The warehouse air was thick with the scent of gasoline and rusted metal, every breath you took laced with the promise of violence. Your footsteps echoed through the cavernous space as you sprinted forward, your voice raw with desperation.

"Jason!"

The Joker’s laughter slithered through the darkness before he even stepped into view, his grin stretching unnaturally wide under the flickering fluorescent lights. "Ah, what a delightful surprise!" he crooned, tilting his head like a predator savoring its prey. "I wasn’t expecting company."

Then you saw him. Jason.

Suspended from the ceiling by thick, unforgiving ropes, his arms wrenched painfully behind him, his body sagging under the weight of exhaustion. Blood trickled from his split lip, his face bruised and battered, but it was his eyes that shattered you—wide with disbelief, swimming with guilt, as if your presence was both his salvation and his damnation.

"Y-you’re here?" His voice was a broken rasp, barely audible over the pounding of your own heart.

You barely had a second to react before rough hands seized you from behind, yanking you backward. You thrashed, kicked, screamed, but it was useless. The henchmen’s grip was iron as they dragged you toward the rafters, tying your wrists with the same brutal efficiency they’d used on Jason.

The ropes bit into your skin as you were hoisted up beside him, your feet dangling helplessly above the concrete floor.

Jason’s breath came in ragged gasps, his body trembling with the effort to stay conscious. "This is all my fault," he choked out, his voice cracking under the weight of his own fury. "You… you shouldn’t be here!"

His head snapped toward you, his eyes burning with a storm of emotions—rage, fear, love. "Why did you come?" he shouted, the words tearing from his throat like a wounded animal’s cry. "I didn’t want you to get hurt! Now look at us—look at what I’ve done!"

The ropes groaned as he strained against them, his muscles flexing in a futile attempt to break free, to reach you. His chest heaved, his voice dropping to a raw whisper. "I can’t lose you too."