Happy Healing
Chapter 1:
The rain was falling hard now over this corrupt city, but then the city never seemed to have fair weather. Always gloom and doom. Though lights shone from most buildings, signs and street lights the city still felt bleak. Still felt dark. Like a bad joke, no humor.
But that was what he was here for. To bring laughter to everyone and anyone especially his beloved bat. This city was dark and tainted with sadness, so it was of course put upon him to bring everyone a smile, though sadly most people didn't seem to get the joke. This town was filled with diluted thoughts of riotousness and what is good and evil. But then he supposed that was what made it so much fun. It wouldn't be Gotham without the corruption after all.
That's what the Joker thought as he whistled merrily to some made up tune as he twirled his cane in hand like a baton. The signature smile in place along his angular features and a twisted gleam twinkled in his poison green eyes. As usual he wore only the finest purple suit with his orange vest and yellow button down beneath and a green bow tie neatly in place along with polished winged shoes. His stark white skin drew a striking contrast with his forest green hair whose curls fluttered slightly in the gentle breeze.
"Almost there! Must hurry, wouldn't want to keep dear batsy waiting after all." The mad man giggled to himself as he skipped his way to his arch nemesis's location, the one he himself picked as usual. The Joker always looked forward to these meetings of theirs, their "dates" as he liked to call them. This time it was on a lone apartment building in the slums and oh boy did the crazed man have a few tricks for the dear Batman this time. He'd get a few good ones in before he was most likely beaten to a bloody pulp and left for Arkham Asylum. Why that place didn't just give him a revolving door to to come and go as he pleased, he still didn't know. They had tried everything with him from state of the art straight jackets to complex locks and "inescapable rooms" as they put it and still he managed to break out of that crazy town.
"Oh but I'm getting off topic now, back to business." the Clown Prince of Crime snickered. The loon was about to cross the street when a noise to his right made him pause and look down the alley way beside him. Now normally he wouldn't give the noise a second thought but he recognized this voice, even if the tone was not something he was accustomed to.
What he saw surprised him, his eyes drawn wide with shock as he took in the sight of the massive black figure struggling to stay up on his feet in the dirty, dark alley. He halted the twirl of his cane and let the end hit the ground with a sharp click, dulled only by the sound of heavy rainfall as he watched the man a moment longer. His thoughts reeling at this sudden plot twist, he was very much caught off guard.
"Oh Bats dear? Is that you?" The Joker giggled as he abruptly stepped into the alley, his shoes clicking lightly against the wet concrete as he made his way closer to the Dark Knight. He was cautious in case this was some sort of trap, he didn't want the night to end so soon. He had much more planned for this evening and the next few evenings for that matter.
Finally the Bat seemed to take notice of the Jester's presence and he looked up, his face that was contorted with pain seconds before was quickly hidden with a weak snarl of warning.
How Batman hadn't noticed the other man's presence was beyond him. The Joker never did make it particularly hard to notice him, at least not usually. So when he finally heard the click of those shoes come to a halt abruptly a mere arm's length away him, and a purple suit leading up to that inhuman smile on ghost white skin he knew must be far more gone then he originally thought, and he already thought himself pretty gone.
He had lost a lot of blood, the rain water under him only further proving this point as it mixed with crimson that seeped from the large gash on his chest and many wounds on his arms and legs. Everything hurt as bruises formed under his armor, frankly he just wanted to get home and rest. Fatigue hit him like a ton of bricks. He was hanging on to consciousness by sheer will, even as his body refused to cooperate, he wasn't going to show such a weak state to this man. Definitely not this man.
"Leave me alone Joker...Before I make you." The Batman growled threateningly, though the threat came out lacking any real power with the pained crackle in his voice. He craned his head up as he pushed himself up the wall to look at the smiling man whose smile only intensified at his words.
"But I don't think you could darling even if you wanted to." The Joker taunted, cocking his head lazily to the left, eyeing his Bat with curiosity and something else Batman was having trouble placing. Was that anger, maybe concern? No he must have lost too much blood. "But do tell me, what happened to you my sweet Bat? Did the little bird get sick of playing lackey and finally retaliate when you had your back turned? Kids these days, just no respect."
