Hey all, this is my first fan fic posted on this account...I've written countless on an old one...but I figured it's time for a fresh start

This first fic is a one shot I did for a competition revolving around "Home is where the heart lies" for a yaoi roleplay site I'm on. Figured I'd post it here as well.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, never have never will –tears up- Oh oh, and the song lyrics are from Breaking the Silence by Firewind, I highly recommend listening to it while reading. Remember to review if you like it!

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I hear voices screaming, haunted by demons
This willful crime has done it's last crime

"So be it. Take the Batman into custody." Harvey Dent's voice rang strong with a resolute, if bitter, edge to it.

"I am the Batman." This voice did NOT come from Harvey Dent, but rather Bruce Wayne, the tall dark man hanging back near the wall.

Harvey's eyes widened, partially with shock, but mainly with horror. This wasn't part of the plan, his plan that he'd formulated. His dumbstruck look only played off the audience's own surprise, which cause the room to fall into uneasy silence.

And then it burst into chaos, people shouting, cameras flashing, faces gaping back and forth between their D.A. and the richest man in all of Gotham.

Harvey's own eyes flashed over Bruce's tight features, and he knew almost immediately that the former was being entirely truthful. He shook his head as the pieces of the puzzle came together instantaneously, but the police officers were already clapping the iron down around the man's outstretched wrists.

"Idiot!" was all he had time to hiss as Bruce was led by him, but Bruce simply looked at him with that deep gaze that never wavered, before letting them slide away from Harvey to focus on the police escort ahead of him.

"I do what I have to do," Wayne murmured smoothly, and before Dent could reply, the officers shoved him along into the nearest police car. As they started their engines Wayne looked up through the window and caught Dent's eye one last time.

Harvey could have sworn he saw the man mouth "Now you do what YOU have to do," right before the sirens kicked in and the car took off down the street, wheels screeching on the turn.

Dent turned to the crowd, stunned momentarily. He opened his mouth to speak, and nothing came out. A pause- and then he turned and left in much the same manner, followed by a flock of press members hollering things behind his receding back.

"No comment!!"

Breaking – breaking the silence
Hiding – I'm tired of hiding
I know – I'll make my way out of this mess

And so, the man known most famously as the Batman found himself being jostled about in the back of an armoured vehicle. He'd been kept at General Holdings for the evening, but they were shipping him over to Central that night. They figured a simple convoy of "sturdy" vehicles and a single helicopter would keep him safe from the Joker's reach. The very thought of such foolishness had made Bruce snort, but his opinion had been utterly ignored.

He had known that the Joker would come for him, no matter what, and he'd been right. Oh so right. This was the main reason the truck was shaking so hard; gunshots left dents in the side of the vehicle, and Wayne damn well knew who was responsible for them. The truck could take such minor shots, but Bruce hoped against hope that the maniacal clown wouldn't pull something bigger out of his bag of tricks...

Unfortunately, he did, and Bruce flew against the metal wall as the vehicle flipped with the boom of an explosion that could only have erupted from a bazooka like cannon; his head cracked soundly against the metal. Blacking out momentarily, Wayne came about and found himself lying on what had once been the SIDE of the vehicle, but was now the floor. It was obvious that they'd been flipped over on their side like an overturned turtle by the enormous shot.

Still a little groggy from the impact, Bruce blinked, first at the guard who'd been accompanying him inside the back- he was lying unconscious a few steps away- then at the door, still shut, beyond which he could hear another vehicle screeching to a halt.

Footsteps, cackling, a couple gunshots that left his ears ringing, and then there was a knocking as the very door Bruce had been eyeing.

"Anyone hoooome?" came the chilling voice Bruce had come to recognize as terror in its deadliest form. But then again, he'd learned to shut out terror a long time ago.

He heard some cursing when the door wouldn't open under force, and then he heard the Clown Prince bark, "Get round to the front and get the keys!"

"Yes boss." A quick response from two voices; cronies of the Joker was Bruce's best guess. It was frustrating not being able to see anything, but from what he could hear, the footsteps that followed led round to the cab of the vehicle, where the doors slammed open and a couple of yelps escaped from the mouths of..the drivers?

Sounds of a slight scuffle, some yelling, and then some dragging noises. When these faded away, there was a jangling noise, that of keys, and, "Here ya are boss."

"You'll never get away with this!" exclaimed a defiant voice, and Bruce was sure it was one of the drivers. How foolish.

"Kill him," snapped the Joker mercilessly. Another shot, a muted cry, and the sound of a body hitting the cement. All familiar sounds for Bruce's ears, but he still didn't like them.

