Bruce bounds down a set of stairs into the bat cave. Inside the glass cell, Jason scowls with rolling eyes at him. Bruce is used to it by now. However, the first few weeks after he quit sedating Jason, had been the worst. All Jason did was yell and bang against the glass. Jason had thrown every last imaginable threat or insult he could at Bruce. Most days Bruce fought the urge to just sedate him and shut him up. But Bruce knew that his rehabilitation couldn't begin if he was drugged.
For weeks now, Bruce has found himself trying to be a psychiatrist. He had accepted the fact that Jason most likely needed some sort of psychiatric drugs. As he had proof that the chemicals in Jason's blood altered his brain chemistry. Unfortunately, Bruce couldn't create any drugs to withstand Jason's system, because he wasn't sure what he needed. He had to somehow diagnose him. But every time he tries to psychoanalyze him, Jason just turns up the Joker act. And, having read all the Arkham files on the Joker, Bruce could see just how accurately Jason portrayed him.
Bruce approaches the glass. He could see Jason's eyes narrow as he gnashed his silver teeth at him.
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Bruce's eyes go to the floor as he shoves his hands into his pants pockets. "Jas-," Bruce begins, but is immediately cut off.
"Stop calling me Jason!" He shouts and slams his palms against the glass. He backs away, and his hands go to his head. "I'm not Jason," he says in a frustrated voice.
Bruce looks up at his young brother, "And you're not the Joker."
Jason quickly returns to the glass and rests his weight against it with his palms. "I bet that no one in this city can tell a difference. Not even you," he pushes his weight off the glass.
"Be that as it may, it doesn't make it ok for you to go around being someone you're not," Bruce looks into Jason's eyes.
Staring into the eyes showed him that person's soul. It was the only thing that allowed Bruce to be able to distinguish between the three clowns. However, the dip into the Dionesium had repaired every bone that had been altered to turn Jason into the Joker. He still looked a lot like the Joker, but there were subtle differences in the jaws, cheek bones, and brow ridge. You could completely alter their bodies, change their hair, their voices, but you can't change the look of your soul. When Bruce looks at Jason, he doesn't see the Joker.
Bruce sighs and pulls a chair close to the glass. "I've got to ask...why would you want to portray the man that killed you? Especially since he took back his identity," Bruce asks him as he sits down in the chair.
Jason gives him a sideways glance, and his eyes narrow, "Because I have no intention of letting him live," he growls. "And once he's dead again, someone might as well step up to the plate. I ran this city for almost two years and nobody could tell. And let's not forget that I'm identical to him. So if I look like him and act like him, I might as well just be him."
"Has his life seduced you that much? Is it his power? Or the way he's feared?" Bruce muses.
"It's so much more than just that. I don't expect you to understand," Jason sighs and sits on his bunk. His eyes focus on the floor. "When you're the Joker, there are no rules. You do what you want. No one questions you. Hell, no one disagrees with you. Being the Joker is like being completely free. In every way. And once you've tasted that kind of freedom, there ain't no coming back from it."
