Twenty-Three

Madeline was silent the duration of the hectic ride back home, reminding everyone present of the incident at the fair, and how long it had taken her to open up again after that.

Andy and Tommy had done their best to get her talking, just as they had after the fair, but this time Madeline refused to say anything at all. Her silence made the van's atmosphere tense and cold. No one knew what to do or say.

When they pulled up in front of the mansion, J got out and opened up the doors to the back of the van. He looked at Madeline and held his arms out wide, expecting a hug or at least a giggle. She didn't make eye contact with him, and instead ducked under his arms to hop out of the van. All four men watched in shock as the young girl walked back inside, head down.

"I think Riddler told her what you said," Andy speculated, eyes grim.

"What did you say?" Tommy asked.

"I told Eddy to get rid of her," Joker replied, not a trace of guilt in his voice.

"You what? No wonder she's upset!" Tom exclaimed, flabbergasted.

"That's not all," J sighed. "I also said that I didn't care one lick about her or what happens to her."

"Well I would definitely say her reaction is justified," Tommy said.

"I didn't think she'd believe him! I'll just go tell her that it wasn't the truth. She trusts me more than him, surely," Joker brushed it off as he stalked inside.

The other three men made eye contact and shook their heads before following their boss indoors.

By the time J had made it inside, Madeline was already up in her room with the door closed.

Joker sighed to himself and resignedly began to climb up the staircase. When he reached her door, he went to open it only to discover that he couldn't turn the knob. She'd locked the door.

J refrained from getting worked up about it and instead knocked on the door three times.

"Madeline!" He called to the girl on the other side of the door. "I know what you heard at Eddy's. I know he told you that I wanted him to get rid of you, that I don't care about you. But it's a lie."

Suddenly Madeline could be heard screaming on the other side of the door.

Joker was about to bust it down and see what was happening, but then he was able to make out what she was yelling.

"You liar! You're a mean, dirty liar! I heard you say it! The phone was on speaker you mean old clown!" She sobbed.

Fuck. Joker took a step back. Now he'd been caught in a lie. It was unlikely that Madeline was going to believe whatever he said to try and explain away his words now.

"You never cared about me?! After all you did and all you said! Was all of this a lie? Was I really just some tool, a part of a plan to you?" Maddie shouted, sobs racking her small frame.

Joker heard several thumps on the door, which for all he knew could have been her little fists or stuffed animals flung in a fit of rage. It was the former.

"I only said it so he wouldn't do it, to stall him while Thomas and Frosty came in to get you," Joker said softly to the little puffs of breath he heard through the door.

"What? That doesn't even make sense! If you didn't want him to do it, why did you tell him to?" Maddie asked.

"It's reverse psychology, doll. If he thought you meant nothing to me, he would have no reason to do anything to you to get back at me," Joker tried to explain.

"How do I know you're not lying? You lied before. You could be lying now for all I know," she accused.

"You're just gonna have to trust me, doll," Joker sighed.

"Well I don't," she replied shortly. "Please go away."

The words were like a shot straight to the heart that Joker refused to acknowledge. Instead he just walked away.

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

Andy and Tommy's attempts to console her went only slightly better. Right off the bat Andy confessed that he'd heard what Joker had said, showing Madeline that he was trustworthy by not lying like Joker had.

She let them come in and talk to her, ate the food they brought, but she didn't want to play. It wasn't the same. She wasn't trying to punish them—after all, they hadn't been the ones to say they didn't love her and to push her into a vat of acid. In fact, they told her almost constantly that they loved her. They'd only get kicked out when they tried to tell her that Joker loved her too. She wouldn't stand for liars in her own bedroom.

Joker took this time to look back over the file he'd taken from under Jim Gordon's nose. Jimbo was a fun enough toy to play with on occasion, but he wasn't nearly as fun as Batsy was.

He already knew most of the stuff in the file: her parentage, life on the streets, yada yada yada. However, the file also had her birth certificate, social security number, the works. Joker had known the hospital she'd been born at, the conditions of her birth, but he hadn't known the actual date.

October 20th. It was coming up. In fact, it was in less than a week.

There would be no better chance to redeem himself.

Every day since they'd got back, Joker had knocked on her door and tried to talk. The first two days, she'd yelled at him to go away, but opened right up when Andy and Tommy wanted in ten minutes later.

The two days following, she was silent, but squealed happily when Andy and Tommy arrived.

The fifth day had been the hallmark.

"Madeline?" Joker had asked as he tenderly knocked on her door. "Can I come in?"

At first there had been no response. And then:

"Did you really not mean what you said to Uncle Eddy?" She'd asked—quietly, almost like she didn't want to receive an answer.

"I didn't mean it," Joker had replied, hope beginning to glisten in his heart.

"Prove it," Maddie had said softly.

"What?" J had asked.

"I said, prove it. Tell me you love me," she'd ordered.

"Well, I can't just—" Joker had stuttered.

"Why not? Andy and Tommy say they love me. They even try and tell me that you love me. If you didn't mean what you told Eddy, why can't you tell me what you do mean? So tell me and I'll believe you," she'd yelled through the door.

"I don't not love you," Joker had attempted to talk around it.

"So say the words," Maddie pleaded.

"I can't," he'd growled before stomping away, leaving the crying four-year-old alone in her room.

That was yesterday.

And today Joker was just as ready to confess himself as he had been yesterday.

