A/N: I genuinely felt bad for how long it's been since I've updated, so this is a longer chapter than most of the others combined. I hope that makes up for the lack of updates.. Hopefully Chapter 6 won't be as long.
"Okay class, that'll do for the time being." A bald man stands at the desk between him and the classroom. "You are dismissed, just remember to get your homework sent to me Sunday morning, and we'll refresh today's lesson on Monday." He says and watches his class get up and leave the classroom.
The man let out a sigh once his class is gone, he then walks to the computer desk at the corner of the room placing a gentle hand on a picture of a blonde woman. "Nora…" he whispers to himself. "Hopefully soon…"
Not far from the bald man, another person approaches the room. "How cute, Freezie Pop." The voice calls out.
The man turns to the direction of the voice, a look of distaste forms when he notices the person. "Joker." He says. "I didn't know you were allowed near a school."
"I could say the same thing about you, Vic." Joker says and starts walking towards the man. "Memory serves correctly, most schools don't hire us bad guys as teachers."
Vic scoffed at Joker's comment. "They don't, but they also don't know me as Victor Fries." He admits. "And I would like it if you didn't refer to me as Freeze, either." Victor requests. "It's Art Schivel, that's what the board knows me as, and my students."
"Ew." Joker simply responds.
Victor walks over to one of the cupboards, pulling out two glass beakers, then he walks over to the sink to fill them with water. "You look dried up, have you been hydrating properly?" he asks before leaving the sink with the beakers, handing one of them to Joker.
Joker nods a couple times, taking the beaker and then a sip of water. "That's not why I look like this, sadly." They say. "I'm…" Joker gulps, looking down at the floor. "I am in a bad way, and… I need help." They admit.
A laugh of derision comes out of Victor upon hearing this. "You think I wanna help you, when you're the reason why I had to change my name?" he asks. "When you threw me under the bus, so you could take 100% of the score, and I get arrested for it?"
"Victor, I think I'm dying." Joker looks at Victor with sadness in their eyes. "I've used too much, and my body is breaking down by the day."
Freeze stood there for a few moments, seeing the serious demeanor in Joker's face. "There's no punchline… Is there?" he asks, Joker looks down. Victor bit the inside of his lip, trying to come up with a solution for Joker's situation, but only drawing two conclusions that might not work out the way he, or Joker would like. "Here's what you're going to do." He starts off. "At around midnight tonight, you're going to come to my lab, that's where I have most of my equipment, and can actually offer some help." Victor pulls out his notepad and a pen to write the address down on a piece of paper. "I wanna do a full analysis on your biometrics, see how badly whatever you used, is affecting you." He says and then hands the piece of paper to Joker.
Joker looks at the piece of paper, grabs it, and then shoves it in their pocket. "So do you think there's a chance we can fix whatever's wrong with me?"
"I don't know, Joker." Victor says honestly. "But I'm going to at least attempt." He continues. "However, any funny business on your end… Then you're on your own."
"Okay…" Joker nods and then turns to leave the room.
Over in The Narrows, Harley had started her shift at The Den. So far, she's enjoyed the lax atmosphere, and the friendly co-workers she got to know.
Unfortunately, she's not quite used to the idea of making coffee at a professional level, occasionally making drinks either too sweet, or strong, or not enough flavor. Still, she's enjoying the learning process, and trying to improve her skills.
"Harley, go ahead and take your break, it's quiet on the radio." One person says.
Harley looked towards the person, nods, and then gets up from the desk to leave for her break. She makes a quick detour to the break room to buy a snack from the vending machine, and then she walks to the main dining area of the café only to see a familiar redhead ordering coffee and a snack. "Red?" she calls out.
The woman glanced at where the voice came from, she raised her brow. "Harley, what are you doing here?" she asks, and looks up and down Harley's body. "Oh my god… Do you work here?"
"Yeah." Harley says with some excitement. "It's really cool, Pam!" she continues with a happy tone.
Pamela looks at Harley for a couple seconds before looking at the counter to grab her coffee. "Let's go sit somewhere." She says and walks away from the counter.
Harley follows Pamela over to a small booth, they both sit down and just stare at one another. Harley eventually opens her snack and takes a bite from it. "So.." she gulps. "What brought you over here?" she asks.
"I had a job to do really quick, and then I was going to head home to get ready for the Gala." Pamela answers and then takes a sip of her coffee. "Didn't expect to see you, and again working here…" she points out.
"What's wrong with me working here?" Harley asks.
Pamela leaned back, shaking her head slowly. "Nothing." She says. "Just… I don't get why you need to work, when you're a criminal." She takes another sip of her coffee. "You should have no issues with finding a random rich schmuck, and holding him up for what he, and his family's worth."
A sigh comes out of Harley, she looks down now just poking at her snack. "It was either take this job, or sit around in Selina's apartment, and feel like I'm just leeching off her…"
Hearing that set off an alarm in Pamela's head as her eyes widened. "Is that what's going on, Harley?" she asks, and before Harley could respond. "That bitch…" she says with anger in her voice. "She makes you go to work, and stays home to do nothing?"
"It's not like that, Pam." Harley says. "It's just-"
"What does Selina do anyways?" Pamela asks. "Goes to the gym, comes home, and then what?" she continues. "I'm telling you, Harley, I don't like her, and if you were with me you wouldn't have to lift a finger that wasn't meant to be touching me."
Harley's face lit up from the last comment, but she was also flustered from how much Pamela was weighing in on Selina. Yet… Harley was curious about Selina's line of work, they only talked about it briefly. "Look, Red… I don't know what all Selina does, and I don't ask because it's an invasion of her privacy." She finally speaks. "Yeah, Lina got me the interview, but I'm the one that went to it with the intention of turning things around for me."
