The Joker's attacks are nearing a climax.

With Poison Ivy and his new Harley Quinn, the Joker is closing in on the plan he's been working on for weeks. Harley has told Batman that everything the Joker does is to distract him from the bigger picture- but he may be too late to stop it.

The Batman family teams up with Harley Quinn in one desperate attempt to thwart the Joker's plan as it gains traction. The result of the distraction, however, could be almost as deadly as the initial plot.

"...Because I am Superman," Harley sang to herself quietly in her cell. She knew it was night, but there wasn't a window, so she couldn't see the sky. She realized how much she missed the moon. The things she missed were not at all what she had expected.

She missed music and being able to go to the bathroom whenever she wanted. The way she could tell the mood of the day from the sky. She missed smog. She had thought she was going to miss Dick, but he had surprised her. Harley touched her lips and smiled as she thought about him.

"Miss Quinzel," a voice said.

"It's Dr. Quinzel actually," she corrected, turning to look at the cell door. "Well, well, look who decided to pay me a visit." She walked over to the bars and smiled up at Batman. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Don't play with me Harley," he warned. The only light on was the one over the door down the hall, and he was mostly in shadow. She could just make out his eyes.

"Sorry." She put her hands up in surrender. "Old habits die hard." She crossed her arms. "What do you want?"

"No one has gotten closer to the Joker than you."

"Thanks for reminding me," Harley snapped.

"So you probably know him better than anyone," Batman continued, "and can help me."

"I think we both remember what happened the last time I thought I knew what the Joker wanted," she said, poking her head through the bars. "I am sorry about kidnapping you," she added as an afterthought.

"I'm sorry about what happened to you." Batman said quietly. Harley tilted her head at him.

"I think one thing we can agree on that Dick is too blind to see is that I deserved it," she told him harshly.

"No," Batman shook his head. "No one deserves that. Everyone deserves a chance to better themselves."

"Is that what this is? A second chance?" Harley crossed her arms over her chest.

"In a way."

She sighed. "What can I do?"

"You heard about the broadcast?" Harley rolled her eyes, not even bothering to answer. "You told Dick that this is just a distraction."

"That doesn't change the fact that you still have to go," she told him. "It may be a trap, but you're still going to walk into it."

"Why?" he demanded.

"Because he'll kill all of those people whether you show up or not, and you're not the type of person who's just gonna let that happen are you?" Batman didn't answer. "See I may know him, but he knows you."

"What can I do?"

"Be prepared," she said simply. "Keep your hand hidden and call his bluff. He wouldn't be so worried about distracting you with all of this if he wasn't desperate to keep you away from something."

"But what?" Batman demanded.

"Hey, I'm not freaking Martian Manhunter here! I can't just read his mind and find out. Besides, I can't find out anything from here." She put her hands on the bars. "You're going to have to find out some way to figure it out on your own."

"How?"

Harley wrinkled her brow in thought. "He does like to draft out most of his smaller plans. He might have whatever he's planning for James Shan written down if it's just a minor distraction. If you're lucky, he'll have what he's really up to." She wrinkled her nose. "You could try his hideout, but I'm sure he moved once I turned loony bin. So you would have to find that, and for that I would need to see some police reports…" She trailed off.

"Why police reports?"

"He made a stupid code he always wanted to see if you would solve. If you could, it would lead you right to him." Harley rolled her eyes. There was some shuffling around in the other cells as the other inmates became aware of what was happening. Harley knit her brow, deep in thought again.

"He must know you suspect something, and that I may have told you any amount of information and changed his plans, so what does he have planned to keep you and everyone else occupied?" She mused. "He wouldn't want the cops there; they would just get in his way." She shook her head. "Sorry I can't be more help."

"Is there nothing else you can tell me?" Batman growled.

"I'm doing the best I can! This isn't exactly easy for me okay? It's kind of a lot to deal with, I mean I was your enemy for years."

"We-all of us-," Batman stressed, and Harley closed her eyes at the thought of Dick, "need your help."

"Do you really want my help?" she asked. Batman nodded. "Are you sure? Fine, then we are going to do this my way, okay?"

