Descent

Chapter 44

A/N:

Hello,

I want to thank you all for coming along on this wild ride with me. Thank you all for the reads, votes, and comments.

I would like to take a moment to address an issue that was brought to my attention. It seems that DC has portrayed this ship as abusive. It has all the classice signs.

In my head cannon both Harley and the Joker are broken souls lost in the darkness that has overtaken them. I started out writing this story to explore Multiple Personality Disorders. What I came away with is sometimes the darkness wins.

Life is real. Gritty. Gory. It is what shapes us as human beings. Life shaped both Halreen and the Joker. Though, I want to believe she calms his beast, and he chases her fear away, that isn't the truth of how DC has written the pair.

But here, in this brief moment of time I want you all to realize that she does calm the beast.

Enjoy

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

The smell of antiseptic filled the air around Harleen. It was a smell she was quickly becoming sick of. The only bright light at the end of this tunnel was today she was going home.

As she waited for the discharge nurse Harleen scratched at the bandage on her head. For a week she had been poked and prodded by the staff at Gotham General Hospital. Now they put these itchy gaze wrappings on her head and she was just about ready to go insane.

Of course she understood that it was so the burses one her head would be cushioned. It was just she felt like awful enough without looking like an extra from a mummy movie.

A nurse walked in and gave her the stink eye. "You need to stop that this instant, young lady."

She put her hands in her lap and looked for all the world like a scolded child. Johnny had come in and was watching the whole thing play out from his spot by the door. The pout on Harleen's face only made him feel worse for leaving her to deal with the Joker alone.

"Go easy on her, she's had a rough go of it."

Her gaze jumped to his when she heard him speak. The twinkle he saw there let him know she wasn't mad at him. That even though he felt like he was to blame, Harleen didn't. That was a step in the right direction, or at least he hoped so.

"Snowman." Harleen whispered in awe.

She wanted to pinch herself to prove she wasn't dreaming. No one but the Arkham lawyers had visited her since she was admitted. Harleen had almost believed the last few months of her life were a psychotic dream.

"Yeah, kid it's me." He scratched at the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"I'll get the wheelchair and then your cousin can take you home, Dr. Quinzel." The nurse patted her hand and then headed off.

Harleen figured that was his cover story and she wasn't going to blow his cover.

"What are you doing here?"

He heard the slight warble in her voice and knew she was on the verge of tears. Johnny cursed the Joker for what he had done to her. He also cursed Pam for not coming with him today. Johnny wasn't beneath admitting that he needed the help.

"I'm taking you someplace where you can take your time and recover. Where you can be among friends."

Harleen scoffed. Friends, what the hell were those? She never had any. All those years ago she suffered alone. Her only friend was silence.

Then she went and acted like an ass and tried to befriend her patients. Thinking that they were just as lost in their past sorrow and pain as she was.

Harleen's transference had cost her. Maybe not her job, since Arkham was willing to pay her a large amount of hush money and keep her place for her in case she wanted to return. But it had cost her self-respect.

"What friends?" She hissed at him like an angry house cat.

Johnny was taken aback by the accusation in her voice. Sure they hadn't come to see her, but they had sent all kinds of gifts.

Harleen had to understand that if they were spotted here they would be arrested on sight. Though that hadn't stopped Ozzie or Eddie from dropping in after visiting hours disguised as doctors. Of course it took Edward to hack the system to get them in and get them out without issue.

"The ones who are very worried about you. The one's who have been sneaking in here in the dead of the night to see you."

Harleen glared at him, trying to find the lie in his truth. But Johnny wore his no nonsense look and she knew that he wasn't bullshitting her. She also knew that they had all risked more than their freedom to make sure she was ok.

"So..." Her gaze darted about the room. Then she gestured towards the nightstand. "These are from the others."

When he glanced at the overflowing surface he chuckled. There were books on birds, and some jazz cds from Ozzie. Two live plants, a Venus flytrap and a small white Ghost Orchid, from Pam. Edward had sent her several crossword puzzle books. And lastly there was a small switch blade that Johnny and Mateo had sent her.

"Yeah, doc they are. We've all missed ya."

"All?"

When he looked at her, Johnny noticed the hopeful expression and knew she wanted to know if the boss missed her too. He wanted to tell her he did. Though Johnny knew that it wouldn't do any good. But it was the hope in her gaze that broke him.

"He misses you too. Even though he's to damn proud to admit it." Johnny's voice was rough with the strain of trying not to curse.

Harleen wanted to cry at the thought of J not admitting he was wrong. Or that he missed her. How had she been so wrong in her feelings for him?

Well screw that clown.

Harleen thought that today would be a good day to put all of that in the past. If he couldn't see a good thing when it was right in front of him then she would just go on like he didn't exist.

"Ok, young lady, your chariot awaits." The nurse smiled at Johnny and Harleen.

When she parked the wheelchair in front of the bed, Johnny moved forward. With the ease of lifting a baby he picked Harleen up and sat her in the chair.

"Comfortable?" He asked as he adjusted a small throw over her legs.

Harleen nodded. "Yes, thank you, Snowman."

Mateo walked into the room and Johnny nodded to him. "Just grab her things so we can go."

A three of them left the hospital room behind and headed on to their next caper. One that one included the help of Harleen's new found family. Though she didn't know it yet Pam and Selena planned to have a lot of fun at the Joker's expense. They had dubbed their plan operation Catch a Clown.