Disclaimer - Yeah, I still don't own anything. No changes there.
AoS
Harry hummed merrily as he skipped back into Harley and Ivy's home. The two women were nowhere to be found, but Joker was sat watching television, the screen flashing images of a show his Aunt Petunia watched called Antiques Roadshow, a programme where people sold old items at auctions; apparently it made for good TV viewing. The maniac's eyes didn't actually seem to be focused on the screen, and his lip curled up as Harry sat down on the floor in the middle of the room.
"What did we tell you about your curfew young man?" Joker said, not turning around to look at him directly.
"I wanted a new coat. A nice hobo was kind enough to give me his. I guess that you don't really have any need for a coat when you're dead" Harry responded, giggling as he thought of the memory.
Joker finally turned to look at him, and his eyes ran up and down the length of Harry. "Oh Acey, hobo clothes are really not a good look." Joker tutted and turned back to the television. "Shoot that man in the forehead; it's worth more than that!" he yelled at the screen.
Harry rolled his eyes and jumped up, moving to stand in front of the television. "Don't I look good?" he said pouting. Joker simply shoved him out of the way, making Harry fall to the floor in a very over the top manner. Harry huffed but said no more, instead choosing to draw on the carpet with his fingers, watching the material move with the force. Eventually the screen switched off and Joker was on the floor beside him. He grabbed Harry's hands in his and squeezed them harshly.
"Your clothes don't have red in anymore" Joker noted, eyes raking over Harry. "That's dull."
"I needed to blend in" Harry said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You said I couldn't burn anything even though this place is boring, but I can't have people always afraid of me. It's not as fun without the surprise. I'll take them by surprise; I'll go all hobo on them and then bam, they're dead. "He turned to grin at Joker, and the older man smirked. Harry liked how every time he smirked or smiled the scars would widen.
Joker let go of Harry's hands and yanked the hat off his head. He trailed his fingers over the lightning bolt scar, tracing it.
Harry swiped his hand away and flattened his hair over his forehead. Joker simply raised an eyebrow and stood up. He left the room and returned moments later with a threatening looking whip in his hands.
"I ran into Catwoman" Joker explained, winking at Harry. He cracked the whip, the leather straps stopping right before Harry's face. The teenager didn't even blink.
The whip cracked again and Harry held his arm up towards the weapon. He licked his lips as he felt the stinging sensation, and Joker shut one eye and sighed.
"You know, I really can't decide if I like you being a masochist or not" he mused.
Harry grinned back at Joker, who moved nearer to him, this time making the whip strike his shoulder. Harry held in his hiss of pain, and reached his hand out, setting the end of the whip on fire. Joker cracked the whip into the air, laughing at the flames. His laughter became even heavier as he hit Harry again, seeing the lack of effect the flames had on him.
"Catwoman will not be happy; I said I'd return this to her only slightly bloodied. Never mind" Joker said, throwing the whip to Harry. He caught it easily, running his fingers along the burning ends. When he turned his attention back to the room, Joker was gone.
AoS
Harry awoke the next morning to a kick to the shoulder.
"What have you done to my clothes?" Harley exclaimed. "They're so dull" she said, repeating Joker's description of them from the day before.
"I went incognito" he answered, wriggling his fingers. Ivy was sat on the floor on the other side of the room. Joker was in the furthest corner reading a magazine, upside down Harry noticed. The trash that was in it probably looked better that way. "What do you know about Bruce Wayne?" he asked the room, twirling a lock of hair in his fingers.
"He's rich and a hunk" Harley giggled. "Bit of a playboy reputation too, ya know? Girls girl girls and parties."
"Nothing evil?" he enquired, looking sideways to try and read the front of the magazine.
"Nope. He's a goody two shoes. Shame really; he'd have looked good in our bed, don't you think Ivy?" Harley grinned at the redhead. Ivy shook her head in disgust.
"He's hiding something, something big. I wanna find out what" Harry told the room, smiling as everyone turned their full attention to him.
"I don't think so cutie. Besides, he's too rich to even be blackmailed; I've tried" said Harley, sitting next to Harry.
"The good ones are always the most evil" said Joker, speaking for the first time that morning.
"I'm going to go and see him" Harry muttered, doodling on the floor again.
