My old man is a tough man, but
He got a soul as sweet as blood-red jam
And he shows me, he knows me
Every inch of my tar-black soul
Off To The Races / Lana Del Rey
Pam took a breath, ready to begin the story now. "It didn't take long for me to realize that something stunk at Woodrue Incorp. All their promises of 'Clean Energy' and 'Environmentally Friendly Changes' couldn't make up for their redacted files, and their secret meetings," She glared. "Couldn't make up for their shady dealings. I had been… watching them for a while. I didn't realize they had been watching me, as well, until it was too late."
Pam glanced at me, eyes troubled, "Before I left for Metropolis, I wanted to tell you, Harley, but I was scared they had eyes on me by then and didn't want to put you in danger because of what I know." She took a breath, before continuing. "About Paradise Meadows. What they're doing there. It's a lower-class Neighborhood, in the suburbs outside Gotham. Almost entirely Section 8." Okayyy…
"They have a building… a Project. The public story is that they're making meal replacements . Fucking meal replacements don't put out that kind of… sludge. "
Fuck. I was beginning to see where the story was going and I worked to keep my face sympathetic, though a large part of me was annoyed at her for putting me through hell over rich people…. Doing what rich people do. "I've been out there, only ever wearing extensive PPE- less than half a mile upriver from where the children swing on a rope into the water. I know it's toxic, but I still haven't been able to identify exactly what they're doing up there… I think it's military, but I can't be sure of course. Though it would make sense why they were coming after me so hard…"
Military? I glance at J, who is suddenly alight with curiosity, and I know he is thinking the same thing I am. Chemical Weapons. He smirks, and I glance away.
Looking back at Pam, she continued, though it was clear she hadn't appreciated the synergy J and I were expressing. "Anyway, the night I… Jason Woodrue… Boy Genius of his parents' company, Came to my Hotel room… " Her voice was thick now. "I think he thought I would be asleep… He wasn't prepared for a fight." Her eyes were filled with tears, and she trembled. I leaned on her, rubbing her back. I heard J snort but didn't glance up.
"It was worse after he was dead… and I was just… in shock." She shook her head, "There were so many of them. They came into the room so fast, I barely had enough time to hide." Pam leaned on me now, trying to hide her fear, "I hid in a vent in the bathroom… I stayed there all night before I made a break for it. They were waiting for me at my car… at my apartment. At Eddie's. I was just… paying in cash at a cheap motel in the Narrows, trying to buy time when… Frost found me."
She glanced up, offering the man, still eating beef and broccoli a smile. "He said that his boss had a special interest in my story, and was going to help me." She glanced at J whose chest shook with silent laughter.
"I didn't know… Anyway, Since then, with the help of Frost here, I have been devoting all of my time to understanding what is happening at Woodrue Incorp."
The room was silent for a moment before J cleared his throat. Looking up I saw him glancing meaningfully at Johnny, and the other man sighed, before standing. " Right, I'll go make some calls."
I rolled my eyes at the man still sitting, who only shrugged. "Waste not want not, Harls."
"Harls?" Pam glanced at me, and I blushed again, looking away. I dug into the noodles again, glancing longingly around for a drink.
"Catch." I glanced up, just in time to catch the water bottle J tossed my way. I smiled gratefully, opening it. "That isn't water." He said just in time.
I looked up at him, eyes narrowing. "Are you joking?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Out of cups." He shrugged, grabbing another from a bag beside him. "You want one Dr. Goodall?"
"What is it?"
"Wrong answer. Now you get none." He laughed, opening the bottle and taking a swig, and I followed suit, before coughing.
"What the fuck—"
J choked on a laugh, and I glared up at him, slapping my chest.
"Is that nail polish remover?"
"Oh, please. It's just something from one of Waylon's friends."
"Waylon's friends from the south ?" I asked. "Are you telling me that's homemade hooch? Do you realize how dangerous that is?" He squinted at me, and I rolled my eyes. "Point taken."
"If you don't want it, that's cool." he extended a hand and I scoffed at him, taking another disgusting pull from the bottle.
"You still haven't given me a fuckin' cigarette. I'll take my chances."
He snorted and shrugged. "Maybe if you ask nicely ."
I snorted, looking away and digging into the noodles again, and avoiding Pam's eyes.
Johnny returned quickly without speaking, looking to J, and lifting his hand to rub his thumb against his index and middle fingers in the universal signal for money. I glanced at Joker who only sighed, head flopping back, before giving a thumbs up that looked defeated.
"Fuck it, I'm going outside." He stood, "I'm restless. Do you wanna come?" He glanced over at me and I looked down at my only half-dressed self. I glanced back up at him with one eyebrow, and he chuckled, reaching under the cot I was still restrained to, and handing me a bag, before lifting another key and removing the ankle restraint, making Pam go pale as I opened the garbage bag, finding pieces of clothing. I glanced up at J and he shrugged.
