Who: The Joker & Harley Quinn Where: Ace Chemical, Gotham City, NJ When: April 28, 2012 What: Joker discovers Harley has been sneaking out. Rating: R (Abuse) Notes:This about sums up the scene
It had been only a day since Harley had last left the hideout. Thanks to Eddie and Jonathan she had been keeping busy outside of the abandoned card factory. Though she would never admit it to anyone, it had been fun teaming up with her friends and helping them in their own grand schemes. It was all she had been left with recently, after all. The Joker had been very quiet about his next gag for Gotham.
Some time in would do her good. She had suits to mend, Bud and Lou to train, and hopefully her lover to please. As much as she liked to excuse his absence in her life on his work, she was just as much at blame. She had been so invested in what her friends had been doing that it made it difficult to allot enough time to satisfy everyone. Not that she had any regrets. It had been nice to spend time out in public. Nice and dangerous.
“Bring the bone to mama,” Harley called to her two babies who were currently mowing down on a bone that was as large as her arm. They both stared up at her, blinked, and went back to chewing. “Leave the bone where is it.” Now they were listening. “Good boys...”
The mornings were the one time Punch got to enjoy to himself before the clown couple began their little routine. So he learned a long time ago to make the most of the mornings. Punch knew he didn’t look like much of a reader but he often perused the pages of the Gotham blogs over a bowl of cereal. His favorite though was one dedicated to the day to day activities of the Gotham Villains. And today’s headline caught his eye and caused a mushy lump of Sugar Bombs to drop into his chocolate milk with a splash. The bowl was quickly discarded so he could read the meat of the article. It was talking about Gotham’s newest hot item: Riddler and Harley Quinn.
Oh boy.
The boss was going to have a fit. And therein lay the conundrum. Tell the boss and risk disembowelment and have him go off the deep end or keep quiet.. and risk disembowelment. It was a moral dilemma that ate at him for several minutes. Finally though, he made his decision. “Uh.. Boss?”
It didn’t take long to explain anything and really all Punch had to do was point at the blurry security camera photos. The temperature in the room seemed to drop ten degrees as Joker straightened his spine. Without another word the madman stalked out of the room. Gangly limbs propelled him through out the lair like a wraith. He heard the clatter of claws on concrete and the praise from Harley. His chest tightened uncontrollably and his eyes narrowed.
His pace seemed almost casual as he made a circuit of room. Anger seethed in him but he maintained his cool. Until he drew within five feet of her. Then the hula-girl lamp on the table became his first weapon. The ceramic would shatter on contact with her shoulder and drive her to the ground. They had been here before and he knew just how much punishment she could take.
The spark of happiness in Harley’s eyes at the sight of her man vanished as soon as he reached for the lamp. Her eyes widened and she had just enough time to turn her body to ensure the beaming hula dancer crashed against shoulder instead of face before hitting the ground.
Bud and Lou whined, but instead of charging to the rescue, the hyena duo slunk into the shadows, pulling their oversized bone with them.
“P-puddin’?” She had propped herself up but was scuttling back out of reach, her hands falling on broken ceramic, the sharpest pieces digging into the palm of her hand. “What’s wrong? What’d I do?”
The glare he fixed upon the pair of Hyenas sent them scuttling back. They listened only to Harley but they had learned already that the clown was not someone to mess with. Joker’s jaw rolled and his eyes fluttered till they were almost closed. He turned his neck in that boneless manner he seemed to possess and took one step forward. “Quite a few weeks for you.” He drawled in that soothing voice he used on her when she had been a good little sidekick. However this time the tone was tainted with some malicious. He took another step forward, his feet placing perfectly between shards of ceramic hula girl.
“Cupcakes.” Another step. The leather of his gloves creaked as his hand spasmed into a fist. “Thoughtful gifts.” Another step. His pace was slow and deliberate but his steps chewed up ground. His foot lashed out to sweep her feet and end her scuttle. His pace carried him passed her.
