past. But you. He just couldn't keep you out of that damaged mind of his. He knows… something. But, he just can't seem to put them together. Any time you try and question his past he lashes out or blatantly avoids the topic."

So he had no idea who she was then? But it wasn't him was it? That…. Man, wasn't Jack. No way that was her brother. This whole time she'd been searching for a man she lost years ago, only to find out that he'd been right under her nose all along. So why wasn't she overjoyed? She often thought about the day when she would finally reunite with Jack. He would welcome her with open arms and tell her how much he missed her. No. This man was NOT Jack. How could Val even have known that? It was a stretch, even for him.

He looked down at his watch and opened his mouth anxiously. He quickly looked up to Sofia and grabbed her hand. "Sofie. Please. We must leave. Please come with me love. We can leave this place. We can have a new life," he urged nervously, turning and walking forward but stopped when he felt the hand sharply retract backwards.

Sofia stared at him, "If what your saying holds any truth Val. Why would I go with someone who's lied to me this whole time? Someone whose kept a secret to something I've been wanting answers to for years. And leave my brother? Val, you must be crazy."

Val frowned, "Because I did it to protect you! Falcone's been relentlessly attacking Maroni's men and our protection isn't there anymore. We need to leave Sofie. They want you. They know who you are. And he's not well Sofie. Jack is capable of doing much more than you think. He could hurt you or worse."

Sofia furrowed her brows, not liking the idea of Jack harming her. So far he's choked her, bruised her and tossed her around. But Jack would never kill her. "So what, we just up and leave the gallery? Everything we've worked for? You're just going to leave Francis?"

The older man shook his head frantically, "I've told Francis enough for him to leave as soon as we do and wait until this whole thing dissolves. They've wanted me dead for a long time. And without the extra protection, I'm an open target for them. Which means they can easily access you if you're not with the Joker. Sofie. It's not safe for us here."

He reached over for her hand and dragged her out the door. She nearly tripped, despite him being the age he was. He had some strength left. "Val!"

But before they could exchange any more words, they stopped when they turned to see a middle-aged dressed in a dark gray suit. Holding a gun up to Val's head. Sofia froze instantly when her eyes landed on Falcone and the four men standing behind him.

"Well if it isn't Sofia Black," Falcone smiled, "You've become pretty famous in the underground."