CW: There's violent themes throughout the chapter, thus I want to give y'all the heads up!
Harley had just walked into the apartment after a day of running errands. She took out her earbuds, placed them on the kitchen counter then proceeded to walk to the fridge to get something to drink. "Hey, 'Lina, I'm home!" she called out, but no response. Harley didn't think anything of it, so she continued to browse the kitchen. After she got her drink, and a snack, she walked over to the living area and turned the TV on.
"In other unfortunate news, Gotham City PD Commissioner James Gordon was found dead in his home office."
Harley's eyes widened, and she gasped. "No fuckin' way."
"When investigations started, they found a branding on his wrist of four diamonds, two of them red, the other two black. Leading officials to assume that the killer has some connections to Joker, and their partner, former psychologist Dr. Harleen Quinnzel, or simply Harley Quinn."
"WHAT!?"
"An APB is out on these two. They are armed, and extremely dangerous. If you see them, contact Gotham City PD immediately, and remain hidden from their view."
Harley quickly turned the TV off, and began to breathe heavily. "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god."
"Harley, what the fuck happened!?" Selina steps in the room, taking her mask off, and looking at Harley with anger. "You iced the Commish!?" she asks, and shakes her head when Harley opens her mouth. "Keep quiet." She demands.
The blonde started to tear up, her breathing started to shake.
"I brought you into my home, I held you in my arms every time you had a panic attack…" Selina starts off, pacing the room. "I even put together a makeshift room so you could have your privacy." She looks towards the windows of the loft.
Harley, on her hands and knees began to crawl towards Selina, whimpering on her way to the older woman. "Lina, y-you gotta believe me." She sits up on her knees. "I-I had nothin' to do with Jim's death." She says. "It has'ta be Joker, framing me by leaving that pattern on 'im."
Selina keeps her gaze away from Harley. "I don't care." She says. "You need to leave, now."
"What?" Harley's tears start hitting the floor. "B-But…" She slowly stood up. "I didn't do anything, 'Lina… Please believe me-" she began to plead when Selina cut her off by gripping her neck.
"I said… You need to leave, and I meant it." Selina's voice was a lower register than normal. "You can't be trusted…" her gaze finally sets on Harley, and her grip tightens. "Joker was right about you."
Harley's eyes widened when she heard what Selina said. "W-Wh.." She starts coughing blood from the pressure on her neck. Harley was focused on trying to break Selina's grip to the point that she didn't even notice that the person choking her wasn't Selina anymore. "J-Joker!?"
A maniacal laugh comes from the person. "Thought you could hide from me, Harley?" they ask before throwing Harley across the living room. "Foolish!"
Harley hits the wall, landing beside a body. She lets out a groan of pain before looking over at the person next to her. "N-No…" she rolls the body over to see that it's Selina with a bullet hole in her chest. "Lina…" she cries out. "You didn't need to do that to her…" she sobs.
Joker walks closer to Harley, keeping their laughter going. "You're right, but it's much more fun that way." They pull out their pistol, aiming it at Harley's head. "I get to make you feel emotion one more time, before I-" Joker pulls the trigger, unloading a bullet into Harley's head.
In the middle of the night, Harley wakes up with a scream. Tears streaming down her face, and heavy breathing to top it off. She's had bad dreams from time to time over the past month, though none as bad as what she just had. Harley thought she had finally suppressed Joker's affect on her, that their presence wasn't as strong as it used to be. She was unfortunately wrong.
Selina heard the scream and ran to Harley's room to check on her. When she saw Harley in that state, she immediately sat at her side, holding her. She listened to Harley's explanation of the nightmare, doing her best to be calm for Harley's sake.
A couple weeks passed since that night, and Selina took it upon herself to work on a routine to help Harley out. On the rooftop of her apartment building, she set up a gym-like area for her and Harley to train. Selina had a plan, and she was going to make sure things went accordingly. Once the time was perfect, Selina went to her apartment, told Harley to put on some gym clothes and meet her on the roof.
Harley had no idea why, but she wasn't going to question Selina right away. She put on some leggings that Selina got for her, and a somewhat baggy T-shirt, and then made her way up to the roof to see what Selina had done.