"What about the other one?" questioned the rasping voice of the henchman, and there was a pause that lasted for only half a second.

"Gimme a moment," was the reply, short and brisk, almost business-like. And then came the dreaded sound of a key being turned in a complicated lock system, slowly, slowly, torturously slowly.

The heavy iron door, meant to keep out dangers (as well as keep IN dangers) exactly like this, swung open with an ease that was almost ironic. Bruce's hands tightened into fists instinctively, but with his wrists bonded together by the handcuffs, he doubted it'd do him much good.

"Hi there, sweetie," crooned the high pitched voice that Bruce couldn't help but dread. It came, to be more precise, from a man with badly dyed green hair that hung over his face in strands, like a sickly moss. From a man with a sheet white face that gave its credit to sloppily applied makeup and black gunk that sunk his eyes back in a haunting fashion. Above all else, the words came from a man with puckered scars, accented in vicious red that substituted for a smile of wicked proportions.

The Joker.

Bruce bared his teeth almost instinctively, letting loose a low snarl. Besides his hands, the rest of his body was free, so he aimed a desperate kick at the Joker's head.

He'd probably seen it coming, unfortunately, for the kick was caught deftly by the clown's gloved right hand. Shaking his head in an amused fashion and tsking under his breath, the Joker flicked his wrist and turned on his heel expertly, flipping Bruce out of the armoured vehicle and onto the pavement.

Groaning a little, Bruce didn't bother getting off his back. After all, being surrounded by multiple armed men while one was disarmed and on the ground wasn't exactly an advantage.

"Shit," he mumbled as he was yanked to his feet by two rather ugly, sneering henchmen. Seemed that was the only variety their sort came in.

"Language!" the Joker chided in a teasing manner, before sauntering over in a nonchalant sort of way. As he did so, he allowed his eyes to run along every inch of Bruce's body from head to toe, as if he were an item of questionable quality up for sale.

His unnerving eyes continued to rove even when he came right up to Bruce. "Bruce Wayne," he purred, as though trying out the name. Indeed, he moved his mouth about, as though swirling the words about with his tongue, and then he smacked his lips.

Taking Bruce's chin between his very long thumb and forefinger, the Joker lifted the other ma's face up so he could examine his prize closer. The cool leather touch of the gloves combined with the slightly crazed gaze caused even the composed Bruce Wayne to shift uneasily.

A long drawn out minute passed of dark eyes regarding dark eyes, and then a terrible smile curled out over the Joker's entire face. "You're my Batman alright."

He didn't release Bruce's face though, and out of the corner of his eye Bruce could see the remaining vehicle driver move in an indignant manner.

"Enough already," came the man's voice, and Bruce's eyes flitted over in the man's direction. The voice, or perhaps the tone had sounded familiar. But it couldn't be...

A light of recognition entered the killer's eyes as well, and his smile, if at all possible, widened as he finally DID release Bruce to turn and grin maniacally at the vehicle driver, who was wearing a helmet that concealed his face.

"Well, well,WELL," he said, approaching the man menacingly. "I do believe I KNOW that voice!"

With one swift movement, he yanked off the man's helmet, and Bruce nearly groaned again, this time with utter dismay. The man was Gordon.

"Lieutenant GORDON! How nice of you to JOIN us!" crowed the Joker triumphantly. "This is just TOO much! Y'see, I thought I'd missed out on the pleasure of watching you die slowly, but it seems I was wroooong!" The last word was drawn out, which made it all the crueller.

Gordon's lips curled back, and Bruce knew the other man was thinking much the same thing he was; Gordon probably would have been better off dying back when they'd all thought he had.

Their eyes met then, Gordon's analyzing and slightly apologetic, Bruce's full of regret...but no apology. They both understood that something had had to be done, but they were also beginning to realize what a mistake they might have made.

They didn't have enough time to communicate nonverbally, however, since the Joker interrupted their reunion with a clap of his hands.

"Tie up Gordon, knock em both out and get em in the truck. I want BOTH of them," he commanded coldly to the men surrounding the two heroes like vultures.

Before the orders were carried out, the Joker turned to them both and said, "So sorry for all the rush, but there are places to go, things to see, I'm a busy man y'know." He tapped his wrist even though there was no watch presiding there. "But don't worry, I PROMISE we'll all get a little quality time later."

The jagged red smile and the laugh that erupted from it were the last things Bruce heard and saw before being knocked unconscious once more.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

My heart is aching, my love is fading
So tired of living in fear

Slouched against a cement wall, the first thing Gordon could see were marbled clouds out of a grimy window that had a pane missing. Shifting a little, he grit his teeth and winced a little; the thugs had struck his head HARD, and now it throbbed dully.

