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Jack was the universe’s fool, in more ways than one.
Standing up to the Injustice League was insanity, but he had done it, even as his allies fell like a house of cards beside him. The last Ace in the pack; that was him.
A wildcard in a world that had crumbled into complacency.
He’d always been a bleeding heart, even on his worst days. That had been what Harley had said to him, when she left to join the Injustice League.
“You care too much, Jack. It’s just not worth it.”
Jack understood why Harley had done it - chosen her own safety in the Injustice League’s twisted system over ideology - but he couldn’t do it.
That was why he hadn’t turned to look the other way when he saw a bloody Shade, begging for someone to help him, as he bled out on the sidewalk. The kid had been in rough shade, stabbed through the abdomen, with the blade still lodged into his stomach. If Jack hadn’t had his medical knowledge, courtesy of Harley, the boy probably could have died in his arms.
It took two weeks for the Shade - Jason - to recover, and when he regained consciousness, he begged Jack to rescue Batman’s other allies, who he called his brothers.
The idea was utter insanity. Jack only barely managed to avoid the Injustice League as the Jester, and stealing his accomplices out from under his nose was asking for death. Still, Jack found himself considering it.
Harley might have left him for his empathy, but she fell for him because of his moments of insanity.
“Where would you go?” Jack asked.
Jason stared up at him with glassy eyes. “Somewhere the League will never find us.”
“Hate to break it to ‘ya, kid. The League has eyes everywhere.”
“I know,” Jason mumbled. “Shame you can’t build some sorta sci-fi thing; chuck us into another dimension and call it a day.”
Jack hesitated. “I could…”
“No,” Jason said. “You can’t.”
“You have no idea of what I’m capable of,” Jack shot back. “Give me a week, maybe two. I’ll get you and your brothers out of here, mark my words.”
If it was his humanity that Harley hated and his insanity she loved, his stubbornness was always going to be the final straw. Once Jack had his hands on an idea, he never wanted to let go.
He was going to find a way to get Jason and his brothers to safety if it killed him.
Knowing the League, it probably would.
***
This had to work, or Jack was going to die, and he’d probably take these kids down with him. The tranquiliser he hit Batman with would only work for a short time, and there was every chance that one of Batman’s allies were already on their way. He had to work quickly.
The machine he had concocted was complex, and he hadn’t had a chance to test it yet. He and Jason were running to Batman’s base of operations the moment it was complete.
Here they were, one bomb and some a tranquiliser dart later, and Jack’s hands were shaking too much to activate the damn thing.
“Let me do it!” Jason snapped, trying to snatch the device from Jack’s hands.
Jack wrenched it out of the way. “It’s fragile!”
“He’s going to wake up!” Dick hissed. He was holding the youngest child - barely eight, if that - in his arms. “You’re going to get us killed!”
“I’ve got it, I’ve-”
The device whirred to life in Jack’s hand, and he tossed it out, his heart stuttering in his chest for a moment, silently praying to whatever absentee god there was that his plan would work.
When the portal appeared on the wall, Jack could have cried tears of relief.
He would have, if he wasn’t focussed on shoving the kids through the portal before Batman stirred.
They emerged in the middle of a random street, which surprised Jack. Had there been some spatial distortion when he activated the portal? At least this Gotham seemed better than his own, though that was a low bar.
Now all he had to do was find this universe's heroes.
Compared to everything else he had managed, that would be easy.
***
Jack tried to not let the bite of the handcuffs sting. It was reasonable for the Justice League to restrain him, especially since they didn’t have any reason to trust him. For all they knew, he could have kidnapped those children.
Well, he did kidnap those children, but that wasn’t the point.
The point was that he understood their logic.
Didn’t mean it didn’t sting a bit.
The door creaked open, and a tall, broad man in a dark cowl stepped through. He regarded Jack with disdain, as if he was a rat or a similarly undesirable animal; something disgusting, that brought disease. The look made Jack’s skin crawl.
The man’s voice was a low growl. “I don’t know how you did it, but I’m not letting you get away with this. Whatever your plan is, I will stop you.”
“What?”
“Don’t play dumb with me, Joker!” the man shouted, slamming his hand against the table. He said Joker like it was a title, rather than an adjective, which was strange. Maybe Jack looked like someone from this universe? Or maybe someone from this universe looked like him?
Or maybe they were him? An alternate version?
“What was your plan? What were you doing with those children?” the man spat. “Tell me. Now!”
“Where have you taken them?” Jack asked, catching the man off guard. “I hope you didn’t leave them alone.”
“That’s not your business.”
“They’re probably tired,” Jack continued. “We came a long way. They might want to sleep.”
“Stop.”
“Jay can’t sleep without a nightlight, you know?”
“Shut up!”
“He doesn’t like the dark. He-”
Jack was cut off by the man grabbing him by his hair, slamming his face into the table. He tried to rear backwards, but his assailant was stronger than he was, so he couldn’t move at all. His nose was probably broken, and would be bloody, if he was allowed to lift his head.
“GET MY SON’S NAME OUT YOUR MOUTH!”
Jack’s ears were still ringing when the man wrenched his head back, shoving him out of his chair. He fell bodily to the ground, his hands still cuffed. Blood was dripping from his nose, the taste metallic in his mouth.
“I should have let Jason kill you,” the man spat. “You’re a goddamn lunatic.”
Jason? Was there another Jason? One who lived in this universe?
Before Jack could get a word out, the door to the interrogation room slammed open, and Jason was standing there in the doorway. Too close to the deranged man who had walked in here and started attacking without hesitation. Jack had to warn him. He had to get Jay to run.
“Leave him alone!” Jason cried, shoving himself between Jack and his assailant. “He didn’t do anything! He saved us!”
The man reached out a hand. “Let go of him.”
“You can’t tell me what to do!” Jason shouted, hitting away the approaching hand. “You- You’re gonna be okay, Jack. I’m not gonna let them hurtcha.”
The stranger took a single step back.
“Do you know this man?” he asked.
Jason scowled up at him. “Yeah, ‘course I do.”
“How?”
“Rescued me when Batman left me to die,” Jason said. “You have a Batman in this universe, right?”
“Batman… left you to die?” The man’s voice turned strained. “Why?”
Glowering, Jason snapped, “Yeah, ‘cuz he’s a bloody lunatic.”
“I see.”
The silence in the room was heavy.
Then, the man reached down to undo Jack’s handcuffs. “I’m sorry,” he said, his gaze shifting between Jack and Jason. “I didn’t know.”
Then, without any further explanation, he turned on his heels and left the room, leaving Jack to nurse a broken, bloody nose.
Maybe this universe wasn’t that good after all.