"Woah, 'Lina." Harley exclaimed. "You went all out, didn't ya?" she asks.
"A little bit." Selina says before walking to the mat. "I figured this would be a good place to train, it's remote, no one comes up here, and the only sounds are of the city." She explains before lifting her shirt off to reveal her in a tight tanktop. "Remind me to get you a lighter top to wear."
Immediately, Harley took notice of what Selina did, amongst other things. "Holy shit, how many abs do you have?" she asks with a smirk on her face. "Never seen ya like that, hot damn."
"Harley!" Selina shouts, her demeanor is more direct. "I brought you up here for a reason, and you're going to focus." She demands.
Harley gulped then walked towards Selina slowly. "What…" she took a deep breath. "What are we trainin' for?" she asks.
Selina leaned to the bench that wasn't far from them, grabbing a pair of fighting gloves. "We're going to build your confidence back." She says. "It won't be the way it used to be, but you're going to like the result in the end."
The blonde looked at Selina, then at the gloves. "How is fighting going to help with that?" she asks.
"I wouldn't consider it fighting." Selina starts off. "I'd say it's more or less, tension releasing." She says and notices a smirk about to form on Harley's face. "Not that kind of tension, you perv."
Harley pouts. "You're no fun."
"Put these on, I'm gonna grab the pads, and you're going to hit them as hard as you can." Selina hands Harley the gloves. "If I feel you're holding back, I will agro you."
Harley wasn't exactly thrilled about getting threatened by someone who said they'd be there for her, and she took offense to it by her expression. "You're threatening me, even though you claim you're helping me?"
Selina picked up the strike pads and walked back to the mat. "Correction: it's a promise." She speaks. "If you have a problem with it, knock me on my ass."
The blonde looked at the gloves again, shook her head and tossed them aside. "Uh uh." She steps back and glances at Selina. "I don't appreciate how you're talking to me." Harley says. "Threatening me, demanding that I hit you, and dancing around my question."
The older woman sighed, nodded, and then walked to Harley. "I'm sorry." Selina places a free hand on Harley's shoulder. "It's not my intention to come off as threatening, just direct. She tries to explain. "I want to help build you back up, so you don't have anymore of those nights like that night." She begins to wrap the free arm around Harley's shoulders. "Or if you do, they're very few, and far between." Selina bites her inner lip, keeping a calm gaze at Harley.
Harley looks up at Selina with a pout on her face. "Y'know you're lucky that you're built like a god and have a way with words." She says before casually running one finger against Selina's stomach. "Holy shit, her abs even have abs." she thinks and moves her hand to her side. "Okay, let's train." She moves from Selina to grab the gloves.
Selina was unsure how to take what had just happened. One second, Harley was sad, then the next second, Harley was touching her stomach. Selina shrugged and followed Harley. "Put everything you got into it, okay?" she asks before adjusting the strike pads. "First fists, then kicks."
Harley nodded in agreement, then got in position to train.
"That a girl." Selina says to herself and braces for the strikes.
The training session lasted for a couple hours, with breaks in-between of course. Harley threw what she had at Selina, and Selina made sure to respond the way a training partner should respond. Of the two, Harley was the first to be exhausted from it, as Selina was barely getting warmed up. Though this was mostly for Harley anyways.
When they were done training, Selina treated Harley to a Frappuccino at the local café by the apartment. Though Harley was nervous about being out in public, Selina kept Harley close, and the people in the neighborhood were welcoming towards the blonde which helped a lot. After they spent the day decompressing from the training session, the two made it back to the apartment to get dinner started.
"Alright Harley, I'm gonna get washed up, and then I'll start supper." Selina said as they walked inside the apartment. "How does chicken and rice sound to you?"
Harley pursed her lips, shrugged, and then walked to the fridge. "Sounds like carb loading ta me." She says casually.
Selina chuckled. "Come on, Quinn, you gotta get shredded." She joked. "Besides, chicken is a great source of protein, and it's not as heavy to ea-"
Knock, knock, knock!~
Selina was in the middle of her explanation when it got cut off by the door knocking. She walks to the door, slides it open to see a familiar lady in red. "Pam?" she asks. "What are you doing here?"
