Joker's Hideout(s)

[Comic_Book_Joker]

The Clown Prince of Crime walked in last, moving to a corner that let him see Gossamer's face perfectly. He said calmly, "Gossamer says she didn't abandon us. Let her tell you her side."  

[Elmira of Elkwood]

Rosie looked over at the Joker, her eyes still widened a bit. After a moment, she looked back over to her mother. "You... you didn't just leave us?" she asked.

Gossamer carefully shook her head. "I know it seemed like I did, but no. I didn't abandon you." she replied.

"But... you just left Da- ... Joker alone when there were super heroes in that building. He had to jump out a window to get away."

Gossamer winced. She... didn't know how Joker escaped from Lex Corp. She never actually found out, and he didn't say. If she remembered right, they were on the top floor of that skyscraper. Surely he didn't jump from that window. It would have been a miracle for him to survive that. "That wasn't my doing. I still have a few binding contracts in play, and was teleported away without my consent or knowledge. If I had known what was about to happen, I would have brought Joker with me."

"Binding contracts?" Rosie asked.

"Yes... one of those spells from that book we stole from the museum. The one I thought I'd show off with and make fun of. If I make a deal with someone, or owe someone a debt... then it has to be honored. If they need something and I'm somewhere else... they can call on me and I'll appear wherever they are." she replied.

"And... that's what happened? That's why you left?"

"Yes."

"But... then why didn't you come back? Even to the old hide out?"

Gossamer frowned. "I did... no one was there. You were both gone. I tried to find the two of you. I looked all over Gotham. I couldn't find either of you."  

[Comic_Book_Joker]

He knew exactly what Gossamer's wince was about, considering what Rosie had said just before it. What Gossamer didn't know, though, was that he did, in fact, jump out that same window. It had been a close scrape, but he was obviously still here.

Remembering all this brought a smile to the Joker's face. It was a small smile, but it was there. He just might be able to get into character again, after all, if the need arose.

He stayed quiet, until he heard Gossamer say that she couldn't find them. At that point, he added in, "We went to another hideout of mine. Really, that's kind of why they're called hideouts, though, isn't it? You can hide out in them." The smartass remark what all he needed to tip the scales in his mind, and send that small grin into a full-blown smile, though his teeth were still hidden behind blood-red lips.  

[Elmira of Elkwood]

Gossamer looked over at Joker as he spoke up. As she listened to him, she gently arched a dark brow at him. "Well of course." she replied calmly. "Which is why I couldn't find either of you. I looked everywhere that would have been your MO to have a hide out... abandoned buildings... old factories... toy stores... even an abandoned circus lot." She wasn't sure why he was suddenly smiling like that. Was he proud of how well he had managed to keep hidden? Or had they discreetly been out and about more than she knew?  

[Comic_Book_Joker]

Joker's eyebrow raised back at Gossamer, as if to say, 'I guess you didn't look hard enough, huh?' He's not a magic user. He certainly didn't make the place impenetrable to magical means of detection. Hell, he didn't really do much to make it hard to find by normal means.

His eyebrow still raised, he listened to more of Gossamer's tale.  

[Elmira of Elkwood]

Something that Rosie herself brought up. "So... you're magic couldn't find us either?"

Gossamer looked back towards the child. "No... I... I wasn't able to." she replied, frowning. "I wasn't able to establish a connection with Joker while we were together to locate him. And... there were so many of your duplicates out and about the world, I couldn't focus in on one child."  

[Comic_Book_Joker]

Deciding that this had gone on long enough, the clown drew out a revolver and said, "So how about it, Rosie dear? Do you believe her?" He didn't aim at anything in particular. He was just looking at the gun.  

[Elmira of Elkwood]

Rosie looked over at the Joker, then back over at Gossamer. Gossamer's attention had moved towards the gun the Joker was holding. "I..." she began, looking at her mother as Gossamer looked back at her. She still held the same, calm expression. "... you tried to find us? The whole time?"

Gossamer hesitated. Joker could easily just bring up that she had another Rosie that she had been taking care of. She could say that she... stopped looking once she found their last hide out. But then he'd say that she DID stop looking.

".... I tried." she replied quietly.  

[Comic_Book_Joker]

Joker's eyes darted back to Gossamer, now shining with a gleam similar to a predator about to pounce on its prey. If this had been a game of chess, he would have been closing in on checkmate very soon, indeed. "You didn't answer her question, Gossy baby," he said, mocking the pet name he referred to her as during their short-lived tryst, "Were you looking the whole time?"  

[Elmira of Elkwood]

Gossamer looked back towards the Joker. She noted the look in his eyes, and a frown moved across the edges of her lips. There wasn't going to be any way around this without lying. And at this point, she knew that Joker would pounce on any lie he detected.

"Yes." she replied, looking back towards Rosie. "I looked all over this city until I exhausted myself. When that didn't work, I went to more desperate measures of looking for you."

"Is... is that how you found Joker?" she asked.

"... he actually found me." Gossamer replied.  

[Comic_Book_Joker]

"You're damn right, I found you," Joker started, going in for the metaphorical jugular, "I found you parading around with a REPLACEMENT ROSIE!"

Boom. Check.  

[Elmira of Elkwood]

Rosie's eyes widened and moved back towards the Joker. "A... a replacement?" she asked, her tone almost frightened. She looked back towards Gossamer, who's frown had deepened. "You... you were just gathering up the other Rosie's... right?" she asked.


".... yes." Gossamer replied. "I couldn't find you or Joker. So I focused on finding your duplicates. Put them back together into one child. It was my fault that you all were scattered all over creation. I didn't want to just leave you all to fend for yourself." she said. Then she paused a moment before adding. "I... I thought that Joker would be taking good care of you."  

[Comic_Book_Joker]

"So you decided to not even try to say goodbye," the clown said, walking a little closer to Gossamer and Rosie. The gun still wasn't being aimed, and now his wounded hand was out of his pocket. He wasn't paying attention to that anymore, though. "You moved on. You gave up. You stopped looking for us. Knowing that you didn't have to worry yourself sick, you just skipped trying to find us to explain what happened, and moved on to replacing us."  

[Elmira of Elkwood]

"No," she replied, looking back over at Joker as he approached them. Her tone taking a very slight defensive ping to it. "I continued to search for you. With the child I had gathered into one, it was easier for her to pinpoint where her duplicates were than it was for me. I never stopped looking for you, I just..." she said, then paused a beat and looked back down at Rosie.

The little one's face was concerned. It was clear that Joker had hit a nerve bringing up the thought of her being replaced.

"...I just didn't make it as much of a priority as I had before." she continued. As much as it went against her instincts, she turned her attention completely away from the Clown and knelt down to be eye level with Rosie. "I knew that Joker would be taking care of you, and that you would be safe. Your duplicates arent safe or being cared for. I had to find them and collect them up as I looked. That doesn't mean I replaced you. And that doesn't mean I don't care about you." she said gently, placing her hand on Rosie's knee.  

[Comic_Book_Joker]

Joker's eyes narrowed. That had been a better answer than expected. Still, it needed to win over Rosie. He asked the little redhead, "Do you believe her?"