Chapter 8

Jasper stroked back the loose strands of hair that delighted themselves around her eyes. He was tedious in his carefulness, soothing her deranged emotions in the most gentle of ways, concealing his own toiling rage inside, "Do you want me to get your mother?"

Danielle nodded and grabbed her shirt, fear filled tears running down her cheeks, and slipped the clothing back over her head.

"Here," he guided her pants back up her legs, such a heavy amount of repentance in his sweet filled dealings. "I'm sorry Dannie, I wasn't thinking."

Quietly she reached out with her hand and glided her frightened fingers through his black hair, smiling silently as he proceeded with intensely cautious measures. Jasper, after re-buttoning her pants, looked up at her and smiled back.

"I know that's what you want and everything Jasper, but I'm just not ready yet. I mean after what happened…"

"Dannie," he grinned and placed the palms of his hands on her warm cheeks, "no. I may, do things that seem like that. I may provide you with what could be called somewhat obscene actions in that regard, but don't ever think that that, is all I want from you. You're only sixteen, and you've had an incredibly difficult and traumatizing moment just a short six months ago. I, in no way, want to resurface old emotions, old memories of that time. And I am sorry sweetheart. I am so sorry."

"But…"

"Baby love, I don't need that from you. Sure, maybe one day. But now? How foolish of me to even begin to think you were ready." He took a deep breath and stood up from the bed after placing a kiss on her forehead, "I'm not your boyfriend because I want you sexually, I'm your boyfriend because I love you and want to protect you. When you're ready, you're ready, and you'll be able to tell me that when you're comfortable. Okay?"

Danielle looked down at her lap and nodded, "Okay. I'm sorry."

"You have nothing, at all, to be sorry about. Nothing. I'll go get your mother alright?"

"Okay. Could you hand me Teller?"

"Teller?" Jasper mused and looked down at the small bundle of fluff next to the bed. With a chuckle he reached down and picked up the baby hyena and held him in front of his face. "You are rather quiet."

"He's just trying to catch you off guard, it's his stealth attack you know," Danielle giggled as she wiped away a tear.

"Ah I see, you're a sneaky one hmm Teller? Frightening the citizens of Gotham with your cute and charming ways then when they least expect it, you attack."

Teller stared at Jasper and blinked confusedly at his words, then a moment later, with his sneaky actions in place, his petite nose began to scrunch.

"Watch out Jasper, he's going to attack," Danielle warned in a laughing manner.

Jasper continued to smile at Teller as his nose twitched and small eyes closed. "I think he's going to sneeze."

"That's just what he wants you to think. Don't be fooled, Teller is a trained assassin, a master of stealth and destruction. No one dare use his power, for unleashed…he would be unstoppable."

As soon as Danielle finished with her advice, Teller sneezed and sprayed a minor amount of snot into Jaspers chest. "Oh yes Teller," he began, "you, with your horrific doings of unrelenting dread…will terrorize the masses."

Danielle's tears soon drew to a finish as Teller was handed to her. With one last smile directed towards Jasper as he made his way out of the room, Danielle sniffled and called out to him, "Thank you Jasper."

He nodded and walked out of her room, satisfied that he fixed his mistake the best he could. And he would, he promised himself, find the blundering fool who hurt his gorgeous girl, who troubled and distressed the one person in his life that he truly loved and cared for.

If it was the last thing he ever did, he would kill the man who hurt her in the cruelest of ways.

"Miss Quinn?" he called out as he entered back into the living room, "Danielle wants to…Miss Quinn?"

He searched momentarily in his standing position, twirling in a circle to see neither Harley nor Joker in sight.

"Hurry up, I want to see ya!" Harley whined in her regular tone of voice as she sat on the corner of her bed, legs swaying playfully, and eyes eagerly waiting on the closed bathroom door that concealed Joker.

He exhaled nosily at her impatient behavior and huffed on his coat, "You'll see me soon enough. I have to make sure everything's in order you know."

Harley cuddled her hyena up to her neck and placed a kiss onto its ruffled fur, "You got me a baby…"

"I'm aware of that."

Joker exited the bathroom area and revealed himself back into his regular attire. Purple suit with purple slacks included, his orange undershirt and blue bow tie securely fastened, a perfect flowery arrangement placed admirably onto his left lapel, and a pair of light blue skin tight gloves living happily on his masterful fingers. Of course included were his wonderfully black dress shoes dressed in their own crisp white spats, to say the least he was of the highest caliber once again.

"You look…great Puddin'," she complimented in the smoothest voice, so dastardly quiet it was frankly unbelievable that Joker had heard her in the first place.

