Chapter Three - No Rest for the Wicked

Jason eventually stopped leading Harley all around the city to confuse her, finally bringing her into an abandoned warehouse where he had an entire mini-Batcave set up, & tucked in a corner was a small living area with a bed, a TV, his clothes & a small bathroom with a stall shower. He finally let go of her hand & moved over to his computer, immediately ignoring Harley.

"What about my boys?" Harley asked, looking around as she came up behind him.

"I'll handle it, you need to sleep." Jason didn't look at her as he commanded her, just started to type rapidly into his computer's keyboard.

"You've gotta be kiddin' me, how am I supposed to sleep after that?" Harley demanded as her hands moved to her hips that had canted to one side in annoyance.

"That's not my problem," Jason responded, finally looking over his shoulder at her. "I'll go & take care of your apartment. It's not safe for you there."

"Why did ya show up at my place, anyway? How did you find me?" Harley asked as she took another step closer. This got a reaction out of Jason, who smiled & stood. He moved towards her slowly, reaching out to place his hands on her hips. His fingers slid up the leather there as he looked down into her eyes, smirking softly as he seemed to look right through her.

Her breathing was shallow & heated as she looked up at him, suddenly aware of how very masculine he was, how strong he looked under that leather jacket, how thick his thighs looked under his jeans. How thick his neck was, how strong his jaw was. She was completely swept away with him so close, her lower lip quivering slightly as she expected he was about to kiss her. She saw his smirk spread as his eyes slowly swept her face before one of his hands pulled away from her hips, holding up a small blinking red light.

"Tracking device," he said huskily before he pulled away & tossed the device into a small bin filled with them before he sat back down at his Batcomputer.

Harley huffed, looking away. "Fair enough," she said heatedly, watching his back as her shoulders tensed.

"I said, go to sleep," Jason commanded, looking over his shoulder at her again. Harley sighed, loudly, before she made her way over to the bed.

"What am I supposed to wear?" Harley asked as she sat down heavily, laying her palms flat on the bed on either side of her.

"Whatever you usually wear, I guess."

"I usually sleep naked."

"Then sleep naked. I'm not going to be sleeping with you," Jason said with a laugh before he stood up & reached for his helmet. Harley suddenly looked scared as she looked up to see him putting on his helmet. He paused, looking at her reaction. "It's ok, you're safe here…" He said slowly, moving over to her in the bedroom. She didn't look convinced, so he knelt down in front of her & removed the helmet again. He reached up to set his hand on her cheek lightly, running the pad of his thumb across her cheekbone lightly. "You can relax here."

"I can't believe he got out…" She said softly as her eyes flicked downwards & to the side. She looked lost & alone. Jason could feel his heartstrings being tugged at, just seeing how vulnerable she looked just then.

"He won't find you here," Jason assured her, causing her to lift her eyes up to him again. "I'll go find him, & put him back in Arkham." He promised her, before she reached out to grab at the arm of his leather jacket.

"Please, don't leave me," she whispered softly, causing him to groan softly & under his breath so she couldn't hear him. He looked away from her & down to his helmet, making a decision. Finally his jaw set & he gave a nod, indicating her to scoot back into bed. She leaned down to start untying her boots, her lips brushing against his chin as she moved. They both froze completely as Harley's eyes flicked up to meet his. "Jason…"

"Don't, Harley. Just get ready for bed," Jason commanded before he stood up & turned to bring his helmet back to his computer set up while Harley got undressed. Once she finished peeling off the skin tight leather & setting her assorted weapons out on his dresser, she climbed into the bed & crawled under the covers. It was a small double bed, so she crushed her body up against the wall as Jason finally returned to the room & kneeled down into the bed after he removed the leather jacket from his form & tossed it onto a nearby chair.

He lay down next to her but over the covers she was under. He rolled onto his back & stared up at the ceiling, very aware of the female body pushed up against his in the small bed. "We're going to have to get another bed," Jason said tensely as Harley finally closed her eyes. Good, at least she was comfortable enough to relax around him. She didn't make any response, but he could feel her muscles slowly relaxing against him as her breathing became light & even.

"Harley?"

"Hmm?"

"I'll kill you. You know that, right?"

"Mhmm. Good night, Jason."

