Chapter Seven - Forest Hideout

Harley didn't want to spend another night in her cell at Arkham. Too many bad memories, too many painful ghosts. She had resigned herself to staying in her bed, curled up with her pillow as she cried. She couldn't eat any of the food the guards gave her, she could hear them talking about moving her to the hospital wing to put an IV drip in her if she didn't start to eat. She didn't care.

She finally moved, rolling onto her back to look up at the cement ceiling & the vent that carried air between her cell & Jokers. She wondered if that in his absence, it would be opened. If she could get herself up there to get the grate off, & shimmy herself up inside, would she be able to get out through Jokers cell? It was an idea, about the only one she had.

But she didn't move to try, she couldn't. She didn't want to escape; she just wanted to be left alone. She seemed to have resigned to the fate of staying in Arkham Asylum, to spend the rest of her days in her own little corner of Hell. Maybe one day she'd get out on good behavior, be considered cured. Ha! That was a laugh.

"Harley is awfully quiet, isn't she Jackson?" She could hear the guards talking about her; they were always talking about her now.

"Do you think she's dead?" Another voice, presumably Jackson, responded.

"Let the bitch die. You know, back in June when she & Joker were knocking over buildings left & right to try to catch Batman, my wife was in one of those buildings? Dead, just like that."

"You shouldn't talk about Harley that way," came a third voice. Harley's eyes narrowed before she jumped to her feet. She heard a heavy thud before the unmistakable sound of a tazer being set off.

"Hood?" She called, trying to see through the bars of her cell. Finally he stepped into her line of sight, & she could even hear the gasp of shock from Pamela's cell next door. He was holding the tazer in his hand, in his other hand was a gun. Her heart thumped happily in her chest as she looked over him, seeing if he was hurt. He was bruised, & his usual white t-shirt was covered in blood, but he otherwise looked unharmed. He lifted his arm to wipe some blood off of his red helmet before he handed her the gun through her cell bars so that he could drop down to stick a device into the door of her cell. She aimed the gun, watching his back while he fiddled with some of the controls on the device until she heard the unmistakable clack of the door unlocking, followed by an echo of it. He let all of the criminals in Arkham out.

"Harls," he reached into her cell to grab her hand tightly before he tugged her roughly to him. "I never set you up." He lifted his hand to cup her cheek, his thumb sliding across her cheekbone.

"That's sweet & all, Hood, but maybe we can do this later?" She said with a smirk, & he grinned behind his helmet. He took his wrist into his strong hand before he started racing with her & the other criminals towards the now opened doors of Arkham Asylum. Though they were all pushing & shoving their way towards freedom, Jason kept a wide berth around himself & Harley so that he wouldn't lose her. Harley caught sight of Pamela's green skin & a flash of her red hair dashing for the exit before she heard the first bang of gunfire. Jason cursed heavily as he dropped the tazer. He gripped tighter to her wrist as he pushed on, yelling to her in the chaos.

"Shoot any guard you see, we have to get out!"

She lifted his gun & rushed with him as the criminals as one surged through the front doors after clambering up the stairs. "Keep your head down & run for the cliffs!" He commanded her as soon as they stepped over the threshold, just as the bullet of a sniper whizzed down & connected with the concrete next to her bare foot. She yelped, feeling the intense heat the impact made & felt the shrapnel of concrete as it exploded from the concrete, causing her head to instantly fall. "Good girl. Now, run!"

They took off like bullets themselves, out in the open as they didn't surge for the front gates like the rest of the prisoners had, but took off for the cliffs. But the guards had assumed that they were just going to stop at seeing that there was nowhere for them to go & focused mainly on the prisoners swarming the main gates in their bids for freedom. The entire scene was lunacy, but at least not as many bullets came flying the way of Jason & Harley.

"Jason!" Harley cried, pulling back on his arms as he raced forward straight for the cliffs.

"Trust me!" He called back to her before he leapt off of the ledge & dragged her down with him. She screamed & dropped the gun so that she could grab him with her other hand, pulling her body to his as she buried her face in his neck.

