Author's Note: This has become one of our new obsession so we had to write a story about it! I hope you guys enjoy! This does not mean the other story is canceled; I have the next chapter halfway written and will be uploaded soon! Please rate and comment!
A Little Push
Wide eyes scanned the room with confusion as the large men dressed up in white were carrying her down the hallway. The echoes of unidentifiable cacophony rang over the sounds of sickening wailing; eyes clutched shut and a small hand with a stuffed doll covered pounding ears as her own screams tried to drown out the voices. A halt in the movement caused her eyes to open. The room blurred together as tears flooded her eyes; uncontrollable nerve impulses caused her body to tremble as her own weight seemed to be too much for her knees to handle. Calling out for her mom, she knew would do her no good, but that was the only word coming from her lips. In the dim light ahead two shadows who believed themselves to be cloaked in white stared down upon the monstrosity that they brought into the world. Once bright blue eyes were now shrouded in unholy decay in the holy eyes of those who once swore to protect her. Turning their backs in the hopes to lock her away for good.
Blue eyes were now a dull gray and the once young girl of one was now a full five years of age. Huddled in the corner as a quivering thumb ran over the rough stitches in an erratic pattern as the trembling took a hold of her nervous system. The only thing that would slip through her lips would be the same as what she used to scream when she first was brought here; what once was a cry, was now an incoherent murmur that was lost in the clashes of violence in her head. Her glassed over eyes never flinched as they came towards her in huddles; hands overflowing with needles filled to the brim with the new cure. She watched as her own body convulsed against the soft clouds that surrounded her as the devil was outsmarting this cure. Eyes snap open now completely black as her lips twist up her face in humor then laughs.
Harleen's body lurched forward onto the bed till she was sitting straight up; her eyes snapped around her room as her fingers slowly made their way to her lips. Her quivering fingers ghosted over his lips then dragged against the now wet cheek. Tears no longer fell, but sweat dripped down her back as she felt her heart pounding against the cage in her chest. It echoed loud in her head as she let her eyes flutter closed then rested her tired head in her hands.
She sat there for a moment focusing on the flow of air that gathered all the impurities in her lungs then let it all escape her by letting it slip through her lips. Harleen let her mind be emptied of those emotions and she pushed all those thoughts into the backroom of her mind. She quickly locked the door and waited to see if they busted out. Her lip twitched up in a smile when she finally regained her control. She moved her hands away from her face and took a deep breath before opening her eyes.
Her eyes scanned the room, no longer searching for the shadows that were haunting her dreams, but for her clock. Once they landed on the small clock, Harleen jumped right up out of bed with a slew of explicit slipping from her mouth. She had over slept; she couldn't believe did this again.
"Are you planning to be late, Harleen?" She heard her mother screaming from the down the stairs.
Harleen stopped in her tracks and could feel her upper lip twitching in anger. She had to bite her lip before she screamed back at her mom. Cool air filled her lungs as she took a deep breath. Causing a fight with her mom at the crack of dawn is not what she needs to start the day. Her smile graced her features once more before she grabbed her phone and let the music drown out the sound of her mother screaming. She continued to run around her room trying to dance into her jeans and grab throw her shirt over her head at the same time. Once she was fully dressed, she threw her bag over her shoulder, grabbed her keys and ran down the stairs.
"You look like hell today, Harl." Guy said as he walked along Harleen. Harleen glared at him from the corner of her eye before looking away and continued to walk towards her car.
"I have told you before not to call me that." She sneered through the corner of her mouth as she saw her car in her sight.
"What is wrong with you today, Quinz?" He said as he reached out and grabbed her arm halting her in her tracks. She continued to look away for him for a moment as she took a deep breath.
"Nothing, dearie!" Harleen said with a huge smile on her face; her mind went rampant with all those thoughts that were once held behind a locked door. She closed her eyes and let out an exaggerated sigh, "I am just a little tired."
Guy smiled at her believing every word out of her mouth; Harleen had to keep herself from rolling her eyes at how gullible her boyfriend was. Before Guy could respond, Harleen's phone started ringing from inside of her pocket. She quickly tapped on Guy's hand, which was still currently wrapped tightly around her wrist, he quickly released her arm and began muttering apologies. She quickly reassured him that it was okay before she pulled her phone out of pocket and answered it.
