This story was my boyfriend's idea. I think it's fantastic.
It'll be my next long chaptered story. I'm going to start uploading it while I'm still doing Prove me right, but the chapters will be slow.
I know you lot don't really like OC's but give it a chance C:
It had been over four years since Harley Quinn had disappeared, Joker had only flittered in and out of note since then; disappearing for months at a time, then appearing for one or two big heists, and disappearing again. Most people assumed Harley had died somehow, and Joker had taken the loss harder than would have been expected. But it didn't seem right. Batman searched and searched, but came up dry.
One day she re-appeared.
"Joker!" she roared in anger, pointing her bazooka at the man, "I'm going to kill you!"
"Harley, baby." Joker cooed in an attempt to soothe her, "What else was I supposed to do? The blasted thing wouldn't shut up! It was an accident!"
Harley was crying with anger as she pulled the trigger, and a missile was launched the short distance between them. Joker leapt out of the projectile's way, and dashed out into the street, into the hordes of screaming civilians.
"Come back here so I can kill you!" she screeched, firing another round at the clown, who again dodged the explosion.
Batman was around a quarter of a mile away when he heard the first explosion. He flew towards the source of the commotion.
"Harley, calm down, can we talk about this?" the clown yelled as he dashed down the street, finding his way to the densely populated areas, trying to lose Harley in the crowd.
Batman threw a batarang at Harley to disarm her, but through some twist of fate it missed, instead slicing into her chest.
She fell to the floor in a whimpering mess, blood pouring from the wound. Batman felt his heart jump into his throat, he hadn't meant for that to happen.
Joker squealed in delight and ran up to the injured woman, sending a kick at her, "Serves you right!" he shouted, laughing, "Finally, Batman's on my side!"
Batman flew down as Joker aimed another kick at Harley, "Joker no!" he roared, landing next to the clown, he threw a punch at Joker's face, hitting him square in the jaw.
The clown let out an 'oof' of pain, falling to the floor. Joker grabbed Batman as he fell, and managed to put him off balance, he stumbled away from the fighting clowns, falling a few feet away. Batman turned to Harley to see that she was still holding the bazooka, she had reloaded it.
She pointed the bazooka at the clown as he got to his feet, "Fuck off b-man. He's mine."
"Harley no." Batman said shortly.
"You wouldn't." Joker growled, "Harley-"
As Harley went to pull the trigger a deafening bang erupted in the air, but not from the bazooka.
And Harley fell to the floor.
Blood exploded from Joker's shoulder, and again from the side of his head as another two bangs ripped through the air.
Someone had shot them.
Batman felt the air around him become still, his ears filling will a harsh ringing, after a few seconds he heard screaming. He lifted his head and saw them, both in crumpled heaps.
Batman rushed to Joker's side, "No, no, Joker, no." The clown's bleeding head flopped lifelessly as Batman lifted it, fumbling as he tried to check Joker's pulse, it was there, but barely.
He quickly checked Harley.
She was dead.
Batman wasn't sure what to do.
He felt sick.
He looked at the exit wound on Harley's chest, and Joker's shoulder, and found where the bullets had landed. The person who fired the shots was… 1 and a half, 2 miles away.
He wanted to go and survey the area, but he couldn't leave, Joker was still alive, he needed to make sure he stayed that way.
He ended up just waiting for the police. They arrived within minutes, Batman quickly found his way to Gordon, partially hoping he could find some comfort with the old man.
"Batman." Gordon said, a look of confusion and angst on his face. "…What happened…? Why were they fighting?"
"It's Joker and Harley, they always fight." Batman wasn't sure what else to say… This felt so surreal.
"Did always fight." Gordon mumbled; he could tell Batman was unnerved by what had happened, and knew he hated when people died around him, but honestly, Gordon was relieved, almost happy, that one of the two was dead.
Batman looked away, at the devastation caused, "We should find out where they've been hiding. Maybe there'll be something there to explain all this."
Gordon smiled, "Well then, let's follow the trail of destruction."
Batman made his way by rooftop along the path laid out for him, the line of destroyed buildings and dead bodies.
There was a tiny house, the door of which had been kicked down from the inside. This must be where it started.
Batman entered the house carefully, the noise of police sirens blaring behind him, he checked for booby-traps, the place was trashed. Blood smears splattering the walls and things smashed on the floor.
Why would Harley and Joker stay here? For so long?
Then Bruce heard the one sound he never thought he would hear.
A child crying.
He felt his heart sink slightly, he made his way towards the source of the noise. He found his way to a room.
There were bloodied handprints over the walls, forming a pattern; the word 'Angel'. Hanging from the ceiling was a small collection of bones, some human, some animal. It looked like a baby's mobile. It was hanging over an open suitcase.
Batman approached the case carefully; it may be a trap.
It wasn't.
Laying in the suitcase, half covered by old torn rags; old capes and one of Joker's suit jackets, was a child. A boy, he looked to be two and a half, maybe three years old.
His hair was dyed green, the roots a visible dark blonde, and he had a streak of white paint on his face.
He looked malnourished, and he was bruised, with a deep half-healed cut on his forearm.
The poor child.
Seeing Batman the boy stopped his whimpered crying, and outstretched his arms, wanting to be picked up, he began chuckling gently.
