First off...I know it has been ages. I got so wrapped up in my first year of college. I actually had this finished a while ago but didn't get around to editing and publishing till after reading Audrey Kasm's recent chapter of her story.
I don't want to ramble on too much but I appreciate your messages and reviews more than you know! Keep them coming!
I'm reserecting my past ideas for this but by all means I love feedback.
Enjoy! ~also there is sexual content in this chapter you are welcome.
"She is a very strange case." Dr. Rowan said, pressing her eyebrows together, staring off into the distance. It is true that the young doctor hadn't received much experience, but what little she did have was based on the peculiar cases Gotham gave her.
"Strange in what way?" Commissioner Gordon asked, a calm and tired air about him. Gordon dealt with strange on a daily basis. The last thing to frighten him would be a young girl-a victim-secured in hospital room.
Dr. Rowan glanced at her notes. She had read them a million times and still didn't know how to diagnosis the situation completely.
"The girl is a total nobody as far as I know, to start off. She's lived right outside Gotham city limits her whole life. She's not on social media and only ever worked in her father's store until the incident. To our knowledge, she has no connection to the situation at all." She shifted uncomfortably. It was mid-morning and her stomach kept making faint vibrations that were due to not having a break since arriving at seven that morning. It was already mid day.
"That's information we already know, though." Gordon frowned, hoping for more.
"She doesn't talk about much other than her childhood." Dr. Rowan's lips pressed together, trying to find something in their past discussions that could be of any help. "She asked when she'd be able to go home yesterday. I'm not good at excuses." She pleaded.
"We can't let her go yet." Gordon said quickly. "Not unless we can get something, anything, from her. She's our only lead. Keep the doctors away and from her, still. We can't risk her wanting to go home since we legally can't keep her here. As long as no one tells her she's fine, she will hopefully continue to believe she's here for a reason. If we let her go, we can't watch her like this. If she tries to reach out for him or he tries to get her back for some reason, we won't be this close. I will not take that risk." Gordon took a deep breath, and tried to relax. He didn't mean to get so worked up but people were dying. He had to do whatever he could to get at least a sliver of information. "Has she said anything about the kidnapping?" Gordon asked in a calmer tone.
"Not yet. I didn't want to spring it on her if she didn't trust me first. I wanted to get to know her and possibly what might be of value to him. I need for her to trust me at least a little bit before asking about that. If she's comfortable enough with me, then maybe she might actually tell me the whole story."
"Why would she not tell you the whole story?"
"Most victims are quick to tell anyone anything that could be of use. Usually people in her situation would want to capture the bad guy as quickly as possible and therefor tell more than enough information. But she hasn't said a thing. That's why this is strange to me. This leads me to think that it may require a degree of trust before she is willing to open up, which is very plausible, or she is more than a victim." She frowned at that thought. She couldn't imagine the poor girl in the hospital room doing such horrendous acts.
"While the idea is still on the table, I don't think it's true." Gordon said, giving a faint smile. "Girls aren't his style. All his hired work has been men to do the heavy lifting. Expendable men, all hired on their own will. The few times he has kidnapped anyone, they end up dead on our front door pretty much the day afterwards. I don't think she's an accessory but there is something to her, or else she wouldn't be here." Dr. Rowan nodded assuring. "I'll bring up the kidnapping in our next meeting, commissioner." She said hopeful.
"That's good." Gordon responded. "What else have you learned about her?"
"Well…she has shown signs for an addictive personality." The shrink said scanning her notes for the words she had already memorized. "She has low self esteem, which is normal in young women, but that's not all. She is pretty isolated as a person. She spent her days working at her father's shop, caring for him at night. She didn't have any close friends but did spend her weekends in downtown, getting into all sorts of trouble. The two major symptoms we look for in an addictive personality is nonconformity to social norms and a sensation seeker, or someone who tries many ways to feel a certain sensation. To put it simply, she was a weekend party girl. She explored the many dangers Gotham has in its party scene. Another strange aspect of her, though, is that she isn't a drug addict. Most party girls in her shoes are one needle away from the ER, but all her tests have come up mostly clean. She's experimented, but didn't find her sensation in drugs, yet didn't distance herself from the scene. She drinks, but I believe her father was an alcoholic, which makes it all the more easier for her to obtain an addictive personality." The doctor flipped a couple pages in her notebook, giving the commissioner a time to think about the slur of words she just said.
