Good Luck With Your Future Chapter 18

[dreykar]

Title: Good Luck With Your Future
Author: Dreykar
Fandom: DC-verse/Nolanverse
Pairing: Batman/Joker
Genre(s): General
Rating: R
Summary: Batman and The Joker agree to work together, with help from their older selves back in time from 25yrs in the future, to prevent the mob to take over Gotham permanently. Now with Scarecrow helping them out things are more complicated than ever B/J SC/OC
Disclaimer: I only own the plot. Everything own by DC comics and Nolan/Warner Brothers.

A/N: Thanks to everyone who is still with me on this story. I've gone back to study this year while working full time but now that I've settled in the next updates won't take as long. I have still a lot to go on here so I hope you can stay with it. Thanks again, your reviews and PM's are just amazing :)

Previously: After being hit with an altered batch of Fear Toxin, Bruce wakes up in his bed as Alfred is tending to him. The Joker had pressed the emergency button in The Tumbler and Alfred had come to the rescue. Jonathan however wakes up at home, many hours later, as Scarecrow is tending to their wounds. Turns out Scarecrow had hit Batman with the toxin, then The Joker bashed him senseless in revenge. He told Crane it was because he had spoiled a night of 'fun' annoying The Batman. Really it was because of their relationship, but Crane couldn't know that. Bruce was roused from a nap as his older self came to talk. He then decided things between him and The Joker could work out if they talked things through and made compromises together. The younger Joker looked up information about Joe Chill's trial and the two older men spent the night together with a few mishaps along the way. The older Joker warns the younger to wait and think about doing anything he is about to do as he won't want to come across as rash as that would just push things back even further. The chapter closes with a flashback to four and a half years earlier where Elizabeth had brought some restricted articles to work which Jonathan found. He didn't fire her as he wanted to use her to get back at the hated Professor Martin.

Warning: Thought I'd just warn there is a little non-con in here which has a happy ending. You're going to have to wait and see who it is though. Could be two unknown characters, could be two we already know...

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Four years earlier

Nurse McClain was about to lose her job. Jonathan had seen incompetence in his time, but it was another matter entirely where this woman was concerned. Two break outs were linked to her and giving some wrong medication to patients was another of her great triumphs. It was his job to clean up the mess, at least now though they had taken away some of his less enjoyable, menial tasks and replaced them with ones like this. He wondered if she would cry when he told her.

It had been about six mouths since Elizabeth Winter had let him know that she had received almost top marks for the assignment he had helped her with. Since then he had kept an eye on her progress. She had been receiving average marks at university however she was doing exceedingly well at her work here at the asylum. They'd spoken a few times now as they had to go through a few things together. He still couldn't stand her, more so she just didn't really stick out in his mind. He could see what she was like now and he hoped that she could see how he had gotten where he was today. She'd been promoted a few times and was now in an administration assistant, doing data entry, looking after files and the like. Usually it would take someone a little bit more advanced in their course to be able to do this sort of role. Without his help she was doing well for herself. He needed to keep an eye out though, just for his revenge on Professor Martin of course, although Scarecrow kept voicing his disbelief at this.

'So I bet you're wondering what she'd look like tied up to the bed with a gag in her mouth?'

'You know I'm not' he had replied at the time. 'Nor have I. I'm too busy with everything else to worry about women-'

'-or men-'

'-I do not like men. I need to get this report finished. But as I said, I'm not interested. Anyway, you're the one with the high sex drive'

'Not that you let me use it'

'Why would I?' Speaking to Scarecrow was taking up more and more of his time these days, he didn't like to think how strong this part of him was getting, especially around his experiments. 'If I wasn't so busy with everything I'd use the time, and drive, myself' he stated, not really thinking it was true.

Scarecrow laughed. 'You? Please. You haven't touched yourself without my encouragement since high school. Let alone gone near a woman. If it wasn't for me you'd be considered asexual'

'Here we go again, with you thinking you can use such terms yourself...' and the argument had gone on from there.

Jonathan was still walking down a corridor in search of the nurse. He then walked into a staff area where there were a few offices. He took in a deep breath, made sure his face was it's usual impassive self and walked through the door. At a desk facing the entrance was Elizabeth Winter on the phone at her desk, no one else was in the room.

"…yes, there are about three sessions missing from the file. I don't know if he just left them out or…yeah, that's what I thought. I'll just put it aside. Yeah, yeah I checked. No, I checked and they're not in any of his other folders. Not ones that he's given me anyway. Ok". She looked up to see Crane standing there waiting and she looked away quickly, ducking her head a little and tucking some hair behind her ear. "Ok, I'll send them through. Yep, ok". She looked up again. "Bye".

Jonathan kept gazing around the room disinterested until he was addressed.

"Can I help you doctor Crane?" Elizabeth asked professionally.

He swept his eyes casually over to her. "I'm looking for Nurse McClain. Is she around?"

"She hasn't worked in this office for about a month. She's in the Anderson rooms. They're down the hall and-"

"-I know where they are" he snapped. How much longer had he worked here than her?

Elizabeth looked patient. "They're currently relocated down the hall, through the second doors on the left and then the right due to refurbishment". Jonathan moistened his lips, fuming. His face was impassive as usual though, no emotions going in or out. Elizabeth didn't know what to think, should she have corrected him? She decided to change the subject. "I hear congratulations are in order". He mealy lifted a brow, raising his head back slightly. Elizabeth's stomach dropped, he had something about him that made her feel about as big as an ant, and even less important. Like he could fire her at any second. "On being promoted. To Director I mean".

