Don't be fooled, its brand spanking new!!!
"Let me out!" Harley is silent while she waits for an answer, but it does not come. "You mother fucker! Let me out!" In a fit a rage, she punches the door. Her fingertips are raw and bloody from her failed climbing attempts, the acrylic tips now peeling and taking with it bits of healthy nail. She stills as her own strangled sob catches her off guard in the silence of the cellar. The girl collapses, cradling her injured hands to her chest.
"Why?" Her voice is small and barely manages to fill the empty room. "What did I-" She is interrupted by her own sobs. "What did I do?"
Her cries are answered by a dull tapping noise. It sounds like tap shoes, or perhaps a cane? Strange, she has never heard this noise before, and Harley has been listening to the sounds of the cellar for quite sometime. She knows when something belongs and when something doesn't. With a shaky breathe, Harley slowly scoots into the corner of her cell and waits. Someone is standing outside, the tips of their purple Italian leather shoes tapping impatiently at the door's silt.
"Oh Little Girl, Little Girl! Let me come in." The voice that calls out is not one that Harley recognizes. Its high pitched and throaty, nothing like the baritones who've been leaving her meals. This voice sounds dangerous. "What's that?" It asks. "Not by the hair of your chinny chin chin? Well then I'll huff, and I'll puff," The Joker kicks the door in. Casting a sly grin at her huddled figure in the corner, he speaks. "And blow your house in? Isn't that how it goes?" He follows his question with a burst of high pitched laughter.
Harley shrinks as far back as the wall will allow. She looks rather silly, like she's actually trying to become one with her surroundings.
"Please! Don't-" She is interrupted by the Joker's howling laughter.
"Please!" He mocks her. "Don't hurt me! Is that what you wanted to say? Well there, I said it for you. Now we can move on." He kneels down and takes her sullied face in his hands. "A bit mousey aren't we? Oh well, nothing a smear of makeup won't fix." He licks his thumb and tries to wipe the dirt of her cheeks. "We're going to have fun, you and I."
Harley jerks awake, cursing herself for having fallen asleep. She inspects her hand as if looking for the dream wound to appear. She shouldn't have fallen asleep. Besides the fact that Mr. J would be furious if he found out, sleep brings memories she'd rather not remember. She took a deep breath and shook the dreams from her head. They would only distract her and rigging bombs was hard enough as it was, besides the fact that he needed all five of them for tomorrow's job. How long had she been sleeping? The blond checked the clock and groaned. Scratch that, today's job.
"Harley!" her two-way radio barked. She rolled her eyes, suddenly relieved he couldn't see her.
"Yes Mr. J? What can I do for you?" In the pause that followed she thought she heard him wet his lips and found herself imagining what sort of face he could be making to accompany the sound.
"How are those… presents coming along?" He over-pronounced the word presents, drawing the 's' out like a snake. To Harley, he sounded like he was smiling.
"Well, I've got one more, you see, so. . ." She finished lamely. The silence that followed began to make her feel very nervous. In fact, she was about to speak again when he cut her off.
"Harley, Harley, Harley. . ." He sounded rough and was no longer smiling. "What have I told you about your deadlines?" His voice wavered and raised an octave on the last two words, giving them a musical quality. Harley rolled her eyes again, this time wishing he had seen it.
"I'll be there on time." She bit the words the out, and they sounded sharp to her own ears. She waited for a response, and smiled at the silence that answered. She replaced the walkie-talkie in its case, a smug look overtaking her face. She never got in the last word!
"Oh, and Harley? One more thing." The voice that came out of her pocket made her jump.
"If I catch you with the Bat tonight, I'll kill you." He didn't expect her to answer and she didn't. Besides, when it came to the Bat, Harley knew it was better not to say anything.
Somehow, Mr. J had worked it into his head that she had a thing for the winged rodent. In her opinion, he just couldn't tell the difference between flirting and distracting, because Harley was a master of distraction. Itall started last Thursday. They had just cleaned out an entire window display of jewelry when she heard the flipping of bat wings. Throwing a careless punch aimed for his face had gotten her arm stuck in a steel grip. He swung her backwards into the wall and pressed a bladed forearm to her neck, warning her. Harley hadn't been in the mood for jail that night, so quick as lightning, she shot forward and a planted a kiss right on his lips, shocking both men present. His arm had sagged just enough for her to slip out. Unfortunately, this display had inspired much jealousy within the clown, and she paid dearly for it later. Harley felt along the back of her head until her fingers rested on a forming scab, hissing when she accidentally pressed it too hard. Yep, she definatley wasn't looking for a repeat, at least not so soon.
