"GET DOWN!" yelled Liam as he leapt towards Jesse, grabbing him in his arms and pulling him to safety.

Jesse had recently turned two a few weeks ago, so the Joker decided it was time that his heir witnessed a proper gang meeting. A large part of the Joker's criminal empire revolved around drugs and certain illegal chemicals, therefore he would meet up with several benefactors and other mob leaders in order to obtain these substances.

Earlier on in the evening, the Joker and his son had met a dealer on the Gotham docks, with the Joker's usual bodyguards and Liam standing watch over them. The Clown Prince of Gotham was dressed in his usual purple outfit, and Jesse was dressed in a miniature suit, complete with a purple tie.

The dealer was clearly not intimidated by the Joker or his reputation (which made Liam consider who the crazy one really was), and often scoffed at the Jokers' offers. Keeping a careful eye on the dealers' own bodyguards, Liam shuffled closer to Jesse, making sure that he could protect the toddler if need be.

It had only been a few months since Liam had been hired as Jesse's personal bodyguard, and in those past weeks, he had been pushed to his absolute limit physically and mentally...and it was probably only thanks to this training that he was able to see one of the dealer's hired thugs pull out a revolver from the back of his jeans.

And that was how he ended up where he was…. hiding behind a dumpster, with a shaking Jesse in his arms.

The Joker could be heard yelling and laughing out threats, and the sound of gunshots echoed throughout the area, with bullets ricocheted off of the dumpster they were hiding behind. "It's okay…" muttered Liam, trying to soothe the toddler, "…your Daddy's going to be okay. Everything will be okay."

At this point, Liam wasn't sure if he was trying to reassure Jesse or himself.

Suddenly, from around the right side of the dumpster, one of the dealers' thugs appeared and aimed the gun at the pair…only to fall backwards, a bullet in his forehead.

"Well, they know where we are now…" sighed Liam shuffling backwards until he reached a nearby alleyway, "Jester. I'm going to need you to remain as quiet as possible, okay?"

Jesse glanced up at him and nodded, holding a finger to his lips. "Sssshhhh" he whispered.

"That's right. Ssssshhhhhh."

Keeping his eye out for any more thugs, Liam got to his feet and backed into the shadow as the fight between the dealer and the Joker seemed to move away.

"Come on Jester…" he muttered, "….we need to lay low for a while."

"Why?"

"…Because I don't want to get shot, and neither do you I think."

Jesse remained silent, causing Liam to grin. If there was one thing he was good at, it was ending the 'Why?' game before it truly started.

Taking advantage of the silence, Liam headed towards the end of the alleyway, to where he could see another street….and a car.

"Liam…is Daddy dead?"

"No. It'll take more than a gun fight to bring your Dad down." Glancing right and left, Liam quickly snuck over to the car and placed Jesse on the ground.

As Liam began to break into the car, Jesse babbled quietly to himself. "Guns can't kill Daddy. Only Batty can kill Daddy. Only Batty can kill Daddy….and only Daddy can kill Batty."

Desperately trying to ignore the toddlers' babbles, Liam finally managed to open the car door. He picked Jesse up and strapped him into the front passenger seat, quickly realising that you couldn't see the toddler if you happened to glance in through the window…this could work to his advantage.

Climbing into the driver's seat, Liam managed to hot-wire the vehicle and pulled away from the curb.

"We going home?" asked Jesse, trying to see out of the window, "Mummy be worried."

Liam considered the idea for a moment, before shaking his head. "Sorry Jester, but we can't. Those bad guys that were shooting at us? Well, they might follow us to the club or they might get there first and try to hurt us."

"B-but I wanna go home!"

Wincing as the toddler began to shriek and wail, Liam reached over to switch the radio on, hoping to drown the noise out. He turned left, then right, then right again and left, hoping to shake off anyone who may have been following them.

He drove continuously for around half an hour, until he reached a motel. The lights of the sign were broken and the outside was covered in slimy moss. Jesse had fallen silent almost ten minutes previously, realizing that he wasn't getting the attention he wanted.

"Alright…" sighed Liam wearily, parking the car in an unlit parking spot (of which there were many), before going around to the passenger side and lifting Jesse out of the seat, ignoring how the toddler sulkily hit him on the shoulder.

Upon entering the shabby motel, he was greeted by a receptionist, who was clearly paid too little for doing too much. "Welcome to the Lincoln motel, how can I help you?"

Shifting Jesse to one arm, Liam reached into an inside blazer pocket and pulled out a wad of $50 notes. "I need a room. The best you have, which includes hot water and clean bedding. I also need for us to be completely anonymous. Agreed?"

Staring at the wad of money in shock, barely even blinking in order to keep her eyes on it, the receptionist pushed her chair backwards and grabbed a key from the rack. "T-the wedding suite. I-it's the only one that's cleaned regularly. It is a double bed though?"

"It's clean, that's all we need." Liam snatched the key out of her hand, and striding towards the door leading to the rooms. The corridor was dark and practically covered with spider-webs and mould.

Jesse glanced around before burying his face back into Liam's shoulder. "Yucky…" he mumbled.

"I know kiddo…" Reaching the door, Liam jammed the key in the keyhole and twisted it violently, pushing the door open with his free shoulder.

Yikes.

If this was the cleanest room in the motel, then the amount of STD's in the other rooms could keep the local hospital in business.

