A/N: eekkk

~If you feel so empty

So used up, so let down

If you feel so angry

So ripped off so stepped on

You're not the only one

Refusing to back down

You're not the only one

So get up

Let's start a riot~

~Three Days Grace~

Joker was alight with excitement. Everything was in place with no issues to have to work around. This job was going well, almost too well. There was still a bit of time for something to screw it all up. He didn't dwell on the possibility though, he chose to focus on what was happening now, not what could happen.

Maybe Peach and the little Jelly Bean had turned him into an optimist? He laughed at the absurd idea.

He was watching Cliff get the last bit of technical mess taken care of so they would be able to go live. He decided to be close to the people, he found himself, and the small group with him, on top of his old apartment building/safe house. There was a beautiful view of The Narrows behind him, Gotham city skyscrapers in the distance.

He checked his watch again, it was almost time for the message to hit the air. He looked towards the small monitor noticing a live press conference. Would this be a good or bad thing for his plan?

"Turn that up."

The volume blasted the voice of some wrinkled face of a cop. What had caught his attention was the GCPD building behind the man. Joker would recognize that building anywhere.

"…she has a statement to read." The man stepped back.

A tall blonde woman in a pant suit stepped up to the podium. Joker moved a bit closer to the small screen.

"My name is Lauren Bigsby, I am the lawyer of Mr. Bruce Wayne. On behalf of Mr. Wayne, I will be reading a statement he had prepared as part of his Plea deal with the city of Gotham City."

She cleared her throat with a dainty cough that grated on Jokers nerves as he held his breath to see what Bruce wanted to say.

"I, Bruce Wayne, would like to publicly acknowledge my very wrong actions. I was under extreme mental anguish with last years staged murders made to look like my parents own murder, so many years ago. The stress caused me to do regrettable things. Under the insurmountable pressure put on me by the criminal, Joker, I mistakenly tried to make a citizen's arrest, without the consent of the GCPD. A case of mistaken identity. I apologize for any pain or stress I have caused her with my actions. "

The woman took a large breath then continued. "I have decided to take the advice of the GCPD and my own physician and take a small sabbatical for my mental health. I will be seeking treatment for my still fresh anguish about the loss of my parents. I ask that the city and Mrs. Napier accept my heartfelt apology." She stepped back from the podium.

Joker watched as the press, in an uproar of noise, shouted questions at her and the cop. Joker was not a stupid man he knew Bruce had not written any of that mess. It smelled of lawyers covering GCPD's ass. He wondered, did this mean Bruce was in Arkham? Oh, that was too good. They would eat him alive in there. He smiled, he had people working there, but it was not part of his plan today. They were more of a 'in case I get thrown back in' plan.

All in all, that was a complication he could work with. If nothing else it was….amazing. He couldn't control the bitter laughter that flowed out of him. It was almost painful. His phone chimed and he already knew who it would be.

~I hate that bat-fucking son of a bitch~

Oh his wife had a way with words. It would be a safe bet to say Peach was pissed. He put his phone into his pocket and turned back to the men waiting for him. He checked his watch. He nodded to Cliff. Showtime. He waited for the little red light to show that he was live.

"Well, well, Gotham City. Did you all watch what I just watched? Once again, one of the rich elite of Gotham gets off of a serious charge by saying sorry and promising to go to a doctor." He frowned at the camera. "If you or I tried the same thing, well, we would be in Blackgate faster than you could say 'trash'. This Bruce, May I call you Bruce?" He asked the camera. "Bruce, kidnapped a pregnant woman. A poor defenseless mother to be. He held her hostage, drugged her, locked her in a room and finally physical assaulted her. It's all here," He held up a copy of the police report. "Poor woman was in the hospital having her baby when she filed this." He tossed the papers in the air.

"Poor Mrs. Napier, shame he didn't mention that in his public apology. He gets a slap on the wrist." He looked down at his watch.

"It's time folks, I will be leveling some of the playing field. Good blue collar people of Gotham. My people. Take what is yours. Take what you paid for by the sweat and blood and tears you have shed for the upper class. Take back everything they have taken from you. I give this gift to you."

Joker pulled out his flip phone and sent the text. "BOOM". He hit send and tucked the phone back in his pocket. "Until next time." He wiggled his fingers in a small wave and Cliff ended the transmission.

The explosions started, causing many of the men to jump in surprise. Joker watched as the smoke started to rise. He had blown up so many buildings. The explosives placed to cause the most damage to the city. The diamond district was practically rubble.

"Head out boys, enjoy the city." The men hooted and took off down the stairs. "Cliff, you can hang out here until the panic calms down. There is food and everything." He offered the man who still stood with him.

"Nah, I got another place, out in the middle of nowhere. I'll be good."

Joker shrugged. "I'm heading home."

He made his way down and through the crowd of people out looking at the burning city. He got into his car and started to head home. He noticed as the sky darkened with smoke and the sun was hung low, the burning city of Gotham really was beautiful.

Peach was at home, waiting for any kind of news. She hated being stuck in the house, useless to everyone except Kayla. She was just wanting her husband back home. Her real husband. It seemed all she had done since he left was a quick shower, fed the baby, and paced the damned floor.

She had been keeping the dogs outside and slowly letting them get used to the baby. Punch had given her a small sniff, a lick on the head, and moved onto the rest of the house. She would be letting Judy in here in a few minutes, Peach was nervous. While the dog had slowly warmed up to her, she could be vicious still.

