One Week Since The Gala…
The friendship between Harley and Selina went back to normal for the most part, with Selina taking some more initiative to make plans that involve Harley, so she won't feel left out. Though most of the plans that Selina had were going to lunch, and the occasional local event that the neighborhood would host for the residents. Selina wanted to do more for Harley, something that they don't normally do. That was when Selina stumbled upon a flyer that had this thing called "ReLIVE: An Augmented Concert Experience". She had investigated it further, found out that it would practically put you into certain concerts throughout history, even down to being able to see the band head on. So, Selina bought a couple tickets for her and Harley.
Harley on the other hand, she was focused on her work, making vast progress not just making coffee during the day shift, but also getting into organizing jobs for The Den. She's gradually becoming Hawker's "Go-To" person for taking over certain shifts, and learning the laundering process that they do. The pride that Harley was feeling was visible, and brought out the best in the people surrounding her.
Harley finally got a day off after working for 6 days in a row, by choice surprisingly. She woke up early in the morning, feeling like she needed to go out and do something. Harley walked out of her room with a change of clothes, as she walked through the living area, she noticed Selina asleep on the couch. The blonde bit her lip at the sight of the muscular woman looking all peaceful. "She must have had a rough night.. Poor thing." She thought before continuing towards Selina's room with the intent of using the shower.
Once she's done with her shower and is dressed, she walks to the kitchen and approaches the island. She checks her person to make sure she has everything she needs for going out. She does, and she takes a deep breath. Harley looks back at where Selina is sleeping at, thinking about everything that the two had been through up to this point. She smiles and then turns her attention to the notepad that sits upon the countertop. She grabs the pen that's attached to it and starts writing a note for Selina to read when she wakes up.
Harley left the apartment building and started jogging, taking in the calm breeze that was hitting her. With music blasting in her ears, Harley was able to feel at peace when she's alone in public. Something that always amazed Harley was that even when she's out in public, no one cares. Most people would be in fear of that, but given the history that Harley had, she took it as a breath of fresh air.
Eventually Harley approached a building that was rather familiar to her. She stopped in her tracks upon noticing the sign.
"Farini's…" she mumbled to herself. Harley smiled a slight amount, and made her way inside the building, taking her earbuds off to take in the atmosphere of this bakery during the day. The aroma of freshly baked bread, donuts, and other pastries had hit Harley's nose. She fell in love with the environment immediately.
A man was leaning against the doorway between where the customers were, and the part of the bakery that was for employees. "Ms. Quinnzel, it's good to see you're still alive." He said which alarmed Harley.
Harley looked towards the man that called out for her, seeing one of the men that had helped her when she first arrived. "Uh.." she gulped, trying to remember the man's name. "C-Colin?" she asked, and the man nodded.
Colin approached Harley, keeping a calm expression on his face. "You look different, healthier specifically."
"I mean I know I stress ate a little bit at the time, but-"
"Mentally, sweetheart." Colin interrupts.
"Oh." Harley nervously laughed. "Well, things have looked up for me since your family brought me in."
Colin smiled when Harley laughed, it brought him some peace knowing that this woman was able to come out of the dark place she came from. "Care to catch up over some coffee? On the house."
"I'd love that." Harley answered with confidence, a feeling that she had recently rediscovered over the past few months.
Colin led Harley to the other side of the shop, which was pretty much the Farini house, that they converted a portion of to be their bakery. Harley sat at the dining table and observed Colin preparing the cups of coffee for the two of them.
"Preference on how you take your coffee?" Colin asks.
"Partially sweet and on the lighter side, if possible."
Colin nods and prepares Harley's coffee real quick. Once he's done, he hands Harley her cup and then pours his before sitting across from the blonde woman. "So, what have you been up to?" he asks before taking a sip.
Harley takes a sip of her coffee, then she clears her throat. "Well, I got a job over at The Den."
Colin raised his brows. "That's great." He compliments.
"Th-Thanks." Harley smiles a slight amount before taking another sip of her coffee. "I've been living with an old-turned-best friend over these past months, and she's been a huge proponent of my turnaround as a person." She continued. "And I'm a little bit in love, too."
"With your roommate?" Colin asks.
Harley's face lit up at that question, knowing that if she yelped out a "No!" it wouldn't look good for her. "Actually, it's with this woman that I've been with off and on for the past decade, her name is Pamela, but I call her Red."
"Ah." Colin takes another sip of coffee. "Are you and Pamela going steady, if you don't mind me asking?"
That was a question that Harley wished she could answer. She and Pamela have had talks about their relationship, even down to their labels which Pamela detested the idea of labelling what they had. "Harley, you and I are two people that care about each other so much… If it weren't for my job, I could see us settling down." Was normally Pamela's response to Harley whenever she asked about settling down, or being exclusive. "We're… Complicated." She answered to the best of her ability. "Her profession requires her to, well… Love others if it benefits her, to put it nicely."