"Wha-?" Harley started, Harry silencing her with a flame by her face.
"He nearly hit me with his car yesterday and he wants to make up for it, but I know he isn't good deep down. I'm gonna find out his secret and then I'm gonna burn him up for it" he hissed.
"Poor Brucey" Harley whined, but her eyes were lit up with a wicked gleam.
"Hmm" Joker began, looking thoughtful. "Imagine knowing all of little Bruce's secrets, how much chaos it would bring to the city knowing that their most perfect citizen is rotten to the core."
"Well I am on it" Harry cried, jumping up. He flashed the room the peace sign and practically leapt out of the room.
AoS
Harry was almost giddy as Harley helped him get ready to go out. He stayed in the same clothes as the day before, his hat pulled down to his eyes.
Harry had stared long and hard into the mirror, attempting a glamour charm. It had been dark last time he had seen Bruce, so he could do whatever he liked, and if Bruce noticed a difference the darkness could get the blame.
In the end he managed to change his eye colour to blue and hide the scratches under his eyes. On top of that, he managed to lighten his hair slightly, enough so that it looked different from usual. He also had the genius idea of getting Joker to give him a deep cut across his cheek, which he would use only when hiding under the name Regulus Evans.
He scowled as he looked in the mirror. "I look too normal" he complained. "Now this, this is dull" he said, gesturing to himself.
"Oh you look great; well not really, but you look like the sort of person who would be found under a bridge, and that's what we were aiming for" Harley said, grinning at him.
Ivy apparently had no interest in Bruce Wayne and had decided her gardens were the best place for her. Joker seemed to be in a mixed mood; he seemed positively excited at the thought of their plan, but at the same time he seemed almost angry at something.
Harry paid no attention to the man's mood and wondered what exactly Bruce Wayne could be hiding; he could be a master jewel thief or perhaps even a serial murderer. He knew that there was no way that Bruce could just be a good man; his own friends had supposedly been good to him but in the end they were all backstabbing liars. The entire world was prepared to betray anyone to suit themselves, and that would just not do.
When he deemed himself worthy enough to leave, he did a twirl in front of the mirror. He grinned, imagining himself revealing his true form to the billionaire before setting him alight.
Joker grabbed hold of him and shoved a balaclava into his hands; Joker already had one on.
"Let's go for a ride" Joker said grinning, pulling Harry by the wrist. He dragged him to the roadside before he stopped suddenly. For a moment nothing seemed to be happening; the road was quiet and nobody else was around. As a lone car came into view Joker winked at him, before jumping into the road in front of the car. Harry didn't even blink as the car swerved, slamming it's brakes on. The driver hurried out of the car, running over to Joker's form on the road.
"Oh God!" the person, a middle aged man, screamed.
In response Joker jumped up, knife in hand. The blade plunged into the man's chest over and over until he was a lifeless heap on the ground.
"Clean this up" Joker said to Harry. "We need to keep our streets clean from litter."
Joker broke into laughter as Harry waved his hands over the man's body and it went up in flames and soon it was nothing but ash. Harry kicked the ash into the air, running over to the car that had been left for them. Joker was already rooting around in the back seat, balaclava pulled down, freeing his face.
"Oh somebody has been reading naughty magazines" the older man said giggling. He ripped the magazines into pieces tutting. "What filth."
Harry grabbed the pieces off Joker, setting them alight and tossing them out the window. He removed the balaclava and handed it back to Joker.
"Liberty is such a funny name. These people aren't free; they're trapped in their own sucky worlds. Doesn't that suck?" Harry said, referencing to the name of the restaurant. Joker had started driving rather calmly down the road.
"They don't understand, most of them probably never will" Joker drawled, eyes glinting. "It is people like you and I, we, we are the true heroes of this world. We can free them."
"From life" Harry muttered, watching the people on the streets as they drove by. Joker cackled and sped up, driving slightly onto the curb, causing the children playing to scream and jump backwards.
The car eventually started to slow down in a much posher end of town. By posher, it meant that there were no homeless people on the outer streets, and any shady dealings were done behind closed doors. Joker pulled his balaclava back up to hide his mouth and he ducked down slightly. He stopped a few steps away from the restaurant, where Harry could see Bruce Wayne waiting.
