A/N: This was originally written as prompt on my Harley Quinn roleplay account. The prompt was given to me by the Joker I roleplay with and was, "Death: Your character's reaction to finding mine dead." There was a lot of emotions as I wrote this, given that Harley Quinn and The Joker are my favourite couple out of every couple I like, so this is generally a situation I've tried to avoid, haha. Anyway, not my best, but I'm hoping someone enjoys it! Reviews would be appreciated, though I won't try guilt you into it. :)
Disclaimer: Would I really be posting this on Fanfiction if I actually owned any of the characters? Nope.
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This wasn't how it was meant to go.
It was meant to be how it usually was; get in, take the cash, avoid the Bat. Simple, right? Usually it was. They'd done it about a million times before and they'd always gotten out of it without anything too serious. Yet something always has to go wrong at some point, right? Harley just never expected that this something wrong would come in the form of the man she loved laying abandoned in a filthy alleyway with his own blade protruding from his stomach, blood pooling around his body.
Falling to her knees beside him, Harley let out a choked sob. It was just another one of his practical jokes. It had to be. Just like that time when he tricked that mob boss; he'd jump up at any moment now and start telling her another one of his scar stories... right? Though as much as she wished for it to be like it always was, deep down, Harley knew that nothing was ever going to be the same from this moment on.
Her hand shook as she reached out towards the blade, taking in a deep breath as she wrapped her hand around the handle and yanked it out in one smooth motion, wiping the blood off it onto her pants and laying it beside her. Laying herself beside him, Harley bought one hand up to his cheek, gently moving him so he was facing her. As she took a few shuddering breaths, she traced her fingers over his scars, feeling the tears begin to fall as she remembered all the times she'd done this before, though in situations much different to one she'd currently found herself in. Moving her hand from his cheek, Harley gripped onto his jacket, burying her face in the crook of his neck as sobs wracked her body.
There was no possible way for her to deny it now, the proof was right in front of her and there was no way to pretend it wasn't real anymore. The Joker was dead and no matter how hard she tried, there was nothing she could do to save the man who'd kept her safe for all these years.
As Harley held desperately to the slowly cooling body of The Joker, she took a deep breath and felt her tears stop, all traces of heartbreak and misery pushed aside for the moment by the sudden wave of rage that overcame her. If Batman thought he could take the one thing from her that she held most precious without any repercussions, then he was sorely mistaken.
But if there was one thing Harley Quinn knew for certain, it was that she would make sure Batman knew the pain of losing the one person you loved more than life itself.