"You know, for a doctor you sure have one hell of a left hook." the Joker commented, as she lay undressed and in his arms in bed later that day.
He had lit up a cigarette and pulled it to his lips, breathing in a long drag of it. She hadn't seen him smoke before as inmates of his level weren't allowed anything that could be used as a weapon and as he wasn't even allowed crayons, a lighter was certainly out of the question. Something about watching the smoke pour out of his mouth was so normal, and she nestled into his arms further with a content sigh.
She gave a small giggle. "I took regular self defence classes as soon as I moved to Gotham. Never know who might want to try ya." she replied.
He hmphed. "I'd much prefer a gun or knife, but I must admit there's nothing quite like a good sucker punch." he responded, before holding the cigarette in between his teeth.
He used his free hands to grasp the hand she had used to attack Jerry, lifting it up to his face to inspect the damage. Her knuckles were reddened and already bruising. The man wasn't light as he ran his thumb over the bumps, watching her face carefully as she hid her pained wincing as best she could, nervous that it would make him think she was weak.
"You could do with a better technique so you don't hurt yourself quite so much." he continued, dropping her hand lackadaisically and handling the cigarette in order to take another drag on it.
She looked up at him as she massaged her hand as lightly as she could handle. "Yeah, probably. Hitting someone bare handed feels a lot different to hitting a pad or bag." she replied. Her eyes then brightened as a smile formed on her lips. "Does that mean you're gonna teach me?"
He cocked an eyebrow at her and smirked. "Are you sure you can handle it?" he asked in humour.
She chewed her lip albeit she gave a half smile. "Well I'm a little nervous, but the best way to get better is to learn from the best, right?" she asked.
His free hand came up to caress her cheek, his touch was rough and his fingertips dug in more that she would have expected from a loved one. She pondered whether his infamous accident that had bleached his skin had also burnt off the nerves in his fingertips, making each of his touches so much harder than the ordinary person. Everything about the way he touched her was so careless and yet so addictive; even the sex was as if he was trying to consume her in every way. She curved toward his hand.
"Now that's my girl." he purred, before patting her hard on the cheek and drawing away.
He got out of bed and she took the time to admire his stark white body, his long limbs that were thin but wiry with strength, his boxer shorts green with masses of yellow smiley faces decorating them and she smiled in humour. She hadn't expected the lines of his muscles and bones to be so defined, nor did she anticipate the scars that littered his skin. When they had been intimate in Arkham he had kept his orange jumpsuit on and so she'd never really got to casually look at him in this way. The scars weren't like that of Victor Zsasz but they were numerous, ranging in size, shape and stage of healing depending on the area of his body they were on. She assumed they were from confrontations with the police and the Batman, some marks being from broken bones or gunshot wounds that healed over. Everything about his skin was so intriguing and she chewed on her lip to prevent her smile from growing too large.
He pulled on the clothes he had stripped off in the intimate moment with her: a white undershirt; a green overshirt; and purple dress pants. It wasn't the full Joker outfit she had seen on the news when he was performing, however it was enough that he looked the part.
She gave him a puzzled look before it set in and she hopped up from the bed. "Ya wanna do it right now?" she asked.
His grin grew. "Of course, pumpkin. People like me don't have time to waste."
Her breath hitched as her heart dropped down to her stomach. Nevertheless she kicked her legs out and got changed herself; she moved as fast as possible and followed her lover as he began to walk out of the room. He descended the stairs once again and the two of them crossed the recreation room without any trouble, Harley skipping with glee despite the nervous pit in her stomach. They turned down a corridor similar to when she had first entered except this time they took a different path, reaching a closed door with the words Gym written haphazardly on the wood. He pushed open the door and revealed to her that the room was a decently sized exercise room, quite obviously having been converted from the factory's old storage room as there was corrugated metal covering most of the very tall walls. There were boxes stacked in the corner in order to free up as much space as possible as the rest of the room contained equipment to work out with, nothing special but it was the basics such as free weights and a punching bag. Her eyes lit up as they fell upon a pair of gymnastics rings hanging at one side of the room.
The room contained a few henchman sparring or lifting weights and they paused in there motions as they caught sight of the two of them. Joker clicked his fingers and without any words his men knew to drop their equipment and head out of the room, not shooting any glances at the two of them as she slid past them out of the door. Soon enough she was left alone with the clown.
He turned away from her and she heard the signature sound of the door locking, stopping anyone from entering the room whilst he was training her. Or from letting you get out, Harleen thought with a nervous frown.
