Joker

London, February 9th, 1889 – Stop.

10:22 o' clock in the evening – Stop.

Terrible fire destroys Noel's Arch Circus – Stop.

There was only one survivor… … … – Stop.

"Joker!"

The woman suddenly sat upright as she screamed, her dark raven eyes flying wide open. Everything was white, horribly white. It hurt her eyes, blinding her as her open mouth got a taste of the air in the room. It was sterile, terribly sterile. It made her want to vomit.

"Miss?! Please lay down miss! Your wounds just only healed up!"

Someone wearing blinding white pushes her down onto the bed as she gazes down at herself in bewilderment. Bandages, all over her body…stained red. She's been bleeding? Her eyes drift to the person pushing her back down onto the white bed, hurt confusion in her eyes. But she will not lay back down.

"Where's Joker?! Where are the others?!"

The nurse smiled calmly at her, continuing to press her down. It hurts…It hurts when she's touched there! The woman wearing the blinding white replies in a soft, soothing voice.

"Miss, I need you to just lie down and try to calm yourself. You will only end up reopening those wounds if you thrash about like this."

The woman allows the nurse to push her back onto the bed, looking at the nurse with wild eyes.

"Now take a few deep breaths." The nurse smiles softly at the woman. "Good. Now…what did you want to ask me?"

"Where is Joker…I mean…where are…the others…The other performers…from Noel's Arch Circus?" Realization struck her, these people would not know their "names." No, these people would only know the words that had been hammered into their backs since birth. They wouldn't have known Joker…or Dagger or Jumbo or Doll or Peter and Wendy. Those "names" did not exist in this world of documents and laws and harsh reality.

The nurse smiles at her gently, before softly taking her hand. "The fire burnt the entire tent down…no one…was found…" The nurse saw the tears pooling in her patient's eyes, quickly adding on as if that would stop the flood. "You are quite lucky that you even survived miss! The force of that explosion sent you flying a good distance away…But at least you escaped the flames…"

The patient nodded, closing her eyes and hiding away from that painful white. "Y-y-yes…"

The nurse smiled, seeing that she had fended off that deadly cascade of eye water (or at least for now) and picked up the pencil in her lap, looking over the papers that were there as well. "Now, miss can you tell me your name? Do you have any living relatives who might want to hear about this incident?"

" I'm Bea-" She nearly used her "name" again. But here she was no longer Beast. She was merely Emma Hatswell.

"It's Emma Hatswell…And…no…I don't have any family…It's…just me…" Her voice faded away into a miserable squeak as the nurse jotted some things down on her yellowed paper. She was all alone now. The circus…they had been her only family. She had been cast out on the street and they had picked her up, given her a home to sleep in. Times were tough sometimes…But she had liked it there. No one cared that she was missing one of her legs…They had treated her like she was one of them…Like she belonged. But now. Now she had nothing left.

"Thank you Ms. Hatswell…I need to tell the doctor that you've woke…Please just lay there and relax…" The nurse smiled, picking up her things and leaving the room.

The room smelled like death…If she opened her eyes it hurt. But when she had them closed, it hurt all the same. The world was plummeting down all around her, shattering against the floor like fine china. She was lost…

Beast started to cry, the tears feeling heavy and leaden against her cheeks. She hadn't cried like this for a very long time…

"Oy, aye! Do ya think ya coulds do that inna 'nother room?"

She starts, her dark eyes flying open as she wipes at her tears wildly, glancing around the pale room. She didn't realize there was another person with her. There, in a bed beside hers, a man wrapped from head to foot in bandages. Only his steel-blue eyes were visible.

"I'm sorry sir…I didn't realize…"

He shakes his head, though it seems extremely painful for him. "Nah…it's alright. Jest…it's not right fer a lovely lady like yerself to be crying like tha'. Though I did 'ear wot happened to those circus folk…Ah, besides the point! Chest out, chin up, as they always say!"

She smiles at his kind, light hearted tone. He reminds her of someone…But she can't recall who. His comforting words stop her upcoming tears for the moment, glad to have an understanding soul to talk to.

"I suppose so sir…"

"Don'tcha call me sir. It feels so stiff, like 'n iron poker! Jest call me Jake."

"Well then…It was a pleasure to be of your acquaintance Jake…" Her eyes travel down his covered body. "So…why…are…you here?"

"Oh, 'ow'd I git these little buggers? Well…I suppose I used too much wine ta cook me roast." He winked her way, causing little bouts of laughter from Beast. "Oh, think tha's funny?! I'd like ta see you try it sometime then!" He playfully shook his hands her way, as the laughter got louder.

"Excuse me, but I would appreciate it if you two would lower your voices. Other patients are trying to rest." The nurse had returned, with the doctor in tow. Jake shrugged sheepishly before lying back against the bed and Beast, or called Emma by nurse and doctor, settled down, listening to the situation explained to her.

Beast had to stay in the hospital for a week or so, until her wounds had healed to a point of movement being possible. Over that period of time, she grew to be closer with Jake. He was always so cheerful, even though his wounds were even graver than hers. But even though Jake was a welcome distraction…Her mind kept straying back to her thoughts and memories of her old life…The fire breathing Jumbo…The knife-throwing Dagger…the tightrope walker Doll…flying trapeze wonders Peter and Wendy…And how could she ever forget Joker, the ever playful clown. They had been the only people she had come to know as a family. But now, her days of animal taming and fantastic performances were to be gone forever.

And so, Beast got well enough to leave the hospital. But…she kept going back, to visit Jake. She was worried that…He might not survive in that room of blindness by himself…And besides…He was the only one she could call friend in this world. This world that did not understand why she needed a peg leg to walk about. This world that looked down upon her as though she were a sewer rat. But she found a job sorting cargo, so she managed.

One week when she was visiting Jake, he told her that he would be getting his bandages removed and that he was well enough to finally leave the hospital.

"That's wonderful Jake!"

"I know…ain't et?" His steel-blue eyes smiled at her from behind that mask of bandages. "An'…I want you to be there when they take 'em off…Though I can't promise anythin' as pretty as yer face. Doc says I might be scarred the res' of my life."

Beast smiled at him, gently patting his hand. "I couldn't care less if you look like the Queen herself…I'll be there."

His eyes just smile back. "Great. It'll be next week on Tuesday morning."

Tuesday morning arrives and Beast heads to the room that she has come to know so well. It is a room that no longer smells of death, but of light and laughter. A place where hope is born. She sits anxiously to one side as the doctor slowly removes the bandages. It seems to be taking forever and it's as if every second is painful to her. But Jake sits calmly, awaiting for the moment of truth.

Finally, the bandages are gone. Beast's eyes widen, tears welling in those beautiful dark orbs. She's seen his face before. She knows that face. She knows every fold and crease and smile and wrinkle there is to know. But it's different…scars criss-cross the once peachy skin, his body is a wasteland of burns. But that changes nothing. He is still smiling, smiling like he always smiled.

"Why didn't you ever tell me…?" She whispers, pressing his battered hand to her damp cheeks. Shock keeps most of the tears in. "You devil…"

He grins and presses her face into his chest. "Don't you remember why they named me Joker?"