If Only, in another life; maybe we could've been together
This is spin-off to: The Harley and the Ivy, The Harlequin and the Bat and The Scars Left Behind.
Important notes: I do not own Batman or any portion of the franchise. I give all credit to DC Comics and respective owners. Except the characters I wrote in my profile.
Warning: Violent scenes to come. These stunts are done by highly trained professionals and should not be imitated by anyone. Except those proficient in martial arts training and weapons, even then it shouldn't be imitated.
Chapter 7
(Bruce's POV)
With Jason gone Bruce was on his own patrolling Gotham, but he did feel like he was before: The Lone Soldier of Gotham, Vengeance, The Night, The Batman! But at the same time he was alone he missed having someone watching his back. Dick's witticisms, Jason's over the top brawling styles…he decided he needed someone else alongside Oracle watching his back. But seeing that Clayface was on the prowl stealing from Gotham's National Bank alongside Penguin he knew he'd have his hands full. "Oracle, Status…" Batman asked through his headset "Oracle, respond." Nothing, no-one was on the other side "You dick, Dick…" Batman whispered with a small grin as he knew how Oracle would only be distracted.
(Penguin's POV)
Penguin was laughing his sides off alongside Clayface "Mother always said "eat your greens" and with The Bat is out of commission thanks to that psycho clown and we're rolling in in it."
Clayface reciprocated transforming his hand into a beer mug "Yeah…a toast to mothers!"
"To mothers!" the goons raised up bundles of cash laughing
The lights were blown out and darkness covered them all "What the?! He's back?!"
"Lights out Penguin." Batman spoke threateningly
(Harley's POV)
"Where is he? He said he'd…" Harley wondered as she called her friend four minutes ago
"Hello pretty lady." A blue blur had materialised in front of her in an exaggerated accent, shaking its head he asked "Harley have you got a death wish?" Impact asked
"Patronise me later Bill; I'm going to help Bruce." Harley snapped back
Speechless Bill examined the outfit and smiled "Nice costume."
"Thanks…" Harley smiled as she jumped on his back with her acrobatics "now step on it!" pointing in a random direction
"Easy Harl; I don't have super strength." Impact groaned as his friend was having an involuntary piggyback ride before speeding into the direction where Bruce might be.
For about two minutes they sped around Gotham; looking for Batman, then they arrived at Gotham's Bank. Seeing that Batman was outnumbered Harley begged Bill to help "Impact, we have to help."
"No joke!" Impact answered as he crashed through the window causing the people inside to be distracted. "That. Was. AWESOME! I'm doing that again!" Impact enjoyed crashing through the window
(Bruce's POV)
'Bill?' Batman thought as he threw something into Clayface
"What the…Argh!" the sludge creature wondered as Batman froze him using a glue grenade.
"Grab him!" Penguin ordered the goons.
Unfortunately for him the goons were "distracted" by a red and black armour clad girl with some very unusual martial arts. The girl used her weapons to wind and distract them; she back flipped into people's chins and stomachs, knocking their heads in with the tonfa and roundhouse kicks into the goon's arms and legs. 'She's good…' he thought before beating into Clayface and Penguin.
A goon behind Batman aimed his head but the bullets fell short of their target "You know: it's not a good idea to use a gun with a speedster around. Ha, ha." Impact's voice sounded behind the goon, before knocking him unconscious.
With the goons, Clayface and Penguin being sent to Black-Gate and Arkham; Batman, Impact and the Red and Black "clown" girl were on top of the building next door. "I should say thank you…but what're you doing here, and who's this?" Batman asked
The clown girl went over giving a wink to Bill and turned to Batman, looping her arms around his neck and answered: "Someone who loves you." Kissing him full on his lips.
(Bill's POV)
"I'm…gone." Bill said as he sped off giving some room for Bruce and Harley in their intimate moment. Halfway down Gotham's high street Bill was contemplating his mind. 'I'm losing control again. If this keeps up…I may actually lose my mind. I've gotta call Flash…and Ivy, see if we can make a rendezvous' he smirked at the end.
(Harley's POV)
Bruce and Harley remained there for a whole five minutes that is until he removed the hood that covered her features. "Oh no…I guess you caught me Mr Detective." Harley smiled
"Looks like it…" Bruce carried on with his embrace with Harley; until they zip-wired into the night.
As they arrived at Wayne Manor they landed in Bruce's bedroom "I've got a good idea on how to make our night more productive." Harley grinned lustfully, slowly tracing down Bruce's armour with her hands.
"Lead the way, Ms Quinn." Bruce grinned back at her.
They "waltzed" to the bed clumsily as they began taking off pieces of their armour while maintaining their embrace. When they landed on the bed, Harley cupped Bruce's face "Ready…Puddin'?" she asked her boyfriend
"Puddin'?" Bruce asked with a grin.
