In Love With A Good Man
Chapter 15: Lurking In The Dark
After a long night out, Catwoman made her way back into her little apartment. She climbed in through the window and, after closing the curtains, removed her mask and put down her bag. As soon as she set both feet down on the floor, a few of her cats came over and brushed up against her ankles.
"Mama's home. You little rascals must be hungry, huh? I'll bring you something in just a minute." Selina said with a smile, crouching down and petting them for a moment. She stood up and made her way to the kitchen, getting milk from the fridge and pouring out cat food.
"Busy night?" A low, male voice asked from within the shadows. Selina's head lifted up in surprise for a moment then she smiled, looking in the direction of the voice.
"Very busy...to what do I owe the pleasure, my dark knight?" She asked, watching as Batman stepped out of the dark and walked into the kitchen.
"I'm looking for Joker." Batman answered, watching as Selina set down the food and milk for her cats.
"Joker? Is he still running loose?" She asked.
"Seems he's gotten lucky. He's found a new hideout that's not on any files." He explained.
"Oh?" Selina smiled sideways. "You can't find him, huh? Why else would you ask me for help?" She presumed, walking up to him and lifting his chin with her finger.
"I'm not here to ask for help. I'm here to ask a question." Batman clarified.
"Oh? Ask away." Selina whispered, moving closer to him.
"Where's Harley Quinn?" He questioned. Selina's eyebrows furrowed at this odd question, and she leaned back a little.
"Harley? What do you want with her?" She asked.
"I know the Joker kicked her out a few weeks ago. I know that you've seen her. Where can I find her?" He asked. Selina shook her head.
"I haven't seen her and I don't know where she is. I'm sorry." She said.
"Tell me the truth, Selina." He calmly insisted.
"I really don't know, Bruce." She said again, putting a hand on his chest.
"...alright." He backed off the subject. Selina paused for a moment, contemplating what his intentions were. Did he want to take Harley to Arkham Asylum? Or something else?
"Why, uh, why do you want to find her?" She asked.
"No one knows how Joker moves better than she does. If they really are estranged, there's a chance she'll give him up." He explained his reasoning.
"I see...I'm afraid I can't help you there." Selina said.
"I'll find her one way or another." Batman said. He started to turn away from her, getting ready to leave.
"Hey," Selina put a hand on his arm to stop him. She put a hand on his cheek and gave him a kiss, which he returned. "Why don't you stay for awhile, hmm? I haven't seen you in a couple weeks. Why don't we catch up?" She offered, stroking his cheek.
"I have work to do." Batman abruptly rejected her offer, wrapping his hand around hers and removing it from his face.
"Yeah, you always do," Selina said with a little sigh, stepping away from him. "That's too bad. It just so happens that I'm free for the rest of the night." She said, looking back over her shoulder and smiling at him.
"I'm not." He responded simply, looking out the window. Selina glanced outside and she could see that light of the Bat Signal shining in the cloudy night sky.
"I see. I guess this is bye bye for now then, Bat boy." She waved to him, resting her elbows on the kitchen counter and watching him leave.
Without another word, Batman exited her home. She waited for him to be completely gone before pulling her phone out and sending a text message to Harley to warn her:
"The Bat is looking for you. Be careful ok?"
It only took about a minute for Harley to respond:
"What does the dork knight want with me?"
"He wants Joker" Selina answered.
"Idk where he is" Harley responded.
"I know. Just be careful ok?" Selina said again...
Harley was out with Casey on another date night when she got those texts from Selina. They were in another part of town trying out a different restaurant that neither of them had been to before. They were walking to the train station holding hands while Harley texted back and forth with Selina.
Casey couldn't see what Harley was doing on her phone, but he did see the way that she seemed to be scowling at the screen. Her expression was unusually serious. Was something going on?
"Everything okay, baby?" He asked her. Right away, Harley put her phone away and smiled at him.
"Yep! Just texting Selina." She answered with a giggle. She didn't want to scare him by telling him what the message said.
"Gotcha." He nodded.
"Uhuh. I'm sorry, you were talking. What were you saying, baby?" She asked, focusing her attention back on him.
"I think I'm ready to start going back to work." He said again.
"Really? That's great, sweetheart." She said with a little smile, "You sure you want to go back to the bank, hun?" She asked.
"Well, I do need the job. But yeah, I think I'm ready. I feel a lot better now. Your support has really helped a lot." Casey said, giving her a kiss on the cheek.
"Aww, you know I'm always gonna support ya, baby. I'm gonna miss having you around though." Harley said with a giggle, pressing in closer to him.
"Heheh, I'm gonna miss it too." He said, wrapping his arm around her.
