A/N: I have a new computer! One that doesn't (hopefully) crash never to reload again! One that I can actually update on! Sorry for the lateness of the story and also the review replies. I hope this hasn't made you lose interest in the story.
Again thank you all so much for the reviews, they keep me writing!
Once again, I only own the plot.
Enjoy!
'What the hell do I do now?' Bruce was sitting on The Joker's bed. It had been an hour since the two men had fooled around.
He had spent some time sitting there basking in the glory of the natural chemicals that were racing around his body, everything seemed perfect.
But now he had an issue: how in the hell was he meant to get out of there without any strange looks or questions from the two sitting outside the room? Were they still there?
He'd been by himself for most of the hour. The other man said he needed to wash up before he went out somewhere and had left him still sitting on the desk. The door had slammed and the man was gone.
Now that Bruce though about it he couldn't hear any voices in the apartment. Had the other two gone out?
He felt he couldn't leave in these clothes, but he really didn't have a choice. Looking down at them he rolled his eyes and yanked off the badges. "I mean seriously" he whispered as he read 'My Head Hurts' and 'I made it to third base!'. He didn't want to acknowledge the part of his brain that actually found it pretty funny.
Finally figuring out his plan, Bruce came to the part where he had to think through what would happen if someone got a good look at him getting into his car and- his car! His older self had the keys!
Bruce lay back on the bed, maybe he could stay here for a while and get The Joker to grab the keys and he could sneak out? Would the man even help him or was this classed under 'hilarious' to him? It would probably be pretty good payback for the bashing he gave him, he realised.
Meanwhile
The older Joker had just let himself into the main bathroom next to the kitchen which was currently occupied by his younger self who gave him a look of mild surprise at this unexpected entrance.
"Don't worry, Junior" he dismissed "nothing I haven't touched before" he said indicating at the off-white towel slung low on the other mans hips. The younger man just shrugs his shoulders and grabs out his jars of greasepaint to cover his currently bare face.
"You're, uh, pretty lucky" the newly arrived one states pointing at the man's face. "No black eyes, and any of the injuries you can cover pretty easily when you go out for...business today".
At this the injured one turns around so now they can both see that his chest and stomach were riddled with deep purple bruises that matched his back. Batman had kicked him pretty hard.
He silently dared his older self to call that 'lucky'. The other just shrugged his shoulders and dipped into the face paint himself before the other could.
"Hey, we always liked purple" he reasoned as he touched up his own make up. He applied the colour over his crusty mask while the younger one just shook his head in silent amusement.
"Pretty quiet, boy" he noted after a moment "Sore jaw?"
The younger one just continued his actions "I'm thinking, old man" he stated roughly as he applied the make-up. "One of us has a big day ahead".
Apparently that was a low blow. "Ya know" suddenly the younger man was being pressed up against the shower door having been unprepared for an attack. His own razor was being held at his throat. After intense eye contact, both knowing it was a scare tactic and nothing more, the man was released but they stayed positioned there.
"It would be, uh, very unfortunate if you went away from this amazing experience thinking that, uh, thinking that we don't have 'it' anymore. Ya know, think that perhaps-sah we don't have the balls for the game anymore, hrm?".
The towel wrapped man just kept his mild irritation at bay "I mean seriously, Pops", he stated as he pushed his way back to the mirror and finished applying the make up. He pulled a couple of faces to make sure it looked alright. "Aren't I the one person ya shouldn't be threatening? It's not all that…impressive, really". He clicked his tongue and looked up at the man from under his eyebrows as he dipped his chin.
The room was filled with a strange intensity. The elder of the two stood tall and exuded a dark power.
"I've got a proposition for you, Kid" the older clown said dangerously softly. "Let me fine tune it first, but I don't see why we shouldn't take advantage of this...unique opportunity" he explained with a flourish of his hands. "Perhaps take advantage of the father/son act we never could, you following me?"
The younger one nodded slowly as you could see him thinking things over.
Pleased with this reaction the elder continued "Now, Sonny, my Bat is currently catching up on the Garcia stuff. Yours is, I believe, hiding in your room" at this he cracks a smile and steps back to chuckle softly although moments later the intensity is back again.
