Chapter Fourteen
For all the curious questions I have been recieving I have decided to address the issue here and now. No, there will be NO HARLEY in this story. She's not in the Nolan!verse as of right now, so I'm not putting her in. I'm trying to stick to something like canon while writing this, even if it is slash in its most gruesome form. Yes, this story has changed ratings for a reason. Please read for further details, you'll know what I'm talking about I'm sure. The Joker's past is indeed being somewhat based of The Killing Joke, but not entirely so don't expect identical things. I also like a few bits from The Man Who Laughs and a couple others.
This chapter is almost double the length of the other ones I normally write, that is why it took a bit longer. Please let me know what you think when you're done, this chapter seriously needs feedback on both its part and my own part. I'm not to sure of what I've done just yet.
I don't own anything, believe me when I say that I would like to, however I do not. They in fact belong to DC Comics, Warner Brothers Studios, Christopher Nolan, Cillian Murphy, and the late Heath Ledger. Read, enjoy, and review! Thank you!
"Wel-l Nathan, why don't we get cracking then?" The Joker giggled as he walked onto the street from the dark stairway leading into the building the two were using as a hideout. "Lots of, uh, things to see and people to kill, yah know."
"Yes Jok-" Jonathan stopped himself quickly before starting once more. "Joe, I do know, but no sense getting into a rush when we could slow things down and take a few side trips." Jonathan licked his lips and flashed the Joker a confident grin as he strolled down the littered sidewalk after the disguised clown. "I know a really great diner just a few blocks down and two blocks over."
"Nathan, I thought you'd, uh, never ask!" The Joker, aka Joe, slowed down and walked side by side with the Doctor happily.
He stuffed his hands into his pockets casually as he stared down at Jonathan, who was walking next to him quickly in order to keep up with his own fast pace strides. The shorter man looked so different in his hand-picked outfit, so much brighter than his normally dreary suited self. Not to mention his eyes really came out without those dumb and cumbersome glasses shielding his face. The Joker was thrilled that he had convinced Jonathan to remove them before leaving the apartment. That was his idea, getting rid of the glasses for contacts, that way no one would recognize them!
Jonathan's cheek bones were high and elegant, set off by soft pink lips and icy blue eyes that could freeze you with one glance. They were perfectly set back in his head too, but almost hidden behind metal frames that constituted his glasses. Hadn't the Doc ever heard of contact lenses before? Well, it didn't matter because the Joker was having none of that. He wanted to show off the slighter man's features so they looked more closely at him anyways, and paid less attention to him. (A bold and selfless move on his own part.)
Jonathan's eyes were the Joker's favorite part about him physically, nothing could match the man's calculative brain and wit, but his eyes were way up on the Joker's list of "Favorites." The way they moved, watched everything closely, calculated when he was deep in thought, the way they'd freeze over in icy hatred before spraying someone in the face with his little chemicals. It made him tingly just thinking about it! If this whole partnership thing turned out to be a bust he was planning on killing Jonny boy and taking his eyes as souvenirs. No sense going home empty handed and if you waste not, you want not!
The Joker thought good and hard about laughing out loud at this, but figured that Crow would probably get upset and start going nutter butter on him again. They had a job to do and it required full cooperation on both their parts. He certainly couldn't deal with the doctor if he was being a Nancy and complaining the entire time. His patience only took so much and as of three days ago he'd already had his fill. Not to mention, his laugh might get them into some trouble.
It was even more recognizable then his scars were.
Not that that was his fault or anything, he'd only been on Gotham News Tonight every day since he first started playing in this city. It seemed that the good citizens of Gotham couldn't get enough of his lovely mug, blaming him for everything from gang bangs to natural disasters. He sometimes wondered if they blamed him just to make them feel better about themselves, maybe he'd asked Crane later. Yes, sometimes it was good to be feared and well recognized, but not today. Today it was good to be incognito.
Joker had to agree with Jonathan on that point. The way the two were now moving about was astounding. No one was taking one glance more at them then they would anybody else, effectively handing them free reigns to the whole of Gotham. It was perfect the way they were able to move about freely without care or notice. Truly the people of this little Hell Hole were blind as old Batsy was.
