Gotham High: A Harley Quinn Story

Science Fear- Part 2

-Johnny's POV-

" Harleen Harleen...calm down...calm"

Her first scream caught everyone's attention as it pierced through the hallways of Gotham High. Harleen's reaction to my chemicals was not expected, and utterly concerning. Once she started to spaz out teachers ran for help, students ran in general. No one seemed to understand what had happened to the girl, however, everyone seemed to fleeing in fear. Fear of if it happened to her,  it happen to them. Honestly that is the most foolish fear one can have, it actually risks her life more.

Strange to think I found a sense of attraction, calmness as Harley began to flip out. The initial shock did stun me, preventing me to go to her aid. I assumed, maybe the falling sensation was too much for her but then it worsened. Harleen kept screaming, flipping out while turning in her chair. Her voice uttered what sounded like a bunch of complete nonsense, but the seriousness to her tone made her seem like what she was saying was all too real.

"Harles!" Selina was the first up on stage, sprinting as fast as she could with her boy toy Bruce Wayne. She looked as a mother figure would, seeing one of her babies hurt. "Harley... Harley Can you hear me?" She spoke softly, trying to calm Harleen down. There was no stopping it. Maybe the dose was too high, or mixed wrong but she began to shake harder, Selina failed to bring reality back to Harleen. The effects my chemicals took on Miss. Quinzel were intriguing, her body trembled as Harley took part in crying and screaming out for help. She did not seem aware that what she was seeing was not real, a general illusion despite being told ahead of time. I presume this was the effect of sudden fear, that created her mind gap. Do not get me wrong, a part of me felt bad for Harleen, really bad for her...but...I couldn't help but wonder what she was seeing that sparked this reaction.

"Freak! What they hell did you do to her?" A sharp voice snarled in anger. Pamela must have darted to the stage quickly, instead of fleeing like the rest of our classmates. Isley actually looked concern for Harley, which was all strange. Pamela didn't care about anyone but herself, most certainly not Harley. The poor Harleen fell out of her chair, rocking back and forth in the wires.

"Selina, get the school nurse and hurry." Bruce instructed taking over, his eyes were focused on the machine that calculated her pulse and brain waves. Selina wasted no time, sprinting as fast as she could out of the room. Harleen's heart rate was spiking, incredibly high pulses. We had to find some way to calm her down, before the effects were fatal. "and Pamela, call 911, convince them this isn't the school making another prank call and Harleen really needs help."

"What went wrong?" Edward spoke, coming up from behind me. His glasses were pushed into his orange hair, ruffled out of place. All of us looked concern for Harleen's well being, especially Ed. To think this could have been him, if he did not decline. He put Harleen in this danger. She never had to be near my compound. I knew Eddie well enough to know he felt this guilt we shared.

"Ambulance is on its way." Selina comes back with a death look in her eyes. She does not slow down to stay by Bruce's side, Selina comes directly for me. In a second I found myself pinned up against the wall. My glasses fell from my head from the rapid movement. "What the hell did you do too Harley?" Her voice growled, her hand grasped around my throat. Selina eyes looked stone cold as they glared into mine.

"I don't know!"

"Selina put him down." Bruce spoke, catching the darkness in her tone. In obedience, Selina dropped me, walking over to his side to help hold Harleen down. They had to make sure she didn't hurt herself in this fit of fear.

Eddie motioned that we should step outside for a moment. I kept my eye on Harley as we stood just outside the door. He kept his voice low, but inquisitive. "What went wrong?"

"I don't know." I repeat, why did everything think I knew. It wasn't like I planned this.

"You were working on the calculations for months, you told me there was no risk."

"I never said no risk."

He starts to gain skeptic-ness to his voice. "Jonathan, did you know there was a possibility tha-"

"I wouldn't ask a question you don't want answered Ed." I spoke lowly, getting mad at him. He knew how hard I worked on this, hell, he knew I would never purposely put Harleen in danger. I would never hurt her.

A long pause of silence came over us, I could picture Edward questioning everything. From where we stood I could see the lights of an ambulance, and squad cars swarming outside the school. Edward shook his head, before looking up at me. "Leave."

"What?" I spoke, confused to what he could mean. I couldn't leave Harleen. What if she didn't make it? Leaving would only look worse, making me seem guilty. Harleen was my friend, I wanted to stay and help her any way I could.

"Leave, the cops in Gotham don't ask questions they make assumptions. It's annoying, but the worst part is the fools will get so caught up in emotion that after seeing Harleen, they'll arrest you, no matter the case."

"They can't arrest me."

"Did Harley sign something saying she was volunteering out of her free will, or did someone else hear her saying to you something along those lines"

"No."

"Can Harley testify to admitting she wanted to help you and that you did not force her to take my place?"

"Ed she can't even speak right now."

"Exactly." He spoke crossing his arms. We watched as the police and fireman went over to the other room, Edward looked over before we wandered farther down the hall. "Go to my home, you know my father gambles on weekdays and weekends. He starts drinking at lunch time so you'll be alone until 2 am."

"Ed I can't impose-"

"Go."

"I'll look guilty."

"You know I can spin anything. It's just like figuring out the right puzzle pieces to show them the picture you wish for them to see. Now go on." Edward instructed, putting his glasses down.

"Thanks Ed." The genius smiled, giving a small nod as he shooed me off.