What Goes Around, Comes Around

Pairing: Joker/OC

Rating: K+

Warnings: Swearing. Maybe. Bad dreams.

A/N: I'm back! Hope I didn't take too long. I had some serious things to consider. One, this is not the Dark Knight Rises sequel I'd initially planned. Reasons behind that happening being:

(A) The Dark Knight Rises has a massive time lapse of EIGHT FREAKING YEARS,

(B) I've had this one plot nugget which ties in with the comics for a really long time and I WILL implement it for my own selfish- not so selfish (you'll see)- reasons, and

(C) As with most Batman stories this will either become a trilogy or I'll end it here on this sequel.

Or something like that. I don't know yet. I'll try to update as soon as possible but I can't guarantee that because my school's starting their university app program and I'M FREAKING OUT BECAUSE I NEVER THOUGHT BEYOND COLLEGE. O_O

Anyway, enjoy!

Chapter One- Dreams With Darker Meanings

"You betrayed us," hissed a voice, breaking through the silence of his dark cell like a snake attacking its prey. Soon enough, like the snake's bite itself, Jack felt a staggering pain build up in his chest and explode throughout his body. He shrieked.

"You did not keep your end of the deal." The voice continued, its tone increasing by each word pronounced. "What will we do to traitors?"

And that's when he panicked. Until now Jack had been listening, waiting for it, like the many dreams, the hallucinations he had been experiencing since he started his treatment, to end. And yet, he said nothing. He tried to stop the expanding pain, tried to stop the quickening of his heart but to no avail. His dreams had not been like this. He could control himself- at least that's what his doctors encouraged him to do. But he couldn't do it and that is when it hit him: this was no dream. He allowed himself to open his eyes and to his horror found a shadow standing near his bed.

Jack closed his eyes in vain. They had found him.

"Fear not Joker," the voice said, "We know about her." He opened his eyes again, and bolted off his bed.

"You know nothing!" he shrieked at the monster near his bed. "You don't know anything!" The monster laughed a cold, distant- bitter- laugh and continued.

"We know. And we will get her." The figure grew close and Jack saw its flaming red eyes. "What goes around comes around Joker- we won't spare you."

Jack stared into the devilish orbs and saw her there. His wife- she was in a park, laughing as he guided her towards an unknown destination. Her hair was loose, just like he liked them best, and blew into the wind. She wore a summer dress which too floated in the wind. And she was beautiful. She looked beautiful and it awakened the desire to make her so happy- as happy as she was right now- in him and then she vanished. His wife vanished leaving him alone- in a barren desert, isolated from the rest of the world.

"Misha!" he called, running around, here, there, everywhere just trying to find her and when he came to a mountain, he saw her but she was not smiling anymore. She was the same but sad, her eyes cold, distant and cruel.

"You did this," she said before letting herself fall off the other side.

Jack's eyes fluttered opened, his hand shooting to his temple to find that it was drenched in sweat. Faint light of the early morning or a late cloudy afternoon he didn't know which, came through the bars of his prisonlike bedroom at the Arkham Asylum. He almost wondered, for a splitting moment where he was until it all came back to him and he ran towards the door of his cell. Blasted, it was locked!

"Help!" he shouted, banging the door loudly to alert the staff. "I need help! Somebody open the door- please!"

Finally, it opened to reveal one of his therapists, Dr Arnold somebody who was rather taken aback. "What's wrong Jack?" he asked him.

"Batman! Where's Batman?" Jack asked him, finally losing his cool. "I need Batman! He knows- he – he's coming to get her- to get me!"

"Calm down," the doctor entered the room, a couple of wardens following him.

Jack backed away, hysterical. "No, you don't understand- I need Batman! Please! I'm alright! I need Batman!"

The staff looked at one another confused, as he staggered backwards, stumbling over his own books. He often had moments of insanity when the Joker tried to take over again but he was never aware of those moments. Right now, he seemed pretty aware of his situation. And he was frightened out of his wits.

