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Part Eighteen: Chapter 127: Baited

The Joker sat slumped at his kitchen bar, eating a bowl of Lucky Charms. Harley sits on the couch watching Good Morning Gotham. It wasn't her pick, it was simply what channel happened to be on when she came into the room. The Joker's eyes scan across the morning Gotham newspaper. He turns the page and sees a colorful half page ad that catches his eye. The Circus was coming to town. A smile comes to his face. He did love a good circus. It was, after all, like a reoccurring theme in his life. A clown reflection reminded him of it daily.

Then his diseased mind started to look at the circus as an opportunity and not just mere amusement for him. The Circus was a show. The show of all shows, the greatest show on earth. A show centered around good old fashioned family fun. Acrobats, animals, and who could forget the clowns? The Circus would draw a crowd so large that it would stay in town several nights, just to give everyone a chance to see it. All of Gotham would turn up, high class, middle class, even the cities trash.

Then the Joker's mind started to plot. The Circus would draw a crowd. A crowd that wanted to see a show. He would give them a show all right. One they wouldn't be able to forget. That kind of show that sticks with you for a lifetime. The kind of show that leaves you feeling happy to be alive and well. He looks over his shoulder at Harley on the couch. He turns his body to face her more.

"Oh sugar snap," he says in a song like tone.

Harley turns with a smile, "Yes puddin?"

"How would you like to go to the circus?" The Joker asks her with a smirk.

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"Do you think it'll work?" Jason asks Bruce as he holds the morning paper, staring down at the page in front of him.

"The Joker would never miss an opportunity like this," Bruce sighs, glancing at the circus ad that Jason was holding.

Bruce didn't exactly feel wonderful for coming up with a fool proof scheme to catch the Joker. However, the police weren't very far away from catching him themselves. They had targeted and been following the Joker's top henchman. It was merely a matter of time until they caught up to him. Bruce knew that if Batman joined together with the cops, that he could prevent the Joker from being shot by them.

But Bruce felt a guilt that he so desperately wanted to be free of. He was tricking the Joker into showing up at the circus, knowing the cops were ready to arrest him. Bruce tried to remind himself that he was acting in the Joker's best interest. But the Joker wasn't going to see it that way. The Joker would see it as the betrayal it actually was.

"What if one of the cops on his payroll top him off?" Jason asks with a sigh.

"It's just a chance I have to take," Bruce tells him.

"You mean we? I'm part of this too," Jason felt the need to point out.

"Yes," Bruce nods.

How could Bruce Wayne call himself a responsible parent and role model for Jason? He risked the child's life on a nightly basis. Responsible parents don't do that sort of thing. Bruce doubts if even the Joker would do such if he had a child. Bruce felt like a failure, no matter how many nights he successfully returned Jason home alive.

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The Joker smiles at his reflection as he ties his bowtie. Harley comes into the room dressed as a jester in red and black. Her arms wrap around the Joker's waist as she watches his meticulousness. She knew that tonight he wanted to look perfect.