(Sequel to Lions Slaughtered By Lambs)

The Games That Daughters Play

Chapter 1: Change of Plans

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Author's Note: First story is called Games That Daddies Play. The Second is Lions Slaughtered By Lambs. This is the third installment. If you've not read any of those two, I can guarantee that you will lose all understanding of past references and the disturbing details I include in my stories. So I advise reading them before reading this one. For those who've been with me, welcome to the third sequel—I'm happy I changed my mind, regarding the writing of this. :-) Please Read and Review—I'll keep updating but I update faster when I know there are people who like it! :D

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The van stopped at a rest stop, ten miles out of Gotham City. They weren't leaving the city, only temporarily, long enough to—as Joker instructed—'get some supplies'. The van was parked outside two buildings, which stood side-by-side, as though they were meant for one another. The first building was a gas station that was interconnected with a Subway. Who on earth would come all the way out in the sticks for a sub sandwich, gasoline, and then take a two minute step to the motel beside the gas station? Those who say they would were probably looking for a sweet getaway from unhappy marriages.

Likely, that was the reason why the two cars parked outside that aforementioned inn seemed to be there. While most of the group was quiet, Allegra stepped out of the van. She was dressed in the same mannerisms of the dead cop, Lawson. Having stripped his gear, his blood stained her clothes, but to her lucky stars, the clothing was all black. She made a measure to step out of the van alone, but almost the moment she had planted her boots to the concrete ground, she felt movement behind her.

It was Hannah, softly whimpering.

Hannah was fifteen years old, adorning tangled sandy blonde hair that dropped all the way to her shoulders; her eyes were expressively wide and bright blue, the type that would make a man fall to his knees. In a few years, she could—and probably would. Right now, she was no talker; Two months ago, according to the dark-skinned nurse that sat on the former Doctor Crane's lap, Hannah had a bad scrape with the now-deceased Jake. Suffering that sexual assault, and the declarative past rape from her father, Hannah was no talker; instead, she refused to leave Allegra's side.

Hannah had become attached to her immediately: not only because Allegra had began mothering her, which had started when she killed Jake in cold blood (not even Joker wanted to know the details of that little scheme) but also for when Hannah first saw Allegra in the cafe Allegra had pounced and beaten the shit out of Jake when he shoved her to the ground. That kind of dominance comforted Hannah, admiring Allegra for her aggression. Accompanied with the knowledge of Allegra's reputation, Hannah knew she, too, had immoral affairs with her father at the bleak age of five to ten years old.

Rebecca, the aforementioned nurse, had indirectly stated that when a father raped his daughter, one could either end up fearful and rejected like Hannah, or brace it as a sick fantasy, like Allegra. Either way, it wasn't a good outcome.

Hannah, seeing Allegra leave just for a second, suddenly whimpered, moving towards the car door. Joker, who sat beside her in the late Dr. Leon's uniform, took Hannah's shoulder, intentionally more gentle than he would've with someone else. Even at this less than harmless gesture, Hannah squeaked, and nearly fell out of the van to get away from the man.

Joker didn't scare Hannah, not his face or his reputation...if Hannah even knew the reputations of the people she sat in the car with for that matter. It wasn't him as a person; Hannah seemed to be afraid of all men...who could blame her? With her father's rape and Jake's illegitimate act towards her. Joker smiled at the reaction, but Allegra heard it.

She walked back to the car, smiling sweetly at Hannah. Hannah was an inch shorter than Allegra, but she looked every bit like a six-year-old as she began crying.

"Where are you going?" Hannah asked quickly.

"Don't worry, Sweetums," said Gus from the passenger seat; in his Southern accent, he might have been able to charm the sweetest of scared little girls; if he hadn't reached out to touch her comfortingly. The act alone made Hannah scream.

"Don't touch me! Get away!"

"Hannah!" Allegra snapped when Hannah began to crawl out of the van—to do anything but see Allegra leave her.

"You can't leave—you can't!" Hannah began crying.

Joker watched Hannah with a less than interested expression. While he did find the girl's attitude annoying (he was a bit entertained by how quickly Hannah became so attached to his lieutenant), he just hoped that through a little motherly love from Allegra, Hannah would get out of this post-abandonment stage. If not...well...

