*_{BatJoke}_*

Chapter 22 Reconcile

Bruce sat at the desk with bags under his eyes, looking down at nothing. Harley awkwardly looked over at everyone else, waiting for someone to say something. "Still no response. . he didn't take anything for me to track either." Josh said, causing Bruce to sigh. "It's been a day. . he should have been back by now. I'm going to look for him." Bruce said causing Josh to spin around in the chair. "There's no way you'll be able to find him that way. . he's like a ninja when he wants to hide." Jasper said, making Bruce more frustrated. "Can anyone tell me where he might be then?" Bruce asked, watching as Harley thought before quickly raising her hand. "Ooh! I think I might know" Harley said excitedly.

Harley looked through a file case, pulling one of them out. "When I was a psychiatrist, they had documents on all of our clients, he doesn't go there much cause of the cops always showing up but it's worth a shot to check, right?" Harley said as Bruce looked at the paper, seeing the address. "How did you get this?" Bruce asked. "Before they fired me, I stole a bunch of stuff!" Harley said happily, making Bruce look at here with an unimpressed look. ". . Right. I'm going, since Ms. Waller knows about you guys, I'll need you to keep a low profile. . if they show up don't try to provoke them, just run." Bruce said. "You're not our boss you know." Catwoman said, crossing her arms. "Well, I'm fucking your boss, so I think that's a close second." Bruce said, walking out as Catwoman's eyes widened before growling. She looked over to see Harley staring at her, blinking. "What?" Catwoman asked. "He's got a point, he's basically like a second boss. . . hm. . now that I think about it, we could just be our own bosses." Harley says, making Catwoman lift a brow. "You mean like do our own thing?" Josh asked, watching as Harley nodded. "Yeah! We don't always have to be working right?" Harley said, making everyone start to think. Catwoman flinched, feeling Harley poking her arm. "Um. . and when we do get off, we could hang out or something." Harley said, slightly blushing causing Catwoman to as well.

Bruce pulled up to the apartments, looking at the picture on the paper, it was definitely more put together back then before Gotham went to crap. Bruce got out, walking up the stairs, flinching as he watched an orange cat run through his legs, jumping up onto one of the windowsills. It turned to look at Bruce before walking in through the window. Bruce walked over to the window looking in to see Joker holding the cat, petting it. His eyes looked exhausted and numb. Joker aimed his eyes up, quickly pulling a gun out aiming it at Bruce while still holding the cat who seemed very relaxed. Joker's concerned face turned surprised, lowering the gun before sighing. "What do you want?" Joker said, letting the cat gracefully land onto the couch where he sat soon after. "Where were you-" Bruce tried climbing in through the window, Joker looked over, lifting a brow as he watched him struggle to pull it up. Joker sighed, standing up, walking over. "You can't move it up cause it's locked-" Joker unlocked it causing it to quickly slide up, Joker couldn't help but feel flustered at how close he was now.

Joker groaned, stepping back. "You didn't answer my question. What do you want?" Joker asked, watching as Bruce climbed in. "I want to know where you were. . I was worried-" Bruce stopped himself, feeling somewhat flustered. "Worried?" Joker let out a tired laugh. "You're lucky I'm tired and don't feel like punching someone right now." Joker walked to the couch, plopping down next to the cat. Bruce looked around, thinking as he slowly walked over to the couch. 'I always wondered where he actually lived. . he must not come here a lot though.' Bruce looked at the dust on his hand before sitting next to Joker, the cat lying in between them. "What did Ms. Waller say I did?" Bruce asked, watching as Joker aimed his tired eyes over at him. "You should know, shouldn't you?" Joker said with a smile, watching Bruce's expression turn sad. Joker felt deep down she was lying but couldn't trust it. "People like Ms. Waller lie from the second they wake up to the second they fall asleep. . whatever she said I did. . to make you resent me like this. . it wasn't true." Bruce said, Joker looked into his eyes with a serious look. Joker looked back down with a sad expression, the cat rubbed its head against Joker's hand, snapping him out of it. Joker looked down at the cat as he pet it, then back up at Bruce. "How did you even manage to find me?" Joker said as Bruce couldn't take his eyes off him. "I have my ways." Bruce said crossing his arms. "Oh yeah. . Batman. . you know it's hard to keep track of who's who." Joker said smiling to himself, Bruce looked over at him, thinking. "I never should have left you alone. . I knew Waller was a threat to both of us but. ." Bruce sighed; Joker aimed his tired eyes over at him. ". . I'm so sorry." Bruce said painfully, still looking at the ground, Joker felt like his heart was starting to speed up. "Even if you didn't do it. . I can't resist your Bruce Wayne charm." Joker said with a smile, causing Bruce to look over at him, looking upset. Joker's smile began to fade, letting out a sigh. "I. . . I'll believe you." Joker said, causing Bruce to feel somewhat surprised. ". . . On one condition." Joker said, sounding somewhat colder than before. Bruce stayed silent; he began to feel worried. "We take Waller and her corrupted team down. ." Joker said, looking at Bruce with determined eyes that felt worrisome. "Waller is a high ranked official. . going up against her is a death sentence. We can do this but. . we'll need to be stealthy." Bruce said, causing Joker to slowly smile. "Deal." Joker said, Bruce couldn't stop from looking at his lips, trying to keep his eyes onto his. Bruce began moving closer as the urge to kiss him kept growing. Joker put his hand over Bruce's mouth with a smile. "Until I know you're telling the truth. . you'll have to hold off on that." Joker said teasingly, causing Bruce's brow to furrow, softly grabbing onto his hand, pulling it down. "I'm more worried about you. . with your self control I doubt you'll last any longer than me." Bruce said as Joker slightly tilted his head. "The thought of you betraying me is the biggest turn off." Joker said with a smile as Bruce scoffed, leaning back. "So. . you believe a liar over someone you're in love with?" Bruce said, causing Joker to slightly blush. "In love? Seems a bit extreme don't you think?" Joker said, crossing his arms, looking away. "Then what would you call this?" Bruce asked, causing Joker to deeply think, his face beginning to turn red. "Bruce?" Josh's staticky voice caused both of them to flinch, Bruce grabbed the device, looking at it as he unmuted. "Don't get excited yet. . Joker's still alive." Bruce said, causing Joker to look over with an unimpressed look as Bruce couldn't help but slightly smile. "Uh. . that's good but. . we got a bit of an issue." Josh said, causing them to look at the device with a serious look. "Waller's here. . and she's definitely not alone. We tried doing what you said but they just wanted to fight, we managed to get away but I'm more worried about our equipment. . knowing her high rank she'll most likely find a way to break into the system if she doesn't just steal it." Josh said, Bruce stood up with a tired look. "We'll be there. . just keep moving, they'll be distracted, and we'll get in while they're not paying attention." Bruce said, Joker looked up at him as he thought.

