Life and Death: Chapter 28
Content warning: romantic gore.
"Where're we going?"
Jaylie looked at her parents from the backseat of one of their 'lowkey' black cars with tinted windows. Harley was dressed up, but not as if she was going to the club; she wore a short red dress that matched the color of her lips and boots. It allowed her more movement and that usually meant more hands-on action. The Joker sported his purple coat, casual flair.
"This is all Puddin's idea. Where are we going?"
The Joker just gave her a look as he pulled out of the garage, his face revealing nothing. They drove a short while in silence while Harley tried to find a radio station she liked. He parked in front of a warehouse. Frost was there, waiting for them to get out before getting into the driver's seat to move the car. Jaylie followed her parents inside the building, shielded by the night from curious eyes. She had been in warehouses before but they were boring, there was nothing to do except wait for her parents to get their business sorted with mobsters and not get blood on her shoes.
This building was lit from the inside and the windows were covered up with boards. The location was casual, downtown in an abandoned district.
Jaylie frowned. "What's in here?"
"Don't make such a face. I promised you a surprise," the Joker said, the corner of his mouth twitching.
"Oh, lemme see!" Harley skipped around. A handful of people were bound to chairs further inside the main room, their faces covered by colorful masks. Armed henchmen in costumes were posted in the corners of the room.
"Aw, Puddin', you shouldn't have!" Harley turned around and blew a kiss at her partner.
He rolled his eyes, standing back.
Harley removed the masks from the captives like a child opening presents on Christmas Day. When she didn't recognize any of the offenders, her interest quickly waned and she moved on to the next.
Having followed behind her, Jaylie stopped in her tracks. In front of her was a bald man, bound to a chair, gagged, but he was looking straight at her. One of his eyes was swollen and a part of his face badly bruised but he was alive. For a moment she wondered how they had got him here - but of course, Arkham had been infiltrated during her entire stay. It would have been easy to intercept a transport moving the inmates from what remained of the asylum.
It had been a month, but it didn't matter. Jaylie stared back at him, at the one eye that wasn't closed, saw his clear gaze. Her mouth went dry and her heart beat quicker, taunting her. It was a strange, unfamiliar feeling - something made her want to turn and run from the building. She was frozen in place, held by his gaze, a ringing in her ears rising steadily.
She hated this strange feeling. The part of her that had been Lucy, the part of her that had a brother, would have laughed in the face of this man. But she wasn't Lucy, not right now. She took a step backward. The older man held her gaze and his dry lips stretched to a smile.
His voice had filled the emptiness in her cell and it had been the last thing she heard before she died, before Lucy died. Another wave hit her of something that twisted her features. Her skin felt uncomfortably cold.
When she turned to leave, the Joker was there and blocked her exit.
His hands gripped her shoulders, turning her around and forcing her to face the man again. Harley came closer, glaring at the captive, but the Joker gestured at her to wait. He stood behind Jaylie.
"You two got a bone to pick, am I right?"
She looked at the other captured men and women next to the one in front of her. Her chest was tight, remembering. She could feel the healing stitches in her head pulsate. His presence behind her made it impossible to run. She closed her eyes for a moment.
And there it was. Lucy. She was not a voice inside of her, a part of her that could come and go at will. Lucy was her.
I'm here.
She took a deep breath, slightly shaky, and then relaxed. She turned her head towards the Joker. "Is he all mine?"
The grin that answered her was wide, and he let go of her shoulders, taking a step back. Jaylie looked at the array of weapons that were lying around, prepared for this moment - knives, razors, a chainsaw that looked too heavy for her to carry, a drill, a crowbar, and various tools. She understood; she needed to show them that she was capable of retaliating.
The very first time he made her enact her own revenge she had been six years old, even if they had been right by her side and doing all the heavy work, showing her how to do it. Already back then he had let her kill her predator herself. Always tie up all loose ends, or they might unravel later. She had learned well.
In this world, an eye for an eye was a literal statement.
The first thing Jaylie picked up was her grandfather's metallic bat. It felt perfect in her hands, smooth and with enough weight behind it for her to get in that first glorious smash. The movement flowed through her easily, the violence coursed through her veins like a dance and she stopped thinking, her skin grew warm and her cheeks flushed from the extortion. It was easier to breathe now and she worked through the tools she saw.
She was covered in speckles of blood, her fingernails and hands soiled red by the time she looked up to see what her parents were doing. Harley had taken care of the rest of the helpers from Arkham who had been in that room with her.
The Joked watched without joining them. As always, his eyes gleamed darkly as he watched Harley move with sheer brutal force, yet quick on her feet, a deadly ballerina. Harley was immersed in beating the others to a pulp, and Jaylie stopped to look at her own perpetrator's body. The man had slid half-way off the chair and his face and body were unrecognizable. She picked up a large scalpel without really knowing what to do with it - she preferred stabbing and being done with it - when the Joker stepped over to her, looking as clean as ever without a drop of blood on his person.