"I won't be gone long." Allegra cooed; her tone was achingly soft, as though she spoke to a fret baby. She touched Hannah's face, stroking the soft skin, noticing for a second that the curves of her lips were so pointed downward, the happiness that could make Hannah look so beautiful was barely grazing the surface, even if the girl wanted it badly.

What did that all mean exactly? It was simple: Hannah didn't believe her.

"I'll go with her," said Richard, as a way of comforting Hannah; he began unbuckling his seat belt and getting out of the driver's seat. Richard was of African American descent, with flawless skin minus the brief scarring and past gun shot wounds acquired through working with the Joker in the past year—the brief accounts he had with Batman had given both Gus, Red, and himself a few scars to remind them how brutal the Dark Knight can be, aside from his moral leash. As Richard climbed out of the car and walked around, Gus nodded and stepped out of the car too, vowing to look after Allegra to ensure a safe return.

The clown made a derisive scoff—Allegra was only going into the shop for crying out loud!

Meanwhile, as Joker watched his men accompany Allegra's back (For she was still attempting to convince Hannah that she would only be a minute), he glanced beside him and saw Johnathan Cra—er, Scarecrow, talk softly to Rebecca.

Allegra and Joker broke out Crane for the purpose of doing so—they really didn't need that doctor, but Rebecca seemed to think otherwise. Initially reluctant but passively attracted to Allegra's more aggressive side, Rebecca had originally been Allegra and Joker's nurse. That was, until she turned to their side when Allegra offered her things her dead boyfriend (Conner, the cheating twit) couldn't: Freedom, and acceptance—Rebecca had a history of miscarriages, unintentional, of course; for this, Conner would neither let her go nor marry her out of love. That was settled earlier with his dead body, and the corpse of the receptionist he'd been fucking throughout.

Joker sighed, starting to get annoyed. However, before he started to intervene, Allegra had taken Hannah in a midway hug, and told her: "Momma won't leave you, Hannah. Trust me; I'll be back, you'll see. Until then, stay with him."

"I don't want to be left alone with..."

Joker grinned—despite Hannah's haywire hysterical moment, the girl had a point. Who would voluntarily stay with him? Well, other than all of these people.

"You won't be alone. You have Rebecca."

"She can't protect me," said Hannah earnestly; her voice broke, "She didn't last time."

Hearing her, Rebecca stopped speaking with Crane and glanced at Hannah as though there was some blame being placed on her for what happened between Hannah and Jake. In a way, there was, but not the way Hannah surely meant it.

"Stay with Joker." Allegra told her. "No one will touch you."

"But, Mom..."

Allegra smiled endearingly. Hannah realized what she had said; her cheeks, which had been sickly white, had flushed an incredible red hue, embarrassed. Joker looked up at the roof of the car, wondering how long this would take. If they didn't do something he would definitely make it so.

"Oh for god's sake," Joker muttered. He looked at Allegra impatiently. "Take the girl with you, Allegra; otherwise, we'll be here all day."

Allegra gave him a look then her eyes reverted to Hannah, who quickly, upon Joker's permission, stepped out of the car and held on tightly to Allegra's belt loops Before she turned to leave with Richard and Gus, Joker snatched Allegra's arm, pulling her back. When she looked at him again, expected a chiding, the expression on Joker's face softened from irritability (most likely directed at the complaining child) to one that needed to be understood perfectly.

"I have an idea." Joker told her.

"I'm not killing her." Allegra replied coldly.

Joker blinked, smiling at her suddenly, saying, "While that has crossed my mind recently, that's not what I was going to say."

Allegra glanced at Hannah, who was invading her bubble by pressing her body as close as she could against her; her arms were wrapped tightly around Allegra's stomach, hoping they'd never separate. Joker smirked when Allegra released the smallest of annoyed sighs.

"Let's have a little fun before we lay low, hm?" Joker asked. To prove his point, he began to move out of the van. Allegra parted the waves so he jumped out with the eagerness of a wayward teenager, glancing at Red, who was still in the middle seat at the front, then he glanced at Rebecca, and Crane.

