Author's note: Before we begin, I just want to let you all know that David Ayer (director & script writer of Suicide Squad) recently confirmed on twitter that Harley really wanted a kid with J and did pester him about it, so J paid tribute to her wishes when she was at Belle Reve. The baby clothes seen in his circle of knives were - in canon - supposedly bought by Frost, on J's orders, when Harley was imprisoned. He would probably go on to let her have a kid after she was rescued - like in this fic.

I figured it'd be interesting to know for you guys too, this made me so emotional. In my disappointment over how things went with the new Movie That Must Not Be Named, here am indulging in my own personal canon, which has lived in my mind for many years and is still the only way I picture Joker and Harley in the DCEU.
I hope this continued re-telling of canon has brought you joy too.

Warning ahead for a pretty intense chapter: graphic violence involving minors.

Life and Death: Chapter 24

They left the cell together. Jaylie looked in all directions as the Joker strode past her. He picked up a machine gun from the dead guard on the floor, smiling wide as he studied the body for a moment.

"Ah, this takes me back."

"June said Mom might be here somewhere."

"What a friend, hmm." The Joker picked up a small flip phone from his back pocket and texted a number, his face a scornful grimace. "Too friendly."

Jaylie shrugged. "I made her want to adopt me."

They made their way down the empty hallway and Jaylie unlocked the first cell she found. A man dressed in blue immediately approached her. She tried to shut the heavy door in his face but he pushed it back against her, making a strange sound. She stumbled backwards as he emerged out of the cell, producing a shrill, high-pitched sound. She covered her ears.

His voice was cut off in a gurgle when the Joker slammed his head against the wall with the blunt end of the gun, repeating the movement a few times just for good measure. He smoothed his hair back. "Some people just don't know when to die."

Jaylie picked up the baton she had dropped and held it with white knuckles, as they heard shouts coming from another hallway.

"Now, be a dear and try to stay alive," Joker sing-sang as they moved towards the chaos, anticipation in his every movement. He hoisted the weapon over his shoulder as if he was a lumberjack on his merry way to the forest. She followed behind, running to keep up with his steps.

.

June Moone stopped for only a moment as the woman approached her, blocking her exit leading to the lower floors.

The last time they had been standing face to face, more than a decade earlier, Harley had been drenched from head to toe and looking drastically different, but June remembered her through the haze of Enchantress' mind. She vaguely recalled her picking up something and sliding it across her middle - and the sensation of searing pain. Here she was, and June wondered if someone had sedated her again – for a moment a sudden fear coursed through her. Where the hell was Amanda Waller now?

"What's wrong?" Harley Quinn asked, her head tilted slightly to the side. June saw that her entire clipboard was covered in blood. "It's time for our appointment."

She turned and ran in the opposite direction, Harley's shrill voice bouncing off the walls: "The patient's escaping! Security!"

She rounded a corner to another corridor, hearing footsteps and people running, refusing to stop even as her body heaved with the extortion. Yet no one seemed to be following her, but she didn't dare to test that theory in this death maze. She picked up her phone, overwhelmed by the relief of seeing that it was connected again. She called Rick and impatiently waited for him to pick up, hiding in the end of a hallway as the sounds of gunshots drew closer, making the glass doors vibrate.

Then she spotted Jaylie running from the opposite end of the long hallway. A man followed behind her. June crouched down and pressed herself against the wall, hiding behind the fire door as she watched. It wasn't the Joker.

Jaylie was focused on something and didn't notice the other patient until he was standing behind her, smiling. His body was starved thin and his head bald, with light stubble on his face. His voice was raspy. "There you are! We did meet at last!"

Jaylie jumped backwards, surrounded by walls on all sides except the way leading in June's direction. Two other patients were coming up close to her - they were large, almost twice the width of her, and June stayed in her hiding spot.

She didn't even notice that Rick had picked up until his voice was shouting into her ear. "June, where the hell are you?"

"I'm inside. I'm okay, wait -" She was barely able to say a word, speaking quietly, as she saw the man step even closer to Jaylie, leaning in as he spoke something.

Jaylie looked like a small, cornered street cat, her lips drawn back over her teeth as she struck with the baton in her hand, aiming for his head when one of the patients threw himself over her and manhandled her into the hard floor.

"June, answer me!" Rick was all but screaming into the speaker. She heard noise in the background, as if he was running. "We're outside now, we're coming in! Stay close to the floor!"

The man locked Jaylie's arms roughly behind her back, twisting them in a strange angle, flinching and cursing as she managed to bury her teeth in his meaty hand, before hoisting her up as if she weighed nothing more than a sack of flour. Then they made their way down the hall in the opposite direction, as she struggled and kicked.

