Joker stood peering over the edge of the balcony overlooking the vats inside the ACE Chemical Factory, watching the bubbles in one of them slowly subside. The man had just convinced Dr. Harleen Quinzel to jump from the balcony into the chemicals, under the illusion of him whisking her away to be his partner. Snorting, the man turned and walked away, tucking his hands into his pockets as he exited the building and climbed into his car.
"Finally. At least now I'll get some peace from that crazy bitch."
As Joker turned the key in the ignition, the car roaring to life drowned out the pained, and angry, scream from inside the factory. The man pulled out onto the road and sped away, back towards his nightclub in downtown Gotham, having no idea what was going on inside the chemical plant. Harleen had pulled herself from the chemical vat, and was currently washing the substance from her skin.
"He...he left me! That son of a bitch left me to die!"
Harleen peered into the mirror over the sink she was standing in front of, and broke into laughter at seeing her bleached skin. The woman ran her hands through her hair before again dissolving into hysterical laughter, fist plowing into the mirror and shattering it. Wrenching open a nearby locker, she grabbed the clothing from inside and threw it on, before leaving the plant and heading towards her apartment where she collapsed into bed and succumbed to the arms of sleep. Across the city, at Funhouse, Joker sat in his VIP area, arms outstretched across the back of the gold toned couch he was reclining on, a self-satisfied smirk on his crimson lips. Over the next few months, word began to spread through Gotham about Dr. Quinzel's disapearence, as well as of a new criminal that was slowly building a name for herself in the city. It had started with petty robbery, destruction of property, carjackings and small crimes, but now, bodies were being found in rivers and alleyways with diamonds carved into their chests, along with the letters HQ. Joker was seated in his office with his right hand man, Johnny Frost, watching the discovery and retrieval of one such body.
"HQ huh...woman's got guts. And here I thought I was the only psychopath in Gotham City. Johnny, I need you to do me a favor…"
"Want us to find her, boss?"
"Indeed I do, my friend. Find her, and bring her here. I need to have a chit chat with this...HQ."
Smirking to himself, as when Joker wanted to 'chit chat' with someone, the other party usually ended up in a body bag, and nodded. Within the hour, he and a few henchmen were out scouring the city for the new criminal roaming it's streets. Over the next weeks, while Johnny and the others searched for her, the woman known only as HQ began carving more personalized messages into her victims, messages that had the King of Crime's blood boiling. The most recent, and most gutsy so far, was a young man that had run one of Joker's side businesses being found in a river with 'Come and play, Joker' carved into his chest and stomach. Growling, the green haired man stood and paced his office, giving a swift kick to the leg of his desk before turning to the door when it opened. In the opening stood Johnny Frost, cuts and bruises littering his face, causing the crime boss to lift a non-existent eyebrow.
"The fuck happened to you?"
"She, ah, wasn't to keen on us bringing her here, boss."
"You found the bitch?"
"Yeah, I'm the only one she didn't kill. Sent me back with a message for ya."
"And what would that be?"
"That she'll be seeing you soon, and she hopes you have a grave site ready."
Bursting into demented laughter, Joker approached his henchman and put a hand on the man's shoulder, squeezing slightly. Walking past Johnny, he motioned the other to follow, which he did without question. Pushing his longtime henchman and friend into a small room to get his cuts patched up, the man continued along his path towards the main area of the club. Sitting down at one of the tables near the dance-floor, he allowed his pale grey-blue eyes to scan the crowd. One person in particular caught his interest, and his eyes locked on them moving to the music like it was second nature to her. The wild lights reflected off the gold and silver dress she was wearing, blonde hair falling just past her shoulders with blue and pink dye on either side. His gaze landed on the black and red diamond cuff tattooed around her wrist and a smirk curled the man's lips.
"Well well...who do we have here…"
Standing, he made his way towards her, only to have her vanish from his line of sight when he got relatively close. Giving a mildly surprised hiss, the man stopped moving when he felt the sharp point of a blade against his lower back.
"HQ, I take it?"
"We need to talk. In private."
