Chapter Four - A Brief Respite

Jason stepped into the apartment, seeing it had suffered little to no damage last night at the hands of Joker, which was good. He moved over to the door of the bedroom he had opened, seeing the imprint of Jokers head in the cracked & broken plaster, which caused him to smirk. He opened the bedroom door, immediately seeing the hyenas Harley had made sure he brought back to his hideout with him. He grimaced slightly as the two large beasts ran right for him & began to snuff & sniff at him excitedly while one pushed the other out of the way heavily with its body to get a better sniff.

They seemed to approve of him after a few minutes of heavy sniffing before they both relaxed & moved to let him get on with his job. Jason sighed slightly as they finally left him alone, & moved for Harley's closet to try to find something to shove all of her things into so he could bring it to her. Of course, he wouldn't take everything, he certainly couldn't. Harley had a lot.

He was also surprised to find out that Harley kept a clean apartment. He had half expected her to be messy, keeping her things thrown all about her apartment. It made his search for her things easier as he shoved clothes, her face paint, her toiletries & a few other things into a large duffel bag he had found in the closet. He grabbed a few more pieces of her costume she had kept hanging in her closet, as well as a few pairs of shoes so that she didn't have to hide in his lair all day long.

He realized what he was doing & snorted, loudly, before he moved away from her closet. He opened a few drawers on her bedside table, finding a picture of Joker in an intricate silver frame. He growled lightly, before he slammed the frame down into the ground & stepped on it, causing the broken glass to crush heavily under his foot. He hated Joker, hated what Joker had took from him. But he also felt a surge of jealousy spring through him. Harley was having more of an effect on him than he would have liked. He stepped away from the broken frame & moved out into the living room so he could whistle for the two hyenas. They came crashing into the small hallway for him, their tails wagging animatedly, almost like a pair of dogs.

"Come on, mutts. I'll bring you to Harley," he grumbled as he walked towards the entryway & found the two thick chains he needed to lock onto their thick collars so he could control them in the streets. How he was going to manage walking two large predators in the middle of Gotham was beyond him, but he was grateful Harley's hideout wasn't so far from his own, & it was in a more derelict area of town. Clearly she had been walking them, & no one had given her any problems. He was also grateful that they were here, & that Joker hadn't taken them when he broke in the night before. Jason wasn't sure if he would have been able to break that news to Harley, they clearly meant a lot to her.

Wait, what the hell was happening to him? He glared down at the two hyenas tugging at the chains, ready to go for a walk with Jason, looking up at him with their warm brown eyes. He could snap their necks; tell her he found them dead. Or he could just leave them here, let them starve to death or kill each other to survive. Or he could just let them go completely. He'd think of something to tell Harley, it'd be easy enough to do. Just say that they weren't there when he got there. That would maybe change how she acted towards him, maybe then she would stop being so frustrating around him, & he wouldn't be tempted to kiss her all the time, to let her in to the cold, empty shell his heart had once been. Then she'd know she couldn't find love anywhere. No, there was no way he was going to bring these hyenas back with him to his hideout, & he wasn't going to let them live, either.

..::*::..

Timothy Drake stood in the office of Bruce Wayne, again at Wayne Manor. Bruce himself stood at the window, looking out at the grounds in deep thought. Tim knew better than to interrupt Bruce, but Bruce's faithful manservant, Alfred, didn't seem to mind.

"Master Drake, may I interest you in some tea?"

"No thanks, Alfred," Tim responded, but it caused Bruce to turn, as if finally taking in the appearance of Tim. They gave each other a short nod, before Bruce moved over to his desk to sit down, indicating that Tim do the same. "What's up, Bruce?"

"We have a problem," Bruce said, lifting one hand to rub at his jaw as he regarded Tim.

"Have we lost one of the flock?" Tim asked, seeing Bruce slightly distressed. He knew Bruce only reacted this way when there was a serious problem. Bruce sighed, & placed the bridge of his nose between two fingers.

"If only it were so simple, Tim." Bruce sighed before he looked back up at Tim. "Joker escaped from Arkham last night," he started, but Tim was quick to intervene.

"Harley finally went back to him. The heist at the charity event was a distraction."

"No. Harley was with Jason last night. Damian found them together."

"Bruce…" Tim was shocked at hearing this tidbit of information. Jason & Harley? It didn't make any sense. "Are you sure it's—"

"Yes, he brought her to his warehouse last night. I'm not sure if he's using her or not, but that seems to be most likely. For Harley's sake, we have to get her back in Arkham, & quickly. I fear what Joker will do to both of them if he finds out she is with him."

"So what do you need me for?" Tim asked, tilting his head slightly to the side.