"It's cold, you were half naked. I had Johnny pick some shit up."
"Isn't he such a sweetheart," I teased and he glared at me.
"If you're coming, get up." He shook his head, stalking to the door, and slamming it behind him.
I snickered, slipping on the sweats over my shorts, along with the thick coat, and shoes. Pam gripped my wrist.
"What are you doing?" she hissed, and I glanced over at Johnny, who kept his eyes carefully off of us.
"Pam, listen. I don't know if you've recognized it yet, but he's helping you." I said, mouth thinning, "And he's helping me too, kind of. I think. I don't know." I shook my head. "But I need you to trust me. I can handle this."
Her eyes were frightened, and she glanced over at Johnny, before back to me, mouth working, before she took a breath, seeming to center herself. "Are you sure?"
"Yes," I assured, and she nodded, releasing my arm, and I slipped out the door, to see J pacing at the tree line.
The snow was thick, covering up to my calves, the trees surrounding three of the four sides of the cabin gave the entire area a nearly alien-like appearance. The moon shined down on the cabin, and the snow surrounding, illuminating everything with a light blue hue. The air smelled of pine, and the wind was bitterly cold. I pulled my coat more firmly around myself, shivering. I could see two sets of tire tracks, rounding to the back of the cabin, out of sight. Ahead of me, I could see J, restlessly pacing.
I approached him slowly, watching him as his head bobbed along to some unheard rhythm. His left hand twitched aggressively at his side, and he snapped repeatedly with the other hand. I lifted the water bottle as I watched him, thankful for the warmth now.
"What are you—"
"Shh," His voice was harsh, but he didn't look up. He continued the pacing for another few minutes before turning to march over to me, pulling the bottle from my hand, and sloshing around half of it down his throat.
"Hey!"
"Shh," He said, slipping a cigarette out of the pack, and slipping it between my lips easily. He lit it before pulling out his own and leaning on a tree beside me. "I'm thinking."
"About what?"
"Need money."
"For?"
"Meat."
Somehow I knew he wasn't referring to the chicken inside. "Oh?"
"Yeah." he turned, sighing. "I hate this part. It's always boring."
"Why do you do it?"
He shrugged, "Can't have one without the other. I think… you're gonna drive."
I blinked at him, "What?"
"I probably saved your best friend's life." He glanced over at me, glaring. "I'm not a goddamned charity, you know?"
"I didn't say no," I chided, "No need to get so testy. I know I owe you, big. I'm just not sure if that's a good idea."
"Why not?" He relaxed.
"For one? I've never driven a get-away car before?"
"You're a natural, I can tell."
"How is that?"
"You're a backseat driver." He shrugged, taking a deep pull. "Best getaway girls are."
"Getaway girls? Is that your go-to move or something?" I snorted, "And, for the record? I'm not a backseat driver, you're a shit driver."
He narrowed his eyes but smiled. "So mean," He leaned towards me, ruffling my hair. "Your face is a mess, by the way."
I blinked, realizing I had never taken the makeup off. I chuckled, raising a hand and rubbing beneath my eyes to find a large amount of mascara. "Oops."
He smirked, reaching into his pockets, and finding a handful of takeout napkins. "One great thing about eating so much take-out? Never run out of napkins."
"Thanks," I chuckled, wiping my face, trying to remove what I could of the makeup. "You've got a soft heart for a serial killer, you know?"
He smiled, eyes soft again. "And you're pretty violent for a Doctor. "
"True," I laughed, shivering.
"You cold?"
"Yeah, but I'm not ready to deal with Pam again."
" Agreed," He sneered. "No offense, but your friend is kind of a cunt."
" Whoa with the gendered insults." I shook my head, raising an eyebrow, and he rolled his eyes.
"Oh, Jesus. Fine, she's a fucking dick. Personally, I think it's kind of ridiculous to get on my ass about sexism when I kill people, Harley."
"Another good point," I grinned and stole back the water bottle, finishing it with a shake of my head.
"Come on," He extended a hand, and I extended my arm, but didn't try to take his hand this time, something he seemed pleased with, his hand wrapping around my wrist, his thumb rubbing back and forth slowly against the soft skin. He dragged me around the side of the cabin, to where two cars were hidden in the treeline. One blue Camry, half-full of empty take-out containers, and the other a black hatchback of some kind. He cracked open the trunk of the Camry, before turning to open the hatchback.
"What are you doing?"
"Hm?" He glanced at me, "Getting ready for bed."
I blinked at him, looking away after a moment.
