I didn't know how long I had been stuck in here. Since I jumped into the vat of chemicals nothing has been the same. I was stuck inside my own mind. I wanted out, I wanted to be myself again. I was watching Harley dance like a stripper at Joker's club and drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes. She was poisoning me and I could do nothing but watch. There would be moments where I thought I was myself again but really I was back in a memory. Today was the strangest flashback, I don't remember this ever happening. I was young, probably five, playing pretend with my mother.
"Mama, call me Harley now." I giggled to my mother.
"Princess Harley, you look so beautiful in your dress." She smiled. I wrapped a blanket around me and was wearing a tin foil tiara. I couldn't recall anyone ever calling me Harley.
"Mama, I want to be here all the time." I said jumping into my mother's arms.
"You are here all the time. So am I." She said and kissed my cheek.
"No, Harleen gets to be here. I want to be here." I frowned and looked at her with big puppy dog eyes.
"If you aren't Harleen then who are you?" My mother asked, trying to play along.
"I'm Harley." I pouted. She was about to say something when my father stormed into the bedroom, drunk.
"Hi, honey." She said with a flinch. She stood up.
"I'm hungry." He slurred.
"Dinner's in the oven. I was just playing with Harleen." She smiled at me.
"I'm Harley!" I pouted again.
"Did you just correct your mother?" He bent down and yelled in my face.
"No." I lied.
"You've gotta be taught manners!" He grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the room.
"Leave me alone!" I screamed trying to hit him.
"Harleen! That's enough." He said squeezing my arm.
"I'm not Harleen! I'm Harley!" I screamed at him.
"Harleen, stop it." He pulled me over his lap and started to spank me.
"I'm not Harleen! I'm not Harleen!" I screamed and cried. He kept hitting me. I wouldn't stop screaming. After a while he grew tired and threw me on the ground.
"Moron." He said walking past me. I sat up and pulled my knees up to my chest.
"I'm Harley. I'm Harley. I'm Harley." I whispered and rocked myself back and forth. I had no recollection of this. Maybe Harley wasn't someone new, maybe me and her went way back.
….
"Harley," Joker sang to me.
"Yes, puddin'." I was changing into my new outfit I had Eliza, the fashion designer I saw the other day, make for me. It was a red and black jester costume. It was perfect. My skin was basically healed but ghostly white, my skin popped against the dark colors of the suit. I pulled my hair into a high bun and put on the hat. I was perfect.
"Ready, Mistah J?" I called from inside the bathroom.
"Yes," He growled. I opened the door of the bathroom and did a cart wheel towards him.
"Oh Harley, what's this?" He asked with a smile.
"It's a jester outfit. Now I'm really your harlequin." I spun around showing him the whole costume.
"That you are." He chuckled.
"Let's go out tonight." I said sitting into his lap.
"We'll be at the club." He said straight faced.
"We're always at the club." I groaned.
"What would you prefer we do?" He asked rolling his eyes.
"Something bad." I winked at him and he chuckled.
"Joker and his harlequin." Joker chuckled and kissed me. I loved when he kissed me. He got up and made a phone call. Johnny soon came into the room and the corners of his mouth turned up when he saw me.
"I'm a harlequin." I smiled at Johnny and winked at him. He nodded then turned towards Joker.
"Get my car ready. Me and Harley are gonna take a stroll." He started to cackle. Johnny nodded and left the room. I was so excited.
"What are we gonna do?" I asked walking over to him, I sat in his lap.
"It's a surprise." Joker smiled. He started to purr when I kissed his neck.
"Johnny's gonna have a little somethin' waiting for you by the car." He chuckled.
"What's that, puddin'?" I asked nibbling on his earlobe.
"Haha. Harley, you'll have to wait." He chuckled moving away from me.
"But puddin', I don't wanna." I pouted.
"Patience, little clown." He kissed my nose then walked out. I skipped after him.
"Johnny, my boy, what do you have for Harley?" Joker boomed from the other side of the garage, his voice echoing. I squealed in excitement. When we finally got to Johnny he was holding something behind his back. I skipped over to him. He held a box in his hands, a lovely wooden box.
"For me?" I asked with a smile. He held the box out and nodded. I opened the box and saw a revolver. It was black with a white handle, there was gold etching on the barrel and my initials were engraved behind the revolving part of the gun. It was beautiful; and the best part about it: it was from my puddin'. I picked up the gun and stroked the smooth metal and the pearl handle, my finger traced the little jester pendant on the grip of the gun. I blushed.
"Thank you, Mistah J." I jumped onto him showering him in kisses.
"Down, Harley." He laughed. I admired the gun some more when a car pulled up. It was a purple Lamborghini and it was marvelous. It was sleek and fast and seemed to fit the Joker. The car looked untouchable. A man got out and nodded to Joker. J slid over the hood of the car and got into the driver's side. Johnny opened my door for me.
Sitting in the passenger side next to my King of Crime was the closest to heaven I had ever been. We sped through Gotham, weaving through cars and zipping through traffic lights. Joker would go into the other lane facing the oncoming cars and look at me. I laughed hysterically; my puddin' was a real crackup. He would grab my chin and pull me towards him into a bruising kiss as the fast approaching cars' headlights blinded us. He would quickly turn into the correct lane then throw his head back in laughter.
He drove onto the sidewalk in front of a jewelry store. The grill of his Lamborghini slammed through the glass doors. Mr. J got out of the car and scurried to my door and opened it. He helped me out and then went to his trunk.
"Oh, Harley, I got a little somethin' for ya." Joker growled from behind the car.
"What's that, puddin'?" I asked tiptoeing towards him. He held a big mallet in his hands. It looked sort of like a sledge hammer but it was huge and made of wood. It was black and red and there were four diamonds painted on the drum of it.
