Chapter 11
Bruce cursed, pulling the suit off piece by piece. He hadn't taken the Joker in! He'd... panicked and left the monster out there to terrorize Gotham!
"What the hell is wrong with you?" He muttered to himself.
"Master Bruce?" Alfred's voice rang out in the dank cavern.
Bruce startled, "Sorry, Alfred. I didn't hear you come down."
"I gathered, sir." Alfred replied drily, "Care to tell me what's got you so frazzled?"
"Alfred, you have to leave. Book a plane, anywhere you want to go. Go see your brother, go on vacation, just...you have to go." Bruce panicked.
Alfred looked at Bruce in alarm, "Sir?"
"He...He knows. The Joker knows who I am, Alfred. You're not safe. I won't risk your safety."
"He knows? And he hasn't told?" Alfred looked puzzled.
"No... He said he wanted something." Bruce paused, steeling himself for his next words, "He actually said he wanted...me."
"Oh, dear. What else did he say, sir? Did he say why or what he wanted from you?"
"Joker made himself pretty clear after-" Bruce cut himself off and took a deep breath, "After he kissed me."
Alfred looked at Bruce in shock, "He did what?!"
"You heard me, Alfred. He kissed me. And...And I panicked and left. I didn't even knock him out or turn him in or anything. I panicked and left, Alfred!" Bruce dropped his head to his hands in shame, "And he said we had to make a deal or he'd tell and I'd end up his cellmate in Arkham." He mumbled.
"Well, Master Bruce, I think all we can do now is wait and see what he does. And before you say it again, I'm not leaving you like this. If the time comes and he does tell Gordon, well. Then well leave together. I'd never let you go to that...place."
Bruce opened his mouth to protest but Alfred cut him off, "No, sir. I'm not leaving you and that's final." Alfred turned to go back upstairs, "Now I'm going to make dinner and I'll be back."
Alfred walked away, ignoring Bruce's protests.
There was a bang and Bruce woke with a start.
"Time to get up, Master Wayne." Alfred said, pulling the curtains to let the sun in. Bruce groaned and pulled the blanket over his head.
"Ten more minutes." He mumbled.
"You have to be at Wayne Enterprises in an hour, sir." He replied, yanking the blanket off Bruce.
Bruce growled but relented and got up. As he headed to the bathroom, he heard Alfred say that his suit would be waiting and breakfast would be ready when Bruce was done. Bruce grunted, acknowledging Alfred.
Bruce sighed as the warm water sluiced over him. He still had no idea what the whole debacle with Joker was about. Half of Bruce wanted to know where it would lead and the other half wanted to lock Joker up in Arkham and throw away the key, never to be heard from again.
He shut off the water and dried off absently, mind on the Joker. When he was ready, he walked down to meet Alfred in the kitchen.
"What do I do, Alfred?" He asked, biting into a piece of toast.
"Honestly, sir, I'm not sure. He's been relatively good lately, so I think you'll just have to wait and see."
Bruce nodded and put down his toast, appetite lost, "I'm leaving now, Alfred. I'm taking the bike today, I need some air."
"Yes, sir." He replied as Bruce walked into the garage.
His first meeting of the day was long and boring, it was a struggle for Bruce to keep his eyes open.
Lucius called an end to the meeting a little early, noticing the other shareholders looking over at the sleeping playboy in disgust. After the stiffs had filed out, He grabbed his paperwork and went over to Bruce.
"Long night, eh, son?" He asked loudly, chuckling when Bruce jumped.
"That obvious, huh?" Bruce nervously ran his hand through his hair.
"Anything I can help you with?" Lucius offered.
Bruce shook his head, "No, I think I have to figure this one out myself."
Lucius nodded, "Well then, why don't you go rest a bit in your office? The next meeting isn't until one."
"Actually, that sounds like a great idea. Thanks, Lucius." Bruce replied over his shoulder as he walked out the door.
He stopped and flirted a bit with his secretary, Lucy, and asked her to hold all his calls unless it was an emergency. She agreed happily, especially when he promised her a date soon.
Bruce shut the door to his office and leaned back against it, sighing loudly. This whole Joker situation had his mind reeling. He pushed off the door and went to his desk, settling behind it. He took his cell out of his breast pocket, turned up the ringer, and put it on the desk in case Alfred needed him. He had every intention of getting some paperwork done but his droopy eyes told a different story. He nodded off, head resting on his chest.
A shrill ringing broke it's way into his dreams. Peeling his eyes open, Bruce grabbed his phone and slid his finger across to open it. He frowned as the notification popped up telling him there was a new picture message. He opened the message, and noticed that it was an unfamiliar number.
His breath caught in his throat as the picture loaded. A close up of the bottom half of Joker's face, a bright purple bruise on his jaw, taking up most of the picture. Underneath was a sliver of his familiar blue shirt with his green vest over it. Bruce looked a little closer and realized that Joker's face was unpainted. Underneath the picture was the caption 'Like your handiwork, Batsy?'
