Just a bit of a content warning for the chapter, this WILL have depictions of domestic abuse. Nothing extremely heavy for the sake of my goal of giving this story a comic book feel to it. I hope you enjoy it nonetheless.

Neo Gotham City, a city that breathes differently depending on where you reside. A city that decides what you'll become, the second you step foot on its concrete. Those that hold briefcases, and wear an overly expensive suit would be at home in the main hub of Gotham. The main hub where the lights stay on 24/7, nothing is out of place, everything is meticulous, and you can pay to pretend that crime doesn't exist if you're in the top 1%. Some call it "Paradise".
Of course if you step foot with a wrench in your hand, and a yellow hat on your head, you'll more than likely find yourself in the foundation of Gotham known as "Labor Junction". Built on the corpse of the Warehouse District, Labor Junction, or as the locals call it "The L.J." is where most of the income for the city is made if you don't have a fancy degree.
And lastly, if you step in The Narrows, step quickly, and quietly. Why? Because you'll never know the true intentions of the residents there. Some might be genuine, others not so much, and you're better off not taking the chances with them. This is where most of the Strays migrate towards. The Narrows not only house your typical scummy individuals, but they also are home to those without one. Here, most "Mom and Pop" stores close before the sun starts to set, so the owners can protect it. But, at least rent is cheap.
However, when it rains in Neo Gotham, it becomes a different being altogether. Especially at night…

The sound of the rain hitting the concrete, the flickering of the bar signs that keep this part of the city illuminated, the grumbling of the Strays finding a covered spot, or a fix with whatever money they were able to peddle.
In an alleyway not far from a pub, a woman was limping her way. Tears down her face, makeup soaking into her clothes from how much she was crying. This woman was holding her ribs with one arm, and keeping herself level with her free hand against the wall, she kept pushing herself to try and find someone, anyone to help.

With a deep, quiet, and shaky breath the woman called out. "I c-can't…" her steps become more, and more sloppy. Exhaustion, rapidly creeping in her system. She eventually fell towards the wall, sliding down to reach the ground. Her vision is hazy, eyes rolled up then suddenly she loses consciousness.

A middle-aged man happened to walk out to see the woman passed out against the side of the building. He walks over to the body, checking to see if she's still alive. Once he gets confirmation, he pulls the woman's arm over his shoulder and picks her up. "Hey, Mikey!" the man calls out, and Mikey steps out. "Get some towels, put some coffee in the pot, and break out some warm bread!" he says while walking with the woman in his grip.

After a couple hours, the woman slowly opened her eyes to see a rather home-like interior. She sat up in the couch she was unconscious in, wondering where the hell she was. The woman looked around, unsure of what to do or say.

"You're awake." A voice is heard from behind the woman which causes her to turn towards the sound. "Name's Mikey." He says. "My pa found yous outside the shop, conked out and stuff." He explains while walking towards the woman, setting a cup of coffee on the table and a plate with some toast on it. "It's homemade bread, it should help solidify your stomach."

The woman grabbed the piece of bread and took a bite from it, still unsure of where the hell she is. "Th-Thank you..." she says quietly. "Where... Where am I?"

Mikey sat in the chair across from Harley. "You're at Farini's bakery." he says. "We're in the slightly less terrible part of Narrows."

The woman's eyes widened a bit. "How did I get all the way out here?" she thought as she reached for her coffee. "Farini's, huh?" she asks. "Fittin' name, don't ya think?"

"A woman that knows her Italian, shoulda guessed." Mike chuckles. "Anyways, my pa went out to do some last minute deliveries before we shut the kitchen down." he explains to the woman. "Said to keep an eye on ya, and not let you leave until dad takes a look at you."

"You have... Two dads?" The woman asked, and Mikey nods. "Oh.. Okay." she shrugs then takes another sip of her coffee. "And when will your dad be here to take a look at me?" she asks.

"About right now, miss." A voice speaks from the other room. An older man walks out to the room, wearing a turtleneck shirt, dark brown pants, and slip-on shoes. "I'm Mike's dad, Colin." he greets. "I'm the doctor of the family."

The woman gave the man a shy smile.

Colin walks over to the woman, keeping a calm demeanor as to not alert the woman. "Do you… Happen to have a name, young lady?" he asks.

"Har… Harleen." She says quietly, giving the man a look of worry.

Colin keeps his gaze on the woman, nodding a couple times. "It'll be okay… Would you like to call a loved one, by chance?"

Silence filled the room for a few moments before Mikey stood up and said "I'm gonna head to bed, Pa." he says and walks by Colin, giving him a pat on the shoulder before leaving the room.

"I won't tell anyone." Colin says, and then hands the woman a phone.

