Behind the Scars

Allie starred out the window as the man known as King drove her down the highway. She was taking in all of the surroundings of Gotham, wondering if she would actually be safe inside a grocery store, with an armed man standing beside her. She hated to admit it, but she was scared of her father. She never wanted to look him in the eye again. She knew it was awful of her. . . but she wished he would just drop dead. She noticed King pull up to a clothing store, and she burrowed her eyebrows together in confusion.

"I thought I was shopping for groceries."
"Boss said you might need a few things." He said.

She had packed some clothing, but not nearly enough. King handed her a wad of money, and then followed in behind her. She was glad he wasn't going to follow her around as she picked out clothing. The last thing she needed was a creepy guy standing over her shoulder as she looked through the sizes of a certain shirt.

She began first with shirts, and then moved her way on to jeans. She never noticed how much money she had in her hand, until she actually took time to un-crumpled it. She had over a thousand dollars. She eyeballed the man known as King, who was looking at male shoes and he just shrugged his shoulders.

Clearly Jack wanted her to have plenty of clothes. She felt bad for using his money. But she assumed, he probably felt bad for her house burning to the ground as well. She sighed, as she placed several outfits into the buggy. She picked up a couple of bras, and several panties and then made her way to the front of the shop. She could easy wash the clothes out in the sink, there was no need to spend a thousand dollars on clothing.

"Are you ready for another store?" King ask.
"Yes groceries." She said.
"Oh no-- He told me to take you to every clothing store in Gotham."

She burrowed her eyebrows together. Was he trying to get rid of her, or did he just want to make up for her house? She wanted to question King about his motives, but the woman ask for the money. She paid her quickly and then gathered her bags and walked out of the store. They climbed inside the van and headed off to the next store.

The Joker was walking into a broken down house, hoping it led to his father. He knew this search would probably come up empty, just like all of the other's, but he had to try. He looked around the house and groaned when he found nothing. His father had already left. He had a theory that his father knew who he was.

How could he not know? The scars on his face told his story. He also had a theory, that his father was running from place to place, never staying too long, scared of being found. The Joker grumbled as he walked out of the home. They were about two hours outside Gotham, and he knew King wouldn't be able to keep Allie busy shopping forever. They needed to head back to the hideout now.

Allie walked out of the fifth clothing store exhausted. She had tired to talk King into telling her why he wanted her to buy so much clothing, but the goon didn't know, or he pretended not to know in front of her. She just rolled her eyes and went with the plan. She was sick of wondering.

By the time they arrived at the grocery store, she was so sick of looking through items, that she just began picking up whatever they needed. She got several can items, so they wouldn't ruin. King helped her a lot by doing all the lifting. She bit down on her bottom lip as she stood in the frozen meat department, debating on if she should get actual food to cook.

"Do you guys even have a stove?" She ask.
"Yes."
"Does it work?"
"I think so."

She nodded her head, and reached down and picked up a package of pork chops, and placed them into the buggy. After about forty minutes of filling the buggy up over the top, she started towards the check out. She stood in line starring at some of the magazines on the stand, when someone bumped into her. She noticed he dropped his groceries. She bent down and picked up his box of cereal and handed it to him. He mumbled a thank you and walked away quickly.

He looked so familiar.

He was an older man, Grey hair, and dark brown eyes. Those eyes. . . she had saw them somewhere before. She tried to think of where she saw them but she couldn't make it out.

"Ma'am?"

She turned around and smiled softly, as she began loading the groceries on top of the check out. King was standing directly behind her, ready to pounce on anyone who remotely looked at her the wrong way. She paid the teenage boy and then pushed the buggy outside to the vehicle. She and King loaded the van with the bags, and then headed back to the hideout.

She couldn't help but to think she knew the man in the grocery store. He looked so familiar. It was the eyes, definitely the eyes. She knew those eyes anywhere. She sighed, as she laid her head against the cool window. It done no good; she couldn't remember where she had saw those deep brown eyes before.

When they arrived at the hideout, Ace and Trey were both waiting to pack the bags inside. She went to lift a bag up, and they told her not to worry about it. She nodded her head, and walked upside. When she entered the bedroom, she could hear the shower running. She took a seat on the bed.

Minutes later Jack walked out in a pair of plaid sleeping pants. He was once again shirtless, and once again she found herself starring at his muscular torso. He was humming a tune she didn't recognize, but it brought a smile to her face.

"Have a fun day shopping?" He ask childishly.
"I wanted to kill you." She stated.

He chuckled, "I thought girls liked to shop."
"Not funny, Jack!"

He grinned, as he walked over to her. He bent down and she starred deep into his brown orbs and smiled. He connected his lips to hers, and at first she thought about nothing but the kiss, but then she remembered the eyes. She pulled away quickly.

"Jack! It's you!"
"What?" He said.
"There was a man at the grocery store, he bumped into me. I thought he looked familiar-- like an older version of someone. I just couldn't figure out who. It's bugged me all evening. . . It was you!" She said.

He burrowed his eyes brows together and focused on what she was saying for a minute. It made no sense to him.

Then he realized what she was really saying. She had saw someone that reminded her so much of him, it brought back something his mother had always told him.

'You look so much like your father Jack, same brown eyes, with the same shape and all.'

Then he remembered all of the strangers from his childhood always saying he looked so much like his father.

Did Allie see his father today? Is his father hiding out in Gotham?