"Now, I know all this simply because she's told me. Most people are pretty secretive and when they spill their stories, they are covered in guilt, but not her. And yes, she could be lying, but I'm sure I could head downtown and ask around about a pretty little blonde girl who spends her weekends in bars and clubs and find some takers. If her lifestyle is not nonconformity to social norms, her attitude and personality surly are. But my question is where did all of this start? An event in her adolescence caused her to fall into a deep depression. I don't think she ever quite recovered from it" she said warily.
"What kind of event?" Gordon raised an eyebrow.
"Well she says her mother passed away, but records show the death happened when she was about fourteen and her depression and lifestyle changes didn't start until after her high school career. There's something missing here, something she's not telling me that brought out this personality. Sometimes these addictive personalities are genetic, but other times people can adopt this personality by just developing a strong connection with something or someone and when that something or someone leaves or disappears, they will try to replace the void with something that has the same or similar effect-sensation seekers. We typically see this with drug abuse. People tend to gravitate towards drugs to replace that void and then become addicted to drugs. But other cases are found in gambling, shopping, eating disorders-"
"Doctor?" Gordon stopped her quietly, holding up a hand. As much as he'd love to sit here and doze off to her ramblings of various medical works, he had a long list of other duties to attend to.
Dr. Rowan stopped talking mid sentence, mouth still open. She immediately felt embarrassed. Here she was, going on and on about her work to one of Gotham's best and busiest. "I'm so sorry! I sometimes forget when to stop talking." She said, completely flustered. Gordon gave a weak smile at the young doctor and checked his watch on instinct. When his eyes touched on his watch, his eyebrows raised in surprise.
"I'm so sorry doctor, but I have to get across town in twenty minutes."
"Of course." She nodded and exchanged a warm and friendly handshake with the middle aged man before he made his way to the nearest elevator.
Harley jumped at the noise of a light knocking from the screen door. Like most days, the door to Harley's small trailer home was left open, the screen door allowing the light autumn air to flow in.
"Come in." She said, not looking to see who it was. There were only few people that ever came to her household and she figured the visitor at the door was the same that frequented a lot in the past year or so.
Harley had just set a plate of food in front of her father, popping the beer can open for him and setting it on his TV dinner tray he used most every night. She had gotten used to caring after her father. As Harley grew older, her father slipped farther and farther away from reality. Everyone noticed the change after Harley's mother died. He loved his wife dearly, would have done anything for her, and they were always together. He would have killed himself to be with her again had it not been for Harley.
He had tried for a while to be there for her, but something died within Harley's father the day her mother died, a hole was left in his soul that progressively grew and grew over the years. Harley feared for his health, and did whatever she could to keep him comfortable. She began taking his shifts after school at their family store, there was never much business during the day anyway so her father mostly sat at the register in the empty store alone with his thoughts.
Jack helped too; they had spent countless afternoons discussing how they would one day rule the world and other childish talk.
Harley felt the familiar feeling of Jack's hand on the small of her back. She sunk into a calmer disposition, knowing he was near.
"Good afternoon, sir." Jack said politely towards her father. In response his lost eyes slowly glanced up at Jack and then he mumbled something neither of them could understand. Harley frowned. Her father had been speaking less and less in the past couple months. She could make out a word here or there but she feared he would stop talking altogether soon.
Jack seemed to notice her anxiety and rubbed her back a little. He leaned his head towards hers and turned his face towards the side of her head.
"I have a surprise." Jack whispered into Harley's ear, standing straight again, his hand still on her back. Harley hesitated. On any other day, she would have kissed her father on the cheek and let him be, but today she felt especially worried for him. Her father's eyes seemed to circle his plate, observing the meal for ages before he picked up the fork. Half of her tugged at her father while the rest of her pulled her towards Jack.
She bit the corner of her mouth, watching her dad slowly withering away before her.
"Have…fun." Came a mumbled and hoarse noise from the man before her. At first Harley thought she was imagining it, but the words were too real to be fake. Her father's eyes were fixed on his plate, slowly working mashed potatoes onto his fork, but the words had clearly come from him. Harley felt a smile tug at her mouth.
Harley wrapped her arms around her father from the side and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
"I love you, dad." She said, holding onto him longer than usual.
"Love…hrr" he trailed off.
"I know." Harley said, recognizing his familiar attempts at Love you, Harls, something he always said to her growing up, even though the words never came out right anymore.
