Caught In The Joke (A Joker Fanfic)

This Is The End As We Know It

I paused to look around. Curiosity eating at me as I flipped it open.

I never left.

Inside were pictures of me. Black and white. Colored. The day after I fought Joker. A week later having coffee with Bruce and Alfred. It went on and on. Some with me sleeping. Dressing. Undressing. Tiny captions underneath in green gel pen. Hearts and bullets. Guns and roses. The very last picture was blown up to fit the page and scrawled in that meticulous mess he called writing was, Claire Lorna. Our Daughter Forever. Ill be calling soon Kitten.

I slung the objects back into the box and dialed Bruce's number. Ripping open the door to my locker I surveyed the flowers. Orange Lilys. They had always been my favorite symbolizing Passion. Bruce answers on the 3rd ring.

"Hayden? What's going on?"

"He-He's back Bruce!" I stuttered out. "I-I just got a box from him Bruce. I'm freaking the fuck out I.." I shot my hand out to shake it before being blown to the ground as the package blew. Stuffing hit the floor and from the shadows of the box came his laugh. I felt along the floor finding the phone and screaming into it. "He's back! He's fucking back and he's been watching me!" before a series of bombs began to go off in the waiting room. Screaming and alarms filtered the airway.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! This is your invitation to a circus tomorrow night! We wanted to blow our show outta the water!" That voice crackles through the feed. "I expect each and every one of you to come. Well. Maybe not the ones who turned into their own version of popcorn! You wouldn't wanna miss this gas of a laugh!" His laughter once again echoing out and a steady green gas oozed from the airways. I clutched the mask to my face from my neck. Thanking myself for forgetting to toss it out.

I stumbled through the hallways riddled with smoke and screaming people. I made my way to the Nicu and checked out the damage there. Luckily the babies were all in good condition and nothing had been damaged there. Doctors and nurses flew through the dim hallways with pagers going off with a symphony of beeps. The ER had taken the worse of the explosions.

Human bombs. The sprinkler system was going off as the nurses and I scattered around trying to stop patients from suffocating from the blood filling their shrapnel filled lungs. Brains splattered walls and I swear I slipped on a heart. I sobbed as I sat in front of a ten year old boy who had his throat splintered out by a bone shard. A teddy bear in his tiny arms and life left brown eyes gazing with damp tears. He had died alone. I closed his eyes before placing a gentle kiss of his forehead.

Police and swat teams entered the building. Making their way through the chaos hats catching the water. I stood on shaky,adrenaline fueled legs and continued to assess the survivors. A doctor pushed me out a few hours later to get some rest after the police had questioned me.

I trudged back down to the lockers. Covered in blood,snot,vomit and my scrubs once a soft lilac now a dark grey. I shuffled before standing under the showers and dressing. Making my way back to the apartment.

He had come back to play his regular games knowing id be in the middle of it. I choked on another sob as I curled onto the floor. The sight before me dragging me deeper into my despair and guilt. Jokers cards scattered every inch of my living room and kitchen. Another vase of orange lilies sat forlorn on the table. Next to it was a DVD with Play Me in sharpie.

The minute I turned on the tv I debated with myself. I shouldn't be watching it I should be running to the GCPD and begging for help. Instead I hit PLAY and watched chewing on my fingernails.