Laugh Lines

Lessons Learned

A/N: Y'all, I don't know what was going on in this chapter, I wrote it one way, then started to type it up and the ENTIRE flashback scene just basically typed itself. My brain is all kinds of fucked up. Sorry in advance. Warning, violence Pretty dark Joker and a fucked up smutty flashback. I don't know, don't ask.

~And a word to the wise,

When the fire dies,

You'll think it's over,

But it's just begun~

~Avenged Sevenfold~

Joker was furious, he liked very few people. He liked his wife, he liked Ace, His daughter was growing on him. Red had proven his worth and was tolerable. Over the years there had been a few, come and gone. He could barely remember their faces anymore. Just ghosts that haunted him from time to time.

There had been people who he was personally removing, well no not people. One person, Bruce Wayne, that had moved to the bad list. But that did not give anyone the right to hurt him. Especially when Joker had specifically let them all know that Bruce's pain was spoken for.

When his contact at Arkham had informed him that one of the more violent inmates had attacked Bruce, Joker had nearly sent word to blow the building sky high.

He had thankfully calmed down, and was now deciding what to do. Bruce would be physically fine, a few bumps and bruises, a small puncture wound from a handmade shiv. Joker was almost positive that he had inflicted more serious injuries on Bruce during their many spats.

It was the fact that he could not let the infraction slide. The man had acted out, after Joker had called Bruce off limits. The man was untouchable unless Joker himself said otherwise. Ace and Red pulled into the driveway. Joker put out the cigarette he had been enjoying and said goodbye to the dogs.

Peach and the baby were inside, sleeping. He climbed into the car and Ace sped off, it was going to be a fun night. He looked around the car and frowned.

"You brought what I asked for?"

Red answered, "In the trunk."

"Good, let's get to Arkham."

The ride was relatively quiet. The sound of the road a calming sound. They were almost there and Joker was feeling relaxed.

"Red, you got a smoke?"

The man tossed back the hard pack of cigarettes and Joker grabbed one. He tossed them back and pulled his lighter from his pocket. Joker cracked the window and enjoyed the nicotine that flowed through him.

Joker was texting his guy at Arkham. They already had the guy who had attacked Bruce pulled from his room and tucked away nice and neat in a small shed behind the long abandoned green house. The place had been a small getaway when Joker had been allowed outside time, the wood slightly rotted and tools rusty. The place smelled like mold and damp earth.

Arkham held good and bad memories for Joker. It was also a good place to recruit good men. He found himself thinking back to his first visit. He had regular beating, just like Bruce. Before the doctors had decided he was way too much of a danger to others, he was even allowed to wander around. That's how he had found the shack, oh the memories there were funny.

What seemed like a lifetime ago, before his first escape from the place, he had a nurse who thought she was woman enough to handle him. She was out of bounds, demanding things from him she ended up not being able to handle. She had followed him there, she thought a few soft caresses and nice words would let her get close and use him. She had left the shed, brought back to the reality she deserved.