Nine

"Daddy!" Came a shrill shriek at two in the morning. Thunder crashed overhead and rain pounded against the window panes of the elegant mansion of the well-known madman. In her hysteria, Madeline forgot Andrew and Thomas's instructions to come to them first and flew out of bed and next door to her father's room, frantically knocking on the door.

J groggily woke up from his slumber, rubbing at his eyes as he became aware of the commotion outside his door. He began muttering crankily as he stood up and stumbled to the locked door. He flung the door open, glaring ahead at the offender. Well, he would have if there were someone to glare at straight ahead. The feeling of something grabbing onto his legs caused him to look down. That was when he noticed that his preschooler had been the one to disturb him in the middle of the night.

"What is it, doll?" Joker demanded, staring at the girl without moving.

"T-There was a loud noise, and bright flashes kept coming in the window, a-and I just got scared, Daddy," Maddie stuttered.

"Why didn't you just go to Andy or Tommy?" J mumbled. Please don't tell me she walked in on them fucking. If she came here and bothered me because they are fucking I am going to murder them both.

Maddie got frightened almost immediately. Andy and Tommy said not to bother Daddy and I did. I should've gone to them first like they said. Now he's going to be mad...

"I-I'm sorry, Daddy. You're right, I'll go find them. I just forgot and I wanted you. But I'm sorry, I-I shouldn't have bothered you, Daddy," she whimpered, backing away.

"I'm up now, doll. Might as well just tell me what you wanted to tell me now. No reason to wake me up and then wake up the others too," J mumbled.

"I'm just scared Daddy. The noise gave me a nightmare and I don't want to go back to sleep," Maddie confessed.

"It's just a storm, doll. Nothing to be afraid of. Now run on back to bed," J soothed halfheartedly.

"But it's so loud! What if it gets me in the night?" Madeline asked hysterically.

"Ugh! Come on with me princess," he groaned, taking her hand (the first time he'd done so willingly) and dragging her back to her room.

He swooped her up and plopped her back down on her princess bed and briefly scanned the room. J smirked when he found what he was looking for, crossing the room in quick strides to pick it up. Madeline, meanwhile, had tucked herself back under the covers and laid down, watching her father moving about the room and flinching whenever thunder boomed or lightning crackled across the sky. Joker approached the bed with a prize in his hands and sat sideways on the bed next to his daughter.

"This," he started, holding up a pink and black stuffed kitten, "will protect you from storms and nightmares. As long as you have her, you'll be all smiles."

"That's what I'm gonna name her," Maddie decided.

"What?" Joker asked, confused.

"Smiles. Because you gave her to me. And that's also what you give me. Smiles," she explained simply.

Joker was taken aback, but said nothing, simply rising from the bed and beginning to leave the room. However a passing thought made him pause in the doorway.

"You know, doll, if you need something, you don't just have to ask Andy and Tommy," he said quietly, not waiting for a response before walking out and shutting the door softly behind him with a resounding click, leaving Madeline confused in the dark.

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The next morning was a Friday, and like usual, Edward was on the way to the hideout courtesy of a random goon. Madeline had slept surprisingly well after receiving Smiles (not like she didn't already have her, but the symbolic gifting meant the world to the girl) and didn't bother any of her caretakers. She awoke refreshed and happy, immediately smooching Smiles on the top of her head and getting out of bed.

She dressed herself in her favorite purple dress and flounced downstairs. Frosty was already downstairs and handed her a plate of toast when she entered the kitchen. Madeline uttered a soft thanks before sitting down at the dining table and munching on her toast. Andy and Tommy came down considerably late, Andy trying to cover up a couple of purple bruises on his neck with his hair (it didn't work). Thomas just looked smug as he descended the stairs behind his boyfriend, admiring the man's ass.

"Andy, what happened to you?" Madeline asked almost immediately, gasping. "Is that what happens when the bed bugs bite you?"

"Yes," Andy affirmed quickly, seeking a way out. His face was flushed bright red and all Tommy could do was chuckle. Drew subtly whacked Tom in the stomach when Maddie turned back to her toast.

A sharp yell from outside pulled everyone out of their happy morning. Tommy snatched Madeline up and handed her to his boyfriend.

"Take her to her room and stay with her," he demanded.

"What are you doing?" Andy asked.

"Never mind that. Get her safe. I'll be back," Tommy ordered, heading out the front door with Frost.

Andy reluctantly listened to his boyfriend and took Maddie upstairs, away from any danger. He dashed into her closet with her and closed the door behind them, hoping that Tommy would be okay.

Meanwhile, Joker had heard the yell and commotion from his office and stormed out the door, multiple guns strapped to his body, as per usual. Who the fuck would dare to do whatever the hell they're doing to me?

Imagine his surprise when he found that the culprit was none other than Edward. Riddler, Tommy, Frost, and a couple of other minions were arguing and surrounding a dead body on the walkway.

"What the fuck... happened here?" J growled menacingly.

"Your moronic minion insulted my intelligence. So I killed him," Eddy dismissed.

"I told you, Edward, not to mess with my goons. Only I am allowed to kill them. I thought I'd made myself clear, but apparently not. I don't think this arrangement is going to continue to workout. The territory I promised is yours, as a sign of good will, but I don't want to see you again any time soon, Edward," Joker ordered coldly.

