Harley felt her heart punching into her throat after it jumpstarted again. Of all people in the entire world, of the entire city of Gotham, that could have been awake, that could have walked into this bar… it just had to be her. Harley cursed her luck as Yang gave her a small smile as the bartender went to work on her drink. Harley didn't know how to react. Should she pull a punch, should she run out whilst she still could… or just stay and see what happen?
As nervous as Harley was, Yang was as calm as a smooth sailing river as she sat onto the bar right next to Harley. She had really not expected to run into her again in the same night but… well, fate has that weird way of making things happen. The bartender just looked at her and just shook his head. "Aren't you a little young to be here at this time of night?" he asked her as Yang gave him a grin as a first reply.
"Aren't you a little young to be called Senior?"
"You know Blondie, that's not my real name. Just the name Harleen… I mean Harley gave me." Senior replied as he put the drink of Yang on the bar and next looked back at Harley. "Is everything alright? You look like you seen a ghost." he said as Harley looked at him and just did her best to relax and gave a nod.
"I'm just peachy. As fine as I can be in my nutshell." she said as she grinned and looked at Yang. "Give me the strongest you got… I'm going to need it."
"So… what have you been up to?" Yang asked as she smiled at Harley as the clown just thought… that was a bit strange.
"What? Don't you need to beat me up already?" Harley asked as Yang suppressed a small giggle at that.
"If you insist on it." she said as she cracked one of her knuckles. "I just figured you haven't done anything wrong now… so I have no reason to start punching you around." she said as Harley just kept up her vigil… but somehow she thought that Yang wasn't joking with her.
"Well… I had to get a new weapon." Harley said as she felt a glass with liquid pressed against her as she smiled at Senior grabbing the glass and looked at it. "Cause you broke the last one." she continued as Yang gave a shrug.
"I warned you, but you didn't want to listen." she said as Harley took a sip from her glass. The liquid burned inside her as she felt herself jumping up wide awake. You never knew when you needed that with someone that could punch you to Metropolis in just a heartbeat.
Yang for her part seemed far more relaxed. Probably because she knew she could easily take out Harley… but she had already spent a good deal of her Aura on her. Whilst she could tank just a bit more, if Harley had gotten a new weapon from Roman… chances were she was a better opponent this time around. It would make things far more interesting, that was what Yang thought at the very least. She was wary… but she was also confident that she could still handle things if they would get ugly.
"Well… I guess you did." Harley said with a shrug as well as she looked forward again. "And what have you been doing?" she asked Yang as the girl just as much turned to look in front of her.
"I've been looking for someone… no luck so far despite a source confirming she was last spotted here… or somewhere around here…" Yang said as she sighed and shook her head. "I spent the entire night looking for info but so far no dice."
This sort of got Harley's attention as Yang pulled her scroll out of her pocket and looked at Senior. "Well, if you don't try…" Yang said as she smiled as Senior looked over interested as well what the girl was going to ask. She showed him a picture of a woman, with long raven black hair, eyes as red as blood and a costume that just as much was red and black at the same time.
"Never seen her… but perhaps Harley knows." He suggested… if only he knew what he was getting himself into.
Yang gave a nod as she turned to look at Harley. There was… a spark of hope in her amethyst eyes. Hope that perhaps she was lucky. Harley did have a red and black pattern after all… she could have just picked that up from a mentor person or the likes.
If not there was a good chance that Harley could know her. She had been around in Gotham much longer than her and if her mom had been around and about in Gotham as well… there was just a slight chance she could have spotted her.
It was a long shot but one she had to try out. "Well, no clowning around here. Have you seen this woman?" Yang asked as she held out her scroll to Harley.
Harley gave a look at it as she studies the person on the picture with close detail. Apart from the hair… and perhaps the eyes… she was just exactly like the person in the picture. The same long hair, the same happy grin, the same eyes color red… This was probably her mom… it got Harley thinking as she smirked slightly to Yang. "Tell you what, if you apologize for punching my tooth out and breaking my weapon… I'll tell you all I know!" Harley said with a confident smile as she looked at Yang as she frowned.
