"Come on, you useless flying rat, come out, wherever you are..." he whispered, taking off the helmet and putting it on the motorcycle seat. Gun in hand, J walked into the rusty building, his eyes scanning his surroundings in the darkness. Everything was too calm and deserted, but it made his guts twist.

His old home. Batman had stupidly decided to explore Joker's old home and as expected, was caught by the enemy. The building was old and inhabited, it smelled moldy, rotten. It had the stench of his past and the familiar burning inside his chest travelled up to his brain as the haunting voices made their way back to his ears.

Jack...

"Not now, you ghostly bitch–" he ignored them and loaded the gun, aiming at the void. J walked up the stairs until he reached the place he feared the most: his old apartment. As expected, it looked just like a haunted house, adorned by spiderwebs and dust.

He groaned at the sight of Batman, strapped to a chair in the middle of the room, unconscious. J approached him with three enraged steps and slapped his cheek until he slowly opened his eyes.

"Are you serious, Bats?" the Joker hissed at the confused man as he pulled out his knife and started cutting the rope wrapped around his body, "As much as I love seeing you all tied up like this, I'm really curious to know what the hell happened. And it better be a good story considering I interrupted some sexy time with my lady to come and save your ass."

"Could you please skip the comments on your sex life, Joker?" said Batman, blinking and wincing at the same time. He had an obvious concussion considering his struggle to remember what had happened. "I was– watching over the ninth street when I heard this woman screaming but when I tried to help her I blacked out–"

"Now I'm really offended," J's jaw dropped and let out a loud laugh, "I spent years and years trying to kill you and suddenly a woman manages to capture you, bring you here and tie you up to a chair? I have to meet this person!"

"But you already know me, darling." a female voice caught both men's attention. The figure of a woman stepped out from the shadows, her face barely visible but they could tell she was smiling. The Joker stiffened at the strangely familiar presence and his hand instinctively rose, aiming his gun at the unwelcomed person.

"If you're not Kitty Kat or the annoying plant lady who is constantly stalking my girl, I'm afraid we don't know who you are, sweets." the Joker said, pointing his gun at the woman's face, but she seemed nonchalant about it, as she didn't stop walking toward the clown until they were face to face. It was then when his heart stopped.

"You don't remember me?" she said, reaching up to touch his face. "My sweet boy."

"Bats, can you see this woman too?" J asked, his eyes glued to the woman's before him. If this was a hallucination, he would definitely ask Harley to give him medication, they were getting worst.

"I can. Why?" he replied, feeling even more confused watching the strange scene unfolding infront of him as the woman smiled and lowered the Joker's gun.

"Get out of here Batman. Go home and tell Harley I'm fine and I'll be there soon. This is between this filthy piece of trash and me." he muttered, his voice low and menacing. And just when the dark knight unwillingly left the place, the Joker spoke again in his most lethal tone. "Back from the grave, Jeannie?"

She grinned and moved forward, arms opened but the Joker swiftly pushed her away, making her stumble. He ran his free hand through his hair in frustration shot his eyes tight, as if hoping she would disappear. But she was real. This time his ex wife was actually there. Except she didn't have the same beautiful face he remembered her for; she still looked young, but the years had not been kind to her, the bags and dark circles under her eyes were prominent, the color of her green eyes was no longer bright but dull, like dirty water. However, she looked strong and dangerous, the kind of woman you'd think is used to the merciless streets of Gotham. Jeannie was no longer the little girl he worshipped.

"I missed you, Jack."

"Oh, you missed me." he chuckled darkly and opened his eyes, then pushed her to the nearest wall, hand wrapped around her neck, "You fucking cynic! How dare you say that! You were dead! Go back to hell!"

J let go of her neck harshly and she fell to the ground, panting. He fought the urge to kick her, put a bullet to her brains but he actually felt curious to know what she had to say, if she had anything worth explaining.

"You had nothing to offer, Jack! We were starving! He made me feel secure." she managed to said between heavy breathing, "He convinced me to run away with him the night you left to the chemical plant– "

"I came back for you after that and you were dead! Held your lifeless body in my arms! Are you telling me even that was a sham?" Joker found himself screaming at her, watching as she slowly got up from the floor and approached him slowly, stopping inches away from him, a smirk drawing on her lips.

"You came back to find the body of a woman with a disfigured face, you didn't stay to make sure that body belonged to you wife. Oh Jack, seems you didn't know me that well."

"I got my punishment, I got it the moment he was locked up in Arkham. I ended up on the streets, I gave our kid in adoption and then it was just me and the night life. Giving pleasure to men and then killing them, stealing, making myself strong... and hoping I would finally be able to go back to you. I admire the powerful man you became."

Jeannie stepped closer to J and slowly ran her hands up his muscular chest seductively, he couldn't make himself move. Her eyes found his and hypnotized him, but not in the way Harley's beautiful blue eyes did; Jeannie's were just piercing through his brain, making him feel too much pain to move. And then, without warning, her lips crashed into his hungrily.

"Come back to me, Jack," she mumbled against his lips, her body pressed to his, hands running up up and down his chest. "you look so hot, so powerful. Think of all the things we could do together."

But just before the kiss could go deeper, he groaned and pushed her away once more, his gun rising up to her temple. "First, the name is not Jack. That man is gone, the man that had you on a pedestal, the one that gave his life for you no longer exists."

His eyes travelled down to her stomach and he grinned sarcastically. "Second, that bastard wasn't my child and I'm glad you gave that boy in adoption, considering the kind of mother he would of had. And I have some news for you, I'm taken by the most gorgeous woman in the universe who's carrying little Joker inside her belly." he said proudly.

Jeannie narrowed her eyes at him, jealousy taking over her body. Her hand pulled out a knife from her pocket and with a swift movement, she cut J's left cheek making him bleed profusely.

"You stupid bitch!" he screamed punching her jaw and sending her to a pile of old broken furniture. Jeannie laughed and it only fueled his rage, he got on his knees and placed the barrel on her temple once more, ready to pull the trigger, but something stopped him.

"You're still dead to me," he groaned, getting on his feet and heading for the entrance, leaving her wide eyed on the ground. "You'd better stay at away from me and my family or I won't be as nice as I was today."

"Oh, you will hear from me, pathetic clown." she whispered as soon as he was gone, the sound of his motorcycle fading with her own laughter.

• • •

Hi there!
It was a challenge writing this chapter. But I hope you liked it! Special thanks to my dear purple_lambo_lover for letting me share my ideas with her and encouraging me to write this chapter. 💚

What do you think is going to happen? 😱 Who hates Jeannie even more now?

Thanks for reading! Leave your beautiful comments, they make me smile so much.