The blond finished wiring the last detonator and turned to check the clock for the second time that day, frowning when she discovered that only an hour had passed. Now she had to find a way to kill three without getting into trouble, a near impossible task for her. The teenager rolled her head back in boredom and began drawing circles on the ceiling with her eyes, counting them as she went. The door opening made her lose count at forty-seven.
"There's been a change of plans" The Joker's voice swelled and filled the tiny the room, making Harley feel incredibly small. "We're not going to the museum tonight. I don't feel like it." He illustrated the word feel with a flip of his wrist, and stressed its one syllable. Harley sat there chewing her bottom lip in irritation and waited for him to continue. He smiled at her good manners and traced a scar with his tongue. "Tonight, I want to go hunting."
"I didn't think it was deer season." She stated dryly. He flashed her a toothy grin, but Harley could clearly read its warning and kept her follow up comment to herself.
"I want something bigger then deer, my dear." He chuckled and patted her cheek. Harley found herself mildly intrigued by the amount of hate the flared up inside her at his touch. She's almost positive it has something to do with the first time they met.
He gently kisses his way up her neck to her ear, pausing to whisper huskily. "Put it on." Harley doesn't respond. He kisses her neck again savagely, almost drawing blood. "Put it on." When Harley still doesn't respond, the Joker growls loudly, and shoves her to the ground. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a large pocket knife.
"Do you see this, little girl? This is the very same knife," The sentence hangs uncompleted as he languidly makes his way toward her crumpled form on the ground. He crouches eye level once her reaches her, smiling darkly at her attempts to put more space between them. "that I used on my silly mother. You see," He said, pausing slightly to wet his lips. "my mother had very expensive taste for a house wife. A taste too expensive for one man to support, so there were others. Many others. And would you believe what happened when dear old dad found out?" The Joker snickered and leaned into Harley. "He got mad. Real mad. But who wouldn't? The little hussy was sleeping with half of Gotham." He smacked his lips and frowned. "Are you listening?" Harley nods. "He starts to smack her around, not enough to hurt her, but enough to show her who's boss. But what does she do? She grabs a gun and shoots him! Self defense." Suddenly, he grabs her hair, yanking her head back and exposing her neck. "The bitch got away with murder, but not for long, not if I had any say. You see, I took this knife," He holds up the shining blade for her to see. "and put it to her throat, just like this." Harley tenses when she feels the metal tickling her skin. "Want to know what I did to her?" He breathes out. Harley shakes her head no, but receives an answer anyway. "I made her strip like the whore she was and split her open so all her lovers would see what filth she was made of." Harley closed her eyes, desperately trying to fight the tears that were threatening to spill. "Shhh, don't worry. She deserved it" he reassured her. "Just be a good girl and it won't happened to you." The Joker stands and offers a hand to Harley. With no other choice, she accepts. The Joker speaks in a fatherly tone as he pulls her to her feet. "Now, why don't you change, and we'll forget all about this little episode." She nods dumbly, barely flinching at the firm hand that wipes away her tears.
Harley shook herself out of the memory and tried to focus on what the Joker was saying, but all she could think of was his disemboweled mother. 'I bet that's not even a true story' she thought bitterly. She fixed him with a uninterested stare and a watched his lips move, replacing his words with her own. 'I'm a liar. A Fucking liar, fucking liar, fucking. . . Liar'
"Are you listening to me, Harley?" She nods dumbly in response knowing that will satisfy him because he doesn't really care whether she's listening or not. The plan will still be the plan, and no matter how many times he changes his mind, Harley knows that they will still end up at the museum tonight at eleven. He slams the door as he leaves, yet another quality of his that Harley will never understand. He likes to be loud, and his presence to be known, whereas she is content to blend in with the crowd. Its easier to get away with things that way. 'But where's the fun in that?' She asks herself, then frowns, knowing that question came from the Joker, not her. It was getting harder to tell where one ended and the other began nowadays. In a sense the Joker had created Harley, the person she was today, and by that degree she supposed she could be considered his daughter, but she much preferred the role of resentful sidekick.
Okay, so its only 1883 words, but I tried people! Please, please, please tell me what you think! I love the feedback! Do you like Harley? Yes, no? maybe? Is the Joker in character? Kinda? Just tell me!
Love,
Bonanza