sweetcandygirl | All the king's horses and all the king's men could not protect the king

Drip… Drip… Drip

Nights were still difficult for Harley Quinn. In the past few days, Harley had become more reclusive, and was mentally unable to socialize with anyone. Day-by-day, night-by-night, it became harder and harder for her to be around people. And so she became a shell of the bright and bubbly woman most people knew Harley to be.

Harley would stare into her mirror and not recognize her own face. She would sit in a corner of the safe house, and hold her head, trying to make sense of the growing insecurities that no one would be safe anymore … because of her.

There were times when she would just yell and scream and throw things around the basement of her new safe house. There were still plenty of nights when Harley was so consumed by laughter, that all she could do is curl up on the floor and laugh. It was tormenting some nights, to just feel alone, trapped with the memories of Joker and the laughter that hurt her entire body.

Drip… Drip… Drip

Harley really didn’t know whom she could reach out too… for help. She knew that Loki was suffering himself. And she was so scared to go to him. That she would only drag him into the darkness further. That she would hurt him again. That he would get hurt because of her again. She missed him so much… but was scared to tears that she was not enough to stay by his side.

And she was scared that if any of her other friends got close to her right now… that she would end up hurting them too or that they would be dragged into Joker’s sick twisted game of revenge.

Who could she turn to… when she was not even sure she could protect them? It haunted Harley every waking moment that she would let someone down.

Drip… Drip… Drip

Everything changed one night with a phone call. Eight hours earlier in the day, Harley had learned that Joker had escaped Arkham. He was still recovering from the poison that coated his eyes… and he still managed to escape.

Harley had laughed at the message, loud and sharp when she read it. Typical. Just fucking typical. Arkham would never be able to hold Joker. She didn’t know who was still naïve enough to believe that Joker could be contained. He had to be stopped.

Drip… Drip… Drip

She thought of her friends, as she collected a few weapons from her personal armory. She thought of what Joker had done to them… and knew that he would find a way to get back to the Nexus to continue playing his game. She thought of Loki… and how the monster of her ex tried to imitate the God.

Harley was so over the game of cat and mouse. She removed her fire sword from where it was stored, and executed a few quick fighting moves to activate the flames on the metal and stared into the flames fluttering anxiously for a battle.

Drip… Drip… Drip

Her mind went back to when Joker’s goons had beaten her and the sensation of life being sucked away, as Joker placed his hands around her neck. Harley’s blue eyes grew stormy dark in her determination to bring a end to it all. She was done being scared and frightened that Joker would hurt someone she cared about. She was done trying to find his allies, since it was obviously that no matter how many tails she cut off… the tiger himself still found a way to keep on hunting. She was done being considered his sidekick, his lover, his obsession, or his broken doll.

Harley placed hand over the flames on her sword. She watched as the flames licked at her skin and laughed quietly. “I am not broken. I am Harley Quinn. Hellequin. Herla. His Valkyrie. His Kjaereste…”

Drip… Drip… Drip

And for one last time Harley returned to Gotham City. She knew that if she left things up to Batman or the JLA to go after Joker that they would want to contain the situation. Try to capture Joker alive. And she was so tired of him getting caught, sticking it out in the cells for a few days, then making his escape, and then him hurting innocents, and him getting caught, and getting back in the cells.

“I am tired of how sadistic he is!” Harley growled to herself, as she made her way towards Akrham Asylum, her baseball bat swinging at her side.

“I am not going to contain him. If I find him… I am going to kill him.” Harley straightened her shoulders, and spoke in her best-determined voice. There was no sweetness or bubbliness to her tone at that moment.

Drip… Drip… Drip

It didn’t take her long to locate the guard responsible for allowing the Mad Clown his freedom and after knocking some sense into the guard, Harley went down a bloody trail that lead through loyal allies and seedy bars. She was a Warrior crossing an endless battlefield to get to the captain of the other army. And by the time she had reached the final castle that kept him safe, she was already covered with blood, guts and wounds of her own.

