Henchman (JOKER X READER) ✅

interlude

nobody stands in between me and my man- it's me and mr. jones

—

Mikey took the scenic route back, his cold fingers shoved in his pockets for warmth.

His head was spinning. He'd known the second he saw Y/N L/N getting out of the car with Joker that they would be a powerful new player in the treacherous games played in this city. After all, it was common knowledge that Joker let absolutely no one into his confidences. Jonny Frost was barely there himself. So Y/N had to be some kind of miracle to get where they were right now. But he hadn't anticipated their desire to keep the city safe, or how far they would go to keep violence from erupting.

It was a really goddamned stupid move, Mikey knew that. If Joker found out that Y/N had been talking to a guy in Two-Face's gang, he wouldn't see it as something selfless- he'd see it as a betrayal. And it would look like one, too. Mikey just hoped that Y/N knew that too, or had at least thought about it.

When he got back to the courthouse, there was a black-haired man sitting on the front steps, elbows resting on his knees. His dark eyes were staring at the ground.

"Hey, Pipes. What're you doing out here?" He asked.

Pipes, Mikey's best friend and an all-around nervous dude, looked up. "You've gotta go talk to him, dude," he said. Which, while it didn't sound like it, was an answer in and of itself. Especially when the word him meant only one person in their vocabulary- the boss.

"What happened?"

"He shot a guy," Pipes said. "One of the good ones, too."

Mikey frowned. Usually Dent just threw stuff around when he was upset. "How long ago was that?"

Pipes pulled out his phone and glanced at it. "Ten minutes, I think."

"Did you shut everybody out of that hallway?"

"Yeah," he replied. "Didn't take much. Nobody wanted to be in there for a repeat performance."

"Worst production ever."

"Fuckin' tell me about it."

Mikey reached out to pat his shoulder. "Don't worry about it, man. I'll get this sorted."

"Please do," Pipes said, back to staring at the concrete beneath his feet.

When Mikey slipped inside, the courthouse was quieter than he had ever seen it. Dent's office was all the way at the end of the main hallway. It had once been the judge's office, which made a lot of sense given Dent's twisted sense of justice. Littering the hallway were fresh bullet holes in the walls and scorch marks in the carpet. Mikey knocked on the door and held his breath, hoping for the best.

"Hey, sir. It's Mikey, can I come in?"

Silence. Mikey waited a few more seconds, then tried the doorknob. The office was unlocked, so he gently eased the door open and stepped into the room.

Harvey Dent was seated at the large, wooden desk, practically lounging in the armchair behind it. He held a gun in one hand and a glass of whiskey in the other, and Mikey could immediately tell who was in charge by which eye glanced over at him first.

"Where've you been?" Harvey asked. His voice was unusually inflectionless.

"Took a walk," Mikey said. "And I've got some news, if you want to hear it."

Harvey twirled the gun between two unscarred fingers. "Spit it out."

Mikey paused. "You alright, boss? You don't usually put holes in the walls unless someone's pissed you off."

This time, the charred side of Dent's lips twitched into a scowl. "We're working with fucking idiots," Two-Face snapped, slamming the glass down so hard that some of the whiskey sloshed over onto the desk. "They're all totally incompetent. Couldn't even handle a robbery without fucking it up. They'll think twice before pulling shit like that again." He took a long pull from the glass. "What do you have to tell us?"

"I got a call from Joker's second in command," Mikey started.

"Frost?"

"Y/N L/N. I went to see them, and they told me that Joker won't compromise on this. He would be absolutely fine with a gang war. They wanted to know if you would compromise, so nobody has to die."

"Compromise? With the Joker?" Harvey asked incredulously. "It would make us look weak."

"It would save lives," Mikey countered.

Two-Face gave him a calculating look. "You want us to do this."

"I don't want to die," he said. "Think of the death count if Joker decides to go ballistic. You know the damage he can do. Why risk your life? Why risk the lives of people who don't even know that this could be coming?"

The question why risk my life went unasked.

"You're friends with this... Y/N L/N?" Harvey asked slowly, rising from the chair. He was clearly choosing his words carefully.

"Acquaintances at most. I haven't forgotten where my loyalties lie."

"You better not have," and Mikey couldn't even tell who was speaking at this point, Dent's voice a snarled mix of Harvey and Two-Face's tones.

"I haven't," he assured them again, and dared to step closer to the desk. "It's just you. It always has been."

Dent watched Mikey, who stayed still until it was clear that Dent had found what he was looking for.

"We'll think about it," Two-Face finally said.

Mikey nodded, unable to stop himself from smiling. "Sounds good, boss."

"Yeah, yeah. Get the fuck out of our office."

—-

okay, so nobody objected to this, so here we are! i personally write harvey dent in this fic with his arkham knight portrayal in mind, but you're free to imagine him any way you'd like!

also, 1k reads?? you guys are awesome. thank you so much. i'm so glad you like this fic as much as i do. <3