Pamela smiled at Selina, and handed her a bouquet of flowers. "I was in the neighborhood, and I figured I'd stop by." She said. "I also heard that Harley's staying with you, that true?"
Selina nodded, took the flowers, and then stepped back to let Pamela inside. "Yeah, she's staying with me while she gets back on her feet." She explained.
Harley turned to see Pamela walk in the apartment, her face turned slightly pink. "R-Red, hi." She speaks quietly.
Selina took notice of Harley's expression, wanted to crack a joke at her, but decided to keep her mouth shut. "I'm gonna put these in my room, you two try not to have any fun on my counters." She points at both women before leaving the kitchen to go to her room.
Pamela kept a kind demeanor up until she heard Selina's door shut, it then changed to annoyed. "I don't like her." She mutters to herself. "So… You're actually done with Joker, huh?" She faces Harley, biting the corner of her lip. "How are you holding up?"
It takes everything in Harley to not run into Pamela's arms, and melt with emotion. She wants to tell Pam about the trauma that she's gone through, the nightmares, and the constant fear that she's been having. But she settles on keeping calm, taking a deep breath before speaking. "It's been rough, if I were honest." She says.
"I bet…" Pamela moves closer to Harley, gently taking the blonde's hands in her own. "I owe you a bit of an apology, don't I?" she asks.
Harley's face went hotter the second Pamela touched her hands. "A little more than a bit." She responds while looking at their hands.
A smirk appeared on Pamela's face as she leans in to softly peck the side of Harley's lips. "How about you come over to my place, stay the night, and we can talk more?" she suggests.
"T-Talk?" Harley asks, and Pamela nods a couple times. "Okay…" she says quietly.
Pamela shifted her body to wrap her arm around Harley's waist. "Come on, baby… Let's go." She whispers before walking with Harley out of the apartment.
The two made their exit from Selina's apartment, and into Pamela's car. Once the drive began, Harley kept her eyes towards the city. Taking in the difference in lighting from The Narrows, to the high-end part of Neo Gotham, otherwise known as "Paradise". Harley has only seen Paradise a few times, mostly when she would visit Pamela. This was the first time she had seen it with her own set of eyes, rather than the eyes of someone blind to the world around her. Pamela on the other hand would occasionally run her hand on Harley's thigh, just to comfort the blonde on the lengthy drive.
They made it to the parking lot of Pamela's apartment complex, got out of the car, and proceeded to make their way inside. Once they were inside, Pamela put her purse on the stand next to the door and walked to the kitchen. Harley followed closely, taking how Pamela's apartment looked. It felt different in comparison to the last time that Harley was there.
"So, what do you say to a drink before we have our… Talk?" Pamela suggests and turns to see Harley's reaction.
Any other time, Harley would've been fine with having a drink or two before anything goes down. This time was different, however. Harley shook her head, walked closer to Pamela, and leaned her body against the redhead's. "Red, I…" she starts, unsure of how to start. "Everything is confusing to me right now."
Pamela wrapped her arms around Harley's back, caressing it gently. "I know, honey, I know." She gently rocks them. "But tonight, let's just focus on us, because that's what matters at the moment." Pamela shifts herself to be able to cup Harley's chin. "I'm here, and as long as that remains a fact, you'll have no reason to be confused… I promise."
Harley's face turned a brighter shade of pink than it did when they saw each other in Selina's apartment. She felt her body turn weak as she places her hands on the hips of Pamela. "Y-Yeah?" she asks in a hopeful tone.
"Yeah…" Pamela whispers before leaning into a deep, passionate kiss on Harley.
A soft moan escapes the blonde as she accepts the kiss, sliding her tongue into Pamela's mouth. She moves her body against Pamela, almost as if she's trying to get closer than she physically can. Harley's hands run under Pamela's shirt to feel her soft skin, which causes Pamela to let out a moan in response to the touch.
Pamela's tongue danced with Harley's for a few moments before she finally stopped the kiss, breathing heavily. "Let's take this over to my room, baby…" she suggests, Harley nods in agreement.
At a location that's between the Narrows and "The L.J.", the Joker's crew had just come back from a successful heist. Joker had decided to relocate after every heist, and considering the mess they end up leaving at each pickup, it made sense. Joker went to their office with the intention of counting the money that the crew received, but there was something different about the pace at which Joker walked.
