Chapter 17

Cassidy's eyes were bloodshot from crying and she looked so worn down. But once Harley stepped into view, her eyes were filled with hope and though her mouth was covered, Harley could still make out her own name coming from her friend. Harley had no idea why the Joker had brought Cassidy here, but she was certain that whoever was his inside man at Arkham had told him about Cassidy. That only confirmed Harley's suspicions that she had been spied on. She had mixed feelings about it, but she would talk to him about that later.

Harley looked to the Joker, asking silently what this was all about. He walked over to Cassidy who was trying desperately to talk to Harley, but as soon as he stopped behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders, she grew quiet and cringed at his touch. Her eyes were filling up with tears again. "I thought it was only good form to invite your bestie," the Joker said. "A proper introduction was long overdue, don't you think?" He directed the question to Cassidy, leaning in close to her face, but she turned it away, shutting her eyes hard. She was shaking out of fear. Harley had a bad feeling about this.

"So this is your idea of a proper introduction?" she asked. The Joker shook his head.

"Oh no, no, no." He patted Cassidy on the head before moving away, walking past Harley towards something else. Harley followed him with her eyes. "No, this…" He stopped by a table standing against the wall. Harley's jaw dropped at the sight. "…is my idea of a proper introduction." From the table, he picked up a large, jagged saw in his hand. In an instant, Cassidy started screaming. Harley hated the sound of it. Not so much because it made her feel uneasy, but because it annoyed her. She walked over to the Joker and saw that there were more weapons displayed on the table. Knives of all sizes and sharpness, more saws, even a chainsaw, a baseball bat and a couple of guns. "As you can see, there's a variety of options," the Joker said. Harley was starting to understand where this was headed.

"You want me to kill her?" she asked calmly. He shrugged.

"You can do whatever you want with her. The choice is yours." He put down the saw and stepped aside to let her make her choice.

This was a test. He wanted to see what she was capable of. How far she was willing to go. For him. Harley turned around and walked up to her friend, who was happy she had decided not to bring a weapon. Harley ripped off the duct tape and Cassidy was taking deep, shaky breaths. "Harley," she let out. "Are you okay? What's going on? Did he kidnap you too?" Harley stared down at her tied-up friend.

"No." She shook her head slowly back and forth. "No, he didn't. I came here with him out of my own free will." Cassidy's forehead creased into a bemused look.

"What?" she breathed. "Why?" She couldn't understand it, could she?

"Why?" Harley repeated. "Because he's the only thing that makes sense to me these days. Because I feel like he's the only one who cares about me." Now it was time for Cassidy's jaw to drop.

"How can you say that? Harley, he's a murderer and a psychopath!" Harley grew quiet for just a moment, then a smirk crept up on her lips and she shook her head, chuckling at the words she'd just heard. You just don't know when to keep your mouth shut, do you? "Now that," Harley said and turned her back on Cassidy, heading back to the table. On impulse, she grabbed one of the guns and then pointed it straight at Cassidy. "That is actually the worst possible thing you could say! You should've just kept your mouth shut!"

Cassidy was shaking her head back and forth, not believing a single moment of what was playing out in front of her eyes. Where was the real Harley? What had he done to her? "Harley, please don't do this!" Cassidy tried to reason. "We're best friends!" Best friends, huh? Harley took a step closer.

"Oh yeah," she said sarcastically. "I'm sorry, I totally forgot! You know, when you ditched me at that club for some douche you'd just met. I never asked, but how did that work out for ya?" Without noticing it, Harley's Brooklyn accent was starting to come back. For so long had she tried to hide it, but now she was tired of hiding. Cassidy's voice was breaking as she spoke.

"I'm sorry Harley. I really am." Her voice was weak and pitiful. "You know this is wrong."

"But what's wrong with being wrong, huh?" Harley's voice was getting louder. "Nobody's perfect. And you know what? I'd rather embrace my flaws than try to hide them." Not once had she lowered the gun and to her surprise, her hand was as steady as a tree. Her index finger was resting by the trigger, ready to pull. Cassidy shook her head again, more frantically this time as she could see what Harley was about to do.

"Harley," she said calmly. "This isn't you." Harley's eyes widened and she took a deep breath through her nose.

"Don't tell me who I am."

Bang.

It all went so fast. Too fast for anyone to scream. Too fast for anyone to think. Too fast for Harley to realize what she'd just done. She still held the gun pointed in the exact same spot as before. The bullet had gone straight through Cassidy's head and now her body was lifeless, still tied down to the chair. Harley was breathing heavily. She felt the Joker coming up behind her. "Wow," he said, raising his eyebrows at the scene. "I was expecting a lot of things, but that was not one of them." He stopped right behind her, his chest to her back. He raised his left arm and grabbed the gun from her hands. He tossed it down onto the floor. "I'm impressed." Harley slowly turned around and placed her hands on his chest. He, in turn, placed his on her hips. Her heavy breathing was still audible, but she was beginning to calm down when she looked up into his dark eyes. "You're feeling it, aren't you? The rush?"

"I – I think so, yeah," she answered, at a loss for words. She was definitely feeling something. And whatever it was, it was all thanks to him.

"By the way," he said, "you never told me you were from New York." She smiled. So he picked up on that, huh?

"You never asked me." Harley took another glance around the room. There were several shelves by the walls and they were all covered by packages of C4 explosives and the likes, along with some more guns. Much bigger ones than the one she'd just used. It seemed that what once was a food cellar, they had now turned into their very special storage room and torture chamber. Oh yes, this was definitely like a horror movie. But it was a good one. Her eyes fell on Cassidy again and the mess on the floor and wall behind her. "What do we do about that?" she asked him.

"Don't you worry, I'll have the guys clean it up later. Now, we celebrate."

A/N: I know this chapter is really short, but I didn't want to leave you at that cliffhanger for so long! I will try to make the next chapter longer and filled with lots more of Joker/Harley moments! What did you think of this chapter? Was it what you expected or did it take you by surprise? I'd love to hear your thoughts on it! Thank you all once more for reading this story, I'm so happy so many of you are enjoying it! :)