harlequinade!

At the sound of a familiar laugh, Edward turned. She couldn’t see his smile of course, since he was wearing a mask but he was. Smiling. He twitched when she said his real name. “Shh, shhh my darling. Look at you!” He approached her. “Fabulous as always, my queen of mayhem.” Edward frowned, glancing back at the bewildered hostages. “Well good people, I think it’s your lucky day.” He pulled a small trigger out of his pocket and pressed it. The masks of his henchmen electrified, and after a moment, all of them fell dead. “We have some catching up to do…” Edward reached over and tucked her hand around his arm and led her out the front doors. He slipped the mask off his face and tossed it in the nearest trash bin. “So where is the big J? Is he not here with you? Not that I’d mind if he wasn’t… we’ve never been the biggest fans of each other.”

Harley remembered Edward Nigma clear as day, and even though she couldn’t see his face at that moment, she knew he was happy to see her, too. They always got along pretty well - Harley loved riddles, they made her laugh - even though she couldn’t say the same for him and Mr J. She turned a bit pink when she realized what she’d say, but then twirled around with a loud, happy giggle. “Ya’ have always been a charmer!” The blonde watched his movements as he released his henchmen to eternal freedom and watched them fall to the floor with her mouth open in glee. She shouldn’t enjoy this, but at that moment, she wasn’t thinking about morals Happily taking his arm, she leaned towards him as soon as he took off his mask and placed a small kiss on his cheek with a giggle. “I’m so glad ya’ are here, I can’t believe it! None of our friends are here.” She frowned dramatically, then her gaze met the floor for a second. “Oh, toots, no. It’s, um ... it’s ova’. For real this time.” Harley nodded, mostly to reassure herself. “I dunno where he is.”

“I mean it!” Pepper insisted when Harley giggled, but she was smiling, too. Tony could be very charming and convincing when he wanted to be. She knew that better than most, though she’d always taken what he said with a grain of salt. Maybe because she knew right from the start that he was capable of mistakes, something the rest of the world tended to forget. “It’s definitely a unique name,” she agreed, Harley’s energy contagious and making her smile grow wider. “I’ve heard that you’re very bright. Tony enjoys working with you,” she assured the woman. 

At that statement, Pepper let out a laugh herself. “We do indeed. Tony neglects to mention that, for some reason,” she said, smirking playfully. “That’s good to hear,” she said with a nod. “Handful is probably putting it lightly, but he is brilliant when he’s kept in check. You guys working on anything I should know about?”

Tony hadn’t spoken about their relationship too much, but Harley watched the news. She knew that Pepper didn’t only run the company but was probably the person who knew most about Tony Stark. She was intimidating, to say the least - beautiful, successful, clever. So was Tony, of course - Harley felt like she’d entered a completely new world. She just giggled, unsure on how to react to her compliment. Finally, her eyes widened and she spoke. ”Ya’ have? I mean... he does?" She wasn’t used to people calling her bright anymore, even though they used to all the time. She’d read newpapers that would call her crazy and stupid too much. 

“Of course ya’ do.” Harley shook her head at herself, telling herself to stand straight, fumbling at her glasses. Why did this feel so wrong? Why did she feel like she should hurry home? “It’s really fun! Right now, we’re just tryin’ ta’ figure out what they’re up to, I guess. But it’s been a while for me, I need ta’ get back into the swing o’things, ya’ know.”

“You know if you need a hand with anything I’m here,” Tony replied, shrugging a little as he said it, though there was no casualness to his tone. “You do know that, right? I’m not as big a dick as the papers used to say, believe me. Maybe a little bit, but I’m getting better.” It was something that he strove desperately towards, the day that he could finally say he was the opposite of what he had been pretending for so many years. He had made an insane amount of mistakes, had hurt so many people that were now coming back to bite him, and just because he knew deep down he had been something more than that just as Rhodes had always declared, Tony knew that he had to prove that to the people around him. He needed to prove to them that he was a hero, that he was worth being on the team. Besides, now that alcohol wasn’t an option, Tony needed something else to occupy his time, and helping people as a better addiction than anything else he had chased after in the past.

Harley wasn’t used to having people sticking up for her, offering assistance, support, comfort. She wasn’t used to having people stand up for her either, and Tony knew what that was like. He had spent his entire childhood walking on eggshells, knowing that a word out of place would shatter the tentative calm that had settled over the dining room table. He had associated love with staying with someone who raised a fist to you regardless of how many times they did it, just as long as they apologised afterwards. He had watched his parents and he had learned that loyalty was key, he had learned that no matter what people did to you, you had to stick by their side because that was what love was. Now, he knew better. Now, he looked at his team and their support, he looked at Pepper’s love that was constant not because she was scared of him, but because she understood who he truly was. Now, Tony knew what love was, and he wanted to tell Harley that, but he couldn’t quite find the words. It was difficult enough for him to even speak of his father as much as he had, never mind get onto that topic.

Still, he felt the need to say something to show her that he wasn’t speaking from a higher pedestal, that he understood what it was like. He could talk about Whitney, how she had pressed a gun to the bottom of his chin and he had still thrown himself into the fire for her again and again and again, how he would still do it now without hesitation. He could talk about the fact that when Ru called him even now he tried to forget walking in on her and his best friend and helped her any way that he could. Both of those felt like weakness, but nothing was so weak as admitting to what his family had gone through, and so Tony settled on that. “Mom kept going back too,” he said finally. It felt like a weight had settled on his chest, knowing that it was the closest thing to admitting what his father had truly done that he had managed. He had kept it close to the chest for so long that it felt like second nature. “Every time he did it, he was real good at apologising so, I get it. What it’s like, to want to think he’s better than what he is.”