Bruce took a deep breath and hit the reply button.
'What do you want?' he typed. He didn't bother asking how Joker had gotten his private cell phone number, Joker had proven himself resourceful and sneaky.
'When are you going to lunch?' Joker replied back, quicker than Bruce was expecting.
Bruce could feel the beginnings of a migraine as he hit reply again, 'I have a meeting. Whenever that ends . . . why?' As he hit send, he noticed the time. It was five of one. He put his phone on vibrate and got up. He stopped at Lucy's desk to see if he had any messages and hurried up to the meeting. As Bruce opened the door, conversation stopped. He was the last to arrive.
He put on his trademark cocky smile, "Did I miss anything, gentlemen?"
"No, Mister Wayne, just in time." Lucius answered and gestured to a seat.
Bruce sat and pulled his phone back out. There was a message waiting for him.
'Just wondering, sugar. Are you done panicking about last night?'
Bruce could imagine the man's smirk, just as surely Joker knew he was scowling, 'I did NOT panic. I just refuse to be toyed with.'
Bruce tuned back in to Lucius, so he could at least say he heard some of the meeting. His attention was diverted back to his phone, 'Who said I was playing, darling?'
'I'm busy. Leave me alone.' Bruce quickly texted back and put his phone in his pocket, resolving to ignore it.
Soon enough, the meeting was over. Bruce caught Lucius and told the other man he was going out to lunch. As he walked down the hall past his office, he heard Lucy calling to him.
He stopped over by her desk.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Wayne, but your lunch meeting is here and Mr. White would not wait out here." Lucy turned her head in shame.
"I wasn't aware I had a lunch meeting, Lucy. What was his name again?" Bruce asked impatiently.
"It's a Mr. Jack White, sir. I'm sorry, but he was so pushy. I tried to stop him and asked him to wait out here but he laughed at me, sir."
Bruce's headache returned in full force, "Don't worry about it, Lucy. Must have slipped my mind." He grinned at her. Lucy smiled back, glad she wasn't in trouble.
Bruce steeled himself before opening his office door. He knew exactly who "Jack White" was. It was one of Joker's most well known aliases. He knew he couldn't make a scene, Bruce knew he had to play it cool. Pulling up his persona, he opened the door with a false smile, "Mr. White, so glad you could make it!"
He shut the door behind him and took in the man sitting behind Bruce's desk, with his feet on the polished surface. Bruce stopped and did a double take. It didn't look like Joker. The only thing familiar was the grin-sans scars- and the poison green eyes staring shrewdly into his own.
"It was you in the bakery!" Bruce blurted out before he could stop himself.
Joker laughed, "Of course it was, darling! How do you think I got your phone number? You oh so generously left it for me!" He cackled.
Bruce sighed, "What are you doing here, Joker? I don't have the patience for games today." He went over to his desk, and after pushing Joker's feet off the surface, reached over into his drawer where he kept his aspirin. He stood up and shook three out into his hand, tossing them into his mouth and dry swallowing them.
"Let's go to lunch, doll-face. How long do I have you for?" Joker said, staring at Bruce with an expression on his face that made Bruce squirm uncomfortably.
"I don't have a choice, do I?" Bruce snapped back, "You won't leave unless I agree?"
Joker cackled, "You got it!"
Bruce motioned for Joker to follow him as he left. He smiled as they passed Lucy and asked when his next meeting was scheduled for.
"This is your last one for the day, Mr. Wayne. Your next meeting is tomorrow at noon." She said, glancing surreptitiously at 'Mr. White'.
Bruce thanked her and took Joker by the elbow, leading him toward the elevator. Once the doors were shut behind them, he faced Joker.
"So where ya taking me, lover boy?" Joker asked, batting his eyelashes at Bruce.
"You were serious about lunch?" Bruce asked, surprised.
"Uhhh... yeah, Brucie. A man's gotta eat, ya know." He stared at Bruce, strangely serious.
The elevator stopped before Bruce could reply. As they walked out, Bruce said offhandedly, "I hope your table manners are up to par."
"Oooh! Someone's a little snarky, eh, doll?" 'Jack' grinned, "I like it."
Bruce rolled his eyes. The doorman opened the door for the men and wished Bruce a nice day. Bruce smiled back and led Joker to his motorcycle. He swung his leg over the scarlet bike and put on a matching helmet. He gestured for the Joker to get on behind him. Joker jumped on the back so enthusiastically that he almost dumped them. Bruce started up the bike and Joker grabbed onto Bruce's waist, pressing in close. Bruce glared once but decided it wasn't worth the argument and sped off toward one of his favorite restaurants.
Joker tightened his grip on Bruce and grinned, trying to memorize the feel of Bruce's body against his.