Author's Note: I apologise for the absence, I know my reasoning does little to make it less annoying so instead I will say I will try not to let it happen again. Thank you to everyone who continues to read this, and thank you to those who leave comments that are either constructive or pleasant, you rock. There is a piece in here which some of the more intense Harley fans will recognise.
To the reviewer who left a comment that was neither helpful nor insightful; of course this fanfiction has a large number of scenes 'straight from the movie' it is a Suicide Squad fanfiction. It says pretty clearly that I'm changing pieces (also not sure which Joker you think I don't know anything about, because he's different in most portrayals, including mine which is also stated clearly) but that I am keeping the best parts which form the movie.
Please if you're going to leave a negative comment at least put a little thought and brain power into it and make it constructive, because otherwise they're just funny.
Chapter Thirty Five.
Harley could feel the tension in the air; it was interesting watching things fall apart when she had no role in the commotion. The soldiers followed their orders strictly, walking forward cautiously in the dark streets, but Harley could feel their confusion and anger. It seemed they didn't know much more than the criminals did, that gave Harley the perfect ammunition to test their bounds a little.
Harley sped up to walk beside the bearded soldier, who glanced at her warily, before looking ahead in an attempt to dissuade her conversation. "So you must know all about what's going on here, huh beard man? You lead one of the no-fun brigades" Harley questioned lightly, eyes wide in a false innocence. The man glanced at her once again, Harley caught the tension in the crease between his eyes, it said more than his words could. "I've been briefed on what I need to know" He replied shortly. Harley 'ahh'ed' in understanding mockingly "Oh I get it, you and your boys are the cannon fodder, huh, beard man? The muscle doesn't need to know the details" Harley said, taunting slightly.
The man's face darkened momentarily before he shook his head. "It's Lieutenant Edwards to you. I know what I need to. We both know who the real cannon fodder is here" He replied, tone icy. Harley laughed loudly, skipping ahead a step and turning around to walk backwards so she could keep looking at Lieutenant Edwards face. "Doesn't that make you curious Eddy? Who the big baddie is that's so much of a threat they bring the their own big baddies out to fix it, or take the blame for it?" Harley taunted, she could almost see her words twisting into Edward's brain, planting the seed of mistrust.
"Oh but I forgot" Harley said before Edwards could answer "You're the muscle, not the brains" Harley finished tapping the side of her head with a short giggle. Harley turned ahead and walked away from the man. "Your mind games won't work on me" Edwards called after her. Harley smirked to herself but did not turn around "Are they really my mind games?" Harley called back. She could feel the doubt in the man as he remained quiet, not replying. Floyd glanced at her side ways, seemingly having caught the end of the conversation. "Playing games, crazy?" He asked, something of a humourous fondness in his tone. Harley smiled widely at him "Life's a game" She answered vaguely. Floyd huffed a laughed and nodded, turning ahead.
Harley walked ahead as she caught Flag picking up his com, wanting to know all that she could about their situation. "Waller we are moving on with the objective. We lost contact with Bravo, you got a visual?" He asked. Harley found that equally interesting and annoying for two reasons. The first being that Waller was actively in charge of their expedition, that fact that she could see them had Harley glancing up at the dark sky suspiciously, she stuck her tongue out as she looked up for good measure. The second interesting fact being that the team of soldiers that had been sent ahead was missing.
"Stand by" Came the short reply from the other end of the com. After a moment of silence the com buzzed "Flag it's a negative. They were engaged when you were but we lost them" Amanda's voice replied, Harley smiled at the slight panic in her voice, chaos was Harleys natural state of being; the game was being played to Harleys strengths now. Harley dropped back as the conversation ended uneasily.
The street the group had turned onto was clearly an expensive avenue, with expensive name brand stores and over priced restaurants, Harley found herself gazing at the clothing and jewellery displays in the store fronts, it had been so long since she had been shopping. Some of her favourite adventures with Joker were when they went out on wild sprees taking pretty things, sometimes to keep, sometimes to burn, just to watch how people would react when there was no obvious goal or plan to their actions.
A brightly lit display caught her attention, bringing her to a halt. Sparkly, part of Harley's mind said as something glittering in the window caught her eye. Like a moth to a flame, Harley was drawn to all things bright and beautiful. Joker had once mocked her obsession, telling her he would put her useless desire to good work by taking her to a jewel vault, Harley had laughed at his snappish mood and had kissed his cheek firmly despite his refusal to respond in his mood.
Harley frowned at the memory, she missed Joker, she wanted it all back, the good and the bad. The times he would lose his control and trash a room and the times he would hold her tightly with a wild laugh she ached for equally. She was a wild woman and she wanted her wild man. Joker and Harley were similar in many ways, the wild mood swings and arguably severe lack of 'sanity' included.
Blinking out of her thoughts Harley studied the bag that had caught her eye for a moment. The bag was expensive, glittering all over like a diamond with a tasteful thin golden strap. Without a thought Harley lifted her bat and hefted it into the window. The shattering crash that rung through the silent night caused every person in the vicinity to jump and turn to her, weapons raised and ready to fire. Harley ignored them as she reached in through the hole she had created and snatched the bag from the display, carefully avoiding the glinting shards of glass that now lined the street at her feet.
"Seriously? What the hell is wrong with you people?" Flag asked, his words full of spite. Harley slung the bag over her shoulder and rolled her eyes "We're bad guys, it's what we do" She stated, tone clearly conveying that she thought that it should be obvious to him. There was another moment as the soldiers watched her with a surprised wariness, and the rest of the criminals eyed her in varying degrees of amusement, though it was hard to tell what Killer Croc' and Diablo were thinking as their unusual faces covered emotion well.