"What?! You were the one starting it!" she protested right away as Harley laughed slightly. This reaction was priceless. If only she had a camera to record it… wait a minute…
Harley got her phone out and held it up in front of Yang as she grinned. "I'm offering a one-time deal here." she said as she held her finger on the record button.
"You're crazy." Yang said as she shook her head knowing that she had to do it… if there was even a slight chance she knew her mother…
"Alright… I'm sorry for punching your teeth out." Yang said as she crossed her arms and looked more annoyed than anything else for being talked into this.
"And?" Harley asked as she was trying not to laugh as she was recording the entire thing.
"And I am sorry for breaking your bat."
"And?"
"There's more?" Yang asked as she threw her hands up in the air and groaned. "I apologized for what you wanted me to apologize!" she said as Harley now started to laugh.
"You just have to admit I'm more awesome than you in every single way."
Yang was now getting more and more fed up with her as she wanted to grab the phone out of Harley's hands but with all of her willpower she stayed calm as she bit her lip. "You're more awesome than me in every way." She gritted through her teeth as Harley nearly fell off her chair from laughing as she pocketed her phone.
"Priceless, that look on your face." Harley said as she grabbed her drink and threw it all the way in. She knew she was in trouble now.
"Sorry, I don't know a single thing." Harley said with a big grin to Yang. "I just stringed you like a puppet and tell you I'm better than you!" she said as she now did roll off her chair.
Yang on the other hand rolled her eyes. The moment that last bit was added she knew she was being played at. Well, she could have guessed from the get go… but she was hopeful that Harley had a shred of honesty inside of her.
Harley climbed back onto her chair as she had big goofy grin on her face. "Heh, that should get you all steamed up, like you would want to fight me." she said as she was regretting her choice of words right after that.
"Well… I got to hand it to you." Yang said calmly as she smiled now as she looked at Harley and next she punched her right in the face as Harley flew into a wall. "So I guess I will show you my handiwork now." Yang said with a smile. It was time to lay the smack down and prove she was a better jokester as well right at the same time.
"Hope you don't mind the redecoration?" Yang asked Senior as he just shook his head. It was better not to upset this one…
Harley slowly got back up as she rubbed her face. She grabbed the hammer that she had carried around on her back as she smiled. "Round 2?" she asked Yang as the blonde grinned and then punched her knuckles together creating a small explosion that caused her long blonde hair to fly up.
"I think it's not really a round 2 when we know how it's going to end." Yang said confidently as Harley then ran up to her… and her hammer slammed into Yang's stomach.
Yang had to admit she didn't see that coming. Already her Aura was starting to get weaker… but this only made sure she could punch Harley next time and right away put her down and out.
"Alright, you're done clowning now!" Yang said as she smiled as she punched the ground instead, releasing her strength and causing a shockwave, throwing Harley off her feet. Harley's hand however grabbed the bar as she managed to pull herself back up right away and next grabbed the sunrise of Yang.
Before Yang knew it, the liquid of the Sunrise was thrown right at her as she blinked hoping it didn't get into her eyes. It left her wide open as Harley now swung her hammer into Yang's side as she laughed.
"Eyes on the prize Blondie!" she said with a smirk as she swung her hammer again, this time it hit Yang right against her head as she tumbled down now. Harley had time to rest up and was used on getting kicked around… more so than Yang as she quickly got back up on her feet.
"If you want to fight dirty…" Yang said as she next ripped out a floor board and grinned holding it up in her hands before throwing it at Harley. The clown just managed to duck right out of the way… the bartender was less lucky as the floorboard hit him right in his face.
"I will make the ground move!" Yang said pulling the next chunk out from it and threw it once more at Harley as she now dodged once more before the blonde fired herself at her right now.
