An Obsession

"These feel weird," I muttered rubbing my hand along the new stitches in my face. Bruce sat on the edge of Chris's bed and quietly watched me. Chris was sound asleep under the covers of the blankets. I turned to Bruce. "Do these look weird?"

Bruce shrugged. "I don't think that they're that noticeable."

I turned back to the mirror in front of me and rubbed at them again. I sighed. "At least it's just the one side."

Bruce silently got to his feet and came towards me. He placed a hand on my shoulder and looked into the mirror with me. Using the mirror we looked into each other's eyes and just stayed like that as we tried to mentally communicate. I'm not sure how long we stayed like that, but neither one of us came out of the trance until a nurse came in and shooed us out. I just pulled Bruce out of the room before the nurse closed the door on us.

"Do you think you can give me a ride, Bruce?" I asked.

"Wouldn't you rather come by my place and stay the night?" Bruce suggested glancing uncertainly at me.

I shook my head. "I'm fine, Bruce. I'm a big girl."

"But, Harley," Bruce said.

I raised a hand to stop Bruce. "I'm going home, Bruce. End of story."

Bruce sighed and ran a hand through his hair. The two of us walked towards the exit and pushed open both doors. Bruce's black Zorro cape fell out behind with every step and almost got caught in the door. My bells around my neck jingled really loud reminding me that they were there. I hurriedly took the collar off so I wouldn't have to remember what had just happened to me. I still wore the harlequin outfit, except for the face paint. The people at the hospital had to scrub that off of my face before they could put my stitches in.

Little Teddy and of course Chris were still in the hospital. I never had a chance to see how Sam's kid was doing because only family was allowed to see him. I was of course wasn't family. I really hope he was alright. I know Chris was. The doctor said that he should at least stay the night for rest and such, but that he was actually pretty fine. Just a bad hit to the head and a couple small cuts which didn't take too long to clean up. He'll be able to come home tomorrow morning.

Just before Bruce and I got into his Lamborghini, I looked up at the big guy and tried to give him a small smile. "Bruce, always remember that I love you. You've always been like an older brother to me. But sometimes you need to quit acting like the hero. You're nothing but Bruce Thomas Wayne. My best friend. That's it." I kinda hoped that I didn't sound harsh. If I did, I didn't mean to. I was only trying to tell Bruce the truth so he wouldn't go and get himself hurt.

Bruce gave one last glance at me. He hesitated before speaking. "Don't worry, Harley. Bruce Thomas Wayne will do as you command and not try and act like a hero."

"Good job, big guy," I told him just before getting into the passenger seat. A moment later Bruce got into the driver's side. He placed his keys into the ignition and turned them. The car started up and we were soon off in the direction of my home.

***

Bruce walked me to the door once we got to my place. I pulled out my keys and put them in the door. The door clicked letting me know that it was now unlocked. I pulled open the door and stepped inside. I then turned to Bruce and watched him. "Good night, Bruce," I told him placing a hand on my front door. "Tell Alfred I love him for me."

Bruce chuckled as he turned on his heel. He gave a small wave over his shoulder. "I'll call you later, Harley. Good night."

"Bye, Bruce." I watched him for a few more seconds until he was in his car. I then closed the door and locked it. With a small sigh I walked away from my door and towards the kitchen where the phone would be located.

Once I reached the phone, I noticed the answer machine blinking. I pressed the play button and frowned when I heard that it was Chris's parents. They said they called to wish the two of us a Happy Halloween and they were just wondering how we were doing. They also mentioned that they will be in Gotham next week to be at the wedding, though they strongly suggest we move back with them to Maine afterwards instead of staying in Gotham. I rolled my eyes when that part of the message came on. Mr. and Mrs. Davids have always wanted us to leave Gotham. They don't think that this "hellhole of a place" is safe for the two of us. Well, Chris and I have discussed the matter of moving, but in the end we always decide that Gotham is the place for us. And besides that, I don't think I could ever leave Sam, Bruce, or Alfred. It would be hard on me.

