Harley woke up the next morning leaning against Dr. Crane's shoulder. He was sleeping with his head back against the moth-eaten couch, his glasses askew on his face. The wizard of Oz was still open on his lap. She giggled quietly and got up carefully, flinching when she put pressure on her wrist.
"Ouch… that's gonna be a pain, innit?" She whispered to herself. She walked into the kitchen, looking through the crooked cupboards. There was some bread, jam, and a ziplock bag with tea bags and coffee beans in one, and in another she found a grocery bag filled with pears and a box of matches. All the others had nothing but dust and cobwebs.
"Not much to work with here…" She said, looking about the decrepit kitchen. The sink was rusted, but filled with presumably clean water, and there was a small box of twigs next to the stove.
"They must've turned off the water and electricity in here," She said. "I mean… it is abandoned…" Harley sighed and grabbed the tea bags and the kettle.
Hope this water really is clean, She thought. But I'm boiling it anyways. She filled the kettle and grabbed some twigs and the matchbox.
It didn't take long for her to start a small fire. She kept adding tinder before hanging the kettle from the coat hanger. She smiled as the watched the flames dance around, almost touching the bottom of the kettle.
It was about half an hour later when Harley had the water boiling, as well as two pieces of only slightly burned toast and two sliced pears. She filled the mugs and put in the tea bags.
"Jonny?" She said quietly, walking up to him and shaking his shoulder. He groggily opened his eyes and rubbed them.
"Good morning, child," he mumbled, stumbling to his feet. "Did you just wake up?"
"A little while ago," She said back, grinning. "I made breakfast!" She grabbed his hand and pulled him along, proudly showing her work.
"Thank you, child." He didn't usually eat much but plain toast and coffee, but it was certainly a nice gesture. "How are you feeling this morning?"
"I feel… a lot better," She said slowly, her smile fading. "Thank you…"
Jonathan Crane stayed silent. He looked at the table, where his costume sat, still unmended.
"i'll need to finish that soon," He mumbled as he sat down and sipped his tea.
"I can help you!" harley said, grinning. "I can mend it if you want,"
Jonathan raised his eyebrows at her and shook his head.
"You don't need to. I can do it."
"But.. I want to help! You've been helping me so much… I don't want to be a burden," Harley said, pouting. "Let me do something."
Jonathan nodded slightly.
She has a dependency complex. He noted, watching as she grabbed the costume and began to inspect it. She wants to work with someone. That's why she always runs to another rogue when The Joker kicks her out.
"Thank you, Child."
"Can I help you with your experiments too?" harley asked, her face brightening up. "I don't even need to do something important- I can just take notes for you!"
"I-" He stopped and sighed. He wanted to say yes. So badly, did he want to say yes. He'd often dreamed that she and him could work together on something like that. It was a bad idea. It was a really bad idea. It wasn't that Harley couldn't do it or wouldn't enjoy it- it was the circumstances surrounding his test subjects.
He was paying Joker in potent chemicals to bring him one every three days. He only had three more test subjects before his agreement with Joker ended. He wasn't willing to let Harley see Joker. Not yet. He wasn't sure if the reasoning was because of her breakdown the night before, or his own selfish desires, but he knew that he wouldn't let her hurt herself again.
He cared far too much about her, and far too little about the rest of the world to let it hurt her ever again.
"No… you-" he stopped and frustratedly took off his glasses, starting to polish them. "Fear isn't your thing."
"You'd be surprised," she said quietly. "Emotion, by definition, is simply a reaction to one's surroundings. It's not too far of a leap between fear and joy. In fact, surprise and fear trigger the exact same emotion, but are simply processed differently based on our situations."
"Still a psychologist, I see," Jonathan commented, putting his glasses back on. His excuse was useless.
"Never gave it up! It's useful to know," she said.
Jonathan opened his mouth, an explanation on the tip of his tongue. I can't let you help me because i don't want to see you hurt. There are certain circumstances that I can;t let you be part of.
I can't lose you. Please trust me.
I love you too much to see you hurt.
He shook his head and clothed his mouth, Telling her anymore would just bring up more questions. Questions he didn't want to answer.
It was rare for Jonathan to hear singing in his hideout.
He himself preferred to make as little sound as possible, but it really seemed as though Harley was the exact opposite. She would spend afternoons doing housework or other mundane things for Jonathan while she stayed with him, singing her little heart out.
Harley seemed fine, but Crane was staring to worry. He knew that her relative inactivity and lack of an alliance with a rogue would drive her up the wall sooner or later and he didn't want to see her break down again.
He'd toyed with the idea of letting Harley help him in his experiments, and finding some way around his Joker arrangement. He only had one more test subject from Joker. He ever so badly wanted her to help him and, perhaps, even decide that she liked it. Perhaps she'd decide to stay. Perhaps it's help her.
But he was also scared. Scared of rejection. If he got too used to her presence in his life, he'd only hurt more when she , he kept her as distant from himself as possible, just as he did with most people. The only difference was that keeping her distance was somehow painful to him.
At this point he'd completely given up denying it. He was completely and totally in love with Harley Quinn, and there was little he could do about it.
But now, as he listened to her bustling upstairs, singing, he knew that he had to let her do something more with him. She was beginning to retract again, he sense. He had to let her know that she mattered to him. He had to let her play to her own dependency.
Because if there was one person in all of Gotham that actually, truly mattered to Jonathan, it was Harley.
Harley sighed, rubbing the bandage around her wrist tiredly. She was getting restless, and felt ready to do something.
Her plan to get Red out of Arkham had been completely scrapped a few days ago when Poison Ivy go herself out. She'd used one of the little trees in the lobby as a weapon against the guards and was able escape quite nicely.
This was good and all for her friend, but it left Harley with nothing to do. There was nothing to plan for. Just a void ahead of her. She was bored, having no direction in her life.
She still wasn't sure if she wanted The Joker back yet. Sure, if she heard from him, she knew that she'd just fall in love all over again, but she was feeling conflicted over the matter.
A whole week. He hadn't called her in a whole week.
"Puddin'..." She whispered, feeling tears brimming in her eyes. She was filled with a volley of emotions. Anger, despair, fear, sadness... she didn't know how to feel about this. "You ain't done wit' me, are ya?" She laughed bitterly, staring at the bandage. "You really can shake me up..."
She bit her lip, wanting to call Joker herself, fix things then and there. If things went back to normal, she'd be rid of this instability. She'd have her old life back.
"Harley?" Jonathan called from below, making Harley smile.
She remembered how he'd read to her when she'd been so weak and fragile. He'd bandaged her wound and given her tea. He'd told her that she was strong.
It meant an awful lot to her, whether he knew it or not.
"Yeah? What is it, Jonny?" She called, running to the top of the staircase and sliding down the old banister. She landed, turning and facing him with an only half-faked grin.
"I just wanted to see how you were doing," He said, standing up from where he had been sitting. "You've been awfully quiet for the last little while."
"I was just thinking," Harley explained, shrugging.
"I was wondering if you might like to... assist me as well..." He sighed, starting to fidget a bit more. "I really don't want you to feel trapped and I could use an assistant..." He trailed off, staring at his hands, almost pouting.
Harley's grin immediately turned genuine. She jumped up, practically knocking Jonathan down as she hugged him.
"Thank you!" She said. Jonathan stiffened as she hugged him, smiling slightly himself.
For several moments, nothing was said. Harley was simply happy that Jonathan had finally allowed her help. Jonathan was just happy to see the girl smile a real, genuine smile.
It was moments like these that Jonathan wanted to keep forever in his memory.