"Shut up." Batman hissed as he felt his head begin to spin and his vision go fuzzy. Black spots were beginning to appear in his line of sight and he knew unconsciousness was soon to follow, so he reached up to press the communicator in his cowl to contact Alfred but all the movement caused him was to loose his barring and slip down the wall in a crumpled heap. To weak and too tired to move anymore, he lay there fighting the desire to drift off into sweet unconsciousness, the fact that his arch enemy stood before him just watching him, taunting him with that surreal smile only intensified his will to stay awake. But will alone was soon not going to be enough to stop his broken body from giving in to the need for rest.
"Have a nice trip?" The clown chuckled uncontrollably placing a hand over his mouth in amusement, only to get a nasty look from the other man. When the giggles finally subsided he sighed out happily and smiled broadly.
"Always so solemn! Though I guess that's to be expected, looks like you might miss our date tonight. I was so looking forward to that too." The Joker frowned then, but only briefly as his smile lit back up a moment later, "Well I know a way we can make up for it. Worry not sweetums! Your bestest friend in the whole wide world has you covered."
The dark figure curled his lip in disdain and would have recoiled if he had the energy when The Joker placed one long fingered hand on his left shoulder after squatting before him, the ever present smile pulling taunt on his angular features as he chuckled giddily.
"Batsy, don't give me that look you're nearly dead and staining this wonderful alley with blood." The Harlequin of Hate crackled as he moved to the Batman's side, the later following his every move with his eyes, "These hobos wouldn't come into your home and stain your flooring, so we mustn't give them any less consideration. Not polite you know."
Punching the taller man never seemed better to do then now; Bruce would give anything to just slam his fist into that smug look on the Joker's face if only to shut him up. Not that it worked, nothing ever worked unless he was out cold. He balled his firsts at the thought and began to wonder if he could spare what limited energy he had left in order to appease his more brutal side. Until his thoughts were broken when the Joker hoisted one of the larger man's arms up and draped it around his shoulders. Batman's eyes widened in confusion and suspicion while he reflexively attempted to jerk the appendage away from the clown, only to be stopped by a firm grip that still surprised Batman, the man had always been a lot stronger then he appeared.
"Ah, ah, ah, we can't have any of that now. I know it puts a damper on things but it seems necessary in this situation dearest." said The Jester as the man's other arm snaked its way around Batman's waist and held it there firmly. Bruce could only be glad his armor was in between him and the Joker's hand, but even with the armor he felt tainted.
"Alright honey, let's get you up on three." The taller man said as if he was simply helping out an old friend, "One…Two…Three-aughh Oh Boy! Bats what have you been eating!?"
Batman felt the Joker's grip on his arm and waist tighten as he felt the man hoist him up onto his feet, the strain visible only by the way the Joker clenched his teeth.
"One foot in front of the other now Batsy." The Joker chuckled, his voice straining with the effort and struggled to hold the larger man whist said man tried to gain his footing against the moisture slicked cement.
Batman's legs trembled as he finally was able to get to his feet. His legs were weak and he could feel them ready to buckle even though the Joker supported much of his weight. He hung practically limp barely able to move his feet, the Joker was nearly dragging the larger man out of the narrow side street and into the open.
This wasn't going to work, the Joker knew that. His "home" was quite a ways away and there was no way the bat would be able to survive that long at the pace they were going. "And I'll be damned if someone kills him before me. This is our game." The Joker thought with malice, he was going to find the person who did this to his bat and make them suffer before ending their sorry existence. No one played with his things.
"What are you-" Batman had started only to be shushed very rudely and given a look that practically said shut up but in case that wasn't enough, the Joker spoke anyway as usual.
"Be quiet Bats. This isn't easy you know. Now let's see…" the Jester trailed off as he eyed the street struggling slightly with the weight of the batman and the heavy downpour of rain. Minutes passed and Bruce was beginning to wonder if the Joker had forgotten what he was doing, until the Clown let out a giggle and nodded to himself.
The Harlequin of Hate finally spotted what he was looking for and with a grin began once more to drag the large black mass beside him across the street to a car that sat collecting water in the street. Normally he preferred walking but this situation called for a change. He set his Bat against the car with a loud thunk of armor on auto. The larger of the two letting out a slight groan of discomfort as his injuries were irritated by the less then gentle way the Joker handled him. Batman glanced up at his nemeses and his confusion at this whole escapade only intensified when he saw what appeared to be an almost apologetic look. But Batman quickly abolished that thought when the Jester broke out in a loud crackle, "Jeez bats you look a little uncomfortable. Need a pillow? You could always use my lap and take a nap if you want."
