A/N: Brace yourself boys and girls. There's only two chapters left of this story...
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Chapter 10
Jason stood on the top of the Monarch theatre, an iPad in his hands watching video from the fair ground where Batman and his minions were racing to save Helena. This had all been far too easy. Keeping Joker and Harley split up, taking the children and keeping them captive, breaking into Wayne Manor… too easy. A lot of time had passed and he was more sceptical than ever before, bitter is Thalia al-Ghul had called him. Thanks to the League of Assassins, he'd learned more fatal ways to attack people like Joker and he was almost as good as Deadshot with a gun. But his anger and rage was uncontrollable. He saw no problem in inflicting pain and death upon people like the Clowns, they murdered people without a seconds thought, why should he give any more thought to their lives?
"Do what you want to me, leave my children alone," Harley Quinn snarled from her position on the floor. She was beaten black and blue, drying clay stuck to her skin and clothes. He'd attached a leather loop around her neck and he used it like a choke chain on a dog.
"Did you ever listen to anyone who begged from you the same mercy?" Jason hissed and yanked the leather tightly. "Did you ever stop when someone asked you to? Hmm? When a kid begged you to stop stabbing him and hitting him with a baseball bat?"
Harley dangled by her neck, coughing and spluttering as she struggled to breathe. She scrambled to try and get her feet under her, but she just couldn't. As her face started to go blue, Jason released her and watched her slump back down to a pile on the floor. She wheezed and rasped air into her lungs, her body battered thanks to Clay Face.
"No, I didn't think so," Jason snapped. "You and your… filth don't deserve to live. You don't deserve a family to begin with."
"If you think he'll save me, then you don't know him," Harley said quietly.
"I know him better than you, darlin'," Jason spat. "He'll bring an army, he'll think he knows better. He'll wander up here all self-confident and assuming he can pick up the children and call you like the little bitch you are."
"Boss, the kids are getting scared," Franklin said as she walked onto the roof top. "The witch keeps trying to use her powers to escape. Clay Face has control at the moment but I don't know how much more he can take before she cooks him."
"Fine, leave her to it," Jason shrugged. "We're going to win regardless. If she fries herself out, she'll be easier to get rid of."
"You hurt her and he will never stop," Harley told them both. "You hurt one hair on her head and he will not stop until every body part is removed and you know it. Think about what we did to you, Jason, and we hadn't even held our babies then."
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Selina was using her whip and claws to scale to the top of the old Ferris Wheel. She was elegant and agile, but she couldn't look down. She felt at risk here, it was a straight drop if she fell and whilst her responses were quick and dependable, Harley's words repeated round in her head.
"It's easy to let emotion run away with you, to make stupid mistakes, to trust people you shouldn't. Go in with a plan, but don't follow it, you won't be able to Selina. The urge to protect your baby will be so strong… you won't be able to help yourself."
It was true. She was so desperate to get to Helena and so was Bruce that they didn't see anything coming. Dick and Tim were desperately trying to diffuse bombs and they were pre-occupied too. She scaled the metal structure as swiftly as she could, she was just within reach when she heard someone shout her name. She looked down to see a missile heading for the Ferris Wheel and her heart jumped into her throat.
"Bruce!" Selina screamed and started to scramble up the metal frame. She heard the whoosh of Bruce's cape and she just got her hand on the cart that Helena was in when there was a loud bang. The Wheel started to wobble and move, Selina pulled herself up and she threw herself over Helena as the ride collapsed. The missile had collided with the centre pin and it was now just falling apart.
Bruce had tried to deflect the bomb but he just hadn't had enough time to do so. He saw Helena and Selina falling from the cart at the top and he used the grapple gun to pull him closer to his family. He dived towards the ground, hoping to catch them before Selina's back took the full impact of their fall. He got to them with a couple of seconds to spare and he landed with both Helena and Selina in his arms.
"Bruce! I'm sorry-" Dick started.
"We were-" Tim said.
"It's fine, none of us were looking," Bruce interrupted. "Are you okay, Helena?"
"Mommy, my head hurts," Helena whimpered in Selina's arms.
"Oh baby," Selina cooed and checked her over quickly. "It's just the noise from the explosion, it'll pass, I promise."
"The scary man in the hood gave me this," Helena coughed as tears streamed down her face. Bruce felt quite jealous that Selina was the one providing their daughter with all the reassurance, but he understood that Helena still didn't really know him.
"Bruce, you just about saved your daughter, but you're going to end up killing someone else's," he read out and felt fury flash through him.
"Harley," Selina gasped. "We've gotta go save her-"
"We need to get you and Helena safe," Bruce told her.
"We need to help Harley," Selina barked. "Oracle and Alfred can protect Helena, Bruce, who's going to protect Lucy and Jack?"
Bruce battled with himself for a minute before he just nodded. He pressed a button on his gauntlet to summon the Bat Wing and he looked to Selina again. He pulled her and Helena close and kissed Selina gently and Helena's hair. He had them back and for a moment, he felt like he could save them from whatever was coming.
