A/N: I'm back! My apologies for the long wait, health issues came between, but here we are!

Chapter 10

"Well I'm a total wreck and almost every day
Like the firing squad or the mess you made.
Well don't I look pretty walking down the street
In the best damn dress I own?"
Give 'Em Hell Kid - My Chemical Romance

"Rick, I can't do this again."

"Yeah, you can. I don't like it either, but we have no choice."

June Moone glanced over her shoulder, as if to check if they were being followed. It wasn't unlikely that Amanda Waller sent some civil agents or even the Secret Service to watch them. It was apparent the woman did not trust Rick anymore. He had been soiled by the emotional attachments he had to June, but he still wasn't deemed useless.

June reached for his hand to put the thoughts out of mind.

"It'll be over soon," he muttered, keeping his gaze focused on the street. This was duty to him, another job that had to be done.

She knew she was being stupid. This was all just a safety measure. All because Rick had heard her calling for the Enchantress in her sleep, and worried for her safety he had called Amanda Waller. Having Rick by her side felt safer, she wouldn't be alone if it happened again. If it happened.

It should be impossible, but Amanda Waller believed in the impossible, that was her profession. That's why they were going to Midway City now, for this final test, to see if the memory of the train station would unleash the demonic entity. A test that could result in massive collateral damage, but Waller was not concerned.

Rick squeezed her hand as they walked down the street, heading toward the underground metro. This is all normal, she tried to tell herself. She was no longer possessed by an evil entity and he was not the soldier sent to guard her. They were just a normal couple… sent on a government mission.

This part of Gotham was worn-down and generally unsafe, but Waller's missions were never comfortable. Rick was armed, of course, but wearing civil clothes. This was not that kind of mission. They still couldn't draw attention to themselves by taking the closest, more comfortable route.

This early in the morning, the sun had barely managed to appear behind the roof tops, and the street was starting to wake up. Voices drifted out from the apartments, a car sped by as they rounded a corner.

June noticed something in the corner of her vision when they passed by a dumpster.

"Rick…" She stopped. "Wait, I saw something."

He scanned the surroundings, always looking out for them both. He knew her curiosity always got the best of her and she had paid a high prize for that; the destruction of Midway City almost six years ago was the proof of that.

"It was probably a stray. Come on, let's go and get this over with."

With an archeologist's trained eye, June let her gaze sweep over the landscape of dumpsters, trashcans and parked cars. No other sign of movement. Yet, she was sure she had seen something.

She took a few steps back and turned, ignoring Rick's annoyance as she looked behind the massive object. In the small space between the dumpster and the brick wall, there was a small sleeping form nestled up.

"Rick!" Her voice sounded strangely pitched. He walked over to her side, warily.

A little girl was curled up on her side on the ground, dusty blonde hair covering her face. Her dress was torn and her arms bruised. She moved a little when she heard June speak.

June slowly crouched down. "Hey, are you alright?"

The child blinked for a few moments, ice blue eyes staring at them.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Rick muttered.

She stared at them, crawling backwards a little. Her face was covered with scribbled, smudged black diamonds and hearts along the temples. It reminded Rick of a certain person he'd had responsibility for once.

The kid's entire appearance almost gave him chills. She reminded him of the children wounded by war he had seen during his time as a soldier, the strange emptiness in their eyes. She looked torn.

"Come with us," he told her, crouching down and reaching out a hand.

She sat up quickly, trying to back away from them, as she shook her head intensely.

As Rick made no move to withdraw, she tensed up and grabbed hold of a sharp metal piece that she had hid behind her back. Her eyes were wide as her hands firmly wrapped around the metal piece, holding it like a weapon in front of her.

She got up on her feet, ready to strike at any moment. Rick moved in front of June to disarm the kid, but his wife put her hand on his arm.

"Wait, Rick. You can't approach her like that, you're only gonna scare her more."

"Let me handle this," he snapped back. "I'll call the police, and they'll take her to the hospital. We have other things to do."

