Chapter 16: Shattered Pieces That May Never be Replaced

"For heaven's sake I know you're sorry.

But you won't stop crying.

This Anniversary may never be the same

Inside I hope you know I'm dying.

With my heart beside me

In shattered pieces that may never be replaced."

"Three Cheers for Five Years". Mayday Parade

The Joker was prone to paranoia, he knew this.

But the bracelet being from the same jewelry that belonged to Peter and Wendy and had been blown up just today?

That was too much of a coincidence.

Any sane person could see that.

An insane person would try to find out what was going on by taking extreme measures.

And stealing her phone and going through her contacts wasn't extreme.

This was calm. This was basically normal behavior.

It had been Johnny's suggestion, because he thought tying Jester to a chair and torturing her was too much.

"Darling?" Jester came into their shared bedroom and for a second he thought he saw her falter, saw something in her gaze shift. She looked at him and at the phone in his hand and her smile wavered slightly. "What are you doing?"

"Going through your phone." He explained and looked at the device in his hands. "Wendy said they're starting, what are they starting exactly?"

"Well..."

"And why do you even have someone called Wendy in here?" He stood up from the bed and threw her phone against the wall "That's Harley's friend."

"It's a common name."

"No." He smiled and there was nothing kind in it. "That's a made-up name." He spoke with extra, fake cheer that made her flinch as he came closer. "Where's Harley?"

"She's in Neverland with Peter and Wendy, you know that."

"I'm not playing around, girl." He pulled out his diamond embedded pistol and held it against Jester's head. "Where is she? What have you done?"

Jester, Jessica, looked up and stared deep into the eyes of the mad-man.

And she laughed.

She laughed loudly and hysterically.

"What haven't I done?!" She giggled. "I planted the pregnancy test, I had a homeless girl pee on it and gave her 200 bucks for it." She was still chuckling even as he pressed the pistol harder against her temple. "It was so easy, Mr. J. So, so so easy." She swayed, grinning. "You were so fun to play."

"Where's Harley?" He repeated.

"You know I gave her pills. I mixed them in with her drinks, had her puking all day and night." She grinned.

"Where is she?"

"Probably in hell by now..." She giggled. "Where she belongs."

His eyes were wide, he was close to beating her to death with his bare hands, but he had to play this right.

Harley was in trouble.

He didn't have time to traipse around Gotham trying to find her.

"Where's Harley? I will kill you fast if you tell me. I promise."

She cocked her head to the side, her eyes narrowing to slits as she regarded him.

"Don't you care why we did it?"

"No." He muttered. "I only want to know where Harley is." His gaze went to the bedroom door. He'd have to send Johnny to Neverland. It was a long shot that they would actually be there, but he had to try nevertheless.

"Oh, Mister J." She sighed. "Do you even know who Ronan was?"

The pain was unbearable.

Harley blacked out every now and then much to Wendy's annoyance and Peter's amusement.

They burned her with cigarette marks, causing her to scream in pain. They held her head under water until she blacked out and then repeated it once she regained consciousness.

Because she hadn't taken off her clothes voluntarily Wendy had burned them until they were shreds and her skin was raw.

They beat her with whips and sticks.

Harley had never seen so much hatred in someone's face before.

She had never known hatred like this. Whenever fear threatened to overwhelm her she thought of Gracie.

Thought of the little girl with broken fairy wings and the way she danced, twirling around and with a small smile on her face.

She thought of Gracie, loved and safe.

And when Peter trod on her fingers, not satisfied until he heard the crunching sound of bones breaking, she thought of Mistah J.

She remembered how he had first kissed her. How he had told her he loved her for the first time. How they had laughed until they'd been in tears.

"I'm getting hungry." Peter muttered as he sat down next to Harley. With Wendy on the other side of her she was lying between them, shivering in her torn underwear and with her wet hair. "We've been at it for hours."

"Well, dear we are nowhere near done." Wendy chuckled.

Peter grinned and leaned forward to kiss her.

Harley held her breath, willing herself to be calm. She would get out of here somehow. She would make it out and get to Gracie. And then they would find Mistah J. She would explain what had happened, she would kick Jester out.

Peter leaned over her and traced his fingers across the exposed skin of almost gently. She pushed his hands away and he moved them around her throat, squeezing tightly.

She could see it clearly, herself, Gracie and her Puddin'... the three of them spending time together, in the sun light, he would make both of them laugh, they would eat ice-cream, Mistah J and she would kiss...

"Dammit Harley, you're such a wuss!" Wendy snapped and slapped her. "Would you please stay awake?"

Her eyelids fluttered. Peter had gone somewhere else. She couldn't see where and she didn't care.

"Are you thirsty?"