"Hello?" Harleen asked into the phone as she turned her back on Guy. For a moment she didn't hear anything and then the screaming started.
"Harleen!" A high pitched voice screamed into the other end of the phone. Harleen instantly realized it was her mother.
"Yes, mom?" She had to bite her tongue to keep herself from sneering into the phone; she knew that it would only make the situation worse.
"You realize what time it is right now?" Her voice only got louder as Harleen held the phone away from her ear to try and escape the headache that was bound to follow. She glanced over at Guy who was giving her a concerned look; she gave him her best reassuring smile before turning her back to him once again.
"Yes, mom." Harleen sighed as she glanced at the time on her phone, "It is 7:30 at night. I just got out of class."
"I don't care about you!" Harleen sighed as felt her upper lip beginning to twitch, "Your father was supposed to be home at 5:30. He must be out with that whore again."
"Mother, maybe there was traffic. He does work all the way in Gotham and that isn't a close drive." She said into the phone while she paced back and forth in front of her car. She already knew where this conversation was going. "Or maybe he got asked to work late tonight; it is pretty hard to find people who want to be a security guard at a chemical plant."
"Don't defend that man! Adultery is a sin!" Harleen rolled her eyes as she put her backpack on the ground and rustled around in the bag for her car keys. "I need you to go down to that factory and see if he is actually there."
"Mother, is this really necessary?" Harleen questioned as she walked over and gave Guy a kiss on the check. "This is crazy." She grabbed her bag off of the ground, threw it into the passenger seat and sat down in the front seat.
"You are really going to call me crazy?" Harleen froze as she could feel the shadows coming whispering in her ear.
Her thumb erratically began to drag along the stitching of the steering wheel as her hands began to tremble. Her eyes dropped to the goose bumps that were popping up under her skin like tiny bombs getting ready to rupture. Her teeth scraped against the soft flesh of her own lips as a smile broke out of her face. She watched her own nails dig into the goosebumps. Not deep enough to cause blood to flow, but enough to cause her eyes to roll back into her head and for a small line of red to pucker up to the surface of her skin. The screaming of her mother became background noise as a civil war broke out in her mind; tendrils creeped out from behind that locked door and began pulling her down into her subconscious which was slowly becoming her new conscious.
"Harls!" Harleen jumped up in her seat and rage filled her eyes as she whipped her head to see who called her. Her phone dropped out of her hand and was forgotten on the floor.
"I told you not to call me that!" She screamed as she punched the steering wheel. She felt her chest rising up and down as the sound of her panting filled the cab of her car.
"Relax." Guy said as he bent down so he was face to face with Harleen, "I just wanted to make sure you were okay." He reached out and moved the hair out of her face and rested it behind her ear. Her eyes, still wide, slowly made their way up to meet Guy's eyes. She stared at him for a moment or so, he thought it was a romantic moment when the real reasoning was that Harleen was trying to regain her control.
"Thank you." She whispered closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, "My mother just stresses me out." She opened her eyes and forced a sickeningly sweet smile to fill her features; Guy smiled back at her and placed a kiss on her cheek before saying goodbye.
Harleen closed the door and she left the parking lot as fast as she could. She needed to put as much space between her and Guy as she could. She was slipping and she needed to find a way to bottle that up before he saw. The lights flew past her as she looked for the for exit 66; god she hated taking the train into the city.
Harleen nibbled on her lip as she glanced around the subway with disgust filling her features; the city wasn't the safest to travel at night, so after she arrived in the city she decided to take the subway as close to the plant as she could. This wasn't the first time her mother had sent her on this quest to make sure her father was at the plant. Most of the time, her father was not at the plant, but she always told her mother he was there. Harleen didn't know where he was, but she knew it wasn't always with a woman. Her father wasn't always the most honest man, and it was clear to Harleen that he had way too much money lying around for being a simple security guard.
The stench of fecal matter and urine was filling her nose and she felt as if she was going to gag. When the subway car came to a halt Harleen couldn't gather her bag and rush off of the car quick enough. She quickly headed to the stairs and made it out into the crisp night air. Glancing around she saw that the sun had completely set. She looked down at the time that was displaying on the front screen and she was honestly impressed that her mother hadn't called her yet. Harleen couldn't say that her mother was known for the patience. The woman claimed to be a true Christian, but instead of a cross, she usually carried a flask.
