The Joker's reaction was almost immediate. She could tell that he had caught him somewhat off guard as he jerked the detonator away from her with a brief look of surprise on his face that quickly turned into a frown as he looked at her much like a child hiding his cookie from other children. She wasn't having any of it, however. She had committed to getting it away from him and she wasn't going to give up that easy. With a quick twist, she turned around from her spot between his knees, pulling herself up to her own and focusing all of her anger on him now. Letting out a primal growl and lunging forward with all the force she could muster, she forced him backwards with an 'oomph' and snaked her fingers around a large clump of greasy green hair as she yanked as hard as she could, using her free hand to pummel angry fists into his chest. She figured if she couldn't get the trigger away from him, she would distract him long enough to ruin his plan. Not to mention it felt absolutely freeing to let out all her frustration on the mad man as she crawled onto his stomach and continued to assail him, almost not recognizing the stream of obscenities that were flowing from her lips. She had never been in an actual fight before, having led such a sheltered life indoors, but that didn't stop her from her steadfast dedication to attend any and every women's self-defense class her gym had offered. Gotham was a dangerous place and she had to ready at all times to defend herself by any means necessary. Mentally she gave herself a pat on the back for remembering her training even though it had failed her earlier as those classes were now giving her the upper hand while she dug one of her knees into his diaphragm, giving herself more leverage. It was then that a horrible realization began to settle over her. She wasn't sure how long she had been wailing on the madman beneath her, but she slowly realized that at no time during her brief moment of heroism had he bothered to protect himself or fight back. To the contrary, in the process he had been laughing at her. Not the terrifying cackle that would have surely roused her from her faux dominate perception much sooner, but a deep, slow guttural laugh that gave her pause as it contrasted sharply with his now humorless face. Her own face dropped almost immediately as her hands halted above him. A tickle on her leg caused her head to jerk to the side as she realized that he had been idly caressing her bare thigh as she straddled him, casually reminding her of the sexual nature of her position atop him. A disgusted groan escaped her lips and she quickly placed her hands on his chest to lift herself off of him, but his hands quickly tightened on her thighs, holding her in place and pressing her pelvis closer into him in a unwelcome reminder to her of who was really in control despite her superior position. She had made a grave error in overestimating her strength and her body began to tremble as she looked down at the clown below, wondering when he would strike.

He stare at her face for a long moment his smile growing as he saw the terror settle back into her eyes the brief flame that had fueled her being slowly snuffed out and leaving her in a hauntingly dark place. He cocked his head to the side before giving a sympathetic frown.

"Tired so soon?" he almost looked disappointed, letting his tongue flick out to collect a growing drop of blood on his lip.

She shook her head rapidly in a desperate attempt to wordlessly beg him for forgiveness, her hands still on his chest as she continuously tried to push away. He ignored her, reaching up suddenly and wrapping his fingers around her neck, squeezing tightly as he used her as leverage to pull himself up to a sitting position.

"Stop!" She raised her hands to his, trying to pry them away and scramble backwards at the same time. He laughed, allowing her to move off of him and pulling himself to a crouched position over her as her back was pressed into the ground at an uncomfortable angle.

"Stop?" He giggled, squeezing tighter. "Stop? Well that wouldn't be fair." He continued to giggle. "Now I know what you're thinking." His grip loosened just enough to allow her to gasp in a large gulp of air as he sucked the insides of his cheeks and continued in the condescending tone that made her want to punch him in the face all over again. "But I'm not mad. I like a girl with a little spunk." He imitated punching gestures with his free hand before leaning closer so that his lips were practically touching her ear, his voice lowering to a growl. "Now it's my turn."