"I'm going to go out there, have a cup of tea and read the paper. You stay in here until Bat Brain leaves, I'll let you know. This never happened by the way". He began to walk towards the door but stopped when the other spoke.
"You never cease to amaze me, it's your house and..it's like your, uh, hiding your plans and yourself-"
"Now, now, Kiddo. I'm not hiding…it's more a self preservation tool" he clarified as though it should be obvious. "Now, in payback for all my hard self-preservation work I'm off to have some fun" he indicated towards the living area located outside the for. "I hope you washed behind your ears, young man, and don't let me catch you being naughty in here again". At this he slipped out of the room to make himself some breakfast.
Bruce had decided now was his chance, he couldn't hear anything going on outside so, after making sure he hadn't left anything behind, quietly stepped into the main living area.
"Hiiiii Batty Junior. How's the head?". Bruce looked at the clown who was in the kitchen, stunned for a moment. 'Ok, now I'm paranoid, the emphasis on head was because he was rubbing the concussion in, not due to any...activities he may have heard or been told about'.
"Much better, thank you. Just leaving" he explained, indicating towards the door.
"Mmm, hrm". The Joker lifted up the bottle of milk he had just pulled from the fridge. "For the love of-" he sighed and looked up at Bruce. "I told Bats to buy more milk while he was out, he obviously forgot. I'll have to give him a mouthful about it when he gets out here".
Bruce stood still...'it's just paranoia'...
"You weren't sneaking out before saying bye to the Kid were you?" he looked genuinely concerned. "I'll tell him you said bye if you like?"
"Ah, yeah. Thanks". At this Bruce spotted his keys on the badge table and grabs them. 'Thank God I didn't need to ask for them'.
"Still in the bathroom, ya see" the green haired man continues as he stirs his tea. "Pretty chilly out there" he said pointing at the window which showed it was foggy outside.
"Might get a chill if his hair is too wet. Wouldn't want that" he stated, pointing at Bruce with the spoon and licking it clean unnecessarily. "Don't know if he's got a hair dryer. Hrm...". He walks over and puts his tea and cereal down on the table and looks up to Bruce again as he sits down.
"It's all good though, should survive without a blow-dry, 'ey?" he couldn't help but betray a small smirk this time. "Well, be seeing you Batsy" he states waggling his eyebrows and dramatically flicking open the newspaper.
Bruce thought the best way to preserve his dignity would be to just nod and leave. He opened the door handle when The Joker called out "Careful going down the-"
"Got it, Joker!" Bruce all but yelled as the door slammed loudly.
The amused one swept a tongue over his lips, smirked and then got distracted by the paper. "Oooo, crossword...one down…".
The TV was on and an ad was rolling at Wayne manor.
"I'm Tony Warren, and I want to be your next mayor". With his caramel hair, crisp suit and stance it was like the second coming of Harvey Dent. The man walked around a staged scene of concerned Gothamites.
"I think it's time for a change. For too long we've had the same people in power. Crime is at it's highest in years. Our schools are over crowded, our streets polluted. Gotham just doesn't feel safe. Something needs to be done. We need someone who has the drive to make the change. I am that change. Vote for me, Tony Warren. See you soon, Gotham". The screen went black.
"Charismatic fellow isn't he, Master Bruce?" Alfred quipped as Bruce did up his bow tie as he prepared to leave for Warren's fundraiser.
"Seems to be, Alfred". Bruce looked at himself in the mirror, you couldn't see any evidence of the last twenty four hours activities although Bruce knew most of the damage would be mental and not physical for him. "Would make it easier if he wasn't".
"That it would, but you're always up for a challenge aren't you, Master Bruce?"
"It's why I do what I do" he stated with a wink as he chose a set of keys and made sure he had his wallet. "I may be late tonight, Alfred. I've got my phone, though if anything comes up".
Alfred masked his mild frustration and concern as curiosity "And will you be patrolling tonight, Sir?"
Bruce began to walk down the hallway towards the garage. "I'll see where the night takes me, something tells me there will be enough crooks where I'm going". With that he disappeared around the corner.