He held out his hand towards her without a word and she curiously handed over the scalpel. She took a step backward as he worked with quick, rough movements, a skill that came from decades of practice. There was no surgical precision this time; only barely contained aggression.
Harley came over to watch him, breathing hard, speckles of red in her hair. She wrapped one arm around Jaylie's shoulders and threw her mallet on the ground. "Mama's so proud of you, baby."
They watched as he straightened up and pulled his hand out from the man's body. In his palm was a warm, still pulsating, piece of flesh. Harley grimaced. "How sweet."
The Joker chucked the heart into the floor in front of them both. It splattered all over the concrete.
Harley reached down to inspect her heels for any stains, then skipped forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Thank you, Puddin'."
He encircled her waist and pulled her closer. His thumb wiped some grey substance from Harley's cheek, then he licked it clean. "Those guys weren't the sharpest tools in the box." She shrugged, and smiled, leaning forward to kiss him.
Jaylie threw her bat down on the floor, and kicked it away. Her new sneakers were soaked.
.
.
.
"But I didn't know that my account was maxed out! Can't you help me, mistah?"
Harley leaned against one of the counters, flirting with the bank teller to see if he was any fun. Only the bulletproof plexiglass stopped her forehead from touching the man's face.
"Ma'am, you need to take a step back." He was sweating a little - she was dressed down, in a less eye-catching outfit, but her hair and tattoos still gave her away for anyone who had watched the news lately. She frowned at him, demonstratively drumming her nails against the shiny surface.
"Ma'am, please -
Harley checked the room for a moment - some of the customers were looking at her, others had not noticed her yet. And there, waiting for his turn in an expensive leather sofa, was the man they were looking for. She smiled wide and turned back to the teller.
"Actually, it's okay." She reached for the gun hidden underneath her tight skirt and leaned forward again, placing the barrel in the hole at the bottom of the plexiglass. "Just be a good boy and lay down on the floor for me."
Behind her the henchmen entered, followed by her paramour in all his glamorous flair. A few of their goons had dealt with the other bank tellers before they had a chance to call security. It was an unusually laid-back operation, for once not shooting their way into the building, all henchmen dressed down in normal suits, everything to not draw attention to it.
"I'd like to speak to the manager," Harley demanded, jumping over to the man in the leather sofa, startling him and pushing him to the floor. "Is this our guy?" she hollered.
The Joker smiled.
"What do you want with me?" the man wheezed.
Harley looked over at her partner for the answer to that question. J shrugged. "I just wanted to say hi. No... Y'see, all of these people are waiting for you." He gestured at the other customers who had been ushered into a corner by his armed henchmen, crouching panicked on the floor.
He circled his prey, studying him as if he was genuinely intrigued by him. "I figured you and I will have a little talk. It's about the whereabouts of a certain friend of ours. Now, we don't want to make a big show. Wouldn't want this place to go sky-high."
"I have no idea what you're talking about! I don't know where she is!" The man held his hands at height of his chest, trembling and sweating profusely.
"Liar, liar, pants on fire." Harley studied her cuticles for a moment. They both looked at the man, who glanced at the other customers being held at gunpoint, and then back at them.
"I- I can't possibly reveal that classified information! I'd rather die!"
"Oh really?" The Joker tilted his head, his brows raising. "Would ya now?"
"Please don't kill me," the man asked. "I can give you information - about the President, whatever you want -"
"Time's ticking." The Joker walked over to him, uncharacteristic impatience marring his steps. Hijacking a bank during daylight hours was a bold move, even for them.
Jaylie pushed through the henchmen guarding the entrance. The Joker's eyes narrowed as she walked up to him; she usually never bothered them when they worked. Zoe was following closely behind her, holding her hand.
Ignoring the henchmen and the confused hostages Jaylie stood right in front of him. He made a gesture to shoo her off. "Daddy's busy."
"The police's coming. We heard them."
"Oh, we've got some bigger fish to fry first," he promised her. He glanced at Zoe next to her and grimaced. "And who's that? Your li'l sidekick?"
Jaylie smiled coldly back. "My companion."
He cackled at her, but the expression in his eyes was a warning. "How nice." Without further do he swept Jaylie out of his way, making her stumble, and gave new orders to the henchmen, to grab the man that Harley was guarding and take him outside.
Jaylie and Zoe quickly headed for the second exit - they would all meet up later. Outside, a group of worried pedestrians had assembled and watched as they made their way down the street and rounded a corner, to get out of the way of the impending crime scene. Someone shouted: "Everybody down!"
They crouched behind a group of nearby dumpsters, at a safe distance from the bank but close enough to hear and see what was going on. Police cars had pulled up to the front of the bank, armed officers approached the front entrance and for a moment there was only a mess of blaring sirens, shouting and pedestrians screaming and running. There was no sight of the Joker and his crew, but she knew they had ways to disappear.
