J absently ran his fingers through her hair as he sat straight in his seat in the back of the van. They'd slowed down several minutes previously, meaning they had finally lost the last of the United States' attack dogs. Jonny poked his head into the back from his position in the passenger seat. "Sir, it's confirmed we're in the clear. Headed to the airfield now. The jet is on standby ready for takeoff as soon as you're boarded." J barely looked at him, nodding once.

He ran the tip of his tongue across the cool metal of his teeth. Everything had gone according to plan. Jonny had grumbled a bit about J himself being a physical part of a second rescue attempt...and considering the first had almost cost him his life, his concerns were valid. Jonny himself was lucky to be alive, too, although burn scars covered over half of his body. But J knew he couldn't just sit at the club knowing that miles away, Harley may be on his way home, or may be dead. He never would have done this for anyone else. He wouldn't have even thought of putting together a rescue mission for anyone else, let alone being a part of the extraction team himself.

The truth was, he didn't realize the full extent of his feelings for Harley until he lost her. Twice. And now she was curled into his side, her head on his chest, and he - The Joker - was sorting out his feelings about this scrap of woman he once thought disposable. She wasn't disposable now. The moment he knew she was gone, he felt this...ripping. He had gone into a blind rage, hitting anything he could get his hands on, her voice ringing in his head…"Puddin' I can't swim!" He hadn't taken her seriously, couldn't see that her body had gone halfway through the windshield, assumed she could get out and float to the surface. But the Bat got her. And he didn't.

After that, he couldn't concentrate on anything except the plans being made to get her back. The weeks turned into months, the penthouse turned musty because all he could do was clean and rearrange every blade and gun he owned...among other things. When Jonny finally told him where she was, he fell into a fit of laughter for the first time in weeks, sitting in a circle of weapons, the tip of every knife laying on the floor pointed straight at the hole in his chest that pained every breath.

Harley sighed lightly and he felt her cool breath dance across his chest. He tightened his fingers in her hair and tugged, forcing her to look at him. Her dreamy smile spread wider across her face as her eyes met always knew he was a sociopath. Even Harley herself - Harleen then - had told him so. He couldn't feel things like love. But…...but, but, but, but, but.

"We're here! Prepare to move!" Jonny's voice cracked though his thoughts. He let go of Harley's hair and grabbed her wrists, dragging her to her feet. "Come on, honey. Our ride awaits." The doors opened and he jumped out, dragging Harley with him. He felt her stumble, but he wouldn't let go of her, he would drag her across the pavement on her knees if he had to. He didn't want to be out in the open longer than they had to, and he wouldn't feel they were safe until they were back home.

"Puddin', hold up-"

"No." J snapped, jerking on her wrists. The stairs into the jet lowered just as they reached it, and he pulled Harley in behind him. Only Jonny was accompanying them on the plane - the rest of the goons would eventually find their way back to Gotham. They were most certainly expendable. But they were loyal, and so he knew he'd see them lurking around within the week. That was Jonny's problem. Right now, there was only one problem he cared about.

They sat in their seats as the jet took off, but as soon as the announcement came that they could move around, J pulled Harley up and took her into the small bedroom at the back of the plane and shoved her to the bed, slamming the door shut behind him. He felt his breaths coming deep and hard, the fire of anger burning deep in his chest.

Harley propped herself up on her elbows, sensing his sudden change in mood. She had long since learned to become attuned to him if she wanted to make him happy. "J?" she asked tentatively.

He slowly turned around, a dark look clouding his eyes and the dim light glinting off of his silver teeth. He tilted his head to the side, stretching his neck. Harley pulled herself up to sit on the edge of the bed as his eyes ran over her body for the first time in months. Her skin tingled everywhere his gaze touched and she bit her lip lightly as he felt the slow heat of desire pooling in her abdomen. She watched his chest heaving and felt herself anticipating something from him, like muscles anticipating the starting gun at a race.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He said slowly. Harley was confused. His words didn't make sense to her, and she could tell he was holding himself back. He hadn't made a move toward her, which was unlike him. If he was angry with her, he would be in her face, making sure she could see the fire of his rage within him. She slid her feet under her and slinked toward him, putting her hands on his chest.

"Whaddya mean, Puddin'?" she asked, giving him a smile, which quickly faded when he grabbed her by the shoulders, his fingernails biting into her skin.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked, louder this time, sending a twinge of fear through her body. He shoved her away and turned his back to her. He closed his eyes as he touched his temple, thinking of the weapons he had arranged on the floor the day Jonny found out where Harley was. Thinking of the other items he had placed in his little work of art...thinking of the reasons he had those items in the first place.

"J, I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talkin' about…" He heard her take a step towards him.

"Before you were taken, Harls, you don't remember taking a test? You didn't need to study, but I'm sure you'd remember this test…" He heard her suck in a breath. So now she was on the same page.

