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*BANG*

*BANG*

Echoes of gunshots rang out in the large warehouse where guns of all sorts lay abandoned all over the concrete floor. This was a private room, one which only the Joker and a few of his higher-up henchman had access to.
But this time, the only person in the room was Lucy.
She had never held a gun before but she needed an outlet.
Frost had noticed and had reluctantly agreed to give her access to the room upon her asking. She needed to let off some steam and he had agreed with her that this was a good idea.
But of course, Frost had run it with the Joker who told Frost not to say a word about his knowing to Lucy.
Instead, when frost had dropped Lucy off and was posted right outside the heavy metal doors to protect her while she shot at anything in sight, the joker had gotten into his own car and drove down to them.

He knew his daughter had been going through some things and his paternal instincts nagged at him, much to his annoyance.
Driving down there himself, he knew he had an obligation as a father to comfort her.
Once he was there, he nodded at Frost who opened the large doors upon seeing his boss's arrival.

"She's been at it for an hour boss," Frost spoke with a sigh as the creaking of the doors stopped.
The joker stepped into the large, dark warehouse and followed the trail of guns scattered on the floor.
The room was now quiet.

With each step he took though, he heard quiet sobbing. Walking further in, he stopped as he noticed a source of light from a window shining down on someone on the ground.

It was Lucy. She hugged her knees as she sobbed quietly, obviously trying to get the frustration out of her system. She clutched a gun in one hand and as soon as the Joker  was a few feet away, she felt she wasn't alone.

Raising the gun up quickly she aimed it at the intruder. The Joker stared back at her, not in shock but almost in pain.

He saw the girl beneath him reduced to nothing on the floor

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He saw the girl beneath him reduced to nothing on the floor. Puffy red eyes, face wet with tears, her attitude reflecting that of sorrow and anguish.
She was mourning all over again.

The Joker had never seen her cry like this before and he felt a pain in his chest as she slowly put the gun down and buried her face back in her lap.

Without a word he took a few more steps forward and pulled his purple snake skin coat off, draping it over her shoulders instead.
She didn't straighten up, just kept her head buried in her legs.
He sat next to her and looked at her, bringing a piece of her hair back gently.

"What are you feeling?" He asked quietly.

She didn't reply. Only her faint sniffling could be heard as she slowly brought her head back up.

"Betrayed," she replied in a low voice.

The joker smirked.
"I felt that once. I felt betrayed, angry...." he said.

Lucy just stared blankly ahead. She was in no mood to process his words or to talk. Her father rarely ever spoke to her like this...and when he did, like now, it was at a completely wrong time.

"I don't care anymore..." she said as she tossed the gun to the side.
"About..."
"About anyone! About anything! Why should I?" Lucy raised her voice as she balled her fists up and slammed them into the ground.

The Joker grinned and grabbed her hand, stopping her from further hitting the concrete and possibly hurting herself.

Bringing her fists up to his lips, he kissed them and grinned in his usual manner. "There is something we could do...to make you feel better..."

****

"Where's Thomas?" Selena asked Bruce as she set the table. It was dinnertime and usually the family was together. But lately Thomas had been distant from both his parents, skipping school and being mischievous, which was completely out of character.

Bruce sighed and sat at the table, rubbing his eyes.

"Still giving me the silent treatment." Bruce said.

Selena chuckled. "What in the world has gotten into him? Why's he being impossible like this? Do you know he's skipped school every day this week? You need to talk some sense into that kid, he's not himself at all."

"Wait, you don't know what our son did?" Bruce asked confused.

"Nope," Selena's smile faltered as she stopped setting the table and looked at Bruce.

"I found out the truth," Thomas's voice rang out from outside the kitchen. His parents turned their focus to the door and found Thomas standing there, his eyes red and his face wet with tears.

"Thomas, baby, what is it?" Selena asked as she rushed to her sons side but as soon as she was about to grasp his cheeks, he pulled away from her and took a few feet away from her. She looked at Bruce confused.

"I went to my friend Lucy's house...Lucy doesn't have a mother. You know why?" Thomas said with rage as he turned to his father. "Because my father killed her!"

Bruce's expression didn't change, he just kept looking up at his son with guilt.
Selena shook her head.

"No, the only person your father has ever killed was Harley Quinn and that was an accident," Selena said but when she glanced over to Bruce, his slight nod assured her of the worst.

Turning back to her son she immediately grabbed his arms and pulled him to her, eyes widening in realization.

"You didn't...Thomas you didn't!" She exclaimed in panic.

"Calm down mom." He said as he broke free from her grasp.

"I'm alive and well, and I love her mom. I love her so much. Lucy, so fucking beautiful. So...so perfect," Thomas's voice broke.
"I don't care if she's the jokers daughter! I don't give a shit, I felt different around her! I was in love! Hell, I am! I still am!"

Selena sighed as she looked down, feeling anguish at seeing her son sobbing.

"Baby..."
"No thanks mom, I'm done. You ruined any chance I had of being with her!" Thomas yelled at his father as he pointed a finger at him.

As he stalked off, Bruce quickly stood up and tried following him. Before he could continue, an alarm went off.

Selena looked up at Bruce in surprise. "Haven't heard that in a long time," she said surprised.
Bruce's look of guilt quickly turned to a look of seriousness.

"That's...batman's alarm..." he said.

"Do you think-?"
"No, I'm sure it's a mistake." Bruce said as he hurried to the batcave with Selena behind him.

As they entered, they noticed all the screens on the platform were blank. Confused, Bruce looked around for anything else he could communicate with but they were all disconnected.

"Bruce?" Selena asked in confusion.
Bruce smirked and looked at her.
"What did you do with that spare mask?"

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