"No, wait!" June stumbled to her feet and ran after them, only accompanied by Rick's grating voice.

"Get to the emergency exit now, do you hear me? Do exactly as I say –"

"SHUT UP," June yelled. She slid the phone down her pocket and kept running, but the large inmate was suddenly blocking her way. He was two feet tall and muscular in a way that told her she stood no chance, his eyes empty and watery as he raised his arm as if to sweep her to the floor with a single movement. June clenched her fist, but once again, nothing. She bit the inside of her cheek until she tasted blood, but still, nothing.

A sudden scream came from down the hall. She turned and ran in the other direction.

.

Joker strode down the hallway, studying the familiar corridors as the sound of police sirens outside intensified. So, the building was surrounded. That was quick, he had to give it to them. A familiar rush of excitement told him that the Bat might even grace them with his presence tonight – just like good old times.

But his satisfaction was dulled, he didn't have time for that tonight. He took his eyes off the kid for one goddamn minute and she was gone. She had been staying behind as he cleared out a hallway, waiting behind a safe door. Trust her to skip away on her own in the middle of an asylum breakout.

Oh well. He'd find her. He hoped begrudgingly she would have a better self-preservation instinct than her mother had had.

First things first, he needed to find Harley. His henchmen had already infiltrated the place, thanks to a group of well-paid guards, but this was not gonna be like last time, just storming in and wrecking the place. No, they had a fair amount of competition from the guards who were not bribable and giving a fair amount of resistance from the inside. Not to mention the other patients strolling, rocking or generally moving in some way around the place.

He adjusted the machine gun and tried its range down the corridor just for the hell of it. Not the best or most well-adjusted weapon, but it would do. The sound of bullets hitting their randomly assorted targets helped him focus.

"Puddin'!"

He stopped, listened. He couldn't tell her hallucination self apart from the real one nowadays, his body reacted the same.

And there, in front of him in the same boring hallway, she was. His very own ball and chain, looking as if she had just murdered a doctor.

"Puddin'," she whispered. She reached out her arms and sprinted towards him, tears flowing down her face, and he barely had time to move at all. The moment they collided with the same force he remembered, she wrapped her arms around him in a death grip, laughing and sniffling into his shoulder as she mumbled her nickname for him repeatedly. "I was lookin' ev'rwhere for ya!"

Her huffing, hot breaths against his neck sent him reeling. He pushed her against the wall, indulging her with kisses that turned more and more violent, his free hand seizing her waist as she gasped into his mouth. She was real, her warm body molding against his, and he could not stop touching her, losing himself for a second in her body heat.

She looked wearier than he remembered – she was not the glowing cheeks, young Harleen pleading for him to break her in and taint her. It made him grit his teeth to see her like this, her cheeks hollow, the shadow of bruises on her body. But she was glorious even in a stolen doctor's coat. Her hair spilled out of its messy, half-hearted confinement when she moved her head and he saw the Arkham clothes underneath, ripped and torn to fit her body better. It showed off her lean stomach and something in him jolted.

"Oh my, thought they hired you again," he purred against her ear. "Who'd ya run into?"

"Mistah J, you came – I knew that Valdez wouldn't get to you – I brought you what you wanted – I did what you said but I think they're onto us -"

Rolling his eyes, he kissed her again to silence her, something she greedily accepted as she latched onto him even harder. After a minute of her trying to get into his skin he pulled away from her, after biting down on her lip hard enough to give her the sensation he knew she craved.

He looked up and down the hallway. "Have you seen our little pumpkin?" The guards were coming closer, he could practically smell their pretentious eagerness, they all wanted to be the first one to slam him into the floor. He had tracked the movements on the floors above and below, and judging by the sounds coming from outside, more were coming.

Harley stared at him with wide, confused eyes, her face red and lips parted, and he leaned in to take another nibble at her. He wanted to take her right there against the wall and would have done so if they didn't have a few more pressing matters at hand. She was a venus flytrap when she wanted to, but he was not just a man.

"What'dya mean, Mistah J?"

Still glancing down the hallway and adjusting his gun, he leaned down to speak next to her ear, imitating her most annoying baby-voice.

"Jay-lie. Lucy-whusy. Time's tickin', Harls."

At first her face showed no recognition, then sudden anger flashed across her eyes. "Another gal? How dare ya? After everything I-"

"No. Shhh." He hissed into her ear, placing one hand over her mouth to make her settle down, but she was tense, far too gone, staring at him in a way that called in all his spare willpower not to give in to her. He pulled away from her enough to put a few inches between their bodies and grabbed her arm, quickly pulling her into another corridor to avoid the guards. "I'll handle this. Just do as I say." She nodded eagerly, following his lead again.