"It's time to send you with the air mail." Yang said as she punched right through the wall as she and Harley now went flying onto the street. Harley skidded forward as she felt bones aching but still pressed herself back up.
"Sorry, but I'm not going offline for now." she said as she grinned as she brought her hammer back up to slam it at Yang, the blonde this time dodging around it and throwing a punch at Harley who just as well ducked under it.
"I'm going to hammer it into your head I'm better than you!" Harley said as she laughed her hammer once more slamming onto Yang but the girl managed to block it this time with her fist as her other fist punched right into her stomach.
"You're hard to stomach." Yang said with a happy smile just as well… but making sure that the punch wasn't going to be too hard this time. It still took the breath out of Harley but instead of sending her packing again, it only made her wobble on her legs again.
It just as much surprised Harley but she quickly found her breath again as she now kicked against Yang's shins sweeping the girl off her feet. "Time to sweep you off your feet." was the most logical pun she could make at that. Yang however once more caught herself before falling down as she laughed.
"Sorry, you're not going to clean the house here." she quipped right back as now hammer and knuckle met each other trying to outdo each other.
Yang knew that if that swing got to her, her Aura wouldn't last anymore. At the same time Harley knew that if Yang got to lay that smack down on her she was going nighty night again as the two stared at each other, pressing all their strength into their last bit… neither willing to surrender to the other but both with big smiles looking at each other. To the two of them… it was more a fun fight then anything serious.
Finally the punch and swing of the hammer went through… as they completely missed each other. Yang's punch slammed right into the asphalt next of Harley as the hammer thudded onto it, causing the clown girl to shake from the impact of it. Both looked once more at each other before suddenly Yang grabbed Harley into a headlock and smirked.
"Say I'm better… or you're getting a noogie!" she said holding Harley in a vicious grip.
Harley squirmed fanatically trying to get out from the tight grip of the busty brawler as she flailed and tried to punch Yang… before deciding another tactic.
"Alright, alright… I confess… I rather do this with wet fingers." she said as she stuck her finger now in Yang's ear as the girl in surprise let the clown go. Before Harley could grab her hammer, Yang jumped right at her as they rolled onto the road, before finally Yang pressed Harley down.
"Heh, the good guys are always on top of things!" she proclaimed with a smirk as she held Harley down. The clown still squirmed like mad before finally deciding it was better to admit defeat again.
"Alright… you're better… and I will go quietly to jail with you." she said as Yang grinned before frowning.
"Jail? I think you got enough punishment for one night." she said as she got up and stood victorious for a moment above Harley. "I'm just going to enjoy that confession of yours. Shame I didn't record it…" she said before smiling again.
"Aw… nuts." Harley proclaimed as she still lay on the street as she stared up at the slowly turning gray sky as she looked back as a scroll was now held right in front of her face.
"I'm waiting." Yang said with a big smile as Harley groaned but admitted to it.
"You're the best… you defeated me in an honest, dishonest way." she said as Yang grinned keeping Harley down however.
"And?" she asked as Harley sighed thinking of something else up.
"And… your hair is very nice…" Harley said as she smiled looking up to Yang as the blonde laughed now letting Harley go and pocketed her scroll away.
"Alright, that will do it." she said with a smile as she extended her hand and when Harley took it she pulled her back up.
"Got to say, if you keep this up you might beat me… in ten years." Yang said as she grinned now softly punching Harley against her shoulder as the clown groaned and shook her head.
"Very funny." she said as she plummeted back onto the street but instead sat down on it and patted the spot next of her. "Come on, celebrate your big victory then." she said as well with a smile as Yang now nodded and sat next of Harley.
As they sat next to each other suddenly the thought of why they even had started their small brawl crept back into Harley's mind and she grew rather curious about why Yang wanted to find her mom.
"So… your mom huh?" Harley began right away changing the subject as Yang gave a sigh.
