Harley woke up with a groan. Everything hurt as she sat up on the bed. Her head pounded and her body ached as she fought to keep her body upright.
Looking around her at the well lit room, she saw her clothes littering the floor along with decorations and a broken lamp. When did her room get so messy? And since when did she sleep naked?
Harley went into a panic when she didn't recognize the room or the bed that she slept in. Her worry doubled when she didn't remember how she had gotten there, or how she ended up naked in the bed. Calming her beating heart, she thought back to the previous night regardless of the hangover that threatened to make her head pop. A few images of a bar, Tatsu and then June flashed in her mind.
She groaned. It was a girls' night out and she may have had one too many shots. She looked around the room and saw that neither of her friends were near by, nor was there any other living person in sight. By the set up, she realized that she was probably in a hotel room and by the look of her clothes trailing from the front door to the bed, she had probably picked up some guy in the bar.
And it looked like they had a pretty fun night since various objects around the room were knocked over during the drunken tryst. That explained the bruises that she felt on her skin and the ache between her legs. Harley shrugged it off, this wasn't the first time she had had a drunken one-night stand, but it was surely the first she couldn't fully remember. She'd have to grill the girls later for more information.
She went to stretch her arms above her head and winced when she felt a sharp pain on the left side of her body, just below her collarbone. A yelp escaped her when she glanced down and saw black ink on her porcelain skin glaring right back at her. Her mind filled with many possibilities and she hoped that her worse fear was not about to come true.
Bolting out of the bed, she ran around trying to find any reflective surface she could and trying not to trip on the items on the floor. Finally finding the bathroom, she threw the door open and stood in front of the mirror. Her eyes widened considerably when she confirmed what she had initially feared.
Just above her left breast was a very visible tattoo that said, "Daddy's Lil' Monster" in a bold cursive hand. She groaned, these types of things always seemed to happened to her.
As Harley gently ran her hand over the tender flesh, she had two thoughts burning in her mind. What the hell happened last night? And who in the world was "Daddy"?
Harley tapped her finger on her arm impatiently as she listened to June.
"So, here's what happened," June said rather slowly as she paced in front of Harley. "Tatsu went home since Digger had just come home from his two week job and then it was just the two of us..."
"How did two people become one very confused person sitting in a bed naked?" Harley pressed, her voice rather agitated. Every time they went to the clubs, they had one rule: never leave the drunk behind. She became a hazard every time she drank, they all knew that.
She saw June twiddle her thumbs. "Well...you see. These two really cute guys came and wanted to dance. I didn't see any harm so we went and danced with them. At this point, you and one of the cuties were completely off your mental from all the shots you guys took and totally hit it off. So when it was time to leave, you didn't want to leave him behind and kept insisting that you wanted to go with him so..."
"So you let me go with him?!" Harley practically yelled. She always said crazy stuff when she was drunk and her friends knew better than to listen.
"Rick vouched for him and sai-"
Harley blinked. "Omg! You totally left me so you could go with the other cute guy!"
From the way that June blushed, Harley knew it was true. One of her best friends in the world had just ditched her to get some sexy guy out of his pants. Harley was fuming and pouted on the couch as June tried her best to apologize.
"Come on, Harleen. It's not like this is the first time this kind of thing has happened. Nothing bad occurred and I came to check on you as soon as I woke up today. Looks like you got home just fine considerin-"
June abruptly cut off her speech when she saw Harley unceremoniously unbutton her shirt to show the ink written on her skin. "Omg," June squeaked out when she took in the writing.
"Yeah, omg," Harley repeated sternly. "I ended up sleeping with him too." She added in the extra information not sure if it made things better or worse.
"Okay," June said panicked, "The sleeping together I totally expected, but this." She pointed to the tattoo. "This is just messed up. Is it permanent?"
"I wouldn't be worried right now if it wasn't." She had tried tirelessly to scrub it off in the shower that morning. "I can't even remember how I got this. Was there a tattoo shop near the club when you left us?" When June shook her head, Harley let out a sigh and began to pout.
Reaching out to give her friend a hug, June tried her best to console her. "You guys were so drunk that there was no way you would have been able to walk to any parlour anyways. We sent the cab straight to your apartment."
"How in the world did I end up in a hotel then?"
"I don't know," June sighed, "I'm so sorry for leaving you. Look, I'll call up Rick and we'll see if Joker remembers anything."
