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

Chapter 22

black gym shorts and a green sleeveless shirt as he joined The Joker's men at the kitchen table. He nodded a greeting to them as he sat in a chair and pulled on his new tennis shoes. "Where you off to, Jacky?" Townshend asked.

He smiled as he tied the laces. "Gonna join the guys for a run...then, I gotta train."

"Oh, yeah," Angus said as he watched Jack. "You got a match tomorrow night...one of Pengy's pigeons."

Jack chuckled. His father had made a call three years ago to his friend, Killer Croc, who owned an underground gym and private boxing ring, and Jack had not only been training in using his aggression to his advantage, he had become quite the fighter. He had been going three times a week and had made friends with a couple of the other teenagers that were training there as well.

This would be the third match for him against an advanced opponent, but this was his first to have a fellow rogue challenge him with a young boxer of his own. The Penguin had never had very close ties with The Joker, but upon hearing that the clown's own brood had been fierce in two previous matches, the old bird couldn't help but to see what Jack could do.

"I hear this guy's kinda big, Jacky," Angus told him after taking a big gulp of soda.

"Big ain't nothin' to me, Gus," Jack grinned. "Big can't beat quick..."

After tightening his laces, he stood and stretched his arms over his head. "Tell Mom and Dad I'll be back later tonight..." He trotted out the door, not waiting for a response as he made his way to Gotham Central Park.

As he rounded a bus stop that led across the street and onto a concrete jogging path, Jack could hear the customary cat-calls of his two friends as they stretched at a nearby bench.

"Ooh-wee," a stocky, red-haired teen howled at a passing brunette in a canary-yellow sundress. "Hey, baby...you look lost. Lemme take you home..." He let out a deep chuckle as the girl turned and sneered at him.

"Does your mother know that you're out, creep?" she asked, annoyed.

"Oh, damn, Brian!" a tall, lanky black kid bellowed. "This ain't your day, man!"

"Aw, she's just playin' hard to get, Ronnie," he told him.

Jack smirked as he came closer to them. "She was just trying to get clear of those craters on your face before they swallowed her whole."

His friends both threw their heads back and laughed. Ronnie cracked his knuckles, saying, "Brian only wishes she could swallow..."

As he said that, two girls around their age walked by with shocked, yet amused looks on their faces. Ronnie turned and covered his mouth to laugh off his embarrassment as Jack raised his eyes to the young blonde girl and she smiled coyly at him as she waved.

Brian watched Jack wave back at her, biting his lip. He did one final calf stretch before saying, "What is it with you and blondes, Jay?"

Jack chuckled as he popped his neck. "Runs in the family, I guess..."

Around mile two of their run, Ronnie asked Jack about the impending match. "How you feel about it, Jay? You ready?"

"I'm always ready," Jack panted his answer as he loped. "Dad's tellin' me I need to size the guy up...time my blows just right..."

Brian scoffed. "He ain't tellin' ya nothin' you don't already know, man..."

"I know...he and Croc go way back, though...I think he's just trying to look out for me since...Croc's been underground for the past few weeks..."

"I couldn't live in the sewer, man; fuck that..." Ronnie said. "I don't care how desperate I am to hide from the pigs..."

"You would if you were Croc and couldn't hide anywhere else..." Jack rejoined. "Seems to me...if you already stick out in a crowd...sewer'd be the perfect place..."