Batman gingerly took a step forward, and picked up the child.
"Batman?" Gordon said in confusion as he entered the room.
"I found this." Batman said, gesturing to the child in his arms. The boy cooed gently "Babat!" he squeaked as he reached out and grabbed at Batman's nose.
Batman glanced down into the suitcase and saw a voodoo-style doll of Batman, he swept down to pick up the toy, and he handed it to the giggling child.
"He seems to like you." The commissioner said, smiling.
He held out the child to Gordon as it continued trying to grope at his mask, "Take him." He grunted.
Gordon smiled weakly and took the child. "And here I thought you liked kids."
"I already have 4 boys." Batman said as he started to make his way from the room, "Find out who he belongs to."
...
"I can't believe she's dead." Bruce said as the family sat down for their meal; it had been so long since they had been together, they decided to make a day of it, a special event for Bruce's birthday.
"Yes, she's dead! And Joker's in a coma and will probably die during the night." Damian said as he inched his chair to the table, "You've said, many times. I'm surprised you're not organising a party. Birthday party and funeral rolled into one."
Alfred placed plates filled with food in front of the 6 people at the table, "Master Damian… I believe master Bruce is upset by the death. Master Jason, please take your feet off the table." He tapped Jason's feet as he passed.
Jason rolled his eyes, putting his feet back on the floor "I'm all up for a party, you know how I feel about him…"
"Felt." Tim smiled.
"Feel." Jason growled, "I still hate him."
"Just eat your food Jay." Dick smiled, already having finished half of his food, "God Bruce, people who say you're moody must look at him and explode."
Barbra laughed loudly at Dick's comment, Dick grinned at her response as if it was candy.
Jason nonchalantly stuck his middle finger up at Dick, "Seeing as it's Bruce's birthday, I won't kill you for that."
"I trust we'll be doing the same thing next year?" Bruce noted happily.
By 9 that evening Dick had left, along with Jason and Tim, all to their own houses, their own lives.
Damien had confined himself to his room, doing who knows what. Usually he'd be training, or getting ready to go out on patrol, but not tonight.
Bruce sat lazily in the cave, looking through Harley Quinn's psychological profile, why would she have done this? She doted on Joker. What could have made her so angry? Maybe it had something to do with the child? Why had it been there?
…It might all not matter by morning.
It was almost half past 10 when the batsignal flared in the sky. Gordon waited patiently with a file in his hand.
"Commissioner." Batman's voice appeared behind him, a few years ago this might have made him jump, but he'd grown used to it.
"Batman." he said calmly, "I have some information. About the child we found." He held the file out for Bruce to take.
He opened it and looked through, his eye's slowly widening as he did.
Gordon watched him read, "We couldn't find any records of him on file, no missing children reports matching his description… we ran a DNA test. He's Harley Quinn's child."
"Joker's?" Batman asked, his throat dry and his pulse racing faster than if he'd been in a fight.
Gordon shook his head, "We don't know." He frowned, crossing his arms as Batman re-read the information, "We've not been able to match him yet. But we're assuming so."
Batman coughed gently as he looked at a photo of the child, this was too much to absorb.
"He doesn't have a birth certificate. We're not sure how old he is. It seems he's been kept completely secret all this time."
That child. Harley Quinn's child. Joker's son.
"We're not sure what to do with him."
He was, for all intents and purposes, an orphan.
Bruce frowned gently, "Send him to the Wayne-Weyden orphanage."
Gordon nodded, he should have guessed; the orphanage that Bruce Wayne gave money to. The one he could drop into any time without cause or warning, just to say a casual hello.
Gordon sighed slightly, "Poor kid. He doesn't even had a name."
Batman stared blankly at the file in his hand, "Call him James."
The older man smiled, "James Wayne?"
Batman shrugged, "Just make sure he's safe."
Joker had so many enemies. If any of them found out he had a son, then the poor child wasn't going to last long.
Maybe that was why he'd been kept a secret. Maybe Harley knew and was trying to keep him safe.
She hadn't even checked into a hospital to give birth.
She must have been so scared.
...
Harley squealed and sobbed in pain as the aches in her stomach came back, knots of pain stabbing into her.
Joker rolled his eyes as he looked at her over the arm of the sofa, "Stop whining you stupid girl."
She let out a final sob, biting her lip to try to stop the noises erupting from her, but it wasn't working as well as she'd hoped. The baby was coming, Joker wouldn't let her leave the house, what was she going to do…?
Joker frowned and got to his feet, "I said shut up. If you don't, I'm going to take my knife and cut that thing from you myself."
"Y-yes sir…" She whimpered, tears streaming down her face.
He raised his hand and slapped the crying woman, "Now get into your room. You're going to get blood everywhere!"
She stumbled from the room, across the hall, into the place the baby was going to sleep in. She buckled under the pain that ripped through her, crumbling to the floor. It was ok, she used to be a doctor, she knew how to deliver a baby.
Judging by the contractions it would only be another hour or so.
She just needed to calm down.
"H-hush little baby, d-don't say a word…" a scream tried to tear itself from her, but she wouldn't let it.
Joker sat in the living room, frowning over his shoulder at the soft whimpers coming from the baby's room. He turned back to the tv and turned the volume up. That girl just would not be quiet…
I hoped you like this chapter, please review to tell me what you think!