"Joker?"
June gave her a quizzical look. "Yeah. That's the guy you were with yesterday. You don't remember him either?"
Harley shook her head. "I remember the drinking part, not the guys. But seriously, you left me with a guy named Joker? What type of name is that?"
"Nickname?" June offered absentmindedly. This was not the time to be discussing the man's name origin.
"I really hope he knows what happened last night." Harley bit her thumb nail.
"I do too," June added as she stood and pulled Harley with her. "Come on. Let's get you some pudding from that little bakery you like so much while I text Rick. I know it doesn't make up for being a horrible friend, but it's my treat as an apology."
Hearing that, Harley perked up. Maybe pudding would fix the situation a little bit.
"Frost!" Joker yelled out the door and waited until the unfazed man walked into his area. Laid out in front of him were several tattoo needles still in their packages and a tattoo gun. "Where's my other needle? I swear I had 20 left, but one is missing. The next shipment isn't coming for a couple of days. I'm going to need every single one."
"Sorry, boss. I don't recall using one of them."
Joker tsked. Today was not going very well. First he woke up next to some woman he didn't remember, had a small pain on his lower back from who knows what, and was now missing materials for his next client. That was the last time he would ever let Flag talk him into going out to drink.
He couldn't remember much from the night, which was odd since he could usually hold more liquor than the average man. Then again, he hadn't had much sleep in the last couple of days due to business being so busy. But from what he did remember, he knew that the night had been filled with a lot booze and a lot of debauchery. The blonde woman was quite a sex pistol. He could barely remember her face and didn't have enough time to look before he left, but he remembered her body well. He'd have to ask Flag if he knew her number just in case he wanted to call her up for some fun next time.
Just as the thought left his mind, his phone rang loudly. He glanced at the screen and saw his friends name flash back at him. Speak of the devil and he will appear, or in this case, call. "Flag? Wait what happened?...No I don't remember that...The girl from last night?" Joker cursed under his breath. "I'll be there in ten."
He quickly hung up his phone and bolted for the door. His day just kept getting worse.
"Where are you going, boss?" Frost called out to him.
"Out! Look after the place for a while," Joker yelled back, "I might know where the last needle went."
Harley scooped at the pudding cup and watched as June and Rick, the dark haired man introduced himself as, argued. He was cute, Harley couldn't deny that, and he was totally June's type. But right now, she could tell that her friend was absolutely livid on her behalf.
Maybe it was the pudding talking, but at this point, Harley had somehow come to terms with the tattoo and was more concerned about the memory loss. Just how many brain cells did she kill last night.
They had marched to Flag's apartment right after they had gone to the bakery, and her friend had began her onslaught on the man as soon as he opened the door. Now Harley sat on the couch waiting for this man, Joker, as the two tried to claw each others throats out. The only reason she didn't interrupt was because they were so amusing to watch.
"You said that he was trustworthy, Rick!" June yelled, "Why in the world would he allow her to get that tattoo?"
"He is trustworthy. Sure, he can be an ass at times, but the guy's pretty...stable," Flag argued, but faltered slightly when he was trying to come up with an appropriate adjective to describe his friend.
"What was up with that pause?!" June barely ever raised her voice since she was often a very calm collected woman. But she was extremely motherly, and her guilt about putting Harley in this particular position outweighed her usual manner.
Flag ran his hands through his hair. This was a mess. "I'm sure this was all an accident. We were all pretty out of our heads when we separated yesterday," he paused and pointed a finger at June. "It was a miracle that we didn't end up with tattoos ourselves."
With a groan, June collapsed next to Harley on the couch. "I'm the worst friend on the face of the planet," she mumbled, "I should have never brought you out drinking. I know how crazy you get with the tequila."
All Harley could do was nod her head in agreement as she took another scoop of pudding.
Just as silence settled across the apartment, the front door flew open and everyone watched as a man with green hair and pale skin entered. The tank top that he wore showed off his defined arms and the tattoos that covered them. His chest rose quickly as if he had been running.
Harley trailed her eyes up his figure and bit her lip. The man was hot and his very person screamed bad boy. When her eyes caught sight of his dark blue orbs, she nearly dropped her spoon. One look at them and the forgotten night came flooding back to her. There was confusion swimming in his eyes for a split second as his gaze locked onto hers, and then just like her, recognition dawned on the man.
A giggle erupted from her. "Hi, Daddy."