Harley closed her eyes, inhaling deeply, feeling the steam from the shower seeping into her skin, slowly releasing the tension from her sore muscles. It was her first hot shower in months, and she was going to savor it. The water at Belle Reve was lukewarm at best, and bathing wasn't something that happened on a regular basis. The heat of the water was turning her pale skin a shade pink that would still be considered pale to some, but she ignored the prickles of pain beginning to crawl over her.
Slowly she began to scrub at her skin, suddenly feeling disgusting, as though she had been dipped in slime. Concentrating on her forearm, she scrubbed harder, becoming desperate to rid herself of the dirty feeling. Her chest felt tight, like someone was reaching inside of her chest to squeeze her beating heart. Her hand protested in pain, but she kept scrubbing.
"Harley-" A hand snaked around her waist, and suddenly her entire vision changed. The walls became concrete, the water cold and pressureless. The rough hands groped her breasts, forced her legs apart, pressing her against the icy cold wall, the water handles cutting into the front of her hips. She screamed, knowing it was useless, but it was the only thing she could do with her hands still cuffed, a chain connecting them to her ankles so tightly that she couldn't move. Water slowly running into her mouth while the fingers wandered, and she wished she could drown.
She kept screaming, squeezing her eyes closed, and somehow she was able to turn around and shove the body away from her.
"HARLEY!" J yelled, and she opened her eyes. Her eyes met his, and Joker was alarmed at the frantic fear he saw in hers. He watched her arms wrap around her midriff in a protective gesture, her body trembling. Slowly, he reached out one hand.
"Harley? It's okay. It's me, baby," he said, attempting to be reassuring. Frankly, he was disturbed at seeing Harley like this. She was in full panic mode, and that's something he hadn't seen since before her transformation, watching her struggle against his goons strapping her down to the metal table. But even then, there was a control about her, as though she knew in her subconscious that struggling against his wishes was pointless. This was different. This was pure fear that he was seeing. He'd seen it a million times, but never on her. Never on his harlequin.
Hot tears began streaming down Harley's cheeks. "Puddin'..." J held out his arms, and her naked body slammed against his. Her arms wrapped around him and she dug her fingers into his back, a silent plea for him to hold her as close as possible. He felt her sobbing against his chest, her knees shaking until her weight was almost entirely on him. Joker just held her, fingers stroking her wet hair.
After several minutes, she began to relax against him as her breathing returned to a normal pace. J could still feel her heart hammering against his own chest. Slowly, he used one of his arms to turn off the water, and then reached out to grab a towel. After wrapping it around her, he reached down and swept her up into his arms, carrying her out into the bedroom to set her gently on the bed. As soon as his hands left her, she began shivering even harder. J knelt down in front of her, but her eyes wouldn't meet his. He grabbed her jaw and slowly turned her face, forcing her to look at him.
"Harley. You need to talk to me." She began to shake her head, but he forced her head still. "No, Harley. You're going to tell me what happened back there."
"I'm sorry," she whispered, attempting again to shake her head.
"You'll be more sorry unless you open your fucking mouth, Harley." J closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm himself. "Tell daddy what's wrong."
Harley bit her lip. "It's nothin', puddin', I'm just….it's just post-traumatic stress or whatever."
"A diagnosis from the good Doctor Quinzel, baby?"
"I still know what I learned in med school, puddin'. I'll be fine."
"Ah ah ah," J said, waving a finger in front of her face. "Don't. Lie. To me."
"I'm not, Mistah J," she whispered.
"I know what PTSD is, Harley, and I know it's not that simple. You know I need to know what happened."
She sighed. "It's a lot, it's not just one thing that happened, it's a lot of stuff that happened-"
"So tell me what just happened back there and why."
Harley wished she was anywhere but here. The last thing she wanted to do was relive it again, talk about it, especially with Joker. The breath she took before speaking was ragged, and her voice shook. "I thought I was back in prison. That's it."
J stood up and strode over to the dresser, plucking a handgun off of it and spinning around to point it directly at Harley's forehead. She looked up at him, despondent at the thought of telling him, but knowing he wouldn't give her another choice. He took another step forward and she closed her eyes as she felt the icy metal of the gun pressed into the center of her forehead.
"You're stepping into dangerous territory, Harley." Joker whispered in a deadly voice. "You know what happens when people disobey me."
