Title: Between closed doors
Author's note: jeez… one-shots seem to be the only thing I'm writing these days. Ah well, they get good reviews and lots of readers :) so many readers, but not so many reviews… hmmm. Anyway, inspired by a quote from Arleen Sorkin that says 'Everyone sees The Joker laugh, only Harley sees him cry' I came up with this after I had a BAD, BAD, BAD day. Am I the only person in the world that gets ideas for fanfiction while taking a shower on days like that?
Summary: 'Everyone sees The Joker laugh, only Harley sees him cry' a quote from Arleen Sorkin that seems to summarize this fanfiction just right!
Disclaimer: And again… The Joker nor Harley belong to me sigh
A man trudged through an abandoned and dark alley. He was dressed in a neat suit with a purple coat. Underneath he was wearing an orange blouse and a black vest with a tie. His pinstripe pants, leather gloves and classy shoes were slightly covered in mud. His hair was a greasy blonde, green, brown and he had messy greasepaint on his face.
His name was The Joker.
He stomped with his fist on a door in the alley and one of his henchmen opened up for him. He walked inside, barely paying attention to his other henchmen inside the building. He took off his purple coat and threw it over a chair behind him. He kicked off his shoes and put all his knifes and guns on the coffee table. While he was pulling his leather gloves off he could hear the water streaming from the shower in the bathroom. Seeing as Harley wasn't already clinging to him now, as she normally would do when he came back home, he knew she was the person that was in the bathroom.
His job had went all wrong. He was unbelievably angry and had taken that out on three people who were standing within his reach at that moment… lets just say they didn't live to tell the tale.
With his anger now subsided, only the humiliation was left. And on top of that, some cops showed up and managed to pin him down long enough to get a few good kicks at him. The Joker felt tired, ashamed and sad… and he was cold. O, and his ribs hurt.
But being The Joker he never did anything else but laugh and lash out, so he was very uncomfortable with the feelings he had right now. He had kept the show up in front of his henchmen and the civilians that were standing by. Laughing and acting like his usual self. Not letting anybody see that he was in pain as he kept his head up high.
But now, closing the bathroom door behind him, he started trembling. The air was clammy and the mirrors were foggy, but he could still see the reflection of his painted face a little bit. The greasepaint was coming off. He leaned on the wall for support with one arm as he stood in front of the shower curtain.
Harley sensed someone was there and opened the curtain just enough so she could stick her head out. She smiled when she saw him.
'Ow hi there, puddin'. I didn't hear you come in.'
He looked up and the smile disappeared from her face.
'What's wrong, puddin'?'
The Joker didn't say anything, he just looked at her face. She really had beautiful eyes. Then he pulled the curtain to the side. Revealing her naked body. Harley posed and smiled again, trying to please him, trying to cheer him up.
He felt weird telling her he loved her, so he never really did that. In fact he had never planned for her to become his girlfriend at all… he just wanted to play with her a little bit, like he was doing with all his physiatrists at Arkham Asylum. But she grew on him and as much as he hated to admit it, he needed her.
Everyone sees The Joker smile, but only Harley sees him cry. And he had difficulty with that at first too! Beating her up whenever she tried to comfort him. But he slowly learned from her. And he was totally taken by surprise the first time he felt himself become agitated and lonely if she wasn't around. Harley made him feel powerful, loved, strong and like he was part of a team again. Like he belonged.
'Tell me what's bugging you, mister J.' She said.
The water pouring from the showerhead dripped down her body. Her blonde hair was tangled and there was a little foam bubbling in the water of the tub. Without further thought he stepped in the tub with her, his suit getting soaking wet, and he pulled her into his embrace. He buried his face in her shoulder and shut his eyes. His knees gave out, together they stumbled and sat down in the tub. A little awkward, but then Harley sat on is lap, he wrapped his arms around her and it became very comfy. She stroked his back with one hand and his hair with the other. Harley knew something was very wrong with The Joker.
The Joker's make-up was coming off his face. The red, black and white colours seeped into his suit. His wet hair stuck to his face. Harley cupped his face and put his forehead against her own. He had his eyes firmly closed. There was still some white paint in his hair, his eyes were a little smudged with black and in the corners of his mouth was some red left. She kissed him softly, but he didn't react. He just held her with his eyes closed.
'You silly clown,' she said lovingly while petting and stroking him. 'You should've at least taken your socks off.'
He started laughing. Laughing like there was no tomorrow. Laughing like a madman. Laughing the laugh he was notorious for. It made his ribs hurt badly. Harley giggled along with him. The Joker knew she wasn't snickering about the same thing he was, but that didn't really matter right now.
And tears streamed down his face while he was still laughing.
Or…
was he actually crying now?
The End