Author's note: I wanted to write this piece with Lucy for a long time. As my tumblr followers probably have noticed, I'm obsessed with the idea of this little clown baby.

This is just written for my own indulgence, a what if scenario/alternative ending. This is based on the events in the Injustice: Gods Among Us comics and games, and the characters of Injustice 2. Takes place around the time in Injustice 2 when they fight. This is going to be a much darker JxHQ which means you don't have to ship them to read this, but if you do ship them like I do, you'll see it.
Warnings: Graphic violence.

ACID ADDICTION

"Call me psychotic or numb
I'm just a product of love
So thanks for showing me how
Though love ain't easy
When you're bleeding from the thrill of the fight"
Acid Annie - Natalia Kills

The baby was so small. She bore no striking resemblance to her father, no green hair, she was just a little pale. Only when she opened her eyes, Harley felt something clench in her chest. She mostly slept, unassuming, unaware of what had led to her birth, the chaotic life. Unaware of the bloodshed, the violence, the murder and most of all, a certain man.

Harley hugged the bundle closer to her chest. Her sister leaned over the hospital bed. "Have you changed your mind, Harleen?"

"It's Mistah J's baby." Harley stroked some blonde hair from the sleeping baby's forehead, crooning a lullaby out of pitch. "She has his mouth… and the shape of her eyes. She's so pretty."

Her sister sat down next to her, reminding her of their earlier discussion. "Are you sure you want me to take care of her?"

Harley stared in front of her. "Mistah J wouldn't want a baby." She shook her head, tears threatening to spill over her eyes as her bottom lip trembled. "Her name is Lucy."

"Mommy will always keep you safe..."

.

Harley stepped forward, her fingers tightening around her bat. It was time to finish this. Hit a clown, win a prize. Game over, basta ya.

The Joker chuckled darkly as he emerged from the smoke, grinning in a way that would have turned her body to jelly before. Here he was, finally in front of her again, all smiles and teeth. He had not changed one bit all these years that had passed since she had been with him. Only a new purple leather jacket and more scars covering his grayish skin, but the same deadly aura around him, crazed eyes and psychotic smile, the malevolence radiating off him. Anyone who came too close would be sucked right into him, like a maelstrom.

Only she wasn't the same woman, the one who had his kid in secret, the one who let him do anything to her. A Harley-shaped doormat as Batman called her.

No, she was different. For the first time, they were on equal ground.

He approached her steadily, finality in every step of his heavy boots, and she saw the look in his eyes as he twirled his dagger. She was nothing but another opponent to him now. She was not even worth a good game anymore. He had tried to kill her more times than she could recall, his treason still leaving a burning taste in her mouth.

Harley smiled triumphantly, hearing the growls of Bud and Lou behind her, still chained up, saliva dripping from their mouths, ready to devour him at her command, tear him apart. Oh, how the tables had turned.

Joker opened his arms wide, feigning hurt. "Harley, you wouldn't hurt me, would you?" His facial expression hardened in scorn while his voice was soft, cooing. Harley bit her teeth together, then smiled.

"You bet!"

"I never thought you'd grow a spine," he commented idly, moving around her in a circle, bringing up a large canister. She noticed the green gas filling the air around them.

"It's too late to make me smile, Mistah J!" She breathed deeply to emphasize her point; the antidotes Ivy had given her keeping her safe. In truth, a part of it was her prolonged exposure to him – he had made her immune without even knowing. She had had him in her very core and it had left irreversible traces.

She tried to push every memory to the back of her mind, forcing them back again; his aggressive fucking that she had indulged in, his messy hair in her hands, the way he used to bite her and how it had edged her on, the toxic euphoria that unleashed in her -

She started walking faster to match his pace, accompanied by the hungry barks of her hyenas behind her, before lashing out with her bat. He laughed at her as he easily moved aside – he was just as fast and agile as she remembered, he really was the real thing, no impostor.

"Pathetic." He looked her straight in the eyes and anger flared in the bottom of her stomach. Joker held his large knife in his hand, his only visible weapon, but she knew he must have more in stock. Every time she took a step forward, he moved quickly backwards or to the side, all the while giggling maddeningly. They were stuck in an impromptu dance and he seemed as relaxed as ever, knife ready to lash out every time she came too close.

"I thought you'd be funnier this time around, Harls. All this time with me… Such a disappointment. Why do I even bother with you?"

All her self-restraint went out of the window. Harley felt the rage exploding in her chest.

"I was gone for an entire year AND YOU DIDN'T EVEN NOTICE!"

She charged at him as she yelled, forgetting her strategy. Her acrobatic training kept her faster than him, light on her feet. Her bat swung an inch from his face before he brought his knife up and fended her off with more force than she expected; the strength of his push almost causing the bat to smash into her face. Harley jumped and somersaulted backwards, hearing his shrill, mocking laughter ringing in her ears.

She let go of the bat, the sound as it hit the ground was final, a statement, then brought up her revolver in one fast movement and fired relentlessly at him, but he dodged as easily. Something hit her head hard and she dropped the gun, momentarily distracted as her head ached.

