It was a couple hours before the man finished cleaning up the blood and guts from the room downstairs. Once he did finish, he dropped his shirt in the trash, the white stained almost completely red, and headed upstairs to the apartment. When he entered, he heard soft hisses coming from the bathroom attached to their bedroom, and slowly moved over. Lucifer, the little black kitten who wasn't so little anymore, meowed at him on his way by, and he scratched him behind the ear. Moving into the bedroom, Joker approached the bathroom door and knocked.

"Harley?"

"M…Mistah J?"

"Open up…"

After a bit of hesitation, she clicked the lock and opened the door. His eyes took in her nude form, trailing over the bruises that littered her body, from her neck down to her hips, and he winced visibly.

"God damn….I…"

Biting her lower lip, and not answering should he grow angry again and take it out on her already battered body, she simply watched him closely, gauging his reaction. Stepping forward into the bathroom, he let a finger trail down her body gently.

"I…I'm SO sorry…I didn't actually HURT you, did I?"

"My neck kinda hurts, actually."

Wrapping a gentle arm around her waist he pulled her close to his chest and sighed. Hesitantly, she lifted her arms and let one hand rest on his chest, the other looping around his neck. His lips gently pressed against the bruises littering hers, and he again let out a soft sigh.

"You know I'd never intentionally hurt you…right?"

"Oh puddin, I know. I made you angry, or rather, you were already angry and I pushed you over the edge. I'm sorry."

Releasing her when she moved to step back, he watched her closely, shaking his head at seeing the open wounds on her hips from his nails. She pulled a shirt down over her body and moved by him to sit on the bed, patting the spot next to her. Joker moved over and sat down, laying back when she pushed on his chest. A few minutes later, she laid down as well, ear over his heart.

"I love you, puddin. No matter what you do to me, I'll always love you."

A soft chuckle escaped the King of crime, and he pressed his lips to her forehead. The next few days passed quickly, with Joker making sure Harley got whatever she wanted. It was on one of those nights, where the two of them were out robbing stores and causing generalized mayhem, that Nitros made an appearance again. Skidding to a halt as the man appeared in front of the car, the clown growled and told his Queen to stay inside before getting out to face the new hero.

"What do you want from me?!"

"I want you to remember what happened, what it was that made me this way! Come on Jackie-boy!"

At hearing the nickname from his past, Joker froze where he was standing, eyes wide in disbelief. Nitros, seeing his expression, smirked and chuckled.

"That ring a bell? If you remember, you'll know where to find me."

With a flash of light, the man was gone, leaving the King of crime alone with his thoughts. Shaking his head, the man climbed back into the car and silently headed back to the club. The pair of clowns sat down in his office, and Harley cautiously prodded him to share his thoughts.

"There's only one person who's ever called me Jackie-boy…ONE."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~FLASHBACK~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was near sunset one night in Gotham City, and a sleek black car pulled into the garage of the T.J.N auto-shop. The owner poked his head out of the office, and when he saw who climbed out of the car, he shook his head.

"Where'd this one come from, Jack?"

"People really need to stop leaving these nice cars unlocked!"

"One of these days you're gonna get caught."

"By who? Pretty sure the Bat doesn't go after petty car thieves, Ty."

"Y`know those guys that run around in blue? The POLICE? Yeah, THEM."

Rolling his eyes, Jack walked over and punched the other man in the arm playfully, grinning at him.

"It's not like I'm keepin` it, man. Just wanted to take it for a spin. One day, I'll be able to afford one of my own."

Walking over to the car and making a wide circle around it, Tyler let out a low whistle. Jack smirked and leaned against the wall, watching him examine the Mercedes.

"This IS a nice car."
"See? I don't just steal any old piece of shit."

"You're insane, little brother."

"Hey! I'm only younger by a few minutes!"

"Still younger, Jackie-boy. Come on, you can give me a ride home, and then RETURN this car to it's proper owner."

Grunting, Jack climbed back into the Mercedes and turned the key, bringing the car roaring to life. Tyler climbed into the passenger's side and couldn't help but grin at the power he could practically feel.

"You wanna take it for a joy ride, dontcha, Ty?"

"Shut it, little brother."

With a laugh, the pair of brothers headed home, exceeding the speed limit as they did. Once he dropped Tyler off at home, Jack drove the car back to its parking spot and got out, leaving a note that read:

"Thanks for the ride, had fun."

Leaving it on the steering wheel for the owner to find, he climbed onto his motorcycle that was hidden out of view and headed home again. Once there, the two of them shared a quick dinner before retiring to bed. Over breakfast the next morning, Tyler tried, yet again, to get his brother to work at the auto shop with him.

"I could use the help, Jack…it'd be honest money, and it'd be a family-run business. Think about it, little brother."