The Joker continued to think about these fun little points and details as they walked with one another, getting closer and closer to the diner that Jonathan had mentioned earlier. Both men were silently starving, neither willing to tell the other just how much, and happily made their way through the streets. They walked mainly in silence until Jonathan decided to pipe up and ask the slightly smiling clown about the name he'd picked out for him. Jonathan's was clearly done: Joe was the first sound of "Joker" and therefore didn't need explaining.
Nathan, on the other hand, did.
"Why did you pick it Joe?" asked Jonathan crisply, not turning his head to talk to his companion as they continued to walk.
"Pick, uh, what?" The Joker asked, clearly confused.
"My name. Why did you pick my name?"
"Oh, uh, tha-t." The Joker grinned widely and took his hands out of his pockets in order to explain. Jonathan often found that the man talked with his hands, which made his speech that much more intoxicating to watch. "The name Nathan means 'God's Prophet.' I picked it be-cause that's what we're doing, we're being like, uh, profits if yah will. We're carrying the leads of chaos to the waiting people of Gotham City, sprinkling it so that everyone gets some. Kind of like an Apostle.
That and the name Jonathan means 'The Gift of God' or something like that. They're, uh, closely related yah see. A good way to show off the gifts, given to me by the God of Chaos himself; if yah know what I mean Nathan." The Joker laughed a bit.
"Oh, I see." Jonathan was a bit at a loss for words. The Joker was being deep again, showing his true genius instead of the half cracked man that most of Gotham often saw. This was the real Joker, the person he really was underneath all of the make-up and cheesy theatrics. The true brain behind the genius that was the Clown Prince of Crime. "That makes sense."
"Good, I think you're, uh, getting it finally there Nathan. It is, uh, also another king's son's name I think. Jonathan was the son of Saul, and Nathan was the son of David. Or something along those lines I think, I'm not, uh, really sure why I picked it anymore. It just sort of…fit."
Jonathan said no more.
The Joker had clearly lost interest in his reasoning behind the random name he had given him: therefore, he found no more interest in it himself. It was a vicious cycle of short attentions spans, genius mentalities, and silent planning that had caught hold of the seemingly innocent couple strolling down the filthy city side-walks of Gotham City. If one lost interest in the conversation, then the other was sure to follow.
But it didn't matter. Soon they'd each have a full belly and a stated mind, readying them for a fun night out on the town together. Oh, poor Commissioner Gordon was going to have a field day with this one…
The small diner located in the better part of the Narrows, if there was such a thing, was something Jonathan had stumbled upon while on the run for the cops after the incident in the Narrows and Fear Night. A few days after the tazer incident, Jonathan and Scarecrow had gone out in search of sustenance and normality to state his human tendencies for companionship and hunger. His slightly addled mind had overridden his need for privacy and seclusion, allowing Scarecrow to take over and do what needed to be done while Jonathan sat back and recovered.
He had found all of it and more in the walls of the greasy little diner called Ricky's Rocking Eatery. The food was tolerable and the coffee good and black, good enough for the both of them to be comfortable and recover in peace. Since it was in the aftermath of the Fear Night, he was one of the few people in the small diner, for which he was eternally thankful. The less people in there was the less amount of people who could potentially recognize him.
The owner and his mute daughter had been the ones to serve him personally with kind and open minds, and ever since then Jonathan had found himself debt to the elderly man and his silent daughter. Samuel Heller was an elderly man, grey headed and full figured. But what his body lacked in strength he made up for in portions, personality, and kindness. This was the kind of man that Jonathan enjoyed, one who was confident and hard working. There was a certain appreciation for someone like that deep within his bones.
When Jonathan had first stumbled in they had helped to tend to his face, cook him a hot meal, and provide him with all of the black coffee he could get. Ever since that point he'd become acquaintances with the two people, guarding the place like the gem it was. Whether or not they knew who he was, was a moot point between them. Jonathan had promised the old man to come back whenever he was in the neighborhood next. This seemed like as good a time as any to him.
Besides, he was dying for a decent cup of black coffee…
****
The tiny bell above the door chimed merrily as the two men walked into the old time diner, signaling to the rest of the patrons that they had new company in their presence. The crowd was mostly of the elderly persuasion, only a few patrons under thirty in the entire joint including them, and every set of eyes in the room was glued to their entrance. The older crowd tended to frown upon the "relationship" the two were going for as a cover, so a frown here and there was expected by Jonathan. The younger people just shrugged with their eyes and went back to their food.
