Author:Me (xErin or butterflyerin on LJ)

Title: Gordon's Guardian

Rating: PG-13

A/N: Was a request by my friend writingdestiny on LJ. Not what she was aiming for, but whatever. Ah, I'm only going to post this One-Shot, because it was meant as a stand alone. I have two other chapters on LJ, but they really disappoint. If you want to, look those up and you can find them, but don't say I didn't warn you.

"Ah, the good cop, bad cop routine?"

"Not exactly," Jim Gordon passed the keys in his hands back and forth a few times before leaving the cold room. A loud buzzer sounded and he exited.

As lights flickered on, the room was quiet. The Joker was silent, running his tongue over his teeth before bam his head met the metal table loudly. Batman walked around the table, leaning forward to look him in the eye sternly.

"You never start with the head," the Joker kept a constant wince of pain in his face, holding himself steady with the back of one hand. "The victim goes all fuzzy, he can't feel the neck--AUGH!" Batman's fist came down roughly, smashing his palm flat hand into the cold metal. Joker rolled his eyes back slowly, trying to gain composer from the pain.

"See?"

"You wanted me?" Batman growls, keeping his focus. He is seated, eyes dark and glaring. "Here I am."

Outside of the interrogation room, the detectives watched attentively and waited to see what happened.

"I wanted to see what you'd do, and you didn't disappoint," the Joker leaned forward in his seat. "You let five people die. Almost six..." He looked towards the mirror briefly. "Then, you let Dent take your place. Even for a guy like me, that's cold." Batman gave him a curious glace, encouraging him to speak more.

"Where's Dent?" He asked impatiently, fists clenched on the table.

"These... mob-fools want you gone so that things can go," he waved his hand in the air with emphasis, "back to the way things were." His shoulders moved back and forth, leaning forward a little more, "but I know the truth: there's no going back. You're changed things." He whispered with anger. With a nod and pause, he adds, "forever."

"Then why do you want to kill me?" Batman asks, his expression filled with curiosity and thought.

As if that was the most ignorant question on the Earth, the Joker burst into a fit of laughter, standing up from his seat. He leans forward and backward over the table, his balance kept with his hands. "I--ha--I don't want to kill you!" He turned his head, giving that infamous wicked grin, saying, "what would I do without you?!" He leaned back and forward once more before taking the seat again.

"Go back to ripping off mob dealers? No, no... NO! No you... you complete me," he pointed directing at himself with both hands.

"You're garbage," Batman growled, nearly spiting at him. "All you do is kill for money."

"Don't talk like you're one of them," he swung his hand in the direction of the mirror. "You're not, even though you'd like to be." He pulled his shoulders back, rotating them. "To them, you're just a freak," he nodded, "like me. They need you right now, but when they don't..." he paused with a tease and bit his lip, "they'll cast you out... like a leper."

Batman's face was solid, not showing any emotion. He was thinking deeply, trying to crack the clown.

"See, their "moral" is their code," he shook his head, "it's a bad joke. Dropped at the first sign of trouble. They're only as good as the world allows them to be. I'll show ya, when the chips are down, these uhh... "civilized" people--they'll eat each other. See, I'm not a monster, I'm just ahead of the curb."

Before his sentence was even finished, Batman reached up with a fierce force, throwing Joker up by his shirt, slamming him into the wall.

"Where's Dent?" He yelled with anger, letting all his frustration out.

"You have all these rules," he waved his hands in the air, "do you think they'll save you?"

The detectives outside all shifted nervously, giving Gordon quick glances.

"...he's in control..." He spoke quickly, keeping his eye on the scene attentively.

"I have one rule," Batman lets his voice growl, his grip on the Joker tightening.

"Oh, then that's the rule you'll have to break," the Joker spoke through a weak voice, his body uncomfortable under Batman's grip. "To know the truth."

"Which is?" Batman pushed harder into the Joker.

"The only sensible way to live in this world is without rules. And tonight, you're going to break your one rule."

"I'm considering it," he confessed and threatened lightly, with a tightening of his grip.

"Listen, you're gonna have to play my little game if you wanna save them," Joker adjusted himself under Batman's strong arm, trying to almost wiggle free.

"Yeah?" He spoke, just to keep him talking.

"You know, for awhile there, I thought you really were Dent. The way you threw yourself after her," he smiled mischievously. "But what changed my mind is how you reacted to your Lieutenant Gordon's "death"." His grin widened.

Batman roared, throwing Joker over and flat on the table. He winces in pain, but turned into a hoot of laughter. Furious, Batman grabs the chair and jams it under the door handle.

Jim, quite frantic, runs to the door, trying to hopelessly open it.

"Look at you go!" Joker laughs harder, taking a moment to pick himself off the table and pop his back. "Does anyone know that you and little Com--" A arm around his neck cut off Joker and smashed his head into the nearest window. It cracked and spider-webbed, red blood visible in the clear crystal. He falls to the floor, curling up with unrestrained laughter at his reactions.

"Where are they?!" Batman roars once more.

"Killing is a choice--" He punches him with a smack, anger unleashing.

He asks the question again, hovering the still laughing man.

"You have to chose between one life or the other. You're lucky I'm not after your man again," he crackled loudly, "your friend the D.A. or his blushing bride to be--haha!--" Another punch to the face stops his speech, yet the laughter continues.

"You... have nothing... to gain from them," Joker can barely breathe, "saving her... or him... too bad it isn't Gordon again, you'd lose your mind!" His laughter side tracks for a moment, his chest heaving lightly. Batman lifts him up again, fighting back every urge to kill the man.

"Don't worry, I'll tell you where they are if... you announce your love for the Commissioner... in public and with no cowl," he grins, letting his yellow teeth show with pride. Batman forcefully shoves the man to the ground, letting his skull bash into the brick wall.

He looked towards the mirror, unsure of the predicament. His chest heaved up and down, his anger still boiling. No, never... he bashed the Joker's head against the wall, hands tangled in the dyed mess.

"Where are they?!"

The Joker continued to laugh easily, paying no heed to the angry pouring out of the Batman. He grinned widely.