Jonathan let the pause extend, he loved watching her squirm. They had talked about this a couple of months ago when she had told him that he should be promoted, he'd agreed, anyone could see that his progression was natural. "Thank you".

"You must be excited" she smiled.

"I'd use valued, needed or respected before 'excited'".

He was being deadly serious, she however giggled slightly. That was until his stony face stayed, but his lip curled. She stopped and turned her head to the side pleadingly. "Doctor, come on. Come on please, don't look at me like that. I just was saying well done, I think it's great that you have such a great job". He stayed still. "Ok, I'll shut up, but I was laughing because I find deadpan humour hilarious".

"You think I'm…funny?" he questioned, gripping his briefcase perceptibly tighter. He was wasting time, he needed to fire the nurse then get to one of his patients. What was housed in the briefcase couldn't wait much longer, as Scarecrow was reminding him.

Elizabeth put her pen down. "You're the director"

"Yes" he replied, feeling pleasure at his response.

"And yet, I can't seem to win with you, everything I say seems to be the wrong thing". They'd spoken at least twenty times now and still she couldn't tell anything about him, he was so closed.

"Including what you just said then". He had to state the obvious this time.

She eyes him carefully, then a small smile pulled at her lips and she chuckles slightly. "I'm sorry" she looked down and shook her head. "You win. I can't do anything right".

Jonathan couldn't believe this, she must be trying to get something out of him. Another promotion perhaps. "Is this a bad attempt to get on side with me? Be the interesting nobody?"

She laughed again, standing up and straitening her top. "Oh my God, I'm going to get myself fired" she whispered. "Listen, Doctor-"

At this another admin person ran in not ever registering that Crane was there. A doctor followed, again not looking at Crane. "Jasmine here has lost a file. We need to find it immediately. It has the patient's new medications listed".

Elizabeth nodded and looked over to Crane who obviously wanted to stay hidden. "Which patient is it?" she asked Jasmine. Now looking at her she could see that she'd been crying. Her eyes were rimmed with red and were puffy. The female doctor answered for her.

"Shiff, Thomas. If you can't find it perhaps you'd both like to be disciplined". Elizabeth kept flipping through the files but looked at the man pointedly. This was not her fault. She decided to keep quiet about Crane being there. Maybe he could finally she that she wasn't incompetent.

"Thomas Shiff has recently been moved to Dr. Cavandish from Dr. Crane. I won't have his file, that is unless…". Something struck her and she looked up. "Hang on, isn't Shiff currently waiting to be criminally assessed again?"

"Does that matter or are you just being nosey?" the woman snapped.

Elizabeth held back a sigh. "If he's being criminally assessed then his file would have been moved to the criminology department as there are particular rules on what changes can be made to medications whilst being assessed. Dr. Cavendish may have taken the file there himself instead of going through the internal mail process".

"You sound as though you think I don't know the processes" she called out as Elly picked up the phone and dialled a number.

"Not at all. It's just that sometimes the staff-Hi it's Elly again, I was wondering if you had Thomas Shiff's file there. Would have been there…"

"…Tuesday…" Jasmine sniffed.

"…Tuesday. Probably would have been handed in by Dr. Cavendish instead of going through the…you've got it? Great. Could please send it up to Jasmine now. She'll be waiting". She placed the phone down. A tear rolled down the other admin girl's cheek.

The female doctor nodded. "Thank you, Elizabeth. You showed some problem solving abilities. Come on Jasmine".

"Anytime" Elly smiled, hating the woman right now. She made a note to bitch about her to Jasmine later.

Both women turned and finally saw Crane in the corner. The woman just nodded at the man then left with Jasmine scurrying behind her.

To Jonathan, the Elizabeth girl didn't seem to be as childlike and airheaded as he remembered her. Perhaps she was starting to grow up a little and gain some responsibility. Interesting. He decided to get on with his day. "I'll leave before you can open your mouth and undo any good you may have just done"

"That's a little unfair, isn't it?"

"You see, you're doing it again…" Jonathan stated lightly.

"I'm not incompetent" she called out whereas before she probably would have giggled. They were making progress at least. Jonathan internally sighed, it was the closest thing he'd ever said as a joke to her and she was being the most serious she'd been with him. He walked out the door.

'Taking things the wrong way, can't agree, don't believe in each other's abilities. You two are made for each other'

'Quiet, Scarecrow, half and hour and you come out for a little while'. He felt a warm electrical pulse through his body, usually when Scarecrow was influencing this would happen and it had been getting stronger. 'Not yet'

'Just warming up'

'Yes well save it for the session. I've got work to do first. Not all of us can afford to relax all day'.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Back to the present day

When Bruce awoke he could see the first weak beams of the sunrise bursting through his window. Alfred must have left the curtains open. Yesterday the old man had said that he'd feel a lot better if he rested. He didn't want to sleep most of the day but he had, and he was feeling all the better for it.

Slowly he crawled out of his sheets and had a shower. He had an important meeting today and knew already that the board would be angry with him for missing yesterday as he had guaranteed them that he would be there.

He selected a basic outfit, Alfred hadn't laid one out as he wasn't sure if his employer would be making it out of the house today, and make his way down to the kitchen. It was there he walked in on the old man preparing his breakfast.

His guardian looked up and was a little surprised to see Bruce up and dressed in his work attire. He spoke before the butler could.

"I'm going in today, Alfred, got some things I need to do. I think the board's going to be pretty unimpressed with me, I have to call in sick so often they just don't believe me anymore"

The butler was eyeing off Bruce's pale skin, bloodshot eyes and the dark black bags under them. "Well I don't think they're going to disagree about your health today".

