Melted Gold

Guidance

The news was in an uproar with his face. Bruce Wayne seen in public after months of radio silence. His picture was plastered on every station and on ever newspaper. Joker was glued to his computer as Louis Layne herself approached him from his front gate.

"I just needed some time off the grid," Bruce said with his winning smile. Joker felt his heart break, that smile was a painted on picture, and by the forced laugh from Louis, she knew it too. Louis tried to pick up a conversation with him asked him a few open-ended questions on where he had been hidden away and why he didn't call her! They were friends after all.

Bruce just laughed. The sound didn't send shivers up Joker's spine like it use too, it was dull and muted, like listening to it behind glass. Those baby blues were tainted with something dark, something...hurt. Joker felt rage bubble up from his chest, escaping his lips in a breathy giggle as he came up with plan after plan on how to make Harish pay. The man needed to suffer for taking that beautiful laugh away from the world, one he worked so hard to get his hands on to. He wanted to make Harish scream, make him bleed, he wanted him to feel real, true pain.

"Jack?" Joker jumped and looked at Jason, watched him flinch back. Joker felt the smile on his face, felt the tears in his eyes and he could just imagine what he must sound like, giggling like the mad man he was. Had been? His eyes stared unblinking at the boy who slowly made his way towards him, reaching out to him as he would a wounded animal. Small hands touched his head and patted gently, rhythmically, soothing him, and bringing him back to this reality. Jason continued to pat his head like he would a child, or dog. Joker watched the boy's chest as he breathed, his own slowing to match the gentle rise and fall. Jason's hand became still as Joker's breathing calmed and the giggling faded away.

"You back?"

"Harish needs to die," Joker growled.

"We knew this, what else?" Jason asked with a shrug and shoved his hands in to his pockets, "You been on this guy forever now, are we going to do something about it or just keep talking about it?"

"He's dangerous, Jason,"

"I know, you said that," Jason sassed, grinning wildly, "He's also smart, and will tear me apart if he got his hands on me, the thing is, is he don't know me, just knows of me, and we don't know that for sure either."

"Jason..." Joker warned, and the boy flopped back on to the bed, "Jason, don't do anything stupid."

"Come on, Jack, I want to do more!" Jason complain, rolling around on the sheets like a hyper puppy.

"No, Jason," Joker snapped and eyed him, "He'll kill you, or worse!"

"Okay! Okay..." Jason mumbled, crossing his arms and pouting. Joker groaned and sat down on the bed, flopping back on to it and letting Jason swipe at him lazily with an ill attempt to make him go away. "I just want to help."

"You help better when I know you're not bleeding on the pavement," Joker drawled, turned to face the boy. Jason sighed dramatically, tossing his hands up in defeat before he found his blanket and rolled himself up into a kiddo burrito.

"Goodnight Jack," He mumbled, still sounding sour but at least he wasn't fighting Joker on it anymore and the green haired man clawed his way up to his pillows and collapsed, kicking Jason out of his foot space before finally finding sleep.

He couldn't move! He was staring at Jason as the good doctor injected the boy over and over again with serum after serum. The boy was screaming around a gag, drool and blood dripping down his chin as his voice howled and his eyes bulged. Harish continued to laugh as Joker pulled against his own restraints. He felt his shoulders pop, his voice had run ragged and he still tried to howl out Jason's name.