Chapter 10: We're All Mad Here

Why couldn't every villain have a home base? Life would be so much easier. Or, at least, his life would be so much easier.

It was only supposed to be a quick pit stop to find this lady for some kid who had been obsessed with the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland since watching the movie. Just his luck that it was three hours later, and he was hiking in a forest in the middle of nowhere. Deathstroke had sent him the coordinates of where she was, but it wasn't like Danny was a seasoned tracker. Google Maps was his limit most of the time.

Now was an exception, apparently.

As he paused for a quick drink from his water bottle (thank god for his hindsight), Danny realized something that would've saved him so much time and effort. Wow, was he stupid. He was being watched. Hopefully, it was Cheshire.

Might as well sit and wait for the assassin to make her move. He knew she would; Cheshire wouldn't be one to leave loose ends that might give away her position to others… Maybe he should start singing.

"Always look on the bright side of death, just before you take your terminal breath," he began at a normal tone. Apparently, that was all she needed.

"Alright, alright: enough with the caterwauling. I'm the cat here," Cheshire cringed, slinking out of the trees behind him. The annoyance on her face was as clear as day, especially since her ever-present mask was hanging loosely in one hand. In Danny's opinion, the term "villain" didn't really seem to fit her, but he supposed "assassin" was a synonym for it (at least to his boss). "What do you want?"

Danny raised an eyebrow in response to semi-rhetorical query. Her glare kept him from giving a sarcastic answer this time. "Eight year old with lymphoma really likes the Cheshire cat, hence why I tracked you down."

He wouldn't categorize Cheshire's expression as 'sad,' but it was somewhere near that line. Her shoulders visibly slumped under the weight of what he said. "How long have they got?"

He held up his index finger in a "give me a second" gesture and pulled out a folded piece of notebook paper from his jean pocket. Unfolding it, Danny sighed as he read the child's information. "Mina's doctors aren't sure, but they're not optimistic."

"I'll be there tomorrow."

It took him a moment to react to her quick response. "Damn... okay. Blüdhaven General, Children's Ward." He stood up and moved to start heading back down the path. "Wait, do you need my num-"

She grinned in amused. "Your burner number? Don't worry, I already got it." Cheshire gave him a lazy salute. "You can go back to your 'singing' now; if you keep it up, you'll be able to shatter glass soon!"

"I'm not that bad," Danny muttered in annoyance as he turned his back to the emerald clad assassin and began the trek back.

Danny closed his apartment door and slid down against it until he was sitting on the floor, his bad discarded at his feet. He was so done after tracking down the assassin that falling asleep on the carpet seemed like a good idea.

Of course, his roommates had other plans.

"It's about time you got back," Selina snapped from the sofa. Danny wearily looked up to see her sitting with her legs crisscrossed and a gallon tub of chocolate ice cream rested in her lap.

"Why so catty?" He sneered half-heartedly, dragging himself back up again. He left his bag where it was and plopped next to Selina on the couch. He snatched the spoon from her hand, eliciting a hiss of annoyance from the woman. Danny promptly ignored her and shoveled a heaping of ice cream into his mouth.

Harley's voice filtered through from the bathroom. "Kitty had a run in with Bats. He must've forgot a goodnight kiss."

"Shut up. You're in there sulking because Ivy went out on the town without you," Selina shot back, reclaiming the spoon from Danny as he glared at her.

Harley's pout was audible in her response. "Well, there ain't no reason tah be so mean."

Danny sighed, grabbing the spoon back from Selina as she moved to scoop out some more ice cream. "I think I'm already planning my next trip. Who's the farthest villain from here?"

Selina's eyes narrowed at him. "You could always try the Phantom Zone."

"No need to be so bitchy," he retorted, rolling his eyes. Selina's barbs didn't do much to him at this point.

"Oh please, darling: I'm not bitchy– I'm catty."

Maybe he should just stay away from women. Between superheroes and supervillains, they somehow managed still to be the most unpredictable and intimidating.

For example, if Deadshot had been the one entertaining the young children in the hospital's play area, Danny would feel comfortable dragging him away to stop scaring the parents. But when Cheshire was the one with a little boy on her lap and several other kids sitting around her as she told a story, it became a much bigger headache.

When a popular blog run by a mother in town praised the assassin for her nurturing and caring attitude towards both the sick wish child and the others in the play area, Danny sent Cheshire and the blogger the biggest chocolate themed gift basket he could find.

The cat paw phone case that had shown up on his coffee table was a nice 'thank you.' The copy of "Singing: for Dummies" was not as appreciated.

Hello humans! Thanks so much for sticking with this story, I've loved reading all your reviews! I'm taking everything that everyone's suggested into account (nothing is in this chapter since I actually started this like three weeks ago). Bane's probably coming up soon, so you guys can stop asking about him haha. -So as bad as my posting habits are, they're about to get even worse... college applications open August 1st, so guess what I'll be doing for the next 3 months! [If anyone's got any advice, I'm all ears!] That said, this will continue to be updated, but very randomly. I think that's it. Thanks for reading still!