"Again with the cryptic meeting places and the darkness and the vague messages-" Nightwing muttered as he sprinted along the rooftops. Despite his long day and night, he still felt energized and ready to work. "-can't ever just meet up at a Burger King or something. Always the most abandoned place in the most decrepit part of Gotham," he mumbled irritably. Leaping off of the roof, he enjoyed his fall before firing the grappling hook and swinging up onto the next rooftop. Nightwing couldn't help but laugh. He surged forward and jumped off of the roof again, rolling to break his fall on the shingles of the building below it. He did a round-off and then a graceful back handspring, coming to a stop a few feet away from Batman. Panting, Nightwing walked toward the circle of heroes.

"And how is everyone tonight? Catwoman! Nice to see you out of the house." He smiled, putting his hands on his hips. Batman looked at him expectantly, and Nightwing stared back at him blankly. "...What?"

"The files? Where are the files?" Batman said gruffly. Nightwing blinked.

"Oh! Oh right right right." Nightwing laughed, pulling the tightly folded files out of his glove pocket. Batgirl and Robin exchanged amused glances, watching Nightwing confusedly. "Here." He handed them to Batman with a smile.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Robin asked, crossing his arms. Nightwing scowled at him.

"What? I had a good day, leave me alone." He shrugged.

"What are we doing here?" Red Robin asked, ignoring Nightwing.

"I brought in some help to stop the Joker," Batman said, holding out the files.

"Sorry!" Harley called, jumping onto the roof. "Turns out gas station attendants don't like selling maps to convicts. What'd I miss?"

Nightwing gaped at her. She was standing there smiling at him, still in her orange Arkham jumpsuit. He stuttered for a moment before turning to Batman and throwing his arms around him, hugging him tight.

"What the f-" Batman started in surprise. Releasing him, Nightwing raced to Harley and wrapped his arms around her waist, twirling her in the air as he laughed. Red Robin actually burst into laughter, and Robin covered his mouth. Even Batgirl smiled at the fool he was making of himself. Nightwing laughed and put her down again. He hugged her tight, his grin spreading across his face. "You- did you-" he turned to Batman, his hands in Harley's.

"Batman told me you guys could use some help," Harley said, a wide smile on her face. Nightwing grinned again and- in front of everyone- kissed her passionately, his hands on her cheeks. When he pulled back he rested his head against hers, laughing happily.

"If you two are done," Batman interrupted. "Maybe we could get to the matter at hand."

"Right!" Harley broke away. She took the files from Batman and started looking through them. "No," she muttered to herself, throwing one aside. She sifted through until she had four files. "Here we go!" She pulled out the map she had bought and laid it out on the roof, squatting down beside it. Flipping each file open, she made a dot on the map in red Sharpie for each one. She drew a line between three of the dots. "Done."

Everyone bent to look at the map. It was a smiley face missing an eye. "And the missing eye is where the Joker's hideout will be," she told them proudly.

"I like having her on the team." Tim said, looking up at Batman.

"Don't get used to it," Batman told him.

"I'm only on loan from the loony bin," Harley added bitterly.

"I'll be damned if they're taking you away from me again," Nightwing said, glaring at Batman defiantly, a hand on Harley's shoulder. Batman pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation. He had been afraid that this would happen.

"We'll discuss this later," he said tiredly. "We need to focus on the Joker."

"I suggest sending Batgirl and Robin to go to go scout out the Joker's hideout," Harley said, standing up. "The Joker keeps his plans in the top right desk drawer," she added. "Everyone else will need to distract him until we know what he's up to with James Shan. So Batgirl and Robin need to get that information fast." She blinked and looked around. "Where's Red Hood?"

"He was busy," Batman said evenly. "He has his own things to deal with. In the meantime, Robin. Batgirl. Take the map with you and go to the Joker's base of operation." Batman hesitated, and then reluctantly nodded. "Take Red Robin with you."

"You can't be-" Robin began, but Batman cut him off.

"-not a word, Robin. The rest of us will head to the hotel to stop the Joker."

"Maybe we should get Red Hood here," Harley said, her brow furrowing. "With so many of you gone, he's going to suspect something. Especially with Robin gone; he kind of has an obsession with killing him."

