Chapter 15

Once his words reached her through the phone, her heart stopped. They had found him? So soon? Harley had no idea how to react. Gordon told her that he would come and pick her up in twenty minutes. She told Dr. Arkham about it and he had no choice but to let her go, of course. Harley had a light lunch before Gordon arrived. She had no idea when she'd be back and so she thought it was best to eat something.

When twenty minutes had passed, Harley took off her doctor's coat as well as her glasses and left them on her desk. She only wore them while at work. She headed outside and sure enough, there was a police car waiting for her there. She saw Gordon in the backseat and he reached over to open up the door for her. "Hurry up!" he called and she rushed over in her flats. Thank God I didn't wear heels today. Once inside the car, they sped away from the asylum.

"What's happened?" Harley asked. "Do you know where he is?"

"I think we do," he answered. "We just received a call from an agency hosting birthday parties for children." Harley was confused. What did birthday parties for kids have anything to do with it? Gordon went on. "They had one booked today at 11:30 AM at Grant Park. They had booked two clowns for the party. Only, they got beaten unconscious and when they came to, they had been robbed of their costumes and one of the vans belonging to the company was gone." All this he said without a single pause and never taking his eyes off the road. Oh, now I get it.

"It has to be him," Harley confessed. Who else could it be? Not that she had any idea what he would do at a birthday party for kids. Maybe it was his way of finally revealing himself so that she could come find him? Deep down, that's what she hoped it was all about; that he wanted her to come to him. She came back to the conversation from her thoughts. "But that means he's not alone. There's got to be at least two more," she concluded, more to herself than to Gordon.

"That's what we're thinking."

"And you want me to try to reason with him?"

"If there's anyone who can," he said and finally turned to look at her, "it's you," he finished, nodding at her. She appreciated it. It made her feel special. She was the only one who might be able to reach out to him. Another question struck her mind.

"When did you receive the call?"

"Just about half an hour ago."

"How long 'til we get there?" Gordon looked down at his watch.

"If we hurry, we can make it there in fifteen minutes." She looked down at her own watch and her heart sank. In fifteen minutes, the clock would already have passed 11:30 with maybe eight minutes.

"We won't make it before them," she pointed out.

"We have backup," Gordon said. "They might make it there in five minutes, but we better not waste any time."

Four minutes passed and Gordon received a call. "Bullock, are you there?" he asked. Harley couldn't hear what Bullock was saying, but she hoped it wasn't anything bad. "No, you don't do anything 'til I get there! That's an order! We'll be there in two minutes!" Gordon hung up, his face red. It was slightly unsettling seeing how upset he was. Two minutes.

They came to an abrupt stop just outside the entrance of the park. The van that belonged to the agency was carelessly parked near the sidewalk. It was hard to mistake it for an ordinary van, because it was all yellow with the company's logo written on it in vibrant colors. Gordon stepped out of the car and Harley followed suit. The rest of the police officers were already waiting for them. Harley saw Harvey Bullock and he acknowledged her with a nod. "Doctor."

"Detective," she mirrored his nod.

"I can't believe why someone would hire clowns for a birthday party to begin with," he complained. "They're freaking terrifying." Harley couldn't stifle her chuckle, but thankfully it was barely audible. She figured they wouldn't take kindly to it. Then she saw the officers grab hold of their pistols. They can't do that. Harley tugged at Gordon's sleeve. "Hey, no harm was to come to him!" she said and gestured to the armored policemen.

"All right," he said, "but the same does not go for the rest of his crew." He turned to his men who were waiting for orders. "No one aims for the Joker! Your targets are the clowns! Only the clowns!" he repeated, then turned back to Harley. "Stay behind me." She nodded in response and followed him as they entered the park.

It wasn't long until they spotted two men in clown costumes along with four others in clown masks. They were all armed with guns, directly aimed at a bunch of kids and a couple of adults huddled together on the ground. The kids couldn't be more than ten years old. A lot of them were crying and the adults, two mothers it seemed, looked to be close to tears as well. There was a table behind them all set and decorated for the party. A big cake was placed in the middle. Then, from behind the group of frightened hostages, Harley saw a tall figure dressed in a purple greatcoat coming into view. It felt like she hadn't seen him in ages and now here he was in all his glory. She froze on the spot, even though her feet were itching to run straight up to him. Gordon announced their presence, gun held at the ready. "GCPD! Let go of your hostages and stand down!" In one swift movement, the clowns redirected their guns toward the police instead, but they didn't shoot. The Joker practically lit up at the sight of his new guests.

"Ah, we were just about to cut the cake," he said and clapped his gloved hands together. "I'm so glad you could make it in time!"

"Last chance, Joker," Gordon warned and repeated himself. "Let the hostages go and stand down!" Harley glanced around at the other officers who had now formed a half-circle around the clowns. It was ten against seven, if you included the Joker, but he didn't appear to be holding a gun. The Joker frowned.

"Why do you always have to be such party poopers?" Harley was right; the Joker wasn't holding a gun, but now he withdrew one from his pocket and fired it at the cops. The clowns did the same and the hostages huddled even closer together.

