Harley found herself too quiet and bored in the living room of their wrecked but still homelike theater; half seated, half laying on the biggest and comfiest of the couches with two huskily happy hyenas by her side, Lou tugging at her red silk robe, and Bud playing with her bare toes. Her heavily painted eyes wandered from her hand caressing the hairs of the pet that was closer to the only door of their home which was never, ever opened for her.
She thought of how many times had she been in this specific position and situation for the past years, millions maybe, each with a different affectionate reason, and clothing for a change; but boy, she realized, she knew better than entering the Joker's office and causing herself some bruises and cuts and pains that would last far longer than exactly three seconds of false romantic hope. They had been together far enough for her to learn some quite important things about her Puddin', to keep her not too wounded and him nor too irritated by her presence. However, she still wondered about the other things though, the kind of things that woke him up at night sweating (or maybe crying, she could never tell as it was too dark), and shivering, whispering unintelligible words to himself, the kind of things that left him staring at her adoringly for a short time before he just got angry out of nowhere and made him want to cut her in half and munch at her beating, loving heart as a punishment rather done to himself for caring too much about what the moonlight made to the baby blue of her eyes. The kind of things that made him never want to think about having a family with her, making her tear her brains apart while thinking for one good reason not to. Or rather, just the kind of things that kept her fucking restricted from entering the goddamn office as if it was a strip club or some other so secretive shit…!
"Oh, Harley!" He called from the insides of the place she was cursing about mentally at that very moment. "Come for a bit, pumpkin pie!" the last part made her stare at the well secured door with wide opened eyes, she shared her surprised reaction with the babies that were equally shocked by the sudden modification to their routine. After a good second of thought, the three members of Joker's home gang grinned playfully to themselves.
"Guess it's Mommy's lucky day, boys!" she roared, wasted no time in standing up and straightening her bed wear, the hyenas released encouraging and deafening laughter to their master as she made her way to the studio, strutting proudly. She knocked softly before opening the door, batting her large black eyelashes at who was still facing his back to her.
"You called, Mr. J?" she said with a wide smile.
"Come closer to daddy, baby. We have business to discuss…" he gave her the sign to approach, she squealed to herself walking towards him, but suddenly being disappointed ash she discovered that he truly had meant "business"; she knew when he was eager for some playtime, and his expression had work, work, work, coffee and more work written all over his face. He didn't even look at her despite her outfit and makeup. So it would be one of those nights…
"What can I do for you, Pud'?" she sighed, resigning to be the maid of her lover for the rest of the time he needed to keep his eyes locked to paperwork.
"Thanks for the eagerness, Harls…" uh-oh, she had bothered him, and just when she was about to apologize for her response he pulled her harshly onto his lap, wrapping his free arm around her slim waist. "No problemo, you'll be getting all excited once I explain it to you…" he stopped scribing and finally focused his tired, bright green stare at her. Making her heart beat too quickly and soundly. "You do remember our old friend, Sal Valestra, don't you, honey bunny?" Harley nodded once, trying to calm her senses, his grin only grew wider.
"Nothing but a nosy, manipulating piece of mafia scum, Puddin" she replied remembering his yelling of the unending tantrums he gave when the name of his somehow ex-boss got to his ears.
"You said it, my harlequin. And you know I cannot stand that kind of style less, rude criminals. Even less when they try to threaten me; me, the one and only Clown Prince of Crime!" he snorted angrily for a while and whispered under his breath "Nobody will ever know how much blood has run down my hands, how dirty are they, who the hell cares anyway? I'm a villain for some fucking reason!" she tried not to giggle, but he just looked so adorable when he hated other people out loud "Anyways, daddy has decided it's time to take down some of his false gotten pride, sweets… and you're gonna help me" wait, he was seriously including her on one of his so carefully thought plans?!
"S-sure, Puddin', what must I do?" she hesitated a while, the evening was taking some turns she hadn't been exactly ready for.