Her eyes widened, but before she could protest, the gloved hand that had been gripping her neck moved to clasp over her mouth as the second hand, which had been imitating playful punches just seconds before now lowered to deliver very real, very painful punches to her right kidney. She let out a muffled shriek of pain, trying to curl up in a ball but unsure of which way to turn to alleviate the pain. The hand on her mouth was also effectively holding her in place as he leaned much of his weight onto her as he continued his calculated barrage on her torso. She knew now why he had let her attack him without protest. He wanted to show her how powerful he really was, how there was nothing she could do that could possibly hurt him, and how deranged he could really get. The pain was like nothing she had ever felt, she wished, prayed for the goon earlier who had delivered what not seemed like puny punches to her gut. She'd take that any day over this. She knew he was laughing now, could faintly hear it over the pounding in her head. But all she could focus on was the cool dirt against her face that seemed to offer her a brief reprieve from the pain between each punch brought her back to the present with shocks of pain that flowed through her entire body. The scent of gasoline wafted up through her nose from the Joker's glove making her feel as if she was going to lose whatever was left in her stomach, if anything. It all seemed to be happening in slow motion and she wasn't sure if she'd make it out of this alive. He finally stopped however, standing up straight off of her, removing his hand from her mouth allowing her to finally let out a tortured cry, rolling over to her side as she wrapped her arms tightly around herself and allowed a deluge of tears to fall down her cheeks. But he hadn't had enough, he kicked her twice more in the stomach before finally stopping and looking down at her before bursting into laughter.

"You know. I've been thinking." He began conversationally as if he hadn't just delivered her the most vicious beating she had ever received. "Maybe I was a little quick to judge." He stepped away from her and turned around to pick something up behind him. "I thought you were trying to get me to stop" He waved the detonator in his hand at her. "But you just wanted a bit of the action."

Her eyes drifted up in pure fear as she tried to shake her head. "No." She managed to whimper.

"Well I'm nothing if not generous-ah." He leaned down, pulling her up into a sitting position again, ignoring the obvious pain it was causing her as her sobs wracked her body, making it difficult to still see the museum in the distance. He placed his arms around her as he crouched, sliding the detonator into her palm and forcing her hand to close around it by closing both of his around her own.

"You said you wouldn't destroy it!" She finally shouted at him through her sobs in a last ditch effort to stop him. With every centimeter his hand moved hers closer to the trigger despite her weak protest, she could feel herself unraveling. She couldn't be responsible for the death of her friends; not if she had any hope of making it out of this with a shred of sanity still intact.

"I'm not." He said in her ear with a satisfied hum. "You are." And with that he forced her hand over the button, pressing it. Arella could see the explosion before she heard it. It seemed to happen in slow motion, starting with the police cars at the front of the museum and then tearing throw the building. When the sound finally did come, it was deafening. She screamed, dropping the detonator and covering her ears as she began to rock back in forth in a desperate attempt to calm herself as the Joker stood behind her clapping and giggling as he jumped up and down.

"It's not real. This isn't real. It's not real." She began to murmur to herself, trying to drown out the sight, sounds and feel of the residual heat traveling back towards them.

The Joker shook his head back and forth like a rapid dog before giving an exaggerated shiver before kneeling down to her "Was it as good for you as it was for me?"

She didn't reply, not looking up, she just wanted him to go away, wanted it all to be over.

He looked over her, twirling his favorite knife in his hand as he took in the damage he had caused to the woman over the course of twenty minutes. Her hair, which had once been neat and perfectly in place hung heavily over her shoulders now in tangled curls adorned with a mixture of dirt, twigs, blood, and leaves. The dress that had ridden up to her waist again in the course of their fight was in no better shape. Her back was nearly soaked in the blood of his dead goon and a seam had popped on the side from the constant tugging it had endured today. She seemed oblivious to all this though as she cried with on her almost bare, underwear clad bottom in the dirt. Joker gave an exaggerated tilt of the head as he made a show of getting a good look at her bottom. He smirked, mentally recalling the Old Sir Mix a Lot song as he tapped the tune onto his shoulder with his knife, wondering what would be that best way to dispatch of her. He had been like a kid in a candy store since he escaped from Arkham, thinking of new and elaborate ways to dispatch of the unlucky people that had the displeasure of crossing his path. As he looked her body over, his eyes stopped on her neck noticing the early formation of bruises on the smooth brown skin of her neck. He admired that way they looked against her skin; how he could almost feel his hand there still, squeezing the life out of her. It was rare he got to see the contrast and he'd be lying if he said he didn't enjoy it. His hand unwittingly reached out again, miming the action again as he relished in the imagined feel. He gnashed his teeth at her happily before sliding the knife safely back into his coat pocket and leaning down to grab her arm again, yanking her to her feet.