Tony laughed too, though there was no amount of humour in it. “Don’t do it,” he said, as lightly as he could manage. Harley was always perceptive, though, she was bound to realise that there was something else in there. “Once you start, you can’t stop.” Especially if she began drinking to make up for another absence in her life, just as he had. “Goes for drugs, too. Take it from someone who knows. Clean since the nineties, but I still remember it, ya know?”

A friend. A few years ago, Tony would have wondered whether he was capable of that. He would have told her to go and find someone else, because everything he touched turned spectacularly to shit, or fell apart right in front of him. Harley was real, though. Nothing could touch her, she was like Nat that way. She wasn’t running when Tony talked about what he had been through, and she was, in a strange way, a good person. She was trying to make up for what she had done, so Tony found himself smiling and nodding. “You’ve got one,” he told her.

When Harley said that word, Tony frowned a little. She was laughing, and so he managed to laugh with her, knowing that was so many people’s ways of coping. “There are ways to prepare for everything,” Tony said, “and then there are times when you have to throw that prep out the window, and just do what you know is right.” This time, Tony actually did laugh, an attempt to block out what he was feeling at the mention of his mom. “Better than Dad,” he replied, “but that wouldn’t be hard. But yeah. Maybe it would’ve been nice seeing her a little more often.”

“Not a whole lott’a people have offered me that.” Harley admitted, “Or kept their promise. But I trust ya’, Tony. I do.” She sighed, relieved, a small smile creeping up to her lips, one of the sincerest ones in a long time. She did trust him, not only because she was actually one to trust way too easily, but because he had proven to be understanding, kind, and most of all listened to her, giving her the feeling of being heard. A huge part of why she sent her career and everything else that had been going right in her life down the drain was because she listened to other people’s problems all day, devoting her life to others until she didn’t have one anymore and she jumped at the first promise of somebody doing that for her. People like Tony showed her that that kind of sympathy was possible in a healthy way. She still asked herself what he got out of it, but she preferred not to ask. Everything came at a price, she had learned that the hard way, and if she ever would be convinced otherwise, that would take half a lifetime.

The blonde suddenly asked herself how they’d gotten their conversation so deep. She wasn’t complaining - it was nice to have someone to really talk, someone who opened up equally as much as she did. She was an open book - she’d never kept many secrets, had spilled it all in her therapy sessions and to the news. But Tony, he seemed to be selective about who he talked to, or at least she liked to tell herself that to feel like she still had it in her. She still had a long journey ahead of her. She was not Harleen Quinzel, nor was she sure she ever wanted to go back to that, but she surely wasn’t Harley Quinn. Day by day, it was like juggling two aspirations, two voice going against each other in a screaming battle inside her head. She was a recovering addict, just like Tony - only she didn’t have to stop herself from reaching for the bottle, but try and never again let the voices she needed to suppress win. None of what she had done seemed a horrible deed to her, because of the way she felt at the time, mostly, but she understood she couldn’t do it again. She needed that feeling again, and there was no way. She needed to cope with the absence of that feeling, possibly forever.

Harley associated love with desperately trying to please someone who was a psychotic criminal, that was it. That was what her mother had done, essentially. Being left behind was something she anticipated now. So was crawling back - and suddenly, somebody told her that was bad, that being loyal wasn’t the number one thing, and tried to teach her something different. But people are conditioned through experiences, and those were hard to rewrite. Her eyes widened a little when it finally clicked. “Oh.” For a moment, Harley didn’t know what to say. Children were often treated like they were deaf and blind to such things, but they weren’t. Experiences like that scarred you for life, and she could tell it was hard on Tony. Of course, she immediately knew what he meant. But not because she’d lived through it. It was funny, to her at least, how shocked people were at the stories she told about her relationship, how she’d been beaten and bruised, propped up and pinned down, how familiar she was with the barrels of guns and blades to her skin. But Harley hadn’t suffered. He hadn’t hurt her and apologized and hurt her again. Never, never had she thought of making an escape through a back window. There was a reason people said she was crazier than him. It was because she’d loved it, all of it. Because she’d known, she’d have to enjoy his torture to be able to experience his love. Mr J wore a lot of scars on his skin, way more than her, and a good portion of those she had caused. But Harley didn’t know how to explain that to someone who was convinced she’d been a victim, because he’d seen a loved one be that. “I’m so sorry she had to go through that. You had to.” She was quiet for a moment - this wasn’t about her, but she felt pressed to clear this up. “You probably think I went through somelthing similar, but...” The blonde shook her head, stopped herself from speaking. Her voice was clear, Gotham accent almost gone. “My mind is ... was too far gone to remember any of it as bad memories. You know? I mean, I’m fucking insane.” There was a tiny line she didn’t dare to cross, or she would surely scare him away. And she was walking that line.

Something she said must have definitely rubbed him the wrong way. Harley was well aware that most of her jokes weren’t funny to others, and joking about drinking probably hit too close to home for him, for now, anyway. “Can’t take me too seriously sometimes, pallie. I was only jokin’.” She shook her head to reassure him. “That’s impressive. Um, can I ask you something about that?” She came a little closer to him and tilted her head. “Do ya’ remember the good things ... or the bad things more?”