"Well it's just the usual then, isn't it?" the old man said under his breath before turning on his heel to catch up with some light cleaning before he retired for the evening. He hoped that one of these days he employer would find a nice young woman to settle down with, it would be a lot better for both of their health he figured. Particularly his. The young man had been acting a little more strangely than usual over the last week or so and Alfred was trying to get the reason out of him. Something must be happening and he'll have to find out what it is.
Bruce had been there for around half an hour, bumping into people he knew. It seemed invites for tonight were very well chosen and the evening well attended. Getting a little bored he couldn't help but watch as a man came along and grabbed all the cherry tomatoes from the salad without using tongs. He then popped them into his mouth one by one with an obnoxiously widely opened mouth.
The man was wearing an expensive well tailored, brown pin striped suit with a burnt orange shirt and black tie. He stood out but blended in at the same time. His brown hair was slicked back. It looked as though whatever he had put through it had darkened it slightly. Before the man turned around Bruce was approached by someone else.
"Bruce Wayne. What an honour" the man took his hand and squeezed it tightly. "I'm Joe Thomson and this is my home".
Bruce smiled widely "Mr. Thomson, it's my honour. Thank you so much for the invite".
They spoke for a moment before Thomson said "I've got to introduce you to someone, stay here". A moment later he came back with the man in the orange shirt.
"Jimmy Toohey, Bruce Wayne. Bruce Wayne, Jimmy Toohey. Jimmy owns a large internet business based in Georgia. He happened to be in town for tonight".
"Pleash-uh, Mistah Wayne" the two shook hands.
"Was that Jim or Jimmy?" Bruce questioned. Mr Thomson was now occupied with someone who had just started talking to him.
"Ya can call me whatevah ya like, cowboy".
It took a moment for that comment to sink in. The man wiggled his eyebrows as he popped another cherry tomato into his mouth. Eyebrows. Eyes. Brown Eyes. Familiar brown eyes.
"Oh my God-" Bruce whispered.
"-maybe don't call me that-" the man rushed out, eyeing around the area.
"-what are you doing here?" Bruce asked him a little too loudly. A couple of people turned around.
"Ahh, inside voice, Brucey" The Joker chided softly. Bruce couldn't believe it. He was here in front of all these people wearing one of those well make beards, slick brown junk in his hair to cover the green and a nice outfit, although a it was a little bit outrageous with the shirt, which he now noticed seemed to have something like a wallpaper pattern on it in a slightly darker orange. He also saw that he was wearing vintage black and white shoes.
"I thought it would be best if we had two sets of eyes and ears to watch this" he explained in his think Georgian accent. A very passable accent, Bruce had to admit.
"Fair enough. We need to talk by the way. But not here" the other man nodded. Bruce looked around, apparently no one suspected anything. "Can I ask why Georgia though?"
"Well, I saw Johnny earlier and I've had a lot of practice cos of him...heh" he looked around amused "It was perfect...I had to be...an outsidah".
Bruce blinked "What does Georgia have to do with Crane?"
The Joker laughed but cut it short, no one seemed to notice. "The Crow's from Ge-or-gi-ah. Likes to keep it quiet" he added with a wink. Bruce took a sip from his glass and waved as someone he knew walked past.
"I never would have known" he felt strange discussing one of his enemies so lightly. "Did he leave when he was young?"
"Hrm, no" he then continued to speak in a most Crane-like voice. Bruce was shocked at his vocal skills, not that he showed it.
"It's because I taught myself to speak, Clown. I wasn't going to let something like that hold me back". Another person greeted Bruce then left.
"I wouldn't have guessed it". Bruce realised the man before him had said he'd seen Crane recently. "He's not up to something is he?"
"Hrm..." The Joker seemed to think for a moment. He veiled it through taking a sip of his orange juice. "So it's true, people are here for inside information?" he murmured as he looked around darkly at the other rich people. He seemed very reluctant to speak about this.
Bruce thought back on all the innuendos The Joker had given Crane in the street a week ago. He pushed it to the back of his mind.