Pamela pursed her lips for a few seconds. "What all do you need to be turned around?" she asks. "You're out of the clutches of that manipulative freakshow, and their gang."
Pamela had a point, what DID Harley need to turn around at this point? She has a solid relationship with the woman sitting across from her, she has a job, and an amazing roommate that has put up with her the past few months… Or at least Harley thinks that Selina has put up with her. "I… I honestly don't know." She answered honestly. "Which means I probably still have a bit to go until I can say that I'm fully in control, right?"
"I.. Guess… So?" Pamela still didn't understand why Harley felt the need to change too much, but she wasn't going to stop it since Harley seemed happy enough. "So, since we're here, I might as well ask you a quick question." She said before taking a sip. "The Gotham Gala is tonight, and I got a plus one… How would you feel if I picked you up, got you into something sexy, and then took you with me to the event?"
A blush hit Harley's face when Pamela asked that. She's been on dates with Pamela since moving in with Selina, in fact she's even stayed the night with Pamela quite a few times as well. Still, this was the Gotham Gala, where a lot of rich people, and police people were going to be. "D-Do you think that's a good idea, Pam?" she asked. "I dunno if any cops are still looking for me, or if I'm presumed dead or what have you."
The redhead pursed her lips, seeing that Harley was still very nervous about being in public, ironically. "Well…." She started off. "If you end up figuring it out by 7, I'll come by to pick you up, okay?" Pamela asked and reached for Harley's hand. "The last thing I'd want is for you to do anything you're uncomfortable with."
Harley slightly licked her lips and nodded, keeping a glance at her and Pamela's hands. "Thank you, Red."
"Of course, babe." Pamela smiled, stood up and walked to Harley's side. She cupped Harley's head and placed a soft kiss on the blonde's lips. "I have to take off, but I'm serious about the offer, call me if you wanna go." She said before walking out of the establishment.
Harley was left at the booth, flustered by Pamela being all lovey towards her, but also confused about if she should go or not. She thought about the pros of going, and there were quite a few. She would be with someone she cares deeply for, and in this light that few have honestly seen. Harley would finally feel… Normal.
The cons that she brought up to Pamela still made her worried. Yeah, she could be seen, and that could cause her to get arrested, or worse. This was a decision that she wanted to talk to Selina about, maybe to help her bounce ideas off.
Meanwhile….
"Yeah, I'm aware of who all's gonna be there, Jim." Selina said as she was jogging through the city, being careful not to hit anyone. She stops in her tracks to focus a little more on what Jim was telling her. "You got nothing to worry about, I'm always on my best behavior." She took a couple breaths while listening to Jim recount the one time that Selina ended up taking one of the sponsor's wives to a hotel. "Like it's my fault they wanted a taste of this blended Adonis." Selina joked which got Jim yelling, causing her to take her earpiece out for a couple seconds. "You need some leaf, or calm-your-ass-down pills, Jimmy." She placed the piece back in her ear and continued walking. As Jim was explaining things to her, she took notice of a few familiar looking men running down an alleyway. "What the…" she mouthed and headed towards the same alleyway. She kept quiet as she looked around the corner, seeing a couple muscular men wearing tattered clown-esque clothing, they were cornering a woman. "James, I gotta go." Selina hung up, took the earpieces out, and set them in the charge case.
"I don't know what the hell you two want, but I got a voice, and I'm not afraid to scream." The lady said with a scared expression. "I'm serious, stay away."
One of the men grabbed her arm, twisting it behind her back. "If you know what's good for yous, you'll keep your mouth shut, and this'll be over quick."
"We just want your money, and any valuables." The other man said before pulling out his pocketknife, unsheathing it towards the woman. "Cooperate, and you'll go without a scratch."
The woman was shaking as she clutched her bag. "Y-You're robbing me in The Narrows, how much money, or valuables do you think I have in my bag?"
"I guess we'll have to find out, won't we?" the man with the knife asked before quickly cutting the strap to the bag, letting it fall to the ground.
"Hey!" The woman screamed out, which got her arm twisted more as a response. "F-Fuck.."
"C'mon, search the bag so we can go, this place always gives me the creeps."
"Shaddup." The guy with the knife brushed off his partner as he picked up the bag, dumping everything in it on the ground. He sorted through it, getting more irritated as he looked. No money, and no valuables as far as he's concerned. "Why the hell would you carry a bag like that around, and not have any dough?"
"It's a regular backpack, you dick." The woman spat out with tears in her eyes.
"What'd you call me?" The man points the knife towards the woman, stepping close, and stomping her belongings as he moved. "Do you know who you're messing with?" he continued. "We work for Joker, and anywhere they send us… Belongs to them."
The woman kept her glare at the man with the knife, shaking more as he waved the knife at her. "I don't care who you work for, you're both pathetic." She said and then followed up with spitting in his face.
Immediately the man threw backhand at the woman, which caught his partner off guard, causing him to let go. As the man with the knife started to charge at the woman's body on the ground, his partner attempts to go in between the two.
"Markie, the hell you doin'?" he asks, struggling to keep the distance between the two.
"Get out of my way, Ton, I'm takin' care of this broad." Markie shoved the other man out of the way, and before he could strike down on the defenseless woman…
WHACK!
Selina came from behind with a kick to the back of Markie's head, sending him off to the side. She landed on her feet; her expression was that of pure anger towards the two men. Her gaze meets with Ton's. "You guys wanna tell me what the fuck you're doing in my neighborhood?" she asks with wide eyes.
"Look lady, I don't agree with how Markie handled this, but you don't wanna mess with Joker's men." Ton says before walking closer to Selina. "Just walk away, and no one will have to know about what you did."
Without hesitation, Selina thrusted her head against Ton's face, hopefully breaking the nose in the process. Ton held his nose out of pure agony, but Selina didn't care. Ton went for a right, Selina grabbed his arm, twisted it around, kicked at his hamstring, and as he got to one knee, Selina threw two well-placed kicks at his head, rendering Ton unconscious.
