It was the Fourth of July and Harley was skipping through the office and humming the National Anthem as she put up decorations in celebration. Alex relaxed in his chair behind his desk and watched her with a smile on his face, remembering that Harley loved celebrating holidays, national or otherwise. While Alex didn't normally care about festivities to the extent Harley did he would admit that his office did look nice with all the streamers and flags she was putting up.
"You know, it's not like this place is patriotic enough as is, I mean have you seen the posters?" He asked, pointing towards the recruitment posters lining the office. "Besides, that's all gotta come down tomorrow anyways."
"Well yeah, I know that but I want this place to be the most patriotic building on the street. Look, even the Army's office is putting stuff up!" She replied. Alex looked out the window to the Army's office across the street to see they had indeed set out decorations.
"Oh, fuck no! Those motherfuckers are always trying to show me up and steal my applicants!" Alex exclaimed, standing from his chair and making for the door. "Hey Jones, I know you aint trying to beat me at decorating…" He shouted to the soldier holding a box of streamers across the street as he left the building.
Harley chuckled as she watched him cross the street and talk with Jones, the Army's recruiter. Since coming back from 29 Palms she'd been helping Alex out around the office, usually just keeping it organized and running the Poolees during PT. She'd often see Alex get into friendly arguments with the other branches recruiters, Jones in particular, but they were generally light-hearted and she could easily compare it to a sibling rivalry not unlike the one she and her brothers often had.
She had been nervous at first to be hanging around a government building and had considered making use of a false identity up until the Marine Corps shot that idea down. They'd leapt at the chance to turn her and Ivy into a PR campaign, demonstrating how the Marines could take even the most troubled of individuals and turn them around. As a result, her status as a reformed individual was now publicly known and Harley found that she could walk around in public without fear of being hassled by every Police Officer she came across. For the most part the public accepted her new status as a Marine, but there were some saying that she and Ivy's inclusion was a disgrace to the prestigious force as Marines are often seen as the pinnacle of honor, a trait they believed the two were sorely lacking. That was an opinion she'd have to work long and hard to change, but she was determined to do so.
While this proved to be beneficial to both Harley and Ivy, General Anderson had been less than pleased. He hadn't found out the Marine Corps was going public with their inclusion to their ranks until after it was launched and he was furious that anyone formerly associated with the two now knew that they were working with the DOD. Any chance of sending either of them undercover had been ruined by some stupid publicity stunt. He'd immediately flown to Quantico and Harley knew that some heads would be rolling when he got there. She may have been new to the military but she wasn't naïve enough to not know the importance of keeping a Black Op, and its members, out of the public's, and more importantly the enemies, eyes.
Harley finished putting up the last of her decorations and stood in the center of the office to admire her handiwork, it looked like Uncle Sam had puked red, white, and blue all over the place and Harley laughed at the thought until she heard a commotion coming from outside. She looked out the window to see Alex and Jones had gotten into a grappling match out on the side walk. Poolees from their respective offices cheered on their recruiters as the Navy and Airforce recruiters tried to separate the two. Harley knew they were just having fun and putting on a show but she also knew that making a scene was a quick way to get the police involved. She and Alex may be friends with the Commissioners daughter but she didn't think he'd just let them off with a warning, especially since he still didn't fully trust her.
"Hey, break it up you two!" She urged, helping the Navy recruiter pull Alex away from Jones.
"Yeah Army, why don't you fuck off!" Alex taunted as the Airforce recruiter helped Jones up.
"I aint going anywhere, this is my office you dumbass jarhead!" Jones shot back.
"Guys, guys cut it out! This the example you wanna set for these kids?" Harley asked, urging them to see reason. The two men looked at each other and shook their heads.
"No…" They answered quietly.
"Look, I'm still knew here but even I know that you two shouldn't be arguing with each other in the street, friendly or otherwise. I mean come on, it's the Fourth of July! You should be celebrating together, not fighting!"
"You're right Harley, I'm sorry Jones. You're alright…for a Soldier." Alex apologized, extending his hand out to Jones.
"Yeah, well, you're alright in my book to Westbrook. Not the dumbest Marine I've met either." The Soldier replied, clasping Alex's hand.
"See, doesn't that make you guys feel better?" Harley asked with a smile as the two men shook hands.
"Yeah, yeah. I don't pay you to psychoanalyze me."
