When the Joker arrived back at the hideout after the jewelry heist, he instantly knew something was wrong. His fears were confirmed when he found the henchman he had left with Harley tied to a kitchen chair and gagged.
"What the fuck happened?" The Joker yelled, ripping the gag from the man's mouth. "And where the fuck is Harley?"
"Gone…Kidnapped!" The henchman stuttered. "It was the bat! He took her!"
"You let the bat take my Harley?" The Joker screamed, pulling his pistol from its holster.
"He knocked me out, I tried to save her, honest!"
The Joker sighed and put his gun back into the holster. The henchman breathed a sigh of relief. The Joker turned towards the men that were cowering behind him in the doorway.
"Don't just fucking stand there!" He snarled. "Untie him and get to work! I want the bat found and lured to the docks immediately!"
Meanwhile, at Belle Reve, Dr. Kovack was in his operating theater setting up everything he would need for Harley's surgery. He touched each scalpel with a sterilized hand to make sure everything was in its place before calling for his team to surround him.
"Now that everyone is here, I have a few ground rules to lay down. They are not from me. They're from Waller, and if you don't like them I'm going to need you to leave my OR now. First, what we do tonight is never to be spoken of again. Second, what is happening tonight is eugenics. Plain and simple. If that makes you uncomfortable, leave now. And finally, if you're a parent or sentimental about babies, I'm going to have to ask you to leave. Anyone going?"
The team, made up mostly of medical students, looked around at one another. No one moved.
"Good," Dr. Kovack smiled. "Nurse, please have the patient prepared and brought in."
Harley was slowly coming out of the haze that had permeated her brain since she arrived at Belle Reve. Her head was pounding, and her whole body felt heavy. As the world came more and more into focus, Harley realized that the nurse had entered the room. She checked all four of the restraints on the bed, and smiled at Harley when she realized she was awake.
"Well, I didn't expect you to be awake, sleepyhead," the nurse said.
"Please, please let me out of here," Harley cried, struggling against the restraints. "They're gonna take my baby. My little girl."
"This is going to cure you, Dr. Quinzel. You're going to be normal after this. Isnt that what you want?" She asked.
"Not like this," Harley screeched, desperately clawing at the restraints. "Please no, God, no."
The nurse wheeled Harley to the operating theater. Harley screamed the whole way there, writhing against her restraints until deep cuts formed on her wrists and ankles. When she arrived in the operating room, Harley desperately scanned the faces of the doctor and nurses gathered around her. Her gaze settled on a familiar face, and hope surged through her body.
"Joan!" Harley cried. "Joan Leland, we used to work together. Don't you remember? You were my only friend at Arkham, Joan. Please don't let them do this to me."
Cringing, Dr. Leland turned away.
"Sedate the patient," she snapped at the anesthesiologist.
Someone shoved a mask on Harley's face, and soon, the world faded to black.
Back in Gotham, the Joker and his men had sent out a false tip that they would be setting explosive devices on all the boats in the harbor. Just as expected, Batman arrived to find the Joker, wearing a disheveled suit, standing at the pier.
"What's going on, Joker?" Batman asked.
"You know exactly what's going on, Batsy," the Joker replied. "Where's my Harley? What have you done with her?"
"She's in a safe place. Somewhere that will take care of her until she has the baby," Batman replied.
"Fuck that," the Joker snarled. "Tell me where she is right the fuck now!"
"Somewhere safe," Batman repeated. "And unless you want a nice trip to Arkham, I suggest you wait patiently until she comes back."
Batman turned and walked away, leaving the Joker speechless.
At Belle Reve, Harley was fully sedated and her stomach cleansed with an antiseptic solution. The surgeon began to make his first incision. Using a sharp scalpel, Dr. Kovack made a horizontal incision directly through Harley's "Lucky You" tattoo. After a few more moments and some expert cuts from the scalpel, the doctor used forceps to open Harley's stomach, and pulled the baby from her womb. Without ceremony, Dr. Kovack dumped the silent infant in Dr. Leland's arms.
"Dispose of this, Doctor," Kovack ordered.
Joan scurried out of the operating theater, and Dr. Kovack began the tubal ligation.