You’ve got one. Harley wanted to cry at that, strangely. It was like something was released in her, a kind of tension. Instead, she giggled and smiled wide, her eyes lighting up. “You’re pretty awesome, ya’ know that, Tony?” She meant it. No matter how much he doubted himself, no matter how many mistakes he loaded onto his conscience, he was a superb human being.

Bruce huffed, a quiet noise that, under other circumstances, could have been a laugh. Right now, he was finding that he was too tired to be amused by her sarcasm, while he normally would have. Exhaustion tended to dull everything. There was a careful point of balance there, where he could almost feel like he lacked the ability to transform. Less tired, and he’d be irritable and more likely to change. More tired, and he’d be putting enough strain on his body that a change might become inevitable. Right now, he could almost relax. It was a shame he was too tired to really enjoy it. “Right,” he drawled. Then, with a brief, genuine smile, he added “Thanks.” It was a little surprising that she’d decided to come. He wouldn’t have expected that from most people.

“Sounds like me as a grad student,” he offered. Of course, back then he’d been younger, and a lot more able to cope with the stress he put on himself. He figured that by this point in his life, he was probably supposed to know better. Clearly, that wasn’t the case. He was surprised by her offer, enough that he didn’t quite manage to get any of his objections out before she made her plea. And, honestly, he was too tired to argue. “Okay,” he said softly. “That sounds good. I should…” He frowned, giving himself a critical look. Stained lab coat, rumpled clothes underneath it, and there was no telling what his hair was doing at this point, but it was probably horrifying. “Probably get cleaned up a little,” he concluded.

The huff that left his mouth was enough for her - she’d almost made him laugh. That was much more than she’d anticipated or planned. Harley looked at him for a moment, wondering if in this state, he was closer to the edge. If she did something unexpected or dangerous, would he go green on her? For a split second, her fingers were itching to test it, but her kind smile was unshaken. As he thanked her, those thoughts were gone as suddenly as they’d come. The blonde gave a laugh and shrugged. “I gotta make a good impression, I’m technically on the job, right?” Sent back to her college day, her smile changed, but didn’t fade. “Oh, don’t get me started. I think ma’ blood was basically caffeine back then.” She’d had enough coffee for a life time, so it was probably only right that she didn’t drink it anymore.

“If you ever want to try finding her,” Tony began, “I’d be willing to help.” There were few things that Tony prided himself on, but being able to use the resources that he had built up through years of war profiteering to help those who didn’t have such resources, that made him feel as if he was finally atoning for everything that he had done, and the Stark name could eventually be redeemed for all the pain that it had caused people like the Maximoffs. Harley spoke so casually that Tony almost didn’t notice what she was saying, but he was well adept at that trick himself. He paid complete attention to every word that left her mouth, and when it registered with him, he looked at her closely. “Harley,” he said, something like anger burning in his chest (if it was on Steve, he would call it justice, but Tony doubted he was capable of anything as righteous as that). “You know you didn’t deserve that. You more than likely knew more about him than anyone else. With that information, we could put him away.” Of course, the Batman had been attempting that for years without much success. Tony wasn’t the Batman. If he had the Joker in his sights, the guy would be out of the race permanently, and Tony would sleep like a baby that night because of it. “She sounds like a good friend, looking out for you.” Harley’s story sounded like a more extreme version of Tony’s own, where he continued to return to Rumiko, even when Rhodes was behind him telling him that she did it once, she would do it again. Now, he saw the true value of that friendship, but telling Harley that would sound as if he was providing advice, when he was in no place to do so.

Tony shook his head, waving his hand dismissively. “Don’t be. It’s old news. I haven’t seen them in a long time.” That in itself was a lie, but Tony himself didn’t realise that until it was out of his mouth. He had gone to Rumiko’s wedding in the summer, a marriage that was over even before the year was out, and he had seen Ty there. Rumiko had called him for help in Venice and Tokyo, and even all these years later, even as he attempted to tell Pepper what he truly felt for her, he jumped at the sound of Ru’s voice. “We were in college, we all did stupid things. I don’t hold it against them.”

Whitney had been an adventure and a half, but looking back, Tony couldn’t say that he regretted it. The last time they met, Whitney had been hiding behind a mask, ashamed to show him what she had become. They had fought, Tony had won, but he had the feeling that Whitney had allowed that much - or at least allowed him to walk away unscathed. There was something there under all the crazy, something redeemable, which was why he was constantly questioning nowadays whether maybe non lethal was the way to go after all.

How would she stop missing that feeling? Tony paused for only a moment, because despite everything, he trusted Harley. She had proven herself more than enough times in their conversations, and she was easy to talk to - something that undoubtedly would have been dangerous years ago, but would have made her an amazing psychiatrist. “I used to think that way about drinking,” he admitted. It was easier to talk about than it had been, but it was nowhere near comfortable. “The world thinks about things differently than I do. I used to drink to numb that, make everything else sound like background noise. I wondered whether there was anything out there that could help me cope like that again. I still wonder that most of the time, but I found the answer was just finding something else. I come down here, I tinker. Anytime I feel like I’m losing control, I go out on a mission and I get that back. Finding a purpose, I guess that helps.”