Drip… Drip… Drip

Harley marched into the treacherous safe house with her head held high, much like Herla himself, who had led the Wild Hunt. She raised her sword and fought her way through a maze of last defenders, her voice cackling with merriment that she had gotten this far. She had found her prey and nothing… nothing would stop her from reaching the end. And she was covered in the blood of those defenders by the time she finally stood before Joker himself.

He was still blinded by the effects of the poison. And he looked so miserable, trying to swat at her to protect himself, even though he could not see. It was all too easy to bring him to his knees, and hover over him, with her Ice Dagger at his throat.

His sweet sugary tone pleaded at her to give him another chance. He was the only one who truly knew her. That would truly accept her. That would be there for her. His lies made her sick to her stomach.

Harley whispered in response. “You betrayed my friends,” She cut little marks into his legs using her Ice Dagger, one cut for each of her Nexus friends.

“You made a mockery of Batman and the Justice League,” She cut little marks into his arms, one cut for each member of the Justice League, and a nice long deep mark for Batman and the entire Bat family.

“You betrayed my lover…” She cut little marks in Joker’s face, taking her sweet time to relish the way the blood appeared on his chalk-white skin. “You tried to take his appearance and deceive me… you violated what he stands for, and what I fight for.”

Harley moved the dagger to Joker’s throat, and laughed softly. “You betrayed me. Abused me. Tried to kill me. Tried to break me…”

“I will not be broken by you anymore…” And with a slice of the dagger, Harley opened the jugular vein and watched Joker bleed to death. She didn’t care that his blood now covered her too, as it was truly a testament to all her suffering and all her agony. And to ensure that nothing was left of Joker, or the allies that tried to defend him, Harley used her sword to create a chaotic fire that would claim the entire safe house, lighting Joker’s body on fire first.

Drip… Drip… Drip

Leaving the safe house, Harley headed up a nearby hill, found a park bench where she could sit, and rested her hands resting on top of her baseball bat, and watched the safe house burn to the ground. The sky behind her was a bright blue, with cotton candy pinkish clouds decorating the blue hue, as the sun set in the east.

Drip… Drip… Drip

The all too familiar sounds of Gotham City at night were already rearing their ugly head from the rest of the city. The soft cries of the child neglected by his overworked mother. The rustling of the newspapers as the homeless started to collect bedding for a quick nap. The determined chit-chatter of the Call Girls, as they gathered at their corners, waiting for their Johns to send them off to work. The sounds of the police sirens and fire trucks were deafening, as they received word of the fire.

The sound of Joker’s laughter, echoed in her head, and Harley reached up to tug a hand through matted blonde hair. The blood that covered her, from head to toe, had not quite dried yet… but it was starting to create little knots and tangles in her white strands. It was like a jam in her hair, still wet and messy, a sticky sensation that was soaked onto her head, and stuck on her fingertips.

Drip… Drip… Drip

The blood of the war that was fought and won slowly stopped dripping on the cement of the park bench, where Harley sat. A part of her still could feel Joker’s touch, hear his laugh, and retrace the smile lines on his face. A small satisfied laugh bubbled free from her lips, and Harley wrapped her arms around herself, as she just laughed and laughed and laughed. Joker was gone.

She was free. It hurt so much. It felt so good. She really didn’t know how to feel. Every memory of her time with Joker echoes in her head, reminding her of how far she had gone for him. She felt like she had finally cut off the last cord of his tie to her. Finally, she was free to walk her own path, without feeling that she was defined by what Joker was doing, or had done. But even with being free of him… it would take time for her to recover from the hold he had on her for so long.

Harley knew it would not be long before Batman or other members of the JLA would try to find her, and try to take her to prison for killing Joker. A crime is still a crime, even if it was killing a sadistic monster.

But that was the beauty of the Nexus, Harley could leave everything behind and return to her true home. The place where her friends stood by her side, where no one would be angry at her for finally killing Joker.

With no more desire to look at Gotham, or the memories associated with the dark and depressing city, Harley opened her PINpoint portal and returned to her new Nexus safe house. And just completely exhausted with the raw emotions of the day… she curled up into an acrobatic hammock and let herself sleep, dangled in the air.

Finally… she was truly free to be the one and only Harley Freaking Quinn.