"It's pretty much the idea of these things, yes".
The other man was silent for a while, when he spoke he'd slipped aspects of his regular voice into his accent. Perhaps due to not concentrating as hard as he should have been "I think you're a lot more like them than you'd like to admit-tah"
"Talking to me for twenty minutes this morning doesn't qualify you to know everything about me" Bruce felt a little hurt but it was nothing compared to the anger that was bubbling up. It had been a mistake, he knew it.
"Wayne! Long time no speak" Bruce turned around to see Derrick Foster, the man who had approached him in the coffee shop and who worked for the mob.
"Foster" Bruce looked as though he was greeting an old friend. "Well…I made it" he stated as he held his arms wide in show.
"So you did, so you did" he beamed smugly "I'm so glad that you could make it this evening" he added. "I'll have to introduce you to Tony later. Great guy Tony".
Bruce thought it was best if he treated this man well, but it didn't stop the nausea associated with the man's actions. He was far too slick for his own good, but other people must buy it otherwise he's be out of a job.
"What's your name there? I'm Derrick Foster" he said as he extended his hand out to The Joker who warily took it.
"Jimmy Toohey of Toohey's Web Enterprises" he explained "Fascinating working on the web, I'm tellin' ya"
"Mmmmm, how interesting Mr. Toohey" his smile had diminished and Bruce could tell he'd be leaving soon as 'Jimmy' wasn't as rich or as influential as some of the others he could take under his wing. "Is it a new venture, I haven't heard of it?"
Bruce was impressed at The Joker's lack of his usual mannerisms and how well he could play a part. "Relatively new, Foster, relatively new. It's real big out my way in Georgia, would love to open something up in Gotham though. I may be movin' here so I thought it best to start gettin' up on the local politics, ya know?"
"Indeed. Well I better move on, looks as though Tony's about to start his little speech".
"Pleash-uh, Mr. Foster. Really hope to be seein' ya again soon". Foster nodded at both men then departed towards the stage.
Bruce could see the look in The Joker's eyes and knew that he really did want to see him soon, although in a situation perhaps where he was holding a knife at his throat.
"Evening ladies and gentlemen" Warren began. "It's so great to see you all here". Everyone, holding onto their drinks, turned towards the informal stage and listened. Bruce could see the cogs turning behind the clown's eyes.
"Thank you all so much for popping along tonight, you are all busy people and are vital in Gotham's success" at this he toasted them, some in the crowd followed suit.
"By now I'm sure you would have seen my campaign advertising, and I want you to know I mean what I say. 'Let's work together'. But what does that actually mean? To me it means you and I, and all of Gotham working together towards a brighter future. A future where our children are safe to walk the streets. Where our businesses thrive, where family and work have a balance, that means growth and good times for our people"
He took a pause, everyone was hanging off his every word. "But to achieve this I need your help. I cannot do this alone. I do not ask for much, but what it is I am asking for means a lot".
He paused again. "Your vote. I need your vote to be elected mayor so I can bring the focus back to safety for both family and business. I want a city where my children can be safe and prosper. Let's work together. Let's work together and I'm sure we can step into a brave and exciting new time for Gotham. Thank you".
As the room echoed with applause, Bruce could see that many people were beginning to buy into this.
Warren was appealing to not only their sense of family responsibilities but also their collective hip pocket, this was a man who was trying to tell them that he can help them make money while they would all look like they were supporting him to protect their families and family duties. This was going to be a difficult task to ensure the man isn't elected.
In the short term though, Bruce was going to need another mineral water.
He lost sight of The Joker after that. He himself then spent the next hour talking to people he had to, it made him realise that he would have preferred to be talking with 'Jimmy Toohey'. It unsettled him a little but calmed him also. He wondered if they'd spend the night together again, although he didn't know where.
Then the inevitable happened, the meeting between Bruce Wayne and Tony Warren occurred, orchestrated by Foster.
"Such a pleasure , Mr. Wayne" they shook hands.