Then, she did something he didn't expect. One pale hand reached up to grab the gun, but didn't knock it away. Instead, she pressed it deeper into her skin. "Do it," she whispered. "Please, do it. If I'm just another person to you, a problem you can shoot away, pull the trigger. I'm in pain and I don't know how to live like this so please, please, Puddin', just pull the trigger."
Joker staggered backwards, yanking the gun back out of her grip. He stood still for a minute before tossing it into the corner. Harley's eyes snapped open to finally lock with his own, and what he saw in them sent a shiver through his spine. A desperate gleam in her eyes that he had only seen in the last moments of his victims.
"You wouldn't do it either," she whispered, reminding him of that night on the highway, before her final transformation, when she was so desperate for him to love her that she put a gun to his head and, to her surprise, he laughed. He was scared of her heart but not of death. But he knew she wouldn't shoot. Even then, before she had seen his true depths, she had loved him with an unbearable fierceness. She would never have pulled the trigger.
He sighed, rubbing a hand across his forehead. "Harley, Harley, Harley, what am I going to do with you? I can't do anything if you won't tell me what the fuck is going on. I have to leave for a while and I can't leave you like this."
"Why you gotta leave, puddin'?"
"I found your head guard from Belle Reve. Griggs? Same guy I tortured into being my little mole at Belle Reve. Thought I'd pay him and his family a little visit with a few of my favorite toys." When J said the name, Harley visibly shrunk into the bed. Of course it didn't escape Joker's notice. "It's about him, isn't it? Harley, you tell me what he did right now, or I swear…"
Harley gulped. "He raped me," she whispered. "That's how I lost the baby. He beat me and then he raped me and I lost it."
Joker was silent for one beat as his brain processed her words. Harley looked up at him to gauge his reaction, just as he whirled around and his fist connected with the mirror, sending pieces of glass flying.
But, when he turned back to Harley, his mouth was spread in a wide grin. "Ohhhhhhhh…" He walked over to Harley and kissed her forehead. "This is going to be such fun."
"I want to come."
"No."
"Mistah J, I need to. If you're gonna hurt him as payback, I need to be there, 'cause as much as you wanna hurt him, I'm pretty sure I wanna hurt him worse," she claimed.
"Oh, I'm not gonna hurt him, Harley," Joker said as he smiled. "I'm gonna kill him. But first I'm gonna have a little fun." Harley looked up at him again, and he took her hands in his and pulled her to her feet, letting the towel she was wrapped in fall to the floor. "Okay, you can come along and play." She smiled sheepishly at him and wrapped her arms around his torso, nestling her head against his chest. "Get ready, pet. We're leaving in half an hour."
Griggs rubbed his hand across his forehead as his other hand fumbled to find his house key. It had been a long day, and the only thing that got him through was the thought of a cold beer and the Yankees game. Hoisting the bag of tacos further under his arm, he began to push the key into the lock, only to have the door swing open at his touch. His senses immediately went on high alert. He hadn't quickly forgotten the torture he underwent at the Joker's hands, and he had been near paranoia ever since. Any sudden sound made him jump.
This was his home, though. Joker wouldn't be able to find his home. All personal info about the employees of Belle Reve was hidden under layers of classification, to prevent retaliation from the friends or families of inmates. Noone at work even knew Griggs had a family. Emily probably forgot to fully shut the door again. It was a shame he had married such a dumb broad, but the sex was good and her body was hot, even after two kids.
Griggs shoved the door closed with his shoulder and strode into the kitchen, dropping the greasy bag and his keys onto the countertop. He felt the hair standing up on the back of his neck. Something wasn't right. Normally Kane and Evie were doing their homework at the table when he got home, but the table was empty. Come to think of it, the whole house sounded empty. But he had parked next to Emily's car in the driveway.
A faint scrape came up from the basement stairs behind him. Of course, the kids were probably helping their mother, who had been redecorating the basement. It was dark, dank, and unfinished, but Emily was convinced she could fix it up into some sort of family area.
"Emily! Kids! I brought dinner!" He yelled as he lumbered down the stairs. He could see a light under the door at the bottom of the stairs. "Hey! Did you hear me? I brought-"
His words choked off suddenly when he opened the door. Emily, Kane, and Evie were in the basement, like he thought. But they weren't alone.