"Oh, but of course. Follow me…"
Grunting when he felt her fist her hand in the back of his suit jacket so he couldn't walk that far ahead of her, Joker led the woman to his office where she immediately closed and locked the door. Turning, and catching sight of the man leaning casually against the edge of his desk with his suit jacket in his hand, caused a smirk to curl her lips.
"I liked this jacket, and you had to go and put a fucking knife hole in it."
"Aw, poor baby."
"So according to my man Johnny, you think you're going to kill me and walk out of here, is that right?"
"Depends on how our little talk goes. You don't recognize me, do ya?"
Pushing off the desk, Joker approached with a calculating gaze and a wide smile on his crimson lips. He circled around her, his fingers brushing through her hair, examining the pink and blue dye before he ran the tip of a finger over the rotten tattoo under her eye. The moment his eyes met her brilliant green ones, his smile widened a bit and he let out a low, slow laugh.
"Well well...I must say, you've certainly changed, Doctor Quinzel."
A punch to his face was the response he recieved, and he actually stumbled back a few steps from the force. Rubbing his jaw, the clown found himself unable to retaliate, as the sharp point of her knife pressed into his groin. Freezing and peering down at her, he gave her a silver-filled sneer.
"You left me to die. You told me we would be together, convinced me to jump into a vat of chemicals, and then you just LEFT ME!"
As she'd spoken, Harley had pushed Joker back against the wall, and he'd lifted his hands in mock surrender to her. Taking her chance, the woman snapped a pair of handcuffs on him, the small chain connector passing behind one of the sturdy brass wall lamps in his office. Growling at finding himself suddenly, and effectively, restrained, Joker met her bright green eyes again.
"I did. And look at what you've turned into. You're a killer, a criminal, and fucking insane. Coming in here, bold as brass, putting a knife to my crotch and handcuffing me to the wall like you don't have a fear in the world. I set you free from that stuffy doctor personal you had goin', and unleashed what potential you had, and this is the thanks I get?"
"FUCK YOU."
With that, the woman stepped back and drove her fist into his gut, the metal of the rings she wore digging into his flesh. Feeling the wind knocked from him from the force of her blow, the King of Crime could do nothing but give a soft grunt of surprise. Landing her first punch unleashed the monster that had formed inside the former psychologist, and she continued to land punch after punch to the man's stomach. Joker managed to get one hand turned inside the cuff, and pulled one of the small metal pins holding the lampshade in place free. He quickly, and expertly, picked the lock on the handcuffs, and turned the tables on Harley. It was only a matter of moments before her hands were pinned above her head in one of his larger ones, with his other wrapped firmly around her throat. The feeling of her airflow being restricted caused the woman to stop struggling and glare up into his grey-blue eyes, her own blazing in anger.
"Mm...look at you. It would be so easy to crush your wind-pipe like a paper bag, and yet, you glare at me, fearless. I gotta say, doc, it's kinda a turn on."
"You son of a bitch! Lemme go!"
"Ohhh I don't think so. See, this is MY turf, little girl, and I gotta keep my reputation squeaky clean."
Suddenly bringing her knee up, Joker grunted in pain and stumbled away from her when it connected with his groin. Before he could straighten up again, the man found himself on his back with an angry blonde straddling his hips, her hands around his neck. Managing to free his neck from her grasp after a few moments, the man wrapped secured both of her hands behind her, both wrists again in one of his hands while he surged off the floor and pinned her to the wall, his hips pressed firmly into hers to keep her in place, his free hand gripping her waist. Despite her original purpose for coming to Funhouse, Harley couldn't help but give a low groan as she felt him pressed against her. When he leaned forward and growled into her ear, the woman's eyes fluttered shut of their own accord.
"Like I said, doc, your new attitude is one hell of a turn on."
Harley shoved her hips forward, at first hoping to throw the man off balance so she could regain control. When he released her wrists long enough to pin her hands above her again, and delivered a sharp bite to the side of her neck, her anger at him abandoning her seemed to rush from her body.
"Why...after what you did...why do I still want you."
"Power. Everyone craves it, despite what they may tell themselves. I'm the most powerful man in Gotham City, and every inch of you DESIRES that power."
