sightless.

25: Incorruptible

Amelia woke with a start.  Something was definitely off.  Why am I back in this bed?  The sheets were too soft, the room was so warm, and everything was silent.

As the entirety of the horrible day yesterday was came rushing back to her, she shot up in bed.  She looked beside her, and neither Freddy nor the Joker were there with her.  She immediately jumped to the worst conclusions.  He's the Joker.  Where the hell is Freddy, and why did he take him? Does this have something to do with what I told him last night?

She was never able to answer his heart-wrenching question, "What do we do?" They stood in the bathroom for what felt like hours but was probably only minutes just holding each other. Eventually she led him out of the bathroom and back to the bed.

She instead told him with as much confidence as she could muster up, "It will work out some way or another." There was nothing else to be said last night. They would have to figure things out as they went. She still didn't know how she felt about his reaction. It was promising, but it just made everything more difficult. If he was abusive or gave her some kind of ultimatum, she could formulate an action plan. He was instead in awe and looking to her for guidance; that threw a wrench in her plans.

She suddenly pushed her way out of bed and ran to the bathroom door. She slammed it open, and he wasn't there.  She yelled, "Freddy?!"  She heard no tiny voice answering her.  She then rushed to the door that led to the hallway.  She swung the door open and shouted again, "Freddy?"  Nothing.

Her heart was racing, and her mind was long gone down that dark avenue of what ifs.  But he was so good with Freddy last night. He took the news of the baby so much better than I would have thought. Try to calm down, Amy!  He's fine. He has to be. She knew she wouldn't be able to mentally handle anything serious happening to Freddy. All the rest of it, she could deal with. That little boy? He didn't deserve to be brought into her crazy, fucked up mess.

She then ran down the steps at the end of the hallway and heard giggling coming from the back of the house.  Freddy!  She ran towards the sound, and what she found could have floored her if she wasn't holding the door frame.

There was Freddy, sitting with his legs criss-crossed in the middle of a huge kitchen island with that huge shirt on that swallowed his little body up.  That wasn't what floored her.  Sitting across from Freddy on the counter top was the Joker with the identical criss-crossed legs.  He had only his sweatpants on.  That wasn't even the crazy part.  The entire kitchen, which if she could say so herself would have been stunning, was covered in flour, and that included the two sitting on the counter.  There was a pan on the stove with something in it that could catch fire any minute if it was burned anymore.  There was heavy black smoke coming from said pan.  There was what used to be a glass bowl shattered on the floor and batter of some sort splashed all over the bottom cabinets. 

The two of them looked like they couldn't care less.  They had plates in front of them and half eaten pancakes with what could have been a whole bottle of syrup and a whole stick of butter on them.  Are they even cooked all the way?  She could see raw batter spurting out the sides of the gigantic pancakes.  Said bottle of syrup was currently leaning over the side of the counter slowly dripping into a huge puddle of batter. 

As fast as she could, she tiptoed around the shattered glass.  It's damn good to see again.  She pulled the pan off the stove and threw it into the sink with the water running.  At least they fully cooked one pancake, and it's well done, too.  After turning off the stove, she turned to the two of them, "Uhm?"

They were both already watching her put their almost-fire out, but Freddy smiled and said, "We made you pancakes, Mommy.  Mr. J. let me help."

She turned and just looked at the Joker.  He didn't say a damn thing.  He had no excuses.  There could have been a fire.  Freddy could get sick from the raw batter.  There was glass all over the fucking kitchen floor!  He flashed those metal teeth at her, started laughing and held out a plate of butter and syrup with a side of raw pancake. 

She couldn't help the small smile that came to her face as much as she tried hiding it.  This was just too much.  Freddy, the Joker and pancake batter in a chef's kitchen was a sight to see.  She told him, "There could have been a fire, and Freddy could have gotten hurt." She tried to remain calm, cool, and collected.

"There wasn't, and he didn't.  Come eat, kitten, you need all the nutrients you can get."  For just one second, she saw the smile break, and there was a vulnerability that spread across his face.  If she wasn't watching closely, she would have missed it. He then winked at her and held out his plate. Gross.

She thought of sleeping next to him last night.  She was tossing and turning a lot of the night for multiple reasons.  One was for the tiny hand that kept smacking her in the face, and the pointy little knee that kept digging in her back.  Another was that she hadn't slept in that bed since her last night here; it was strange for her to see everything and know it was the Joker next to her.  The last was for the fingertips that would ever so gently trace down her side when he thought she was asleep or the heat she felt on her back when he snuggled up close to her.  There was something about this man that was so entirely off, but she had no idea what it was.  Why does it seem like he's a different person than that crazed lunatic I saw at the bank or on the news?

"I don't need butter and sugar, that's for sure.  And now Freddy is going to be wild all day."  She walked over to the other side of the counter to pick up the gooey mess that was Freddy, and she continued, "Have fun cleaning this up."  She walked out of the room, laughing the whole way.  Take that!

An hour later, she and Freddy, who she found another shirt of the Joker's to ruin, walked downstairs.  Amy was thrown completely off at the point.  She didn't know what she was feeling towards this man.  He could have started a fire.  Freddy could have gotten hurt.  But the sight that met her eyes with the two of them eating pancakes on the kitchen island?  Priceless.  The Joker, tattoos, metal teeth, green hair, and bank-robber extraordinaire, and a five-year old little boy in an over-sized T-shirt eating butter and syrup with a side of basically raw pancake batter.  If that wasn't comical, she didn't know what was. 

I shouldn't trust him with Freddy, though.  And I should have never said anything about the baby, even if I did blurt it out by accident.  Amy was afraid he would change his mind about everything. I mean he is a crazed criminal. Instead of "what do we do?" she was waiting for "get rid of it, now."  Or even worse would be him just getting rid of her.  She was lost at this point.  She needed to figure out her action plan.  She needed to get out of his house and away from him.  She needed to get Freddy away from him.  He was a danger to everyone around him because it could go either way.  She went to find him to see if they could get a ride back to her apartment, at least.  Then she would figure out an action plan for them all.

A/N: So, lovelies, what do you think?! I liked writing this chapter. As you can tell, my Joker's personality is probably going to be closer to the cartoon Joker, but his look is still Jared Leto's. He's goofy and what appears to be, at the surface, harmless. He isn't, but it's funny watching it all go down. I really hope you liked this chapter. Much more insight into Mr. J to come! As usual, if you liked it, leave a vote and comment. If not, let me know why!

Until next time, lovelies! Ta!