Fourteen

I should probably apologize, J realized a week after the incident. The two hadn't spoken to each other. In fact, neither of them had spoken to anyone.

J only came to his revelation after it was reported to him that Maddie wasn't eating. Or sleeping. Or talking. Or doing anything other than sitting in her room staring at the wall as if it was a flatscreen television.

Andy and Tommy were worried out of their minds.

They'd had to force feed Madeline the little that she did eat, and whenever they touched her, she'd scream bloody murder like they were attacking her.

She'd sat, for days now, on her bed, holding Smiles, and that was it. No playing. No movies. Nothing.

Don't you dare fucking apologize. It's her that should be apologizing if anything because she didn't follow orders.

But I can't let her kill herself like this...Because obviously that's a waste of valuable time and resources.

Joker tuned out the voices after that, not wanting to hear them screaming at him in his head.

Whether they (or he) wanted to admit it or not, Maddie was getting worse and worse, and if the situation wasn't remedied soon, there was no telling what may happen to her. She could even wind up crazier than me.

So Joker opened the door to his office, startling a random goon that walked past. The goon darted off, looking like he'd seen a ghost. Guess that's what happens when you hibernate for a week.

He snuck upstairs carefully, not wanting anyone to know where he was headed. Andy or Tommy might try to stop him, which would force him to kill them and make Madeline even more fucked up.

He didn't bother with knocking on her door. Why would I knock if I know she won't answer?

Madeline was staring blankly at a wall when he slowly creaked the door open.

Smiles sat in her lap, clutched tightly to her. Madeline's gaze was just as empty as her stuffed toy's.

"Mad," Joker greeted awkwardly as he stepped into her room.

No response came from the munchkin. It didn't appear as though she'd even heard him.

"I wanted to see if you're up for some training," Joker said, trying to act casual. It didn't work.

Madeline continued to ignore him, which would've pissed J off if he didn't already know that she wasn't aware he was there.

He cautiously approached her on the bed, not wanting to startle her but still needing to talk.

"Do you want some lunch, maybe? I could, uh, drive you out to get something," Joker tried. No response.

He reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. Only then did she seem to realize that she was no longer alone. She was about to start screaming, as had been protocol, but then she recognized the pale hand that rested on her shoulder and stayed quiet, in fear maybe, or relief.

She didn't say anything to greet him, but she did slowly turn her head to look at him where he sat next to her, which was a better response than she'd been giving everyone else.

J swallowed his pride.

"Do you wanna, uh, watch a movie together? I can have Frost put on one of those Disney ones you like," he offered over the cacophony of screaming voices in his head.

No words left her mouth, but a slight shake of her head gave J her answer.

"How about a drive? We can go out in the Lambo," he kept trying. Another head shake.

"Well then what do you want?" J demanded, exasperated. Out of pure fright Maddie nearly cried again. J noticed and reaction and quickly moved to remedy the situation.

"No! No, don't cry babydoll, no. Don't cry princess I'll do anything," J panicked, accidentally letting a promise slip out.

Maddie stopped, considering his mistake of an offer. What do I want? What will make me happy?

"Take me to Disney World."

<><><><><><><><><><><>

"Disney World? Disney World? What the fuck did I agree to?" J growled as he paced in his office.

Out of relief that Maddie had finally spoken, he had promised to take her to Disney World, not thinking about the consequences of such a reckless decision.

After he had given his assent, Maddie had smiled so wide that he hadn't really thought about what taking her to Disney World would entail.

He'd taken her out in public, which meant people now knew her face. She was all over the news stations, all they could talk about besides their random fluff pieces. More importantly, Batman knew her face, and he would have control over the police and all the cameras in Gotham that he could get his hands on. That was not to mention the threat that Riddler posed as well with his wits and vast amounts of cameras littering the city.

It would be near impossible to get on a plane to Florida, which really only left one option.

"A road trip?" Johnny clarified.

"Yes," J snarled, not happy about the idea.

"So you want to go to Disney World... on a road trip?" Frost asked again.

"Yes, what is so hard to understand about that? We get a mini van with Andy, Tommy, Madeline, and you, and the rest of us will follow in an assortment of other vehicles. If possible, a bunch of SUVs with tinted windows. Those are typically government cars and will be least likely to be stopped by someone," J explained through gritted teeth.

Frost nodded slowly, smirking on the inside because all of a sudden he realized what all of this was really about.

"Sure thing boss. But shouldn't you be in a car with Maddie so you can handle it if things go haywire? What if we get separated and something happens?" Johnny asked, wanting to see if he could get Maddie and Joker in a car together so they would be forced to bond.

