I want your Bat Romance

A BatCrazy idea

Written and authored by:
@glennkoerner

"Get your paws off me, you creep!" Harley shouted as the guards dragged her past the check-in desk of Arkham Asylum.

She twisted around and delivered a knee to the midsection of one of them, doubling him over and causing him to let go of her arm.  Pushing off the gasping man, she performed a backflip to dodge the security guard approaching from behind her, vaulting over his head to land closer to the exit.  Harley took three running steps before dodging to the right and dropping into a slide to bypass another guard attempting to block the doorway.  Nothing stood between her and sweet freedom except an empty hallway.

As she raced toward her objective, she failed to notice how the rain was coming in from outside through a broken window on the second floor of the arched hallway.  She also didn't notice the puddle on the floor by the elevator shaft propped open for maintenance.  Her foot hit the puddle and lost all traction.  A scream escaped her as she slid toward the gapping maw of the elevator shaft.  Arkham had three separate basement levels, so she knew it was a long way down.

Her arms flailed about, desperately trying to grasp at anything to slow her down, but nothing was in range.  She slipped over the side and fell into the darkness.  A pop of compressed air was her only warning before a mechanical claw latched around her wrist.  The cable attached to the claw continued to unspool in order to slow her descent and not halt her hard enough to damage her arm.  She was finally halted a few feet above the bottom of the elevator shaft.  The cable retracted, drawing her up toward where she'd fallen.

Standing in the open doors of the elevator shaft, a broad shouldered silhouette held her life in his hands. Because of the lights behind him, she could only make out his form, the muscular arms holding the grappler responsible for saving her, his long cape, and the pointed ears rising from the top of his cowl.  Harley recognized him well.  After all, he'd captured her enough times before.

When she was close enough, Batman reached out a hand and took a firm hold of her, pulling her back onto the floor.  Without thinking about it, Harley wrapped her arms around him, grateful to be safe and on solid ground again.

"My hero," she whispered, only partly joking.

Batman held her securely until the guards came to reclaim her.  He held out a protective hand to ward off their initial attempts to grab her, surrendering her into their custody in a gentle and orderly manner.

"Next time, I'll watch my step, B-man," Harley promised over her shoulder as she was escorted away.

"Maybe next time, you won't need to escape," Batman suggested instead, hinting at her rehabilitation.

***

Harley, no longer attired in her standard black and red outfit but the dull orange of an Arkham jumpsuit, plopped down on her cot. The mattress was old, and one of the springs was unyielding, poking her in the ribs and forcing her to adjust her position.  Pictures of the Joker papered her walls, many of them covered in lipstick prints.

"I take it by your being here, things didn't go as planned," sneered a familiar voice from the next cell.

"Puddin'!" Harley shouted, bounding out of bed and pressing herself against the glass.  Although she couldn't see him from here, she just wanted to be closer.

"The plan was for you to bust me out of here," Joker continued.  "Pardon my ignorance, but how can you get me out, if you're locked up too?"  The volume had been rising, and Joker was practically shouting by the time he finished his question.

"I'm sorry, Mr. J," Harley pleaded.  "It wasn't my fault."

"I suppose it was mine?" Joker screamed.  "It was my plan!"

"No, Mr. J, that isn't what I meant," Harley quickly defended.

"If it wasn't my fault, it could only have been yours," Joker concluded in a huff.  "I can't get any good help these days.  Sometimes I wonder why I even keep you around; you're useless."

Harley sank down the wall.  Wrapping her arms around her legs, she rested her forehead on her knees and cried softly.

She'd done everything she could, and it hadn't been enough.  She'd nearly died, and it still hadn't been enough.  Nothing would ever be enough for Joker.  Through tear rimmed eyes, she looked up and found Batman watching her from down the hall.  Her thoughts turned over in the bent passages of her mind the strange man who'd only tonight captured her and then saved her life.  He seemed more interested in her well-being than Joker ever did.

The corner of her mouth turned up in a slight smile.

"My hero," she whispered.