"You don't pay me at all… The DOD does."
"You should pay more mind to her Westbrook, she's got a decent head on her shoulders…for someone who used to dress as a clown that is." Jones smiled, laughing at his own joke and causing Harley to blush with embarrassment.
"Ha ha, I'm just messing with you kid. We've all made mistakes in our lives, some bigger than others, but you're one of us now. Don't let anyone give you shit about it, otherwise they gotta mess with us too."
"Thanks, I'm happy here…finally feel like I belong somewhere. We may not always see eye to eye, but I think we can all agree on one thing…"
"Oh yeah? What's that?" They both asked, wondering where she was going with this.
"At least we're not the Coast Guard!" Harley answered with a laugh as Alex and Jones looked at each other and grinned.
"Eyyyy!" They both replied together as the other recruiters shook their heads and chuckled faintly.
"Told you Westbrook, she's a smart one."
"Her first shit talk… I'm so proud of her right now…Just wait until Mom hears." Alex replied, pretending to wipe a tear from his eye. Harley laughed along with Jones before she and Alex parted ways and headed back to the office. They only had a handful of duties to accomplish before closing up and heading to Alex's place for a barbecue with the rest of the team.
...
"Sorry I'm late, my meeting took longer than I expected." Ivy apologized as she walked onto the roof of Alex's apartment. After proving that her vaccine worked in 29 Palms the DOD were making plans to purchase and recreate it for distribution among the Armed Forces, meeting with Ivy to negotiate for the rights to do so.
"It's all good Mom, haven't even started cooking yet." Alex replied warmly as he prepared grill to cook on. He'd moved the party onto his roof, which offered a perfect view to watch fireworks from. Alex had dressed very casual for the event, flip-flops, shorts, and a T-shirt that read "This is my Mandatory Fun Day shirt" written across the front. Barbara and Harley had already arrived, chatting idly around a table as they sipped from some cold beer.
"How many times do I have to tell you I'm not your mom?" Ivy huffed impatiently. Since revealing her age the unofficial billet of team mom had stuck. She wouldn't admit it, but she found it flattering. Her own mother had been terrible to her growing up, so to know she was surpassing her was also a bonus. And much like a mother would, she did her best to look after the others as much as she could. They, like her plants, were her family now and she cared deeply for them, even if she didn't often show it.
"You should take it as a complement. As abrasive as you can be sometimes you'd be a way better mom than mine was."
"I doubt that really. You turned out alright, for a man that is, how bad could she have been?"
"Ignoring your extremely feminist comment, she was a complete and utter bitch just because I wouldn't agree with her views. Well guess what Mom, I'm an adult and can have my own opinions separate from yours!" He shouted out to the city.
"Yeah, I remember them fighting often, especially after he told her he was enlisting. She was...less than supportive..." Harley added as she walked over after hearing Alex rant about his mother.
"How so?" Ivy asked curiously. While she could relate to Alex in that her own mother had been terrible at offering any maternal support she was curious to see what reasoning his mother had for not supporting him. As she understood it, military service was generally something parents would be proud of their child volunteering for.
"Well she was never supportive of the war in Iraq or Afghanistan, believing we only invaded to steal oil from them instead of fighting for stability in the region. So when he told her of his intent to enlist she was furious and did everything in her power to prevent that. I had to forge her signature onto the document allowing him to enlist at seventeen. She never found out until it came time for him to leave." Harley answered.
"Yeah, she was not thrilled with me when she found out that I was still going in. Bitch didn't even come to my graduation from boot camp...I haven't even spoken to her in five years."
"That bad huh?"
"Well I thought when I came back from Afghanistan she'd at least try to come and see me, make sure I was alright, but nooooo. She called me over the phone instead of seeing me in person. You know what the last thing she said to me was? Oh, killing Muslims for their oil wasn't enough for you huh? You had to go and shoot Harleen too? I hung up on her after that… Haven't heard from her since. So, you see, way better mom than mine." He said, reaffirming his previous statement about Ivy.
"But enough about her, its the God damn Fourth of July and we should be celebrating, cooking barbeque, drinking beer, and shooting guns like the Americans we are!" He exclaimed enthusiastically, ending the conversation.
"I'm vegetarian…"
"I don't drink heavily…"
"I don't care for guns…" They all answered, shutting him down instantly.