"So, the profession takes priority over the relationship… Interesting…" Colin thinks. "Well, as long as you're happy with yourself, that's important, Harley." He says. "Don't forget that."
"Yeah?" Harley asks and bites her lip.
The older man nods a couple times before standing up. "You're valid to prioritize yourself first, you've spent long enough not doing so." He said before finishing his cup.
Harley kept quiet, she didn't expect to walk into a therapy session. Ironic considering her former profession prior to meeting Joker. "Thanks, Col." She said as she stood up, walking over to the sink that wasn't far from them to place the cup in it. "You would think I'd know that, but…"
"I know, that's where an outsider's words can come in handy." Colin winks at Harley before placing his cup next to hers in the sink. "So, how's Hawker doing?"
Harley was surprised by the question. "You know him?"
"There's few people that live in this neighborhood that I don't know." Colin says before walking over to the data pad that's sitting on the countertop. "When you run a business like our family does, it helps to know who you're going to see, and who you wanna keep away from your shop." He said before tapping on the data pad to make sure he didn't get any messages. "I'm also a psychologist, I even have my own office in town." He glances back at Harley.
The blonde leaned against the counter and gave Colin a nod of approval. "I could guess based on how you approached me initially, and your demeanor."
Before Colin could respond, a young man walked through the door with a bit of a panic-like expression. "Hey Dad, bad news." He started before looking over at Harley. "Oh, hey, ain't ya…" he snaps his fingers a few times. "I can't remember y'name but, I remember that face, I carried ya in here."
"Mikey, this is Harley." Colin says calmly.
"Ye, that's it!" Mikey said and smiled. "How ya doin'?" he asked.
Harley nervously laughed. "I'm doing okay, a lot better than how you found me." She answered.
Mikey nodded. "Ye, no shit."
"Micheal, you said there was some bad news?" Colin interrupted.
Mikey looked over at his dad. "Oh, right." He started off. "Our two delivery guys got sick with something fierce, they're not able to work and we still have about 20 more orders before lunch."
Colin nods a few times, folding his arms. "That is a problem." He says. "I'm assuming you're covering one of the guys?" he asks, and Mikey nods. "Alright, I'll have your sister watch the shop and I'll cover the other guy."
Harley listened to the two men talk, and felt bad about their predicament. "Would you guys like some help running deliveries?" she asked.
"Oh, sweetie, no." Colin shakes his head. "You don't need to worry about the problems at our shop, you're our guest." He states.
"I understand that, but the reason I ask is two-fold." Harley admits. "One, it'll allow me to learn more of the neighborhood, which considering my job, it would benefit me greatly." She starts off. "More importantly, you guys kept me warm and gave me something for my stomach when I needed it most." Harley lightly scratched the back of her head. "It would mean a lot to me if I could help out at some capacity."
"Fuck it, why not?" Mikey said aloud. "You can run with me since all of mine are further out than Dad's." he continued.
Colin gave his son a glare for a few seconds, let a sigh, and then he looked at Harley. "Thank you, Harley." He said.
"Of course." Harley said and then walked over towards Mikey.
Back at the apartment, some time after Harley left, Selina made it to her room to sleep a bit more comfortably. Of course, Selina's rest didn't last long enough since she woke up shortly after she got to her bed. She was feeling extra groggy due to running multiple jobs the night before. She was able to function enough to get into the shower, something that her body needed for sure. Once she finished, she approached her sink, clearing the mirror of any fog, and then took a glance at her reflection.
Selina took a deep breath and then nodded a couple times.
"We got this, Selina." She said to herself and then stepped away to get dressed. It didn't take her long to get dressed, all she put on was underwear, pajama pants, and a tank top. Selina walked into the living area, stretching her body and letting out a lengthy yawn. As she was walking to grab her TV remote…
Knock, knock, knock!~
Selina looked in the direction of the door, walked to it and slowly opened it enough to see who was on the other side. "Pam?" she asked before opening the door the rest of the way.
Pamela nervously waved at Selina. "Hey." She greets. "Could… Could I come in?" she asked.
"Yeah, sure." Selina moved aside to allow Pamela inside the apartment. Once she walked past Selina, the older woman shut the door. "Harley's not here, I think she's running errands or something." Selina says.
"I know." Pamela said and turned to face Selina. "I actually came by to talk to you." She admitted. "If you're not too busy, that is."
Selina shrugged and walked towards the fridge. "It's my night off, so I'm gonna take it easy." She said as she grabbed a couple bottles of water from the fridge. "Want one?" she reaches one of the bottles towards Pamela's direction.
Pamela gently grabbed the bottle, biting the corner of her lip. "Thank you." She said.