"I won't go to the hospital!" Her steady voice made them both freeze.

June looked at the girl, who resembled a frightened kitten with bared claws. Something within her knew that look all too well.

She remembered when the Enchantress first possessed her body, how terrified she was of being locked away forever, put away into a mental hospital for the rest of her life. How horrified she felt, out of all control… grasping for any piece of safety.

Then Rick had been assigned to guard her. He and his SWAT team had entered her bathroom with drawn weapons, finding a black pentagram on the wall and herself sitting in the bath, considering ending it all. Help me. Rick had treated her like a human being and not a monster. He had never forced her to anything.

June Moone saw herself in the kid, desperately asking for help.

"We're not going to take you to the hospital if you don't want to."

Rick frowned at her, about to protest, but she ignored him, softening her voice. "You're safe." She used the same words he had told her when she came back from a night of being possessed.

The girl looked suspiciously at them. June tried to smile encouragingly.

Rick glared at her. "Are you serious?" She mouthed wait to him and looked the girl in the eyes.

She relaxed slightly but kept her grip around the metal piece. "Do you promise?"

"I promise I won't take you there today," June said, ignoring her spouse's defeated look. "But you can't stay here in the street, it's dangerous. Let's just get you out of here. Come on."

The girl shook her head.

"I promise nothing bad will happen to you," June coaxed. "This is no place for you. If you don't come with us, I will have to call the police and they will take you to the hospital with force."

The child didn't move, baring her teeth.

June reached out a hand. "I will help you find your parents if you want?"

A smile grew wide on her face. It looked kinda strange, almost wry, enhanced by the face drawings and the messy hair. She didn't take the outreached hand, but nodded.

Then she put the metal piece away, stored in the pocket of her filthy dress. June could tell Rick was not happy about it, but she gave him a look to tell him not to argue. She was not going to take the last piece of safety away from a child.

He admitted defeat to her wishes, like always. "I'll tell Waller we'll do this later."

X

They called for a cab and took the girl with them to their apartment. It was impossible to get her to change out of her clothes once they arrived home, so June had let her keep them on and made the couch in the living room so the girl could sleep there for tonight. She did not have any apparent wounds or injuries, to their relief.

She smiled wordlessly when June gave her food, which convinced her that the girl was on some level grateful for the invitation. Still, something was unusual. The way this girl was dressed - golden threads with diamond studs embedded in the silky fabric of her filthy dress - suggested she was not living on the street. The implications of where she might have come from were too uncomfortable to dwell on.

Rick was not happy. The girl stayed in the living room all day watching cartoons, and fell asleep on the couch straight after dinner. He brought it up when they were alone in their bedroom.

"We need to call child protection services on that kid. Why can't we just drop her off at the hospital?"

"She's scared and she has no one to turn to, Rick! Just let her calm down from whatever trauma she's been through! She must have had it so rough…" Her voice grew lower. "She had marks of duct tape on her mouth. Give her some calm, please."

He shook his head. "Someone's probably looking for her. Do you realize we will be brought in for questioning?"

"I'm not planning to keep her here; I'll take her to the hospital tomorrow."

He looked at her, his face softening. "I know why you wanna do this, June."

He had seen the way she carefully had prepared the couch for the kid, reassured her that she was safe, given her food, and tried to offer her to change clothes into some of June's own.

She lowered her gaze. The child she could never have still lived in her dreams, and even though it had been years since she found out that she could never be a mother, she never really forgot.

"Maybe it's for the best, considering Waller exploits you all the time," Rick grumbled.

She raised her voice slightly. "Why are you so against us adopting?"

"You think we could adopt her?" Rick set his jaw tight. "That kid is going to a foster home, at best."

She placed her hand on top of his. "I saw the way you looked at her – what is it?"

Hesitantly his gaze turned to the closed bedroom door. He frowned. "... She reminds me of that crazy woman I had under my command in the Squad. Joker's gal."