"Harley. I'm not trying to fuck you," He laughed. "I'd imagine your head still hurts, for one. However, I am tired, and I'm not sleeping in there. You also don't want to go in there yet. I'm just gonna get comfortable, okay?" He dug into the trunk, pulling layers of blankets, before spreading them out in the back of the other car. Then he turned to me, with a strange expression.
"What?" I asked, and he grinned wickedly, before his hands went under my arms, to my ribs. My jaw dropped when he lifted me, setting me on the lip of the hatchback. Wiggling his eyebrows, he pulled off my shoes.
"Don't look at me like that," he giggled. "I don't want snow in my bed."
"I could have done that," I said, wrinkling my nose, and rolling my eyes. "No need to treat me like a child."
J pulled a face. "I certainly do not treat you like a child. That's fucking disgusting Harley."
I rolled my eyes. "Such an asshole." He climbed in, pulling off his shoes, and throwing both pairs into a bag in the front seat, before closing the door. Then, he set up a battery-powered heater in the front seat and laid down next to where I sat.
Glancing at the heater, I squinted down at him. "Do you have a loyalty card for those things or what?"
He grinned, arm over his eyes, before peeking at me, and gripping my fingers, pulling me down beside him, gently. "Lay down, you're stressing me out."
"Fine," I chuckled, looking over at him. "You're strange."
He turned to look at me, eyebrows coming together.
"Stranger than one would assume, I should say."
He shrugged, covering his eyes again. "You more than anyone should know that no one is just one thing."
I didn't reply. He was right.
"Did you really almost cut me?" My voice was small, and his face twisted slightly, discomfort evident.
"You know the answer to that." He said it as though it tasted bad, but made no apology.
"I don't like that."
"I don't either if that's any consolation." He turned tired eyes to me, before falling silent. "Why are you fighting me so hard? Are you really so scared of me?"
I considered. I knew I should be. He had made an open-ended threat to cut my face if he ever found out I was in a relationship with someone else. He did so without hesitation and even when given a chance to recount the statement, to take it back. He was unrepentant.
"No." My voice sounded far away, and I closed my eyes, fighting back the tears threatening to come. Why do I always cry around him? I hate that he sees me so weak.
"Then what?" his voice was above me now, and I couldn't bring myself to open my eyes.
"That you're gonna leave." My voice was cracking, "When I like 'em, they always leave. Can't get rid of the others though," I chuckled, nearly choking on it.
"I'm not goin' nowhere. Couldn't if I wanted to. You're the one who left."
"Because it's easier if I do it." I sniffed, turning away from him.
"No, no, no, no." He turned my head towards him. "Stop turning away, I hate that. I told you, it's rude now to look at someone when they're talking. Speaking of which," I felt a harsh breath on my face, and my eyes snapped open.
"Did you just blow in my face like a fucking cat?"
"Look at me when I'm speaking." He smiled, and tucked hair behind my ear. "So, I'm not going anywhere. Now it's your turn to stop running."
It was my turn to use one of his quotes, smiling sadly. "I can't promise that."
For a moment his jaw jutted forward, and his nose twitched, before he relaxed, and chuckled, shaking his head in an exasperated kind of way. "Then I guess I'll just have to come get you when you do."
"What?"
"I said— Mmmfh "
I didn't let him finish, crushing him to me, kissing him. His hands stayed on me long after I was asleep, my constant reassurance.
Inside the Cabin, Pam watched from the window as The Joker led Harley into the treeline, towards the cars. She strained her eyes to watch, but it was so dark out that she lost sight of them nearly immediately. Pam looked over at Johnny, her unlikely Ally- though only now did she know that he was an incredibly temporary one.
"What are they doing?" She asked him, eyebrows coming together in concern,
"If I had to guess?" He said, not looking up from his book of sudoku. "Something I have no interest in guessing about. I'm just glad he took her outside this time, your friend is loud."
Pam's jaw dropped, eyes popping out of her head. "What do we do?"
Frost looked up, a strange expression on his face. "Who the fuck is we? And what do they need to do?"
"This is-" She blinked, "She's- He is a terrorist!"
"And I'm a Sagittarius." He said, dryly. "What's your point?"
"We need to stop them! She isn't thinking clearly!"
Johnny gave her a look as though she was insane. "You want me to go out into over a foot and a half of snow, to stop my boss, whom you have already described as a terrorist, from having consensual sex, with a woman I have established has done this before because… What? You think you get a say in who your friend sleeps with?" He paused, staring at her, waiting for the ridiculousness of her request to set in, before he snorted. "No, Dr. Isley, I will not be doing that. Do you know why? I like living. I get my ass kicked by J enough, I'm not gonna go out there and beg for it." He gestured to the door, "If you wanna go kick that hornet's nest, be my guest. " He rolled his eyes, resuming his puzzle.
"I think that's the most I've ever heard you speak," Pam seemed in shock, but Johnny only lifted a middle finger.
