Part 3
In the front room of Selina's home, the double identities of the Gotham knights sat planning their next move. Dick Grayson, Barbara Gordon, Tim Drake, Harleen Quinzel, and Selina Kyle. The only one still in costume was Batman, who refused to remove his mask in case Bruce found a way to contact him.
"Really Terry, we all know who you are, and it's near impossible to communicate across dimensions, take the cowl off so we know who to look for if you go missing!" Said Barbara. Terry scowled, and again tried to contact Bruce… To no avail, he pulled his mask off and revealed his face to the group. All of their eyes widened, and Harley got up and sat closer to him.
"Well hell-o cute stuff!" She grinned, embracing his arm. Terry rolled his eyes, and looked at the group.
"What?"
"You… You look just like him." Said Barbara, getting up and dusting a picture of a much younger Bruce Wayne on the wall, even Terry was a little shocked at the picture, he had seen photos of younger Bruce Wayne in his dimension, but this world's Bruce was nearly identical to himself… Granted with a lamer haircut, but he guessed that was the time period.
"Yeah… Weird…"
Harley was still on his shoulder, "That's not a bad thing y'know, got a girl back home hottie?" She smirked, Terry nodded.
"That's one reason why I have to get back… Soon."
"We can worry about getting Harleen's new love interest home later, right now we need to focus on taking our city back…" Said Dick, leaning forward in his chair.
"Dick, we've tried to defeat him hundreds of times, and your plans NEVER work!" Barbara declared, waving him off.
Tim folded his arms and frowned, "Hate to say it Dick… But Barbara's right, why would this plan be any different?"
"Because we have Batman." Dick pointed to Terry, who stood nearby with folded arms.
"What difference would I make? I'm not Bruce Wayne…"
"But you're the closest thing we have to him, and I have seen your escapades in your dimension through some tech that I… 'Borrowed' from an old friend…"
"You never told me about that!" Barbara said, raising her arms.
"Shut it! Anyway, I know what you're capable of Terry, and I know you can get us in to take out Joker."
Terry nodded, "If it means teaching the clown a lesson, I'm in."
Harleen laid in the bed in one of Selina's guest rooms, her hair out of the pigtails she had them in and her mask on the side table. She stared at the ceiling silently, thinking about the things in her past and how badly she messed up her life… All because of her insane obsession with the Clown Prince of Crime… She heard a knock on her door.
"C'min…" She said quietly, and the door opened.
Harleen's eyes widened in shock when she saw a pasty white face with green hair step into the room, grinning widely.
"Ah!" Harleen squealed, but then she blinked and saw that it was just Terry.
"Oh, hiya bats." She said quietly.
"Harleen? You okay?" Asked Terry, walking in quietly and standing at the foot of her bed. She sat up Indian style and smiled nervously.
"Yeah, never better…"
"I have a question; hope it's not too personal…"
"Ask away hot stuff!"
"Okay, why are you so close to Tim here?"
Harleen's fake smile disappeared as she looked away.
"You're right, that is a little personal… But here goes…"
FLASHBACK-
A loud shot was the first thing Tim Drake heard as he regained his sanity… His wide grin faded as a tear escaped his eyes with the realization that in his madness he had killed the one person who mattered more to him than anyone else, he had killed Bruce Wayne. The only sound he could hear was the Joker's mad laughter, and the thud and falling of the Dark Knight in front of his eyes. It was then that something happened in the 13-year-old's mind, something snapped… All he could think about was the cruel man who had made him not only watch, but kill the closest thing he had to a father he had.
Vengeance is all that filled Robin's mind that night, he continued the masquerade as Joker Junior to get closer to the clown.
The ruse lasted several months, Tim got closer and closer to the Joker, using the knowledge he had of the other villains in the city to his and the Joker's advantage and acting like a true admirer. Tim hated to do it, but to make sure that the Joker's takeover of the country went on unimpeded; he gave his master the kryptonite that Superman had entrusted to Batman… No sooner had the league intervened than did the Joker attack and defeat Superman and the rest of the league with an army of robots… Powerful robots. Tim wasn't exactly sure who could be behind their creation, but he could only stand by as long as the Joker was gaining power.
Eventually, Joker had formed an alliance with a few other villains, namely Mr. Freeze, Lex Luthor from Metropolis, and former District Attourney-turned-supervillain, Two-Face. With promises to reward their work, Joker and his 'friends' (For lack of a better word), had taken half of the country around them. Standing in the middle of it all was a helpless Tim Drake, second in command to the clown prince of crime and the only person with the means to stop him.
In the meantime, someone watched from the sidelines, the Joker's loyal girlfriend watched in jealousy at the attention Tim was getting from Mr. J. Tim took note of this and hoped to use it to his advantage. One night, Harley got into a fight with the Joker, who at this point was now a power-hungry lunatic… Even more so than he was long before. This fight escalated to violence when Harley lost her temper and slapped the Joker across the face. This came as a shock to Tim, Harley always seemed so submissive… He guessed that sooner or later, one of them had to break down.
The Joker was angry with her, of course, so he pulled a knife from his sleeve and was about to take it to Harley, Tim could see what was about to happen… And realized that if he was ever going to avenge Batman… He had to make sure that Joker could never kill anyone he had the chance to save. Just before Joker was to stab her, a black gloved hand caught his arm and flipped him over. The Joker roared in anger at the sight of the boy wonder dressed in black. Black Robin took the fainted Harley out and as far from the madman as possible.
The boy found an abandoned house; the residents were likely murdered during Joker's takeover of Gotham City… He set the unconscious Harley down in a bed in that house, and cleaned the neck wound she had sustained due to the Joker's abuse. When she awoke, she asked Robin what had happened… He told her that the Joker took a knife to her and that he could no longer stand the abuse he put her through and that if she wanted to go back to him again she could and he wouldn't stop her. In that one rescue from her abusive boyfriend, Harley had seen the light. She kissed him on the cheek and told the she could never thank the young boy for helping her to escape him.
Harley Quinn and Black Robin soon became infamous in Joker's City, stealing things and causing havoc for the Joker and the others. They even found a way to shut down all of the super-robots. Eventually they were found by Catwoman and joined by Nightwing and Batgirl…
END FLASHBACK
"And the rest…" Harleen pointed out the window to the city outside.
At this point, Terry had sat down on the foot of her bed, completely enthralled by the jestress' story.
"So, you and Tim got real close huh?"
"Well yeah, he's been the only friend I ever got! Well, at least 'till Selina and Dick found us."
"What about Barbara?"
"She can't stand me, never could I s'pose!" Harley just smirked, her happy smile having returned to her face. Terry smiled back, her grin was just infectious. He stood up, "Thanks for enlightening me Harleen…" She stood up too and kissed his cheek, "No, Thanks for listenin' Bats… And don't be shy about vistin' me babe."
Terry smiled again.
"So, what was your connection to this world's Bruce Wayne?"
"He was… Amazing…" Harley's voice drifted off, she thought and told Terry about how when she was being rehabilitated for the first time, Batman had saved her life. She never could stop thinking about how he could have so much compassion for someone who had never given him anything but trouble.
"He knows what it's like to try and rebuild a life… He just wanted you to have a life better than his." Terry said. Harleen's big blue eyes widened.
"That's almost exactly what he said!"
Terry smiled and said goodnight, as did Harley.
"Goodnight Batman…"