"Coming along?" asked Joker sardonically, seeing the tightly wound arms of the two. They certainly were getting along well. The frazzled nurse, the psycho-pharmacologist. What were the odds that they would make such a great duo, besides Rebecca's quick nature to startle, and Crane's love for manipulating fear, despite his lack of muscular dexterity and lanky disposition.

"I thought we were leaving," Crane stated.

Joker gave him an obvious look.

"Right," said Crane, glancing at Rebecca. "Another change of plans." He found the clown's improvisation and quick change of plans a little inconvenient to his nature; while he was a flexible man—with the hours he used to keep at Arkham when he was still the administrator of the remarkable industry, he was used to a little inconvenience—this doctor wanted a mild blueprint of what would happen day-to-day. Why, not just an hour ago, they were going back to a shack in which Red, Gus, and Richard had harbored when their leaders, Allegra and Joker, had been sent to Arkham for unsuccessful rehabilitation.

"Do we have to get out of the car?" Rebecca asked Crane; her face touched against his briefly to indicate some loving gesture.

Joker leaned against the frame of the car door, giving them a mild look of irritation.

"Between this kid giving me a headache, Allegra's insistence on keeping her around, and having to listen to you two love birds talk about future and the probability of having kids of your own, I'm this to showing you what real fear feels like."

As he spoke, Joker was getting more irritable. Talking things out was never his style; he liked to hit and be hit. As his tone became darker and deeper, Rebecca started to be afraid, her eyes widening real big and Crane smiled sarcastically.

"Fine. We'll do it your way." Crane replied unhappily.

"That's sweet," Joker mocked, "You thought there was an alternative."

He stepped out of the car, slamming the door behind him. He brushed past Allegra, who caught his arm. He stared at the hand on his arm before he slowly looked up at her; the expression on his face was dangerous, so Allegra let him go.

Allegra moved Hannah from her leg, offering her hand in substitute for one ligament with which she needed to walk. Hannah looked at it curiously, glancing at Joker with a substantial amount of uncertainty, then took the hand; her grip was firm, but not as tight as her arms had been around her stomach.

"Grumpy, much?" Allegra asked him.

"At this point," Joker uttered to her, "I'm too tired to even have a little fun."

Crane approached him from behind saying, "Oh, let me guess. We're on Plan Z now."

Joker glanced at Crane, as though just realizing he was with them.

"You know, it'd be great if we could just go through with one plan," said Crane pointedly. He indicated the gas station and motel inn that were beside each other. "How about we just get a few refreshments, get a few rooms, and then lay low right here? It's less work, less effort, and..."

Joker rolled his eyes—apparently, he had enough backtalk. He sighed in audible frustration, taking Crane by the neck of his orange uniform, and pushed the doctor gainst one of the gas pumps. He didn't say anything, at least not immediately. He seemed more irate out of exhaustion from the mission of getting out of Arkham (and Hannah's crying) than he truly was about Crane's off-handed comment about Joker's love for improvising.

"Are you finished?" Crane questioned sarcastically; his hair was the only thing out of place, a little disheveled from the awkward shove off his back against the pumps.

"Where's Henry and Pierce?" asked Rebecca. She was looking around the station.

Henry and Pierce were two added officers to their little posse, or rather, ex-officers. They'd lost their badges when they threw their guns in the direction of Joker and Allegra after seeing their rookie stabbed in the throat with a fork, generously done by the Joker when Lawson began threatening the lives of his new recruits, and Allegra.

Henry was a calm associate, who, like Rebecca and originally Dr. Leon, had fallen for Allegra's personality. While Rebecca had become mildly infatuated with Allegra's dominatrix side, Henry had fallen for her wily seduction. Being groped at the pants by a female patient had been one of his fantasies apparently because it made him harder than stone. Sometimes, the thought of Allegra's direct approach still did. Henry was the one of the officers who never berated Allegra, or tried to 'get even' when the cameras were down or thought someone wasn't watching. He was blonde, stocky, and used to wear eyeglasses until Allegra commented on his appearance when he'd only worn eye contacts.