"We might actually need Batman," Dr Arnold told the two wardens who nodded.

"Before you do something stupid, remember- I'm only gone for the weekend," Misha Alau' din told Bruce Wayne as she sat into the car.

"Don't worry, Mis," Bruce replied, teasing her. "It won't be too bad."

"Oh shut up and take care of yourself," she said. Bruce grinned and stepped back. A moment later the chauffeur started the engine and drove her away. And that's when Alfred made his appearance.

"Miss Alau 'din left?" he asked him. "Well, I'm afraid there's a request for batman."

Bruce turned around frowning. "What kind of request?"

"Jack wants to see him," Alfred replied.

"Why does he want to see Batman?"

"He'll have to go to Arkham to find out now, won't he Master Wayne," Alfred told him and Bruce nodded.

"Right, I'll be there," he turned to leave but upon seeing that Alfred had not yet moved stopped. "What?"

"Shouldn't we be informing Miss Alau' din about this? She is his wife by the way," he stated as a matter of factly.

Bruce thought for a moment and said, "No, let her go. What's the worse he can say? Jack's pretty normal for someone who used to be the Joker. I'll see what he wants."

"It would be better if Miss Alau' din knew. He might want to see her," Alfred told him but Bruce shrugged.

"No, I can handle it." With that he left for the bat cave where he suited up and made for Arkham. At the hospital, he was guided by the security staff (after scaring one of them by simply appearing behind them) to a waiting room which oddly resembled an interrogation room what with the single table, two chairs, white walls, no windows and florescent lights it possessed.

Then again, this was a mental asylum so maybe it was a sort of panic room or something. He did not know. A moment later a doctor entered. "Batman," he said, sitting on one of the chairs. Bruce remained standing. "I'm Dr Arnold Creevey- I'm supervising Jack's treatment." He said nothing and the doctor proceeded, "I just want to give you a heads up. He's not like this normally but for the past few days, he's been having dreams or hallucinations of sorts which leave him terrorized for hours. He keeps asking for you and I wouldn't have called you if I didn't think it'd be necessary. He seems to believe that he and his wife are in danger of some kind." Bruce did not like the way the man mentioned Misha, as though she was dangerous or non existent. Nonetheless, he let it pass and went about with the doctor's guidance.

"Right, so I'll bring him in," the doctor concluded and walked out. A few minutes passed and then arrived Jack, accompanied by two guards. Bruce frowned when he saw him. There was something amiss about Jack. For one, he looked sick, nervous and seemed to have lost a lot of weight. For another, well, the man was shaking, wide- eyed as though he was afraid that everything around him would go against him.

"Jack," he said, nearly causing the man to jump out of his own skin even though that was not his intention. Something had shaken him badly and he wondered if it simply were the so called dreams and hallucinations. The last time Misha had visited Jack, she had not told Bruce about any of these.

Were they a recent development?

If so, then what could have scared him in a matter of weeks?

"You're here," the man before him said. Bruce saw Jack visibly untense. "Umm…" Even his voice was different, he realized. The Joker's sadistic voice was replaced with a much more huskier one. Of course, he sounded like a disturbed child by the way he said 'you're here' but it was still a big achievement, Bruce reckoned, for the man who once was the Joker.

Jack began to speak, "When I was him, I made a few business deals with a few people. The mob- Maroni primarily and a few- I killed most of them though. There's also the Scarecrow, and some other people from outside Gotham who're really interested in the city."

Batman leaned forward. "Who?"

"Well, I don't know- or remember any names but there's this man who wears a mask," he told him. "Him. And then there's this girl- Poison? Or was it Eve? I don't remember. But I know- I don't know how- but I know they're after me. They want to hurt my wife to get to me."

He remained silent as he watched the man talk. He's really worried about this, Bruce thought. It was only when he got to Misha that he considered immediate action. "What do you mean when you say they will hurt your wife?" he asked.