Once again, Tony knew exactly what it felt like not to trust yourself. After all, even all these years later, he thought about what would have happened if Obadiah had allowed himself to be pulled back up, rather than attempting to drag Tony down with him. (Tony would have forgiven him, he knew that.) “I think if it came down to that, you’d surprise yourself.” Harley was nothing if not surprising.

His parents were another matter entirely, one that affected every day. “Something like that,” Tony said, “except the other way around.” Tony never had a problem outmatching Howard - that was what had made the man so angry, that his son could beat him. “Mom was … she was different. Bleeding heart, you know? She had this charity foundation, I still run it now, and she spent all her time doing that. Went down to Africa, helped out with disasters. She was never really home, but when she was, she was - she wasn’t like us.”

“Really?” Harley’s eyes widened with excitement until she really thought about what he’d just proposed. Ivy wasn’t like her, on the path to a ‘good’ life, whatever that meant. She wasn’t striving to be normal. Ivy had found her place in mostly living undercover and launching attacks from the inside every now and then, when she felt they were appropriate. She was a terrorist with no intentions to change that. “Tony...” The blonde smiled a little smile that said, thank you, but you have no idea what you’re in for. “I don’t know if ya’ want Ivy around here. She’s, um... too brilliant ta’ be held down.” She still smiled, but her gaze met the floor. “She’ll find me one of these days, I’m sure.” She was still astonished by the compassion Tony showed her, even though they slowly got to know each other by now. Maybe she’d never get used to that.

At his next words, she stopped in her tracks, surprised by the anger in his voice. At first, she actually asked herself what she’d said to inspire that in him, but then it hit her. Things like that weren’t normal for anybody but her. She’d been abused. Abused. That was a sentence she kept telling herself like a mantra, because it was hard to understand. Many people had told her; if she only told a few details, if she told them where he was, what he’d done, they could help her, they could put him away, put him down. What they didn’t understand was that Harley wasn’t angry, she wasn’t out for revenge, she didn’t want to see him hurt or, worse, dead. And even though she knew it was madness now, most nights she still felt like she let him down. But knowing you’re mad didn’t make you mad any less. Just because someone hurts you doesn’t make you love them any less. “I know.” Now, her sad little smile came back. She wanted to say, oh, you little fool, you know how many times he’s been imprisoned, chained and buried, and came back? But she could see what he meant in his eyes. Tony wasn’t a fool. He knew how to deal with dangerous criminals. So, all she could bring herself to say was, “I know”. She desperately wanted to spill all of her thoughts to Tony, but couldn’t utter the words. And yes, Ivy was a great friend. She’d been the reason she’d broken out of a cicle that would, one day, have surely killed her.

The blonde nodded. “That’s grand of ya’.” He was brave. But what was even more important, was that he didn’t seem to give himself a break from being brave. It impressed Harley, but having gone through an education in psychology, she knew that it wasn’t healthy, and it was bound to make him suffer. The look in this eyes told her that it wasn’t over, no completely, not for him. And how could it be? His heart had been broken by two important people in his life. Of course she was sorry.

Make everything else sound like background noise. That was it. Painting the town in red had caused so much fun for Harley that everything else, everthing that could have potentially been able to pull her down or make her feel bad, just faded into the background and became barely existant. It had been like a high, a rush, being in love, getting that attention and finally feeling her man being proud of her, showing her off, something she would scramble for every second, laughing until her tummy hurt - all of that had been excellent distractions from the emptiness she felt now. She sighed - then laughed. “Maybe I should start drinking.” Alcohol, and drugs, for that matter, weren’t new to her, of course, but she’d never been too fond of them. She nodded now, in agreement. “That’s why I’m here, ya’ know. I need somethin’ ta’ do. And I need a friend.”

Harley laughed out loud at that, genuinely happy about that kind of faith in her. Maybe she would surprise herself. Maybe she’d come that far. But she’d also come far enough to know that the Joker was her one and only kryptonite. Her one weakness. “Ya’ know he brainwashed me, right?” She laughed, of course she didn’t mean that - but the media seemed to be sure of that being factual. “Who knows. Maybe I will. I just know some day he will join the party over here, and it’ll come to that.” She shrugged. “It’s like preparin’ for a nuke.”

How has your character developed throughout season 2? What event specifically affected them?

Harley has been stuck between being happy to start working for the good side, helping Tony research the Skrulls and helping out in Banner’s clinis - keeping herself occupied in any way possible, really, and diving into battle, letting the voices take over and make her the clown she loved to be once. She’s een that she can be herself and fight for the good side and be accepted, mostly, and that helped her grow, despite still feeling out of place. The chaos in the city has given her a sense of home in a way, and she isn’t afrid to admit that she’s a little excited for what’s to come.

What relationships would you like to develop throughout season 3?

I’d like for Harley to fall in love. Of course, she is easily excited and charmed, but she only ever fell in love with a certain someone, and now that I have developed her character to being on the way to a ‘normal’ life, getting back to the good side, I’d like for her to see that there can be romantic relationships without the abuse she endured. My long term goal is, of course, having her drop everything and run back to the Joker at some point, and being committed to a new relationship then could be the start of great dramatic plots.

Also, along with that, Harley is still trying to prove to herself and others, that she can lead a life away from crime. So anywhere she can make friends, she’d love to, and I’d also love to further develop her already budding friendships, so she can have people to fall back onto whenever the voices get too loud.

Where would you like your character to go throughout season 3? Specifically, how will they react to Battleworld?

