The entire night dragged on for Sofia, it was now the early hours of the morning. The sun barely peeking over the horizon. And she barely got any sleep. She laid motionless in her bed on her stomach staring out the window. She was exhausted, but sleep didn't come easy. So lying in an empty cold bed was the only thing she could do. A yawn took over as she stretched out her body, her head had been hurting from all the crying she had been doing. She grunted and pushed herself up off the bed, making her way to the bathroom to grab some pain killers.

After taking a little over the required amount, she gulped down some tap water and looked up at the mirror. She looked a mess; her hair was disheveled and her eyes were still swollen. Not as red as they had been before, but enough to show that she was crying. Her eye makeup was still smudged, and her lips were dry. She sighed and leaned over the counter, her head pounding and the light ringing in her ears didn't help.

Knock

Knock

Knock

Sofia's head popped up at the sound. She hoped it was Jonathan, but highly doubted it would be. A part of her almost didn't even want to look at him or her brother anymore. She rolled her eyes and walked up to the door, glancing through the peephole to see a familiar face on the other side. Sofia creased her forehead in confusion but unlocked the door and turned the handle, opening it to see Maroni on the other side.

"Sal?" she asked confused

Maroni stared at Sofia with a warm smile, "Hello Sofie. May I come in?"

She stared at Maroni for a few moments before nodding and opening the door fully to allow him inside. She walked over toward the kitchen and sat down on the stool, staring down at her wrists. Maroni watched her distressed state as he closed the door behind him and made his way in front of her from the other side of the island. Her eyes never left her hands, "You're here to take me away," she said softly.

Sal continued to watch her, letting out a breath and nodding, "I am."

She sat quiet.

"This is for your own safety love," he stated sincerely

She scoffed, "Right."

Maroni frowned, "Would you like to know something Sofie?"

She sighed and glanced up at him, her eyes finally meeting his own. He took that as insinuation for him to continue, "When your brother first found out about your whereabouts. He took no hesitation in finding a way to get his hands on you."

"He didn't even remember who I was for years."

Maroni nodded, "And that was true. He didn't even know who he was. But when things finally clicked in his head. He decided to find out or himself."

She rolled her eyes, "And when did that happen?"

Maroni stared at her, "The night of the banquet."

Sofia watched Sal until her eyes dropped to the counter. That was the delicious offer J was talking about when they first met. Maroni walked over to the other side of the counter, "He wants you safe."

Another tear rolled down her face, her hand reaching up to grip her locket. "That's why he's doing this."

Sofia's head slowly turned up to look at him, her eyes filled with tears.

"He can handle a lot of things Sofie. But he can't handle losing you. You're the only one who keeps his old self alive."

She closed her eyes and dropped her head, crying some more. Maroni gave a sorrowful look before grabbing her and holding her tightly while she sobbed.

"He's gone. He's not my brother anymore." She whimpered into his jacket

Maroni thought it best not to say anything further. He didn't want her changing her mind because of him. Despite how wrong she was, he simply held her until gently pressing her back and looking at her.

"It's time to go." He stated

She swallowed down her grief and slowly nodded, turning and walking over to her room to get ready and pack her things.


Joker had managed to gather all his men and weapons throughout the night. He placed his guns into their holsters attached around his shoulders. Walking from the upper level of the club and heading down the hall for the garage he entered the room to see Crane situating a new contraption of his from a work desk on the other side of the room.

He walked down the stairs, "New sex toy of yours Johnny?"

Crane rolled his eyes and placed the gloved invention with attached syringes onto his wrist. He turned to face the Joker as he pressed the button to open the sliding door of his Lamborghini. Joker watched as Crane clicked a button as the sharp syringes retracted back into the glove. J gave an impressed look, "I can see you've been using your alone time wisely."

Yes. No distractions.

Jonathan grimaced, "Are we leaving?"

Joker smirked and hopped into his sportscar, "I am. Whatever you choose to do is all on you there doctor."

Jonathan once again rolled his eyes in irritation. He noticed Frost walking into the garage and walk to a separate room filled with the rest of Joker's weaponry inside.

You'd think he'd have a damn army.

I suppose the most feared psychopath must be prepared for anything.

Crane now stood aside of his silver Audi, turning to see Joker starting the Lambo, "Your leaving your men behind?"

Joker shifted revved up the engine, "Don't worry about what I do Johnny boy. Just try and keep up." He replied shifting gears and driving off into the city.

This entire family's bullshit is exasperating. Just as bad as your ex squeeze.