What wasn't expected, however, was the warm welcome they would receive from the owner of Ricky's Eatery and his younger daughter. Samuel Heller was getting on in his years, needing the assistance of a cane to walk now after being attacked by an escaped inmate of Arkham during Fear Night, but he was still as determined as he had been all through life. His handshake was still as firm as his smile, persistence and intelligence shining through his clouded orbs along with hard working determination.
"Ah, Doctor, how are you today?" he asked, clasping the smaller man by the arm and patting him roughly on the back with one overly large hand. "We haven't seen you in ages! It really has been too long."
"Ah, Mr. Heller, Ms. Heller, it is good to see you all again." Jonathan chanced a rare smile, genuine in its entirety while shaking their hands. "Really, it has been longer than intended."
He fell silent as he listened to the older man tell him a few tales of the time he had spent "away on business" and that. (The two thought him a doctor at Arkham: that was why he was gone so long and explained the injuries the first night he'd met them.) His daughter contributing to the stories in a series of hand gestures that he understood as helping reminders to her father. He remained silent as he waited for his turn to speak, voice clipped and tone small as to keep himself in character with his new identity as Nathan.
He'd completely forgotten all about the Joker until Mr. Heller cleared his throat and nodded in his dirrection.
"Who's your friend there Doctor?" the man's eyes twinkling merrily in the light of diner, hinting that he knew the answer but was only trying to be polite. "I haven't seen him in here before."
"Oh, forgive me Samuel, this is my, um, partner, Joe Kerr. He's, uh, staying with me for a while." Jonathan stated nervously, unsure of what to tell the man and what he should say regarding their situation as a 'couple.'
"An, uh, indefinite while I hope Nathan." Said Joker, coming up from behind Jonathan and wrapping his arms around him tightly in a protective manor, resting his chin on the shorter man's shoulder. "Hello, I'm Joe Kerr. It is nice to meet yah Mr. Samuel Heller, Ms. Heller."
"Ah, nice to meet you my boy! I'm so glad that Nathan here has found him a nice young man like you, he deserves someone special after all the trouble around here. What with the bad experience on Fear Night and all, the young doctor here needs a bit of tender love." Samuel winked in Jonathan's direction as he shook the Joker's outstretched hand while Jonathan blushed a deep scarlet. "I just wish there was more happy couples around here like the two of you."
The Joker nodded politely to each one in turn, never releasing Jonathan while doing so. He was still blushing fiercely, uncomfortable at first with the intimate contact the clown was initiating. But, as the minutes passed and the two men conversed, Jonathan slowly felt himself relax into the alien touch coming from the warm body behind him. Normally he was hostile to all unwanted touching, but he thought that maybe he could get used to this. This wasn't like the contact he was used to, this was familiar and careful, warm beyond anything he'd ever felt before.
Was this what it was supposed to feel like?
Jonathan was so wrapped up in the feelings he was experiencing that he never realized they were moving behind the elder man to a booth just in the back corner of the diner, shielded from the majority of the restaurant by the large seat back. Joker slid into one side and Jonathan slid into the seat opposite of him, smiling nervously as the Joker crossed his hands in front of him coyly as he played footsies with him underneath the table, all while reading the menu. Dr. Crane was sure by now that his face was a shade of crimson yet unknown to man.
Oh Jonathan, you know you like it though. There's no sense of denying that you enjoy the attention and this man knows the inner workings of our mind better than anyone else. Said Scarecrow happily from the back of his mind, once again showing his head when he was damn good and ready. Enjoy it, you never know when someone will look our way again… Or when you'll be as interested again. And I can tell you're interested.
Jonathan nearly choked on the coffee that had been placed in front of him.
He had been sipping it lightly when his alter had started to whispering, placing suggestive scenes and scenarios in his mind that did far more than made him blush. Thankfully the table between them hid Jonathan's disgraceful reaction to some of the things Scarecrow had been hinting at, shielding him away from the Joker's prying eyes and belittling remarks. The laughing in the back of his mind let him know that the alter sharing his body was enjoying the reactions being caused by his suggestions.
