A/N: Judith Marley is based on the likeness of actress Zooey Deschanel.

They arrived at Harleen's apartment complex and pulled into the garage. Harleen noted the squad car parked on the street as they passed it and assumed it was Detective Nashton's ride. He opened the door for her as he had at Arkham and gave her his card and a smile. She accepted it, her fingers slightly brushing his as the card passed between them. She looked at his green eyes and smiled back.

'Harley!' Her inner voice cried out.

She sighed and blinked twice, letting her gaze fall on her sister's compact parked in her guest space and felt her stomach sink. Judith was already in her apartment.

"Call me anytime if you need to." She heard him say and she returned her gaze to his handsome smile. Her emotions fought one another like a tidal wave and a whirlpool. She was certain that Joker wanted her this way; a mess, a catastrophe.

They exchanged pleasantries and she watched him walk away, aided by his cane, toward the mouth of the garage.

'Andrew, his cane.'

He hadn't presumed she would ask him upstairs, a real gentleman. She ran a hand along Judith's car bought by her ex-husband as she walked past it and entered the stairwell. The last gift Jacob had given his wife before she caught him 'dictating' sweet nothings to his secretary in his office. He'd apparently forgotten it was their anniversary and that lapse in memory now paid Judith's bills.

Her stomach had twisted itself into a knot by the time she reached the door to her apartment. She braced herself and shouldered her door open and closed it behind her and then leaned against it for support. Tonight she wouldn't find her ex-fiancé in her bed with another woman, only her sister sitting upon it staring in horror and wonderment at the man she'd been sleeping with.

"Harley?" Judith's kind face appeared in the kitchen doorway; in her hands were a half-gallon of Rocky Road ice cream and two spoons. She motioned toward the couch with the spoons and met her sister there.

Judith was a waif. Her porcelain skin seemed to glow through the frame of her long hair dyes nearly black. She looked at Harleen with her wide blue eyes. Like her sister, she had once trained at the Academy and she naturally danced when she moved. Harleen had aspired to be like her big sister, except she had inherited her flaws instead of her strengths. Her bad taste in men in particular.

"What happened this time?" Judith asked as she pried the lid off the ice cream. Harleen gingerly touched the swollen skin on her face.

"Guard clocked me." Harleen replied. Judith looked at her skeptically and pointed a spoonful of ice-cream at her.

"He choke you too?" She shoved the spoon into her mouth and then dug back into the carton. Harleen took the other spoon and joined her. She savored a spoonful of the cold treat and sat back against the cushions.

"It's been a bad week." Harley replied and wiped at tears which threatened to become full on sobs.

Harleen recounted the events of the past week to her sister as she cried and they ate ice cream. In her mind she ticked off each detail as it passed through her lips, knowing full well she shouldn't be telling anyone these things. Her sister listened passively as she always did. She was a better listener than Harleen's own psychiatrist. Harleen ended her story when she left Gordon at the end of her interview. Judith ate one more spoonful of ice-cream and set her spoon down and sat in deep thought for a few minutes. Harleen started when she finally spoke.

"He got out of his cell and you didn't tell anyone." Judith said in a flat tone, fixing her eyes on Harleen's.

"He won't be doing it again." Harleen replied. Judith raised her brows.

"So that makes it okay? You know he could have done anything to you last night." She looked at the muted television for a few more minutes.

"What are you going to do when he escapes and comes looking for you? If you know anything at all about his secrets that makes you a serious liability to him. After all, any emotional attachment is one-sided and I'm surprised that it's coming from you." Judith looked at her, tired.

"He kissed me." Harleen said looking at her hands. She waited as her heart pounded a couple of times and then looked back at her sister's eyes, huge with surprise.

"Last night?" She gasped. Harleen shook her head.

"Today, after I confronted Arkham about what Gordon told me. Arkham has been talking with Joker, having sessions with him. He told Arkham he … wanted me." Harleen said, her body going rigid with tension. "I went to his cell, and he kissed me."

