Sorry for taking forever to update. This was a difficult chapter to write.

L.L.A.P

~Laces

Chpt.14

"A brothel!?" Lancy exclaimed in shock once the words left Max's mouth.

"Sounds wonderful, doesn't it sweetheart?" Max grinned as if he didn't see how infuriated the girl was.

"No! It doesn't! I don't want to live here, forced to stay here until I die. I wasn't planning to be a prostitute for the rest of my life!" Lancy exclaimed, her green eyes blazing with anger.

"Well, what did you think you were going to do? I was under the assumption that once a prostitute, always a prostitute." Max stated with a shrug.

"Shut up! That's not true." Lancy shouted as she went to punch him, but he easily caught her fist.

"Now now, I think I'm giving you a nice deal. A place to stay, things to eat, and so on." He informed in a logical voice. If my mom had a place like this, she'd probably still be alive. He thought.

"No! I don't want-" Max grabbed Lancy by the shoulders and kissed her hard, cutting her off. Lancy hated his kisses. He kissed like he owned her, yet behind that was almost like he cared. The kiss didn't seem to come out of lust but out of care. Lancy hated how Max seemed to care for her even though he was forcing her into something she didn't want.

He pulled away with a small smile on his face.

"It doesn't matter what you want, sweetheart. You don't have any say." He informed in a small whisper. This is what you need. He thought to himself.

"You son of a-" Lancy's voice was drowned out by a loud crashing sound, followed by someone shouting,

"WHERE ARE YOU MAX! YOU WANTED ME!? WELL HERE I AM!"

A smile slowly spread on Max's face as he ran out of Lancy's room, locking the door behind him.

He ran down to where he saw Little Red standing along with Robin behind her.

"Why hello there Little Red. It's nice to finally meet you." He grinned.

"Did you hurt any of the girls?" Livy growled. She could care less about pleasantries, all she cared about were her friend and their wellbeing.

"Hurt? I don't want them to be hurt. I would never beat a woman. Just what kind of man do you think I am?" he questioned, feigning disappointment.

Instead of answering, Livy looked over at Damian.

"Robin, get the women out of here. I'll handle-" Livy stopped when she noticed Max holding a gun and that it was pointed at her.

"I suggest you stay put, Robin. Unless you want to see Little Red dead. I know that's not something I want to see, but I will kill her if I need to." He informed, and Robin stood still, eyes trained on the gun.

"Max, what do you want with the women?" Livy questioned in a calm voice, as if a gun wasn't trained on her.

"What do I want with them? It's what Gotham wants with them. Prostitutes are so hard to find on the streets sometimes, so I thought, why not make some money and open a brothel." And it will protect them. They will never be without a home or without food. Safe.

"Brothel? What the hell are-" Livy was cut off when Max swiftly reached into his pocket and threw down some gas, making both her and Damian cough and fall to the ground.

Livy tried to fight the drowsiness, but it wasn't enough. She found her vision fading as she saw Max approaching her.

She tried to back away from him, to stand and fight, but she couldn't feel her legs, and she was quickly swallowed by the darkness.

~*~*~*~*~Later~*~*~*~*~

Livy slowly blinked her eyes open and noted, to her relief, that she was still fully clothed.

Knowing Max, I suppose I should be grateful. She glanced around and noticed that she was in a darker room, and tied to a chair with her hands behind her back.

These knots are tight. But I should be able to get out of them quickly. Livy thought as she started to wriggle her wrists in the rope to loosen them.

"You know, you're much more cute than hot. Not really my type, but I'm not complaining." Livy looked to see Max sitting in a chair in front of her with a cocky smile on his face.

She continued to wriggle her wrist, but tried to make it not so obvious. She needed to buy some time, which meant she needed to keep him talking.

"Well, I'm only fifteen. I don't think I'm supposed to be hot or anything." Livy stated with a small shrug, and Max tilted his head to the side.

"Fifteen? I thought you'd be older." He mused.

"So how'd you fantasize me, exactly?"

"Big boobs. Stunning body. Long legs. Big Boobs. Fantastic ass. Bright blue eyes. Big boobs." He listed.

"Huh. I think you forgot big boobs." Livy grumble. "Anyway, I think you've realized by now that I'm not the person you thought me to be. So how about you untie me, and we get you some help."

"Uh-uh. I may not have gotten what I imagined, but I have a feeling that you'll age gracefully. Besides, I've already kissed a fifteen year old." Livy's eyebrows furrowed and she glared at the man.

