Protect Me From What I Want

It was 11 o’clock and I had no idea what to feel or expect. With The Joker it was pretty hard to expect anything and for the expectation to be correct. I’d had to endure hours of Bruce’s complaining and begging for me to stay, but I was relentless at this point. It made me wonder why Bruce was so concerned with me all of a sudden. I’ll admit, I had grown a small soft spot for Bruce during my stay in his penthouse, but it was nothing major. I figured it was the same story for him, but why he possessed those feelings were beyond me. Then again, I think I’m being slightly hypocritical.

The night was pitch black outside save for Gotham’s street lamps, illuminating the calm snow drops floating to the paving. I’d deliberately wrapped myself up in one of Bruce’s winter coats readying myself for the bitter weather outside. The coat was majorly oversized, but it was a coat nonetheless. Bruce had agreed to let me keep it.

Fortunately, Sprang Bridge was only four blocks away from the apartment blocks I was staying in so therefore I didn’t have long to walk. Nevertheless I decided to leave a little early in case of upsetting The Joker if I was late for whatever reason. Bruce was constantly tugging at my arm, now resorting to physical acts to make me stay.

“Harley, please think this through,” Bruce begged in all seriousness.

“That’s what I’ve been doing for at least five hours now, Bruce. And the more I think, the more I find reasons for why I should go back. Why are you so fussed on me staying anyway? I’m just another burden to you,” I pointed out.

“I care for you!”

“No you don’t. You just feel sorry for me, that’s all.”

“I don’t want you getting hurt and used anymore! Stay here and I’ll be able to protect you.”

“Maybe you could protect me, but you can’t protect all of Gotham at once.”

“Trust me, I can.”

“No. No, you can’t. You’re a handsome, wealthy playboy, Bruce. You’re not superhuman or a miracle worker,” I argued finally. For a while Bruce simply gazed into my eyes wanting to say something else, but wasn’t able to form any. He swept stray hairs behind my ear and I felt as if this was just his way of dazzling me into staying in his penthouse. When he rested his hand on the side of my face, I shook out of his grip and his hypnotic stare. “I have to go.”

Knowing that there was no use in a further argument, Bruce didn’t say anything. His hand gently slipped to his side as he watched me back up into the elevator. I waved solemnly just as the doors began to close and once I saw Bruce return the wave with similar pessimism, the sight was almost heartbreaking. Considering the amount of time Bruce had actually talked to me during my stay, I was surprised at how sombre he had become at my departure. He’d subliminally become attached to me without even trying at all. This is exactly why no-one should invest too much emotion in one thing. It’s just a setup to the pain of losing them.

I popped the coat collar up so it would hide my face near enough, as I exited the apartment blocks. Fortunately, at this time of night the roads were near enough empty. Combined with the fact that the snow was almost knee deep and The Joker had made an implicated threat against almost everyone’s lives. Most families were enjoying the possibly few minutes left of their life together.

The walk to the bridge was extremely quiet. All that I could hear was the crunching of the snow and the sound of my own breathing. I was thankful that I was wearing Bruce’s coat still, otherwise I was most likely to have frozen to death.

I made it to Sprang Bridge and the scene was completely empty. Now I play the waiting game. I could now hear the raging water below the small, wooden bridge and nothing else. The water had overpowered any other noise. I instantly made my way over to the wooden barrier on the side of the bridge and rested my elbows on the top as I looked out over the river. Large pieces of ice flowed down the water with the fast current and smashed into rocks breaking into tinier pieces. The more I watched the more rapid it seemed to become. At the same time, the tension seemed build higher and higher as I waited for The Joker to take me away once again. I was scared to say the least, even if I was feeling rather confident not too long ago.

“You don’t have to do this,” I heard a growling voice from behind me. I jumped, startled by the sudden attempt at contact with me. I quickly spun around and saw Batman standing a few metres away from me. I rolled my eyes at this appearance.

“Not you too. Go away, B-man,” I ordered as I turned back around. “I’m not sure if The Joker would class you as a cop or not, but I don’t want to take any risks by forcing him to press that detonation button. Just leave.”

“I’m not going anywhere, until you agree to get off this bridge,” Batman argued as he gripped my arm.

“Hey! Get off me!” I shouted angrily now that he was getting physical. He forced me to stare into his eyes as he stared into mine, when I made no other attempt to get away. I was a little confused at what he was doing all of a sudden. He wasn’t saying or doing anything, nor neither was I.

“Harley, trust me; I do know how bad this can get and I am able to protect Gotham alone,” Batman admitted, breaking the silence. My furious expression immediately softened as I glared into those somewhat familiar brown irises. The frown dropped and was now replaced with a total face of shock. Those words were extremely familiar, almost word for word. It had to be him.

“Bruce?” I questioned almost certain that it was him.