He closed his eyes again, before slowly opening them again and looking downwards, surveying his surroundings. The first thing that caught his eye was the fact that he appeared to be in an abandoned warehouse, the second that he wasn't alone.

Bruce Wayne lay crumpled in an untidy heap beside him, his eyes still closed, a trickle of dried blood staining his forehead. Pushing himself up against the wall a little more, Gordon became aware of yet another fact; he was tied up around the torso (keeping his arms down as well) by thick rope. This made it difficult to find a somewhat comfortable position, but when he did, he cautiously stuck his foot out in an attempt to poke Bruce.

"Wayne!" he grunted quietly, in case there were any abusive clowns about to hear. "Wayne!" His foot made contact on the next call, jabbing into the man's ribs rather soundly. Bruce jerked a little at the contact, and then his eyes fluttered open.

"Uhh?" was the first noise that came from his mouth, and he looked at the foot that had just woke him up for a moment before jerking again, this time thrashing a bit like a beached fish. This succeeded in flopping his to a seated position instead of lying on the floor, but little more.

His wide eyes took in Gordon in an almost frantic manner before he took in his surroundings completely. It would have been foolish to say the man had relaxed, but he didn't seem quite as on edge as he had before. "Gordon?"

"Yes," was Gordon's steady reply, as he leaned back against the wall.

"Where...where are we?"

"Just came to myself," Gordon said, trying to shrug his shoulders and failing miserably due to the rope. Bruce nodded almost absently, looking to and fro as though trying to take in as much of his surroundings as possible.

"How long do you-" Bruce began, but Gordon cut him off.

"It was night when we set out, now it looks about early morning yet, so either we've been out for a LONG time, or only a few hours."

Again, Wayne nodded, this time looking a little more attentive. For the first time since the incident at the armoured vehicle, he met eyes with Gordon. And Gordon thought: So this is the man that has helped me out for quite a long time. Lord, Gordon could remember back when he'd first met Bruce Wayne; only vaguely, but he could indeed remember. Bruce had only been a kid...his parents had just died and Gordon had attempted to console him before he'd been ushered away.

What a difference between that wide eyed childish stare and the calculating one he was receiving now. "So you're my partner," Gordon finally said, quietly and cautiously.

Bruce looked at him for a second more before nodding confirmation. "I am."

"Why hand yourself in?"

Looking away briefly, Wayne met his eyes again with a stony expression. "There's only so much one man can take Gordon."

Gordon had been about to open his mouth again when there was a clicking sound, and a door near the back of the large warehouse room banged open dramatically. The two men turned and glared towards it, almost in sync though they hadn't meant to.

The Joker paused in the doorway, cocking his head before smiling over at them both. "How cute, you've got your movements synchronized."

Gordon could feel his mouth twitch, but didn't say anything. It was always better to let them say whatever the hell it was they needed to say when it came to villains. Bruce, on the other hand, growled, "What do you want."

Instead of replying right away, the Joker waltzed over to the pair, before hunching down right in front of Bruce so they were face to face. "I want my dance partner," was what escaped his mirthful lips, and Gordon could feel his eyebrows lift in spite of himself. Not only because of the words, but because of the...well, openly flirtatious swagger the clown was exhibiting all over his face. He wasn't actually going to go there was he?

Wayne stayed stony faced, so the Joker continued. "Cause, Waynie, there's something I NEVER do, and that's forgettin' my dance partner." He leaned in further so that their noses almost touched, and Gordon felt rising disgust in his chest.

"I don't forget my HOME," were the final words that slipped from the crimson stained mouth. Bruce frowned at this, jerking away from the villain.

"Your HOME?" Bruce replied in a slightly gravelly voice, and Gordon didn't miss the hint of Batman in it. This man was indeed the masked vigilante...

Oblivious, or acting like it, the Joker giggled a little before saying, "You know that saying they have...that one they're always saying...'Home is where the thrill lies.'"

Gordon frowned at the way the Joker had twisted the well known saying into something as odd as he was. Bruce's face, however, stayed blank, and there was no reply on his part. So the maniac continued, "And you, Batsy...you're my thrill. You're- well, you're what COMPLETES me." He folded his hands over his heart dramatically at this, tilting his head a little bit and smiling softly. As softly as the Joker could, that is.

"You don't have a HOME," Bruce snarled unexpectedly, causing his enemy to draw back. Not for long however; there was soon a snappy response.

"Correction-" his voice rang shrill through the abandoned building, "I do not have a HOUSE. I do indeed have a home. You're it, even if you don't want to be."