"So, what's up?" Selina shut the fridge and leaned against the counter, keeping her gaze on Pamela.
The redhead returns the gaze, pursing her lips while trying to come up with everything to say to Selina. "Why are you struggling, Pam? Just because Harley likes her, doesn't mean YOU do, just spill it!" She shakes her head and clears her throat. "I won't lie to you, Selina." Pamela starts off. "I don't like you. I haven't liked you since I've met you, and I like you even less knowing my partner is living with you."
Selina raised both her eyebrows. "That so?" she asked.
"I know about you, Selina." Pamela says. "I know everything about you."
"How the f.." Selina was about to ask until she remembered that the week before, Pamela had shaken her hand as an apology. The older woman's surprised expression turned cold, she sat her water bottle on the counter beside her and then folded her arms. "You took my blood sample, didn't you?"
"What can I say, I care about the people my partner associates with." Pamela says calmly.
"That's fucked." Selina says.
A chuckle comes out of Pamela. "No, what's fucked is you taking advantage of Harley's fragile nature, and continuing to do so by having her work while you sleep all day, or play superhero to these people." Pamela's voice was sharp.
If Selina were a younger person, she would snap at Pamela for the things that she said. Instead, Selina took a deep breath to try and relax. "You don't know shit about what I do, Pam." She said. "I bust my ass every night, pulling gigs for clients, risking my life for the pay that I keep." Selina took a couple steps closer towards Pamela. "But this has nothing to do with what I do professionally, and you know it."
Pamela smirked, slightly nodding at Selina's words. "You're right, it has nothing to do with your job, just you." She retorted. "Do you realize that almost every time I pick her up from here, or at her job, one of the first things she does is mention something you did for her, or for some mom and pop store down the road." Pamela huffed. "I don't like the fact that she talks about you, a lot when she's with me, and if I can't ask her to take it ease, I can at least tell you to back off."
Selina casually leans against the countertop next to Pamela, keeping her gaze on the redhead. "And…" she pushes her tongue against her cheek for a few seconds. "What if I don't, Pam?"
"Listen, you old fuck." Pamela turns, roughly grabbing at Selina's tanktop while using her free hand grip the spot between Selina's side, and her arm. The younger woman presses herself up to Selina, keeping an angered gaze on the silver-haired Selina. "If you even dare get in the way of me, and Harley…" she starts. "I will tell her everything about you… Every detail that's available in the Gotham PD database…"
Selina was going to fight Pamela off her, but when she heard the threat that Pamela made, it stopped all function in her body. Her body went from tense, to nearly sunken, and her gaze at Pamela turned towards the wall.
"That's right.." Pamela continued. "I don't play around with what, or in this case... Who, is mine…"
A sigh comes from Selina keeping her gaze away from Pamela. "Look, all I want is for Harley to be happy." She says quietly. "I don't expect anything from her, except for her to make her own decisions."
Pamela growls under her breath, not expecting Selina to change her tone. "Dammit, stop being humble about her, I'm supposed to hate you."
"The last thing I want is to break up a happy home, and if Harley's happy, that's all that matters." Selina looks back at Pamela, taking another deep breath.
Pamela looked into Selina's eyes for a few more seconds, she then scoffed. "Good…" she started off, letting go of Selina's tanktop. "If there's one bit of solace I have in all this, I can at least tell that you two didn't fuck." She said and casually tugged the hem of Selina's pajama pants, letting it smack against her waist. "You better keep it that way, too." Pamela moves away from Selina with the intent of leaving the apartment.
Selina rose up a bit, keeping her gaze on Pamela. "Do me a favor, Pam." She says which stops Pamela in her tracks. "I want you to think about what I said, and then put into perspective what you did today." She continues. "The fact that you drove all the way here from your fancy apartment, when Harley wasn't here to listen to this conversation, to threaten me." Selina walks past Pamela to open the door for her. "Think about all of that, and then ask yourself "Is Harley really the fragile one, or am I?" before you try and pretend that your relationship is a good one."
Pamela slowly walked out of the apartment, turning to look back at Selina. "Thanks for the water." She says before making her leave.
Selina watched as Pamela eventually got on the elevator at the end of the hallway, she sighed and shut the door. "Fuck…" she muttered to herself. "Fuck, fuck…" Selina ran one hand through her hair, stress hitting her body like a ton of bricks. "Let's just get through tonight, and figure everything out later…" she whispered.
Meanwhile…
The week for Victor has been a calculated, and worrisome one. He wanted to make sure that the procedure he ran on Joker was successful, and made any adjustments needed. The thought of someone dying because of his inventions, it did worry Freeze a great deal. From time to time, Mara would come by Freeze's lab to make sure he was taken care of.