He had to shoot his way through the guards this time. Harley quickly fell into her usual role, acting as his look-out as they moved back in the direction towards his cell. She giggled as if it was her first time ever acting in a breakout, but her quick instincts were still there, her gymnastic agility surprising him even after all this time. Her first instinct was always to cover him, leaving the planning to him. Now and then they were accompanied by people he had hired that covered them and allowed them to slip past.

When they ran across some dead guards he handed her a machine gun and watched her empty the magazine like she was born for it. He momentarily forgot they only had minutes - twenty, tops - to get out, almost caught up in the rapture of watching her follow her instincts.

All set free because of him.

They had finally cleared a hallway thanks to the generous use of his gun when they spotted a woman running towards them. Her civilian clothes were unkempt and her "authorized visitor" tag about to fall off. He had already raised his arm to fire off a round in her face when he recognized her.

"Wait!" she yelled with impressive lung capacity, still running towards them.

He looked at June Moone, tapping his finger impatiently against the trigger. "I'm in a bit of a hurry. Would ya mind?"

Harley stared hostilely at her. "Get rid of her, Mistah J!"

Then her expression changed; her eyes widened and her mouth fell open. "Hey you… you were the crazy witch lady! I remember ya!" Harley smiled to herself, squeezed her eyes shut and then looked down at her body in slight confusion.

June struggled to catch her breath. "I'm here to tell you - I saw Jaylie –"

"Jay!" Harley gave a pitched cry, looking around. "Where's she?" Wide-eyed she turned to the Joker. "What's goin' on, Puddin'?"

He took a step forward, unable to hide his expectant glee. He could have enjoyed taking his time, but he would enjoy this even more. He looked accusingly at June, brows raised.

"She would know, Harls. A birdie told me she wants to adopt our little girl. Even got the papers signed, Waller's bestie."

.

June took another look at the woman in front of her. Harley was completely different from the person she remembered in vague glimpses. She looked barely any older, but the time incarcerated had left clear traces in her face and she showed off lean muscles underneath her clothes.

Yet there was none of that hopeful naivety that Enchantress had mocked her for, nor the crazed look in her eyes from before when she tried to slam dunk the clipboard in her face. Now her eyes were cold, unhinged.

The Joker picked up a blunt object in his hand, a baton, twirled it in his hand and Harley took it from him.

June took a step away from them. "Wait, listen to me, you need to get to –"

"Did you try to steal my BABY?" Her voice raised into a falsetto, white teeth bared. Then she jumped forward and kicked her hard in the chest. June was on her hands and feet, struggling to get on her feet again.

The first hit of the baton made stars spring into her vision. She had never felt the absence like this, the raw force she used to have right underneath the surface.

"Time to hit the bed, doctor's orders," Harley explained with a shrill voice. The Joker laughed.

June crawled backwards on her knees. "You need to – "

"You an' that bitch thought you could take EVERYTHING from me! Everythin' that's MINE!"

Another blow hit her. Pain spread down her spine and June leaned forward, dry heaving against the linoleum as her mouth watered, seeing the plastic pattern spread out in front of her eyes, melting into one. She tried to collect her voice but it cracked half-way, coming out as a hoarse cough.

I'm sorry, Rick.

If she could have, she would have taken it all back, the pain and the darkness, just to have the power now.

"Hurry it up, Harls," the Joker breathed somewhere above her.

"You wanna adopt her?" Harley yelled, and when June turned her head, she saw her pale face was drawn into a feral grimace. "Ain't nobody stealing my baby ever again!"

The Joker's laughter filled her ears as the next blow hit June across the back of her head, and the linoleum hit her face. She felt the persistent vibrating of her phone in her pocket, unable to reach it or even move her arms, her face pressed flat against the floor, tears running down her face and into her nose, coughing as he used the last of her strength to find the words.

"She's gonna die -"

Dark spots appeared in her vision and swallowed her up. The last blow she waited for never came.

.

.

They dragged her away from the hallway as she kicked and trashed, biting every body part she could come into contact with, and the large man that was holding her dropped her. Jaylie braced herself on her hands and feet, getting up when they caught her again, restraining her in an iron grip. Lucy was going wild in her head, and her hands turned into claws sinking into his skin. Then, she was carried and finally dumped in another room.

She was not in a cell, she was in a large room with white tiles covering the walls and floors, endless uneven squares spreading out all around her like paths. There were medical cabinets, sharp lights, and metallic tables.

"What'd we do with her?" someone asked. Another hand was holding her hair tightly to stop her from biting.

