Contains spoilers for Batman Beyond: Return of The Joker
Barbara felt herself tense as they moved into the darkness under the ruins of Arkham. She did not want to be here, but they had a duty to perform, grisly as it was.
A few steps ahead of her Bruce was just barely perceptible against the blackness, and it seemed to her that he carried a greater weight than the body slung over his shoulder. Neither of them spoke as they made their way through the cavern until Bruce stopped and set down the body of the man who had been his most persistent foe, the man who had almost succeeded in making Batman break his vow. The Joker was dead, but not by Batman's hand, but Barbara could not help but think that what had really happened was actually worse.
"Bruce," she said quietly, aware of how much her voice echoed. "Should we really be doing this? It feels… cowardly."
He turned towards her slightly, his face blank.
"This is the only way," he said grimly. "Tim has suffered enough."
Barbara couldn't disagree with that. She looked down at the Joker's body and closed her eyes for a second, thinking of all the lives that had been ruined tonight. As much as she hated it, this was the best option they had.
"Let's go," Bruce said after a moment, turning towards the exit. Barbara watched him as he brushed past her, but no words came to her. She had always felt distant from Bruce, even in their most intimate moments, but he seemed farther away than ever.
She took a step forward and froze, turning back towards the darkness.
"Did you hear that?" she whispered. "Sounds like… a woman!"
The words had barely left her lips before Bruce surged by her, and she did her best to keep up with him and keep her footing on the slippery rocks. Once and a while Bruce would pause and wait until he heard it again, until they entered a cavern lit by moonlight from above.
"This is where…" Barbara muttered as she looked up, but Bruce was already moving again. She saw him pause, crouch and motion for her, and she followed after cautiously. Up ahead she could see a patch of red and white against the rock. Harley Quinn had propped herself up against the cave wall with one leg held out in front of her at an unnatural angle, and Barbara could see that her makeup had begun to run off of her face.
"Heeeeeelp," Harley moaned, clutching her side. "Someone, please, help me…"
Bruce stepped forward into the light, and Barbara followed a second later. Harley lifted her head wearily, and after a moment her eyes focused on them and went wide.
"You!" she muttered, shrinking away from them. "Don't come near me! Stay back!"
Barbara saw Bruce's shoulders tense.
"Enough of this nonsense," he growled. "Your leg is broken, you're suffering from hypothermia and you probably have internal injuries. Unless you want to die down here we're your only way out."
Harley's eyes narrowed, but eventually she relented and hung her head.
"Fine," she said. "But don't think me or Mista J will forget this!"
Barbara's breath caught in her chest, but she knew there was no way around this.
"Harley," she said. "The Joker is dead."
Harley's eyes widened as a jolt ran through her.
"What? No!" she shrieked, backing away from them. "You're lying! No way Batman would kill him, no way! I won't believe it!"
Barbara shook her head.
"You're right. Batman didn't kill him."
Harley stared at her for a moment before the realization set in.
"Oh God," she muttered, putting her head in her hands. "Oh God, oh God oh God…"
Bruce had been silent for this whole exchange, but as he watched Harley sob something changed in his demeanor.
"Harley," he said. "There has been enough death and pain tonight. First we'll get you out of here," he paused. "Then we'll talk."
When she looked back up at them her makeup had become even more smeared, and she nodded meekly.
"Alright," she whispered. "I'll listen."
It took over an hour to safely extract her from the cavern, and as they carried her past where the Joker's body lay Barbara saw the last bit of rebellion left in her slip away as she buried her face in her hands. She almost pitied her, but then she remembered Tim's sobs as he'd stood over the Joker's body and hardened her heart. She didn't know what they were going to do with her now, but Barbara could not let her get off scot free for what she'd done. Not this time.
By the time they made it to Dr. Thompkin's private hospital and stabilized the sun was already up. Barbara had tried to sleep on one of the chairs outside Tim's room, and when that didn't work she had been up all night replaying the events of the night again and again.
She sighed and rubbed her forehead, but her headache wouldn't go away. Bruce had been very specific about keeping their masks on as long as Harley was there, and while she couldn't question his logic she wanted nothing more than to take a shower and try to forget this awful night.
She turned her head and saw Bruce speaking quietly with Dr. Thompkins, but she wasn't close enough to tell whether they were discussing Harley or Tim. They had dropped off Tim before going back to Arkham to take care of the Joker, but Barbara didn't think much had changed during that time. Leslie had warned them that it might take years for Tim to get back to even a semblance of normalcy, and for now he was being heavily sedated while they tried to figure out just what had been done to him and what to do next. Barbara had looked in on him once, but she had been unable to stay for more than a few minutes before she began to lose it. But as weak as she felt, at least Bruce had needed to leave as well.
"Barbara."
That snapped her out of her thoughts, and she looked up at Bruce and Leslie. She rose to her feet and approached them wearily, seeing the tension in Leslie's face and knowing that it wouldn't be good news.
"It's about Harley," Leslie said. "I ran some bloodwork on her and found a… complication."