Bruce began walking to the door before turning to see Joker still sat on the couch. "Aren't you coming?" Bruce asked, making Joker turn, still looking out of it. "You really think it's a good idea for me to go out there? You'll probably just end up turning me in the second we find Waller." Joker said, crossing his arms. Bruce's sad expression soon turned frustrated; he rubbed the nasal of his nose. "I just need you. ." Bruce said, causing Joker's face to go red. "I need you to trust me. ." Bruce said making Joker look away with an annoyed look. "I doubt you need me. . but. . it would feel satisfying watching that snake get dragged down." Joker said, giving a mischievous smile that Bruce didn't trust. "Just. . promise you won't hurt anyone." Bruce said coldly, causing Joker to smile, standing up. "Well. . you aren't exactly the boss here." Joker said walking over to him with his hands behind his back. "I think your friends believe otherwise. . when you left someone had to take over." Bruce said, crossing his arms. Joker looked at him with an unimpressed look before Bruce turned to the door. "Whether you come or not, I'm going to bring Waller to justice to prove myself to you. I just think it would be better if you were to watch it in person instead of on a screen." Bruce said as Joker smiled, suddenly opening the door and pushing past Bruce. "Well, Brucey you've given me some motivation; I suppose I'll come this once. . but don't think I won't do something if I find out you lied." Joker said, his eyes piercing into Bruce's, causing his brow to furrow.

Bruce and Joker had made it to the car, Bruce quickly changing into the batsuit. Bruce got inside the car, starting it. "Feels weird going as Batman in Bruce Wayne's car, doesn't it?" Joker said with a smile as Batman looked over with his serious look. "This is Batman's car." Batman said blankly, causing Joker to look at him confused. "Sorry?" Joker said, watching as Batman pressed. Button, causing the windows to go tinted and the car to turn black, things moving on the car could be heard. Joker's eyes lit up. "You clever bat. ." Joker said, looking around the car, seeing it appeared more sharp. "How do you think I kept my identity hidden for so long? I kept myself in plain sight." Batman said, speeding off. Joker leaned back into the seat as he looked at all the buttons, aiming his eyes over at Batman with a smile. Joker pressed one of the buttons, feeling the car suddenly jump. Batman grabbed Joker's wrist as he laughed to himself. "Don't press anything." Batman said sternly. "It's hard when there's so many things to. . come on what do you even need a missile launcher for?" Joker was about to press it before Batman pressed a button that pinned Joker to the seat. "Hey!" Joker tried to break out, looking down at the black metal bars that wrapped around him and the seat. Joker growled, trying to find a way to break out of it. "I can't have you pressing random buttons so for the time being you're going to stay like that." Batman said as Joker looked over with a look of disapproval. "I don't know if you've forgotten but we're both being hunted by the most powerful woman in Gotham, for the sake of both of our lives you should-" Joker tried using his strength to move the bars. Batman sighed, pulling into an alleyway, turning to Joker who was struggling. "I can handle Waller myself. . if you end up killing her, you'll just be digging our own graves. We need to do this stealthily so setting off a missile in the middle of the street wouldn't be the smartest move." Batman said, causing Joker's brows to furrow before looking away. "She deserves the same fate that she led all of my friends to. . all of those people who needed help but got treated like trash. She won't stop until she gets what she wants. . and what she wants is me in a psych ward and you in a prison cell." Joker said coldly, feeling more and more frustrated. "She deserves a court hearing and to be put in prison." Batman said, causing Joker to laugh. "You think she won't get back out? She has connections with everyone. . and she has dirt on a lot of people. It will take her less than a day to be back at the top of Wayne Enterprise and back in charge of you. . including your workers." Joker said, Batman's brow furrowed. "She may be powerful, but she can't stop me if I've already been exposed." Batman said, causing Joker to stay silent, thinking deeply. "You'll never get it. . all this sympathy for people who wouldn't bat an eye if you died." Joker said. "I don't do this for me. . I do this for Gotham." Batman said deeply, watching as Joker began to laugh. "You're so caught up in protecting this place that you don't even consider the feelings of people around you. You couldn't even stay in charge of your own business." Joker said, causing Batman to become more angry. "You can't talk about considering people's feelings. . you kill whoever you feel threatened by-" Batman was suddenly caught off. "Because I care about you!" Joker said, finally fed up. Batman's eyes widened as Joker's expression turn frustrated. They both sat in silence before the communication device began making static noises. Batman grabbed it, hearing Josh's muffled voice through it. "Br- uce?" Josh said, his voice cutting out. "What is it?" Batman waited, growing more anxious the more he waited. Batman quickly began driving, realizing he had to get to them fast.