"I need you to watch them, while Damian & I go after Joker," Bruce said, looking past Tim's shoulder to see the Bat Signal lighting up the Gotham sky as it was just turning dark. "Tim, get her. It's for Jason's own good; I don't want him to do anything rash with her. Joker's on the move, we have to hurry."

"You got it, Bruce." Tim nodded as he stood, before Bruce made his way over to the Grandfather clock in his office to enter down into the Batcave.

..::*::..

Jason Todd moved back into his warehouse hideout, stepping through the silent area back to where his set up & living area was. He didn't see Harley anywhere. That was until he heard a noise high above him, a squeal. His eyes shot up to see Harley high in the rafters, using them to work out it seemed. She was dressed in the clothes he had left her, & her hair was pulled up in a tight ponytail at the back of her head.

"Bud! Lou!" She screeched before she flipped around the pipe she had been holding on to & fell through the sky to land on her feet directly next to him. She seemed to absorb the shock from the fall quickly, a fall that should have broken her ankles & knees, before she dropped down to the floor as her hyenas reacted to her presence excitedly with yips & cackles. He had never seen Harley as happy as she was just then to see her pets. Jason hadn't had it in him to kill her useless animals. His jaw set as he looked down to the three rolling on the floor before he bent forward to unchain the hyenas & stepped over them to head off towards his command center, dropping her bag down unceremoniously to the ground by the living area.

Suddenly, all the bells & whistles on Jason's computer lit up began to flash as a siren went off. Harley lifted her hands to her ears & glared behind her at Jason, who hadn't looked so alive since she had known him. "He's on the move!" He said excitedly before he dashed towards the chair in the living area & threw on his jacket. He grabbed his helmet off the desk of the computer & began running towards Harley, who watched him with wide eyes filled with fear. He stopped as she stood, looking down to her.

"That'll shut off in a minute. & don't worry, he's moving in the opposite direction," he said to her, lifting his hand to cup her cheek. "Stay here."

"Let me help you," she pleaded, when in reality she really just didn't want to be all alone in the warehouse by herself with the hyenas. Even though he assured her he, who she could only assume had been Joker, was going somewhere else, she could still feel the fear gnawing at her gut.

"You have to stay here, you can't help," he told her sternly, before he dipped his head down to push his lips against hers as his free arm snaked around her waist. She had never been kissed the way he was kissing her then. He crushed her to his body as her hand found the front of his chest & she bent her knee to lift her foot up into the air as her back arched slightly from the position.

She felt her heart immediately pick up speed as she closed her eyes, feeling Jason's tongue touching her lower lip lightly. She had been about to part her lips for him when he pulled back & grinned at her. "Stay here, Harls. I'll be back as soon as I can."

Before she could protest, he moved away from her & towards the loading bay doors of the warehouse to drag a tarp off of another black & red motorcycle. He pulled the helmet over his head, threw one last glance at Harley before the roar of the echoing engine & the stink of gasoline filled the warehouse as the loading doors rolled up enough for him to slip through with a loud accelerating scream before they rolled back down, leaving Harley all alone again.

But she wasn't alone for long. As soon as the doors slid shut, there was the sound of padded feet dropping down behind her. She'd know that sound anywhere. The hyenas took off, shaking, into a corner of the hideout, scared from the sudden appearance of the hooded Red Robin.

"Let's go Harley, its back to Arkham for you." His voice was deep & menacing, but there was something close to a sadness tinged in his voice. It really had nothing to do with Harley going back to Arkham. It had to do with Timothy Drake having just watched his brother kissing one of the most dangerous women in Gotham, promising her a happy home reunion. The thought made his stomach churn. Jason Todd really had fallen far from grace.

"I'm not goin' without a fight!" Harley responded as she spun & threw her bare foot out to catch Red Robin off guard. But he wasn't, he had expected as much from her. His arm snapped up & caught the brunt of the force of Harley's swing, causing him to take a step back but remained, for the most part, unharmed. With his other hand, he spun his extendable staff until it snapped out to lock into place & swung it around to try to catch her knees.

"Let's not do this, Harley," he groaned to her as she flipped backwards to avoid the staff & took off for the wall of the warehouse where a low-hanging pole was waiting. Harley had learned the piping system of this warehouse all day, & she was one of the best gymnasts she knew, besides maybe Selina Kyle. That was only because of her damned nine lives.

Harley rushed to that pole & leapt up into the air to grab it so she could launch herself for another one. Red Robin looked up at her from behind his black mask that whited out his eyes. "I'm sorry, Jason," he said softly before he took out a gun & aimed it at the back of Harley's head. He took the shot, & Harley came crashing down to the floor.