The Joker showed up at Dr Armstrong's apartment that morning, frantically knocking on his door. The doctor had treated him several times over the years when he wasn't able to take care of himself. The doctor didn't mind helping a criminal if the price was right.

The door opened and the doc was wearing his maroon bathrobe and slippers. "Joker! Come in. Is everything okay?", he took a step back, allowing J to stomp past him.

J sat on the couch. "My wife is pregnant.", he said flatly.

"Well I didn't know you were even married! Congratulations times two. When would you like me to see her?"

The Joker glared at him and held up a finger. "First of all doc, I don't want your grabby hands on my wife. Second of all, she's not keepin' it. Third of all, explain to me how this could happen if I've had a vasectomy."

The doctor gulped as he felt the pressure for an answer under The Joker's stare. "Well, its very uncommon, but there is a minuscule chance that the vas defrens tube can... regrow thus once again letting sperm flow. There's really no way to prevent it. It's just extremely rare. I can take a sample and check it for you if you'd like."

"Do it now.", The Joker demanded.

Dr Armstrong nodded and brought him a sample cup from his supplies. The Joker took it and went to the bathroom. Due to his mood, he was in the room much longer than he wanted to be, but came out and returned the cup to the doctor. "Call me when you find out.", he said as he stormed out the door.

"Ivy? Can you come over please?" Harley didn't know what else to possibly think other than J thought she was pregnant.

"Sure honey! Is everything okay?"

"I-I don't know.", her voice sounding shaky. "I need you to bring me something."

"Okay, what?"

"A-a pregnancy test."

Ivy raced over in record time with a drugstore bag.

"Harley? I'm here.", she yelled when she walked inside the duplex.

"Upstairs, Red!"

Ivy followed her voice upstairs to the bedroom. Harley was in bed with the pillow over her head.

"I brought it, Harl.", she held up the bag.

Harley sat up and took the bag. She went into the bathroom as she flipped the box over in her trembling hands. "I don't know what any of this means.", she held it out to Ivy.

Ivy took the box and read the instructions. "Okay, so pee on this end for five seconds. Then set it down and wait two minutes for the results."

Ivy tried to stay calm for her friend, but she didn't see a good outcome if it ended up being positive. Harley pulled down her underwear and hovered over the toilet as she peed on the stick not caring at all that Ivy was in the same room. She recapped the test and set it on the counter. They waited in silence, staring at each other. Time crawled by. The ticking of the dying wall clock made it feel so much longer. Tick... tick... tick. Once she could stand the suspense no longer, her eyes darted to the stick.

Two lines.

Harley grabbed the box to confirm her thoughts. She threw the box at the wall and the tears spilled. "Mista J wants me to have an-an- abortion."

"Oh sweetie. Is that what you want?"

"I don't know, Red. I don't know anything. I thought I just had the flu. This morning I was throwing up and he just stormed in here and told me to 'get rid of it'."

"It sounds like you need some time to think this through. You don't have to make any decisions right now. Don't let him pressure you into something you don't want to do." She rubbed her shoulder and grew angry at J for getting Harley into this predicament.

Easier said than done, Harley thought.

The Joker called Harvey up to meet for a drink at The Grin and Bare It. The strip club was musky and cigarette smoke lingered in the air. Men sitting near the stage were hooting and throwing dollar bills at the strung out looking dancer on the pole. J got a table near the back and looked up from his whisky when Harvey walked toward him. A scantily clad waitress came by to take Harvey's order. J lit a cigarette and leaned back.

"What's up, J? You never call for a drink in the middle of the day." Harvey watched the waitress as she sauntered away from the men.

"Yeah, well-", he trailed off, "I think Harl's got a bun in the oven.", he said unenthusiastically.

"And, that's a bad thing." Harvey lit a cigar he pulled from his jacket pocket.

"I told her to get rid of it."

"What'd she say?"

"I don't think she realized what I was talking about. I left before she could really say anything."

"Wow.", was all Harvey could say. He raised his eyebrows and looked down at the drink that was just set before him.

J puffed away with his eyes drifting to the brunette on stage. "We just can't do this. I know she's gonna wanna keep it, but we can't. It's too much of a liability. I don't want kids.", he said without returning Harvey's gaze.

"Well, I'm sure she'll see it your way, J. She always does. I agree with you for what it's worth. I can't exactly see you two going to parent-teacher conferences.", he chuckled.

J sighed.

"You hear about this guy in town? I think he goes by Bane or something like that.", Harvey inquired.

"Yeah, I heard something about that."

"You think he's a threat?"

"Don't know. Not sure what his endgame is. I heard he takes a, uh, serum to make him strong. I've got Eddie looking into him for me."

"Probably just blowing through town.", Harvey said trying to sound like he knew what he was talking about.

"Yeah, probably.", J replied, but his thoughts were back on Harley.

The Joker let Marty drive him around for a while so he could clear his head. His phone rang and he answered.

"Yeah."

"Mr Joker, it's Dr Armstrong. I just finished testing your specimen and it does appear that there are sperm present. I'd like to get you in for a repeat procedure whenever possible."

J growled. "Doc, what's the timeline like for an abortion?"

"Well, in my opinion, earliest is best. First trimester is the easiest time. The state allows it to be done up to twenty weeks, but the longer you wait, the more traumatic the experience will be to your wife."

The Joker hung up.

She would forgive him, his Ha-ha-Harley. Even if she didn't understand why he was making her do this now, she would thank him later. He only did things for her good. Well, that wasn't true, but he did care about her and knew that this needed to be done. She was already a liability to him. She was just lucky no one had the guts to try to get to him through her. Not yet at least. But a kid, that's just asking for it. They weren't capable of raising a kid in his lifestyle and he wouldn't dare let her leave to raise it on her own. His Ha-ha-Harley would never leave. She would understand.