"You commie fucks, why did I even bother setting this up!? Some Marines you are…"
"Ah, you still love us. One big dysfunctional family, remember?" Harley ruffled Alex's hair with a smile as she reminded him.
"Well I suppose you guys aren't the worst…"
...
The sun was starting to set over the city but the get together on Alex's roof was still going strong. After dinner Alex found Harley leaning on the edge of the roof as she watched a small parade down below. She was completely oblivious to his approach until he tapped her shoulder, causing her to jump in surprise.
"Oh, it's you!" She exclaimed, hand over her heart.
"Jeez, your jumpy this evening."
"Am not…You just scared me."
"My bad. So, I picked something up for you a while back, been sorta my pet project to keep my mind off…things. Anyways, I finished it before we left for California and I've been waiting for the right time to give it to you. Thought with all the celebrating going on now would be a good time." He told her, offering her a small wooden box.
"Oh, what is it!?" She asked excitedly, shaking the box to try and determine what was inside.
"Well it'd help if you opened it…"
"Right…" She unclasped the lid and opened the box revealing a shiny new Colt .45 pistol. It was gunmetal grey in color, featured an ambidextrous safety and raised tritium night sights. But what stood out the most was the writing engraved on the left-hand side of the slide. Start Somewhere. Harley pondered the cryptic writing, wondering what Alex had meant by engraving it.
"Recognize that piece? I found it in that factory we rescued you from." Realization came over Harley upon hearing that as she stared down at the weapon in her hands.
"This…this was his, wasn't it?" She whispered, heart wrenching at the memories of the atrocities, all the lives taken in cold blood by this weapon in the hands of her former lover. The purple and gold colors may have been removed but this was still very much the same weapon she'd seen take many lives. Lives taken as she just stood and watched, ignoring their pleas for mercy as the Joker toyed with them before snuffing them out. Those were the moments she wished she could forget, but they would always haunt her.
"It was, but now it's yours. Much like yourself, that weapon was corrupted and used to commit heinous acts, but also like you it has an opportunity to be used for good, a chance to start over. I think it's only fitting that you be the one to redeem it."
Harley didn't like the idea of having a reminder of her old life so close, but Alex's reasoning was not lost on her. The weapon she now held was just like her, used, abused, and thrown away only for Alex to come by and give them a chance to start over, to start somewhere.
"I…Thank you Alex. I'll makes sure this weapon is used for good…that it doesn't take any more innocent lives..." Harley ran her fingers over the engraving once more before replacing the weapon in its box and returning her gaze to the city. "I wish I could take it all back…The years I've lost, the lives I've helped destroy. I appreciate all that you've done for me, but sometimes I think it would've been better to have died instead of remain living with the guilt…"
"Don't you dare think that. We've talked about this, you made a mistake and you've been forgiven. Acknowledge and learn from what happened but don't let it destroy you, your life is worth living. Don't ever think that it's not. We…I…need you."
"Sorry, I shouldn't be talking that way. What we're doing…it's too important for me to be thinking that way."
"Yes, but that's not what I meant…If something happened to you…I'd be lost. I won't lose you…not again. Harleen Quinzel I…I love you."
Harley was speechless. She knew that Alex cared about her, and that she cared equally as much as him, but to hear him admit that he loved her? Her emotions were overloading as she smiled, tears welling in her eyes as she revealed in the feeling, knowing that she was loved. She pulled Alex close and held him tightly, shaking as he returned the embrace.
"I love you too Alex, I think I always have…I'm just sorry it took all of this for us to finally realize we were meant for each other."
"Me too, If I hadn't left…"
"We can worry about what ifs all we want, it won't change what already happened. Remember?" She said, reminding him of what he had just told her.
"Right, but…"
"Just shut up and kiss me already…"
Harley looked up into at Alex and saw him smile as he leaned down and kissed her lips. She smiled happily as she returned it, sparks flying in her brain as her heart beat uncontrollably in her chest. She remembered feeling this way the first time they had shared a kiss, so long ago, when she was starting her career at Arkham and he leaving for his first deployment. Promises had been made and broken but here they were, years later and finally realizing what they had been missing out on. Alex broke the kiss and held Harley close as fireworks began to light up the night sky in bursts of red, white, and blue but as spectacular as they were they paled in comparison to the woman he held in his arms.
...Mission Complete…