"You saying I'm not attractive, Alfred?" he teased with a small smirk, it didn't hide his pasty skin. The vigilante knew it was going to be a struggle to get out of the house looking as sick as he did, but he needed to be there today so he was going to put up a fight.

"I'm saying you're white as a bloody sheet, that's what" the man replied honestly, pulling a carton of milk from the fridge and setting it down on the counter.

Bruce chuckled but looked up worried after betraying himself by coughing a couple of times. The older man gave him a parental look. "Master Bruce-"

"-I'm fine. I look worse than I feel". He gave the man a convincing smile, the older one kept preparing some toast.

"It's amazing" he began "The doctor hits you with his toxin and I'm the one frightened. Fear by proxy. Maybe he is as good as he says".

The billionaire's face soured. "Your kind heart has nothing to do with Crane's strength" he thought things through, sitting down on a bar stool at a table "I don't know if I could detest the man any more than I do".

"Oh, I'm sure you could. The man may have poisoned Ms. Dawes, but even he didn't kill her". Silence echoed through the room. He was busying himself with preparing the toast, as though he'd made a simple comment. Bruce didn't know what stung more, the fact that he couldn't remember discussing Rachel except that time straight after it had happened as he sat in the chair at the penthouse or that it had been mentioned at all.

Bruce even sometimes thought Alfred may miss the woman more than he did. Or perhaps what her loss meant, that now his employer wouldn't be marrying or having children any time soon. Or maybe this stung so much because it told him about Alfred's viewpoint of The Joker and that he was trying to get Bruce's response. The older man finished the toast and spoke again.

"You do detest The Joker more, don't you?" He looked up to Bruce, but his eyes didn't hold innocent curiosity, it was like he knew what was going on.

"Of course I don't support what he's done"

"You detest Dr. Crane as a person yet you don't 'detest' The Joker?"

"What are you getting at?"

Alfred played with the top of the milk carton in his hand, staring at the brunet's face as though thinking of the best way to say his next point. Instead he broke the eye contact and placed the milk back in the fridge. "I understand that you are working with your older self at the moment. Don't ask me how I understand it, it makes no sense and goes against everything I know about this world, but I accept it as best I can. I understand you are doing this to benefit not only your life but the lives of all Gothamites over the next few years". He now looked up and Bruce could see the pain in the other man's face. "But why you have to work with such a…monster…the very same monster that brought such a painful end to Ms. Dawes, I will never know"

"Alfred-"

"-you were poisoned again two nights ago and I got the call to bring you back here. I get to the place I am called to and I thought it was a trick. I thought he had killed you and had then drawn me there too to finish the job. But still I had dropped what I was doing and came there straight away-"

"-Alfred-"

"-after hours of me tending to you, you wake and one of the first things you ask is where he is". Bruce went bright red. Surely that meant nothing? The man had mentioned The Joker had made the emergency call, surely the next logical step would be to see where the man was now? "This is none of my business" Alfred began again, the words seemed to be painfully pulled from him against his will. "You will work with him no matter what I say, it seems. However, I have seen all the news broadcasts, all clippings from the newspapers and any magazine. I have seen his Arkham tapes and, to my great regret, I have meet him face to face on more than one occasion". At this Alfred grabs his things and heads to the kitchen door. "But, I have never seen a look as close to concern as the one he gave you as I placed your lifeless body into the Jag two nights ago". Bruce stood but the older man took one more step back towards the door. "Do you know what that tells me?"

He knew, Bruce reasoned. He was about to admit to everything when Alfred continued.

"That tells me that you must have blackmailed him or tricked him into thinking that you want to work with him, or it's in his best interests to. That can only turn dangerous when he realises you were fooling him the entire time. But at least listen to this, no good can come of you spending time with the man. You know more than me that he is devious and cunning, and with only a short conversation he may have convinced you to take your own life. Yes, I've seen those Arkham tapes with those poor cell mates near him" he explained. "Please, don't spend too much time with him, and if you have to, have your older self there. That is all I will say on the matter".

Bruce tried to go after the man but hesitated. He'd been scolded and he knew where that came from, Alfred must have been worried for Bruce's life once again and had been bottling that up for the last few days. It had then exploded like this. He felt a little relief though too. For a moment there he believed his old guardian knew about him and The Joker. But then he had assumed The Joker's feelings of concern were from the plan not going ahead and not from his actual feeling towards Bruce. Firstly, that was a good thing, he didn't have to explain anything for now. But then again it was a bad thing. If Alfred was this concerned and angry about that, who know what he would do if he knew about the truth of what had been transpiring between them both. Bruce shuddered, both for the thought of that and at how sick he suddenly felt. He shouldn't go to work in this state, but he said he would. Hopefully he'd throw up on one of their nice suits, then again it was only wishful thinking.
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It was a large house. There were two children playing in the backyard with their mother and nanny. It wasn't as big as Wayne Manor but Tony Warren was content with calling it home.

He was upstairs waiting for a Mr. Tanner to arrive at their pre-arranged meeting. His long table was already filled with people from the crime underworld and also his associates that were doing what they were paid to do: Get him into office at all costs.

There was the sound of the door opening and, a little frustrated at the other man's tardiness, Warren looked up.

"Tony, Tony, Tony" chimed a bold man entering the room.

"Hello Mr. Tanner" Tony bit out. "Long time no see". Too long, he should have been here ten minutes ago. It was hard enough getting these people in and out of his house without anyone seeing them, let alone trying to do it when people couldn't show up on time.

