Unsuspecting Hero (Batjokes)

Chapter 42

Jack stared, overcome with a numbness that was swallowing him whole. He stared at Riddler's lifeless body. Death forever engrained in that expression, the lead up to his death full of pain and sorrow. "...'m sorry, Ed..." he could hardly bring himself to whisper, mouth feeling like sandpaper and body feeling heavy.

Alfred had gone to the hospital to check over Bruce. He'd been taken into surgery, and the likelihood of his survival had been fifty/fifty. Jack wanted to be optimistic, but life just loved to pick him up, slap him around, twist his organs inside out and leave nothing but hurt in its wake. Life was cruel, life was meaningless, that was his whole motto as Joker. Nothing mattered, it was all a game.

Jack came to learn that it did matter. It may all be a game, but a game that can be worth it, if you make the right choices and find the people that make the game worth living through. You need to make the game have a good story, one that leaves your ending to be memorable. For Joker, it was leaving a mark on Gotham. He would have forever been known as the clown prince of crime, one that bestowed terror on the weakest and poorest. But it didn't need to be something big like that. Maybe the most memorable ending of all, was to have a family. One that would live on to remember you, remembers how much they loved you and all that you had done for them.

He wondered, in the limited time his game had began to have the 'Jack' side quest, if it was enough time. Would Riddler remember him with memories of anguish, or softness? Would his Brucie remember the blood, the punches and the violence? Or the kisses, the gentle caresses and the soft words spoken during the night? Was it the click of a detonator running through his head, or the words 'I love you', whispered so confidently between them? He'd never know. And maybe that was the most painful knowledge of them all.

Someone entered the room next to him, but he couldn't bring himself to look away from the body laid in front of him. "Jack?" Sounded like Barbara. He could only manage a small hum of acknowledgement, as he felt her presence wheel itself next to him. "Alfred says that Bruce will be okay. The surgery was successful"

A sob escaped him, full of relief and anguish all the same. He had lost everyone in his life, as Jack and Joker alike, he couldn't survive if his Brucie, His Batsy, His darling, His boyfriend, his everything, was to be lost too. But he felt so guilty, feeling relieved when the dead body of his friend, his former lover, his victim in some contexts, was laid dead right in front of him. Relief felt wrong right now, but he couldn't help it.

His darling was going to be okay. Hands wrapped around him, and he leaned into the comfort like it was second nature. He was sick of shying away from it all. Comfort was normal in families, right? Then he wanted to participate in that comfort. 

Barbara held him for what seemed like ages, and Jack didn't mind. He felt her own tears seep into his shirt, he still didn't mind. They cried together, like a family. They held eachother, like a family. All the deaths in his life was all tragedy, but this was warm. Soft, something he was beginning to feel like he really did deserve. He had earned it, he supposed. If they were all so willing to take him in, he could accept it. He could learn to be proud of it. Bruce would like that. Bruce only ever wanted him to feel accepted.

"T-Thanks, Babs..." He mumbled into ginger locks, feeling less awful than he did hours ago. "No, thank you, Jack. I...I needed this too" She mumbled back. They stayed like that for a while, and for once, he wasn't counting the minuets away. No, he just let them be.

Gordon met them both in there, and Jack barely looked up to acknowledge him. He could see Jim analysing them, words on the tip of his tongue that he chose not to say. "Jest has been taken into custody. Axel and Jason's body's are being taken, the last body is Riddler's"

Jack turned to face Riddler. "I...I want a funeral for them. For all three of them."

Both Barbara and Jim looked at him with surprise, and he only shrugged. "Axel wasn't the best, but...he still saved me. Saved us all. Jason would have never turned out that way, if it wasn't for me. Jason was just lost, and angry. He didn't deserve to die that way. They deserve to be mourned as well"

"You become a better man every time I see you, Jack." Gordon smiled, but Jack couldn't find it in him to reciprocate that. Only nodded his head. 

"You wanna say your goodbyes?" Barbara asked, gesturing before the body still in the room. Jack sighed. "I'm sorry, Ed." He hummed, taking one of those lifeless hands into his own, cold meeting warmth. "I wish that I could have done more for you. I wish things could have been better. I wish I could have had a chance to apologize for all I did to you. I hope things are...okay, wherever death leads us. I hope you find peace there"

~~~

They watched as Gordon drove off with the bodies, Barbara holding his hand the whole time. 

It was like the evidence of all that had happened had just disappeared. It felt eerie, being here right now. The matriarch of the household wasn't here, not the butler had held the whole family afloat. It was just the children left behind, and the man that truly had no clue what he was doing without Bruce by his side.

A buzz from his pocket, and Jack was brought out of his thoughts. "Who's that?" Barbara asked, as Jack went to reach for the phone. "No clue..." He mumbled, as he answered.

"Jack Napier?"

"J-Jonny...?" Jack's brow cocked with confusion. Scarecrow was the last person he was expecting to hear from. The guy had been a no-show since...well, since he had been taken by Harvey. "How you been?" Jack found himself asking anyway. He liked Jonathan, had missed him. 

"I can tell you, once you meet me at the docks"

"I would, but now is the worst time" Jack nibbled on his bottom lip. This felt off, something was wrong.

"I think I might change your mind. After all, my folder with proof that Batman is Bruce Wayne is sitting here waiting to be sent off to Vicki Vale"

Jack's blood ran cold, for the millionth time these few months. Why couldn't he just catch a fucking break!?

"...fine. I'll be there in fifteen"