They seek solace in each other.
Harley and Dick are still grieving the loss of their daughter. It is ever-present, Harley's scars and Dick's guilt constant reminders of their pain. And with the funeral tomorrow… Neither one is sure of how to face the world anymore. They do the only thing they can do- search for comfort in each other, and find hardly enough to keep them alive.
Little do they know, however, that their daughter isn't dead. Instead, she was spirited away by the Joker, who's hidden her from the world and from her still grieving parents. The funeral is tomorrow, and perhaps they can move on with their lives, try again- unwittingly leaving their daughter behind.
"We could go back to the house," Harley mumbled, wrapping her arms across her chest. Dick flicked the light on in the bedroom they shared when they stayed at the Manor. She glanced up at him before glancing back down. "I'm sorry. I… I didn't want to tell you all that."
"I'm glad you did." Harley looked up in surprise. Dick watched her, his head cocked a bit. "I thought you trusted me more than that, though. But you just didn't want to hurt me. I understand." He looked down, smiling a little. Only the corner of his lips pulled up in a sad smile, and she was struck by how much she missed that infuriating, beautiful, lopsided grin of his.
"I thought you would blame yourself more," she admitted.
"I already blame myself," he said quietly. "There's not much more damage you can do."
"I also thought you might try to do something stupid to protect me from you or something." She shrugged a little.
"I'm doing my best, Harley," he sighed, leaning against the desk and crossing his arms.
"I am too." She sat on the edge of the bed. "I just don't want to do it alone."
"Me neither." He watched her quietly, his blue eyes tired and emphasized by the bruise on his cheek.
Harley nodded. "Okay." She looked at her hands. "Okay," she repeated. "But can you tell me if you're going to go emotionally distant again? Just so I can… prepare."
"I will," Dick agreed. There was some silence, before he sighed deeply. "Harley, the funeral. It's-"
"-don't." Harley's voice cracked. "I know. Just… don't."
Dick stared at her for a moment and then nodded, wincing as he tried to pull his shirt off. "Harley, can you- I can't-" he sighed in frustration. She stood, crossing the room toward him. The bandages on his shoulder and his back were exposed when she pulled his shirt away. "Thanks," he breathed, wincing as he rolled his shoulder. Harley touched around the bandages, her fingers gentle.
"You could have been killed," she breathed.
You could have, too, he thought, his thumb tracing a scar on her arm. Dick bit his lip, watching her. "Just burns. Nothing that I won't bounce back from," he said quietly. Harley nodded weakly, stepping forward into his chest.
"Just be careful," she mumbled into his shoulder.
Dick closed his eyes, pressing his nose into her soft hair as his arms wound snugly around her waist. He kissed her forehead and when she looked up, his lips were scarcely an inch from hers. "I'm sorry," he whispered, closing the gap just enough that she could practically taste him on her lips.
"Me too." She stood on tiptoe and kissed him gently.
Dick sighed longingly into her kiss, moving to bite his lip but catching hers in his teeth. His arms wound tighter around her waist, his eyebrows knit in pain and passion as he kissed her with everything he had. Don't hate me. Don't leave me. Don't blame me.
Harley wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing herself closer to him as she kissed him back forcefully. Dick's legs hit the edge of the desk. He dragged her closer, gasping as pain sang from his burned shoulder under her arm, but he didn't care. All he wanted was her. Dick tilted his head to kiss her better, his hand moving to grasp her waist, feeling the curve of her spine as she pressed against his chest. Harley pushed him down onto the desk, knocking a pencil holder aside as she tightened her legs at his waist. She ran her hands up, twisting her fingers in his hair as she moaned. All she wanted was more. More of the kiss, more of his hands on her, more of him. Her hands pulled at his hair. Dick breathed hard, dropping his head back against the desk, his eyes shut tight as he ignored the pain in the gash at his hairline. His grip was strong on her waist, and he lifted her up easily to lay on his chest, kissing her without hesitation, as if he could draw her breath straight from her lungs. He pulled her shirt up her waist, and she had to break away for a brief, panicked moment to allow him to pull her shirt over her head, and then his lips were back on hers.
