"You killed a man?"
"Don't look at me like that, like you haven't killed anybody. We're both murderers," I scoffed, rolling my eyes.
"That's true."
His face fell suddenly and he pushed a loose strand of hair behind my ear.
"I should never have left you," he confessed.
"We lost our baby. You had to grieve. I had to grieve. In our own ways. You came back, that's all that matters," I insisted.
He pulled me to his chest and sighed. I breathed him in, the smell of his clothes, his skin, himself. The past had caused us both a world of pain and I suddenly felt every time he'd ever hit me. His harsh words were as damaging as his punches. Startled, I moved back away from him.
"Harls?"
"No more, Jack. We have to swear by it. No more hurting each other, please?"
He looked sad, but he looked like Jack.
"I missed that name, you know. I missed your voice. Harley I don't want to hurt you, ever. Please...I'm begging you...forgive me-"
He fell to his knees and hugged at my waist.
"I do."
"You helped me more than you know, Harley. All I put you through...it kills me to think about."
"Then don't," I said, shrugging, "it's over."
He looked up at me, his eyes gleaming more than ever before.
"It's over."
**************
"Ivy? Ivy!"
I screamed the apartment down looking for her. In the kitchen, over the stove, she was making tea from herbs.
"You have to understand how I see this, Harls. That man has hurt you too many times to count. I'm your best friend and I can't stand it. Please..."
I hugged her, my eyes full of tears.
"I love you," I whispered.
"I love you too. Look, if he has come back...and he will behave...I won't make you chose. I promised you...in fact, Ed and I both promised you that we wouldn't leave you. Okay?"
"Okay," I smiled, "now please give me some of this tea it smells heavenly."
We all sat at the table.
Ivy. Riddler. Joker. Even Selina.
The atmosphere was tense.
"Where have you been?" Ivy demanded.
"Oh, just here and there," Joker replied, sipping his tea.
"Look, let's keep this simple," I began, "we're going to start over. Jack and me...we lost our child. We had to grieve, end of. Now, I want to get Crane back."
Everyone froze. Breathing stopped. All eyes locked on me.
"Oh yes, did we forget about our friend rotting away in Arkham? It's not good enough," I shook my head.
"Harley..."
"I've been reckless. Robbing banks of money we don't even need! It's over now, let's get our lives back! We rescue Crane and get the fuck of of Gotham. Leave our perilous pasts behind. Who's in?"
The table was stunned.
"It's been a long time Harley," Riddler sighed.
"Too long. We all know what it's like in that hellhole, and we've allowed Crane to stay. We've let him down."
"Technically, it was Joker who-"
I shot a look at Riddler and he shut up.
"I'm in," Selina grinned, putting her perfect hand into the centre of the table.
"Me too," Ivy added.
"Think of any number. Double it. Add six. Half it. Now subtract the number you started with. What do you get?" Riddler grinned.
"Uh, 3?" Joker puzzled.
"Correct. Me three," Ed laughed, happy to use a puzzle again.
I placed my cold hand on top of the three already there, then glanced at him.
"Jack?"
"Oh hell, I'll do it."
"Go team," said Selina sarcastically, rolling her dark eyes.
"We need new suits," Ivy pointed out.
We all looked at our pathetic attire with embarrassment.
"How do we purchase anything when the whole of Gotham wants us dead?" I questioned.
Selina cracked her knuckles and leapt out of her chair.
"Leave that to me."
Then she disappeared out the window of our high rise home.
"I love it when she does that," I said excitedly, bouncing up and down like a child.
"Right."
Riddler left the table and darted to the other room. After some banging about, he called us through.
"Ed what the hell?"
He had pushed all the furniture away from the largest wall in the apartment and was moving frantically around the room.
"This is where we make our plan."
He pinned a faded black and white clipping of Arkham Asylum in the centre of the wall.
"I wear clothes, but I'm no human. I work in a field, but I'm no farmer. I'm silent, stationary and yet feared nonetheless."
"Scarecrow."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hello friends.
I am the worst human being.
The end. ❤️❤️❤️
- WSG x