"Daddy!" Evie yelled, and Emily looked up with frantic eyes. The three of them were each tied tightly to a chair, three men behind them with guns at their heads.
"Ha ha ha!" Joker stepped out of a shadowy corner, clapping his hands, a wide, maniacal grin on his face. "Captain Griggs is here! Now the party can start!"
"Joker...I - what - I don't underst-"
"Ah, Griggs, you should know better than to lie to me." Joker placed his hand over his mouth so that his grinning tattoo lined up over his own smiling mouth.
Out of nowhere, a bat came swinging towards Griggs' face, meeting its target with a sickening crunch. Blood began pouring from his nose. "Griggsy, you can't have already forgotten what ya did to me." Harley sashayed into his line of vision, and she smiled when she saw the fear widen his eyes.
"You fucking bitch!" Griggs spit at her feet, earning himself a bat in the gut. As he doubled over, Joker's goons shoved him into a chair facing his wife and kids, tying him tightly to it. When he was securely tied, Harley sat on his lap, wrapping a leg on either side of his hips.
"I'm hurt, Griggsy. I thought you'd remember."
Griggs turned to spit more blood from his mouth. "I remember."
Harley giggled. "Did ya tell your wife that you're a rapist?" His eyes darted to his wife in a silent plea, but he could already tell the Emily believed it. She was shaking her head, tears running down her face. "Did ya tell her how many times you chained me up and did whatever you wanted to me?" Harley shifted, taking a knife and holding it to his throat.
"Daddy!" Evie screamed. Harley smiled wider as Joker pulled up his gun and shot the girl, sending her blood and bits of brain matter spraying across the room.
"She had the most annoying scream," Joker said, sounding almost bored.
"NO!" Griggs screamed, struggling against his bonds. Giggling, Harley pressed the tip of her blade into his arm and slowly pressed it into his skin until a bead of blood bubbled up from the point. Griggs hissed, making Harley giggle again as she quickly drug her blade across his arm, slashing open several veins. Griggs screamed, sending a thrill through Harley's spine.
"Why are you doing this!?" Emily screamed, her eyes squeezed shut so that she wouldn't see her husband sliced open.
"Ohhhhhhh you sweet little naive woman," Joker said, bending so that he was looking directly into her eyes, which she opened at the feel of his gun against her head. "Your husband touched what wasn't his. He took away what was mine. It's only fair I take what's his, don't you think?" He turned the gun to the side and pulled the trigger, shooting Kane in the head. The blood of her son splattered across Emily's face as she screamed.
"YOU SON OF A BITCH! I'LL KILL YOU FOR THIS!" Griggs screamed, struggling further to free himself.
"No, you won't." Joker whipped around to face Griggs, feeling his anger bubbling up inside of him. "You touched my harlequin. You attempted to defile her. You tortured her. And in the process, you stole something that wasn't yours."
"I never stole any-"
"SHE WAS PREGNANT!" Joker screamed, jumping forward and slashing Griggs across the face with a knife of his own. The room was deathly quiet. Even Jonny stopped breathing for a moment. None of the goons, not even Jonny, had expected that kind of a revelation about their boss's lives.
Joker ran his hands through his hair, getting control of himself again. "Youuuuuuuu...you took what wasn't yours. Very simple concept. Definition of stealing. Or does your tiny brain not comprehend basic vocabulary?" Harley reached out a hand, twisting her fingers around his. J looked at her. She always looked the most beautiful to him like this, blood matting into her hair, her racing heart sending a slight flush of pink into her pale cheeks, the thrill of it all giving her an edge of insanity that was so delicious. He bent down, placing his hand at the back of her head and pulling her forward so that her lips met his forcefully. His tongue traced the edge of her bottom lip, tasting the sweetness of her skin.
Harley smiled as she felt Griggs' involuntary boner pressing against her leg at the show they were giving. She could feel him tensing up in disgust at his body's responses. She smiled as J pressed a last kiss to her lips before pulling away. "Mistah J, I believe he's enjoyin' the show." She wiggled her hips.
Joker's eyes became dark, even as a smile came over his face again. "Well, we'll have to help him out with that, won't we pet?" Harley giggled. She stood up while Joker grabbed something from one of the goons. Harley bent down and unzipped Griggs' pants, pulling them down to his knees so that his entire crotch was open. "Mmmmm...not much there, is there Harls?" Joker mused.
