Two Days

James Gordon stood solemnly by the viewing window of the unused asylum nursery, if one could even still call it that.

The old wallpaper had been picked and peeled at, the soft design faded in the places where it had been rubbed against multiple time. He had been assured they had taken the time to clean it out "to the best of their ability", but boxes of old linens and other odds and ends were visibly stacked haphazardly in one corner. The only light in the room flickered occasionally, threatening to go out at a moment's notice, and the air surrounding it was stale.

Until recently the room had been used as a storage closet. When the asylum had been reopened, the nursery was one of the few rooms that had remained relatively untouched. No one had thought there would be a need to use it for its once intended purpose, so money had gone elsewhere. Modern times made it possible to transfer patients to the nearby hospital to give birth, and children were not allowed to enter the asylum under any circumstance.

Until three days ago, Arkham hadn't seen a childbirth behind its walls for decades… and yet… inside that room, the form of a three-month-old infant girl slept quietly inside of alone bassinet. She slept peacefully, blissfully unaware of the dilemma that her existence caused. There was nothing more innocent than the sight of a sleeping baby. Nothing purer. Just the sight of the kid lying there was enough to break the man's heart… and if he had anything to say about it there was no way in hell she'd still be lying there.

The problem, however, happened to be with who the baby's parents were.

And more specifically, her father.

While not many people knew of the baby's existence, those that did were fearful of lifting a finger. Other than a nurse who checked on her every hour, no one else had entered the room since the baby's birth. It was a delicate situation, of course, but the poor thing was being treated as if she had the plague.

Maybe it was the fact that in a few more months he'd have a baby of his own coming into the world, but the sight of her alone in that room disturbed him. The baby may have been the spawn of two of the worst people in Gotham, but god dammit she was still a child. It was a bit of a stretch to expect any of the staff from Arkham of all places to show a bit of compassion, considering they dealt with the criminally insane, but Jim couldn't stop the feeling that ate at him as he looked through that window.

"It can't be very sanitary in there," came the concerned voice of Alfred Pennyworth as two sets of footstep came to stop behind him.

Turning only slightly, Jim let his eyes rest on both the butler and his employer, Bruce Wayne. Both of them looked tired, and truly he didn't blame them. It was just a little bit after midnight. "Probably not," he sighed, turning back to look at the child.

As painful as it was to admit, finding out what to do wasn't going to be easy. There had to be no record of her birth… nothing that could link her back to Harley or The Joker. And even then that wasn't good enough. The corruption in Gotham City ran deep, and he knew that if anyone outside of a select few found out that Harley had given birth to Joker's baby there would be a high price for the kid.

"What's a child doing in Arkham?" Bruce asked next, coming up beside Gordon with a deep frown carving into his features. In the harsh fluorescent lighting, he almost looked like his father.

"That's… why I called you here…" Jim admitted, taking off his glasses to clean them.

It may have seemed strange calling the playboy billionaire to such a confidential place and at such a late hour… but he had his reasons. There were few people that James found himself being able to trust completely within Gotham, and Bruce, despite his flaws, happened to be one of them. They happened to go way back, after all.

"That baby…" the commissioner paused, sliding his glasses back on, "Harley Quinn gave birth to her a few days ago."

Unsurprisingly, shock crossed Bruce's face for a moment and then his brows furrowed. "So what you're saying is…"

"Harley and Joker had a baby," he nodded, "No one was allowed to know about it until now… not even me," he admitted, slight annoyance in his tone at the person who'd made that decision.

There was a pause as this sunk in, the gears in the rich young man's head turning. He went from shock to confusion as he turned to Gordon, unable to piece together where the older man was going with this. "But what does this have to do with me?"

"As you can imagine, her situation is… complicated," he told him, placing his hands into his pocket. "As it stands, Joker has no clue she exists. He and Harley have been kept away as far from each other as possible. So we have that going for us… but…"

"But?"

"Even if Joker doesn't find out about her... Joker has enemies, both in the criminal underworld and the general public. There are people who want revenge… So, she's a target." Gordon paused to steady the anxiety in his voice at the thought, before continuing, "Putting her through the system is risky… and to be honest it's not ideal. It'd be too easy to find her if word gets out-"

"That won't happen," Bruce stressed a bit too confidently. He had helped fund and design a better wing in the asylum for high profile criminals like the Joker… but there was still a risk of escape. Arkham wasn't known for being airtight, it wasn't like there hadn't been leaks before. The system was still new, so there were still kinks that needed to be ironed out.

"We both know he's done it before, and if it happens… and he finds out…. We can't leave a paper trail. No one else can know that baby is his or that she came from out of this place, and those that have helped up until now can't know where she's going." There was a reason he'd had the two of them come in from the back. Discretion was everything.

