CHAPTER SEVEN

There was nothing you could've done. She was hanging there, you couldn't have gotten out if you'd of helped her. It was her or you, you made the right choice. Joker's brain was telling him he'd done the correct thing and he believed it.

He was the Clown Prince of Gotham! If the police had of caught him, they'd just send him straight back to Arkham Asylum and then what? Harley no longer worked there anymore, since she was now considered the same as her patients, if not worse.

Joker sat back behind his desk. So she would serve some time in the slammer, it might toughen her up a bit. She might've gotten out, though. Did you even consider that? The little blonde might've saved her own ass, his brain argued.

Oh he so hoped that was true! He imagined her skipping through the doors of his club, all happy to see him and covered in blood from the police officers she'd killed to get out of the store. He would go to her, kiss her like she'd never been kissed before and then they'd probably have sex in his office. He smiled at that image and then the door opened and there she was!

Joker stared at her. It was true! She'd gotten out! The girl had skills!

"Harley! You're ok!" He exclaimed, coming over to her, ready to give her that kiss he'd mentally promised her.

Instead, she slapped him hard across the face.

"You bastard! You left me!" She screamed.

Joker massaged his face as he stared at her.

"Honey, I had no choice. I am a very wanted man in Gotham, you know that."

"You shouldn't have left me!"

Joker straightened, frowning at her a little.

"So you wanted me to stay and help you." But it wasn't a question, he was stating it. Still, she nodded, that glare still in place.

"Yes. I am your girlfriend and you should've been there for me."

Joker tapped a finger on his lips before looking at her.

"So, here's what would've happened if I'd stayed; the police would've come and they would've taken me away.

I would have gone back to Arkham Asylum and you... you would never see me again, is that what you want?" He questioned, looking into her eyes.

She faltered and then slowly shook her head.

"Would you want those nasty men who claim to protect the city, to take me in their car, possibly beat the shit out of me and lock me away? Away from you, Harley. Is that what you want?"

Again, she shook her head and hung her head as he took her by her arms, holding her there.

"You have to remember something Harley...if there is ever a situation like that again, I will have to leave you, every time, because if I stay and get caught, that means we get separated and I know you don't want that, do you, baby?"

"No..." She said softly.

He smiled and patted the side of her face.

"Ok, good. Now that that's cleared up, there's something else you need to learn."

She looked up at him and the back of his hand came across her face, knocking her onto the floor. She tasted blood as she held the side of her face and looked up at him with tears in her eyes.

Joker massaged the back of his hand.

"Now you see? If you hurt me, that makes me mad and I have to hurt you. I don't want to hurt you, Harley. You understand?"

She sniffed and nodded her head.

"Good. Now stand up and give me a hug."

She stood on shaky legs and came to him. He held her against him and stroked her hair.

"I love you Harley, and the last thing I want to do is hurt you. So don't make me, ok?"

She nodded with tears coming down her face as she held onto him.

Harley's hands gripped onto Joker's jacket as he held her. She so desperately wanted to forget that he hurt her; that he'd hit her. She believed in their love and that was all that mattered to her. Couples fought, didn't they? But like this? A voice taunted. She squeezed her eyes shut tighter and her fingers gripped harder.

He loves me. He loves me. He loves me. She chanted this in her head over and over untill her tears dried and she was ready to let go.

Joker gave her a bright smile.

"You feel better now?"

She nodded, forcing a smile she didn't feel onto her face.

"Ok, now I have business to attend to but you can stay up here and do whatever your little heart desires, ok?"

She nodded and looked around. What was there to do in an office anyway? It doesn't matter, you're where he is, her brain reasoned. Harley shrugged, deciding the answer was good enough and sat down on the couch that over looked the club and it's patrons, when they were here that is. She'd be less bored when the club started filling up later tonight.

Hey! She might even see Red again and they could have a nice little girly chat while Joker attended to other matters.

But for now she had...well no one. She tapped her fingers on the arm of the couch and sat back, looking down at the club. A TV hung on the wall in the far left corner and she smiled as she grabbed the remote and turned it on. Upon flicking to the news, she saw something that made her very happy...at first.

"It was reported last night that a well know Jewellery store in Gotham had been broken into. Police say that the robbers were after the sapphire rock, Gotham's biggest and most expensive sapphire. All eyes are turning on Joker and his crew but we have this footage which shows us that he may have a sidekick."

The video was a little sketchy but it showed Harley hanging above the sapphire, trying to get free after the alarm went off.

