A Cold Bed

Chapter 1

Harley woke up, but stayed perfectly still for a moment. Before she moved, she thought about what had happened the previous day. Had they stayed up extremely late? No. Joker took them both to bed early for some reason. Was he mad at her? Not as far as she knew. Could he be in a crabby mood? That all depended on how he slept, but the odds were in her favor. He hadn't woken up at all last night.

She smiled and turned over to cuddle up with her Puddin... he'd be warm but hard with lean muscle. He would either wrap his arm around her or turn away, in which case she'd just settle for gripping onto his shirt.

They'd stay there like that until she got hungry which meant he would be hungry soon too, so she'd start lunch. He'd come down to eat and after that it got iffy.

But what she found was completely off. Her Joker wasn't even in his spot. She immediately shot up and looked around. By the looks of things it was 10 am at the earliest. She glanced at the bathroom but didn't see the light streaming out from under the door. She got up to check anyway. She rubbed her arms to keep them from getting cold but still shivered.

She opened the door cautiously, afraid he was just doing his business… or maybe creating a new horror scene.

But when no protest came from the bathroom she opened the door. Either he wasn't there or she would be seeing blood. Whose? Who knew?

But when the door was fully opened, there was still nothing.

She frowned. This was very off... very off indeed. He wasn't one to get out of bed early unless he had to. But it wouldn't hurt to check.

She walked over to her dresser and put on some socks to keep from freezing and walked out of the room in her red and black PJ's.

"Mistah J!" she called out in a whispering voice. There was no answer, but she noticed the TV was on. She smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. There he was. He probably couldn't sleep then. She danced down the stairs to join her love. He'd probably be cranky but she could probably put him in a better mood... especially when she's only in her PJ's.

But then she noticed something that was totally out of character. Since it was so early, he would be sitting up, leaning forward, his elbows on his knees while his hands kept his head supported, a very intense look on his face that wouldn't tell you what he was really focusing on.

But she didn't see him. She just saw the TV on.

She looked around frantically, hoping he'd walk from a corner any second. She shrunk into herself in fear. Was she alone? Was she all alone in the hideout?

"Hey, Mistah J!" de whispered again. Maybe he just hadn't heard her... but once again there was no answer. She whimpered softly and tiptoed to turn off the TV. She looked at the couch and there was nothing there.

She pouted and tip-toed to the small kitchen she had told their boys to make, but once again there was no one. Her hyenas stirred restlessly, but they knew better than to make a fuss before they saw the Joker come down for breakfast. She gave them both a quick pat and scratch on the head to settle them down.

Harley then trudged back to the couch and sat down heavily.

Surely her Joker hadn't just left her. He probably went for a quick errand with the boys and didn't want to wake her.

Yeah! That's it! He'd walk in with -or without -the boys any minute now... any minute now... It was just a quick errand... but maybe it was the car that woke her up while they were leaving, so maybe it'd take a bit longer.

Harley huffed impatiently and rested her head on her hand. "Do you boys know where Mistah J went?" she asked her hyenas, but they just stood up and wagged their tails, happy for her attention. She sighed sadly and lay belly down on the couch.

Whatever the errand was, it was taking a long time.

Suddenly she heard the grass outside crunch and she immediately picked her head up and looked at the door. Her hyenas did the same.

The door started to open and Harley hopped over the couch and hurried towards the door. "Mistah J!"

But it wasn't the Joker at the door. It was just the kid they hired a few weeks ago with grocery bags in his arms.

"You're not Mistah J," Harley whined childishly

"No... no I'm not Ms. Quinn," Brian said hesitantly. He took a piece of tape off the door, shut the door behind him, and walked to the fridge.

"Well, do you have any idea where 'e is?" she asked, irritated.

No answer. He just started to put the groceries –which were mainly sweets –into the fridge.

"Ahem!"

He didn't turn around.

"Hey bozo! I'm talkin' to you!" Harley yelled angrily, her hands tensing into fists.

Brian sighed and continued to put the stuff away.

"Hey moron!" Harley called as she stalked towards him. She grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him around. "Don't you know to answer a lady when she's talking to you?"

Brian put his hands up in surrender. "I'm sorry Ms. Quinn. I just need to put this stuff away before I start explaining anything. Boss's orders."

