Holding His Ale

Harley clambered into bed half an hour later. She'd made sure she took as long as possible in the bathroom so that Joker had time to cool off and sleep... So that as long as he was asleep, the less she had to face his wrath - because she knew she would be punished for her mistake. Not that she minded a punishment from him normally...

She laid down on her side of the bed, looking over at Joker, who had his back to her, as usual.

She pulled the covers over her a little more, since he was taking most of the sheets for himself. As a consequence of the movement, he rolled over to her side, letting out a muffled growl. Her heart was beating ten to the dozen, but it wasn't long until she let out a 'Phew' when he returned to his old position and began lightly snoring... At least she was sure about him being asleep.

She rolled onto her side, facing the back of his head, biting her lip with worry. She wished she could apologize properly, she hoped he would forget - but she knew that her hopes and wishes were pointless. Because Joker would make sure that neither would happen.

She sighed, squeezing her eyes closed tightly, forcing sleep to come to her. Yet it was futile.

Joker rolled over again, and Harley sensed the movement, cracking open her eyes. She couldn't help smiling as she looked at his face - he looked so peaceful, something he rarely ever looked. Only she had seen his face like this. And it's always an image that stuck in her mind whenever she thought of him.

"Arleeyyy..." she heard him suddenly mutter quietly. Her blue eyes brightened, even in the darkness of their bedroom, for her heart was secretly singing inside of her.

"Nn-nooo..." he murmured, eyebrows meeting in preoccupation as he continued. "Whyy..."

He tossed his head away from her, burying his face in the pillow. "Ah cahnw howd mweh alweh Hurv..."

After a while in which his murmurs had died down, and his head hadn't moved, Harley's concern for him grew a little... he could suffocate himself if he shoved his head any further into that pillow.

"Mr J..." she whispered firmly, reaching out her warm hand to shake his cold shoulder gently. "Mr J... Wake up..."

"Hwuh whaw?!"

He lifted his head and then sat up on his elbows, eyes groggily searching the pitch black bedroom for the source of the voice. His hair stuck out at various angles, making Harley bite her lip to stop her giggling.

"Harleyy..." he groaned. "What is it now?" He yawned and stretched his arms up above him.

"I - I - "

"If this isn't good I'm gonna scrap takin' you out on my next heist..."

"I'm sorry Mr J." she replied softly, stroking his shoulder. "I'm sorry for bein' so stupid... I should've asked who it was first! I'm sorry..."

"So you should be. Now goodnight Harl."

"No! No, wait - "

"Good. Night. Harl."

He was about to turn over, eyes drooping with exhaustion until he felt something soft yet firm push against his lips. His eyes widened in surprise at the kiss - he was used to Harley doing this sort of thing - but he felt that this time it was different... Maybe it was because it was so out of the blue, who knew?

She pulled away from him, her blue eyes now fatigued and relaxed, eyelids hiding her perfect eyes. "Goodnight Mr J..." she breathed, turning over to face away from him, as he always told her to do at night if he was still awake.

There was a brief pause.

"Whoa whoa whoa! Not so fast toots!" Joker exclaimed loudly, making her jump yet she didn't face him. "What the hell was that for?"

"What was what for?"

"The... you know what!"

"I can kiss you can't I?"

"Well... yeah..."

"And you like it don't ya?"

"Uh... I guess...that I do, yeah..."

"Then that's fine right?... I can kiss you if I wanna."

"Wait... This is because you hit me earlier isn't it? You needed to shut me up and you have... well I'm not fallin' for your scheme you conniving little minx!"

"But why are you here tonight Mr J? Usually you're out plannin' some scheme with the others, or out fightin' Batsy himself..."

"I... I'm having a weekend off."

"What?! A weekend off?! And you never thought to tell me?!"

"Well you see the thing is... I was in the Ice Berg Lounge and - "

"Oh! This is perfect Mr J! We could sleep in... or stay up late talking about our pet hates, or watch scary movies or have a pillow fight! A whole weekend of you and me, just gazing into each other's eyes! Isn't it romantic?"

"Don't you mean pathetic?! And no, I'm not going to spend my whole weekend on you, you worthless piece of trash! I'm going ou - "

"Oh please! Pleaseohpleaseohpleaseohplease! We haven't spent time together in ages Mr J! I've missed you!"

Joker suddenly froze for that moment in time. He felt himself frowning, and felt his mouth curve into an upside down smile.

'Oh come on! You're the mighty Joker! Don't say you're going soft on the dame! Plus you have a party to get to - remember, Harvey's paying!' his favourite voice in his head said, making him angry with himself for feeling sorry for the kid. 'But you are missing Harley aren't you?' his least favorable voice told him, making him look into her blue eyes and he could see the pathetic hope that shone in them. 'You haven't seen her properly in months... The kid's going to lose faith in you eventually... Imagine if that happened? She'd find someone else, settle down, have a family, divorce and then end up living in some bungalow until she died of old age, not making a single difference to the world... not making the Joker look as powerful - like she is now...'

'I hate it when he makes sense!' the other voice replied, in which the sane voice chuckled deeply in reply. A chuckle that was almost sinister.

"Stupid voices..." Joker muttered, his eyes rolling up to look up at his forehead.

"What?" Harley asked confusedly, her little mouth in the shape of an 'O'.

"Oh... nothing you need to worry about Pumpkin."

He reached out and pulled her into him, letting her lean her head on his chest. It made him cringe, but if it meant he had control over her, he would do it... like the voice said, if he lost her now, he would not nearly be as powerful. Her loss would weaken him.

"M-Mr J..."

Joker kissed the top of her head, a little smile of his face. "Yes baby?"

"I can't wait to spend a whole weekend with you..." she whispered, her eyelashes tickling his shoulder as her eyes fluttered shut. "I don't know what I'd do if I didn't see you for another week..."

He frowned and found his eyes dropping shut too, his breathing more relaxed. "Yeah... I'll be here kiddo, don't you worry..." he whispered in reply, yet in his mind, he was already planning a way of getting out of seeing her tomorrow night... instead he was going to meet Harvey and prove that he could take his alcohol, one way or another. The man needed to be proved wrong, after all, the Joker was always right... he couldn't have Harvey thinking otherwise.

"Night Mr J..." Harley interrupted his thoughts, but nonetheless he found himself smiling, he blamed his tiredness.

"Night Harl..."

There was silence for a few minutes, and Joker was beginning to finally fall asleep again, even with Harley cuddling him and nuzzling his shoulder and collarbone's skin.

"Mr J?"

He didn't answer, he was too distant in his sleep now, but he'd heard loud and clear.

"I love you." she whispered, leaving a kiss on his neck's skin.

"Goodnight Harley." was his disgruntled reply, and he fell deep into sleep once more, feeling strangely relaxed with Harley clinging onto him as she slept.

He didn't think getting to Harvey on Saturday night and proving him wrong was such a difficult thing to do... For once, Joker was going to find out just how wrong about that he was...