"Will they be alright?" Zoe whispered, pressed up next to Jaylie, anxiously biting her nails.
"It's the GCPD," Jaylie replied, giving her a grin. "The question is if they will be alright."
"Hey! Get the hell out of here!"
They both turned around and Jaylie grasped the knife in her pocket, her eyes narrowing at the masked man. He took a step towards them when his voice suddenly changed in disbelief. "Zoe!"
Zoe grimaced.
"What did I tell you?" Deadshot removed his mask to speak, glanced at the bank to make sure that they had no been discovered, then back at her. "You could have been killed. The police won't wait, they will shoot to kill if you get in their way. Do you understand?"
"I know!" she retorted. "I lived in the Narrows for years, Dad!"
He sighed, before pulling Zoe into a hug. "I know. I'm sorry. I'm glad you're okay." She nodded, hugging him back.
He turned to Jaylie. "Look, I don't hurt no kids, but you stay away from my daughter. I don't want to see you anywhere near her, understand?"
"Dad, she hasn't done anything!" Zoe protested. A sudden sound of bullets being fired in the distance made him grab them both and pull them further away from the bank, to the safety of a smaller alley. Jaylie immediately pulled away from him, putting distance between them, standing closer to Zoe.
"You're going home right now." He pointed at Zoe. "I've got a job to finish here, and I don't want you in the nearest ten blocks."
"Her parents are here too," Zoe said. Deadshot glared at Jaylie. "Tell them to piss off. I don't give a damn who owns this turf. They better not get in my way."
"They're already here," Jaylie answered, unfazed.
Deadshot muttered a curse under his breath. "Don't even think of going near them," he warned Zoe.
"I've already been to their home, Dad."
He tensed up. "Why didn't anyone tell me this shit? What did your mom say?"
"Nothing, Mom doesn't know. Jaylie was the one who put Darren in the hospital."
"Great. Okay, I like that. Get out of here now, this is no place for kids."
Something had changed between them lately - after denying the nature of his work all of Zoe's life, she had only recently told him that she knew what he did for a living. Even after she and her mother moved, she had started spending more time with her father. What he did for a living had shocked her when she first found out, but now it was natural to her. He worked in silence, laying low, and she could keep living a normal life on the side.
For Zoe Lawton, Gotham consisted of two different worlds - one place full of meta-humans and underground crocodiles, and one filled with ordinary citizens who were used to taking shelter from fear toxin and spore polluted water - and for her, the line had become muddled in the last months. She had seen things her classmates only read about in comic books, and she didn't feel as scared anymore.
Deadshot glanced back at Jaylie. "Where's your folks at?"
She shrugged, as the sound of gunshots grew more intense. A police car blazed by and he reacted immediately, pushing them all against the wall of the building to stay out of sight.
"Better not in jail again, I hope," he remarked when he withdrew his arm. "I heard there's no return ticket from the new prison."
"She isn't like them," Zoe defended her.
Jaylie looked calmly at them both. "I am, Zoe. I am just like them."
"Jay!" The high-pitched voice broke through the gunshots and the noise from the nearby streets. Harley jumped into the alley, her gun drawn and pointing at Deadshot.
Her mouth fell open and she lowered her gun, eyes wide. "You?"
"Me, myself and I," he replied sarcastically but gave her a small smile in recognition.
Harley looked him up and down as her shock slowly turned into a cheeky grin. "Hey, long time no see. I missed ya."
He noticed the person approaching behind her, and took a step closer to Zoe.
"I believe we haven't been introduced," the Joker greeted with a grin.
"I know who you are," Deadshot answered curtly. "The kids shouldn't be out here."
"Oh, I don't know about that. Mine thinks she's gonna be the next caped justice crusader." Jaylie could hear the heavy-laced sarcasm in his voice. For a moment she wondered what he would do if she actually was. She played with the thought for the shortest of moments - imagined herself standing next to Robin, masked, silently prowling in the night, watching the streets. How boring.
The Joker's hand landed on top of her head, heavy - a statement, to herself as well as Deadshot. J watched the other man with slightly narrowed eyes, his expression blank, glancing at Zoe standing next to him. Deadshot noticed and glared back.
Harley looked between them and leaned into the Joker's side. "Ya don't happen to know Amanda Waller's whereabouts?"
Deadshot raised his eyebrows. "When I get a hold of that lady, I've got some bones to pick with her. They've built a new prison, so you better stay out of there, Harley." He looked at Jaylie for a moment. "They don't even make them do the government's dirty work anymore."
"We've got a guy who's gonna spill the beans," Harley smiled, showing teeth. "She's going down this time."
"Send her my regards. Let's go, Zoe." He motioned for his daughter to follow him.
