Waking up in her puddin's arms again for the first time since way too long and not in a prison cell was almost too good to be true. Harley had to pinch herself just to be sure that it wasn't a dream. She had actually pinched herself countless times during her stay at Belle Reve, eventually pinching herself so hard that she ended up with bruises all over her arms. But not one time did she wake up from that nightmare. She shuddered at the horrible memories. The torture. The abuse. Harley snuggled up closer to the Joker and that made him wake up. He laid his eyes on her and he too had a hard time comprehending that this was actually real. Harley was back with him after being apart for so long. He would smile if it wasn't for the fact that she seemed… troubled? "What's wrong, poo?" She managed a small smile at the pet name.
"Nuthin', just… I'm just so happy that you came for me." She buried her face in his side and she tried hard not to cry. Joker wasn't sure how to react to this. Sure, he had seen her upset before, but somehow, this time it felt more like she was scared. He didn't really want to go into it too deep, but figured he should at least do something.
"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked. Harley looked up into his face. Her eyes were filled with unshed tears. She had to tell him.
"Do you remember that guy named Griggs? You must have talked to him, because he gave me the cellphone from you." When she said the name, it didn't ring a bell, but he did remember talking to one of the guards at Belle Reve and giving him the phone so he could pass it on to Harley.
"Oh yeah, I remember him. I suppose I should thank him." Harley understood that if it wasn't for Griggs, she never would have been able to communicate with Joker. But that would never make up for all that he did to her. She sat up in bed, bracing herself. She pulled her knees up and put her arms around them.
"Do you know what he did to me?" she whispered, staring into the wall across from the bed. Joker sat up too, but didn't say a word. She knew that meant he was listening. So she told him all about it and the more she revealed, the more she could feel the anger slowly building up in him. It wasn't a secret that the Joker despised when anyone put their hands on Harley. When she finished, she turned to look at him and was not surprised by the expression on his face. His teeth were gritted and his eyes were dark and cold. There was no doubt that murder was on his mind.
"I think we should pay our dear friend a little visit."
Griggs yawned loudly in front of the computer screen. It was late and the room was bathing in darkness, the only source of light being the lit screen. Griggs was far too tired to keep his eyes open any longer. He turned the computer off and went to lock the front door. He stopped in his tracks, only a few steps away from the door, when there was a knock on it. Actually, it was several knocks, almost like a melody, which led Griggs to believe that whoever was outside was feeling rather chipper. Hesitantly, he stepped up to the door and looked through the peephole. You've got to be kidding me. Outside his door stood none other than Harley Quinn and she waved at him, flashing a wide smile. He laughed to himself. He opened the door and there she was, looking up at him. Griggs couldn't keep the smile off his face. "Harley fucking Quinn," he said. "Already missing me? Because I have to admit, I missed you, hotness." Harley played innocent and batted her eyes at him.
"I missed all the fun we had together. You know…" Harley took a step closer. "When you took all those selfies with me, even though I didn't want to." She took yet another step and another and another and Griggs's stupid grin instantly fell. He was forced to back away, back into the house. "Or when you pulled my hair and called me names!" Harley withdrew a knife and pushed him against the wall, pressing the blade against his throat. She was shorter than him, but size didn't matter. There was no mistaking who had the upper hand. Griggs put his hands up in defense.
"Whoa, hey Harley, calm down, all right? I'm sorry, okay?" Harley laughed in his face, not believing a single word.
"Who are you tryin' to kid? You're not sorry! Admit it Griggs, you enjoyed hurting me! You're nothing but a big, ugly, sadistic pervert!"
"Hey, I may be a little sadistic at times, but I'm not a perv!"
"Not according to your browser history," a voice behind him said. It was enough to make his skin crawl. It was a voice he had hoped to never hear again. The Joker stepped out from the shadows. "Hotness," he added, looking straight into Griggs's eyes. Griggs was all out of words, but then again, it was probably best to shut up. The Joker's eyes fell on a framed picture standing on a coffee table. He picked it up and gave a fake pout. "Aww, wife and kids?" he asked, showing Griggs and Harley the picture of a dark haired woman with two young boys.
"Let's hope they don't grow up to become like their daddy," Harley said, still holding the knife threateningly close to Griggs's throat. Griggs gritted his teeth at Harley, clearly not amused.
"Put that down, please," he told Joker, who actually complied.
"So where are they?" Joker asked. "I was hoping you'd introduce us to your family."
"They're not here," Griggs answered truthfully. "They're staying at their grandma's this weekend." As soon as the words escaped his mouth, he regretted having said them. The Joker tsk-d and wagged his finger.
"And here I thought you were going to be honest with us," he said.
"I am," Griggs insisted, as it was the truth. Sweat was beginning to drip down his neck. He had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. The Joker dug out his cellphone from the right pocket of his purple skin coat.
"Perhaps this might jog your memory?" He held the small screen close to Griggs's face, who grew pale in a matter of seconds. The Joker grinned. Griggs was now looking at his two sons being tied down somewhere that was definitely not their grandma's place. What was worse was that they were being held at gunpoint by men in funny looking masks. Wait, was that a panda? All they needed was one word from the Joker and it would all be over for the boys. Before Griggs had the time to say anything, the Joker tapped the screen to switch to another image. This one was of the wife, in the same situation as the boys.
"Please," Griggs whispered. "Don't hurt them."
"Now that all depends on you," the Joker said and put the phone back in his pocket. "Whoever you choose is the one we'll hurt," he continued explaining. Griggs shook his head.
"You want me to choose between my wife and my kids?" This was absurd.
"Actually," Harley said, "there is a third option." She pressed the blade even closer, starting to draw blood and he got the hint. "So which is it gonna be?" she asked. "Strawberry… chocolate… or vanilla?"
Author's note: This one-shot was requested by an anon on tumblr and I thought it was a very interesting idea, so here is my take on Harley and Joker's revenge on Griggs. It's totally up to you as a reader what you think Griggs chose in the end. Personally I'd like to think he chose himself, just because there has to be some decency in him, right? But yeah, I hated him so much in the movie. Anyway, hope you liked this one-shot! :)
