A/N: Sorry for the long absence. I had massive writer's block, but I'm getting back on track! Hope you enjoy! Reviews!

Chapter 3: The Upper Hand

Baby I was naïve,

Got lost in your eyes and never really had a chance

My mistake, I didn't know how to be in love

You had to fight to have the upper hand

"White Horse," Taylor Swift

The next few days went by virtually without a hitch. The Joker seemed calm and collected, as always, and my anxiety grew more and more by the minute. Maybe I was over-reacting, maybe I was just being paranoid…but I couldn't put anything past him. He was known for being a very convincing actor. He could pretend he was fine and emotionally stable with the best of them. In fact, he really could have made a good woman with that personality.

As he left that evening, I paced the apartment. I tried to figure out what he could possibly be doing. He said he was just going to talk to some of his "associates" on the lower east side of Gotham. It was a pretty scummy area, and I did worry about him. But then again…I think there are more people in Gotham who are scared of him than those who aren't. So, maybe I didn't exactly need to worry too much.

I sat down to read a magazine, couldn't focus, and then picked up a Sudoku book the Joker had managed to get away with from the corner store. I was more than a little addicted to it. I managed to get my mind off of the whole situation with the two men in my life when there was a frantic knocking on my door. I jumped up, nervous. No one ever came to our apartment and knocked, except for Pam.

I padded quietly across the carpet to the door. The knocking continued, and a familiar voice shouted, "Harley? Are you home? It's important!"

I breathed a sigh of relief, and opened the door, "Oh hi, P-"

"Harley! Have you heard the news?" Pam exclaimed as she barreled past me.

"What? What's going on?"

"Don't you watch the news?"

"We don't have cable." I gestured to the broken television.

"Oh, God, I keep forgetting." She collapsed onto the couch. She looked frazzled; her auburn hair was in disarray and she raked her fingers through it, making it even more tousled. I could tell she ran over here in a hurry because she didn't even have any make-up on, and only was wearing a worn emerald green Harvard sweatshirt and her oldest, most ripped-up jeans. It was very rare to see her dressed down for anything.

"Pam, what is going on?" I was getting extremely nervous now, "Did something happen to the Joker?"

"Oh no, no, he's fine." She shook her head, and looked up at me, eyes sad, "You'd better sit down for this, sweetie."

I sank down onto the couch. Someone was dead or very critically injured. I could tell by the tone of her voice. I didn't really know who, considering my immediate family was long gone.

"Harley…" she grasped my hands, "Bruce got shot."

My blood ran cold, "…what?"

"The news said he was walking out this evening to his car, and an unknown man came up and shot him in the chest." Pam was shaking her head in disbelief, "I can't believe he'd risk his life like that, considering who he is."

"Pam, nobody but me, you, his butler and…oh, God," my voice shook with sudden realization, "I knew it. I fucking knew it. I'm going to kill him!"

"Kill who?" Pam asked as I jumped up from the couch and began stalking toward the apartment door, "Where are you going?"

"I've got to go to the hospital and see Bruce. I need to know who did this, Pam, but I have a god damn good feeling about who did!" I grabbed my keys and Pam quickly followed me out the door.

…

Pam and I drove to Gotham General Hospital, and I instantly had flashbacks of when I visited him back then, before we were engaged and this whole business had never happened. I felt tears well up in my eyes, and I wiped them away fiercely, not letting Pam see that I was crying. I knew she didn't care, but I hated when people see me vulnerable.

I parked the car, and sat there for a moment. Neither of us said anything.

"You'd better go in, Harley." Pam said gently, "I can wait here with the car."

"Thanks, Pam," I said, and got out, shivering in the December air, "I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Take your time." She assured me.

I broke the lock on the back entrance, cringing as I anticipated an alarm to go off…but it didn't. I remembered that Gotham General was still undergoing renovations after the Joker blew it up a couple years ago…that dumb-ass.

I quietly went through the back corridors and onto the back staircase. Since it was so late at night, there wasn't really anyone on duty. I heard a few people on the floors below me scurrying around, but no one on Bruce's floor. I peered out the window on the door, and saw no one. I looked at the whiteboard that contained the directory of the patients, and couldn't locate Bruce's name. Then I saw: Doe, John. GSW to the chest, Room 302. Oh, he didn't want anyone to know he was here.

