I opened my eyes and groggily reached out for Jack, but my hands only found the cold sheets where his body should've been. I brushed my hair out of my eyes and looked around before my mind registered that the new TV was blaring. I groaned and pushed myself out of bed.
"Pud? What are you doing?" I mumbled when I saw him sitting on the edge of the couch, flipping the remote control in his hand.
His eyes were glued to the screen and he acted like he didn't even hear me. I looked up just in time to see half of Chucky's plastic face getting ripped off; Jack lightly chuckled at the doll's screams. I sighed and walked towards him, ready to drag him off to bed again, when I kicked something with my bare foot. I looked down to find movie cases scattered across the hard floor.
I read some of the titles out loud, "Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, Chucky, Texas Chainsaw Massacre?"
He didn't answer, but he hit the pause button right as Chucky was falling to his death. I hopped onto the couch beside him, but he was still staring at the frozen image.
"These guys, every one of them, have a niche, a trade mark sign, an original design! That! "He said pointing at the TV and finally looking at me, "That is what I need."
"You already have that though; You're the Joker!" I smiled, but he shook his head.
"No, no, no, that's just my name. I have to have something that puts me a part from the rest of Gotham's gang bangers."
He leaned back and stretched out his long legs; I frowned.
"But look," I grabbed the remote from him and changed the channel to the news which still featured Dent's hospital pictures, "They're still talking about you! Everyone knows you, everyone with half a brain is afraid of the big, bad Joker."
He rolled his eyes and snatched the remote controller back, "It isn't about fear, Harley."
He growled in frustration and stood up, kicking away the movies. I watched with worried eyes as he started pacing back and forth, his fingers pulling at his green hair. He picked up an empty beer bottle and gripped it with white knuckles.
"It's about showing this city how PATHETIC," he threw the bottle up against the wall and I flinched as shards exploded, "their dull attempts at order really is."
I stood up just as he was grabbing another beer bottle, "Jack?"
He busted the end off the bottle on the edge of the coffee table, "The only way to go through life…is to forget about the rules and regulations society has drilled into our minds. Don't you see, Harls? Madness is the only way to see what everything truly is…Things are only clear through utter chaos."
He pressed up against me, licking his smiling lips. I looked at the crazy gleam of power in those muddy brown eyes and I could feel myself slipping, I could feel myself believing him.
"Oh, Harley, my little minx," He muttered while trailing the broken end of the bottle down my cheek, "You understand don't you?"
I automatically nodded my head, not even wincing as the jagged glass cut into my skin, "Of course. I love you Mista J, and I'd do anything for you."
As I said the words, I knew they were beyond the truth. I would do, not just anything, but everything for him. And as he stared down at me, he could see my devotion, my complete obsession with him, written clearly across my face. To this, he smiled and wrapped his arms around me possessively, confirming that I was, in fact, his.
He pushed his lips almost angrily onto mine, forcing his tongue through my parted lips without a moment of hesitation. Our tongues wrestled with each other as I weakly try to get the upper hand; he gently growled at my efforts, reminding me that he was always going to win. When I ignored his warnings, he pulled back long enough to bite down on my lower lip, licking up my blood eagerly as I yelped in sudden pain. He shoved his hand into my hair and pulled it, tilting my head back so he could suck on my soft spot, causing me to forget about my aching lip and a moan to slip through my mouth. He knew me unbelievably well.
"Jack," I groaned as he nibbled on my ear lobe, his rough hands running up and down my sides and gently groping my chest.
He pulled back, his dark eyes piercing into mine, "Problem?"
I didn't answer. I shoved him back down onto the couch and placed my knees on either side of his legs, straddling him. I gripped the back of the couch as I pushed my lips back onto his; he grabbed onto my hips and forced me to sit down on his throbbing crotch. I giggled into his lips as he groaned when I lightly grinded on him; he wrapped his fingers around my arms, yanked me back, and I saw it in his eyes. He didn't like me having power over him, try as he might, he couldn't stand me being on top.
"Get off," he commanded with a look in his eye that I didn't quite understand.
I didn't want to; my body ached for him, wanting to be filled to the brim with him. Just feeling him start to get hard underneath me made me grow wet with anticipation. He smiled.
"Be a good girl and do what Daddy J says."
I sighed and reluctantly obeyed. Lately, he always did this; things would heat up rather quickly between us, then he would suddenly stop, usually because he got an idea for a heist or a prank of some sort. He'd run off to his desk and forget about the sex, leaving me miserable. I ran a hand through my bed hair and stumbled back to the bed after checking the clock. It was 3 am and already a long night.
I jumped onto the bed, laying flat on my stomach on top of the covers before slipping underneath their warmth. I flipped over to stare absentmindedly at the ceiling, willing sleep to come, craving blissful dreams. I heard his desk chair roll against the floor then after a pause, the scratching of his pencil came again; it was almost a comforting sound to drift off to sleep to.