Today, Victor's stress can finally be over as the timer on Joker's pod turned to "0". This prompted the professor to approach the pod, hit a few selections on the screen to open it. Steam flows out of the opening, the liquid drains through the tubes, only thing that remains is Joker in their seat, unconscious.
Victor opens the pod the rest of the way, reaches towards Joker's neck to make sure there's still a pulse. There is, and he feels relief. Before Freeze could leave to get some clothes for Joker, he heard a soft chuckle come from the clown themselves.
"Y-You could've just asked if you wanted to get handsy with me." Joker says with shortness of breath.
Victor scoffed at Joker's words. "And my migraines return." He said before walking to the counter, grabbing clothes for Joker and placing them on a nearby chair. "How are you feeling?"
Joker slowly gets out of the pod, doing their best to not make any noises of pain. "I feel like I got ran over multiple times." They say. "How..." Joker clears their throat. "How long have I been in there?"
"About a week." Victor answers. "You're going to be rather sore for a few days, and there's some maintaining you'll have to do with your body." He starts to explain. "For starters, no more drugs, otherwise everything you went through would've been worthless." He folds his arms together, keeping his gaze on Joker. "And you'll have to take it easy on physical activities for the time being."
"Am I allowed to have any kind of fun, Freezie Pop?"
"Joker." Victor's tone was sharp. "If you're not careful with yourself, those nanobots in your body WILL kill you, because their main focus is to combat anything that can harm your internals." He explains. "They can also shut down, and if they do, you're fucked."
Joker gulped when Victor explained everything. "So, you injected me with a glorified timebomb?" they ask.
Victor shook his head and let out a sigh. "They will end up dying out once their job is complete, that's why I'm telling you to be careful, and maintain your health." He said. "Once they die out, you'll officially be at 100%, with some added benefits to go along with your skeletal structure being reworked."
Joker listened as they put on their clothes, taking every word that Victor said as seriously as they're mentally able to. "Benefits you say, like what?" they said before turning to face Victor.
A smirk comes from the professor. "I'll let you find that out yourself, there's no fun in spoiling after all." He says.
"Alright…" Joker took a deep breath and then walked to Victor, wrapping their arms around the man's neck. "Thank you, Freezie Pop." They begin to whisper. "For this, I promise to warn you before I begin to take over Gotham… That way you can have time to relocate." Joker pulls away from Victor and turns to leave the laboratory.
Victor isn't sure how to take what Joker said. On one hand, he's not shocked about Joker's ambitions to take over Gotham, but on the other, he sort of hoped that Joker would see this as a chance to change their heart for the better. "Can't win them all, Vic… Can't win them all." He shrugged.
It didn't take too long for Joker to make it back to the base that their organization set up prior to leaving. Joker missed out on a week's worth of action, so they were eager to get back to work, even if it meant taking more of a backseat role in comparison to the past few jobs. As they make it to the inside of the base, Joker gets met with lots of appreciation from their henchmen. The crew let Joker make it to their office, with Joker's personal assistant following them inside. "Alright Sami, I've been out of the loop with everyone." Joker approached their desk, sat down, and kicked their feet on top of the desk. "Give me the details on everything."
Sami sat across from Joker with a small notebook in hand, he opens it up and flips it to the date that Joker left. "Let's see…" he starts off. "We've been taking it rather easy since you left, a few stickups on the outskirts of Gotham, but nothing too drastic." Sami says. "There's some kind of event going on in the nicer part of downtown later tonight, according to the books we were able to obtain, it's supposed to be selling out."
"Hmm…" Joker nods slowly. "Selling out means lots of people, means a fair number of easy marks…" they think out loud. "What about the jobs that I put together; did they go off without a problem?" Joker asks, Sami nods. "Alright, how much did we get in total?"
Sami flipped through the notebook to where he wrote down the job results. "Let's just say we're gonna have a great holiday once everything gets laundered." He rips the amount that he wrote and slid the piece of paper to Joker. "Almost seven zeros, should our cleaners do their job."
The clown couldn't help but smile wide at the number they read on the piece of paper. "Fuckin' amazing!" they exclaim, and follow it up with laughter. "That just leaves one more job for the week, and we can kick back and cause some easy chaos." Joker says while casually playing with their hair. "So, about that event."
"What about it, boss?"
"I'm thinking we should send a couple guys, gals, or non-binary pals out there to pick up on some marks." Joker shrugs. "There's gotta be enough people carrying credits in their augs, right?" they ask.
Sami mulled it over in his head, shrugged, and then nodded. "More than likely, at least for a small haul." He answered. "Do you want me to have Ton and Jamie make their way to the event?"
Joker was about to answer, but when they heard a different name than expected, it made them puzzled. "Why Jamie?" they ask. "Nothing against her, she's good at her job, but Markie has the best software for this kind of job."
