*** Well an awesome person on here told me to add another chapter, so I thought I'd give it a shot. I always liked the part in Batman when Harley teamed up with him to catch the Joker, so I thought I would do that. I'm pretty sure its Nolanverse Batman (although in my mind he doesn't look like Christian Bale) as there is no mention of Robin ***
Half an hour passed, and Harley was still sobbing.
People in the streets glanced at the girl who was crying in the middle of the road, but no one bothered to help. There was no reason any of them should anyway; you had to learn to look after yourself in Gotham, helping another civilian meant certain death. To them, Harley was simply another civilian; she wasn't wearing her costume, although her face was smeared in the makeup donned by her alter ego.
No one ever seemed to notice her. Her parents never did, neither did her boyfriend and apparently neither did the small crowds of people surrounding her. Which is why it came as a surprise when someone finally did notice Harley.
A dark figure flew over her bowed head, a contrast to the bleak, cloudy sky. The people surrounding her started to scatter, dropping whatever they were doing in an effort to not make eye contact with the figure that had just appeared.
"Are you okay miss?" Came a deep voice from behind her. "Can I help you?"
Harley slowly turned her head around, peering up at the owner of the voice through her thick eyelashes.
"Harley…" The figure grumbled, his helpful manner melted into a menacing tone.
"Its not what you think!" Harley said, standing up to face him, "I'm not up to anything and for once I'm not bait in a trap, please Batman, I… I… I.."
She tripped on her last words, feeling the incoming sobs chocking her throat.
Batman studied her appearance, truly able to see it now that they were face to face. He could see the broken nose, the black eye and the rips and cuts surrounding her full lips. He had noticed things like this before of course, she would be bruise free during her stay at the Asylum, her naturally pretty features would have time to heal and she would become the main object of affection for many of the inmates there. But after she escaped and ran back to the Joker, she'd look as bruised and battered as she did now.
Out of all the lunatics in Gotham, Harley was his favourite. Maybe it was her blonde pigtails, her big eyes or the fact that she could giggle at almost anything, but he had a soft spot for her. Although everyone in the city thought of him as a guardian, he was still human and would still let the laws slip every now and again.
"I can't go back to Arkam, He'll find me there I know it," Harley pleaded finally finding her words, she held his gaze directly, as she knew the improbability of what she was about to ask. "I don't want to be with Mr. J anymore, Let me join you…. I want to take down the Joker."
Batman sat, hunched over, contemplating what he had just allowed. The lone guardian of Gotham City was now a team, a team with the main accomplice of a murderer. Why didn't he turn it down? He was completely capable of capturing the Joker; he had done so many times in the past. So why did he agree to let Harley help him? Maybe the innocent affection he felt toward her was getting the better of him, or hell, maybe he was just letting his loneliness bet the better of him instead.
Behind him, Harley bounced around the Batcave, ooh-ing and ahh-ing at everything that lined the walls.
"Will you stop it!" Batman growled, standing up suddenly.
Harley's spirit seemed to drop and she slumped into a chair, an apologetic look spreading across her face. She didn't want to do anything to mess up this new alliance. She needed this, although the submissive inside of her wanted to run back to the Joker, she needed her revenge.
"I'm sorry" He said, "I didn't mean it that harshly, but can you just sit still for a second?"
Harley remained still, staring intently as he furrowed his brow.
"What was that plan you mentioned on the way here?" Batman asked, remembering her "brilliant plan." The ride to the batcave was half filled with Harley crying her eyes out, and the other half was filled with her rambling about her genius plan to capture the Joker.
"Oh!" Harley perked up as she started the speech she had in her head. "He talks freely around me you see, he tends to forget that I exist. One night he was talking about his latest conquest, something about blowing up Gotham Hospital and the Asylum so that you have no where to put us criminal types"
Batman stared at Harley as she blathered on. The Joker's latest crimes seemed to add up now, a bomb expert kidnapped from his house; a vault broken into and a shipment of drugs from the hospital were taken recently.
"But how do you suppose we actually stop him?" Batman asked, and Harley instantly stopped, a puzzled expression on her face.
Harley stood up and began to look around at the cluttered would-be cave. She needed to think of how she could actually catch her ex-lover. The cave was filled with gadgets of all types, explosives and toxins that she could only ever imagine were located right at her fingertips. She ran her hand along the sleek surface of the shelves; she passed a new computer and came to a long mirror.
She didn't look at it for long, but it was long enough to be entranced by the cruel demon inhabiting her reflections.
"You think you can fight him, slut?" The mirror said to her, its cruel voice piercing Harley's ears.
"I'm not alone now," Harley said, trying to fight back.
Batman turned to look at the strange girl talking to her reflection. Why was it always the crazy one's he was attracted too?
"Oh of course, I'd forgotten, you've joined with the Batman now. Two men in one day aren't we the little whore. No wonder no one loves you, if you give it away for free who the hell is going to bother buying the main prize, especially when the prize is as worthless as you are" The mirror scoffed at her, before breaking into a taunting cackle.
Harley dug her fingernails into her skin for grounding. She shook her head, trying to run away from the reflection. But it was as if she was stuck, forced to listen to the cruel voice.
"He'll turn on you too," It said, grinning a sickly grin. "No one ever stays with you, you're useless and disgusting… nobody loves you!"
Harley screamed, falling into a crumpled mass on the floor. Batman rushed over to her crouching next to the sobbing Harley.
"No… No… No…" She kept repeating, her hands covered her ears.
"Stop, stop, tell me what happened." Batman's voice changed into that of Bruce Wayne's, his regular voice; he was too worried to keep the act going anymore. Only two people who knew him as Batman had heard that voice, Alfred and Selina Kyle, two people he had cared about dearly.
He listened as Harley explained, about her depression, about the cruel demon in the mirror and everything in between. She had never poured her heart out to someone since she first joined the Joker, he would only ever beat her if they tried to have a conversation that didn't start and end with sex.
"Listen to me, that person in the mirror is wrong. You aren't worthless and you never will be. When you have depression your brain starts turning against you, it makes you believe things that aren't real. When I lost someone who was close to me, I went through the same thing that you are going through. But I turned out fine… well relatively fine." Batman said, letting a smile escape his lips as she giggled at the last part.
"You just have to learn that you aren't useless, you are worth something..."
Harley's eyes widened in surprise as he pressed his lips against hers.