The man circled around to stand in front of her, as he grasped her by the shoulders. Her eyes flew from a distant area on the wall to his face, and she cleared her throat as she stood up straighter in an attempt to appear more put together for him.
He watched her with a cocked eyebrow before the corners of his mouth pointed upwards and he began to speak. "Don't look so nervous, toots, I'm not going to bite." he joked, raising a hand to pinch her cheek harshly. "Come on, show me you mean it.
She gave him the best smile she could muster in her current condition. "Righty-oh Mr J." she quipped, raising a hand to her head in a joke salute. It seemed to amuse him as a tittering laugh echoed from his throat and he released his grip on her arms, instead placing an hand on her back and leading her along to a gym mat in the middle of the room. With a quick inspection of it she noted the slight blood stains that had dried into the woven material of the mat, and she wondered how long it had been since the thing had been cleaned.
He appeared in front of her and held his hands up with a large grin plastered on his face. "Come on then, doc, give me your best shot. Hit me." he teased, his eyes bright with something she didn't recognise.
She hesitated for a moment before she gave a nod and swung her hand forward in a fist toward his palm. It collided and she looked at him for a response.
He sighed. "Harley, there's no point holding back - I saw what you could do earlier."
With a sheepish look she drew her hands back from him. She had indeed been holding back her strength but had hoped he wouldn't comment on it. "Sorry," she began, chewing on her lip. "I didn't want to hurt you."
Her words appeared to insult him as his face twisted to one of disgust as he looked her up and down. "You're a little girl, did you really think you'd seriously hurt me? Come on, Harl, I need to know that you're serious about this. That you're serious about joining this lifestyle." Once again he raised his hands and took a stable stance. "Now hit me like you mean it, baby."
"Alright." She raised her hands and took a quick breath in before smacking his hand with her fist hard.
"Now that's what I'm talking about." He grinned bright.
She gave his palm another hit, then another, each followed by his laughter as she ignored the stinging in her bruised hand, and the worry that she was hurting him. It was a hard thing to get over as he was someone that she cared for deeply, however with every punch he seemed to be enjoying their time together more and more.
After the fifth hit he stopped her and she looked at him curiously.
"Why don't we shake it up a bit, hmm?" he asked, lightly. She barely had time to consider his words before he was darting forwards and her head was smacked to the side, her view spinning.
She fell backwards onto her behind with an off. Holding her pulsating cheek she realised that he had struck her, and he didn't look too broken up about it either. He had never hit her before, hadn't raised his voice at her since the start of their sessions together and so she was thrown off by this sudden curveball.
"What the hell was that for?" she demanded with a lowered brow.
He was grinning at her despite what she assumed was his disappointment in her for not blocking his attack. Harley clambered to her feet without him offering to help her up, before he began to reply. "That was just a test. Hitting my palm won't do you any good at preparing you for the real world - there's very few instances where you'll be hitting an enemy that doesn't fight back."
She was still rubbing her cheek however she gave a nod. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. I just..." She trailed off.
He tilted his head. "What's the matter, pumpkin? Scared you'll get hurt?"
She crossed her arms around her. "Well... yeah, kinda."
The man gave a sigh. "Harley, you told me that in the past you were a gymnast, correct? Now when we were out performing on that mat, beam or uneven bars, did you ever worry about getting hurt?"
"Sometimes, yeah. When I was first starting out."
"And yet you still persisted in training, working your way up to the top in competitions until you were seventeen - little Harleen Quinzel, on her way to the Olympics. If you'd let a little thing like pain stop you then you wouldn't have gotten far at all. Why you've probably sustained more injuries than the average athlete in the effort to flip and spin yourself like you did."
She scratched her neck. His words rung true and she couldn't put whatever he was planning off any further. If she was going to run with the wolves then she would have to lay down with them too - eventually she was going to encounter some opposition and it was more than likely she would end up being hurt. Her last job hadn't required a lot of hands on but there had always been the possibility she was going to be maimed or killed, why should it be any different here? Apart from the fact that she was now on the side of the criminals and so she wasn't quite sure who she would end up being harmed by.
"Okay." she began carefully. "I'll give whatever you're planning a shot."
His grin lit up once again. "Atta girl. Don't worry, sweets, I'll go easy on you." he replied teasingly.
She pondered at what easy was for a man like him, and felt her throat dry up as she raised her fists to prepare for a fight. Without warning he swung his own fist forward at her, albeit she was more prepared and was able to block it with her arms. Her tactic moved to defence as he threw hit after hit in an unpredictable manner and she wasn't all that happy about trying to hit him back anyway. Unconsciously she was backing up away from him and didn't see it as a problem until she found her ankles knocking against a set of free weights that were set against the far wall. She couldn't hold up her defence for long if she was going to have her back hit the wall soon; in the few moments it took for her to try to think up a plan, the Joker raised his hand and smacked her in the jaw.
