Chapter 11: Enemy of my enemy is a friendlier enemy

Harley paces back and forth, hoping her plan will work. It's colder now, the wind picking up and rustling the trees; otherwise it's dead silent.

"Bad choice of words," she murmurs looking at the head stones.

"You have a lot of nerve coming here," a deep voice rumbles.

Turning around rapidly, Harley's eyes land on the familiar outline of a certain vigilante. "Batman," she breathes out.

He cocks an eyebrow. "Why did you send for me? And to meet here of all places?" he asks staring past her to his parents' graves.

Working to maintain a steady voice Harley explains, "I needed you to know I was serious, Mr. Wayne. That this wasn't just some empty ploy to get you out in the open."

For a brief moment, Bruce's heart feels like it's stopped but he can't let her know she's right. "I don't fear you, or that insane boyfriend of yours," he counters roughly.

"Haven't you heard the news, batsy?" Harley says lightly, "I've thrown away my crown."

"What do you mean?" he asks suspiciously.

"I've left the Joker, for good." She goes to reach in her pocket but his voice stops her motions.

"Hold it right there Harley, let me see your hands." Smart man, he's taking no chances.

Putting her hands up Harley smirks, some of her cocky attitude surfacing by habit when she's talking to the bat. "Calm down, batboy, I just wanna give you something. And no, it's not a bullet or a knife or anything. It's what you've been waiting to get yer fingers on for a while now."

Still doubtful, Batman readies his batarang just in case, then nods for her to continue. Harley reaches in her jacket pocket and lifts out the disc. Walking forward, she extends it to him. "What's that?" he asks.

"All the information on every dead beat, sicko, and psycho in this town," she answers, "Whether you wanna believe it or not, I'm not all bad, batsy. I've just…done what I had to do to survive. It's been my plan the whole time to either get out or die trying."

"I don't follow, what exactly are you talking about?"

Sighing heavily, Harley explains everything starting with surviving the breakout at Arkham to what she's been doing all these years while playing punching bag to the Joker. Batman remains skeptical, but let's her talk. When she's done he's silent, mulling over her words. He's suspicious, can he really trust her? Or is that disc a set up to find out even more about him? A virus to wipe out what information he's already acquired on his own.

"Look, if you don't believe me, just use it on a computer you don't care about," she says exasperated.

"Why are you doing this? And why give this to me?"

"Because you're the only one who will fucking listen and you're not part of the corrupt system in this town," Harley says fiercely. Tears sting the edges of her eyes, "I know you've thought of me as a deranged stupid girl, an enemy lumped together with the rest of them. But…but you really are above the law Batman! You…you do what's right, even when it's hard. So, like it or not, in the underworld, you and I are a lot alike."

He doesn't respond other than to finally take the disc from her fingers.

Taking a deep breath Harley asks, "So…what happens now?"

"You know I can't let you go Harley, regardless of what's on this disc. You've committed crimes, killed people-"

"I don't need a recap of the shit I've done, Batman!" she shouts angrily, "I have a running record of fucked up nightmares and day terrors that follow me around."

"That's enough Harley," Bane says stepping into the clearing. He's been laying low per her request but he won't let Batman take her. "You have more than you need there, Batman. If you don't let Harley go, I'll break you…again."

Batman is less surprised by Bane's change in behavior than Harley expected, but then again he is a master detective. He probably figured out before the lot of them that Bane was just putting up an act. The two men stare at each other for a few moments before Batman breaks the silence. "I'll give you twenty four hours to clear out of Gotham, but if I hear word one of you picking up where you left off somewhere else-"

"You won't, I swear it! I'm gettin' out, I wanna get out…start fresh and all that."

Looking at the disc again Batman sighs. "This does not absolve you from your many sins, Harleen Quinzel." He turns away with a flick of his cape adding over his shoulder, "But it's a start."