As he said this, his hand reached out and trailed- slowly, slowly- down Wayne's face, and Gordon's fists tightened. It was sickening, really, watching the little scene unfold, and he couldn't believe the man had the gall to..well, touch Bruce in that way. In fact, Gordon wasn't sure why he was getting so flustered over the Joker initiating physical contact with Bruce, even when it was something so little...but it bothered him.

He didn't say anything until the gloved fingers made their way to Bruce's lips, tracing them slightly before Wayne pulled away. "Stop it," Gordon said tensely, his brow crinkled. The man did indeed stop, but turned to look over at Gordon seriously.

"What's got your panties in a knot?" he asked before displaying his yellow teeth. "Don't like me touching Brucie here?" As he said this, the Joker slipped a glove off and reached out for Bruce's face again. When Wayne pulled away yet again, the Joker turned to him once more and grabbed his face between both his hands and pulled it in close.

"You listen to me, Bruce baby-" Gordon cringed in spite of himself. "You're MINE."

Bruce grimaced in response, saying, "What're you going to do, kill me?"

"KILL you? Oh no no NO, certainly not. What would I do without you? Bruce, Batman, darling, I can't live WITHOUT you. No, you see, I need you. I need you to have FUN. You're my thrill. You're my home. So I need you alive."

"Then why do you have me here with you?" Bruce growled, and Gordon was wondering much the same thing. They were both trying to distract themselves from the little speech that had basically been a confession of twisted love. The Joker cocked his head once more, waving away Bruce's question breezily.

"I was thinking about this myself, actually," he began, and Gordon had the feeling that they were in for a bit of a long story. "Why I'm so...DRAWN to you, if you will. And I figured it out, a lil while ago, I figured out WHY you're so damn tempting."

The Joker pressed their foreheads together before he went on, smearing white on Bruce's brow as well. "It's because you are so INCORRUPTABLE!" He pronounced the word with a flourish. "And more than anything, I'm SURE that I want to corrupt you." The feline smile that proceeded the words was almost feral, and Gordon struggled against his bindings.

"That won't happen," Bruce replied point blank, matter-of-factly. His level gaze was now devoid of anger, and Gordon couldn't help but admire the man's PATIENCE.

"Ohoho, that's what you think. And in a way- you're right." Gordon frowned; what purpose was the Joker driving at now? "Through conventional methods, I'm not gonna go ANYWHERE in trying to...TAINT you."

There was a long pause before the Joker finished, "That's why I'm trying something NEW." And as he said that, he eliminated the distance between the two faces and shoved his lips up against his enemy's. Gordon, dumbstruck, felt his jaw drop open and his eyes widen.

The Joker got in a couple of good swipes with his tongue along Bruce's bottom lip before Wayne managed to yank away, his own eyes now full of fury. Merriment, and perhaps satisfaction, sparkled in the Clown Prince's eye, and he threw back his head and cackled.

"Not only are you good at dancing, Bats, you taste pretty grrrrrreat too!" Was his comment after he'd licked his lips. Bruce didn't even have time to react, either verbally OR physically, for another, different, angry voice rang out, and Gordon realized with slight horror that it was his own.

"BASTARD!" Gordon yelped, a vein in his neck throbbing. When he'd come to from the shock, a burning sensation had overcome his chest; it was a new, odd feeling, one he couldn't really explain, all he knew was that he could probably have killed the Joker if he were untied.

"What's got YOU so worked up, Sunshine?" the Joker snapped, his good humour suddenly gone. He glanced back at Bruce, caught the concern in the man's onyx eyes that were directed at Gordon, and frowned deeper.

Releasing Bruce and standing, the Joker snatched up an iron pipe with a snarl. The last thing Gordon saw was the metal rod flying for his head, and Bruce opening his mouth, whether to yell or snarl himself, Gordon wasn't sure.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

All my tears, all my tears turn into rage, into rage
Now all that's tuned my fears
All my fears turned into strength
It built my strength

When Gordon had been knocked out cold, the Joker had stormed out of the room without even looking back; he'd reminded Bruce of a five year old who hadn't gotten his way. The imagery that came along with such a comparison had made Wayne chuckle silently, but he'd soon forgotten about that and focussed his attention on Gordon.

The man wasn't exactly young, and even a younger man would have suffered pretty major damage after such a clock to the head. He could see blood dripping from under the Lieutenant's brown hair, matting it together and giving it the hue of rust.

