My first bat/joker story in ages omg... I'm hoping to make it 4/5 chapters long, I hope you like it.

Bruce sat in his cell, the third week running, dreading the two hours that he'd be forced to spend with the other inmates. The wait was worse than anything, sickening, inducing an anxiety he'd never felt before. He could defend himself well enough once he was out there, but knowing what was out there, knowing that the second those doors were opened he would be set upon like a rabbit amongst starving dogs. It was exhausting both mentally and physically.

Some of the guards would try to help him of course, they knew him before his fall from grace, from before the accident that'd cost his former best friend his life. But they could never watch him the entire time, and Bruce refused to stick too close to them; it'd put them in danger too.

He felt a jolt in his gut as a guard banged loudly on his cell door, the metal flap lowering to allow the man to see inside.

"Time to go Mr Wayne," he said sympathetically, that tone made Bruce's stomach turn more than anything, as if they were sorry for him.

He could defend himself he didn't need that condescension.

With a depressed huff he got up from his seat, walking to the door and waiting for the grinding noises that meant the door was being unlocked, he grit his teeth as the sounds echoed around the room, looking up as the door opened.

"Follow me," the guard said, sticking close to him as they walked down the long hall towards the rec room.

The guard looked back at him, shifting slightly, his mouth twitching as if he wanted to tell him.

"What?" Bruce asked, looking him up and down, knowing he'd speak with the slightest provocation.

The guard let out a small exhale, pausing and looking back at him, "I'm not meant to tell you yet."

"Just tell me Gerard."

The guard shifted on his feet, "It's the Joker, he's allowed in the rec room again, from today, and he's in the same time slot as you."

"What?" Bruce growled, frowning, his teeth gritting slightly, "That…" he shook his head, at a loss for what to say; why would anyone be stupid enough to put them in the same time slot?

"I know," the guard said, an odd pleading to his voice, "It's an error or something it has to be. I've put in an inquiry but I've not heard anything back yet, it's only been 5 hours."

Joker hadn't been allowed in the rec room along with the other inmates for almost a month due to self-inflicted injuries. What he'd done to himself Bruce didn't know, and why he'd done it no one seemed to know either, Bruce couldn't figure it out.

Part of him suspected that he'd done it to himself after finding out that Batman had been unmasked, but that didn't quite make sense.

"It's ok," Bruce said, mainly to calm himself, "I can handle him."

The guard smiled weakly, standing by the door to the rec room and pressing the button that unlocked the door. "No doubt about it sir. I'll stay close anyway though."

Bruce frowned at him, "Don't," he said firmly, walking in as the door opened, looking round and seeing Joker, already sat on one of the chairs that lined the room.

The man stared at him, as if stunned. Bruce tried to keep himself calm as he found the book he'd been reading and found a seat for himself.

He felt himself become hyper aware, every single sense of his buzzing at what he thought was imminent danger.

The hairs on his neck stood on end as Joker left his seat, all his muscles tensing as the pale man walked over.

Something about him seemed different; his lips were capped, not their usual bright red, his eyes lacked their usual sparkle.

He tried to hold back a jolt as Joker sat next to him, leaning over on his arm rest.

"How's this mask treating you?" the clown asked, smiling.

Bruce tried to ignore him, but being this close was unnerving, he could smell the sweetness of his breath, somehow it always smelled of apples.

"Ugh," Joker said, flicking his wrist and leaning back in his seat, "You're no fun," he smiled, "I've missed that."

Bruce shuddered at the shrill sound of his voice, trying to remain calm and read his book, starting the paragraph over again.

"Batsy," Joker whined, "Please… don't do this to me, don't ignore me."

Bruce felt his gut clench at the word 'Batsy', he'd always hated how Joker said that. He looked up as the guard walked up to them.

"Are you ok?" the man asked, the question directed at Bruce.

Bruce felt Joker's gaze leave him, fixing on the guard, fire in his eyes. "Yes," Bruce said sternly, "We're just catching up."

He turned his head to look at Joker as the guard walked off. "What do you want?"

Joker smiled widely, clasping his hands together and letting out a small squeak as Bruce spoke to him. "Oh, Batman I don't know where to start!" he turned to face him, crossing his legs in a strange uncomfortable looking position. "Firstly, the voice," he shook his head, "I can't stand you talking like that, please go back to normal, also this name you're using? 'Bruce'? What is that?" he chuckled weakly. "I have missed you terribly."

Bruce frowned, "This is my normal voice Joker…" he shook his head, closing his eyes briefly as he realised how stupid he sounded, "I'm not going to argue with you."

Joker grinned toothily, "There's my good boy." He shifted on his seat, looking around the room, "So… I overheard a few of my old thugs talking, there're waiting until the guard goes to the bathroom, then they're going to uh, jump you, for want of a better word." He locked eyes with a burly man across the room, "That's one of them there. I don't know exactly where the rest are."

Bruce looked up at the man, gritting his teeth, he recognised him… He'd been so focussed on Joker's whereabouts that he'd not noticed anyone else. He was slipping.

"Why are you telling me?"

Joker looked back at him, smiling softly, almost lovingly, "I've almost lost you once already, Bats, and it nearly killed me. I won't let it happen again…. not because of these morons at least." He frowned deeply at the man, still staring at them. "You keep on walking Theo," he said sternly, watching as the man scurried away, letting out a small chuckle.

Bruce swallowed hard, a hard frown on his face, "Why are you doing this?"

"…I just told you why."

Bruce looked up at the space where the man had been, someone he'd fought before, someone who he'd had a lot of trouble with. Joker made him leave so easily, scurry away like an injured animal.

He bit his lip, his heart pounding in his ears as the thought formed in his head. "I have a proposition for you," he said slowly.

Joker leaned over slightly, letting out a small hum, "What's that then sweetie?" he asked with genuine interest.

"I'll talk with you, spend time with you, if you continue to keeps those men away from me."

Joker nodded gently, smiling to himself, "Ok," he said happily, rocking slightly where he sat. "Oh that sounds great," he paused for a moment, "You know I uh, I can keep those guys away pretty easy… I can keep the big guys away too, it's harder though," he glanced at him, his smile widening, "I might need a little more than the occasional chat to make it worth my while."

Bruce felt himself tense slightly, the darker parts of his mind immediately conjuring up scenarios, disgusting and depraved things that Joker might ask him to do. "Like what?"

The man smiled widely, his tongue brushing over his lips as he leaned in to speak, his tone hushed, "Sex," he stated briefly.

Bruce recoiled, frowning; that was one of the worse things that had previously come to mind. "No," he snapped instantly, "No, Joker."

With that his picked himself up from his seat, walking to the other side of the room and sitting down, deciding then that that would be the last time they'd speak.

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