Geez, this city needs more street lights; no wonder the crime rate was through the roof and some lunatic felt as if he needed to dress up like a bat. Harleen wrapped her arm around her chest as she walked down the sidewalk; she couldn't help her eyes from jumping from every shadow and to every leaf that crinkled in the wind. She didn't feel safe in this town, she never did. Something about it made her feel unhinged.
Gravel crackled under her sneakers as she glanced at the large building that was coming into view; Ace Chemicals lit up in green neon lights as black smoke spiraled out of the four large white pillars around the main building. The red bricks contrasted with the large neon lettering along with the large vines that danced up the side. She groaned as she grew closer to the barbed wire fence that secured the perimeter of the plant; security wasn't very good here, not that this fact was shocking since her father was the head of security. Harleen has been able to break into the plant on several occasions to check if her father was there. She didn't feel like listening to that drunken argument if her father ever realized that mother was having him followed by none other than his own flesh and blood.
When she finally reached the fence, her eyebrow rose as she realized that the hole in the fence she used to crawl make her way into the plant was already open. She always closed it back up with wire when she left; she pursed her lips before throwing any concern into the back of her mind before carefully slipping through the hole. Harleen took a couple steps and hid behind a tree; glancing behind the tree to the cameras up on the wall. She studied their movements for a couple minutes before counting to her head. Once she reached three, Harleen sprinted out from behind the tree and flipped from shadow to shadow. Careful to stay out of the cameras moving gaze, she made it to the building without a problem.
Harleen walked against the wall for a couple feet until she hit a metal door; she reached behind her and felt up the side of her backpack until she found a pocket. She struggled for a moment trying to pull a card out; when she finally was able to grab the ID card she swiped it into the card reader before jumping inside of the building before the camera turned back towards her. One night she stole her father's ID card out of his wallet; he thought he had lost it on the commute home. A shiver crawled up her spine as she pressed her back up against the cold metal door. Harleen blinked several times trying to get used to the dark room; you would think that a place with giant vats of chemicals would have more lights. You know, for safety reasons.
She glanced around the area one more time before pushing off of the door and making her way towards her father's office which was on the southern side of the plant. His office had to be directly over the vats of acid so he could be constantly watching them. Her eyes followed the large metal tubing that ran the lengths of the walls, hopefully leading her in the right direction. Sure, she had been there before, but it was a little harder to navigate this late at night. The building had large windows near the top of the large walls; making it obvious that natural lighting was supposed to be the main source of light. It was one of the reasons that the citizens of Gotham actually approved building this plant; it was supposed to be very environmentally safe and used many natural sources of energy. What the citizens didn't know was that each of the large vats had tubing that when the vats needed to be drained and cleaned would drain into the nearby pond which had streams connecting it to the harbor.
Harleen rolled her eyes at the idiocy of the poor citizens of Gotham; if they ever found out what they actually allowed in their town they might keel over and die. A small chuckle left her lips at the sight of hundreds of citizens just dropping to the ground; she even wiped away a small tear that had gathered in the corner of her right eye. The echoing of her footsteps against the large walls was beginning to unnerve her; it seemed as if there were too many steps for just her to be making. Her heart dropped into her stomach as the realization struck her; her feet froze as she tried to listen over the sound of her heart frantically beating against her rib cage. Although her sneakers were still glued to the ground, she could still hear footsteps echoing off the large walls.
She gulped before convincing herself that they were probably other security guards or workers. She took a deep breath before walking towards the sound of the footsteps; slowly she watched as three shadows began creeping their way up the wall. Getting larger and larger as Harleen got closer. Soon she could see the outlines of the people themselves; there was a shorter man who seemed to be on the plump side, an average size man of average build, both of these men were dressed up in suits, while the other man was different. He stood a good ten inches above the other men if not more, and was very lean, but it wasn't just his height that was throwing Harleen off. The man was also in a tux, but he also had on a red domed helmet and a red cape. He obviously couldn't see very well because his hands were held up protectively in front of him and he seemed to be walking crooked.
Harleen had no idea what to make of the man in the red helmet, but there were no other workers around and she didn't exactly know where she was going. She figured they were workers just playing a prank on the new guy after hours; sure, it was unethical, but they probably wouldn't freak if she just asked them where the head of security was and promised not to tell that they were messing with the new guy.
