"Come in! Come in!" Daemon chanted, his voice loud and prepotent.

Two of his pirate henchmen dragged two hooded figures into the large cold room. He had grown tired of the Joker's penthouse – or perhaps he was just avoiding getting caught – and was now residing at one of Cobblepot's hideouts. It wasn't as comfortable and fashionable as the clown's places, but it was safe and out of reach.

He watched with a grin as his men forced the two caught people kneel before The Captain. The women standing around Daemon took a step back, horrified. They knew what was coming: massacre. No matter how many times they were forced to watche as he punished, hurt, or tortured someone, they still got nauseous or faint.

"Captain, sir. Yer Lady Jean sent this for ya. A gift." spoke one of the henchmen, a young vivacious man with electric pink hair. The other, a big bulky bearded man pulled the hoods away from the kneeled people; Harley and Alfred looked around nervously, his eyes narrowed as they adjusted to the light.

"Oh my Lord! If it isn't the crazy blondie!" Daemon said as he walked toward them, his mechanical arm up high in the air. His eyes travelled down to Alfred and he frowned. "Are you his chaperone or what?"

"No sir, he's–"

The bigger henchman couldn't end his sentence as a bullet made contact with his head, falling off limp on the wooden floor.

"I wasn't talking to you, you piece of shit! And you–" Daemon turned to face then now trembling pink haired young boy. "You followed my lady's orders? My lad– you know? You deserve a price for being such a gentleman. How about some good, long and fun vacations?"

The boy opened his mouth wide and his scream was muted by a loud bang. The shrieks and sobs from the women standing behind the Captain would have been music for Harley's ears in the past, but right then they caused the petite harlequin a sharp pain in her head.

"So, blondie. An annoying little birdie told me you were with child! Congratulations!" Daemon said as he grabbed Harley harshly by the arm, forcing her to stand. As brave as she was, she kept her head high, her face still and expressionless. The Captain smiled mockingly and placed his mechanical arm on her bump to which Harley groaned and took a quick step back, her strappled hands moving violently behind her.

"Don't touch my baby! Get away from us!" she hissed. Daemon waved the sobbing women and they ran out of the room hugging each other.

"Listen, don't take me wrong, sweetheart. I didn't even know you were invited for dinner by my annoying girlfriend." he looked down at her stomach, pressing the muzzle of his gun softly against it, "I love babies, they are so cute. In fact, I was about to be a father many years ago."

"I'm not interested, save it." she spat, her eyes traveling from Daemon to Alfred who was still on his knees. "What do you want from us?"

"Well, I offered your clown boyfriend to work for me, to take over Gotham together. He chose to run into Batman's arms. That hurt." Daemon pointed his gun at Alfred, making her gasp, "Now, my dear, it's time for you to cooperate. Where is the Batman?"

Tears started to form in Harley's eyes as she looked down at Alfred who shook his head no, pleading silently at her.

"Well, take your time. I'll give you some motivation though." Harley didn't have time to react for the next thing she knew was that Daemon had shot his mechanical arm at Alfred's leg and her screams filled the room.

"Frost! Take them to the guest room. Make yourself comfortable, blondie. I'm really looking forward to your clown boyfriend's appearance."

•••

"Does this place look familiar to you, darling?" Jeannie and the Joker approached a black gate, a silent building before them. It looked old and abandoned but something stirred inside J's heart.

"Where is she?" he said as his gun found its way back against her temple. Jeannie pouted and shrugged.

"She's probably having a nice quiet dinner with Daemon by now." her hand motioned towards the building, ignoring the joker's cold gun pointing her. "This is where we met, Jack. Our home. Our orphanage."

The Joker felt his tormented soul leave his body. Memories of his childhood dancing before his eyes making him lower his gun. He couldn't feel himself stepping closer to the gate.

"This is where I brought my baby when he was born." she said solemnly, "I knew he would be fine, I knew he would be safe here. I came almost every afternoon to watch him secretly as he played in the garden. His name was Jason."

Jason. It all made sense.

The clown's brain twitched at the name and he looked down wide eyed at Jeannie. "How did you–?"

"That doesn't matter. You and your girl killed my son." Jeannie said, maniacal laughter coming out from her lips, "Isn't it ironic? You killed my son without knowing it! And now it is my turn to take something important away from you and I don't even have to do the job. An eye for an eye, Jack."

Jeannie pulled out a knife but J was faster. A bullet hit her shoulder and she screamed with pain as she curled into a ball on the ground. The Joker kneeled beside her and his gun rested between her eyes, his blue eyes staring directly at hers.

"Tell me where she is, NOW!" he screamed, his free hand gripping her brown hair, pulling her face closer to his. Jeannie's trembling hand, covered in her own blood reached up to touch his face.

"It's too late for that, Jack. I'm sorry."

The Joker watched in horror as Jeannie circled the gun that was pointed at her forehead and pulled the trigger with her thumb, killing herself, the hope for finding Harley dying along with her.

•••

"Alfie. Alfie please stay with me."

Harley pressed her hand against Alfred's leg and he grimaced, too weak to groan, too tired to protest. The room was cold and small, yet sweat covered Harley's forehead as she tried to control the bleeding. They needed to get him help, but she feared it will never come.

"Try to relax, child. Your baby is more important than this old man." he whispered as he caressed her face tenderly, tears running wildly down her pale cheeks.

Harley sighed and wrapped her arm around his shoulders, the other holding the wound helplessly. They stayed close in silence, the sound of their breathing soothing her, helping her get some control back.

"You remind me so much of my grandpa." she whispered, "He raised us, me and my sister. Our parents were never home, pathetic people. But he was amazing. He cooked, he played with us, helped keep the house together. When he died, everything fell apart."

Harley reached for his hand and placed it carefully on her stomach. Alfred smiled warmly at the gesture; his heart ached at the thought of not being able to make it as he felt the last drops of energy pouring from his body through the deep bleeding wound. He had grown so attached to the crazy girl before him, it was so hard to leave her.

"Promise me we'll get out of here together, Alfie. I need you."

And then they remained silent, resigned. Waiting for a miracle.

•••

Hi there! Again! 😮
Thank you for your comments! They make my day and inspire me to keep this story going. Though it feels it's slowly reaching its end.
Sequel coming up soon? Maybe? Maybe not?
👍🏻/👎🏻

-xoxo