Needing a break from the fair and the children, Alfred found a quiet space in a nearby stone gazebo and he slumped onto the marble bench. He had informed Francis he needed to be alone to get his thoughts on order, but implored him to have a good time and he apologised for the whole Joker incident. Francis was still a little miffed about his ruined clothes but he couldn’t blame the whole thing on him, plus he was a little concerned about Alfred after the whole game. The children were still having a blast and everyone seemed to have forgotten that a Joker had been present.

Leaning back against one of the stone pillars, Alfred tried to put together everything he had learned this afternoon from Peter, the mischievous Joker. Some of it helped shed a little light on the whole thing but the rest of it left him confused. He learned that there was a cover up in his own Kingdom involving the Queen and Gilbert the Joker was somehow involved. He was also given a peculiar riddle and was told by the Joker that the thing that needed to be done was for him to pay for something he did.

“What did I do?”

What exactly did he do? Alfred couldn’t think of anything bad he had done in his life. Did it all have something to do with that door? The girl had told him that to stop what was behind that silver door he had to do what needed to be done, and the Joker told him that he needed to pay for something he did, but what did he do? In his youth he had stolen cookies, wet the bed, and threw tantrums but he doubted that was the sole reason. He threw wild parties that got a little out of hand as he got older, did some reckless things here and there but that didn’t sound like the problem.

He also wondered what that horrible imagery the mystery girl showed him was all about. Peter claimed that it was her who who showed him that dreadful sight, but why? The dead children reaching out to him, the rivers of blood, his stained hands and the axe. Why did she show him all of that? What was it all about? Was she trying to scare him... or was this her bizarre way of trying to tell him something?

“Argh, this all giving me a headache,” he mumbled as he leaned forward to rub the bridge of his nose.

As he tried to get his thumping headache to calm down he suddenly heard a light chuckle above him. For a second he thought it was Francis coming to check on him. He glanced up and to his surprise he was looking up at Arthur, the sunlight directly behind him and he was holding a pot with bright pink flowers.

“What are you doing?” snorted Arthur, who appeared amused for some reason.

Looking round Alfred found he was back in the garden and not in the stone gazebo, sitting upon the wooden bench he had sat with Arthur before. He was actually surprised to be back so soon after what he just went through at the fair. If it was indeed the mystery girl sending him here, why did she show him that ghastly sight with the dead children and then bring him here?

Arthur continued to chuckle away. “You look adorable,” he laughed.

That snapped Alfred out of his confusion and he blushed furiously at the comment. “W-What’s that supposed to mean!?”

Arthur pointed towards his head with a big smirk. Alfred raised his hand up to pat his own head and blushed even more when he realised he was still wearing those rabbit ears Peter put on him. He ripped them off and stood up, stuffing them into his pocket.

“These w-were just something I got from the fair,” he mumbled, trying to get his face to calm down. The last thing he wanted was for Arthur to see him looking ridiculous.

Arthur seemed disappointed that Alfred took them off. “So how was the fair? Did you entertain the children well?”

Alfred felt a little smug, recalling that he had been practically bragging to Arthur about the whole thing during the past week. “Oh they’re loving it,” he declared, “the rides, the games, the entertainment. I told you that I’m the greatest host and I never disappoint.” Alfred couldn’t resist bragging about how the fair went, deciding not to mention the bits with the Joker. He went on and on, keen to describe to Arthur what he had missed out on.

“It sounded like you had a good time,” mused Arthur, placing the potted plant down by some others.

“You should’ve come,” said Alfred insistently, “you would’ve had fun.”

Arthur looked up with a dry smile and shrugged. “Maybe next time, eh?”

Alfred couldn’t help but notice the strange way he said that, as if he wasn’t putting any commitment into it. He had pleaded with Arthur to come to the fair but he always refused, insisting that he was too busy and that he’d go next time. In fact now that he thought about it, Arthur didn’t look at all busy. He didn’t appear that dirty either, his hands were usually filthy and his clothes might have a little dirt after some gardening, in fact it looked like he hardly did any work at all. What had he been doing, relaxing in his garden? Did that mean that Arthur lied to him? Why? Why did he lie? Why didn’t he want to come?

“You running out of time.”

That made Alfred look up so fast that his neck almost snapped. “W-What?”

“Our guessing game,” said Arthur with a polite smile as he pointed towards the trees, “you’re running out of time.”

Alfred sighed with relief, thinking that Arthur was going to say something weird and he had enough of weirdness. “I didn’t realise I had a time limit.”