A push of his hips at the word power caused a low groan to slip from the woman's lips and her eyes to fall shut again.
"I hate you...I fucking hate you…"
"Mmmm, do you hate me or do you hate the fact that you want me to fuck you and make you mine?"
"Shut up you fucking freakazoid."
Laughing, the man allowed her to free a hand from his grip, and was immediately pulled into a bruising kiss by the blonde he had pinned. His hands moved to firmly grip her hips, keeping her pulled flush against him as he turned, walking over and depositing her onto his desk. As he'd walked, she'd locked her legs around his hips, ankles crossed behind his lower back as she bit down on his lower lip. Joker let his hands move to Harley's legs, running up under the short skirt of her dress to pull her underwear down as she quickly unfastened his pants and lowered the zipper, pushing them and his boxers down with her feet. Pushing herself forward, Harley placed a foot behind his heel and smirked when he lost his balance and collided with the floor. Before he could even move to right himself, she was straddling his hips, erection in her hand as she angled herself a bit before lowering down onto him with a hiss. Despite himself, Joker felt his eyes roll back slightly at the feeling and he let out a low, nearly in-audible groan.
"Whassamatter, J? Not used to having a woman take charge?"
Grunting, she shoved her hips forward, though having not prepared for her own reaction to feeling the man inside her, gave a sharp gasp. Allowing her to remain where she was, Joker again firmly gripped her hisps and began to guide her movement above him. Bracing her hands against his shoulders, Harley ground her hips against his, the pair of them growling in unison, her nails breaking his skin as her grip tightened. It wasn't long before he'd rolled them, taking charge and unleashing everything he had on the woman underneath him. Her fingernails dug grooves into his back as her teeth latched onto the side of his neck, leaving a defined mark that would more than likely be there the next day. Wrapping a hand around her neck, Joker pushed her back against the floor, grinning at the dull thunk that was heard as her head hit the carpet.
"This what you wanted, Harley? Hm? Me to take you, make your body and your mind belong to me?"
A soft gasp escaped her when he moved his hand from her neck to brace his weight against the floor next to her head. Reaching up, the woman gripped the back of his neck and pulled him down to her, whispering in his ear.
"Yes...I'm all yours."
Growling, his teeth latched onto the side of her neck, and it wasn't long before the pair of them began to tense with their approaching release. Harley wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him tight against her with her ankles locked behind his back as hers hit with a vengance, her muscles tensing and causing his own to strike as well. They let out simultaneous groans, and once their breathing was somewhat normal, Joker rolled onto his back beside her on the office floor. Finally standing, he righted his clothes and she pulled her underwear back on before pulling him into a bruising kiss with a hand behind his neck, fingers tangled in his hair.
"I'm movin` my shit in tomorrow."
"I don't think I said you could live with me."
"Tough shit. You aint gettin' rid of me."
Releasing him, she moved over to the door and pulled it open, revealing a very confused Johnny Frost on the other side. He peered around her, seeing some of the destruction they'd caused in Joker's office, before moving aside as Harley exited.
"See you tomorrow, puddin."
When she was gone, Johnny cautiously entered the office and raised an eyebrow at the bloodstains on his boss' shirt where the woman's nails had torn it and broken his skin.
"Do I wanna know?"
"Prolly not, Johnny boy."
"Was that…"
"Yup."
"What...I'm confused…"
"The lure of power is a strong mistress, my friend. I'm sure she'll prove useful somehow, even if it is just for a good fuck."
Shaking his head, Johnny turned and exited the office as Joker sat down on the edge of his desk, laughing at what had just transpired and then hissing at the burning of his back.
"Fuck...I think I'm in love."
A low, slow laugh reverberated through the office and the now-empty club as the man closed up and retired to his apartment above.
AN: Hey guys! I know you're awaiting another chapter of All in the Family, but I kind of have a brain block with it right now. I'd gotten this request a while ago, asking me to write a one-shot about what would happen had Joker not saved Harley from the chemicals. Hope you enjoyed it, and as always, reviews make me a happy wolf!