Chapter 19: The Infamous Harley Quinn

"Oh, that she is. The fire in my loins. The itch in my crotch. The one, the only, the infamous Harley Quinn!"

The Joker Suicide Squad, Extended Cut (2016).

When Harley finally awoke there was only one thing on her mind.

Gracie.

She had to find her and make sure she was ok.

The pain in her hand was terrible, but bearable.

She remembered how satisfied Peter had been when he'd hurt her. But as it turned out he hadn't broken the bones in her fingers.

Her hand was in a cast and it hurt.

Everything hurt.

But she was alive.

And she wasn't alone.

"Good morning, gorgeous." Mistah J purred in her ear, pulling her close.

Harley moved away from him.

"Don't touch me."

"What?" He sat up, rubbing his eyes sleepily and with ruffled hair. "What do you mean?"

"I mean..." Harley drew the blanket around herself. "Don't touch me. How hard is that to understand?"

"What are ya doin'?" Mistah J sounded vulnerable but she knew him well enough to understand that it was just confusion.

"I'm getting up, getting dressed and then I'm going home." She gave him a smile, before she stood up wrapped in the bed sheet.

"But this is your home." He whispered and as she looked at him she felt a pinch in her heart. He did seem lost in that moment, but that wasn't her problem. She'd been lost without him too.

"This isn't my home, Mistah J." She said clearly. "I don't even know where we are."

"Neverland burned down." The Joker sat up a fierce look in his eyes. "Your home is gone."

"Neverland isn't a place, Puddin'." She opened the large wardrobe and started picking out underwear and looked for a dress that wasn't ridiculously short. She had forgotten how much smaller than her Jester had been. "It's the people that make it what it is."

"You mean the people who tortured you for hours on end?" She sighed, dropping the sheet and getting dressed. Thanks to her cast the bra proved to be quite the struggle and Mistah J stood up from the bed.

"Let me–"

"Don't touch me!" She snapped and he flinched, backing away as if she had slapped him.

Not that he ever would have backed away if she had ever dared hit him. Not that he wouldn't have hit her back immediately without hesistation. He flinched the way she would have.

She got dressed under his watchful eye. It was difficult and every part of her body ached, but she could do it. She wanted to be able to do it. She had a new family to get back to.

"Is Jodie still here?" She asked as she turned around to him.

He was staring at her as if he'd never seen her before. The black dress was low cut and short, due to Jester's slim and small frame. But that wasn't it, she realized. He was finally seeing her how she had come to be.

Independent. Strong. And fearless.

Mistah J cleared his throat.

"Yeah." He finally said and the insecurity in his voice almost made her smile. "Yeah, she's with Johnny."

She snorted. She could imagine what Jodie had to say about Johnny. Harley turned to the mirror. She was black and blue everywhere. Her face, her throat, her collar bone, her legs, her thighs...she remembered Peter on top of her and quickly pushed the memory aside.

Her hair was greasy and she was sure she smelled, but she had a place to be.

As if he had read her mind the Joker said: "You should at least stay for breakfast."

Harley actually laughed at this and it hurt her rib cage. "Sure Puddin', act like you care. It's too late."

He seemed rendered speechless and stared at her wide-eyed as if he was the one who was shocked when they both knew it was her who ought to be outraged.

"I..." He stuttered. "I do care, Harley I ran into a burning building for you!"

"So did Jodie." She smiled. "And Johnny, if I recall correctly."

"You...!" He didn't finish whatever it was he had wanted to say.

"You're too late, Puddin'." She said and while she was proud to be alive and standing and be able to stand up against him her heart broke at leaving him here. She missed him, even now standing in front of him. Because there were worlds between them now. Worlds with people she had come to care about. Worlds full of hateful, horrible things he had done to her.

"You said all of Gotham could do whatever they wanted to me."

The list of accusations was a long one, but she decided to stick with this point for now because this was one thing he had done that her hurt badly, if not the in the worst way. The Joker narrowed his eyes to slits.

"You said you forgave me."

"I thought I was dying!"

Mistah J stepped back. The hurt was written clearly all over his face and it hurt her to see him like this, but she also enjoyed it. She had been hurt. Everything that had happened was his fault and she knew he would never understand or see that.

It was his turn to be hurt.

"We were both played, Harley." He pointed an accusing finger at her. "And we can't let them win, we can work through this."

"Aww." She had always wanted him to talk to her like this to fight for her. "Yeah, we could." She sighed happily. "But I don't want to."

With that she turned around and walked to the door.