She screamed in shock, suddenly attacking him again as she tried to blindly escape from his grip. She wasn't being rational right now. She could barely think, all she knew was that all she wanted to do was run. It didn't even matter where at this point. In a primal reaction, her body was trying to save itself whether her mind knew why or not. The Joker ignored her weak protests, humming to himself as he dragged her through the trees to a van waiting for them hidden by the brush. When she saw the van, she froze, recognizing it as the same van that had been sitting in the parking lot for the past few days. Her mouth dropped as she realized what this meant. This had been the plan for at least three days. They had probably watched the museum, watched her as she wandered the gardens, and she had probably interacted with one of the goons if they had come into the building to look around. The thought disgusted her and she felt violated all over again. Her eyes drifted over to the Joker who smirked at her, raising his eyebrows as if he knew what she was thinking and was proud of the ruse.

"Where are you taking me?" She asked weakly, her legs failing her as she tried to walk, forcing her to learn heavily against the Joker as they made it to the van. He seemed to get a kick out of this, however, giggling before leaning down and lifting her up so that he was cradling her body against him as if he were a true prince charming.

"Well, we can't stay here, doll face." He said as if it had been obvious the whole time, before tossing her into the open back of the van onto the floor as if she were a bag of dirty clothes.

She let out a gasping breath as all the air was forced from her as she the metal hit her back. He jumped in after her, slamming the door behind him as he crouched over her hungrily, looking her over once again before speaking again. "Let's go home." He barked, still looking down her. It took Arella a moment to realize that he wasn't speaking to her however as they car started. She glanced nervously at the lone goon in the front seat as he shifted the car into drive, and skidded away from the building but her eyes were quickly drawn back to the Joker who was staring down at her still, his tongue going back and forth across his scares. "You and I have so much more fun to have." He said lowly to her before producing a cloth from his back and pressing it against her face. She only struggled against him for a moment before passing out.

"Grandma" Arella whispered in the pitch black darkness of the room. "Grandma, wakeup."

Having lived here for years, her grandmother was a paranoid lady and had blocked nearly all of the windows in the apartment in an attempt to hide them from the rift raft outside. Arella was having none of it though. Unable to understand why her grandmother had wouldn't allow her to even look outside; she had long ago forced a hole in the corner of the plywood covering her window that faced out to the street. Sometimes after school, she would sit here for hours watching the other kids play. And often times, when she found it difficult to sleep, she would return to her perch, and stare at the glow from the strip club's tacky neon lights while she pretended she was a carefree, elegant lounge singer in Las Vegas. Wrapped in a blanket that doubled as a mink coat, she would dance to the faint music and hum softly to herself. Tonight, however, that experience had been different. As she bobbed her head to the music, watching the beautiful girls rush in and out of the club, she was lost in a daydream where she was a young girl in Paris, the daughter of the greatest Moulin Rouge dancer who was sent to all the best schools and rubbed elbows with all the best people. She had read about the club in a book that she probably shouldn't have touched, but she had always seen her neighbor, Ms. Muntz, with her head buried in it and she couldn't help but wonder what all the buzz had been about. So once, while Ms. Muntz was washing clothes, she snuck in and stole it, hiding it under her bed for days before she finally began to read it in the middle of the night. That was months ago, and since then, she had been weaving an elaborate imaginary life for herself based on the story. And as she looked out the window, she would try to pick out which girl would be her mother: The rail thin brunette wrapped in a dirty, threadbare, faux leather jacket and little else? The voluptuous blond who hadn't even bothered with a jacket that night allowing her disco ball style dress to sparkle in the night? Or the tiny Asian girl who didn't look near as old as the others, but was draped in a grey imitation fur jacket that had been matted with a mix of rain and things that Arella wouldn't know much about for years. While watching, she had heard a scream in the nearby ally. She froze for a moment before repositioning her chair so that she could see out better. Her grandmother had always warned her against being nosy but it was late, and there was no one there to chastise her. She couldn't see what was going on in the ally from the angle she was sitting, but she could hear the woman's shouts for help and see flashes of skin as she stared. A leg here, a reaching arm there. Nothing for very long but enough to know that the lady was truly in trouble and patron's to the club seemed oblivious to it. Her breath hitched in her throat before she moved the chair to block the hole like it always did and raced to her grandmother's room where she found herself now.