The addressed man sat himself and his expensive black suit in an empty chair around the table and nodded at a few seated people. "Well I've been seeing plenty of you. You're everywhere! Our money must be paying off".

There were a couple of small titters around the circle. "It's my money too, you know" Tony corrected. He shifted his collar, he wasn't feeling great today. The stress of the campaign and what he'd promised to these men was started to get to him a little.

A corner of Tanner's mouth lifted. Warren needed to be careful. Tanner was a cocky guy, but he went from that to murderous very quickly if he wasn't getting the results he paid good money for. Not that he'd do the killing, he'd just some men onto it. "Confident kid now, aren't we? So how are things going? When are we going to see some…ah, improvements?"

Warren drained the rest of his brandy. "When I'm in office" his voice sounded a little chocked from the alcohol.

"And what will they be? Hey? Fixing some broken footpaths? Planting some stinkin' trees? When I pay the amount I have, I expect to see real results".

Warren kept his patience but looked everyone in the room in the eye before continuing, just to see where their allegiance lay. "You know the plans. It's a little more than a little concrete and soil. Anyway." He looked around again, although a little faster. "How are your plans going?".

Tanner looked a little less smug. "It's all coming along. Look, you're not going to want to hear it but The Joker still has the biggest control, also Batman-"

Warren slammed his fist down then tried to backtrack by hovering his hands over the table and getting his anger under control. "Do not mention…those…that scum to me". He stood up and began to pace. "That filth and anyone like it will be banished from this city at the very least. I want them dead. And I will make it legal-"

"-that could take twenty years for the public to agree to something like that-"

"-I don't care! 'Things' such as them shouldn't have any sort of power. They disgust me to the depths of my core. Power is earned…bought" he added with a wave at Tanner "they don't deserve the respect or attention that they get".

Tanner spoke again. "The Joker, that clown, I wouldn't say the public respects him"

Eventually Warren sat down. "Of course they do" he said quietly. "They respect his power, they are fearful of him. They stay away from him".

At this another man spoke up, he was in a dark suit and had been silent up until this point. "You cannot be seen, and for a moment forget about your public life I'm talking about what you do here. You cannot say that you are against him, that you want him dead. He will hear it and depending on his mood it will range from absolute humiliation to torture and death".

Warren narrowed his eyes, sickened by the person in his homes words. "You respect him too?"

The man's face was still. "I value my life". The two men glared at each other.

Tanner broke the tension. "How's it going with Gotham's elite. You need them"

Warren calmed himself down a little, rolling his shoulders. "The Princes of Gotham will start making some comments about me to their associates, the media. We've got the PR under control". At this he nodded at Foster who returned the gesture. "There are a couple of people who aren't convinced yet. Pat Billingsworth and Bruce Wayne. The lunch I had with Pat, seriously, I doubt he could have shoved any more blow up his nose, and Wayne freaked out about his parents. Either that or responsibility, I couldn't tell which".

"Our plan" Foster, his public relations advisor began "is to get Pat to agree to something big that he'll have to stick with. I'm sure that if we pump up his tyres the coke will do the rest".

"And Wayne?" Tanner asked carefully.

"We need him. As spoilt as he is, the media takes notice of everything. Talking to Tony Scout this morning, Wayne took up a full page spread in a popular women's magazine this week because he was seen at the Declan's department store with a woman. I mean seriously"

"Was she hot?" a man snickered.

"I have no idea who she is" he relied, unimpressed with the man's childishness "she wasn't a model, just looked like a normal woman. I don't know, maybe he went to school with her or something. It doesn't matter. The point is that Wayne breaks wind and it's front page news. We want some of that" Foster concluded.

"Well I'm working on it". Tony looked at his watch. "Anyway, I've got-"

There was a knock at the door and someone stepped through. "Tony, they're here from Arkham. They've been waiting".

Warren stood. "Sorry gentlemen, but I shouldn't keep these two waiting".

They all shook hands and left, agreeing to meet up again soon. They had got all their other business out of the way before Tanner had arrived.

Foster sidled up to Warren asked quietly asked "What are you doing with the asylum?"

"I'm playing this one close to the chest, Foster, but there are going to be big changes happening there with these two new staff members. They happen to like the vigilante and the villain scum as much as I do. Although, maybe a little less". He gave a dark smirk and the PR man left, feeling a little worried about what could entail.
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"…lad-da-di ,la-da-da, hee-di-dee, wah-bah-dah…well it's, almost like being, in love…fantastic song boys…". The older Joker was sitting in the apartment making paper mache bat symbols, listening to the radio and singing along.

"...now, for something a little more serious, our colleague Diane Penton interviewed a man today. You may remember a few days ago we reported that there was an attack at Gotham University where the library was broken into and a security guard was attached by Scarecrow. Or is it The Scarecrow? Anyway, Diane from the team spoke with Professor Martin who works at the university in the Psychology faculty. I'll let him tell his side of the story but he was there that night and even spoke with The Scarecrow. Scarecrow?"

As his voice faded out and there was a short introduction to the interview, the older Joker looked over at his radio and bit his lip. "Oh boy…". A little clag glug fell onto his green boxer shorts, the only thing he was wearing, apart from some curlers in his hair. He was down to making and altering things again to reduce the itching, nagging boredom of being locked in here. The other day he'd driven the older Bruce mad by replacing the springs and a few other parts in the toaster so that when the billionaires breakfast had popped up it had hit the ceiling and come crashing down again to the floor, ruined. The clown had supercharged the lifting mechanism in the toaster so that it was impossible to catch the toast before it leapt up on it's kamikaze mission. Bruce had then left the apartment swearing and returned with the sort of materials you'd find in a primary school art classroom. The older Joker had made it his business to be as productive as possible and create a few little customised gifts for Bruce, with his own personalised touch of course. It was his fault he was locked in here so a little revenge didn't hurt anyone.

