In Another Life VII

Chapter 5

"All right, roll up, roll up, lady and gents!" chuckled Joker the next evening, as all the henchmen and Harley assembled in the lounge. "Feast your eyes on a brand new Joker caper entitled – dan, dan, da, da!" he said, emulating a fanfare as he pulled a sheet off a chalkboard to reveal a crudely sketched plan. "Laughter Is the Best Medicine! Here's the gag: a buncha fancy, rich types are hosting a charity ball to raise money for some medical research. You know the sort – society darlings, debutantes, senators, the odd cop, do-gooding busybodies who really should have better things to do with their time. So we're gonna teach 'em all a lesson by crashing the party and helping ourselves to their valuables and any money they've raised, plus do our own brand of research into how long it takes a group of rich twits to laugh themselves to death!"

Harley glanced at Henderson – she wondered if he really had the stomach for this work, once he saw the Joker toxin released into a room full of people, some of them fellow cops. She also wondered if she had the stomach for it, not that either of them really had a choice.

"I think it's only fair that we give our newbies a piece of the action, so both Harley and Henshaw are coming with me on this, plus Rocco and Jerry," said Joker. "I think that should be enough – two to lookout, two to gather valuables, and one to entertain!" he chuckled, pointing to himself. "So let's grab what we need and move out – you got ten minutes!"

"C'mon, let's get the Joker toxin moved," said Rocco to Henderson and Jerry.

"What about me?" asked Harley.

"Uh...they're kinda heavy..." stammered Rocco.

"All right, then let me get the weapons," said Harley.

"Those are...kinda heavy too," said Rocco, slowly. "Why doncha just wait in the car?"

"I feel bad not pulling my weight," she said.

"Yeah, well, these things will probably be about your weight, sweetheart," snapped Jerry. "So just get in the backseat, and don't even think about driving – women are terrible drivers."

Harley was about to snap at him when the Joker said, "Harley, you wanna be our getaway driver? We might need to make a quick exit, so it's a fairly important job."

She smiled smugly at Jerry. "I'd love to, boss," she said, striding out to the car with Jerry glaring after her.

"You just like messing with 'em, don't you?" asked Harley, strapping herself into the backseat as Joker climbed into the driver's seat. "It's not really about respect or equality for me so much as respect and equality for me annoys them."

He giggled. "You know me too well, toots," he said. "And you don't have to be the getaway driver if you don't want to..."

"I do," she said. "No point in setting up a joke without delivering the punchline."

He grinned at her. "I like you, Harley," he said. "I really do."

The guys returned, loading several canisters of Joker toxin into the trunk along with various guns. Then they all piled into the car and the Joker drove off into the streets of Gotham.

Harley sat next to Henderson, feeling nervousness in the pit of her stomach. She could only imagine that he felt the same as she tried to keep her hands from shaking. There was also, she had to admit, a strange kind of excitement to this, the idea that they were about to go out and break the law. Every rational part of her knew that it was wrong, and to go against rationality for once felt...thrilling, that was the only word to describe it.

They pulled up in front of a fancy hotel. "Good evening, sir, can I park your..." began the valet, but he froze in horror when he saw who was in the car.