..::*::..

Finding sleep hadn't come as easily for Jason Todd as it had for Harley. Her body was warm against his, & soft. He didn't want to, fought himself not to, but he found himself running his fingers through her long blonde hair slowly while she slept. It had been calming & unnerving, all at the same time, to watch the bright blonde hair sliding through his fingers as he tried to control himself next to her.

He wouldn't admit it. He didn't want to admit it. But lying next to her in the dark of the warehouse, feeling her breath fanning across his shoulder & hearing her whimpers in her sleep as she moved around enough to drape her arm across his chest, had caused him to see Harley in another light.

She had dreams. He could tell. This one seemed to be a nightmare. But it indicated that she was human & just a pawn in the game of the Joker as he had been in Batman's. To soothe her, he found her arm on his chest & slowly ran his fingertips along her skin, to provide some comfort he would never, ever give her when she was awake. Her fingers curled on his white t-shirt as her head came a little closer to his shoulder in sleep, her face nuzzled up against his bicep. He grit his teeth, remembering why he hated this woman, why he would kill her immediately if he had to.

He knew the dangers of getting involved with a woman like Harley. She was emotionally damaged, scarred, broken, & mentally unstable at best. She clung, & tightly too, to the first thing that showed her affection like an abused puppy, so desperate for love that she threw herself at the first signs of it with little to no regard to herself. Regardless, when she was asleep, & her skin showed where the face paint usually was, she was beautiful. & he could almost find himself completely entranced by her as his fingers slid along her forearm & small, delicate wrist slowly.

She mumbled something in her sleep that caused him to cant his head to the side to listen to her carefully. She sighed his name. He must have soothed that nightmare away, so his hand left her skin to drag down his face while he stared up at the distant ceiling. What had he gotten himself into?

..::*::..

When Harley woke up, feeling the sun lifted so high in the windows of the warehouse burning at the insides of her eyes, she gave a groan & tried to roll over onto her back, but she found that there was a weight across her stomach & a pressure at her hip. "Ugh, Lou," she grumbled, moving her hands to try to push the weight away from her. She was surprised to find not a furry body pushed up to her side like she had expected, but a man's body.

It wasn't Jokers body. This body was cut with hard, strong muscles. Slowly her blue eyes blinked open as she looked to see what had been holding her so tightly. Jason Todd had evidentially found sleep somehow, & had moved to hold her in his dreams. She blinked again, as if she wasn't seeing what she was seeing, but Jason Todd remained.

Her eyes narrowed as she moved to lean her weight on her elbow, allowing her to look down at him. He had told her before she had fallen asleep that he would kill her. & now he was all cuddled up to her like she was a giant teddy bear. Despite her best efforts, her hand moved to cup his cheek as her thumb swiped across his cheekbone, much as he had done to her the night before. He still had saved her from… Joker. Joker was out. Joker knew where she was. Well, he knew where she used to be. But how long could she stay with Jason Todd, nestled in like a couple of love birds?

She knew that wasn't the case. She knew Jason had a motive. He always had a motive. He was using her, probably to get to Joker, & she knew it. Despite what everyone had believed, Harley was smarter than the average bear, as the saying went. She pulled her hand away from his cheek as she saw him stirring. At some point he had gotten rid of his white shirt. While he went about waking up, her eyes rolled down over his form. So different than the one she was used to. He was all muscle & toned hard skin. Joker didn't have very many muscles. She didn't know if she liked that or not. The way she felt as she looked at him, the urge to move to touch his chest, to slide her hands over his skin told her that she did, in fact, find muscles attractive.

Her eyes finally rolled up to his face again to find him staring at her, slightly glaring. "See something you like?" He asked gruffly, his voice still laced with sleep. He pulled himself away from her, as if he was angry to have found that in sleep, he sought the comfort of feeling Harley lying next to him.

"You ain't my type," Harley answered, but she had lied. He was becoming her type. She could feel the desire washing over her, causing her lower lip to pout again in that quiver she had developed around him.

"Right," Jason answered with a snort before he rolled to move himself off of the bed. He stood & stretched, with his powerful back to her so she could watch the muscles in his shoulders tensing up to relax before he reached down to grab a shirt off of the floor & tugged it over his head. "I'm going to see about getting us a bigger bed, & then I'm going to go to your apartment to get your things. There anything special you need?"