Batman's jaw clenched, and Nightwing stepped in helpfully. "Then we'll take Robin, and Red Robin and Batgirl can go to the hideout. Batgirl rarely works with us on a regular basis, and Red Robin is never in town to. He won't suspect anything if they aren't there."

"I don't want them to go alone," Batman said sternly. As Red Robin and Batgirl began to protest, Catwoman touched Batman's shoulder.

"I'll go," she purred, looking him in the eye. Batman seemed even more reluctant now than he had before, and Catwoman smiled. "You can let me out of your sight once in a while, Batman. I promise I won't get hurt."

"I still don't like Robin facing the Joker while he has the upper hand," Harley muttered, looking at Robin with worry etched on her face. Robin glanced up at her and scowled.

"I won't get thrown out a window, if thats what you mean."

"Robin!" Nightwing cried, staring at him incredulously.

"Nightwing!" he replied sarcastically, waving his hands in the air. Nightwing grabbed him by his cape.

"Apologize."

"No!" Damian snapped, looking at Nightwing like he was crazy. Nightwing shook his cape angrily.

"Now!"

"I apologize," Damian shouted, crossing his arms. Batman looked between them in irritation. Harley pulled Nightwing away from Robin.

"Hey, it's okay." She looked Nightwing in the eye. "I wouldn't have come if I couldn't handle it," she assured him. Nightwing smiled, his irritation with Robin evaporating.

"And neither would I," Robin pointed out. "I can handle myself better than any of you can, now can we please get on with this?"

"Yes," Catwoman agreed, kissing Batman's cheek. "Be safe my love," she laughed softly, and then led Red Robin and Batgirl from the roof.

"Nice to see you again!" Harley called, waving to Catwoman.

"Now let's focus. We need to get to the hotel," Batman said. Harley felt Nightwing's hand slip into hers.

"That's halfway across the city, and we all can't fit in the Batmobile," Nightwing pointed out.

"Exactly why we didn't bring the Batmobile," Robin smirked. Batman pressed a button on his gauntlet and the Batwing dropped silently from the sky, it's powerful engines making hardly a sound as it landed on the roof. Robin leaped into a seat, and Batman got into the cockpit. Nightwing lifted Harley up into the stealth jet and climbed up after her, situating himself in the seat behind Batman. He made sure to buckle Harley in before clicking his own belt over his chest. The cockpit slid closed, and the jet lifted off of the ground.

"Are we not going to talk about how cool this is?" Harley asked Nightwing in a whisper. Nightwing leaned over to her, smiling.

"Good guys get all the fun toys," he whispered back. "I would've loved to have had one of these- all I got when I was a kid was the Batboat. And even then, my Robin-Jetski was way cooler."

"And all I had was a hammer," Harley joked.

"Hey. The jester costume was kinda sexy when you weren't trying to bash my face in." Nightwing said quietly, grinning.

"I always avoided your pretty boy face," Harley teased.

"I do not have a-"

"-oh for the love of God," Robin whirled in his seat. "Would you two shut up already?" he demanded, and then slammed back into his seat angrily. Nightwing smiled and squeezed her hand, laughing quietly. Harley glanced at Batman and Robin's backs blushing.

"Don't be jealous, Robin," Nightwing sneered, a smile on his face. Robin growled angrily but ignored him, crossing his arms.

"Both of you stop it," Batman commanded.

"Fine." Nightwing held up a hand in surrender, and leaned close to Harley. "I'm not letting you go back," he whispered in her ear. Harley reached over and touched his cheek.

"Let's worry about tonight before we worry about tomorrow."

Nightwing nodded and squeezed her hand, leaning into her touch. The jet jolted a bit as Batman brought it down silently on a building across the road from the hotel.

"Robin with me to the north end," Batman instructed. "Nightwing, you and Harley to the south entrance. And keep her out of sight," he commanded. He tossed Harley a comm and quickly walked away, Robin trailing behind him.