"Batman," Barbara said over the comms. "The Bat Wing is on it's way to you, but there's… all of the gangs, all the bad guys, the Falcone's, the Maroni's, Penguin, Riddler, Sionis, Zasz… they're all on the streets, searching for Harley and the children. Poison Ivy's tearing the city to pieces and Joker had vanished from the GCPD."
"Master Bruce – the Monarch theatre!" Alfred shouted across Barbara. "Red Hood's holding Harley hostage."
"On our way," Bruce said lowly.
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Harley looked up from her pile on the floor when she heard booted footsteps head towards them. She shook her head and her breath stopped in her throat. He shouldn't be here, he shouldn't be coming back for her. He had to get Lucy and Jack to safety, he couldn't be here. She looked at the anger in his eyes and for a moment, he looked down at her and his eyes softened very slightly. It was at that point that Harley was jerked to her feet. Her knees gave way but she scrambled upright to ease the pain around her throat from the leather strap around her neck.
"Puddin', no!" Harley shouted. "You can't!"
"Shut up, Harley," Joker snapped.
"So here he comes," Jason chuckled. "The King of Gotham himself, the Clown Prince of Crime. The shit on my shoe. The knife in my back. You've finally come to collect your stray dog? You should've killed me when you had the chance."
"And miss out on this fun?" Joker cackled. "Don't be stupid, kid."
"You don't care about them!" Jason shouted. "You don't! If you did you would've protected them!"
"And what, dear boy, do you think I was trying to do when I sent Harley and my two children out of Gotham?" Joker asked. "When your little puppet plucked them from the road and decided to abandon Harley? What do you think I was trying to do for my children?"
"You mean these children?" Jason said with a twitch to the corners of his mouth. He gestured to the shadows and Michaela walked forwards with Jack and Lucy. Their hands were tied together and the ex-police officer held a gun at them.
"No!" Harley roared and struggled in Jason's grasp.
"Mommy!" both the children cried and Harley tried to break free. She felt Jason hit the back of her head, but she barely registered it. She was more concerned with her children being manhandled by Michaela.
"It's okay, babies, its gonna be okay!" Harley said, trying to reassure them.
"If you survive this, you've got a couple new rugs for the floor as well," Jason smirked to Harley. "Had to put the guard dogs down, it's not lawful to have wild animals without a licence."
"Bud… Lou…" Harley whispered. Her heart clenched painfully as she thought of her two lovely boys fighting with Jason, trying to protect her and the kids. She fell silent as grief swirled inside of her. She'd loved them like they were her children, she'd fought to keep them once Jack had been born and even more so with Lucy. Joker appreciated what security they offered, but he didn't like them. They were her animals, not anyone else's.
"So what's it to be, Dr Quinzel?" Jason asked. "Who's more important to you? The man who has abused and tortured you for the best part of your life? Or the children he forced you to bring into this world? You've gotta pick the one that lives. Jack or Lucy? Joker? Yourself? We know you'll never put yourself above him. Even if it could save your life. But your children…"
"Leave them alone," Harley hissed.
"You choose one to leave, one stays," Jason told her. "Choose wisely. Your pretty princess? She's too young to remember this, but then she has powers, she might save you? Or your son? The future king of your life of scum, he's only a kid but he might have something up his sleeve."
"They're both going," Harley snapped. "Neither of them are staying."
"Choose one!" Jason bellowed and tightened the strap around her throat. She kept calm as her airway was closed, a smile spread across her face as her body begged her to take a breath. As she started to turn blue, he gave in and released the strap a little. She gasped in a lungful of air and coughed and spluttered as she struggled to control her breathing. She just calmed herself when he tightened it again.
"Momma!" Jack screamed as Harley once again started turning different colours. Lucy was crying loudly and Jason looked to see the Joker stood with darkened, deadly eyes. The clown had moved closer and was now just a few feet away. Jason slipped the fastener through the hole on the strap and threw Harley at Joker. Her mouth was gaping, trying desperately to access a small breath. Joker pulled his knife from his pocket and sliced through the leather. Harley collapsed to the floor with heavy, rasping gasps and Joker took a few stabs towards Jason. The man was well trained and parried his blows, but Joker carried on and on until he made contact with the metal suit. The knife was dug into the chest and had lifted a panel, leaving the Joker smirking like a cat that had caught the canary.
"Not quite as sturdy as the Bats, then?" Joker purred darkly.
"I'm a hundred times better than him!" Jason protested.
"You let me get the upper hand without me trying," Joker said and pressed the knife in through the armour and felt the tip of the knife hit skin. "You kidnap my children, you abduct my wife, twice, and you threaten their lives. Do you have any idea what I'm about to do to you?"
"What you should've done all those years ago!" Jason said loudly. "You should've killed me, you should've just done it."
"I can kill you right now!" Joker roared. He went to pushed the knife in further but a metal object whizzed through the air and knocked the blade out of his hands. He turned his head in fury as he saw Batman, Nightwing, Robin and Catwoman flying in.
"Stop!" Nightwing yelled. Jason used that opportunity to punch Joker and they started to brawl. Harley scrambled to her feet and ran at Michaela, she tackled the woman away from her children and tried to hit her head against the floor, but the ex-cop managed to land a decent hit to her nose and jaw. Harley dug her nails into Michaela's arms and made her bleed, she slammed the woman against the floor but Michaela's fury broke and she started to fight back, punching Harley in the face.
