AN: Not really a note, but an apology. I've been really busy at work lately (we are horribly understaffed) and haven't had much time to work on the story. I will try to upload chapters as regularly as I can, I just ask that you bear with me. Thanks!

Chapter 3

A few weeks after the incident between Harley and Viv, things seemed to calm down between the two. They definitely didn't like each other, but they each had more or less accepted that the other was going to stay around, whether they liked it or not.

Jonny had just got back from a deal with the local branch of the Russian mafia when he was approached by the Joker himself.

He brought Jonny aside and told him that he had an idea to help the two women get along better, maybe even become friends. Jonny doubted that was the case, but agreed to whatever the Joker wanted. No questions asked; as per Joker's one stipulation.

Now, Jonny found himself driving along with Viv, the Joker, and Harley.

Joker's "brilliant" idea was, apparently, a double date.

So, for their "outing" they drove all around Gotham causing all sorts of mayhem.

Joker and Harley were having the time of their life.

He found himself having a bit of fun, as well.

Viv wanted to be anywhere but there. He could tell just by the way she was staying so calm. No matter what was done, what was said, or anything else, Viv was practically serene.

Their next stop on their outing was to hit up a convenience store. As they got out of the car, Jonny noticed Joker looking everywhere around them for…something. Or someone.

So that was the real reason for this outing.

He didn't care whether or not Harley and Viv got along. He didn't even care that any of them were there.

He was just bored and decided that he wanted to piss off the Batman.

As they entered the convenience store, Jonny went on high alert.

No wonder Viv had been so calm. She had known all along what Joker's intention was and had been on guard for their entire "date", so far.

The minute they walked in, Joker and Harley massacred everyone in the store. Indiscriminately. While they began to pilfer anything that caught their fancy, Jonny and Viv kept watch. Jonny decided to break the silence.

"All this, for the Bat…" Viv smirked.

"When did you finally figure it out?"

"I knew the entire time." Viv snorted, giving him a disbelieving look.

"Jonny Frost, you are a liar." They both grinned at each other then, and Jonny realized that it had been quite some time since he had seen Viv smile.

He was about to say something, before he was interrupted by the Joker and Harley running out the door and into the car shouting "C'mon, you lovebirds! Let's go!"

With the moment ruined, both Jonny and Viv returned to their business disposition. They ran, hopped into the car, and Jonny took off driving as fast as he could.

It didn't take too much longer after that for the Joker to finally get what he wanted. In the rearview mirror, Jonny saw that unmistakable black car/tank quickly approaching them.

"Shit!"

Joker began to laugh wildly, Harley joining him. Viv simply stayed calm. Joker rolled down his window, leaned almost entirely out of said window, and began to fire at the Bat's car…and anything else that may have been behind them.

He had caused a few other accidents, but did nothing to the Bat. Joker, slightly disappointed, came fully back into the car and began to grumble while searching for a bigger and more destructive gun in his arsenal, which he carried in a large blue duffle bag.

Jonny tried desperately to lose the Batman. He had just began to manage to get away when there was a loud BANG! And the car suddenly jolted and began to flip. For what felt like hours, the car flipped again and again. Eventually, the car finally came to a stop, upside down. And the only thing he knew was that everything hurt. Jonny somehow escaped from his seatbelt and slowly crawled out from the wreckage. He closed his eyes, momentarily, before his eyes snapped open at the sound of fast approaching footsteps.

Batman.

Fuck.

Jonny began to try his hardest to crawl away, made all the more difficult by the pain he was in. He paused when he heard movement coming from the wreckage. He turned his body as best as he could so that he could see who else made it.

Both the Joker and Viv were making their way out of the car. The minute Joker was on his feet, he lunged for the Batman.

While this was going on, Viv got up and walked over to where Harley was. She opened the door and pulled the woman from the vehicle and gently laid her down onto the pavement, making sure to keep her head elevated.

So, Harley was alive, then.

After making sure that Harley wouldn't fall over, Viv then directed her attention to Jonny. Wordlessly, she walked over to him and began to assess his injuries.

"You're fine. Just a little banged up." Then, she spoke lowly so that only he could hear, "I'm going to help the boss fight off Batman. The minute I join in, you need to go find a car, any car, and come back here. Get us out of here. As quickly as possible. Do you understand?" Jonny nodded and began to stand up. It hurt like hell, but just as Viv said, he was fine.

The second she saw that he would be okay, she finally turned her full attention to the two men fighting in the street. Jonny watched as she slowly knelt down and picked up a larger piece of broken glass. She gave him one last look and a nod before she ran full force for the Batman.

Jonny didn't hesitate. He went back to the wreckage that was formerly his car and searched for the bag of weapons that Joker brought along. Grabbing it, he pulled it out from within the car and grabbed the first thing he could: a sawed off shotgun. He checked to make sure it was loaded before taking off as fast as he could in the direction they had come from.

