Jigsaw Puzzle || The Joker x Reader

➟ Chapter Thirteen

"Keys," Joker said, holding out his hand as you walked with him to your Camaro.

You chuckled and twirled the chain around your finger. "No, you're not driving my car."

"No?" he questioned as if he had never been told that.

"Exactly," you replied. "When I let you drive before, it was a one-time thing."

"But you drive the speed limit," Joker complained as you rounded the vehicle and got in.

"Another reason why I'll be driving," you retorted playfully, turning the key in the ignition.

You and The Joker were heading off to the location where the mobs were holding their meeting about Batman and their stolen money. Thanks to surveillance, you and Joker knew about everything that went on around Gotham with Vincent, the top henchmen and tech expert, supplying papers with only the most vital information.

You glanced at Joker in the passenger seat and immediately did a double take when you saw him tweaking something in the side of his new coat. You reached over and pulled it open to confirm your suspicions.

"Why do you have grenades tied to a string?" you asked, confused.

Joker pushed your hand away. "Insurance incase they think they're clever," he explained. "They're not real, if you were concerned."

"Why would I have to be concerned around you?" you said sarcastically.

"Come on; I'd never let anything happen to you."

Now grinning, you parked at the back of the building, then exited the car. Walking side-by-side, you picked a few locks on the way through the top floors and made your way down some flights of stairs. You and Joker turned a corner and saw two mob guards standing at your target door.

"I got this," you said, jogging down the hallway and didn't react when the men raised their machine guns. "Excuse me." You ducked under the guns and brought your hands up to cut off their pressure points and knock them out instantly.

"Remind me to never piss you off," Joker commented.

"Don't piss me off."

You opened the door, waltzed into the underground room, and the voices you had been listening to the entire way through the building became clearer.

"I already have. For obvious reasons, I couldn't wait for your permission," Lau said through the television's speakers. "Rest assured, your money is safe."

Joker laughed obnoxiously at that as he passed you and walked into the area where the others were sitting around a table or standing. It became silent as they caught sight of the two of you approaching the table.

Joker peered back at you momentarily. "And I thought my jokes were bad," he said.

You bit your lip to stop the laughter from escaping. You recognized a couple of the men in the room, even one that your dad worked with who thought you were a useless child. That person was Gamble. You knew they thought you were only accompanying The Joker right now (besides Lau), but you didn't care. That was the plan.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't have my boy here pull your head off," Gamble threatened as his guard stood and stalked toward Joker.

"How about a magic trick?" Joker responded, taking out a pencil and driving it into the surface of the table. "I'm going to make this pencil disappear." Once the guard got to him, Joker grabbed his arm and slammed his forehead into the pencil and nonchalantly discarded the man to the ground before sitting in the empty chair. "Tada! It's gone," Joker whispered. "By the way, the suit wasn't cheap; you should know, you bought it."

Gamble stood quickly and you made it over to take your place behind Joker with one hand on the gun in your waistband. You saw Lau's eyes widen at your presence but you ignored it completely.

"Sit down," Chechen, a drug lord who worked under the Italian boss sitting next to him, Sal Maroni, directed in a thick accent. "I want to hear proposition."

Gamble slowly sat down as Joker started to speak.

"Let's wind the clock back a year
--cops and lawyers wouldn't dare cross any of you. I mean, what happened? Did your balls drop off?" he said in a patronizing manner. "You see a guy like me--"

"A freak," Gamble interrupted, causing the others to mumble in agreement.

You raised an eyebrow at him and tilted your head slightly to the side as you laid a hand on Joker's shoulder, which he didn't react to, throwing the men off even more.

"--a guy like me." Joker stopped himself and leaned forward. "Listen, I know why you choose to have your little group therapy sessions in broad daylight. I know why you're afraid to go out at night. The Batman. See, Batman has shown Gotham your true colors, unfortunately, but he's just the beginning." He pointed to Lau. "And as for the television's so-called plan, Batman has no jurisdiction. Batman will find him and make him squeal. I know the squealers when I see them."

"What do you propose?" Chechen inquired as the television went black.

Joker pushed his hair back. "It's simple--we, uh, kill the Batman."

"If it's so simple, why haven't you done it?" Maroni asked.

"If you're good at something, never do it for free," Joker answered.

"How much you want?" Chechen questioned.

"Half."

The men murmured amongst themselves and laughed.

"You're crazy," Gamble said.

"I'm not. No, I'm not," Joker replied in a clipped tone as you held yourself back from shooting Gamble right there. "If we don't deal with this now, soon, little Gamble here won't be able to get a nickel for his grandma."

Gamble slammed his hands on the table in anger. "Enough from the clown!"

As Gamble jumped to his feet, Joker did as well and you both took a step toward the nearest exit. Everyone froze when Joker opened his jacket to reveal the grenades and the strings.

"Let's not blow this out of proportion," Joker teased.

"You think you can steal from us and just walk away?" Gamble growled.

"Yes," you and Joker said.

"I'm putting the word out--five-hundred grand for this clown dead, a million alive, so I can teach him some manners first. Same goes for your girl," Gamble hissed.

Joker didn't like being threatened as often as it happened, but you being threatened affected him way more. He didn't show it, but he was already gathering ways to end Gamble's life.

"All right, listen," Joker said. "Why don't you give me a call when you want to start taking things a little more seriously. Here's my card."

You walked backwards and held open the door as Joker placed his card on the table, then he passed you out of the room. Together, you walked quickly from the building and back to where your car was.

"Maroni and Chechen are in favor, but Gamble has to go," you said.

"I couldn't agree more," Joker replied with a clenched jaw.

"Did his comments get to you that much?" you inquired as you got closer to the main warehouse.

Joker shrugged and you didn't know what to say to him. You didn't believe that he could be bothered by trivial name calling or death threats, but he appeared to be somehow. It made you want to take out Gamble even more, but at the same time, assure Joker that they didn't understand. That no one understood.