11/16 Harley Quinn

“Puddin I got a present for ya!” The Harlequin cooed, “It’s your Christmas gift, I got it special for ya!” She exclaimed, stepping aside to reveal Batman, comically bound in wrapping paper with a lovely red bow adorning his head, “Ta da!” 

The pause in the room was painful as she searched for any sign of joy from the Joker standing in front of her. But the silence of the room began to stretch on, the Joker simply stared at Batman, unconscious and decked out in that bow. The silence started to hurt, making her stomach twist in nervousness. 

“Harley.” Joker finally spoke up, looking over to her with an eerily calm expression, “You gotta be kiddin’ me.” 

She shook her head eagerly, cause her hat to shake rapidly. “It’s Batman! Dressed up and delivered! What you always wanted!” She attempted, eager to please him as always, win his approval in some way.

That eagerness was shut down when Joker was suddenly in her face, screaming bloody murder. “You IDIOT, you FOOL, you can’t do ANYTHING right.” The clown faced man raged, the comical grin plastered across his face more terrifying then anything. Her feet scrambled backward, attempting to get away from the anger before her, but she simply couldn’t move fast enough.  Without warning, a hand was around her throat, shaking her wildly. The yelling amped her panic as she struggled to breathe, struggled to explain she was only trying to make him happy. It’s all she ever tried to do. 

The hand gripped tighter and black started to distort her vision, twisting that awful grin into a nightmare. The thought that he was finally going to do it, finally going to kill her, crossed her mind. 

No sooner then that thought passed, did he finally let go of her. She dropped to the floor gasping for breath, trying just as hard to apologize as to breathe. He already had his back towards her, ranting about his ruined Christmas plans. She had screwed up, screwed up badly. She knew she had to get out of the abandoned building before he turned on her again. The Joker was too busy attempting to fix his plans to even realize the Harlequin had escaped from the building.

Hours later, Harley sat in the backroom of the greenhouse, curled up on a couch while her friend helped her clean up. “Again Harley?” Poison Ivy questioned quietly, as she helped wipe off the white makeup covering her face. “This is the second time this month he’s attacked you, you can’t keep this up.” Ivy tried to get her friend to understand that he didn’t care about her but the clown girl wouldn’t listen. She just sat on the couch, quietly crying. 

Harley sniffed, wiping away the tears with the back of her hand. Abruptly she looked up at Poison Ivy, anger in her eyes. “I just DON’T GET IT! Why is it always Bats over me?! I’m the one who loves him! I’m the one who got him outta that damn prison!” She howled, feeling her rage growing by the second. She was on her feet now, pacing the room. “But NO, all he cares about is that pointy headed bug!” Ivy simply stared at her friend ranting in the middle of the room, letting her go through the motions. It was like this every time Joker hurt her. She got anger, vowed her revenge, and then . . . they were right back together again, her pining over a madman who barely even acknowledged her existence. 

“I just don’t get it, Harls.” Ivy sighed finally, interrupting the girl’s rant. “Why do you do all this for him? Why do you bother?” She asked. 

Harley Quinn stopped in her tracks and stared at the redhead for a moment, thinking the question over. She thought of all those moments he had hurt her, screamed at her and threatened her. But those few moments where he showed her even the smallest emotion, that's what she came back for. Finally, she answered, “Love. . . makes you do crazy things.”