“Well if you end up coming to my garden in the night again, you’d be able to tell what tree they are, they’ve almost fully grown.”

That made Alfred confused. “Wait, I’d be able to tell what kind of trees they are at night?”

Arthur nodded. “Only recently they’ve started to show their true colours, but it only happens after the sun sets.”

“What kind of tree does that!?”

“You have to figure that out, idiot.”

“You never told me that before!”

“I didn’t think I needed to give you clues.”

Alfred sighed. He was so busy trying to think of the mystery of the Queen that he didn’t even have time to think of what the breed of the trees that Arthur was growing. He didn’t even realise it was wearing him out, there was just too much going on right now he didn’t get the chance to relax properly.

“You look stressed,” said Arthur suddenly. “What’s the matter?”

Alfred sighed again and rubbed the bridge of his nose, readjusting his glasses. “I guess entertaining those kids took it out of me, there were lots of them and keeping every single one of them smiling and happy was a lot of work.”

Arthur didn’t seem convinced. “Is that all?”

“Well...” Alfred wasn’t sure what he should tell him as he certainly didn’t want to mention the vision of the dead children and the blood rivers, but maybe he should tell him what he learned about the mystery girl, it might cheer him up. “I think I figured out why I coming here.”

That made Arthur appear a little startled. “You have?”

“Remember that strange little girl I asked you about? The one who supposedly knows you? She told me recently that she’s the one who is sending me here to your garden. I still don’t know why but I think I’m close to figuring it out.”

That last bit was a lie but he wanted to convince him that he was close to solving the mystery. He wondered how Arthur would react to this news. Would he congratulate him on finding out something about this bizarre occurrence? Would he have questions of his own? Alfred was actually keen to know what Arthur would have to say about all this.

Arthur didn’t say anything. He didn’t even seem to be the least bit intrigued. Instead he appeared to be saddened by this and he didn’t look at Alfred in the eyes. “I... see,” he muttered.

Before Alfred could say anything, Arthur walked off without another word. He didn’t even look back and from his body language alone Alfred could tell that he wasn’t at all happy about the news. Confused, he chased after him.

“Arthur? What’s wrong?” He was met with silence. In fact Arthur began to pick up his pace meaning that Alfred had to jog after him. “What did I say? What’s wrong?”

Arthur continued to stomp off, trying to get away from him. Alfred was confused by his sudden change in behaviour, not used to seeing the usual composed man suddenly acting like an angry child out of nowhere. Why was he acting like this? All he said was that he figured out why he was coming here. He thought Arthur would be happy to know the reason but instead he was trying to run away from him. He continued to call out to him but every time he did Arthur would walk faster, until it looked like he was almost running.

They did a full lap around the garden until Alfred had enough. He sprinted forward and jumped directly in front of Arthur, causing the angry man to halt. “What’s wrong with you? Why are you so angry all of a sudden?”

Arthur appeared stunned by this accusation. “What’s wrong with me!? What’s wrong with you?” he snapped. Arthur’s expression changed into an angry one and he glared daggers at Alfred.

“What are you talking about?” Alfred was now completely lost.

“What do you what am I talking about? You insensitive idiot! You jerk! You complete and utter twat!” Arthur started flinging his arms at him, though he couldn’t physically touch Alfred, he still lashed out at him. “You horrible idiot! I hate you, hate you, hate you!”

“W-What did I say?”

“Shut up! I hate you, you idiot! Go away and don’t ever come back!”

And with that Arthur bolted off and disappeared behind the large rose bush, leaving Alfred’s standing there completely and utterly confused. What made Arthur so angry? He thought he’d be thrilled to learn why he was constantly visiting his garden. This behaviour of his was completely out of the blue, even if he had a habit of suddenly snapping at him from time to time, he never went full crazy at him. What set him off like that? He was in such a good mood when he got here and now he was in a really bad one. Was it the way he said it? He couldn’t think of why this would upset him. He batted his own head as he tried to think of why Arthur got so pissed from hearing some good news, it wasn’t like him at all.

He was distracted from his thinking when he heard distant sobbing. Knowing full well who the culprit was, Alfred carefully traced the steps Arthur took and found him sat down under one of his trees, his face buried in his arms and crying like there was no tomorrow.

