Thank all of you for all of your support! My laptop has finally been fixed and I am finally updating this story. Aren't you glad?

You should tell me in a review. Haha.

Oh, and don't worry, this isn't the end. A lot more still has yet to unfold.


Laughter with an 'S'

"Ah Brucey!" Joseph smiled warmly as he saw Bruce approaching.

Joseph was dressed in a white, long-sleeved shirt that carefully concealed his burning tattoo and plain jeans. He ran up to meet Bruce, grabbed his arm, and sat them down on a nearby bench. "I missed you."

Bruce looked a bit uncomfortable with the sudden display of affection, but he quickly dismissed it and smiled. "Me too."

The Joker glared inside. I bet you did.

Bruce looked around and then back to Joseph's smiling face. "You sure do like parks, huh?"

Joseph shrugged and smiled shyly. "I like being in the open. It… Makes me feel… Free." Liar. He quickly shook his head. "But anyways! That's not what I wanted to say… Um…" Joseph stood up, pulling Bruce's arm with him, and smiled. "I have a job interview and the guy is kinda scary… So will you come with me? Please?"

Bruce nodded and smiled warmly. "Of course."

The Joker stared deeply into those blue eyes. They looked so bright, nothing at all like at night. They were so wonderfully warm and inviting.

How they smiled at Joseph…

Joseph winced as the Joker screamed loudly in his ears.

"Joe?" Bruce stood up quickly. "Are you—"

"Ha I'm fine Brucey." Joseph smiled. "And since when am I 'Joe'?"

Bruce shrugged with a smug smile on his perfect lips. "You've been calling me 'Brucey' since we met."

"Touché." The brunette grabbed Bruce's arm tightly. "Now let's go!"

As they ran towards Joseph's interview, Bruce hardened his gaze towards Joseph's back.

He could have sworn he had seen the Jo—

His entire body felt stiff.

Bruce swallowed as the feeling of cold adrenaline flushed through him.

Something he only felt as Batman.

Something Bruce Wayne should never—

"Bruce, hurry up or I'm going to be late!" Joseph called over his shoulder. He tugged harder on the Prince of Gotham's arm and quickened his pace.

Bruce shook his head before he could wonder why the Prince of Gotham was thinking about the Clown Prince of Crime.

Something, or someone, inside him smiled.

What a beautiful similarity…

Bruce quickly drowned out his other thoughts and did like the actor ordered him to.

He quickened his pace.

His heart did as well.

But not Bruce's.


When they reached their destination, a studio with locked doors and a red sign reading closed, Joseph sighed and hung his head.

"I'm sorry Bruce." He mumbled.

Bruce was taken aback by the lack of the cheery 'y' at the end of his name. He placed a firm hand on Joseph's shoulder and leaned in over his ear, speaking softly, "Its okay, Joe." His mind searched for a solution to the melancholy in the actor's voice.

Blue eyes locked onto the fair just across the street and a smile formed.

"Joe, look." Bruce cooed. Joseph looked up and spotted the fair.

The Joker grinned inside. Good. Now that he's seen it—

Joseph quickly turned around, making Bruce jump back in a flustered jolt, and smiled. "Can we go?"

The Joker rolled his eyes at Joseph's obviousness. They'll make anyone an actor these days.

"I suppose." Bruce had a hard time keeping his laugh from surfacing.

Joseph was as innocent as a little kid. How he could play a psychotic murderer on stage was beyond anyone.

Wait…

A psychotic…

Bruce gave himself a mental shake. He needed to stop this! The Joker wasn't here! The Joker wasn't there in Bruce's room when he had awoken, Alfred had told Bruce that the Joker had left Bruce's mask on; the Joker was gone.

Joseph was here now. Joseph was looking at him not

"Batsy, aren't you coming?" Called a voice.

Bruce stiffened and looked up to see Joseph waving him over to the street, ready to cross.

Did he just…?

Stop this Bruce.

But did he…?

Alfred told you he found you in the middle of the street and took you home, mask intact. The Joker couldn't know.

Bruce blinked hard and walked over to Joseph. Besides… He told himself as they crossed together. Joseph couldn't be… I mean… He…

Batman shook his head, He couldn't be.

But it was all just fake reassurance. Batman didn't know for sure. Bruce didn't know either. No one did.

And, as Bruce felt Joseph's hand brush against the back of his, Batman shuddered to think that he felt the Joker's gloves against his Kevlar.


Bruce couldn't help the smile break through his determined face as Joseph covered his eyes. "Stop it!" Bruce yelled playfully as he tried to throw the basketball blindly. He could hear Joseph giggle in his ears.

Batman stiffened.

The loud thong of the game signaled the two it was over and Joseph had probably caused Bruce to lose.

"Here you go." The woman managing the game smiled and handed Bruce a large panda bear. She gave him a flirtatious wink as Bruce accepted his prize.

Batman tore his gaze away from the dark eyes of the stuffed animal.

They looked… So much like his.

Too much.

He had promised himself he would do whatever it took to put criminals away and make Gotham a better place.

Even if it meant putting his heart away.

Batman was whatever Gotham needed him to be. Bruce was allowed a life, not Batman.

Never Batman.

When Joseph and Bruce were out of earshot, the actor whispered, "She only gave that to you because she thought you were cute!"

Bruce shrugged. "So? You wanted me to lose?"

"Well…" Joseph smiled.

"Here then." Bruce handed Joseph the toy and could feel part of him breathe a sigh of relief. "I want you to have it."

"Uh…" Joseph blushed openly for the first time in front of Bruce. "Th-Thanks…"

Green eyes looked up and locked onto that smiling face.

So warm… So kind and loving… Joseph almost couldn't believe Bruce could be so hard with the Joker.

With him.

If he only knew…

Now, The Joker whispered. Ask him!

Joseph almost didn't. He almost ignored the Joker to save this moment for himself.

But, as the actor stepped in front of Bruce and placed a gentle hand on his chest, he surrendered and did as ordered.

"Bruce…" Joseph whispered. "I want to ask you something…"

Bruce blinked, unsure of what he was going to ask.

"But…" Joseph looked conflicted. "First…" Joseph straightened as far as he could and pressed his lips gently over Bruce's.

Bruce closed his eyes and leaned into it, silencing his other thoughts. His hand wrapped around Joseph's back and pulled him against his hard chest.

Joseph felt his heart rise in his throat as Bruce's thundering heart beat into his own chest. His cheeks grew more heated at the thought of his next words.

"Do you love me?"

If it was anyone else, Bruce would have listened as the monster inside him screamed 'no'.

But this was Joseph.

And Bruce was not Batman.

"Yes…" Bruce whispered against his lips. "I do…"

Joseph was so wrapped up in Bruce's soft confession that he didn't even feel the Joker take back control and smile widely into those blue eyes.

Bruce blinked, feeling some sort of change in the air around them.

"Really?" The Joker asked, searching those blue eyes for something else, something harder, something darker.

Someone, not Bruce, smiled and stroked the Joker's cheek. "Yes, I do." He whispered softly with a rough undertone. His heart fluttered with relief as his forbidden words were finally spoken.

The Joker could feel an overwhelming warmth flood over him as he pressed his lips against Batman's. A rough hand fisted his curls and made them both groan.

The Joker pressed harder against Batman and The Dark Knight roughly delved into his mouth.

Two halves…

Of the same coin.