"What did you do to Lancy." She growled, and Max chuckled.

"She's a friend of yours, isn't she?" he let out a loud laugh. "The vigilante friends with the slut. I didn't think that was possible."

"Max, if you-"

"It was only a kiss, sweetie." Max smirked, and Livy was silent for a moment, thinking of what to say next.

It was hard to think knowing that Lancy had already sold her body to Max. Livy supposed that she should be grateful that Max only kissed her without consent instead of doing something else.

"Max, you know that this plan of yours won't work, right? If I don't get out of here and call the cops, Robin will." However, Livy's heart panged when she realize that she didn't know where Damian was.

Max wouldn't kill him… would he?

However, Max just laughed.

"Robin? I tied that guy up in the basement. He's not getting out anytime soon. Besides, Robin's nothing without Batman." He smiled confidently.

He has no idea how wrong he is. Livy thought, but was silent. Max never was one for double checking people he was up against. He wasn't the brightest. If he was smart, he would have been able to easily take control of the gang.

"I guess that's true." Livy mumbled with a shrug. She wasn't going to tell Max how when Damian woke up, he'd get out of his bindings in less than a minute and proceed to find him, then kick his ass.

However, Livy wanted to be the one doing the ass-kicking, so she needed to find a way to do so soon.

She tried to keep her victory smile at bay when she felt the bindings around her wrist loosen. It wouldn't be too long until her wrists were freed.

"You know, you look very familiar. We ever met before?" Max inquired, cocking an eyebrow up as he continued to eye her.

Livy's mask was still on, and her hood was up, concealing most of her skin and identity.

"I think I'd remember a pervert like you." Livy stated in a harsh voice, and Max sighed.

"Aw, don't be like that. Maybe I met you when my mom made me go to church. There were some younger kids there. Maybe that's where I saw you." He informed, and Livy shook her head.

"I've never been in a church a single day of my life." Livy felt free to chuckle at that. She wouldn't lie if she said that she wanted to go to a church and see what it was like, but she had no idea how to go about it. Part of Livy felt like she wasn't welcomed in a church.

"Well, maybe I'd recognize you better without your mask and hood." Max stated. Livy tried to break out of the bindings, but it wasn't loose enough, and if anything, it tightened the ropes a bit, setting her back.

Max peeled off her mask and pushed back the hood, revealing Livy's blonde hair.

"I definitely know you from somewhere." He nodded eyeing her up and down with a cocky smile on his face. However, his eyes locked onto something at the base of Livy's neck. He pulled her top down a bit, and his eyes widened at the sight of a faint scar that started at the base of her neck and went down and across her collar bone.

Max sat around with the gang as they played cards, drinking bottles of beer and laughing. Hoping nobody would notice her, Livy came walking into the room quietly. However, the floor boards creaked, giving her away.

"Did ya steel anything for me, little Livy?" Jacob inquired, turning in his seat to look at the girl.

Livy's eyes looked at the floor in shame.

"W-well… you see I… I tried to, but-"

"No excuses Livy." Jacob snapped. "Just answer the damn question. Did you steal anything for me?"

The small girl slowly shook her head.

"No." she whispered. "I-I'm sorry."

Jacob took an empty beer bottle from the table and smashed it, forming a jagged edge.

"Well, then it seems like you need to be punished."

"Hey, Jacob. She's just a kid. Let's finish our game." Max stated in a light hearted voice, but Jacob intended to follow through in Livy's punishment.

"This will only take a moment." He stated as Livy's eyes widened in horror as she backed away from Jacob. He pushed her to the ground, then pinned her down.

He placed the sharp edge of the bottle at the base of Livy's neck and traced it down and across her collar bone.

Blood seeped from the deep cut and tears welled in the corner of Livy's eyes.

Jacob raised the bottle back, ready to make another cut, when the bottle was smacked out of his hand.

"Jacob, if you're not careful, you'll kill her. And we still need her for robberies. So she didn't steal anything today. Let's just say no breakfast for her tomorrow." Max stated calmly.

Jacob didn't say anything. He only stood to his feet, and returned to the table to play the card game.

Max placed a bandana on Livy's cut and brought her hand up to make her put pressure on it.

"You should go to bed." He stated, and Livy nodded, stumbling over to where she slept.

Max stared at the fifteen year old with new eyes. There was nothing perverted or sexual in those eyes. It was more a look of a shocked older brother staring at a younger sister.

"Livy?" he whispered.