Broken Steel

Secrets

Joker became a frequent decoration in the library after the first visit. He would often collect the blankets, pillows and books, find a corner and make himself a fort and stay there all day. Alfred would bring meals and vitamins that he would leave uneaten. He did always manage to drink the tea and nibble the muffins. There was a type of careful calm, everyone knew the Joker was inside, but he was so eerily quiet that they often forgot.

Joker didn't mind the solitude it gave him time to process. There were soft taps from the butler on his little table he hid under to let him know he had food and he kept to himself, sometimes napping in his little fortress of fabrics and plush pillows. He shut out any and all stimuli and read through any and every book within reach to keep the voices out.

He could not remember the last time he had wanted silence, so use to the babbling and screaming inside his head that it never bothered him. New voices had invaded though, frightening ones, taunting ones, ones that had him question his own existence. He read because it gave him focus, and when he focused, the talking stopped.

Alice

"Shut up," Joker breathed, his eyes locked on the pages, but he was having a hard time seeing the words,

Alice

"Go away!" He hissed and started to scratch away at his scalp and face as if to tear the voices right out from his skull. He felt skin break and was conscious of the blood he was ripping from his wounds, but the voices continued to sing. He felt the scream rip from his throat but couldn't hear it over the laughter that taunted his mind.

"Joker!" The baritone voice he knew so well called to him. Cold hands against his cheeks and a cowl filled his vision. He felt his mouth move but the ringing in his head was overwhelming. Everything was too hot or too cold, the lights were bright and even the blankets that proved to be plush itched against his skin and he lashed out, panicked and confused.

"Joker, it's me, look at me!" He did, he really did and the smearing of blood in a grotesque smile across strong jaw made his mind short circuit and he laughed. He laughed until it hurt and continued to laugh until he broke down in to sobs, collapsing in to a cold embrace and clutching on to the man before him.

Batman wrapped the Joker up in his arms and cape, cutting him off from the stimuli around them. He wasn't sure if it helped but soon the clown was limp in his arms and sniffling pathetically against his shoulder.

"Can you stand?" He asked, and Joker nodded against his shoulder. Batman heaved the other on to his feet, careful not to jostle him too much, and carefully unraveled him from his cape and arms, "Are you with me?"

Joker looked up at him, deadened eyes and tear streaked cheeks made for a horrific image but he nodded. The vigilante was unsure but started to lead the mad man anyways. Joker reached out and took the other man's cape in hand, following meekly behind until they came to a bathroom. Batman pulled out a cloth and soaked it under some warm water, first wiping down his own face and then turning his attentions to the barely-there criminal.

Joker's face was riddled in scratches and his scalp was a mess of tangled hair and missing patches, but he managed to wipe off most of the blood and get a comb through the mass of curls. He paused when he notices carefully shaved away patches and what looked to be incisions on the man's temples and back of the head. He ran his fingers over one and Joker jolted in to sudden cognition and pulled away.

"What happened?" Batman asked, blunt as always but his voice held an undertone of worry.

"He..." Joker hesitated and touched the wound at the back of his head, sending a shudder through his body, "He...Umm..."