Zoe looked at Jaylie. "I'll see you soon. Promise."
She reached out to touch her hand. "I'll come get you."
.
After they left and Harley had waved goodbye, the three of them took off into another alley to get to the getaway car. Jaylie followed behind her parents, glad that her physical condition had got better over the course of the last months. She could run again without getting exhausted, but it had taken time and patience and she still had not reached the same strength she had before.
When they approached the empty alleyway where the car was waiting, Jaylie stopped in her tracks. There he was, surveying the street from a low building.
"Hey Robin!" she called. "Wait up!"
He turned to stare at her, his eyes widening behind his mask. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Hey," Harley called at him, chidingly. "Didn't anyone teach ya how to speak to ladies?"
"Mom, he's mine."
Harley held up her hands. "He's all yours, sweet cheeks."
When she made an attempt to leave, Harley caught her face between her hands and waited until she looked back, holding her gaze steadily.
"Be careful, baby. If anyone's bothering ya, just tell Mama and she'll take care of them."
Jaylie rolled her eyes, her cheeks squished between her hands. "I know."
Harley planted a kiss on her forehead and stroked some strands of hair away from her face, before pulling away.
"Can I go now? I'll cause a lot of trouble."
"That's my girl." Harley raised her voice, making a nyah-nyah expression at the boy. "Did ya hear that? Jaylie's coming for ya. Run, birdie, run!"
Tim Drake grimaced before he turned and dashed away, and Jaylie was not slow to take up the chase from the ground, both of them moving in the opposite direction of the bank, where the police would be busy trying to save hostages for the nearest hours. Harley watched her leave, smiling to herself. "They grow so fast. Better let them get it out of their system."
Her paramour responded with a similar eye-roll, pushing the driver out of the getaway car. No time was better for car chases than when the police were unable to intervene. "I'd thought she'd have conquered Gotham by now."
"We're not gonna retire yet." Harley skipped over to wrap her arms around him, resting her head in the nape of his neck. She felt his steady breathing surrounding her. His hand settled in her hair as his lips moved to the side of her face. Harley reached up to press a kiss to his mouth and she felt the rhythmic beating of his heart underneath her hand.
"I love ya, Mistah J," she whispered, "I love ya so much."
His fingers stroked her face, tilting her head upwards and meeting her gaze. He chuckled quietly, flashing her that smile she could die for.
"I know, Harls," he said, wrapping one arm around her shoulders and pressing her closer to him. His lips trailed down to the underside of her jaw. She giggled as his breath tickled her skin, the hint of teeth scraping at her throat still made her knees go weak.
She remembered how he used to look, his eyes ablaze with a darkness that tempted to swallow her whole. Always chasing after something else until she caught him, faced him dead on and made him look at her, see her. Had he ever looked at anyone else after he saw her?
She had never meant to make them end up like this with a kid and hyenas, but maybe it was what she wanted all along. He was hers and would always be. Harley followed his gaze to Jaylie in the distance, and together they watched her, completely caught up in her new game.
The forever living mark of them.
.
THE END
for now.
Author's note.
First of all, thank you for reading. If you've been here since 2016, then I commend you for your patience, and if you're a newer reader then I'm also very glad you found this story. This is the story I wanted to tell and needed to tell. It has been living in my head for more than four years and most of it was already conceived back then, but it took me time to find the motivation, energy, inspiration and ability to write the story like this. I know many people have left the fandom since then but for those of you that still stick around, thank you. I appreciate your presence and I remember all of you.
It often took me time to update but I always knew I would come back because this is the story that still lives in my head up until this day. If I had finished this story years ago when the fandom was still flourishing, it wouldn't have been anything like this because I didn't know how to write it the way I wanted it to be, back then. I've grown a lot too. I see this ship a bit differently today than I did then.
This is my favorite of all the stories I have written so far, and in a way my last work for the fandom. I do have many unpublished old drafts that might see the light of day later, but I might not write anything new after this – because this is the ending I envision for this ship. This fic started out very dark, especially the prequel, but I wanted to leave that behind and make it end on this much lighter note. Things can be alright in the end, no matter the pain and angst that came before.
It is possible that this story will be continued someday or get a spin-off/AU. It depends on my inspiration and reader interest. Then I won't write it solely for me anymore because this story has been written for me (and you too of course, but this is the only fanfic I've been able to write independently of reader feedback because it was aching to be told). Maybe an older teenage Jaylie will come poking at me someday but it is the childhood years that intrigues me the most.
It's very hard and a bit sad to let go of a fic that has been such a big part of your fandom life, but it's time. That being said, there is a bunch of deleted scenes to this fic that didn't make it into the final fic in case you're interested. If you have questions, you are always welcome to let me know. You'll find me on AO3 and tumblr.
Lastly, I would love to know what you think.
Love,
Crystallinee