"You see, I send the boys off to do some research for me; they got all of the first and last names of people who have, are and will work for that worm. And I got some pretty interesting details from his gang…"
"Such a difficult job well done, boss. I wonder how many of their fingers were in risk this time…" they laughed together softly, enjoying their bits of black, bloody comedy only a pair of psycho clowns could understand and love.
"Can't really tell, but it was definitely worth each ten of them, toots… But back to what we care about, I found a guy that someday connected Valestra and one of the many Red Hoods, long ago… No one knows what happened to the poor bastard, he disappeared after the first job he was assigned; Batsy was somehow involved too, he was the last to see him. And this wonderful Mr. Nobody might be the answer for my prayers to take down the motherfucker!" he bumped his free hand on the surface of the desk making the papers and pencils bounce, as they flew he caught a certain one in the air and brought it down to their gazes.
"Jack Napier? Not a name you hear every day, outstanding for a Mr. Nobody" her doctor mind worked as she stared at the picture of a tall, skinny man walking behind two of Valestra's old gang members. Brown hair, dark eyes and a nervous feeling showing on his face; with a strange mixture of grief, distrust and fear, the man must have surely had a lot of trouble; he seemed too good to be working for someone like Salvatore. The poor man mustn't have known what he had gotten himself into.
"And even more outstanding were his reasons to relate himself to the mafia. He had gotten married at a quite young age, his wife Jeannie and him didn't have much money and so he had to look for whatever job could provide a hold for them. She died in a "home accident" the day he himself disappeared, but only a few people hear of the unfortunate events. This chapter of the Valestra gang was erased permanently, that until I couldn't keep my hands and worries to myself!" he chuckled happily; she stared at the other picture, a pretty young woman with her hair only darker than Harley's, but much shorter and a different shade of blue, she on the other hand looked a lot calmer and joyful, now she was actually the one that hadn't known a thing! This sounded like a story written for a soap opera, too sad and mysterious to be true, kinda what his Puddin' liked as a good joke, promising the best of punchlines and he would obviously be willing to get his hands the dirtiest needed with it.
"Let me play the saddest song with the smallest violin of the world…" she earned a quick giggle from him "And what are we going to do in order to redeem these two souls in pain?" she put her arms around his shoulders and gave him a peck on the exposed skin of his neck.
"We're bringing them back to life, toots…We'll be Jack and Jeannie sitting on a tree" the surroundings of his pupils became darker. "The gang's having a fancy encounter in Pegger's club in a few days, who know Oswald had these many contacts, and such a bad taste for them… Anyway, as this is an old and untold story and we have the benefit that Sally would never make an appearance in a public space except it was awfully necessary, we'll only dress ourselves up to get some information from his just acquired rookies and we'll be out in the blink of an eye! What do you think, future Mrs. Napier?" she bit her lip thinking it through.
"I dunno, Puddin'… Ya' sure no one will notice?" her Brooklyn accent just slipped out of her mouth when she was uncomfortable.
"Oh, c'mon, where's my brave baby girl? Has daddy ever done something he wasn't sure of doing? There's nothing to be worried about!" he caressed her cheek with his calloused fingers and made her shiver under his touch before he would take his velvet smile to the crook of her neck, pulling out a moan now from her lips "Besides…" he kissed his way up to her ear "I know how much you like to play dress up… and you, dear, know how much that turns me on" her eyes had rolled up from his careful teasing but she focused them again and stared seriously, determined to her boyfriend's face.
"Count me in, love" she ran her hand through her slightly messy green locks and he groaned approvingly.