"Um, excuse me?" Harleen yelled out as she began to almost run towards the three men. She noticed how all of them quickly turned around and the normally dressed two seemed to both reach into their pockets for something. "I didn't mean to scare you, but I got lost and I was wondering if you guys could tell me where to go?" The two of them looked at each other before the shorter man stepped closer to Harleen.
"Look, girlie, besides," He said with a very thick accent, "I think you should just go home. A lot can happen in a place like this late at night. I don't think it is safe for you to be wondering around."
"I need to find my father." Harleen sighed as she glanced around; the smallish man in front of her gave off a weird vibe. Not that he was dangerous, but he certainly was not going to be able to help her. Although she couldn't just walk away now, she didn't even enter through the front door.
"Well, sweetie…" The man was cut off by the slightly taller man putting a finger to his lip. Harleen could see the anger bubbling up in the shorter man; the shorter man opened his mouth to say something, but the taller man just put his finger to his own mouth. That's when Harleen heard it.
It was the echoing of shoes hitting the steel grate floor; she heard the shorter man mumbling under his breath. Her eyes glanced over at the man to see the obvious nervousness on his face. The shorter man sharply turned towards the man whose face was covered in the red helmet, fisted his hands in the man's tux and pulled him down to the shorter man's level.
"I thought you said there wasn't any night security at this place!" The shorter man hissed into the mask. The man in the mask quickly held up his gloved hands in surrender. His voice was muffled by the helmet but one could hear the obvious stuttering in the nervously spoken words.
"I got fired a couple months ago." The man sounded as if he was pleading for his life; Harleen couldn't do anything but look on with confusion. No empathy, but plenty of curiosity. "They must have just added some."
"Hey! Who's down there?" A rough voice yelled; the sound bouncing off the metallic walls making it hard to pinpoint where the voice was coming from. The question was followed by the sound of multiple people running towards the group. She turned her head away from the three men and looked around.
From that moment on, every second seemed to tick by in slow motion as if the entire word had come to a crawl. She felt a sharp pain in her wrist as nails dug into the flesh while a hand pulled her back with enough force to make her stumble. Her hair swung around her face as she turned to see the taller man reached out with his hand around her wrist. Eyes grew wide as they focused on the silver pistol that the man drew from the waistband of his pants. Glimpses of silver blonde strands of hair decorated her vision as all breath slipped from her lungs when the cold sensation of the barrel kissing her temple radiated throughout her body. Hair seemed to flow around her like the chaos in her head as she turned in front of her to meet the dead eyes of the person she came there to find.
Her head knocked to the side as the man pressed the barrel against her temple harder; she could feel his lips moving against her ear and she could feel his sickly think body pressed up against hers. Her eyes fluttered shut and slowly opened to see her father's face twisted up in anger and his jaw extending to its full capacity as if he was barking orders. Yet she couldn't hear a thing. The soft ringing seemed to play in her ears like the melody of her favorite song. The barrel left her temple causing a whimper to slip through her lips quiet enough that no one heard except the ones in her head; her eyes rolled back into her head when the man shoved the barrel back against her temple. The cold metal sent shivers across her heated skin.
"Harleen!" Her head shot up and she was knocked out of all the sensations as soon as her father's voice rang in her ears.
"Daddy!" Harleen called out trying to keep up an image of innocence; she lurched forward looking like she was trying to get away yet her heart fluttered when the fingers pressed hard enough against her skin that she could imagine the blood vessels exploding leaving a beautiful discoloration of the flesh.
"You idiot!" Her father's voice rang out and hit her in the chest like bullets hitting a metal wall. Making a small dent but proving to leave no effect. Her head tilted in confusion and if you looked closely you could see a small twitch once and awhile as she tried to fight her urges. "Why are you even in here? The fucking psycho sent you, didn't she? That bitch. We should have left you there! How useless are you that you have a gun against your head by the only people in this fucking plant? You have to be…" Her eyes focused on his lips when she realized that she could no longer hear what the sickening words spilling from his lips.