Joker closed the door behind them, taking a couple deep breaths. "Fuck…" they whisper to themselves before walking over to the desk. Their eyes widened as they cover their mouth, coughing hard into the glove. Joker moved their hand, seeing more blood than the first time this had happened.
"Ey, boss?" One of the crewmates walks in. "I have the intel on the next gig that you wanted." He says before seeing Joker's hand. "You okay?"
Joker glared over at their henchman. "I'm fine, don't worry about me!" they shout before standing up straight. "You should be worried about if you're going to be okay after barging into my office unannounced." They threaten.
The man looks down for a couple seconds. "Sorry, boss." He says. "I just wanted to make sure this got to ya."
A growl came from Joker as they look away from their henchman. "Don't let it happen again." They say before walking to the shelf, opens the case that sits atop of it, and pulls out a syringe with glowing green liquid inside. "Just place the file on my desk an get the fuck out of here." Joker demands before carefully inserting the syringe, and injecting the contents into their body.
The henchman noticed Joker's actions, keeping his lip bitten at the sight of someone that is his boss look almost fragile. "Say boss, you know that stuff can kill ya, right?" he asks.
"You know, chiming in when you're not asked can kill you as well, but you didn't ask my opinion, did you?" Joker barks towards the henchman. "Now I believe I told you to put the fucking file on my desk, and get to steppin', did I not?"
"I know, but-"
"That is strike two, do you wanna take a chance at your last strike, or do you wanna place the file on my desk?" Joker asks.
The henchman sighed and walked over to the desk, placing the file on it and then turned to leave the office.
Joker let out a sigh, and then stood up straight. "Hold on…" they say, and the henchman stops in his tracks. "You forgot something." Joker says then pulls out a gun, shooting the henchman in the kneecap.
"Ahh, fuck!" the henchman screams in pain and falls down against the balcony. "Why!?"
"The next time you attempt to meddle in affairs that have nothing to do with you, it'll be your heart." Joker walks over to the henchman, gives him a shove down the steps, and then looks towards the rest of their crew. "He needs a medic, he got himself shot, poor guy." Joker says before walking back into the office, shutting the door and locking it.
Later in the night, at Pamela's apartment…
Pamela and Harley had just finished an intense, and passionate love-making session. Something that in the moment, the both of them felt they needed. The two women were laying in Pamela's bed, with Pamela's head resting against Harley's chest. Harley had her hand casually run against Pamela's back.
"Say, Red?" Harley calls out.
"Hm?"
Harley slightly looked at Pamela, biting her lip some. "I feel different, like… More so than I did before." She starts off.
Pamela shifted her body some to look at Harley. "Oh yeah?"
"Yeah." Harley nods. "It's weird to not be around someone like Joker anymore, and for it to be over for good." She said.
The redhead kept quiet, though she would have a comment or two to say. Pamela just casually ran her hand against Harley's stomach.
"I'd like to think that I'm doing somewhat well without them." Harley says quietly. "I've lasted this long, and I don't plan on stopping."
Pamela went back to laying part of her body on Harley, closing her eyes. "Hmm…" she lets out.
Harley glanced at Pamela, then back at the ceiling. "At least, I don't wanna stop…" she admits. "Though I'm scared that something, or someone is gonna cause me to go back…" Harley frowns, feeling some anxiety from admitting that. "I've been… Having these nightmares that Joker will find me, and finish the job that they started." A tear falls down Harley's cheek. "That Joker would take form of someone I care a lot about, just to get to me."
Harley covered her face for a few seconds, letting out a deep breath in hopes that she doesn't burst into tears. "Red… Y-You won't let that happen to me, right?" she uncovers her face, and doesn't hear a response from Pamela. "Red?" she calls out, and then hears some quiet snoring coming from Pamela. "Oh…" she says to herself, following it up with a sigh. "She's probably tired…" Harley thinks to herself before closing her eye with the intention of getting some sleep.
A/N: It's about time I finished a chapter. It only took me nearly a month and a half... I hope you enjoy it nonetheless, and I plan on incorporating more in the story. Which means, yes, more Joker, and Pamela.