The Fault in our Scars (originally known as 'Maybe Baby' by Alex Snape)

Chapter 14

"So...Arkham is a...hospital?" Jack muttered as he sat at the kitchen table eating his bowl of Cap'n Crunch Berries. He was red-faced from lack of sleep due to a cough that he had acquired from running around in the cold the previous night. This morning, as he sat eating breakfast with his father, Jack was slowly learning just who his parents were.

"Yes, Jack," The Joker answered him, poking his oatmeal with his spoon as Harley sat next to their son. She kept patting the top of his head as he continued to cough.

"Well...why were you in the hospital so much?" Jack continued.

The Joker sighed, unsure of what to say until Harley chimed in, "Arkham...is a different kind of hospital, honey. It's a place where people are taken to...to..."

"Be kept behind closed doors," The Joker said. "It's a place where your dear old Dad had to spend...every time he was caught..."

"Caught?" Jack said, confusedly.

His father smirked. "Caught doing...my job..."

Jack thought for a quiet moment and, after another deep cough, asked, "You rob banks, don't you, Dad?"

The question made The Joker's neck jerk and he popped it and said, "I do."

"And...do you do...what you did to that man last night?"

Harley bit her lip and sighed, "Baby..."

"No, no, Harl," The Joker interrupted her. "We promised..." He sniffed and looked at his son. "I...yeah, kiddo...I do..."

Jack's brow suddenly creased as he looked at Harley. "What about you, Mom?"

Her lips parted in slight surprise as she looked at The Joker, who softly nodded for her to answer. She took a deep breath and caressed her son's hair, saying, "Yes, baby."

He put down his spoon and looked down at his lap and played with his fingers. He heard his father shift quietly in his seat next to him, and his mother's hand was still caressing his hair and back. Jack blinked as he looked up at his father, "Did they...deserve it, Dad? Did they do something to you to..."

"They all deserve it, Jack," he answered as he suddenly got out of his chair and went to put his half-eaten oatmeal on the kitchen counter.

"Puddin'..." Harley called as he remained standing away from them.

Jack heard his father throw his bowl onto the counter and sigh heavily once more.

He couldn't understand why he was getting uncomfortable. He had learned quickly from watching the news every night with The Joker that they deemed robbing banks and killing people as deplorable acts toward society. But if they all deserved it, then what harm was there? Especially when his father was only trying to do his job.

He suddenly hopped out of his seat as he was reminded of something else on the news, something he knew always made his father scoff. "Dad? What about that guy that dresses like a bat?"

The Joker quickly whirled around, a hard glare toward his son as he stepped closer. "What about him?" he asked darkly.

Jack creased his brow inquisitively again, asking, "I mean, doesn't he go all over the city just like you? He beats up people who do...exactly what you do..."

Harley leaned forward in her chair, intrigued. "What are you saying, baby?"

"Well...why doesn't he get put in Arkham?"

His parents stared blankly at him until an abrupt laugh erupted from The Joker's throat that was soon reverberating off the walls of the theater. Harley also joined in with soft giggles as Jack looked on, smiling. "What?" he said, giggling to himself. "What'd I say?"