Harley was still frozen on the spot, but when Gordon turned around and told her to go get cover, she didn't hesitate to follow his orders. She ran away from the spot and hid behind a big maple tree about sixty yards away from the shootings. She leaned her back against the trunk and took deep breaths. Surely ten policemen would be able to take them down, right? And the Joker wouldn't be harmed. Gordon had promised her that. When she could breathe normally again, Harley peeked around the tree to see what was going on. The Joker was the first person her eyes landed on. He was still on his feet, laughing maniacally. He's all right. A couple of his men were not, though. Harley could see that two of them had been hit. One was lying on the ground, bleeding and the other was taking turns firing his gun and clutching his arm, which was undeniably bleeding. A couple of cops had been shot as well, but not fatally it seemed. Her eyes landed on one of the boys in blue and her eyes widened in horror. He was aiming his gun at the one person he was told not to. Adrenaline kicked in and she ran faster than she ever had before. Oh no you don't! Thanks to her speed, she was able to knock the officer down when she bumped into his side. "Don't shoot!" she yelled. The man looked up from the ground and his eyes shot daggers at her.

"Crazy bitch!" he exclaimed and grabbed his gun, getting back up on his feet, taking his aim once more.

In that moment, something triggered inside of Harley. She came at him from behind and threw her arms around his neck and wrapped her legs around his torso, clinging onto him. He was forced to bend backwards and he had to drop his gun to try to get rid of her arms that were slowly choking him. With great force, he bent forward and pulled Harley over his head and she landed with a thump on the ground. It practically knocked the breath out of Harley, but she couldn't give up. He needed her. She looked around for something. Anything. Then her eyes locked on a baseball bat lying just a few feet away. She got up and went to grab it. She gripped it tightly in both hands and sneaked up on the officer from behind. "I said… don't shoot!" She swung the bat hard into the back of his head and he fell unconscious to the ground. She dropped the baseball bat to the ground, realizing what she'd just done. When she looked up, she saw him standing a few yards across from her. He started giggling. "I'm starting to rub off on you."

The gunfire didn't cease between the cops and the clowns and no one seemed to have noticed that Harley had just smacked one of the cops to the ground. However, the clowns had a hard time keeping up. She heard the screech of wheels and the yellow van came crashing into the park and skidded to a stop on the green lawn. "Come on boss, let's scram!" one of the clowns yelled and headed straight for the van. The cops didn't stop shooting at them.

The Joker caught on quickly to the fact that no one seemed to be aiming for him. He had hoped that the fun wouldn't stop here, but it looked like he ran out of options. He caught sight of the children and the two accompanying parents. They hadn't moved an inch. "Plan B it is, then," he muttered to himself and strode over to the cowering group from behind. Then he yanked one of the girls with his left arm around her abdomen, dragging her along to the van. She screamed and tried to break free. The other kids looked horrified and one of the women cried out. She had to have been the girl's mother.

"NO!" she screamed and was about to follow them, but the Joker raised his gun and held it against the girl's temple. All the fuss attracted everyone's attention and the shooting stopped. Harley had watched it all, fearing where this was heading. Now when the Joker knew he had everyone's attention, he spoke up.

"It's been a hoot as always, but I'm running on a tight schedule. And so is she, in case anyone tries to follow us." He looked down at the crying girl who had stopped fighting him since he held the gun at her. Someone had to do something. Harley found Gordon, who nodded for her to start reasoning. She nodded back and looked to the Joker, who stood his ground by the van.

"J…" she started carefully and took a few steps closer to him. "J, let the girl go. She's just a kid, she doesn't need to get hurt." The Joker was impatient.

"You're gonna need something a lot better to convince me," he said, still holding the gun in place. Of course he wanted more. That girl was his ticket to an escape route. No one would try to follow them when they knew an innocent could be killed. Well, then that's exactly what he would get.

"Take me instead," Harley said. "Let the girl go and I'll go with you."

"Harleen, no!" Gordon exclaimed.

"Don't argue!" she shot right back. "This is my decision." The Joker seemed to be buying it.

"Well, then scoot over here," he told her, still not letting the girl go. Harley did as told and moved slowly towards him.

"All right, let her go," Harley said as she came to stand in front of him. He waited a couple of seconds, eyeing her, before recklessly tossing the girl aside who instantly ran over to her mother. Harley felt relieved as she watched mother and daughter embrace each other. But a loving embrace wasn't what was coming her way. The Joker roughly grabbed her with his arm around her neck, pulling her close with her back against his chest. He leaned down to speak in her ear.

"How noble of you, playing the hero. You're lucky I'm feeling generous today." His breath felt warm against her skin, but the barrel of the gun he put against her head was cold.

"Same thing goes for her. Anyone follows us and it's bye-bye Dr. Quinzel." Harley looked at Gordon, who was now aiming his gun at the Joker, but the worry was evident on his face. She made eye contact with him. Do as he says. Don't follow us. Gordon reluctantly lowered his gun and he motioned for his men to do the same.

The Joker dragged Harley with him into the back of the van and one of the clowns already in the van closed the doors shut as the driver sped away from the scene. The Joker tossed Harley down onto the floor and he sat down on the bench attached to the wall. There was only one bench, so Harley would have to settle for the floor on the opposite side. She backed up against the wall and locked her eyes on him. He, in turn, did the same. There was only silence between them for a couple of seconds and the two clowns who were accompanying them in the back did not dare speak. Then, he started talking. "I told you we would see each other again. Reunited at last." The sarcasm was evident, but that didn't matter to her. All she could think about was that, yes, they were finally reunited. There were so many things she wanted to tell him, but given that they weren't alone, she had to save that for later.

"So it seems."

A/N: So sorry for the late update! I just felt I needed a short break. Hope that's all right. Honestly, I'm not all too pleased with this chapter. There are just so many things I wish were different, things that I could have done better, but alas, this is what you get. Our two clowns are finally reunited at least, so I hope that makes you happy. :) Next chapter is going to be all Joker/Harley, so look out for that. ;)