Alfred bit his lower lip and fiddled with his fingers, he hadn’t been noticed yet but he knew he couldn’t just stand there in complete silence. He had seen Arthur cry before but back then he knew why he was in tears and he knew how to fix the problem; a big dose of confidence. Now he had no idea what upset him, but whatever it was it must’ve been big. He wanted to say something to him but he wasn’t sure what, he was at a complete loss for words. He opened his mouth to say something cheerful but immediately stopped himself, thinking that wouldn’t work. He wanted to ask him what was wrong but he had a feeling if he did Arthur would just snap at him again. As Arthur continued to cry Alfred knew he couldn’t allow him to continue any longer.

He carefully walked over and sat down next to him, certain the crying man was now aware of his presence but didn’t react. Alfred tried to think of something that wouldn’t push his buttons and the only thing he could think of to say was, “I’m sorry.”

Why the hell did he just say that?

Arthur sniffled and rubbed his tear filled eyes with the palm of his hand. “Why the hell are you apologising?”

“I don’t know,” confessed the confused Alfred.

“Then if you don’t know, don’t apologise until you do, idiot.”

“But I don’t know what I did,” huffed Alfred, raising his voice a little, “I thought you’d be happy to know why I’m coming here all the time.”

“So what now then?” snapped Arthur, glaring at him out of the corner of his eyes. “You figured it out, so what now? Why were you trying so hard to figure it out? Why did you want to know so badly!?”

Alfred had no idea what Arthur was driving at. “I... I just wanted to know why I was coming here all the time. I thought you did too.”

“What for!?” Arthur wiped away some fresh tears. “So you can stop coming all together?”

As Arthur continued to cry, a lightbulb flicked on in Alfred’s head as he finally figured out why he was so upset. He thought that if the mystery had been solved Alfred would stop coming to visit him. He truly believed that once he figured out why he was coming here, he’d stop coming all together. It made a little sense in some way and it explained why he got so upset, it was a little touching kind of. If he did indeed solve the mystery of his strange visits to the garden, would he stop them all together? If he had asked himself that question a couple of weeks ago he would’ve said yes just to get his life back in order, but now he found himself asking that very question and he found he couldn’t bring himself to say yes.

Arthur had become a part of his life now, visiting him and his garden was like a normal thing for him now than it was a couple of weeks ago, and deep down he wasn’t ready to let that go just yet. He wanted to solve the mystery more than anything, but he didn’t want to end his relationship with Arthur, he didn’t want to stop coming to the garden. It was also sad to think that Arthur himself thought that was his intention and now he had to convince him that it wasn’t true.

“Look, I’m not going to stop seeing you once I figure this all out,” he insisted, “I just needed to know the reason, that doesn’t mean I want it to stop.”

Arthur sniffled and peeked up at him. “But what if you do solve it and by solving it you won’t be able to come back?”

Alfred actually never considered that. He knew the little girl was the one sending him here but he didn’t fully understand why. All he knew was that the girl wanted to grant Arthur’s deepest wish. Maybe that was it? If Arthur got his wish granted, it would possibly mean the end of his visits.

“I still don’t know a lot yet,” he confessed, “but she told me the reason she’s sending me here is to grant your wish or something.”

That made Arthur sit up, his tear stained face was now equally confused as Alfred’s. “My... wish?”

“Yeah, that’s what she told me.”

Arthur now looked lost and he stared down at his feet. “Why? Why would this girl want to grant me a wish?” He then looked up at Alfred with an accusing glare. “Are you certain she’s not a faerie?”

“What!? No,” snapped Alfred, who still did not believe in such things, “she doesn’t have silly little wings or a wand. She looks like an ordinary girl who wears a ridiculously frilly dress... and has a creepy habit of disappearing into thin air.”

Arthur then looked back at his feet. “I... don’t understand. Why would some stranger want to grant me a wish?”

As he sat there with a bewildered expression, Alfred decided to pry a little deeper. “What... is your wish?”

“I don’t know,” snapped Arthur, “I have lots of wishes!”

“Really!? Then name one.”

“Um... I... I can’t just pick one off the top of my head, you idiot!”

“Ok, then think about it.”

Arthur drummed his fingers along his knees as he tried to think. “I always... I mean I... n-no it’s stupid.” He then tried to hide his face as he blushed.

“What is it? Tell me?” Alfred hopes that if he knew what it was, he could figure out the mystery girl’s true intention.

However Arthur suddenly got angry again. “Why? So you can stop coming here? Is that your plan? Get what you need to stop all of this!?”

“No, no!” Alfred waved his hands furiously and shook his head. “I just-...”