"Just look at him, stood there all perfect. It's so wrong" Harry whispered, narrowing his eyes at the rich man. "He can't burn yet though. I need to know what he's hiding, and then he can suffer appropriately."
Joker leant over him to open the door and shoved him out. "Be good" he warned. "I don't want to have to kill Harley." With that he sped off, shouting "Don't even think about it Wayne. He's underage" at Bruce, making the man look slightly taken aback but surprisingly composed for someone having abuse shouted at them.
Harry strolled over to Bruce, who smiled when he saw him. That was when Harry noticed his smile didn't quite reach his eyes, and most importantly, there was something in his eyes, something dark and he should know; he saw the same thing every time he looked in the mirror.
"Regulus! I'm glad you could make it. But tell your...?" Bruce greeted, glancing in the direction Joker had left.
"Brother. He's overprotective; incredibly so" he said, nodding heavily, eyes wide.
"Right" Bruce said, shaking his head. "Anyway, shall we go in?"
Harry nodded, and Bruce led them into the pristine clean restaurant. The sight of it made Harry feel sick to his stomach. All the people in their fancy clothes, laughing with each other felt so false. He'd have to make sure it went down during opening hours.
"Ah, Mr Wayne, we have your table right this way" a waiter beamed. "Would the young sir be so kind as to remove his hat?" the man said, looking at Harry disapprovingly.
"No" Harry said, tugging it down. He found he liked the feeling of it. Bruce looked at him and shoved a note into the waiter's pocket.
"Very well. Follow me please."
They were led down to an area which was away from everyone else. It was perfect for privacy. Harry eyed the reserved signs on the tables surrounding them and wondered idly if Bruce had booked them all.
They got seated, and the waiter gave them their menus. He gave Harry one more disgusted look before giving them time alone.
"Don't worry about the hat; they won't argue with me" Bruce said, smiling once more. "You seem different from yesterday; I could have sworn your eyes were green."
"Yeah, you're right. I'm actually in disguise and I've used magical powers to do so" Harry said seriously, giving Bruce a pointed look.
"Forgive me. The darkness must have been stronger than I thought" Bruce apologised, pouring Harry a glass of water which he ignored. "I'll be paying for everything tonight so please, order what you'd like."
Harry hadn't expected it any other way.
"Do they do a children's menu?" Harry asked, looking at Bruce directly.
"I'm sure they do" Bruce said, beckoning over a waiter to ask for one. "How old are you exactly?"
"Oh I'm not a child, I just like the puzzles" he grinned. In all honesty, he didn't know how old he was. Either seventeen or eighteen, depending on what the month was.
Bruce gave him a weird look before he disguised it quickly, the waiter coming back with the menu. He winked at the server and the man backed away warily, turning to Bruce instead.
Bruce ordered for the both of them, Harry insisting he only wanted ice cream. Bruce seemed to laugh at the thought and ordered it without a fuss, much to the dismay of the waiter.
Harry squeezed a large amount of strawberry sauce over the top and tucked in.
"So Regulus...that's an interesting name" Bruce said, attempting to make conversation. Harry on the other hand had no interest in himself, or his false personality; he was much more intrigued with Bruce.
"All my family are named after stars" he said casually.
"Interesting" Bruce replied, swirling around the wine in his glass. "I have to tell you, it has been lovely to actually talk to somebody, err, normal. But you know, with what happened to my home it's nice to get away from everything."
"What happened to your house?" Harry asked; it was the perfect time to sway the conversation.
"You didn't hear?" Bruce questioned looking shocked, for once a fully genuine expression.
"I don't care for news" Harry answered, taking a spoonful of straight up strawberry sauce.
"Oh, well it got burnt down in an arson attack" came the reply, and Harry nearly choked; someone else burnt his precious flammables.
"Who, er, who did the er, arson?" he asked, trying his hardest not to look too much like he had planned to do it first.
"We haven't found out yet" Bruce replied, but the way he avoided eye contact told Harry that he was lying.
"Don't you have any other friends you can talk to?" Harry asked, tilting his head.
"I'm not really the type for friends like that" Bruce told him.
"There must be one?" Harry tried again; to get to Bruce's friends could work just as well.