"Gotta' give my beau a nickname." Harley smiled but then lost it "You don't like it?"
"I didn't say that." Bruce smiled kissing his girlfriend and then turned out the light.
(Narrator's POV)
*Time Skip*
Some months have passed, Batman and his new partner (in more than the hero's sense) "Harley Quinn" were protecting Gotham and dominating the mobs and every lowlife in the underworld…yet no sign of The Joker, only whispers and rumours. But that wasn't all that was going on: Harley's psychologists was closed, seeing as more and more people (mostly mob bosses and villains) were seeking her help as they were being haunted by nightmares of Bats and Clowns.
Ivy was having more luck than usual as her florists had, please excuse the bad pun, flourished growing an almost endless supply of: vegetables, fruits and flowers (the last being more protected as she acquired rare flowers collecting the seeds). She and Bill had been taking it slow in their relationship (which is weird considering that Bill's a speedster) but they were talking and still together. But…
(Bill's POV)
"The results came back; I'm sorry Bill. There's no fixing it." Flash explained with a sorrowful frown.
"Is there another way to fix it?" Bill begged "Some other way?" clutching his head
"I'm sorry." Flash apologised again.
Bill punched his hand into the wall repeatedly until he bled screaming in agony. "Tell me…tell me something else. Anything!" he asked as his hand healed up.
Flash answered "It seems that your Blue Energy Trail is created from some sort of "variation" of the Speed Force. It seems that while you generate it you can't use it; since you can't fully use it, it seems that someone in an alternate universe is using it and that is what's causing you to remain sane while you generate it."
With half the information going over his head Bill asked a la Marty McFly "English, Doc."
"Okay. I generate the Speed Force and can use it. Since I created the Speed Force other speedsters, such as you, can use it. The Speed Force flows through time and alternate dimensions; I've even met other Flash's who've been able to access the Speed Force that I've generated." Flash explained without getting too technical.
"So…I'm like you but I'm defective?" Bill processed what he could, after watching Back to the Future he'd grasped a small understanding over crazy technical mumbo-jumbo things had been going around in his life.
"In short: yes." Flash answered which caused Bill to sigh. "I'll give you some space."
"I don't want space, I want to be fixed." Bill answered solemnly but then his feet began generating the blue energy that trailed behind him. "What the hell?!"
"Bill you've got to get this under control!" Flash shouted as the blue energy sparked off from Bill's body.
"ARGH! Must…must…rust…bust…crash…run…run…RUN! Ah-ha-ha!" Bill struggled to control the pent up energy within his body and began to vibrate giving himself a sort of ghosting effect (Yes The Flash can also do this, don't think this is some sort of adult joke…okay some of you may think that but this is an actual thing. It's on Justice League Unlimited.)
Bill was almost ghostlike and as he was about to run Flash had him hooked up to The Cosmic Treadmill (again this is an actual thing) "Hold on Bill!" the speed from the treadmill was matching that of Bill's.
The speed was that of Flash's but more violent, Bill was losing control and he began to speed into a blue light "Run, Bill RUN!" he laughed maniacally, but as he ran he saw something he didn't expect: a window, a window leading to somewhere else, the intensity of looking through the window made him snap back to reality, as not only did it remove his insanity but left his face frozen in place and his heart broken, everything he saw…caused him to scream in pain; psychological pain, not before being sucked into the portal "No…Argh!" the sheer intensity of the force stopped Flash from interacting, the portal was made from a combination of Speed and Impact Force.
"Bill!" Flash shouted as he saw the portal shrink taking Bill with it.
(Narrator's POV)
The Portal that Bill went through, cause his: mind, body and soul to be ripped asunder and re-forged again, all the while he saw the Speed and Impact Force together unified as one in the middle. Bill's consciousness observed something that only gods of science fiction writers could see: Time itself flying forward. He saw how Bruce and Harley were together: fighting crime and enjoying their life together; Ivy with her ever-growing garden living her life without Bill there…she had moved on from him. Bill saw everything that the Forces showed him. But it wasn't the end; he saw Harley and Bruce married, their special day but it wasn't the way it was being shown but what was going on. He tried reaching his hand out to grasp at it, but instead he heard what had happened:
"Ladies and Gentlemen, we give you Mr and Mrs Batman…" the voice echoed through Bill's mind. Bruce and Harley's identities were exposed in the future; but how?
Bill reached to an earlier one, observing what was being said "Bruce Wayne and Harleen Quinzel are: Batman and Harley Quinn! The Billionaire Playboy and Psychiatrist have revealed their alter-egos due to the Meta-Human act…" as the voices echoed through Bill's mind he observed a larger portal, one where he could actually go through.