Those strong fingers worked their way into her hair and he hauled her petite frame to her feet. The hand tightened in those golden locks and bent her head to the side, exposing the arteries in her neck. “Nights with old friends.” The cool steel of a blade ran along her fair skin. The dull edge was a warning but the sharp tip traced a line that inflamed the flesh in its wake.
The softened tone in which he spoke made Harley hopeful that this would be quick. The list he started to go through simply confused her even as she was knocked around and forced to her feet by her hair. Her whimper drowned out the sound of roots leaving scalp, but it was the blade on her neck that quieted the sounds of discomfort.
“Nights?” she repeated, her voice strained. “Wh-what are ya talkin’ about, Mistah J?” She was fighting to keep herself still and to steady her heartbeat. Each thump in her chest drew her skin up to the blade that threatened to embed itself into her flesh.
This would be quick but it would also be vicious. She once claimed to want to know him. She claimed to love him. She had been the only one to ever see beyond what the media saw. The only one, beyond The Bat, to ever know him in any modicrum. And yet she thought a simple lie could save her.
The cut was quick and it was shallow. It was no where near her throat and it just crossed over the curve of her clavicle. The knife was promptly discarded on the table that once housed the lamp of the smiling island girl.
The clown’s long strides carried him across the room, no concern at all for Harley’s shorter legs. He would just simply drag her by the hair if need be. Joker passed through to a wooden door that emptied out to the loading area of the factory. The clown spun her around, the words she would try to defend herself with falling on deaf ears. He pushed her violently into the door, hard enough to slam her head against the wood.
With that he turned away and paced a few strides left and right. His mouth moved in unspoken while he paced until finally he stopped. “Then what was last night?” And before she could answer he turned and planted the heel of his wingtip into the solar plexus. Joker wasn’t a strong man but he was tall man and he had quite a kick. The wooden door behind her was old and weathered. It splinted at the impact with her small form.
The cut of the blade was nothing compared to the pain of her uncertainty. Why had her questions been met with punishment? What was she expected to say? She knew answers were coming from the force at which he was pulling her, but that did not stop her from sputtering out excuses when she could.
“It wasn’t nothin’, puddin’, I swear,” she began, drawing a bloody hand to the top of her head to try and soften the pain of his grip. “Just a friendly time out.” It wasn’t a lie. Her work with Eddie had been simply to bear witness to his protege. The robbery of the toy store that followed was repayment. A late birthday gift even!
Her head collided with the door and she instantly became quiet. There was a dull ache creeping from the back of her skull down her spine and it was a welcome relief to have a moment to straighten her body into a proper posture. She was quickly becoming bathed in red, her blonde hair covered from her palms and her chest reddening with the drops that came from the tender cut.
Another stutter of an apology was on the tip of her tongue when the real reason to this abuse came to light. Her blue eyes were wide with fright as she was suddenly struck back, the snapping of the old wood dulled the sound of pain that passed her lips. Her back met the cold, hard floor first, followed by the rest of her. She was gasping now, the air in her lungs lost from the force of the tumble.
“Last night...” she wheezed, forcing herself onto her elbows despite the immense pain it caused. “I was...I was just trying to help,” she cried softly. Harley never anticipated the Joker finding out about her night with Eddie. It was meant to be a night to play and learn, to support her friend in his endeavors. What was so wrong with that? Her bottom lip quivered as tears streaked her face, unable to find fault in her actions.
She didn't get it. Joker merely sneered in disgust and turned away. He could end her life. It would have been easy. At least he told himself that. The truth was that no matter how many times he tried to snuff out her light, he never seemed capable of doing it.
The Joker shuffled away, his hair hanging down and casting shadows across his eyes. The hyenas gave him a wide berth and rushed out to Harley. The curled next to her and lapped at her cuts.
Harley was silent as her furry friends set to work on comforting her in their own way. Her fingers twitched in an effort to pet them, but she made no effort to rise. Her eyes glazed over as she stared at the rust and dark above her.
“My fault,” she croaked, to which Bud and Lou perked up. “I didn’t get it.” Both hyenas crawled forward on their stomachs and let their heads rest against her, one on each shoulder. They would stay with her until she had the strength and means to rise.