"I'll see you tonight." She said and followed Jack out the trailer house.
The sun was on its way to becoming dusk. The two hopped off a bus and walked a few blocks. Jack stopped and looked up at a four-story building with dusty windows. There was a sign in the building promoting an attorney, and another sign promoting some advertising company.
The space in which they walked into first was a very simple lobby. There were 2 elevators on one wall and a door to a private office on the other. The walls were painted a dark cream color and the floor was a simple brown carpet. Two small-framed pictures were hanging on the wall opposite the front doors. The pictures inside the frame looked like the kind of pictures that come with the frame, the kind you're supposed to remove and replace with your own picture.
Jack strolled over to the elevator and pressed the triangle that pointed up, a few seconds later the door slid open and the two were inside.
This elevator was nothing like the one in Jack's building. Harley mentally pointed out the differences this elevator had compared to the one in Jack's apartment building. Instead of stained carpet there was white tile. Instead of cracked and taped over buttons, there were untouched normal buttons and a sign over the buttons listing all the occupants the office building held, and there weren't many.
It wasn't a long ride to the top floor, given there were only four floors. The elevator door slid open to reveal a scene very similar to the ground floor. Cream colored walls with brown carpets. Where the door would be, instead was a wide window that overlooked the sad little town under Gotham's shadow.
It was getting late and the sun had begun its decent. Harley stood, admiring the swirls of colors that started grouping around the sun.
"Come on." Jack said, tugging on her arm and breaking the trance that Harley was in.
Opposite the elevator were two doors that led into what she presumed to be more private offices. In the corner, though, was another door with a red sign that read, "DO NOT ENTER".
"Don't mind if I do." Jack said smirking and pushed through the door.
"What are we doing?" Harley asked suspiciously.
"Just wait." He said, walking past the door and up a dark staircase that led to a white metal door with the words "roof" printed on it.
The roof of the building was covered in scratchy concrete and had a brick edge that kept anyone from falling off.
Jack quickly made his way to the edge, leaning over the edge and looking down. They weren't that high up at all, but it was the tallest building for a few miles and all the trees and rooftops of the sad little town were visible from there.
Harley took a second to take in her surroundings, the scratchy concrete under her shoes, the swirling colors in the sky, the peaceful quiet that came from being alone four floors up and on the roof. In the distance, Gotham's tall, shiny buildings poked out of the ground. And then there was Jack, a giddy puppy wagging his tail and letting his tongue hang out as he stood over a kingdom without a king.
"Come here." Jack said gesturing her over to the edge. Harley smiled at him and walked forward, taking his outstretched hand. He brought her into an embrace, wrapping his arms around her front with his chest to her back, both being able to gaze off the roof.
Jack wasn't always one to be romantic, most the time he was either quiet and mysterious or over talkative with jokes and remarks. There wasn't much middle ground with him, so Harley enjoyed this break of character.
They stood like that for ages, watching the sun dip into the earth and leave a trail of colors flooding the sky.
Harley couldn't tell why, but being there like that felt so right to her. She felt a weird sense of belonging and happiness, like all of the troubles with her father, money, their family shop, school, the future, all of it melted away. And so she made a snap decision in her mind that didn't phase her until way later.
"Jack?" she asked. He didn't move, just made a questioning "Hm?"
"I'm…I'm ready."
Jack didn't move. He let the silence hang in the air. For a while Harley thought she should elaborate, that he was probably confused as to what she meant. She opened her mouth again to speak but he answered instead.
"You don't have to." He said finally.
"I want to." Harley said, showing courage she didn't know she had. She honestly did want this and she couldn't hope for anyone better than Jack to do it with.
He moved then, releasing her from his embrace and letting her turn to face him. His hand slid down from where it had been on her shoulder down her arm to lock their fingers together. He searched her face, her lips, her blushing cheeks, her eyes, for anything that said no.
"Then let's go." He said, squeezing her hand and leading her away from the sunset and the roof with the scratchy concrete under their shoes.
The trip to the grimy neighborhood where Jack lived went by in a blur. Harley blocked everything out, everything but Jack. The elevator doors slid open with the familiar sad ding and Harley entered first, pressing her back against the far wall of the carpet-stained elevator. Jack smirked, sauntering into the elevator after her, his eyes pinning her to the wall. Harley bit her smiling lip playfully, looking up at him with her dusty blue eyes. The elevator was small, but the closeness between them was suffocating. Jack hit the number twelve on the number panel and his lips greedily took control. Harley almost forgot what his dominant kisses felt like after his gentle demeanor earlier.
