Chapter Six - Break Down

Jason woke up, his arm reaching out for something that wasn't there. She wasn't there; he wouldn't get to wake up with her again, unless of course she broke out of Arkham. Harley was good at that; he knew that all too well. But something told him that she wasn't going to.

He struggled to stand, looking down at the floor to her sleeping mutts, giving a grumble. How he had suddenly became their master was a mystery to him, but it looked like he was in charge of them until she came back.

"She's no good." The words Damian spoke the night before rattled through his brain, replaying over & over again. Of course she was no good. She was certainly no good for Jason, whose own grip on his emotions was tenuous at best. But damnit, she had grown on him completely; there was no denying that now. She had completely gotten under his skin, that's why the hyenas had survived still & he didn't have the urge to shoot them where they stood as they followed him over to his ruined computer system. He pulled the chair from the desk & sat down in it heavily, looking at all the damage. Every screen was cracked, destroyed, & wires & cords hung cut in half. The keyboards were all smashed, Tim had even gone through the great care of making sure every last one of his tracking devices were smashed underfoot.

The Bat Club was like the mob; once they had it in for you they were thorough. All Jason could do was stare at the broken screen that had alerted him to Harley's hideout just two nights ago.

He wished she was there; he should have let her come with him. The pang of regret kicked around his stomach. He couldn't do this to himself, he needed to get out. & he knew just the man he needed to see. It was Sunday morning; no doubt Bruce was just getting out of the bed he shared with Catwoman. Bruce was mighty hypocritical, taking Harley away from Jason, then climbing into bed with a known criminal & jewel thief. He moved to his living area to pull on some clothes before he gave the hyenas some friendly pets. He moved over to his motorcycle & straddled it so he could kick start the throttle & raced out of the warehouse for Wayne Manor.

..::*::..

"Master Wayne, Master Todd is here," Alfred advised as he walked towards the front door. Bruce made no show of his disapproval while he studied the morning paper for criminal action he had missed the night before & of course the business section.

"Send him in Alfred, thank you."

Alfred moved to open the door for Jason, who somehow suppressed showing his anger to the old gentleman by bashing the door in. He didn't, however, need Alfred to show him the way. There Bruce sat, in that big reading chair, the paper drawn up to his chest & dressed in a dark blue robe with just the hint of a white undershirt peeking out from under the collar.

"Jason, what a surprise." Bruce didn't sound surprised, but Jason also didn't hang up on the pleasantries the beautiful Sunday morning of fall had to offer.

"Why'd you do it?" Jason demanded, standing in front of Bruce. His fists curled at his hips, & Bruce looked up to see him absolutely seething.

"Arkham is the best place for Harley, Jason. She's sick, she can get help there."

"Don't talk down to me with your bullshit!" Jason shouted, enraged that Bruce was so calm while Jason was filled to the brim with hate for his former mentor. He'd have kicked something over, & would have taken great pleasure in doing so, if he didn't know that Alfred would be the one to clean it up. Jason couldn't do that to Alfred; his job was hard enough as it was, dealing with the calm, collected psychopath sitting in front of Jason. "Why did you have Tim destroy my computer?"

"So that you couldn't get into Arkham."

"What?" Jason asked, completely thrown off by that. Break into Arkham? Why hadn't he thought of that? Bruce thought he was fifteen steps ahead of everyone, but the truth was sometimes he was just too smart for his own good. The wheels started to spin in Jason Todd's mind; he didn't need a computer to break into Arkham. It would have helped, but he didn't need one.

"Before you go charging in there, Jason," Bruce sighed, folding the paper up to set it on the table with his morning coffee. "You should know that she thinks you helped put her in there."

"Why would she think that?" Jason snapped, glaring openly at the man he once thought ruled the world. Now he saw he was just as much of a prisoner of this city as Harley was to Arkham.

"I told her you did."

Jason's eye twitched. "You WHAT?!" He shouted as his fist pulled back, ready to knock Bruce out cold in that pretty blue robe of his. It wouldn't be so expensive if it was stained in blood. It was looking down at Bruce, seeing him so normal that had made him forget he was facing not only Bruce Wayne, but Batman. Before his fist could even fly forward, Bruce calmly swept Jason's feet out from under him from his seated position in his chair. Jason fell down like a sack of potatoes, hitting the floor heavily.

"I did," Bruce finished as Jason started to pick himself up off of the amazingly expensive Oriental rug under Bruce's feet. He was none too pleased with Jason as it was, knowing what he had done to Damian. "I'm worried about you, Jason. I think maybe it'd be best if you came back here & stayed for a while. Clear your head & get over this…" Bruce paused to roll his wrist in the air so that the sleeve of his robe would fall back & he could glance at his watch. "Idea of Harley. It's for the best, for both of you. You know it is. Have I ever steered you wrong?"

"You're wrong about a lot, Bruce. You create your own problems. There would be no Joker, if there wasn't a Batman. Or a Riddler, a Two-Face, a Killer Croc. None of them would be the problem they are without Batman," Jason huffed as he finally straightened himself out so he could storm out of the Wayne Manor.

..::*::..

"Poor Harley," Pamela soothed, listening to the woman in the cell next to hers crying. "Did he hurt you again?"

"It's not Joker, I kicked the habit." Harley sounded weak, broken. She didn't sound like Harley usually did after being kicked in the teeth by Joker. This caused Pamela to sit up & to listen closer.

"You've said that so many times," Pamela responded, moving to step forward in her cell. "How can I trust you to really be over him?"

"I just am, okay?!" Harley snapped, rolling her head to the side on her bed to look at the wall of her cell. She stared at Jokers name, could almost hear him laughing in the cell somewhere above hers. Of course, he was out on the streets of Gotham, while she was stuck in Arkham. That usually how it always ended up, but this time she had gotten herself put back inside for having feelings for Jason Todd.

He really had played her, she realized that now. He really had used her, made her feel this way only to dump her back into Arkham the second Joker appeared.

"What brought on this new burst of self-confidence?" Pamela asked, standing up to move to her cell door so she could hear Harley a little clearer. "Or should I ask who?"

"No one, just forget it," Harley answered, falling silent. No, that wasn't like Harley. Pamela sat back down on her bed & lifted her eyes up to the ceiling of her cell. Something was different. She wouldn't say wrong, as anyone who could pull Harley's attention away from Joker would never be wrong in Pamela's eyes. But Harley did seem different. Pamela seemed content in just knowing that Harley was safe, & seemed to be over Joker. For now, at least.