Pierce, who had been harder to sway, was persuaded, not by Allegra, but by the Joker. It took the man a while to get the slightest bit humored or angry; he seemingly had no emotion at all, until it was exposed when Lawson revealed the true identity of Pierce when he cut loose. Pierce had been discovered to be attracted to both Allegra and Joker, but he seemingly preferred a harder exterior, as revealed by the cameras hidden in a closet. He and Joker had some wily fun—to this day, Allegra thought it might have been just Joker's way to get another recruit; she never really wanted to know, or cared to know.

The two officers had been so quiet that neither Joker nor Allegra remotely thought of their existence until now, when Rebecca made it quite obvious that the two ex-officers were still in the van. Had they been talking about the past events? Maybe they were discussing nothing...or doing something else.

Allegra looked at Rebecca.

"Get them out." Allegra ordered.

"Why?" asked Rebecca.

"Plans have changed," Crane said sarcastically from his unwanted position against the gas pump; Joker had him there, but appeared distracted. Crane sent him a challenging glare, one that was sent successfully due to the brightness of his eyes: "Are we done?"

Joker smiled at him suddenly.

"Things get done, Crane. People get finished." Joker told him, correcting his grammar. "And we are finished." He moved away from him. "Allegra."

Allegra looked at him.

"Give me your gun." Joker ordered.

Allegra reached behind her waist, lifting her shirt to reach for the gun inside her pants and when she'd checked the bullets, she popped the barrel back in, spun it, and then tossed to Joker dutifully. Joker caught it by the shaft wordlessly; Like her, he checked the barrel, then looked at Crane.

"Ever shot anyone before?" asked Joker abruptly.

This question made Rebecca look uncertainly at Allegra. Meanwhile, Pierce and Kevin, presumably finished with their conversation, stepped out of the van to join a precarious Gus, Red, and Richard, who stood in a circle with Rebecca and Allegra; beside Allegra, naturally, was Hannah.

At the ambiguity of the question, Crane cleared his throat. With bright blue eyes focused on the clown, whose make-up was smudged and half-gone from his face, those eyes were widened by the abnormally large grin that curved Joker's lips, making his scars more pronounced. The clown took out five bullets, dropping them on the ground; they made a loud clink compared to the silence of the road and gas station.

Two cars, excluding the van. That meant one of them had to be the gas attendants, and maybe the other was for a couple of stranded lovers opting for a nice ol' gathering in a dingy motel, one that would soon have the most interesting crowd of guests since hay day—which, at the look of the risque appearance, had been years ago.

No sane person would dare look out the window to see Joker's smile, and notice the dangerous way he lifted the gun to Crane. After what seemed like hours, Crane answered, "No."

"No?" repeated Joker incredulously. "A frightening man like yourself never shot anyone before?" He smirked: "Guess the toxin makes you feel less guilty. Not exactly killing anyone, but it does make their minds go a little fuzzy to a point they're thinkin' they want to do the deed themselves, right?—that's not really killing, is it?"

"What's your point?" Crane questioned sardonically.

"Ah, covering fear with sarcasm. You doctors are all the same." Joker commented lazily. He looked at the gun, his eyebrows furrowing thoughtfully, then he looked at him. "You ever plan on shooting anyone, Crane?"

"You know I don't go by that name anymore." Crane replied coldly.

"But you answer to it, none the less. So answer to it now, doctor." Joker told him. "Maybe you like a change of plans, a few spon-tan-eous changes to make your day go a little smoother. Guy like you, I bet, have tried your own medicine? How did that work out for you, Crane, hm? I bet you kinda wanted to die that day. Never got the chance, obviously but I can help you with it. How about..." He lifted the gun and placed the dangerous end on Crane's forehead "I do it for you now."

Hannah squeaked, stepping behind Allegra, who glanced at her carelessly. Accustomed to Joker's threats, Allegra saw no harm being done for the moment; at any rate, he was just trying to ruffle a few feathers, and ruffle them, he did. Crane gave the gun a second's look of fear, but then his eyes returned to that cerulean piercing gaze, as if he dared Joker to do it.

But Crane wasn't suicidal.

"Or," said Joker quietly. "I can change my plans again. And save killing you for another day. Would that be in-con-vient to you, Crane, hm? Since you obviously have something to say about how I work around here."

Crane frowned: "What would you see if you breathed in my toxin, Joker? A man with your need to threaten people must be afraid of a few things."

