The earthquake had been massive.
The sound of millions screaming in terror drowned to the noise of metal bending, snapping and concrete shattering as Gotham tore itself to pieces.
Parts of the city shot upwards as if it wanted to reach her bright sister, Metropolis and sent everything flying into the air like toys tossed in a temper tantrum.
People, cars, buses, trucks…all of it came down alongside broken buildings and elevated highways.
Other parts, like Old Gotham, sank into the sea and became helplessly flooded.
The gondola lift system connecting Gotham to her sister fell, taking with it the landing above.
The equivalent of pulling out a front tooth.
Chasms opened and closed, swallowing people and cars alike while entire trains tore through ruined roads. Explosions tore through the mortally wounded city, igniting the broken gas mains.
The shaking stopped, but still the buildings fell. The lights in the windows flickered frantically, like eyes blinking as the buildings were swallowed by thick dust.
The lights remained lit in many places, stubbornly fighting the darkness.
100 thousand lay dead in Gotham's broken and burning body. Some were still missing…
'Hm?' Harry jolted awake, images of the disaster fading from his mind. He pushed off an old, burned out car resting against the front of a store named "Glass, Mirrors, Shades". He steadied himself against the wall, keeping to the right side of the street.
In somewhat of a daze he walked, unsteadily with little aim. His leg was healed, but he shouldn't be walking around on it yet. It felt…uncomfortable.
Pomfrey would walking for two days, at least! Stay in bed!
'Yes, Madam Pomfrey…' Harry murmured, sending the Matron a thankful thought, hoping she would be ok.
His eyes trailed over the area, blinking at the light snowfall.
Snowfall in June. It crunched under his feet as he moved, laying on the ground in large patches.
Old Gotham looked like a long abandoned warzone. Ruined and burned cars littering the broken streets. The storefronts were all boarded up and all the doors to the apartments were locked behind bar grating.
It was awfully quiet. The wind and flashing street signs being the only sounds he could hear.
The walls were covered with eviction notices, quarantine notices and "Vote Dent" too. Somebody had written "she may not enter" in giant letters on the apartment building across from him, he noticed before flashing neon lights made his eyes water.
Harry turned his head, seeing a pair of wide, luminous, green eyes in a window next to him. He jolted, but realized it was just his heavily bandaged reflection.
'Oh…' He raised a trembling hand to touch his hair. A large patch of it was now stark white, starting where his scar had touched his hairline.
Spell damage… from the Horcrux's destruction, considering the patch's origin. The rest of his hair looked fine.
He stepped away and continued around a corner, down the road, passing through something that used to be an old barricade. He almost got blinded by a fluorescent sign that said "Strange Minds".
The silence was broken by a garbled voice, a recording being played from a PA system somewhere.
"Monarch Theatre" said a sign to his left, just up some stairs. Around another corner "Finnigan's" flashed erratically, making him groan.
-Clack…clack…clack…clack-
Harry jolted, hearing somebody walking nearby and looked back towards the theatre. Several people, he realized after a moment. One woman, at least. Maybe a man.
-Clack…clack…clack…clack…-
The footsteps faded after a few moments and Harry moved on quickly.
Did people still live there…? He came to a stop further down the street, seeing more doors that were barred from the outside.
Lights were on everywhere. The neon lights, the streetlights, the lights in the apartment windows…
Something in the corner of his eye caught his attention, a large leaf moving in the air.
He turned to see a flower shop overrun with plants. Vines and branches have broken through the walls and windows.
The unbarred door creaked open as he neared, letting him into the small shop.
The door closed behind him softly.
Joker found the boy a few hours later in Ivy's old flower shop Baudelaire, resting on an old couch in a backroom.
He looked like a very broken doll that shook intermittently.
Thoughts hopelessly tangled with magic reached Joker's ears again and told him things as he came closer. Not everything, but enough for him to know he was seeing the aftermath of something that would have destroyed most people.
His footsteps made the boy curl up.
'What makes a wounded boy teleport himself away from a place that offers medical care and a nice, warm bed in favor of a couch in Old Gotham?' He asked, studying the boy. A pair of luminous green eyes found his and just stared. No fear, no emotion.
The boy had obviously been cared for. His forehead was bandaged. The odd suit of raw magic under his sleepwear hid more bandaged wounds.
Joker reached out, sensing the magic surrounding the boy and-
-blood poured down his face, filled his mouth while magic howled around him.
'Out. Out. Out.'- He tore at his forehead, hair turning white from contact with a bright red shard.-
The boy hummed, snapping Joker out of the vision.
'Look at yoooou…' Joker cooed and moved hair out of the boy's face. 'Feeling safe here, in Gotham of all places.'
'You…' The boy replied.
-Green hair...green eyes in the dark, hand over his racing heart-
'Meee.' Joker sat down next to him.
-arms wrapped around him in a hug, green eye drilling into his-
Joker,the magic whispered.
Images flashed in the boy's mind, reminding him just what kind of man Joker was.
And it was fine,the boy was fine.Fine.He made his choice.
The boy groaned, fighting down his emotions of doubts and second thoughts.
Gotham was safer than England. However insane it sounded,Joker heard.
'You poor thing.' Joker chuckled, hand going to the boy's forehead, fingers trailing over his bandages before going into his white-black hair. 'All it takes is one bad day to reduce the sanest man alive to lunacy.' Joker said and pulled the boy up, having to handle him like a puppet that had its strings cut. 'And I think you've had one of the worst, haven't you sweetheart? Yourentirelife has been one. Very. Bad. Day.' He pulled the boy into a hug.
The boy shook, hands moving to catch Joker's coat.
Everything felt weird. Too intense, the magic nerves were fried. He was a complete wreck.
A diagnostic sprung up in front of Joker, showing just how bad the damage was.
'I don't think…' Joker started, touching the construct, making it show him more information.
"Emotional and psychological damage…catastrophic."
'-many could go through what you have and still have a solid thought in their head.' He looked down to see those eyes staring at him. 'You didn't even savage your schoolmates after being bullied relentlessly for nearly a whole school term!'
'How do you know…?'
'I heard them, sweetheart. I heard everything they said, every little nasty whisper.'
'Ohhh…argh…'The boy groaned as his body shook violently, hands clutching Joker's coat.
'Shhh, shhh, shhhh. Don't you worry, chaos is-'
'-fair.' The boy sounded so exhausted. 'It's fair.'
Joker raised his eyebrows.
'Chaos is fair.' The boy repeated, giggling as Joker's grip on him tightened. 'That's what you said…'
That was something he was known to say.
Joker chuckled. 'Chaosisfair and you haven't seen any fairness atall, have you?'
The boy giggled hysterically in his arms. He hadn't gotten many hugs and now he was getting one from the Clown Prince of Crime.