"Yeah… it's quite a story." Yang began as she looked at Harley who gave a nod for her to go on. "My dad and my mom… I really don't know what happened between the two… I just know that one day she just vanished into thin air… dad never went after her as soon as he got together with my sister's mom." Yang explained as she took a moment to swallow.
"After that he lost her as well and he was too broken to do anything. I thought maybe if mom came back… maybe things could be alright. So I've set out to look for her… and instead found trouble." she continued omitting parts as to not further confuse Harley with her knowledge of Grimm and such.
"My uncle has been training me to get ready and he also told me that she was last spotted here. I thought someone had seen her around but… no luck so far." she said with a sad sigh as she looked at Harley quickly smiling again. "Though I'm glad you provide some good distraction again. It keeps me from dwelling too much on it. That's the last thing that I want."
Harley was silent for a moment. Her search for her mom… it sounded sadder than she had thought as she smiled as well at Yang. "Heh, well you're not the only one with problems like that." Harley said as she looked back at her hammer and sighed as well.
"I got enough problems just as well." she said as Yang looked a bit confused at her. It sounded strange to her to hear Harley had problems as well. She always was smiling and cheering and even getting beaten around she took in stride as the two looked at each other.
"You got a place to crash at?" Harley suddenly asked as she broke up the silence between the two as Yang shook her head.
"I do… some backwater place but it'll do for now." she said as she smiled knowing that Harley was probably offering a place to stay at…
That was just weird but… it felt like something Harley would do, offering a place to crash at to the girl that had floored her not once but twice by now. Yang was far too happy to get a good couch or bed to sleep on then having to sleep into a bed that was probably going to collapse the moment she turned around in it. Even so, she didn't think she could take up Harley's offer for that. As kind as it was… it felt too wrong for her.
Harley however didn't get a chance to say anything as when Yang looked at Harley she spotted a red laser light on her. Without thinking, she pushed Harley down onto the ground as the next thing a bullet hit the ground only inches away from Harley's hair.
"What the hell?" Harley yelled as she got up rather quickly looking up from where the bullet had been fired, seeing the sniper right away. Someone wearing a red helmet… and he was already aiming again for her.
Yang still acted far quicker than Harley as she grabbed the girl's arm and pulled her aside as the next bullet was fired. Harley could feel it searing past her arm this time as she gasped and looked at Yang who only gave her a nod as the two made a run for it.
"Friend of yours?" Yang asked as she looked back at Harley who was running beside her as she fidgeted around with her hammer to get it into a gun mode.
"Friends of mine don't regularly shoot at me." she replied only as once she got the gun mode finally around she opened fire onto the sniper as she loosened a few shots hoping that they would hit him. The problem was that she was running and thus her aim was not getting much better as she cursed under her breath at her bad luck.
The sniper feverishly followed behind the two girls but only seemed to be targeting Harley. Strange, Yang thought, why Harley in particular? She wasn't a big named crook in this town, so why did this man target her? Was it to prevent she was going to be a big name criminal again? Yang had a ton of questions by now ready to fire at Harley but she had to make sure first that her friend would survive. Friend… that was the first time Yang thought of Harley that way. Sure, they started out on bad footing but… she didn't mean that bad again.
Harley however every now and then again turned around during running to get a shot fired at the gunner. She didn't know who the hell it was, but she did know that she wasn't going down without a fight at the very least.
"If you got guts you come down here and face me like any proper vigilante in this city!" Harley yelled up at the sniper as he just ignored her keeping her in his sights. Maybe it was better to actually pull a shot on her legs instead and then put one between her eyes. Just to get her to suffer a bit more, like he had before at Joker's hands.
The shot rang through as Harley yelled in pain as she slumped right onto the ground. Got me right in my leg that son of a bitch, Harley thought to herself as she looked up at Yang.
"Just make a go for it." she said as she held her leg in pain. "I'll catch up eventually."
