The pair came into work at the outlet as normal, with Harley getting her equipment while Clark spoke with Perry about their assignments. She thought about the previous night, and ignoring that Batman breaking in had scared her half to death and she was paranoid that he'd be waiting around every corner just to pounce on her and drag her away to a padded cell. It wasn't hard to quash those worries just by thinking about Clark, he was so kind to her and genuine about wanting to help her in life.

Sitting at Clark's desk while waiting for him to come back so they could get started she kept thinking about him, the way he smelled, the timber of his voice. He was tall, strong in both body and character, and he was handsome. The more she thought the more she started to blush because her mind was quick to jump to visions that were less pure about what two adults could do.

So she was easily startled by Lois and Cat coming up to her. "So Harley, how was date night with the farmboy?" Lois asked for an update, her own dinner with Bruce had been nice, expensive but frankly a little too short as he couldn't take her back to his fancy hotel because he claimed to be busy dealing with his business, which is what he said his reasoning for coming to Metropolis had been. It was fine enough in her eyes, but she thought that maybe Bruce had wanted more, a potential relationship. She figured this was more of the playboy just wanting to have the company of a pretty lady, so Lois was already resigned to her chances at billionaires being lackluster.

However Harley was looking cheerful, so maybe she had better luck.

"Was it Old Yeller? Did Clark cry?" Cat teased.

Harley rolled her eyes. "We didn't watch Old Yeller, actually we watched a drama and um… well I wasn't really paying much attention to the movie," Harley admitted bashfully.

Lois raised an eyebrow as Cat cackled. "Oh my god, you two just sat on the couch making out like horny teenagers?! That's so rich," the blonde had to brace against a desk to keep from falling over from laughing too hard.

"We didn't," Harley pouted and folded her arms. "I just said I was getting cold and if I could scoot closer and Clark said yes, but I just focused more on that then the screen. He's a great pillow."

"And you know that from one cuddle session on a couch or… Nooo," Lois trailed off because she knew that wasn't the limit to it. "You two?"

It took Harley a second to grasp what Lois was implying they had done. "No no no, we didn't. I swear we haven't done that yet, but… I was in his bed because I had a rough time trying to sleep," Harley admitted quietly. "You can't tell anyone this but, we had an intruder last night."

Cat and Lois serioused up right then because it was one thing to tease about their newest colleagues love life, another when they were potentially in danger from some maniac. "No way, I mean, that must have been quite a scare, probably for the burglar more. You got those hyenas of yours in the apartment right?" Cat questioned because she knew that Harley still had those exotic pets with her.

"Well to be honest, this intruder wouldn't have been afraid of them," Harley twiddled her thumbs. "It wasn't your average break in. He didn't come for anything besides information."

Taking a deep breath to steel her nerves before telling the two women who the intruder was. "It was Batman, he broke into my room and wanted to know why I was at the Daily Planet."

"What?" Lois almost shouted in anger, she could understand that the Dark Knight might hunt down Harley Quinn if she was committing crimes, but Harley had told her that it was Batman who practically kicked her out of Gotham once she got released from Arkham, so why was he coming by to harass her. She already had a low opinion of the caped crusader for operating in the shadows unlike Superman, but to threaten someone she worked with.

"Yeah, I guess Bud and Lou recognized his scent and started growling at my door," Harley nodded. "That must have been enough for Clark to know something was wrong and he came in to check on me."

"Oh jeez that must have been frightening for him," Cat cringed at the thought of the mild-mannered man being confronted with the scary Batman.

Harley let out a laugh. "Actually, he didn't seem scared at all, more pissed than anything to see Batman in my room. And it's going to sound crazy but I think if Batman didn't leave when he was politely reminded that he should be invited into another person's home, then Clark might have swung at him."

In her mind it was crazy that anyone would want to fight B-Man, sure Clark was a big guy and might have had some fights under his belt from back in his hometown and he certainly was strong but would that have been enough to even do anything when he was about as tough looking as some of the regular goons Batman never seemed to have trouble with.

"Clark, our Clark, was going to fist fight Batman because he was threatening you?" Lois said just for clarification.