"Just kill the freak," another hissed, a woman. "It's fair." There were more inmates now, she could count three or four of them, and the bald man who was smiling at her, so friendly, reaching out to stroke her chin with dry fingers. She cringed away, hissing.

"No, let her suffer. Like the Joker made this place a ruin. They need to be executed, all of them." The man who was restraining her finally spoke. She wanted to rip them all to shreds. If she kept her focus maybe she would be able to.

Jaylie watched their faces, trying to calm her rapid breathing so she could think. "How original." Someone slapped her hard across the face.

"I mean it," she panted. "You'll be rewarded if you protect me."

"No, don't be like that," the bald man chastised the other patient. "This is just a little something I wanna try. You see, I'm so happy to have found you." He looked at her again, as if she was an old friend who was insulting him by not recognizing him and shook his head slowly.

"I always wanted to try this. To make a new friend. I learned from the best."

"A head for a head," another inmate smiled, baring sickly teeth.

When the man behind her adjusted his grip she saw the doctor on the ground, lying in a dark puddle. The person's head was covered with something making it impossible to see who it was, and she turned her head away. It looked as if the person had been interrupted in the middle of something, still holding something in their hands.

She heard the shuffling of something and her arms were restrained harder behind her back as they threw her on a metal table. A sudden ache spread from her hips and spine when her body collided with it and her body was straightened out. She kicked someone in the face, the soft contours of a mushy face underneath her foot and heard someone yell, grab her head and then she saw stars when her skull collided with a hard edge. She had hit her head plenty of times before but not like this - it hurt more. The pain was replaced by a warm, wet sensation at the back of her head.

Something was shoved into her skin, sending an explosion of sharp pain down her arm, and a freezing sensation slowly numbed it.

Then all strength to move, to kick and yell simply flowed off her like water, leaving her body heavy and docile. She kept her eyes wide open. Sharp lights blinded her and it felt like home. Instantly she was calmer, her heart slowing down its panicked beats. She looked up at the light, tried to image the stories, smiling to herself in an attempt to stave off the pain spreading across her body. She thought of her parents, how they loved this, but it was getting harder to focus; their faces faded away.

There was a loud buzzing nearby, like an ominous entity lurking above her, a big jelly monster that made her body tense up. Something plastic shoved into her mouth. Then a dull pain on the sides of her head. Her body convulsed once, then twice, as she crampedly bit down on the plastic and she just couldn't stop the torrents shoved into her brain, her entire body seizing as if it tried to rip itself inside out, but her voice was gone.

"You have to take a deep dive," Mom said to her when she was little, rocking her in her arms, and she used to play with her acid hair, trying to imagine what it was like. "That's how you become free, like Mommy and Daddy."

She felt warm again, warmth on the front of her body, from her arm, from her head. An amazing pattern spread in front of her, the world like a playground, a mat, the same kind of webs like blood spreading across concrete, like the paintings she made when she was bored, never coloring within the lines, always letting it pour over the edges, red and green and pink and blue. The world was beautiful.

Her brother was there next to her, it wasn't hard to see him, reaching for her and pulling her up from the web of colors. He was holding her upright, so close she could feel his breath, his heartbeat like it was her own. She was resting in his arms, the one person who only was hers, and she was his. The only person who had ever known him, for the shortest moment.

I've been waiting for you, he grinned. It's time to go.

There was a bee poking at her head and the world no longer had any edges, it was too fuzzy, too dull. It wasn't hard to drift away; it was the easiest thing she'd ever done, easier than falling asleep when Mom tried to rock her. She'd never gone to sleep when they wanted her to, it was funnier to stay awake and see them give in, let her stay up all night.

She smiled for the people in the room with her, for the world to see. The white tiles wrapped around her like a blanket when she let her eyes flutter open, and she recognized them. She must have been there before, in another lifetime.

Can you see me, Mommy? The stinging in her head grew, sucked out her breath, and it was so much easier when the room caved in. She was so cold, and her hair was wet. Her heartbeat was slow in her head, every wave pushing her pulse further down.

She was floating. The world was white, snowflakes swirling in her vision. She couldn't hear Lucy anymore.

Catch me, I'm falling.

A little girl was laughing, and there were their faces, bright and bold. They could continue playing without her.

She smiled back.

TBC. Reviews keep me writing!

Author's note: This story is quickly coming to an end because this is the last story arc I have planned. All my drafts from the last three years end with the following chapter/s.
But I am not fully ready to let go of my clown family yet so if there is any scene/story arc you would like to see in future chapters, let me know. Jaylie can be of any age. I can't make any promises that I will write about it, but if it inspires me and gives me enough to work with, I might write another arc based on your suggestions.