Tied up
Batman would have never thought that a simple phone call could put him in such a state. But when he had heard, a few minutes ago, this deep, unknown voice talking through his batphone and telling him that he had kidnapped two of the people he cared the most for, and that they were both in lethal danger, it was more than he could bare. Memories of his parent's death flashed in front of his eyes. He couldn't lose anyone else. He wouldn't lose anyone else.
He ran as fast as he could to the location that the unknown man had told him to go if he wanted to see the hostages alive again. He arrived in front of two doors, both of them locked. He tried everything he could to open them, to no avail. There was a little screen above both of the doors.
"Glad to see you, Batman"
Under other conditions, Batman would have try to locate the where the man's voice was coming from, but he didn't have time for that right now.
"Where are the hostages!" Batman barked.
He did not even bother to ask who the man was. It didn't matter. All that mattered was that two people he loved were in danger.
"Behind those doors, as you had probably guessed." the voice answered.
Images of the hostages suddenly appeared on the screens. On one of them was Robin, tied up to a chair, apparently unconscious. On the other one was Jack, tied up as well.
"Why?" Batman growled. "What did you do to them?"
"Why? Because I want to test you. What did I do to them? Well, the rooms they are locked in are filled with a dangerous poison. They will be dead in...let's say...5 minutes? But I'm a nice guy, you know, and I'll let you save one of them. Just tell me which one you want to be dead, and I release the other."
Batman clenched his teeth.
"You're...asking me to chose between two lives? Two human beings?"
"Yeppp! C'mon, the choice shouldn't be to difficult, right? Robin is like your son, while the Joker is your worst enemy! Seems easy to me!"
Batman took a deep breath. This crazy man was right. If he had to make a choice, if he really had to, it was obvious that he would chose to save Robin. He was his son. He was his partner. He was his best friend. And he was so young...
But the Joker....Well...he...he was Jack, the love of his life. Without him, there was no Batman. He knew that. Deep inside, he knew that Batman and Bruce couldn't live without Jack, without his fluffy hair or his beautiful white body, or all the other perfect things. He couldn't live without his lil' fluffy clown. And Jack wasn't as young as Robin but he wasn't as old as Bruce himself. Jack was his purpose. His other half...and while he could always rebuilt a life without Dick, he could never be Batman again without the Joker. And the kidnapper knew it perfectly. He knew what he was doing when he chose to kidnap Jack. He knew that their relationship was deeper than a simple hero/villain relationship.
"You have 3 minutes left to make your choice, Batman... " the man said.
He sounded really happy. Batman could tell he was almost laughing.
He had to make a choice, or both of them would die. Well, if he wanted to be fair, he had to save Robin. But...if he wanted to be selfish, he had to save Jack.
The man was laughing.
Batman paused. Then he grinned.
"I choose to save Robin."
The laughter stopped.
"Uh, What?" the man said.
"You've heard me right. You said it yourself, the choice isn't really difficult. Why on earth would I save the Joker instead of Robin?"
"But... It wasn't supposed to be easy! I was only joking when I said that! You know perfectly well that you care about the Joker, even more than you care about this brat! And I-"
Using one of his exploding batarang, Batman destroyed the wall on his right, and as he was expected, the man was behind it.
And as he was expected, it was Jack, who was sitting on a big chair, talking through a mic that must have the ability to modify his voice.
"Uh...Hehe, hey Bats!" he said, smiling awkwardly.
Batman took him by his throat.
"Ahehehehe! How long have you known it was meeee?" he asked.
"Your laugh, Jack. Even if you modify your voice, I still recognize your laugh. It's pretty...unique."
"Aw, you, you're making me blush, hehe!"
"Where's Robin?"he shouted.
"Ah, don't worry about him, I used an oooold footage, he's not actually here. Right now I suppose he's dancing at this new nightclub with the commish's daughter. Well, he would be if she could still stand on her legs, I mean, hehehehehehe!"
Batman punched him.
"SHUT UP! Don't you dare talking about her!"
"Ouch, did I hit a nerve? Sorry Brucie"
Batman growled.
"Why did you do that if it was not to put Robin in danger?"
"I only wanted to play with you!" he said innocently. "You never visit me at Arkham, I was missing you! You promised that you would visit me once a week!..." his voice darkened. "But you didn't even play fair... You had to figure out that I was behind all that before you could make your choice!"
Batman lifted him above the ground, grabbing his collar.
"I made my choice. And I chose Robin."
"Hehehehe! As if I didn't know that you chose him only because you knew that it was me behind the mic!"
"Still. I would have chose him." he said in a deep, calm voice, putting Jack down. Even when Batman knew he was lying.
"Is that soooo, darling? Hehe, if you're so sure of that, then why did you hesitate for so long before telling me your answer?"
"I wasn't hesitating! I was trying to find a way to save you both, as much as I hate you sometimes, I don't want you to die, and I certainly don't want to be guilty for your death."
Jack smiled.
"Oh, darling, you do care!"
"OF CAUSE I DO!"
Batman punched him again. Why couldn't he have a normal arch-nemesis, one that would hate him, and try to kill him like every other super-heroes ? Lex Luthor didn't call Superman 'darling' and Lex wasn't Superman's boyfriend,and that didn't keep him from being a decent villain!
"HEHEHEHEHE! Now I KNOW you would have chosen me! You wouldn't be that angry otherwise!"
"Hmf."
Bruce was about to leave – he didn't want to deal with his boyfriend any longer, it was a total waste of time, as he still had a patrol to do – but Jack actually had the...nerves to grab his hand.
"Wait", he said.
"What is it?" Bruce hissed, trying to not hit him again.
Jack raised his big green eyes at him, and Bruce wondered how a monster such as Jack could sometimes look that innocent and – would he dare to say it? - cute.
"...I know what you've been thinking when I made you chose. You thought that, somehow, you had to save Robin, because it's what everyone – even you – would expect you to do. But you also thought that a life without me would be impossible." he smiled wide, and the previous cuteness was almost gone. "And for one second, one tiny little second, you knew that I would be the one you would save. And you hated yourself for that. Hehehehe. How relieeeeved....you must have been when you figured out that I was the kidnapper." he slid his long finger along Bruce's cheek. "Right, darling?"
He didn't want to answer anything. He didn't want to admit how...right Jack was. Because it scared him.
"Admit it, honey... "he purred in Bruce's ear. "You love me, just as much as I love you... "
"You don't love me. You're obsessed with me. That's not the same thi-"
As if he wanted to prove Bruce wrong, Jack kissed him. For one second Bruce kissed him back because he did love the young clown.
After that second Bruce kicked him in the stomach, though he couldn't tell if his blood was burning because of the anger, or because he had actually... liked...it...
...
No, it was the anger. Definitely.
Both men stared at each-other for a long, quiet minute. Bruce couldn't believe Jack actually did that, he kisses Bruce everytime when they are alone at Wayne manor, but outside?
Then, without saying anything, glancing at Jack one last time, Bruce vanished in a cloud of dark, thick smoke.
Jack laughed, louder than ever, driven mad by the feeling of happiness he got from Bruce's lips. His Dark Knight had liked it, as always. He knew it. Why would he had leave in such a hurry otherwise?
He licked his lips.
He had just brought the game to a whole new level...
"HehehehehehehehehhaHAHAHAHAHEHEHEHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAHA!"