….
"Haaaaaar-LEEEEEY!" he yelled and I shot straight up in the bed.
I looked frantically around the room, trying to find him. The lights were on and the TV was droning, but there was no one in the room with me. I relaxed slightly; I must have dreamt him yelling my name. I reached up to rub the sleep out of my eyes, when suddenly he kicked the door open with such force, the doors hit the wall and rebounded, almost hitting him in the face. I smiled as I saw the boyish grin on his face, he must have finished his plan.
"Hey J!" I chirped, jumping up to give him a hug.
He was too quick for me though, already ducking into the closet. I heard him rifle through clothes.
"Whatcha doin?" I yawned, leaning against the bed post.
"Today's the day, Harls! A step towards Gotham's spiral down Lunatic Lane," he cackled and snickered.
He spun around, and tossed clothes towards me, wordlessly telling me to get dressed.
"What's the plan boss?" I smiled, my voice even higher than normal with excitement.
There was a buzz of electricity exuding him, twisting and sparking through the air until it pricked my own energy, making me hyper as well. I rushed to get dressed, pulling on the black, red, and white corset top and wiggling into the, red on one side and black on the other, shorts.
"You'll just have to wait until we tell the whole class, Miss Quinzel," he snickered in a low voice, watching me get ready.
I darted over to the mirror to swipe my blonde hair in high pigtails to keep the hair off my neck and quickly laced up my converses. I ran back over to Jack and grabbed his hand, pulling him towards the door that leads to the thug's quarters. He let me pull him halfway through the dimly lit hallway where he suddenly tightened his grip on my hand and yanked me against the wall. I gasped as his palms hit the wall behind me on either side of my head, trapping me. He stared down at me with piercing dark brown eyes easily cutting through my light blue ones; I felt myself get dizzy, my thoughts growing fuzzy and slowly I lost all recollection of where we were in the world. But in the end, none of that even mattered, all that really mattered was that I was with him, that I was his.
"Today's going to change things, Harls," His voice cooed, slowly bringing me back to reality.
I nodded and bit my lip, "This city needs a change. It's getting too boring."
He cracked a wide grin and I could see the pride in his eyes.
"This is your last chance to back out," he grew serious as he leaned closer.
I felt a pang of panic; why would he even suggest that I leave him?
"I can't give you a normal life, a normal future, Harleen. If you want any of that…then you shouldn't be here," I flinched at the iciness in his voice.
"Iwantyou!" I quickly squeaked, fear laced in my voice, "I don't want to leave, I can't leave, don't you understand? You…you complete me."
My fingers gripped onto the front of his shirt and I watched in relief as he slowly relaxed, his gaze growing softer. His arms fit perfectly around my small waist, pulling me against him.
"Good answer! Now, lets go blow up a bunch of kids!" he smiled, throwing his head back and cackling.
His laughter echoed throughout the barren hall as he released me and began walking again in his long, confident strides. I smiled and half-skipped, half-flipped behind him underneath the flickering lights. I remembered how when I first came here, the faulty lighting made me uneasy, like one time, the lights would go off and never come back on. Now the darkness doesn't bother me, it's almost become as welcome as the scent of blood or the sounds of screaming for mercy.
As we neared the gray door at the end of the hallway, my nose wrinkled at the scent of leftover chemicals and my eyes watered. When he was still around, Jon told me that this Chemical Plant was originally abandoned because of some major chemical spill where more than half the workers died from either the vapors burning their lungs or the corrosive chemicals dissolving them alive.
Jack kicked the door open and every thick-necked head perked up. I stood slightly behind him in the wide open room, my eyes quickly scanning over the rough faces of the brutish men. I knew if I looked up, I'd see the rusted old vat still hanging up in the air; its gnarly hole in its side where the acid ate through the metal, was still visible, confirming Jon's story. The huge room had old mattresses, couches, and a few TVs laying around with several dirty magazines and crushed beer cans littering the floor. Jack clapped his hands loudly and walked into the middle of the room.
"Gather round, gather round, today is a very…special day. Do YOU know what today is?" He smiled and pointed at a bald-headed man.
"Erhm, Tuesday?" the man mumbled and absentmindedly popped his knuckles.
Jack dramatically smacked his forehead and wiped his hand down his face.
"Anyone else, who's NOT an idiot?" He growled, getting annoyed.
When no one answered, he swiped a gun off a nearby table and released a few rounds into the ceiling, hitting the old vat and causing it to lightly swing, making its metal groan with the sudden movement. Fear flashed through some of their dark eyes and voices began to mumble out answers.
"The day of the heist?"
"Your birthday?"
"Your chick's birthday?"
"Pay day?"