My eyes went a little blurry at the sight of the initials "GSW"; I was just in disbelief. I didn't linger there, worrying I would be caught, and quickly located Bruce's room. I opened the door as silently as I possibly could, and closed it behind me. He was in the room alone, like before. He wasn't sleeping, surprisingly; he was just staring out the window at the light snow falling.

"I knew you would come." He said without looking at me. I jumped a little, startled.

"Why wouldn't I?" I said, approaching his bed.

He turned to face me, with a hint of a smile on his face, "This seems to be a sort of déjà-vu, huh?"

I chuckled a bit, "Yeah, it is."

He grabbed my hand, "Thank you for being here, Harley."

"Of course, Bruce," I said, kissing his hand gently.

"Won't your…the Joker be pissed off?" Bruce asked.

"Eh, whatever," I shrugged, "I'm sure he caused this anyway."

"Are you sure?" Bruce didn't sound angry or upset, just matter-of-fact.

"Yeah," I sighed.

"How did he find out about our…encounter?" Bruce tried to sit up, but his face crumpled up with pain, "Ah…fuck!"

"What? Are you ok?" I stood up, worried.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Sit back down, Harley." He said reassuringly, "It's just the pain. It sucks."

"I can imagine." I said, feeling god-awful. I knew I had caused all of this, "I'm not really sure how he found out. He acted like everything was ok…but I shouldn't have trusted that game for a minute. He likes to have the upper hand in situations like this. I can't help but think he knew all along what was happening…I don't want to bring it up to him because I sort of fear for my life."

"Because you know he's my biggest fan," Bruce smiled.

"Oh, definitely," I said, cracking a little smile, "I can't stay too long; Pam is waiting for me outside."

"I thought you two had a falling out."

"It's complicated. She's the only person who keeps me from going utterly berserk these days." I said, rolling my eyes, "I think she's over the whole liking me business…at least, she says she is."

"That has to be somewhat awkward," Bruce pointed out.

"Yeah, just a little." I admitted, "But she's a good person despite that."

"I don't doubt it." Bruce nodded, "I was thinking, though…"

"Nothing good ever comes from thinking."

"Oh, shut up, Harley." He laughed, "I was thinking we should get out of here."

"The hospital? I don't think you're in any condition to…"

"I don't mean the hospital." He interjected in annoyance, "Will you let me finish what I'm trying to say? You always interrupt me."

"Sorry," I flushed, "Continue."

"I have a lot of money put away for retirement. I planned on bailing out of being the owner of Wayne Enterprises when I turned 40, but I think I could do it now. I have 30 million dollars in an off-shore bank account in Aruba, and I started transferring about a million dollars there every week since our…engagement." He looked a bit pained to say that, but shook it off, "But since we met up and we still have feelings for each other, we could get away. I'll arrange for some fake passports and driver's licenses and everything, Harley, you wouldn't have to worry about any of that."

As he kept rambling, I just stared at him in disbelief. This was a rather elaborate plan, considering we had broken up and weren't even technically back together. I hadn't even said that I still loved him, not like I did, anyway, right? Yeah, I'll just keep telling myself that.

"Bruce, I don't know…we were going to try that before, and fate intervened on that one." I said gently, "I have nothing really left here to worry about, and as long as you have money…God, I can't even believe I'm considering this, but…ok."

"Ok…what?" Bruce asked, puzzled.

"We'll do it." I said.

"Are you sure? I don't exactly trust you after you know…you ditched me on our wedding day." Bruce said, and he was serious; no mirth was in his eyes whatsoever, "I don't even know why I still love you after how complicated all this shit has been; I have to admit that, but I still think we have a chance."

"Me, too," I couldn't lie to myself about wanting to get away from everything. I had some reservations about it, considering every time I tried to ditch the Joker, he just came back stronger than ever. But Bruce had a plan, a pretty good plan.

"Ok, well, then you're agreeing to this." He said matter-of-factly.

"Yes. How soon can we leave?"

"I'd say about 6 months from now."

When he saw my face fall in disappointment, he explained, "I still have to sign over Wayne Enterprises to Lucius, and sell my house, my cars, all of that, Harley."

