Sorry for taking forever to finish this chapter.

L.L.A.P

~Laces

Chpt.32

She would never admit it out loud, but Livy knew that Damian was a skilled fighter. Even if she tried to fight him when he was off guard, he had amazing reflexes. If she tried to escape with him standing near here, it would waste too much time and energy, and do more harm than good for her purposes.

So, Livy figured that the best time to escape was at night, when she was secluded in a room and able to break out the window.

In the meantime, she figured that she'd bide her time with Damian. Doing so was slowly turning into something more pleasurable than she had thought.

Damian continued to press the icepack against her cheek, and Livy couldn't help but lean into the cool sensation, easing the pain of the bruise. She could feel her body relaxing against the cold, and all the stress in her body was slowly draining away.

"Did it hurt?" Damian inquired, breaking Livy out of her dreamlike state.

"What?" Livy questioned as she raised an eyebrow. Damian looked at Livy seriously and said in a calm but stern voice,

"When I slapped you. Did it hurt?" Livy's eyes widened, not expecting him to ask about the bruise.

"A bit… but it's not the worst hit I ever had." She shrugged, trying to brush off the ordeal as nothing. It was true that she had taken harder hits. Except for some reason it hurt her more when he hit her.

Before she knew what was happening, the cold compress was gone, and something soft and warm replaced it. She could feel Damian's breath as he exhaled through his nose as he placed the soft and chaste kiss on her bruised cheek.

Livy's body stiffened at the show of affection, and she didn't know how to react. Part of her wanted to punch him, but another part of her wanted to grab his face and kiss him back.

Before she could choose which to do, the cold compress was quickly back on her cheek, with Damian looking at the wall with interest, his cheeks flushed.

"Damian-" Livy started, but Alfred entered the room swiftly, making her quickly drop what she was going to say.

"I highly recommend you watch the news." Alfred informed as he turned on the television.

On the screen was the paled faced mad man, the Joker.

"Hello again, Gotham!" he exclaimed with glee. "You have no idea how sad I was when I waited for the big party boom and no bang." He frowned, but brightened again. "But no matter! All hope for a big 'Welcome Back Mister J' party isn't lost! Look what I found myself." The camera panned over to Batman, Nightwing, and Red Robin. "They all have two hours to live? Why? Because if you call the number on the bottom of the screen, you can vote how they die. By fire, gun, knife, or I can just beat the life outta them. It's up to you Gotham! This is going to be the best 'Welcome Back Mister J' party ever, and you're all invited to watch!"

"I recognize where he is." Livy whispered, and Damian's head snapped towards her.

"What?"

"Joker. I recognize where he is! I know where he's holding them!" Livy jumped to her feet and started to run to the batcave with Damian following behind her.

"Get suited up. We have a clown to kill." She stated. Damian wasn't going to debate with her. He needed to save his family (even Tim) and he needed Livy to get him there. Even if she told him where Joker was, Damian didn't have the time to argue with her about her going with him.

The two were quickly in their costumes, and Livy borrowed one of the motorcycles with Damian following after her.

"How do you know where Joker is?" Damian inquired.

"It's the same old warehouse Jacob and the gang squatted around in." Livy answered frowning at the nasty memories that entered her mind. She shook her head, then continued onward with Damian following.

They were quickly at the breaking down building.

Damian was trying to think of a plan on how to subtly get into the building, but Livy kicked down the door and ran in. Any plans that Damian had of being stealthy were foiled.

Livy laid her eyes on Bruce, Dick, and Tim, who were all still unconscious. Then across from them stood Joker, sharpening a knife, who turned around quickly when he heard the door kick down.

"Ah, why it isn't little bird boy." He grinned a sickly smile when his eyes rested on Damian. His eyes then went to Livy.

"Well, you're new." He giggled, and Livy glared at the man.

"We met before, bastard." She growled, and was about to advance on Joker when he held his knife against Bruce's throat.

The action made Livy freeze in her place. The memory of when Joker slit her adopted mother's throat flashed through her mind.

"You don't want me slitting Batsy's throat, now do you?" Joker chuckled, and Livy's fists shook in anger and fear.

Joker stared long and hard at the girl's face and then started howling in laughter.

"I remember you now." He grinned. "Let's see if this time you'll actually be able to save someone." With that, Joker brought the knife across to slit Bruce's throat just as Damian threw a batarang, messing up Joker's cut. Bruce's neck was still sliced, but it wasn't as deep as it would have been ne it not for Damian.