"NO, no no no no! It's Blow-Up-A-Bunch-Of-Defenseless-Kids-Day! Don't any of you check your calendar?" he snickered and petted my head.
I laughed like it was the funniest thing I'd ever heard and he smiled down at me before rubbing his hands together. He jumped, as if he just remembered something important, and produced a hand gun from a nearby thug, flicking his dark eyes up to the man's face almost trying to spark a challenge out of him. When the thug didn't say anything, Jack turned back to me and pushed the gun into my hand.
"It's time I gave my little Minx a weapon," He cooed in his good mood, but his expression darkened a bit when I looked up at him nervously.
I only shot a gun once…and I wasn't very good at it then. Hyper people are not good with triggers.
"Do you know how to work it, Harls?" He leaned in closer, making my heart beat faster.
I couldn't control the energy the jolted through me, making my finger twitch over the trigger; I jumped from the deafening bang as the gun went off, causing me to squeeze the trigger again before I threw the gun down. The thug in front of me clutched his knee cap as blood oozed between his fingers; after the ringing in my ears died down, I could hear his screams. Jack blinked…then started to laugh. His laughter almost drowned out any other sound in the room; he wiped his eyes, still chuckling, as he raised his gun to the thug's forehead. Bang. Silence.
"Well I guess that answers my question, huh! How about we trrrrrry…" he said looking around the room.
"Ah!" he said and pointed to a mallet leaning up against the wall with other various tools, "That would do just fine."
I studied the mallet and shrugged, I did like busting stuff up. I flinched when Jack suddenly hit my ass, producing a loud smack that got all of the men's attention as if by magic.
"LET'S GO BOYS!"
…..
I felt the weight of the mallet in my hand, happily turning it as the terrified Kindergarten teacher stared at it with wide eyes. We were at Happy View Kindergarten and Daycare, a name that vaguely sounded familiar, but I didn't worry about it…it didn't matter anymore.
"W-Why are you doing this?" The teacher screamed, tears smudging mascara down her face.
"Hmm," Joker tapped the barrel of his sawed off shotgun against his scars, "Because I, uh, can."
He grabbed his stomach and his signature laugh bounced off the brightly colored walls, decorated with pathetic macaroni pictures.
"Wha—are you eating paste?" Joker's voice grew dark as he pointed the gun to a single kid out of the huddle on the carpet.
I bounced over to his side and saw what he was talking about; a pudgy white kid had one hand in a white glue jar while his watery eyes were frozen on the Joker. His greasy bowl-cut hair was hanging in his blue eyes and he looked like one of those kids that were ALWAYS sticky, one that you just wanted to punt across the room after one look of his annoying little face.
"What do you want? Whatever it is just take it and leave!" the teacher sobbed.
Joker turned on his heel towards her, cocking his head to the side.
"What I want?" he loomed closer to her, twirling a curl of her hair in his fingers, "I want…to prove a point..but until I do…I'm not going to stop."
The lady whimpered and pulled away, her body firmly trapped to a chair with rope and duct tape.
"Oh, shushshushshush," he gently stroked down her cheek before cackling loudly.
I cleared my throat and crossed my arms, Joker flashed me a smile in return.
"Why do we have to sit here?" another kid whined.
I growled and slammed my mallet down on a nearby desk, cracking the cheap wood in half; a few kids squealed and the teacher gasped.
"Next time, that's your head!" I snapped to the kid.
"Get away from them!" the lady yelled.
"HEY. Look at me!" Joker growled and grabbed her face, digging his nails into her cheeks, "You don't get to tell us what to do, go-t i-t?"
She grew quiet and sat there sniffling.
"Hey, why is your face messed up?" the same boy asked again.
I blinked at his bravery..or shear stupidity; the boy's bright green eyes were locked onto the Joker's dark ones. He walked slowly over to the group of kids, licking his lips and hunching his shoulders in irritation.
"What's your name, Boy?" he hissed and flicked out his knife.
"C-Chester."
I gasped, "Chester?...That sounds a lot like…Jester. Hey, that'd be a cute name for a kid, huh Mista J?" I leaned against his side.
He looked at me with disgust and shoved me off of him, "Not in this lifetime, Harls."
"Boss, the fire dept. is gonna get here soon," One of the thugs piped up.
Not even looking behind him, Joker raised the gun and shot him right between the eyes; his blood sprayed the men beside him and they tried not to flinch.
"Get to it, boys," He snapped and checked the time on the clock.
We stood back as the thugs dosed the kids in gasoline; they coughed and sputtered and cried out.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU—" the teacher started, but went silent as soon as a gun was shoved into her face.
"Miss Morillow! It burns my eyes!"
I blinked, "Miss Morillow?"
She perked her head up as I said her name and looked at me in a new light.