"Joker, Jason, stop!" Batman shouted and ran onto the scene as he finally reached the edge of the building.
"Party time," Jason chuckled. He head butted Joker and threw him to the side before he ran towards the Batman. Joker picked up his gun and shot three times at Jason's suit before having to use it as a bludgeon against Nightwing. He saw Robin and Catwoman heading towards Harley and Michaela and he growled.
"Stop, Joker, we're trying to help," Nightwing told him.
"Funny that," Joker spat and used the butt of his gun to hit the side of Nightwing's head again.
"Harley, let me take the kids to Ivy," Catwoman said as she wrestled Michaela to the ground and Robin tried to pin Harley down.
"Hell no," Harley grunted as Robin put her against the wall of the staircase instead. "I'll never see them again, Bruce will make sure of that."
"Wait, what?" Robin asked. They paused for a second to look at each other and in that moment, Harley had gotten free. She grabbed Jack and Lucy's hands and made a break for the staircase. In her moment of surprise, Selina had allowed Michaela to grab her gun and take aim at Harley.
Time slowed down in Joker's mind as he saw Harley re-appear around the corner of the block. He smiled seeing she had her children and was getting away, but then a very familiar clicking of a gun registered in his ears.
"No!" he screeched and watched as Michaela pulled the trigger on her gun. He could practically see the bullet in the air and as it Harley, he felt the air being knocked out of his lungs. She hit the ground on her stomach and blood immediately started to seep from her wounds. Joker pushed Nightwing aside and ran to her. He scooped her up into his arms, turned her so he could just about see the wound and he plunged his finger inside to try and dislodge the bullet, but he couldn't reach it.
"Baby, look at me, Harley," Joker said calmly, though his heart was racing like a rabbit.
"It hurts," Harley whispered.
"It doesn't, what are you talking about?" Joker said, trying to distract her. "Come on Harls, where's the fucking bullet?" he pulled his hand from her wound and looked at the bright red blood. He looked down at the floor and winced at the fast growing puddle around her.
"Puddin'," Harley mumbled. "I… I'm sorry, I failed."
"No, no, no," he told her. "You're not going anywhere. You're gonna be just fine, it's only a little blood. You bled worse than this when Lucy was born, you can do it." He looked up to see Catwoman trying to usher Jack and Lucy away from the scene and felt his fury bristle, but he wouldn't leave Harley.
"If you let me take her to Gotham General-" Batman started.
"She won't make it that far," Nightwing told him quietly.
"Momma, no, I wanna see momma!" Jack screamed.
"No, Jack-" Selina shouted and reached out for him but the kid slipped her grasp and ran at his parents. He locked his arms around Harley's neck and sobbed loudly. She kissed his hair and traced his face with her fingers.
"You're just gorgeous, baby," Harley stammered as she started to feel weaker. "Go and take care of your sister, my Prince."
"I don't wanna leave you," Jack cried. "I need you, momma."
"You're a big brave man now, cupcake," Harley said fondly and kissed his forehead. "Go on, go to Lucy. Tell her mommy loves her. Go, Jack." She watched as her tearful little boy dragged himself away and went to Selina. She let a teardrop roll down her cheek and she let out a gasp as her breathing became shorter. Joker pulled her closer still and pressed a long lingering kiss to her mouth. She tried to chase his lips as he broke it, but she was draining of energy and it took enough to just keep looking at him.
"Mistah J, I'm sorry," Harley said gently.
"You're not allowed to die on me, Harls," he replied sternly. "I need ya to look after me, toots, I need ya cute little ass around to keep me in line. Take deep breaths, that's it, breath with me, baby. I need ya, you're not allowed to leave me yet."
This wasn't how she was supposed to end, he was meant to be the one who killed her, not… not some bitch with a gun. He couldn't lose her like this, it wasn't right, it wasn't funny. It wasn't okay. She wasn't allowed to leave him like this, he couldn't cope without her and that had been proven time and time again.
"I'm cold, puddin', so cold."
"No, you're not, that's just… you're not cold, Princess," Joker told her and felt his voice affected by the emotion he refused to show.
"Tell Jack-Jack and Princess Lucy that… that I tried and… I love them," Harley begged from him and coughed, a trickle of blood seeped from the corner of her mouth. "I'm so… honoured to have given them to you."
"Stop talking like you're going to die," Joker hissed. "Come on, pumpkin pie, come on." He kissed her again and her hands weakly found his hair. She was so cold, her skin was losing it's life and her eyes were becoming dull. This was unbearable. He'd never felt anything for anyone dying ever before and now… this was far worse than he'd ever imagined.
"I love ya, puddin'," Harley whispered against his mouth.
"Give me ya best smile, Harley Quinn," Joker said softly. "My Queen, my goddess. One more smile." She strained against the numb feeling and she gasped for a breath before she gave him one more grin.
And then she let go of her breath and her eyes rolled back in her head.
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A/N: This is indeed the final story for the Young Gods Universe.
Two chapters left.
I know, I'm evil.