"What? Are you firing me? Do you even realize what you're doing?" Riddler protested.

"I believe that's what I said, Eddy. Get off my property before I do something drastic," J growled. Screw that shit, kill him now!

That makes even more mess for me to clean up. Plus I don't have my knives with me. Knives are much more fun.

And we wouldn't want Madeline to hear the gunshot and flip.

Riddler snarled before storming back to the car he'd arrived in and getting in the driver's seat. The tires screeched as the maniac pulled away from the curb and booked it away from the mansion, muttering all the way about the stupidity of the clown and his crew.

Andy and Maddie were still hiding in the closet, terrified out of their wits. Well, mainly Andy was, Madeline didn't understand the meaning of the word quiet and kept asking him questions.

"What's wrong, Andy? What's going on? Why can't we leave? How long do we have to stay here? Why do I need to be quiet? Where's Tommy? Where's Frosty? Where's Daddy? Why, Andy, why? Why? But why?" She demanded to know. The questioning didn't end there, mind you, but you get the idea.

By the time Tommy came to get them, Andy was at his wit's end.

"Thank God," he breathed when the door opened to reveal his boyfriend.

Andy scrambled to his feet and rushed out of the closet, ordering his boyfriend to deal with Madeline as he passed him. With what I had to deal with last night and this morning I think Tommy can handle her for the rest of the day.

Andy came downstairs and made himself a pot of coffee, immensely stressed from the earlier events. He ran a hand through his hair as the drink brewed, uncovering the dark hickeys littering his neck and throat.

Joker came back in as Andy began pouring himself a cup of coffee. Andrew nearly spit out the mouthful of coffee when he turned and saw that his boss had appeared out of nowhere. J just shook his head and snorted, noticing the hickeys. So they were fucking last night.

I fucking knew it.

You didn't know shit.

"So what exactly happened?" Andy asked warily. "Tommy didn't say."

"Eddy boy decided to kill Joe so I fired him. He won't be teaching Madeline any longer. Instead, you two should take an hour each day to brush up on academics with her," J explained evenly.

"Alright then," Andy drawled slowly.

"You'll need to do that starting today and tell her that Riddler isn't coming anymore. Then do whatever the fuck you want—I'm not training her today," J ordered.

"Yes sir," Andy agreed, beginning to exit.

"And Andrew?" Joker halted him. Drew paused. "Next time you and Tom fuck, hide the hickeys a little better, huh? Unless you want to be the ones to explain just what you're doing to Madeline."

With that, J stalked out of the room, laughing the whole way. Andy blushed furiously at the encounter with his boss. It was then that Thomas entered the kitchen with Maddie on his hip.

'Did you explain to her?' Andy mouthed to Tommy while Madeline was occupied with her toast again.

Thomas shook his head yes and Andy sighed in relief, going in for a hug from his boyfriend.

"Where's Uncle Eddy?" Maddie asked suddenly.

"He isn't gonna come here anymore, sweetie. Your Daddy said that you've learned enough from him and Tommy and I are just gonna help you to remember all the stuff you've learned instead," Andy explained gently.

"Is he still going to come and visit?" Maddie wondered dejectedly, eyes wide.

"I'm afraid not baby. He probably won't. He and your daddy were bickering like brothers do sometimes, so you probably won't see him until they make up again. That could be a long time, sweetie," Tommy replied.

"So I hear that you can read some things?" Andy asked excitedly.

"Yeah!" She answered brightly, distracted. "I can read little words, like cat and dog and food and good and love."

"That's wonderful, sweetheart. Do you want Frosty to get you some kid's books for you to read? That way you can show us how good you are at reading?" Tommy asked excitedly.

"Yeah, they make Disney princess books for little girls like you to read," Andy agreed.

So the trio politely asked Frosty to place an order for books for Madeline (and of course he agreed—I mean, who can resist that face?). They spent the rest of the hour practicing numbers and the alphabet with their pint-sized pal.

And when eventually it was time for bed again, Andy and Tommy sweetly took the girl up to her quarters and set her down on the bed. Tommy and Madeline picked up some while Andy looked for a sleep outfit for Maddie. He helped her to get changed and then Tommy put her to bed. Andy tucked her in, and both of the men gave the girl matching goodnight kisses on her temples. They turned to leave.

"Wait!" Maddie called out suddenly. "I need Smiles to go to sleep."

"What, like a joke?" Tommy asked in confusion.

"No, Daddy gave me Smiles last night so I wouldn't have nightmares. I need Smiles," she said stubbornly.

"What's smiles, honey? We don't understand," Andy pleaded.

"Smiles is my kitty cat, silly. She helps protect me from storms and nightmares. She's around here somewhere," Madeline explained.

The couple exchanged glances before searching for the stuffed animal. Tommy ended up finding the stuffed cat under the bed. It must have fallen there when Maddie got up this morning.

He stood up and gently handed the kitty cat to the girl. Maddie happily hugged the kitten with a grin on her face to match the name of her cat.

"Goodnight sugar," Andy and Tommy cooed.

"Goodnight guys," she said softly before the door shut again, bathing the room in darkness.