"I'll ask you again, Jonathan – do you really think taking Harley out on a date this soon after her break-up is a wise idea?" asked Jervis Tetch slowly.

"It's not a date!" snapped Jonathan Crane, adjusting his tie in the mirror. "We're just friends. Do people call it a date when you and I go out to dinner, Jervis?"

"Some people do," replied Tetch, nodding. "It would certainly give that impression if we were both dressed up and eating somewhere nice…"

"I'd hardly call the Iceberg Lounge nice," retorted Crane. "I know Oswald's dream is to cater to the height of respectability, but it's certainly not a hotspot for the social elite."

He turned away from the mirror, sighing. "I'm simply trying to give the girl a pleasant evening. Get her mind off the brute – let her feel special and important and beautiful again. Distract her from her woes."

"And that's your only motivation, is it?" asked Tetch.

"Yes, of course," retorted Crane. "Are you implying something else?"

Tetch sighed. "Jonathan, I've been there," he murmured. "I know exactly what you're going through, believe me. Before they were married, Alice and Billy had this big fight, and I thought the least I could do was take the girl out for a nice meal. And it was…so very nice. But it just made the pain when she reconciled with her boyfriend even worse. Because now I knew what I was missing. I knew what kind of life I would never have with her. And you can't seriously hope after all this time, after all their petty little fights and break-ups, that this time Harley and the clown are through for good…"

"Why not?" demanded Crane. "If he's happy with Catwoman now, I don't see any reason why he'd ever want Harley back. Even if she dumped him, which any woman in her right mind is sure to do, he wouldn't demean himself by begging Harley to come back. And I hope the girl would have more pride than that if he did."

"Does she, though?" asked Tetch, gently. "Believe me, Jonathan, I know how happy it is to lose yourself in a Wonderland where you and the girl you love are together forever. But the pain when you return from that Wonderland makes the whole thing almost a greater agony than just resigning yourself to reality…"

"Listen to me, Jervis," snapped Crane. "I am not you, do you understand that?! I'm not resigned to the fate of being alone forever, as you seem to be!"

"I'm not resigned to that," said Tetch, gently. "But I am resigned to the fact that the woman I love will never be mine. I will always love her, but I will never have her. In a way, that is the truest love possible. That certainly doesn't mean I'll be alone for the rest of my life – I hope I can always rely on your friendship…"

"Jervis, I won't deny that eventually I would like Harley and me to be a little more than friends," said Crane. "But I have no intention of rushing that until she's ready…"

"But can you really claim to be her friend, then?" asked Tetch, gently. "When every act of kindness is prompted, however slightly, by a more selfish motivation?"

"I'm not entering into a philosophical discussion about the nature of love right now," retorted Crane, glancing at his watch. "Harley and I have reservations for seven. I don't know what's keeping her…" he said, glancing at her bedroom door.

It opened at that moment. "Sorry to hold you up, Johnny, I was just feeding Lenore," said Harley, as the bird perched on her arm, devouring seeds from her hand. She smiled up at him, noticed his face, and frowned. "What's wrong? Can't she have seeds?"

Crane was staring at Harley in utter astonishment. She was wearing a close-fitting, shoulder-less red dress that fanned out at the bottom, with long black gloves. Her long blonde hair was loose and trailed down her shoulders. It was simply a stunning sight, but Crane found his voice at last. "Oh…yes, of course she can," he said, coming over to pet Lenore. "Harley, you look…absolutely beautiful."

She smiled. "Thanks," she murmured, looking down at her hands. "Though I don't feel very pretty since Mr. J…y'know."

Crane took her hand. "I don't want you to think about the clown anymore tonight, all right?" he asked.

Harley nodded. "I'll try not to," she murmured, tears in her eyes. "But I dunno if it'll work."

Crane took Lenore from her, and handed her to Tetch. "Put her back in her cage, please, Jervis, we're running late," he said, taking Harley's arm. "Have a good evening."

"You too," said Tetch, nodding. "Remember what we discussed."

"I will. See you soon, my pretty," said Crane, petting Lenore.

"Bye, Jervis! Bye, Lenore!" said Harley, waving at her as they left. "She's a really pretty bird," she said, as they climbed into Crane's car. "And I love that her perch is a bust of Pallas. Such a good in-joke."

Crane stared at her. "You...know Edgar Allan Poe?" he asked.

She nodded. "When I was about thirteen, I memorized The Raven for school," she replied. "They told us to memorize a favorite poem, so I chose that one. I can probably still recite it."

"Oh…yes…I was twelve when I memorized it, and still know every line," said Crane, starting the car. "But I had no idea you were a fan."

"I used to read a lot when I was younger," said Harley, nodding. "Still do, only I don't have as much time for it…I mean, I didn't have as much time for it when I was…with Mr. J. We were always doing stuff together – routines, schemes, capers, or sometimes just…just lying in each other's arms!"

She burst into tears. "Now Harley, I thought we weren't going to talk about him," murmured Crane, handing her a handkerchief.

"Sorry," whispered Harley, wiping her eyes carefully so that she didn't smudge her makeup. "It's just everything connects back to him in my mind. He is…was…such a huge part of my life…every part of every thought just leads me to him again…"

She trailed off, tears in her eyes as she gazed out the window. "Even…even the Iceberg Lounge, where we're going," she murmured. "That was our special restaurant, where we'd go after we committed a crime. We'd drink too much wine, be rude to the Penguin, Mr. J would abuse a few waiters, and then we'd head home to make love…"

Crane coughed loudly so that she wouldn't continue. "Well, all right," he said, turning the car around. "I'm sure if there's too many painful memories associated with the Iceberg Lounge, we can go elsewhere."

"On a Saturday night?" asked Harley. "Everywhere else is probably full."

"Well, I do have a connection at the revolving restaurant in Dini Towers," said Crane, casually. "The maitre d is a former student of mine who knows better than to disappoint me. He'll find us a table."

Harley gaped at him. "Dini Towers? But that place is booked out months in advance, unless you're rich!"

"Or connected," agreed Crane, smiling slightly. "Trust me, Harley, it won't be a problem."

"But that's…so fancy!" stammered Harley. "Mr. J would never take me anyplace like…" She trailed off, and began sobbing again. Crane sighed. Although he was thrilled to be going to dinner with Harley, it was shaping up to be a long night.