Harley's hands trailed down his chest, tracing a pattern as she gasped for breath against his lips. She pushed herself up a little, kneeling around his waist. Her hair fell down around their faces as she stared at him. She closed her eyes, leaned back down, and kissed him as she yanked his sweatpants down.
He moaned into her kiss, his hands grasping her hips as his head slammed back on the desk. "I want you," he breathed, biting his lip as he gasped. "No- I need you, Harley, I need you." Dick fixed dull blue eyes on her, empty of anything but a longing to be whole again. "I need you," he repeated, licking his lips as he pulled her close once more, kissing her furiously. Harley sat on his hips, her back arching over him.
"Well, I'm trying," she murmured, yanking his pants past his knees. "I don't see you needing to help the situation." She unclasped her bra, tossing it aside where it landed on a lamp. She didn't want to talk; she didn't want to think. She didn't want comfort. What she wanted was to forget. To take and be distracted. She leaned back down to bite his lip.
Dick sat up, his hands sliding up her torso, feeling every curve, every scar, every arch or tightening muscle of her instinctual reactions at his touch until his hands cupped her face, and he kissed her slowly, his fingers only remaining there until she was kissing him back. Goosebumps rose on her skin as his hands trailed over her shoulders and down her back, his rugged, worn palms from years of acrobatics gripping her waist tightly. He stood, lifting her with ease, his lips still busy with hers. Harley wrapped her legs around his waist, holding herself against him. She broke away from his lips to kiss down his neck, listening to his breathing spike as she nipped his skin. Her hands tangled in his hair again as she pulled his face back to kiss her. Dick groaned, his breathing a gasping desperation past his lips. He fell against the wall weakly; he'd overestimated the strength in his burned arm, and underestimated the dizzying effects of her kiss. He kissed her back, his tongue guiding hers into his mouth as he kissed her desperately. He sank to the floor, suddenly pushing Harley back onto the cool wood. He kissed down her torso, pulling at her pants with his hands as his lips hesitated over the long, clean scar from the emergency C-section. His throat closed painfully, and he kissed the scar gently, moving to the stab wound in her side and continuing up from there, his lips soft on every scar that the Joker's blade had left behind. He kissed her shoulder, the faded wound jagged and mirroring his as he held himself above her. Dick looked up, so much pain in his eyes for a brief moment before he closed them and kissed her slowly.
Harley tilted her head up a little, her hands tugging gently at his hair. She moved one hand to cup his cheek and the other to his chest to feel his erratic heartbeat. She pulled at his bottom lip and smiled slightly as she felt his heartbeat jump.
She felt his hand on hers at his chest. "It's yours," he whispered against her lips, his eyes closed tightly. It's broken. "All I've wanted since I fell for you was for you to have all you've ever wanted, and all I can give you is a broken heart." Dick kissed down her chest again, pulling her jeans off as he kissed the scar on her hip. His fingers brushed the one on her thigh as his hand trailed back up her legs.
"That's okay," Harley sighed, her hands tangling in his hair again. Her back arched at his touch on her skin, and she closed her eyes. "Mine is too. We can share a whole one."
Dick kissed over her heart, a hand sliding under her arched back to hold her against him. Harley cried out when he used it to roll over, bringing her to rest on his chest. Leaning up, Dick kissed along her jaw tenderly. One hand clutched at her back while the other moved up her leg. Harley smiled, her hands resting on his chest. She traced a finger feather light down his abs.
"And all I really want right now," Harley mused, her finger stopping. Her other hand lifted his chin up. "Is for you to make your move." Dick kissed her slowly, a hand tangling in her hair as he gripped her hip tightly.
He'd never been particularly good at singing.
"Dashing through the snow,
in a one horse open sleigh,
over the fields we go,
laughing all the way,"
Joker laughed loudly, pacing the floor with the baby in his arms. The little girl slept soundly. He smiled and continued to sing, off key, but as merry as can be.