"Right." Sami went back a couple pages. "Totally forgot about this…" he mumbled to himself. "They got fucked up, like… Really fucked up while you were gone." He starts to explain. "From what Ton had said, they bumped into someone when doing a stick up, and that someone… To quote Ton "Had some mean paws" and Markie got the worst of it."
Joker pursed their lips for a few seconds, trying to think of how to go about this information they heard. "Yeah, I guess go ahead and send Jamie." They say. "Just until I can get more information on what happened."
Sami stood up and closed his book. "Anything else, boss?" he asks.
"Yeah, make sure that they keep things subtle." Joker says. "We don't wanna risk a run-in with Gotham PD, not yet at least."
"On it." Sami says with a smile. "Welcome back, Joker." He bows before leaving the room.
Joker turned in their chair to look out the window of their office, glancing at the henchmen doing their tasks to make the base feel more… Home. A smile forms at the sight of everything going on. "Feels good to be back." Joker starts chuckling in a low tone.
At some point throughout the day, Harley had come home from her personal day. She had fun learning the neighborhood, and meeting some of the locals that were nothing less than friendly towards the blonde. Selina was genuinely happy to hear about Harley's day, even asking Harley about some of the people she's met.
When Harley was changing into her comfy clothes, Selina had the concert tickets ready to show to her. Of course, the second Harley saw the tickets, and listened for Selina's question, she accepted with little to no hesitation.
Once it was time to get ready, Harley immediately asked Selina if she could borrow a band shirt since she didn't have any herself. Selina didn't mind, and was going to suggest that for Harley anyways. Not too long after, they were on their way to the venue for this ReLIVE event.
At the event, Selina gave the ticket counter the two tickets, and in return was given directions to the specific auditorium that she and Harley would go to. The building that hosted the event was new, or at least newer than Selina remembers. Either way, it looked nice inside and out.
Harley took this time to observe the walls that were filled with different bands' performances, amazed that something like this existed. "So, is this like a concert or a movie theater?" she asked.
Selina was also looking at visuals on the walls, equally amazed by it. "Well, according to the site it's a concert-like experience." She answered. "Not 100% sure what that means, but hopefully it's a good time."
"Agreed." Harley kept close to Selina as they continued through the building, she takes notice of the auditorium that they're supposed to go in, and before they get close, Harley stops in her tracks, giving Selina a gentle tug on her arm. "I have a question for you, 'Lina."
Selina looked at Harley, turning her body so she was fully facing her. "What's up?"
Harley looked down for a couple seconds, biting her inner lip. "How much did you spend on my ticket, that way I can pay you back." She asked and then looked back at Selina.
The question threw Selina off guard, and she couldn't help but giggle at it. "That's not for you to worry about, Harley." She casually slid her arm over Harley's shoulder to pull her close. "The only thing I want you to worry about, is getting the lyrics correct." She says which doesn't change Harley's expression much. "I offered, Harley." She gently caressed Harley's side. "It's our night, and I want our night to be awesome… Okay?
A blush hit Harley's face when she felt Selina's hand caress her, it made her press closer to Selina almost instinctively. "O-Only if you're sure." She said quietly. "Alright Quinn, she's just being comforting, no need to wanna test your friendship with Selina, especially in public." She thought to herself, not even realizing that she had one hand grazing Selina's abdomen through her shirt.
Selina noticed every action that Harley did, even down to the subtle pressure against her abs. Of course, the words that Pamela said were on the back of her mind, so she does her best to clear her head of any thoughts about what Harley's doing. "Ready to get our rock on?" she asks with a nervous chuckle.
"Y-Yeah, I'm ready." Harley smiled at Selina.
The two walked into the auditorium, and there wasn't a seat in sight, which answered the question Harley had. They were able to get to a decent spot, and noticed how many people showed up for this event. Once the room filled with enough people, the doors to the auditorium locked, and suddenly the room started to shift around to make room for the stage to grow. Harley kept close to Selina when all of this was going on, she couldn't quite tell if this was a dream, or if this was part of the experience.
The lights go off, and Harley begins to shake because this exact scenario is like some of the nightmares that she would have. It's not until she feels Selina's arms wrapped around her, and the older woman's hand in her hair that Harley begins to calm down. She instinctively brushes her head against Selina's chest.
The stage sets with a visual of buildings, and a man wearing a half mask singing. Harley looks in the direction of the stage and calms down a little more. Once the music starts getting more upbeat, Selina begins to sway her body to the music. Harley's still a tad nervous to do so, but she can't help but watch the way Selina moves to the music. There was something pure, carefree, and strong about the sight of Selina's movement.
As the song progresses, Selina moves behind Harley, wrapping her arms around her once more and leans in some to keep close as she moves their bodies together.