He raised his brow in complete self-righteousness, wasn't it plainly obvious that he was 'great' looking? It should have been a word greater than 'great' but he had just won back her delicious mind and wasn't going to be stern on her actions just yet. It wasn't as if Harley was used to the man he is now, the real Joker, The Joker. Even if he had been charming in his ways with her, gifts and kisses, hugs and loves, it wasn't entirely him. Not really, maybe a little, she in fact had made him that way, and it was hard to not be completely loving towards her.

Joker popped his neck and watched Harley stand up from the bed in a secretive behavior, eyeing him in the most grand of manners. Sure he loved her still, had the moment he met the daffy girl before him, but showing his under the surface affection towards her wasn't something he found to be of importance at the moment, not like he had been doing eleven years ago. Like he told her the day of the wedding, when Oswald shot him the back, 'no more fighting' and that was that.

The only real reason he had been showing such affection towards her as of recent was to snap her back to his side. And as you can see, that took a simple day. Oh did he feel good again, and now that he was back in his skin, his beloved suit, he felt such unrelenting power to do what he was born to do.

And with Dannie at his side, and his sweet harlequin on his arm, he would do just that. Show Gotham what he was really made of, not the man who gave himself up to protect the girls he loved…but the clown who was stark raving hungry to take back his turf from those who had taken it.

All he needed to do was teach Dannie a thing or two, and he'd be, once again, the Clown Prince of Crime, of Gotham, of the world.

Because, he did love them.

Harley set down her pup and walked up to his grand and shining aura with a numbness settling in her fingertips. He was purely magnificent in his colors again. "Oh Puddin'…I don't know what to say."

"Then don't say anything," he tugged at his lapels and turned on his heel. "What you should do is make me breakfast. You know the meals at Arkham are terrible, and I haven't eaten a starch or protein in more than twenty four hours."

She hesitated at his words, at how he sounded, but she proceeded to near him and slowly wrap her arms around his waist from behind, and then she guardedly pressed the side of her face against his back. Muttering quietly to him, "I love you."

"Harley," he sighed and turned around while she still held him, now with her face pressed against his chest instead of his back. Joker chuckled slightly at her mannerism and rested his chin atop her head, "You make it so hard for me to be me."

"I know."

Finally he wrapped his own arms around her, "Then why do you do it?"

"Because…it gives me somethin' to do."

Joker snorted a single laugh and kissed her cheek, "I hate the fact that you're irresistibly cute pumpkin pie." He then hoisted her up off the ground and tossed her backwards onto the bed.

"Wee!" she shouted in excitement and watched Joker sneak his way up her body, his gleaming smile stretching ear to ear, just the way she loved him most.

Certainly he was enjoying himself, toying up her beautifully formed body with his maddening grin until he came to her shirt bottom, and he closed his toothy smile off now only smiling with his lips. Joker peeked his gloved fingers underneath her shirt and felt her warm skin radiating against him. He pushed his hands along her sides and fell victim to her thirst quenching curves. His hands then rested against her there as his fingers dug uncomfortably into her, but she didn't wither, didn't protest.

Joker kissed along her pant line, breathing hard against her wanting skin. His lenient and wet kisses stifled her mind from anything but him, and he smiled from the knowledge of knowing it. So soon was he moving one hand back down to the edge of her shirt, and hiking it back up her flat tummy, resuming his unhurried kisses along her feverish skin. He moved up slightly and kissed around her belly button, tickling her with his lips as he dragged them against her, causing Harley to giggle slightly in response and he momentarily joined back with his own splendid laugh. Until his reddened lips felt a pucker in her flawless skin.

He pulled back and explored the area he had kissed. His smile dropped into nothing more but a shadowy crevice as he loomed and traced his finger over the 'J' cut he had given her so long ago. It was almost invisible now, just a small little mountain in the shape of a 'J' along her stomach, barely being shown despite the slight pinkish coloring it had. Tiny silver stretches along its edge, tight and healed.

Joker, still with his fingers against the cut, kissed the center of the letter and placed his placid cheek against it. Tenderly closing his eyes as he felt Harley's unforgettable touch caress his scalp. Admiring and loving him with such open arms.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

Harley smiled, "I'm not mad at you for doing that. I never have been."

"I know you aren't. But the fact that I cut you."

"You know Puddin'," she sat upright and moved herself to the edge of the bed as Joker kneeled down and kept his face buried against her scar, "this tummy has had lots of adventures. Mostly with you, and I was glad to know that I had a little reminder of ya when you weren't here. Something that was all my own, something you gave me that I can never misplace."

"That's stupid," he said flatly and rubbed his cheek further into the scar.