Pursing her lips Harley nodded. "I think he might have. And I was pretty shaken up that I had trouble sleeping alone in my room and I sort of went to Clark. It makes me sound like a little girl but, I mean it's not like I was afraid of a monster under my bed or something made up like that."

"No, just a psycho in a bat costume with more weapons than a swat team," Cat shook her head in understanding that anyone would be freaked out by that. "So you spent the night in Clark's bed. You wanna do that again with him tonight? Maybe with a bit less clothes between you two?"

Harley's face was burnt red from Cat's insinuation. "I um… there's a specific dynamic to a relationship that's in constant flux and when you take all the variables it wouldn't be the uh, most optimal sort of… I do," finishing her excuse with a small, almost imperceptible admittance of wanting to do more. She had been so worried about falling into a bad relationship again but this morning had given her every assurance that Clark was not putting on an act. He wasn't exploiting her, just waiting for her to fail for some benefit of his own. He wanted to help her, he cared about her and she wanted to be cared for by someone who didn't see her as expendable like Mister J, like a toy to be discarded when done being played with.

"I want to date Clark Kent," Harley admitted to the two girls who looked happy for her.

It made Harley glad to know that she had real friends now. Her life was improving in so many wonderful ways all because she had stopped to ask an alien for help.


Clark had gone in to see Perry to get the assignments for the day but to see the man scratching his head. "What seems to be the problem sir?" Clark asked as he shut the door.

"Well I had you and Quinn on the schedule to go see the Metropolis Meteor's coach at the stadium as a pre-game interview about his prospects on the game this Friday, but that's the darndest thing," Perry turned the monitor around to display his own notes and timesheets. "I have Quinn listed to go with Lois to some interview across the city with a Dr. J. Reko about halfway through the time you'd be at the stadium?"

"That's odd?" Clark hummed because it wasn't every day that Perry mixed up the schedule and in the last week it had just been Harley and himself since he wasn't bouncing Jimmy around anymore.

Perry just sighed. "Must have forgot I caused a conflict in the schedule, you don't mind taking Jimmy with you Kent?"

Clark nodded at his boss while trying to figure out why this didn't add up in his head. On Monday Perry had told him about taking Harley to the stadium, it wasn't a mistake, but this interview, that was new. Something was up, but he didn't know what it could be. "That's fine Mr. White, I'll let Jimmy, Lois and Harley know about the change."


"So Mr. Kent," Jimmy whistled idly while sitting in the passenger seat next to Clark. "Word around the office is that you and Harley are an item."

"You know I'm not one for rumors Jimmy," Clark spared a glance to his side.

"I know, I know but… you and her are pretty close, is there anything there?" Jimmy inquired because he was just as curious as everyone else as to whether the two had gotten together.

"I-," Clark paused because he had to take all of his feelings into account, he had been smitten with Lois, but she was more interested in Superman or other men, not him. At this junction it didn't seem like she'd like him more than a friend, unless he revealed himself as Superman to her, but would that just be her projecting those feelings for Superman onto him or would they be genuine?

With Harley though, she was damaged, it would be easy to betray her trust and hurt her. He would never conceive of doing so, but she was trying to heal. Wouldn't it be selfish to take advantage of that, or was it arrogant to think he knew better than her when she was clearly reaching out to him as something more than a guide. "I don't know," he admitted.

"Sheesh, that's tough Mr. Kent," Jimmy chuckled. "I mean, Harley, you know beyond all the history, she's a fun gal. She's smart and her humor, while a bit odd, is pretty fun. She likes to chat when you get busy typing up your columns."

"Well why don't you ask her out then Jimmy?" Clark asked, partly due to lingering doubt in his own mind, but if Jimmy was the person then he would be guilt free if things didn't work out. Just thinking those thoughts made him feel some shame for how cowardly it was to hope that if something bad did happen that it just wasn't his fault and that he wanted to be blameless.

"Mr. Kent, Clark," Jimmy sighed. "I've talked with her, but she talks about you."

The redhead had prodded Clark on the arm. "I mean it, like half of her conversations are about you, that you make her food, you help her with staying out of trouble and for crying out loud man, you invited her into your home without any reason to trust her, just because she asked for help. She adores you in a way that I've never done for someone else."

"What do you mean?" Clark responded in the hopes of some explanation.

