The Joker never thought he would see the day the day that he deliberately murdered a child. Then again, with such skill and power, it was difficult to see the young Robin as such. Although the young man tended to rebel against authority – almost in the same manor as the Joker himself – he was definitely mature for his age. After losing his parents and becoming an orphan, he'd already suffered through many of life's greatest trauma's. This made him more like a man than a boy – at least until the hour of his death.
"Here, birdy birdy!" The Joker cackled, peering down the dark and nearly-empty alleyway. "Heeere, Birdy Birdy... Little Robin, come out to play!"
There was silence and darkness, but the Joker knew he was there. Patiently, he waited, and after a few moments, the hero appeared in front of him. "Let's go, Joker. I'm taking you out!"
The Joker couldn't help but laugh. This young man thought he could tell him what was going to happen, as if this scrawny little guy was actually in control! What a laugh, he though, taking a step forward. "Can I ask you something, little bird?"
"Don't talk to me!" Robin squealed, slamming his little fists into the Joker's jaw. To the Joker's surprise – but certainly not the hero's – the villain reeled backwards against the brick wall and stumbled into his knees.
"Ooh, Robin. You're turning into quite the little man. So strong and handsome..."
"Stop it! DON'T FUCKING TALK TO ME YOU FREAK!" Again, the hero's fist flew against the villain's skull, but this time the movement didn't stop. His arm cocked back and swung at his enemy over and over until the Joker finally got control of his wrists. Holding them tightly, he walked the young man back against the wall and pinned their bodies together.
"Now, now, Jason, I just want to talk, so hold still, little Birdy. We're just gonna have a little conversation. You see... I wanted to tell you before you found out from somebody else. Robin... you know that Bruce cares about you." The hero's face fell. How in the world did the Joker know what the Batman's real name was? The villain, seeing the shock on the boy's face and suspecting the hero to run, gripped his wrists just a bit tighter. "And he wanted to tell you. But he just couldn't. Now listen. I don't want to hurt you, Jason, but I happen to love the man who you consider your mentor. I know that you care about him, too, and so I wanted to tell you first. Jason, I'm going to ask him to marry me tomorrow."
The only response was dead silence and shock. The villain sighed and continued, making sure to hold the boy firmly as he did so. "You know I'm never going to change. I'll always be me. But I love Bruce just as much as he loves you, and you may not ever like me or trust me, but I promise I'm not going to hurt him..."
This was all Jason needed to hear. His hand sung out, wrapping around the villain's neck and squeezing hard, his eyes freezing over with rage. "Jason, no," Jack begged, struggling as Robin pinned him, hard, against the brick building. As Jack felt his brain cells dying, his head spinning, and himself drifting into unconsciousness, he gave one last battle of thrashing and managed to get loose. Quickly, he swung his heavy arm as hard as he could and forced his fist against the back of the young boy's head. It wasn't, however, hard enough to knock the boy unconscious as he'd hoped. Instead, Robin began to cry, finally shrinking back into the role of a child as he made another attempt to wrap his small hands around the villain's throat.
This, of course, wasn't something the Joker could simply sit back and allow to happen. He couldn't let himself be killed by some teenage superhero. Not like this. But this Robin – Jason Todd – was one he knew. The boy wasn't going to stop until he had the criminal's head plastered on his wall. And so, Jack pulled out his gun and pulled the trigger three times, his hands shaking the entire time. When the boy's lifeless body collapsed against the brick building, Jack pulled him into his arms.
"J-Jason... Jason... please... I'm so sorry..." His dirty, trembling fingers found the bullet hole and slid inside, and as Jack felt the warmth flow over his fingers, he started to cry. "Jason," he wailed, letting his head fall onto the boy's stomach, the blood spilling out all over his face. The sticky red substance mixed with the white paint on his face and made him look like a bloodied ghost. Even his lips were soaked with a thick, wet layer of the fluid, and he continued to sob as he felt how warm it was against his skin.
When he finally found the Batman, his entire front was soaked with the young hero's blood. "BATMAN!" Joker had screamed. He'd collapsed onto his knees on the top of one of the tall buildings in Gotham and waited, continuing to scream for his lover at the top of his lungs until the Batman found him. Seeing the man he cared about shaking, crying, trembling, and covered in blood touched the hero's heart, and he melted beside his lover and – even upon seeing the river of blood – kissed his lips softly, tenderly. He could taste the blood on the Joker's lips, but he kept kissing him anyway.
When he pulled away, blood covering his own mouth and chin as well then, he looked the Joker in the eyes. "What's wrong, Jacky?" he whispered.
That was the first night in almost a year that the Joker spent completely alone.