Joker woke up a few hours later to a stinging sensation in his arm that had him jerking to a sitting position. He felt a soft hand on his shoulder.
"I am so sorry, Daddy. A few of your cuts were worrying me; I wanted to get them stitched up before you lost anymore blood. I am so sorry for waking you up."
He rubbed his blurry eyes and looked at the girl sitting next to him, wearing gloves and holding some thread and needle in her small hands. He couldn't help but smile a little.
"Almost done, princess?"
"Yes, just a few more stitches in this cut and then you should be ok!"
"Good." He replied, grabbing his phone off the side table with his good hand. "Lots of work to do."
"I really think you should go back to sleep for awhile; you need the rest."
Joker just laughed and glanced over at Lisbeth. "Angel, I don't rest."
Lisbeth gave him a smile and a small, "Ok."
When she finished the stitches he put his arms around her and pulled her into his chest, kissing the top of her head. Lisbeth snuggled into him, resting her hands on his chest. They sat for a few minutes, just enjoying the quiet until J's phone rang. He quickly grabbed it off the table.
"Yes?....yes....ok.....in an hour....that's fine.....yea." With that he hung up the phone and leaned back, glancing over at Lisbeth. "I have to go meet Dig; we have some business to finish up since I had to leave early last night." He got out bed quickly, worrying Lisbeth about his freshly-stitched wounds.
Lisbeth watched him silently as he got dressed, savoring the way he moved, indulging herself in just watching him. When he had finished dressing, he walked over to Lisbeth, putting his face next to hers. "Take a picture, it lasts longer!" He let out a loud laugh, putting his arms around his baby girl. She joined him in laughing.
He gave her one last squeeze before he opened the door and leaning out, "Frosty, Hatter!" Both of them hurried to the door and entered the room.
"Jonny; we have a meeting with Dig. Get Bones and a few other men ready to go. Post Ghost outside my bedroom."
"Yes boss." Jonny said before leaving.
"Hatter, Hatter, Hatter..." Joker smirked as he walked over to the goon. He put his hand on the nervous man's shoulder before gesturing to Lisbeth with his free hand. "I put my lady's life in your hands." He let out a laugh before walking back over to Lisbeth and encircling her in his arms. "You will stay in here with Lisbeth until I return; you will not leave her side until I am back."
"Yes, sir." Hatter replied quickly.
Joker turned back to the girl in his arms. "Baby girl; I just can't leave you alone until I get some locks in the window; you understand, right? I am not willing to let you go."
She nodded and gave him a kiss. Jonny had come back into the room and J headed to the door, leaving with his right-hand man.
Lisbeth walked to the large armchair in the corner of the room, sitting down with a sigh. Hatter quickly walked over to her, and grabbed her arm. "Cmon! I am going to figure out a way to get you to Harley. This may be our best chance."
Lisbeth resisted his attempts to pull her up, hitting at his arm.
"What are you doing, my lady? We need to go!"
"I'm not going anywhere, Brandon. I am where I want to be."
Hatter stood up, an incredulous look on his face. "What...."
Lisbeth turned her face towards the window, a sad look etched on her face.
Hatter walked over to her slowly, kneeling before her chair and grasping her hands in his.
"My lady...Lisbeth..." he said gently, "Watching Boss ra....ra...." Hatter choked on his words and Lisbeth could hear tears in his voice. "Watching him hurt you last night was probably one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. Knowing that I couldn't help you was unbearable. But now I can help you; I can make sure he never hurts you again."
Lisbeth moved to the edge of the chair, giving Hatter's hands a gentle squeeze. "Trying to get me out of here right now would probably mean certain death for both of us. I won't risk that; especially when I want to stay.
"No! You can't want to stay-you don't know what you are saying."
Lisbeth pulled her hands from his and put them on his cheeks. "I can't explain it, Brandon, but I love him and I won't leave him."
Hatter pulled away from Lisbeth, a look of disgust replacing the sadness on his face.
He stalked over to the chair on the other side of the room, sitting down stiffly. "Well then, my lady, I guess I will just sit here and do my job then; make sure you don't escape." He glared at her once more before turning his face away.
Lisbeth turned towards the window, tears filling her eyes. She had better toughen up, get used to this because as long as her heart belonged to that psychotic clown, everyone good in her life would slowly get pushed away.