"Can you please tell us what happened, Professor Martin?" a female voice implored as The Joker kept going with his art and craft.

An older man cleared his throat. When he spoke you could hear in his voice his experience of years of teaching and presenting lectures. His voice was loud, clear and held no nerves. "After securing my office for the night I began my evening stroll through the grounds. Upon reaching the quadrangle near the library a shabby figure appeared"

"It was The Scarecrow?"

"Yes, Crane stepped forward wearing his mask. He then ripped it off almost immediately and proceeded to tell me his plans. It was then I realised he had altered his poison, to what I'm not sure. He taunted me but I held my ground. Weak-minded people such as him do not frighten me".

"Professor, many people are frighted of The Scarecrow. His fear toxin-"

"-Jonathan Crane, and that's all that he is, is a scared little man himself. He is also not a well man. Men of sound mind do not go around poisoning and killing people. I begged him to get help. He all but laughed in my face"

"How do you know him?"

"He used to be on the staff here at Gotham University. His teaching methods were severely out of line. I myself was instrumental in purging him from this educational facility. It is due to I that he is not given the chance to poison the hearts and minds of Gotham's students. Not with his toxin but with his words and views. Again I stress that the man needs help. He needs to be locked away in a correctional institution, whether that be Blackgate or Arkham".

"Aren't you afraid that he will come after you? It has been reported that the Gotham Police Force have offered you protection. They feel your life is in danger"

"My life is nearly over anyway. I am an old man. Jonathan Crane does not scare me. He never has. He was fired from his position at the university, he gave up his coveted asylum position for reasons of criminal insanity. He is not to be feared, he is to be pitied. He is a sad, scared, little man"

"You don't sound threatened, Professor"

"He can kill me, I have achieved all I want in life, but he cannot kill his sense of emptiness that he must have inside. He will never kill his demons"

The sound of papers shuffling filled the air. "What do you think made him this way?"

"My training would point me to thinking he has had some sort of traumatic event or life circumstance. However, seeing how far this has gone I don't want to give him an easy way out. He should know that if he has any issues that he should seek help. Help he should have sought years ago if this was the case. I have no respect for the man"

"When he was first detained after the fear incident, he was described as a quiet man who kept to himself"

"You think that means he is no danger? Many people who are threats to society are the loner types. As long as I have known him he has not had a female companion. Or a companion of any gender that I know of-"

"-snap-" The older Joker snickered whilst beginning to paint a couple of the paper bat signals black.

"-he thrives on intimidation, manipulation and intelligence. Or lack thereof in the case of the misfortunate people who work for him. All I can say is that your listeners should stay away from him and the police arrest him. I hope he sees justice in the form of imprisonment soon".

"Do you have anything to say to him in case he hears this?"

"Turn yourself in Jonathan. No one is impressed" there was a pause "or scared".

"Do you think he's listening?" The Joker turned around to see the older Bruce standing in the doorway of the bathroom in a t-shirt and boxers, towel in hand, rubbing at his hair half heartedly. He'd just had a shower with the radio on and had heard the whole thing.

"I'd be, uh, very surprised if he hasn't heard it by now. From memory he did a lot of staying in his apartment around now. Can't remember why though..."

"Would it be something to do with the fact that you nearly broke his ribs-"

"-oh yeah, you did that actually that when you landed on him-"

"-and bashed him senseless?"

"What does it matter to you?"

"What does it matter?" Bruce repeated, using the dull white towel to get the water out of his ears. A huge grin spread across his face "I just wish I could have seen it! To this day I'm still disappointed I didn't get to see that look on his face. Would have been priceless". The smile faded when he eyed the little bat symbols his partner was making. "What are you doing?" he asked carefully, looking almost fearful of the answer.

He threw one to Bruce. "I'm glad you asked!". The vigilante was turning it around in his hand and didn't see the clown press a button on a small detonator in his hand. The thing exploded in a puff of purple smoke, tearing it apart and leaving Bruce covered in a thick green sludge. He looked up with a deathly cold glare.

The Joker clicked his finger going 'ahhh' as though realised a mistake. "The purple smoke is too much? Yeah" he nodded as a low growl came from Bruce, he didn't move. "Yeah, I knew the smoke was too much…".

"You…"

"Yes, yes" The Joker finished, waving a hand in impatience. "You and I are going to kill each other one of these days, could be me, could me you. Yep-pah, yep…"

Bruce dropped what was left of the paper masche and, with disgust, tried to wipe off a little of the green gunk but it just stuck on his hand and stretched out like mozzarella as he pulled it away. He glared up. "I wasn't going to say that, but now that you've reminded me, it's going to be sooner rather than later I hope you know". He didn't mean it.

"Mmmmmm, bring it on" the younger man growled seductively.

Bruce just walked back into the bathroom, slamming the door so he could wash again. The radio was back to playing famous songs from musicals. "Oooo, I like this one...I do...I like it".
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"We have a robbery in progress at the convenience store on upper 9th, two squad cars are on their way". There was the usual radio static and then a different voice spoke. "We need two available officers to the Gotham Primary School, there are a group of teens loitering in the area. We have reports that they may have been chroming....".