After running for a while, he finally got lucky and saw a guy pulling into a parking spot on the side of the road. Before the guy could notice him, Jonny picked up the pace and, once reaching where he needed to be, ducked and hid in the guy's blind spot. The minute the man opened the car door, Jonny jumped up and pointed the gun at the other man's face.

"Give me your keys. Now." The man did so, feebly blubbering "please don't kill me". Jonny made the man take several paces back away from the car before hopping in, putting the key into the ignition, and taking off back to where Viv, Joker and Harley were.

When he got there, Jonny could honestly say he was shocked. The Joker and Viv were giving the Bat a run for his money. The Joker was wild, chaotic, and unpredictable, flailing about like a man possessed. Viv was using this to her advantage by attacking wherever Batman had the least guarded while he was dealing with Joker, either stabbing and cutting him with the glass shard or hitting as hard as she could which was, judging by the Bat's reaction, pretty damn hard.

Jonny pulled over by where the wrecked car was. Almost immediately, Viv ran over to Harley, hauling her over her shoulder. Then she made a beeline towards where he was waiting, opening up the back door and placing Harley inside, climbing in next to her. She rolled down the window, then, and called out to the Joker.

"Boss! Hurry up!" Not needing to be told a second time, the Joker kicked the Batman in his knee to keep him still for a bit and then flat out sprinted towards the car, jumped over the hood, and clambered into the passenger side seat, slamming the door shut behind him.

Jonny floored it.

For a while, Jonny just drove. He wanted to be absolutely sure that the Bat wasn't following. He'd hate to be killed for leading the Batman right to one of Joker's establishments.

This continued for about 30 to 45 minutes when Harley finally came to. After some brief questions about what happened, and after they were answered, Harley began to complain about how she was unconscious for what was supposedly the "highlight" of date night.

Joker, then, immediately decided that there was more fun to be had.

Jonny inwardly cringed, hoping with every fiber of his being that they wouldn't have to go up against the Batman so soon after they'd only just got away.

This was not the case, however, as Joker ordered Jonny to drive to the Grin and Bare It; the Joker was in the mood to party, apparently.

So, on Jonny drove.

When they arrived, the place was already in full swing; somehow managing to go even crazier at their arrival.

After the day that Jonny had, he decided to throw caution to the wind and decided to just let loose.

Several hours later, Jonny couldn't remember anything that he had put into his body. He almost couldn't remember his own name. Everyone here had everything and he had more than likely dabbled in all of it. Which was why he was currently looking for Viv. He had become quite fond of the little "candies" she carried around, and often gave to him for a job especially well done.

He found her over at the bar, sipping on some sort of brown liquor. When she noticed his approach, she grinned at him, amusement making her eyes twinkle a little.

"You seem to be having fun."

"I'd like ta have a li'l more fun, if you know what I mean…" Her right eyebrow shot up at this. "Oh…ssshit, that sounded bad, didn' it?" He was slurring horribly. "Nah, I ain't talkin' 'bout that. Those, uh, "candies" you got…I want one." She shook her head chuckling, but nonetheless brought out that little plastic bag and place a small purple pill in the center of his palm. Jonny popped it into his mouth and took a seat next to Viv.

He kind of spaced off for an unknown (to him, anyway) amount of time. Viv just sat there drinking her drinks. He was finally brought out of his stupor by Harley climbing up to one of the poles, dedicating a dance to her "beloved Mistah J". Whether it was the booze, the drugs, or his own deep, innermost thoughts or whether it was a combination of the three, Jonny, looking up at Harley at that moment, suddenly had the thought that she was beautiful. He must have said it out loud because he heard Viv's snort of derision. He turned to her to try and defend his position.

"I know ya don't like her and all, but she's ssstill pretty good lookin'. Even you have ta admit ta that." She hummed a bit in thought, until finally conceding.

"She's pretty in places, I'll give her that." Jonny was so surprised at her response he had actually dropped his drink. Or maybe he was just that inebriated? Eventually, he meandered away from the bar, from Viv, in search of things that might entertain him for a bit.

The rest of the night continued on in a haze for Jonny. Nothing felt real. Everything felt good. Harley looked like a kind of fallen angel on that pole. The Joker, like some kind of demonic clown. And eventually, even they seemed to blur into the emphasized colors and sounds that his trip provided.

What did stand out to him, no matter how high he was, had been Viv.

With what she was wearing and her pale skin and hair, it was like she was just a washed out corner in the room to him. A colorless figure in a room filled with vibrant colors. He wondered if that was supposed to mean anything. He had even briefly contemplated on asking her if she might know, but decided against it. She would just dismiss it, and him.

So, he found himself in a corner of the room, sitting on some couch next to a couple who were more than likely going to go at it right then and there, watching her. As all the bright and colorful figures passed by. No matter who passed by or who she talked to, she never gained color.

Eventually, Jonny just chalked it up to him having taken a variety of substances and decided he should probably go to bed.

And promptly passed out on the couch he was sitting in.