Will You Be My Daddy? ~Joker Fanfiction~

Thirteen

"Do it, Maddie, do it. Do it do it do it do it do it."

The whisper felt impossibly harsh as it caressed her ear. The contrast of the softness of the whisper and the words that were actually being said would have been clear to her if she knew what it was.

"All you have to do is pull the trigger, doll. His life in your hands. Can't you feel it? Can't you feel the power you hold right now?" Joker persuaded manically.

A bead of sweat rolled down Maddie's temple, landing somewhere on her outstretched arm. She couldn't understand why he wanted her to do this. As if he had read her mind, Joker continued talking.

"This is what you've been training for. Do it so we can be together. A family. Do you really want to be alone again?" He asked.

No. Maddie couldn't stand the thought of going back to being by herself. Or worse, going back to her old father. But the man said that he has a family too, she couldn't help but remember. Can I really take another little girl's daddy away?

"But he has a family, too, Daddy," she protested softly. The crowd didn't hear it, but the man did, and so did Joker. While a glimmer of hope appeared in the man's eyes, Joker snarled at his trainee.

"Do you think I care about his family, doll? About anyone?" Joker growled. The man flinched at the same time as Madeline. Joker saw, and tried to be falsely sweet with Maddie to convince her to follow through. "Come on now, princess, don't be silly. You don't know this man, no one will care if he dies."

"I will," Maddie realized.

"What?" Joker demanded.

"I said, I will," she repeated. "I'm sorry, Daddy, but I can't kill him for you. I can't kill anyone."

Maddie's words were meant for Joker, and he and his victim were the only ones who heard them. She lowered the gun, ashamed of herself, and offered it back to Joker.

The man's shoulders sagged in relief, and the crowd gasped again, murmuring to one another.

Joker was seeing red. All he could think about was her betrayal. He snatched the weapon from her hand and almost immediately smacked her upside the head with the butt of it.

Maddie collapsed to the ground, holding her bleeding head. She looked up at the Joker, eyes watering threateningly. She almost let a tear slip at the terrifying look on his face, but remembered what he'd said to her about crying and held it back, unable to bear the thought of disappointing him further than she already had.

Without turning his face from Madeline's, Joker fired the pistol, nailing his victim between the eyes. Someone in the crowd shrieked, but Maddie and Joker never broke eye contact. That is, until—

"Joker!" Came a shouted growl from above.

"Batsy!" Joker laughed, finally turning around. "How nice of you to join the party! Though, I don't recall sending you an invitation."

"Let the girl go, Joker," Batman ordered, gracefully falling from his vantage point and landing on the opposite side of the stage.

The crowd cheered happily, relieved that their caped crusader had left his cave a little earlier than normal. Meanwhile Maddie trembled on the stage. She didn't want to go anywhere with Batman.