"Oh, puddin', for me?" I asked putting my hands over my heart.
"Mhm." He smiled wide and I was greeted by a bunch of shining silver teeth.
"Mistah J?" I leaned against the jeweler's counter.
"Yes, Harley?" He looked at me.
"Let's trash the place." I winked at him. He nodded and laughed. I took the mallet in my hands, it was lighter than I expected. I pulled it behind my shoulder then swung it into the glass counter. The glass shattered and I felt adrenaline rush through my veins. I started to smash more glass counters, I drove my mallet through a computer screen, a flat screen mounted on the wall, a mirror. I grabbed some diamonds from the shattered displays.
"Mistah J, which brings out my eyes?" I jumped up on a counter and held up the diamond necklaces to my face. Joke stepped towards me and peered at my face. He looked like he was taking in every detail of the diamonds and my eyes.
"Both!" He broke into hysterical laughter, I joined him. We were grabbing as mush jewelry as we could and stuffing it into the car. I saw a security camera from the corner of my eye. I jumped onto the counter and then jumped and ripped the camera out of the wall. Joker laughed and got in the car.
We raced out of there. J drove fast, he had one hand on the wheel and the other gripped my thigh. I knew I would have bruises from where his fingertips dug into my skin, I couldn't wait to see the little marks he'd leave on me. The bruises, the bite marks, the scratches he'd leave on me let me know he was real; that I hadn't imagined him.
We stopped in an alleyway. Joker got out and was helping me out when two vans pulled up. Johnny got out of one along with some of J's other guys. The guys all had guns on them. They started walking towards the building to our left. I strutted alongside them, it felt like we were walking into battle.
"Ready boys?" I asked while putting my revolver in the holster attached to my thigh. They nodded and Johnny kicked in the door. The boys marched in with guns securing it for Mr. J, Johnny walked in front of J and I skipped behind my king. I saw that there was some type of poker game going on. Joker's laughed echoed through the room.
The men sitting around the poker table looked afraid. Joker walked over to them; he put his hand on one of the men's shoulder. He patted the man harshly and started to walk around the table. All of Joker's guys were watching the men at the table and Joker. I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. There was a man creeping behind wooden crates, he had a gun and was aiming at my puddin'.
"Puddin'!" I screamed and drew my gun. I fired and hit the man in the shoulder. He tried to run out but I ran after him. I did a flip over a wooden crate and landed right behind him, I put one arm around his neck and my other hand held my revolver to his temple. I turned around with the man frozen in my hold and saw Joker, Johnny, and all the other man staring at me with their mouths open.
"What? He tried to hurt my puddin'!" I said to the gawking men as I walked the thug over to them.
"Harley," Joker began to clap.
"What're we gonna do with him, Mistah J?" I grinned at him. Johnny and some of J's other men grabbed the man from my grip and started to tie him up. I ran over and jumped on my king, I showered him with kisses. Joker had his guys grab duffle bags full of guns from the other room and Johnny put a bullet between each poker players' eyes.
J drove us home and I kissed him the whole drive. My lips traveled everywhere from his temples to his collar bones. He chuckled at my extreme affection. Joker sped into the garage and we barely made it up to the apartment. We were tangled together in an aggressive kiss in the elevator. Joker had unzipped the back of my jester costume without my knowledge. The elevator screeched to a stop and we were walking through his carnival room on the way to the bedroom when the cage caught my eyes.
The two hyenas looked so sad. They were curled up next to each other, they looked up at me with big brown eyes. Joker was standing in front of his bedroom door with no shirt and unzipped pants.
"Harley, I don't like to be kept waiting." He growled.
"But puddin', they're so sad." I blew little kisses at them and they started to sit up.
"Harley, they're vicious. And they're stupid as hell." He scoffed.
"Aw, they look skinny. How much are ya feeding 'em?" I asked.
"I'm not." He rolled his eyes. I shook my head and started to pick at the lock with a bobby pin from my hair. I wiggled it around in the pad lock and I heard the delightful sound of unlocking.
"Harley, they're gonna kill you." Joker warned as he stepped backwards.
"They wouldn't hurt a fly." I made kissy faces at them.
"I got them to hurt the Bat but they're too stupid for that." He sighed. I took off the lock and opened the cage. They hesitated for a moment then jumped from the cage and onto me. I was pushed into the floor and started to laugh hysterically. They were licking my face and nestling their noses into my chest. They were so sweet!
"Harley, you alright?" Joker called with concern in his voice.
"Never better, puddin'!" I called from underneath the slobbering hounds. I laughed and finally pushed them off me. I stood up and saw Joker looking at me with intrigue in his eyes; he looked impressed.
"What's their names?" I asked.
"Uhhh, Bud and Lou." He smiled and pointed to each one.
"Bud, Lou, ya hungry?" I asked. They both panted and Bud barked in response.
"Mistah J is gonna have someone bring some food up." I ruffled the fur on the top of their heads.
"Behave." I warned then ran into J's bedroom. I backed him up to the bed and jumped onto him bringing a storm of kisses to his face. He laughed and kissed me back.
"Oh Harley, you were better than I thought." He whispered into my ear which caused a tear to fall down my cheek. My puddin' loved me and I loved him more than anybody's ever loved anyone before. He was strong and he could save me, he would protect me, he would be strong for me. I've always had to be strong for her; no one's ever been brave for me. Joker was everything to me and I was so lucky to have him. I hoped that more people would try to kill my puddin' so I could take them out. I would kill every thug that threatened my puddin'.
A/N: Chapter 10! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did. What do you think about the Harleen part? Did you like the Bud & Lou part? I thought their little crime spree was so fun to write; hope it was fun to read! Thank you for all your reviews, follows, favorites! I still can't believe the positive reaction this story has gotten.
Thanks!