Henchman (JOKER X READER) ✅

chapter 4: trigger happy

i've come too far to quit- step back, i'm goin' in

—-

Frost led you out of the penthouse and back into the elevator. He pressed the button for the next floor down.

"You're going to meet the rest of the guys," he informed you. "Just the main crew. And then we'll see how much I need to teach you about firing a gun."

"Sounds good to me," you said, trying to hide your nervousness. Frost just smiled slightly, so evidently you had failed.

He led you out of the elevator and into one of the rooms, where a group of three men sat around the coffee table playing cards. They were the ones from the robbery, that you could tell from the masks on the beds behind them.

"Boys," Frost said, and they all turned to face him. "This is Y/N L/N, our new recruit. L/N, this is the boss's main team. That's Sharkey-" he pointed at a man with curly brown hair and sharp dark eyes, "Panda," a man with long black hair tied back waved a hand, "And Fox." Another man, a redhead, who wore a Batman mask lifted up over his face, nodded to you.

In lieu of conversation, Panda placed down his hand of cards, face up. Fox swore, slapping his own cards down.

"Dammit, Panda," he said, and Sharkey let out a low laugh.

"Hey, Foxy, hand me a cig," he said, and when Fox didn't immediately react, he reached around him and yanked a pack of cigarettes from his back pocket.

Fox yelped. "Hey, no touching the goods!" he scolded. "This ain't a Trader Joe's, you can't just sample the merchandise before you decide to buy."

"Oh, shut up, Fox, we all know he's 'sampled the goods' before," Panda drawled from his spot on the floor. "Now pay up, dickbag. You owe me 50."

"Aw, fuck you," Fox muttered, but leaned forward to smack two twenty dollar bills and two fives on the coffee table in front of Panda.

Panda looked up at you conspiratorially, whispering (very loudly), "Foxy here can't bluff to save his life."

"That's not true!" Fox said indignantly. "I just keep getting bad hands."

"Sure," Sharkey said, patting Fox on the shoulder and giving him an almost-patronizing smile. He shifted his attention to look up at you as well. "Wanna play? Panda'll deal you in."

"Maybe later," Frost cut in. "The boss wants me to show them the ropes right away."

"Ah," Sharkey said knowingly. "Well, good luck, L/N. You're gonna need it." Panda nodded at you, and Fox waved.

"Luck for picking out guns?" You asked Frost as you left the room.

"It usually means you're going to end up using them on somebody before the week is out," Frost said. "J's got a real thing for testing the new recruits." You tried your best to hide a shiver. You hadn't planned on being tested this soon. And either Frost didn't notice your indecision, or he'd elected to ignore it.

"Where are we going?" you asked.

"The basement," Frost said. "Most of the guns are in there."

The basement was brightly lit, which you hadn't expected. Metal cases covered two long tables in front of you, and Frost nodded when you touched one.

"Go for it," he said.

You unlatched the clasps, lifting the lid. Inside was a plain, grey, metal pistol. It was plain, but... would it be a dick move to say too plain? Nevertheless, you moved on to the next case.

The guns you came across next looked either just like the first, or seemed too complicated for you to figure out in one afternoon. You were starting to think about going back to the first gun until the last case on the first table.

Inside that one was another simple revolver. Its metal was a metallic grey, with simple black detailing that made it look slimmer in your grip. It was just a little larger than the other pistols, but it fit comfortably in your hand. You lifted it experimentally, staring down the barrel and thumbing the trigger. You knew the safety was on, but you reveled in the feeling of power you got from holding it anyway.

"So that's the one, huh?" Frost asked.

You jumped, having almost forgotten he was there. "Yeah," you said sheepishly, lowering your arm.

"Good," he grinned. "Ready to try it out?"