"It's okay, Harley." Selina says loud enough for only Harley to hear. "Pretend it's just the two of us, and move with me." She adds.
"The two of us…" Harley took a deep breath and bit her lower lip. Her chest felt heavy from the way Selina was moving her, and she didn't want this to stop, not for a second. "She's working me, and I know she's not even meaning to…" Harley moved Selina's hands to her hips, then began moving her body with as little care for the world as Selina did. The blonde wasn't sure how her body was doing this on its own, not that she was going to complain since it was specifically with Selina.
The rest of the concert went off without any issues for Harley and Selina, and the experience was something that they didn't know they needed until they arrived. Eventually it ended, and people started to make their way out of the building.
As people were walking, there were a couple of individuals near one of the exits, observing the crowd rather closely. One of them began to walk through the crowd, looking casual as they circled through the people. The other person placed to fingers against the side of their head, almost as if something was bothering them. Alas, that wasn't the case.
Joker's henchmen Ton, and Jamie were collecting creds from the unsuspecting public. One person connects to the other's augmented mainframe, and the runner does all the collecting. Normally it's not done this way, but Jamie's software isn't on par with Ton's partner, Markie. Still, they were able to collect a decent chunk of creds before having to maneuver away from the public. While Jamie was running through the crowd, Ton made his way to the nearby bus stop to wait for his partner. Ton casually pulled out a cigarette, lit it with the tip of his finger and took a couple drags from it.
As Ton was keeping tabs on any cops, he happened to glance at two familiar women leaving the building, one of them holding a bag from the venue. Two that neither he, nor Jamie accounted for. Ton's face went pale at the sight of the muscular, silver-haired woman walking with the blonde. The blonde…
"No fuckin' way…" Ton said to himself. It was like he saw a ghost, and the grim reaper leaving together. His body was shaking when Jamie finally made it to where Ton was standing.
Jamie had her hood up when she was running through the crowd, so she took it off when she approached her partner. "How much did we make on this haul, Ton?" she asked but saw that Ton's attention wasn't on her. "Ton, ya deaf?"
Ton slowly turned Jamie's body in the direction of where Selina, and Harley were. "You see the muscular woman… That's the chick that threw paws at Markie and I." he said with a shaky breath. "And the blondie next to her, ya know who she is?" he asked.
Jamie shook her head. "No, and why should I?" she asked.
"That is someone that Joker wanted dead, with a capital D-E-A-D." Ton explained. "We gotta go, and fast." He said before running off.
Jamie watched Ton run away, stammered for a couple seconds, and then looked back at where Selina and Harley were. She tapped on her wrist a couple times, keeping her eyes focused on two women. "Alright.. Gotcha." She said to herself before running in the same direction that Ton was running in.
One Hour Later…
Selina and Harley made it back to their apartment, exhausted from dancing, singing, and the travel from the venue. They had some conversations about the event, and how nice the people in attendance were. For the most part, they kept their talks shorter than normal. For Harley, there was a reason for why she wasn't pushing to talk a lot, a very specific reason.
Harley walked past Selina once they got into their apartment, her mind was still all over the place due to the closeness they two shared at the concert. The blonde kept her gaze on Selina, every… Single… Aspect of the older woman's frame was on Harley's mind. "She's… She's perfect."
"So, are you gonna tell me why you're so quiet, Harley?" Selina asks as she sets the bag on the counter.
"Exhaustion, mostly." Harley answers.
Selina raises a brow at Harley's response. "Oh, alright." She shrugs and walks over to Harley. "I had a real good time tonight." Selina admits with a shy smile on her face.
"Oh my god." Harley gulps, her face felt warm from the emotions that she felt. "I…" she licked her lips quickly. "I had a good time as well, 'Lina." She said while reaching for Selina's hands, taking them in her own.
The older woman's smile grew a little bigger. This night was worth it for Selina, knowing that Harley enjoyed herself. "Well, I'm gonna get ready to go to bed." She said before pulling away from Harley. "I'm really happy that you enjoyed yourself." She said and then turned to go to her room.
"R-Right." Harley said as she watches Selina go into her room. "Harley, what the hell are you doing?" she thought to herself. "You keep kicking yourself over this woman, and there's little in the way of having her." The blonde started to breathe heavy because of how overwhelming everything is for her. Suddenly, like her life depended on it, her body started moving towards Selina's door. Once she approaches it, she knocks twice.
Selina, just barely got out of her shirt when the knock happened. She walked over to her door and opened it to see Harley. "Everything okay?" she asked with a worried tone.
Harley's body began to shake, a couple of tears formed in her eyes. "What if… What if Selina doesn't see me in that way, though?" she thought, continuing to breathe heavily. "L-Lina.." she gulps.
"Sweetie, you're starting to scare me, what is it?" Selina closed the distance to cup Harley's face. "It's okay, I'm here for you."