Jonathan was saved by the appearance of Ms. Heller who came to take their order, remaining silent but attentive as the Joker placed his order of chocolate chip pancakes with whip cream and extra chocolate chips and a small chocolate milkshake. He himself only ordered an English muffin and a small bowl of fruit, plenty more than he normally ate anyways and far more than his already nervous stomach could handle. His black coffee would hopefully help calm his rattled and aroused nerves.
After they had eaten they paid the bill, they remained seated in the booth, happy to stay where they were and talk through their plans and goals for this little caper. Each man had something to contribute and Jonathan wanted to be sure that each angle was thoroughly thought out before being executed.
The two men discussed their plans in short thoughts and random brain storms as the Joker continued to put on a show for any curious spectators, and Jonathan, by rubbing his foot up the underside of Jonathan's leg and thigh lightly. The shivers running up his spine alerted him that he was treading dangerous waters, but the feelings it produced was more than enough to shut him up before his brain could ruin the situation for his body. It was torturous for him to sit there and endure the sparks caused by the tennis shoe the Joker was wearing, wishing against anything that they could just leave and be done with this falsity of a relationship before something happened that he would regret.
Or enjoy the Hell out of.
No, that wasn't him… That was the Scarecrow piping up from the back of his mind once more to put suggestions into his mind that didn't need to be there. It would only distract him and the Joker from the mission at hand, something he couldn't afford. But, God, his mind was not working like he'd like it to be with the foot roaming over places it ought not be in a situation like this. Every once and a while it would hit a sp- Oh God!
"Ahh, s-stop it Joe…" Jonathan stuttered out, lost in a sea with nothing to float upon but the man across the table from him. The foot reached back up again to stroke his inner thigh once more, making his body temperature rise a few more degrees in the close proximity of the corner booth. "Oh God, please!"
The Joker laughed lightly, clearly aware of the torture he was inflicting upon the good doctor across the table from him. He knew the man was repressed in a number of ways and that he needed to get him out of his shell a bit, but he never expected him to respond so…enthusiastically to his menstruations in such an open area. Clearly he needed this more than he had originally thought, if the way the coffee was put aside for gripping the table was any indicator.
"Please what, Nathan?" the Joker continued to smile. "Say it, I want to hear you say it. It makes me…" he caressed his inner thigh again. "Happy."
Jonathan looked as if he was going to explode sitting there at the table across from him, his hand unconsciously clenching with every pass of the Joker's foot. The way the smaller man trembled under his touch, the way his mouth parted breathlessly in silent pleas did something for him that nothing else could. Chaos was a strong aphrodisiac if he did say so himself, and by the looks of things, Jonathan thought so too.
"Please, Joe, please stop!" he lurched a bit in his seat, nails raking across the table in sheer agony as he tried to stifle his body's desire and the wanton please spilling from his mouth. "I…I don't know if I can take much more of this."
"Do you want me to end it for you Jonathan?" whispered the Joker seductively as he leaned in to brush Jonathan's ear with his mouth, breathing out lightly. "Do you want me to make it stop?"
"Yes, please yes…" he ground out, eyes fluttering helplessly over the sea of emotions that his eyes had become in the previous minutes of listening to the demented clown and feeling his breath upon his neck and face. "I don't want to feel like this, please make it stop."
The Joker needed no more incentive before he stood up, leaning down to pull Jonathan up with him from the seat where he sat shaking. The smaller man walked quickly behind the eager clown, being lead along by his arm in a daze that was his mind, as they walked out the back door and into the alleyway behind the diner. A few boxes and crates lay stacked off to one side, giving the two the perfect little nook with which to seek refuge in. It was secluded, hidden from the street, and utterly perfect for what the Joker had planned.
It was time the doctor got his check up…
The Joker suddenly got rough as they reached the crates and shoved Jonathan up against the wall, pinning him to the brick with his forearm as he rubbed nimble fingers over Jonathan's chest seductively and breathed out huskily against his dampened skin. The purring sound reverberated through the doctor, sending more shivers up his spine which caused a tingling sensation in the ends of his limbs. The breath making his toes curl in sheer and unexpected bliss while the rough surface of the crates and brick provided some texture for him to feel again the raging ocean he was now being shoved into.
