Chapter Text
It was late in the night, almost early morning when a dark cowled figure landed on the roof of the precinct. The figure was there to answer the bright signal that shone in the sky.
“Batman, you’re here.” Commander Gordon breathed a sigh of relief, as much as he hated to admit it, without Batman there would be heinous criminals running loose and endangering citizen lives
“Joker’s escaped again?” Batman questioned, already knowing the answer
“That insane manic has escaped again, just what are the people at Arkham Asylum doing.”
Commander Gordon turned to ask Batman his opinion but he was gone, per usual.
“Master Bruce Joker shouldn’t be too far from Wayne Enterprises.”
“Thanks, Alfred.”
Batman deployed his grappling hook and shot across the city, heading towards Wayne Ent. He landed on top of a smaller office building, surveying the surrounding area.
“Lucius, can you send me a five-mile radius from my current location.”
“On it Mr. Wayne.”
There was a quiet buzz and Batman tapped the side of his cowl, a map flashed in front of his eyes and he smirked a little before stepping off the edge of the building and gliding to his next location.
After hightailing it out of Arkham Asylum, Joker was sticking to the alleys. He managed to toss the horrid burnt orange jumpsuit and was currently in a thrifted suit, much like the purple suits he always wore.
Joker wasn’t particularly in the mood to wreak havoc, his normal maniacal grin was gone and in its place was a rather neutral expression.
“Fly me to the moon and let me play among the-”
Joker suddenly stopped singing quietly and pressed himself to the grimy, alley walls just as a cop car flew past, lights flashing, sirens wailing. Joker let out a quiet sigh of relief, before continuing on his way.
Contrary to popular belief Joker was quite sane and in control of himself. He was currently scaling the side of a moderately tall building via a rickety fire escape. The platform the grease painted male was standing on gave way with a loud creak and a groan.
The suited male flailed for a short second before a gloved hand found purchase on the broken ledge.
“Holy shit.” the Joker muttered, laughing scornfully at the rusted, broken metal eight floors below him
The lipsticked male dangled precariously from the ledge before heaving himself up and quickly climbing the remaining rickety steps. Although no one knew where exactly Joker lived, the rumors were really quite too much. Right before Batman had put Joker in Arkham Asylum, Joker had taken some of the money he had and purchased a small apartment on the top of the building he was climbing.
Joker stood on the edge of the building and looked down at the city, sighing a little. Joker turned his acidic eyes towards the brightly lit building of Wayne Enterprises.
“Oh just you wait,” he whispered to himself quietly before walking into the apartment building, shoving the door open and sliding the deadbolt behind him
“Master Bruce, it’s time to wake up.”
Bruce Wayne opened his eyes to see a familiar, concerned face hovering like a mother hen.
“Alfred…?” the dark-haired male rubbed his eyes, blinking the sleep from them
“Master Bruce, you passed out mid-flight and crashed into the sixth floor of Wayne Enterprises. You haven’t been eating your meals as I told you.”
Bruce raised a hand to cut Alfred off, who shut his mouth with a snap.
“That’s not the issue Alfred, the issue is Joker is out and about.” Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose and ran his fingers through his hair, clearly distressed
Alfred laid a reassuring hand on Bruce’s shoulder, “Good news is he hasn’t done anything yet, I have a feeling he’s going to lay low for a while, Master Bruce.”
Bruce shook off Alfred’s hand and gave him a tightlipped smile, “Let’s hope that he’ll lay low for tonight’s fundraiser.”
Alfred tilted his head slightly in confusion, “Master Bruce, the fundraiser is in forty-five minutes.”
“WHAT!”
Bruce lost his cool for a moment and his eyes widened before he threw back the covers on his bed and scrambled to get up, he threw off his clothes and hightailed it to the bathroom where hot water was already running for him, courtesy of Alfred, who was currently trying to maintain a professional expression and not laugh hysterically.
“Master Bruce,” he called loudly from the bedroom, “I’ve left a suit hanging on the rack.”
Bruce swore silently as he toweled himself off and chucked the towel into the corner. He slipped into the suit that Alfred had left hanging.
“God, just how did I sleep for so long,” he muttered, scooping a glob of hair gel and applying it to his hair before stepping out of the room
The dark-haired male was lost in thought the entire helicopter ride to Wayne Enterprises, when he finally snapped out of it he was lurking in the corner of the room holding a champagne glass with expensive alcohol.
Just as he took a step forward he bumped into someone.
“Hey, watch where you’re-”
Bruce stopped short as the guy he bumped into turned around, a familiar, uncanny smile caught Bruce’s attention.
“Oh fuck.” Bruce swore out loud
It was the Joker, he was in a white suit with a purple handkerchief folded into a neat triangle peeking out from his breast pocket. Bruce had no clue how Joker had managed to pass through the crowds without invoking fear for he still had his white greasepaint on, along with the blood-red lipstick he used.
“Hellooo Wayne.” Joker drawled, a slight smile on his lips, “Judging from your reaction, we can skip the introductions.”
Joker’s smile stretched even wider, teeth glistening in the light.
“What do you want from me, Joker?” Bruce asked, fingers twitching in his suit pockets
“Oooh, asking what I want, how fun.” he licked his lips, glancing around
Joker took another step and the lights shut off.
“Well, this can’t be good.” the Joker muttered, Bruce, heard his lips smacking together
“What are you planning?” Bruce hissed, squinting, barely able to make out the form of the Joker in the sudden change of lighting
“I simply want to-”
There was a loud thwack and the sound of someone crumpling to the floor. Bruce assumed it was Joker as his sentence got cut off. Just as he heard something behind him, he was sprayed in the face with chloroform.
“We can’t have you escaping either Mr. Wayne.” was the last thing Bruce heard before he lost consciousness.