"They'll torture her," Jack's face twisted into one on the verge of a meltdown. "They'll do that because I betrayed them. You have to keep her safe. You have to!" He was getting hysterical- making it the time for him to leave.

"Alright Mr Napier," he said, standing up. "I'll make sure of that."

Monday morning saw Bruce in his office for some reason- okay, so the reason wasn't that unknown he had, after all, told Jack that he would watch out for Misha. Needless to say, his secretary was incredibly surprised by his sudden interest in doing his job for once.

"Is one of the new hires interesting you?" the former student asked him, when she met him in the hall for the fifth time in an hour.

"What? No! I'm just walking around my office," he stated, "it's small so there's not much to do-"

"And that's exactly why you shouldn't be here," she interrupted him.

"Are you eager to get rid of me Mish?" he asked her, using the nickname he knew she hated.

For the sake of professionalism, she ignored it. "Yes, I am. There's a board meeting and rumour has it that you're cruising the Pacific with a bunch of Victoria's Secret Angels. So pray, tell me: what are you doing here then Bruce Wayne?"

Bruce smirked. "Perhaps I changed my mind. Maybe I want to attend this meeting."

Misha rolled her eyes. "Of course. Maybe you just want to surprise everyone?"

"Maybe I do," he answered coyly. Misha smiled at him before walking off to complete some of her other duties. Bruce knew it was a thin line he was walking on. It was one thing to be regarded as a playboy, another to be flirting with another man's wife. But that was something he did anyway. He often felt more envious than guilty. Misha in many ways, reminded him of Rachel. Sometimes, it was even like Rachel herself was talking to him. He knew she never took their banters and conversations seriously but to Bruce, they were glimpses of what could have been. He wasn't jealous of Jack though- if it had not been for the Joker, he would have never met Misha but there were moments like these when he wondered…

But she was a woman married and there was really nothing he could do about it. Except keep his promise. It helped him a little that at least he saw more of her than her husband did these days anyway.

In fact, the real reason why she was his secretary was so that he could see more of her. He wanted to at least experience the illusion of what life with Rachel used to be- could have been like. Alfred thought him mental to do that but for Bruce, it was a way of recovering. Maybe one day he could finally come into terms with what happened and find his own Misha.

"Heads up, director in coming." The very subject of his thoughts called, lightly hitting him on his arm with a book she was carrying as she walked past. Bruce turned and indeed saw the director of the Wayne Enterprises walking up towards him.

Jokes aside, he really enjoyed Misha's company when she warned him of potential boring people. With that thought, he turned around and ran after his secretary. He was going to avoid the director no matter what.

"Thanks," he muttered as he sat beside her in the conference room.

"No problem," she mouthed, shuffling papers as one of the board members began speaking.

"What's this for?" he whispered, eyeing the papers she had.

"Unlike you, I have actual work to do Bruce," she informed him graciously. He smiled. "Well, duh- you do my job for me," he whispered back. She glared at him while he winked and then there was silence as she began writing notes and he think.

The meeting was long and boring but he was able to entertain both himself and Misha by the occasional odd comment about a member or two. Unlike Alfred and Lucius, she actually laughed at his jokes- because she liked them, and that was more than he could say for most of his 'dates' at social events. They were halfway through when Misha received a text. Normally during a meeting she would just look at the sender's ID and not read the message but at that very moment, she not only read the text (he could tell she did because of the time she spent watching the screen of her phone) but also walked out of the interview.

Bruce immediately knew that something was wrong and after a quick nod at Fox, he walked out as well. Misha was talking to someone, pacing the length of the passage. She looked at him briefly, smiling uncertainly. Actually, she was doing more of the listening than the talking; only humming a yes every now and then. He waited for her to be done with it and then asked, "Everything alright?"

"No," she said, her voice a mere whisper.

She closed her eyes, letting out a deep breath. "He's done it Bruce. He tried escaping Arkham." With that she sank into the nearest chair, letting out a sob. "What am I supposed to do now?"