She moved to the door, Judy was there, she could hear her whining. She cracked the door open and spoke to her.

"Down."

The dog obeyed.

"Good girl."

She opened the door and Judy came in. She sniffed around the kitchen and Peach walked with her, to the living room where the baby was sleeping in the bassinet. Peach watched as Judy moved around the room sniffing. She watched as the dog moved closer to the bassinet.

"Easy." Peach said.

Judy looked at her, then sniffed into the bassinet. Peach watched as the dog sniffed, all around. Judy moved back and then curled up at the foot of the bassinet, laying her head down. That was not what Peach had expected. To be honest she didn't know what to expect, but it wasn't that. She settled down into the couch cushion and watched the odd scene.

There was a breaking story that drew her attention.

"We take you now live to the Gotham City Police Department."

The picture on the TV changed to a live shot of some familiar people and new faces. Detective Cortez stood in front of the podium. He raised his hand to silence the chatter of the crowd.

"Thank you for joining us today, we have brought you all here by request of Bruce Wayne and his attorney. She has a statement to read for you all." He stepped back.

Peach watched as a woman she had never seen before step in front of the podium. The lady started to talk and Peach felt the anger building in her. Each word another cop out from Bruce Fucking Wayne. She watched the woman's words leave her mouth, but barely registered the words. Then she heard her name. This was it, she screamed her frustrations loud enough to startle the baby wide awake. Her cries were shrill and caused Peach's boobs to start to leak.

"Shit." She cursed, reaching for the baby. She pulled her form the bassinet and sat down to start to feed her. She watched as her daughter stopped crying and started to eat. She watched as Judy moved over and climbed up on the couch, lying next to her. Peach was watching Judy as she sniffed the baby's head, then snuggled down.

That was a first. She shook her head and grabbed her phone. She sent Joker a text message, she was 100% sure he was watching this. She put the phone down and waited. Her husband's big announcement should be starting soon.

She smiled when she saw Joker's face on the TV. She watched how he moved, the way he spoke. It was almost hypnotic, the uneven lilts and strange pauses when he spoke. It pulled people into his way of thinking. He really was magnificent.

Her anger from the bullshit press conference melted away, as he said what he needed to say. She was not surprised he was able to use the 'facts' that had just been released, to further push his agenda. She couldn't help but give a small wave back at the screen, before the picture changed back to scared looking news reporters.

Then she heard the explosions, first loudly through the TV, then almost like an echo, sounding far away. The screen showed the emergency broadcast. She knew she was far enough from the city that she had nothing to worry about. The city was used to Joker trying to blow up things, but she was sure they had no idea what had just happened. Safe were the things he (and others) usually targeted.

She knew he was not attacking the hospitals, or the prisons. No this time her husband went for the heart of the city. He had bombs tucked everywhere, random banks, large office buildings, and city hall, just to name a few.

She smiled down at her daughter, her free hand playing with the soft curls on the baby's head. "Daddy will be home soon." She said to the half-asleep baby.

Red burst through the door, "Did you hear that?"

"Yep, the news will probably be back on soon to report the damage." She felt the baby release and snuggle into her.

She tucked herself back into her bra and adjusted the sleeping bundle, deciding to hold her instead of laying her down. Judy sat up and sniffed again as Peach moved to get comfortable on the couch. The dog readjusted as well. Red watched the usual standoffish dog snuggle down and smiled. He moved to sit on the other side of Judy and they waited.

Within a half hour, the stations were back up and running nonstop damage coverage. Peach watched with pride as the cameras panned the city, helicopters circled the large area that was practically devastated. The explosions demolished the intended buildings and the shock wave from the explosion shattered and wreaked surrounding buildings.

"Honey, I'm home." Joker's voice called across the entryway.

Peach got up, jostling the dog from it's sleep. The damned animal stayed on her heels. She hurried over and kissed her husband.

"Your masterpiece is all over the news." She said.

He smiled. "You are really kissing me in front of your husband?" he asked, looking over at Red.

She scowled at him. "Glad to see you in a good mood, but that joke is getting old, fast."

Bruce was in his cell, or room, whatever they were calling it. It was at least quiet right now. He was able to lay back on the bed and relax. It was a strange feeling, not having to worry about anything. I sense of calm had washed over him and he didn't want it to leave. He almost wondered if they had drugged him and he just didn't know it.

In his calm state, his mind wandering, he'd had another epiphany. The city had done fine while they thought Batman was dead. The GCPD was so quick to turn on him. They didn't seem to be too worried about the Joker and his threats, why should he be worried?

Why should he take the weight of their safety back onto his shoulders? It hadn't helped in December. It hadn't helped this past week. Why bother? The police suspected that Bruce was Batman, but didn't have any proof. With the help he had given then through the years, and being outed as innocent of killing those officers that Harvey had killed, they still chose to lock him away.

Bruce was washing his hands of the entire thing. They want him locked up and Joker free. Well, they can have it. They can deal with that madman and his wife. Bruce was going to do his time here and then leave Gotham to its ruin.

The shaking of the building and muffled sounds of explosions pulled Bruce from his head. He sat up, instantly in defense mode, adrenaline pumped through him. He would bet his life that this was what Joker had been planning. He laughed.

He sat back down on his bed. Not. His. Problem. This was not his fight, let the GCPD figure it out, if there was anything left of it. He laid back, getting comfortable again and waited for his dinner to be delivered.