Batman looked out over the city from the roof of a tall building. He'd been there for the last hour listening to the police radio in his ear piece. He'd spent the last few hours before that trying to find The Joker. He'd heard nothing. Nothing that was even remotely suspicious. He'd SMS'd his older self and apparently the clown hadn't been there for a while. He wasn't worried though, he was apparently meant to do this all the time. Bruce however had the feeling that something wasn't quite right. Why hadn't the guy seen if he was ok after the fear toxin attack? Why did his older self think that The Joker wouldn't come and visit him? What did he know that he himself didn't?

Tonight was the night though. Bruce had thought everything through and if this thing that he and the other man had was going to work it had to be sorted out tonight. His talk with his older self had really helped him think things through. It could work out if they worked for it. He was now sure of it. It had taken him a little while to come around to it, however he now was sure that all he had to do was find the clown, tell him it could work, make him make a few promises and the rest of it would fall into place. That's what he worked out while he was bedridden.

However, he'd never had so much trouble actually finding the man. Usually if he couldn't find him doing a quick search, he could intimidate a few thugs to find the location or just listen to the police radio to listen out for little things that were suspicious or The Joker would make it known that he wanted to see his equal. That was him.

But he'd been searching for hours now and there had been not a sighting, not a criminal who knew where he was and there was no word on the radio either. Hey, at this point he'd even settle for hearing that Scarecrow was up to no good again and then he could find and beat up Crane. That would most likely improve his mood tenfold. For the justice side of things of course. It would only improve his mood to see him stopped and brought to Arkham. Nothing about, you know, punching him or anything. That just came with the territory.

Half an hour later he was thinking about either going home for the night or heading over to the MCU to make sure the bat-signal was working. You know, just in case. It was at that moment though he realised where The Joker may be.

It took him a good twenty minutes but finally he made it to the abandoned comedy club they had been at together a week ago. Bruce looked around silently, everything looked the same as it had last time. He bent down to go through some of the remnants on the ground. It was here he found a bullet casing discarded, it was sitting on top. It did have dirt on it as did the other small things around it, but it was fresh. He barely had a moment to think about it before another bullet whizzed past him, pinging off a drainpipe somewhere behind him. Bruce leapt up and ducked behind a wall. He heard what was left of some of the floorboards snap to his left so he ducked around again. He was now well and truly in the building. He looked over to a spot near where a wall was and The Joker suddenly saw him, he looked furious and made a growling sound. Then he seemed a little distressed.

"No, No, No, No, No!" he muttered waving the weapon. "You have to stay away from me for a while. Don't let me come near you!"

"What do you mean?" Batman growled, confused. 'Why doesn't he want to see me?'

The clown shook his head like a wet dog. "If you wanna chat, go to my place. I'm sure Senior will oblige" he began to walk off but stopped when Batman spoke again, standing his ground.

"What is wrong with you? I have been searching for you for hours. The others didn't know where you were and you didn't even see if was alright the other day!"

'What is wrong with you?' the man mimed. He then held his arms out to the sides, then let them drop. "You! What you said!" he pulled at his hair with the gun still in his hand and paced on the spot. "You're corruptible, Bats. Even more than I thought. And you shouldn't have let me know that!"

Bruce was silent so The Joker continued talking, thinking that he didn't understand, he had to explain then what had happened when Bruce was under the effects of the toxin and the Joker had looked on. "You said that you'd tried to kill that guy. That you were so…angry that you didn't get your revenge". The man looked in awe, seeing something beautiful in a memory. "There was something in your eyes, your body that was alive with revenge and murder. You really could have killed me. Crane's magic potion didn't create it, it just brought it out". He then looked hungry. "I want…" he breathed deeply trying to control himself. "I want…to see that…again…". Bruce's brain had frozen The Joker was shaking with excitement. "You can fall, I mean, this nearly didn't happen!" he indicated to the area they were standing in. "You could have got your revenge and been locked away for life. But no, the cards dealt a difference plan…you're here now and….". He sobered up a bit and swallowed hard. "You need to leave. I'll just corrupt you. Taint your perfect soul. I though you were truly incorruptible…but you're not…and you'd be such a fierce killer…you'd tear me apart". His eyes flashed wildly again. He backed up once more. "Go…go now or you'll fall"

"I can withstand your bile"

He shook his head wildly. "Not this time".

Bruce took a step forward. "I can"

The Joker put the gun away and took out a knife. "I'm warning you, Bats. One step closer and no more Mr. Somewhat-Nice Guy"

Batman had almost closed the distance when The Joker struck. Bruce was ready for the attack obviously, however The Joker was quick and although he'd grabbed the man's arm as the knife came down, the blade happened to slide between two kevlar plates, cutting the skin a little through the material there. Bruce groaned and threw the man off.

The younger man stumbled, then jumped forward again ferociously as Bruce ran at him. They clashed, the man in purple should have been knocked backwards but instead he had latched onto the larger man and was trying to swing him off balance so he could land a blow. The Joker jumped up, using all his weight, and Batman stumbled sideways. The clown took this to his advantage and letting history repeat just a little, he grabbed a pipe from the ground near him and began viciously beating the man in black with it.

Back and forth, side to the side, the painted man swung the makeshift weapon into the kevlar, The Dark Knight who was almost on the ground, fell down to it. The dirt and the decomposing wood from the building stuck into the cracks in the suit and he gasped for air as it was knocked out of him. Being pounded with the metal, the caped one rolled onto his stomach and crawled to his knees and then moved forward, away from the blows. If he hadn't, bones would have been broken.

