chapter 1

"This place hasn't changed at all, Bruce," The Joker purred in the darkness of Wayne Manor on a cool September night.

"Why are you here?" Bruce hissed, white knuckling the counter in front of him.

"I missed you."

Wayne shut his eyes tightly. "I thought I told you not to come back here."

"You did. Your memory does not deceive you…" The Joker took three slow steps forward, his shoes clicking on the tile of the kitchen floor. Bruce flinched at the sound, dozens of memories filling his synapses in response to it. He was transferred back in time, deja vu hitting him like a brick wall. I never want to see you again. Ever. The screams had changed from something suffocatingly hot and breathless to something furious in less than ten seconds. He hadn't seen the Joker since that night.

Through his teeth, he repeated, "Why are you here?" He cringed when he felt the Joker's presence behind him, so close yet so far away from where he wanted him to be. Those urges were still there, those primal needs that guilted him night to night for the past two months. The darker side of him wanted to grab the other man and throw him down on this counter, do all sorts of disgusting things to him… And the logical side of his brain told him to kill him. I won't hesitate this time! He'd screamed those words so loud from the depths of his lungs, saw the way pain and shock radiated in the black pits of the Joker's eyes. Pain. Ha! After everything that Bruce and the Joker had gone through… Five little words are what broke him. If Batman had only known that six months ago, when the Joker first entered his life… One man or the entire mob? He'd asked that of the Commissioner — Lieutenant at the time — and he remembered how stupid he had felt afterwards. The Joker was more powerful than any myriad of men.

"I already told you…" The soft feel of cool leather gloves landed on his bare shoulder and he immediately shrugged it off, moving around to the other side of the island counter until he was a safe distance away from the clown. "I miss you, Batsy."

"I don't miss you."

He could see the way the Joker shook to hear the words, rage and sadness overpowering his senses. "You don't mean that. I can see it in the way you look at me…"

"Get out of my house," He growled, the voice of the Batman pouring forth from his throat without consent. The Joker's eyes rolled back in his head, the eyelids fluttering closed. Bruce's lips formed a sneer. He knew what that voice did to the Joker… Why did he still use it?

There was a flicker of that same sadness in the clown's eyes and Bruce looked away, unable to continue staring into the black holes of anguish and confusion that were the Joker's eyes. His voice was quite, a whisper, when he said, "Don't do that. Just don't." He walked towards Bruce again, stopping when he was merely two feet away, not wanting to scare him off. Bruce watched through hooded eyes as his once enemy, once lover came closer. Daring him to do something about it. "Don't you ever… Think about it? About me? I can't go… Heh. I can't go a second without thinking about you." He was closer now, stepping forward again hesitantly. When he reached his gloved fingers up to cup Bruce's chin, the dark, brooding man shook with pent-up emotion. "Remember that night."

And he did.

The rain spattered down across the fabric of his cape and the kevlar that protected his body, thundering loudly over the sound of their shouting voices. "You know there's no getting away this time, Joker. Not now, not ever again."

"Never say never, Batsy!" The Joker growled, a little breathless on the roof of Arkham Asylum. His incarceration hadn't lasted long. A measly two weeks before this… Situation. Six dead, three in fatal condition and now it was just the two of them, a dark, lone standoff like always. Only this time, the Joker didn't look so thrilled about it. He was standing on the edge of the roof, his jumpsuit clinging stubbornly to his body, outlining every curve and spike of bone that formed him. Green hair stuck to his forehead and cheeks. His eyes were as dark as always, even lacking the greasepaint.

"Aren't you tired of playing these games, Joker?" Batman demanded, taking a step forward.

"Atatata…" Joker sung, holding up one finger to silence the Bat. "Don't come any closer…. Heh. Never thought I'd say that." He looked over his shoulder, watching the ground with an expression of interest. A seven story drop. What was he thinking?

"If you cooperate now, I don't have to hurt you." He thought he saw the clown close his eyes at that, letting his head tip back just slightly.

"Maybe that's what I'm after."

The Batman's eyes narrowed beneath the cowl, glaring at the man in front of him. What was that supposed to mean? "What?" He snarled.

"What do you mean, what? Isn't it obvious? This whole cat-and-mouse game can't go on forever. Eventually Tom and Jerry end their war, Jerry gets swallowed up or Tom dies from too much head trauma. It can't go on much longer. It's coming to an end, Batsy, even you see that… The problem is, you just don't get it, do you? You think one of us will drop dead or get swallowed up by the other. Unstoppable forces, right? Heh, heh…" He ran a hand through his greasy, rain-soaked hair and laughed again. "You're never going to get it." The words were an offended snarl.

"Stop rambling, Joker."

"No! You stop!" The Joker growled, eyes flashing in defiance. "Or better yet… Maybe I just will." His head turned to the side, glanced down at the ground, and then he was facing Batman again, a slow smirk growing on his lips. As they locked eyes, he raised both arms up like wings and without a second word… He was falling.

"No!" Batman shouted, sprinting towards the edge of the building, jumping off immediately. The Joker was laughing… He could hear it from the roof. He was soaring down, falling at a terrifying speed until his hand locked on the Joker's ankle. The electric current rushed through the cape as Batman hoisted the Joker to his chest. It was too late for a smooth landing. They crashed hard into the ground, rolling over and over each other until finally the two bodies came to a halt, the momentum from the fall running out. They were gasping, both breathless. The Joker wasn't even smiling.

"I knew you wouldn't let me do it," The Joker murmured.

"I should have let you."

"Don't," He snarled, twisting them again and their bodies rolled to the side, the Bat on the ground, flat beneath the Joker who pinned his wrists to the dirty ground. "Don't even try." When his mouth met the Bat's, Bruce's eyes shot open wide.

"The first night, you… Made love to me," Joker breathed against Bruce's cheek.

"I wouldn't call it making love," Bruce spat, smacking away the Joker's hand as he walked towards the staircase. "I wouldn't call any of it making love."

"I'm hurt," Joker murmured dryly. Bruce scoffed in response. "Just tell me you still think about it. Honestly..." Bruce paused on the first step, resting his head against the wall. Of course he thought about it. About him. Every day. Giving himself guilty, painful orgasms as he touched himself to memories that both hurt and pleased him. It was a vicious cycle, one that tore him apart but that he was powerless to stop. Even the thought of the Joker… The sound of his name… It made him just as hard as it did angry. What had he done to him?

So he asked.

Hello, Bat ladies and gentle freaks! It's Chokes here, returned from the dead... Dead? Or just on leave? I hope you guys didn't worry about my absence, you know I'd never leave you hanging. Just horny. (Sorry, I couldn't resist.) Anywho, I intended this story to be a oneshot but as I continued to write, I realized... Wow, this is really long. So instead of posting the entire thing in one night (since I'm not done with it yet) I've decided to chop it up into chapters. I don't suspect it to be long, maybe four or five at most. But it gets very smutty after this, so keep your eyes open. I love you all and hope you enjoyed it!