Selina dropped Ton, took a quick glance at the woman that Ton and Markie were preying on. She was awake, and watched what Selina had done. "You okay?" she asked.
The woman slowly nodded "Y-Yeah…" she answered, then she glanced where Markie was, seeing that he was up and looked as pissed as Selina. "I-I think…"
Selina got grabbed from behind, and suplexed by Markie, causing Selina to land on her neck. "I'm gonna gut ya, bitch." He said before pulling out his knife, and thrusting it towards Selina's abdomen.
Instinctively, Selina threw her arm down, causing it to get stabbed instead. Selina felt the pain immensely, but her focus was on taking these guys out, and saving that woman. She pushed her feet under Markie, kicked him off her, and flipped to her feet with a kip-up. As Markie goes to lunge at her again, Selina stepped back, causing the man to miss, and then she kicked his shin inward causing him to collapse, screaming in pain.
Markie was trying to crawl away from Selina, but was stopped by a harsh stomp to his other leg from Selina. She then pulled the knife from her arm, and without remorse she stabbed into Markie's hip.
"You were going to start shit in my neighborhood…" Selina says in a deep, scary tone. "MY FUCKING NEIGHBORHOOD!?" she screams. "I don't care who your boss is, I don't care who you roll with, you don't ever, ever fuck with my people!" Selina crawls on top of the battered man. "You understand?" she asks with her teeth gritted. The man weakly nods. "DO YOU!?" she screams again before grabbing Markie's head with one hand, and introducing his face to her free fist. Selina got a few punches at the man's face before being grabbed from behind.
"Miss, please stop." The lady that Selina was trying to save, cried out to her. "I'm begging you." She added before stepping back.
Selina took a few deep breaths, slowly looking at the woman. "Y-Yeah, you're right." She said before getting up. "Are… Are you okay?" she asked.
The woman slowly nods.
"Good." Selina bit her inner lip. "I am so sorry that you had to see that." She said with a shaky breath. "I'm not entirely sure what got over me."
"A-Are you okay, though?" The woman asks Selina, stepping closer towards her. "You're bleeding pretty good." She points out the gash on Selina's arm.
Selina glances at the gash, taking a few deep breaths. "I'll be fine… Let's get you home safe, okay?" she looks at the woman. "I can worry about me when I know you're out of harm's way."
That made the woman feel a little at ease, she nodded twice and began to pick up a bunch of her things, including the broken pieces. Once she was done, she looked at Selina once more. "What are ya, Superman?" she asked.
A chuckle came out of Selina as she shook her head. "Just your friendly neighborhood feline."
Heading into the evening, Selina had made it home, patched herself up, and then got herself ready for the Gotham Gala '84 event. This was an event that took place yearly. A bunch of rich, powerful, or important community people show up to talk about how rich, powerful, or important they are. Selina, because of her community work in The Narrows, pretty much had to show up. Even though she couldn't care less about the event.
At some point while Selina was getting ready, Harley came home, exhausted from her work. She got out of her work clothes, and into some pajamas with the intent of getting Selina to join her on a movie night. She had heard some of her co-workers talking about an old horror franchise that piqued her interest, and she assumed that Selina would know a thing or two about it.
Harley sat on the couch in the living room, keeping an eye towards the hallway that leads to Selina's room. "I certainly hope that Lina doesn't have a gig tonight." She bit the side of her lip and began bouncing in her seat with anticipation.
The door opens, and out comes Selina in a lengthy, strapless, black dress that shows off a little bit of her extremely toned legs. Selina walked towards the living area to see Harley sitting, gazing at her. "Harley, when'd you get home?" she asked with a smile before turning to go to the kitchen area.
Harley couldn't help but notice every detail of Selina, from the back muscles, the arms, the way the dress latched to Selina's abdomen. "Holy shit…" she shook her head to rid herself of any thoughts. "I got home about half an hour ago." She answered, keeping her glance on Selina, this time she noticed the athletic tape going from Selina's shoulder down to her elbow. "What happened to your arm, Lina?"
Selina was in the fridge, grabbing a bottled water when Harley asked the question. She stood up straight and turned around to face Harley. The last thing she wanted to do was scare Harley, and make her think that she wasn't safe. "I uh.." she gulped. "I got clipped by a bike messenger when I was on my run today." She immediately felt guilty.
"Oh.." Harley furrowed her brows. "Ya know, you're fit as hell." She pointed out. "You don't need to go on your jogs every day, it wouldn't kill ya to relax." She said with a smirk. "Also, what's with the dress?"
A soft sigh of relief came from Selina now that the conversation had changed. "Would you believe me if I said that I'm going to the Gala?" she asked which turned Harley's joking expression into a rather serious one. Selina noticed, and raised a brow. "Why the change in exterior?"
Harley thought back to the conversation she had with Pamela earlier. "How long have you known about going to the Gala?" she asked.
Selina took a sip of her water, keeping her focus on Harley. "About a week." She answered. "They want me there for the work I've done for the neighborhood."
"And you're going by yourself?"
"No, I'm being escorted to the event by some hired guards." Selina took a few steps closer towards Harley. "What's with the questions?"
Harley bit her tongue to prevent her from sounding a bit offended. "I was just curious, Lina." She said honestly. "Is there a chance that I could come with?" Harley asked with a slight smile. "It wouldn't take me long to get ready, and I'd be on my best behavior."
Selina frowned some. "If I wasn't considered a Plus One at the event, I could probably pull some strings to get you as my guest." She answered honestly. "Seriously, Harley if I could, I really would."
"Sure, you would…" Harley thought. She let out a sigh and looked away from Selina's gaze. "Right…"
"You're mad at me." Selina stated.