"Bells on bobtail ring,
making spirits bright
what fun it is to ride and sing
a sleighing song tonight. Oh!
Jingle bells,
Batman smells,
Robin laid an egg-
That's you!" he laughed, poking the baby gently.
"The Batmobile lost a wheel
and of course I got away!"
The tiny, dusty room was brighter, the fire burning in the fireplace giving warmth and light. A broken, ramshackle pine branch stood in the corner with bits of glass and razor blades and wire on it. The colorful glass caught the light eerily, yet pleasantly. It was the best he could do.
"What should we do with you?" he asked, rocking her a little. Her tiny legs kicked, and and her arms waved as she woke up, staring up at him with a bemused look, her mouth opening slightly. "You have such a pretty smile. Doesn't she have a pretty smile?" Joker asked no one in particular.
There was a weak knock at his door.
"Come in!" he called merrily, tucking Haly's head against the crook of his arm. Nurse Martinez hesitantly pushed the door open, peeking in. She had just gotten off a shift and was still wearing her scrubs. She glanced at Haly before her eyes flicked up the the Joker's face. She flinched back slightly before reluctantly entering the room. "Good nurse, how lovely to see you. How was the hospital? Dreary and death-plagued as ever, my Darling?" he cooed, smoothing Haly's sparse hair on her little head. She started to fuss a little, kicking her legs.
"I did what you asked," she muttered. "A Jane Doe baby abandoned at the hospital didn't make it. I 'misplaced' her files, and no one will miss her. She doesn't look that much like Haly," she glanced at the baby, "but the Waynes shouldn't suspect a thing."
"As long as the basic details that you gave him match, they'll be fine." Joker said distractedly, playing with Haly's tiny hand.
"It's out of my hands now, and she's been released to the Wayne family for the funeral preparations. I've done everything you've asked."
"Good," came his only reply. Joker laughed as Haly clenched her hands into tiny fists, starting to wail.
"My brother. How is he?" she asked him anxiously.
"Safer than you," he said darkly, making a bottle for Haly.
"She's only two days old you can't-" Martinez stepped forward a bit, pointing at Haly before recoiling at the look on the Joker's face. She hesitated before saying, "You need to support her head; she could suffocate."
"Oh. Thank you," he propped his elbow under her head. "Anything else?"
"Yeah, you need to be gentle with her," she said firmly. "Too much motion could result in Shaken Baby Syndrome. And be mindful of her head, baby's skulls are still forming. She was premature, so you really should take her to get checked by a doctor often. And she needs lots of sleep. Feed her, change her diaper, and let her sleep. Newborns need over sixteen hours of sleep a day and to be fed every two to three hours, and her diaper will need to be changed about that often too."
"That I can handle," he said confidently, smiling. The stitches in his cheek pulled. "Is that all?"
"Her skin will get flaky, but that's okay. Get baby lotion or rash powders if you need them," Martinez began ticking off on her fingers. "Sponge bathe when needed. You don't really need to water bathe for a while, and it's best to keep her bellybutton as dry as possible until the umbilical cord falls off. Burping, obviously. Some time spent on her stomach is recommended, although she won't like it. And make sure someone is always keeping an eye on her. Sanitation. Babies immune systems are weak, so make sure you keep everything clean." She glanced around the dirty room. "I would suggest reading up on all of this."
"I'll just use my library card," he laughed.
"I think that should cover the basics. Can I see my brother now?"
"Of course. Say hi to him for me," he pulled his gun, firing two shots into her chest. Haly screamed and cried at the loud noise, and the Joker waved the gun in the air before putting it on the dresser, smiling a little as he comforted her. "Shhhh, don't cry. She's with her brother now. See that's good! I did her a favor. She wanted to see her brother." Martinez gasped and choked, dying on the floor. Joker picked up the bottle and spun it in his hand before sitting down on the floor by the warm fire, quieting Haly with her bottle.
"Jingle bells, Batman smells…"