He said nothing back, but the silence was enough to tell me the answer. Batman – or Bruce now – gently placed a hand on the back of my head and stroked my hair soothingly. For a moment I forgot all about where I was and what I was supposed to be doing there. I assumed that Batman had too. All of a sudden, he began leaning in towards me, but I hesitated. Nevertheless, Bruce placed his lips on mine without any movement on my part. My eyes were wide open in shock. This was all so sudden and shocking; I didn’t know how to take it. As shocking as it was, I soon began kissing back and my eyes closed feeling almost blissful.

At that moment in time, nothing mattered. It felt like the perfect kiss you’d see only in movies; the ones that always end in with a happy ending. I was blissfully unaware that this wouldn’t end in the same way. Something broke me out of the kiss. It was a noise. A growling noise which slowly increased in volume and pitch. Bruce had noticed it too, judging by the sudden break from the kiss.

I almost screamed when I noticed The Joker running up behind Batman in an incredible pace holding a lead pipe. His face was creased with a frown of pure infuriation as he swung the lead pipe back. Before I could even warn Batman about his attacker, the pipe collided with the side of his head and knocked him straight to the ground. That is when I screamed. The Joker was totally consumed with blind fury that I knew it would be almost impossible to stop him at this point. His growls and roars of anger with every hit drowned out any other noise that was once audible.

“Stop it!” I screamed as loud as I could, but he ignored me, continuing to give Batman a beating with the pipe. Ice cold tears were now pouring down my face feeling a mix of emotions. I felt like trash for technically cheating on the person that I supposedly love and I also felt helpless for not being able to help the person I cheated with. “Please, J! Stop!” I yelled till my throat was sore. It was no use. I had to use physical contact which I knew was a dangerous idea now that he was in this state of mind. I gripped his shoulder only briefly, before he instantaneously turned on me and attempted to swing the pipe at my body before I dodged it. Instead it came in contact with wooden barrier, completely snapping it in two. He tried swinging again and this time I was too quick. It hit the side of my head and I fell to the ground in an injured slump. The air had been knocked out of me so no scream escaped as I fell. I simply gasped and clutched the side of my head.

When The Joker raised the pipe again, I flinched and shielded myself from the beating, until Batman gripped the pipe. It managed to stop him from bringing the pipe down but he received a swift kick in the abdomen soon after. A few more hits with the lead pipe and I was certain Batman was knocked out. By the time The Joker had slowly turned back around to face me with a sinister look in his eyes, I was back to my feet, my back facing the wooden barrier.

“I know what you’re going to say, my little harlequin. You’re going to say, ‘I’m sorry Mr J. I didn’t mean to. I’m sorry!’” he imitated in a childish impression. “If you think I’m ever going to forgive this you are sadly mistaken, you filthy little slut!” He snarled as he took a step closer towards me. I admit, maybe I deserved that, but the way he said it hurt more than anything. It was neither mocking nor angry. He sounded sincerely hurt. Like any other man would be after finding his other half had been cheating on him.

I took a step back to get away from him. “It was only that once, I promise. I was confused and lost. I’d give anything to take it back, honestly.” He chewed on the inside of his scar tissue as he glared at me. He began shaking his head at the pathetic attempt of an alibi.

“Oh, you’re not even trying anymore, toots. What happened to all the love, hmm? After all, you did say you loved me didn’t you? What happened to that, hmm? Has Batman stolen my place? Or is that you’ve just been a whore all along, but been good at hiding it?”

Tears now furiously poured down my cheeks, almost as rapidly as the river below me. His steps towards me were slow and intimidating, so I had no other option but to take steps back to escape his wrath. “J, I never wanted to hurt you. I know you may hate me right now, but I swear that I still love you. I always have and always will. I need you, J.”

“How dare you even express your love towards me now!” He roared suddenly as he quickly shoved me back. I stumbled back slightly but I didn’t fall. “You don’t love me at all! You’re a fucking tramp! A naive tramp who thinks that I can be pushed around and made the fool of! Do me a favour and stay out of my life!” He bellowed louder than ever. The impact of the shout made me stumble back slightly, so I gripped onto the wooden barrier behind me for support. I had completely forgotten all about the damage done to the wood previously, so when I heard a loud snap I screamed as loud as I could. The wood completely broke and before I knew it, I was falling backwards off the bridge. I tried regaining my balance, but there was no use.

“J!” I screamed as I reached out for him, but he frowned and took a step back. Then I began falling faster and faster to my watery grave. I was silent during the fall, almost instantly accepting my fate. All I remember before I completely passed out into eternal blackness was seeing The Joker’s face peering down at me from above. His face was smug and malicious, yet still held a glimpse of regret. Then I fell into a deep, black of abyss of nothingness. I was free. Death was my answer to solving all life’s problems, except I wasn’t being selfish by being suicidal. This was all The Joker’s doing. No worries. No problems. No burdens. No Joker. Free. Absolutely free.

The End