Henchman (JOKER X READER) ✅

chapter 22: reunion

i'll be there as soon as i can, but i'm busy mending broken pieces of the life i had before

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Mikey led you back through the maximum security ward, jaw clenched in an uncharacteristic display of anger and impatience.

"This place is a goddamn maze," he said irritably, brushing some of his red hair out of his face. "Where do you think they are?"

"Don't know. But you'll know where Joker is if you follow the laughter," you said drily, pushing open another door into a different part of the ward. Sure enough, you could hear faint cackling from the end of the hallway.

"I'll be damned," muttered Mikey. He broke into a run, skidding to a stop in front of the door. He jiggled the doorknob. Finding it locked, he rolled his eyes in exasperation and pulled out his pistol, shooting at the lock. The door swung open, and the laughter grew louder.

There were two cells in that room, and right next to each other, too. Joker was in the one to the left, Two-Face in the one to the right. Both wore unfastened straitjackets, and Joker was sitting on the floor of his cell, laughing at nothing in particular.

Seeing him again was a brutal shock to your system. You felt oddly distant from the entire situation, watching with a strange detachment as Mikey ran up to Dent's cell, ignoring Joker completely. He gripped the bars with one hand, reaching through them with the other. He had a knife in his hand, which he used to haphazardly cut Dent's straitjacket off of him.

"Alright?" Mikey asked, near breathless.

"Alright," Two-Face replied, his scarred lips quirking up into something like a smile. He took the knife from Mikey and tucked it into the pocket of his hospital scrubs, then gripped Mikey's hand in his own.

You felt like an intruder, so you turned your attention back to the Joker. He'd stopped laughing, and was instead watching you with a troublingly blank expression on his face. And since he'd stopped laughing, you could hear the ragged, harsh breathing of someone else- but who?

There, crouched in the corner beside Joker's cell, was a pretty blonde woman. A doctor, by the looks of it. What was she doing there?

Your eyes met, and you noticed her terrified eyes were blue.

"Y/N," Joker called, drawing your attention back to him. "So good to see you."

"Wish it were under different circumstances," you said tersely, dropping his gaze and glancing back at the blonde doctor. "Can you open this?" You demanded.

"Y-yes," she stuttered.

You gestured at the lock. "Get going, then. And get Dent's too, while you're at it."

She looked over at Joker, who didn't object at all. The bastard even looked smug as she typed in the passcode to the electronic lock. The door swung open.

"Dent?" She whispered.

"Oh, him too," Joker said nonchalantly. Mikey stepped aside for her, but didn't let go of Dent's hand.

"Come on," you snapped at Joker, already turning to leave. You were pissed off, and he was just too damn observant to miss it. It wasn't just that he'd fired you without even letting you explain- no, something about the skittish blonde doctor that seemed to take orders from him rubbed you the wrong way, too.

"Now, now, Y/N," he purred, shedding his straitjacket with the help of the doctor and approaching you. "What's the rush?" He slung his arm around your shoulders.

You went very still at his touch. "Jim Gordon is unconscious in the hall," you said through gritted teeth, "And I really would not like to be shot or taken into police custody when I'm not even getting paid for this. That's the rush."

Joker frowned. "You're not wearing Harvey's outfit," he said.

"Obviously not," you said angrily. "Would you come on? Or do you just want to stay here?"

Joker seemed almost pleased by your outburst. "Lead the way, Y/N."

You wrenched yourself free of his grip and stormed out, with Mikey and Dent first to follow you.

"You okay?" Mikey whispered.

"He pisses me off," you muttered back, not looking at him or anybody else. You did spare a glance to Gordon's prone form on the floor, though. He wasn't awake yet, and none of your other men had found the maximum security section, too preoccupied with wreaking havoc elsewhere.

Jim Gordon was a cop. Bad news times about a thousand, and you couldn't afford to let him live.

Well, now he can owe me twice, you thought to yourself as you ignored the uncomfortable feeling in your chest that made you step around his body, leaving him to wake up alone.

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can y'all tell where this is going yet? just a chapter or two more and we'll be there >:) anyway, thank u sm for 2k reads! i appreciate you all so much, and i'm so glad you like this fic! <3

p.s. i was thinking of writing another fanfic after this, maybe another joker x reader but they're cellmates in arkham asylum? but i'm always open to new things! if you have any ideas for another story, comment somewhere!