"Little Harleen? Harleen Quinzy?" she asked.
"Quinzel," I automatically corrected.
"But you were…so bright, so-so smart. How could you end up so…?" her tired voice trailed off.
I remembered now. This was my old kindergarten, from my old life. I suddenly felt panicked, like if I stayed here too long my old life would suck me back in. I didn't want to go back to school, back to Grandma….wait, no, she was gone, wasn't she? My thoughts spun in my head, jumbling up and crashing together.
Joker came up behind me as his men were shaking the last of the gas out of their containers, wrapping his strong arms around me; he leaned down and whispered into my ear.
"Your past doesn't matter anymore. You're mine, now," his low voice wrapped around my mind.
I dug the lighter out of my pocket and smiled as Miss Morillow's eyes widened. After a few strikes, the flame lit up.
"Please dear god, no…Harleen..Harleen please! Set me on fire instead, not the children PLEASE!" she begged and sobbed.
"She's not the boss here, lady, I am," Joker hissed and dug his knife into her shoulder.
He slapped duct tape across her mouth before she could scream out in pain as dark red blood seeped down her shirt.
"You see, I don't want you to die…where would the fun be in that? Hell, I even called the fire department so they can save you!" his scars stretched upwards in a smile, "All you have to do…is watch your work go up in flames."
He laughed and nodded towards me.
"Oh and Miss Morillow? It's Harley Quinn," I giggled and threw the lighter onto the kids.
I zoned out the high pitched screams and the crackling and bubbling of burning skin as I we walked out. Suddenly J stopped and examined a poster on the wall. It was a picture of a happy clown with a book in his hand and read: 'Reading is NO joke!' at the bottom. After a few seconds, he ripped the picture from the wall and walked out the door.
Sirens blared in the distance as the thugs quickly dumped mix matched joker cards onto the front lawn; they fluttered around in the light breeze. He paused as we got to the car, studying the poster in the hands. He held it towards me so I could see; the clown had a wide red smile, a pasty white face, and black circles around his eyes, making his cartoonish purple eyes pop.
"You know Harls….I like it, I like it a lot actually," He clucked his tongue against his yellowing teeth.
We hopped into the car as the men were piling into their van. Joker spun the tires as we peeled out of the small parking lot; I slung my mallet in the back seat.
"Where to now boss?" the walkie-talkie that rested in the cup holder crackled the life.
Joker grabbed it, "You boys go back to the plant…me and Harls have some make-up shopping to do, ahehe."
I raised my brows at him, but knew better than to ask.
…
He rested his gun on his shoulder as he strode through the costume shop; I skipped ahead of him, trying to impress him with a few flips here and there, but he mostly ignored me. The store seemed deserted before we finally came across a woman holding a thick book in her hands, adjusting a fake wand display.
"Hey there, Toots!" Joker sneered, causing the woman to whip around.
"Wha—" her eyes fell to the gun and she backed away, knocking the display over.
Joker chuckled, "A klutz, huh? I like it."
I frowned and crossed my arms; what the hell was he doing?
He flashed her a smile and snatched the book from her hands, "What's your book about?"
My jaw dropped. My mind went back to when he first met me…the way I had clutched my text book, the way he smiled, the way he asked what my book was about. B-but I was special to him, I was his…his... He had never called me his girlfriend…he just said that I was his. I dropped back a bit as I watched him some more.
"It's called the bible, ever heard of it?" the woman hissed.
He would've slapped me for that. Instead, he snickered handed the book back to her.
"Once or twice maybe. What's your name….sweetheart?" he purred.
My heart dropped and my stomach twisted. More flashbacks of when we first met.
"Jeannie. What do you think—" she went on, but I stopped listening.
My vision was blurred from tears, I dropped my mallet and ran out of the store. I hated him, it was all a lie! I was important to him at all! How could he? We were supposed to be together forever, just me and him, but there he went, flirting with some other whore!
I walked briskly down the streets, avoiding people's stares, and finally finding my way back to the plant. I was going to go in, get my stuff, and get out. I was done with the Joker! I found a letter taped to the heavy double doors with my name on it. I wiped my eyes and plucked it off before heading inside. I opened it while sitting down on the bed, trying not to think how much the comforter smelled like Jack. It read:
Dear Harleen,
I know this is short notice, but I'm having a birthday party tonight and I would be honored if you attended. Only you. I'd like to get to know the true Harleen better to put a personality with that beautiful smile. The guests are supposed to arrive at 8, but I hope you could come a little earlier for a surprise. See you there.
- Bruce Wayne.
I found myself smiling.
"I guess I'm going to Wayne Manor," I said to myself as I threw the letter on the bed.
- Long time no update! Very sorry for that! Anyways, here's the new chapter, hope it entertains you! A very special thanks to my co-writer, ! - love that kid! Review please!