Mechanical Heart

Disappear

Batman's p.o.v. 

If there was something the clown was good at, it was hiding from the law. 

He was an expert in Getting Away 101; any trace there could be of where the criminal had been, was gone. Every building or hideout the bat had found him before, scheming like he always did, were now nothing but ashes and debris. 

Batman wasn't even sure where to start. 

Gotham was a huge city. He thought at first he should look in the most distant and abandoned places, those filled with criminal gangs and no security cameras. Then, he realized that it couldn't be that, since it was so obvious. Joker was much smarter than that. He would probably be hiding at plain sight. 

So he began to search on extremely crowded places. 

After about two hours, doubt settled back in. Would he risk it so much? He was crazy, but he wasn't dumb. Just like Gotham's citizens were ignorant, but not blind. They could recognize the clown through a window, for example. Besides, Batman couldn't just go knocking door by door to ask if they had seen the clown. 

So he went back to search in desolated buildings. 

And so, this cycle went on and on. Seconds slowly turned into minutes, and minutes turned into hours. Still, the dark knight had no clues on where to find his nemesis' secret hideout. Not to mention he was sure Insani would be watching his every move.

After spending what seemed like an eternity on his Bat-computer and finding absolutely nothing, he finally gave up. There was no use in just staring blankly at the screen, trying to find a needle in a haystack. 

He sighed heavily and stretched while his bones creaked with pain and his stomach roared of hunger. The dark knight was starving. 

Maybe he should take a break and go upstairs. Enjoy a little time with Jack... 

But he couldn't do that just yet. And he wouldn't be able to do it until he was certain Jack could enjoy that time too. So he had to go back to work. Or at least he was going to. 

Then the computer gave him a proximity alert and the doorbell upstairs rang.

.................................................................................................................

Alfred's p.o.v.

Joker had been standing in front of the entrance to the bat cave for four hours now. 

Since the bat had left, the clown had been just staring blankly at the bookshelf that hid the secret passage to his master's "Sanctuary"- as he called it. The butler figured the emotionless criminal took orders extremely literal, and thought when Bruce said: "Stay here, Jack" he had to actually stay in the same place until the bat ordered him otherwise. 

Still, it was incredibly creepy. 

The veteran also wondered if "Jack's" legs weren't about to give out. Didn't he preferred to sit down? He understood the clown couldn't feel tiredness, but that didn't mean his body didn't had limits. It just meant he wouldn't be able to recognize those limits until it was too late. 

Just like a little kid. 

"Uh... Master Jack..." The former criminal turned to face him. " Wouldn't you rather wait for Batman sitting down?" He suggested pointing to a couch next to him. 

"Batman told me to stay here." Jack answered. 

"Yes, but he didn't mean that exact spot." Alfred explained. "It'll be alright if you move a little."