"I'm not happy with you." Harley said, keeping her tone calm. "You knew about this for a week, didn't even think about maybe asking if I'd like to go?" she asked. "Even if there was nothing you coulda done, at least making the attempt to ask wouda been nice…"
Honestly, Selina couldn't argue that. With how busy she's been with her clients, doing stuff around the neighborhood, she didn't bother to think about the idea of Harley wanting to go out to some place fancy. "Harley it wasn't intentional." She started off. "The past few weeks have been crazy outside of here, and… I guess I didn't think." Selina pursed her lips.
Harley started feeling a bit guilty for pressuring Selina. Every bone in her body wanted to leap over the couch, hug Selina tight, and tell her "It's okay" but... She genuinely felt forgotten about. "Yeah well… You shoulda…" Harley mumbled.
Before Selina could respond, she heard some beeps from her watch. She glanced at it, and saw a notification about her ride. She returned her focus to Harley, biting down her inner lip. "I promise, I'll make it up to you, Harley." She said. "I have to go…" Selina slowly turned to leave the apartment, feeling defeated, and like a horrible person for how Harley ended up getting treated. "Of course, you also promised to not treat her like how Joker treated her… Look how well you did on that promise."
A few tears fell down Harley's cheek, she initially didn't want to push Selina the way she did. It was rare that the two would have intense talks, especially ones that in a way, could shape their future as roommates. Harley grabbed her phone, tapped on the screen a few times to call Pamela.
Ringgg…..
Ringgggg….
"Hello?"
"Hey, Red." Harley brushes some tears from her face. "That offer you gave me earlier, is it still valid?" she asked.
"Dammit, Harley.. I said before 7, it's 7:30… Get ready, I'll be there soon."
"Thank you… Love you."
"Love you too, Harley."
The call hung up, and Harley was on course to look as great as she possibly could. She was able to find an outfit that she deemed "Passable" enough for a place like the Gala. Harley kept her makeup simple, since she didn't feel like mingling with anyone outside of Pamela, and maybe Selina if she happens to see her at this thing.
The drive to the Gala was a lonesome one for Selina, as she looked out the window at the lights of the nice part of the city. It all screamed narcissism with fancy lights, and it always rubbed Selina the wrong way. It was her least favorite part of going to these Galas, or at least it used to be her least favorite part. The feeling of making Harley upset took the crown for Selina's least favorite part about the drive, and it showed on her face when the car eventually stopped at the building. The driver helped Selina out, and the guards that rode in the front, escorted her into the building.
Selina made it to the elevator, stepped in, and allowed the attendant to hit the button that would take her to the correct floor. During the lift, Selina made the attempt to clear her head, so she didn't come off as miserable when it came time to talk to people. Once the elevator stopped, Selina took a deep breath, and looked at her reflection in the elevator doors.
"Miss, are you ready?" the attendant asked.
Selina took another deep breath, and gave the young man a nod. "Yeah, I'm ready." She answered.
The attendant hits a button to open the elevator doors to reveal a grand room filled with various people, some that work for the event, but most of the people were there mingling, or were important to the city. This was a crowd that Selina didn't exactly vibe with, but she was willing to make nice because it was for the betterment of Gotham as a whole. It didn't take her long to notice a gentleman with silver hair, and a full mustache, someone that Selina is very familiar with.
"James?" Selina called out.
The man turned to look at Selina, he smiled and raised his glass. "Selina, hey!" he responded.
Selina walked to James, the two of them shared an embrace for a couple seconds. "How've you been, James?"
James set his glass on the table beside the two, and shrugged. "Getting used to this commissioner shit." He said. "You're not looking too bad for someone of your age."
Selina gave James a playful slug to the arm. "Shut up." She laughed. "How's the kid?"
"Barb is doing amazing in her schoolwork, there's talk of her getting her high school diploma by next year. James said before sitting down at the table. "Join me?"
"That's fuckin' awesome." Pride filled Selina's body when she heard about how well Barbara was doing in class. As she sat down, she pulled out her phone to see if Harley had replied to any texts. So far, no. She shook her head then put her focus back on James. "Hey um.. When we get a moment, I need to talk to you about something very important." She said quietly.
James raised a brow at what Selina said. "Is it By the Books important, or I'm Gonna Conduct Business On My Own, and You Won't Stop Me important?"
Selina's muscles tensed up, thinking back to earlier in the day when she had to get physical in a way that she didn't think she had to. She took a deep breath, trying to keep her emotions in check.
"Had a feeling it'd be the latter." James nodded a couple times. "Once those spoiled brats start their speech, we can head to one of the empty offices and talk in detail." He said before reaching to Selina's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. "For now, get a drink, talk to a couple people, and we'll figure out your situation before you know it."
The woman nodded, letting out another sigh. "Thanks, I've had a bit of an emotional day today." She said in a low tone.
"Yeah, I take it that's why you got the tape on your arm, as well?" James asked, Selina nodded. "Yeah, I'll see to it that we have that talk.."
Selina was grateful for James' words, she needed them. Before she could respond, she notices a younger man approaching the table. He looked to be in his late 20s – early 30s, toned facial features, short and black hair, with no bit of worry on his expression.
The woman raised a brow at him, and followed it up with a smirk. "Young man, can we help you?" she asked.
"I just wanted to know what a lady like you is doing with a guy like that." The man responded.
James scoffed at the jab, and was about to say something before he noticed Selina's index finger was up at his direction.
"Before I let you take me to the dance floor, I need to know if you got something better than that as a pickup line." Selina says in a calm tone.
There was silence for a few seconds, and looks between the three people at the table before the young man broke and laughed. "Dammit, woman." He said.
Selina laughed as she got up to lean towards the man with a hug. "How are ya, Bruce?" she asked.
