Title: As Badly as it Could Have

Author: Hurricane Islandheart
Summary: SPOILER ALERT In between scenes in The Dark Knight – this vignette explores what else may have happened between Two-Face and Joker in the hospital room. SPOILER ALERT This vignette was left intentionally open-ended and intentionally broad so that you can take it however you want – it's open to interpretation.

Credits: The Dark Knight (2008) is written by Christopher Nolan, Johnathan Nolan, and David S. Goyer and is distributed by Warner Bros. The Dark Knight is based off of characters and worlds belonging to DC Comics.

As Badly as it Could Have

Their eyes moved from the gun settled between Joker's eyes to the half-burned coin clutched in Dent's hand. With a hard, disdainful look at Joker, Dent tossed the coin into the air. The seconds it took to cartwheel to its apex and begin the plummet back toward the ground passed more like minutes. Then, the coin landed on the bed beside Dent, clean face up.

Their eyes expressed mutual surprise for a moment; the harsh, deep creases in Dent's brow momentarily smoothed and Joker's face relaxed, allowing the furrow between his eyebrows to soften. Then, Joker smiled – almost apologetically – and straightened up as Dent lowered the gun. The unmarred side of Dent's mouth curled downward in rueful regret and he looked toward the floor.

“Ah, fate,” Joker said. “Live now, die later.”

Dent's expression turned deadly again, and he turned his eyes to glare at Joker in an unspoken warning to leave. Joker shrugged, then quickly leaned in and grasped Dent's chin between his fingers. His lips met Dent's in a crushing kiss; Dent flinched at the contact with his still-raw burns, and his eyes widened in shock. Then, as abruptly as it'd started, Joker stepped back and eyed Dent critically for a moment.

“Oh, dear,” he said. He pulled a handkerchief from the pocket of his uniform and rubbed at Dent's lower lip; red makeup stained the white cotton when he pulled it away. “At least I didn't get it on your collar.”

Joker saw immediately in the flash in Dent's eyes that they both understood the allusion. They both knew that Dent no longer had a “Missus” to go home to, or to have upset with him over lipstick on his collar. Joker quickly raised his hands in a defensive gesture. “I'll get mine, Harvey, probably sooner than later,” he said. He backed away from the bed and fled to the door.

Joker glanced quickly into the hallway, then stepped through the doorway and reached for the hand sanitizer unit mounted on the wall. He quickly scrubbed his hands with the foam as he walked down the hall. “Well, that didn't go as badly as it could have.”