*J* (the continuation)

Part Thirty-Three: Chapter 249: My Brother's Keeper

Jake lies awake in Ivy's desheveled apartment by the docks in the Narrows. Ivy felt that staying at Freeze's lab any longer might compromise Jake's hidden identity. At her place Ivy had her plants to help protect them. Jake couldn't really appreciate the fragility of his identity, or the ruthlessness of Gotham's criminal element. All that Jake grasped was that his brother was over all criminal elements in the city. The Joker might have been feared, but Jason was making enemies right and left. Enemies that could very well become a threat to Jake if they knew about him.

Jake rolls onto his side facing Ivy. He watches as she sleeps soundly, bathed in the moonlight shining through the huge old factory windows. He felt emasculated by having his girlfriend's house plants as bodyguards. He wondered if Ivy understood how weak that made him feel? He might not have gone through the extensive training that his two brothers had, but surely he could pack more of a punch than a fucking plant.

With a sigh he rolls back onto his back and stares up at the ceiling. It was stained with half a lifetime of brown water rings from the rain seeping through small holes in the roof. It was no use. He simply couldn't get a good night's rest while the Joker and Harley were locked up. He wanted to help bring them home. Jake doesn't trust Bruce Wayne/Batman the way the Joker does. Jake doesn't know him. And frankly, he thinks his brother's feelings for Mr. Wayne make him biased.

Jake gives up on trying to sleep. He quietly gets up, careful not to wake Ivy. He crosses over to the windows and peers out. J and Harley were out there somewhere while he was doing absolutely nothing to find them. How did everyone just expect him to sit around in idle? There had to be something he could do besides waiting around for Bruce Wayne. He didn't even know how to contact Bruce, should he feel so he inclined.

On the wall was a Gotham City map. Jake approaches it. The lighting was just enough that he could clearly see it. Bruce had said that they would be taking J to a place called Arkham, a nuthouse, a hospital. Jake's eyes search for hospitals. He sees several in and around downtown, but none were called Arkham. Maybe it wasn't called Arkham when the map was made. But then, just as he was about to turn away he saw it. The Elizabeth Arkham Asylum for the criminally insane. It was just outside of the city.

Jake looks over his shoulder at Ivy still sleeping soundly. Jake walks over to a cchair where his pants and shirt lay. Actually, they weren't even his clothes, they were J's. He quietly dresses and walks over to a bunch of stacked boxes. J's clowns I'm l brought everything from Freeze's lab over. He had seen the flesh colored paints that J sometimes had to use. Jake gathers them and goes into the bathroom with them.

He stares at his reflection in the mirror and starts to smooth on the paint. He finds it ironic that he jumped in the acid so he wouldn't have to do this whole process anymore. He fans his face until the paint has dried. He finds a hat to hide his green hair under. He leaves the bathroom and picks up the cloned phone that had been J's. He knows he'll be able to reach Ace or Frost on it. He shoves it into his pocket and sits in a chair to put on his shoes.

He looks around for a pen and paper to leave Ivy a note. He knows that if he wakes her that she won't let him leave. He finds a pen and paper and quickly scribbles out:
Please don't worry, I'll be back. I'm in a disguise and laying low. I just couldn't sit around and do nothing anymore. Nor can I sit by and let the D.A. have a chance to start my brother's competency hearing. I'm not sure what I'm going to do, or when I'll be back, but I've got J's phone. I love you.
-Jester

He gives Ivy one last longing look. He props the note against the pillow on his side of the bed. He grabs his jacket and quietly slips out. He starts lurking down the street in the dark shadows of probably the most run down neighborhood in the city. He pulls out J's phone and presses the number two button and holds it until it starts calling the stored number.