I stared down at the phone when the message ended as I mentally decided to call back or not. Half of me is saying that I should call back as soon as possible and tell them about the Joker incident, while the other half says I should keep them in the dark for a little bit longer until Chris and I figure out what to tell them. In the end, after a good couple minutes deciding, the half of keeping them in the dark won. That option seemed better because if I were to call them back now I would have to tell them that I now have half a Glasgow smile, Chris got a nice bump to the noggin and some stitches by none other than his own cousin, and that Teddy, the son of Samuel, was shot in the stomach. I mentally groaned. I can already hear the argument now of how we need to move out of Gotham. Yeah. I really should discuss what to do with Chris first before we even think about calling back.

I did grab the phone for later though. Bruce said he was going to call later and I'd rather have the phone already with me so I wouldn't have to get back up. With the white phone in my hand, I took it and myself to the living room. The living room was pitch black when I entered it, but I've lived here for so long that my feet knew the path to my favorite chair, even though I have to admit I did stumble a little bit. I flopped down onto my chair one I made it and placed the phone on the coffee table beside me. I then took the collar from my pocket and threw it across the room before kicking off my boots. The collar smacked against a wall and jingled when it fell. I closed my eyes and leaned back into my chair.

"Wow. What a day," I muttered one again rubbing my stitches, a habit I learned that I recently started to do when I was thinking or was nervous. Sometimes I just couldn't keep my hands off of them. The stitches just felt so weird. Whenever I dragged my hand across my face, my skin starts out so smooth but then I can feel the bumpiness of the stitches once I get to that side of my face. I'm not sure if I'll ever get used to them.

"You could say that again, my little harlequin," a voice said before its laughter followed.

My eyes snapped open just as the lights flashed on. My eyes widened and I tried to force my body to melt into the chair, that way he couldn't see me. Yeah right. In my dreams. With a trembling body, I looked up into the face of my unwanted guest. In response, my intruder smiled and walked towards me until he was only a few inches away from me. I gave a loud gulp and slowly reached for the phone on the table. His demon eyes didn't even follow my hand; they only stayed on my face.

The Joker tilted his head at me. "Did ya miss me?" My eyes grew even larger but before I could even say a word, or wrap my fingers around the phone, a heavy object whacked itself against the top of my head. The Joker's laugh was the last thing I heard before the darkness overtook me.

***

When I woke up, I found myself over somebody's shoulder. I felt the person's shoulder blade before I even opened my eyes, and when I did open my eyes, I looked down the person's back and saw purple, purple, and more purple. I knew in a split second who's shoulder I was on. The only question was why he wanted me.

The Joker walked with me for a few minutes in silence. I glanced up and around me a couple times only to realize that we were in a hideout. Any windows we passed were boarded up so no sunshine could come in. Though there was one window that we passed that had one small stream of light coming through. It was just enough that I could see the Joker's left gloved hand trailing along the wall which was spotted with red. I mentally gagged when I realized that it was blood.

Finally we made it to a door. The Joker kicked it open and stepped inside the room. As soon as we entered, the clown threw me down onto the hardwood floor and giggled when I groaned in pain. My head had collided with the ground and it hurt like crazy. When I went to get up off the floor, the Joker's foot kicked me in the head knocking me back to the ground. I gasped loudly as I tenderly put a hand to my head. Bringing my hand into my line of vision, I frowned when I saw the blood soaking my fingers. I glared up at the Joker.

"What the hell do you want with me?" I demanded.

The Joker knelt down onto one leg and looked into my eyes. Instead of answering my question, he just pulled his switchblade out from earlier and placed it against my non-scarred cheek. My eyes narrowed even more.

Once again I said, "What the hell do you want with me?"

The Joker cocked his head and gave a small giggle. His blade pressed itself deeper into my skin making me flinch. "What I want," he started. "Is to finish my masterpiece." Gently he placed a gloved hand on my stitches and rubbed. "I've only just started!" he laughed loudly and put the blade into my mouth.

I stared at the Joker wide-eyed which he gladly returned with a smile that showed off his
disgusting yellow teeth. Inside my mouth, the blade pressed itself against my cheek that was still perfect and not scarred. With one last laugh, he started to pull the blade at my skin. Tears of pain fell down my face as I watched him destroy what was left of my face.