A/N: Sorry for the delay. I just moved into school on Saturday so I've been busy acclimating myself back to college life.

I enjoyed this chapter, it has some good twists and turns. Please keep reviewing, I always appreciate what you have to say! (smiley face)

I don't own DC Comics characters.

Chapter 14: The Best Liar

Oh, and the award for the best liar goes to you

For making me believe that you could be faithful to me

Let's hear your speech now

How about a round of applause? A standing ovation?

"Take a Bow," Rihanna

"Morning, bitch," he said immediately as he saw me.

I was already irritated and it had been less than 5 seconds in his presence, "Good morning to you, too, Mister J."

"Would you like to explain why you left me so suddenly yesterday and didn't decide to return?" he wasn't wearing his make-up yet today. His eyes looked bloodshot and weary, like he hadn't slept all night. His hair looked dirtier and stringier than usual, and his clothes hung on him limply. Basically, he looked like hell.

"What happened to you?" I asked.

"Not important," he said dismissively, "I'm asking what happened to you."

"I went home."

"No, you didn't. You went to Brucey's." he sneered, "I know you did. One of my informants saw you go into his office building."

"Fine, I did. I couldn't go home because I thought you'd have me followed." I admitted.

"So, what happened then? Did he fuck you? Did he make you fucking happy?" he stood up, fists shaking with rage, "No, wait; don't even tell me what he did! I don't want to fucking know any of it! I think I might vomit."

"Oh boo fucking hoo, ass-hole!" I stepped closer to him, "You can just imagine what Bruce and I did because you'll never know! HA!"

He shoved me, "Tell me!"

I shoved him back, "Don't you fucking touch me!"

He grabbed my shoulders tightly, "Do you even know what I've been through the last day and a half? I didn't sleep all night, Harley, because I worrying about you!"

"Let go of me!" I struggled to break free of his grasp.

His eyes were wild, "Harley, look at me!"

"No! Get away from me!" I cried, tears stinging at the edge of my eyes.

"Harley, why do you make me hurt like this?" His hand grasped my chin, and I recoiled, "Look at me, HARLEY."

I finally obeyed, seeing as I had no other choice, "What? What do you want to tell me?"

"I walked all over this fucking city looking for you. I had a group of my informants at all positions. I know you didn't go home. So where did you go? I racked my god damn brain all night, trying to figure out where to go. I didn't sleep, I didn't eat, all I could fucking think about was finding you so I could either kiss you or kill you. I hadn't decided which to do at the time." His eyes were sad, "How could you betray me like this?"

"What makes you think I betrayed you?" I asked indignantly, "And on that note, it's not like I belong to you."

"Well, Harley, I'd like to think that you do. I don't like seeing you with other men; I don't know how many fucking times I need to repeat myself."

"You are not my protector! You are nothing to me; don't you get it? I've fucking had it with your jealous attitude! I don't want to hear any more of it! I don't want it! I don't want your protection and I sure as shit don't want your love!" I pushed him hard and finally broke free. I sprinted for the door, but he got to me with an ungodly speed.

He stood in front of the door, "You're not leaving."

"Who the fucking hell are you to tell me what I can and cannot do?"

"Oh, I don't think you understand the gravity of this situation." The Joker then pulled out a gun.

I heard myself intake my breath sharply; the room seemed to close in around us…and all I could stare at was that gun in his leather-gloved hand.

His voice seemed far away as it said, "Tell me – right now – what happened between you and Bruce Wayne. If I suspect you're lying, I will kill you right here."

"No, you wouldn't." I didn't expect any courage to come from me at all. I was rooted to the spot, eyes still focused on the gun pointing at my chest.

…

I thought of that fatal day, the day of my would-be wedding…I remember how I felt in that moment, seeing the same rusted gun pointing at John, the bullet shooting in slow-motion toward him. I remember how I could barely hold back my scream as it passed through him, his body falling to the ground. I couldn't even think at that moment. I had been so foolish to think that the Joker would not take his revenge on me for leaving him.

I remember seeing the ambulance cart out all of the bodies, charred and disfigured, from the church. I was still sitting in my wedding dress, too tired and numb to move. A nurse tried to get me up from where I had been, telling me, 'Oh, honey, you've gotten your dress dirty.' Oh God, like that was the most important thing at the moment. I wanted to scream at her, ask her how she would feel if she had lost her parents and the love of her life in one fell swoop and if she could pretend to be ok, but I just didn't have the energy to do it.

I let them pull me up and bring me to the ambulance, checking me for any injuries. I had a few cuts and bruises from the glass, but otherwise I was alright. They spoke about me as if I wasn't there, saying, 'Poor thing…she seems too distraught to speak…' I blocked out everything. All I could do was play the scene back in my head what had just transpired and try to make sense of it.

And you know what? I never could.

