Shadows of the Past

Chapter 3

After a pretty uncomfortable, sleepless night on the sofa, Harley snuck back into their bedroom early the next morning, climbing into bed next to Joker and cuddling him gently. He stirred, pulling her into his arms and holding her tightly, and Harley let out a sigh of relief, smiling.

A smile that abruptly fell as he murmured, "Jeannie," in his sleep. She felt tears come to her eyes again at the realization that her Mr. J was still missing, but determined to put on a brave face.

"Morning, puddin'," she whispered, kissing him.

He opened his eyes. "You're...not Jeannie," he stammered, pulling away from her suddenly. "Where's my wife?"

"That's what we're gonna find out, puddin'," said Harley, soothingly. "I'm Harley, remember?"

He stared at her. "I...I thought that whole clown thing had been...a horrible nightmare. But it's not, is it?"

"No," said Harley. She forced a smile. "I thought this whole Jeannie thing had been a horrible nightmare, so I guess we're even!" she laughed.

He continued to just stare at her. "That's...a joke," she said, slowly.

"Joke?" he repeated. "You think this is an appropriate time for jokes? You think this is funny?"

"Well...you always used to say that anytime was an appropriate time for jokes, especially an inappropriate time," said Harley, slowly. "And you used to try to make everything funny. It was...one of the things I loved most about you, your sense of humor."

Joker shook his head. "I'm sorry, I'm just...not in the mood for jokes," he muttered, standing up and heading for the bathroom.

Harley wiped her eyes, thinking she'd never see the day when she heard those words out of Mr. J's mouth. This was much worse than she thought. This Napier guy was a huge stick in the mud – maybe it was because of the whole missing wife thing, but Harley wished more than ever that her Joker would come back. He had to be in there somewhere.

Joker emerged from the bathroom at last, fully dressed. "I...noticed in the shower that it's not just my face that's been affected by the chemicals," he said. "It's...everywhere."

"Yeah," said Harley, nodding. "I think you look beautiful, puddin'."

He looked at her as if she was crazy, another look that would never be seen in Mr. J's eyes. Then he cleared his throat. "Um...can I ask...how many times have we...have I...cheated on Jeannie?"

"Uh...I dunno, puddin'," said Harley, slowly. "I didn't exactly keep count...uh...a lot? I mean, it doesn't really count as cheating if you didn't know you were married, and you never talked about her or anything, so it's not your fault...you didn't know and I didn't know, so it's sorta...ok, right? I mean, I ain't the kinda girl who...I mean, if I had known, we would never have..."

"No," agreed Joker. "I never would have either."

He drew his eyes away from her. "You'd better...uh...get dressed too. Ain't really right, a married man with a scantily clad woman in his bed who...ain't his wife."

"Oh...yeah, sure," said Harley, slowly, climbing out of bed. She forced a smile. "That Jeannie's a lucky woman – I'm sure she knows that. Clown or not, I mean, you're just...gorgeous."

He forced a smile too. "I hope my wife sees it that way," he agreed.

Harley cringed again at the word 'wife,' which was just as bad as 'Jeannie' in terms of pain. She grabbed her clothes from her closet and then hurried into the bathroom to change, slamming the door and trying not to give into despair.