Disclaimer: I owe nothing except what I think up at night.

It was another two months before Bruce was well enough to redon his cap and cowl, and Alfred had been playing message runner the entire time. He didn't know what was said between the two, but ever since their talk neither man had made any effort to see or speak to the other.

His first message run had been to ask the Joker if he would stay until Batman was able to take over again. His second run had been to say: Yes. Yes he would. Really, if he didn't believe these two were made for each other Alfred would be quite depressed at these turn of events.

For his part Bruce was busy trying to heal, and was finding it exhausting to sleep so much. In his moments of consciousness between bout of sleep he had been contemplating everything that the Joker(Jack, his mind supplied) had told him.

In only a few short minutes all the questions he had ever had concerning the Joker had been answered, and so many more had been raised. Love? How could the Joker be in love with him? They didn't know anything about who the other really was outside of the vigilante/criminal aspects of their interactions.

But that was a lie wasn't it, he thought, Joker(Jack) knew everything about both Batman AND Bruce. It was Bruce who didn't know the clown. Did he want to?

Afraid of where this train of thought was taking him, Bruce grabbed the laptop Alfred had reluctantly brought him- he hadn't had the energy to open it before now- and opened it to check on his city and business.

Taking a deep breath, and dreading what he was about to find, Bruce opened up his work files. What he found made his head whirl.

The Joker, a man with no experience at corporate management, had been doing an amazing job.

Productivity was up thirty-eight percent. The stock had risen to an all time high. Ground had been broken for sixteen new factories worldwide.

Several open research projects had been shut down, their resources and personnel redistributed to other projects- some new- that were already beginning to turn a profit. Charity projects were running smoothly and new events had already been set up.

It looked as if the Joker(Jack) was doing a better job at being Bruce Wayne that Bruce had been doing lately. And because he couldn't stop his suspicious mind, he made a note to go over everything thoroughly to be sure that his company hadn't been sabotaged.

Closing his business folder he then opened a connection to his computer in the Batcave down below. He absently noted that someone- he didn't want to think just who at the moment- had been accessing his super-computer regularly, and then delved into crime reports for the time he had been incapacitated.

Reports on Batman sightings were as rampant as ever- Bruce shuddered at the thought of just who had been wearing his costume(and then told himself he had shuddered in disgust at the mental image of the Harlequin of Hate dressed in his armor not in... he wouldn't think of that)- but he found that most of the headlines surrounded a group of his enemies that had given themselves up to the police of their own accord.

It didn't take long to hack Arkham's database, or to find an internal report from the head psychologist Dr. Nemus. As he read through the summaries of the most recent patients to be readmitted, Bruce could feel something in his chest tighten.

Shutting down his links and putting his laptop aside, Bruce laid back down feeling as exhausted as if he had tried to stand up. Now he knew some of what the Joker(Jack, his mind continued to supply) had done to avenge his injuries... and he just didn't understand his own feelings on the matter.

He should feel disgust.

He should want to beat the clowns' face in and drag him off to Arkham.

So why did he feel the urge to thank the man?

JOKERJOKERJOKERJOKERJOKERJOKER

Joker had been having a blast! He got to play at being his Batsy, and he got to play around with international commerce! He didn't know what the big deal about the whole 'being trained' thing was, he had never found it difficult; but then he was a genius if he did say so himself.

But his Batsy was almost up to strength again, the man had slowly been taking over his role as Bruce Wayne once more. Attending events with a model hanging off his arm, jet setting around the globe on business trips- the Joker only wished he could be the one hanging off of his Batsy's arm in public, not staying at home as his dirty little secret.

For the last two months- ever since they had had their one-way heart to heart- Joker had given his Bat his space, and promised himself that he would stay away until he was asked for; but he was never asked for! If it hadn't been for Alfred's constant encouragement he would have given up hope already.

Now though it was time to force the issue. His Batsy was well enough to start patrolling again, and he had already retaken the reigns of his company; it was time to either say goodbye for good or... something else. He tried not to dwell on the 'something else', it wouldn't do him any good to get his hopes up at this point.

He finally found Bruce in the gym working his impressive muscles back into shape. It had been too long since he had last seen those rippling muscles- Oh how he longed to run his hands over those hard planes!

Pushing those thoughts to the back of his mind, the Joker steeled himself for whatever disappointment he was about to face. Lifting his chin, and putting on his best smile, he sauntered over to the man on the mats.

"Batsy! You're looking so good now! Nothing like the last time I laid eyes on you!" Giving the half dressed man a thorough once over he smirked at the light blush across his Batsys' cheeks.

"What do you want, Joker? I'm busy." Pouting exaggeratedly, the clown tried to cover his real hurt.

He had just known that this wouldn't work! Damn Joe! He would never take advise from an hourly employee again!

"I just wanted to say goodbye in person, Bats. I didn't want to just slip away without a word! Especially since I won't be going to Arkham like I promised to. I mean, do you honestly expect my friends to be glad to see me now?!" As he began to laugh at his little joke, he turned away.

"You're leaving?" Bruce couldn't believe it. He had known it would happen eventually, but now that it was happening... did he want it to?

Quieting himself the Joker turned to see a slightly confused Bat staring at him. He really didn't want to leave, but it was best to do so now as it would just be harder to later.

"Of course I am. I promised to leave after a month if you didn't want me to stay, it's been three now; and you haven't spoken to me in two. I tend to take that as rejection. So!" Turning to leave again he was stopped by a warm hand on his arm.

"I get that you can't go back to Arkham- half the patients there now would commit suicide if you did- but where are you going to go? I can't let you take up your previous profession, and I doubt you would settle for a regular life." A sardonic smile graced his normally brooding lips.

"So what are your plans from here on out? How worried should I be that you'll blow up half of Gotham in boredom." The Joker pulled away gently- he was still afraid of reinjuring his Bats- and did his best to put the vigilante's mind to rest.

"I plan to retire, maybe take up teaching- getting my license renewed shouldn't be too hard-"

"You're a licensed teacher?"

"Yeah. So?"

"Nothing." Raising an eyebrow the Joker continued.

"As I was saying: there are a lot of things I can do. And I promise not blow up Gotham- if I get the urge to destroy something I'll take out Metropolis. I really doubt Fly boy would be as much fun as you, but what are you going to do?" Beginning to turn once again, the Joker paused. This could be the last time he saw his Bats- so why not take a chance?

"Bruce... could I ask you for one last thing before I leave?"

"What?" Bruce was apprehensive, he wished the Joker would just leave- he couldn't take these conflicting emotions anymore.

He was Batman.

He was immune to such base feelings and desires.

So why did he feel so jealous at the thought of his Joker tormenting Superman instead of him?

"Just this..." And like that the Joker grabbed Bruce and slammed their lips together.

Half an hour later Alfred walked into the gym- and immediately retreated with a dark blush. The letter he had to deliver could wait, it was just a relief to know that those two were no longer dancing around each other.

Now would come the hard part: telling Gotham that its most eligible bachelor was now off the market. And for another man at that!