Chapter 16

Silence fell in the back of the van. The two clowns hadn't removed their masks. Harley figured they were only allowed to remove them if their boss said so. She came to think of the other two who had been injured back at the park. They had left them behind and they were most likely being taken to the hospital now and then they would certainly be put up for questioning. Would they betray the Joker and tell the cops where he was or would they keep it to themselves? Harley knew that the police would be looking for the Joker (and her) no matter what. Then something occurred to her. "I don't know about you, but if you ask me, the colour yellow isn't really that subtle. Ever thought about all the people who will be looking for us?" The Joker's smirk told her he had already thought about that.

"Oh, don't you worry," he said. "We'll get to that soon enough."

After what felt like fifteen minutes, the van stopped. Finally. The Joker was the first to get up and he opened the back doors. "All right, time to get up." The Joker reached down and jerked Harley by the arm into a standing position.

"Hey!" she protested, but didn't attempt to wriggle out of his grip as she was dragged out of the van. The clowns followed, even the two in the front. The Joker pushed Harley in front of him.

"Move your ass." He pointed to another van that was waiting for them right ahead. It was a similar model, but this one was white instead of yellow and didn't have a logo on it.

"More car riding?" she asked with a sigh. To her surprise, he brought his hand up to pat the back of her head.

"Don't worry. We don't have far to go now. Come on." There were two more of his men waiting by the white van. This had been his plan all along. Harley climbed into the back, closely followed by the Joker and the other four. When the doors closed, the van started moving and one of the goons handed the Joker something. "Here you go, boss." Harley knew what that was – a detonator. The Joker smiled.

"Just wait till you see this," he told her and she looked out the windows on the doors. He pressed the button and then – BOOM! They were well out of reach for the explosion to do any harm to them, but it still had the van shaking quite violently. The yellow van was now on fire and the Joker laughed, amused at the sight. "I bet you've never seen anything like that before." He looked down at her again and she shook her head, clearly not as amused as he was.

"Can't say that I have."

He had been right about them not having far to go. They only travelled for about ten minutes before the van pulled to a stop. "Home sweet home!" the Joker announced with his arms wide open as he jumped down onto the ground. Harley slowly stood up as well and when she got to the edge of the van, he was waiting there with an outstretched hand. She looked down at it and then into his eyes, trying to determine if he was joking or not. "Well, come on, then," he said impatiently and she decided to take his hand. Who would have thought the Joker was such a gentleman? He helped her down and then wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her close. She had not been prepared for that, but she went along with it, even leaning into him ever so slightly. "Welcome to your new home, Harley." She looked at the worn down building in front of her. It was a two-story, shutdown motel and from the looks of it, it had run out of business years ago. Harley wondered why the place hadn't been demolished, but then she recognized that they were in the Narrows. This part of the city wasn't really that much cared for and it was full of crime. Arkham Asylum wasn't too far away from here.

The Joker led her to the main entrance and Harley was a bit overwhelmed at the number of goons inside. But these weren't wearing any masks, so she could clearly make out their facial expressions. The Joker dug his hand harder into her waist, pulling her even closer. The goons were dumbfounded to say the least. They were used to seeing their boss's hostages being dragged inside, gagged and crying. Never before had they seen him actually pulling someone, especially a woman, close like that. But he was making a statement; she was all his and no one else's. No one said a word however and the Joker took Harley with him up the stairs to the second floor. They moved down the hallway of doors that led into different rooms and then stopped by the very last one on the left. He threw her inside and the force had her tumbling backwards, backing into the wall. What a gentleman, indeed. She let her eyes wander around the room. It wasn't very big, but it was enough space for a double bed in the middle, a drawer opposite to it with a small TV on, a desk and an armchair in a corner. Next to the drawer was a door, presumably leading to a connecting bathroom. If she had to guess, this was his room.

He closed the door behind him and then took of his gloves and coat, throwing them onto the bed. "Now," he said and clapped his hands together. "I would like to, sincerely, apologize for all the fuss. Hope you don't take it personal." He was apologizing? Yeah, right. She chuckled and her mouth widened into a grin, baring her teeth. She shook her head in disbelief.

"You are –"

"Charming?" he said.

"Actually, I was going for cynical. But sure," she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I mean, what woman wouldn't love to be captured and abducted by a mass murdering, psychopathic clown?" The sarcasm was dripping. But in reality, she actually meant it. What are you thinking, Harley? Look at yourself! You're having an ordinary conversation with probably the most dangerous man in the whole city! Snap out of it! But she didn't want to listen to her small voices of reason inside her head. For once, she wanted to do something that wasn't expected of her. Something that she wanted.

"You know," Harley started, "I used to be scared of clowns. But not anymore. Why do you think that is?" He pursed his red painted lips and shrugged.

"Well, they say the only way to get rid of your fear…" He paused, then stepped closer. She was already leaning against the wall, so she couldn't retreat. But she didn't want to. Now his face was directly above hers and she looked into his eyes. "…is by facing it," he finished and then his tongue slid out just like it used to. It was getting harder to fight the urge to just reach up and plant her lips on his.

"I thought about what you said about taking what you want," she whispered.

"And…?" She bit her lip.

"And I know what I want now." She looked into his eyes. Neither of them blinked once.

"And what's that?" She could tell that he already knew exactly what she wanted, which made it all the more easier for her to say it.

"I want you." Her hands reached up to cup his face and as she brought her mouth closer, he met her halfway and their lips connected. Before she had time to get used to this new sensation, he pressed his body hard against hers, nearly knocking the breath out of her, but she didn't budge. She knew it was wrong, but then why did it feel so right? His lips were a lot softer than she'd expected and least of all had she expected him to respond the way he did. Her heart was beating fast and she could swear that his was too. With their chests pressed against each other so close, it was like their hearts beat as one. Then all of a sudden, he jerked away, breaking that connection. They both breathed hard, staring into each other's eyes for one moment. "I brought you a little gift," he said and stepped away from her, heading back out of the room. Harley was confused by this, but she figured he wanted her to tag along, so that's exactly what she did.

They went back downstairs and it seemed that his gang were all busy with gossip in the small lobby. But as soon as their boss came into view, their mouths stayed shut. However, they weren't looking at the Joker. They were looking at Harley. She didn't know exactly what to make out of their expressions, but one thing was certain; she was not welcome here. Harley continued to follow the Joker into the next room, which was actually the kitchen. It looked like it hadn't been cleaned once in its life. If I'm going to stay here, that needs to be fixed, she thought to herself. The Joker stopped by a door and opened it up for her. She could see a set of stairs leading down into a dark basement. If this was a horror movie, this would be her indication to get the hell out of the place. She looked to him and he gestured for her to go down. "Ladies first." She did go down, taking one small step at a time to make sure she didn't lose her footing. He was close behind her and when they had finally descended the stairs, he switched on the lights.

There, in the middle of the room, tied to a chair and silenced by a piece of duct tape over their mouth, was the last person Harley would ever expect to find there. When the lights turned on, the person raised their head and Harley stepped closer to confirm it was true. "Cassidy?"

A/N: Cliffhanger! What's Cassidy doing in the Joker's basement? Stay tuned for the next chapter to find out. ;) And I hope you enjoyed some more JXHQ moments outside of the therapy room. How long have you been waiting for them to kiss? I know I have waited for quite some time. XD I have a few more things planned for the two of them, but I do believe that we're getting closer to the end now. But don't worry, there will probably be at least five/six/seven more chapters! ;)