J hesitated. Frost made a good point. And while it would be harder to go and not get stopped if he and Maddie are in the same car, at least Joker would be there to handle it, unlike what could happen if the two were separated.

"I suppose you're right," Joker conceded. Suddenly he whipped out a knife, holding it to Johnny's throat. "But question me again and see what happens, Frosty."

Johnny stood still, having expected J's reaction, simply holding up his hands in defense.

"Never, boss," he assured firmly.

J smiled, lowering the knife, but the thought was already in his head. His eyes remained fixated on the knife, zoning out as he imagined all that he could do with the metal between his fingers. What pretty pictures he could paint with a knife and a bit of imagination. Bloodlust.

"I'll make the necessary arrangements," Frost said, having noticed the dangerous glint in Joker's eyes.

"You do that Frosty," J mumbled, beginning to giggle hysterically as Frost stalked away, everything about Johnny screaming confident even as he was scrambling internally.

Thoughts swirled in Joker's head like the wind—ever-changing; some powerful and long lasting, others light and evanescent. Some were brought on by the voices; others came from the deepest part of his mind.

He cackled gleefully, feeling so lost in his own thoughts that he wasn't even on Earth anymore. He wasn't Joker, he wasn't a man, he wasn't anything. He was a thought, an idea. Brilliant. Crazy. Bright. Like a star that's about to go out. But as soon as one goes out, another lights. Like the mythical hydra, it's never ending. But unlike the hydra, the idea still can't be killed, even when you cauterize the wound. You can't kill crazy. You can't kill an idea.

With that, Joker was completely lost to the world, and that was how Frosty left him.

<><><><><><><><><><><>

Two people sat in two different places watching the same camera feeds. One was a symbol of both darkness and hope, the other brilliance and crazy.

Both people were searching for clues on the whereabouts of the same little girl, though for completely different purposes. One was clothed in darkness, the other, justice.

The location of one little girl dominated their minds. Night after night, day after day, searching for anything they could find on Joker's new sidekick consumed them until they had to force themselves away so that they could eat and sleep and do other things.

"Gordon," a voice came from the darkness.

"I will never get used to that," Jim Gordon replied, jumping slightly.

"You heard about the girl?" Batman growled, revealing himself to his companion.

"How could I not? She's all the news can talk about," Gordon replied.

"Have you learned anything about her?" Bruce asked.

"Only that she was supposed to kill that man for Joker, but for whatever reason she chose not to. He hit her and killed the man, and that's when you showed up," Jim sighed.

"I'm sorry that I wasn't there in time," Batman apologized.

"No it's not your fault, you couldn't have known. I'm just glad you showed up when you did. Who knows what Joker could have done?" Gordon replied.

Batman didn't bother to correct him. Jim Gordon would never understand the connection that he and Joker had. That Bruce knew what Joker was going to do the instant he heard his clue. He didn't tell Jim that what happened was preventable because Jim wouldn't believe him.

"Have you heard anything about the truck or Joker since the incident? It's been quiet from him on my end," Batman wondered.

"There have been no sightings of him as of yet. And as for the truck, it's entirely disappeared. No license plate matches or anything. No van like that has been found anywhere in Gotham," Gordon explained.

"I figured as much. Joker wanted to disappear with his sidekick, not lead me to his hideout. If he can help it, Joker won't go out again until he has complete control of her. That means that we need to get her out of there before that happens. We can't let him ruin that poor little girl. Who knows what he's doing to her right now for disobeying him at the fair," Batman growled, unaware of the irony of his statement considering what Joker was doing to (or rather, for) Maddie.

"We haven't been able to find anything on her," Gordon said worriedly. "Not even a name."

"Yes. I ran a search for missing girls matching her description but nothing came up. She was never reported missing, which means she's probably a street orphan," Bruce agreed.

"Well not necessarily. A woman has reportedly been claiming on the news that the girl is her daughter," Gordon confessed.

"Why didn't you mention this sooner?" Batman demanded.

"I'm not sure if she's credible or not. She can't tell the news the girl's name," Jim explained.  "What mother doesn't know her own daughter's name?"

"That is odd," Batman admitted. "I could pay her a visit and see just how honest she's being. I'll look into this woman's background and see what I can dig up. If she is the girl's mother, she's gonna have a lot of explaining to do."

"Now don't do anything irrational," Jim sighed. "The last thing this city needs is their Dark Knight interrogating innocent citizens like they're master criminals."

Jim turned on the police rooftop to look out over Gotham. "Not when they're just beginning to trust you."

When he turned back around, the rooftop was empty, but the sky wasn't. It was lit up by a shining beacon of hope and darkness.