A/N: "How Superman Would End the War" by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster (Superman's creators) was published February 27, 1940 in Look magazine and featured Superman punching Nazis and bringing Hitler and Stalin to the Geneva courts for trial over "modern history's greatest crime: unprovoked aggression against defenseless countries." This pissed off the Nazis so much that they wrote an absolutely wild hate article in their official SS newspaper about Superman being a way for a Jewish man to brainwash American children with a "sense of justice... [that] sows hate, suspicious, evil, laziness, and criminality" (Das schwarze Korps, 25 April 1940). Superman was later used by the US government alongside iconography of Uncle Sam to recruit for the war effort... just in case you weren't aware of some the anti-fascist and political history of superhero comics. For no specific reason, of course. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk, and here's another chapter! Grief hits everyone differently.
Daniel spent five days in Penguin's medical center before he was discharged with instructions to rest but ensure he was doing light exercise. Harley noticed his hesitation to take the paper bag of medications prescribed to him, so she made sure to keep an eye on his intake at home.
The Batbrats on "Daniel watch" this shift were Red Hood and Spoiler, and both gave them an escort to the same black-tinted SUV they'd arrived in. Daniel was silent the whole time, save for when he thanked his care team.
They left Spoiler with the car while Harley and Jason jointly helped Daniel up the stairs to his place. They paused at the door of the apartment as they were greeted by a surprise: get well notes, flowers, even a gift basket.
Daniel's face darkened at the sigh. "They know I'm not the one he killed, right?"
Neither of them responded.
Jason gently pushed some of the items out of the way with the steel toe of his boot and opened the door. He shouldered more of Daniel's weight as Harley slipped out from his other side to gather up the gifts for safekeeping.
By the time she'd put them away in her and Ivy's room, Jason was sitting stoically on the couch, phone in hand and thumbs flying across the keyboard.
"He's asleep in bed. Left a glass of water on his nightstand."
Harley nodded and sat next to him, leaving a cushion worth of space between them. "Selina's re-opening the Gallery."
"I know. Got an invitation myself." He gestured with his phone. "Ivy caused a mass breakout at Arkham, by the way."
"As long as none of them are crashing on the couch," Harley muttered. That was a brilliant move and explained her absence. The assembled group would need to be at its strongest, and there were few in Gotham who didn't have a bone to pick with the Joker. Besides, this would keep Batman busy.
"They won't because I will be," Jason yawned and stretched. "No way in hell I'm going to the manor right now, and Bruce isn't above bothering me at my place if patrols are short-covered."
"Keep your shoes off the pillows," Harley said, "or Selina'll have kittens."
"Whatever," Jason mumbled and waved her off, but did as instructed.
They left much unsaid. Their easy acceptance of each other was enough.
Daniel was an exemplary home care patient for the first three days. He took his medications, he followed her suggestions, he got up and ambulated around the apartment without a single complaint. He asked after the get-well cards that had been left at the door and read every single one—a few had drawings and get hung on the fridge with tape (because of all things, they don't have magnets). She was pleasantly surprised to see it. Baby steps.
Jason vanished for hours at a time without warning, but Harley didn't question it. The behavior fit right in with the rest of her roommates.
Ivy showed up on the second day while Daniel was sleeping and Jason was out. She looked tired but angry, and Harley knew nothing she could say would fix this.
"How is he?" Ivy asked, their foreheads pressed together comfortingly.
Harley shrugged. "He's Daniel now."
Ivy flinched back, but Harley kept a close hold of her. "He didn't deserve this," the redhead hissed. "He's so… good. Look at how he treated us."
"I know. That's why we're gonna help him kill the bastard once and for all." It was what she knew was going to happen, what had to happen, ever since she saw Daniel's blank stare up in the Watchtower.
The world's heroes had failed him—more importantly, they had failed that little boy. Daniel wouldn't let the crime go unanswered.
"We'll be ready for him," Ivy agreed. "Let us know when he is."
Daniel hadn't spoken much up to then, but it was to be expected. Harley knew it would all come out sooner or later. Everyone processed at different speeds.
She woke up to a cacophony of crashes on the fourth day.
Daniel's room was a wreck when she entered after his muffled consent. Everything had been pulled out of the drawers, the bed was completely unmade, and papers littered the floor, and, at a closer look, hid the glimmer of some shards of broken glass. Daniel sat on the floor, knees drawn to his chest and back against the bed frame. Harley tip-toed carefully to his side.