"Ah… Joker, please." Jonathan pushed against the Joker's body slightly, pressing himself up against the lithe body in an attempt to get the aching to subside. It only served to make the throbbing resume once more, only harsher this time. By now he was well aware that he was begging like a virgin. "Nghh, God make it stop please!"
The Joker laughed harshly, one arm pinning the doctor's body against the wall while the other one wandered down his abdomen to Jonathan's pants, tugging at the overly tight fabric roughly as the smaller man hissed in something akin to pleasure. Slowly, making small circles with his hand and fingers, he worked his hand around the button and into the waist band of the fabric, tugging at the useless and hindering fabric in his search.
"Yah know how yah, uh, look right now?" the Joker whispered, licking the bottom lobe of Jonathan's ear lightly before nipping at it. His hands continued to move, refusing to let Jonathan out of the torturous bond he now held him in. "You should wear yellow more often…Doc."
The bugging of Jonathan's eyes told the Joker he had found exactly what he was looking for, grasping the doctor's sweet flesh in his hand only tight enough to gage the man's reaction as he arched into the touch. The look in those bright blue orbs was even more sweet to The Joker then the breathy moans now escaping his soft lips with each sweep of his calloused hands. His own pants were now feeling incredibly tight in the close proximity of the space between them, something he could deal with later. Now he was intent on seeing Jonathan Crane, Master of Fear, fall into the throws of passion.
"Joker… Ah, please no more torture." Jonathan gasped, leaning into the in sweep of the clown's hand as his head tilted backwards to expose the expanse of pale flesh that was his neck, silently begging for what he knew his body wanted.
That was all the invitation the Joker needed.
He attacked furiously, licking and biting at the tender flesh that made up the joint between his neck and clavicle all while still moving hands over the flesh of Jonathan's abdomen and pelvic region, making him moan even louder than before and thrust harder. If the feeling wasn't so amazing then Jonathan was liable to die from it, or dissolve in gelatinous goo in the processes. The only way he could keep himself in check was by gripping the Joker's hair tightly in his own hands as the waves crashed down upon him, squeezing and releasing in a pulsing manor with each pump of the Joker's fist. The bricks beneath his head giving his hair a light coating of dust with each impact against them, grinding to give a counter spot with which to focus on.
The clown remained oddly silent, still furiously attacking his neck and clavicle while working him in his hand and growled lightly every time Jonathan pulled his hair while moaning shamelessly. (Clearly the clown liked pain now as he did every other time Jonathan had seen him.) He kept a steady pace, working Jonathan's body to the point of almost losing control before backing off slightly to make the doctor sigh in utter frustration. The laughs that pulsated from his chest every time he did this only seemed to push Jonathan closer and closer to the edge he felt coming closer and closer with every passing moment.
With one final sweep and a bite from the Joker, Jonathan felt himself unravel, lights playing in front of his vision as the loud ringing in his ears became a blaring siren of lust and sheer pleasure. Jonathan's fists clenched tightly to keep himself station as the world seemed to remove itself from around him, a deep growling noise coming from the Joker who's hair he still held. The waves of sheer ecstasy smothering him to the point where he was gasping for breath as the Joker continued to move with him, his hands no longer on Jonathan, but on himself.
And just like that it was over.
Jonathan was left gasping against the wall for breath as the Joker leaned into his shoulder, burying his hair into Jonathan's chest as he too panted for breath. The air around them still crackled with excess passion and left over energy as the two men each came down off their own high. Small touches and smiles passed between the two as they struggled to regain their composure and move on with their previous plans.
As Jonathan came down he thought about everything that had just happened between them, each thought killing a little bit more of him on the inside. The thought of what he'd just done made him almost physically sick, the thought of doing that with the Joker made him… He didn't know for sure. This was a distraction, he decided.
This was a good distraction.
After a few minutes they succeeded with moving again: and with a few last swipes with the handkerchief stuffed in Jonathan's jean pocket, they made their way back out onto the populated street and towards their destination looming in the distance on slightly shaky legs and one grinning face.
Was it hot enough for yahs? XD Let me know what you think!