Song: Hysteria by Muse
Amy's first thought was to comfort the boy. He needed her more than she needed him. She told him, "Come towards my voice." He sniffled, and she thought he may not listen, but then she heard shuffling. She continued talking so he could find her. As soon as she felt a little hand grab her shoulder, she grabbed him up. She cradled him to her chest, and her heart broke further. He was skin and bones and weighed almost nothing. She wondered about his parents and why he was always in the hallway. She wondered why he was taken along with her.
"Do you remember anything, sweetie?" she asked him gently.
He told her, "Big scary guys t-took me. You were asleepin'."
So Amy assumed she was already out before they took the boy. "Do you remember anything else?"
"N-no." He started crying again. She could just imagine how scared he was. The dark wasn't an easy thing to deal with. Unfortunately for her, she had plenty experience.
"What's your name, honey?"
"Freddy."
"My name's Amy, and everything is going to be ok. I promise." She held him tighter and rocked his little body in her arms. She didn't know if everything would be ok. This time she didn't have the luxury of Jason sitting at her bedside when she woke up. Or well, the Joker.
Amy calmed herself down as much as possible. She didn't feel like she was hurt, and he wasn't acting like he was hurt, so it was a little win. She could figure this out.
A scary thought wormed its way into her head. Joker wouldn't do this to us. Would he? She cringed, knowing there was a possibility. He was just sick enough to put her back in the dark.
She then heard footsteps. With no warning at all, a door swung open and light poured into the room. She held the boy tighter when he started shaking. He grabbed hold of her sweater and held on for dear life. There were two large silhouettes in the light shining in the doorway.
"So this is J's bitch, huh? You're a real pretty thing. I see why he likes you." She then saw a camera flash. A picture? Oh my God! They're going to taunt the Joker!
She stood up and set the shaking Freddy behind her. "Who are you? Why are we here? What does this have to do with him?" She stuck her chin out and set her shoulders back. She would win this one. She had an unborn baby and a small child that she would fight tooth and nail for.
"All the questions. Chill out. J's gonna get what's comin' to him, and you're our ticket. Just hold tight, and you both'll be dead soon. Don't worry." At this, Freddy grabbed the bottom of her sweater and hid underneath it. He grabbed her thigh and wrapped himself around her leg. The poor thing was terrified. The man continued, "Until then, let's not piss everywhere, doll. There's a bucket in the corner. Give me a couple days, and we'll deal with ya. Keep the boy in check, too."
At that, he dropped two bottles of water and a loaf of bread on the floor and slammed the door, covering the room in darkness again. The shivering boy under her sweater said, "I-I don't wanna d-d-d-die." He could barely get the word out.
Amy had no choice but to pick the boy up and in a strong, but calm whisper told him, "We aren't going to die, sweetie. Amy's got this under control." She felt like she was everything but under control. She didn't know her options or a plan or anything else. She just knew that the Joker had nothing to do with this. Well, he did. He just didn't take them. It was his fault she was in this position.
After explaining that death wasn't in the plan, the boy ran towards the direction of the water and bread. "No, no, no. I don't think so. You give them here." She felt around, and he was holding the bread out to her. She took it and broke off a small piece and gave it to Freddy. She knew from his nonexistent eating that he would have scarfed the entire loaf down in seconds. She didn't know how long they were going to be there, but from what the man said, it may be a couple days or more. She was rationing off everything immediately.
She wondered why they gave them food and water, though, if he was just going to kill them in the end. He probably wanted them kept alive for some sick play at the Joker. She took the lid off the bottle of water and said, "Come here, Freddy." After maneuvering so she could, she gave him a sip of the water and set the bottle aside.
She told him, "We need to find this bucket. How about a game, honey? Do you want to help Amy find the bucket?"
She heard a small squeal and heard him say, "I'm g-good at games, Amy. I wanna play." She then heard him rushing around the room blindly.