“I don’t want you to stop coming here!”

Alfred felt a shiver of shock rush through him when Arthur suddenly blurted that out. New tears began to spill out of Arthur’s eyes as he choked on them. “You don’t understand Alfred,” he wept, “if you stop coming here... I f-feel like... it’ll be as if my world has ended. I’m so lonely here, it’s unbearable. I thought my garden would help me cope but it hasn’t, there has always been this emptiness in my heart and no matter what I did it never went away. I was so desperate for some form of company, I even wanted him to visit me more often. I even kept a poor little bird locked up against its will. When you first c-came I thought it was some sort of trick, that I was cursed to have a moron follow me about, b-but you’ve... you’ve filled that hole and I don’t want you to go away!” Arthur than began to bawl loudly, and even fell over onto his side and cried and cried.

Completely stunned by that speech from Arthur, Alfred was at a complete loss for words. He had no idea that his presence here had made that huge impact on him. He had no idea that this was how Arthur really felt. Sure he helped him with a confidence boost when it came to that horrible man, but to find out that Arthur now couldn’t bear the thought of him just disappearing was overwhelming. To see those endless tears pouring out of his eyes because of his fear of losing him was unbearable and Alfred was desperate to stop them, he didn’t want him to think that he was going away after he solved the mystery. In fact now that he thought about it, what would his life be like without Arthur in it? He tried to imagine it and he quickly found he didn’t want to imagine it. As he had told himself earlier, Arthur was now a part of his life and he didn’t want to let that go. He wanted to continue this relationship with him no matter what, and he wanted Arthur to know that.

He manoeuvred around and laid down on his own side so he could face Arthur, who was still laying down and crying his eyes out. “Arthur, I swear I’m not doing this do I can just end this all. I just wanted to find out why it was happening, I had no intention of cutting you out of my life.”

“Liar,” choked Arthur.

“I mean it,” insisted Alfred with a gentle smile. “Ever since I started coming here it’s actually been helping me mentally, yes I was confused at first but now it’s like you and this place are part of life now, and I don’t want to get rid of it.”

Arthur sniffled and stared over at Alfred with his watery eyes. “Truly?”

“Of course.” Though there was an easy way to remedy this just in case Alfred did end up not being able to come back. As Arthur sat up and tried to wipe away his tears, Alfred asked, “you could always tell me where you are? Then we could meet up for real, just in case.”

Hearing that made Arthur’s face look even more miserable. “I... can’t.”

“Why not?” Alfred sat up. “Why can’t you tell me?”

Arthur didn’t look up at Alfred and slouched over to hide his face, his messy hair obscuring his eyes from view. “Because even if I told you... you won’t be able to come.”

“What’s that supposed to mean!?” Alfred scooted closer. “Why can’t I come?”

Arthur then looked up and he seemed a little agitated. “What’s wrong with how things are as they are now?”

He couldn’t be serious? He wanted to keep this bizarre way of meeting up going? As much as Alfred did enjoy these visits he knew deep down that these couldn’t last, that eventually they would have to end. “But I told you before, I want to meet you in person!”

“You can’t,” said Arthur in a flat tone of voice.

“Then... well... why don’t you come? Come visit me!”

Arthur opened his mouth to answer him but he couldn’t give him one. Instead he started bawling again, hiding his face in his hands and his scrawny body trembling as he sobbed. Alfred sighed and ran a hand through his hair, finding this whole situation to be one big mess and it was somehow his fault. He was keen for answers, he wanted to understand the reasons behind Arthur’s choices, but seeing him in tears was heartbreaking enough as it is. He hadn’t come here to upset him but he was so sick and tired of not being able to understand anything.

As much as he wanted some solid answers to help clear up all these bugging questions, he wanted Arthur to stop crying as that seemed like the most important of all priorities. He could leave at any moment and he didn’t want to leave him in tears, he wouldn’t be able to sleep at night as he’d be constantly worrying over him. In situations like this he would reach out and pat them on the shoulder, or even pull them into a hug but with Arthur he couldn’t do any of that. He had no choice but to rely on his own words.

“Arthur, I didn’t mean to upset you. I really like coming here to see you, but I was just desperate to get some answers. I also really want to meet you face to face one day but I didn’t want to get you so worked up.” He did try to touch him on the shoulder, but his hand just sunk through him. “It doesn’t have to be today or tomorrow, but one day I’d really like to see you and maybe walk with you in your garden for real.”

