Short chapter but Super Bowl weekend can be blamed for that. That come back by the Patriots though! How anyone can blow that big a lead is beyond me! But your not here for football so let's get back to our regularly scheduled program.

"Seriously, how the hell have you been firing this thing without your wrist breaking!?" Alex held Harley's old single shot hand cannon in front of him and she just shrugged at him. It looked like she had modified a break-action revolver into a single shot 40mm grenade launcher that was somehow capable of firing without exploding in her face.

They'd recovered the weapon along with the rest of her old effects from the subway hideout after finding the warning The New Era left behind. Harley had been distraught that her old life was catching up with her just as she got better but with some help from Ivy they'd gotten her to calm down and promised to keep her safe.

Currently they were at a stretch of land owned by the government to test out new equipment in order to test fire the weapons that had been sitting in the armory for several months without being used. While it was for maintenance reasons Alex also just felt like shooting at something other than people for once in a while. It was just the two of them, Barbara and Tim still had work and school, Ivy was working on that formula for the others, and Batman was busy finding intel on The New Era for General Anderson. Alex didn't mind though, he and Harley hadn't had a day to themselves in almost five years.

"Just don't be a bitch Alex." Harley answered with a smirk as she leaned against the table that our weapons sat on.

"Hey I ain't no bitch, but if my wrist gets fucked up I'm blaming you…" Alex grabbed a shell off the table and walked to the firing line, dropping it into the tube once there. He took a breath and brought the gun eye level, sighting in on the target they'd set up down range, a scarecrow dressed up in the Joker's purple suit. The idea had, surprisingly, been Harley's but who was Alex to deny her some form of vengeance?

Alex thought he had compensated enough for the recoil but the muzzle climb from firing a 40mm out of such a short barrel caught him by surprise and his shot went wide, exploding about ten feet to the right. Harley started laughing as the smoke dissipated and Alex felt his pride become wounded but at least his wrist was still intact.

"Ok hotshot, grab a weapon and show me what you got." He challenged as he walked off the firing line.

"Gladly." She then grabbed her SMG and got into position, loading a magazine and chambering a round. She started off standing with a two-handed grip, firing off three bursts in quick succession before transitioning to a single hand and emptying the magazine. She cleared the weapon and we walked down range to the target.

"All in the ten ring, your turn." Man, she was a good shot. Alex counted all her rounds in the targets chest region. Very impressive for an untrained civilian.

"Oh, you wanna make a bet?"

"Lay it on me."

"I bet that I can fire an entire two-hundred round belt from a machine gun into the chest." Not a hard task if you know what your doing. Besides anything worth shooting is worth shooting twice. Ammo is cheap, life is expensive.

"Alright, and if you win?"

"If I win you gotta buy me dinner, I lose I pay, deal?"

"Is this…no...are you asking me on a date?" She asked wide eyed. Alex hadn't intended it to sound like that, who doesn't enjoy a free meal, but he did admit the idea wasn't a bad one. It might be a bit awkward, they had been on opposite sides a mere two months ago, but she was still his best friend. Always would be regardless of the direction they went. Now that he was thinking about it Alex started to like the idea and decided to roll with it.

"I guess I am. Look I'll understand if you think it's weird but…"

"It's not weird, I'd like that…very much." She smiled happily and Alex let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding in.

"Alright, awesome!"

"Don't celebrate just yet, you still gotta shoot remember?" Oh, right. They walked back up range where Alex picked up an M240B medium machine gun and brought it to the line while Harley brought over the ammo can and set it next to him. Alex got into the prone behind the machine gun which was resting on its bipod and loaded the rounds onto the feed tray, locking the bolt to the rear before sighting in on the target.

Having an 8x optic made it easy, but really it isn't too hard to operate a machinegun. His initial bursts were good and he made it three quarters through the belt when the tracer rounds ignite the target. Even though it's on fire Alex still finished off the remaining ammo, but it'll be impossible now to tell if all his shot's hit.

"Well, looks like I'm paying." He sighed, getting up from the gun and watching the target burn. Damn, he'd been looking forward to that free meal.

"I like the sight of Joker burning, even if it isn't really him. I do hope he's this is what he looks like in Hell." Harley says, her blue eyes staring intently at the flames. It's a bit concerning but Alex didn't say anything to her. Instead he grab an AT4 rocket off the table and took a knee on the firing line.

"You like that, watch this!" He exclaimed, sighting in again. "ROCKET!" He shouted and the rocket flies out of the tube, exploding on the target a split second later, reducing it to a pile of ashes. Alex looked back at Harley to see her laughing to herself.

"That's awesome! You really know how to make me smile Alex!"

"That's what I'm here for, blowing up psychopaths and making pretty girls smile."

"Well your certainly good at doing those. So wanna pick me up at eight tomorrow?"

"You mean wake you up at eight, you sleep on my couch remember?" Since she didn't have a place of her own Harley had moved onto his couch, which he didn't mind, except for the fact that his food bill nearly doubled overnight. The DOD was giving her a small stipend but he'd told her to save it for herself, so all of her expenses ended up with him. Also, she was kind of a slob, leaving used plates and opened food out, which conflicted with the neatness that Alex usually maintained in his home. Still he'd rather have her close to keep an eye on her, especially with her being hunted by terrorists and all.

"Oh, right."

"Come on, let's get this place cleaned up, then you can help me clean up the mess you left back home..."

"ugh, it's not even that big a mess!"

"There are ants crawling around the kitchen!"

"Alright, fine. I'll pick up after myself more often." She rolled her eyes and brushed past him.

In all today was pretty fun, Alex got to shoot some guns with his best friend and managed to score a date with her, which would sound pretty lame if they were still in high school which they're definitely not. Besides, she'd been his date to the Marine Corps ball before and that had ended up...amazing. He wished that every day could be like this and was definitely looking forward to tomorrow. But fate had plans of its own...

…Mission Complete…