"Right…" he sighed, gingerly placing Jesse on the edge of his bed, "…security checks. And then a bed bugs check."

Jesse moved to lie back against the bed, only to be stopped when Liam rushed over and braced a hand against his back, making sure he remained upright.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa…." Gently scolded the bodyguard, "….no lying back unless you want fleas." He paused, glancing around. "In fact, just stand here just in case."

He lifted Jesse up off the bed and placed him in the middle of the room, moving away to scan the room for cameras and listening devices…..and creepy crawlies.

After a few minutes of searching, Liam was finally satisfied…the bed sheets were clean (although the mattress could have done with a scrub). "Okay…." He turned to Jesse, "…. we should be fine to stay here for the night, whilst everything calms down."

"Wanna go home!"

Liam sighed wearily.

This was going to be a long night.

…..

There were many ways that Joker envisioned spending this evening.

Celebrating his new deal, Harley perched on his knee.

Taking control of more territory through the use of drugs and illegal chemicals.

However, what he didn't expect was to return home childless and spend the rest of the evening with a gun pressed up against his forehead…. courtesy of his dear Harley Quinn.

"Harley…" he crooned, "…surely we can talk about this?"

There was only silence as Harley pressed the gun harder into his forehead.

"You know, if you wanted to have some gunplay fun tonight, you should have said!"

Harley didn't even react to the sexual innuendo, keeping her gun carefully aimed at the mad man's forehead. "Our son was shot at and is now missing…. give me one good reason why I shouldn't shoot you in the head!"

"…. because I love you?"

Harley sneered at him, "You don't love me, you don't love anyone except yourself!"

"Not true!"

"If you loved anyone but yourself, then you'd have brought our son home with you!"

"His bodyguard has him! It's all under control!"

Harley snarled angrily, spinning around on her heels and throwing the gun onto the leather sofa. "Make yourself at home Mister J…because you and that sofa are going be well acquainted until Jesse comes home."

Before Joker could even think of answering, Harley stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind her.

"Well…" he sighed, "…I think that went well."

….

"Wanna song Liam!"

Liam winced as the petulant child began to slam his fists and feet on the battered mattress, refusing to go to sleep as Liam felt his eyelids grow heavy.

"Kid please!"

"WANNA SONG!"

"Fine, fine!" Liam gave up and pulled Jesse into his lap and began to rock back and forth, "Which one kiddo?"

"Mommy's song! Mommy's song!"

Liam sighed again. He knew this song well. Harley had once mentioned that it was a song in one of her favourite films as a child. Something about a mouse lost in New York… Liam was never one for cutesy, talking animal films as a child.

Jesse loved them.

"Song Liam! Song!"

Wearily, Liam sighed and started to hum until he could remember the words.

"Somewhere… o-out there.
Beneath the pale, moonlight.
S-someone's thinking of you… and loving you tonight."

*************Cut to Harley************************

Harley stared out of her bedroom window and sighed at the bright lights of the nearby buildings (well those that were on). On the TV behind her was 'An American Tail', her favourite film, which has been turned up in order to drown out Mister J's complaints over sleeping on the sofa.

As Fiefel started to sing, Harley buried her face in one of the pillows, humming along to the melancholy song.

"Somewhere… out there
Someone's saying a prayer
That…we'll find one another.
In that big somewhere, out there.

And even though I know how very far apart we are.
It helps to think we might be wishing on the same bright star…."

***********Cut to Liam & Jesse*****************

"And when the n-night wind starts to sing a lonesome lullaby.
It helps to think we're seeping underneath the same big sky…."

Noticing that Jesse's eyes were slowly sliding shut, Liam lowered his voice as he finished the song.

"Somewhere out there…
If love can see us through…
Then we'll be together…. somewhere out there.
Out where dreams…. come true."

The soft, steady breathing of the toddler, caused Liam to sigh in relief. Tucking Jesse in, he scanned the room one last time, making sure all the doors were locked, before seating himself on a nearby armchair (where he could keep watch over Jesse) and slowly falling asleep himself.

….

The next morning, Liam determined that the danger had passed, and bundled Jesse back into their stolen car.

"Home now?" asked the toddler.

Liam nodded as he clambered into the driving seat, "Yeah…. Home now. You ready to see Mommy?"

Giggling and nodding his head frantically, Jesse bounced up and down in his seat as the car started and they headed away from the motel. Keeping a careful eye out for anyone who may pose them a threat, or anyone following them, Liam merged into the traffic.

Thankfully, they managed to make it to the back-alley behind the Joker's club without incident. Almost as soon as Liam pulled Jesse out of the car, the back door to the club flew open and Harley ran out.

"Jester!" she cried out, practically snatching the child away and holding him close to her chest, "My little Jester!"

"Mommy!"

Liam turned away to allow the pair some privacy… only to come face to face with the Clown Prince of crime himself.

"Liam! Just the man I wanted to see!"

Tensing up in case of confrontation, Liam nodded at the man. "What can I do for you Sir?"

Joker flung on arm around Liam's shoulder and pulled him closer, "Trust me, you've already done all you can. My heir is alive and unmaimed… and you're about to get whomever you desire in the whole of Gotham."

"…Can I request that new stripper in the club?"

"HAHA! That's the spirit!"