Batman glared up at the Clown and didn't even grace him with a response which only seemed to amuse the other man more. But the taller of the two said nothing else and proceeded to dig around inside his coat pockets before withdrawing a pistol.
Batman's eyes widened and his body tensed, he knew the Joker couldn't be doing what he had thought him to be. This is how it would end then, bleeding and at the mercy of one of Gothum's loons; he was about to get shot and was going to be left in one of the streets of the city he tried so hard to save from itself. Left in the cold rain for the police to find his remains, that is if Joker didn't have something more elaborate planned with his body. Batman knew how this man liked to make a spectacle of everything. Every part of his body screamed to run, to fight, it screamed for him to do something but he knew he hadn't the energy for it. So he simply closed his eyes and prepared to accept his fate, he guessed it wasn't so bad. He'd rather the Joker do it than anyone else if he had the choice he admitted to himself, something he would never confide to any other living being.
Shrill laughter broke him out of his thoughts and his eyes snapped open as he looked up at the source of the noise confusion etched into his features. The Clown Prince of Crime was doubled over in laughter the gun hanging limply from his long fingered hand and his eyes watered from the intensity of his fit.
"Y-You should of s-seen your face!" The Joker gurgled through his insane laughter that seemed to echo along the walls of the surrounding buildings almost making it sound like the city was laughing at the Caped Crusader. Batman simply sat there dumbfounded as he was completely unsure of what to do at this point.
It took several moments before the Joker calmed enough to be able to speak properly with only a mild giggle coming through, "I'm not going to kill you! That would just be no fun dear!" He laughed and patted the top of Batman's cowl as if he were a small child asking a ridiculous question, "If I kill you, I want it to be on my own terms not when you're half dead by someone else's hands. And you're just too much fun! Our game isn't close to being over yet, so I'm not about to let you parish darling."
With that the Joker slammed the butt of the gun's handle against the car's passenger window, easily breaking the glass with the force of impact. The car alarm cried out through the street as Batman watch bewildered while the Joker pocketed his pistol and reached into the car to unlock the doors to the vehicle. Once the doors were unlocked the clown withdrew his hand and ran it through his rain soaked hair, brushing the strands from his eyes, the curls hanging limply from the downpour. He turned back to his Bat grinning wildly, "Ready then sweety?"
Batman barely heard the man over the piercing sound of the alarm so all he did was continue to stare at the taller of the two in uncertainty until finally he got his words to form a cognitive sentence, "This is someone's car."
"Thank you for pointing out the obvious sweetums, your brain must not be getting enough blood." The Joker snickered before bending down and once more hoisted up the larger man, a slight grimace crossing his face as he dragged the large bat figure to the open door of the car and dropped him un-ceremonially inside and onto the passenger seat. Batman groaned out when he hit the leather upholstery and he could only watch limply as the Joker bent his legs and rotated him into the seat. The clown grinned and took hold of the seatbelt clicking it into place over the bat before erupting into giggles, "Seatbelts! So we can be safe."
Batman could only role his eyes at the man, one moment he could be the most deadly force the Batman had ever encountered with his cunning intellect, crazy gags and nimble agility all along with his incredible will and malice; and the next he would be just like a child preforming harmless mischief and jokes. The Batman could only notice the taller man who now closed the passenger seemed to be in his later mood, the evil glint in his eye replaced with a childish sparkle of glee.
And that was the last Batman saw as his vision finally gave way and began to fade. Though he had no sense of security because of the Joker's his body simply couldn't hold out anymore and he slowly faded out of awareness listening to the Joker's soft giggles mixing with the heavy rainfall against the car and the soft purr of the engine as it started.
"Batsy? Did you hear me dearest?" The Joker giggled as he glanced over at the caped crusader once he shut off the blasted car alarm, expecting a glare or awaiting a response of sorts, but was met with nothing but silence. Not any sort of signal to let the Clown know he was still alive.
The Jester's smile faltered as he an alien feeling spread through his stomach, one he had never experienced before. Finally he caught the shallow rise and fall of the caped crusader's chest and realized the Dark Knight must have just blacked out, causing the feeling to subside immediately. The Joker let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding a perplex look adorning his features as he glanced at the bat for a moment before his eyes traveled lower to the man's wounds. They were bad. Deep and coursing with crimson, he needed to get home and get home fast. So without further ado he pulled away from the curb and shot down the street in all Joker like fashion.
My First Batman and Joker fic, so bare with me! I'm giving it a go. Reviews are appreciated!
