The cold winds of Gotham's nighttime greeted Harley and Joker immediately as they headed towards the streets.
Each heavy breath of theirs formed warm wisps in front of Harley, fading away almost immediately as her steps pick up. She made sure to trail behind Joker, of course.
"Not so fast." The joker growls, grabbing her by her waist and pulling both him and Harley into an alley way, shrouded completely in an almost opaque darkness. If they were not in the middle of an escape, Harley would probably determine that this was extremely intimate.
"What is it, Puddin'?" Harley demands, lifting a hand up to rest on his tense shoulders; a sign of comfort she'd often offer him.
The joker only growls, pulling his shoulder back angrily, away from her, and out of her reach. He begins to pace towards the near end of the Alley, keeping his back turned to Harley in dismissal.
"He's here." Joker finally says, quietly; breaking the silence between them. The way h says "he" - almost as a curse - was enough in itself to notify Harley completely.
Suddenly the cold wind manifested into ice, as if the winds themselves were threatened by the insinuation of Batman's own appearance.
"He's here." The joker says again, shouting loudly; and although his back was still turned away, Harley recognised the smile in his voice, and felt her heart skip a beat.
He turns to her, his arms spread out; welcoming Harley. His lips were pinched up at both sides, exposing his gold tinted teeth.
"It appears we have-" he breathes in, his eyes gleaming brightly, as he searches for a word to finish his sentence.
"Company."
Harley immediately bounces up and down, clapping with excitement.
The two of them together created a mass of dangerous vibrancy.
"Let's kill em', Mr J. Finally show that son of a bitch who's boss." Harley suggests darkly, mimicking the joker's widened smile fluently yet seemingly doing it with more determination.
The joker laughs quietly, slowly walking towards his Harlequin. He brings his hand to her cheek slowly; caressing it gently.
"Honey." He whispers softly, his eyes pouring into hers.
Then, he pulls his hand back without haste, and before Harley can even think of turning in the other direction; he hits her. Hard.
"I make the decisions." He reminds her, his smile growing wider. Harley chokes back a cry, determined to keep herself contained in order for his impression.
"Remember?"
Harley giggles, in an effort to cover the pain of her right cheek. "Yes Mr J." She almost sings.
Besides, Harley was too excited to worry about anything; and she knew the Joker would be kinder to her if they weren't in a sticky situation, didn't she?
The joker smiles, clearly very pleased with how quickly Harley had retrained herself.
"Excellent." He growls softly, kissing the cheek in which he'd previously scolded. He allows his lips to linger there, for Harley's sake, and then pulls them away. It was all he could do to manipulate her into trusting him again; although he knew deep down that Harley's trust had always been with him. Even if sometimes he thought she needed reminding.
Then, again, he turns away towards the end of the alley; leaving her vulnerable. It was his favourite game to play, and he played it and mastered it effortlessly; as if the instructions were on the back of his very hand.
"But Mr J-" Harley calls out desperately. "What about B-man'? He's outside isn't he?"
But the joker doesn't answer, and instead Harley follows to finds herself and Joker facing a door. She wouldn't have noticed it if she hadn't followed him. It was so perfectly hidden.
"The back entrance." Joker says, as if it were meant to answer all of Harley's questions.
Joker pushes in the number code until the door opens in front of them; exposing a hidden tunnel.
"Go." He instructs, grabbing her arm and almost throwing her into the tunnels entrance.
Once inside, Harley - of course - waits for Joker to finish observing the outside alley.
Who was he even looking for, anyway?
No one would just come strollin' into some dark alley way unless they were pickin' up or sellin' business, Harley thought.
"Come on." The joker immediately hurries, as the door swings shut; enclosing them together.
"But the rats." Harley whines. She could deal with anything but rats. She hated them.
"Step on their necks." The joker suggests.
"Oh Mr J, you sure do know how to comfort a woman." Harley sighs happily, suddenly overwhelmed with excitement due to the Joker's romantic efforts.
The joker huffs, finding himself more and more fed up. "Anything for you." He purrs, although finding himself acting out of character.
It's not as if he does it on purpose, of course. Harley needed to be disciplined, so how could he just shower her with his hidden affection?
And in the times where his affection does happen to unmask itself, and he finds himself unable to contain his feelings for her; it simply makes him angry. Very angry.
Harley, of course, stays oblivious to this side of the joker, however. Every time the Joker shows an ounce of kindness towards her, it's enough to cover over the negative actions he sometimes takes. After all, he was her Puddin'. He deserved her full respect, and devotion.
Joker stops in front of her, clearly showing the end of their destination. Another door. This time, with double locks.
"Dammit." The joker curses, his hands searching his pockets for the key.
"What is it Puddin'?" Harley asks warily.
He turns to her, lifting his hand up to her ear; and Harley's almost concerned she'd said the wrong thing.
Then, he pulls out a key; his smile returned.
"You still got it, Mr J." Harley purrs, as he scrambles for the locks.
"Well you know what they say." Joker muses, as both locks fall to the ground. "Laughter is the best medicine."
Harley giggles. "And you can't spell slaughter without laughter either, can you Mr J?"
He stops. "Oh." He admires, darkly.
"It's funny you just said that-" he whispers deviously, kicking the door open with his foot, to expose his club.
Harley holds back a breath.
On the walls, hanging from the ceiling in front of her, there were seventeen bodies; All cut up at the mouths, with different letters imprinted on their foreheads in blood.
The joker turns to her, his grin brighter than ever.
Each letter came together to read; "Welcome home, Harley."
Harley couldn't remember the last time anyone did anything so romantic for her.
"Oh Puddin'!" She squeals, jumping into his arms.
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Okay. This was a fun chapter to write, lol, although it was all over the place. But when aren't the Joker And Harley all of the place??
Also, I'm adopting both the Harley X Joker relationship from suicide squad AND the comics because tbh their relationship in suicide squad - although cute - was not really accurate in my own opinion.
Please like and comment your thoughts!