A/N: Batman makes a cameo y'all...

~The monster you made, is wearing the crown,

I'll be the king, you be the clown,

I'll take the blame, parade it around,

You've made me the villain, you can't live without~

~Motionless in White~

Joker pulled a small item out of his pocket, placing it into her hand. Tessa looked at the small plastic thing.

"What is it?" she asked.

"It's a key fob." he said.

"Like for a car?" she asked.

"Mhm." he agreed.

She was lost. She had planned to go buy herself a car. She had plenty of cash in her account, she had been saving for her own place. She looked at the small fob.

"I can't take this. It's too much." she said holding out her hand.

He waved it away, and started moving around the place. He was grabbing things and putting them in pockets.

"Are you going somewhere?" she asked.

"Yea." he said, looking up like he'd just realized she was still there. "Gotta get back to work. Rumors say Batsy has gone underground. I need to draw him back out." he explained.

She was curious, what was going on in his head? She watched the manic movements. He moved into the bathroom, she could hear him moving around his tins of face paint. He walked out of the bathroom, wiping his hands on a small cloth.

She watched him push his stained fingers into his gloves. She was almost afraid to speak, not wanting to interrupt his frantic pace. He stopped in the middle of the room and did a small turn, tilting his head to the side as well.

Then he turned and almost skipped to the door. He stopped and faced her. "Don't wait up, I might be home late if I, " he paused grinning, "get lucky." he wiggled his eyebrows.

She laughed. He moved swiftly out of the door and was gone. Tessa looked around his room. He'd made a mess. She was NOT cleaning up after him. She left his room and made her way back to her own. She slid on a pair of shoes and left to look at her car.

She walked down to the front door and saw a set of keys hanging next to it. She grabbed the keys. They had a small plastic keychain attached to it. A rectangle with the Gotham skyline shadowed on it. She turned them over and saw her name crudely scratched into the surface. Not Tessa, he carved in her full name. She frowned, she hated her full name.

She looked at the keys. She assumed one was for the front door. She tried the larger of the two, she got it first try. The other key looked like a door key, she turned and looked up at the stairs. She moved back up, trying the other key in her door. Perfect fit. She moved to his door, it had a similar lock, she wondered if it worked on his too.

The key slid in and turned with ease. She smiled. She locked his door and moved back to hers. She went in and grabbed her small wallet and the green hoodie he'd given her before. She shut and locked her door, hurrying out of the front door.

She locked it up and turned to find her gift. It was a bright flashy red. It was a newer car, a Chevy Camaro, she walked around and looked at it. Why the hell would he get this for her? She couldn't understand. It stuck out in this side of town.

She used the fob to get in. She started it and drove away from her new place. It drove like a dream. She liked this car. It was perfect. Damn him. She drove it to the store, going in to buy her a few things she might need at her new place. She shopped quickly wanting to hurry back to the hideout. She decided she needed to get her a prepaid phone. She needed to call work and apologize profusely.

She paid for her purchases and drove home. She activated the phone and put it on the charger. She put away the things she had gotten. A bit of make up she needed, different toilet paper, and feminine products. She didn't want to consider that conversation with him.

Once the phone was charged, she called up to the diner. She made sure to try to sound sick. Samantha, the other overnight waitress, answered.

"Hey Sam, sorry I couldn't make it, I was feeling so sick." She said.

"It's fine, Fred is upset, but he will get over it." She said. "It's petty dead anyway." She added.

"I will be back tomorrow night." she assured the girl.

"Good, glad your feeling better. Fred was surprised when your boyfriend called. I think he was upset you had a boyfriend more than you missing work." She said laughing.

"Eww." Tessa said, "He's like 50."

Samantha laughed. "Yea he's a real creep. Just get better and be here tomorrow. Gotta go." she hung up the phone.

Tessa put her new phone down and looked around. She didn't have many nights off, She didn't know what to do. She figured she'd go watch the TV. She moved to Joker's room and sat on the couch. She turned on the TV and flipped around the channels. She settled on some reality show. It was mind numbing.

She woke up to the early news. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked at the too bright TV. The ticker at the bottom read 5:27 AM. She had fallen asleep and had a slight crick in her neck and shoulder. She straightened and stretched her back.

The news story caught her attention.

It has been confirmed the criminal known as The Joker has been captured. He was dropped off at the Gotham police department about an hour ago. No one saw who dropped him off, but he was found unconscious at the doors. The police refuse to give a statement at the moment. The Joker , as you know, is wanted for terroristic attacks across the entire city. Most recently, he is suspected to have blown up the unfinished Prewitt building and Gotham ferries. We will keep the citizens of Gotham up to date as we learn more on the story.