Livy ran towards Joker, and kicked him in the ribcage, but her attention went to Bruce, who was bleeding out.

"Wanna attack me, or save Batsy?" Joker questioned with a smile.

"I'm a nurse." A little girl's voice echoed in Livy's mind, and she quickly ran to Bruce.

Damian went after Joker, furious that the man just attacked his family.

Livy's mind was working quickly on how she was going to stop the bleeding and save Bruce. She took out some galls to wrap around the wound. Livy breathed a sigh once she examined the wound closely. Damian's attacked was able to save Bruce's life. His neck was bleeding, but it wasn't as much as a deep cut that Joker had hoped. Not to mention the fabric of Batman's suit also helped lessen the injury.

Bruce is safe. She thought with a sigh as she started to untie Tim and Dick from their chairs after she untied Bruce.

She looked to see Damian was still fighting Joker, who was throwing acid from the flower in his suit at Damian while he ran.

Livy knew the warehouse better than most people, and quickly sprinted to cut Joker off. Livy ran up the stair case and her memory served her correct when she turned the corner to where she remembered the hallway being. The same hallway that Joker was running down. She appeared in front of him while Joker was too busy looking at Damian, who was behind him.

Livy kicked Joker in the ribcage, and a surprised 'Oof' was uttered from the Joker's painted lips. She then kicked him again in the face, then gave him a solid punch in the nose, making him collapse on the floor.

"No more." She stated as she pulled the gun from her belt. "You've hurt too many people for me to let you live." She growled, aiming the gun at Joker's head.

Before she could fire, Damian stepped between her and Joker, the gun was level with his stomach.

"We've got him. Put the gun down."

"No! I WON'T! He has killed too many people and ruined too many lives! Monsters like him don't deserve to live!" Livy exclaimed angrily.

"And who gives you the right to make the choice?" Damian was calm, looking at Livy with seriousness but trust. Livy didn't know how to react to how he was looking at her, but kept the gun in the air.

"I do. The right is mine. I have a gun. I know how to use it. And he deserves to die!"

"That's for the courts to decide."

"The courts!? The courts that keep shoving him into the loony bin that he keeps escaping from!? Those courts?! They haven't even seemed to consider the death sentence for this guy! And not matter how many guards they put in Arkham, he will always break out. I mean, is this like, the eightieth time he's broken out?" Livy ranted.

"I've lost track once I hit ninety." Joker chimed in from the ground with a happy smile.

"Move out of the way, Damian." Livy stated firmly. "So I can kill him, and people in this city don't have to suffer from him anymore."

Before Damian could do or say anything, Joker yawned dramatically.

"You two are such party poopers." He pouted. "Such a letdown. Oh well, why not end this shindig with a bang." He grinned as he pulled a button out of his pocket and pressed it.

"Twenty seconds till party time." he beamed.

Livy and Damian looked at each other, then sprinted to Bruce, Dick, and Tim. Damian Grabbed Bruce and Dick while Livy grabbed Tim, and they started to drag them out of the building.

A bomb! How did I now know he'd have a bomb on him!? Livy thought with frustration as she tried to drag Tim out of the building.

Now Joker's going to kill my family again. No matter how hard I try he kills them! I'll always not be fast enough. Livy shook her head. No. I can't give up right now. Gotta keep fighting.

"Wha… what's goin' on?" Tim questioned in a daze.

"No time. Move your legs and run!" Livy exclaimed and Tim started to Run while Livy ran towards Damian, who was several paces behind her, and helped drag Bruce and Dick out of the building with him.

Just as they were almost out, the bomb exploded, the shockwave pushing them out further.

Livy looked around and smiled when she noticed Dick, Bruce, Tim, and Damian were out safe. Minus some minor scratches, they were all fine in her eyes.

"Think Joker got out?" Tim questioned.

"Probably." Damian sighed, then looked over at Livy with horror. "Livy!"

"What? We got everyone out." She shrugged, with a small smile. Bruce and Dick started to stir and Livy laughed, simultaneously feeling exhausted.

"Everyone's okay. I was able to save them this time." she giggled.

"Livy, you're bleeding." Damian stated as he got closer to the girl.

"Bleeding?" Livy questioned as sweat dripped down into her eyes. At least, Livy thought it was sweat.

However, when she went to brush it away, she realized that the sweat was red.

"Oh. So I am bleeding." She whispered. A shard from the explosion had scraped her scalp and she didn't even realize it.

The pain started to swell in her head and Livy passed out without a fight. Damian caught her and looked around at his family, who were now fully awake.

"We need to get her to a hospital!"