A/N: Yes yes I know, this took absolutely forever, and it's just over 1,000 words. I honestly have no idea what took this chapter so long. There is going to be some fluff, and you guys will probably have a hate-love relationship with the OC by the end of this. He's just kind of... annoyed right now. What can I say? He's young? I know what I'm doing with this story so hopefully I'll have the next chapter up in the next few days.

Chapter 2

Brian looked at Harley anxiously for what seemed like the millionth time. But all she did was sit there, her head propped up on her hand.

She didn't put up as much as a fight as he was led to believe she would. The Joker had warned him that she might beat him bloody if he wasn't careful. The guys had told him to let her take it out on the door.

But now, all she did was sit there, her head propped up. The only change that occurred was every now and again she would sigh. Even her hyenas seemed subdued. Although every time Brian looked over at them for too long, they began to bare their teeth and laugh. If this went on too long, Harley would tell them to shush and the silence was immediately restored.

Eventually Brian began to lean back in his chair to keep himself occupied. He felt like he was 16 again, babysitting some stupid kid who just sat in front of the T.V with a bowl of Trix. Leaning on a chair had become a bad habit in those years… he leaned on them during class, at home, at his friends' place, at restaurants, etc. despite all the–

CRASH

Harley barely stirred when she heard the crash. She knew it would happen. She was an expert at leaning in chairs and saw that it would happen even before his body felt it. She just sighed at his stupidity, tracing random circles in the table's wood while listening to her hyenas jerk at their chains to chew Brian's face off while Brian desperately crawled away to the safety of the carpet.

"Looks like they're hungry…" Harley said nonchalantly. She felt Brian's head turn towards her and she looked down on at him briefly to see him give her a dumbfounded expression, surprised by her carelessness. But she simply looked back down at her invisible drawing, too depressed to care.

Brian just lay there, looking at her while the hyenas laughed at his feet, innocently trying to nipping at them. "Hungry… right…"

Harley looked up at him, her baby blue eyes empty of the energy Brian was accustomed to seeing in them. "Did Mistah J tell you to bring 'em any food?"

Brian immediately stood up, exciting the hyenas. "Yeah, yeah he told me to get a few things." Brian quickly walked to the fridge in the corner of the kitchen –more of a corner of the warehouse that had different walls and floors than the rest of the warehouse– and started rummaging through the fridge, pushing aside all the goodies Brian bought for them. As he looked through the stuff in the fridge, he noticed how most of it didn't belong in the fridge –gummy bears, chocolates, lollipops, gummy worms, ice cream, dry spaghetti, canned foods –and couldn't help but question how they survived on this sort of diet. Eventually he got past most of the goodies packed into the fridge and finally found the raw meats specifically meant for the hyenas.

Brian sighed and pulled 2 large slabs of meat out of the paper wrapping and grimaced as he watched the hyenas get more and more excited. Their expressions reminded him of the look they gave him every time he walked through the door.

"Just one for the both of them," Harley said emotionlessly.

Brian's heart dropped. The last thing he wanted to see was these two hyenas fighting over one piece of meat. "Y-you sure? I think they'll be happier with one piece each. Don't you?"

Harley looked up at him through her eyelashes. "They fart if they're overfed. Mistah J doesn't like it."

Brian grimaced, but didn't think it would be a good idea for the Joker to come home to his place smelling like hyena shit. "So…" he started, placing one slab of meat back in the fridge, "how do I… you know… give them the meat without getting your hand chewed off?"

Harley lifted her head and looked him over, frowning softly. "You can't… they'd try tuh eat you. You look like chicken…" She held out her hand lazily. "Give it."

Brian frowned at her, but complied. Once the meat was in her hand she carelessly tossed it in the direction of the two hungry hyenas. Both hyenas jumped and caught an end of the slab of meat, and immediately started fighting for larger portions of the slab. Brian couldn't help but cringe at the scene in front of him, unable to keep down the image of them fighting over a human arm… or a leg.

The thought sent a shiver down his back. "They seem… happy," Brian commented, trying to strike up a conversation to calm his nerves.

Harley glanced over at them, a small smile forming on her lips. "Yeah. They're good boys."

"How long have you had 'em?"

Harley sighed and pulled off her cowl and her domino mask. "A few years now. Mistah J took 'em from the Gotham Zoo."

Brian nodded, remembering the story a few years back. There was a huge uproar because the mother had just died, so the zoo was hyena-less. But looking at the hyenas fighting in the kitchen, maybe the rest of Gotham was better off without them. "Yeah I remember that. Kinda nice of him. Christmas present right?"

"Mhmm… he does stuff like that sometimes," Harley replied sadly, her depressed mood creeping up on her again, pulling her down onto the table. "Like yesterday morning he bought me a teddy bear…"

Brian's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "The Joker… bought you… a teddy bear?" That seemed… so out of character Brian couldn't even begin to picture it.

"Yeeah. And buncha markers and coloring books… I thought we were gonna go on a trip together." Harley sighed dramatically. "But I guess it was just him…"

Brian did his best not to groan as he rubbed his face. Jesus. It was like he was babysitting a child. Teddy bears? Coloring books? Markers? He wasn't sure what he had expected from Harley, but from the stories he's heard he had assumed she'd still have some sort of… he didn't know, doctoral intelligence. Maybe she would have something to investigate? Maybe clean something? Read something? She used to be a doctor for pete's sake. God… how would his mom deal with this?

"Maaaybe I can get your bear for you? And we can watch cartoons together or something?" Brian asked shyly, shoving one hand in his jacket pocket while the other scratched the back of his head, feeling ridiculous for asking a grown woman to watch cartoons with him. "It's like, 9 but we might be able to find something on cartoon network or something."

Harley was quiet for a long time, staring at the table with an empty expression, before finally pushing herself away from the table. "I'll get the teddy bear. There's a bunch-uh Animaniacs DVD's in the cabinet under the TV."

Animaniacs… why was Brian not surprised. He playfully saluted Harley and got to work on setting up her cartoons.

Once Harley was upstairs Brian let out an exasperated sigh. This really was going to be like babysitting some kid… except this time he couldn't even invite some hot girl over for company. Jeez. What a drag.