The woman nods slowly and takes the phone. "Thank you…" she says.

Colin smiles. "I'll be in the other room if you need me, sweetie." He says before leaving the room.

"I only know one person that I can trust with everything…" she thinks as she dials the numbers on the phone.

Riiiing….

Riiiing….

"Hello?" a voice on the other end of the phone answers.

"Red, it's me… Harley…"

"Harley? This isn't the usual number you call me from, what's up?"

Harley did her best to fight off a tear, trying to come up with the best way to explain the situation. "I'm on my own… And I don't know where to go." She says.

The other end was silent for a few seconds. "Lemme guess, you and Joker had ANOTHER fight, and they kicked you out?"

"I mean, yeah, but this-"

"This time is different, Joker is extra pissed, and you are done with them forever."

Harley started to stammer a bit, not appreciating the fact that the person she thought she could trust was essentially making light of her situation.

"Look, Harley. I care a lot about you, but I'm not going to be used as a hideaway for one night, just for you to go back to Joker in the morning."

"B-But Red, I'm telling you-"

"Wherever you're at, you might as well stay there for the night. You're not staying with me." Click!

Harley's eyes widened as she set the phone on the table in front of her. Her chest felt heavy, tears streaming down her face. She truly felt alone in the world with no one to turn to. She stood up, breathing heavily.
"I gotta get out of here…" she thinks to herself before making her way out of the bakery, sobbing as she goes.

Colin stepped back into the room after hearing sobbing, he looked around seeing no sight of Harley anywhere. "Damn…" he said to himself, feeling like he could have done more to help the woman in her time of need.

For what seemed like an eternity, Harley was running through the Narrows in hopes of an escape from whatever hell was plaguing her life. Her relationship fell apart in a way that she didn't get a chance to explain. The person that she thought would be there for her refused to do so. The rational side of Harley was not working.
From one alleyway to another, everything started to blend in Harley's eyes. Whether it was due to crying, or just exhaustion from consistently running, she didn't know. Her body kept moving in whatever direction that was away from anyone that might know her.
Eventually her legs gave out, exhaustion settled in, and she had to sit down somewhere. She found an old chair sitting by a door to a building, approached it, then sat down.
Harley closed her eyes, not having enough energy to keep herself awake.

Not far from where Harley was resting, some commotion was going on at a warehouse. One woman was running from a couple of men with guns, trying to take her out for stealing from them. The woman was able to dodge the shots with ease and kept a fast pace before reaching the edge of a rooftop. She looks over to the other building, calculating the distance in her head to see if she could make it. When she was about to make an attempt, one of the men grabbed her from behind, picked her up, and slammed her down.
The woman let out a grunt of discomfort, then rolled away from the man's attempt at stomping her. She got up, set the bag down, and when that man charged at her she leaned back for a headbutt to the guy's nose.
As the guy held his nose, the woman grabbed his neck and threw three punches to the side of his head, knocking him out. She let the man go and walked back to the bag.
When the woman grabbed the bag, one of the other men that was chasing her took a shot, which hit her shoulder, causing her to stumble off the roof, taking a huge fall.

The man that took the shot looked over the roof, seeing where the woman landed. He pulled out his walkie and said, "Hey boys, let's get her."

Harley's eyes shot open when she heard a thud not far from her. She got off the chair and walked towards where the noise came from. Seeing a familiar person laying in debris. "Is that…" she says to herself.

The woman groaned, slowly sitting up. "My back…" she says as she holds herself for a few seconds.

"Lina, is that you?" Harley asks.

The woman looked towards Harley, had a slight smile on her face. "Harley, hey." She says before standing up. "What, uh…" she lets out some air. "What brings you all the way out here?"

Harley bit her lower lip, afraid of getting rejected again. "It's… It's a long story, 'Lina." She said. "A story that… I don't know if I should get into."

Selina walked over to Harley, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I won't force you to get into it." She smiles a slight amount, then looks back to see some lights hitting one of the buildings in the alleyway. "And if we don't get our fine selves out of here, we'll never get into it at all." Selina adjusts the bag strap and looks back at Harley. "Are you okay to walk?"

"I don't think so…" Harley answers as honestly as she could.

"Okay…" Selina put her free arm around Harley's waist. "All I ask is you try to keep yourself awake, okay?" she asks, Harley nods. "Good."

The two women made haste to leave that alley before any of the men hunting Selina down could find them. It took them a little while to get to Selina's apartment, mostly due to Harley not being able to walk much, and Selina holding the bag that she took from that warehouse. Once they made it to the apartment building, Selina helped Harley up the stairs, and into the apartment. Harley told Selina she could walk once they got inside. Selina set the bag on her counter and walked to the fridge while Harley made her way to the kitchen table, sitting on one of the chairs.