"I love you," she whispered, assured that they were about to die. Jason lifted his hand from his belt & shot off a grappling hook straight upwards, where it was caught by what looked like a one person, small flying jet. They were yanked back up into the air & dangled just above the rocks below the cliffs of Arkham Asylum.

"It's a bit early for all of that, Harley," Jason said softly as he wrapped his other arm around her waist, but he didn't feel so strong. "I need you to hold on tight to me, ok?" Harley nodded into his neck as she wrapped her legs around his waist, causing him to wince. "Good girl," he soothed her, feeling how hard her heart was racing in her chest against his. But he had her again, that was all that had mattered. He loved her, too.

..::*::..

The small jet finally deposited them on a small beach outside of Gotham, where a motorcycle laid in wait. The jet itself took off & flew across the Atlantic Ocean.

"Where's it going?" Harley asked as she watched the craft disappear.

"About 700 miles offshore to bury itself onto the ocean floor," Jason answered as he sat down on the beach & pulled his shirt off. Harley hadn't even known he was shot. "On the side pouch of the bike is a med kit, go get it for me."

Harley's eyes were wide but she quickly scrambled to get it for him, slipping on the damp sand & pebbles that were caught under her bare feet. She brought it back to him & knelt beside him as she opened it for him.

"Thanks. Think you can stitch it up for me?" He asked as he lifted his hand to pull off his helmet. She took it from him & set it to the ground carefully before she set the kit on her thick thighs & began to dig through the medical kit for what she would need. He saw how badly she was shaking, which caused him to smirk as he lifted his hand to cup her cheek again. "It's only a flesh wound, I'll be ok. It went clean through."

She gave a smile of relief. "Oh, good. 'Cause I don't know if I could handle you ditchin' me again."

"Harley, I didn't ditch you. I swear, I didn't set you up. They set me up setting you up. Do you really think I'd break into Arkham if I had—" His words broke off as he felt the biting sting of the antiseptic wipe Harley used on the gunshot wound he sustained to his shoulder.

"No, I don't. I was teasin', Birdie Boy. Relax," she said as she smirked, before she slid the curled stitching needle up into his flesh.

"You have done this before, right?" Jason asked with a slight quiver in his voice. Harley only smirked.

..::*::..

Jason had taken the pain of being stitched together without anything to numb him relatively well, if one didn't count how many times he cursed. Harley didn't, she was too busy being happy that he had turned out to be her knight in shining armor instead of the manipulator she had been led to believe by the master of manipulators himself, Batman.

When he was ready to go, Jason opened up one of the side bags of the motorcycle he had ready on the beach for them & handed her some clothes for her to put on that would protect her body from the heat the motorcycle gave off. She gratefully took the clothes to get out of the basketball shorts & t-shirt of his she had been wearing & slipped into the black jeans & red turtleneck he handed her so that she could straddle the back of his motorcycle.

He drove them through the woods, but she noticed he didn't take her back into the city. Instead he stayed close to the beach but in the woods until they finally came to a log cabin, the motorcycle coming to a stop on the dirt that served as a driveway. "We need to stay out of the city, at least until this all dies down," Jason explained to her as he let her climb off of the back of the motorcycle before he followed suit & led her up to the front porch of the house.

As soon as he threw open the door, she heard the familiar sounds of thick nails clicking against the floor as two large furry bodies came rushing to meet her. She gave a squeal as she reached for her hyenas, hugging both of their necks to her as she fell to her knees.

Jason stood off to the side, watching her reunite with her pets before he led her up a cramped set of stairs into a loft, where there was a large bed set up with dressers & a TV surrounding it, & a large bathroom off to the side. "I figured you'd want to have a shower & sleep."

Her stomach lurched as she reached for it, looking over at him. Jason grinned as he set down his helmet on the bedside table & gave a small nod.

"Breakfast first, and then sleep. Go shower." He leaned forward to press his lips to hers softly before he disappeared back down the steps that just cut through the middle of the bedroom floor.