"I did this to them," he muttered as she knelt next to him, "and I got him killed."
Harley sighed. "No, Daniel. The Joker is the only one to blame, but your boss holds responsibility as well. You warned her of the threat and she didn't listen, but as a Gotham resident and in her position, she should have been aware of this potential anyway."
They sat together in silence as Daniel processed her words. That was alright, they weren't in a rush.
"I'm going to kill him." Daniel's voice was calm when he finally peeked up at her.
Harley nodded seriously. "I know. I'll help." She huffed at the way he looked at her askance. "What? I'm not your therapist. I'm your friend." She crossed her arms firmly and jutted her chin out. "Friends help friends commit justified first-degree and help hide the body afterward."
She nearly burst with pride at Daniel's small smile. "I'm starting to get why Ivy's so into you."
Her grin back was electric. "You ain't green enough for me, honey."
Their heads both whipped towards the front door as a knock sounded. Daniel looked back at her with eyebrows raised.
Bad? He mouthed.
Harley shrugged. She wasn't expecting anyone, not even a pizza guy. Regardless, she crouched down to pull a gun from where Jason had stashed it under the bed (Daniel raised his eyebrows but thankfully didn't comment) and ushered him towards the bedroom doorway so they could look around the corner.
"Door's open!" She called. Far safer than looking through a peephole.
"You first!" A deep voice shouted back. Harley rolled her eyes. She recognized that jerk.
"Fuck you, Lawton!"
"Jesus, both of you!" The door swung open and hit the wall with a bang. Cheshire was glaring at Harley and Daniel but quickly turned her ire back on Deadshot. "In front of the kids? Really?"
Harley could feel the air around Daniel tense as they both noticed the young girl peeking out from behind Deadshot and the swaddled mass strapped to Cheshire's chest.
"You brought little bits!" Harley grinned. She clicked the gun safety on and handed it to Daniel, then crouched to the little girl's eye line. "Hey there sweetie, I'm your Auntie Harley."
"No, you're fucking not," Deadshot growled.
"Lawton!" Cheshire snapped.
"It's okay, Ms. Cheshire," the girl said cheerfully. "I hear worse at school." Her eyes peered up at Daniel. "Did you like my drawing?"
Daniel couldn't help but smile. "I did. It was very pretty, I have it hanging on the fridge. Would you like to see?"
She nodded and hopefully looked up at her dad, who stepped aside and let her venture forward.
The three criminally-inclined adults waited until Daniel and mini-Lawton disappeared into the kitchen. They had a stand-off of sorts, waiting to see who would speak first.
Cheshire rolled her eyes and sighed, shifting the kiddo strapped to her chest to sit more comfortably. "How is he doing?"
Harley shrugged. "Healing." She thought for a moment, considering what would suffice as an answer without betraying his confidence. "You can spread the word: he's Daniel Johnson now."
Lawton glanced away, running his hand over his shaved hair as he nodded. Cheshire's lips tightened into a thin line. Both of them understood what she wasn't saying.
The black-haired woman walked off towards the kitchen, her hand cradling the back of her child's head subconsciously. Her voice carried as she asked the two what they were up to in the suspicious quiet that had fallen, and their animated responses made sure that Daniel wasn't eavesdropping on Lawton's next words.
"Catwoman sent along the invitation to her and the others," Lawton said lowly, jerking a thumb in Cheshire's direction. "Does Johnson know?"
Harley tried not to show her surprise—the Gallery tended to be a Gotham-only shindig. Now that she heard it, it made sense that Selina would expand the invites to include Daniel's past World of Wishes requested visitors. They'd been instrumental to his exponential success rate; their underworld ran on gossip as a secondary currency.
"Not yet," she admitted. "I wanted him to hear it from her."
Lawton didn't outright deride her, but it was clear he wasn't impressed. "Word's spreading. Might want to let him know before someone else tells him."
She scowled but didn't argue. It was valid advice.
"Dad!" mini-Lawton's voice called from the other room before she popped her head around the corner. "Can we stay for pizza? Daniel said I can help make it!" The assassin gave his daughter a bland look, but she merely giggled in response. "Does that mean yes?"
He rolled his eyes. "Fine. Make sure Johnson doesn't burn anything, Zoe."
"Okay!" Footsteps scampered away and Lawton let out a tired sigh when he glanced back at Harley to find her grinning widely.
"Don't get too excited. She likes putting pineapple on it."
"Nothin' wrong with a bit of chaos! She's so my niece now."