I used the Batman 2004 cartoons fandom for this story so sorry if you don't know who one of the characters is. This story was written for the lj batmanjoker community challenge. Hope you like it!

Warnings: This is slash so if you don't like it then don't read it. You have been warned so don't complain to me if you choose to read it. Disclaimer: I don't own Batman or Joker =(

Batman landed on the roof. He could still hear the echoes of the clown's laughter fading away in the night air. The Joker had finally made his move after weeks of silence since his escape from Arkham and now Batman was on the trail, hunting the mad man down through the streets of Gotham.

He had interrupted the Joker's robbery, taking down Punch and Judy quickly and then when the Clown Prince of Crime had escaped he had pursued him. Chasing the harlequin was always tricky; he was fast, agile and knew ways of throwing his pursuers off the trail. Which is what had happened this time, the clown had disappeared from sight and he couldn't use the sound of his laughter to pinpoint the direction the clown had gone as the buildings bounced the echoes around and made it seem as if they were coming from all directions at once. For the moment he had lost Joker's trail.

Batman looked around trying to find any clue as to which direction the clown had gone in and spotted a partially wet footprint near the other side of the rooftop. He was about to continue on in pursuit of the criminal but paused when he heard the Batwave buzz. He took out the small computer and glanced over it, frowning slightly when he read the information on the screen, a jailbreak and the escapee was…The Batwave fell from his hand as a metal pole was smashed around his head, knocking him out cold.

---

A few blocks away the Joker skidded to a stop, listening for any sounds of pursuit, not that his Batsy usually made much sound whilst chasing him. Nothing. He frowned slightly, this was too easy, the Dark Knight never gave up this quickly and he would have seen signs as to which direction he had gone in. So where was he? Joker knew that he could lose the vigilante if he really wanted to but he hadn't even tried to shake off the pursuit yet. He hadn't finished playing with the Bat for tonight so he waited, tapping his foot impatiently as the minutes ticked by.

Dammit! Batsy had better not got sidetracked. Joker growled at the thought that his Bat had stopped chasing him to go and play with another villain.

Maybe Bats got lost! With a small giggle at that thought Joker started to retrace his steps, intent on locating his playmate so that they could continue their game.

A little while later a perplexed Joker was standing on a rooftop near where he had last seen Batman and the Dark Knight was nowhere in sight. Joker pouted slightly, his Bat had left him. He was about to run off and blow something up to get Batsy's attention again when he noticed a small object on the floor. Picking it up he realised that it was one of Batman's toys, a small handheld computer that provided the vigilante with information.

Something was wrong! Batman would never leave one of his gadgets lying around on a rooftop like this. Joker scanned the floor, his eyes settling on an area that was scuffed and looked like something had been dragged on it. Red eyes narrowed, something had happened to his Bat!

Somehow he had to find Batman. If someone had managed to take down the Dark Knight then he had to do something, after all he was the only one allowed to bring the Bat down and this other person was going to pay for interfering in his and Batsy's game.

---

The first thing he realised as he came to was that he was chained to a post and that his hands were bound tightly behind him so that he couldn't move. He kept his head down whilst flexing his fingers slowly to get the circulation back into his arms and pushed against his bonds, trying to find any slack that he could use to get loose.

He heard someone move nearby "You can't get free. I made sure to secure the chains tight enough to stop even you from escaping. I've also removed your belt so that you can't use any of your gadgets!" Slowly he raised his head, he recognised that voice. Standing in front of him was his captor…Mario a.k.a Rumor!

He was wearing the exoskeleton suit that he had used before his capture the first time. That was how he had managed to sneak up on him, he had used the invisibility technology that was connected to the suit! Last time though Mario had only targeted the super-villains of Gotham, capturing them one by one with the intention of killing them all in one go. He hadn't targeted Batman before so why now?

"You're probably wondering why you're here!"

Batman didn't reply.

"While I was in prison I had the time to think things through. While I do still intend to punish the super-villains for their crimes, I also realised that you are just as guilty and accountable as they are. Because you fail to permanently stop them they escape and continue with their crimes. Last time I made the mistake of not dealing with you first. I won't make that mistake again!"

Bruce twisted his hands harder in the bonds, trying to break free. He needed to find a way out of this. His eyes scanned the area around them, trying to find anything that he could use.

Rumor had started to move towards him, holding a pole that crackled with electricity. A voice stopped him in his tracks "Ya know it's rude to play with someone else's toys!"