Harley glared at the reporter.

"Sidekick? I am his girlfriend!" She roared at the TV.

The reporter carried on.

"Is Joker finally needing help to pull off his crazy stunts? And where was Batman when this was all happening? I'm Tanya Keller, we'll bring you more news as it happens."

Harley turned the TV off in a huff. Sidekick. Since when was she anyone's sidekick? Harley started pacing back and forth. She was too soft to be Joker's girlfriend, was that it? Ok, she could change all that.

A cruel grin came over her face as she turned around and left the club. She had work to do.

Hands on her hips, Harley looked at the Bat signal. If this didn't get Batman up here then nothing would. The sky was getting darker by the time Harley had worked out her plan, so the signal should show up nice and clear for Bat boy to see it from whatever cave he hid in during the day.

She went over to the signal and flicked a few switches before finding the right one and then stood back as a giant bat symbol lit up the sky.

It didn't take long and soon Harley was watching as Batman walked towards her on the roof.

Harley hid her baseball bat behind her back as she looked innocently at the Dark Knight.

"You turned on the Bat signal?" He asked with confusion.

She shrugged. "Figured it was the only way to get you up here, Bat boy."

He sighed and his eyes hardened.

"What do you want, Harley?"

"I had plans of killing you tonight and I will try." She revealed without so much as blinking.

"Why? Because you know it's what Joker wants?"

"No. Because it's all over TV." She began as she walked back and forth in front of him.

He frowned, confused.

"What is?"

"That I'm Joker's sidekick!" She exclaimed as her grip tightened on the bat. She brought it forward, swinging for Batman's head. He ducked it as she continued her rambling.

"I'm his girlfriend! I mean you would think that he would correct them! Tell them who I am to him! I mean, he wouldn't have even gotten out of Arkham if it wasn't for me!" She swung the bat again and this time, he caught it. She wrenched it from his grasp and went over to the roof's edge.

"He killed one of his own men for me, y'know." She said as she walked as close to the edge as she could.

"I don't doubt that." Batman said, watching her and waiting for when he would have to catch her before she fell. Although she had shown some acrobatic talent last time on the fire escape but this building didn't have one of those.

"He's everything to me, y'know? There is not one thing I wouldn't do for him. I mean, I'm up here, about to kill you and it's all for him! I don't even care about you! No offense." She added as an after thought.

Batman tried getting closer to her but very slowly. He was aware of how quickly she could change and he didn't want her to go psycho killer on him if it meant she would be risking her own life just to prove a point.

"None taken. Look, Harley, why don't you come away from there and we can talk about this. I'll tell you everything about Joker and then you'll know he can't be trusted." He tried to reason with her.

She stopped balancing and turned to face him, a scowl on her pale face.

"Oh I trust him Bat boy; more than anyone. I thought you would've got that by now."

He wasn't getting anywhere fast with this and so changed the subject.

"I hear you've made a new friend. Posion Ivy."

She blinked. "Wow, word gets around fast."

"It does when it's my job to keep an ear to the ground on all the villains in the city. My city."

"It's not yours' anymore hun, it's Joker's. They respect and fear him. You're just some guy in a bat costume, which by the way I've gotta say, is a really poor choice of animal, bat's are blind! "

"I'm not." He stated simply.

She winked at him. "Good point but seriously, Gotham belongs to Joker...not you."

Batman clenched his teeth. Out of all his adversaries, he disliked Joker the most. He seemed to have an unhealthy obssession with Batman and this unnerved him. With everyone else, it was just because they were evil or liked to do bad things but Joker seemed to be toying with Batman. He'd had opportunities to kill the Dark Knight and never had. It was like he failed on purpose; always promising a next time.

"Did I hit a nerve?" Harley teased as she grinned at him.

"I think you should talk to your new friend about Joker. Ivy is no stranger to Joker, She's been around him. She knows what he's like. If you won't believe me, perhaps you'll believe her."

He turned around and walked to the edge of the roof. Harley could only watch as he jumped from the roof, leaving her there, holding her baseball bat close to her chest.

Well that didn't work out as she'd intended. But maybe Bat boy had a point. Maybe if she spoke to Red about Joker, she'd get more of an insight. Not that she'd ever leave him. She could never imagine herself doing that! But it would be nice to learn more about the one she loved above all others and without question.

Ivy was looking around at all the other patrons and watched as Joker did business in his office upstairs. Where was his little blonde thing? She wondered as she searched the crowd for her. It wasn't untill she heard chanting that she found her.