"That's my girl" he purred to her ear "Now… I really don't want you to think I didn't notice you pulled out the goodies, and you've been a good girl, little minx. You deserve your reward" this time she squealed loud enough for him to hear her and join her on the delight. His lips walk the way down again to meet her half exposed chest and his fingers tugged softly on the knot of the robe, taking his time, but he wasn't the only one acting strange. She on the other side, simply wandered her hands through his tensed back, rubbing gently; her mind couldn't help but to wonder around the bad feeling this plan was giving to her, she couldn't tell why… maybe it was the risk of having one of Valestra's dummies know what had truly happened to Mr. and Mrs. Nobody and recognize them, or maybe it was about the fate those two people had faced. It just didn't feel that right…
"Oh, Harl, you do take care of me…" she hadn't noticed he had already thrown away the robe and was staring hungrily at her black lingerie, he rested his hand on her waist and pulled her closer to her hips, making her feel the excitement build up inside him. "What would I do without my little puppet?" his mouth finally found hers in a deep, satisfying kiss that allowed her mind to slip from insecurities and focus on what really mattered…
There was nothing she wouldn't do for this man.
"Sorry to disturb you, Batman, you mustn't think I believe you're a man with no occupation" Commissioner James Gordon tried to greet the superhero as he entered his office.
"Worry not, Commissioner, we have always shared similar goals. It's our duty to protect this city, and we're here to help each other" the Bat assured him, somehow thankful that his close friend didn't look as preoccupied and scared as other times. He knew this call was meant to assign him a mission, nothing that needed his instant care or intervention.
"Yeah, I appreciate that really. The issue now is about Valestra's gang, I've heard from my agents they are to hold a meeting in the Iceberg Lounge. It doesn't sound too bad now, but there's always the possibility of it ending with commotion and violence…" he took his glasses off and started rubbing his exhausted eyes with one hand.
"You want me to keep an eye on the criminal's party…"
"Yes, I hope it won't be too much work… but for the issues Valestra has caused us in the past, I prefer to be rather safe than sorry." Batman understood why he seemed so tired, and he couldn't help but feeling a piercing guilt inside his chest, he knew exactly what had made his situation even more difficult; and he hadn't been able to help that time.
"It's no problem, Commissioner. I'll do what's necessary, not more or less" he responded as sure as he desired to feel, and he turned to leave… but his thoughts held him standing right where he was, he sighed. "How's your daughter?".
"She's… learning to live with it, Barbara has been nothing but strong her whole life. I've got to admit it… it seems that I'm having much harder time than her regarding her condition" life had always hit his family hard, but just as Batman himself knew, if it hadn't stopped… it was only because they were meant to continue living.
"It's good that she's handling it well… You should also give some time to yourself to recover; spend some more time with her, take care of both of you" he hoped a sincere advice would do some good to his friends damaged faith. The only other thing he could do about it, was already done, he and Barbara had taken their separate ways.
"Sure, I will try... Thank you- for everything" he sounded yet so sincere but still so hurt.
"No need to thank me…" and he meant it, he didn't deserve any gratitude… not towards anything that could have linked him to her.
To be continued…
Dreamer.
Hello people! Okay so, one day I was watching The Killing Joke for the second time in my life, and I just can't stop myself from letting a few tears run down my cheeks when I see the particular scenes of the Joker's past, I don't know it just moves me too much; even though later some pretty more shocking things happen… oh, well! The thing is that I always wondered how would Harley have reacted to the truth of whom her Puddin' was before being Batman's enemy; to know that he had been married and with a child on the way (don't think I've forgotten ;) ) and how he came to be. So this is my take on probably how they would react to finding out the truth about him, I know I'll probably mix so many things from the comics, movies, the animated series and any Batman reference I can get along with every theory ever made up and my own vision of how it all would be, might be a little OOC, I have warned you! And this is my first fanfic about the DC universe so I'll definitely need your help, please leave your comments on what you think, what you'd want to read, what other things you would want to be discovered and anything that comes to your mind! I even consider on taking a chance to write some smutty business on later chapters, I don't know you tell me, hehe! Anyways, thank you for reading and I'll see you on the next chapter, buh-bye! :3