A/N: No dedication. I am full of violence.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters that are owned by Jhonen Vasquez. Because I'm not him, bless his soul. But I do own any characters you don't recognize, such as my original character.

Warning: Wow. I don't know. This contains violence and swearing… And probably some other things that I haven't thought of just yet.

Monday came and Monday went, with no sign of Danielle's father. Johnny was on edge- not to say he wasn't normally, but ever since the emergence of Danielle's biological father, it had caused him to be on a violent rampage. Danielle, having grown as used to it (or as well someone can when their parental figure is gutting someone alive), had gone about her day as she had every other day. Tuesday came, too, and went by without a hassle, as did Wednesday. By Thursday, Johnny had had enough of it. That day, he picked up a surprised Danielle from school, leaving Squee on the footpath, watching the adult and child drive away in a cliched cloud of dust.

In the car, Danielle sat quietly beside the man, watching as he tried to run a man off the road, albeit unsuccessfully.

'Johnny…' she began, her voice thin. There was a snort next to her, and she tried again. 'Johnny?'

'What?' Johnny snapped in response. His knuckles were white around the black of his steering wheel, eyes squinted with a dangerous glint in them.

'Are we going to Devi's?' Danielle asked softly, her hands clasped under her chin, as she stared at the bag in her lap, Lola's arm sticking out of her bag.

'Yes.' Johnny snapped again. Danielle looked up at him, her dark hair falling across her face, lips pursed tightly.

'You don't have to yell!' she whispered, holding her backpack to her chest. Johnny groaned beside her as the turned a corner sharply, causing them both to rock precariously in their seats.

'I'm not yelling' Johnny moaned with a roll of his eyes. 'I'm just pissed off right now.'

There was a lengthy pause, before Danielle let out a quiet 'why?'

Johnny hummed lightly, drumming his fingers atop his steering wheel. Watching the road ahead of him, he rested his weight upon the wheel and glanced over at Danielle. The screeched up to a set of lights, and he turned his head to her.

'Your father. I'm… pissed off because your appears to have come out of the blue, and I think he may want to have you in his custody.'

'Custard-dee?' Danielle repeated, brow narrowed.

'Custody. Meaning he would have guardianship over you.' Johnny explained. The traffic lights flicked to green, and they were off again. 'Your father would become your custodian. He would be your guardian.'

'Meaning I wouldn't be able to live with you?' Danielle asked, her voice barely audible. Johnny shook his head, his face carefully blank.

'No, you wouldn't.'

'But why would he want me?' she asked. 'I'm… well, I'm nothing to him. It's not like he ever bothered making contact with my mother or I when he was away from us.'

'I don't know Danielle.' Johnny replied. 'He doesn't even know you're mother is dead, for Christ's sake. And if he did, we would both be in a heap of shit.'

'Why?'

A faint sigh came from the man, and he shook his head. 'Because I am not your legal guardian. I have no proper… ownership, if you will, over you. If the police found out- which I highly doubt, because I haven't been caught yet and I have committed murder in front of them- I could be tried for kidnapping. Fuck sake, Danielle, your father might even have a try at me, try to kill me and whatnot.'

'Oh.'

Danielle hung her head, her shoulders sagging slightly. She opened her bag, and pulled out Lola, the doll's hair messy, her dress crumpled. Patting the Barbie's head, she smoothed down the dress, her movements robotic and practiced. Johnny spun around a corner, and the car whined as it was parked outside a row of apartments. His seatbelt was clicked off, and when Danielle didn't make a move for her door, he leant over and opened it for her. As he sat back in his own chair, Danielle lifted her head. Pulling off her seat belt, she placed Lola back in her bag, and slipped out of her seat, and onto the ground. Looking up at Johnny, she swung her bag over her shoulder, Johnny looking down on her.

'Would you miss me?' she asked softly.

'Excuse me?' Johnny cocked his head, confusion evident on his face.