"Here… For… Me…" Harley hooks her arms around Selina's neck, pushing her lips up against the older woman's.
To say that Selina was taken by surprise would be an understatement. Her heart was beating fast from Harley's actions, and yet… She didn't want Harley to pull away, stop, or anything that required the young woman to not be close. Selina started to return the kiss, briefly taking Harley's lower lip in between her own.
A soft whimper comes out of Harley, she nudges her lower body against Selina's, almost as if to direct her towards her bed. Selina obviously obliges to Harley's request and begins to move backwards with Harley in her arms. The older woman's legs eventually find the corner of the bed, and she sits down.
Harley straddles Selina's lap, finally pushing her tongue inside Selina's mouth out of desperation. The moan that comes out of Selina only makes Harley that much hungrier, she moves her hips almost as if she needed to be closer to the older woman than she already was.
That movement caused Selina to fall back on the bed, of course Harley adjusted to this new position and kept her tongue dancing against Selina's.
Eventually Selina placed her hand on Harley's shoulder, breaking the kiss so she could breathe for a few seconds. The thoughts that swarmed Selina's mind were that of lust laced with passion, and a vast amount of love that she has for Harley. "H-Harley…" she finally spoke.
Harley furrowed her brows, biting down on her lip because she's unsure of how Selina honestly feels. Her body did everything on its own, with little thought to not only her feelings, but Selina's as well. "I-I'm sorry, 'Lina..." she responds. "I couldn't…" Harley gulps. "I couldn't keep it to myself anymore, the feelings that I've been having…"
"She's had feelings for me?" Selina's eyes begin to water after what Harley said. She's had her fair share of anxieties over if Harley even saw her in any other way than a friend, and she would've kept those thoughts aside had it not been for some of the actions that Harley has done over the past few months. "I said it when you first moved in, I'll say it again…" Selina whispers. "There will never be a reason that you'll have to apologize to me…" she says before placing a soft kiss on Harley's lips, keeping them there for a few seconds.
Harley could feel herself melt into Selina, whether it be the soft tone of her voice, the physical frame of the woman underneath her, or how genuine she is in everything she does, it sends Harley to highs that she's not been used to. "D-Do you feel how I feel, 'Lina?"
Oh, she feels what Harley feels for her, and more. But… Selina remembered the words that Pamela said, and the threat she received. If Selina wasn't worried about how Harley would perceive her if she found out, she would've given herself, and the blonde woman what they've both been yearning for. "I do, Harley." She answered. "There are few things that I'd rather do, than make you mine in more ways than one…"
"There's a but isn't there?" Harley asks due to the expression on Selina's face.
Selina nods. "You're still with Pam." She points out. "And as long as you two are together, I don't wanna be the cause of you two not being happily in a relationship." Selina continued, her heart sinking from the reality of those words. "I love you too much to destroy something that made you happy."
Harley listened to the pain in Selina's voice, which almost broke her on the spot. If she were honest, she had forgotten that she was with Pamela throughout the whole night. All she thought about was being with Selina, enjoying their night, and being happy. Knowing that she potentially put Selina in a rough spot, it made her feel shame. "You make me happy, though." She admits and lays beside Selina, keeping a hand on Selina's stomach to casually feel the ridges in her abs.
On instinct, Selina links her fingers with Harley's and then looks at the blonde. "You make me happy, too…" she places another kiss, this time on Harley's forehead. "But it wouldn't be right to pursue something, when one of the people can't, morally."
Silence filled the room after Selina spoke, it wasn't like Harley could argue that point either, still it was a sad reality that they're both aware of now. Harley let out a sigh, and then rose up to kiss Selina's lips once more. "Ya know, there was a point in time where I wouldn't have cared about my relationships, and fought to have you in the best of ways." She joked.
"Oh no, I tainted your mind." Selina returned the joke which gets a soft giggle from Harley.
Harley returned to laying beside Selina, putting one leg over Selina's. "Can we just snuggle together, at least for a little while?"
Selina nodded a few times. "Of course, Kitten." She says quietly.
Meanwhile…
Ton and Jamie eventually made it back to the base, both exhausted from running the length that they did. The two made their way through the crowd of members with the intent of seeing Joker. They were informed that Joker was at the infirmary, which made it easier for them to find their boss. When they approached the infirmary, Ton opened the door for Jamie, and they walked past a few people to see Joker standing at the foot of Markie's bed.
"Boss." Ton called out.
Joker glanced at Ton and Jamie, gave them a slight smile. "You're just in time, Markie just woke up and I was about to ask him his side of the story."
Jamie looked at Ton with concerned eyes, and then back at Joker. "With all due respect, boss... I think you need to hear about this." She said.
"Yeah, it's subtly related to why Markie is here." Ton adds on.