Unfortunately, there was nothing Bruce could do, so he sat there feeling absolutely helpless for the next few hours- maybe only minutes- he wasn't sure. The light coming from the window started to fade, and soon a sliver of the pale moon could be seen through it. The light that came from the night sky illuminated Gordon's still face, and Bruce was really beginning to worry.

Lucky for them both, the blood had stopped flowing awhile back, and the officer's chest was still rising and falling at a steady rate. Hopefully all would be well...for now at least. Before the Joker decided to kill them both, despite his objections and words of completion and...HOME.

The moon had been visible for some time before Bruce heard something half way between a whimper and a groan slip through Gordon's blood caked lips. The red made him look like he was trying to imitate the Joker; then again, Bruce was pretty sure he had a good bit of red on his own lips from the Joker's...kiss.

"Gordon?" Bruce hissed, and he knew the worry had made it's way into his voice. Gordon's eyes opened up, and the groan turned into moan of pain.

"My head," he muttered in a thick voice. "Damn clown..." He tried to lift his head up, but shuddered once before letting it fall back to the cold concrete.

"Don't try to move," Bruce cautioned a moment too late, and Gordon shot him a wry look with the one eye he had available, seeing how his nose was pressed up to the floor.

"Thanks for the warning," was his reply, and Bruce nodded, almost feebly, as he realized just how stupid the advice was.

"Thanks for sticking up for me," he said, figuring if thanks were to be offered, it would best be for something that deserved it. Gordon rolled his head to the side so that he could see Wayne better, and nodded a little.

"No problem. When do you think he'll come back?"

"Who knows."

Gordon snorted. "Hell, I'd pay a million to find the person who knows ANYTHING about that son of a bitch."

"He really got under your skin, didn't he?" commented Bruce. Gordon hesitated, letting his gaze drop back to the floor.

"I guess," he mumbled. Bruce's lips pressed together, but he didn't pursue the topic. They stayed silent for some time afterwards, until the moon had disappeared and the sky began to unfurl rosy strands of pink gossamer. Leaning his head back against the wall, Bruce swallowed a bit of spit in his mouth, noting it was sticky and tasted something terrible.

"Wonder if they'll ever give us water, let alone food," he said listlessly, not even bothering to look over at Gordon.

He heard the man's voice however, slightly muffled- his face must've been turned away in the opposite direction. "If he's really going to keep you alive, I'm sure they will sooner or later."

The words were left hanging in the air, and once more silence hung round them tauntingly. In fact, they stayed in such a still fashion for a very long time, and when the sun had fully emerged (only to be covered by slate clouds a little bit later) they were visited by a pair of cronies who basically fed and watered them, though very sparsely.

They were then left alone again, and the clouds rolled on, the sun moved on, and the room was almost dark when they heard the door rattling again.

Exchanging glances, both Bruce and Gordon knew who it was, and they weren't looking forward to their second little "chat" with their tormentor.

"Good evening," the Joker chimed as he strolled in; apparently, his humour had been restored during the night. His greeting was met with more of the silence that had kept the two protagonists company for the hours of darkness they'd been through.

Ignoring the older of the two, the Joker approached Bruce once more, squatting down as he did so. "Hello again. How are you this fine fine evening?"

"Why're you in such a good mood," Bruce shot back suspiciously.

"It's a secret," the Joker replied casually, holding his index finger up to his mouth.

"Something you can't even tell your...DANCE partner?" Bruce said, raising an eyebrow. He could feel Gordon's surprised gaze on him, but didn't look over at him. He needed to pay attention in order to learn anything.

"Well we all know you are INDEED manipulative, now don't we, beautiful," mused the Joker easily. Bruce managed a sarcastic smile back, but his opponent didn't seem to notice; his eyes were busy roaming about the room, and Bruce, for half a second, thought they looked almost sad.

"You know what this place was before I came here?" he asked abruptly, gesturing vaguely about the large, desolate room. Both Bruce and Gordon were taken aback by the question, and eyed the clown carefully.

"An abandoned warehouse," Gordon ventured when Bruce made no apparent move to reply. Rolling his eyes, the Joker turned to Gordon looking exasperated.

"No no no no, that's not ALL it was. Don't be so- so- so NARROW minded." He actually huffed, running a gloved hand through his filthy hair. Bruce watched the man warily, knowing that he was an unstable sort of person.

"This place, dear Lieutenant, was once home to MANY homeless people." He paused, looking about, letting the irony of his previous sentence sink in. "Many of them small children." Bruce didn't like where this was going; not one bit. "They had nowhere else to go, and y'know why? Because of you and your fucking democracy," the Joker spat. He actually looked angry, his face a sneer.