"Seems like they can be used for other things!" he cackled.

A large can of laughing gas had brought her off her feet. Harley stood up, glaring daggers at him as she dusted herself off. She charged at him again, kicking him hard in the stomach which sent him flying across the ground, before landing hard on his back. She moved closer, picking up a sharp object from her pocket.

His dusty coat was open, displaying his pale chest, a reddening spot in the middle. She grinned and pulled up the syringe, the sharp tip gleaming. "Let's play doctor again, Puddin'."

He rose from the ground before she had a chance to get to him, then wiped blood away from his lips with his scarred forearm. He had pulled out another object from his jacket; a rusty, bloody crowbar. He moved in her direction with an eerily grimace and she used her arm to hold him back.

Before she had time to react, he got her off her feet with one hard punch and she felt his hand in her scalp, before he slammed her head into the ground. Harley wriggled as stars sprung across her eyes, cursing at him. She aimed the syringe as she struggled to get out of his grip, only to feel him rip it away from her.

"Patient Quinzel," he chuckled. "Yeah, let's play, baby…"

The syringe was jammed into her skin, a burning sting spreading across her shoulder. There was no way the substance could do any serious harm to her after Ivy's treatments, but the way it was jammed into her caused her to lose balance, and she felt momentarily dizzy before something hard hit her head.

Harley growled and tried to crawl up from the ground, feeling the world spin violently around her. Her head was too heavy. She was vaguely aware of Joker as he knelt down next to her and suddenly she heard his voice right by her ear, dark and alluring as she remembered it. His breath across her neck sent a chill down her spine.

"Let's take the stage together again."

"I'm gonna feed you to Bud and Lou! I'm gonna make you into a pudding, you son of a – " She gasped after words, growling at him, clawing at the ground, but she couldn't lift her head.

"Ah-ah-ah, don't take the fun out of this." He tapped the ground with his knife, right in front of her. "I'm serious."

"I'm gonna bust your skull open!"

His laughter filled the darkness around her. "Good try, my dear."

.

Lucy loved playing with toy cars, but she always put tutus on them. When Harley had time to see for herself, her daughter was almost two years old. Harley had sunk to her knees, pulled the child close and hugged her, feeling her softness and smell.

Lucy was not a stranger to her, she felt as familiar as ever, as if the two of them were halves of one whole. Time has passed so fast when she was away, Lucy was growing faster every day. Her facial features were similar to her father's, yet her face was round and innocent. She was incredibly stubborn when she wanted to be, Harley's sister explained, mischievous.

.

When Harley focused her gaze, she was sitting in a hard chair. She looked around in the darkness, about to get up, when something hit her head, forcing it back against the chair. The back of her neck was aching, the pain spreading to the back of her skull and leaving her unable to move. Through her shattered vision she could make out him standing in front of her, approaching her slowly.

His hand cupped her face as he grinned, fingers digging harshly into her jawbone. "Let yourself out of there, Harls. I can hear you in there. Don't you feel it?"

"I'm Harleen," she spat. "I have a new life!"

"As Batman's little helper? How adorable!"

She glared up at him as he withdrew his hand from her, and placed it on the switch on the wall beside the electrical chair. Without flipping the switch, he let his hand rest there as he peered at her, flashing his teeth. Something still sent her heart racing to have him here, only focused on her. To have his full attention again, finally, everything that she used to desire.

Through the dizziness clouding her mind she heard him say: "We can't have that, now can we? My little harlequin, I made you the one you are. I'm in your core."

She raised her head, defiantly glaring at him. "No, you ain't anymore! You know nothin' 'bout my life!"

He leaned close, green eyes burning into hers. His breath ghosted over her lips. "I know everything about you. The real you, that is dying to get out. You feel it too! I hear how you're struggling to break free, your mind clawing at itself!"

Harley grinned, feeling something close to aching in her body when she saw the expression in his eyes - aching with impatience.

"Do your worst!"

He flipped the switch.

Bright electric currents flashed all around her, dancing across the edges of the chair, her body arching, wanting to turn itself inside out. She was familiar with the sensation, after all it wasn't the first time she had been grilled. She closed her eyes and bit her teeth together as her body violently shook, trying to rip itself apart, a thousand of sharp knives underneath her skin. His maddening laughter filled her ears, as the stream of needles overwhelmed her.

Then… it stopped.

Harley opened her eyes, her head touching her knees, and forced back bile in her throat. Her vision was shattered, her body trembling, but she felt good, in a masochistic, warm way. Her heartbeat was numbed in her ears, she felt completely brand-new.

A smile slowly crept onto her face as she straightened up. She was alone, a new kind of adrenaline pulsing through her.

For a moment she was his Harley again. Volatile, psychotic in her obsession, greedy for his attention. She wiped the blood away from her lips that she had crushed during the electroshock, feeling it fill her mouth with a warm and familiar taste. Blood ran down her chin and stained her chest.

She left the cave, going out to search for him. He was close by, waiting for her. He smiled when he saw her. He had pushed Batman to his knees, incapacitated and tied up, still with his mask on.

"Now, my dear, you know what to do."