"I dunno, Mistah J, I think there's a bit too much there." Harley took her knife again and began tracing the base of his ballsack with the tip, with just enough pressure to cut the first layer of skin. Griggs jerked slightly, and the tip went deep enough for blood to begin flowing. His lips pressed together as he tried not to scream.
"I wonder, Griggs, how many people you've raped before you decided to touch my Harley." Joker came closer. "You won't be doing any more of that." In Joker's hand was a metal rod, and the top few inches were glowing orange from heat. In one swift movement, Joker jammed the rod sideways through Griggs' groin.
The scream that followed was like music.
Harley leapt up and giggled. "Aw, Puddin', ya made him lose his boner."
Joker looked at her with intensity. "He won't ever touch you again, Harley. You're safe." Harley was overcome with emotion and simply nodded, biting her bottom lip. She always felt a surge of love when J was so protective of her.
"You crazy fucking bitch," Griggs moaned.
Joker sighed. "You don't get it, Griggs. Crazy isn't an insult." Joker lifted his gun again and pulled the trigger without looking. Griggs' face was once again sprayed with blood, this time that of his wife. Griggs began struggling with renewed effort, screaming profanities. Joker lifted his gun one last time, but Harley reached out to stop him.
"Mistah J, I wanna do it. It'd help me, ya know…"
J smiled at her, flipping his gun in his hand. She took it and placed her finger over the trigger. Griggs stopped struggling as she placed the barrel to his head. "Griggs, it's been swell." She said with a wink.
She pulled the trigger.
His body slumped over, and all was finally quiet. Harley stood there for several moments just staring at the body. Then suddenly, she lifted the gun again. "You bastard!" She aimed at his gut and pulled the trigger, sending another spray of blood from his body. "You goddamn bastard!" Another shot to his kneecap. Harley screamed again in anguish, emptying the rest of the clip into his groin. When the gun clicked, signaling the empty clip, it dropped from her hand and she turned to face Joker. Her face was covered in blood spray, and her chest was heaving.
Joker stepped forward and lightly touched her cheek, watching the blood smear at his touch. Lightly, he let his lips graze hers before kissing her gently.
Harley grabbed the back of his neck and forced the kiss deeper, shoving her tongue into his mouth. Her back met the cold concrete wall, and J grabbed her hips, lifting her off of the ground. Her legs wrapped around his waist. Jonny and the other goons silently crept out as J took his hands and ripped open the front of Harley's bloodstained shirt so that he could trail kisses down her neck into her chest, leaving her breathless.
Her hands fumbled to unlatch his pants, and he sat her on her feet to yank down her shorts. "Please, please, please, Puddin', I need you inside me," she breathed. J shoved her against the wall again, lifting her back onto his hips, aligning his cock with her before quickly impaling her onto him. He groaned as her nails dug into his back. He licked her jawbone, tasting the blood there.
Harley ground her hips into his, pushing him deeper as he thrusted. Her back ached from the friction against the wall and she savored the pain like candy. "Please," she whispered, "please make me forget. Please…" Joker felt the flame of anger lick up his spine, knowing that Griggs' death wouldn't heal her. He pumped into her even harder, eliciting a sweet moan from the back of her throat.
He felt her walls tensing around him as he pistoned his cock deep inside of her. "Come for daddy, baby," he breathed, nipping the base of her neck.
"Puddin'..." she gasped, feeling herself slowly falling off of the edge.
"Come on." J snapped his hips again, and she finally fell. He groaned, feeling her pulsating around him. At that, he fell over his own edge, jamming deep into her and going still as he spilled into her depths. Her head fell onto his shoulder.
J slowly set her onto her feet. As soon as she regained her balance, he took off his shirt and handed it to her. "Here. You aren't going anywhere half clothed." She twisted her arms into the too-long sleeves and began buttoning it up. "Jonny! Come clean this up!" Jonny quickly came back down the stairs with the other goons.
"Yes sir."
J put an arm around Harley's shoulders, noticing that she purposefully avoided looking at Griggs' body. He knew a few bullets and sex wouldn't fix her, but a selfish part of him wished it could have. He wanted his Harley back, without the issues. "Come on, baby. Let's go home."