Joker gazed at him as though he was crazy—not because of fear, but because he was so damn amused by Crane's odd threat. Joker turned slowly to Allegra, who shook her head with a mild disapproval, one meant for Crane's attempt to make Joker afraid of him. Her hand cradled Hannah's head as the girl's face was buried in the hip of her uniform.

Meanwhile, Rebecca was biting her lip anxiously. Was Joker going to shoot her new boyfriend?

Joker looked back at Crane, smirking at him.

"You have gumption for a weasel of a doctor," Joker laughed, amused. "I like that." He flipped the gun so the handle pointed towards Crane (a large sounding of relief came from everyone, except for Allegra, who never seemed anxious initially); Crane pocketed the gun behind his back, giving Joker a mixed expression of dislike and acceptance.

It was clear these two men would later scrape about whose way was better—as it would always be when it came to criminals. No criminal could be clearly happy with another criminal's working patters; they had different motives, and reasons for doing what they do. Even Joker and Allegra, who were practically mimics of agreement, had sparred in the past—sometimes, Allegra felt more than for what people gave her credit. Sometimes, she felt too much.

"Are we going now?" asked Richard uncertainly, noticing the awkward exchange between Joker and Crane, who both had been leaders of their own armies at one point.

"Yeah," said Joker.

"So...er—what's the plan currently?" asked Gus, looking at Joker respectfully. "Kill the manager of this seedy hotel, or are we getting some barbecue?"

Joker thought for a second then looked at Allegra.

"What do you want to do?"

Allegra rolled her eyes and said pointedly, "I don't care what we do."

"I'm gonna need more of a commitment than that." Joker stated.

Allegra glanced around at the empty road, the long shaft of a motel, with six rooms. It looked like something from 'Psycho'; if there was a large house with a decayed woman sitting in front of the window, Allegra would have figured Norman Bates sat in that gas station, waiting for more clients to die in his shower as he killed them, dressed like his mother, speaking in that eerily feminine voice.

Allegra shuddered at the memory of watching that movie at a young age, then glanced at Rebecca and Crane, who'd need time to get used to their oddly new relationship.

She looked at Kevin and Pierce, who still seemed shocked about the death of their rookie, Lawson, and where they've placed their new allegiance.

Then she glanced down at Hannah, who was between comfort and anxiety.

When Allegra met Joker's unfathomable expression, she only saw exhaustion in his face. They all needed time to mellow down, to relax from breaking out of a maximum security place, to relax from what had been trifling day. Maybe it was better to...

"Bunny."

Allegra looked up at Joker, startled. His voice had spoken his pet name for her in such a calm, low register, it had sounded so much unlike him. But it was definitely he who said it, and the same person was still waiting for her answer.

"We stay here." Allegra said. She looked at Crane. "Kill the manager."

"I don't do guns." Crane said impractically.

Joker scoffed, "Too quick?"

Crane took the gun from his back and threw it to the clown's feet, watching him coldly.

"Too messy." Crane corrected.

"Then kill him with this," said Allegra, taking a night stick from her uniform. She tossed to Crane, who only let it drop to the floor.

"I'm not using that." Crane said.

"Too personal?" asked Allegra.

"Again—too messy."

Richard rolled his eyes, apparently having reached his impatience. He took the night stick from the ground, glancing at Crane irritably.

"You doctors always fuss about a need to cleanse people, to make things easier. You give your orders, but you're not the fuckers that have to go through with 'em. What's the point in giving orders when you can't do them yourself, huh?" Richard questioned angrily.

For his anger, Allegra and Joker stared at him—none of them were really shocked, per say; they'd seen Richard volunteer for all kinds of shit. However, they were impressed at how eagerly Richard jumped to the idea of hitting an innocent man to death; after all, he'd been the survivor of one of Joker's tryouts, right after watching his boss, Gambol, die in front of his face.

Watching Richard enter the gas station, and his voice rising in pitch as he told the manager to "Get on your feet, motherfucker, or you gonna be my bitch!", Allegra smiled serenely. Joker smiled proudly, but Crane looked at Rebecca pointedly.

"I normally have my men do the dirty work for me," said Crane softly.