"Not a problem," Nightwing nodded, instantaneously ready to get to work. He led Harley along the roof quietly to the south wall and jumped up onto the ledge, pulling out an escrima stick and firing the grappling hook into the concrete at his feet. He held out a hand to her. She grabbed it, and he pulled her tight to his body, holding her close. "Hold on," Nightwing told her as he smiled and jumped back over the ledge. She gasped as they fell for a moment, the cable releasing quickly, and she felt his arm tense around her waist as the cording broke their fall. He dropped down to the ground below and set her gently on her feet, the grappling hook pulling into the escrima stick as he put it in the holster on his back. "Come on," he whispered, going to the door. After trying the locked handle, he kicked it in, glancing around the corners and then pulling Harley in after him. The Joker's cackling stopped her in her tracks. Nightwing looked back at her. "What is it?"

"Something's not right," she muttered, eyes wide.

"What do you mean?" Nightwing looked at her in alarm. "Harley if you don't want to come, you can stay here. Just stay hidden. Safe." She looked at him.

"I'll be fine," she told him gently. "He just sounds wrong."

"He sounds… Harley be specific I don't understand-"

Nightwing was cut off as a man screamed from another room. The Joker's laugh tore through the air again.

"I have a bad feeling about this. We shouldn't be here," Harley pleaded with him. Nightwing took both of her hands and looked her in the eyes.

"We'll be fine, I promise, okay? I won't let anything happen to you. I'm here to catch you this time," he whispered earnestly. "I need to know if you're okay to continue. Are you sure you can do this?" She squeezed both of his hands and nodded slowly. Nightwing kissed her gently and then pulled her behind him as they crept down a hall toward the grand lobby. Looking around the spacious room, Nightwing spotted several of the drug lords, as well as James Shan; tied up in six chairs in a row in the center of the room. The Joker paced back and forth in front of them, muttering to himself. When he turned toward the hallway to pace back the way he'd come, Nightwing pulled Harley back, but not before she'd seen his face.

The Joker's normally pristine white face makeup was smudged and blackened around his reddened eyes, streaked down his face in streams. His hair stuck up every which way, curls hanging down in front of his forehead; his purple coat splattered with blood. The normally intelligent, sadistic gleam in his green eyes had disappeared, and in it's place was a hellishly vacant haze. He bit his gloved fist angrily and growled loudly.

"Where the hell is the Bat?!" he shouted, walking to the first drug dealer in the line. "Do you know where he is? Because normally he isn't that late, and I don't know how much time you all have." He sighed conversationally, what looked like a gun in one hand and a crowbar dangling loosely from the other.

"I'm over here Joker," Batman said. Joker whirled around, a grin spreading across his face.

"I've been waiting!" he called, spreading his arms and twirling the crowbar like a baton. "Don't come any closer and all that jazz," he cried, squinting into the shadows. "Did you bring your birdie with you? I brought my wing clipper," he howled with laughter, brandishing the crowbar.

"Let Shan and his men go. It's me you want to see."

"Oh! But it's not, you little attention whore!" Joker cackled with delight. "This little get together was for all of you! Still don't move!" he threatened when Batman stepped closer, his hand flying up and pointing his weapon at the first drug lord. It wasn't a gun.

"What is that?" Robin asked, at Batman's side.

"This?" Joker grinned at him. "It's an industrial-strength staple gun with inch long staples. It doesn't do much good for killing, but its good for torture." He shrugged casually, and then fired the staple gun at the dealer. He screamed, an inch-long staple embedding itself in his arm. "See? But if you get it just close enough, and just in the right spot-" with unbelievable speed, the Joker pressed the staple gun to the thug's temple and fired it twice. The man fell still and the Joker leaned down to look at his face. "See now I don't know if he's dead or if he's comatose. I'm not a medical man…"

"Why are you doing this?" Batman demanded.

"Same old boring questions!" the Joker screamed angrily. "You should know by now that there is no reason!" he spat as he walked behind the men tied to the chairs, his coattails following him. "Because- it's- fun-!" He howled, and with every word he fired a staple at the base of a dealer's neck. At the end of his sentence he frowned, realizing that he had one more thug in the lineup before Shan but no more words; he shrugged and stapled the back of his head anyway. The man screamed, his eyes still blinking but his body falling still. The Joker giggled and then burst into laughter. "Oh dear, I may have paralyzed that one…" He leveled his empty eyes on Batman. "I do it, because you can't stop me."