June had a faint memory of her too. Even when trapped in the Enchantress, she could see what happened through her eyes. She had seen that woman crouching down, drenched in rain, makeup running on her face, tears in her eyes. "I lost my Puddin'…. But you can get him back, right?"

"Harley Quinn?"

He nodded, uncomfortable with the reminder. "Never mind."

On the other side of the door, Jaylie silently backed away from where she had been listening, and snuck back to the couch, metal scrap in her hand.

x

The next day, June noticed that the girl seemed very restless, constantly glancing at the door. Not until Rick left to meet Waller regarding the mission, she seemed to relax a little, and she understood she didn't trust him.

When June offered her a cup of juice, she thanked her with such a charming smile that June felt an instinctive urge to protect her.

She decided to pry, just a little, and sat down beside her on the couch. "What's your name? I'm June."

The girl looked down in her cup for a moment, and then spoke up with wide, innocent eyes. "I'm Lucy."

"Do you know where your parents are?"

She shook her head, a little sob rising from her. "You won't take me to the hospital, won't you? I'll be a good girl, I promise." Tears filled her eyes and June shook her head, feeling a desire to do anything this little girl asked.

"You have my word I won't do that right now. You're safe in here."

"I need to get back to Mommy and Daddy." She blinked the tears from her eyes and June's heart clenched. She had to stop herself from instinctively wrapping her arm around her shoulders. The girl seemed utterly abandoned.

"Yes, I will. Where do you live?"

Blue eyes met hers – they were strangely calm and didn't quite match her sobbing and quivering. "I don't know."

"Do you know your last name?"

June had a faint memory of herself as a kid, getting lost in an amusement park and crying into her candy cotton. An old lady looked at her forearm where her parents had scribbled their names and home phone number with a pen.

Lucy shook her head. June wished she could get some hints from the way the girl was dressed, but all she had was the faded black ink diamond on her cheek, the smudged initials "JL" on her wrist, and the various dots and hearts that had been carefully doodled with ink on her face.

"What does JL mean?"

The girl quickly pulled her hand back and hid it in the material of her dress.

"I'm sorry, I won't ask more." June smiled tentatively at the girl and she gave a small smile back, signaling the overstep was forgiven.

Rick's remark from the night before still lingered.

A few hours later June found the girl sitting in front of the TV again, expressionlessly watching a horror movie.

June frowned. Lucy didn't seem bothered at all by the blood and gore; her eyes followed every movement of the rusty saw on the screen with a blank face. She was curled up with her arms around her legs, as if it was a comforting children's movie. Not wanting to leave the kid alone with that kind of influence, June sat in the back of the room with a book, watching for any signs of distress but found none.

Jaylie remembered the movie nights with Mommy and Daddy. She would sit between them on the couch as they watched Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Saw, Jaws or something else. Daddy always got in a really good mood and kissed Mommy back when she cuddled him. Jaylie would doze off on Daddy's chest at the end of the movie. The Movie Nights were the only time she had them all to herself, they were only hers, and not even Frosty would interrupt.

When the movie was over, she squirmed, unable to hold back her impatience. "June?"

"Yes?"

"I remember where I live. Will you go with me?"

They walked side by side down the street, and June let the girl direct their path. She seemed so secure of where she was going, and June felt both relief for the girl but also slight worry. It was understandable that the shock from yesterday had made her forget. June had not spent much time with children in her days, but she supposed it made sense.

When they came to a crowded area next to a mall, several blocks away from the apartment, Lucy tugged on her hand.

"I'm gonna tell you a secret, Miss," she suddenly giggled. The helplessness she had shown before was gone; there was no hint of tears or insecurity in her. Her smile was conspiratorial, like she was doing something forbidden but knew she would get no reprimands. She let go of June's hand and whispered.

"Lucy's not here right now, so Jaylie took her place instead."

As June processed the information, the girl suddenly took off in the opposite direction.