"I'm doing better than you, clearly." Bruce responds as he returns the hug. "Did you do something new with your hair?" he asks.
"Yeah, it's slicked back for once." Selina said. "Say Bruce, I need a favor from you, and it's an expensive one." She whispered into the man's ear. "It has to do with my augs."
Bruce nodded a couple times. "Update, upgrade, or repair?"
"Is yes an option?"
Bruce raised both brows at the question, he let out a sigh. "Yeah, it's an expensive favor…" he said. "I'll help you out, but you gotta share a dance with me." Bruce said and then glanced at James. "If that's okay with you, Commissioner."
James brushed off the request from Bruce, turned away to look at the band playing.
Selina rolled her eyes. "Go easy on me, I have an injury that I'm healing."
"Of course, Miss." Bruce guides the two of them to the middle of the dance floor so they can share this dance.
Off in the other part of the building, entered Ms. Pamela Isley and Harley Quinn. Harley kept close to Pamela as she hadn't been to an event like this, as a civilian. She was very nervous at the clientele at this Gala, especially the amount of people that were already swarming around Pamela, almost as if she was a damn celebrity. Pamela was rather used to the attention she got, whether it was good or bad, she lived off it like it was air.
Pamela took notice of Harley's nervousness, and brushed off the people that were trying to ask her questions. Tonight was mostly about her, and Harley. She planned to keep it as such. The two walked to a corner of the hall, that way there wasn't as much attention drawn to them, but they could partake in activities should Harley be comfortable enough.
"Alright, Harley." Pamela starts off before placing her hands on Harley's waist. "We're just gonna be here for a few hours, we'll do a slow dance, and then when the party stuff kicks in, we could either leave if you're uncomfortable, or we can partake in the party stuff." She shrugs with a smile. "It's all about you."
Hearing that kept Harley calm for the most part, she still had some anxieties about being at the Gala, mainly due to being unsure if anyone would recognize her dressed the way she is. "I still feel outta place here, Red."
Pamela placed a soft kiss on Harley's lips, keeping their bodies close together. "Listen, you're the most stunning woman in this Gala, so yeah you might be a little out of place, but that's because everyone else has to measure to you." She placed one more kiss on Harley's lips. "And there's no one that can come close, not even myself."
Harley's breathing was heavy, and shaky. Mainly due to Pamela kissing her twice, and in public. She gave Pamela a lip-bitten smile pushing herself closer to the redhead. "You really think I'm the most stunning woman here?" she asked.
"Of course." Pamela replied. "Would you like me to get you a drink, Ms. Quinnzel?" she asked in a low, flirty tone. "My treat." She winked.
"Well, aren't you a smooth talker." Harley let her accent out when she said that. "I would love a drink, Ms. Isley."
Pamela looked around to see if there were any waiters near the two of them, she saw one and signaled the person to come closer.
The waiter approached the two with a tray in hand. "What could I get for you two?" they asked.
Pamela looked at Harley and gave her a gentle nudge. "Order for the both of us, I trust your judgement." She whispered.
Harley bit her lip nervously. "Do you have a drink menu?" she asked.
The waiter reached for their side, pulling out a small menu for Harley to look at. "Alcohol on the front, other types of drinks are on the back."
Harley scanned the list of alcoholic beverages, nothing really screamed to her as delicious, so she flipped the menu over to look at the non-alcoholic beverages. "I'll just take a water, and…" she goes back to look at the alcohol. "The Strawberry Priestess drink for my partner." She hands the menu back to the waiter.
"Coming right up." The waiter leaves.
Pamela was a bit surprised by the drink choices. "I'm glad you got my favorite drink, but how come you settled on water?" she asked.
"Nothing really sounded good, Pam." Harley answered honestly. "Besides, what's the fun in letting loose if I don't remember much of it?"
"You go from one… Thing brainwashing you to another… I gotta get you out of that apartment." Pamela thinks to herself before letting out a sigh. "It's one drink, Harley, not three, four, or ten." She points out. "It's okay to enjoy yourself from time to time, without having the weight of other people keeping you down."
Harley nods a couple times. "Then I'll steal a couple sips off yours, okay?" she gives Pamela a slight pout which makes her roll her eyes and nod in agreement. "Glad ya see it my way." She jokes before turning to observe the rest of the hall. Harley takes in the atmosphere, it might be high class, but it's also very welcoming, which helps her anxieties about being here.
Pamela rests her head on Harley's shoulder, keeping her arms around the blonde's waist. "Whatcha thinking about?" she asks before placing a kiss on Harley's ear.
"Just how much things have changed for me since Joker left." Harley answered honestly. "For the better part of a decade I devoted my life to them, just to get thrown off a balcony, and hunted…" her voice shook a little bit.
The redhead tightened her grip on Harley, not enough to hurt her, but enough for her to feel that she will never have to deal with that again. "I love you." She whispers.
Harley took a deep breath. "I love you too, Red." She whispered back. "I just… I know I don't deserve none of this, and I wanna do my best to appreciate that I have this." Harley runs her hands against Pamela's arms. "Appreciate my life, appreciate my home, appreciate you, appreciate…." Harley was about to finish her sentence when she noticed a familiar, muscular woman towards the center of the hall. "Selina."
Pamela's eyes shot up, seeing the same woman that Harley was seeing. The redhead was never shy about her distaste for Selina, if she had her way, Selina wouldn't enter any conversation that she has with Harley. "Good to know that Selina can party, but not consider your feelings." She said with a sharp tone.
The anxieties that Harley had felt, began creeping back into her mind. Her breathing became heavier at the sight of Selina, because of the argument they had earlier that day. "R-Red, I'm starting to have doubt."