Arthur seemed to be calming down, and he pulled out a handkerchief to wipe his eyes and nose. “Don’t you think I want that too, you idiot,” he stammered.

“Well why not then?” Alfred bit his own lip upon realising what he just said, thinking that it was only going to get Arthur to start crying again.

Thankfully Arthur seemed to have spent all his tears and was now focused on slowly recomposing himself. “Do you have any idea how strange it is to have a constant visitor in your presence and not being able to hit them when they say something stupid?”

That took Alfred by surprise. “You wanted to hit me?”

“Of course not, idiot,” snapped Arthur, “it’s just...” He went quiet for a moment, as if he was trying to find all the words he needed and form them into an explanation Alfred could understand.

Not wanting to waste the chance to cheer him up, Alfred then smirked and said, “when we meet up you can hit me all you want, but with your scrawny arms I doubt I’d be able to feel them.”

That caused Arthur to glare at him. “I beg your pardon!?”

“Yep, wouldn’t be able to feel a single punch,” insisted Alfred, folding his arms and grinning like an over confident child. “Your punches probably feel like mosquito bites.”

Arthur rolled his eyes. “I suppose that would be true,” he admitted, suddenly smirking, “I think all the layers of fat have made you incapable of feeling anything. You wouldn’t be able to feel a cannonball hitting you directly in your fat gut.”

“What!? I’m not fat!”

“Says the brat who eats his weight in sweets.”

“I have a very high metabolism!”

“And yet you still have chubby cheeks.”

“They’re not chubby! You’re just too thin.”

“I’m not that thin.”

“Oh please, I could lift you over my shoulders and still be unable to tell if you were there or not.”

“Well maybe it’s because you’re so fat!”

“It’s not fat, it’s muscle! Dumbass.”

“Fat brat.”

“Scrawny tea drinker.”

“Overweighted idiot!”

“Giant eyebrow coot!”

“Gluttonous swine!”

“Meanie!”

“Twat!”

The two stared each other off, Alfred’s blue eyes glaring into Arthur’s green ones that were now completely tear free. For a moment they sat like that, neither one of them moving a single inch until at last Alfred snorted and started laughing. It didn’t take Arthur long to start snickering himself, unable to keep a straight face.

“You’re such an arse,” chuckled Arthur, tucking his handkerchief away after wiping his eyes a few times.

“But a damn good one,” retorted Alfred with a wink.

Arthur merely rolled his eyes and sorted himself out, not realising how messy he had gotten after laying down in the grass. He seemed to be in a better state of mind after their playful banter, and Alfred thought it would be ok to gently prod him with a question.

“So, you do want to meet up for real?”

For a moment Arthur paused and Alfred was afraid that he had restarted the waterworks, but Arthur responded with, “of course I do, idiot.”

“So you can hit me, right?” Alfred phrased that in a playful tone.

Arthur seemed to blush and looked a little bashful. “Y-yes... but to also... um...”

He looked away but Alfred got curious. “What? Don’t tell me you want to kick me too?”

“No...” Arthur then glanced up at Alfred, his pale face now completely red. “I... I’ve always wondered how soft your hair was.”

Alfred blinked. “Huh?”

Arthur fumbled with his hands as he tried to explain. “I... kind of wanted... to run my hands through it... that’s all...” He then looked up at Alfred with those vibrant green eyes of his and a small bashful smile appeared upon his blushing face.

Upon looking at that embarrassed face and after hearing that surprising little confession, Alfred felt his chest tighten and he soon found it was getting hard to breathe. He could feel his heart thumping hard against his chest and his head became light as if it was about to float off. He tried to say something but he couldn’t even form a word, it was as if his voice had become trapped in his throat.

“That didn’t sound weird, did it?” Arthur still appeared embarrassed but he couldn’t help but notice the strange way Alfred was reacting.

Alfred couldn’t say anything and he stood up whilst clutching his chest, not realising how red his face was. The very image of Arthur’s thin and delicate hands stroking his hair was making butterflies dance around in his gut, and soon all he could hear was the sound of his fast beating pulse in his ears. It was making him think of other things, like what did his hair feel like, what did his skin feel like, what did he smell like, how soft were his... his...

“I-I-I... um... I n-need to...”

He couldn’t speak, he couldn’t get the words out.

“Alfred, are you alright?”

Looking up Alfred found that Arthur was now longer there and he found himself back in the stone gazebo. Looking over his shoulder he spotted Francis trotting over, the Diamond King appearing a little intrigued.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“I-I... I um... h-hair...”