Jonathan didn't want to think about Sofia at the moment. Instead, he climbed into his own car and turned on the ignition, following the purple Lamborghini that seemed to breeze passed every street light without effort.

You already knew going into this that he isn't exactly the easiest to work with.

I know.


Sofia wore a pair of torn black skinny jeans with a matching black top and a jean jacket with a black wool hood to cover her from the cool spring breeze. She had on her tight boots and carried only two suitcases with her. She decided to leave the rest of her things behind, those items mainly being her art pieces. She took one more look over at her apartment and sighed, shutting the door and walking down the steps.

Maroni and his men were waiting for her in the back alleyway. He smiled at her before grabbing the handle of the car door and opening it. One of Maroni's men grabbed her bags and placed them in the trunk. She turned to look at Maroni when he handed her the train ticket. She paused before taking it and looking up at him.

He smiled at her and gave her a hug, Sofia exhaled as she rested her head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry about Val Sofie." He whispered, "He loved you very much."

He let her go and she stepped inside the back of the vehicle, Sal shutting the door afterwards. He gave her one last smile before the car pulled out from the alleyway and headed for the subway station on the east end of Gotham.


It was difficult, but Crane was able to keep up with Joker. He drove until seeing J's empty car parked in the more deserted area of the city. Near the bay. Crane pulled up aside of the Lambo and stepped out, looking around for any sign of Joker.

Maybe he jumped in the water.

Crane finally spotted an abandoned subway entrance just up ahead, the gate that kept others from entering was blasted open. He walked over to the entry and peered down the stairway, seeing a recognizable green haired man walking around below.

Oh darn.

Jonathan inwardly rolled his eyes and started walking down the stairway. He walked up just behind Joker, who seemed to be searching for something on the walls. The area was completely empty, cobwebs scattered the room and broken tile coming off walls with graffiti sprayed all over. Jonathan took one step forward before realizing he'd walked into a pool of dirty water. The young doctor frowned and shook his foot off from the dirt that now clung onto his shoe.

Jonathan groaned annoyance, "What is it your looking for down here?"

"Shut up Crane," J said dryly, still looking around the walls, knocking on every inch of the wall.

Jonathan sighed heavily and walked to wall, leaning against it, "What do you expect to find? There's nothing here."

Joker grunted and stood up, looking over at Jonathan before letting a sinister smirk cross his lips. Jonathan furrowed his brows while Joker walked up to him, intruding in on his personal space. The clown prince stared at Crane until he lifted his arm and placed his hand on the wall. Jonathan quirked his head in confusion while J winked at him and forcefully pushed the surface open, showing a long dark hallway behind it. Jonathan let out a shocked minor yelp as he fell to the dirt floor.

When he looked up at Joker, the man was smiling down at him with a smug look on his face. J adjusted his blazer and walked passed Crane.

"Thanks Johnny boy. Looks like your more useful than I initially thought." J chuckled

Can't believe you didn't see that coming…

Quiet.

Jonathan frowned and lifted himself up, dusting off his sleeves. He glowered at the Joker, soon following behind. The tunnel went on for another 10 minutes, all while the Joker remained silent. He looked stuck within his own thoughts.

Wonder what our dear friends thinking about.

Possibly reminiscing?

To this fucking place?

Jonathan decided to speak up to break the silence, "Where are we?"

After a few moments, they ended up in an area that appeared more lit than before. There were separate rooms and tunnels leading in different directions. Like an underground bunker.

J frowned, "The Basilisk."

Well that explains the tattoo.

Jonathan looked over at J. He turned and walked further down the hallway, one room in particular catching his eye. Unknown to Crane, Joker was looking at the room he'd first given Sofia her locket. Jonathan walked up aside of him and examined his face, it was a rare thing to see the Joker show any sort of repentance.

"I take it this wasn't a pleasant memory? Can't imagine the torture you must have endured in a place like this," Crane spoke

Joker gave Jonathan a look before turning and walking into another hallway.

"Sometimes memories are the worst form of torture." He replied deadpanned

He isn't wrong.

Crane stopped walking when J's arm prevented him from moving any further. Jonathan glanced at him, J looked at the doctor and raised a finger to silently hush him quiet. Jonathan scrunched his brows until he heard the sound of rapid footsteps coming for them. The two turned to see a figure in a red mask appear form the shadows, they were holding two blades in each hand and their eyes glowed green from behind their mask.

