Harley Quinn Romance

Chapter 05: Ray of Sunshine

Harley ducked into the expensive interior of Bruce's car, sitting down and scooting over to make room for Bruce. He quickly joined her in the vehicle and shut the door behind them to close off the shouted questions and camera flashes by reporters.

"Home, Alfred," Bruce instructed, and the car immediately departed.

"I appreciate your timely intervention, Harleen," Bruce told her.

"Call me Harley," she insisted. "Everybody does, and I got used to it."

"Alright, Harley," Bruce agreed. "I'm slightly confused as to the motivation behind your decision to come forward and make such an announcement."

"I couldn't let them discover who you were, B-man," Harley explained.

"You actually think I'm Batman?" Bruce asked in a confused manner.

"You gave me a sedative in Arkham," Harley told him. "I got to tell ya, I've been getting shots for years, and they just don't work like they used to."

"You woke up," Bruce assumed.

"When Alfred was talking to you in the cave about me, I thought he was an undertaker," Harley laughed. "Anywho, I did some searching on the Internet and managed to find the two of you together and presto!"

"I'm must say, I'm impressed," Bruce admitted. "I still don't understand why keeping Batman's identity a secret would be important to you."

"You've saved my life several times," Harley told him. "Joker never cared how I was, but you were always looking after me. Even in the warehouse, you got Joker to admit he never cared. You didn't have to get him to say those things. The threat to the city had nothing to do with it."

"You'd been his victim from the very beginning," Bruce said gently. "I had hoped his confession would break you out from under his influence."

"Congrats," Harley said. "Now you got me all to yourself and everyone knows it."

Harley bounced slightly up and down on the seat, testing the cushion.

"Comfy," she announced.

"I'm glad you approve," Bruce responded. "Since we've announced to the world our dating status, it would seem best if we continue that relationship for the time being."

Harley leaned forward in her seat, closing the distance between them.

"I know you're only going along with this to keep the bad guys from finding out who you are," she told him. Taking a hold of the lapel of his suit, she pulled him close to whisper in his ear. "But, who says you can't have a little fun along the way?"

She let go of him and sat back in the padded seat and toyed with the automatic controls for the sunroof, watching the tinted partition open and close with rapt attention.

Bruce continued to watch her silently. Harley put on a stable front, pretending to be focused on the skylight, but she could barely contain her excitement; the only thing she could think about was sharing a car with Bruce.

Although Bruce wanted to date her strictly for the cover she provided for his identity, it fit perfectly into the crazy edged puzzle pieces of her plan. She'd wanted to observe him from closer range, and she'd accomplished it. The second phase of her plan involved making Bruce realize his feelings for her, and his being compelled to date her openly provided a perfect opportunity. Everything was falling into place.

***

In Arkham Asylum, Joker was recovering in his cell, his face covered in bandages and layers of thick gauze from the injuries he'd suffered from Harley's cork gun.

A newspaper slid through the slot on his glass door and plopped to the ground. Joker picked it up out of boredom. The back page was filled with want ads for everything imaginable from jobs to house furnishings. He paid it little attention and flipped the paper over to examine the front.

Joker's eyes went wide in a combination of surprise and rage. A full page article detailed an announcement that Bruce Wayne was now dating Harley Quinn. Under the bold print of the banner headline was a large, color picture of Harley smiling brightly while hanging on the billionaire's arm. Joker crushed the newspaper into an unrecognizable mass.

The guards at the front desk were watching the security monitors and carefully drinking cups of hot coffee when a scream erupted from the cells.

"HARLEY!"

***

The black car pulled up in front of Wayne Manor and stopped. Bruce waited for Alfred to come around and open the door for them. Bruce got out first, turning around and offering his hand to Harley to assist her in exiting the car.

"Thank you, kind sir," Harley said in an overly formal manner.

"My pleasure, madam," Bruce returned in a similar fashion.

Harley couldn't contain her laughter, and it had a contagious effect on Bruce, summoning a slight chuckle from the normally reserved man. The tiny glimmer of laughter in Bruce filled Harley with hope she'd be able to reach the man underneath the layers of discipline and control he'd built up over the years. Additionally, if she could make him laugh in any small amount, he'd enjoy having her around, giving her more time to convince him of their destiny.

Bruce followed after Alfred as he headed to the front door to open it for them, and Harley stayed close to her man. When Alfred unlocked and opened the front door, Bruce stepped aside and gestured, allowing Harley to go first.

The entryway of Wayne Manor was spacious in the extreme, a massive chandelier hanging down from the vaulted ceiling. A wide stairway led up to the second floor, the door to her right opened into a lavish parlor, and the door on her left provided access to a well supplied and comfortable library.

The floor was made of dark wood, identical to the railing on the stairway, and the amount of polish on both of them made the wood surfaces glass smooth. Not wanting to damage the finish, Harley slipped out of her high heels and padded softly across the floor in her nylons to peek into the parlor.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Alfred quietly asked Bruce. "She's not exactly the most stable person you could be dating."

"As opposed to someone who dressed up like a bat to fight crime?" Bruce asked in response. He kept his voice pitched low, but Harley was inside the parlor, listening intently and hearing every bit of their conversation.

"As the former girlfriend of the Joker, she could be quite dangerous to you," Alfred warned.

"She already knows my secret, Alfred," Bruce countered. "She protected it today and gave a plausible excuse for any further disappearances anyone might have noticed."

"If she grows too attached, you may have other problems," Alfred continued. "You do know about the wrath of a woman scorned."

"I not going to reject her," Bruce denied. "I don't think she'd be happy with me as I've got too many issues and responsibilities that drag me away. It time, she'll learn this and leave on her own to find a better match. Until then, she's a ray of sunshine in this gloomy city, and I think she might be fun to have around."

Harley wanted to prove Bruce correct, so she left the parlor at full speed and slid across the smooth floor past Bruce and Alfred.

"Wheee!" she laughed with delight as she glided over to the library.

Alfred didn't trust her yet, and he seemed to be constantly advising Bruce. Harley knew if she was going to get Bruce to love her as much as she did him, she'd have to work on getting the undertaker to loosen up.