The ride back to Joker's hideout seemed to take forever. Her mind was racing the whole time, she was unable to rest or fall asleep. She only hoped he would be okay. It had only been about an hour by the time they got back to the hideout. She got out of the van, watching as the goons climbed out and began hauling the crates they managed to grab from earlier. It was actually pretty impressive what they managed to take considering how badly the situation turned out for them. Oh well, more important things to worry about. She walked up to the large steel door of the warehouse, stepping inside and pushing past two goons carrying one of the crates into the cellar. She heard commotion coming from the Joker's room, pushing open the door. She saw a door to the right side of his room that was slightly ajar, where she pinpointed the commotion coming from. She pushed open the door slightly, where before her she saw four or five goons surrounding the Joker's body. His bloody clothing had been tossed on the floor; he sat on the lid of the toilet with only his pants still on. She could see fresh blood still dripping from his wounded shoulder, as well as his side. His once neat and slicked back hair was now messy with sweat and blood, strands of curled hair hung down in front of his eyes. When she tried to walk inside, she was blocked by one of the larger goons. She peered past his frame, watching as the others tended to the Joker's wounds. One of them took a bottle of cheap vodka out of the medicine cabinet on the wall, pouring it into the Joker's wounded shoulder. He let out a sharp gasp as the alcohol stung his skin. One of the other goons was fishing around through a cabinet, before finding a pair of needle-nosed pliers. He walked over by the Joker, where the other person tending to him poured some of the vodka over the pliers. He looked down at the Joker, who was panting slightly. "This will probably hurt a bit, boss." The Joker scoffed at him. "Yeah no fucking shit. Just get it over with quickly." He obeyed his boss's orders, digging the pliers in to the wound, emitting another loud gasp from the Joker. She watched as he gritted his teeth, his face contorted in pain. A short amount of time later, the goon pulled the tip of the bullet out of his flesh. She heard a loud sigh of relief from the Joker, who stopped gritting his teeth. He then looked up and noticed her standing there. He then pushed the goon away from him. "All of you, get out. Now. Except her." She felt her heart flutter when he alluded to her. "But boss, we haven't fini-" The Joker shot him an annoyed glance. "I can take it from here. Go, now." They turned back around, walking past her and heading out the door, the last one closing it behind him. Harley turned her attention back around to the Joker as he stood up. His body was robust and muscular, but riddled with bruises, scrapes and scars. She shot him a look of concern. "Shouldn't you see a real doctor?" He looked over at her, chuckling quietly as he picked up the bottle of vodka from the ground. "Heh, probably." He poured some of the vodka on to a nearby rag, dabbing it on his side, inhaling sharply as he did so. She walked over to the bathtub on the wall perpendicular from him, sitting on the ledge and looking at the floor. She looked up again as he rummaged through a cabinet underneath the sink, pulling out a roll of gauze and some medical tape. He sat back down on the toilet, unraveling the gauze. "So, before we were uh, interrupted earlier, you wanted to ask me something?" He tore a piece of gauze away with his teeth.
She felt slightly revitalized that he actually remembered and acknowledged her question this time instead of just blowing it off as he had done before. "Oh, right." She cleared her throat, watching him rip off pieces of tape with his teeth and dressing his wound. "I was just wondering, um..." She tried to think of the best way to word this. He looked over at her, raising his eyebrow at her again as he had done so repeatedly. "It's just that uh, you're known for being sort of, um...merciless..." He giggled, tearing another piece of gauze for his side. "Yeah, I guess you could say that." She felt her face flush slightly, scratching her head awkwardly. "So...if you're so merciless, why have you let me live for this long?" He smirked, standing up and running a hand over his head, brushing the stray pieces of hair away from his face. He walked over to where she sat, kneeling down to her eye level. He moved close, so his face was a mere inch or two from hers. She sat there, staring into the ebony rims of black surrounding his eyes. His face distorted as he grinned at her, his lacerated scars nearly reached his ears. He licked his ruby colored lips, chewing on his bottom lip slightly. The room was filled with silence. All she could hear was the faint sound of their breathing, until he broke the silence.
"You aren't afraid of me, are you?" The Joker grinned at her eagerly, studying each and every miniscule of her body language scrupulously. She watched his hazel eyes studying her, like a predator would watch its prey. It was almost as if he was waiting for her to make a mistake so he could pounce. She took a deep breath, shutting her eyes as she inhaled. She exhaled slowly, opening her eyes again and taking in the sight of him before her.
"No, I'm not afraid of you."
The Joker squinted his eyes at her, his grin growing even wider.
"And that's exactly what I like about you."