As soon as Amy explained, "Take your time, or you'll get hurt," she heard a bump on the wall and then heard him fall to the ground. She couldn't help but chuckle. Oh, I'm going to make a horrible mother. Games in the dark equal bad idea.
"I found the bucket!" he exclaimed.
She asked him, "Did you get hurt, Freddy? Are you ok?"
"I bumped my head," he explained. She followed his voice so she knew where the bucket was, and then she took him in her arms. She sat down at the wall and took her sweater off to cover them both. The room was icy cold, and she only had a sweater as a blanket.
Amy talked to Freddy until she was able to get him to fall asleep. The boy was dealing with this better than she expected. She took a couple deep breaths and hoped that everything worked out, but she didn't know how that was possible. The Joker would find out they were here, and he would let those scary men kill her and the boy. He wouldn't care about their well-being. He would let them rot in this cold, dark room.
-----
He wasn't seeing red. The Joker knew that he was seeing clearly for the first time since she left his house. He also knew if the red overtook him, she was going to feel the repercussions. He wouldn't allow it. He was covered in red, though.
Blood really does splatter a lot when you beat someone to a bloody pulp with a baseball bat. Note for next time: just shoot them. It's cleaner.
He looked down at the bodies surrounding him. He didn't feel better. He wouldn't until he got the girl out of that godforsaken basement.
Jonny approached him with a photo two days ago. She was curled up on the floor against a wall in a dark, dank room. She had on a tiny wool dress without sleeves. The only blanket she had was her sweater. She was holding a small child in her arms. She had no shoes on. The room was horrifying. He almost let the red overtake him when he saw that photo of her. She was his. How dare anyone treat her like that? On the back, he read, "Give me the five hundred million, Clown Prince of Crime, or the girl dies."
This was his fault. Her association with him was what allowed this to happen. He allowed Falcone's men to find out about her the night at the club. He knew that was when it had to have happened. Falcone lost him a lot of money, and when J reacted, this was how Falcone came back at him.
Carmine Falcone was boss of one of the two ruling crime families in Gotham. He unwittingly made the Joker who he was. When Maroni, the other don, blew up one of Falcone's ships carrying millions in guns from overseas, J lost a lot of money. It was the night that he was furious. J retaliated by ruining the robbery that Falcone had planned. He left a bomb in the safe just to say, "Fuck you. Have a night day!" He was proud of himself until he looked at that picture. This needed to end, and it needed to end now.
He needed to find him and all his assholes. He was done with him, but he needed to find out where Falcone was keeping Amelia first. That's what brought him here. He started questioning associates of Falcone, but they all knew nothing.
He turned to Jonny and told him, "Onto our next courtesy call!" He stepped over a particularly gruesome body, very proud of his artwork. The red looked just marvelous splattered over the hardwood floor like such. He patted himself on the back.
The next stop didn't pan out either. He would kill every last living person to get this girl back, but none of the next stops panned out.
It wasn't until one of Maroni's men came to him with a peace offering. It took four days, but he was going to get her, and come hell or high water, he would keep her.
The calm of that blissfully blind week evaded him for the past six weeks. He wasn't who he was with her. He liked what he became around her. Her innocence and backbone stood out to him. She was beautiful, but that was a given. She gave her body over to him so sweetly, but thrived under his dominance. He wanted to own her, he wanted to consume her, he wanted all that she was, he wanted the calm that overtook him when she was near. The Joker actually needed someone, and he was going to get her. And he would keep her, whether she liked it or not.
A/N: So there's that. I had to do more of his POV for this one, but I didn't want to do too much, so I added it into this chapter. I don't want to ruin his character at all, so I'm keeping it short and simple. In the first write up of this story, I didn't have the end part, but I think this helps answer questions that would have come up 10 chapter from now. I hope you liked it (and it totally made this a longer chapter, which I'm sure you're ok with)! The next couple chapters are freaking amazing, though. As usual, a vote would be much appreciated if you liked the story! And let me know if you liked or disliked something!
Until next time, lovelies. Ta!