"I've told you, I'm not working in some greasy auto-shop! I love you, brother, but its not happening."

With a sigh, Tyler watched as his brother headed out to go do whatever it was he did during the day. Finishing his breakfast, the older Napier went to work, opening his shop. As usual, about sunset, Jack drove in with a new car that he'd stolen for a joyride. This time, it was a dark purple, almost brand new Lamborghini. Tyler's eyes went wide when he saw the classy car, and immediately yelled at his brother for taking something so expensive.

"Oh calm down, man! No one saw me!"
"I don't care! Take it back, now! A car like this is going to be missed immediately! Jack, you've gone too far this time!"

"What the fuck's stuck in your tailpipe, man? It's not like I killed the guy to get this thing."

Grunting, Tyler moved over and got into the car, opening the dash and looking for any paperwork that might tell him who his dimwitted brother had stolen from. When he found what he was looking for, he paled and chucked the book at Jack. He fumbled a bit before catching it and looking down at the name printed on the papers spewing out at him.

"Oh fuck…"

"You stole from the biggest arms dealer in Gotham!"

A sudden ticking noise got the attention of both brothers, and together, they moved to the back of the car and opened the trunk. Staring them right in the face was a bomb, counting down from five. Both of them turned to run, but Tyler's foot got caught in a cable hanging from his car lift, and he fell. Turning, Jack moved to go back in, but was too late as the bomb went off. While the explosion was small, the flying debris from the back of the Lambo pierced two Nitrous Oxide tanks a few feet away, and they caused a much, much larger explosion. Jack was sent flying back, across the street as his brother's shop was engulfed in blue and green flames.

"TYLER! Oh fuck!"

When paramedics and firefighters arrived, Tyler was pulled from the building, miraculously clinging to life. Jack went to the hospital to visit his brother every night for the next week, before his stealing and life of crime finally caught up with him. On a night when he was walking back towards his house, Jack had a run in with batman, and not wanting to go to jail, ran. Somehow, the man ended up inside the ACE chemical factory on a catwalk overlooking multiple vats of different solutions. Batman followed, and the two of them had a tussle, with the Bat knocking the young man off the catwalk and into one of the vats below. After a few minutes, a hand broke the surface, and Jack climbed out of the chemicals, landing with a yell on the floor as his skin burned.

Grabbing a hose that had been on the floor, more than likely from the workers washing stray chemical from it when the plant closed, he sprayed himself, cleaning the solution from his skin. When he turned, and saw his reflection in the glass on the tank next to him, a strangled yell escaped him and he fell to his knees. His skin was pale white and his hair was bright, neon green. Leaning forward, he rested his forehead on the ground and let out another loud, pained yell, that before long morphed into demented laughter. Once the laughter died down, he stood up and stumbled his way out of the factory, stealing some new clothes from an unlocked locker on his way out. Batman was nowhere to be seen, a fact that made the man sneer as he made his way to the apartment he'd shared with his brother Tyler.

Once there, he piled his belongings into a backpack and grabbed the keys to his motorcycle. Climbing onto the sleek purple bike, he tore down the street, helmet hiding his new appearance from the public.

END FLASHBACK~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seated across from her King in the office, Harley stared, dumbfounded at what he'd just revealed to her. Leaning forward, Joker rested his forehead in his hands, grumbling to himself.

"So….he blames you for the explosion?"

"I'm the one who stole the car and brought it to his shop, so yeah, he does. Rightfully so, too."

Moving over, she rested her hand on his back, rubbing lightly as he groaned and laid his head on his arms at the desk. After a few minutes, he sat up again and turned, reaching out to pull Harley into his lap, resting his forehead against her shoulder.

"I know where he wants me to meet him."

"You're not going by yourself, are you?"

"I have to, Harls. This is my fight, not just with him, but with my past. It's something I HAVE to do myself."

"Just…promise you'll be careful, puddin."

"Don't worry, baby, I'm comin` back in one piece."

Pressing a gentle kiss to her lips, he eased her off his lap and stood up. She stepped back to allow him to get by her, but caught his wrist at the last second, wary of letting him go off to face Nitros alone.

"Mistah J…"

"Shhh, don't worry. I'll be alright. You're in charge until I get back, and I'll call you as soon as I finish."

With a slight nod and sigh, she pressed a kiss to his cheek before he swept out of the office and outside. Climbing into the Lambo, he shook himself a bit before pulling out onto the street and heading towards where he and Tyler used to live before their lives changed so drastically.

AN: FLASHBACK! WOO! I know this backstory isn't anywhere near his real one (besides the chemical part) but I wanted to give him my own origin story! I hope no one minds that. PLEASE, if you want to give me ideas/suggestions do so in a PRIVATE MESSAGE and don't spam the reviews with them. I will reply to messages as quickly as I can. Thanks for reading!