Gotham was quiet. This was not the city Bruce knew and loved. Where were the crowds, the couples, the people he had given everything to protect? Batman watched from the highest cathedral, the night was calm, the lights shimmering, a sinister picture of peace.
Just below, tanks lined the streets, Blackhawks skated across black clouds in the distance. Fear ruled the city.
Amanda Waller's apartment had been cleaned out, no fingerprints, not even strands of hair had been left behind, nothing to give him any indication of where to look next. He found that hacking the CIA was much more difficult when they didn't want to let him in.
He did the only other thing he could think to do. He listened to Gotham. The nine-one-one calls, the hospital lines, anything to give him a clue as to Kara's whereabouts. He had scoured the city with the batwing, he had beaten Joker's old associates and still there had been nothing. But he refused to stop. Kara had meant everything to Clark, he wouldn't let her waste away in secret. He would find her if it was the last thing he did.
"Joker's what?" he heard a woman's voice say as he was scanning cell phone calls from the hospital.
"Property," a man answered. "...carved into her back."
"Who was she?"
"Jane Doe. But she's got blond hair, it was up in pigtails when we found--"
"Oh my God! Harley Quinn! You worked on Harley Quinn! You've touched fame! I knew dating a doctor would pay off one day. What's she like?"
"Right now? Quiet. I know she's crazy but it's kind of sad... she's in a lot of pain. He really messed her up."
"How bad?"
"Cracked ribs, broken clavicle, cut cheek, bruises everywhere."
"Are the police gonna arrest her?"
"They've already got the room under guard, she's cuffed and everything, it's crazy."
Batman clicked off the call and looked East, to Gotham General.
Moments later he was in the room. Harley slept. He had never seen her so still. White bandages covered her abdomen, hints of red just below the surface. Her face was half swollen, her lip cut open. It would have been easy to hate her for what she did to Nightwing, for framing Kara... but as she lay there, her breathing labored, her body broken, he knew he couldn't bring himself to feel anything but pity for the once genius young doctor, now nothing more than another one of Joker's victims.
"Give a girl some privacy," she said as she quietly woke. Her voice was low and hoarse. She covered her midriff with her hands.
"Where is he?" Batman asked.
"I ain't gonna help you," she told him, looking away and crossing her arms.
"Why are you protecting him? Look at what he's done to you."
"What do you care?" she said, "...At least Mistah J's honest with me. Hurtful and mean, sure, but honest! You're just pretending to care so I'll take you to him. I'm not doing it. And yes it is out of spite. If you're wondering," she huffed.
"I do see you as a means to get to him," he said. Her brow furrowed, she wasn't expecting that. She kept her eyes away from him, waiting for more. "But that's not all I see when I look at you. I remember you from the night I brought him in. Before you were Harley Quinn. I remember you as--"
"So what if you do? So do I, big whoop!"
"So I know there's more to you than petty crime and being someone's punching bag. You worked hard to work at Arkham. You sought it out. Most young doctors avoid it like the plague. You volunteered."
She lowered her gaze to the floor, thinking, remembering. "...Well... I wanted to challenge myself."
"You don't sound like a victim. Don't let him make you into one. Help me put him away or you'll never be free of him."
She looked down to the bandages and touched her abdomen again. She nodded. "I'll take you there. But you can't kill him."
"I can't take you with me."
"Fine, enjoy your evening," she said, crossing her arms. He said nothing but let out an involuntary sigh of frustration. She smiled and lifted her handcuffed wrists, "Got a key?"
Batman held her as they dropped along the side of the hospital by way of grappling hook. She pressed her face against his chest, eyes closed tight. "Heights, my only weakness!" she whined as they sped toward the ground. They reached the sidewalk, she yelped when her bare feet touched the snow. "I need clothes, mine were too bloody, they threw them away. Haven't they heard of laundry? I liked that skirt," she winced in pain as she spoke. "Should I hail a taxi? Shouldn't take long in this get-up," she gestured to the hospital gown's open rear.
"No need," Batman said as a bright pair of pale blue headlights appeared around the corner, tearing toward them. The Batmobile stopped at once, inches from Batman. The top slid forward, revealing two empty seats.
"Shotgun!" she yelled, limping inside. He joined her. The top closed. "You got style," she said, looking around the Batmobile. "...That much was never in question."
"Where to?" Batman asked.
"Oh no you don't... I'm not telling you where he is just so you can throw me out in the cold."
"Which way?" he asked.
"I need new clothes didn't I tell ya? Take me somewhere nice."
"It's the middle of the night. And Martial Law's been declared. "
"Drat... all right, go left."
After several minutes of following her directions and carefully avoiding military patrols, she finally gave indication that they were close to their destination. "Just a few more feet... yes! Here!"
Batman stopped the car. He looked past her to the storefront she was staring at. Melt's Ice Cream Parlor was written on the glass. She looked at him and clapped. "I haven't been here since college!" she sang.
He squeezed the steering wheel and did his best not to lose his temper. "You told me we're going to Joker's hideout."
"If you think I can turn on the man I love without comfort food to carry me through you're dreaming Batsy. You want Joker? Two scoops of strawberrys meadows and a touch of conversation. That's the price."
Batman looked past her again to the darkened parlor. "Five minutes," he said, and opened the top. She squealed with glee as she tried to step out, before she could, she doubled over in pain-- Batman held his hand out to her. "Aw," she said, taking it. "There's more to you than punching isn't there?"