'If my dad wanted to take me back. If he tried to get custody over me. Become my custodian. What you said. Would you miss me?'

A noise, much like a groan and sigh, came from Johnny, and he reached over. Grabbing the handle of the door Danielle left from, he gave the small girl one last look.

'No, I wouldn't.'

A pause.

'I'll be back to pick you up at four o'clock.'

And with that, he slammed the door shut, and drove away.

'What the fuck did you think you were doing?'

Johnny held the phone away from his ear, staring at the ear piece. After Devi's screeches calmed down, he gingerly placed it back on his ear, and cleared his throat.

'Start from the beginning, and tell me what I did' he said slowly.

Devi didn't reply in the same manner.

'I open my fucking door, and fucking Danielle is standing there in tears! You fucking bastard, Nny, she's seven years old and you tell her you wouldn't fucking miss her if she was taken away! It took her fifteen minutes to tell me the entire fucking story! Jesus Christ, do you have no compassion?'

Johnny let out a low grumble, and ran a hand through his hair. Meat was strangely quiet, and Johnny couldn't help but think that maybe the plastic toy was snickering at him, somewhere in the bowels of the house. Cackling, that would be what he was doing, Johnny thought, cackling, like the piece of shit he is.

It took him a moment to realise Devi was going on a tangent again. Tossing the phone from hand to hand, the cord bouncing, stretching and snapping back in place, Johnny set himself down on a crate and waited for the woman to calm down.

'She's a fucking child! A child! She needs to be comforted, and have re-assurance that people love her- that her parents love her! But fuck all that right? Because you probably didn't need love as a child, you probably were as fucked up then as you are now and couldn't see through your fucking arrogance. Well I've got some news for you and you better fucking listen good because I'm not bloody repeating myself: children need love. Got it? Danielle needs love, and you fucked her mother over and her father seems like a piece of shit, more so than you, so you're her parent. A bastard, but you're her parent. She is under your care, and until you can think of a way to better your situation you're stuck with her.'

There was a lengthy pause, and Devi seemed to be catching her breath. Raising a brow, Johnny held the phone tight to his ear, listening hard. When Devi spoke again, her voice was soft and she seemed to be crying.

'She's a good kid, Nny. She really is, and I don't think she would have been crying as hard as she was if she didn't care about you. You may not think too much of her, but you are all she has left now. Her mother is dead. You killed her mother. You brought this situation upon yourself, and because of that you have to live with it. I know this has to be hard for you, you're hardly father material, and I don't think you ever will be, but you have to learn to live with it. Danielle is a really good kid, and all she needs is for you to love her. Or at least pretend you do.'

Johnny sighed loudly, and there was a loud sniff on the other end of the line. Clutching his shirt, Johnny looked down at his knees.

'I know Danielle is a good kid,' he finally said. His heart wrenched in his chest, and he frowned. 'I'll be 'round to pick her up.'

He hung up before Devi could reply, and headed for his car.

Danielle was still teary as Johnny drove her home. She'd periodically hiccup and wipe her face, her hand coming back wet and slightly snotty. Johnny was silent, and when they finally turned into his drive he turned to her, and gave her a downhearted look.

'Danielle…'

The girl looked up, eyes red and already welling up with more tears.

'I don't want to leave you…' she whispered. The tears began to fall down her face, and she began shaking uncontrollably, hugging her backpack tight to her chest. Johnny winced, and nervously placed a hand on her shoulder. Patting it, he began to talk above her.

'You might not have to. I don't know, okay? I don't fucking know.'

'B-But you said you wo-wouldn't miss me!'

Johnny let out a loud cry, and withdrew his hand. Danielle looked up and stared at him, another hiccup coming from her.

'I'd miss you so much…'

Glancing over at Danielle, Johnny sighed, and, anxiously, pulled her into a hug.

'I'd miss you too.'

A/N: I'm still full of violence.