As he moved he took out his grapling gun, swung around and in one swift movement shot a hook up at what was left of a beam above The Joker. He pulled with all his strength. The green haired man looked up with the instincts of a predatory animal and saw what was about to happen. He'd got out of the way just as the beam fell to the ground, he then disappeared behind one of the crumbling walls.

"Joker!" Batman called out. "Come out...you can't do this!". Bruce took a Bat-a-rang out and looked around with narrowed eyes. "Joker" he called again. He saw movement to his left, he swung around and launched the weapon with all his might. He heard a gasp of pain and swept over as The Joker fell backwards, the metal lodged in his thigh.

For a second the reality of his partner being hurt hit him, but in a moment he was mentally back where he had been. Instead of The Joker calling a truce he pulled out the Bat-a-rang and threw it back at Bruce who mentally laughed at how mach damage that wouldn't do when he realised his mistake. He'd been looking at the weapon and not the man. The Joker had used the precious seconds to take out a small smoke bomb and set it off between them with a snarl.

Bruce stumbled backwards, waving his arms in an attempt to disperse the smoke. He walked to another area, behind another decrepit wall. The adrenaline was thumping through him, he was shaking lightly, his ears ringing. All his faculties weren't working together properly when he allowed himself to be pushed from behind. He fell forward into some old seats, which he fell straight through. One of the metal spokes would have broken the skin and perhaps impaled him if he hadn't been wearing his suit. He was not pleased to say the least, this was getting seriously dangerous.

The Joker wasn't behind him when he rolled onto his back onto the remnants of the seating. He looked around as he got up, hunched over and holding his back with one hand. He stepped through the floorboards, parts of the ceiling and the seats heavily and they crunched and snapped under his cumbersome boots.

He gazed around and saw The Joker. He was on the stage. It may have been a comedy club but it was once a small but somewhat majestic playhouse. The velvet maroon curtains were torn and falling but still mostly attached at the top. The lights weren't on but instead were hanging by their electrical cords. The man himself looked simply mad with rage. He was standing there as expectantly as he had when Bruce drove the Batpod at him as he had pleaded for him to hit him, just before what happened at the MCU. His head was held on an angle, his arms by his side, while one hand re-gripped his knife. If Bruce wan't so focused on what was happening he would have noticed how poetic it was to have this man on such a decaying, ageless stage.

His lips moved but Bruce couldn't hear him from this distance. They moved again as Bruce walked up to him slowly. For some reason it looked as though the stage had stayed intact, as did the stairs leading up to it. In fact the ceiling there hadn't caved in yet either, the weather hadn't torn away as much of this area yet. The Clown Price of Crime's lips moved again.

Bruce approached the steps to get onto the stage. "Come on" The Joker teased, so that's what he'd been saying. "Come on" he repeated, keeping his shining eyes on his target, gripping the knife.

"We don't need to do this" Bruce reasoned knowing that this would get ugly if allowed to continue, as he took the first step. "Let's just forget this, I'll take you home. We can give each other a little space for a while". The step groaned and nearly gave out he quickly kept acending them, the man in centre stage steadied himself and prepared for the attack.

"Come on" he muttered again, more to himself than anything. Bruce was up the top of the stairs now and about the cross the stage to meet the conflict.

"If we do this I'm not holding back"

"Come on" the man snarled, moving this time.

Bruce ran forward as the other followed. A few steps later the knife came down and skidded off the plates, it was quickly discarded for the use of fists instead. The men danced around each other and then dove forward landing blows all over. They made a sickening sound.

They both fell to the ground and rolled around, both bloody but with no lasting injuries. After a while Bruce noticed they were both too spent to be really hurting each other. He didn't notice when this had happened but under his suit he was rock hard and it was pushing painfully against the enclosure it was in. The Joker didn't notice, but Bruce looked down to see that the man under him was in the same predicament. The fever of his rage suddenly roared and changed to one of fierce arousal, but it didn't register the needs of the other man. No, deep down whatever had come out to hurt him still wanted to be dominant. The man had tried to injure and punish him, he wan't about to forget that now.

Bruce got another punch in which gave him time to loosen and remove the front of his suit and slide off his gloves. He leant forward and began to rub up against the man underneath him who suddenly realised what was happening and didn't want a part of it. He tried to get out from under him. Bruce ignored him and pulled the younger man back under with his strength. He reached underneath him and ripped the man's belt open and somehow undid the pants without tearing them as the criminal jerked violently beneath him, making verbal protests too. The Bat was meant to stay away from him, he'll just corrupt him, he needed to leave now to save himself.

Bruce jerked himself a few times to keep in the mood as he brought the other man's cock out and began to stroke that too. The man buckled underneath him again, this time for another reason.

"B-Bat, d-don't...agh, corrupt-ugh..."

"Stop pretending!" Batman roared harshly and the other man's cock twitched at the forceful instruction.

Bruce spat on his hand and looked at his foe, partner, whatever he was right now. There was a look that passed between them, then the green haired man nodded meekly. "Come on" he whispered again, this time quite weak in anticipation.

Bruce lowered his hand and began to prepare the man. He spent a couple of minutes on this. Somewhere in his mind he still wanted to do this properly, but the white-hot fever was still there. When the time came he lowered himself down and pushed forward a little. The man beneath him sucked in a little breath. Bruce had managed to stop himself and left himself there for a minute to let the man adjust, he then gave the go ahead to keep moving. Bruce moved his hips forward and gradually he was surrounded by the man. He grunted in surprise, as did The Joker when he was fully inside. His eyes had slipped shut at some point. This was totally different than with a woman, and so much more intense than anything else that he had ever experienced. Maybe the man wasn't being just facetious when he said they completed each other. This was just so unbelievably right that it hurt.