"I'm human if that's what you mean," he said. He walked her to the storefront and let her let her lean against the glass as he took a lock-picking kit from his belt and inserted the-- a CRASH shook the door.
Harley had thrown a garbage can through the window. She waved him in, "Monsieur," she said, waiting for him. He turned the knob in the door and walked inside. "Oops," she said and hopped over the broken glass, she followed him in.
Batman stood still as she zipped from wall to wall, flipping every switch, lighting every sign. The military had mostly remained stationary but just to be sure they were safe, he scanned every radio frequency around them, no one close by.
Batman watched as she pulled open the tops on every bucket, humming a nonexistent song as she worked to scoop the nearly frozen ice cream into her cone. "Did you do it Harley?" he asked.
"I done a lot of things," she said.
"Did you kill that family?"
She stopped scooping. He could see her throat tighten, her shoulders tense up. "That was him," she said, looking Batman in the eye. She smiled. "I was never one for blood and guts," she continued to scoop, placing flavor atop flavor.
She came around from behind the bar, two tall cones in her hands. She held one out for him. "Sorry I shot you with a bazooka," she said. He took the ice cream and gave her a slight nod of thanks. "You're not all bad B-man, it's such a tragedy to see you waste your gifts."
"My gifts?"
"I mean, what are you really accomplishing? You beat people up, they go to jail, they get out, you beat them up again... what's the point?"
"Eradicate crime. As much as possible for as long as possible."
"Hurting people doesn't stop 'em from doing what they wanna do, believe you me. Have you ever thought about it... I mean really thought about it? You put on that suit, that mask, you go out... day after day, year after year, and what have you accomplished?"
"I think it's time to go," he said, putting down the uneaten ice cream.
"You don't love it, anyone can see that, you're barely able to stomach it anymore, I remember you too, from that night, it was the first time I ever saw the Batman, of course I remember, and guess what? The stubble 'round your lips was all black. Now? Gray as an overcast day. It's taking a toll. So you don't love it... and you haven't stopped crime, and you won't kill, so you never will stop crime... what you do is fruitless, where's the fruit?! So, this leaves us where?"
"On our way," he said, reaching for her wrist, she hopped back, keeping herself free.
"Can you really guarantee the people of Gotham are safe if their protector doesn't get any psych evals? Police officers do, they have to! And so should you. But you can't 'cause no one knows who you are. Who can the Batman talk to? Even if there was someone, you probably wouldn't want to admit anything to them, that's why therapists are strangers. Well lucky for you, I just so happen to be a stranger and a therapist!" she said, hopping on a table, her legs swaying beneath her.
"I need to find Joker. Now."
"Don't worry he'll be there, he's probably sleeping anyway, so let's start with love, that's really the only reason anyone does anything, to go toward love or away from it. What do you love? Other than bats, capes, and brooding?" she asked.
"Why not ask that of yourself?"
"Mistah J freed me," she told him.
"He hurts you, manipulates you, uses you."
"He can't hurt me, I'm free, ain't you listening?"
"You're in denial Harleen," he said.
"Oh yeah? And what about you? I go back to Mistah J 'cause I love him, you go back to trying stop crime... why? We both know it ain't for the love of it, and seeing as how you don't kill, you know you can't end all crime. So that means you're not trying to end all crime..." her voice trailed as it began to dawn on her. "...no... you're not trying to stop all crime... you're trying to stop a crime... one that already happened..." she lifted her eyes to his. "Who are you trying to save?"
He stared at her in silence. Then, one step at a time, he moved toward her. She slowly pulled the ice cream from her lips as he came towering above. "Get in the car," he growled.
"...Kay," she said.
A few minutes later the Batmobile pulled in front of an old shoe factory which had long since been closed and condemned. "He's hired a lot of people to keep him safe," she told him. Batman scanned the building. He could see a cluster of heat signals on the first floor and only one on the balcony. Joker.
"They're asleep," Batman said. "I can get him out before anyone knows what happened. I can't promise he won't get hurt, but he'll be alive." The top slid open and Batman jumped out.
"Wait here," he said as it closed again.
Inside the building, only one man snored, the sound bounced off the wall, echoing through the whole open room. The upstairs window shattered-- Batman glided in, moving like a missile for the sleeping man on the balcony. He rolled as he landed, grabbing the man with both hands. Green hair, white make-up smeared on his face, Batman pulled back to confirm it was the Joker. The man smiled. It wasn't him. Batman's comms crackled with static, a voice broke through.
"I'm sorry B-man..." Harley said, she was using the radio in the Batmobile, "Had to do it."
"Hello, Bats..." a voice called from below. The Joker was among his henchmen, all of whom now stood up, wide awake. He held something in his hand. A detonator. He clicked it. The floor blew from beneath Batman's feet.
He came crashing to the ground, the air pushed from his lungs as he landed on his back. The entire army of men surrounded him and swung-- baseball bats, knives, hammers, all showering down, cracking against his armor, knocking atop his head. Batman kick and slammed his fists to all sides, unsure what he was hitting.
A few men dropped around him but more came to take their place. His mind swam as strike after strike came crashing down from above. When he couldn't fight anymore, the men took his arms and wrapped chains around his wrists and ankles. They laughed, and began to beat him again without restraint.
"Easy easy... The poor fellow..." Joker said. His men stopped and parted as he moved through them. Batman was on his knees, blood dripping from his mouth. He looked up to Joker, all strength drained. The clown smiled and held his arms out for a hug. "It's been too long..."