Morning came, and Harley took a cab home from work as promised. She waited eagerly for Jack's call, but it never came, which instantly sent her into a panic – she feared something terrible had happened to him. As the day dragged on, she became more frantic, and finally took another cab to his apartment. It was dark and empty inside, but as she flicked on the lights, she noticed something on the table. It was an envelope addressed to her. Inside was a letter, which she took out with trembling hands and read:

Dear Harley,

If you're reading this, then you've realized I ain't coming back. I either died killing the Batman, or I succeeded and skipped town, but either way, you won't be seeing me again. Please believe that I've thought long and hard about this, and it's for the best. It's better that I get outta your life now before I can mess it up any further. And I know you'll insist that I haven't, but I have. Anyone can see that this is all wrong, no matter how wonderful it seems. Every perfect moment I have with you, every precious second I've spent with you, has been tainted by the knowledge that it's all wrong. I know myself, and I know how utterly unworthy I am of someone as wonderful as you.

I never thought I could love anyone the way I love you. You're the most incredible woman in the world, and you deserve the most incredible life, not a life tied to a criminal who can only drag you down into the dirt with him. Angels don't belong in the dirt, and that's what you are, Harley. You're my angel who let me live in heaven for a little while. But I don't belong in heaven – I've done a lot of bad things, and the worst thing I could ever do is chain you to me, and make a living hell out of heaven. That's what my time with you has been – it's been such sweet torture, but I have to do the right thing for once in my life, and let you go.

I'm no good at being noble – I'm not a noble guy. I'm a criminal, the worst of the worst, and to stay with you would be agony for me when I know I don't deserve someone like you. If you really love me, you need to let me go, just as I'm letting you go. I will always love you, and I will always remember you, and each precious moment I've shared with you. I will hold those in my memory until I die, and if I have died, please believe that my last thoughts were of you. You can move on in the knowledge that what we shared was special, and meant the world to me. You're not even a real shrink yet, and yet you have the power to make a bad guy do a good deed for you – that's how amazing you are. I hope remembering our time together will help in your future career when you get patients who do crazy things for crazy reasons. I understand mad love now, and I hope you do too. You'll always have mine forever.

Love,

Mr. J

Tears were streaming down Harley's cheeks as she read the letter – she let out a sob when she finished at last. "No!" she gasped. "No! No, Mr. J, you can't do this! I won't let you, I…"

She suddenly heard unfamiliar voices outside the door to the apartment, and raced over to the closet, concealing herself inside it. A moment later, the front door was kicked open, and two rough-looking men entered – Harley peered between the slats in the closet door and recognized them as Buzz Bronski and Chuckie Sol.

"I told you he wouldn't have anything worth stealing," muttered Buzz, looking around. "This place is a dump."

"You can't blame me for wanting to check – Jack was always full of surprises," retorted Chuckie. "Anyway, he ain't just gonna leave his valuables out in plain sight …"

He opened the closet door, and they both came face to face with Harley. They froze in shock, and she stared back at them with tears trickling down her cheeks. Then Buzz's face curled into an unpleasant smile. "You were right, Chuckie – he ain't got his valuables out in plain sight!" he chuckled, dragging Harley out of the closet. "And she's certainly a surprise!"

"I know you," said Chuckie, studying her. "You were the college girl who came to the jail the day of our breakout."

"Hey, you're right!" exclaimed Buzz. "What the hell are you doing in Jack's apartment?"

Harley was too scared to respond, but she didn't have to. "You're his lover," said Chuckie, quietly.

"What, her?" demanded Buzz. "Are you crazy, Chuckie?"

"I'm not crazy, Buzz," retorted Chuckie. "I know the face of heartbreak. She's heartbroken because he ain't come back. He left you a letter?" he asked, pointing at the paper in Harley's hand.

"Yes, he…where is he?" stammered Harley. "He's done something terrible, and I have to speak to him…"

"That's gonna be difficult," retorted Chuckie. "He's dead."

Harley couldn't comprehend what the word meant. "H…how?" she stammered.

"I shot him in the stomach," supplied Buzz. "But the drop in the acid is probably what finished him off."

Harley's fear vision flashed in front of her eyes again – she saw as clearly as day Jack's face after he had been shot, his eyes wide in pain and astonishment, gasping her name…

"No!" she screamed, launching herself at Buzz and hitting him repeatedly. "It's not true! Tell me it's not true!"

"Jesus, get her off!" snapped Buzz, as Chuckie seized her around the waist and ripped her away. "He had it coming – he murdered Sal…"

"He murdered Sal to save me!" sobbed Harley. "He did it for me! He loved me! He loved me!"

She broke down, falling to her knees and sobbing. Buzz felt his jaw where Harley had struck him. "She needs to be taught a lesson in manners," he growled.

"Leave her alone," muttered Chuckie. "She's suffering enough without our help."

"Are you crazy?" repeated Buzz, glaring at him. "We've had a hard day, and we deserve to have a little fun…"

"Think with your brain for once, Buzz!" snapped Chuckie. "So we have a little fun with her, and then what? We kill her? We take her with us? Or we let her go? Either way, this ain't one of Falcone's trafficked girls! This one will be missed! If she disappears or goes to the cops, the heat will be on! Look at her – pretty little blonde college girl is exactly the type people will sympathize with, and demand answers. The public pressure will get the cops to go hard on this case, and extra police attention is the last thing we need right now when we're trying to stabilize the gang! You having fun is not worth all that! Just leave her alone!"

"She might go to the cops anyway, to punish us for Jack," muttered Buzz.

"The cops ain't gonna care about Jack," retorted Chuckie. "But they will definitely care if we assault this girl! And the Bat's already gonna be after us because of what went down at Ace Chemicals – I wish to God you hadn't killed Jack before he could kill him! But what's done is done – we're gonna lay low for a little while and not draw undue attention to ourselves by hurting her. Got it?"

Harley kept sobbing, looking up at the gangsters. "If you had any human feeling at all, you would kill me," she whispered. "You would be doing me a favor. I…I can't…live without him!"

"You're going to have to, I'm afraid," replied Chuckie. "You're going to have to live."

Harley continued to sob as Buzz and Chuckie searched the apartment, but there was nothing for them to steal. Chuckie came back over to a still-sobbing Harley, and patted her head gently. "There, there, now," he said. "Young, pretty girl like you with your whole life ahead of you – you've got nothing to worry about. In a few years this will all seem like a bad dream. You'll have a great life with a great marriage, career, a couple of kids, and you'll look back on this time and wonder why you were so silly to get so worked up over so worthless a man. We all make mistakes when we're young, but we grow up and get over them. The same thing will happen to you, trust me."

"I still think she needs a lesson," muttered Buzz, as Chuckie headed for the door.

"She's got one already," retorted Chuckie. "She's learned never to make a mistake like this again. Haven't you, my dear?" he asked.

Harley just kept crying. The gangsters left her, shutting the door behind them, and leaving her to the darkness.