Nightwing and Harley: Revenge of the Joker

Chapter 6: Trust

When they pulled into Nightwing's apartment, a sense of dread and awkwardness filled the stomachs of both of them. In Nightwing's mind, she was no longer the Joker's girl, but he still wasn't sure exactly how much he could trust her. Harley on the other hand, was a broken girl who didn't know who she could trust anymore. However, the common problem was that Harley needed a place to stay and he was the only option. When he opened the door, Harley was hesitant to even step in.

"You can come in, don't worry," said Nightwing.

He gave her a run down of the place and assured her to make herself at home. She took one long at herself in a nearby mirror, and her body was completely filled with bruises, blood and scars. Her costume was ripped and her makeup was completely smeared from tears and fighting. She went into the bathroom and grabbed wet wipes to begin wiping away her face. With each wipe revealed the bruises and markings from the beatdowns from the Joker. Being Harley Quinn meant covering up the mess of Harlene Quinzel and the markings that were left of the past, the past she could no longer run from. She hopped into the shower and tried to wash away the memories.

Nightwing noticed her on her way out and for the first time saw her without her makeup. He began questioning if he wanted to reveal his identity to her and finally take off his own mask. Hiding behind Nightwing was much easier than being Dick Grayson anymore, his heart still scared from the past. It made him realize that he and Harley were not so different, and in doing so he came into the room without his mask. Dick Grayson walked in to greet Harley.

"I've never seen you without your makeup," said Dick.

Harley blushed out of embarrassment and tried covering her face.

"I like it," said Dick.

Harley smiled and turned his face revealing her scars. Dick gave her a look of pity and disbelief. She realized what he saw and put her head down.

"They still haven't healed," said Harley.

Dick sat down next to her.

"I'm sorry, you didn't deserve to go through that," said Dick.

"It happened a lot. When something went wrong, he blamed me. I never saw the monster until I saw the look in his eyes that night. He had me convinced like a fool," said Harley.

Harley started to cry.

"I'm so sorry for everything he did to you and Barbara. I wish I could've stopped him, I wasn't always like this. I had goals for my future, but I had no home. The Joker found me off the streets, when I found out what he would do I wanted to stop it but I never had it in me, until I saw that little girl in that house. She reminded me of myself. I don't want anyone to go through what I've had to go through," said Harley.

Dick stood next to her speechless as she started to cry on his shoulder.

"We can't change who we were, we can only change who we are," said Dick.

Harley began to smile.

"You know without the mask, and stuck up hero thing, you're actually kind of cute," said Harley.

They both started laughing, and Harley started leaning on him. They felt the warmness of each other as their heart patterns began to sync up. For the first time in a while, Dick felt vulnerable again while Harley felt the strange feeling of trust once more. It scared her to feel this way, but it was different than before. They locked eyes and began kissing each other. The passion of the hearts brought the undying connection and for the first time in a long time they felt safe with one another. As the lights began to dim, Dick Grayson and Harlene Quinzel found love with each other.

As they both fell asleep into each other's arms, a door could be heard opening. Harley's eyes opened wide as her mouth got covered with a pale white hand and a knife on her throat.