Harley's jaw tensed in frustration. She wanted to throw him against the fridge and smack the answers out of him… but that would mean stepping on her Puddin's toes… and she knew better than that. So she just crossed her arms indignantly, glaring holes into the rookie's back.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, he stood up and brushed the dirt off of his knees. He tried to be sneaky and slide his eyes over Harley as he straightened up, but the second he met Harley's eyes he realized she had noticed and it made her even angrier. An uneasy expression passed over his face and he scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Um… do you wanna take a seat… or something?" he asked nervously. Harley just gave him an angry incredulous look, which forced Brian to look away for a moment. "Alright then… well. The Joker's not here…"

"Thank you Captain obvious," Harley snipped. "So where is he?"

"He went off to do a job…"

Harley's anger and impatience immediately switched to anxiety and worry, relieving and worrying Brian at the same time. "What! Where! Is he alright?" Harley yelled. "We have to go help him… I need to go get dressed. He wouldn't want me to go out in my jammies. Wait here! I'll go get ready."

Harley started to rush to the stairs and Brian reached out his hand, as if to stop her, but he thought the better of it and let her slam the door to her room. Might as well let her get dressed before he gave her the bad news. He sat down at the breakfast table and put his feet on the table, but immediately took them down. He'd only been on the job for a few weeks, so he hadn't been inside the house as often as the other guys and didn't know the rules. The guys had warned him about a few things –never answer back, call Harley Ms. Quinn so Joker doesn't get possessive, never do anything outside of your job unless asked to, and don't whistle music… ever. Humming is fine and sometimes the Joker will even join in but whistling is a big no-no –but they hadn't told him the do's and don'ts of the household.

He's mostly tried to just stand at the doorway or walk away for a smoke. Something about being inside the Joker's house made Brian feel… uneasy and unwelcome. Harley had tried to be hospitable on a few occasions, inviting him to the couch to watch a movie with the other boys while the Joker was doing something but Brian was nervous about being seen close to Harley when he was still new. He liked her though. Overall, she was alright. She'd even steered him away from danger a few times. But he didn't like being too close to her

But now he hadn't been given a choice. He would be stuck with an angry Harley for the next few days… he doubted it would be fun.

As his eyes peeled to the side, he saw the other two reasons why he felt uneasy in the house. The hyenas were looking at him again…

"Alright I'm ready. Go get a car," Harley breathed, pulling on of her shoes on. Her pig tails were crooked and her cowl was still in her arms.

Brian sighed and stood up, hands in his pockets. "Ms. Quinn… you're supposed to stay here."

That caught Harley's attention really fast. "What?"

Brian gulped. "Well... the Joker said you're supposed to stay home…"

Harley's whole body seemed to bristle, and her hyenas stood up in response. "The hell I am," she growled through her teeth.

Harley marched to the door and tried to turn the handle. Brian began to scratch his head again. This wasn't going to be fun at all. "It's locked from the outside Ms. Quinn. The Joker said you had to stay inside… the door's locked from the outside." Harley ignored him and tried to pull on the door handle, maybe to break it. "It's no use Ms. Quinn. Joker had a new door handle installed. It's not gonna give." Harley began to kick on the door instead. "C'mon Ms. Quinn you know that door's not-"

"Shut up! Just shut up!" Harley screamed. Brian flinched at the force in her voice, but relaxed when she just sat down on the floor, her arms crossed. She reminded him of a child throwing a tantrum. This was not gonna be fun…

Harley glared at the floor, thinking. She could just break out and find him. It wouldn't be hard. But he had told her to stay inside. And since she wasn't supposed to be there, he wouldn't plan for her presence… he would definitely be mad if she showed up. It could throw his whole plan off, putting him and the other guys in danger. She couldn't do that… but she wanted to make sure he was fine. Sure she trusted the other boys to help 'im, but they weren't her. She'd always make sure the Joker was safe. She tapped her fingers against her arms as she thought this through… arguing with herself.

Finally her hands snapped to her knees. "Fine. How long 'til Mistah comes home?" she asked tensely.

The kid rocked on his heels nervously. "Um… two days maybe… four days tops."

Harley's eyes went wide. "Two days!" she whined. She fell back and lay on the floor with a sad groan. She heard her babies whine anxiously, but she was too dead to comfort them.

"Well, that's only two days right? Just today and tomorrow," he rushed out. But Harley just stamped her feet in frustration.

Just today and tomorrow? It'd be like years before her Puddin came home. She missed him already.