Harley looked around the bedroom before she moved into the bathroom, glancing around it approvingly. There was a shower stall, but there was also a large marble bathtub that looked like it would fit two very comfortably, looking out over the massive backyard with slight peeks at the ocean between the trees. A bath sounded heavenly, but food sounded better, so she moved to the shower & peeled off her clothes.

..::*::..

To say that Bruce was livid would have been an understatement. How had Jason gotten in, to get Harley out? Where had they run off to? The warehouse hideout Tim had found Harley in had been abandoned, with only a note in Jason's handwriting, telling Bruce where he could shove his opinion about Harley & himself. Bruce crumpled the note in his hand before he opened a drawer to toss it into.

This had been exactly what Bruce had feared in the first place. Those two made a dangerous combination; he couldn't tell which one was the more deadly. The system was broken, his system was broken. Bruce didn't like that, he had trusted on this system to make criminals pay for their crimes instead of killing them. It was this that had kept him from killing Joker, despite how much Jason Todd wanted him to. Bruce ran his hands over his face as he leaned back in his office chair before he looked up at Dick, Timothy & Damian.

"I really don't care what it takes, or how far you have to go. Find them. I'll handle the other criminals," Bruce snapped before he swiveled his chair around to turn his back on the three.

They stepped out of the office as Dick shut the door behind him. "Jason's sure got a lot of nerve," Damian piped up, before Timothy shushed him & the three moved outside to where Dick & Tim's bikes were waiting, & away from the prying ears of Alfred & Bruce.

"We have to do something, we have to put him away," Dick sighed, looking at the other two. It killed him to say that about Jason, but Bruce was treating him like the prodigal son, & Jason needed to pay for his own crimes in Blackgate.

"I hate to admit it, but I think you're right. It can't all be Harley." Tim agreed, crossing his arms over his thick chest as he leaned back onto the seat of his motorcycle.

"It's not!" Damian added, as he had really been the only one to see Jason enraged at Harley being taken to Arkham, besides Bruce who had been tight lipped about when Jason had showed up to visit.

"Then we're agreed. We find them, & we put Jason where he belongs?" Tim asked, looking at the other former Robin, & the current Robin. They both nodded in agreement.

..::*::..

After Harley had showered & she & Jason had eaten the breakfast he prepared for her of bacon, sausage, eggs & cinnamon raison toast, Jason pulled her back up to the bedroom.

"About what you said earlier…" Jason started; looking up to her with a smirk as he held both of her wrists in his hands as he backed up towards the bed, knowing that she needed sleep.

"I thought we were dyin', Jason. Let's not go there," she responded as a blush flushed across her cheeks & she looked down at the floor. She felt his hand slide across her cheek, which seemed to be his sign of affection for her as he lifted her face so that his blue eyes could bore down into her lighter ones.

"That's what made it all the more important, Harls." He brought his lips down to kiss hers lightly while his other hand released her wrists & slid back around her waist, drawing her forward. She crushed to his chest, her hand lifting to cup the side of his neck while her other arm draped over his shoulder so that she could set her hand on the back of his head, her fingers curling into his hair. He pulled back slowly, smiling down at her. "Let's get you to bed; you look like you haven't slept in two nights."

"I haven't," Harley answered him as she moved to the bed with him. It was much larger than the one he had at his warehouse hideout, that she assumed she'd never see again.

He lifted his hand to brush some of the hair away from the side of her scalp, finding the gash that had leaked blood onto the floor of his old hideout. "Tim stitched you up nicely. Maybe I won't have to kill him," he said softly, setting her hair back down as he sat down on the bed & pulled her along with him so that she was next to him.

"Where did ya get this place?" Harley asked him as she moved behind him to lie down over the covers, placing her head gently on the pillow as she reached forward to run her hand over his hip slowly.