"I understand." I said, and I meant it. He was picking up his life, too, "But, Bruce…what are you going to do about the whole…Batman situation?" I lowered my voice at the last bit.

"I'm working on it." He said.

"Care to elaborate on that?" I asked.

"Not yet; that is up for grabs. I have to find a successor for that. I can't just leave this city to the scum of the earth like it was before. The cops can't handle it on their own. I know it's getting better, considering Gordon is in charge now, but I still don't trust the system enough to leave it alone."

"I don't blame you." He was right; Gotham was definitely on the mend, but with the kind like…you know, the guy I was living with…still running about, there was a long time before people could rest easy.

"Whatever; that's not the most important thing on my mind right now. I know that if I leave, someone will step up. I have enough faith in this city that that will happen." Bruce settled into his pillows, "You'd better get going before they come to check on me."

"Ok, yeah, I will do that." I said, standing up, "Call me if you need anything."

"Ok," he smiled up at me.

I leaned in and kissed his cheek, "Goodbye, Bruce, hopefully I can see you again soon."

"We'll stay in touch."

I walked away from the bed, and out the door. I checked the corridors; still no one. Jesus, they either really under-staffed this hospital or everyone was having sex like on Grey's Anatomy. I went down the back stairs and back out into the freezing parking lot. Pam was dozing off in the passenger seat.

I knocked on the window, and she jumped. Once she saw it was me, she unlocked the doors and I got back into the car.

"How did it go?" she asked, yawning.

"Fine, yeah, he's doing pretty well for having been shot." I said, and began to drive away and back toward my apartment. On second thought, "Hey, Pam, do you mind if I stay at your place for the night?"

"Sure," she said, shrugging, and then she looked at me with sudden realization, "Oh, Harley…you aren't back with Bruce, are you?"

"It's really complicated."

"Oh, Harley…"

"I hate when you say my name in that tone of voice." I pouted.

"You are getting yourself into a heap of trouble, missy." Pam said, shaking her head, "What if he finds out?"

"He's not going to." I shot her a look.

"Ah, I get your drift." Pam sighed, "I hope you know what you're doing, babe. Did you ever stop to think that the Joker really does care about you?"

"So you're taking his side in this?" I snapped.

"No," she said gently, "I'm just trying to keep things in perspective. Believe me, if I had a chance to abscond with some rich, handsome billionaire, I'd take it in a heartbeat, but…you're going to hurt someone in the process. The Joker is not an easy man to please; clearly, he cares deeply about you."

"Yeah, he does." I agreed, "But that's not enough, Pam. He can't provide me any sort of security the way Bruce does."

"I get that." She held up her hands in mock defeat, "I don't want to argue with you. I just want you to think about something before you do that. You're so impulsive, Harley."

I had never considered myself to be impulsive. I had made so many planned and careful decisions in my life before the Joker entered it; I just had never realized that I had changed so much in the past couple of years.

"I wish I wasn't." I said, staring hard at the road front of me, "I wish I had never even spoken to the Joker in the first place."

"You can't regret what's already been done."

"Since when have you gotten all philosophical?" I teased.

"Harley, I'm tired of this criminal life. I regret it, too, but irrevocable. I want nothing more than to take my millions and just disappear."

"Then why don't you?"

"I kind of like the criminal life." She grinned.

"You're a strange woman, Pamela."

…

I spent the night at Pam's, and kind of almost forgot about my problem: that the Joker was probably at home, waiting for me and ready to bitch me out or…you know…possibly kill me.

I quietly opened the door to our apartment, and closed it behind me, locking it. On second thought, I unlocked it. I might have to run for my life. I'm so smart.

I tip-toed throughout the apartment with bated breath; upon very close inspection, he was nowhere to be found. I exhaled with relief, and flopped onto the couch. I weighed my options. I could just leave now before he comes back, and stay at Pam's until Bruce got out of the hospital, or I could just stay here, fear for my life, and pretend like nothing was going on for 6 months. Either way, I was totally fucked.

Since I hadn't slept much the night before, I managed to doze off on the couch until I heard someone say, "Get the fuck up, Sleeping Beauty."

Shit.