Chapter 1
Silence. That is one thing that Gotham city lacked. No matter where you turned, how far out you got, and what time it was some kind of noise could be heard anywhere. This was especially true at night. It wouldn't be Gotham without crime. Most nights you couldn't go five minutes without hearing a siren of some sort, or an explosion. Those where the wild ones, and the ones you could always place a bet on that Batman was heading to.
Not only was Gotham famous for it's criminal underworld, but also it was famous for it's so called 'Super criminals.' These were the ones that nine times out of ten you heard come over the police scanners or on the radio. The most famous of which was a man called The Joker. This was a man with no regard for human life, whether it be innocent bystanders or his own henchmen, he wouldn't give a damn if they died so long as he accomplished what he set out to do.
"Boys, this is the big one," Joker took the butt of his pistol and mindlessly broke open a glass case. "Oops, bet that cost a pretty penny, " he cackled.
He was dressed in his signature purple business suit. Every feature on his body stood out from his green spiky hair down to his clown-like penny loafers. It was a very sure bet that he wouldn't be missed in a crowd.
"Puddin, we're rich now." Harley mused. She stuck right by his side. No matter where he was or what he did, if he was there, she wasn't to far away.
At 5'6" she was a beauty. Underneath her white face paint and harlequin suit was a slender athletic woman who was once a very promising medical intern at Arkam. That is till she met the man that was currently right beside her. With no rhyme or reason, she knew she shouldn't but she adored him. She held out a bag for Joker, who was tossing in diamond after diamond.
"You know Harl, that's the understatement of the century." Joker stopped only to pat Harley on the head, which she thought was cute every time he did it.
"Ah Mista J, you're such a charmer." She blushed.
His henchmen scrambled left and right, even if they weren't busy loading items they had to appear busy, Joker hated people who stood around, especially if he was "paying" them. This was one of his more genius plans. The penthouse of the Gothamite hotel was a storage area for patron's valuable, and, because the hotel only catered to the ultra rich, the penthouse storage had more valuable objects than fort knox.
Every which way you turned there was either jewels, cash, or various artifacts, and it was sectional. On the far left side of the penthouse room there housed a vault, which was currently being broken into. The far right, a storage area, alphabetical by patron names, of jewels. Any kind of jewel you can imagine was in this area. Joker and Harley was in the center of the room. It was lined with two rows of glass cases that held nothing but diamonds.
They were lucky. Following Jokers plan to the letter no alarms were tripped, and he planned to keep it that way, threatening to shoot whoever tripped one. No one dared get on the sadistic side of Joker so every henchman was careful, so careful in fact that you would have thought they were performing a science experiment. It would only take one false move, one slip up, to trip an alarm and have either the Batman or the police on them at any moment.
"Now remember boys," He said while examining a larger than normal diamond. "No screw ups. If we pull this off you'll be set for life."
"Yes, sir!" They all said in unison.
"It's so nice to have obedient henchmen, wouldn't you say Harl." Joker turned back to Harley.
"Sure puddin, the best henchmen we've had all week."
She woke. First thing she noticed after her eyes adjusted was that this was not a cell, if it was there would be a light, or a guard for that matter. It was damp, cold, that much she could discern at least. Another clue that she was not in Arkham was the bed, not a cot, but an actual bed.
"That fucking clown," she cursed aloud to no one in particular. When she met him it was more of a fascination than anything else that drew her to him, hell at one point she may have thought there was something more, not anymore. That part of her life she now considered over, once and for all, the minute he threw her off a roof.
"How did I get here?" It was more of a rhetorical question. "I should be dead."
"You would have been, had I not caught you."
She shrieked. She knew that voice all to well. Her immediate reaction was to stand and defend herself, however the moment she shot up she crashed back down.
"You should be careful, You've had a pretty rough night."
"Yea, well what's it to you B-man." She said on instinct. Getting no response she changed her tact. "Where am I?"
She looked around but saw no sign of Batman. Other than the sound of his voice she was alone. What was she thinking anyway. Batman had a reputation for slipping into the shadows, if he didn't want found he couldn't be found.
Like a phantom he appeared out of the shadows. "My private medical facility."
Another man appeared out of the shadows, not as tall or well built as Batman, more gangly in fact, even wearing one of Robin's eye covers you could tell this man was old. The most interesting thing was that he had a tray full of medical instruments. At that point Harley was taken aback, surely the B-man, as she called him, wouldn't resort to torture. It was not his style.
"Look B-man, if you're gonna operate on me, you might as well send me back to the looney bin."
"I would, but if Joker knew you were alive he'd come looking for you, besides you have a brain injury, and I need answers."
"If it'll put that clown back where he belongs I'll be more than happy to answer any question you got."
The unknown man positioned the medical table by the bed and picks out a syringe, "Now miss, this wont hurt a bit."
Wide eyed, Harley scoots back on the bed as far as was humanly possible, you'd think the idea of a shot wouldn't faze her, after all she had gone through medical school. She'd always hated needles, ever since she was a child. "You ain't sticking me with that thing old man." She attempted to flee again, forgetting that her legs were bound.
Batman held up his hand, stopping the old man. He knew everything there was to know about her from where she went to kindergarden to what socks she wears on Wednesday, although he'd never admit it she fascinated him. How in the world an innocent girl like that got caught up, and could love a man like the Joker was beyond him. Given that she was once a promising medical student she shouldn't be afraid of needles, but then again she was the one doing the poking.
"Relax Harley, it's for your own good." Before she could protest, the world went dark.
This time there was a light. Through her haze she could make out the fuzzy figures of two people. She guessed the taller one was Batman, at least she hoped it was Batman. Harley prayed she wasn't hallucinating again. 'Please don't let it be that clown,' she thought. She also hoped she wasn't back in Arkham.
The doctors were cruel to her. They liked to experiment on her with certain drugs. You'd think being one of them, even a former one, they'd just leave her alone. Nope, she got singled out. Every week they'd sneak in a new drug claiming it was a cure for her 'psychosis,' but really they just wanted to tape her hallucinating in an attempt to keep her in.
"I wish I could say I was surprised," the second man said. "All these many years have taught me though that anything is possible, especially with you."
"What's possible?" Harley asked, trying to maintain her balance. Her head was throbbing.
"Harley, do you recognize this?" Batman held up a small computer chip.
"No, should I?"
"I think this may have been the reason why you were always so susceptible to the Joker."
"What is it?" Her confusion was evident. She knew nothing about electronics, less about computer chips, and if Joker was controlling her that was one more thing on the list that she was gonna kill him for.
"This was right underneath your skin. How Joker got hold of it I don't know, but it is a Jervis Tetch design."
"You mean to tell me the whole time I was with that bastard I was being controlled?"
"Yes."
If it was the last thing she'll do she was gonna get that white faced, sadistic clown, even if she had to use Batman himself. "Is it to late to change sides?"