"Please, Bruce"
"Alright Bruce, call me Tony. I've always respected the work your business does. I ran my dad's business for years and turned it into my own, it can be hard, I know"
They talked about the pitfalls of business and so on, Warren wanted to meet with Bruce again. Bruce suggested to set something up with his receptionist. From there Warren had to go, he was a very busy man with a lot of people to meet and impress. Bruce took as many mental notes as possible.
He looked around trying to find The Joker but couldn't see him. He slipped into a hallway and tried the man's phone but it went straight to voicemail. He considered leaving a voicemail or two.
'What the hell am I doing?' he thought to himself. After saying his brief goodbyes to the rich and powerful he left by himself.
Somehow he realised that he didn't think he'd be going home alone tonight even before he knew The Joker was going to be there. It only took him a moment to figure out that he knew for once he didn't actually want to be going home yet, and definitely not by himself. He had a lot of thinking to do.
Meanwhile on the other side of the city…
"I can't believe you talked me into this".
"Think of all this as a vacation. Seriously Brucey, I've been a prisoner for the last week, you promised-"
"-what did you want to see at the movies?" Bruce cut in over the top of the man next to him. He'd managed to use some chemicals to strip the faded green from his hair leaving it salt and pepper light brown, his now natural colour.
He was in a forest green button up shirt with brown corded pants. He completed the look with an open, navy blue coat. He also wore one of the stick on beards from the future and tan hiking boots.
Bruce was in black pants and a top with a leather blazer. He wore green contact lenses to hide his eye colour just in case people recognised him, they had the contacts around as The Joker had taken to wearing them sometimes. He looked dignified with his tanned complexion and speckles of grey through his hair.
"Yes, nice distraction, Bat. I haven't forgotten about the point I was making though" he murmured as they stepped in from the street into the cinema foyer. "And I don't mind what we see. As long as I like it. You know what I like" he reminded as they began to line up. Bruce sighed.
"We're not watching zombie movies, crazy things like killer tomatoes or excessively violent thrillers, Jack".
The addressed one raised his eyebrows and coughed. "Well...I could have stayed home and painted my nails instead then, couldn't I? Hrm?"
"Don't start" Bruce warned. "You've been bitching about being inside for a week...in fact you started as we walked to your old apartment on the night we first got here!"
"Details, details..." the man dismissed as they edged closer to the front of the line. They blended in so well people weren't paying them any attention.
"Oooo! 'Bloody Nightmares' is showing. Let's see that!" Bruce shook his head.
"No blood and gore, Jack, I've seen enough".
Jack kicked the pole next to him lightly. "You like denying me don't you?" he whined. "Maybe I can see the Nightmare movie and you can see 'Princess Pony and the Rainbow Brigade'. I'll meet you outside"
Bruce smirked "You're gayer than I am, that's what you actually want to see isn't it?"
"Well..." the clown began humorously "I used to have a pair of pony boxer shorts. Or were they fairy?"
Bruce chuckled "I don't remember them".
Jack jiggled a pointed finger "Could have sworn I'd seen them before..." he trailed off and thought for a bit as Bruce read out some other movies that were showing.
"..and there's 'The Crowing Imitation'-"
"Crow!" Jack called out loudly "I gave the boxer shorts to Crow!"
At this the vigilante's face went a shade of red and his lip curled slightly.
Jack backed down immediately. "No, no, no, no, no. Don't...I'm sure I, no, don't get…geez..."
"I have every right to be angry, you know why". Jack just muttered a few things under his breath as his eyes shifted around the foyer.
"…stupid...not my fault...like that when he got there...".
They waited in silence for ten minutes in which they both calmed down. They then walked up to the counter. Bruce decided to watch an adventure movie. This way Jack wouldn't get too excited about the blood and violence like he'd been prone to do in the past.
"Hi there" Bruce greeted "Two tickets to 'Dash to Adrenaline Peak' please". The young blonde at the counter typed a few things into a keyboard.
"O, I'm sorry, we're all sold out for tonight's session. Was there anything else you would like to see?"
Bruce pursed his lips "Ah...anything you can recommend that's simular?"
"Well there is 'Stopwatch'-"
"Argh" Jack groaned "No way, I've seen that, like, ten times" he complained.