Pamela was watching Selina's movements; she saw the woman move from dancing to where the catering table was. "Perfect." She thought before casually moving one hand to Harley's shoulder, giving it a gentle graze as she lifted one finger towards Selina's direction.
As Selina was about to grab some food, the plant that was on the catering table extended its leaf, tipping over the mountain of full wine glasses, and causing the wine glasses to fall towards Selina. People backed away after seeing all that wine fall on Selina, the music stopped, and no one noticed the plant doing anything.
Selina just stood there in disbelief as she turned away from the table, humiliated by this incident. "What the fuck…" she whispered to herself. Selina brushed some of the hair away from her face to keep any more wine from getting into her eyes.
Everything in Harley wanted to run over to that table to help Selina, she had no clue what happened, but she didn't want Selina to get hurt over their fight. "Red, did you see that?" she turned to Pamela with a worried expression on her face.
"Karma has a way of teaching her lessons." Pamela casually says.
After someone handed Selina a hand towel, she used it to wipe her face a bit more. Once her vision cleared up, she noticed Harley and Pamela on the other side of the hall, talking amongst themselves. Selina pursed her lips when Harley's gaze met with Selina's. "I see how it is." She shook her head and immediately left the Gala with Bruce and Jim following her.
Seeing the expression on Selina's face broke Harley's heart, she wanted to cry right then and there. Away from Harley's gaze, Pamela had a devious smirk on her face. "Damn shame, Selina looked pretty okay tonight, too." She said before taking a sip of the drink Harley ordered for her.
"You didn't have anything to do with this, did you, Red?" Harley asked quietly, turning her full attention to Pamela. "Please tell me you had nothing to do with this."
Pamela raised her brows, and gasped. "Such accusations." She said, and followed it up with a shrug. "A couple things might have happened after I lifted my finger, but to be fair, most of the world moves when I use my fingers."
The sadness turned to anger when Harley heard what Pamela said. "Use your fingers to move us to the car, and take me home." She said in a low tone. "Now." Harley didn't let Pamela respond, she walked away from the woman.
"Oh, Harley." Pamela let out a sigh and shook her head. "Alright…" she started following Harley.
It's around midnight in Gotham, Joker had finished informing their people of what was going on. Joker made sure to explicitly tell everyone to stay out of trouble until Joker comes back, whether the group listens is a matter for when Joker returns. It took a little while to find Freeze's lab, mainly because it was in a building that next to no one would look for. When Joker walked into the lab, they noticed Freeze sitting at his desk, and a young brunette woman not far from him.
"Am I interrupting something?" Joker asked with a smirk and a brow raise.
Victor looked towards Joker, shook his head. "Not at all, come." He signaled them to come closer. "I was just going over the plans with my assistant." Victor explained. "Have you heard of biological nanobites?"
"Biological nanobites?" Joker sat down on the chair nearby.
"Dr. Schivel, are you sure you wanna risk unproven tech on.." The assistant glanced at Joker, gulped then looked back at Victor. "It's just that we don't know if it can cure whatever it is that Joker has…"
Joker leaned back in their seat, observing the way Freeze's assistant looked at them. "Am I too much of a junkie for you to wanna save?" they start off which gets the assistant to stammer. "Or is it because I probably killed someone you knew during my hundreds of thousands of heists, under civilian casualty?"
"I-I.. I hope not."
"Joker." Victor looks towards them with a serious expression. "Let me explain what she truthfully means…" he stood up, tapping on a screen to show a display of the human body. "The BNB's are a new kind of tech that I've been working on for the past 20 years now." He started off. "It's thousands of biological machines that target any part of your body that's weakened, and then gets rid of any foreign toxins that might harm you." Victor was switching to different perspectives with the augmentations on his wrist. "Once they do their job, they deactivate, and eventually flush out of your body."
"What's the catch… Schivel?" Joker almost slipping on Victor's name.
Victor tapped his wrist to get rid of the display, and then turned his attention to Joker. "Like my assistant said, it's unproven tech." he said then took a deep breath. "Because I haven't put it through testing, there's bound to be glitches, bugs, and great risk of a new illness happening."
Joker rolled their eyes and scoffed. "That's your solution, giving me another random drug, and I get all the risk?" they ask. "At this point, what's my chances of living if I don't take this BNB, huh?"
"You will have a 21.3% chance of living, and that's without your motor functionality." Victor folds his arms, keeping his gaze on Joker. "When you left my class, I noticed you dropped a couple tissues in the waste basket, and they had blood on them." He starts to explain. "So, I had my computer run analysis on your blood, and you definitely fucked your body up."
Joker didn't think they'd ever face their mortality, especially not in the lab of a former ally of theirs. "Wh.. What do you mean?"
"The stuff you were using, that was Dracula's Curse, wasn't it?" Victor asked which made Joker's eyes widen. "Thought so." He says. "Obviously using most kinds of drugs aren't good for you, I don't need to tell you that because you wouldn't be sitting on my chair if they were." Victor tapped his wrist to show Joker's biological reading. "There's a toxin in Dracula's Curse that causes your blood to pretty much get absorbed, the fact that you're still alive and have any kind of functionality is a miracle in itself." He continues. "Especially with how much you've used, your biological makeup is more of that drug than it is blood."
"D-Dr. Schivel, if Joker's body is mostly made up of the drug, then how will the BNB's help?"
"It won't, at least not on their own." Victor said before turning off the display.
Joker looked to the ground, feeling all sorts of emotions. Mainly shame that they didn't take better care of themselves. "Vic…. Doc, I'll do whatever is needed." They said with a shaky voice.
Victor glanced over at the injection pod, biting his lower lip for a few seconds. "What I can do, is lace the BNB's with something that… Will essentially replace your bone structure." He suggests. "It'll be a slow process, and once you come out, you're gonna have to do a lot to maintain it so your body can get used to the changes."
