ESCAPE - A HARLEY QUINN / THE JOKER STORY
Sometimes I feel I've got to
Run away I've got to
Get away
From the pain that you drive into the heart of me
The love we share
Seems to go nowhere
I've lost my lights
I toss and turn I can't sleep at night
| 'Tainted Love', Marilyn Manson |
"What do we have here?!"
Harleen Quinzel could feel his presence; the clown prince of crime, he was finally here to put a stop to everything. When she'd made the decision to let in the thugs outside brandishing machine guns she had no idea things would spiral out of control so quickly, and yet, things had been spiralling out of control for a long, long time. Truth is, she was blind to it, accidentally or otherwise, but as they say, love is blind... right?
The spotlight beamed in her eyes, and yet Harleen didn't look away. The Joker looked down at her, inquisitively, like a child seeing a new toy for the first time. The spotlight bounced off his shirtless body, and Doctor Quinzel felt a surge of energy coarse through her body but couldn't place the feeling... Fear? Anxiety?
Arousal?
She'd often wondered what he looked like underneath the straight jacket. At first it was merely curiosity, she'd heard all about the plethora of tattoos, the unique designs and scars... but as each therapy session came and went, and playfulness and understanding were cast aside for lust and desire, Harleen found herself thinking about The Joker every waking moment.
On-shift, off-shift, in the morning... in bed at night... What it would be like to be by his side, make him happy, run her fingers through his hair, touch his body...
Have him touch hers in return...
Over the last six months since she'd been assigned to The Joker, the wide-eyed innocent Harleen had slowly been worn away, and her place, someone, nay, something different... but her genesis, her metamorphosis was yet to come. This was merely the first test, that she was sure of.
Ths sweet, young doctor from Arkham Asylum wouldn't have said boo to a goose six months ago, but time had changed her... staring up at The Joker, she felt compelled to call his bluff.
"What are you gonna' do? You gonna' kill me Mr. J?"
Her voice trembled, and her eyes gave away her emotions, but Joker toyed with her nonetheless.
"What?" he asked, rhetorically of course, and with the theatrically he was known for on the streets of Gotham City. He inched his face closer to Harley's, cupping his hand to his ear, daring her to speak up once more.
When she didn't, he knew it was time to act. She was fragile, vulnerable... and besotted.
"Oh, I'm not gonna' kill ya..." Joker began, brandishing two power circuits used only on the most hardened of criminals for shock therapy, "I'm just gonna' hurt ya... really, really bad."
His infamous smile, the glint in his eye, the way he played with the power circuits in his hand in anticipation...
Joker meant every word.
"You think so?" Harleen questioned, the tremble in her voice all but gone, "Well I can take it."
Dr. Quinzel meant every word as well.
This was how she would show her devotion, her loyalty, her love for The Joker.
She needed him, and even though he didn't know it yet, he needed her.
She'd show him...
She heard the unmistakable sound of laughter, and then there was the violent, sickening, burning sensation of electric meeting flesh...
Then there was darkness.
Dark. Empty. Cold.
Alone.
Once I ran to you (I ran)
Now I'll run from you
This tainted love you've given
I give you all a boy could give you
Take my tears and that's not nearly all
Tainted love
Tainted love
| 'Tainted Love', Marilyn Manson |
"Question..."
Harleen had been looking down at the ACE Chemicals tub for what felt like an eternity, and as always, the sound of Joker's voice suddenly had her full and undivided attention. She had no idea why he'd brought her here of all places, but she trusted him unquestionably...
It had to be yet another test, surely?
Joker moved closer to her, now only inches apart - he brushed her arm lightly to ensure she was listening, and Harleen's knees almost gave way. Just being able to be this close to him, free from the shackles of the Asylum or even the law at this point was so exhilarating and liberating, she could hardly contain herself.
"Would you... die for me?"
Dr. Quinzel didn't hesitate, not even for a moment. She would do anything for The Joker, so when she answered with a simple "Yes.", it came as little surprise.
Suffice to say however, Joker was always full of surprises.
"That's too easy..." he replied, looking away for a moment to gather whatever thoughts he could, before staring into her eyes, much like he did back at the Asylum...
"Would you..." and Joker found himself hesitating, though not due to any theatrics or keeping the good doctor waiting in anticipation, but rather, because he wanted to get across his point thoroughly and decisively.
"Would you live for me?"
This time Harleen didn't jump to answer, only because she knew the gravity of what the clown prince was asking of her. Asking her to die for him, give up her life for him, was a no-brainer, a dead-cert, she would in a heartbeat...
But to live for him, by his side, ruling the streets of Gotham and creating chaos and anarchy wherever they went, experiencing the pain of others and the pleasure of one another - that was something else entirely.
"Huh?" Joker mumbled, sizing her up, waiting on an answer.
"Yes." came her reply once more. Direct and to the point, her love, desire and faith in Joker unwavering.
He pointed a finger in the air at Harleen, eyebrows raised, deliberate and deadly serious. This was no laughing matter.
"Careful," he began, stepping closer to Dr. Quinzel, "Do not say this oath thoughtlessly."
Harleen's face is stoic, mesmerised, hanging on his every word... Joker holds his hand to her mouth, the tattoo of a huge grin covering the lower part of her face, and this has the clown prince feeling something new, something different, something... desirable.
"Desire becomes surrender. Surrender becomes power."
Slowly, he removes his hand to see that blank stare is replaced by a smile, and Harleen's eyes are screaming out for him to take her. He takes his thumb and playfully drags it across her bottom lip, and she resists the urge to taste it with her tongue.
The good doctor just wants to know what he tastes like, if it's anything she'd imagined, or better...
"Do you want this?" Joker purrs, not taking his eyes off her, and Harleen responds powerfully with "I do."
Strong, confident... willing. She just wants to be his, and his alone.
"Say it."
Joker is no longer playing, or toying... little has he realised up until this point that the good doctor stirs his emotions as much as he does hers... and he wants her to dedicate herself to him completely. He needs to hear it.
"Say it. Say it. Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty..."
She would beg if he asked her to. "Please."
"God," he smiles, going to touch her but stopping himself before he does, taking a step back, "You're so good."
This is a test.
It was always a test.
Harleen hasn't failed yet, and she promises herself she won't fail today either.
The last thing she remembers is smiling, arms outstretched, falling backwards with the air against her back...
Confident in the knowledge that Mr. J would save her...
...and save her, he did.
Laughing whilst he did, bonded together, not in darkness, but in shades of red, blue and purple.
The colours of life, and love.
Time to escape the clutches of a name,
No this is not a game,
It's just a new beginning.
I don't believe in fate but the bottom line,
It's time to pay,
You know you've got it coming.
|' Escape', 30 Seconds To Mars |