After the first hot shower she'd had in weeks, she slipped into her jester costume and waited. She sat patiently on the couch, knowing that he would return any minute. The door flew open. The Joker screamed the orders at her.
"Harley! Bats' has sniffed us out, get the supplies. NOW." Harley pouted.
"No. I want him to find us." The Joker paused as his jaw dropped.
"You...WHAT??"
Harley snapped at him.
"I WANT him ta find us! I'd rather be stuck in Arkham than this hell hole!" She folded her arms, not budging from the couch. He approached her and dug his fingers into her shoulders.
"You UNGRATEFUL LITTLE-" He heard the loud crash on the back of his head before he hit the ground. Catwoman stood behind the twitching body of The Joker, holding the broken wooden chair.
"Nothing works better than a chair to the back of the head." Catwoman smiled at Harley. She reached into The Joker's coat and pulled out her stun gun.
"I'll be taking this..."She slipped the weapon deep into her boot. Harley looked down at The Joker's lifeless body.
"I gotta get outta here, Catlady. Don't know how long Mistah J is gonna be out…and if Bats' finds me, he'll throw me back inta' Arkham." Harley's eyes wandered nervously.
"I won't let him do that." Catwoman grabbed Harley's arm.
"C'mon. We're getting out of here." The two women fled the hideout, not knowing exactly where they needed to be or how they would get there.
"Uh...Catlady? How far we gonna get in broad daylight? I mean, you in your kitty costume...and me, well, ya know. Don't ya think Bats'll spot us?"
"I can get you past this dump and through uptown Gotham. I may even be able to find you a hiding spot. After that, you're on your own." Harley nodded compliantly.
The two of them climbed onto the rooftop. Catwoman knew that their only other option was the Gotham sewer system. Killer Croc had been sighted there recently and she knew hadn't the strength to take him down, even with Harley's help. The rooftop was the safest way for two well-known criminals travel in the daylight. Catwoman suddenly paused.
"Get down." She had spotted the batmobile, motionless, down the street, only a block away from the hideout.
"Damn...The Joker was right." Catwoman squinted her eyes, detecting any motion on the street.
"He's neva been wrong." Harley smiled as Catwoman rolled her eyes.
"Alright. He's out there somewhere looking for The Joker and you, maybe even me. He's must know that he's close if he's willing to travel in the sunlight. We just have to stay low." Catwoman was caught between the sun and the Dark Knight. She tried not to show her lack of hope for the situation.
"Maybe if we-" The two women suddenly stopped to see the two large black boots in front of their faces.
"H-Hiya B-man!" Harley smiled pleasantly. Catwoman sighed.
"Damn it." Catwoman lowered her head. She stood up slowly and placed her hands on her hips.
"He's not with us." Catwoman looked directly into Batman's eyes.
"But she is." Batman spoke angrily as he looked down at Harley.
"The kid's been through a lot, so I snuck her out. Big deal." Catwoman turned her head from him. He grasped her arm.
"The BIG DEAL is that she was involved in a murder at the bank two nights ago. He could have hurt you. She could have hurt you. You know where she belongs." Catwoman moved her head inches away from Batman's face and whispered harshly.
"Did you want me to just sit around chained up and do nothing?? He was going to hurt her." Batman stared at Catwoman in puzzlement.
"CORRECTION!"
The silence was suddenly broken as the crazed pale man, whose blood was trickling down his forehead, stood before them.
"I AM going to hurt her." Harley's eyes widened. She stuttered in terror.
"P-Pudin'! W-What're ya doin' here?" Harley's felt her chest cave in.
"What am I doing here?? He...hehe...heheha...haha...hAHA HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!" He fell to his knees in laughter. Batman reached out to Catwoman and pulled her to his side. Harley cautiously took a step closer to The Joker.
"I'm real sorry, Puddin'...but…ya hurt me so bad." The Joker stood up and opened his arms to her.
"My dearest Harley Quinn, don't you trust me?" He smiled as she paused.
"Y-yes Puddin'! I do!" She ran into his arms and held him tight. The Joker gently placed one hand on her head and the other on the white flower on his suit.
"You probably shouldn't." He pinched his flower and pushed her face into the purple gas it released. Batman swiftly shielded Catwoman with his dark cloak.
"Puddin'...how..." She fell to her knees.
"Oh that's right! I forgot to tell you! It's the new gas that I've been testing at night. Do you like it? It works much better now." Her eyes widened as her lips curled into the sinister smile. The words poured into her mind as the toxins poisoned her blood.
"...the gas penetrates their lungs carrying out a toxin through their blood causing a rather unpleasant sensation, much like having your vital organs ripped out just after setting them on fire..."
She groaned in the twisted pain she felt run through her body. The faces of the countless victims of the gas' torment flashed before her eyes. The husbands and wives, the mothers and their children, the old, the young, and the sick. Envying the bittersweet release of the torture they had met, she couldn't find of any remorse for the dead. Only a sense of acceptance of her inevitable fate, whether she lived or died, her hands would always be stained with their blood. Unable to show any kind of facial expression of agony, she simply gave into the numbing sound of her own laughter.
"It's just a joke, Harleen."