Bruce took in a deep breath then pulled most of the way out and then back in again. They kept doing this, slowly picking up the pace until they were meeting each others thrusts. Somewhere the fight was forgotten and it was almost a tender moment. It seemed as though the space that had grown between them these last few days and their different views had been needed so they could come together in this way. No hesitation, just what they felt needed to happen.

They kept going whist making little noises, Bruce the sounds of his exertion, The Joker more little mewing noises.

A short time later the men were reaching their peak. Bruce got there first, roaring as he spilt his seed into the man. As he was finishing the man beneath him grunted and came with a small sound, a gasp, a choke.

Bruce pulled out and lay down next to him. Time had no meaning right now, they lay like this for seconds, minutes, an hour maybe. They couldn't see what was happening outside. The only sound that was around them was their breathing and water dripping nearby from a hole in the ceiling.

"Jack" The Joker whispered in a somewhat defeated voice. His arms and legs were splayed, he hadn't really moved but he was satisfied, he'd wanted that for so long he couldn't remember. He was glad it had been so forceful the first time and none of this pansy soft stuff. Then he would have been disappointed. Bruce turned his head to see the man frowning as he looked up towards the blackened roof. "Call me Jack".

Bruce nodded and gripped the other man's hand. His eyes prickled, strange, it didn't feel like there was anything in them. The feeling went away as quickly as it came. "Ok" he said, his voice was hoarse. Things seemed to be good between them again. The only reason The Joker didn't want things to progress between them tonight was that he felt he would hurt Bruce in the long run, not that he didn't want them to be together as a couple. He'd been pushing for that for a while.

A while later The Joker spoke again. The silence before that was comfortable though. "I warned you. Remember that"

"I'm not corruptible"

"You would have killed that Chill guy that day. I saw it in your eyes in that hall. Just don't say I didn't warn you"

"That's what this was about? You're going to have to tell me exactly what I said when I was out of it"

"Yeah...ok. I can do that. But I'm serious, Bats. This is my final warning. Get out now while you still can. You got to punch me and I got laid. We're even"

"What is wrong with you? Let's work out some boundaries. It will be fine"

The Joker shook his head. "I'm going to keep disappointing you. Year after year"

"Don't say that. The other two are still together. Obviously they sorted it out. Any major arguments and things must be behind them. I, being the other me, can obviously trust the older you. They've come to some agreement"

"I can't stick to agreements. I enjoy breaking them"

"Well don't. For me"

The Joker shook his head and after a time sat up, fixed his clothes and stood. "You better respect me in the morning, Mister" he began in a melodic Southern-Belle accent. "I have a good reputation in this town and my Daddy will be none too pleased if he thinks I'm out with unsavoury boys. I have a name to uphold after all"

A name. "Jack" Bruce whispered in his natural voice, just trying it out for the first time.

The Joker turned and looked at him with an unreadable expression. It was as though he was already regretting what he'd said in the heat of the moment. "Yeah, well, uh. Don't use it all the time"

"Thank you for trusting me with it"

"I think a few things changed tonight, Batsy, but don't go getting all sentimental on me"

"Trust? Sentiments? Kindness?"

"I don't touch the stuff, personally. But thanks for the screw". He then turned around. "You've never been with a man before have you?". Bruce stuttered, turning red under his cowl. "Don't worry, Kid, your secrets safe with me". At this he began giggling. Man did his moods change quickly. "Come back to the apartment after you get changed".

Bruce nodded. He was there an hour later.

Next chapter
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A/N: Almost Like Being In Love: Is a song in a musical called 'Brigadoon' which The Joker was singing to as it played on the radio. I won't go into detail about it, it's a great movie with Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse. It's probably the most famous song from the musical.

Professor Martin: I think at this point the man must have a death wish. If Crane has shown nothing else in the comics it's that he likes revenge on the people who belittle him and make/have made his life difficult. He'll also take revenge on behalf of others for the right fee. I wonder then how he'd take the man who made him leave his beloved teaching job and has just told all of Gotham that they should pity him not fear him, and told Jonathan that the city isn't scared of him and he should just give up. Oh, and made him sound as though he's a failure with the ladies and possibly gay. Hrm...

The Joker's boredom: If he is going to break things and 'improve' them, he may as well do it properly. I see him being very handy with that sort of thing. Today he is altering the toaster for a laugh at Bruce's expense, but it was that same cunning that made the detonators to blow up the ferries. His range is incredible and something not to be underestimated.

Comic references: There were a coupe of The Killing Joker references in this. The 'we're going to kill each other one of these days' and 'I don't touch the stuff, personally' where The Joker was talking about reality with Commissioner Gordon.

The Late Late Show and Peacock: In Cillian Murphy related news, I saw the interview he did a couple of nights ago on the Irish show 'The Late Late Show', it's floating around on the internet. It's the first live TV talk show that Cillian been on, as you would probably know, he general avoids that type of thing. Apart from being a fan-girls dream to watch he talks briefly about how he auditioned for the role of Batman and how the suit was way too big for him cos he's a thin guy. I highly recommend it if you're a fan. PM me for the link if you're having issues finding it and would like to see it. Also, the trailer is out for Peacock which Cillian plays both a man and woman. I'm a little ashamed at how hot I think he looks in drag. But I don't think I'm the only one who thinks he looks great in it!