Chapter 1: Broken
Edward struggled to open his eyes, he felt pain coursing through his body. 'Where am I?' he asked himself. The last thing he remembered was going to shop for some wine for the dinner with Oswald then everything had gone black. 'Os..Oswald..where is he?' Edward thought, his heart pounding when his vision finally focused. He realized he was in some kind of pod, with strange medical tabs attached to his face. He eased them off and started kicking at the lid, eventually busting it open and stumbling out. He clutched his head, wincing and feeling disoriented, his vision swam. Suddenly, the door burst open and an unknown figure raised a gun, preparing to kill him. "You served your purpose mister Nygma. Now it's time to end it." a voice said. Edward shook his head, backing away. "O..oh dear.." he said, his eyes rolling into his head. Then a loud crash, and a flash of light. "Don't even think about it!" A loud voice yelled. Edward winced, clutching his head as he barely saw the blur beating and maiming his attacker. When he assumed he had been knocked out, Ed fell against the wall, crying out in pain as he fell back against the wall. The blur hurried toward him, he could feel hands grabbing him, trying to help him up.
"Hey, mistah? Ya okay? Ya gonna have ta hang on for me!" the voice now obivously female said. "Os...Oswald...I have to..he..needs.." Ed never finished his sentence as he soon slipped down, landing on his back unconcious. The girl sighed. 'Guess I'll have ta drag mistah potato out of here.' she thought to herself in annoyance as she heaved the strange man up, putting one arm around her shoulders and practically dragged him out of the Court of Owls lair. She eventually managed to arrive at her home which was an abandoned hotel north of the Diamond District in Gotham City. The girl grunted, dragging the man inside, grinning at the sound of a little yip in front of her. "Chewie, baby! Happy to see mommy?" she asked. A little chihuahua puppy came up to her, sniffing and letting out small growls.
"Relax, darlin', he's not ya dinner!" she dragged the young man to a room where she flopped him unceremoniously on the bed. She looked him over, finding a few bruises and cuts adorning him and his suit was torn. "Ya poor thing. What happened to ya?" a distinct meow caught her attention and she sighed, turning her attention to an orange tabby cat. "Aw Precious! I got ya something don't worry!" she said, gently petting the cat while it purred under her hand. The girl turned her attention back to the odd man she had rescued and gently removed his glasses and placed them on the night stand next to him. Sighing, she grabbed a first aid kit and started working on fixing him up. Most of the injuries were to his face though. For the most part, he was still alive but she knew he would be weak when he first woke up. The man was sickly pale, he looked drained, sweat beading his brow.
The girl sighed, wetting a rag and gently placing it on his head in an attempt to cool him down. 'This guy must be sick after what they've been giving him.' she thought to herself. Now that she thought of it, didn't this guy look familiar? She looked at him closely before she gave a comical gasp. "Tha Chess Killer! That's who you are! Pfft! Not in ya usual green suit though." she said, chuckling to herself. She jumped off the bed and started skipping off to feed her other animals. A few hours past and Ed slowly woke up to something warm on top of him. Groaning, he reached for his glasses and put them on and looked at the source of the mysterious warmth and nearly gasped at the small furry creature resting on his stomach. "Oh dear.." he breathed out, he took in his surroundings, realizing he was most likely in an abandoned hotel.
The events leading to this suddenly came crashing to him in a rush, Oswald attempting to tell him something important, touring a school where he asked him to come to the mansion for dinner with him, going for some wine, then nothing. "Oswald...oh...Oswald.." Ed was just about to try and get up, almost forgetting about the puppy resting on him until the door opened and a dark haired girl no older than thirteen entered, a steaming cup of noodles in her hand and a bottle of orange juice in the other. "Hey, you! Ya can't get out of bed! Ya sick!" The girl said. Ed tried not to glare at her, instead letting a frustrated sigh. "Who are you?" he asked, voice low and raspy. The girl smiled cheerfully at him. "Harleen. But everyone calls me Harley! I've seen ya in tha papers. Mistah Chess Killer." Harley said, trying to hold in her laughter. "Wait..chess killer?" Ed asked. "What are you talking about?" he was confused. Since when would he have earned a preposterous name like that? "Ya don't remember? Sometimes I'd watch tv and I always saw you with tha new mayor. They said ya killed him." Harley said simply. Ed looked at her, eyes wide. "I..I would never do that to Oswald!" Ed sputtered, he felt his heart sink. 'Oh dear...is he alive? What happened!?" Ed felt his mind scream, he attempted to stand once more when a small whimper shook him out of it. Harley instantly ran and scooped the small puppy into her arms.
"Ya should've let him sleep ya dope! This is little Chewie. I found him in an alley. Poor baby." she said, holding the puppy and cooing to it as though it were a child. "I think he likes ya." she said after a moment. "I..I really appreciate you saving me but I have to get back. I need to find Oswald. I have to know what happened." Harley still looked at him in confusion. "People say ya hate him." she said. Edward looked at her, shaking his head. "I-what? No! I could never think ill of him!" Ed said, coughing loudly. Harley instantly grabbed the soup and offered it to him. "Ya very sick mistah. I got ya some soup from the grocery store. Technically I stole it but it healthier then tha stuff i nab on a daily basis." Harley explained. Ed cautiously took the soup from her and ate some, soon realizing how hungry he was and started to greedily devour the ramen noodles mixed with an assortment of carrots, corn and peas. Harley smiled gleefully at him. "Try ta slow down, Mistah Chess Killer! Ya don't need a tummy ache." she said. Ed swallowed and slowed down a little, eating a few more noodles and then drinking the liquid from the soup. He placed the foam cup down and leaned back. "Please..don't call me the chess killer." Ed said after awhile, allowing himself to relax. Harley tilted her head.
"What would ya like me ta call ya?" she asked as she looked at him with amusement. Ed sighed sleepily as he began to sink under the covers. "Ed. Call me Ed." he said as he finally fell asleep once more. Harley smiled. "Ed it is!" she said as she sat Chewie down so she could tuck Ed in and make sure he was warm. "Sleep tight!" she said as she took the now empty soup cup and went to go tend to her many animals. She was excited about her new friend, not many people paid much attention to her due to her love of animals. Some had even called her a freak. But then again, Harley believed she could do whatever she wanted, she had no one to control her, at least, not anymore. Harley sighed as she fed her pet ferret whom she'd named Squeaky. She had found him barely alive next to a dumpster. She hated people who just treated these innocent creatures like playthings to be disposed of. It wasn't fair to them. Harley had been around the worst districts in Gotham and witnessed such cruelty on a daily basis. Despite the fact that she could barely feed herself she started taking in homeless, abandoned street pets. As of now, she had three dogs, four cats, a pet ferret, two hamsters and five parrots. Harley loved them all dearly, they were her best friends.
And perhaps now, she had an actual human friend who would obiviously be different from her animal friends. Harley was happy to have found him, if not for her, he would most likely be dead. But then she remembered, he had someone important that he needs to get back to. The former mayor of Gotham or as Ed had called him, Oswald. She had seen the look in his eyes when he spoke about him. If there was one word Harley could use to describe it, it would be love. And happiness. Harley didn't want to get in the way of that. Love was a very precious and fickle thing. It could bring you happiness or it could destroy you. Harley didn't know much about it, having stayed away from it most of her life but she decided she would help her friend out.
So this is the start of a new project I'm working on. This idea wouldn't let me sleep so I hope you enjoy!