Almost instantly, a raging fire of bullets zipped towards them, making them scramble like a pack of bewildered rabbits as Harley led them forward. The child was screaming and squirming in terror as she pulled him by the wrist.

Snarling, Poke pulled out his gun and fired it at the GCPD members. Cutter raced to his side and fired also, hitting several men in the process. With the Commissioner's attention focused on Cutter and Poke, Harley was able to move forward, Rocco and Henshaw at her heels. Dragging the boy with all her might, she and the cousins leapt forward into the shadows of an alleyway, slinking up the nearest fire-escape and making their getaway.

From above, Harley began firing down below at the men, hitting several in the shoulders and legs. She giggled at their startled cries of pain, leering over at the Commissioner's pale face as he looked up at her in disbelief. Poke and Cutter saw this as their chance and dashed around a corner, running down the block.

"Let the boy go," the Commissioner said through the megaphone he was holding.

Harley grinned and stuck out her tongue. "Nope. Sorry, Commish. The brat comes with me. Keep firing and I'll see to it that he gets hit instead of us. Wanna send out a few test-fires to see if I'm lying?"

The lines on the Commissioner's face grew more prominent with frustration and she knew that she had him.

"Men," Commissioner Gordon said in a choked voice. "Hold fire…"

Her grin widened. "Thanks a heap, Gordo! But just to make sure that you don't follow us…" She threw her patented smoke-bomb at them and giggled as she and her companions loped away on the rooftops.

"Men, keep moving! Maybe we can still catch them."

Smiling over her shoulder, Harley knew that they wouldn't.

XxX

Cutter and Poke met them again under an overpass. They were both panting, but glad to have been mostly unharmed. Cutter had a small wound on his face from where a bullet had just grazed him, but he seemed to be at ease and ready to do whatever was asked of him.

"Seems like all we do is run," Poke said snidely, leaning against the wall as the sound of cars blared above. "Without the Bat around, it's getting awfully boring having to just evade the GCPD. We should try to heat things up a little. Bring a little fire next time…"

The boy was still squirming, trying to bite Harley's grasp away as she still held him. Poke's eyes locked on the child's and he sauntered forward, giving the young fellow a malicious grin.

"What should we do with the squirt now that we don't have transportation back to the hideout? He's just useless to us now. Should I take care of him, Harley?"

"Not just yet. We might need him for later use. Spread out and look for transportation. If there's a parked van nearby, I know Rocco could certainly hotwire it."

Rocco blushed and smiled. He was good at hotwiring.

Suddenly, the little brat managed to actually wriggle away from her grip, running drunkenly forward up the slant that connected the overpass.

Harley ran after him, her eyes blazing. The kid sure could run for someone with such little legs. It was like chasing a small, quick mouse. The boy was breathing hard and was clearly panicking because he was beginning to run dangerously close to the…

Road…road!

In one great leap, she dove forward and caught the boy by the hood of his small yellow jacket just as a speeding car whizzed by, pulling him back and tossing him roughly to the ground once she had pulled him back under the over pass. Her boys were silent and said nothing.

"Dumb brat! You wanna get torn to pieces? Those cars will waste you more painfully than any bullet. Little idiot."

The boy looked up and blinked. "You…you…"

She snarled and knocked him to the ground with her foot. But the twerp still stared up at her with a sort of sick wonder. It was if he had seen her for the first time.

"Why'd…why'd you…?"

Cutter came forward and touched Harley's shoulder. "You're breathing kind of hard. Harley. No one can see us. Let's rest her for a while."

"…"

"Do you still want us to set out right away? If we're bringing the lad that means that we've got to look for a van that can seat six of us."

"…No. Let's just rest here for a while."

Cutter nodded and walked away, pushing the other with him.

"Great," Poke muttered under his breath. "It looks like I'm not going to be spilling any blood after all."

Harley towered over the boy, flaring her nostrils like an animal. She wasn't holding onto him anymore, but the boy wasn't trying to run. Why?

"You saved me," the boy breathed.

She glared at him and sniffed. "Feh. I didn't want you dead because I'm just going to kill you later after I broadcast another little video to GCN."

"You're not really…a bad lady after all, are you?"

"Of course I'm bad!" she screamed, shoving him hard into the ground again. "You're mommy should have told you more about me. I'm not about to do that kind of thing again, ya brat. You'll be worm-food in a few hours."

"You're lying," he said with large, all-knowing eyes. "You don't want to."

She gasped and growled low in her throat, pulling out her knife and pinning him to the ground as she held it up to his throat. "What about now then, huh? Are you going to make me break my Vow? I bet you would. Brats like you are born to torment me. It would be better if you weren't alive."

There. That would do it. The brat had to have been scared by all that. After all, he'd been so annoyingly frightened in the events beforehand. But to her disbelief, he was actually silent and staring at her with what looked like…

Pity? Pity?

"My mommy always says that there's good in everybody. You were good. You kept me safe."

She pulled away, her hands shaking. "Damnit. Shut up."

"You're working for that clown-man, right? Why are you working for him if you aren't really a bad lady?"

Her eyes were blue ice as she stared at him. "Didn't your mother ever tell you to stay out of other people's business?"

He smiled. "Nope. Ha ha!"

He was laughing. Was this for real?

"You sound awfully cheery for someone in the company of a wanted criminal. You were screaming your head off a few minutes ago."

"But I see now that you're not a bad one."

"…"

"Please let me go? I won't tell anyone about this, not even my best buddies, Johnny and Keith from class. Please?"

"Why should I? You're a hostage."

"But why? Why do you want to do that to me?"

"You're one of the fools that this city breeds. You'll grow up to be just as blind and foolish as all the others. You'll take misunderstood people like my Mr. J and lock him up. Your kind is nothing but a bunch of savages."

"Then why are you the one holding the knife?"

"Shut up! Because of idiots like you, my poor Puddin' has to suffer day in and day out! All because of your blindness and ignorance."

He crept forward and tugged on her sleeve, staring into her eyes. "But lady…I haven't done anything. Why are you so angry?"

"…"

"Please tell me! You don't have to be so angry. My mommy always tells me to listen to what others have to say. So why are you angry? Let me help you…like you helped me."

His eyes were filled with a compassion she hadn't seen in a long time. It was right then and there that she realized that she wasn't just staring into the eyes of a little boy. She was staring at herself.

Kill him. Kill him now. The hell with your Vow.

But she couldn't. The little twerp had done something to her…softened her slightly. As Dr. Harleen Quinzel, she had always liked children. Sure, she didn't know how to really interact with them, but she had liked them all the same. The non-bratty ones that was. This child, this odd little boy…he understood her somehow. She didn't know why, but the squirt actually saw through her.

And no matter how much Harley Quinn screamed for his blood, Harleen Quinzel wouldn't allow her to slice the knife into him.

In silent anguish, she turned her back towards him. "Go. Go home to your mom. Don't ever speak of us."

"Huh?"

"Go home! Leave me! Get lost."

He blinked and cocked his head. She turned and gave him a sad smile.

"I can't kill you I guess. You better scram before I change my mind."

He backed away and stared at her solemnly. Before scampering off, he whispered softly to her. "I'm sorry." And then he was gone.

She crouched and sat there in silence for a few minutes, closing her eyes and listening to the sound of cars. Then she got to her feet and went over to where her crew was waiting.

"Where's the kid?"

"I let him go. He was too much of a hassle anyway."

Poke seemed to be about to protest, but Cutter hushed him as he stepped forward.

"We should get going now. I think there's an SUV parked in that alleyway over there. We can use that to get back."

"Yeah. Let's go."

She was silent the whole way during the ride back to the hideout.