"I…" Harley's voice broke lightly, but she pushed on, hoping he hadn't noticed. "I'm sorry, Puddin', I just needed time to wrap my head around it and figure out how to tell ya…"

J turned around and slapped her across the face, sending her backwards into the bed. "You should have told me." His voice was deathly quiet, but Harley knew better. He had a better control over his anger than anyone she had ever met. His eyes flared as she stood back up, taking a step forward as she looked him in the eye, daring him to hit her again. When he didn't move, she sighed.

"I'm sorry, kay? I was scared. But it doesn't matter anymore, I lost it in Belle Reve. Wasn' there a week before I lost it. It wasn't like any of the prisons you've been to. They did things…" Her voice broke again and she shook her head slightly, but J slid a finger under her chin and forced her face up.

"Tell me," he growled.

"They had beat me pretty bad. Shocked me. I woke up that night with my legs covered in blood. I don't remember much after that except some grimey nurse-type telling me I lost it. I apparently lost a lot of blood, they had me hooked up to a bunch of shit for a while, threw me back into my cell after I started pulling the tubes out. I stopped eating for a while after that, but then they shoved a tube down my throat, so I figured eating was better than that." J worked his jaw as she spoke, feeling his anger rising to a dangerous level.

"Don't you ever keep things from me again, Harley." J said slowly. Harley took a breath and then nodded. J let go of her, and she slumped back down to the bed. The memory of the vision the Enchantress showed her flashed through her mind, a diamond on her finger and a sweet-faced baby in J's arms...Harley closed her eyes, trying not to let her feelings show while J was looking at her. He'd be furious. This was their life and she'd long since accepted he didn't want it different and he expected her not to either. But underneath the insanity, she was still just a woman. "I'm going to find out the names of everyone who came into contact with you at Belle Reve and have them killed," J said, jerking her from her thoughts. She opened her eyes and smiled,

"You don't have to do that just for me, Puddin'."

"It's not just for you," He breathed, so low she barely caught it. Her chest ached, but she knew she couldn't let herself wonder if anything would have been different is she had told him. She couldn't go there. She felt the darkness of her mind creeping up around her, and she shrugged it off, hopping up to twist her arms around J's neck. He stood still, letting her press a light kiss to his lips. His hands came up to tightly grip her waist, and she smiled, twisting her hips so she brushed against his crotch.

J pushed her once again towards the bed, and she complied, crawling backwards until her back rested on the pillows at the head. He suddenly flew towards her, trapping her underneath him. Suddenly the sharp, cold metal of a blade was at her neck as J's eyes bore into hers. "Don't ever keep something like that from me again, Harley." She felt the blade bite into her skin and a drop of blood trail down her neck.

She looked into his eyes as she spoke. "I promise." J smiled slightly. He threw the blade aside and dipped down. His tongue flicked out to catch the drop as it dripped into her cleavage, following its trail until her reached the source, pressing his cold lips to her skin to lightly suck. Harley's head dropped back, her eyes closing. She loved his lips at her neck, and it had been so long…

Her fingers twisted in his hair as he made his way to her lips, biting softly. She felt him shed his shirt and jacket, feeling his bare chest against her though the thin fabric of her Belle Reve shirt. He pulled away from her lips to unlatch his belt, and her fingers grabbed at her own clothes, suddenly unable to stand the feel of the prison clothes any longer.

As J let his pants fall to the ground, he eyed her now naked body. A shade paler and thinner than she had been. Her rib and hip bones were more prominent than they had been the last time he had caressed her body. He dipped down again, letting his lips brush her skin along her leg, kissing her left hip bone as her fingers threaded through his hair again. She felt the coolness of his teeth trailing alongside the inside of her thigh, and her body responded heartily.J chuckled as he let a finger lazily dip inside of her, feeling how wet she already was for him.

"Please, please, please…" she whispered. He pulled himself up so that his hips were level with hers, letting his cock brush against her, allowing her to feel how hard he was. He slowly raised his moist finger up to her mouth and, as his finger slowly entered he mouth, he slowly shoved his thick cock inside of her, listening to her sigh as she suckled his finger.

He started moving his hips, listening to the little noises she made, watching the ecstasy spreading across her face. Jerking his finger from her mouth, he grabbed her wrists with one hand and slammed them up to the headboard. His other hand made its way up to her neck, fingers wrapping around the prominent tendons, feeling her quickened pulse as he begun to squeeze. His hips snapped again and again, slamming into her with a ferocity he hadn't expected from himself. He had missed her body so much, and he knew it wouldn't take long before he lost control. Harley's lungs were beginning to burn, and she felt her entire body tightening in response to the pleasure-pain coursing through her nerves. Her fingernails scraped up J's arm, digging into his flesh as she felt her body explode around him.

His fingers left her throat, and he held her close as she gasped, feeling her clenching around him, driving him closer to the edge. A growl erupted from his chest as Harley leaned forward and bit him just where his neck met his shoulder, feeling the blood seeping into her mouth, and he emptied himself into her, his vision nearly going black.

He let himself fall over onto his back beside Harley, who immediately snuggled against him, laying her head on his chest. Eventually her breaths evened out into sleep, and he laid there watching her in his arms as they got closer and closer to home.