Disclaimer: I don't own The Joker or Harley Quinn/any other characters mentioned.
Out Of The Way: Chapter 2
She didn't say a word during the entire drive home. The Joker found her silence eerie, and it made him intensely uncomfortable. Normally he couldn't get Harley to shut up, no matter where they were. Harley leaned her head against the window. She had nothing to say to him, in fact, she hadn't planned on this. She had figured if cutting herself, vertically, from wrist to elbow didn't take care of it, the pills would. Even then, she assumed that Mista J would just let her die, its not like she wasn't disposable. He had already tried to replace her once when he had been left all that money.
She almost wished this would have landed her a place in the nut house, when they released her from the hospital she was in no way ready to face Mista J. He would be angry for sure. He must be thinking that she was trying to escape, that she didn't love him and she had made a huge mess to boot. She would just have to try harder next time. She was fully set on trying again, she was weak now and it would probably be easier this time.
When they arrived at the hide out, J stopped the car, made a motion for Harley to wait and exited through the driver's side door. He walked around the car, opened her door and scooped her up, before she could realize that she was being picked up and carried inside. "I can walk, Mista J" she said. Or maybe she didn't say it at all because he didn't even look down at her. The doctors had medicated her so heavily that she really had no idea what was going on.
Harley was finally set down on her bed, the covers where pulled up over her and the lights were turned out. Joker knew he should leave her alone, just for a little bit. He went and crawled into his own bed. He was almost afraid to leave her alone; she may try it again, after all. When he woke up, he would go drop off the prescriptions for anti-depressants and a few other things for Harley, it would be easier to just do it the way normal people do instead of stealing it. He had no energy left for that kind of thing. The last few days had sucked him dry of any will to do much other than curl up into a ball.
It occurred to Harley, as she lay bundled up in her bed that it had to have been Mista J who had called ambulance. She had only woken up briefly on the ride there, then blacked out again. When she woke up, it was mid-morning and she was in a hospital room. A small man with a white beard was sitting there waiting. "Are you here to do a psychological evaluation?" She sighed, bringing out her old psychiatrist talk. "Yes Miss Quinzel." The psychiatrist said.
She answered his questions vaguely, trying not to put too much thought into them. After that, they watched her carefully but for the most part let her rest, only ever coming in to drug her up a little more.
Batman was growing suspicious; it had been almost a week since The Joker had caused trouble. He had, however, been alerted that he was spotted in the hospital waiting room, in normal clothing, without his makeup. Harley was nowhere to be found. He tried to get into the hospital's medical record, but they wouldn't disclose patient information, not even to Batman. The idea of what the Joker may have done to that poor girl made him sick. When he showed up at the Joker's lair that evening, he was greeted by an exhausted looking man, who looked completely lifeless. He would have thought it was someone other than The Clown Prince if it weren't for the scars on his face. "What did you do to Miss Quinn?" Batman demanded
"…She did it to herself…Please Batman; this is rough on me as it is. Can you go home?" The Joker pleaded.
"What did she do?" Batman asked.
"She cut her wrists open and took a bunch of pills…Please go, Batman, I just…I just feel bad enough as it is." Joker begged.
"I'll let you go this time, since you seem like you wouldn't put up much of a fight anyways. " with that Batman turned around and left.
That was odd of batman, to just calmly walk into his abode instead of making some kind of entrance, but he was relieved that Bats had left.
He decided it was time to go check on Harley. She was laying on her side, facing the wall, She could be asleep, but maybe she wasn't. Joker moved quietly into the room. Approaching the bed, he gently tapped her shoulder. Harley winced a little in her sleep. "Harls?" He asked, almost in a whisper. She didn't stir. He decided to take the liberty and lay down next to her, on top of the covers, placing an arm around her waist, bringing her back close to his chest. She was still warm and breathing, and that was enough for him.
"Mista J?" a soft voice said, pulling the Joker out of his light slumber. "Yes, Harley?" he replied, his eyes opening.
"I was just wondering if it was you. What time is it?" She asked.
"Its about two in the morning." Joker replied.
"Why aren't you out causing trouble…taking down batman and all that?" Harley sleepily asked.
"Because I want to be here with you." He said, grabbing Harley's delicate hand, her fingers loosely intertwining with his own.
"why?" She asked.
"Because I love you." He replied .
"You don't mean that, do you, Mista J?" she whispered.
"Of course I do Harl." He sighed, burying his head in her shoulder.
"I just wanted to get out of your way." She sighed, wanting to just slip back into another deep sleep.
"No darling, no you're never in the way, I don't know what I'd do without you." A tear slipped from the Joker's eye. "Please, Harley, don't scare me like that again…Its really not funny"
End Note :There may be a follow up to this story. I don't know yet. I'm open to suggestions from readers.