Harley was in a massive cage, dancing as she held onto chains that were linked to the top of the cage; allowing her to swing back and forth on them. She moved in time with the music. Ivy folded her arms as she leant back against the bar and watched her.

People were cheering her on and throwing money at her into the cage. She glanced up and saw that Joker was still keeping an eye on his girlfriend.

One of the crowd made the mistake of reaching in the cage to touch the blonde and was rewarded with a bullet through his head. The thug put his gun away and looked at the dead body at his feet.

"You don't touch Joker's things." He warned as Harley continued to dance, oblivious to what was going on around her. Ivy screwed her face up in disgust. 'Joker's things?' Is that what she was now? Was she happy with that? By the look on Harley's face, Ivy would say that she was overjoyed! The poor, deluded little psycho.

Ivy sighed and waited untill the song was over before the people moved away from the cage. With a quick glance, she found that she couldn't see Joker, which meant he was at his desk, further back in the office. So she made her move.

Harley looked up from her crouched position on the floor of the cage as Ivy wrapped her hands around the bars and peered inside.

"Hey Red!" Harley greeted her cheerily.

"Hey. So, he keeps you in a cage now." Ivy said gesturing to the cage.

Harley rolled her eyes. "Nooo...it's where I do my dancing!"

Ivy nodded. "Whatever you say. You got time for a drink?"

"Yeah, sure. Actuallly, I've been meaning to talk to you. You wanna go for a walk?"

Ivy nodded. "Yeah, it is getting a little stuffy in here. I'll get my coat."

Harley followed her new friend out of the club and was instantly relaxed by the quiet outside.

Ivy looked back at the club.

"Shouldn't you tell your boyfriend where you're going?"

Harley waved the suggestion away with a flap of her hand.

"Nah, I can do what I want."

"I don't think that's the case anymore." Ivy muttered.

Harley frowned but ignored the comment.

Ivy folded her arms as she walked along next to Harley.

"So, what did you want to ask me?"

"Oh yeah, it was just about Joker. Someone said you know him and I would like to know more about him." She explained.

Ivy shrugged. "There's not really that much to know. He's a deranged, psychotic pyschopath who I wouldn't be caught dead with if I didn't like his club so damn much."

Harley was disappointed with this little bit of information, as it didn't really tell her anything she didn't already know.

"Ok so I get all that but there must be more to him than that! I mean he is the Clown Prince of Gotham after all!"

Ivy nodded in agreement.

"He is but Harley, I know you think you love him-"

"No, I KNOW I love him." She corrected her friend.

"Harley, someone who loves you...doesn't treat you like that."

Harley looked around to make sure they wasn't being watched before dragging Ivy down an alley.

"It's like this, Red-"

"You've got to stop calling me that."

"-Before Joker, I was nobody. I was just a doctor in Arkham Asylum but when he came in, something pulled me to him. He had a way of talking to me that was just so honest and raw. I knew I was falling in love and for once, I didn't try to stop it. I didn't want to! You have to understand something Red, when you fall for Joker, it takes you over completely. I can't imagine ever having to live without him, it would kill me. My life is nothing without him." She explained but Ivy saw the signs; Harley was trembling as she spoke. This was a broken woman and she had confused it with being in love.

Ivy looked down at the ground and bit her lip.

"Harley, I know he hurts you."

The blonde frowned. "But only because I hurt him! Don't you see? It's an equal relationship. When I hurt him, he hurts me, that's how it remains balanced."

Ivy was biting into her lip so hard, she tasted blood.

"He manipulated you, Harley. He used you to get what he wants."

"No, he loves me, I know he does! He came back for me, Red! If he didn't love me, why would he bother?"

"He wants someone to play with and control! How can someone as bright as you be so blind!"

Harley looked at her friend and blinked a few times to hold back tears.

"I thought you were a good friend..."

"I am. Which is why I'm telling you this. I don't want to see you hurt, Harley."

Harley turned away from her.

"I should go back...he's probably wondering where I am." She said quietly.

Ivy nodded her head slowly and pushed a strand of red hair back behind her ear.

"You know where I am if you need me."

Harley turned and walked away. She intended to walk back to the club but she walked straight past it and kept on walking... Where she would end up was anybody's guess.

Author's Note- Ok guys, so Harley's gone walk about. But we all know with Harley, it's never just a walk so when she will she return and where is she even going? Gonna warn you here, it's about to get dark...