The voices weren't having it. They wouldn't even entertain the idea of telling her, even if 'he didn't mean it really'. Well, except for the perky voice, who was all for confessing their feelings, which only further set off the other two dominant voices. Of course there were more than just three, but they were consistently the loudest.

Joker was so torn up about it, he didn't want to go to her door that day. But he knew that he had to try.

"Madeline?" He asked without knocking.

"If you're just here to lie some more, then leave. I'm not letting you in unless you say the words—and mean them," Maddie muttered.

"I already told you. I lied to Eddy, not you. I do care about what happens to you. You're my girl. Mine. Not his, or anyone else's either," Joker replied.

Silence.

"That's not what I asked," she said finally.

"I don't know what to tell you," J sighed.

"I thought I made that pretty clear," Maddie sassed. J chuckled lightly before replying.

"I don't know if you get it doll. I can't love anyone, and no one can love me. I'm a monster. But I'm your monster. You didn't make me, but I think you've tamed me. I'm half the villain I was, but I'm twice the man. Having you here makes me weak. Loving you would ruin me. But I think if I could love anyone, it would be you," Joker explained even as the voices choked him and rattled his brain to stop the flow of words.

For a long time, neither one said anything, and the door remained shut.

"Do you really mean that?" A small voice asked. But he knew that voice. It was his girl's voice—just more quiet and subdued than he'd ever heard it.

"Always, princess," he breathed.

The door clicked as it was unlocked. Then it was opened just a hair, enough for a single little eye to peer up at Joker through it.

Then the door was open wide and she was in his arms. And everything felt right, even when it was all wrong. Neither one of them should have loved each other. But they did. And they knew it. Neither of them said the actual words but they both knew what the other was really feeling, even when they said the exact opposite. They could read each other.

"I'm sorry I shut you out," Maddie sobbed.

Joker just rubbed her back and shushed her as he rocked them back and forth.

And when Andy and Tommy walked in on the scene, they both pretended that they hadn't seen it, and left the pair as they were.

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

Arkham was darker than he remembered. He still had his usual cell, decked out in green question marks and riddles all over the walls. While it was annoying to be cooped up and confined again, being in Arkham always seemed to refresh his mind and abilities, like a reset button. It reminded him who he was.

The Riddler.

Feared homicidal maniac, known for his brains above all else.

It was only fitting that it was his brain that saved him.

During the transfer to his cell after free time in the rec room, his brain put together the weird coincidences (the tense and awkward aura surrounding the guards, their sweaty hands, the constant glances over the shoulder) and came to the frightening conclusion: this was where Joker got his revenge.

Of course the man himself wouldn't be appearing, but he'd always had guards in his pocket, and there was no reason why that would change with him being out of Arkham. They knew he'd be back. And they knew he didn't need to be there to deliver the consequences for failure or betrayal.

As they passed the cell of Jonathan Crane, his long time acquaintance, Edward pulled forward out of their grasp and ducked back and under their reaching arms. His bound hands made quick work of typing in the passcode that he'd long memorized to release the caged bird, so to speak.

By the time the guards were back on him and dragging him away, the door had already opened with a subtle click. Riddler felt the strange impulse to yell the iconic phrase "Here's Johnny!" as his psychotic psychologist came out, fear toxin at the ready. He'd probably had it hidden the duration of his incarceration, just waiting for the perfect time to use it, just as Edward had suspected (more like hoped).

The guards had him pinned to the wall. A quick raise of both elbows to their faces dislodged them long enough for Edward to scamper away and behind Jonathan, or should he say Scarecrow. It would appear that Dr. Crane was not at home at the moment, made evident by the manic grin as the villain gassed the two corrupt guards.

"What'd you do to piss Joker off?" Jonathan asked as the pair of guards began writhing on the floor.

"I only kidnapped his apprentice," Eddy rolled his eyes. "She didn't even know she was a prisoner, and I didn't even do anything to her."

"He must be touchy about her," Jonathan speculated. "I wonder if he is afraid something could happen to her."

"No," Edward protested, despite that he knew Joker was lying on the phone. "No. He told me to dump her in acid for him seeing as she failed him. He couldn't care less. He was just mad at the principle of the thing. I tried to mess with him and his stuff. That's the only reason why he did this."

"Oh, that's disappointing," Jonathan sighed. "I thought I'd finally get a reaction out of the clown. Normally all he does is laugh at my toxins."

"Sorry, Jonathan. Well, we better get going before more guards come. Even in its state of neglect Arkham still manages to surprise the worst of us with its timing," Riddler warned.

"Too true," Scarecrow agreed as the pair took off down the familiar halls.

They were almost to their chosen exit door when a crowd of guards came storming down the hallway.

"See what I mean?" Eddy sighed.

The pair battled valiantly to the door, but Scarecrow fared far better with his seemingly endless supply of fear toxin. Riddler, as was characteristic, was not that skilled in hand-to-hand combat and fell behind Jonathan's progress. By the time the former psychologist had gassed his way to the door, Edward had been swarmed by the few guards not having a fit on the floor.

Jonathan might've considered going back for his sort-of-friend if he hadn't finally run out of fear toxin. He shrugged as he made eye contact with his fellow villain, discarding the empty canisters so that Edward could see why he was abandoning him.

Eddy didn't blame Jon for leaving. If he was honest he would have done the same. Scarecrow had probably only gassed the first two guards because Riddler had released him, so they'd be even. There was no reason for him to risk his own neck for Edward's.

So, with a final nod, the two villains parted ways as Scarecrow went out the exit door and Riddler got dragged back to his cell.