As he reached out his body, mind and soul had solidified once again and he beheld something he thought he'd never see, well he'd expected it, just not like this: Harley was screaming in pain, she was dressed in medicinal robes and lying on a bed, Bruce was sitting next to her holding her hand as she gripped it tightly. She was giving birth, however it wasn't a "natural birth" Harley was having a caesarean. Some hours passed in the window, but to Bill it was only seconds; Harley had a beautiful baby son, born on May the First, a Monday. Bill didn't turn away as he couldn't; the portal forced him to continue looking. He saw Harley with Bruce yet again only now, he saw Harley giving birth to a baby girl on the Day of Flowers; Bill couldn't be released from the portal's grip as he was being pulled more into it and he landed when Bruce and Harley's children were only eight and six. The daughter was with Barbara and Dick as he saw as time had sped up to a point then slowed down as Bill landed at Wayne Manor's outskirts.
(Bill's POV)
Bill couldn't believe it; he was over a decade in the future! He didn't age but his mind was driven with insanity but enough sanity to stay sane on the outside. He saw smoke rising from the middle of the island "No…" Bill whispered as he ran towards the source, he didn't care about his blue streak he left behind and how it was distorting his perception of reality; but this…this was real! "Joker…" Bill whispered
The clown man was laughing like Bill but with more insanity and psychotic driven tendencies. "These are the fireworks Batman! No more Bat; No more Bat-family…and no more…oh hello, Impact was it? It must've been ten years give or take; how've you been?"
Bill couldn't believe what was happening, Joker had won. "How did you survive?" it was the only thing Bill could say after the monstrous thing this crazed clown destroyed his friend and their way of life.
"Please; I'm: The Joker! I've been blown up, submerged in chemicals, shot etc. I always survive!" Joker explained before laughing maniacally. A voice was crying out "Looks like I missed one; no matter…he'll be gone soon."
"No!" Bill roared as he shot into the burning building, searching for the voice. He found it: a young boy, black of hair like his father, bloodshot blue eyes from crying and the smoke, but what was more tragic was his face, his left side was: burned, blistered. Not as bad as a third degree burn but it was noticeable. Bill raced to the hospital leaving Joker laughing and free to escape. As Bill got the boy was set down in emergency care Bill was pulled back into the Impact Force against his will, seeing what was transpiring through time and space.
"Send me back! God damn you send me back!" Bill shouted into the void hoping that a voiceless power would answer; his logic was shot hoping to believe that something like The Impact or Speed Force could answer. He was still in the mixed Force observing some more years and saw that the second child, the daughter, took up watch over her home, but her brother wasn't there. Bill was heartbroken seeing the siblings not being together but was sent to a different place, one that wasn't Gotham.
(No-one's POV)
He saw two black haired boys in armour like silk clothes. The older one began to talk "What were they like?"
The second one, he had a burn scar over the left hand side of his face turned and asked "Mum and Dad?" the first nodded "He…he was…a Dad. He told us off when we were bad, praised us when we were good, encouraged us to be better, stronger and more determined than him. And our mother, she was…happy all the time." He smiled at the mention of his parents "Sweet, endlessly patient, a great seamstress and cook…" he laughed then choked up putting his hand over his eyes so he couldn't be seen crying.
The first one drew a sword and stood to attention "I'm sorry."
The second wiped his tears away "Did Ra's order you to kill me?"
The first nodded as he threw the second a sword. "I want to give you an honest death."
"I won't kill you. I'm my father's son." The second spoke
"And I am my grandfather's grandson." The first spoke lunging forward to kill him.
The two fought another; both edging closer to kill the other, the first had the training of a thousand assassins. The second had training from only a handful and his parents. The two hit each other with their swords but the second had a natural acrobatic kick trick hidden away, causing the first to lose his stance and fall to the floor with his sword flung away. The second pointed the sword at his neck; the second had beaten the first then threw the sword away "I won't kill you. We're family."
The first chuckles before speaking "You really are…our father's true son." He fell unconscious.
The sight of that timeline vanished and Bill couldn't believe what had transpired.
(Bill's POV)
"Was that…No!" Bill spoke to himself as he landed some months after what had happened. He was back in Gotham; he saw the ruins of Wayne Manor and the figure standing there placing a bouquet of roses by the gates. Bill approached the figure carefully.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't stop him. But I swear to avenge you. The Joker will pay." The figure answered "And until I see him again, I won't speak. The only words from my lips will be my name and the reason why I've killed him."
"Hey." Bill called out, then ducked from the batarang the figure threw. "Wait listen! I saved you years ago!" Bill explained. And true to his word the figure didn't speak but noticed that Bill was the real person who had saved him previously in his life. "You remember. Listen I can help get you your revenge; we just need to get someone's permission first."
