Disclaimer: I do not own Batman, the joker or anything else except for my character(s)
Three Days Later
Len POV
Len sat on the low wall surrounding the large garden on Mr. Wayne's estate, swinging her legs absentmindedly as she stared out across the rows of plants. A finger traced one of the larger scars on her arms as her eyes followed a pair of pigeons that were swooping around above what she guessed was carrots. A sudden crunch on the gravel path behind her startled her out of her reverie and she turned to see Mr. Wayne standing behind her. He came up and sat next to her, pausing for a second before asking "I've been meaning to ask you, you were nine when you began living on the streets, correct?"
At her nod he continued, "How did you survive? Most kids wouldn't last very long out there."
She glanced at him briefly before looking back up to the sky "This old guy found me about a day after I left and he kinda took care of me and taught me the necessary survival skills for a few years."
"I see..." He looked over at her, then smiled "Well unless you want Alfred to hunt you down all the way out here with your lunch, I suggest we go back."
Len smiled back then nodded, hopping off the wall and began down the path, turning and walking backwards until she saw Mr. Wayne get up and start to follow.
Four hours later
Len walked out of her room, making her way downstairs towards the dining room with a preoccupied half-frown on her face. Just barely avoiding colliding with the door she walked in and sat in a seat, absently saying thank you to Alfred as he set a plate heaped with food in front of her. She was somewhat aware of the puzzled look Mr. Wayne was giving her and with some effort she smoothed out her face and tried to push her thoughts to the back on her head. Eating quicker than usual she excused herself once she was done and retreated back to her room. Curling up on her bed she stared at the window, watching the sunset with a slight twinge of anxiety. She had been having the same reoccurring nightmare every night for four days straight now, each time she would be sound asleep then wake up sensing something was wrong, then something would happen to her, sometimes it was getting pushed out of the window and sometimes it was getting poisoned or her throat slit. What was weird about it was that she never had any trouble falling asleep, so with a soft, reluctant sigh she pulled up her blankets and prepared for another bad dream as she slipped off into sleep.
She was in a creepily familiar room as she opened her eyes and sat up, her hear hammering with some unexplained fear. Without realizing it she slowly moved over and got off the bed moving over to the window as if in a trance, however here the dream changed. A soft laugh behind her caused her to spin around at stare at....nothing...there wasn't anything there. Another chuckle sent her spinning around in another direction, but to no avail, to all appearances her room was deserted, But a deep rooted unease kept her pacing around the room. A board suddenly creaked behind her and before she could move something was wrapped around her mouth and something cold and hard clamped her hands together behind her back as she struggled, unable to make a sound. Something dark blocked her view of the moonlit room, and once the darkness vanished she found herself in a graveyard. Another chuckle sent her whirling around to stare at a gravestone, a push to her back sent her stumbling up to it, close enough to read the encryption 'Marissa Hawken, beloved mother and daughter'. Len backpedaled with a hoarse gasp, stumbling over her own feet as she turned to run, unable to deal with the wellspring of emotion suddenly swirling within her. A mass of Fear, rage, and grief all bundled up until it felt she would burst. She crashed into another gravestone and fell, throwing out her hands....
...As she hit the floor, letting out a soft squeak of surprise she scrambled back into bed, hoping she hadn't been too noisy. However, as she curled back up under the sheets she faintly heard footsteps coming up the staircase near her room. Suppressing a sigh she sat back up and tried in vain to compose her face. She had somewhat succeeded when the door opened and My. Wayne slipped in, looking a bit worried, and after studying her face said "Are you ok?"
"y-yeah, just a bad dream..."
"Ah, Well if you need anything at all just ask."
"Ok."
Len pulled her blankets up around her as Mr. Wayne left the room, finally sinking into a mercifully dreamless sleep.
Four days later
Len stepped outside, closing the door behind her and slinging her backpack over her shoulder as she walked down the driveway, where there was a car waiting to take her to the library. She would have rather walked but both Mr. Wayne and Alfred had insisted, saying that she would be safer than is she was to walk. So she got in and the driver, apparently knowing where she wanted to go, pulled out of the driveway as soon as she was in. She settled back into the seat and gazed out the window at the passing city, but sat up abruptly after ten minutes of so. They had just passed the library without any signs of stopping, she moved forward and rapped on the window separating her from the driver and as it slid half open his voice floated through "Can I help you, miss?"
"Um, actually you just passed the library"
"Oh, really?" The driver turned around enough to see his face, and she moved backward as quickly as she could with a slight gasp. The driver was wearing an eerily familiar clown mask, and as she lunged for the door he pressed a button up front and all of the locks snapped shut. As much as she struggled and pulled at the locks they would not re-open, and once she had decided that it was hopeless she resorted to punching the window between her and the driver as it slid shut again. Len jumped as a loud hissing noise came from under the seats, and watched as a whitish mist rose up from the vents as she held her breath, but eventually she had to take a breath and once she had she slowly slumped in the seat, unconscious.
Bruce POV
About twenty minutes after Len had left for the library he passed by a window that gave him a view of the driveway, and the car sitting in it. Feeling a faint twinge of suspicion and curiosity he walked down to the main door and opened it just after the doorbell rang. The driver was standing there looking a bit puzzled "Excuse me, sir, but didn't you ask for a car out front a while ago?"
"Yes, I did"
"Well, might I ask where my passenger is then?"
Bruce paled slightly as he grasped what must have happened, but he smoothed out his face "It seems she decided not to leave, you may go."
The driver nodded and began at walk away as Bruce shut the door. He was moving even before it was completely shut.
Soon he was on a computer, attempting to track Len's cell phone, which he had given her some weeks ago. But the signal was scattered and he was unable to get a lock. With a growl of frustration and got up to search for her the hard way, he placed a call to Gordon as he moved, giving him what he knew. After that he left, still trying every so often to get a lock on her cell phone.
