Just want it like before

We were dancing all night

Then they took you away

Stole you out of my life

You just need to remember

- Blue Jeans by Lana Del Rey

Joker anxiously paced the living room floor back and forth. Jonny was watching him from one of the expensive, brown leather armchairs. He wanted to tell his boss to just sit down and relax, maybe even have a drink or two. But he knew it would be no use. The Joker did as he pleased and no one could ever make him change his mind. Well, maybe Harley, Jonny thought. But that was just the thing – Harley wasn't here. Hence, the Joker's endless pacing.

He was waiting for a message – a message from the people who took Harley. Eight days ago, Joker had gotten into a quarrel with her. It happened every now and then. Most of the time, if the quarrel was bad, she would go home to her gal pal Ivy and stay there for a couple of days. When she got back, the quarrel had either been forgotten or they would forgive each other. Joker never actually said he was sorry, but Harley could always tell when he was. She understood him better than anyone else. Jonny thought they resembled a married couple much more than any of them would let on.

This time, the quarrel had been bad, but certainly not so bad that she wouldn't return home safely within the next couple of days, right? Joker had expected her to stand in the doorway with a big grin on her face, arms open wide, saying: "I'm back, Puddin'!" He waited one day. Then two days. Three. Four. On the fifth day, he even decided to camp inside by the front door and wait for her to come home. He didn't move from his spot all day. When it was well after midnight and she still hadn't come back, he decided that he had waited long enough. Time to pay that weed a visit.

Ivy woke in the middle of the night to the sound of loud, continuous banging on her front door and it didn't stop until she came to open up. She was not surprised to see who her nightly visitor was. "Where is she?" Joker asked. He did not look to be in a gaming mood. Too bad for him, because Ivy definitely was. She decided to play dumb.

"Who?" Joker bared his teeth and suppressed a growl. Trying to keep your calm when you had been awake for almost twenty four hours was no easy task. He pushed through, letting himself inside her apartment and searched every room for Harley. Ivy crossed her arms and leaned her back against the wall. She was rather amused by the whole thing, to be honest. "She's not here, you know." He stopped dead in his tracks and slowly turned his face in her direction, as if daring her to repeat that. "She never was." Ivy was telling the truth. She hadn't seen Harley in weeks, actually. Joker clenched his jaw and made his way over to her.

"Don't. Lie. To me."

"I'm not," she said, looking straight into his face. She was not afraid. "I'm guessing if you're looking for her, that means it's your fault that she's gone. Now get out of my flat!" With a grunt, the Joker turned away and left, but not without grabbing one of the many flower pots on display and smashing it to the floor.

Jonny hoped that this wasn't going to be yet another rescue mission. One was enough. When the Joker had found out that someone had implanted a bomb in his girlfriend's neck, all hell broke loose. Jonny thought that he had seen the Joker angry before, but nothing compared to that. If he could have it his way, he'd rather not experience it ever again.

Suddenly, the Joker's phone buzzed to life, catching both men's attention. It rested on the coffee table in front of Jonny. Joker stopped pacing and picked the phone up. He had finally received the well anticipated message:

You want her?

Come and get her.