…

"Harley?" the Joker repeated, more impatiently this time, "Get your head out of dream-land and talk to me!"

"I will tell you the truth." I said quietly.

"Ok, then what is it?" his hand gripped the gun a little tighter in preparation.

"Yes, I went to Wayne Enterprises. I was there for a grand total of like an hour and a half, ok?"

"I know that. What I need to know was what happened after you left the building."

"I'm getting to that part. Bruce took me back to his house, and we had some dinner, drank some wine, and talked."

His hand was trembling, knuckles turning white.

"And then Bruce and I kissed." I said, "We kissed and we went to his room and we made love. You wanted to know. And now you do, so you might as well just kill me. I have nothing else left."

I closed my eyes, and waited for the shot.

It didn't come.

I opened one eye, and saw him on his knees, gun on the floor.

"Mister J…" I said softly, sinking to his level.

"Don't say anything." He snapped.

I immediately shut up.

"You and Wayne…" I could tell he was trying to work it out in his head, "You two fucked."

"Yes," I affirmed.

"So you lied to me, then."

"I never lied. You never gave me a chance to explain myself. You said you didn't want to know." I protested.

"SHUT UP!" he roared, knocking me backwards, "You know how much I care about you, Harley! I love you! You do this to me and expect me to just stand by?! Now I fucking understand what it's like to be betrayed in the worst way possible! I could very well kill you right now!"

"Then do it. I'm not stopping you." I said.

"Oh no, no, no, Miss Harley Quinn, that would be just too damn easy. I'm going to have to get Brucey involved with this." He said, slowly standing up.

"No…" I whispered.

"Oh, yes," he grinned for the first time today, a truly terrifying, wicked grin that suggested murder on his brain.

"You can't." I said, a little braver now.

He stooped down to face me, only a few inches from me, "Watch me."

I was struck with horror, "He's innocent, please…he doesn't know anything about us."

"Bullshit he doesn't," he snarled, "You're a fucking little gossip. I'm sure you've told him everything, about how I killed your precious parents and how I influenced Jordan to kill your sister…"

"What?"

"Oh, fuck," his eyes flashed a hint of fear, "That came out…really wrong."

"You said you didn't kill my sister." I got my strength back, standing up, eyes narrowed.

"Not exactly," he said, "As I said, Jordan was in the cell next to me. When he told me that you had been staying with Maggie, I was furious. I decided to get my revenge. I told Jordan that I would pay him 10,000 bucks if he would off your sister."

"His own girlfriend? Why would he do that?" I scoffed, "You're lying!"

"I'm not!" he exclaimed, "I swear on my life that I'm not. Jordan and your sister were drug dealers."

"They were…wait…what?! I would know if my sister was a fucking drug dealer!" I sputtered.

"It's not the drugs you would think." He shrugged, "It was like prescription pills, like morphine, codeine, that kind of shit. They may have dabbled in Ritalin and stuff like that, too, but I'm not sure. How the hell do you think your sister got into Cornell and made it into the med program?"

"She was no idiot." I bit my lip, but it was starting to make some sense, "Why would she need the money, though? My parents were paying her way through school."

"Well, from what Jordan blabbed about him and your sister, the two of them had a pretty lucrative business, and with that came more knowledge. The school threatened to kick the both of them out, and your sister and Jordan had been paying them off for months."

"He went there, too?" I didn't know anything about this mystery man. I made a mental note that if I survived this, I would have to pay him a little visit.

"Yeah, he was an economics or business or some shit like that, whatever. He said that they got a lot of the prescription pills from your father."

"My father? But he…he didn't know, did he?" I was starting to lose my firm belief that Maggie was as good as she seemed.

"I think he knew but he was too afraid to tell her otherwise. Jordan is no pencil-thin man, and he had some very powerful friends. I think your father just let them keep doing it because he was afraid of losing his practice."

"How do you know all of this?" my jaw was dropping lower and lower every sentence that came out of his mouth.

"Jordan told me," he said simply.

"Is this Jordan still in prison?"

"Yeah…why?"

"I think I'd like to speak to him myself."

"Go for it." He shrugged, "Not my problem."

"So, you're going to let me…live?" I asked slowly.

"For the time being," he replied, "I'd like to see what happens with you and this Jordan character."

"Great, thanks," I said sarcastically, "So, you expect me to be on a string until you decide to act on the knowledge you found out?"

"Yes, that is pretty much exactly what I plan to do."

"You're a bastard." I sighed.

"I know."

"Don't act like we're back to normal." I said warningly.

"I'm not," he said, "I don't trust you at all, Harley. I never have and never will. I am choosing to be somewhat forgiving in this moment because I care about you, and I could never kill you myself. It would break my heart to do it."

"What are you going to do to Bruce?"

"That's for me to know and you to find out," he winked.

I was getting the sinking feeling that this was far from over.