His hands slid around her waist and slowly dropped lower, pulling her closer to him. Harley felt the heat radiating off him, giving her goose bumps. She raised her arms, naturally going to snake them around his neck, but then his hands were gone from behind her and each rough palm pressed her forearms to the wall, pinning her against the wall. He guides her arms above her head and holds both her wrists with one hand, letting his other hand now free to wonder. Harley doesn't break the kiss. She has already handed all of her control over to Jack and he more than knows it, but makes it clear there's no turning back. All those times he told her that she was his become actions in the small, dinky elevator.
Jack breaks the kiss then, leaving Harley breathing heavily and staring up into his devious, soul-sucking eyes. She feels his free hand under her chin, lightly pushing her head up, her face closer to his. She can almost feel his lips on hers again, their breathing colliding and her arms still suspended above her. She wants to lean forward and close the space but holds herself back, waiting for Jack to act. Instead, he backs away and Harley is brought back into the reality of the tiny elevator. The dull ding rings in her ears and the doors slide open on the twelfth floor. She wants to kick the doors shut and forever stay like this with Jack, but she knew something else, something better, was waiting for her down the hall.
Her wrists are freed and Jack walks backward out of the elevator, his piercing eyes not leaving hers for a second.
"My sweet little blue-eyed girl." Jack said softly, in a singsong tone that broke Harley's feet from the concrete they were stuck in. She felt her knees bend and her feet take steps towards the beautiful devil before her.
This was it. This was the point of no return. Harley couldn't help but feel like a child being coaxed out of her innocence. Yet not one ounce of her wanted to run away. If this was corruption, she wanted to embrace it.
Jack held the door open for Harley, ushering her into his home. His smile was stretched across his face and his eyes held fires brimming with excitement.
"Where's your mom?" Harley said curiously, entering the familiar apartment as she had so many times before. The door shut and his hands were on her shoulders, his voice in her ear.
"She has to work late tonight." He whispered. Harley felt like a damsel in distress, kidnapped by a devilishly handsome man. But in this fairy tale, she was there on her own will. She would hold up no fight.
Jack surprised Harley by swooping her up in his arms with one quick motion. Harley giggled and bounced with every step Jack took towards his room. Her arms held on tight around his neck and she buried her laughing face in his chest. She could feel the vibrations in his chest of his own laughs.
He kicked the door closed behind him and dropped Harley onto his bed. His room was filled with doodles and paintings taped to the wall, most of which Harley recognized as Jack's own style.
Harley bounced on the small, full-sized mattress, still giggling like a little girl on Christmas morning. She drowned out the nervousness biting at her insides and put all her focus on him.
"Do you trust me?" Jack asked, standing over her. The moon was already casting a gloomy light through the little window in the room, lighting up half of Jack's face as he peered down at her. His dark eyes stood out and grabbed at her from the moonlight and the shadows.
Harley's giggles ceased and she sat still on the bed, caught in his glare. An eternity passed and she nodded slowly.
"Good." Jack said, his lips curling into his mischievous smile. He put his thumb under her chin, and lifted her face. For a second his face changed. Instead of a smirking devil she saw a genuinely caring expression.
"Always be my girl." Jack said, almost in a whisper. Harley wasn't sure if it was a comment or a question but then his face quickly returned to lust-filled mischief and his lips were crashing into hers.
He pushed her back onto the bed with his own body and her arms crawled around his neck. Harley's fingers found a hole in the back of his t-shirt and she absentmindedly began to play with the hole. Jack broke the kiss and sat up, laughing almost. He didn't say anything though, just grabbed at the front of his shirt and pulled it over his head, tossing it on the floor. His lips found hers again and Harley felt a cold hand playing with her sides. His hands pushed up her shirt and rested on the skin of her waist. She shivered against his cold hand but then found warmth past the striking cold. His hand slowly slid upwards until it found the edge of her bra. Slowly his fingers traveled up the outside of the bra and cupped her breast. His fingertips curved over the top of the bra, wanting inside. She felt his cold hands again, but this time her skin was more sensitive.