The last part was a flat out lie but she just wanted Yang to get the hell out of here. If she didn't need to get involved the better it was for her. She did find it sad that she wasn't even a day back and already she was going to die. It had something ironic… all those years nothing happened and the first moment she got back in the saddle she gets a bullet in her leg. It had something funny… at least going out on a joke was something good.
Yang on the other hand was much quicker grabbing Harley and pulling her up trying to keep up a steady pace. "I'm not going to live with myself if I let you die." she said as she smiled slightly as she put Harley's arm over her shoulders and kept her up.
Just trying to walk already like that hurt a lot as Harley tried to keep going but gritted her teeth every time. But she knew a place they could hide… if their killer didn't have a good head on his shoulders and figured that out already.
Thankfully not every vigilante could be a Batman…
As they ran together Yang felt a bullet pressing into her back. She groaned in pain as she felt her Aura giving out right at that moment. It would leave a bruise on that spot but she would live with it. She knew that with helping Harley she had made a target of herself as well. But she wasn't going to let Harley just die. That wasn't in her nature.
"Take a right here." Harley said as she looked at Yang who gave a nod as they dove into another alley with no street lights in it.
Red Hood fumed as he saw the girls disappear into the dark. He would have to adept just as much to it. He had learned enough about the dark from his old man. He could just as much use it. If they thought they were safe in it, they had another thing coming to them.
Dropping into the alley the Red Hood scanned around, having traded in his sniper now for two smaller guns. They formed together the sniper rifle as he had designed and created the gun himself. Walking down into the alley he scanned around in the dark. He kept his breath low enough to make sure that they would only hear his footsteps.
He just as much enjoyed putting fear in his targets as he walked through the alley… but he couldn't find a single trace of Harley or the other blonde. Stupid bitch shouldn't have gotten herself involved in it. Why did she want to save Harley? Was it just because it was a noble thing to do? Even without his mentor around there were still people around that seemed to care about these freaks and criminals.
As he kept walking he half expected the two to suddenly drop out of the darkness and tackle him down… but they still didn't come up. As he now walked out of the alley he turned around. They couldn't have fled… they were still around there somewhere. He knew they were there.
He wasn't wrong. Harley had remembered that the alley had a hiding spot that Joker had previously used once to outwit Batman. Using her as his decoy he told her to run ahead and he would catch up. The truth was that there was a small hole in the ground that was covered up. The hole was actually only big enough for one person and thus Harley and Yang sat rather cramped together… and with a bullet through Harley's leg it wasn't the most comfortable way of sitting there together.
Hearing the sniper passing over them again the girls kept their breaths in hoping he couldn't spot them. Before, the Red Hood might have been able to spot them but since he now relied mostly on brute force and strength he had dropped all the detective gear in the progress… and thus he didn't know that he had stepped over the girls not once, but twice already.
Red Hood just took another glance as he wanted to wait for the girls to come out of their hiding spot but he knew dawn was approaching now. Cursing his own bad luck at not killing Quinn when he had the chance, he fired one of his guns as a rope shot out from it. Speeding up along the rope he vanished once more out of sight.
"I think he's gone." Yang said after a few minutes of silence as Harley looked up and began to push the plate away that Red Hood had walked over twice.
"Wow… glad that my insane luck in survival kicked in." Harley said with a slight grin as she hoisted herself up as she sat on the ground before helping Yang out of the hole.
"You know… you should have just left me there." Harley said as she and Yang once more sat together before the open hole now as Yang frowned looking at her.
"I'm not like that. I think that despite the fact you're a rotten apple… you got a healthy core inside of you." Yang said as she now slowly got up all the way. Her back hurt rather badly from the bullet that had bounced off from it. She was just lucky that her Aura only gave way right at that moment but still… she didn't think she had to push it that far.
"Besides… it's not in me to leave people to die." Yang said as she smiled slightly and helped Harley back up and once more wrapped her arm around her neck so she could lean on her.
