In Love With A Good Man
Chapter 2: Denial & Acceptance
Harley wandered downstairs into Casey's kitchen/living room area. Casey was still asleep in his room. With nothing else to wear, she put on her red and black jumpsuit again while leaving her hat on the counter. At first, she was going to simply leave...
But instead, she decided to go into Casey's fridge, take out some groceries and make breakfast for the both of them. She hummed to herself as she did so, thinking quietly about what her next move was going to be. By the time breakfast was done, she had her day planned out.
Casey, now awake, came down the stairs. He followed the scented trail of cooking food down into the kitchen. He found Harley serving their plates. She had made omelets. His eyes widened slightly and he blinked a few times in surprise.
"Hey." He greeted her, clearly not expecting her to still be there. She looked at him and smiled.
"Hey, cutie! You came just in time. Food's done," She said. "You got anything to drink?"
"Yeah, water," He answered, looking at the plates oddly. He picked them up and put them on his table between the kitchen and living room. "You...didn't have to do this, Harley."
"Well, I wanted to! Bet you never had a girl cook ya breakfast the next morning, did ya?" She said with a giggle. Casey glanced at her with a smile.
"No. It looks good. Thank you." He said appreciatively.
"You're welcome!" Harley smiled, happy to see him recognize the kindness of her little gesture.
"Here, come sit. I'll get the drinks." He invited, pulling her chair for her.
"Ohh, such a gentleman." Harley chuckled, walking over and sitting down. She waited for Casey to come back with two glasses filled with ice water. He set hers down first before sitting down across from her.
"The food looks really good, Harley." He said, picking up his fork.
"Hope ya like it." She replied with a smile.
The two began to eat her breakfast. Things were quiet between them for awhile. Based on how Casey was scarfing the food down, Harley just figured that he was really hungry. He did speak after awhile finally.
"So, where are you gonna go after this?" He asked curiously.
"I sent a text to my best friend...Red. I'm gonna stay with her for now." She answered.
"Gotcha. Well that's good that you have somewhere to crash... Were you living with your previous boyfriend?" He asked, now reading between the lines of the information Harley was giving him.
"Mhmm," She nodded. "He...threw me out. Left me with nothing. All I have is a little spare cash in this...outfit." She said sadly. Casey's eyebrows furrowed.
"Gosh, I'm really sorry, Harley... That's awful."
"It is...I'm going to get my clothes and stuff today. After that, I'm done with him for good...!" She said, crossing her arms in front of her as a gesture of her conviction. In reality though, she was uncertain as to whether or not this would really prove to be true.
"Well that's good. You deserve much better than that." He said sincerely. She knew that he was right, but he said it so simply without a second thought that it actually caught her off-guard for a moment.
"You're right. I do..." She nodded and swallowed. "I-I should get going. Red's probably waiting for me right now." She said, getting up after she had finished her food. Casey got up as well since he was already finished.
"Yeah. I'll walk you out." He volunteered.
Harley grabbed her hat and made her way to the front door. Casey walked up behind her, unlocking the door and cracking it open. He turned towards her and rubbed his hand on her arm.
"I hope everything works out for you, Harley. Be careful out there." He said.
"That's real sweet of ya. Thank you," She said with a smile. She leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I...put my number on your fridge. Give me a call sometime, 'kay?" She invited.
"Oh yeah?" He quickly glanced back at the fridge then back at her, "Yeah. I'll definitely call you." He said with a chuckle. She smiled and made her way out of the front door.
As she walked away, she picked up her hammer and hoisted it over her shoulder, then she raised up her other hand up to wave and glanced slightly over her shoulder.
"Bye bye now!"
"Bye." Casey said, watching her walk away before closing the door and locking it...
One thing that Joker taught her that she could use to her benefit was how to secretly get through the city without being seen, even during the day. Hidden tunnels and abandoned stations were all over Gotham's subway system.
Harley used them this time to get to an abandoned shipyard by Gotham's coastline. To most people, it was just a toxic waste dump that needed to be cleaned up. But to Harley and her best friend, it was a little home and hideout called Toxic Acres.
Harley came up through a hatch within its gates. She climbed out and yanked her hammer through the opening. After using it to close the hatch door, she walked over to a lone little house by the pier. She knocked on the front door.
"Red! It's me, Harley!" She called through the door to her.
After a bit, 'Red' came up to the door. She had on her usual green outfit. Harley smiled, happy to see her redheaded friend again, even under these circumstances. However, while it was good to see Harley again, Poison Ivy raised an eyebrow and folded her arms.
"I've already got your room ready. Come on in." She said, stepping aside to let her in.
Harley walked inside. She had already crashed here once before, the last time that Joker threw her out, so she was already familiar with the place. Harley set her hammer down and made her way past Ivy's plants, patting some of the sentient vines.
"Hey, babies! Your Aunt Harley is back. Oh, look at ya. Growing so big and strong, ain't ya? Yes you are, yes you are." She cooed as she stroked a few of them. The plants, in response, rubbed her wrists and even purred a little.
"So, the clown threw you out again, huh?" Ivy said, sitting down at her table. She was in the middle of working on a new formula for a toxin and had her lab equipment spread out on the table.