I’d love for Harley to get back into psychology at some point. Maybe there are people affected by the recent events that need help but can’t go to a hospital or (liscensed) doctor. Maybe there is a shortage of psychiatrists and she can even get her liscense back.

What specific plots would you like to explore during season 3? Remember, this is a great opportunity to form more connections and start arcs with each other!

I have to refer to some plots I mentioned in the last task:

3. If anyone needs psychological help, I can imagine her doing sessions on the low, just to get back into the swing of things and feel important share some compassion. 4. Maybe Harley and your character had their differences in the past, maybe Harley hurt or helped hurting someone important to your character, or them directly. She has to deal with her past more often and I’d love some confrontation.

It wasn’t hard to put the pieces together surrounding who Harley was talking about. Tony might have been overly trusting given the amount of people he had allowed into his life that ended up screwing him over, but he was far from an idiot. When he invited Harley to the Tower, he wanted to be sure that he knew what he was getting into, and his penchant for research extended beyond the lab. Poison Ivy was another of Gotham’s extensive rogues’ gallery, and her relationship with Harley was well publicised. “She still back in the city?” he asked - mostly for Harley, but also because the idea of a giant plant trying to eat him whole didn’t seem particularly appealing given the threat of the Skrulls hanging over his head (or at any time, really). “I’m guessing you two were close.”

Tony shrugged, moving over to move some of the tools on his workbench around. Talking about Ty for any length of time at all made him want to rip his own arm off, so to compensate, he liked messing around with his hands. Ever since boarding school it had managed to calm him down, and it helped to explain why he loved his work so much. “We kind of dated,” he explained, though ‘dating’ wasn’t exactly the word that he would use to describe it. “We broke up, I got engaged, and then he … you know, with my fiancee.” He shrugged once more, as if it was something that lived in the past rather than continued to follow him to this day.

Harley was someone else who understood what that was like. She was haunted by her own choices, questioning herself at every turn, and he knew there was a part of her that had enjoyed the life she had before - he could see it in how the corners of her lips quirked upwards, or the nostalgia she spoke of when she reminisced. If it wasn’t about villainy, he might even indulge it. “No,” he said, a slight laugh appearing even though what he was feeling in his chest definitely wasn’t humorous in the slightest. “You’re not the only one. One of my exes threatened to cut my arm off and beat me with it, and that was on our third date. I get it.” Hell, maybe people could even say that Pepper was mad to be in love with him, looking from the outside in. “I think we can’t put a label on it. People can say all they want, but you’re the only one who experienced it, you know?” Tony personally thought Harley was better off now, but that didn’t mean he was pushing that on her.

“You’re turning that life around,” Tony replied. “I’m sure they want to be a part of it now.” It was hard for him to talk about this and not think how he would feel if he saw Peter on the news doing what Harley had. Would he ever stop wanting to look out for him and protect him? Would he ever be able to see past the young kid he had recruited to see the man that he had chosen to become? Tony doubted it. “You’re good at reading people. Most thought I was the luckiest kid in the world. Howard Stark, genius billionaire!” Tony swept his arm around in grandiose fashion before dropping it back down to his side. “Dad was pretty mad at the world, and my general existence wasn’t helping that. If it helps, in my experience, parents don’t need much to be disappointed.”

“Ah, she was here for a little while, but now, who knows where she could be.” This was largely why she missed Gotham - the good old Gotham. Now that so many vigilantes had left the city it was no fun to keep stirring up trouble. Back in the day all of her friends had been there, and planning a big joke had been so much fun. Now there was no telling where they were, probably scattered across the country. “She was the only one I was close to for a long time.” She said with a sad smile. “Except for Mister J, of course. The first time he tried ta’ kill me,” - her voice was casual as ever now - “she took me in and kinda nursed me back ta’ health. I kept runnin’ back ta’ him of course, and she wasn’t so thrilled about that. They really hate each other.”

Harley watched Tony toy around with the tools on the table and knew she hit a nerve. Maybe she shouldn’t have asked, but curiousity was in her nature. It was interesting to get to know more about this prestigeous public figure that she’d seen on the news so much. Now that they knew each other a little better, she really got to like him. When he spoke, her eyes widened. “Oh.” For a moment, she didn’t know what to say. This was definitely something that still haunted him, “That explains it. I’m sorry. That’s horrible!” She couldn’t help but think about how that must feel, being betrayed by someone you loved so much, without thinking about the abuse she’d endured herself. What he’d just told her seemed like the worst form of betrayal to her at that moment. At least Mr J had always been faithful and committed (more or less).

The beating-him-with-his-own-arm thing made Harley laugh out loud, because it reminded her of a time where her vision had been cliuded with bubblegum and cotton candy, lollipops and laughter. She wore so many scars from that time, and still she sometimes wished she could erease them to get them put onto her all over again. She was most definitely crazy, but it felt so good.”I can see why ya’ got involved with her.” She said, still giggling. Then, suddenly, she stopped to look at him. “That’s exactly what it is! They haven’t experienced it.” This was the first time someone seemed to understand where she was coming from. Where the jester costume and all that make-up and murdering came from. People could sit back and judge, but they hadn’t experienced what she had. By now, she knew that that time was over, she needed it to be over to go on, but she would probably never stop longing for that feeling - and that was the dangerous thing about it all. “How will I ever stop missing that feelin’. I don’t know. It’s like somethin’s missin’.”