"Thanks… it's… it's a first in a long time that someone did that for me." she said as the only one she could remember saving her from trouble was in fact Batman. Mostly because the Dork Knight never wanted to let someone die but in most cases Harley was rather happy with it.
The many times that Batman saved her from Joker who had a gun pointed at her head to hold her 'hostage' was when she hated him… but then at other times when Harley was left to her fate and Batman did step in… well, she praised him again for being like that and thought that perhaps she had made wrong decisions… thoughts that were quickly pushed back into her head.
"It's what good people do." Yang said as she smiled carrying Harley around as she felt herself getting rather weary right now. What she wouldn't give for a bed… it was right at that moment she smiled at Harley.
"Say… you wouldn't mind if I would take up your offer right now huh?" she asked as Harley looked at her with a questioning look before realizing what Yang meant.
"Oh that… well, I didn't think I got a chance to ask it again." Harley said with a grin as she gave a nod at Yang. "I don't mind it. You can crash in at my place." she said. She would have to do some explaining again later to Catwoman again… but that could come later indeed.
Under Harley's instructions the two finally got to the apartment before the first people went out to work again. The streets would soon grow busy again with the 'normal' people of Gotham. They would go around their daily base and no one would make any remarks on what happened last night again.
Not that the two girls cared again. They were tired out of their minds. They had been up the entire night, going from one place to the next and having fought each other two times. Harley had a bullet in her leg and Yang was pretty much spent. The fact that no one cared what they had been through was something they could care even less about.
At the moment they opened the door of the apartment Selina was already up and about as she looked surprised to see Harley come in, being held up by another girl.
"Harley! Where have you been?" she asked right away before the smell of strong alcoholic drinks filled the room. "Ah, never mind." she said as she smiled slightly.
"Hey kitty… I wanted to only go out for a late drink and come back… but then I ran into Blondie here and we got chased around by a mysterious guy that wanted to kill me and he shot me in my leg and I'm too tired to explain even more." Harley said as she followed this up with a giant yawn.
Catwoman laughed as she gave a nod taking Harley from Yang and getting her to her bed. "Sounds like you need a bit of rest." she said before she helped Harley into it… which wasn't easy as the bed was still turned in an uncomfortable way.
"Hey… kitty… you don't mind if Blondie also crashes in for now with us… right?" Harley asked as she looked with sleepy eyes at Selina as she sighed and shook her head.
"You're really asking a lot from me… but since she's your friend she can stay for now until she gets a place on her own." she said as she smiled giving Harley a soft stroke through her hair in a motherly way.
"Thanks kitty… you're the best…" was all that Harley could still muster before her eyes slumped to a close and the next thing a rather loud snore left her mouth.
Catwoman grinned as she quickly got up and closed the door to Harley's bedroom. She wasn't going to be up for the next few hours or so. Probably it would take till next night for her to get up again. Well, she needed it… and a doctor as well. That bullet wasn't going to remove itself again.
It was right at that moment she spotted Yang, lying on the couch, passed out from the entire night just as well that she felt she needed to suppress a giggle.
"Oh dear… I do believe I got two of them now." she said as Yang just as much soundly snored her cares away. "Well, at least they seemed to have fun together… and she's better company for Harley." she mused to herself as she went down to snatch a milk bottle from the neighbors.
As dawn had come, everyone in Gotham was busy getting to work or already being at work again. The streets hadn't died down even for one minute and most of the people that were out last night were also out again today at the crack of dawn.
One person had also not gone back to sleep as he was now hastily trying to repair all the damage two very violent blondes had committed in his bar. Once a small little beauty, it was now ruined with a hole in the wall and the floorboards having been ripped apart.
Why, why did they need to do this to him? Why to his family? His poor son also had the unfortunate luck of running into a violent Blonde that pretty much spelled the end of his night club for the moment… and after that hardly anyone came by anymore to spend another night at it.
Blondes… they were the bane of his family… but now he knew what Junior had gone through… and now Senior faced the same results, being closed because of rampaging blondes.