Selina grabbed two bottles of water, walked over to where Harley was sitting, and handed her one of the bottles. "I'm going to take a wild guess and say that you're out here because you and J had a fight, and you didn't know where to go?" she asks.

Harley looked at Selina for a few seconds, tearing up some, nodded, and then looked to the floor. "This was different than before, Lina…" she answers. "I think it's over for good."

"You don't need to get into specifics if you don't want to; and, frankly, I don't blame you." Selina says before taking a sip of water. "I'm kinda shocked that you didn't go to Pam's place." She takes a seat near Harley. "What happened between you and her?"

A scoff comes out of Harley. "She told me that I couldn't stay with her, because I cried wolf one too many times." Harley rubbed her eyes as more tears fell down her cheek. "That's how the story ends, I guess." She sniffles. "The time that it's for real, no one is there."

Selina pursed her lips, reaching out to place her hand on Harley's. "I'm here." She says. "You can stay with me until you're back on your feet."

"I don't wanna impose on ya, Lina."

"I wouldn't offer if I felt you were imposing." Selina smiled and stood up. "I got some of my ex-roommate's clothes in the hall closet, get yourself cleaned up."

Harley gave Selina a pleading look, unsure of how to take this hospitality. "Y-You sure?" she asked.

"Absolutely." Selina says as she takes her mask off. "There's two bathrooms, but the shower in the hall bathroom only shoots cold water." She explains. "Use the one in my room and use whatever I have in there."

The blonde stood up, lips quivering, trying to keep her composure.

"Don't start that crying shit, Harley." Selina says with a smirk to show that she's just kidding. "I got your back, Quinn. Remember that."

Harley gave a slight smile and then walked to the hallway closet to grab some clothes, and then she walked to Selina's room. She tries not to stare at any of Selina's belongings and makes her way to the bathroom rather quickly.
Harley undresses once she's in the bathroom, turns the warm water on, and then steps in to let the droplets of water wash away the stress that this night has bestowed upon her. She feels a subtle sense of tranquility from the sound of the shower, the steam that fills the room. Harley needed a calming end to the night.

While Harley was in the shower, Selina decided she needed to get changed as well. She walked to her room, glanced over at the direction of the bathroom, hearing the shower running. Selina felt happy knowing that she was able to provide some stability for an acquaintance. She stripped down to her underwear, softly wincing in pain from the gunshot and the fall that she took. Selina glanced at where the bullet hit, thankful for the fact that her suit was bulletproof. It still hurt, but not as bad as it could've been.
Selina starts looking for something comfortable to wear, since she's planning on going to bed as soon as Harley's fully settled in. "I wonder…." She thinks to herself while pulling out a tanktop, and a pair of shorts. She looks in the mirror to see if she can vibe with wearing this combination. "Eh, why not?" she whispers before putting the night outfit on. Before she leaves her room, she faces the direction of the bathroom. "Hey, Harley, I'm gonna make some hot cocoa for us." She announces as she walks out of her room.

After what didn't feel like enough time, Harley was done with her shower. She dried off, got into the outfit that she grabbed from the closet, and walked out of the bathroom, heading directly to the main area of Selina's apartment. She sees Selina sitting on the lone couch in the living room, with two cups of hot cocoa sitting on the coffee table. Harley walks over to join her, sitting down and feeling her body sink into the couch. To her, this was the most comfortable thing she's relaxed on in a while.

"How're you feelin'?" Selina asks before taking a sip of her cocoa.

Harley slightly smiled at Selina, reaching for the cup that was made for her. "Safe." She answers.

Selina leaned back against the couch, letting out a yawn. "Good." She says. "You know, you look kinda different without all the clown colors on your face." Selina mentions before taking another sip. "Not in a bad way."

"Yeah…" Harley takes a sip of her cocoa. "It wasn't even my fault that the argument happened." She mumbles. "Everything went wrong on a job, and Joker lost it." Harley's speech got loud enough for Selina to hear.

"I take it you're comfortable with talking about it?" Selina asks.

Harley gave Selina a nod. "We had a job lined up; it was a warehouse gig." She starts off. "Me and a few guys went in to hit the place, and the second we showed up, multiple cherries lit up the fuckin' place." Harley set her cup down, shifted her body to look directly at Selina, and leaned in some. "We were set up to fail, one of the guys that Joker hired turned out to be a rat."

Selina turned to observe Harley's expressions. She noticed the patterns in her speech, it was different than how she normally talks. "So, Joker fucked up, and they took it out on you?"

"Yeah… In a very brutal way." Harley says with a shaky breath.