"As it should be for a crime boss like you." Rebecca cooed; they linked waists, and walked towards the motel, knowing the manager wouldn't object.

Allegra watched after them, then saw Kevin and Pierce walk towards the motel as well. Something made the woman smile for Joker heard the chuckle before he witnessed that crude look of amusement. Hearing the low timbre of entertaining mirth, Joker glanced at her.

"What's so funny?" asked Joker tiredly, bending down to get the gun that Crane had left on the pavement.

Allegra pointed at the direction of Kevin and Pierce; when Joker glanced in their direction, he chuckled too—Kevin and Pierce were holding hands; obviously, they found a bit of Allegra and Joker in one another, so they needn't be persuaded by their leaders for sexual fulfillment. It also explained what they might have been doing so quietly in that van.

"Guess that just leaves us," said Joker with a final sigh. He looked at Hannah, having forgotten about her, until now. "How long are you going to keep that one around?"

Allegra gave him a look. "She can be a valuable asset if we raise her right."
"We?" repeated Joker incredulously. He smiled ironically: "I'm sure motherhood appeals to you very much, Allegra, having been infertile all of your life thanks to the mishap of your understated father, but I'm not coddling a fifteen-year-old kid."

Allegra wrinkled her nose at the word, and Joker said as though apologetic: "Uh...'coddle' wasn't the right word, but you get my drift."

Hannah seemed oblivious to the conversation for she remained almost catatonic. Perhaps she was reliving her daddy's rape from a year ago—according to Rebecca, that's how long she'd been in Arkham. Really, she was never meant to be placed in Arkham; her crime was a technicality—she'd been armed with a knife right after her father attacked her, and had barely scraped the cheek of a police officer, who held her in regard for that painful scratch; she was arrested with attempted murder of police officer, and then, because of her father's intervention, she was psychoanalyzed, declared insane, and placed in Arkham. Her father, to this day, is in Black Gate prison.

"At any rate," said Joker, off-handed, "I would have wanted a son."

"That's a fifty-fifty chance." Allegra said. "Would you have left me if I did have a daughter?"

"Oh, Bunny, you have me all wrong," chuckled Joker. Then he said seriously, "I would have dropped you if you had any."

At that point, there was very loud screaming and then it died quickly. Richard came out of the gas station, drinking a beer and then threw a night stick in the trash can; it dripped a bloody trail until it met the bottom of an empty metal tin. Richard raised his beer respectfully to Joker and Allegra with a nonverbal statement that the deed was done, and then went to get a room at the motel.

Joker turned to Allegra.

"If you keep her," said Joker quietly, "You're responsible for her."

"She's not a dog."

"She might as well be," Joker replied in a matter-of-fact tone. "You train her, raise her, do whatever you wish. But don't get too attached." He placed two fingers under her chin, so Allegra's eyes divided from Hannah and met his with the utmost attention. "I'd hate for you to get soft on me just because of a kid."

Allegra nodded.

"Now, let's make up; give me a kiss." Joker told her; it wasn't a request. It was an order.

Allegra grinned at his demanding tone, and she moved in to kiss him. Joker pulled away, grinning at her.

"Not in front of the girl, Allegra; do you really want to give her a bad impression, hm?" Joker asked, smirking at Allegra's disappointed expression. "Wouldn't want her to end up like you, would we?"

Allegra rolled her eyes at him. A grin cracked Joker's mouth, elongating his scars, but making him look all the less tired. He walked ahead of her into the gas station, bringing with him a pack of beer, Cheese-Itz; evidently, too, inside the gas station was a small thrifty section of a mall for he brought out with him, in addition to his food, a pair of pants and a collared long-sleeve shirt. He waved at her as he walked on and into the motel.

Allegra looked around her, realizing, for the exception of Hannah, that she was now alone.

"I'm tired." Hannah muttered.

Allegra nodded, "You and me both, kid." She ran her hand through the girl's hair, saying softly, "Let's get some rest, yeah?"

"Okay." Hannah whispered.

She walked alongside Allegra, and into Long Haul Motel Inn—on the sign in front of it that flickered with faded yellow lights 'Ten Miles From Gotham, Just Ahead of the Curve; We Have Beer, Bed, and Great Company. Refurbished and New." Well, at least most of that was true.