"Jodie?" She called out.

"Wait!" The Joker hurried behind her. "Fine, I get it. You're mad. But you where will you go?"

She stopped in her tracks, but didn't turn around to him.

"You're in pain." He noticed. "You must be, I saw the video, Harls. I know what they did to you."

Nausea swept over her and she felt herself get dizzy. Having seen the video he knew more about what Peter and Wendy had done than she had. They had drugged her and Peter had been above her...

She turned around to him. "Well, Puddin' I guess my pain tolerance is just higher than yours." She winked at him.

"It's dangerous!" He snapped. "In case you haven't noticed, these two hate our guts and will stop at nothing to get to us. They killed their own, you know!"

"Do you think I don't know that?" Harley stepped towards him her voice calm and dangerously low. "I know all they did, Puddin'."

His face expression softened. "Then stay here." He reached out to touch her shoulder and then pulled his hand back. "Just until you're back to your full strength again. I can protect you."

"I don't need your protection." She scoffed. "I have people who would never kick me out because they believed lies about me. People, who I trust and who trust me. People who appreciate me for who I am."

As if on cue the door next to her open and Jodie stepped outside.

"I don't need you any more, Mistah J." She was on a roll and felt like she couldn't stop. "In fact I don't want you any more."

Beside her Jodie started applauding. Slowly and appreciatively.

She handed Harley a bottle of water and pain meds and a leather jacket.

She slipped into the jacket and despite her earlier claims Harley swallowed some tablets immediately.

Behind Jodie Johnny came in sight, his eye was swollen and purple.

"What happened to you?" Harley asked and he smiled sheepishly.

"I'd rather not say. It's good having you back, Harley."

"I'm not back." She declared and then handed the water bottle to him. "Jodie, let's go."

The other girl turned to Mistah J and gave him a grin. "Hey, J, what's wrong? You look tense." She leaned forward and whispered loudly: "Maybe you could use a nice big cock, eh?"

The Joker fumed and his arm twitched to hit her, but he pulled it back when Harley glared at him.

The two left and she heard Johnny say: "You know, I'm starting to get what Harley sees in her."

As soon as they were out of ear shot Harley asked:

"Where's Gracie?!"

"She's ok." Jodie promised and led her out of the mansion the Joker currently resided in, because the relief flooding her almost knocked her over. "Porter has the kids. We split up."

The weather was nice outside and Harley blinked against the sun. Although it was clear Jodie said:

"I'm with you."

Harley swallowed, feeling very tired all of a sudden and hugged Jodie tightly.

"They killed Lauren."

"I know." Jodie patted her hair. "I'm so sorry, Harley. I realized too late what was going on and it took me so long to find the Joker...I know they had you for hours."

"Don't." She whispered. She didn't want to think about any of that anymore. "You saved me. Your timing was perfect."

The two stayed in their embrace for a moment and when they pulled back they both had tears in their eyes.

"Jodie..." Harley stared at the ground. "I..." She took a deep breath and then confessed. "I killed Peter and Wendy's son. He wasn't targeted. He was just hit by coincidence."

"I know." Jodie said softly. There was a moment of silence and then she declared: "But Neverland is a place for second chances, right?"

She looked up and saw that Jodie's expression was open and not judgmental at all.

"Right."

Jodie stood before her in a way that reminded Harley of Valerie. Strong. Confident. Radiant.

Harley's lower lip trembled and tears burned in her eyes. She didn't want to tell Jodie. Didn't want to say it out loud, but she knew that the truth was important. Knew that she needed to hear it.

"They killed Alison." She finally said. "Wendy told me."

Jodie didn't crumble, didn't cry or flinch or scream. Harley knew what it was like when you were so torn up that there simply was no piece left to be broken.

"I thought so." Jodie whispered. "I mean, in hindsight, the past few days, I figured." Now tears did burn in her eyes. "She never would have left me."

Her voice broke at the last word and Harley hugged her again.

"I won't leave you, I promise. We're sisters. Now and forever."

Jodie chuckled and returned the hug. "Yeah, we are sisters, Harley." She stepped back. "Porter has found a new place for us to stay and everyone is really exited to see you."

Jodie smiled. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yes." Harley said as she looked up at the mansion she'd just walked out of.

The Joker, the love of her life stood at the front door and was staring at her, in obvious rage and disbelief. As if he couldn't believe she was truly leaving him. That she was choosing someone else.

Harley turned away from him and to Jodie and said: "Let's go home."

Any thoughts?