Judith covered her face with her hands and groaned loudly. She lay back against the cushions and stared at the ceiling. Then she started laughing.

"Oh God, Harley!" She shook her head and looked at her, still laughing. "What the hell? Did he give you tongue?" Harley snorted loudly as she began laughing with her sister.

"No, no it wasn't like that." Harley said; her face felt hot as her skin flushed.

She sat up and grabbed Judith's arm, pulling her up. She looked at her lap and sputtered a laugh and then placed her hands on either side of Judith on the seat and leaned in and pressed her lips against her sisters, as briefly as Joker's had touched hers, and then shot backward to look at Judith's face. Judith raised her brows in bewilderment.

"That's, really?" Judith said. Harleen nodded.

"Huh." Judith said and puzzled. "Really?"

"Yes." Harleen replied.

"That's not what I expected. Kind of disappointing, really" Judith said and the sisters looked at one another and laughed.

Harleen stood in the shower, letting the warmth sink into her, the water flowing over her skin. She worked the shampoo through her hair, the suds washing over her.

'You're in love with him, and it's wrong. It's terrible. After everything he's done; what he did to you. A man like that can't love anything, and he'll never love you.' Judith's voice said in her memory, echoing her own thoughts.

Her sister was waiting in the living room for her. She'd told Harleen that she'd brought a dress for her to try on, a birthday gift. Upon entering her bedroom to hang the dress on the door, she'd seen the mess in her room. The maps and post-its and photographs of Joker. After the initial shock had worn off, she had understood what Harleen had been trying to accomplish.

'But did you have to do it in your bedroom?' Judith had asked. 'He's consumed you. You're obsessed with him and all he wants from you is sex and pain.'

Harleen shut off the water and stepped out on the bathtub and toweled off as she entered her bedroom. She let her gaze fall upon the dress Judith had made for her. It was beautiful.

Black lace and intricate beadwork adorned the red satin zigzagged in an almost diamond-like pattern. She took the dress from the hanger and stepped into it. She deftly pulled the zipper up her back and stood before the mirror. Her long, wet hair fell in stringy waves and she pulled it up and held it behind her head as she turned side to side and looked over her shoulder, admiring her sister's handiwork.

Judith was skilled in her craft as a seamstress. It was the reason 'Marley's Couture' was a successful business. She had three women working for her, but people paid good money for her own work. Their parents had nagged Judith for years about her using the name of her first ex-husband for her business. Judith never cared enough to argue with them, she simply told them she hated their name.

"Looking good" Judith said after blowing a whistle as Harleen joined her in the living room. Harleen blushed and looked down at the dress, running her fingers over the features.

"I don't go anywhere nice enough to wear this, Judy." Harleen said quietly.

"Hell, wear it for a Halloween costume, I don't care. It's yours, Harley and you are beautiful in it." Judith replied. They shared a laugh and Harleen returned to the bedroom, followed by her sister.

Judith carefully studied her dress as she walked around her, pinning it here and there. She may not care where her sister wore the dress, but she wouldn't be satisfied if it looked anything less than perfect.

After completing the fitting ritual, Harleen surrendered her dress to Judith and the women donned pajamas and began to clean up Harleen's 'mess'. Judith carelessly scooped up paper from the floor and piled it on the dresser while Harleen carefully removed each piece still remaining on the wall. In the end she held two photographs in her hands. Judith looked over her shoulder, resting her chin upon it.

"Is that what he used to look like?" She asked quietly as she slid the picture from Harleen's fingers and studied it.

"Yeah" Harleen replied as she set the image of him in his make-up on top of the pile. Judith set the older one of him standing before the chalkboard atop that one.

"He was attractive; I wonder what happened to him." Judith said passively.

"So do I" Harleen replied. Tears welled in her eyes again and this time she made no pretense of stopping them. Judith wrapped her arms around her and held her close as Harleen cried.

"They're going to kill him." Harleen whispered.

A/N: Harley's Dress: http:// smg .photobucket .com/albums/ v637/melvansickle/?action= view¤t=brdress1 .jpg