Francis now appeared puzzled. “Hair?” He patted his own golden locks to make certain it wasn’t covered in anything gross. “What’s wrong with my hair?”

Alfred shook his head and stumbled backwards, ending up on the marble bench from before. His heart was still thumping like mad as Arthur’s strange request continued to repeat over and over in his head.

“I want to run my hand through your hair.”

Why did that strange request make him feel like this? What was he even feeling? He didn’t feel disgusted or angry, so why did that simple but odd request make him feel like this? Even Francis was starting to notice and a sly smirk popped onto his face.

“Alfred, it looks like you’ve been struck by Cupid’s arrow.”

Alfred looked up at him, still trying to calm down. “W-WHAT!?”

Francis giggled. “Sorry, but you look like a little schoolboy who just got his first kiss.”

That only made Alfred blush more and it almost looked like he was steaming from embarrassment. There was no way, there was absolutely no way he felt like that for Arthur. Arthur was an alright guy with a long number of flaws, but he was just a friend. A friend who wanted to stroke his hair for some crazy reason. That had to be it, all friends did that with each other, right? Ask to do some odd thing like stroke hair or poke their cheeks or hold hands, that was what friends did with each other all the time... only he couldn’t do any of that with Arthur, and upon realising this he suddenly felt sad.

“Come on mon ami,” said Francis as he pulled him up, “your fair is ending soon and they’re all wondering where their lovely host is.”

Alfred allowed Francis to haul him up and they walked off back towards the fair, with Alfred’s mind now filled with confused feelings and thoughts he had no idea how to process. Francis wanted to tease him or at least ask who or what got him into such a state, but he decided to leave it and wait another time. Alfred just needed to go lie down after all this and get his mind back in order, and try to get his heart to calm down as it continued to thump away against his chest.

As the two Kings headed back to the fair for the finishing ceremony, a young girl in a frilly dress stepped out from behind one of the pillars, watching them go. She seemed saddened and hopped onto the bench to sit down and sigh.

“That wasn’t a nice thing to do, you know.”

The girl looked up and spotted Peter the Joker sitting atop the gazebo and staring down at her. “Why’d you have to do that in the middle of my game?”

The girl sighed. “I just saw him with that axe and... it brought back a bad memory.”

Peter groaned and hopped off his perch, landing before the girl. “Alright, that was my bad,” he admitted, “still, how long are you planning to do this? You’re running out of time, it’s best to tell him now.”

“If I told him now, do you think he would do it?” The girl glared at Peter. “Can you honestly tell me he’d go do what needs to be done right now if we told him?”

After a small silence Peter groaned. “No... he’d probably think of something else, something that wouldn’t work.”

“Exactly,” stated the girl.

“Argh, Gilbert is going to be so mad at me,” moaned Peter, leaning against a pillar. “I told him he was involved in that cover up.”

“It doesn’t matter, Alfred will still not be able to piece any of it together just yet,” said the girl as she looked up into the sky. “I should apologise to Alfred soon, but he’s close now. He’s nearly got all the answers.”

“Tch, yeah,” snorted Peter, “but he doesn’t know what to do with half of them.” He stomped around a little with his hands in his pocket, glancing over at the girl. “Why are you doing all this? Wouldn’t it be better just to... you know?” Peter ran a finger across his neck and made a croaking sound.

“No,” said the girl angrily, “that would only make Arthur sad.”

“Arthur, Arthur, Arthur,” groaned Peter, “you’re doing all this for that whiny jerk? Why?”

“You know why, and it’s not just for him.” The girl glared at him. She was about to say something when she cried out in pain and clutched her stomach.

Peter dashed over immediately and made sure she was ok. “I thought you said you had plenty of time?”

The girl heaved heavily. “I can endure this,” she said with pained determination, “I have to... for the survival of this world and for them. I can endure this a little longer.”

With an agitated huff, Peter slumped into the bench. “Well he better figure this out soon. I enjoy teasing his simple mind and all, but not with doomsday on the horizon.” He glanced at the girl again. “Hey, even if he goes off to do what needs to be done... will you-know-who even do anything?”

The girl said nothing as she had no answer for that. “All I can do is hope that Alfred with be able to do it. That is all I can do... and I hope that he will forgive me.”

“I doubt it,” huffed Peter, “If it we’re me in his place, I’d damn you for eternity.”

The girl smiled bitterly as she walked off. “Then I deserve it,” she said, vanishing from the Joker’s sight.