She handed Barbara a clipboard, but she was too tired to understand the numbers. Sensing this, Leslie sighed and adjusted her glasses.
"She's pregnant."
Barbara felt her jaw drop.
"She's…. what? Are you absolutely sure?"
"I ran it again to be safe, but there's no mistaking it."
"Does she know?"
Leslie shook her head. "I can't imagine that she does. It's still very early, only a few weeks in, but she's very lucky that fall didn't cause her to miscarry."
Barbara shook her head in disbelief, and had to fight a wave of nausea as she thought about the sick jokes Harley and the Joker had been making about Tim. There was no way Harley knew if she had been doing that.
"Who's going to tell her?" she asked.
"I will," Leslie said. "But I want you two in there with me."
"You think it's the Joker's?" she asked.
"Almost definitely," Bruce said. "She's obsessed with him, and I can't see her fooling around on him with anyone."
Barbara noted that he was still referring to the Joker in present tense and nodded.
"Well," she said with a sigh. "Let's get this over with."
Bruce nodded, and after a moment of tense silence Leslie opened the door and motioned them inside. Harley's eyes were closed, but Barbara was shocked by how vulnerable she looked as she lay there with her hair down, and even without the makeup she looked frighteningly pale. Barbara could hardly believe that this same woman had been trying to kill her hours earlier.
"Harley," Barbara said. "We need to talk."
Harley's eyes opened slowly, looking between them wearily.
"What?" she muttered. "What's going on?"
Barbara felt Leslie hesitate, so she stepped in.
"There's no good way to say this. Harley, you're pregnant."
Harley's breath caught in her chest, and what little color had returned to her face vanished. She stared at them in shock before small shivers began running through her and tears welled up in her eyes.
"I'm…" she covered her mouth and doubled over. "After I… Oh God…"
Barbara watched her and felt a surge of pity, forgetting for a moment just what had brought them there.
Bruce had said nothing so far, but now he stepped forward and folded his arms over his chest.
"Here's the deal, Quinn," he said. "I can never forgive you for what you and the Joker did, but I won't condemn your child because of it. As far as anyone in this room knows, Harleen Quinzel died at the bottom of that cliff. Do you understand me?"
Harley looked up and nodded through her tears.
"You'll have a new identity and history, a home for your child and even a new appearance. I won't make you leave the city, but if I hear that you've gotten anywhere near crime again I will make sure you go away for the rest of your life. Understand?"
Harley wiped her tears on her hand and nodded.
"I understand," she whispered. "But why? Why are you doing this for me? After what I…" she trailed off, unable to complete that sentence.
Bruce looked down at her, and Barbara saw something flicker across his face.
"Because there has been enough suffering tonight, and I won't be the cause of any more. But understand this: this isn't for you, it's for that child, and this does not erase what you've done. The best you can do now is raise that child the best you can and try to atone for the lives you ruined. Do we have a deal?"
Harley closed her eyes.
"Yes."
Bruce observed her for a moment before he turned and left. Barbara glanced back at Harley for a moment before she followed him into the hall, shutting the door behind her.
"That was very generous of you," she said. "I'm not sure I could have done something like that…"
Something in his face made her pause.
"Bruce?"
He looked away from her, and she felt her heart skip a beat.
"It's over," he said.
She stared at him, thinking she'd misheard, but he refused to turn around.
"Bruce, what are you talking about, what's over?"
"Us. The Bat Family. Me having sidekicks, it's all over!" he said, and Barbara flinched at the anger in his voice. "The Joker went after Tim to get at me, and someday, someone is going to try again! I won't let that happen, so…" he took off his mask and let it hang limply at his side. "I'm letting you go."
Now Barbara felt a surge of anger.
"You can't! You can't just fire me like that! Not after everything we've been through, not after everything that happened tonight! We're partners, Bruce, and you can't just throw me out just like that!"
"I can," Bruce said grimly. "And I will. Goodbye Barbara."
She wanted to scream, throw herself at him and beat him into submission, but she already knew it was useless. She stared at his back and tore off her mask, throwing it at his feet in disgust. She wanted to get something out of him, a reaction, a tear, even a glance, but she knew that he wouldn't budge no matter how hard she tried. With one last look at him she turned and walked away, leaving him in the silence and darkness of the hall.
You came on your own
That's how you'll leave
With hope in your hands
And air to breathe
You lose everything
By the end
Still my broken limbs
You find time to mend
- The Editors, "An End Has A Start"
Author's Note: This story came out of an idea I had one day to make the flashback scene in Return of The Joker even darker, since it just made sense in my head that Harley would be pregnant when she survived. I also thought that it would be a good way to fill in the last few lingering inconsistencies, such as Harley's costume being in the Batcave in Batman Beyond despite Barbara saying that they never found the body and the fact that we know Harley is alive and had a family in Batman Beyond. Plus it just seemed to me that Batman would let her go if he found out she was pregnant and hide the fact that she survived for years. It just made sense to me.