Jester

Falling Out

She doesn't remember much from the day of the accident that drove the two of them apart. She remembers a weird feeling then getting hit over the head with something. Her entire world was black for a moment, or at least it seemed like a moment. It must have been longer since now there were police everywhere and they were cleaning up something in the main ring. With the slight pounding in her head she wandered and found her best friend and the closest thing to family she had. He looked distraught so she went over to see what was wrong.

"You could have prevented this." She had never heard such venom in his voice before. "You could have saved them."

She stepped back a bit confused by why he was so mad at her. She considered the Grayson's her family since she had lost hers.

"I'm sorry Richard." She mumbled he didn't react so she didn't know what to do. Haly walked over and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Let's get you both to bed. It's been an eventful evening and you both need rest." He didn't have his usual joy in his tone, it was more sincere but not scolding. She nodded and headed away to her room while Haly went to talk to Richard. She hadn't noticed, and neither did anyone else, that she had blood in her hair that had dried.

'Must have been from whatever hit me.' She thought, gingerly running her fingers over the bump on her head.

The next couple days were a blur for both the children. The circus was closed to the public while an investigation went on trying to find the person or people responsible for the death of the Grayson's.

Then some rich guy came. Apparently he had been there the night of the accident and felt bad for Dick. Bruce Wayne his name was.  He had been to the circus as a way to relax from his 'daily trials'. She was skeptical but didn't say anything since he took Dick away.

She stayed at the circus. She had her own act and had relied on Haly before so she would just do that again. They were packing up the tents to move to the next town and she wanted to say goodbye. Haly let her go and she found a bus that would take her near Wayne manor. It wasn't hard to find the place and she only had to walk maybe ten minutes from where she was dropped off. She walked up to the door and knocked, she had noticed security devices around but they looked to be only surveillance.

An older man opened the door and she was confused for a moment, worried she had gotten the wrong house.

"Is Richard available? I need to talk with him."

"Young master Grayson is in the study I believe. Shall I go and fetch him for you?" She bit her lip, she didn't want to trouble the Butler so she shook her head.

"It'll be fine, I guess. I just wanted to say goodbye."

"Goodbye for what? Are you leaving?" Richard had found his way to the door having been intrigued by hearing his name.

"The circus is leaving town. I wanted to say goodby before we left."

"Why bother?" At this she looked at him shocked. The butler stood to the side slightly confused as well. "It's all your fault they're gone. I never want to see you again." And with that Richard slammed the door in her face. She stood there dumbfounded for a moment before tears started to fall.

"I'm sorry." She whispered as she walked away from the manor, she decided not to take the bus to give her more time to cry. Probably wasn't the best idea though since it  was starting to rain. She stood under a shop awning after she had gotten soaked by the rain. Her tears were falling freely with hiccups accompanying them.

After a while of the rain not letting up, a man dressed in purple darted down the alley just past the awning she was under. Curious, and probably not her smartest idea, she followed the man to see what was wrong. When she got close, just before she could ask what was wrong, the man swung a knife and cut across her face. Narrowly missing her eye and stopping just above her lip. She pulled back with a gasp as her hand darted up to cover the now bleeding wound.

"Are you okay?" She asked before the shock could set in. The man looked confused and injured from what she could see.

"Aren't you a curious little one." The man said with a wet cough. "Let's get you taken care of." The man stood up and held out a gloved hand. She was skeptical but the sting of the cut was starting to set it with the rain water washing it out. She took his hand and he was leading her further down the alley.

"Where are we going?"

"The Harbor." She followed for a moment, but his steps were uneven.

"I know a shortcut if you'd like." He paused and looked at her with his toxic green eyes.

"Alright." He sounded skeptical but she nodded and opened a pocket in the alley, one that lead directly to the harbor. "You have a power."

"It's not super powerful, but it is useful at times."

"Very useful." A manic grin crossed his face as he pulled her through the pocket it closed behind them as they set foot on the harbor grounds. "This'll work out well." He led them further into the harbor with a little more pep to his step. "Let's get you cleaned up. Wouldn't want you to get sick on me now."

He led her in a confusing route to a rundown looking fun house. He led her through the halls of the funhouse and she caught her reflection of one of the funhouse mirrors, noticing how bad her cut looked. She also noticed that the man she was taken by was the newly portrayed villain of Gotham, Joker.

"Goons are useful at times too." He brought her to a room that was brightly lit. "You, fix up her face." There was a goon in the room dressed in a lab coat.

"Yes sir." The goon got closer and she pulled back a bit, she was starting to get freaked out. "I won't hurt you. I'm just gonna bandage your cheek. Is that okay?" She nodded and stepped closer.

"Will you stay here Mr J?" She asked and Joker looked confused. "You're hurt too, you need to get fixed."

"Sure little one. You know who I am. Who are you?"

"Jessica. My- my friend, he used to call me Jess." She sniffled and looked away.

"Do you have a last name? I have to return you to your family." Joker asked, she kept her gaze away.

"Terley. I don't have a family. I live at Haly's circus." Joker thought over something before a slight manic smile crossed his face.

"I can take care of you." Joker said after a minute. "Little Jess Terley." A slight chuckle left him. "My little Jester, I could be your family." She looked up in time to have disinfectant jammed into her cut. She cried out and pulled away instantly. Joker growled a bit and smacked the goon. "Idiot."

"Are you sure you want to take care of me? I cause problems." She muttered looking away, the sting was starting to ebb away. She didn't want to mention she could have spared the closest thing to family she had from death.

"Of course, my Jester. I could use someone like you, you could be very useful to me. And I could give you a home. We could find you some tutors for schooling. Would you like to stay? I'll let you choose." She kept her gaze on the ground as she thought it over.

"Can I let Haly know that I'll be staying?" She said after a while. Joker grinned and pulled a Polaroid out of no where and snapped a picture.

"I can send him a message for you. I'll let you rest and get healed. Better yet, I'll get one of the goons to send it and I'll get healed up with you." Joker said and she nodded. He quickly pulled out a knife and cut a lock of her hair. "Just further proof that you're okay." She nodded skeptically.

This will be an interesting turn of events if nothing else.