"I'm not a ladies man, Clark," Jimmy chuckled. "But I've had girlfriends before and every one of them I think, man she's the one, she's the true love of my life, I'm so lucky I found her on the first try, the second try, the third try. And while I cared about each and every one of them, they weren't. But Harley, the way she talks about you, even someone as dumb as me can tell that when she looks at you, she loves you."

"Maybe it's crazy but she… I dunno," Jimmy shrugged.

Clark absorbed what Jimmy said and what he didn't say. "I understand, love is… well it's supposed to be a little crazy, it's not always pretty and we don't always know why we love the people that we do, sometimes it's just because they're there and it can happen in an instant."

He thought about how his own Ma and Pa after finding him in a shuttle, didn't hesitate to take him in, to love him with all their hearts. It had been immediate and not everyone would have done it, if they found a crashed alien spaceship. So who was he to reject the idea that Harley had fallen in love with him and maybe spending more time with her would tell him whether he loved her back, the same way she loved him. "I'll ask her out, you know when we get back to the Daily Planet."

"Yeah! Mr. Kent," Jimmy whooped in joy that he'd gotten to hook up two people he worked with.

Arriving at the stadium Clark was met by the security manager to be taken to see the coach on the field instructing the team. And it was a good interview, they got to get notes on the big sponsors of the game, a few extra blurbs about concessions offered that might interest attendees. The coach had been just getting to talking about his players when Clark's ears started to pick up something, like a little whine on the upper edge of the electromagnetic spectrum.

It wasn't the radios or equipment that he heard from the security guards or the players walking around, it was new. Taking a brief moment to remove his glasses to pretend as if he was cleaning them, he turned around to get a good view of the entire stadium and then he saw it. "What the," Clark questioned when he heard an incoming signal hit the device causing it to detonate.

Everyone had been thrown to the ground by the blast shaking the stadium. "A bomb?!" Clark said incredulously that someone had planted a bomb in the stadium and then he heard it, the screams from around the city. Using his x-ray vision to see through the walls it became apparent as to the cause, because this wasn't the only bomb that had been planted. A number of buildings had been attacked. And it terrified Clark because he didn't know why.

"Jimmy, I have to leave," Clark said to his camera jockey who was just getting on his feet.

"Why? Mr. Kent, there was a bomb here!" Jimmy said to Clark in confusion as to why they wouldn't remain where they were.

"Because that wasn't the only bomb," Clark urged the young man as he started to walk across the field. "Just stay here, there shouldn't be any bombs on the field."

There weren't because after that first bomb had gone off Clark looked around to make sure that had been the only one nearby. It was safe for now to remain there.

"Mr. Kent?!" Jimmy shouted as the tall reporter left.

Once he was out of sight Clark zoomed through the hallways until he could get outside, having been changing along the way, he burst into the sky and rocketed towards the city. People needed help, and this was a job for Superman.

Multiple buildings engulfed in flames as the emergency services scrambled around the panicking city. They were trying to control the flames and tend to the injured, but it was hard with such a crowd that the police, paramedics and firefighters were struggling to keep control.

He made sure that his presence was known as he flew into a burning building and used his frost breath to put out the flames. In and out he brought the injured down to the awaiting ambulances. But there were a lot of places that needed his help just as much as this one. And while he was helping them Clark worried about just who had masterminded the whole situation with such coordination and to what ends.


In a secluded room a bald headed egomaniac was watching the news feeds for the city, while the destruction was chaotic, it was after all what he expected when he convinced that maniac to come and remove his little bimbo plaything. Not that he needed much besides a lump sum of cash and a first class flight to retrieve his property.

Needless to say he expected that by the time Superman has caught on that Harley Quinn was no longer in Metropolis, and that it had been that clowns work, she will have already been rehabilitated to her criminal ways, showing to the public how dangerous Superman's unilateral decision to put faith in supervillains changing would tarnish his reputation for having put them in danger.

Lex was content to sit back and watch Superman try to put out the fires around the city when all the monitors had glitched out in his office and a smiling clown face had overtaken them. Now Lex had gone from his normal plotting grin to a scowl that his plan was going awry.


"Hello Metropolis," The Joker happily announced to the city, causing people to look up at any television screen nearby. "What a disgusting city, so clean and full of joy, I just had to fix it up a bit. Do you like it?"

