The Queen of Gotham
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Batman franchise.
"Both of us think we're in charge of Gotham, don't we Batsy?" The high voice echoed throughout the abandoned theme part, where two enemies stood facing each other.
Batman was not impressed. He had received a message from the Joker saying he'd kidnapped four children, and had set up a "fun activity" for them all - unless Batman stopped him in time. And now here he was, finding out that there were no kidnapped children and the psychopath had merely wanted to talk. He was very much annoyed, but couldn't help being intrigued.
"What's your point, Joker?" The Dark Knight asked.
"You think you run this place, don't deny it. You're a hero and you protect everyone and butt into my plans, and you think you own Gotham. I do too. The most feared man in the city, probably the whole of America too, that can make someone think they're in charge, can't it?" There was a distinct lack of humour in the clown's voice, almost as though he was grieving. Batman had never seen him without a smile before.
The vigilante grew tired of the useless talk. "Joker, just stop this. I don't know why you wanted to talk, but I'm taking you back to Arkham."
"I wanted to tell you that we're both wrong."
That stopped Batman in his tracks. "What do you mean?"
"Neither of us are in charge. We're both puppets, we do whatever the person holding our strings wants us to do. And neither of us realised it until now - we each thought we were choosing our actions. But we don't, Batty, we don't choose at all. She does." As the Joker spoke, Batman slowly began to piece together what the madman was saying...
"I am not controlled by anyone, and I doubt you are either."
"That's why she's so brilliant, you see, she played us both for fools. And you still don't see it." The clown fixed his eyes on the setting sun on the horizon, and the grief in his next words were clear. "Harley left last night. She finally told me the truth: she's not crazy. She's never been. Working at Arkham, joining me, fighting you... It was all about the power. She's learnt how to run Gotham now, from the two of us - she's learnt about the cruelty of the criminal underworld from me, and about the city's justice from you. And now she's going to take over, while letting us think she was just a pretty little girl with a mallet."
The Dark Knight stared at the man in front of him. Harley Quinn LEFT him?! Harley, the abused yet utterly devoted sidekick to the Joker, had been lying all this time? "Did she give you a reason?"
"Nah, all she said was she'll take care of our jobs, and that it was necessary for her to have stayed with me. She pulled the strings all this time, every plan she didn't like she would change, and I let her. It happened with us both. You underestimated her, pitied her, and she used that to worm her way into your heart." At the stunned look on Batman's face, the clown laughed humourlessly. "Oh don't lie, Batsy, she did it too everyone. No one can kill her, because everybody cares about her. The kid's a genius, I'll give her that."
The worst part was he was right; Batman could see it now. The number of times he saved her, along with all the seemingly unimportant questions she asked him, and he'd answered without a second thought.
He'd been so stupid. They both had. They'd been so caught up in fighting each other that they hadn't seen the true evil in their midst. The petite blonde woman with the Brooklyn accent that defended her "Puddin" from the Dark Knight, while secretly pulling the strings on her little puppets, making them do exactly what she wanted.
"What will she do?" He asked.
"How the hell should I know? Everything I thought I knew about the kid's been thrown out the window now. She's completely unpredictable. All anyone in the crime world knows his her new name. It's quite fitting, really."
"What is it?"
The Joker grinned again, with even less humour this time. "You might be the Dark Knight, and I might be the Clown Prince of Crime. But Harleen Quinzel is now the Queen of Gotham."
A/N: This one popped into my head, so I wrote it really quickly. I've always thought that, underneath the façade she puts on, Harley is the smartest of Gotham's criminals, so I like this idea. I'm planning another two chapters, so I hope you enjoyed, and leave a review telling me your thoughts! ~ The Dark Knight HQ xx