The girl looked at him in confusion. "...but...it's premiering tonight?".
Bruce looked stern as he mentally slapped Jack at his slip. The clown covered though.
"Ohhh....Stopwatch! No, haven't seen that".
She just looked a little wary. "Sorry gentlemen but they're the only two action films tonight, but there is 'Bloody Nightmares' where-"
"That's fine" Bruce stated "We'll come back next week". He beamed widely and began to leave when she called out "I probably shouldn't tell you this but there is an independent cinema down the road near 'Lenny's'. They play reruns of old cult classics. They might have an old action movie but they mainly play things like 'Killer Clowns from Outer Space'".
"Thank you" Bruce nodded and walked off before Jack started.
They were halfway across the foyer when he began "I wanna go, I wanna go, I wanna go-"
"Jack calm down" Bruce spat as the jester grabbed his arm childishly as they walked out of the cinema.
"I wanna see that movie!"
"Ok, that's fine, let's just get out of here first"
"Daddy!-" WACK.
They both ran into a young blonde girl who was running through the crowd without watching where she was going. Jack was able to grab her by the arm and stand her up before she fell to the ground.
"Careful there, Girly!"
"Sweetheart! Be careful" a man called then walked over to them. "Apologise to the man". Standing there, hands on hips, was Commissioner Gordon. He was clearly disappointed in his daughter's running around without looking where she was going.
Bruce cringed at the look of pure delight dawning on Jack's face.
"I'm sorry, Sir" she said, looking at the ground at her feet.
Jack let go of her arm as he looked at her and said "Don't worry about it, Sugar" he took a lot of the twang out of his voice so he wasn't that recognisable.
"Jim!" a lady called out "We'll miss out on tickets if we don't line up now!". The commissioner turned around and called out.
"You line up, I'll be there in a second". The woman and her son walked off into the line. "Come on, Sweetie". He then turned to face Bruce and Jack. "Have a good night, both of you".
Jack swept a tongue across his lips "You too...commissioner" he drew out. Bruce grabbed his arm and began to drag him off as Jim scratched his head trying to figure out who this guy reminded him of. Did they go to school together? Wasn't the man a little older than him, though?
Confused, he walked off to find his family, he hoped they weren't buying tickets to that damn kids movie everyone was raving on about. The last thing he wanted to do while he had the night off was watch that.
Although, he really wouldn't be watching it anyway, he had to think about his meeting first thing tomorrow with Mayor Garcia. Now that was a 'Bloody Nightmare'.
A/N: Films: I can see The Joker having a strong taste for strange and also very violent films. I also think he'd be a huge fan of live performance and all things theatrical. I don't think you can go wrong with this!
Georgia: I'd firstly like to apologise to anyone who does actually come from Georgia if any of that was incorrect or offensive, Dr. Crane's views on the accent are his business and opinion only! ;D Another note on this, I believe that in the comicverse Jonathan Crane is from Georgia, but I have mainly read about it in fan fics. There are some fantastic fics by both Lauralot and TheOtherMaddHatter if you want to look at some well done Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow. They both do the difference between the two very well. That difference will be coming up in this fic in the next couple of chapters.
Older Joker: I feel as though the older Joker is more influenced by the comics than the younger in this fic. He seems to be a bit more playful, but like the comics, really does have that dark side there and perhaps his moods can change a lot more violently. Eg. him attacking his younger self for one comment...I mean it was him! He really has that theatrical side covered. Also, I thought I'd include the green contact lenses that the older Joker has worn sometimes. As you'd know his eyes are generally green in the comics.
Beards: The useful beards that they are using from the future are a different way of taking on the issue of The Joker being recognised. I may also use the whole make up and latex thing too but I'm not sure. Does anyone have any feedback on the beards? Are they annoying?
Badges: Thanks for the great feedback on the badges. There will be more to come! I had a small go at trying to photoshop them but the result was pretty embarrassing to be honest. I had a PM of someone asking if I minded people having a go at drawing them and thought I'd pass on that anyone please feel free, I'd love to see them!
Again, sorry about the delay...but hello new computer!
Have a great week.