"What the fuck happened out there, Harley!?" Joker asks with a deep anger in their voice. "Do you realize what your screw up has done?"

Harley gasped. "My screw up, you're the one that hired a damn rat."

Joker walked over to Harley "Based on your interview, if I recall correctly." They express. "Nowhere did you mention that we'd get the pigs on us if we hired that man!"

"Oh, so I'm supposed to specify when I say, "Don't trust this guy as far as you can throw him" from now on?" Harley asks semi rhetorically. "Because I assumed you knew what I meant by that."

Joker scoffed at Harley, walked to a dresser, opened a drawer, and then pulled out a syringe.

Harley took notice of what Joker was doing, shaking her head at the sight of what they were about to do. "You're back on that stuff again, aren't you?" she asks. "It's not good for you, J, you know that."

"Neither are you, but you're still here, aren't you?" Joker unbuttons their top down below their chest. "I'm fed up with cleaning up after your messes." They press the syringe into their chest, pushing down on the plunger to allow the fluids to enter the body.

A few tears fall down Harley's cheek. "It wasn't my fault…" she says quietly. "The guy was a rat and told them our plan…" Harley walks towards Joker, wrapping her arms around their waist. "There's no way we coulda predicted that…" she places a few kisses against Joker's neck. "Next time, we'll know better…"

Heavy breathing comes from Joker, followed by a deep chuckle. "Oh, Harley…" they say with a predatory tone. "There's not gonna be a next time." Joker shoves their elbow into Harley's gut, then pushes her into the wall. "And there damn sure is no we!" their eyes widened turning near maniacal.

Harley coughs from getting hit in the gut, more tears forming. "J-Joker…" she lets out a sob. "I'm sorry for failing you."

Joker just shakes their head, reaches for Harley's head, grabbing her by the hair and dragging her out of to the balcony. "Apology not accepted." They look over at the swarm of thugs. "Listen, all of you!" Joker exclaims. "This is what happens when you fail me." They grab Harley's neck squeezing tightly as they lift her up.

Harley kicks her legs towards Joker's direction, trying to get them to let go. "L-Let go of me… P-Please…" she begs.

A smirk formed on Joker's face. "Don't mind if I do…" they say before tossing her over the railing.

Harley screams as she is thrown, she shifts her body in the air, just enough to land on something soft enough to break her fall. Upon impact she let out a deep cough from the pain her body took.

Joker took notice of this and shrugged. "Alright you goons, dispose of that piece of trash, I don't wanna see her here, or anywhere." They demand before walking back to their office.

Harley barely gets up, and looks around to see the thugs are waiting to attack. "Oh no…" she says to herself before running the opposite way of the thugs.

"…I ran until my legs gave out, and this kid took me in to his parents bakery." Harley was leaning back on her side of the couch. "Then after I talked to Red, I ran out of that bakery, ran my exhausted ass all the way to that alley where you fell."

Selina's jaw was clenched after hearing the issue between Joker and Harley. "That's fucked, Harley…" she says quietly. "It's definitely over between you two, that's for certain." She adds.

Harley slowly nods, scooting her body down a little bit so she can properly lay down. "I don't know what to do with myself, Lina…" she says and follows it up with a few sniffles. "For the first time in years…. I'm scared."

"We'll figure it out, Quinn…" Selina says before getting up from the couch. "I promise." She walks to the chair on the other end of the coffee table, grabs the blanket that was sitting on it, and places it over Harley's body. "In the meantime, you should get some sleep." She suggests.

"Yeah, you're right." Harley nods, turning over to get comfortable. "Thank you, Lina" she says quietly.

Selina smiled a little bit. "You're welcome." She says before walking around the couch to dim the lights in the room. Selina keeps an eye on Harley, feeling all sorts of regret that she couldn't have been there for her all those other times that her and Joker were having issues. Even if the result would have been the same, Selina still felt like she could have tried.
Selina stayed in the kitchen for a while, just keeping her gaze on Harley. She was also thinking about how she could help Harley from this point forward, and was continuing to think about it until…
Yaaawnnnnn~
Selina let out a yawn, and stretched while doing so. It was time for her to get some rest herself. She walks back to the living area, seeing that Harley is in deep sleep, she leans down placing a kiss on the side of Harley's head. "Good night, kitten." She whispers before straightening her body to go to her room so she can sleep the rest of the night away.

A/N: If you made it to the end, I appreciate you, and I hope you genuinely enjoyed the first chapter. I've been in a bit of a writing mood lately, so I plan on continuing the Cyberpunk one soon enough. Maybe after I get another chapter of this story done. Anyways, do that review, and favorite thing. I'll see y'all soon!