"No it's not!" Harley giggled and kissed the top of his head. "We created Dannie in this belly, how can that be stupid?"

Joker then pressed his mouth against her stomach and spoke, "She's a very beautiful girl Harley." She smiled and stroked his back, and he moaned quietly into her tummy, "But I'm really hungry."

"Alright," she laughed again, "let's go see what we can find for ya, kay?"

Almost immediately as they exited her room, Jasper turned to them and exasperatedly slumped his shoulders, glad that he had finally found Harley, "Miss Quinn, Danielle would like to talk to you."

And Joker bowed his head just a tad and a shadow crept over his eyes just a little, presenting his true demeanor to Jasper, "Is there a problem?"

"She just wants to talk to her mother, sir."

Joker lifted his head and smiled at Jaspers correct approach in speaking to him. He hadn't forgotten, and that was outstanding.

Harley turned to Joker and patted his chest kindly, "Do you mind if I go see what Dannie needs to talk about first? And then I'll make everyone breakfast?"

"Not at all, go see what our princess needs. I'll just," and he swayed a large step towards Jasper, "sit out here, with Jasper."

He looked at the grinning clown before him, not quite gaining his height but close, about an inch or so shorter than him, and stood his ground with a simple composed glare on his face. Before, when Joker presented himself to Jasper in his Arkham clothing, Jasper hadn't been struck in the slightest measure of, 'this is The Joker standing before you'. But now, as Joker stood before him in his trademark suit, it was catastrophically mind blowing, this was The Joker. The greatest villain of all time, the deadliest of all, standing before him…and he was dating his daughter.

How exhilarating.

Harley walked into Danielle's room and instantly found a teary daughter petting her baby hyena, and her motherly heart yearned to stop the tears. "Sweetie girl, why are ya cryin'?"

"I just had some memories of, you know."

Harley climbed onto the bed and sat beside Danielle, running her hand along her tear stricken cheeks. "Oh sweetie…I thought you said you were doing better. Are you taking your medication?"

"I don't need it, it doesn't do anything anyway."

Harley sighed and kissed her daughter on the forehead, holding Danielle against her, wanting to protect her so much. "Do you want to talk about the memory?"

"It's just the same ol' thing. I'm in that room," her voice cracked, "and he comes in…"

"I'm sorry baby. It'll get better, I promise. Soon you'll be able to just toss out the memory at will…I don't know when, but one day you will."

Danielle shut her eyes tightly and pushed the back of her head against the wall, "I just wish that Oswald never came into our lives. Maybe then none of this would have happened!"

"I know," Harleys own eyes began to produce wells of tears, "I know."

"Dad would have never left, we'd be happy still."

Harley let go of Danielle and pressed her back against the wall as well, "He's trying to make it better. Somehow, he seems to make things more enjoyable, more happy, even when everything seems so dark and dreary."

"I have to tell him what happened to me," Danielle suddenly mentioned, "it isn't fair that he doesn't know."

"Do you feel that you can tell him?"

She brought her palm to her forehead and held it there as she contemplated what to do. Such a difficult story to tell her father, she couldn't do it alone, she needed someone to be there with her. "Only if you'll be with me when I tell him."

"Whatever you need baby girl. Do you want to tell him now?"

Danielle nodded and set Teller down on the bed, "I think if dad knows, I'll feel more safe. Does that make sense?"

"Absolutely," she agreed, "I think we'll all feel safe."

Joker stared at Jasper as they both took a seat in the living room. Stern glares and stares vibrating viciously throughout the area.

"You've been keeping her safe I presume?"

Jasper edgily ran his thumb along his bottom lip, "Yes sir."

"Good," he nodded and folded his leg over the other, sprawling his arms across the couch top and smiling darkly over at Jasper. "They don't know do they?"

"Not that I'm aware of. If they know something, I was no part of it."

"No indications?"

Jasper shook his head, "No."

A silent moment fell across the conversation and Joker pulled his hand up to his smiling face, examining his nails curiously. "You wouldn't be keeping anything from me, would you Jasper?"

"No."

"Let's keep it that way, hmm?" He chuckled in his throat and looked once again over at Jasper, "Because if I find out you've been keeping anymore secrets from me about my daughter…things won't be so pleasant. I wasn't very pleased to be acquainted with the fact that you and her are seeing each other. And don't even try to tell me that you're seeing her just to get closer, to perform your job better. Believe me Jasper, I know when things are brewing behind my back...and all I have to do is turn around to see what it is. Understand?"

A cringing churn in his stomach began to scar him as he listened to Jokers threat, and all he could do was respond back calmly, "Yes Boss."


Told ya things were picking up! (Oh! I love it!)

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