Tessa was at a loss. Joker got caught? Her logical side fought with her. He is a mass murderer. He never denied it. He killed people and caused a lot of trouble. She sighed. He was nice to her, well, mostly nice. She literally shook her head to shut up the warring sides of her mind.

None of that mattered, he was currently locked up, and she was alone, again. She got up and turned off the TV and headed back to her room. She piled into her bed and fell into a fitful sleep.

Joker drove to meet up with his guys. They had a lot of work to do, havoc to wreak. He pulled up to the warehouse and barged in. The guys were already there. dressed in different strange masks and get ups. 'Goodie' He thought.

"Alright boys, the plan tonight is to have fun. We will be having fun painting the town red. Keep your phones on and remember, if you see the Bat, let me know immediately." He said. The guys moved to grab various weapons.

"Load up." he said as they headed to the different vans they used. Joker was in a smaller SUV with two other guys, they would be driving around waiting for the bat to show himself. Joker was nervous with anticipation, they needed to have a long talk.

Hours passed, he sat in the back as they drove around. He was ready to shoot himself when one of the guys texted him an address. BINGO!

He barked the address to the driver and the sped away. They found him, The Batman, He had three of his guys detained and was crouched down. Maybe talking to them? Joker smiled, this would be fun.

"Lights off, run them over." he told the driver.

"Boss?"

"Run. Them. Over." he said slowly.

The man turned the headlights off and hit the gas, their SUV barreled down the street.

Joker was giggling in the back seat, he put his seatbelt on just in case. Batman looked up and jumped out of the way, the car barely clipping him. The thugs were all hit. Joker looked up at the impact, his driver had smashed against the wheel and the passenger was halfway through the windshield.

He frowned slightly as he unbuckled his seatbelt. The impact had caused the belt to tighten and it opened the two wounds on his chest. He could feel them starting to bleed. The adrenaline rushed through his limbs.

He got out of the back of the SUV and looked for Batman. There he was, pulling himself up to his feet.

"Oh Batsy, You, uh flying under the radar now? I don't see your signal anymore." Joker said, moving to the side while he pointed at the dark sky. He watched the man in front of his stand fully, face pinched in pain.

"Joker, this is over, I'm taking you in." He said.

"You can try, but I just wanted to chat." he said taking another step to the side, slowly distancing himself from the wrecked car.

"No. No talking. You murdered those people. You are sick. You need help." Batman said, his jaw muscles clenching.

"Do you watch the news? The wonderful citizens think you are just as sick as me. Hm? Why is that, you ask. Well, I will tell you. You, Batsy, took the blame for Dent's mess. That was," He paused, looking for the right word, "Unexpected, but not surprising." he frowned.

"Enough, I am taking you in, this ends tonight." Batman said talking a step forward.

"Ah, ah, ah, I'm not done talking. You will hear me out. After that, well, we will see." he said.

Batman watched him, the silence was delicious to Joker. He could feel all kinds of emotions running through him.

"Talk." batman said.

The one word made Joker happier than he'd been in a while. "I want you to know that everything I have done since our little meeting at Dent's fundraiser party, has been for you. I want to open your eyes. There are no hard feelings on my part, and I know once you understand, you'll forgive me too." he said.

Batman clenched his fists. Joker watched, as he continued. "This has all been for you. The city turned on you, just like I told you they would. To them, you are just some weirdo in a mask. They walk with you everyday, unknown to them, and feel nothing. You could just pack away the suit, mix right in to the crowd. But you don't, you can't."

"Get to the point." he growled at Joker.

"The point, Batsy, is that we are the same, and until you accept who you really are, this will never end. You will have to kill me, because I won't stop."

Batman lunged forward, he punched Joker hard in the stomach, doubling him over. Joker coughed, trying to catch his breath. While still crouched down, Joker grabbed a knife out of his pocket. He caught batman in the outer thigh. He thought he'd missed at first, but the blood flowed from the wound.

Joker laughed as Batman pulled back, hand going to the wound. Batman reached to his waist and pushed a button. Joker watched, waiting to see what would happen. When Joker pressed buttons, explosive things happened. He heard an engine behind him. He turned and the Batman's motorcycle was there. Joker raised his eyebrows. Batman had the best toys.

Joker turned back to Batman and started to move forward. Batman pressed another button and some corded material shot out and hit joker in the back, causing him to stumble forward. Batman moved quickly pushing joker down to the damp concrete.

"Finish it, make me proud." Joker said laughing. He watched, and for a brief second Joker thought he might actually kill him. Batman grabbed his head and slammed it against the concrete. Joker felt an explosion in his brain and blacked out.

Batman dropped Joker off at the GCPD, calling Gordon to give him a heads up. As batman made his way back to take care of the others, he smiled. He'd finally beaten the Joker, without killing him.

...Batsy, Batsy, Batsy...