The cackles of the mad prince of crime rang out through the city. "But unfortunately, I can't stay and keep redecorating. I was here after all just to pick up what rightfully belongs to me."

Reaching offscreen and with a pained gasp a moment later, Joker pulled a bruised Harley in front of the camera. "Apparently you all got that twisted little idea in her head that she could be free, that the mania would not forever be present in her life."

The blonde woman was bleeding from a split lip and could barely see out of her left eye. "She put up a bit more resistance than I had expected, especially after I tried to use my latest Joker gas on Superman's main squeeze," panning over to show Lois bound on the floor.

"Someone thought she would 'protect her friend'," Joker snickered as he felt Harley start to struggle and whipping his hand out he brought the butt of his gun to her face, breaking her nose. "Quiet you, you'll be wishing you never set foot out of Gotham without my say so when we get back."

"But I just wanted to say my goodbyes to the lovely people whose lives I have improved today," Joker smiled wide for the camera. "After all, now that they've had a bad day, they'll be well on their way to become just, like, me."

"Ta ta," Joker waved but before he could move to turn off the camera, the wall behind him exploded into dust. "What the, he's here already?!"

Floating through the smoke were two harshly glowing red orbs, but it broke over the form revealing a Superman who was not smiling. "You're going nowhere except to prison Joker, now let her go."

Spinning on his heels Joker positioned Harley infront of him like a human shield while placing the barrel of his gun to her head. "Ah ah ah, one more inch closer and no one's revving up this Harley again. Plus, you think those were all of my presents?" Joker grinned as he looked to the wall beside him where a timer was counting down.

"Your precious city has less than a minute before the others go off, and I guess I can give you a hint, they're for the children," Joker threatened while waiting to see Superman panic. But after a second when he just kept glaring at him, it was starting to irk the clown. "Fine, you're less entertaining than the Bat. If you don't let me go with what's mine, I won't disarm them. Even you could never guess the password I picked."

Still Superman floated without saying anything. "Well, don't you care?!"

"You mean these bombs that you planted in the schools," Superman pulled the bundle of devices from behind his back.

Harley and Lois' eyes widened that Superman would so carelessly bring the explosive devices with him. The Joker just started to frown. "How did you find them?"

"Your trigger mechanism runs on an ultra low radio frequency, it has to send a signal to trigger all the bombs at the same time, they need to receive this signal too," Superman explained. "It's somewhere around 470 hz, I just had to listen. It helped that I heard the signal before the first bomb exploded, but unfortunately I couldn't prevent it and I'm sorry for that. But it allowed me to listen across the city for the same frequency, after that I just had to fly around, find them all and disarm them."

Superman dropped the harmless devices on the floor. "You won't be harming anyone else today so just let Harley Quinn go," Superman reiterated for the clown.

Snarling Joker pulled harshly on Harley's hair and pressed the gun painfully against her skull. "I think not, you might have ruined my plan to spread chaos, but I still have a gun to her head, you won't do anything to jeopardize her, would you?"

"No, I would never do that to an innocent person."

"But she's not so innocent," Joker smiled as he made sure Harley looked him in the eyes. "Just a year ago and she would have been beside me in this plan, to terrorize your town as a break from Gotham. Surely you know she's just one slip up from joining me again?"

"I don't believe that," Superman touched down on the ground with a heavy thud. "I believe that the Harley Quinn you remember is gone and that all that's left is a person who wants to make a new life for herself, and harm no one. It might be hard for her and she'll have challenges in her life but she has people who care for her and want to help her achieve her new dream. And nowhere does that include you, so I'm giving you your last chance to let her go and turn yourself in."

"Last chance," Joker sputtered before almost releasing Harley in his fit of laughter. "Oh, he thinks this is my last chance. What are you going to do? If you make a move, I paint the wall with her brains, you lose, I win. You heroes are all alike in that regard."

Superman stood still and most people still watching the feed across the city were thinking that their champion was defeated but slowly they watched Superman start to smile. "I think you might be confusing me with someone else. See, I adhere to the belief that people, even those who do bad, can be saved and lead a good life. I want people who do wrong to face justice, I want those who are hurt to be healed. But nowhere in there have I ever stated that I oppose killing."

