◇Joker One-Shots◇

Even When You're Gone, You Remain

☆Joker refuses to accept that the love of his life is truly gone. How can she be? She's laying right beside him.☆

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Joker sat up with a jolt, cold sweat running down his face. He groaned, rubbing his eyes and swinging his legs to the side of the bed to stand. He grabbed a cigarette from the night stand and quickly lit it.

What a nightmare.

He took a drag from the toxic bud and stood up, stretching his legs. He walked over to the window and leaned against it, looking out at Gotham. A beautiful rotten city. The place had really gone to shit.

"______." Joker uttered, smoke seeping from his lips.

"Sweetheart." He felt a pair of arms wrap around him, giving him a squeeze. He chuckled, reaching up and feeling her hand. Joker turned and peered down at his beloved. She beamed up a him, the moonlight making her smile shine bright. Joker smiled back at her, reaching up and caressing her cheek.

"I love you so much." He leaned in and kissed her forhead. She hummed in delight. "To think I could have lost you.."

"You could never lose me, sweetheart. I'll always be with you." She reached up and cupped his hallows cheeks.

"They keep telling me you're dead.." Joker shook his head. "I don't know why they keep trying to hurt me."

"It doesn't matter what they tell you. They're wrong." Her fingers dance on his skin. He can feel her. "See? I'm real."

Joker finished his cigarette, setting it on the window seal and wrapping his arms around his beloved. She chuckled as he pinned her to the window, pressing against her and kissing her neck.

"I don't know why I ever doubted you." He muttered, feeling her curves. Her skin was warm, her heart beating. She was really here. She wasn't gone. She was alive.

She use to be very ill.

She's much better now and he was happy. Happy that she didn't pass due to her illness. Happy that she was able to beat it and get better. He was happy to have her.

After the funeral, he couldn't bare to live without her.

But it's okay. She's here now. They're together.

"Come. Let's get to bed, my love." She brushed his hair with her fingers, grabbing his hand and leading him back to the bed. Joker followed her, eager to lay down and hold her in his arms again.

She layed back onto the bed and Joker crawled in after her. They snuggled under the blankets and she layed her head on his chest. Joker traced patterns on her bare back while holding her.

"I love you so much.." He muttered again, glancing down at her. She smiled up at him, her eyes a dull gloss. She reached up and brushed her hand against his cheek once more.

She was so cold.

Joker flinched at her touch but pulled her closer, needing to warm her up. She leaned her head back down, humming against his chest. For moment, she sounded like she was wheezing breathing, like a gust of wind whistling through rust.

"I love you too.." She groaned out. Her voice rasped and slow. Joker furrowed his brows, tilting her back so she looked up at him.

Her skin was a wrinkled paste, like skin that was held underwater for too long. She lacked any color and her eyes rolled back into her head, her mouth hung open while her jaw rotted away. Joker thought he could see maggots devouring her tongue.

He jolted back, shaking his head.

No, this wasn't happening. Not again!

"Sweetheart..." She reached out for him, her limbs like rotten tree branches. Joker scooted away from her, closing his eyes in order to block the image of how he last saw her.

Withering away in that hospital bed.

"Stop. Stop. You're Not Real!" He shouted, backing away. She cackled, grabbing at his ankle. He screamed, falling backwards when he slipped off the edge of the bed.

He was falling.

Joker sat up with a shriek, a cold sweat running down his face. He huffed, looking around. He was in his room, in his bed. Safe. He felt his heart beat out of his chest.

What a nightmare.

Joker looked over to her side of the bed.

Empty. As it had been for a few years now.

Joker let out a chocked sob, grabbing her pillow and holding it close to him. He could still smell her on it. He buried his face into the soft fabric and cried.

He missed her so much. His beloved. His one and only.

Joker layed on his side, clutching the pillow as though it were her. If he could just believe hard enough she'd come back to him. She always came back to him. She was always with him.

"Come Back! Come Back To Me!"

He could still see her. Hear her voice. Smell her scent. Feel her warm skin against his lips. She was never truly gone. However, it didn't dull the pain any less.

He sobbed into that pillow most nights, aching for his beloved to be returned to him.

He really missed her. And she was gone. Taken from him by the cursed illness. If only he could have saved her. If only he could hold her on more time.

He felt a pair of arms wrap around him as he sobbed into her chest. She brushed his hair and cooed to him.

"It's okay, sweetheart. I'm here. I'm here."