"Yeahh. Sorry to have to barge in like this...again." Harley apologized.
"More trouble in the kingdom of crime," Ivy tusked. "Didn't I tell you that it was only a matter of time before this would happen again?" She reminded her.
"I know you said that, but I really thought things would be different this time! I did way more to make it work!" She defended.
"And yet you still ended up on the curb. Honestly, Harley, you gotta stop going back. For real this time. I'm tired of being your shoulder to cry on every time you break up, only for you to go right back to him and do it all over again!" Ivy said with some frustration.
"I'm sorry, Ivy, really!" Harley said, sitting up on the table in front of her, which was getting in the way of her work, "But you're right. This time, I'm through with him! No more 'Joker and Harley Quinn'! I'm done!" Harley declared again, making the same gesture of crossing her arms.
"Good." Ivy said, trying to nudge her off the table.
However, Harley's declaration and brave face soon melted back down into pouting and a tearful expression, "But... 'the Joker and Harley Quinn' sounds so good...it had such a nice ring to i-i-it!" Harley sobbed, giving way to tears again.
"Ugh," Ivy groaned. She got up from the table and walked over to Harley, hugging her from the side. "There there. It'll all be alright...assuming you actually plan on staying away from the maniac this time." Ivy said aside after doing her best to be comforting.
"I will stay away! I will!" Harley insisted, getting off of the table and stamping her foot, "I'm gonna make it without him! I'll show him!"
"What're you gonna do this time? Wait two weeks instead of one before you come crawling back to him?" Ivy asked sarcastically. Harley growled a little.
"No I will not! I'm gonna pull a big heist without him! And this time, I'll keep the reward!" Harley declared.
"Woww," Ivy rolled her eyes. "Well if you're serious, I was planning on hitting a bank tonight. There's a specific material I need for this toxin: a special metal on display in the manager's office that I can melt down."
"Ooh, can we steal some money too?! I could use some!"
"Yeah, sure." Ivy passively agreed with a wave of her hand.
"Thanks, Red." Harley said, hugging her. Ivy rolled her eyes again, but she cracked a little smile and patted her on the head.
"Anytime, Harl. I'm always here for you."
"I know," Harley smiled and let her go. "This'll be great! The two of us together again! The queens of crime!" She shook her fist enthusiastically, getting herself excited to be working with Ivy again.
"Duchess and court jester is more like it," Ivy chuckled. "But we can work on that." She smiled back.
"Hey, Red. Could ya, uh, do one more favor for me?" Harley asked, placing her hands behind her back and twisting her foot in a cutesy way.
"What do you want, Harley?" Ivy asked slowly, raising an eyebrow at her.
"Could you come with me to pick up my stuff from the abandoned carnival?"
"Harley, you know that we're in a hideout, right? Because we're hiding?" She reminded her.
"Pleeease?" She insisted, batting her eyes at her. Ivy groaned and sighed.
"Fine. Quickly." She folded her arms but caved in...
Harley and Ivy made their way back through the tunnels until they were as close to Gotham's abandoned amusement park as they could safely get. They resurfaced above ground and went to the fence. They got there only to find that Joker and his men had already cleared out.
"Looks like they're already gone. That was anticlimactic." Ivy observed.
"They left that fast! Without me?!" Harley grunted, upset by this. She angrily lifted her hammer and busted the gate down with one quick swing.
The two of them made their way through the former Joker hideout. They stayed on guard as they approached the circus tent where Joker and Harley had been staying, but they relaxed when they entered and found that it had been completely cleared out.
"We'll spread out and find your stuff." Ivy said, branching off away from her and beginning to search.
Harley quietly walked through the big and open and empty circus tent. It was a bit of an emotional experience for her. Just two nights ago, she was here with the Joker, sharing laughs and plotting their next moves. They were making plans together.
Now she was gonna be left out of all that.
Harley went to where Joker and her had been sleeping. But everything was gone. No clothes, no personal belongings; it was all gone. All that was left was a naked bed frame and the affectionate graffiti that she had sprayed on the floor.
"Harley! I found your stuff! You're not gonna be happy...!" Ivy called to her from outside the tent. Harley made her way outside to where she was, and gasped at seeing her stuff.
"Trash bags! They threw all of my stuff away?! They just left it here!" Harley shouted in offense, angrily kicking a bag full of her clothes.
"Harsh," Ivy shook her head. "Sorry, hun." She said sympathetically, rubbing her back.
"He threw it all away... He left it here...for me. M-Maybe he wanted to make sure that I had everything I needed...?" She tried to reason.
"Harley, look at the bags," Ivy said firmly. "He threw your stuff in the garbage, plain and simple! He threw you away like trash, and he left your stuff in the trash." She summarized. Harley looked at her things again and began to sniffle and cry.
"I just want him to love and appreciate me! Is that so much to ask?!" She bawled, dropping her head down in her hands. Ivy sighed and hugged her from the side.
"You're never gonna get anything real from that clown. You just have to accept that." Ivy said frankly. Harley nodded, but still cried even more.
Just because it was true didn't mean it doesn't hurt...
