Batshit crazy (Batjokes)

And the game ends...

A/N: Hey guys, thanks for putting up with my irregular updating. This is the final chapter as I want to wrap this story up so that I can write other stuff. If you have any requests for this pairing that you want me to write, just let me know. Thanks for reading-
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It was a strange occurrence, walking back into Joker's cell. It felt like a lifetime since he'd last been in here, although in reality it had only been a few weeks.

He'd almost become accustomed to seeing the clown's face on a screen, it was much less threatening when he was contained and being monitored from afar.

But here he was, in the flesh and only a few feet away. Bruce swallowed any anxiety he had about what he was about to suggest, and proceeded to walk further into the room before he began to speak.

"Joker, I know it has been a while since-"

"Save it Bats."

The Joker's monotonous tone unnerved Bruce, and he searched those emerald orbs for any semblance of emotion. There was none.

"You don't even know what I'm going-"

"I said save it Bats, you don't need to say anything- you've already won."

The humourlessness of his voice sent an icy chill down Bruce's spine. Where was the smugness? The insanity? The passionate fire the clown had whenever he was in on a joke no one else was?

There was nothing.

"What do you mean I've won? This isn't a game Joker."

A wry smile finally surfaced on the clown's face when Bruce said this. A curt bout of laughter, and then finally a response.

"But darling, this has always been a game between you and I. Don't try to deny that now, especially when I'm admitting my defeat." The smile turned hollow, empty- like it hurt to remember what they once were like.

Visions of high rooftops, a murky sky and the sounds of chilling laughter overcame Bruce. It felt like a lifetime ago since he'd felt that rush only the clown could give him during a thrilling chase.

That icy feeling was back and Bruce didn't know what to do with it.

"You're just being delusional-"

"No I'm not!"

The vehement rage startled Bruce, more than any chilling laughter could. Why was he so angry? Bruce pondered that question over and over in his head, until he became aware of expectant eyes waiting for a response.

"Okay, I'll humour you, supposing this is a game, how is it that I've won?"

There was that sad, empty smile again. Only faint but still very much evident on his face.

"You've finally broken me."

The clarity in his voice was something Bruce wasn't prepared for, and the words themselves certainly weren't either.

"What do you mean? I haven't broken you, you seem the same to me. If you're trying to play your mind games again they're not working."

Bruce was sweating profusely by this point, a cold coil of dread forming in his stomach.

Then, a sad small laugh filled the stifling air, and glistening eyes met his.

"Our whole relationship Bats, it's never been that complicated. I was the yin to your yang, the unstoppable force to your immovable object. I've always been excellent at reading people, could always find what made them tick. That applied to you too.

I had you pegged for the valiant knight in shining armour. Someone who combatted his own inner turmoils and grief by helping and protecting others. You tried to bring justice to a place the rest of the world turned their backs on, and you were determined to obliterate every remnant of crime and disorder. And I, well I was a threat to everything you stood for. I was the chaos that disrupted your order.

I'm sure you've spent many a sleepless night trying to categorise me, trying to understand me. But you've never been able to have you? You could never bring yourself to comprehend someone like me. And that, my dear, is how the game began. You'd fix and cleanse and then I'd come along and destroy destroy destroy until you'd get so riled up that you'd come after me.

An endless dance, always daring the other to be the one to end the cycle. I always knew that it would fall to me in the end, that I'd need to be the one to break the mould and either kill you or push you so much that you'd kill me. You could never have been the one to do it, you were too set in your ways. Or so I'd thought. We'd been at it for years Batsy, and even I was growing tired of the same routine.

So I pushed and pushed until I was sure you'd pummel me with those fists until I could no longer breathe. But you didn't. You didn't snap and do the deed as I had predicted."

He paused briefly to take a deep breath, shaking slightly as he continued.

"I've never been wrong about such things. Frankly, I was thrown off my game. I thought if I continued to play my part, maybe you'd wake up from whatever this is and fulfil your role.

But you haven't. And now I can see that I was wrong about you dear, oh so wrong. You weren't the valiant knight I thought you were, you aren't my opposite- you're just like me. The same dark, twisted urges as you've called them, they reside within you.

Perhaps on a smaller scale, perhaps you're still trying to fight against them. But you're not who I thought you were, you're not Batman. I don't really know what you are now, but without Batman there is no Joker. So like that, you've won."

Bruce was too stunned to say anything. The clown's words, normally he'd just dismiss them as delusional ramblings. But he couldn't. He couldn't shake the sickening feeling that maybe this time, he was right. Bruce hadn't been feeling like himself at all these past few months. Not since Joker had killed everyone he'd loved, but now he was wondering- was that just an excuse?

Did he it really affect him so badly, or was he just using it as a reason to justify his desires? He thought he had this figured out.

He was going to propose to Joker that they continue to have sex to satisfy their physical urges, and so that he could keep a level head when it came to punishing the madman. But now he was second guessing himself... Maybe he was just as insane as Joker. Everything he'd done to him in these last months certainly suggested so.

He wasn't sure of anything anymore.

He sat down next to Joker, and heaved a defeated sigh before he finally spoke.

"Maybe you're right. I haven't been feeling like myself, and I... I'm not fit to be protecting the city. I just... I don't know anymore. If we're no longer ourselves, then what are we?"

A small sly smile crept onto Joker's face, and he laced his hand in Bruce's. Bruce didn't deny the gesture, gripping back with his own hand.

They sat together like that for a short while, holding hands in silence and staring at nothing in particular.

Until Joker gave a sigh of his own, before finally responding.

"We're crazy darling, batshit crazy."