*Time Skip*
Bill and the figure had arrived in Central City where Flash had been awaiting them. "Welcome back to the physical plane numb-nuts. Enjoyed ruining lives?" he groaned
"It's not my fault that I'm genetically crapped out on Speed and Impact Force Barry." Bill explained
Sighing Barry began to talk "Look I know what you're trying to do: try and kill The Joker. But the way you're going to do it is: reckless, moronic and suicidal levels of dangerous. Not to mention the serious repercussions on the time-stream." Flash lectured "Once you go back *imitates explosion* Time Boom."
"Time Boom? Is that something like a paradox or something?" Bill asked "But he's made up his mind."
Thinking for a minute, Barry explained what a Time Boom was; Bill wasn't far off the mark, a Time Boom is a shockwave that is created when speedsters go through the time barrier and cause ripples in the time-stream altering the past. But they were determined to let the figure go into the past, "Take this advice from someone who's lived through this: just…be careful." The figure nodded and Bill began to run causing both his Impact and Speed Force to fuse together to create a time portal.
The figure leapt through, soaring through time and landing to what could only be described as: Gotham on Halloween night. Bill continued to run despite what Flash had told him, Bill's thoughts were only of his friends: Harley, Ivy, Bruce…and everything he's done after becoming this anti-hero…it was too much. He continued to slow down and then stop, he panted in hurt and pain.
"I'm sorry Bill. Nothing is ever easy." Flash comforted him
"I'm going to kill him." Bill whispered. Barry asked what he meant and Bill repeated "I'm going to kill Joker."
"Bill, you can't go down that path. Bruce wouldn't…" Barry began
"I saw Bruce die Barry! Die by the hands of that psychotic clown who's haunted him for years! I'm sorry…" Bill shouted then calmed down.
"Sorry for what?" Barry asked
"This!" Bill shouted as he clasped his hands on Barry's head and began draining the Speed Force from him. Not enough to kill him, but just enough to slow him down. "Sorry Barry, but it showed me how to slow you down." Bill cryptically explained what he meant. "I'm not doing this for me. I'm doing this for them."
"Then…then go…but you'll never be the same…" Barry groaned in pain
Bill raced off to find Joker…and he did; still doing his happy jig laughing like a maniac "Hello Billy-Bob! Enjoy the show?"
Bill sped and threw a punch into Joker's stomach, the blue lightning from his fist connected with Joker causing him to fly through the wall cackling like he always did. "I'll kill you Joker!"
Groaning in pain Joker pulled his long barrelled gun and shot, each missing their target since Bill stole the speed from the bullets and returning the speed as a punch to his: arms, feet and stomach "Aw…Billy-Bob misses his little friends? One question…" Joker laughed at Bill.
"What?" Bill asked with pure anger in his voice and his fists emitting with blue lightning.
"Why is your name Billy-Bob?" Joker laughed before being thrown through a wall and a door.
"My name" Bill answered slowly as he entered through the hole "Is: William" Bill answered again breaking Joker's arm with an Impact Force fuelled punch "Robert." Throwing the clown into a wall causing him to cough up blood; "Kaine" Bill finished giving his full name standing over The Joker's still laughing body.
Laughing, laughing as he was broken Joker looked at him "Well then…you better finish me off: William Robert Kaine…FINISH IT!"
Without a second thought, Bill snapped Joker's neck. It was quick, it was painful…it was loud.
CRACK!
Bill's hands were now stained…dyed with poisoned blood; he began to laugh…the madness that had ebbed from him ages ago had returned tenfold. This was the point of no return Bill had feared, but plunged in head first for Bruce and Harley's vengeance.
But now was when he began to run, he ran circles around the demolished Wayne Manor and caused something, he entered a vortex of Impact Energy and he laughed. Within the vortex he saw two armour covered men fighting, one with bandages surrounding his face another who looked like The Joker with green veins protruding from his face. The Joker faced man had broken the bandaged face man, his hands emitting the same energy as he does. The two figures collided, causing them to be erased…or did it?
There was Bill slumped over a table with different schematics, designs and numbers regarding a new armour. "What…happened?" Bill asked as he groaned back to a sitting position, with an overcrowded head of different memories and outcomes. He had only that question in his head: "What happened?"
The End
I hope you've enjoyed reading this chapter as I have writing it.
Please leave reviews for these stories they really help.
And thank you to all the people who have reviewed and followed my story thus far.
Thank you
Author's note: I apologise for the long wait. I've been working with a fellow Fanfiction writer: GreyKing46 with his fanfictions and designing artwork. Please show some appreciation for his work by reading and reviewing them and seeing and commenting my artwork on Hangman12 on Deviant Art. Thank You all again, the Final Chapter for my Batman Saga will appear much later than I've anticipated because I may need to get back into the swing of it, but I'll be helping write fanfictions with GreyKing46. Goodbye my readers for now.