Chapter 21

Harley lay unconscious in the Joker's arms, shivering hot and cold throughout the night. Her fever was getting worse and J feared she wouldn't make through till morning. He had denied himself sleep, just in case the worst happened.

"Oh Harley." He whispered, with one hand cupping her face. He stared deeply into her closed eyes, wondering if he felt love towards her like she did for him. He'd never loved anyone before and he wasn't really sure what it meant or felt like, well...apart from weakness that is. But Harley was his weakness, he'd changed his life for her, because of her and there was no way he could go back now.

As the night drew to a close and dawn approached, Harley's condition hadn't changed as she wasn't out of the woods just yet. But her temperature had reached a consistent level. The Joker pressed the back of his had against the side of her neck and smiled to himself as her pulse thumped harder than before. Taking This as a good sign, the Joker decided to slip off to grab himself some coffee.

J hadn't seen or heard from his henchmen since the incident and right now he didn't want to, at least not yet. After everything that had happened, he didn't want to go blind with rage, not around Harley, not when she was still in this condition.

"Harley baby, I'm just getting some coffee, don't go anywhere." He whispered, but he didn't mean physically. Joker lent down and kissed her briefly on the lips and crept down the stairs. He pushed open the kitchen door, smiling when he saw the bullet hole that Harley had embedded onto the wooden frame. But his smile was soon wiped off his face when he saw the kitchen table covered in her blood. The floor had red smears all over it and the knife, tweezers, first aid box and cloth were also covered in it, along with the shiny metal bullet which had been thrown in the sink. The whole kitchen looked like something out of a horror movie. But that's what life with the Joker was after all.

He swallowed the lump in his throat and turned his attention to the kettle. Placing it under the tap and waiting for it to fill, he placed it on the cooker and lit the hob. J lent back on the counter and watched the rising heat cloud the base of the kettle, as he waited for it to boil.

He slipped into his own thoughts, staring at his reflection projected onto the kettle, his previously white shirt now had tiny red hand prints on it, and there was blood on his chest and neck where she had tried to hold onto him, desperately clinging to every part of his body as she tried to stay awake.

The Joker growled, tensing his neck and teeth a the images from last night flashed through his mind. Had he made a mistake? Could he of saved her if he hadn't of been so focused on Crane? He didn't think Sam was a threat, he was just a love sick pup who wanted Harley for himself. It never even occurred to J that Sam would hurt her if she rejected him.

The whistle of the kettle immediately shook him from his thoughts. He'd never regretted his decisions before so why now? He just couldn't shake the feeling that he could of prevented her from being shot, if he had just paid attention. Anger boiled over he slammed his fist onto the marble counter and advanced onto the kitchen table, tipping it over with nothing but blind fury.

The Joker stood over the destruction breathing heavily. Someone was going to pay for this and he knew just the man.

After pouring himself a drink, he walked back upstairs. He sighed at the sight of the little blonde girl wrapped up in his silk sheets, and as expected, she hadn't moved a muscle. The Joker shuffled into the bed next to her and sat upright, nursing his cup of coffee, as she watched her.

Hours had passed before she finally came round. Harley's eyes fluttered open and she gave a sharp inhale of air. Her body shuddered when she released her breath.

"Harley?" The Joker said, moving towards her and cupping her face. "It's okay baby you're home, you're safe." He smiled.

"J?" She blinked, tears surfacing in her big blue eyes. "I'm s-sorry." Harley whimpered, trying to lift her hand to his face but instead, she cried out in pain.

"Don't move baby." He told her firmly, placing her back down on the bed. "Can you remember what happened?"

"I remember looking at you - your eyes, and then-" Harley stuttered, all the events of last night coming back into focus. Harley attempted to lift her arm again, not caring if it hurt, but the Joker noticed her determination and quickly climbed on top of her, stopping her from moving entirely.

He kissed her firmly on the lips, sighing as he felt her return it. J pulled away gently and looked into her face. "Sam shot you Harls. He shot you in the shoulder, so I brought you back here and got the bullet out. You went to sleep after that, I didn't think you'd make it." He confessed, tracing his thumb across her jaw.

"Sam shot me?" Harley asked, slightly confused.

"Yes, but don't worry about that now Harls, you're home, you're safe and I'll find that little shit. I swear to you, he'll pay for this."

"J-" Harley said, trying to get his attention, but before she could go any further, he stopped her from speaking by placing his finger over her lips.