“Yeah, they do. And I love bein’ around them, although they’re makin’ me feel like a real baby sometimes.” She shrugged. “I just don’t know what’s gonna happen, ya’ know? I don’t trust myself.” She traced patterns on the cold metal of the robot, already finished putting the decorations on it. “What if I’m not as strong as I think and Mr J comes back and sweeps me off’a my feet, huh?” The blonde shook her head. She only now realized that she’d been ranting, finally speaking her deepest thoughts out loud.

“Longer than twenty years. Once you get past that point, it’s too scary to keep counting.” There had been a long time when Rhodes was Tony’s only true friend. Perhaps Jarvis would have been before he died, but when Tony’s parents were in that crash, he had pushed the older man away. He supposed that in many ways, they had both imagined they would have time to heal their relationship, but the world didn’t work that way. Jarvis phoned him up, told him he was sick, and Tony was on the first flight home - not that it mattered. He was gone before he got there, something that Tony would always live with, and something that he would always regret. “I didn’t make many friends,” Tony admitted with a shrug, his casual air of self-depreciation as always hard to keep completely below the surface, even if he attempted to remain uncaring. “Rhodes was basically it, actually. There was another guy, Ty, he - he was my roommate for a while, I guess. Knew him since boarding school, but we don’t speak now.” Last time they had was at Rumiko’s wedding, which felt like a lifetime ago. “I don’t think it’s weird,” Tony said with a smile, looking over at Harley. “Takes one to know one, and I can see it in you. You’ve got that same drive, you know? Wanting to figure something out.”

Some may call it a tragedy that Harley’s life turned out the way it had. She had made her choices, just as Tony had, and both of them couldn’t possibly go back to the way it was before. Still, she had so much promise beforehand, a career that she loved and an academic record that was well worth lauding. If Tony could help her in any way to get back to that, whether through working alongside her, writing a character reference or just being a friend, he would do that. “I only figured out how to unstick last night, and I keep doing it accidentally now,” Tony admitted. He continued to busy himself with the tree when Harley lapsed into silence. There were a million people out there who didn’t want to talk about their families, and he was letting her know that she didn’t owe him anything. “That’s nice of them,” Tony said slowly, trying to get a read on the situation. “Were you close to your parents, growing up?” For some reason, it was hard to picture what people had been like before coming into this life - superheroics, super-villainy, the works. “Sounds like you have a bit to worry about too,” he replied. “I don’t know much about moms - never could quite work my own out - but I know they like having their kids around most of the time. Maybe you being there would help.”

“Golly, I miss Ivy.” She spoke quietly, more to herself than to Tony, but she was sure he could still hear it. Sure, Poison Ivy fit into the murderous lunatic category, but she was a genius without a doubt - and an amazing friend. Harley smiled when Tony spoke of his friendship with Rhodes, then wrinkled her eyebrows. “Why dont’cha speak anymore?” A sigh. “Ah, I sometimes wish I could go back, experience things a little differently.” When she first met Tony, she had quickly figured out that he was so much more than what you heard about him, but every conversation showed her new facettes of who he was and how far he’d come. 

“Ma’ life, for starters.” Harley had a lot to figure out since she last entered Arkham. Harley had always dedicated herself to one thing at a time, first her career, and then love. And she was still convinced that what she felt was love, unlike anyone claiming that she’d been brainwashed, manipulated and blind. But for the first time she had felt alive and that had to be something positive. Yes, she could see that she’d been beaten and abused, but no one understood the Joker like she did. No one had felt his compassion, the things he’d said to her when no one was listening. She couldn’t be sure that if he stood in front of her house tomorrow, she wouldn’t forget about it all and fall into his arms like she was suffocating and he was oxygen. She still stared at the crumpled note Jessica had given her and thought about punching his number into her phone, but something kept her from it. “Tony?” She turned around and looked right at him as if she was searching for something in his face. “I can’t be the only one who’s been madly in love, right? I mean...” The blonde shook her head, making her hair bounce. “I’m still tryn’a figure out how somethin’ that made me so happy could be that wrong. Ya’ know?”

The second Miles saw Harleen, he immediately forgot about the wound that he was nursing, and hoping Doctor Banner could look at. Whether it was adrenaline or sheer shock, he was unsure. The fact of the matter was no matter how many times he ran into someone from Earth-1610, it always left him momentarily rattled. Understandably, Miles always needed few minutes to adjust to seeing a familiar face again, and to relentlessly remind himself that weren’t the person he used to know. With Harleen, that was going to be a little trickier. He had been close to her, she was one of his closest friends, and that kinship was hard to simply forget.

“You get that a lot?” Miles asked, sounding surprised by the fact. “Why do you get that a lot?” He couldn’t help but smile as she spoke. Hearing her voice reminded him of home, and that was a place he desperately missed. He frequently visited places that resembled his universe, which were few and far between. The people were a little harder to come by, and typically safer to avoid. “Thanks for understanding,” he added. At her question, his gaze dropped down his bloody wound and his smile dropped. “I got into a fight,” he explained. “It’s nothing too bad, I was just someone could take a look at it. I don’t have a lot of money or any health insurance…” he trailed. “You said Doctor Banner is gone. Do you think you could do something? It just needs a bandage, I think.”