It would be so easy. Just grab that gun that's pressed up against your pretty face. You know your finger is itching to pull that trigger. All that blood. Harleen felt the hand beside her head falter a little and her eyes narrowed as they glared at the man behind her. The taller man's face was pulled up in pure fear; she couldn't help the smile that was pulling up at her cheeks. Something was bubbling up inside of her and she couldn't hold it back anymore.
Soon the screaming stopped and only one thing was echoing off of the metallic walls. Eyes were wide in fear as everyone's spine stood straight up; the hairs stood up on edge as goosebumps crawled onto every crevasse they could reach. Her head was thrown back while her red lips were open wide in a large grin. The security guards took a step back away with guns held up in trembling hands as the sound that forcing its way out of her mouth chilled them to the bone. It wasn't a normal laugh, far from it. It was the gurgled sound of pure letting go that was bouncing off the walls; as if every little strand of sanity snapped in that moment when she saw the fear in his eyes.
No one dared to move as the laughter flew from her mouth like terrified rats running out of the sewers. Her eyes were clenched shut as she folded forward her entire body shaking from her laughter; her free hand held her face as her teeth dug into her palm as the cackling ripped up her throat. Blood curled as they watched her dig her nails into the flesh on her face. Lines of blood streaked down her face as her nails raked down as she raised her head up to look at her father. Her smile fell into a smirk as the laughter lowered in volume but seemed to increase in intensity. It seemed more sinister as her eyes poured into her father's. Glancing over at the barrel that once kissed her temple her shoulders were still rocking up and down as her laughter pierced through her dad's heart. She quickly grabbed the silver pistol out of the goons trembling hand; allowing the laughter to pike as she stroked the trigger allowing the gun to fall in the direction of her father.
A loud crash caused everyone in the room to duck down for cover; her laughter halted when something crashed through the ceiling. Both of her arms were covering her head as she could hear debris crashing against the grate flooring. She quickly snapped her head off with her the gun held in both hands in front of her body ready to fire at any second. She expected to see her father in front of her, but he was clouded by shadows. Dark red lips pulled up in a smirk as her eyes clashed with the dark black ones of the mysterious man who had been plaguing the papers. Batman. Perfect.
With that thought her finger hugged the trigger; not just once, but two of three times. The sound of the gun clicking and the feeling of the recoil in her hands caused a groan to fill her mouth. Her eyes fluttered closed as she pulled the trigger a couple more times; the sound of bullets flying past her body just heightened her high. She no longer felt the taller man as she had him turn and try to run; she also heard the security guards screaming and firing their weapons as well. Slowly she opened her eyes and saw her father lying on the ground.
Harleen's eyes widened as she gulped while taking small steps towards her father; her hand began to tremble and the gun fell to the floor. She kept blinking as if hopefully he would move or he would be standing in front of her telling her to get out of the way. She couldn't have done this. Yes, you did. I was trying to shoot Batman. I was scared. You knew that he would jump out of the way. Harleen kneeled down beside her father and she tilted her head to the side looking at him. Look at the blood pooling. All you.
Her hand smacked against her mouth as her body was rocked with uncontrollable trembles. She could feel her lips curl up as a quiet laughter was bubbling up in her chest; there is no way this was real. There isn't even a real hole. Harleen leaned over her father, placing her hand on his chest and reached out to put her finger in between his eyes. Her laughter was cut off when her finger didn't rest on skin but sank into a hole. Her eyes widened as she watched her finger disappear deeper into her father's skull. She could feel the heat left over from the bullet tearing through his flesh and bone; her finger rubbed against the ripped open meat before she slowly pulled it out. She sat back onto her legs and brought her other hand to her mouth as she inspected her finger. Harleen's eyes snapped shut as she slowly peeled her hand away from her mouth as soon as she felt the wetness that coated her hand. She didn't even open her eyes as she slowly stood to her feet and turned away from the corpse on the floor. Free. He is dead. Her eyes open wide, filled with amusement and a blood smile up her face on top of her already deep red smile.
She just kept walking with her head rolling from side to side as the laughter seemed to spill from her lips. She couldn't stop it. It was filling her mind; she was spiraling out of control as she stumbled over the multitude of bodies scattering the ground. She was too lost in her laughter to realize that someone had crept up behind her. A heavy hand on her shoulder caused her to freeze, not in fear but in planning. She quickly grabbed the hand, flung it off of her, and flipped backwards so she was behind the man in the cape. Batman turned to her with no emotion on his face and no words coming from his lips.