"What do you mean, replace my bone structure?" Joker asked.
"There's this special type of material that's been used for military technology, stuff that even plasma can't cut through." Victor gulps. "If I were honest, it's how I'm able to survive out there without my cryosuit." He explained. "What this material does, is almost give you a healing factor, it's not quite effective, especially if your body is constantly in some kind of pain, but… At least if the BNB's don't rid yourself of the toxins, your body won't break down as quickly."
"You have that material here, Doc?" Joker sat up, feeling excited.
Victor slowly nodded. "I have enough for one coat, and I sure as hell don't wanna use it on you, but…" he gulps and takes a deep breath. "Nora would've convinced me, and say that I need to see the good in people."
Joker stood up, almost leaping into Freeze's arms and planted a big kiss on his cheek. "I'll make it up to ya, my Otter Pop." They say with a lip bitten grin.
Victor glared at Joker for a few seconds, then turned his attention to his assistant. "Mara, while I sanitize my whole body as I don't know where, or who Joker has been with… Do the proper procedures with them, and help them into the pod." He says.
Joker let go of Victor, only feeling partially offended. "I'm not a rabid animal, not outside the bedroom at least." They glance at Mara and blow a kiss at them. "Maybe when I'm out, me and you could.."
"No."
"Eh, worth a shot."
A Few Hours Later….
Victor and Mara were analyzing Joker's biological readings, making sure that nothing was off. So far, everything looked to be in top shape. Victor made some coffee for the two of them, so they could stay awake, and be somewhat relaxed.
"So why are you doing it, Doctor?" Mara asked once Victor handed her the cup of coffee. "Does Joker have anything over on you?"
Victor took a sip of his coffee. "It's a long story, Mara." He said. "I um…" he gulped. "I used to run with Joker once upon a time ago, I was known as Mr. Freeze." Victor admitted.
"You were Freeze?" Mara raised her brows. "I.. I don't understand."
"I didn't do anything for the money, and I never killed anyone." Victor says honestly. "I wanted to get a cure for my wife, Nora." He explains. "I was close to putting together a cure for her illness, but one of our jobs went awry, I got arrested, and Joker was nowhere to be found." Victor took another sip of his coffee. "The last time Nora and I saw each other, I was wearing an orange jumpsuit with chains on my wrist and ankles." He took a deep breath, trying to keep his emotions in check. "I hated Joker ever since, but.. I was the one that chose to stay behind because I was so set on getting the last of the materials." Victor set his cup down, still trying to keep his emotions in check. "I was angrier with myself in hindsight, and… I didn't want to take blame for my wife dying."
Mara's heart broke for Freeze, she wanted to embrace him, but was unsure if it would be considered unprofessional. "I'm so sorry…"
"Me too…" Victor slowly nods. "That's why I am willing to help Joker out, because maybe that's what is needed to get Joker on the right path." He says with some hope in his voice. "That they'll see reason, and work to better themselves, if not for everyone else, then… For their reflection."
"What if Joker remains the same, though?"
Victor shrugged. "Then Joker remains the same, and they won't get any further help than this, which they're gonna need later on down the line…" he said before taking one more look at Joker's readings. "But I'll tell you that later."
Pamela dropped Harley off at her apartment at some point throughout the night, Harley said very few words, and brushed off Pamela's attempt at affection. Harley was more focused on making things right for her friendship with Selina. Problem was, Selina never came home that night. Harley made attempts at calling her phone, but it went straight to voicemail.
In the morning, Harley took it upon herself to go searching for Selina. There were only two places that Harley knew that Selina would be at, either the rooftop to meditate, or at the rec center a few blocks down so she could work out. Harley went to the roof to see if maybe Selina passed out on the roof in mid meditation, but she wasn't there. Harley quickly made her way out of the apartment building, and headed towards the rec center.
It took Harley about 15 minutes to jog three blocks from the apartment, and that was given the traffic between the two locations. She made it to the rec center, walked in the building and filled out the paperwork at the front desk. After all that, she walked to the main opening, seeing everything that was there overwhelmed the blonde. There was an area for almost every sport that Harley knows about, and she had no idea where to start.
As Harley looked around in the rec center, she observed some of the activities, amazed at what some people were able to accomplish. Eventually she stumbled upon the skateboarding area of the rec center, and she was even more amazed at what people were able to do on the board. Seeing some tricks that Harley only read about in books back when she was more athletic, and in school.
Harley stepped a little bit closer to get a better look at the skaters in this area. For some reason she's fascinated, to the point that it's got her in a trance.
"Hey, look out!" a voice from beside Harley yells out.
Before Harley can fully react, a person bumps into her, and in mid-fall the person grabs Harley, turns their bodies around to where Harley end up landing on top of that person.
Harley groaned a little bit, pushing herself up from the body below her. "S-Sorry about that, are you okay?" she asks before looking at the person below her. "L-Lina!"
Selina sat up on her elbows, and then looked at Harley. "Harley… What are you doing here?" she asked.
"I was looking for you." Harley answered before getting up on her feet. "You didn't come home last night, and… I was worried."
"Well, I needed to let off some steam…" Selina stood up, brushing off the dirt from her shirt and pants. "I figured you woulda been with Pam." She said before walking past Harley.
Harley sighed, turned around and gently grabbed Selina's arm. "Lina, can we talk about it?" she asked.
Selina stood there for a few seconds. "Not really, no…" she answered honestly. "Last night told me everything I needed to know."
"That's not fair…" Harley frowned, keeping her gaze on Selina.
"Right, you got a mountain of wine dumped on you last night, didn't you?" Selina turned to look at Harley, seeing her sad gaze. She let out a sigh. "Okay, but not here, let's find a quiet spot…" she said before walking towards the exit of the main area.
