Harley Quinn And The Joker

Cold Feet

"St....stop...Bat-maniac..." Joker coughed up blood as Batman slammed his head against the concrete floor over and over again but finally stopped, only because Nightwing and Damian pulled him back, keeping him from actually killing Joker.

A deep wound between Joker's eighth and ninth rib caused his suit to soak up with blood while multiple bruises on his back from Batman throwing him against a nearby car made him shake in pain. This was not how he wanted this night to end, yet couldn't stop smiling.

Even though he was more dead than alive, Joker took a few deep breaths to suppress the pain before he rolled over to his left side, slowly trying to stand up with his whole body shaking and thick blood dropping down his chin. "Heh...Heh-hehe." His quiet chuckle at the pain caused Batman to blink in complete confusion.

"What...what just happened?" He stared at Robin, then at Joker who couldn't find the power to stand up and just layed there on his side with a giant grin all over his face and his eyes locked on Batman like lasers detecting a rabbit through the night. It was at this very moment that Batman realized what he had done.

Guilt and the awful feeling of weakness numbed his body as if it was iron locked onto a magnet. Unable to move, Bruce watched Batgirl trying to help Joker up but he didn't move a single muscle, he just wheezed and slightly shook his head, indicating he needed no help.

"Don't be stupid, Joker. Let me help you." Barbara grabbed his arms and pulled him up after a simple sigh of his but he didn't take his eyes off Batman who finally came to his senses again and put one of Joker's arms around his shoulders to help him walk.

Nightwing gasped in a sudden pain and Damian had to catch him to prevent him from falling down onto the hard ground. "Make sure you get yourselves some medical attention, I'm gonna get Joker to the nearest hospital." Batman's deep voice let Joker chuckle. "Oh, Bats." He whispered, unable to put some strength in his voice. "You already did enough, seriously." Joker smiled, his eyes slowly closing but Batman quickly slapped his face, not too hard because he just wanted the madman to stay awake.

"Close your eyes and we'll get a problem." Batman looked down to Joker's stab wound where the blood didn't stop pouring out as if it was water running down a hill. Suddenly, Batman felt awfully guilty and decided to actually apologize. "I'm sorry for beating you up like that."

A weak laughter coming from his throat, Joker pulled his arm back from Bruce's shoulders after Nightwing and the other brats left. He struggled to stand straight on his feet at first but found his balance at one point. The rings on his fingers blinked in the light of a nearby house that was set on fire and he ran his fingers through his messy hairs to fix his hairdo.

"Don't apologize, it was fun." Batman couldn't believe his ears and gulped at his attempt to pull himself together. "The beating part not as much as us working together, but anyway." He licked his lips as his mouth started to water at the burning pain his injuries have him and Bruce just nodded, both, relieved and slightly irritated at once.

"And don't bother taking me to a hospital, I can take care of myself." Joker smiled and pulled a fish hook as well as a metal thread out of his suit before he put it as well as his shirt out and looked at the three-inch-long batarang wound. "Now go and get yourself Black Seven before I can lay my hands on his throat."

Batman watched Joker stitching up his wound, unable to just walk away. "I'm not gonna leave you here, bleeding to death and maybe passing out of pain." He felt responsible for Joker so Batman didn't even think about leaving as his archenemy looked up at him with a grin of derision and a scuff before he went back to stitching himself up.

Batman wanted to pass the time by starting to ask Joker what exactly he should look for when they get to Black Seven who had this mysterious item Joker wanted back. Well, it was less his curiousness than his guilt that let him talk to Joker like that. His temporary sidekick - or whatever Joker called himself - was mad at him and that could put Batman in danger if it came to cooperation during fights.