"You're still tired baby, why don't you sleep some more, and then when you're well rested, I'll get you something to eat." Joker suggested, smiling down at her tired blue eyes.

"But-" She protested.

"No, do as you're told Harley, you're still recovering." He snapped.

"No J, listen to me!" She shouted, wincing slightly. "When Crane pushed me...I...I managed to slip my tracker into his coat pocket. W...we can track him."

Suddenly, a huge smile spread across his face, stretching from ear-to-ear. He never thought he'd smile like that again, not after last night.

"You're full of surprises kiddo, my resourceful little Harlequin." He muttered. His lips then found hers, slowly claiming them with every movement of his mouth. The last time they'd kissed like this, she'd nearly been ripped out from under his feet and he wasn't about to let that happen again.

"Now sleep." He grinned pulling away. Climbing off her, he walked towards the door, giving her one last look before he left.

...

The Joker raced down the corridor to his office, with a new found spring in his step. He opened up his laptop and logged onto his tracking program. J typed in the code that he had assigned to her tracker, and soon a dark blue page flashed onto the screen with a red dot pulsing against the map of the City.

Zooming in, the Joker could pin point Crane's exact location, it was an abandoned warehouse, located just a few streets away from Ace chemicals.

"Got ya!" He scribbled down the address and began writing an elaborate scheme to get his revenge. This time keeping Harley out of it.

Hours passed, and it was now noon when Harley finally woke from her slumber. Still in pain but feeling refreshed, she looked around to see the bedroom empty and her heart sank slightly. Remembering her confession of love last night, she was worried that she had scared him off, but she smiled remembering the way his face looked, how his eyes looked when he saw her wake for the first time this morning. But in truth they hadn't really known each other that long, and all the stuff she'd told Will in the club that night was true, she knew nothing about the Joker.

'Oh Will, poor Will.'

She pulled herself into a seating position, gritting her teeth through the sharp pain. When she was finally comfortable, she started to put the pieces together from last night. Will had tried to protect her, just like her father did all those years ago. "It's my fault." She whispered, picturing his cold body on the floor, alone and lifeless. He was so young, he still had his whole life ahead of him, and he was Harley's only friend in this place and now he was dead. Harley harshly wiped tears away from her face as she sobbed.

The door slowly opened and J walked in, still wearing that devilish grin that wouldn't leave his face. "What're all the tears about baby? We got Crane, all thanks to you!" He beamed.

"Yeah and thanks to me Will's dead!" She shouted, choking out another sob.

"Listen to me Harley, and listen good. Will was just an unfortunate accident, it's not your fault, he was just doing his job. He knew the risks." J explained, sitting down next to her.

"How can you be so emotionless about this!?" She snapped, ignoring how the Joker's smile turned into a frown.

"Look, he was just an employee, everyone's expendable." He replied, trying not to lose his temper. He shifted his position, moving closer to her. "Why do you care so much huh?"

"Because he was my friend!" Harley snapped, but her voice soon turned to a quiet mutter. "The only friend I had in this place."

"What did you say?" He growled.

"Nothing..." She whispered. She didn't want to provoke him, especially after everything he'd done for her, but she couldn't believe his careless attitude towards life and death.

"Look all I'm saying is...Will and I had a connection and now he's dead because he tried to protect me, if I hadn't been in the way. he'd still be alive."

"Connection?" Joker asked, a tang of jealously laced in his voice.

Harley sighed at his tone. "Not like that you idiot! He told me about himself, he let me in, and that's more than you've done with me! Of course we had a connection, it seems like I know - knew more about Will than I do about you!" Harley rolled her head back to the pillow and sighed again deeply. "I don't want to fight with you anymore, it's exhausting."

"Then don't! I think you're forgetting that I'm the Joker and if I let people get close to me, they get hurt." He explained, moving closer to her. "Will was just collateral damage, it couldn't be helped. If it wasn't him, it would of been you. It nearly was you! So I'm glad he died." He ran his hands through his green hair, which were slightly stained by her blood.

Harley turned to face him and for the first time since she woke, she noticed his blood stained face, hands, shirt and hair. His tired green eyes searched her face for a response. She met his gaze and spoke softly. "Am I expendable?"

The Joker smiled down at her. "Never." And with that, he held her face in his hands and kissed her passionately, allowing a low moan to escape her lips. And in Joker's own way, this was a close to love as he would ever get.