"You think you can change the world, for the better...but these people have to live in places like this while you live in your cushy homes...both of you, in fact." He shook his head, and Bruce wondered what this sudden...moral outburst was about. But he DID notice that the Joker was thoroughly distracted now, as he told his story. If there was an opening...

"So, LIEUTENANT, this is no mere abandoned warehouse...it was HOME for people. Your people. But the poor bastards, they didn't realize that there's no thrill here. You wanna know what I did to them?" As he said this, he turned on Gordon, his back almost completely turned to Bruce. This was it...soon...soon...

His face tightening with the effort, Bruce carefully, slowly, and above all else, silently, pushed himself off the ground with only the aid of his leg muscles. They screamed with objections, but did their job, and he was soon on his feet, teetering slightly.

He knew Gordon could see him, and indeed the man's eyes widened momentarily, but he soon recovered himself, and the Joker apparently thought this slight movement had been due to him coming closer, for he continued.

"Well, Gordon?"

"I- ahm, I don't," Gordon managed back, stuttering slightly on his words.

Bruce could see the Joker's broad shoulders shake a little, with laughter. "Anyone ever tell you you've got the sweetest little puppy dog eyes when you want to?" He cackled at this, and brought out a knife from his pocket. This caused Wayne to stop momentarily, reassessing the situation. He'd have to be even more careful now...however, if he could get the knife himself, it'd be even better...

Advancing even further, the Joker began to ramble once more. "Well, Gord, when I came in here, they all got pretty angry. Pretty damn angry indeed. No-one wants their home invaded, right, even something as pitiful as this. No-one wants to SHARE their home." He seemed to put particular emphasis on the word, and Bruce wondered if he was trying to relay a message. Did he think Gordon was...trespassing on his supposed privileges with Bruce himself? His skin crawled, but he creeped forwards as well, coming closer to the purple target.

"So I killed them." The voice that said this was like granite, and it made Gordon shiver visibly. The Joker crouched down as he said this, and Bruce knew his chance was VERY soon. Lifting the glinting knife, the Joker whispered hoarsely, "I took the knife to their mouths, one by one, after my gang had settled em down. And I asked- WHY SO SERIOUUUS?"

The blade began to rise, and Bruce knew it was heading for Gordon's mouth, and panicking slightly, he advanced fast. Gordon's eyes flickered at the last moment, however, partially giving Bruce away, and the Joker 's head jerked backwards.

This movement was made at the same time Bruce aimed yet another kick for the Joker's head, and as the clown's face whipped around, his foot came crashing into. "GAAAAAAH!!" the clown hollered at the unexpected attack, his hands flying up to his nose, which had begun to gush blood immediately.

In the same movement, Bruce twirled and caught the knife that had begun to drop from the Joker's hands. His hands were thankfully tied near the front, not the back, and he could just barely hold onto the weapon. "Take him down!!" he barked to Gordon, who didn't need anymore prompting.

Lunging forwards for the Joker's knees, Gordon did indeed take the other man out, body-checking the Prince of Crime so hard he toppled to his side. This gave Bruce time enough to jump on top of the Joker, so that he was straddling his chest.

"Search his pockets," he commanded Gordon, who shuffled over on his knees and carried out the act quickly, if a little clumsily. As he did so, the Joker wriggled, snarling in pain and rage.

Gordon's hands came up with another knife, and Bruce smiled darkly. "Good, now cut yourself free, hurry." Gordon had already begun to do so, taking the blade to the ropes wrapped around his torso and sawing best he could. The ropes were fairly thick, but of a cheap material, and they gave way to Gordon's desperate swipes fairly quickly.

The bindings fell to the ground in coils, and Gordon rushed over to Bruce, doing the same to his ropes in a matter of seconds. Both their hands (and legs) free, they now had the clear advantage, and the Joker, who had just been able to pull his hands away from his nose, realized this quickly.

However, instead of yelling, or growling some more, he laughed, harder than Bruce had ever heard him laugh before. "I should- I should have known you two could do it on your own." He fit the words between giggles of the uncontrollable sort, but they made Bruce frown.

"What do you mean, by ourselves?" He pressed the knife he had up against the Joker's exposed throat, but it neither seemed to intimidate nor scare the man.

"Well, you see BRUCE-" the laughing had subsided somewhat now "-I was going to let you go all along...probably not Gordon, but hey, unexpected bonus for you two go-getters, hey?" He grinned crookedly, but neither of them thought themselves particularily lucky.

Bruce was torn between actually believing the unbelievable words, or spitting in the Joker's face. Instead, he circumspectly enquired, "And why would you let me go."

The Joker smiled in an extremely sexual way, reminding Bruce that he was basically straddling the demonic man. "Because you've got a choice to make, Bruce baby."