"I called in a few favors; this house belongs to a business associate of mine," he answered her, moving so that he could stretch out on the bed beside her. He rolled onto his side, & she followed suit to face him. He reached out to run his fingers through her long blonde hair that hung down over her shoulder, looking to it instead of looking into her eyes. She found solace in feeling his fingers moving against the strands of her bright locks, causing her eyes to close as she relaxed. She could feel his breath exhaling to fan across the nape of her neck, she could feel his forearm muscle tensing & flexing as his fingers worked through her hair.

"Thank you, for getting' me out." She opened her eyes to look at him, a soft smile teasing at the corners of her lips.

"Don't thank me, Harley. You wouldn't have left me to rot in that place," Jason said, his blue eyes returning to hers. She looked relaxed, open & human. He loved seeing her like that, it meant she trusted him. He leaned forward to push his forehead lightly against hers, cursing himself mentally for falling for her tricks. But the truth was he had fallen for them & he had fallen hard; there was beauty in the chaos that seemed to follow around Harley like a ghost. It excited him as he fell deeper & deeper. Though he'd never, ever admit that out loud, not to her & certainly not to anyone else. It was bad enough that the entire mental asylum had seen him breaking in to head right for her; he'd have a lot of denying to do.

He hadn't noticed during his revelry in her that her breathing had become soft & even & her eyes, those beautiful clear pools of blue, had slipped shut as she had fallen asleep. He gave a warm smile, lifting his head to press his lips to her forehead before he wrapped his arm around her waist & moved closer to her to hold her against his body. One day she'd know exactly how much she had healed his broken, fragmented heart. One day, he might let her in enough to know that he had fallen in love with her, too.

..::*::..

Red Hood had his Harley. Red Hood needed to die. Again. How many times did Joker have to kill the little brat before the message sank through? He was cranky, irritable & just plain malicious to his goons as he sulked around his hideout. He didn't miss the sounds of her crashing around; he certainly didn't miss the cackling the hyenas had given off. In fact, he seemed more relaxed than ever to not have her.

The problem was, of course, that she was his. & he wasn't going to let her walk off on her own. No, she would be his until he was done with her, & he wasn't done with her. It had taken him months to plan on how to break out of Arkham so he could find her & bring her back home. Months that had gone to waste because of Red Hood.

Joker made a face just at the mere mention of the name, even silent. His features distorted as he sat at a desk, looking over a map. He had crossed out places on the map inside the city limits of Gotham as he made his search, trying to find Jason. Had Jason really given up the chase for the Crowned Prince of Clowns? He cackled out loud to his thoughts, his goons shifting nearby uneasily.

No, no Jason wouldn't have given up his revenge scheme just so easily. If there was one thing the Joker knew all about, it was revenge. The boy had probably tucked tail & ran with the wounds blown to his ego delivered by Batman, who had chosen to protect Joker.

"Joker," a goon greeted as he stepped inside, bowing his head a bit. Joker looked up, his eyes wide & menacing, as clearly he had been in the middle of doing something & listening to his thoughts.

"This had better be good," he warned in a sing-song way, which caused the goon to swallow heavily.

"Red Robin captured Harley & Batman put her back into Arkham," the goon started, which caused Joker to grin.

"Oh, oh that is good!" He cackled, leaning back in his chair as he dropped the red marker. "It'll be easier to get her back if she's in Arkham. Good, we'll need to make plans now, boys!"

"There's more…" The goon said hesitantly, his eyes flicking down to the concrete at his feet.

"Oh? Go on…" Joker prompted him, leaning forward as he lifted his bony elbows to the desk, placing his pointed chin into his palms as he blinked to the goon with interest.

"Red Hood broke her out a few hours ago. They jumped off the cliffs & took off."

"They survived the fall?" Joker asked, incredulous. Those cliffs were dangerous, with sharp, pointed rocks jutting out of the ocean like the maw of an angry beast. "Impossible."

"There was a jet that caught them." The rage that exploded from Joker caused the goon to stumble backwards to dash out of the room before he caught the heavy end of that rage.

"FIND THEM!"