“I, um ... I just got that kinda face.” It was still weird that he seemed to know her so well, but for now she put it off because she needed to help him. Maybe he was out of it because he’d lost a lot of blood, maybe hey really knew each other from somewhere and he didn’t want to admit it - maybe he’d been a patient and she didn’t remember him, maybe they knew each other from college, or even from before, but how didn’t she remember him? Either way, she didn’t need to elaborate on how everybody thought they knew her just from watching the news. Because then she would have to explain why she’d been on the news.

There had been a time in his life where Tony resented the fact that he had a near constant stream of visitors coming into the Tower. That was impossible to admit to himself back then considering the entirety of his childhood where he had wished for friends and family who genuinely cared, but when he found himself at the bottom of a bottle more often than not, he didn’t need people witnessing it. Now, though, things were different. He’d cleared the Tower out, had refused drinks at both the Halloween and the New Year’s parties, and having people coming around kept him accountable. It meant that the people in his life could tell if he had fallen off the wagon, and even if they didn’t say anything, the look in their eyes would encourage him to do something about it.

Harley was someone that he always enjoyed the company of, and someone who genuinely made him laugh. She was definitely dangerous, had done a lot of bad things, but that didn’t mean she was irredeemable, just like Tony wasn’t. “Can you repeat that to Rhodes’ face?” Tony asked, a grin coming onto his expression. “I swear, college boosted his confidence so much I’m pretty sure he drowned in it.” Tony had been fifteen when he arrived, which he used to explain away his lack of popularity. He made up for it in later life, anyway. “Has been ever since we were teenagers,” Tony said, “and even when he’s on the other side of the world. Couldn’t ask for a better friend, if I’m honest.”

Dum-E clicked at the attention, as always soaking it up, and Tony couldn’t help but smile as the tinsel was draped around his claw. “Oh yeah, I got stuck to the ceiling and everything. I can pick up a car now, which is really something.” Peter could stop a bus with his bare hands, but Cindy hadn’t been specific about the kind of vehicles Tony could subdue. A shame, really – it would make a cool video to send Rhodes. “Don’t apologise,” Tony said, shrugging as he put the star back up again. “What about you? You got parents somewhere?”

Sure, Tony was clearly at a low point but he had mentioned that he turned to alcohol during bad episodes and today he didn’t seem like he’d had any at all - and Harley had seen alcoholism. She didn’t need to speak of it because it would probably be uncomfortable for him, but she silently commended him for it. 

“Ya’ got it. Any time.” The blonde laughed and gave a wink. “Wow, ya’ll know each other that long?” She sighed. “I kinda blasted through college too much ta’ make a lott’a friends. I was so eager to get workin’...” She’d not exactly been a loner, but she never went to a lot of parties and rarely didn’t have her nose stuck in a book. She didn’t want to waste a lot of time enjoying herself when she could start on the job she felt to be her ultimate goal. There’s been nothing more fascinating to her than good old Arkham Asylum. “Weird, huh? That I used ta’ be a smarty-pants.” Something she’d learned from the tabloids was that people thought she was plain dumb. They forgot that she went through college and worked in a respected position before she decided to drop everything and dye her hair fun colors and enjoy love for a while. Nowadays it seemed to bother her a lot more - now that she was trying to rebuild her life.

“Really!? That’s awesome. What’cha need a ladder for, then, huh?” She grinned at the thought of Tony hanging from the ceiling to put the topper on the tree. At his question, she was suddenly quiet, fumbled with the tinsel in her hands and took a second before answering. “Uh ... yeah. I do. They live in Brooklyn, they, um. They’ve offered me ma’ childhood bedroom ta’ stay in until I’ve come ta’ my feet again.” She didn’t look at him as she turned around and tended to Dum-E again. Very little people knew about her family and that she actually had one. Her father had actually been the reason why she’d gone to Gotham to study criminology and she’d always done everything neccessary to protect them. Somehow, Mr J never got to know about them, now that she thought about it. "Lil’ brother’s a bozo in college, dad’s just come outta jail a year ago. Guess Ma’s got a lot ta’ worry about.” 

As much as the Enchantress appreciated her newfound freedom and being able to freely kill as she pleased, she grew tired of the endless waves of Skrulls that kept approaching. The second the group that had reached them was defeated, even more charged in to take their place. The invasion had begun hours ago, and the aliens seemed indifferent to the amount of their dead and injured littering the streets. At this point it was like fighting a flood that simply kept coming. “Just how much destruction do you think this city could take? Dropping a building on them could be far more effective.“ She turned, watching the grace with which the other woman took down her attacker only to be interrupted by an alien with a rather impressively sized weapon in it’s hands that decided to aid it’s ally. The sorceress moved away quickly, darting away before the crushing blow could hit her. The sidewalk and lamppost behind her were not as lucky, the latter bending and then falling instantly.

It was astounding how many Skrulls kept coming at them. Harley could only take out one or two, three if she was good at a time, but she knew there were people fighting these aliens that had mass destruction weapons at their hands. Where did they all come from? She knew there was a mothership somewhere, but how freaking big was it to ship over all these soldiers? Good thing Harley was far from tiring.

“Ya’ could do that?!” The blonde laughed imagining that as she jumped and kicked one of the aliens in the face. His skin must be pretty thick because as her shoe hit him, the heel broke off and fell to the floor. “Dammit! Those are ma’ favorites!” She frowned as she moved away from him a little to take off her shoes. Then, she twisted her bat only to dive under the Skrull’s incoming weapon and strike him in the back.