Horror started to dawn on the citizens' faces from Superman's last words. "I simply believe that there are always other options, and because of that, I hold back, I wouldn't want to do something that's permanent."

"But, if you take away all of my options to resolve conflict, by only giving me the choice to kill you to save someone who was innocent or to let them die," Superman took a deep breath. "I think we both know what I'm going to choose to do."

The Joker stood unblinkingly at the Man of Steel before a sick grin, wider than any crossed his features. "Well then, let's see if you really are faster than a speeding bullet," Joker shouted as he started to squeeze the trigger.

In a fraction of an instant, Superman closed the distance and tore the Joker off of Harley and threw him into the opposite wall. He didn't have the Speedforce to compensate for inertia, just his own biology and the Joker died on impact with the bricks, his gun caught in the air and crushed into uselessness. It all happened before anyone could blink.

Harley just stared at the space Superman had been in before she recognized that he was now next to her. She started to turn her head to see behind her but a calming hand rested on her cheek, stopping her. "Don't," Superman warned against looking at the dead body. "He's gone now, that's all you need to know."

The blonde just nodded before she sniffled as tears stung her eyes. "Come on, let's get these ropes off of you," gently untying the hostage before stepping over towards Lois who actually looked terrified at what she had seen, she didn't have the benefit of looking away when the Joker's body flew past her, so she watched him hit the wall and die.

"I'm sorry you had to see that Lois," Superman sadly said to the reporter as he removed the bindings.

"You, you killed him," Lois said in shock. She had seen nasty fights between Superman and villains before, in some cases they seemed so evenly matched. But now seeing how the Man of Steel could hit somebody before they could even think, it made her afraid of just how much power the kryptonian kept restrained.

"I did and I'll answer for what I've done," Superman promised the reporter that he would be turning himself in. "Even I do not have the authority to just take a life and declare myself innocent, I am not above the law."

"But first, I need to get you two checked out, you're both injured," Superman explained to Lois and Harley as he pointed to the door. Lois started to walk towards the exit but for Harley she instead flung herself into Superman's chest and started to sob. Carefully he wrapped his arms around the distressed woman.

"I was scared Superman," Harley hiccuped as she bawled her eyes out. "He was going to hurt Lois and all those people, I… shoulda just gone with him maybe he wouldn't have blown up the bombs, but I don't-"

"Harley," Superman interrupted. "It's alright, you didn't do anything wrong, he was a lunatic who was going to hurt people either way. I know this must have been terrifying for you to go through, but you are incredibly strong for having fought back against him. He has no hold over you and never will again."

Harley just bobbed her head against Superman's symbol. "I guess so," Harley sniffled because she was so torn up over what happened.

"How about I get you downstairs so the ambulance can take you up to the hospital just to make sure you're alright?" Superman offered the blonde who looked exhausted from her day.

"Will you go to the hospital with me and Lois?" Harley asked as she started to walk away with Superman, leaving a disgusting and ugly part of her past behind.

Superman just shook his head. "There's still a lot of fires that I need to put out and people to help, but when I get a chance and I will, I'll come see you."

Harley just beamed a smile, up at the hero. "That'd be swell, could you do me one more favor? Can you make sure Mr. Kent is alright and he knows I'm safe, I don't want him to worry."

"I'm sure I can get a message to him," Superman smiled back as they exited the room and left the view of the camera.

"That's good, because I talked with Lois and I think I love that guy," Harley confessed because she was just telling her secret to Superman, he wasn't going to blab it to anyone, he was an upstanding guy like that. The only one Supie was really known to talk to was Lois and she already knows.

"Well he'd be a fool to miss out on such a wonderful lady," Superman chuckled heartily because well that confirmed for him what Jimmy had said earlier.


In the darkened office of Lex Luthor, the billionaire was furious, the clown had not subtly taken back his henchwoman and instead had caused massive damage to the city. His city. And he suspected that public reception of the harlequin would be on the rise, that they would then praise Superman for his efforts to offer an enlightened path to those deemed to have strayed.

It disgusted him how much this alien interfered with human lives, as if he knew better than everyone.

Slamming down his fist, he would have to come up with a new plan, one that didn't rely on an insane clown.