Her grandmother stirred slightly. "What do you want?" She answered gruffly, not bothering to open her eyes. "If you're waking me up and you're not dying…"

"There's a woman outside." She whispered, undeterred. "She needs help. You have to help her."

"Go back to bed, Ella." She muttered, sniffing and rolling over away from the child. "It's none of your business."

"I can hear her!" She gave a frustrated sigh. "She's hurt."

"She won't be by morning." Her grandmother muttered in a tone that signaled she was done with the conversational intrusion.

Arella sat on the dirty comforter for a moment, her pajama clad legs tucked under her as she thought. Her head turned back to the doorway, pigtails trailing along her shoulder as she wrestled with decisions that carried implications too large for her 9 year old mind to comprehend at the time. Finally she stood, racing back to her room and moving the chair slightly to look back out of the window. The screaming had stopped and everything seemed back to normal, but a bare arm peeking out from the edge of the ally told her that it wasn't. She gasped, wondering if the woman was still alive. It was cold out and she hated the cold even while bundled. She couldn't imagine how this woman felt. She finally set her lips into a determined frown before going to her closet and grabbing her shoes, her jacket, and her favorite blanket, pulling the former two on and carrying the latter around her. She started to the door and paused before turning around and heading back to the kitchen, grabbing a bottle of water and a bag of fruit snacks. She was well aware that it might have made more sense to grab some real food, but she wanted to hurry and they were the only portable things that they had. She made her way to the door and opened if carefully to avoid the telltale squeak, After managing to slip out, she shut it behind her, pulling out her key and locking it. She stuffed the key in her coat pocket, The fluorescent lights cast an unappealing glow on the dirty red carpet below her feet that had probably been there since the building was completed in the 1920's. The wallpaper as well seemed horribly outdated, a yellow floral print that was peeling around the original light fixtures that still lined the walls. When they installed the newer fluorescent lights, they had barely rerouted the wiring much less removed the old fixtures. She was secretly glad about that, though. It allowed her to better imagine what the building was like in its heyday, before the narrows had gone to hell. She took a deep breath before heading to the stairs. The hallway seemed foreign to her at night, a fact that scared her if she thought too hard about it. Instead, she focused on the familiar feeling of the wrought iron handrails parallel to the stairs. It took her an agonizingly long time to descend the floor flights of stairs to the first floor. She had promised herself that if she saw any of her neighbors, she would dart back home and hope they wouldn't tattle on her, but luck seemed to be on her side tonight as she made her way to the big, double, wooden doors that marked the entrance to the building. She pushed them open with a groan, peering out. The ally was almost directly across the street from her building. She could make it there and be back inside within five minute; her grandmother never even had to realize that she had been gone. The street was dark and mostly empty save for the every changing group of club patrons in front of the strip club almost directly in front of her. Tonight, the group consisted of about 4 men and 2 women who had probably been in the game longer than anyone. She glanced down at a scrap of paper blowing across the disgusting grey sidewalk near her feet, coming to rest for a moment on the windshield of an illegally parked yellow jalopy to her left before fluttering off further down the street. She pursed her lips before stepping out of the door fully. The faster she could check on the lady the better. She was already regretting this decision but she was out now.

One of the men standing in front of the club noticed her immediately, giving her an unreadable stare as he took a drag on the cigarette in his hand, narrowing his heavily lidded eyes at her, his dark,, shoulder length curly hair greased back in a hilariously misguided attempt to look put together. With a brown jacket thrown lazily over a white wife beater and gold chain, he looked like every other Italian goon in the neighborhood. Arella locked eyes with him for a brief moment before looking away towards the alley not 30 feet away from the group where she could see the arm of the woman still. She hesitated before beginning to walk towards her.

The man let out a chuckle, removing the cigarette from his mouth before giving the man standing next to him a tap, gesturing with his cigarette to the painfully out of place child walking the streets in her pajamas. "Check this out." He said in a raspy voice, placing the cigarette back between his lips.