Nearly five hours later, Harley was dumped on a Gotham park bench. The incision on her lower stomach was hurriedly bandaged, and blood leaked from the wound where her IV had been. She was wearing nothing but a hospital gown. Several people walked past her, averting her eyes as if she was a piece of litter. Finally, a man on his way home from work called an ambulance, and she was rushed to the hospital.
The Joker paced back and forth in his office. He had spent the last few hours barking orders at the henchman and making lists of everywhere Batman could have taken Harley. Rage was building in the man's throat, and he let out a frustrated scream.
"Uhh, boss?" One of the henchman said, stepping hesitantly in the office.
"Yes?"
"A Jane Doe matching Harley's description was just admitted to Gotham General. We're pretty sure it's her."
"Well what the fuck are you waiting for?" The Joker snarled. "Bring around the car. "
When the Joker arrived at the hospital, he waltzed through the front doors, determined and deadly. He went straight to the reception desk, pulling his gun from the holster on his side.
"Take me to the Jane Doe that was brought in earlier," the Joker demanded, pointing the gun at the receptionist's head.
She quickly typed on her computer before jumping up and leading the Joker deep into the hospital to the OBGYN floor. They passed rows of doors decorated with bright pink and blue bows, until they finally reached a door that was bare.
"She's in here," the receptionist squeaked.
The Joker nodded, and opened the door. As soon as his gun was no longer trained on her, the receptionist ran down the hallway, tears streaming down her face.
The Joker eased open the door, and his heart dropped when he saw Harley lying on the bed. She was hooked to another IV line, and her face was red and swollen from crying. Her hair hung limply around her face. The Joker walked into the room, followed closely by several of his henchmen. He was silent for a long while, his gaze lingering on Harley's stomach, now much flatter than it had been the last time he saw her.
"Harls," he whispered.
"Puddin'," she replied, reaching her arms out towards the Joker like a child.
"What'd they do, Harls?" The Joker asked, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close to him.
"They took her. She's gone," Harley whispered.
Silently, the Joker removed the IV from Harley's arm and picked her up. She snuggled close to him, and began to cry.
"Shoot anyone who tries to stop us," the Joker ordered his henchmen.
The Joker walked out of the hospital with Harley cradled in his arms. She cried all the way back to the hideout, her face buried in the Joker's tattooed chest. When the Joker carried her to the bedroom and tried to lay her on the bed, she cried out in fear and wrapped her arms tighter around his neck. The Joker lay down next to Harley and held her all night. Neither of them slept. In short bursts and through her tears, Harley told the Joker what had happened at Belle Reve.
The day was a blur for Harley and the Joker. Every time the Joker left the bed, Harley's sobbing began again. She clung to the Joker, one hand over the incision on her stomach and the other tracing the tattoos on the green-haired man's chest over and over. Finally, as day turned to night and heat lighting lit up the Gotham sky, the Joker ordered one of his men to find a sedative for Harley. When he gave her the injection, Harley lay on the bed limply, not even fighting as he jabbed the needle roughly into her vein.
The sedative sent Harley into a peaceful sleep, and the Joker was finally free to move from the bed. He paced back and forth, his tired mind trying to formulate a plan for revenge at everyone who had dared touch his queen and princess. After several hours and scrapped plans, Harley began to stir in bed. The Joker looked over at her and quickly rushed to her side.
Suddenly, Harley let out a terrible wail. She began thrashing in bed, lashing out at the air around her. The Joker tried to wrap her in his arms, but she punched him. Rage filled him, and the Joker picked Harley up off the bed and threw her to the floor. The Joker slapped Harley hard across her face twice. Harley snarled at him and scratched his chest with her fingernails, leaving crimson trails of blood in five long lines.
"Where is she?" Harley screamed. "Where's my baby?"
"She's dead, Harley!" The Joker screamed. "Dead! You said it yourself-someone took her and now she's gone!"
"No, I can feel her!" Harley cried. "She's out there! She's out there somewhere!"
The Joker punched Harley in the stomach, forgetting about her incision. Harley fell to her knees, her hands cupped around her wound. Blood trickled slowly from between her fingers. Harley looked up at the Joker with fear in her eyes. The Joker turned around to yell for one of the henchmen to find a doctor, but Harley ran to the bathroom and locked the door behind her.