So the clown had more tricks up his sleeve. And by the sound of it, none of them were good. "What kind of choice," he demanded, his voice taking on a rough tone; it was easy to revert to Batman when he needed to. The Joker recognized it, and his smile spread, infecting his face further.

"There are two people you need to choose between, BATMAN," he drawled, putting particular emphasis on the title, "You see, you can choose between HARVEY Dent...or his blushing bride to be!" He started giggling again at this, his whole face crinkling with hateful delight.

It was Bruce's turn to swear at the man. "BASTARD!" he snapped, pressing the knife in his hand even harder up against the Joker's neck, til it drew a small trickle of blood.

This caused the Joker to laugh even more hysterically, however, and he hissed, "Go on, do it!" Bruce might have indeed, if it weren't for Gordon.

"Stop it Bruce! We need the details!" His voice of reason pulled Wayne's hand away from the tempting neck, and he took a slow breath.

"Gordon's right," he said, half to the Joker and half to convince himself. "Give us details."

An almost smug look crept over the Prince's face, and he said, "It's a little hard to concentrate, BOSS, when you've got your groin area pushed into me." The smile he shot upwards then was one of the dirtiest Bruce had ever seen, and if it weren't for the fact that his "groin" was the only thing holding the clown down, he would've leapt off then and there.

"Deal with it!" he rumbled, and the Joker shrugged, but not before he grinded his hips a little bit. Bruce's mouth twitched, but he did his best to ignore the action.

"Fine, fine. But let me say one thing first; you must keep in mind I set this up before I found out about you and...your little BOYRFRIEND over there. I thought you and Ms.Dawes were an ITEM, you see..." He raised a single eyebrow as if to say "What can you do", before he added, "However, considering I now know you're childhood friends with her, it doesn't make much of a difference."

Bruce could see Gordon's jaw drop once more out of the corner of his eye, and he too very much wanted to comment on the little boyfriend line, but there were more important things to deal with. "What did you do with them?" The Batman had returned to his voice completely, even though he hadn't summoned it consciously.

The smile was split to reveal the rows of rather disgusting teeth, and the Joker said, "Killing is making a CHOICE. And you know what? You have nothing, NOTHING to threaten me with. Sure you can kill me, but you'll be breaking your ONE rule, now won't you?"

Bruce choose that moment to pull back and deliver a hard, left handed punch straight to the Joker's jaw, his face twisted with rage. "WHERE ARE THEY?!" He boomed, before hitting the man again, and then again, until he felt Gordon's hand seize his own, holding it firmly.

"Enough," came the even voice from behind him, but it still took a moment before Bruce's hand relaxed and went limp. He could feel Gordon's fingers slowly unfurl themselves, and then his hand dropped to his side. He made sure to keep the knife shoved up against the Joker, though, and his expression hadn't lessened in anger either. In fact, he applied more pressure up against the already broken skin, and the Joker waved his hands a little.

"Don't worry, I'm gonna tell you where they are, both of em. And that's the point; you're going to have to CHOOSE! He's at... two hundred and fifty-fifty second street aaaand she's on- ah, Avenue X." He looked up at Bruce matter of factly, pursing his lips. "But you'd better hurrrrry."

Practically roaring, Bruce growled at Gordon, "Get me some ROPES!!" Gordon looked surprised for a moment, then scrambled up to fetch some from a corner nearby. Sprinting back, he handed them to Bruce, careful to stay out of the way.

His hands moving so fast they all but blurred, Bruce tied the Joker up like a pig set for roast, and when he was satisfied, got up with a face contorted, even BLINDED, by rage. "We need to go Gordon," he rumbled.

"What about the henchmen? I'm sure they've got some outside."

"Take them out. Get a gun. Find a car."

"Which one you getting?"

"Rachel!"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

I see my dirty face smiling through the tears
Silent voices telling me to treason

"There's nothing you could have done."

"You're wrong, Lieutenant- er, I guess that's Commissioner now." Bruce's voice was bitter with despair.

"You did your best..."

"Rachel is dead and the one man who can save Gotham is blown half to bits!!" Bruce exploded, shaking his head, throwing his hands about. "And that FUCKING MANIAC is still on the loose!"

Gordon didn't say anything, and Bruce turned away from his, trembling. They were in his office in Wayne Enterprises. He stared out the window for a moment, calming down, before turning back around. "My best wasn't good enough." His voice was cold and detached.

Gordon, face pained, said, "That's too bad."

Bruce looked at him for a moment, before shrugging. "Not that it makes a difference now. Not like I can do anything, since the Batman's identity has been revealed."