Harleen looked up at the taller man as her eyes began to fill with tears threatening to spill over. She fell into the masked crusader with tears streaming down her face; she threw her limp fists into his chest as she wailed.
"You made me kill him!" She screamed in between the sobs; her body seemed so frail up against his larger frame. "You scared me and… and I thought you were another bad man." He didn't wrap his arms around the crying woman nor did he try to comfort her in any way. He simply allowed her to let all of her emotions out. The woman had just killed her father out because of him and had no way to bring him back.
"I will get you to safety." His gravel voice hit her ears a couple moments later; before she could complain, Batman had wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled out what looked like a large gun.
To her surprise when he pulled the trigger it was no bullet, but a rope. It was a grappling hook and before she could say anything, the two of them were flying through the factory above the large vats of chemicals. Harleen shoved her face up against Batman's chest as she felt her hair flew all around her.
"I need to leave you here for a moment." Harleen lifted her head out of his chest to realize that she was now standing up on a ledge above the large vats.
She meant to call out to him, but he was already gone along with the shadows. Harleen glanced down below her to see if she could spot him, but all she saw was a red helmet stumbling around trying to find out where he was going. She looked on with a small amount of amusement as he bumped off of the railing even though he had his hands stretched out in front of him. Small chuckles filled the air around her; none like before, but normal laughter at the man's accidental stupidity.
The chuckling stopped when she saw a dark shadow creeping up behind him; she ran over to her own railing and opened her mouth to warn the man, but it was too late. Batman had dropped in front of the man and threw his fist directly into the man's face. Red helmet stumbled backward trying to find his footing as the Bat continued to throw his fist into the defenseless man. Her mouth was open wide as if she was screaming, yet no noise was ripping up her throat. She just sat back and watched as the defenseless man was being thrown around like a rag doll. A scream finally was able to rip its way out of her mouth as she watched the man tumble down into one of the vats. The air was sucked right out of her as she felt her knees tremble under the weight of her body; she crumbled against the railing as she watched the man's hand disappear into the bubbling green liquid. One of her hands stretched out of the poles as if she could help.
The sound of cars rushing by, horns being honked along with the screams of angry drivers caused the man to begin to stir. He tried to pry open his eyes, but he was met with nothing but the sight of the woman tinted in red with her head tilted back. He had never heard anything like it; oh god, make the cackling stop. He couldn't get it out of his head; his fingernails tried to claw at metal helmet covering his head. He let out a frustrated scream as he pushed himself to his feet and stumbled forward. That cursed sound was on loop in his head; the way her body was trembling with pleasure as the laughter seemed to take a hold of her entire body. Soon he was punching at the mask.
"Make it stop." He moaned as he tried to grip the top of his head just to have his hands slide down the helmet. He let out a frustrated groan and crumbled to the ground as tears spilled down his face as the laughter seemed to tease him. His entire body felt as if it was engulfed in flames; everything was stinging almost to the point where he wanted to peel his skin off. His nails were trying as he was fighting to pull the mask off of his head; he felt as if the world is spinning and it was getting faster and faster the longer that he was trapped within that laughter.
"Get this stupid hood off. Get it off so I can…" Finally, his fingers were able to grab the edge of the helmet and he ripped the blasted thing off of his face. Hoping the laughter would stop once he pulled that darn mask off. As soon as he was able to breathe. "…See…"
He stared into the puddle in front of him as the laughter seemed to disappear; he raised his hands up to his face as watched as his reflection did the same. His gloved hand ran the length of his stained lips before dragging against the snow white complexion of his cheek. The laughter began to grow louder as he slowly pushed himself to his feet. Stumbling around hunched over as he tried to find his balance. His fingers threaded in his head as he realized the laughter was no longer just in his head.
He needed to find the woman tinted in red; he couldn't remember anything but that laughter. It rang in his head driving him to the edge of madness. He would massacre everyone just to find that laughter. He would make everyone die with a smile on their face and laughter in their lungs, Just to find her.
"Ha ha ha. Ffnk." It ripped through his chest as he all of reality melted around him; as if the laughter was harmonizing with hers. "Ahoo. Ahoo. Hoo hoo hoo. Ehrrr. HAHAHAHAHA"