Harley Quinn And The Joker

Hypocrite

"I am not going to sit down, just tell me why you wanted to talk to me!" I screamed at the maniac who just started laughing. The kind of laughing that gave me goosebumps.

"Alright, alright, Batsy, calm down." He still giggled as he sat down himself, dropping the unconscious woman in front of him. "I wanna ask ya tah do me a favor."

I rose an eyebrow and didn't know if I should laugh or yell at him for saying that. "I should do you a favor? Why?" Usually, people like him have good reasons but I still thought this was a big joke or something.

Black Seven crossed his legs and smiled. "Because if you do indeed help me - or someone I care about, to be specific - I'm gonna let your birds and the cat run free again."

My eyes widened at this. "You have all of them?! I swear to god, if anything happened to them, I'll--"

"Do what? Huh? Beat me to death? I don't think so. You don't seem like a person who kills for revenge - or, like, at all. But don't worry. They're all safe and sound, no guns, no cold...no crowbar."

Did...did I just hear right? 'His eyes.' I shook the thought off. 'Can't be. Just. Nope.' "What is the favor then?" I was open to a discussion now, hard as it was watching him grinning like that, though.

"I don't know if you know this guy, Two-Face is his name. He hired some people to capture Harley Quinn but instead, one of them broke her back." Was that actual emotion I saw in his eyes? Nobody talks about another person with that look if they just randomly met up for a moment.

"So I turned 'is face into a puddle of goo. But more important, I promised Harley I'm gonna make 'er walk again. The problem is that Two-Face will eventually find her, sooner or later. At least if she stays at my place." He played with something in his pocket and though I should stay alerted, I actually relaxed a bit.

"What makes you think I would help you?" I asked, studying his face because he didn't seem like the other lunatics this city has seen before.

"You ain't helpin' me, ya helpin' Harley. She didn't do anythin' wrong and even if so, she doesn't deserve a life in a wheelchair." Black Seven stood up and walked a bit closer to me with his eyes having a twinkle of hope.

Though I was thinking about it, I asked him something first. "Why do you think her life is more valid than the children's life's you took?"

The twinkle immediately disappeared and he started to look at me with an expression...disgust?

"Ya said every life is worth savin'. Wouldcha still say that of this was a dog?" He picked the woman's arm up while standing on her back before dislocating her shoulder by quickly twisting her arm.

"Or a pig?" He stomped on her ribs, breaking a view while I took three batarangs, throwing them at him but he just dodged them all.

"Or a rapst?" He revealed three blades on his shoes, kicking the unconscious woman in the back before glaring at me with a knife on her throat as I was about to run towards him.

"If you say 'every' life, don't just talk about the kids, the poor and old. Don't be a hypocrite. Don't say things like that unless you truly mean that. If you really think that every life matters, include the maniacs, the pedophiles, the people who beat their kids. Include the animals who lost their life for your meal, include the old man who killed his wife, just for the fun of it." He pulled the woman up by her ear, still having the knife on her throat.

"You don't know who this very woman is you wanna save right now. Maybe she's a caring mother who works hard to feed her kids 24/7. She could also be a drug dealer who sells crystal meth to addicted children." His eyes narrowed down and his voice got angrier.

"I'm not a hypocrite. I don't say every life matters, but I also don't say none of them matters." He dropped the woman down on the roof while letting the knife slide back into his pocket. "So when I ask ya tah save the only person I care about so far, I wanna hear an honest answer. Not somethin' you didn't seem to think through."

"I'll do it. If you guarantee for my family's safety." Usually, I don't listen to crazy people but this guy is different. He got a certain view on the world and I had the strange feeling he wouldn't make too many problems.

Almost immediately, Black Seven started to smile - in a happy, almost thankful way. Not in a crazy, out-of-his-mind kinda way. "Thank you. Seriously." He made fists with his hands and I saw spikes coming out of his knuckles. "Your...family. They will be free tomorrow in the morning. Meet me at the old steel mill to take Harley?"

"Sure." I answered, actually thinking he was honest. But still keeping in mind that this could've been a trap.

Black Seven already turned around and was seconds away from leaving when I stopped him. "Keep your promise."

He turned around to me before starting yo smile. "Promises are important to me. They should be to everyone. So, regardless of my...mental state..." Black Seven licked his lips before continuing. "you can be one hundred percent sure I keep them."

And with that, he jumped down the building, landing on his feet and running off as I looked after him. 'I hope he is serious.'

While picking up the woman, I kept thinking about the way he laughed. And his eyes. What if it was him? Eye colors don't just change like that. Neither do voices. 'What if he found a way to stay alive?'

The death scene in my head, I tried to banish this thought from my mind. 'He's dead. Nobody, not even he would survive a shot to the head.'

♦♦

The same night, I couldn't sleep. This laughter kept me awake so I walked down into the Batcave, spending at the computer who calculated if someone could really, somehow, survive a shot to the head based on the bullet size, the speed and the angle Joker was shot months ago.

While the computer worked, I couldn't take my eyes off the screen, not even noticing Alfred standing beside me.

Possible survive rate: 24.9%

I gasped. "So he could've survived!" My hands started shaking a bit but Alfred tried to calm me down. "Sir, just because it's possible doesn't mean this is the case. Remember, he also got shot in his lunges. Even if he survived the headshot, the blood or at least the water would've drowned him." He paused. "A gruesome but inescapable death."

My eyes still widened, I looked at Alfred. "Joker was buried alive, electrocuted, drowned, repeatedly shot. With worse weapons than a two millimeter bullet. What if he really survived? What if he will return one day?" My heart started beating faster.

"I have my hands full to keep this city and it's people safe, but if he shows up..." I sank down in my chair. "I couldn't take that. Seriously. If he returns. I will quit."