The Joker sighed, and sat down on Harley's side of the bed. He noticed her cell phone was lying on the nightstand, and an idea slowly began to form in his mind. He grimaced, but picked up the phone and scrolled through Harley's contacts until he found the number he wanted.
"Hello, Ivy," he said, practically spitting the words. "I will be sending several men to your house shortly. I highly suggest that you go with them quietly. Harley…She needs you."
"What's wrong? What happened?" Ivy asked, fear running through her veins.
"I'll explain once you're here, Plant." The Joker hung up the phone and went to the bathroom door.
"Ivy's on her way," the Joker said.
He listened for a moment, hoping that Harley would come out, but everything was silent. The Joker went to the front room to await Ivy's arrival.
When Ivy arrived, she walked towards the Joker with her fists clenched.
"What the fuck did you do to her?" Ivy growled.
"Calm down, Plant, I didn't hurt her. Well…I guess I did, but that's not why I need you."
The Joker explained everything that had happened since Harley's kidnapping. Ivy was horrified at what he told her, and she began to cry silently, thinking of the pain, both physical and emotional, that Harley must be going through.
"Where is she?" Ivy asked.
"Master bathroom," the Joker replied. "She won't come out for me. Not after I punched her."
"You hit her?" Ivy asked, clenching and unclenching her fists. "Now, after all she's been through, and you're still abusing her?"
"She was fighting me, Plant. I didn't have a choice."
Ivy shook her head and went to the master bathroom. She stood outside the door, listening for a moment. The bathroom was silent.
"Harley, I'm here," Ivy said through the door. "Please come out. I need to look at your incision. It sounds like the bastard…I mean the Joker may have busted your stitches open."
Slowly, Harley stood from where she had been curled up on the bathroom floor. Fresh streaks of blood ran out from beneath her bandage, and she cringed in pain. Gently, Harley eased open the door. When she saw Ivy, she threw herself in the redhead's arms and began to cry.
Ivy held Harley silently for a long moment before gently pulling away. She looked Harley up and down, and tears came to her eyes again. She was standing limply, with her head down in a posture of defeat. The pajama shirt the Joker had put her in was stained with blood from her incision, and bruises and cuts surrounded her wrists and ankles where the restraints at Belle Reve had dug into her flesh. Bruises dotted the pale skin on her face, her upper arms, and legs.
"Come on," Ivy whispered, leading Harley to the bed. "Joker, get a doctor her, as soon as possible. You busted her goddamn stiches wide open."
Ivy gently removed the bandage and cringed when she looked at the gaping wound ruining Harley's tattoo. Harley glanced down and stifled a gag, then began crying again.
"They took her," she whispered.
"I know, Harley," Ivy replied.
"But I swear she's out there, I can feel her, Red. I can feel that she's still alive."
Ivy was silent.
"Puddin' don't believe me either," Harley whispered.
"Sweetheart, I believe that you feel so much love for her that you want her to be alive, but you were only seven months along. The chances of-"
"I know the chances!" Harley snapped. "But she's strong. She's mine and my Puddin's, she's a fighter."
"Sure, Harley," Ivy whispered, stroking her blonde hair.
The two women were silent until the doctor arrived, and older man who was being held at gunpoint by two of the Joker's goons.
"Where's the patient?" He asked, his voice shaking.
Ivy nodded towards Harley, and moved out of the way. The doctor walked over and carefully examined the incision.
"It looks like the stitches just slipped. They were done very…hastily. I can fix you right up, Miss…"
"Harley," she answered automatically.
"I will need some numbing agent first, however," the doctor said.
"Nah," Harley replied. "Just get it over with. I don't care anymore."
The doctor looked nervously to the Joker, who nodded his approval.
While the doctor was stitching Harley's incision, Harley lay on the bed, gritting her teeth as tears streamed down her face. The Joker held one of her hands, while Ivy held the other.
"All done," the doctor said, after a few moments. "Now, please try to avoid whatever made the stitches slip in the first place."
The Joker handed the man a wad of cash and the henchmen lead him out of the mansion.
"So, what's the plan?" Ivy asked, crossing her arms.
"You're going to watch her," the Joker replied, pointing to Harley. "And I'm going to go decide how exactly to take care of Waller and her whole damn prison."