Joker lowered his head and growled, easily dodging the man's blow as he quickly grappled onto the man's arm and spun him around in a headlock. Jonathan took the opportunity to sharply extend the syringes on one of his gloved hands and pierce the man's open skin on his neck. They heard the man grunt at the sharp needles striking his bare skin. Joker snickered and dropped the man to the ground. He shot up and gripped his neck, coughing and shaking his head. When he glanced back up, he spotted a terrifying clown with sharp teeth and vibrant glowing green eyes.

"S-Stay away from me!" the man shouted, he tried shuffling away before Crane came up from behind and slammed his fist behind the man's head, knocking him unconscious.

Joker quirked a naked brow, "Oh honestly you have to do better than that Willy ol' boy!" he spoke out loud.

Jonathan furrowed his brows until a voice came through the intercom above them, "Heh heh. Oh Jack, I can never get anything past you, can I?" the voice laughed

J looked around and glanced up at the ceiling, "Why don't you come face me Will? Like old times."

There was a pause before the speaker chimed in again.

"Come find me Jack." The voice finished, the intercom screeching off.

Jonathan looked down at J, who snarled and turned to see more of Leviathan's men coming out from the shadows. The clown prince grabbed both guns from their holsters and cocked them.

"Where are your men at Joker?" Crane asked irritably

J rolled his eyes and turned to the doctor in annoyance, "Stop asking stupid questions Crane."

I hope you brought enough toxin.

Jonathan exhaled and clicked a button on his gloves, filling the syringes back up with green venom. The sound pumping through the tubing wrapped underneath his suit.


The traffic was unusually packed this morning. Sofia stared out of the backseat window. Her driver looked over the lengthy line of cars. There were people crowding the area, Sofia turned her head until she noticed a carnival just up ahead. Of course, the annual Gotham carnival, which would explain the countless crowds.

"Crazy aint' it? How all these people go nuts over some stupid carnival," the driver spoke

She shifted back in her seat, remembering a time her and Jack would go to the carnival. It was one of the most exciting times of their tormented lives. A time where things were somewhat good even if it was limited. She frowned when she spotted a family of four. A mother, a father, a brother and a sister. The siblings were happily laughing to one another while he grabbed his sister and put her on his back.

Jack would do the same thing with her.

She continued to watch the family as they walked further down the street.

"Bet the GCPD have enough on their hands, handling this place, hoping that Leviathan guy doesn't make a mess of things here." He spoke up again

Her head snapped to the driver, her eyes wandering off in thought. If they were busy patrolling this area, then Batman wouldn't be too far behind. Which meant wherever Jack was going, he would have to deal with Decker alone. And she knew exactly where that would be. Her heart started pounding and her breathes began to quicken.

"Don't worry, we'll get ya to the subway on time," he smiled, turning back to look at her.

He sat shocked when he noticed the empty backseat with the door ajar. "Ms. Black?" he asked, searching for her through the crowd of people. He then noticed a woman running in the opposite direction of where everyone was headed.

"Ms. Black!" he shouted, now getting out of the car and looking over to see she was now long gone, "Shit," he muttered, looking down and shuffling through his pocket for his cellphone.


Sofia continued running, despite feeling the burning in her lungs, she kept at it. She was thankful she placed the keys to J's corvette in her pocket, but she was still over 15 minutes away. That's when she heard an engine coming for her. A bike sped right passed her until skidding just a few feet ahead and stopping her in her tracks. Jason took off his helmet and looked at her, "Sofie? What are you doing here? Why are you running?" he asked worriedly

Sofia placed her finger up to hush him while she caught her breath, "Oh my god. I need to work out…"

Jason furrowed his brows, "Sofie—

"Can you give me a ride?" she asked desperately

"To where?"

"My apartment." She replied

Jason glanced back down the street, like a child worried about getting in trouble and sighed, "Get on."

She smiled and walked over to him, jumping on the back of his bike, wrapping her arms around his body. He placed the helmet back on and turned his head, "Hang on tight."

She tightened her hold on him as he revved the bike up and shot down the street. Once they finally got to her place, Sofia quickly hopped off the bike and rushed for the black corvette parked in the alleyway. Jason kicked open the kickstand and walked over toward her, "Where are you going Sofie?" he asked

She was now seated in the driver seat of the car and started the ignition, "Nowhere."

He frowned, "Sofie. I can't let you go somewhere by yourself."

She shut the door and peered up at him from the open window, "I know. I'm sorry Jason." She replied, quickly shoving the car door open to push him forcefully to the ground while the tires screeched until shooting back into the streets.

Jason lifted himself up and rubbed his neck, turning and watching until the back of the corvette was no longer visible. He reached into his pocket to grab his phone, seeing a red dot moving across the screen, "Me too."