Harley learned to embrace her urges when she was with Jack. The shy little girl who he first met was long forgotten when she was with him. Many times before they had gotten sexual. They made out, got touchy, very touchy sometimes, but this was new water for Harley. She felt as if she hadn't touched a boy ever before in this instance. The overwhelming feeling of having sex for the first time dangled over her head and made her nervous.
Jack slipped his hand from under the front of her shirt and to the hook in the back. With a few tries, her bra came loose and she slowly pulled it off with her shirt. Harley noticed Jack's grin in the moonlight, looking down at her and her bare chest. She felt exposed, naked, literally and figuratively. But then his hands were on her again and a familiar closeness sunk in.
A finger circled her sensitive nipple, making Harley bite her lip in response.
"None of that." Jack said and kissed the corner of her mouth, making her release her bottom lip. Jack lightly tugged on her bottom lip with his teeth, trapping it while he lightly pinched her nipple. A noise escaped her and he released her lip.
"That's what I want to hear." He said, smirking.
He pinched her nipple again, a little bit harder this time, and she responded with another little noise.
Then his lips were surrounding the other nipple, sucking and swirling while the other received light tugging and pinching.
Harley gasped at this sudden change and forgot for a moment why she was nervous. A craving began to take form inside her and she blocked out any hesitant feelings with the thought of wanting more. As if on cue, his lips left her chest and trailed down the center of her rib cage and down her stomach to the edge of her jeans. He took his time with the zipper, making her crave it more and more.
He hooked his fingers on the sides of her jeans and began to pull them down, slowly, ever so slowly. Harley pulled her legs out of her jeans and her underwear that came off with it anxiously, which made Jack smirk. He had her right where he wanted her.
His fingers moved to her most sensitive area, sliding up and down her entrance and circling her clit before slowly pushing into her. Harley whimpered at the remarkably slow pace and Jack's smirk grew wider. With two fingers he slid in and out of her tightness, gaining speed but at a pace that had her cringing.
A warm wetness made Harley gasp-his tongue began circling her clit. His fingers kept their speed as he sucked and licked at her most sensitive area.
And then he stopped. He could tell she was getting close and that would ruin everything.
Confused and bewildered, Harley looked around to realize why he had stopped. Jack was fumbling with his own zipper while another hand dug in his pocket for something.
With his pants undone, Jack retrieved a stiff square package from his pocket. A mini hysteria began in Harley's head when she realized this was actually happening. But for some reason she was able to easily shush it this time. She wanted this, she wanted him, and tonight would be the night.
He fumbled with the condom and finally ripped it open. Harley couldn't help but giggle. In this moment he was so utterly human. Messing with a condom was the last thing she would picture Jack doing and here he was, struggling like any other teenage boy.
Jack looked up when she began to giggle and raised an eyebrow.
"You're not backing out on me now are you?" he said with that devilish smile she loved so much. Harley smiled and shook her head. She wanted him too much in this moment to have everything end now.
The whole experience was a little awkward. They moved like children, trying to keep the heat and passion going while still getting past the embarrassing 'doing this for the first time' movements.
Jack entered her slowly and Harley gritted her teeth, trying to relax but wanting to get it over with at the same time. She knew the first time would be the worst, but without pain there is no pleasure.
"Relaaxx." Jack said in a comforting whisper. Harley breathed deep breaths, experiencing everything for the first time.
Once inside her, he moved back and forth slowly. Harley started to get an understanding of why people liked having sex so much. Yes, it hurt, but it was something she could get past. Something she knew would go away. There was this feeling under the first-time nerves and pain that had her wanting more. So much more.
Harley pressed her lips together and tried to focus on her body and his. Jack leaned over her, holding himself up in a push up position while she wrapped her legs around him. With every deep breath, Harley began to experience less pain and more pleasure.
They moved together, as one, engulfed in a new overpowering passion. And Harley felt wild and crazy yet powerful and strong. She felt completely right yet skating on dangerous borders at the same time. It was a rush for her.
And then Jack became stiff over Harley. His loud and heavy breathing that clashed with hers ceased. And then he collapsed on top of Harley, breathing heavily again. Harley wrapped her arms around him, her legs still around him as well. She clung to him like a child and flourished in the noises, smells, and warmth he produced.
They both lay like that for a while; stuck together in each other's sweat, their eyes closed while they processed everything.
After what felt like eternities, Jack rolled off of Harley and disposed of the used condom before his arms were around her and they lay there together, listening to each other's breathing, naked in each other's warmth in the dirty little apartment.
