The next morning, Harley awoke to see breakfast on the table beside her. She looked around, but Jack was nowhere to be seen. "Mr. J?" she called, but there was no answer. "Mr. J?" she repeated, sitting up.

She suddenly heard the front door open, and a moment later, Jack entered the bedroom. "Good morning," he said, beaming at her. "I'm glad I didn't wake you when I got up. You looked so peaceful sleeping there that it really would have been a crime."

"Speaking of crimes, why don't you come steal a kiss?" she asked, smiling at him. He smiled back, and bent down to kiss her tenderly. "Where have you been?" she asked.

"Taking care of some things," he replied.

"What things?" she asked.

"Work things," he replied.

"Why won't you tell me about them?" she asked. "I thought you were going to help me understand your work."

"I've told you, I don't like you getting involved in my business," he replied.

"And I've told you, I want to know," she retorted. "And it's my life."

"Yes, and I want you to keep it," he retorted. "Harley, you don't know what these men are like, what they'd do to you…"

"I have a pretty good idea," she interrupted. "Your former boss tried, after all, and you killed him..."

"Yes, and next time I might not be around to save you!" he snapped.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked. "Are you in danger, Jack?"

He shrugged. "I'm always in danger in my line of work," he muttered.

"I mean serious danger," she said. He shrugged again, avoiding her gaze. "You would tell me, wouldn't you?" she asked.

"Why? There's nothing you can do about it," he replied, sitting down on the edge of the bed and facing away from her.

She cuddled against him, wrapping her arms around his waist and leaning against his shoulder. "Tell me," she whispered.

He let out a sigh. "I'm going to kill the Batman," he murmured. "But the fact that I'm going to do that is the only thing keeping me alive right now. The other Families are gunning for me, and my own gang will be the moment the Bat is dead."

"So don't kill him," said Harley.

"If I don't, I'm dead anyway," he replied. "If I fail, I'm of no further use to them. But I've convinced them that I'm the only guy who can take down the Bat, so they're keeping me alive until I do."

Harley said nothing. "Do you want to kill him?" she asked at last.

Jack shrugged again. "Seems kinda a shame," he replied. "I really liked what I saw of the guy, but he's bad for business overall. And it would be a fun challenge to outsmart a guy like that. Anyway, I don't see that I have a choice."

"Yes, you do," said Harley. "You can choose not to do it."

"The entire criminal underworld would be after me if I didn't," retorted Jack. "Nowhere in Gotham would be safe."

"So we leave Gotham," said Harley. "We leave Gotham and Batman and your former life behind you. Behind us," she added, kissing his cheek. "We can start a new life somewhere else, together and free."

He looked at her. "What about your studies?" he asked. "I don't want you dropping out so late in the year, and you told me yourself, you got a long way to go before you graduate…"

"I can transfer to another school," she interrupted. "There are plenty of colleges out there, and plenty of psychiatry programs. It doesn't matter if I get my degree here or in Metropolis. And you'd be safe there."

"But this is the best school for the degree you want, isn't it?" asked Jack.

"It doesn't matter, Jack," she retorted. "Some stupid degree doesn't matter when your life is in danger. You're more important than a piece of paper…"

"I'm really not, kid," he muttered, standing up suddenly. "And Professor Crane wants to help you – you need to be here for that…"

"I told you, I don't need him," she snapped. "I don't need anyone but you. Why won't you believe that?"

"Because it doesn't make sense!" he shouted, rounding on her. "You loving me doesn't make any sense! I'm not the kinda guy a girl like you should be with! And I can't allow you to give up everything for me! I'm not worth it!"

"I'm not a child, Jack!" she snapped. "You don't allow me to do anything! I make my own choices, and I chose you! It doesn't have to make sense – love doesn't have to make sense! But that's what I feel for you – crazy, mad love! To me, you're worth sacrificing everything for…"

"But I'm not, Harley!" he exclaimed. "You might believe that, but it's not true! Your love for me is based on a lie – it's based on you seeing me as someone I'm not! I'm not a nice guy…"

"I don't want a nice guy!" she exclaimed. "I want you! And you're not going to talk me out of that, no matter what you say!"

He sighed heavily. "No, I'm not," he agreed, sitting down on the bed again. "I'm not. And I don't want us to keep fighting about this."

"I'm going to fight anyone who thinks I should give you up, including you," retorted Harley. "We're together now, Mr. J. Where you go, I go with you. No matter how dangerous. I would fight the whole world for you, but I'd rather we faced it together."

Harley leaned against his shoulder again, and he leaned his head against hers. "You should get ready for school," he murmured. "You don't want to be late for class. Assuming you've decided to go back to Professor Crane's class, of course."

"Yes, I have," she agreed. "I need to talk to him. We both know something about the other that we don't want the world at large knowing about. I want to make sure he understands that if he goes to the police about us, I'll tell the dean about his fear drug. But if he keeps our secret, I'll keep his."

"Smart girl," said Jack. "You'll make a great shrink someday."

"You sound like you won't be there to see it," she said. "But you will be, Mr. J."

"Yes, I will be," he agreed, kissing the top of her head. "Now get dressed, and I'll drive you to campus."

"And then I got work tonight," sighed Harley. "Will you pick me up after school and drive me to the diner?"

"Of course I will," he said. She nodded, drawing away from him and climbing out of bed to get dressed.

"When are we going to leave town?" she asked, pulling on her clothes.

"Soon," he murmured, gazing at her.

"I need you to be more specific than that," she replied. "I'll need to hand in my resignation at the diner, and I'll need to give them a last day. I guess I can also look into transferring schools, but I can do that after we leave Gotham. There's only a couple more weeks left in the semester, so if we could wait until then, it would save me having to repeat the term."

"I'll let you know," said Jack quietly.

"Ok," she said, smiling at him. Her smile fell when she saw his face, drawn and serious, his eyes staring sadly at her. "Hey," she said, approaching him and taking his face in her hands. "You ok?"

"Sure," he said, forcing a smile. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Don't joke," she said. "You have every reason to be anxious with the threat from the Families hanging over you, but you shouldn't worry about them. We're going to be safely away from them soon enough, you must believe that. You must trust me. I'm going to save you."

He smiled. "If anyone could, it would be you," he murmured. "If anyone could drag me outta the depths of hell, it would be an angel like you."

She kissed him tenderly, and then headed into the bathroom. Jack's smile dropped instantly. "But I can't let you go into the depths of hell to do that," he murmured. "I won't drag an angel down there with me."