Joker shrugged. "Okay, on with it then." They demand.
Jamie tapped on her wrist a couple of times to show a picture of Harley and Selina at the venue, projected from her arm. "According to Ton, that muscle mommy with grey hair was the lady that dished them hands." She said.
Ton nodded a couple times. "Yeah, and she's apparently…"
"That's Selina Kyle." Joker interrupts. "She was on multiple magazines for her Narrows project." They explain. "And Harley's still alive, paling around with Selina Kyle…."
"B-Boss.. I.."
Joker quickly held a gun against Ton's neck. "If I'm not mistaken, it was YOU that reported her dead, wasn't it?" they ask, and Ton nods. "I told most of you incompetent motherfuckers to KILL her, and she's running the streets with one of the most powerful individuals in Gotham, just casually…" they continue, and before Ton could speak, realization hit Joker's face. "You said that woman, Selina Kyle was the one that stopped you two from robbing someone?" they ask.
"Yeah…" Ton answers and gulps.
"Where did you guys go for Selina to catch, and stop you?" Joker's voice was sharp, yet low. "Do me a favor, and tell the truth, because if it's where I think it was…"
Ton glanced at Markie for a second, then at Jamie, and then back to Joker. "It was The Narrows…"
Joker lowered their gun, closing their eyes and letting out a deep breath. "I should kill you right now…" they say before glaring back at Ton. "Do you realize what you've done?"
"Boss, we can fix it, not just for Markie, but for you as well." Ton pleads. "We can take out Selina before anyone is the wiser about what we did."
Without looking away, Joker raises their gun towards Markie, pulls the trigger three times. Two bullets entered Markie's head, the other in his chest. "I don't care about Markie; I could've gotten someone to replace him while I was in the damn incubator!" their voice raises. "I could have gotten someone as soon as yesterday, and they would've known better to NOT conduct any kind of activity in The Narrows!"
Jamie took a couple steps back, not wanting to alarm Joker in any way. "Boss, am I in trouble, or can I go get these credits laundered?" she asks.
Joker looks at Jamie, smiles at her. "You're good, sweetie." They say. "I have business that I have no choice but to attend to, so go get the creds laundered, and take the rest of the night off."
"Thanks." Jamie says and quickly makes her way out of the infirmary.
"She's a good kid." Joker says casually before their gaze is back upon Ton. "You want to fix this, you're going to listen to what I have to say, because knowing that Harley is out there… We're extra fucked." They place the gun in the holster on their side. "First, you're gonna dispose of Markie's body, and then you're gonna get your happy ass up to my office." They demand before walking away from Ton.
Sami was at the other end of the infirmary, waiting for Joker's business to conclude. He saw everything that happened, and pursed his lips when Joker approached him. "So, how did it go?" he asked sarcastically.
Joker scoffed at Sami. "I've killed people for less than your sarcasm, Sami." They point out.
"I know, I saw it." Sami continued his sarcasm, which got a slight smirk from Joker.
"You're lucky that I kinda like you." Joker said. "Come, we have business." They walk out of the infirmary.
Sami walked with Joker, keeping a small distance from them just to be safe. "What kind of business do we have, Joker?" he asks.
Joker turned to Sami. "I need you to set up a meeting with someone." They start. "The mess that happened in The Narrows can't be good for the organization we're trying to build here."
Sami opened the notebook that he carries, flips through to find any contacts in The Narrows. "I don't exactly have any contacts out there, but I'm still new to all of this." He explained. "Do you know anyone that I can call?"
"Yeah…" Joker answered and reached into their jacket to pull out a small black book, no bigger than Joker's hand. "Everyone that I have no choice but to contact, are in this book." They say before opening the book to the page that has the number of the contact. "It's in the F's." Joker hands the book to Sami.
Sami grabs the book and looks at the letter, seeing only one name on there. "Falcone?" he asks.
"Falcone." Joker says before leaving to head to their office.
Sami takes another look at the name, then over at Joker. "Hey, Boss." He calls out and starts following Joker up to the office. Once they're at the door to Joker's office, he steps in front of Joker. "Who is Falcone?" he asks.
Joker gulps, looking back at the main area of their base to make sure no one is paying attention. "Falcone is the only person on this planet that..." they look back at Sami with a serious expression. "I genuinely fear." They explain before moving Sami aside to enter the office.
A/N: Another long one for y'all. I hope you enjoy it, this gonna be one of the last "fluff" chapters, as the upcoming ones are going to be more packed with action, serious moments among other things.
And to give you context on the concert scene, I was watching The Weeknd's Live At SoFi Stadium prior to writing that scene, and I thought it would work better than my initial plan of it being Faith No More's Live At Brixton.
Anyways, do all the things I love, stay safe, and stay tuned for more!