Before Mario could react something smashed into the side of his head, sending him spinning to the floor. He caught a glimpse of white, green and red as he fell. His brain had barely a moment to process who before the pissed off clown was on him, kneeling on his chest and fists hitting him in the face repeatedly. He managed to retaliate, getting a few good hits in but the Joker didn't seem to notice them. For someone so thin he was surprisingly strong. Mario panicked when he felt something spray into his face. With fear coursing through his veins he managed to shove the clown off of him but it was too late, he started giggling. The Joker was crouched not far away from him, watching with a large grin on his white face as the giggles turned into uncontrollable laughter, his limbs stiffening as the venom took hold. Mario could feel his mouth stretching into a huge smile. As he collapsed he could hear the Joker's laughter ringing in his ears.

Bruce watched in amazement as the clown launched himself at Rumor, taking him down and punching him repeatedly, lips pulled back in a snarl. He heard the crunch as one of those blows broke Rumor's nose, blood starting to run down the man's face and staining the Joker's knuckles' with each strike. Rumor appeared to be trying to fight back, landing blows on the clown's body that was within reach but the Clown Prince of Crime just ignored them, his mouth stretching further into a larger grin, laughter bubbling out of his throat. One of the clown's hands slipped into his jacket and re-emerged holding a spray-can of what Batman guessed was Joker venom. Rumor shoved the Joker off of him after he had been sprayed in the face, the clown rolling away before settling into a crouch, watching and waiting with a large grin on his face. The can must have contained Joker venom because Rumor's body was convulsing in laughter before he finally collapsed, his body stiffening and with a huge Joker grin on his face and his eyes wide and unseeing.

Bruce stared in horror at Rumor. No matter how many times he saw the victims of the Joker venom he still couldn't emotionally detach himself from it. But he had only seen the poison in effect a couple of times and each time it horrified him.

His attention snapped back to the clown when he heard the man's laughter. Red eyes turned to regard him "Looks like I finally got to squash that Rumor!" Joker grinned at him before skipping towards him and sitting down in front of him. Bruce fought the urge to draw his legs up protectively towards his body. He would not show fear or any weakness in front of his nemesis. He continued to twist his hands in his bonds, trying to find any weakness in the links. He desperately needed to get out of this situation. He was defenceless and the most dangerous and unpredictable of his villains was sitting just in front of him, grinning like a lunatic.

"Batsy, ya shouldn't just quit in the middle of our game. That's just not fair. So I just had to come find ya!" He held up the Batwave "Ya should really take better care of yer toys and look, I got it to work!" Joker triumphantly held up the small device so that Batman could see; a map on the screen with a small red dot showing their position, the result of a tracking device in his suit for just such emergencies.

He giggled softly "This new game is interesting though. Me saving you! Never thought of you as the damsel in distress before." The grin widened "This time I got to be the knight in shining armour." He moved forward, straddling Batman's legs and leaned closer. "Isn't the damsel supposed to give her Knight a kiss in way of gratitude?"

Bruce leaned as far away as he could, wishing that he could just sink through the post that he was bound to. He struggled even more against the bonds. Like hell was he going to kiss the clown but there wasn't really much he could do about the situation. Joker was busy eyeing him in a way that he was really not comfortable with and he was completely at the lunatic's mercy. This was a really, really bad situation. If he was lucky then Robin or Batgirl would arrive just in time to distract the Joker and get him free.

"Ya know," the clown said thoughtfully "this is a very..uh..compromising position that yer in. I could do absolutely anything to you and ya wouldn't be able to stop me!" He grinned mischievously as he leaned in, noting how the Bat tensed up before he pressed his lips gently to the vigilante's.

Bruce's eyes widened behind the mask as the Joker kissed him. This was not happening! It couldn't be happening! This wasn't how he'd expected the Joker to kiss him (not that he'd given it that much thought!) he'd expected it to be rough, for it to be all teeth and domination with Joker trying to shove that teasing tongue of his down his throat, but not like this, for it to be so…restrained, those surprisingly soft ruby lips pressed gently against his.

Bruce just managed to stop himself from leaning into the kiss, instead keeping himself pressed firmly back against the post. As quickly as it had begun the kiss ended. Bruce tried to ignore the disappointment he felt as well as the fact that he was blushing.

Joker leaned back, a smirk on his face as he regarded the Bat. Placing the Batwave in the Dark Knight's lap he stood up and backed away from the vigilante. "This was a fun game Bats! I'd love to stay and play some more but I've gotta run. See ya around!" Blowing a kiss and with a wink the Clown Prince of Crime turned on his heel and disappeared into the shadows.

Bruce sat and stared after the vanishing clown, still feeling slightly shocked at the events that had unfolded. He looked down at the Batwave, certain that Robin or Batgirl had realised that he hadn't reported in and were tracking him down right now. So he settled back into trying to work his bonds loose, waiting for his partners to find him and desperately tried to ignore the part of his mind that was wishing that Joker had taken advantage of his situation.