A low, amused snort from Killer Croc' broke the moment of tension as the soldiers turned forward and continued on their way up the street. Harley skipped over the broken glass, threading through the various people spread across the street. Part of her mind was up in the clouds, thinking of how good it would be back with Joker, the other part was studying and assessing everyone around her, trying to judge who she should be listening to.
Harley stopped beside Killer Croc', who walked a small distance behind Flag and Floyd. Whether it was because Flag and Floyd were leading the group, or because of Killer Croc's presence, a wide berth was given to the group. Harley stared ahead at Flag and Floyd for a moment, they were similar, like leaders of opposing countries. They might not hold the same beliefs, but they fought the same way for what they did believe.
Harley nudged Killer Croc' in the side slightly with her elbow "I didn't realise we were blacksite prison mates, we could have been roomies!" Harley said, smiling at Killer Croc' with a hint of sarcasm in her tone. The reptilian man huffed in what could have been in laughter or annoyance, it was hard to tell sometimes, and glanced at her from under his hood. "I mean that would be some seriously ironic karmic shit, right? Your good ol' shrink becoming your cell mate" Harley continued, unperturbed by the lack of a reply.
"I always knew you were crazy anyway" Killer Croc' rumbled eventually. Harley laughed loudly, gaining some wary glances, and leaned up to Killer Croc' as far as she could. "So did I" Harley mock whispered. A flash of large, sharp teeth in a dangerous reptilian mock smile was the reply she received.
Those words had Harley thinking of a time a couple months after she had joined Joker when a memory of her life before him had come to mind, one that stood out among the hazy mess of memories before she became whole. The memory stood out, she suspected, because it had involved Joker in however small of a way. They had been in Joker's office, he had been sorting through his weaponry, while Harley had sat on the edge of his desk, swinging her legs.
"I was crazy before I met you, ya' know Mister J" Harley had piped up suddenly. Bringing her legs up to sit cross legged on the desk. The man had grinned his dark smile slowly. "I knew that the moment you, uh, walked into our cozy little cell" He had replied. Harley smiled adoringly at him in reply "I didn't know it before University, but the nasty man there showed me why you were the one I needed to be with. I pushed down the crazy then, how boring" She said, her words slightly disjointed as she sorted through the foggy memory of how she had come to the realisation that she needed to be with Joker, even if she had fooled herself into thinking it was to help him at the time.
Joker's eyes glinted in interest at her words "Tell me what the bad, bad man did" He crooned, dark amusement and anger playing across his face. Harley swayed her head back and forth for a moment, putting together the memories in her mind. "I dated a guy, named Guy" She began, laughing at her words. "He was smart, he studied psychiatry too. He even made up his own concoction that he called a 'Think Drink' to help him study" She had shifted to lean towards Joker as she had told her story.
"I was over-worked then, failing my classes, poor little girl working too hard" She had faked an exaggerated pout at this, gaining a bark of a laugh from Joker. "So Doctor Markus, oh-so-kindly suggested I put my thesis, Love and Crime, to the test; using Guy. I agreed, it was all under control" Harley's face had given off dark amusement at her words.
"So one day, I went to Guy, distraught and tearful I told him a little story. Mean old Doctor Markus was going to fail me, so I had panicked and said I would accuse him of raping me if he didn't pass me. Then I told him all about how the bad Doctor pulled a gun on me, he recorded me blackmailing him, and then tried to kill me. But oh what could I do but try to get the gun from him, in the struggle he had been shot and I ran from the scene in a stolen car. Oh but the police would be after me I told him. I was convincing, I could have been an actor" Harley had informed Joker, placing her hands on either sides of her face and pouting sweetly at the man.
"So then Guy, all wild eyed and horrified, ran off before I could ask him if he would still love me, before I could complete the experiment. He took the gun from his nightstand and drove away, intent on finishing off Doctor Markus. I followed him, and found him too late, he had killed a homeless man who he had thought was Doctor Markus. Too horrified about having killed an innocent man, he shot himself in the head on the spot" Harley mimed shooting herself, mouthing 'Pow' with the motion. Joker's eyes were frozen on her as she spoke.
"But then, then I found out that bad old Doctor Markus had been running his very own experiment. He had poured diluted Joker Venom into Guys' Think Drink, which had made him so very irrational. I got my little revenge, telling him I knew, he passed me to keep me quiet so that I would not have to return to his classes for the rest of my time at University. Then, before I left, I spiked every liquid in his house with the very same diluted Joker Venom" Harley finished her story "That is when I understood you, about how right you are about people not being in control. About chaos" She finished, smiling at Joker.
He had stared at her for a long moment, eyes cool as she had told him the story, before laughing wildly, pressing his hand to her throat he had held her to the wall, staring at her smiling face. Though the position could have been considered aggressive, Harley knew better, he was testing her; testing to see if she was as truly mad as he was.
When Harley had shown no signs of panic or distress, he had kissed her deeply, his hand moving from her throat to the back of her neck. Pulling her head back quickly his manic gaze had met hers "And they thought I made you crazy" He had rasped. Harley had laughed along with him, she saw it much more clearly now than she had then, but it had always been known to her, no matter how deep down, that she was wonderfully crazy.
Bringing herself out of the memory, Harley swung her bat over her shoulder once more, reassured that Joker would come for her. He knew her as well as she knew him, she was crazy, truly, but she was also intelligent.