Bad Jokes (JokerxHarley Quinn)

angel threw me like a rubber man

Angel threw me like a rubber man, aiming for the ground
Why amuse yourself in such a way?
-Blonde Redhead, Elephant Girl

He pulled me out into the hallway, which was completely empty. I could hear distant noises, though—thumping, men shouting, the distant sound of a woman's scream. The Joker seemed to anticipate the noise. Without breaking stride, he careened around a corner, taking me with him.

"Where are we going?" I demanded, having to almost run in order to keep up with his long strides. There was something on his hand that was getting into my cut. It burned, and I tried not to think about it too much.

"To Banbury Cross," he replied absently—I was swiftly getting the impression that I was by no means his priority right now. At most, I was just a convenient hostage, and I honestly had no idea if that was a good or bad thing.

Banbury Cross? What the—?

I had a sudden flashback to my childhood, to the nursery rhymes taught vigilantly by my mother.

Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross
to see a fine lady upon a white horse
With rings on her fingers and bells on her toes
She shall have music wherever she goes

He was resuming old habits, screwing around with my head. I felt the last of my tears dry up in light of this familiar development just as he stopped and turned abruptly, bursting through the door to the stairwell.

"I gotta say," he said, taking the stairs two at a time and jerking me along with him. "I'm surprised at you."

"Slow down," I cried plaintively. My legs were much shorter than his and he was taking two steps at once, and with the way he was dragging me along I feared falling. I did not want him pulling me bodily up the stairs. He cast me a mocking look over his shoulder.

"Ya forgot to say please," he said, and jerked me forward, throwing me onto the stairwell in front of him. I stumbled and fell onto my hands and knees, right hand slippery with blood, making it difficult to gain any traction. I climbed to my feet rapidly, unwilling to remain at such an obvious disadvantage.

Just a slightly less obvious one, then, I couldn't help thinking, but shoved the idea away immediately. It wasn't helpful. "Please," I huffed, feeling my wrist burn still more, despite being freed from contact with whatever caustic agent he wore on his hands.

He gestured to the remaining stairs lining the walls above us with the hand that held the knife. "Ladies first, but, uh... pick up the pace."

I eyed the stairs, then eyed him, and then turned and started hiking up the stairs, taking them at a jog. He loped one pace behind me, still taking them two at a time but slower now.

"As I was saying before I was so, ah, rudely interrupted," he continued. "I'm surprised at you."

"Surprised at what?" I demanded shortly, saving my breath. I had an idea of where we were going now, and figured I'd probably need it.

"Back there," he said, jabbing a thumb over his shoulder. "In Stuh-ratford's office. You fell apart, like a little girl," he sang. I glared briefly at him. "Kind of cowardly. What happened?"

I felt my gag reflex jump to life again at the reminder. As long as I could pretend that it didn't happen, as long as I could keep my focus on the fact that I was in serious danger and needed to get out of it, then I wouldn't throw up. Otherwise, I might just, and I got the feeling he wouldn't react well to that.