Gordon shifted uneasily, as though he had something to say, and Bruce frowned. "What is it Gordon?"

"Well, um, about that. Seeing how I'm Commissioner and all now, I...well, I dealt with that appropriately." He looked more uncomfortable than ever, and Bruce's frown grew deeper.

"What do you mean, DEALT with it?"

"Well...I took some liberties...and revealed to the press that'd you'd, uh...lied, in admitting yourself in. That the true Batman was still at large."

Bruce looked more than a little taken aback, but he was quick in retaliating. "How'd you get them to believe that?"

Glancing from side to side, Gordon whispered, "Can you keep a secret?"

"Sure," Bruce said slowly, not quite understanding.

"Before the armored vehicle even set out, I discussed things with Harvey Dent...and we decided it'd be best if we had someone dress up as...well, as YOU- or should I say, the Batman...and show up somewhere in the streets...somewhere rather...PUBLIC, if you will, after we'd been taken into the Joker's...care."

Bruce blinked, raising his eyebrows. "But didn't anyone suspect he was a fake? And who was it? And what the hell'd he do?"

"Well, ahh...Dent is about the same height and body type as you..." Bruce's eyebrows, if at all possible, hiked higher. "And when we met with your butler, Alfred I believe it was, he was MORE than willing to lend us your...costume. So you see, Dent pulled off quite the- quite the convincing Batman. No-one suspected any differently. As to where he showed up...he interrogated a couple of...police officers as to where the Joker might have taken us...and that sort of thing."

Bruce shook his head again, this time in disbelief. Gordon took this as a prompt to continue. "And your very high status in Gotham, having many friends, supporting so many companies...well, quite frankly, all the people were more than willing to take ANY sort of excuse that you WEREN'T the Batman...your man, Fox, he took care of the public relations...nobody outside of Gotham even knows about this fiasco, besides rumors."

"You've got everything covered, don't you Gordon?" Bruce finally said, still a little dumbstruck.

Gordon shrugged and said, "Well, I do need a partner to help me take out this bastard...couldn't let him get put out of the game, now could I?"

Looking away, Bruce replied, "I'm not letting that son of a bitch get away easy..."

Sighing, Gordon's response was, "Just don't KILL him."

Bruce allowed himself a smile and said, "I'll try my best."

"And it'll have to be good enough too," teased Gordon slyly, grinning back. The both chuckled, and then silence fell; silence had been something they'd both dreaded a little ever since the warehouse.

Coughing awkwardly, Gordon said, "So thanks for all your help back there."

"No problem," Bruce mumbled back, shifting from one foot to the other before he met Gordon's eyes. "And about the whole Joker thing...and the ahh...kiss, and um..."

Gordon actually blushed at this, waving a hand. "No, ahhm, we don't need to discuss that."

More silence, and then Bruce said, "You should go home, Gordon."

Pausing, Gordon shook his own head, his hair flipping about a little as he did so. "You mean I should go back to my HOUSE."

Bruce frowned again at this, not really sure...until Gordon approached him, cautiously, as though unsure, and then the man's hand touched the back of his neck...pulling him in...

Gordon's lips were much different compared to the Jokers; they were soft, warm, and the man's moustache tickled Bruce's upper lip a little, in a pleasant way. The kiss was short, but by the time Gordon pulled away, Bruce was dazed and completely out of it.

As though becoming aware of what he'd just done, Gordon's face became dyed red instantly, and his mouth hung open in the cute way Bruce was becoming accustomed to. "I should- I should go..."

"Wait-" Bruce cut in, and Gordon turned back quickly. "Ahm...feel free to come back anytime...you can, uh...make yourself at...at home, anytime. That is, if you get...tired of your...HOUSE."

They regarded each other for a long moment, then Gordon nodded, saying, "Don't worry. I'll ALWAYS make myself at home here...or, ah, at least with...you..." his voice peetered out at the incredible weight his words carried, and then he was waving his hand about again.

"Good-bye Bruce!" and with that, he walked briskly and straight backed out of the room, his hair flipping ever so slightly behind him, his trench coat fluttering. Bruce watched him leave, and he began to smile, in an almost sultry way...indeed, it seemed he'd become the foster home for misfits in need of love...but in the Commissioner's case, he didn't care, not one bit.

He could be the man's home anytime...because hell, he knew his heart lay with Gordon now...

Breaking – breaking the silence
Fighting – I will die fighting
I know – my courage will last forever

:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:

Thanks for reading! Be sure to leave a review, and look out for me, I'll be posting more Dark Knight fics to come ;D