"Well, a girl named Rachel, but we kind of have an on and off relationship. She's busy with work at the moment as well so I'm giving her some space."
"Oh, what does she do?"
"She's an assistant DA. She..." At this point Bruce broke into a ramble about the job description, but Harry only had one thought on his mind; a Rachel was who an assistant DA couldn't be all that common in Gotham.
"Dawes?" he interrupted. "Rachel Dawes?"
"Yeah, how did you know?" Suddenly Bruce looked fairly defensive.
"I've just heard it mentioned" he replied. He decided not to mention that he heard it from his psychotic ex cell mate who had been imprisoned due to her. If she had never done that, Hunter could have never hurt him. "Hey, you should introduce us. Then you two can reconnect without it being awkward."
The offer seemed to appeal to Bruce; it appeared that he was rather smitten with the girl. Shame she'd be long dead before he could get anywhere with her.
"Oh go on" he urged, fluttering his eyelashes.
"I guess" Bruce said, giving in. "Can I have your cell number so I can arrange something?"
"I can't give you my number; you have ten years on me" he answered, mocking shock. There was also the fact he didn't have a phone, but that wasn't important.
Bruce pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and scribbled his number down on it. Harry felt glee surge through him as he got handed one of the keys to his prize.
"We should go rollerblading" he told Bruce with a grin. "I'd like that."
"Okay" Bruce replied slowly. He still looked very unsure what to make of Harry.
A loud honking noise from outside caught their attention.
"That'll be my brother" he said, jumping up. "Thank you for the ice cream Bruce; the best I've had. I'll ring you to get on with that rollerblading date for me, you and Rachel." He flashed the man a thumbs up sign and literally bounded out of the restaurant. "See you around waiter dude" he called to the waiter who looked at him in contempt. In fact, all the diners were looking at him disapprovingly, only Bruce was in the background laughing.
Harry left the building into darkness but he easily found Joker sitting in a car.
"You're early" he told the man. "And I preferred the old car." The car Joker had stolen this time was a lot smaller on the inside.
"The last one had a little accident involving a young couple and a river" Joker responded, wicked grin on his face. "How'd your dinner go with Brucey boy?"
"Oh it was amazing. They do the best ice cream there."
"Did it come with sauce?" Joker asked seriously.
"Aha. Strawberry. Lots of it" he grinned.
"No, no, no, no. Raspberry sauce is the best."
"Na-ah" Harry said, shaking his head. "Strawberry wins. Guess what, I got his phone number!"
Joker had been about to say something fruit related when the last sentence caught his attention. "Bruce Wayne gave you his phone number?" he asked incredulously.
Harry nodded enthusiastically. "We're going roller blading together."
"I underestimated you Ace. You will really come in handy. It's just a shame how you feel about strawberries, but those sorts of things can be beaten out of you. Oh, by the way, if you reach in the back, I've got you a little present."
Harry shuffled round in the back of the car, hands resting on something large. He lifted the heavy object up, grinning as he felt the power the bazooka gave him. He looked out the window, waiting for something perfect to come along.
Eventually they neared a fire station and it made Harry bounce in excitement. What better way to protect his fires than by destroying the fire stations. He aimed the weapon through the window and fired, the force knocking Harry slightly into Joker, but he quickly looked forward to see the building in flames and ruins.
He sighed happily. Gotham had got themselves a new super villain.
AoS
I hope you liked the chapter. I tried to bring out Harry's childish side in this chapter a bit more, just so he isn't fire obsessed and emo all the time. Next chapter will be very Joker centric so yay.
I have new fanart which you should all go and check out ;)
First of all by Confeito - windwarzch. deviantart. com/ art / Fanart-Ace-of-Spades-251294028
and by DaydreamScribe - darkwolfyone. deviantart . com / gallery / # /d423tax.
They're both incredibly awesome, so thank you to you both :D Also, a thank you to Nightmare's Court who also drew an amazing piece, but unfortunately it's not online, so take my word for it :D
And of course thank you to all my readers and reviewers. ^_^
P.S - A couple of people have asked me, but just so everyone knows, Bruce isn't going to be romantically linked to Harry or Joker. I'm keeping his love for Rachel, despite my hatred for that character XD