"Bud & Lou," Harley answered automatically, sitting up fully to look at him.

"What is Bud & Lou?" Jason asked, hoping for all that he was worth that she wasn't about to tell him she had a pair of cats or something.

He wasn't shocked when she exceeded his expectation when she happily chirped, "My hyenas!" He rolled his eyes & nodded his head, huffing slightly.

"I'm not surprised," he responded with a slight amount of venom laced to his tone that he could see stunned & hurt her as she moved to sit up, drawing the covers up around her upper body to conceal the black & red bra she had worn to sleep. "You'll need your clothes, too," he remarked as he moved to turn to look at her, careful to soften his tone with her. "Why don't you take a shower while I'm gone?"

"I don't have anything to wear," she answered, which caused him to move over to his dresser & open a few drawers. He pulled out a black t-shirt & a pair of black basketball shorts. He tossed them over to her before he moved to the exit of the living area.

"Just… stay here, please?" He asked, looking at her again with pleading eyes. The last thing he needed was any of the men he dealt with, or anyone from the Bat Club knowing that she was staying with him, despite his intentions to use her to get to Joker. He was relieved when she gave a short nod & looked down at the clothes in her lap as she touched the fabric there. He moved forward & put his hand on her cheek, tilting her head back with a bit of force so that her bright blue eyes lifted to his. "You're safe here, I promise. He won't find you here." She smiled softly at his promise as she looked up to him, her eyes filled with trust & adoration.

He felt his heartstrings being tugged on again as he saw what her eyes shone with. He couldn't help it; it was a natural reaction to seeing her looking up at him like that. He leaned forward slowly & pressed his lips to hers softly. He was surprised when she responded, her lips moving under his to reciprocate the kiss before he pulled back slightly. She blinked her eyes open in a bit of shock & awe, before he moved quickly to kneel down on the bed in front of her.

His arms immediately wrapped around her waist as hers fell up around his neck, & he pressed his lips to hers again, this time tighter & with more demand. Again her soft lips moved pliantly under his, parting for him when his tongue snaked out to push into them. He was in her warm, inviting mouth, her tongue lifting to tease against the underside of his as one of his hands moved up to the side of her face, to keep her against him tightly. He gave a groan into her mouth as her body pressed to his, the cover falling away so that he could feel the fabric of her bra against the thin fabric of his shirt.

He could have her. He knew he could. He could take her right there, she'd let him get away with anything at this point. She felt his hips press forward before he pulled back slightly, his lips moving over hers as he spoke. "Harley…" He whispered to her before both of their eyes opened to look at one another. He could see the color in her cheeks, & she could see the strain of maintaining control in his eyes. "Stay," he whispered to her softly before he pulled himself away from her so he could quickly make his way from the warehouse & away from Harley.

..::*::..

Joker had woken up in his bed in his hideout, a splitting headache forming in the front of his head where he had been forced into the wall by… Well, he wasn't entirely sure who it had been. The memory of the night before flushed back into his mind as he remembered feeling Harley's body in that new costume of hers that showed off entirely too much skin, feeling himself getting excited to have his Harley again, whether she fought him or not. Then, someone had intervened; someone had slammed him, most painfully, directly into the wall. Twice! Joker was not happy.

He struggled to his feet as he snapped for a few goons, the ones who had been there with him in Harley's apartment. "Did you see who was there?!" He snapped dangerously, looking from one to the other slowly. "You!" He pointed his gnarled, thin finger into the chest of one of his guards. "You saw who it was, didn't you?"

"N—no Joker, I didn't. I swear!"

"N—n—n—n—no Joker!" Joker sneered, pushing heavily on the chest of the goon, who stumbled backwards after being mocked. "Get rid of him, he's of no use to me," Joker said as he waved his hand & turned back to look down at his bed.

Two of the goons in his bedroom grabbed the now frantic, shouting goon who had been fired, & pulled him from the room. "It's so hard to find good help these days," Joker sighed, before a single shot of a handgun rang out in the silence. "But I do so love that sound! The rest of you, we're going back to Harley's. Tonight!"