A/N: I've been asked for more Batman/Joker stories. I'd have thought I put paid to the Joker with the last, but there seem to be many who disagree. So, let's do a little escape-hatch building…
Disclaimer: I don't own any of Batman, Joker or Harley Quinn - even if it is an implied Harley - or any of the other characters I mention in passing. These characters all belong to the DC Comics universe and their media group. I'm just borrowing them. I'll put 'em back where I found them. Honest.
EPILOG
She missed him.
O Gawd, how she missed him.
His sneering laugh, his manic laugh, his belly laugh – all his laughs, really. She missed those. His touch, his caress, his hitting her; OK, that last, not so much. That was pretty dysfunctional but that sort of dysfunction is expected from a criminal genius like him. Not that she liked it - she really hated the hitting - but she put up with it for him, the totality that he was. Her friend. Her boyfriend. Her Boss.
But, now he was gone. "An accident" they called it, like anything ever happened by accident around him. Oh sure, it looked like an accident. The guard was still on administrative leave, which means only that he gets to sit at home and get full pay. He didn't have to suffer like she did, with her heart all broken and everything. He got to watch game shows and drink beer. And get paid. Bastard.
Oh, she'd pay him, alright. How do the Klingons say it? Revenge is a dish best served cold? She'd be cold, colder than even Mr. Freeze over there, playing cards with Riddler and Harvey.
He'd come back from administrative leave, soon enough… soon enough. She'd be cold, indifferent at first. Yes, even hurt at his presence. He'd be all apologetic and nice… Yesss… That would be it. Play the "I've been hurt card." Slowly warm up to him; slowly build to the usual – maybe even friendly – guard-inmate relationship. Then, she'd rip out his heart and piss in the hole. Literally. Then he'd see what heartache really is.
But… that wasn't enough, was it? The guard, he was just the tool. He pulled the trigger, sure, but who aimed the gun?
Gotham? No, don't be silly. Gotham is a thing. Gotham was his toy. Gotham was where he had his greatest triumphs.
And his biggest failure.
That failure had a name, now, didn't it?
Yes. Yes, it did.
Batman.
Bats… he did it. He put him in this hole. He put him where he could be killed. Bats was every bit the chess player he was – maybe better, she had to admit to herself as he was dead… and Batman wasn't.
She'd have to do something about that unsymmetrical state of affairs, now wouldn't she?