Harley cried out as her head lopped to the side violently. He took no notice however, pushing her down on the workout bench behind her and hitting her again and again in the face. She tried to hold her hands up to protect herself but they were of no use.
He gave a cruel sigh, not pausing in his tirade. "Harleen, you can't keep this up. I know what you're capable of, so stop resisting."
It hurt. Punch after punch and she could barely help herself, along with the idea that he was so casually about hurting her like this. He saw it as for her own good, that she was holding back and that this would help bring it out of her. Still, she was so scared of disappointing him that she felt something pooling in her stomach, and she squeezed her eyes shut.
Instinctually she tucked her legs out from under him and straightened them. The man gave a grunt as her feet met with his jaw in a satisfying crunch, knocking him backwards and off her. He stumbled backwards and she opened her eyes, leaping forwards and springing on her hands across the room. He watched her in awe as she performed a front handspring into a tuck, landing in a thump by the door, her breathing rugged. She guessed that he had broken her nose as it stung, blood dripping down her face and she swore quietly. As he stumbled to his feet she raised her hands and pressed her nose back into the correct position, as she had time and time again from many a broken nose in the past. She cried out once again as the pain hit her. Her eyes welled up with tears in response and she wiped them away, surely smearing blood across her face in the process.
He was approaching her fast and she gave a yell, swinging around with her best leg, which collided with his side. Blinking the tears and blood out of her sight she could finally see, and dodged the strike he tried to make to her stomach. She dodged the follow on strike he tried to make to her face and dove forwards, jumping to his shoulders, wrapping her thighs around his neck and tightening them, resulting in a choked gurgle from his throat. He raised his hands to rest on her legs before dipping his head down as best he could and tightening his jaw around her skin in a painful bite. She loosened her chokehold on him in order to escape his teeth however he used this to his advantage, digging his fingers into her legs and using his grip on her to throw her off of him.
Harley saw the room spin around her and she braced her muscles for impact. Her back met painfully with the wall as the air was knocked out of her. She slumped forward.
Her breathing was desperate and rugged, her attention turning from the pounding ache in her back to the clown, who was slowly approaching her; his walk was slow, as if he was teasing her, her heart burning to know what he was going to do to her. She had no broken bones - she'd had them enough times to be able to tell - however her lip was bleeding, and her nose would surely be bruised.
He was chuckling. "Come on, doll face, give Daddy a smile." he purred, kneeling down to where she sat.
Her brow creased at him as she crossed her arms over herself for some sort of pathetic protection. She looked up at him with wide blue eyes and ran a tongue over her split lip.
He was cruel - she couldn't deny it, however this was all a test to see if she could keep up. The man was no ordinary partner and there was something deep inside of her that was so desperate to stay with him, to keep him happy, to prove her worth.
And so she felt the sting as she pulled the corners of her mouth upwards in a smile, baring her teeth at him.
Despite her wincing as her nose began to bleed again, he was thrilled and leaned in to cup her face. "Even like this you're beautiful." he commented, stroking a thumb over the delicate bones of her cheek and jaw.
A giddy laugh spilled from between her lips as she leaned into his touch. "Did I do good, Mr J?" she breathed in question, her voice high and pitchy.
He chuckled once again and gave a nod. "Yes pumpkin. I'm sorry for going so heavy on you there but it's only to get you prepared you understand." he replied calmly, as if it were about a lighter topic.
Nevertheless she kept up her dopey smile. "Of course, I understand."
"And you're a strong girl, I'm sure you can take it."
She gave a giggle and struggled to her feet, feeling the way her muscles protested. "I'm just tip top, baby. I mean could an injured girl do this?" She straightened and with a running start she leapt into a routine of a cartwheel into a back handspring into a double tuck and fold in the air. Her landing was clumsy albeit she landed on her feet and raised her hands above her head in a traditional gymnastics finish.
His grin was magnificently large as he looked on at her. She stayed there, breathing heavy and feeling how her ribs ached with the movement; her arms dropped to her sides and she took a bow as he began to clap, slowly at first but genuine.
"Well aren't you just the little acrobat?" he asked in glee. "You'll be an interesting addition to the team I'm sure."
She beamed as his arm looped around her waist and pulled her toward him, her hands meeting his chest. He leaned down and lowered his voice so only she could hear, as if someone was listening.
"You'll be great, kid, I can already see it."