The second man looked over at her as well as she focused hard on avoiding their confused stares. "What the fuck." The second man said with a laugh, finding the randomness of the situation humorous. "Kinda late, ain't it, little girl?" He called out to her.

Arella ignored him, but his loud talking had caught the attention of the rest of his friends who were now looking at her with equally confused looks.

"Aww, she's just a kid." One of the women said with a smile.

"Well you know what I always say," One of them started with a disturbing smile. "If there's grass on the field…" He left the statement open to the obvious interpretation.

"Trust me, Dwayne." One of the hookers began. "There's not a single blade of grass on that field."

Arella started to look up, wondering what on earth they were going on about, but she resisted the urge.

"Even better." He smiled, before calling out to her as well. "Hey little chocolate chip." He made kissy noises at her. "You like milk with your cookies?" He grabbed his crotch with a laugh, causing the other men to burst into giggles as well.

The hookers only gave each other annoyed looks before going back to the cigarettes they were smoking. Drunken men always thought they were so creative.

As Arella finally made her way closer to the woman, she could see that the lady was practically completely naked. The shirt she had been wearing had been completely shredded and her skirt was hiked up high upon her thigh, blood dripping down them as if she had once been standing. She hadn't moved, but her eyes were frantic, pleading as she watched the girl approach her. The two only stare at each other for a long time. Arella had never seen a naked woman before and she wasn't sure she wanted this to count. As sorry as she felt for the woman, the odd angles the she lay there with everything on display scared her. She let out the slow breath that she didn't realize she had been holding, suddenly realizing why it was gran never let her go out at night.

"Go away." Came a tight voice to break her from her stupor. Arella looked down at the woman whose eyes still seemed to beg her, she wasn't sure if it was her voice that had spoken at first until it came again with much difficulty. "Go. home." She said again, taking in a shallow breath before pushing out each word.

"What's she doin' with Misty?" One of the men questioned, watching.

Arella glanced a sideways glance at the men before turning back to the woman. "Okay." She said after a moment, understanding immediately the danger she was in. Even still, she quickly pulled removed the cartoon blanket from her shoulders and laid it atop of the woman, trying her best to cover her exposed body without getting to close.

The nearby hookers only looked on in shock, their mouths dropped as they were unsure of what to say, cigarettes nearly forgotten in their fingers.

The men on the other hand broke out into raucous laughter, slapping their knees and doubling over as if they couldn't believe what they were seeing.

"Rainbow Brite!" One wheezed, wiping tears from his eyes. "Seriously? Oh this is too good."

"Misty's gonna be fine, bella."The initial sleezy guy said with a shrug.

"Eventually." The second one muttered as if Arella couldn't hear her from where she stood, pulling the water and fruit snacks from her pocket though beginning to feel ridiculous about it.

"How bout' I come give you a hand." He continued, starting to walk towards her.

"Leave her alone, Tony." One of the hookers grabbed his arm, stopping him. "She's so young."

"I know." He shoved her arm away roughly before turning back to the child.

Arella froze in her spot, unsure of what to do. She quickly sat the food next to the lady without looking back towards her and stood quickly, backing up and running off straight into the chest of one of the other men who had anticipated her movements.

"Don't go." The man placed a heavy hand on the top of her head. We're having a party in there," He turned her to face the club. "You should come hang with us. Cool kid like yourself, you'd fit right in."

"My grandma-" She started softly.

"Cool kids don't need grandma's permission. We got cake and ice cream and all the fun shit." He sneered. "You'll love it."

"Hey Tony." Came a voice from behind her.

Both she and Tony turned around to see a boy standing behind them, leaning against the wall adjacent to the alley. The boy couldn't be more than 15, she had seen kids like him in and out of the alleys all the time cohorting with men the likes of Tony. His chin length dark hair was tucked behind his ears, and even from here, Arella could tell he had the most mesmerizing blue eyes. Her grandmother told her that what they were doing was evil, and that they were going to hell for it, but she never went further to explain it. All she needed to know was that the group of boys was dangerous. Probably more so than the actual mobs in this neighborhood. He gave a passive look towards the woman who had shrink into the blanket, clinging to it for dear life as she stare at the wall in front of her blankly, Her eyes opening and closing slowly. "Looks like you guys really did a number on her tonight." He said simply.