She was very thirsty. She had screamed in the beginning. She had struggled then too, but by now she had given up.

Harley opened her eyes and tried sitting up.

"Ye...Yeah."

Wendy smiled, stroking her cheek gently, almost motherly. Then she reached for a bottle behind her and poured vodka over Harley's face, burning her eyes and throat.

Harley coughed and spat and Wendy chuckled.

"Wendy...!" Peter came back.

"What?" Wendy muttered. "She said she was thirsty."

Peter laughed. "I couldn't find any food in the kitchen."

His wife laughed. "Oh honey, do you want me to whip something up for you?"

"Yes, please."

They kissed and Harley turned her head away. She couldn't stand their displays of affection any longer.

"Hey, Miss Anorexic do you want some food too?" Wendy cackled and then kicked her leg.

"Nah, that would just be a waste anyway." Peter said. "If she'll just puke it all out again."

"Or, she could just eat her own puke, that's like recycling, right?"

They laughed and Harley closed her eyes, hoping they would carry on hurting her so she could just pass out and have a break.

Wendy left and Harley opened her eyes again.

"Peter?" She sighed. "I don't..." She didn't want to but tears burned in her eyes. "I trusted you."

"I know!" Peter chuckled. "It was so easy too."

"Why?" She muttered. "I don't understand...why are you doing this?"

"Oh Harley." He sighed and very gently pushed a sweaty strand of her hair away from her sweaty forehead. "Don't you remember? Five years ago?"

"He was perfect. He was the man of my dreams." Jester's eyes lit up and the Joker's finger twitched, he wanted to pull the trigger so badly. "I worked in my dad's jewelry store, my maiden name was Maxime...and one day he came in. He wanted to buy his mother a gift and I just...you're a sadistic psycho incapable of feelings, but I'll try to explain any way: I fell so deeply and madly in love with him."

There was a knock on the door and Mistah J immediately yelled: "Come in Johnny!"

Johnny didn't seem to be surprised to find the Joker holding a gun to his girlfriend's head.

"Funny story." The Joker growled, never taking his eyes off Jester. "As it turns out, Jester here was behind the pregnancy scam. Turns out she's the bestest of friends with Peter and Wendy, who, as you may know, are currently living with Harley."

Johnny crossed his arm in front of his chest. "Do you want me to check it out? See if she's in trouble?"

"Of course she's in trouble!" Jester cackled. "What do you think Peter and Wendy are doing to her?"

His finger twitched again and Johnny balled his fists.

"Where is she, Jester?" The Joker growled.

"I don't know! They have her at a secret location, they never told me."

"They obviously don't care about you." Mistah J's hand shot out so quickly she barely stood a chance and squeezed her throat.

"They don't care about anything." Jester croaked. "They only care about Ronan. Just like me."

Mistah J pushed her back roughly, sending her flying through the room. She crashed into the one of the closets they'd been sharing. She laughed as she sat up in the splintered wood.

"I don't care about Ronan!" He exploded, waving the gun around. "Who the hell is he?! What do you people want from me and Harley?! And..." He moved closer to her, cocking the gun and pointing it at her. "Where. Is. Harley?!"

"You don't get it, do you?" She laughed, ignoring the blood dripping from a wound in her head. "You and Harley killed him. You took Ronan away from us. So it's only fair that we take away what's most precious to you."

Peter had helped to prop her up so she was leaning against the wall.

He had even given her some water that she greedily gulped down.

"Five years ago?" She prompted. She had been so surprised to be in this situation with the two of them she hadn't behaved properly. It was time to stall him. Then because he was the more emotional one of the two, she would convince him to side with her.

"My son..." There was a hard look in his eyes. "Wendy and my son, his name was Ronan." Harley remembered the name from their bedroom. "He was the light of our lives. He was 28 and married..." Peter swallowed and Harley could see the pain in his eyes. It was clear as day. He was an open book. "One day Ronan went to the bank." He blinked trying to fight off his tears. "He wanted to get a loan, because...because his wife was pregnant." Harley kept his gaze. Tried to find the father figure she had come to known these past few months. Tried to find the person who had loved her. "He was waiting in line when there was a loud crash." The look in his eyes became so hard and cold and that Harley flinched, backing away from him as much as she could. "As it turned out the King and Queen of Gotham City had decided to pay a visit to the bank the day that my boy was there." Shivers ran up down her spine. "Turns out they wanted to rob the bank."

Harley closed her eyes. She barely remembered. It had been the beginning of their relationship. Their first outing as the Joker and Harley Quinn.

Things had been crazy and fun.

