Chapter One - Charity Case

But being on her own might have been the hardest thing Harley Quinn had ever dealt with. It had been months since she had last seen Joker, glaring at her from inside of that cell deep within Arkham Asylum. He haunted her at night, caused her dreams to be laced with cyanide & heartache. Regret sometimes caught up with her, that nagging feeling deep in her gut. How many times had she suited up in her new Harley Quinn outfit to go & free him from Arkham? Too many to count, he was like a drug & she was having a hard time kicking it cold turkey.

But she needed to get out. It had been days since her last heist. It was hard, finding those who were still sympathetic to her cause, goons of the Jokers who had taken her side. There wasn't a lot, but it was enough to get a few bank robberies done, knock over a few jewelry stores. She needed to do jobs to keep herself alive. It wasn't like anyone was going to hire Harleen Quinzel anymore.

So she donned her new suit. She knew Joker didn't like anyone looking at what he considered to be his, so her new outfit showed off more skin than what was completely necessary. Thick soled platform boots came up to her knees over the skin tight dual-toned leather pants that stretched over her thick thighs & hips as if the seams were about to burst. Her toned stomach was all shown off under the low cut leather dual-toned corset that pushed up her small, but full breasts. Her arms were covered by dual-toned gloves. The whole outfit was done in black & red, with her trademark red diamonds on the right side of her hip on the black leather. The final touch was her white face paint with no real accent on her lips except red lipstick that was done with her natural lips, & her black mask. She brushed her long blonde hair up into pig tails before she stepped back from the mirror with a soft sigh.

It was so hard getting the energy to get up & out anymore. She was really taking the whole leaving Joker thing badly. But it was better for her; it was the right thing for her. She couldn't be with him anymore, she knew that. Hell, everyone knew that. You didn't have to be the world's greatest detective to know that Joker was no good for Harley. That didn't make the pain she felt disappear, nor did it take the love she still felt for him away.

With a sigh, she stepped out into the living room of the small studio apartment she had been using as a hideout & bid farewell to the only things keeping her going anymore, her hyenas Bud & Lou, before she stepped out into the night to find her goons.

..::*::..

The job was easy, a little charity banquet, a nice big box filled with money from Gotham's top citizens. The likes of Bruce Wayne, Commissioner Gordon & his broken, twisted little daughter, Barbara, & the Wayne boys, of course. All four of them, surprisingly, from Dick down to Damian.

Harley didn't seem to notice, or care maybe, as her goons blew a hole in the entrance way so that she didn't have to open a door herself, that Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne had both instantly gone missing at the first sign of trouble. The rest of the guests looked around confused & struck by horror.

"Alright, ya all know the drill. So start handin' them goods over. Boys?" Harley said with a grin as she strolled into the room, looking around at the terrified faces. It thrilled her deep down inside to see the looks on their faces as she stepped inside, running the show completely. That was until she felt a black boot strike down on the back of her head, just as she had reached out to grab a big box filled with money.

Harley gave a surprised yelp as she fell forward onto the box, sprawling out a bit while the proverbial stars danced before her vision. She blinked & shook her head a bit, before she turned to see Batman standing there in all his glory, with a fist aiming right for her face. She quickly rolled to the side & got her boot up in time to kick him right in the chest, sending him stumbling back with a grunt.

"You know this won't end well, Harley," Batman said in his rumbled, grizzled voice that seemed to make all the panties in the room melt instantly. Even Harley had a few masochistic fantasies that played out to the tune of that voice.

"Oh, come on Bats, girl's got to make a livin'." She grinned before she pounced forward to wrap her thick thighs up around his chest. It was effective, Batman stumbled backwards under the sudden weight of Harley & fell backwards as his hands lifted up to grab at her waist. She pulled her hand back to strike out at Batman with a well-placed punch to his exposed jaw, before he lifted her completely off of him, & she was knocked to the side by a heavy force of a sideways tackle.

"Oof!" Harley cried out as the air quickly left her lungs as she struck the floor under the thick body of the Red Hood. "I've got this, Red Hood," Batman rumbled in his way as he reached down to pull him off of the fallen Harley. "No, I've got her," Red Hood replied before he moved to take down the struggling Harley again. But Batman had him by the collar of his leather jacket, & wasn't letting go.

"Boys!" Harley shouted loudly, & the chaos erupted as she grabbed the box of cash & took off while Batman & Red Hood began fighting each other instead of focusing on the fleeing Harley. "You guys might want to figure that whole thing out. Not good for business, ya know!" Harley chirped happily as she gave a wave.

Batman & Red Hood seemed to glare at each other from under their assorted headgear, before they both started to rush for Harley. But Harley pulled out a flash bomb from under the skin tight fabric of her black & red leather pants & threw it heavily to the ground, causing both Batman & Red Hood to stumble back & shield their eyes. Once the smoke finally filtered from the room, however, Harley & her goons were gone.

..::*::..

Harley wasn't used to a getaway that didn't involve a chase, so she stuck behind after sending her goons along back to her hideout with all the money, gems & goods that had been lifted from the charity event from Gotham's prime. She pulled herself up onto a ledge that overlooked the smoked out, blown up entrance & waited, finally seeing Batman & Red Hood charging out of the building.

They both stopped in the middle of the street, Red Hood looking down one way, Batman the other. "They went this way," she heard Batman instantly, & correctly, deduce the way her goons had taken off to, but she could hear Red Hood arguing back. "No, they went this way."

"You're in over your head. I'll take it from here." When Batman spoke, a chill went up Harley's spine from her concealed location, looking down at the two heroes who were searching just for her. Finally, Robin came out of the building behind Red Hood & Batman, stopping short just before almost colliding into Red Hood, his hands instantly going to rest at his hips in fists.

"What are we doing?" He asked, rolling his whited out eyes from his mask from left to right. "You go whatever way you want, I'm going to go catch Harley," Jason huffed before he straddled a nearby motorcycle & took off. "Follow him," Batman commanded, before he hit a button on his utility belt. A few seconds later, the Batmobile roared up & stopped, the roof instantly sliding open for Batman to get in. Robin looked lost for a second as he watched his mentor get into the Batmobile, before he took off on foot in the direction Red Hood had gone.

It had been wonderful for Harley to watch the Batman & the former Robin arguing over who would follow after Harley, who had been right in going in the right direction. It had added enough of a distraction to ensure that her goons had had enough time to get away, & into the safety of the new lair. Harley jumped down off the ledge she had been hiding on & calmly walked down an alleyway, back towards her hideout where her goons & money were waiting.