"Hey, you two!" An unfamiliar voice cut the moment short. Casey and Harley looked to their right in the direction of the voice. They couldn't see who was speaking, but what they could see was the barrel of a gun sticking out of the darkness of a nearby alley between two buildings.
"Oh crap." Casey's eyes widened and he froze.
"Get over here. Nice and slow." The man in the alley gestured for them to come towards him.
"What?! You better put that gun away if you know what's good for ya! You got any idea who I am?!" Harley started to march towards the gunman, yelling at him. Casey immediately grabbed onto her from behind, pulling her up and turning around so that he was between her and the gun.
"Stop! Stop! Harley, stop!" Casey shouted as Harley struggled against him. "We're moving back! Just don't shoot!" He shouted back to the gunman before slowly moving back into the alley, dragging Harley with him.
"You're gonna regret this, you slimy creep!" Harley growled back at the man.
"Tell your girlfriend to shut it! Otherwise, you'll have to find a new one." The man threatened, cocking the gun and pointing it at Casey's head.
"Harley, please stop." Casey begged. Harley had no intention of stopping, but she could hear the fear in Casey's voice; that's the only reason she listened.
"Fine. Fine." Harley reluctantly agreed. She stopped resisting against Casey, who was holding her in place to keep her from trying to fight with the gunman.
"All your valuables: wallets, jewelry, everything. Now." The man demanded.
"Alright." Casey reached into his back pocket and pulled his wallet out.
"Here! Prick!" Harley took her purse and Casey's wallet and threw them both on the ground at the robber's feet.
The gunman scoffed irritably as he slowly crouched down to grab the stuff. He took his eyes off of them and picked up their items with his free hand. As he was standing back up, two random people walked by. They didn't see what was going on, but it temporarily diverted the man's attention.
With only a moment to act, Casey suddenly turned and threw a kick. The gun went off. The shot echoed in the air, bouncing off the walls of the buildings nearby. Harley screamed and flinched before turning around; she thought that Casey had gotten shot.
Casey's foot hit the man's wrist, knocking the gun out of his hand. Realizing that he no longer had the gun, Casey jumped on top of him and wrestled him to the ground. The man tried to fight him, but because of his awkward position, Casey was able to overpower him.
Casey pinned him to the ground and placed his knee on the man's neck, using it to keep him down, "Gahh I can't breathe! Get off me!" The man growled and tried to buck Casey off.
"Stop fighting, stop fighting! You hear me?! Keep moving and I'll break your frickin' neck!" Casey spat at him, pressing more weight down.
"Ack! Alright alright alright!" The man stopped resisting.
Harley's eyes widened at this. Casey had never shown himself to have an aggressive side before, so this was completely new to her. But she definitely liked this protective, almost wrathful side of him. She couldn't help but smirk proudly.
"Ha! You shoulda listened, punk!" Harley taunted the man before kicking him in the side a few times, making sure to get his ribs, "That's what you get for ruining our date night!"
"Ow! God! What are you crazy?!" The man yelled out as he writhed in pain, unable to move or get free.
"Harley, get your phone. Call 911 right now. And kick him again if he fights." Casey instructed.
"With pleasure, baby." Harley said with a smile...
The two of them worked together to keep their unsuccessful assailant immobilized until the police arrived. Harley had never called the police before, so it was a totally unfamiliar process speaking with them normally. She erred on the side of caution though, letting Casey handle things so they wouldn't figure out who she was.
When it was all said and done, they were offered a ride home in the back of a police SUV. They sat in the back seat huddled close together. Casey kept his arms around Harley, and she rested all of her weight against him. Neither of them spoke for the first few minutes of the ride.
"Are you alright?" Casey finally asked in a whisper.
"Yeah, baby, I'm fine. Just mad at that jerk for doing that...I thought he got you for a second there." She said.
"Yeah, me too," Casey admitted with a faint chuckle. "I, uh...didn't think I'd do that. I just freaked out. I saw a chance to get out of this and I had to take it. I couldn't just do nothing...again." He said, throwing in that last word quietly.
"What do you mean 'again', honey?" Harley asked.
"...soon as I saw the gun, it was like I was back at the bank. I wasn't gonna go out like that." Casey said, shaking his head at the thought of it.
"Hey, me neither. We're alright. Okay? Look at me. We're okay." Harley said with a gentle smile, placing a hand on his cheek. She looked up at him and smiled gently to reassure him.
"We're okay." Casey repeated, nodding a little and closing his eyes. He relaxed into her touch and took in a breath.
"You protected me, baby. That was amazing." Harley smiled at him.
"Yeah, of course. I'm always gonna protect you." He said. The way that he said it like it was the only thing that made sense was exactly what she liked to hear; it's what she's always wanted to hear.
"I'll always protect you too, baby. I love you so much." Harley said, kissing him deeply.
"Love you too." He replied quickly before kissing her back...