Bruce's eyes narrowed slightly. He was getting a bit impatient, likely because he was starting to see where Gordon was taking this. "You still haven't answered my question."

"She needs somewhere safe… Somewhere no one would think to look..." Jim explained, holding his stare. The look in his eye telling the young man that he was assuming correctly.

The billionaire's face turned incredulous. "You can't be suggesting-"

"You're the only one I can trust on this-"

"I know little to nothing about raising a child."

The older man was very much aware of that fact. Bruce was young, and he had a reputation… but he was also a Wayne and his father's son. Gordon knew that he was more mature than he let others believe. The success of his company proved that. That said, if he had any other choice he wouldn't have involved him in the first place. The seclusion of the manor was ideally perfect to hold the child until they considered her situation properly.

"I wouldn't be asking this if it wasn't my only option," he stressed. It was clear in his voice that this was his last resort. Hell, Gordon would have taken the girl under his own wing if he could… but with a baby already on the way, it would look too strange and be too obvious. Not to mention his wife already had a lot on her plate, and it wasn't as if he could look after her on his own. "It wouldn't be permanent. She just can't stay here."

The young man shook his head. "I have a company to run, I cannot care for-"

"Wait, Bruce. Please. Look at her," Jim pressed with a conviction that made him pause. The look in the commissioner's eyes spoke about how desperate he was. "You are the only safe option she's got right now, kid. Until we set something up for her she's got nowhere secure to go." Knowing the weight of what he was asking, he calmed himself with a deep sigh and ran a hand through his hair. He stepped closer and lowered his voice. "Just- Just sleep on it… please."

Gordon didn't beg often, but if anyone was worth it the small child sleeping in the room before them was. Despite who she came from, she was an innocent. Stripped of her mother, she was all alone. If he didn't, who would?

That said, Jim knew it was not a decision that Bruce could make at a moment's notice, and so he moved to leave for the night. Pausing at the door, he turned back to glance at the boy he'd personally watch become a man. "I need an answer in two days."

Then he was gone, and a stillness filled the void in his absence, and the two men were left to stare at the child in heavy contemplation. Alfred stepped forward to stand beside his employer but did not speak, and they merely occupied the space in silence.

"You were awful quiet during that conversation…" Bruce finally broke, his expression giving nothing away as he continued to look at the sleeping baby.

His butler hummed, also keeping his eyes forward. "The decision isn't mine to make."

At that, the billionaire couldn't help but raise a brow, giving his guardian a side glance. "When has that ever stopped you before?"

"Touché."

A/N: This is a long one so bare with me!

I want to start off by saying that I love all the responses I've gotten, including the critics. I am one of the rare few that actually enjoys constructive criticism, regardless if I agree with it or not. I find that sometimes it can bring to light something I haven't thought of before, or at the very least let me see how certain aspects of a story resonate with certain people. I actually wanted to talk a bit about some of them, as I see that a few people are echoing similar things. It seems like a lot of you are addressing some concerns with the future romance of this story… and I suppose it's only right that I express a few things for you all so that you'll see a bit of my thinking in this. Lorelei, in the future, will fall in love with Dick. That is something I decided early on when first thinking about her life's story… That said, "Blood is Thicker" does not focus centrally on a romance between my OC and Dick. Hence why I didn't label this story a romance. It merely contains one. It is not something I plan to rush in the slightest… as I feel that for this particular story and how I envision their relationship it is most certainly something that burns slowly. First and foremost this is Lorelei's story, and with it we will see her form relationships with many people in her life. Platonic… Romantic… Antagonistic… etc. I haven't actually read many fics in this particular category so I'm not sure what a "cliche" version of a Joker/Harley child is… but I think I can image it somewhat. I don't think a story can avoid a few cliches, but I do understand the concern. I suppose all I can say is that I intend to write what comes to me and hope you enjoy reading it as must as I enjoyed writing it. I also am fully aware that a young Bruce pre-Dick is more unwilling and perhaps even unfit to take in a baby girl… but that is something that I feel is part of the appeal to me. I enjoy putting characters in situations that make them uncomfortable or pose a challenge. And I suppose I should also mention that while I do take care to research characters and timelines and the like… I am not an expert nor do I care to be. This story is set in the realm of Young Justice but I may pull from some ideas in DC lore (comic, cartoon, and movie-verses) and just out of my own mind as well. The beautiful thing about writing a fanfiction is that I can mold and reshape or add in things because it is a story that I have chosen to write for my own enjoyment. It won't be perfect, but hopefully, it will entertain a few of you nonetheless. Thank you all for reading it and I hope you continue to do so in the future!