"Wait! Lucy!" June tried to run after her, frantically looking in all directions, but there was no sight of the girl – she got lost among the crowd. A sense of dread and confusion filled her. "Lucy, come back!"

x x x

Jaylie didn't stop running until she was completely alone, like the night before. Darkness had begun falling again, and she felt safer and less exposed. The beige cardigan June had let her borrow kept her warm, but the color was awful. Mommy would burn it if she knew, she hated colorless things.

There was a crushed bottle on the ground. She had looked for a knife in June's apartment, but to her annoyance and surprise found none. Instead she picked up a few big, sharp glass shards and pocketed them carefully in her dress. Mommy and Daddy never went anywhere without a weapon.

A part of her had wanted to stay with June, but she couldn't sit by waiting for Mommy and Daddy any longer. She knew they owned a big place where they took her sometimes, with neon lights and lots of cars and people – she searched for the familiar red neon sign as she walked down the street.

After passing by several streets she approached a place with a big neon sign above: it reminded her of Daddy's club, but it wasn't quite the same. A group of men stood outside and their attention was immediately drawn to her.

"Where you going this late, little girl?"

She simply kept on walking as she looked for the right sign. She didn't know the name of the club, but she remembered the big red smile.

"Hey!" Steps behind her, rough laughter. "Where's your Mommy at?"

Demonstratively she narrowed her eyes and pressed her lips together as she faced the man. When she did that face in front of Frosty or the henchmen everyone got scared, and Daddy would laugh. Better beware of her, he would say and mess up her hair. This kitty can bite.

This man showed no reverence to her, and she felt the urge to snap her teeth at him. He grabbed a hold of her arm and she glared at him, baring her teeth. "Let go."

"I'll take you home," he offered.

She tried to pull away, looking for the sign, when his grip around her arm turned bruising hard.

"Come with me," he growled. He lifted her up and she let her body go limp, heavy. He walked through the darkness with steady, quick steps, his breathing heavy in her ear. As she made no resistance, he relaxed slightly, and she saw him heading towards a parked car.

She slammed a piece of glass into his jugular and twisted it. She felt warm pecks at her face as the blood sprayed across them. With a shout he dropped her to the ground and cursed loudly.

She got up on her bruised legs, trying to regain her balance and feeling her hands drip with warm blood. Her assaulter fell to his knees, desperately trying to stop the blood flow that colored his shirt. Still grasping the shard of glass, she ran as fast as she could, away from him and the empty street.

When her legs felt close to giving out she finally stopped, completely out of breath. The adrenaline still had her in a frenzy.

She was all alone again. Around her the walls closed in on every side, only darkness and occasional cars speeding by. Cold rain hit the roofs, making her shiver. She brought the bloody cardigan over her head and threw it away.

Finally the realization hit her, that she was completely lost in this vast space of streets, and her chest became suffocatingly tight. For the first time in her life she felt unsafe.

She missed Mommy's hugs and kisses more than anything, and sitting in Daddy's lap while he played with people.

Don't cry, Mommy doesn't like seeing you cry.

Holding back a sniffle, she tried to put on a brave face, a confident smile.

Daddy wants you to smile.

Unable to stop the tears filling her eyes, she blinked them away, but they kept coming.

She started singing to occupy herself, and to fill the silence all around her as she walked. At first her voice cracked, but slowly became steadier:

"It's raining, it's pouring, the old man is snoring. He bumped his head and went to bed..."

After a while the urge to cry disappeared and she calmed down. The street opened up before her again, leading several directions. Only one faint neon sign gave her hope. If it was something Daddy often talked about, it would lead her home.

Wayne Enterprises.

x

x

Gotham's queen wasn't smiling tonight. Dried mascara adorned her cheeks like war paint and made her look frightening, as she leaned over the last survivor of a mafia hide-out. There was something hard and static about her, completely clashing with her reputation as the Grin and Bare It's golden doll, the careless bubblegum airhead.

"Do ya ever want to see ya kids again, mister? We got them all here outside."

The Joker was right behind her, of course, stroking the chin of the man who hurriedly started explaining his innocence. He leaned close to him, unkempt green hair touching his face. "You tell me where my kid is, or we'll play a game."