The voice she was using was deeply familiar. Bruce had been hearing it ever since he was a kid, and his dad had slipped up and left marks that would show. Heard it more since the accident, when people thought that it would calm him down, keep the Other Guy from showing up. He wished the familiarity wasn’t soothing. It said something said about his life, that the ‘you look like you’re breakable’ voice was familiar enough to give comfort. “It really isn’t,” he disagreed. The least he could do was acknowledge that he’d messed up, forgiven or not. “I’d promise to try to do better, but…well. I try not to make promises I know I won’t keep.” When she moved her hand away, he pulled back, folding his arms across his chest reflexively.

In his exhausted state, it didn’t really sink in that she hadn’t kept up the fiction that they were talking about a friend of his. “Yeah, everything’s back to normal.” Back to caution and control, and he’d been so busy trying to put things right that he’d never had a chance to appreciate the brief period of not sharing brain space with a monster. He had to smile a little, shaking his head, at her declaration that he didn’t look normal. Now there was the clear winner for the understatement of the day. “No,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “I’m betting I look like I’ve been on a three-day bender.” He sighed. “I should… clean this up. And sleep, probably. Maybe eat something.” How long had it been since he’d done either of those things? He’d been in a fog for what felt like just about forever. The day before yesterday, maybe?

“Come on, it’s not like can’t take time outta my busy schedule to come see what’s goin’ on.” Harley shrugged. It really wasn’t a big deal but she understood that in his head every little mishap or every one of his moves that made him disappointed in himself weighed way more than it would to someone who’d slept and eaten. The blonde intertwined her fingers in front of her body as she watched Banner twitch into a defensive pose and bit her lip. Alright, so no touching. She suddenly asked herself if there ever was somebody he would allow to come close. If there was somebody he could relax around. Then again, she thought, that somebody probably would have been here, then.

Bruce was hearing that Harleen was talking, but honestly not listening to a word she said. His attention was still focused on the problem of the homemade centrifuge. The matchbox. That was almost the same thickness as his phone. As he was putting the phone down to reach for it with his free hand, he froze, startled that she’d reached out to take his hand. All of the whirling in his brain stopped long enough for what she was saying to get through to him. “Disrupted is a good word,” he admitted, sighing. It was one of many, and probably the least unflattering option she could have chosen, which was nice of her. “I’m sorry. I should have given you a little more than ‘don’t come’.” With his mad dash for answers so thoroughly interrupted, his usual calm began to reassert itself, bringing exhaustion in its wake. He sagged a little in his chair, letting the leg of the centrifuge settle back on top of his phone.

Clearly this wasn’t bearing fruit. With whatever the Skrulls had done now reversed, the urgency was gone, as was the tenuous excuse that he was doing this frantic research to help T’Challa, instead of in yet another attempt to rid himself of his mistake. It might be time to stop. And he definitely needed a good excuse to give Harleen. “I’m okay,” he confirmed. “I just…a friend of mine was affected by that thing that hit the local heroes. The one where people’s powers got switched.” Not a lie, even, except for by omission. He probably had more than one friend who’d been affected, if he was being realistic. “I thought…well. I guess it doesn’t matter what I thought, since everything’s back to normal now.” He would have known that even if it hadn’t been all over the news. The voice in the back of his head had returned, as hurt and angry as ever.

Physical contact was risky in her business - or ever, really. You never knew if someone would flip out on you, especially with people who were a little more reserved, like Bruce Banner was. Then again, it could very well pull people back to reality if they were in shock or experiencing panic, and in this case it seemed to work its magic. “That’s a-okay.” She spoke softly, careful not to startle him, kind of like he was a wild animal and she’d just managed for it to sniff her hand and if she moved too quickly it might just turn and run away. As he sunk into his chair he seemed to notice his own exhaustion for the first time and Harley took a breath with him. The blonde allowed herself to let go of him and leaned against an empty space on the desk - which there weren’t many of.

@thatclownlady

The power swap was over, but of course the true threat remained. And with a threat of this magnitude came panic. Even before the seemingly random (though he suspected they were anything but) attacks began, the entire city was on edge. Now protesters had gathered in the streets. Some to demand that justice be served to the attackers. Some to cry for mercy. Some merely to scream, because the world was falling to pieces around them.

Erik watched it all with an amused expression. Foolish creatures. This world was so unprepared, because it had fought so hard against their natural evolution. A population composed entirely of Mutants would not have been so easy to conquer, nor to shake up. But one woman in the crowd caught his eye – a familiar face. 

“My dear Harley Quinn,” he said, sliding up behind her. “I did not expect to find you again, and so quickly. How fortunate I am, the fates must be smiling on me.” He gazed around the crowd, the people around them growing more tense every second. “Though I cannot say the same for this city.”

Some part in Harley Quinn lived for chaos. She loved the unpredictable, the feeling of never knowing what’s to come, living day by day without a plan. Before she’d run away with the circus that element had been her patients, and maybe that was the reason she’d been so good at her job, and so engulfed in it. The thrill of chaos. The more New York reminded her of Gotham, the more exciting it was to go out and explore the city. She hadn’t had a purpose when she relocated here, but now the city felt more and more like home.

To most people, of course, that didn’t seem to make the city more attractive to them. Like Banner’s former assistant in the clinic, people turned to flee the city. Gothamites were resilient, like they also lived for the danger that lingered in the streets, but that wasn’t the case for New Yorkers.