"So what held up Batsy?" he says, locking the front door and sauntering past Blake to plop himself onto the couch.

"He went to confront Bane. Didn't come back," John says succinctly. "What do you want?"

"No-o," he says, drawing out the sound as he looks up at Blake. "You first. Why are you here?"

"Because I don't think you're connected to - that," he says with a wave at the dark and silent TV. "And I wanted to know what you're after. Just 'Call me'? No dead bodies, no kidnappings, no bomb threats? From you that's practically two doves carrying an olive branch."

He chuckles. "How old were you four years ago?"

"Not that young," he says, raising his eyebrows.

"Not that old, either. And you weren't a cop."

"...Are you going somewhere with this?"

He grins. "Maybe. All right, I'll lay out my cards. I want this new kid and his toy nuke the hell out of Gotham. Last I saw Batsy we managed to talk for five minutes without anybody doing any violence, so I thought I'd see if he wanted to help. Too many people all trying to move on this at once - I'm sure you can imagine." He makes an illustrative blowing-up gesture. "No good. Gotta work together. Less chance of somebody fucking it up that way."

"You already do," the Joker informs him. "The real question is, what're you bringing to the table here? I've got people. Resources. Not a lot, maybe not enough, but something. You? You're a rookie cop with a line to a man who's probably dead, and we can't count on him either way. From where I'm standinnng, you're just one more gun, and I'm not short'a those."

"You're not standing anywhere," says John. "You're sitting down."

He declines to dignify that with a response.

John sighs. "All right, all right. No, I don't have much right now. But if you're serious about this, I can't believe you'd turn away help just because it doesn't come with a tank."

"Maybe not. But if you're hiding any tanks, I wanna know about 'em. Sooner before later. I'm betting that whatever this guy whips out tomorrow isn't gonna be something I'd want in my Christmas stocking."

"No tanks," he says, with a hint of a half-concealed smile.

"Mm, but something," the Joker guesses. "Something worth a little more than your," he grins, "pretty face."

Despite himself, John flinches at the combination of that emphasis with the Joker's wide red smile.

"Oooooh, this little piggy's got some squeal in him after all," he says, and laughs. "Don't fret, I'm just teasing."

"Ha ha," he says flatly. "Let's be clear about something here. We might be working together on this, and I might not have been with the force in '08, but you're still a terrorist and a cop-killer and if I ever think you're about to seriously hurt someone I don't want seriously hurt, I will shoot you."

The Joker scoffs. "And what makes you think you could shoot me?"