She had dropped the bounty. He had been mad and she felt like such a failure. Then one of the guards had started firing his weapon. She and Mistah J had looked at each other and communicated wordlessly. They started shooting at the same time. She remembered thinking how in-snyc they were.

How perfect for each other.

"He was killed instantly." Peter croaked, fighting against tears. "Shot to the head. He never stood a chance."

She opened her eyes again and when she looked at Peter again she saw the cold and pure hatred there that she'd only really seen in Wendy and her heart sank. She knew she wouldn't get him to pity her.

"Mistah J made me do it, Peter."

He chuckled, stroking her hair again. "No he didn't, Honey. You're just as depraved as he is." He pulled at her hair roughly, causing her to cry out in pain. She tried to pry his hands off her, but he was too strong. Or maybe she was too weak. Her limbs felt so heavy all of a sudden. "You've never loved anyone or anything as much as I loved Ronan. You have no idea what you've done."

"I'm sorry!"

After this cry he finally let her go only to slap her across the face.

"Don't insult me with your fake apologies, you stupid bitch."

Harley heard the ladder creak and knew that Wendy was on her way back. She fought back her tears. The woman scared her more than Peter.

"I brought some crackers, did you know that we barely had anything in storage?" She mused as she sat down cross-legged in front of Harley. "What was Porter doing with all the money we gave him?"

"Probably sending out another PI to look for Alison." Peter's voice was hard and Wendy laughed.

"No PI will find ever find that body." Wendy chuckled and then looked at Harley. "We burned her alive." She smiled. "Just like we'll do to you."

"Why?" She whispered, forcing herself to meet Wendy's eyes. "Did you she murder one of your children too?"

"Ah, I see Peter finally let you in our secret." Wendy bit off one of the cheese crackers and offered them to her husband, who shook his head despite his earlier complaints of hunger.

"No." She said with a full mouth, chewing happily. "Actually that was just you and your beloved clown-boy. Alison found out about Ronan." She rolled her eyes. "She got so dramatic."

"She figured out that Neverland was just a ploy, all of it was a trap made specifically for the purpose to lead the Queen of Gotham herself into." Peter smiled but it was strained.

Harley's vision was swimming. She was nauseous.

"Did you..." She swallowed. "Did you ever mean any of it? Did you love any of them?"

"Of course we loved them!" Wendy crossed both of her hands over her chest. "That's why I specifically told you to get those kids out in one hour." She pointed towards a small alarm-clock on the edge of the platform. "You were too slow, that collateral damage down there is your fault, Harley."

"You killed them." She whispered, she was swaying. Every word took effort. "They did nothing wrong."

"My son did nothing wrong!" Wendy snapped, moving closer so her face was level with Harley. As she screamed the smell of the cheese crackers turned Harley's stomach. "All he did was go to the bank! My baby! My sweet, perfect boy and you murdered him in cold blood!"

"But she didn't, did she?" Peter said quietly and Harley forced her eyes open to look at him hopefully. "I mean, you don't remember him, do you? You don't know who are son was? You just killed him because he was at the wrong place at the wrong time?"

"I...so...hmm n–" She couldn't speak. The sounds coming from her mouth were indistinguishable. Her tongue felt so heavy in her dry mouth, she could barely use it.

"Peter, how much did you give her?! She's way out of it!"

"It's not my fault." He mumbled. "The greedy bitch almost swallowed the whole bottle."

Wendy chuckled her cold chuckle. "Well, Harley you're going to be swallowing a lot more soon."

They had drugged her. She swayed again and couldn't hold her self up anymore. She heard Peter groan as he stood up. As if he were tired. As if he were bored.

"Is this really necessary?" He muttered and Harley heard him opening her belt.

She wanted to cry, but she could barely move.

"What, are you camera shy?" Wendy giggled and almost sounded like the Wendy Harley had known. "Because I have footage of you that says otherwise."

Peter mumbled something she couldn't understand and then she felt his hands on her ankles, pulling her closer, dragging her across the cold floor. Spreading her legs.

Harley pushed at him, tried to keep her eyes open. He was leaning over her and the distant look in his eyes scared the life out of her.

"What are you waiting for?!" Wendy snapped and her aggressive tone made Harley flinch. "Rape her already!"

She froze then, unable to move any longer. This was happening, he was going to rape her. She couldn't stop it from happening.

Detach yourself, Harley. Steady and head-fast Harleen Quinzel's voice appeared in her mind. Go away, go to a happy place. Remember dancing with Mistah J? Remember how he swung you around and held you in his arms? Go back to that. Go now, you can do it.

She didn't have to. The darkness finally won and swallowed her whole.

"I was pregnant. Ronan and I were going to start a family, but because you killed him, I had a miscarriage."

The Joker actually snorted. "That's not on us."