"What do you care, Walt? You want some of that too? If you go gentle on her you might be able to squeeze out another round."

The kid chuckled. "Come on, Tony. Look at this face. Do I look like I've ever had to force any woman…or girl to do anything with me?"

"Obviously not, or else you'd know that you don't do it because you have to. You do it because there's nothing like it." He licked his lips looking down at Arella running his hand along her pigtails.

She gave an involuntary shudder, closing her eyes in fear. It was suddenly so much colder than she realized and she wished she had taken the time to put on more clothes.

"Why don't you let the kid go, Tony. I don't think she wants your cake."

"Well what if I want hers?"

"I don't have any." Arella muttered without thinking as she stare at the ground. Her grandmother was always harping on her for her smart mouth and Tony didn't seem to appreciate it either, causing her to cringe as he gave a warning tug on her pigtail.

Walt looked down at her before giving a genuine laugh. "Well there you have it." He replied. "Go inside and drink it off. You've had enough fun tonight."

"Says who?"

"Says the boss." He said simply. "Have you met his daughter by the way? Just turned ten. Adorable."

Tony frowned before stepping away. "The boss won't be around forever to back your play."

"He'll be happy to know that."

Tony hesitated, looking completely shaken for a moment before turning to his friends. "Let's go party boys." He said simply, disappearing into the club with his friends following.

Arella watched him go for a moment before turning to rush back to the building.

"Hey Kid." Walt called after her.

She paused, looking at her door only 20 feet away before letting out an annoyed sigh, turning around to face him. She gave him a look trying to let him know how tired she was.

"Come here." He ordered.

A glance to the door behind her told her relatively quickly that she wouldn't make it if she ran. The boy was nearly twice her height and was all legs. She rolled her eyes before taking a few steps closer to him, stopping out of arms reach, pursing her lips and looking up at him with crossed arms.

He kneeled down in front of her as he studied her face, giving her a once over."You okay?" he questioned gently, resting his hands on his knees.

She nodded.

"What's your name?"

"Arella." She replied barely above a whisper.

"That's pretty. What are you doing out here? It's dangerous for little girls like you."

"I heard screaming." Her eyes drifted to the woman on the ground.

He followed her gaze, looking at the woman for a moment. "Yea. That's your blanket I'm assuming?"

"Yea." She gave a curt nod as she star at the Rainbow Brite blanket that was beginning to soak up a fair amount of blood. Arella kept trying to tell herself that it was just dirt, however. But the tears the were beginning to well in her eyes were telling her otherwise.

"You might have to chalk that one up to a loss." He said with a chuckle, reaching out and placing his hands on her shoulders, gently turning her away from the woman to face her apartment building. "Rainbow Brite too. Next time you want to save someone, use the crappy blanket." He led her back to the doors even as she attempted to turn back around to look at the woman. "Don't worry about Misty, she'll be fine."

"Are you going to help her?" She asked accusingly.

He hesitated before smiling. "Yea. Of course. But first, let's get you back home." He pushed open the heavy wooden door for her.

She gave him a glare before walking through the open door, watching him follow behind her. She headed to the steps, looking down at the carpet as she took four slow ones, thinking to herself. Finally, she let out a heavy sigh, turning around on the steps and resting her hand on the banister as she watched him head to the stairs as well, taking the surroundings as he did. He stopped at the bottom of the stairs, giving her an inquisitive gaze as he realized that she hadn't moved. "What?"

"I'm not stupid, you know." She crossed her arms, feeling embolden by the fact that she was now taller than him on her fourth step, forcing him to look up at her.

"Yea, okay." He said confused, unsure of where she was going with it.

"And I can walk up to my apartment by myself. Don't want strange boys knowing where I live, you know." Her voice trailed away slightly.

He hesitated before stepping backwards and smiling. "Good. But I want you to run to your apartment and don't stop to talk to anyone. And don't ever let me catch you outside at this time of night again, got it?"

She rolled her eyes, turning and starting up the stairs. "Go help, Misty." She said with a wave of the hand, disappearing around the landing before breaking into a run.