Henchman (JOKER X READER) ✅

chapter 39: closure

i owned every second that this world could give, i saw so many places, the things that i did- yeah, with every broken bone, i swear i lived

—-

You woke up in the arms of the Joker, and it didn't bother you at all.

He wasn't awake yet, so you took your time looking at him, propping yourself up on your forearm. He looked peaceful when he was asleep, far more so than he ever had when awake. You took in his long eyelashes, the shadows beneath his eyes, and his pale lips.

If anyone had told you a year ago that this was where you'd end up, you'd have laughed in their face. But this was where you belonged. You would've worked it out sooner or later, you were sure.

You laid back down, relaxing back into Joker's arms. You must have fallen asleep, because when you woke up next, Joker was awake and watching you sleep, the same way you were watching him. The only difference was that he was tracing the contours of your face with the tips of his fingers.

"Hey," you said, smiling at him. Your voice was rough from sleep, but he didn't seem to mind. He just hummed tunelessly, nodding to show he'd heard you. "What're you doing?"

"Hold still," he said, "I'm missing things."

You frowned. "Missing what?"

He tsked at you and grabbed your chin with one hand while he continued mapping the planes of your face with the other. It was more relaxing once you got used to it than you'd thought it would be- it was getting easier to bear the weight of his attention.

"Yeah, I know you, doll," he whispered. "I know you best."

"Yeah, J," you said, voice just as quiet, "I know you do."

Life settled into an easy routine after that. You were the Joker's right hand, his trusted partner. You and Jonny switched roles, which he didn't mind at all- less stress for him, that was for sure.

So of course it was only a few days later when Mikey Roberts showed up on your doorstep again.

"Hey," he said, smiling, "Long time no see. Wanna let me in?"

You stepped aside to let him through. "Not that I'm not happy to see you, but what are you doing here? And how'd you get in?"

Mikey shrugged. "I have my ways."

"You told them you worked here, didn't you," you said, closing the door behind him. He just smiled, not admitting anything.

"I'm not here for a favor or anything. I just want to talk."

"Okay," you agreed, crossing your arms. It wasn't that you didn't like Mikey- it was that you didn't entirely trust him. "Talk."

He snorted. "Feeling the love here. I just wanted to say that-" he fidgeted with his fingers, "Mr. Dent and I... we're together now. Like you and Joker."

All of your mistrust vanished. "Really?" you said, grinning, "Holy shit, that's huge! When? What happened?"

He smiled bashfully, staring down at his feet. "Well, uh, it's not the happiest story. I got on the business end of a bullet, and he just kind of... snapped. I don't remember it, obviously. But my friend Pipes told me that he, like, took out everybody else around me and stayed with me until the ambulance showed up."

"Nothing like a little near-death experience to wake somebody up," you said, nodding. "So when did he confess?"

"When I woke up in the hospital," Mikey said, his smile growing softer at the edges. "Thought he wasn't going to show up, actually. And then he kinda just yelled it at me- I didn't know what he was saying for a second."

You snickered. "Sounds right."

"Sure does." Then his gaze grew sharper, more perceptive. "I heard about the helicopter crash. You alright?"

"Yeah," you said, smiling. "Yeah, actually."

Mikey raised his eyebrows, expecting an explanation, so you laughed and told him what the Joker had said to you.

"Jesus, that's somehow even worse than what I've got going on," he said, but he was grinning, so you didn't take him too seriously. "Look out for yourself, Y/N."

"Don't I always?"

"Sometimes you do."

You gave him a fake glare, and he started to laugh. You joined him, flying high on the success of the past few days.

"Go home, idiot," you said good-naturedly when you finally calmed down. "Your boss will kill me if I keep you away for too long."

"Don't worry, I'll make sure he doesn't," Mikey said as he made his way to the door. Then he got serious. "Hey, Y/N. Good luck. I mean it."

"Same to you," you said. "But I hope we won't need it."

"Oh, sure. But believe it or not, I've got a good feeling about all this."

"So do I," you smiled. "See you, man."

"'Bye, Y/N!"

You closed the door after him and grinned to yourself. Yeah, you were confident that this was going to work out.

—-

hi all!! so i'm super bad at keeping up a writing schedule apparently, and also at ending things! might end up rewriting some of this if inspiration strikes. (maybe even an epilogue.) but i wanted a happy ending for mikey and a mutual understanding between the characters.

what happens to y/n and the joker after this is entirely up to you! but this is intended as a more or less happy ending. <3

thank you all so much for sticking around and being so patient with me. i appreciate you more than you know (especially if you commented or voted- you're mvps). i hope you've enjoyed this journey as much as i have (and i'm amazed that we even got this far).

that said, i'm never Not writing. so if you've got a fic you'd like to see or an idea you want looked at, i'll usually do that! (this includes outtakes of this fic/one-shots from after the events of the book/completely separate ideas.) 

thank you again. i love y'all <33

UPDATE 1/17/23: if you're looking for more joker x reader, the first chapter of my new fic is up now. it's called "by reason of insanity"- go check it out <3 

UPDATE #2 9/9/24: for those of y'all who wanted the mike/harvey spinoff- that's up now! it's called "guilty as sin", have a look if you're interested!