He could own up to the collateral damage. He remembered the shooting. He remembered how they had laughed. They'd barely aimed and he remembered some bodies going down, but he would never have been able to identify faces.

He'd only had eyes for Harley that night.

"Yes it is!" She snapped. "All of it is. My Dad went bankrupt, because I got depressed and after his store was shut down he killed himself!"

The Joker shrugged. Jester sitting on the floor was still bleeding. Her face was flushed, her eyes blazing. It was clear as day how badly she wanted to tell him her entire story.

"I don't care." He said. "I just want Harley."

"Well!" She snapped. "I just want Ronan, but it looks like we're both out of luck, doesn't it?"

He pistol whipped her again. "I'm gonna kill you." He said, his hand shaking. "And then we're going to Neverland."

"They're not in Neverland, you moron." She muttered, rubbing her head, her hand came back bloody. "That's where all of their beloved kids are. They wouldn't do that."

"I'll go there anyway. I'll kill everyone there. Starting with the youngest. I don't care."

"I know!" She laughed hysterically. "Believe me, Mr. J. I know exactly how you feel." She pushed herself up a little further. "You want to burn the world down, everything else becomes unimportant. This is what it feels like when you have nothing left to lose." She chuckled. "But the thing is you can kill everyone you want to, you can push all of our buttons, but it won't change anything. Harley will still be gone and she's not coming back."

He was about to lunge at her when the bed room door swung open.

"Boss!" Johnny looked frantic. "There's a girl. She said she's can help find Harley."

"Who?" Johnny looked astonished as he was pushed aside and a blonde chubby woman made her way inside.

"They're in Neverland." She panted explained. "We have to go now."

Mistah J looked at Jester who was chuckling. Swaying back and forth.

"No they're nooooot." She sang. The Joker recognized the girl from when he had been at Neverland. She'd been in the second row. From what he understood Neverland was organized by hierarchy. If she'd been that far in the front she knew what was going on. He pointed his gun at her.

"What about the kids? Are they in on this?"

She shook her head wide-eyed. "It's just Peter and Wendy. They had Neverland evacuated. That's how I know they're there."

Jester opened her mouth to respond, to challenge her words he was sure.

But the Joker was done playing games and shot her in the head at point blank range.

The girl backed away, bumping into Johnny, who put a steadying hand on her shoulder.

"If you're lying to me, I'll kill you, Honey, don't think I won't."

She nodded and turned around, leading the way.

When Harley woke up again she was tied up. Her arms were above her head, tied to a hook in the ceiling. The pain was excruciating. Her feet were just above the ground. Blood was running down the side of her face. Every part of her body was covered in burn marks and bruises. Her fingers were just one clump of pain.

Her underwear was still intact.

But she didn't know what that meant.

She didn't know how long she had been out of it.

There was a camera pointed at her and then she heard Wendy's cold voice:

"Any last words?"

The smell of smoke wafted around her and she closed her eyes briefly. She wouldn't cry. She wouldn't give them what they wanted.

"Was there ever anyone named Hook?" She asked. "Or was that a lie too?"

"Oh!" Wendy said. "No Captain Hook was real." She pointed towards herself. "That was me." She smiled proudly. "Plot twist!"

"You murdered Kaitlyn and Kurt?"

"No." Wendy stepped towards her, her cold hateful eyes bore into Harley's. "Their deaths are your fault, because you killed my baby boy. You really haven't been paying attention have you?"

"The fire's set!" Peter came out of the bedroom and was rubbing his hands together cheerfully. "Now you're sure this is connected?" Wendy laughed, swatting his chest. "Yes, dear. It's all fine."

Peter smiled and turned to Harley. "We've been filming our time together secretly. It will be uploaded to a cloud online and then sent to your boyfriend. Oh." He smiled. "Ex-boyfriend, I mean, sorry."

"I wonder how Jessica is doing." Wendy shuddered. "Imagine sleeping in the same bed as that monster."

"Jester was your son's wife." Harley realized. Her voice was barely a whisper.

"There you go, you're not that dumb after all." Peter laughed. "Anyway, have fun burning." He turned to the camera. "Make no mistake, Mr. J. You're next."

Harley laughed as blood trickled down her face.

"You have no idea what you're doing." She croaked. "He will come after you, he will hunt you to the ground and do so much worse things to you than you did to me." She laughed and then coughed. The blood continued to flow and she licked at it, flashing a grin at the couple. "Compared to what Mistah J will do to you, this was a spar treatment!"

Smoke started to creep towards them and Peter tugged at Wendy's elbow, willing her to come with him.

She had frozen during Harley's speech. When they left she breathed out calmly.

"I forgive you Puddin." She told the camera. "I love you."