* J *

Part Twenty-Three: Chapter 169: Hitched

There were no decorations. No fancy reception. No refreshments. No music. No bird seeds. No outside guests. There was only a bride. A groom. A priest. A best man. A maid of honor. And a few witnesses. No one dressed up except the bride, and only because Harley insisted on a wedding dress.

The Joker had to do meth to sober up for the vows. It tended to be much stronger and longer lasting than cocaine. He stayed away from the stuff most of the time. He had had a lot of it the night he overdosed, but has stayed away from it since. But today, it was needed. He gave Jason some too. Five minutes later, their previous state of drunkenness was erased.

However, it brough on a terrible headache for the Joker. But it wasn't so bad that he couldn't manage an I do. He's become used to always having a headache. There was a twitch behind his right eye and in his right arm. Things like this were happening several times a day. The cocaine no longer stopped them fully. He assumed that was because the thing in his head had grown.

The Joker stood arrow straight, staring at his reflection while he ties his bowtie. He was in a black tuxedo with tails and a purple cumberbun. ther wasn't a single wrinkle on him. Everything was perfectly altered. He looked dashingly handsome.

"So stiff," he heard a voice say.

Startled, the Joker spins around wondering who had snuck in on him. He was staring directly at his dead wife. He was seeing her far more than he would like to. She wasn't the only one he saw either. He's seen several people he personally killed, and a few that he hadn't. Sometimes it's hard to remind himself that they're only due to the tumor.

"Oh, it's you again," he sighs and turns back to the mirror.

"So you're replacing me today," she says as she approaches him.

The Joker can feel her hand on his arm. "You're not real," he tells her.

She turns him to face her and takes over with his bowtie. "Always so serious," she smiles.

There's a knock at the door. The Joker looks to it, "Yeah?" He calls out.

"You 'bout ready J?" Jason says through the door.

"Yeah, I'm coming," the Joker answers and turns to face his hallucination, but thankfully, she was gone.

He faces the mirror again and stares at his twitching eye. He rests his weight on the counter top and let's out a sigh. He got a high pitched ring in his ears. It grew louder and more high pitched. It got to the point that he found hims elf putting his hands over his ears, but it can't block out the sound. His knees buckle and he feels himself falling. He grasps the counter, perverting him from falling all the way down. His arms shake as he pulls himself to his knees. The world was spinning. He's not sure if it's the tumor or the meth wearing off too much.

"Don't do this to me today," he mutters and pulls himself to his feet.

"I see you didn't learn your lesson the first time," says the voice in his head. "We're not meant for marriage and family. The American dream is a joke and you're being manipulated by its pretty little wrapper and shiny bow."

"No. I know exactly what I'm doing this time. I'm not walking into anything blindly this time. Besides, this isn't about love," the Joker says as he weakly finishes tying his bowtie.

"Are you so sure?"

There's another knock on the door. "Boss, you about ready?" He hears Ace outside the door.

"I'll be there in a minute," the Joker answers as he straightens the tied bow.

"She should be marrying the kid. It's going to be just the two of them soon anyway."