Harley followed closely, still trying to piece together what to say on her end to express how sorry she felt. The two eventually made it to the locker room of the rec center, an area that few really use so it was perfect for a conversation.
Selina sat on the bench, waiting for Harley to join her. "Alright, you want to talk… Speak."
Harley sat beside Selina, not looking towards the woman next to her. "I had no idea that was going to happen to you, honest to god." She starts off. "I was with Pam, and I was just taking in the environment at the place…" she continues. "The next thing I know, I saw the drinks fall down." Harley started scratching her arm. "I will admit that I was upset, but I didn't know Pam would do that…"
The older woman took in what Harley said, she also took notice of the nervousness from her. Selina could tell that Harley wasn't behind it, even before she explained herself. It honestly just hurt Selina that it happened, and it sort of felt like payback of sorts. "Are you… Are you miserable living with me, Harley?" she asked.
"What?" Harley faced Selina, tears beginning to form. "Wh-Why would you say that?"
"Just answer the question, Harley…" Selina pursed her lips for a few seconds. "Because I don't wanna be the person that makes you miserable, I'd rather you be happy." She continued. "If that means you living with Pamela, I will support that because you deserve to be happy, and you deserve to make your own decisions."
Harley's lips were quivering, her body was trembling due to how emotional she was feeling. "I don't wanna leave, Lina…" she answered. "I-I just wanted to…" she sniffles. "W-Wanted to…"
Selina pulled Harley towards her, holding her as tight as she could without hurting the woman. "Shh…" she whispers and rocks their bodies together. "I don't want you to leave either, Kitten…"
"I'm s-s-sorry…" Harley's voice was quiet, but higher pitched during her sobbing. "I'm so s-sorry…" her body felt like it could collapse in Selina's arms from how overwhelmed it was feeling.
"Hey…" Selina leaned back some to lift Harley's chin so they can look at one another. "I told you not to apologize for anything that's not your fault…" she said calmly. "Besides, if anything I should be the one apologizing…"
Harley shifted her body to where they were fully facing each other, she tried to brush away her tears, but they kept falling. "Why are you sorry, you didn't do nothin'."
Selina casually ran one hand on Harley's arm. "I should have considered your feelings, and made an attempt to at least invite you." She answered. "I'm sorry that I failed to do at least that for you, after everything I've had you do since you've moved in… The least I could have done was think of you when preparation for the Gala was starting."
"You're way too nice, Lina…" Harley sniffles again.
"Not nice enough, and I'll work on that…" Selina says with a slight smile. "I promise." She adds before standing up. "Let's go home, I need a shower, a nice warm cup of coffee, and I owe you a little movie date."
Harley keeps her gaze on Selina, her tears still streaming down her cheeks. "D-Do you mean it?" she asks. "Even after what happened last night, you're willing to spend time with me?"
Selina nods and reaches her hand out. "Only if you're willing to." She says.
"Of course…" Harley took Selina's hand and stood up. "I need a relaxing day after the nonstop stress." She admits.
The two left the rec center, and decided to take a walk rather than jog back to the apartment. Selina got to explain a little bit about her friendship with the commissioner, and Bruce. Harley told Selina that she chewed Pamela out for what happened, and hadn't talked to her since the night before. They kept their idle chatter as they entered the apartment building, and headed up the stairs. When they made to the floor of Selina's apartment, they noticed a familiar redhead.
"R-Red?" Harley calls out. "What're you doing here?" she asked.
Pamela turns to face the two with a worried expression on her face. "I hadn't heard from you since the little fight we had, and.." she swayed her body back and forth nervously. "I felt a little guilty for what happened last night, and figured I'd apologize to Selina."
Harley looked up at Selina for a few seconds, and then back at Pamela. "That's very big of you, Pam." She said before walking to her, placing a soft kiss on her cheek.
"I know on the outside I can be a bit of a mean girl, but deep down I do have some emotions, I just never know what the right ones are from time to time…" Pamela explained. "I never meant for those drinks to fall on you, I only meant to scare you a little bit." She continued, looking at Selina with a slight frown. "Is there any way you could forgive me, Selina?"
Selina paid close attention to the expression on Pamela, the way she was delivering her apology. If it weren't Harley standing right there, she'd probably tell Pamela off, but for her roommate, she figured it wouldn't help anything. She instead smiled, and reached out her hand. "Of course, I can." Selina said.
Pamela returned the smile, and reached her hand out to give Selina a firm handshake.
After a few seconds, Selina felt something poke at her palm, and immediately pulled back. "The heck was that?" she asked.
"Sorry, I got these new augs, and they're not fully calibrated yet." Pamela scratched the back of her head and nervously laughed.
Harley noticed the interaction between the two, and felt a bit more comfortable knowing that at least things were calm in comparison to last night. "Well, I'm gonna go inside, make coffee, and then change into my PJs since I don't have work today." She said before placing a soft kiss on the side of Pamela's lips. "Wanna join us, Red?"
"Yeah, wanna join us, Red?" Selina asked with a smirk. "We're gonna watch a few movies."
Pamela felt a tad irritated by seeing Selina's smirk, but kept calm. "I would love to, but I have errands I need to run, so… I'll catch you two later." She said before turning to Harley. "I'll call you." Pamela brushed her nose against Harley's, and then followed it with a soft kiss on her lips. "Love ya, bye." She parts from Harley and walks past Selina.
Selina watched Pamela leave, then turned to Harley, and almost cackled at how red her face got. "You good, Quinnie?" she asked.
"Shut up." Harley pouted and walked into the apartment with Selina following close.
Pamela was outside the apartment building, tapping the side of her head to bring up a display on her sunglasses. "Alright, tell me what I need to know…" she says quietly.
"DNA scan completed, would you like me to read the results to you, Ms. Isley?"
"Abso-freaking-lutely." She says as she opens her car and gets in.