He handed her his knife and she accepted it with a gracious smile, approaching the prey. His knife felt like a part of him in her hand, knowing she could never beat him at his own game.

"That's my girl," he purred.

Had he changed his mind, and wanted her back? It was so tempting, just like closing her eyes and giving in, taking an out-reached hand, or diving straight down, and she'd be the same old Harley again. Killing anyone he told her to, betraying anyone he wanted her to. She could do it again. Her grip tightened around the handle of his knife. She could make him proud of her.

She was his girl still. Seeing his grin as he watched her took her to new heights, a rushed euphoria.

.

"Aunt Harleen!"

The girl had grown so much since she last saw her. All Harley could do was wave and smile, pretending to come from work to pick her up after school, to spend some time with her pretend niece. Lucy. She had dark blonde hair with a reddish tint, big blue eyes and some freckles. She wore clothes bought by Harley's sister, who had put her hair in ponytails.

Lucy was a big girl now, soon eight years old. Harley was nothing but a relative to her. Lucy had made friends, had interests, a normal life. Still unaware of everything that caused her existence, living calmly in a small town outside of Gotham. Safe and sound.

"Will you help me with my homework?"

It had almost brought tears to her face. How could this be her child? She had been happy to carry her, to see her open her eyes for the first time, to realize it was all a part of her connection with J.

All in all, she was happy that he gave her this, something that was just her own, something he couldn't take away.

.

Harley focused again, feeling the smooth knife in her hand, her heart pounding strongly. She could not lose. For Lucy's sake.

The Joker was still waiting, grinning. Waiting for her to kill Batman and turn her back on the very man that had given her a new chance, an opening.

She could feel the Joker's patience running out as he stepped closer, until he was standing right behind her. She felt his body touching her back and electrical sensations ran down her spine. Something was different this time around; he had not yet tried to deal her the killing blow. He had kept her alive... intentionally.

She stepped closer to Batman, holding the knife out. Then she turned around in a flash, pressing the knife against Joker's throat. She let the blade dig into his grayish skin and stared right at him. "I have something to tell ya first."

"So you can't do it?" He raised his own gun to her head, effectively putting them in stalemate. The warm barrel pressed into her temple, reminding her just of how her advantage was slipping away.

"I'm glad your daughter won't have to see your sorry ass."

In the moments that followed, Harley used his temporary confusion to kick him in the chest, then kicked the gun out of his hand, then punched him again to send him to the ground. As she hurried to release Bud and Lou, she saw him sit up, eyes trained on her. His smile had vanished now, deadly anger hinting on his face.

Time to turn this around.

"They won't kill ya… if you don't try to run," she informed him as her hyenas threw themselves at him. He was occupied fending them off with his crowbar while Harley remained behind them, waiting for her revelation to sink in.

He stood up, glaring at her as Bud attached himself to his coat and ripped it apart.

"Say…what, Harls?" His tone was low for the first time, staring at her with a look that almost burned her.

"You heard me." She picked up her bat.

He swung the crowbar against Bud, hitting him square across the ears which made the animal back off with a loud whine, while Lou growled and threw himself at him, overwhelming him with crushing jaws. Harley approached him, smiling, as she signaled for her hyenas to back off before they could kill him. His coat was ripped to shreds, he had several bloody wounds across his arms and chest. Yet he was sitting upright, staring at her with bared teeth.

Joker was finally on the ground in front of her, where she wanted him, and in a few moments more she would be completely in control.

"Game over, Mistah J." She raised her bat over his head. "I win!"

.

.

Lucy sat in the park, idly rocking back and forth on a swing, waiting for Harley's sister and her cousin to join them. The sun was slowly setting across the trees, spreading a warm golden light, a calm lowering over the area. She was talking about her day in school, their trip to a museum. Harley sat beside her on the other swing and listened, trying to forget about everything else, but something still bothered her.

It had not been her intention to let the Joker live. She had wanted to bash his head in, more than anything, but she had been told by Batman that he survived and was apprehended by the GCPD. He was going to spend the rest of his life in a maximum security prison where he would never leave his isolated cell. That wasn't important anymore; she had beat him to an inch of his life; he was more dead than alive when she was done with him.

More importantly, he knew the truth about Lucy now. It had not been her intention to slip that information to him if he was going to keep on breathing, but it had given her the upper hand back.

Something told her he would come back for her, and when he did, she would be ready. A part of her that she couldn't control, that part of her that wasn't entirely comfortable with her spot in the Justice League, the part that still wanted to crack skulls open and shoot people, that part of her that he had helped her create, was happy that he knew. It was happy that that this wasn't over.

"Aunt Harleen?"

"Yes?"

"Would you go with me to the zoo tomorrow?" Lucy shyly looked at her under her blonde bangs, the hint of a smile on her lips.

"Sure thing!"

She beamed. "Thank you!"

Harley reached out without thinking, brushing some strands of hair behind her daughter's ear. One day I'll give her the real scoop.

That part of her was convinced she would get another chance to take the Joker on, if – when – he broke out of prison. She would be waiting, ready. She would stick around, always making sure Lucy was safe and sound.

She could not let go of them yet.

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