Dark Red Valentine
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Never too late...
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'Heya, Red!' Her annoying pet name for me that she wouldn't drop no matter how much I threatened her.
Snip
'Oops! Sorry, Red! I slipped and broke your whatsits!' The way she always managed to find my rarest samples and break them in the most idiotic ways.
Snip
'Oh, Ms. J... why'd ya have to leave me in a topsy turvy place like this...' The way she always whined about her lost love, Bianca Steeplechase, more affectionately known as the Joker.
Snip
'Sorry, Red! I thought settin' off fireworks would give the heist a little pizazz!' The way she managed to make pretty much everything more difficult than it had to be.
Snip...
“Forgive me...” I whispered to the trimmed and severed rose in my trembling fingers, a single tear rolling down my cheek at the loss of precious plant life. I allowed only the one tear because the rose was a gift... no, an apology to a much more beautiful life than the one that I had just taken.
“Pamela?” A bouquet of pure hatred blossomed in the pit of my stomach at the sound of her voice. I turned to face the costumed woman and for a moment wanted nothing more than to throw myself at her and claw her eyes from her face. Only for a moment though, because in some sad way her almost daily pity visits had become the least painful part of my life. She saw the rose in my hand and gasped, eyes going wide beneath the leather of her hood. “Pamela, you...” I clutched the rose to my chest as if she had planned to steal it.
“It's for her, you can't take it!” I shrieked. She put her hands up and shook her head.
“I'm not going to take it, Pamela, I'm just... surprised.” Even being half covered by the mask I could tell her face was a pitiful excuse of what it had once been. What once was so strong and confident, a willpower and drive you could take on the world with, had been broken... just like mine. I let myself relax, feeling my body slump back into the feeble posture it had assumed.
“Just one, and just once a year... she deserves that much at least.”
“Pamela, I... I'm so...”
“Don't you dare say you're sorry! You don't deserve it! Not you... not today...” I didn't care if the woman meant every word of her apologies to me. Normally I'd be just fine letting her pour her heart out but today was different... today was special... today was our Anniversary...
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365 days...
--
“Hey, Red?”
“Yes, Harley?”
“Why are we stealin' this stuff, again?” I sighed in irritation, having already explained it to her twice.
“With this specially synthesized batch of chemicals I'll be able to create a strain of roses that won't so easily be led off to slaughter on this earth forsaken holiday.” She shook her head, sending her bells jingling, and wagged a finger at me.
“V-day ain't all bad, Red. Two years ago Ms. J. gave me her pin and told me how sweet on me she was...” I half expected her to droop into her usual weepy self whenever the woman was mentioned but with some effort she managed to keep herself composed. “Then the year after that was the day we met, Red. I was all broken up about losin' Ms. J. and ya took me in.” The starry eyed look she was giving me was making me uncomfortable.
“I already told you, I was planning to kill you for all the hell you put me through back when you were a counselor at Arkham.” She grinned and pranced over to me, spinning and falling backwards against me to lay her head in the crook of my neck. “Yet here we are...” I felt my face flushing and a smile quirking the corners of my lips, I hated the way she could break through all my defenses so easily. She leaned back further so she could whisper in my ear. “I got somethin' for ya when we get back home, ya know.” The shiver that ran down my body at the promise in her words set her off giggling as she pushed away from me. I took a moment to compose myself before stepping away.
“I'll go bring the car around, you sure you can handle setting off the charges?”
“Load the stuff, make the place go boom, easy as pie, Red!”
“Good, girl, I'll be waiting out front.” I turned and started off toward the entrance.
“Hey, Red...” I stopped cold at the tone in her voice and turned slowly to face her. “You're not gonna leave me, are ya?” She was still smiling her usual smile but her eyes were terrified, I couldn't stand seeing that look in her eyes. I gave her my most sultry wink and pursed my lips in an offer she never refused. She ran forward, bells dancing madly about her head, and leaped into my arms to crush our lips together. Her enthusiasm was infectious and I found myself returning it with equal fervor, not for the first time wondering just how it was I had been so lucky to find Harley Quinn that day in the park one year ago.
“I love ya, Red...” she whispered as she pulled away and dropped back to the ground to tap me on the nose.
'Tonight Harley... tonight I'll say the words you want to hear...' “I know, Harley.” Her head drooped slightly at being denied what she wanted but I lifted her chin up so we were eye to eye. “I've got something for you too... so let's finish this and go home, okay?” She brightened instantly.
“Sure thing, Red, I'll be waiting...” With that we parted, her running deeper into the building and me leaving it behind. I made my way around the back where we had left the car, the whistle of the approaching projectile howling in my ears as I reached for the door handle. Caught off guard, I guessed poorly at the direction it was coming from and was struck hard in the temple as I attempted to dodge it. As I toppled to the ground, I could only hope that Harley was able to get away in time...
--
“Ugh...” I groaned upon waking, mind awash with throbbing agony.
“Welcome back to the land of the conscious, Ivy,” a smug voice that could only belong to Batgirl called out from above me. I rolled over so I could glare at her directly, finding the motion difficult and awkward as my arms were bound tightly to my waist.
“Well if it isn't little miss goody two shoes here to protect the monsters that rape mother earth of its beauty.”
“Save it, Ivy, you've preached at me enough to get the picture and I'm really not in the mood today.” She seemed to be in an especially foul mood which brought a delightful sneer to my face.
“Aww, did little old you have plans on Rose Murder Day?”
“I did as a matter of fact, which is why it feels so much better to have ruined yours.”
“Hardly, Harley's probably long gone with the formula by now and it's only a matter of time before I'm free to do with it as I please.”
“Wrong again, you must be slipping on me.” My eyes narrowed.
“What do you mean?”
“The GCPD have had the place surrounded, it's only a matter of time before your little plaything gives herself up.” My eyes went wide.
“She's still inside?!” I rolled over frantically and pushed myself up to my knees with my forehead. Batgirl's arms slid around my neck to stop me.
“You're not getting away that easy!”
“Let me go you bitch!” I shouted, panic washing over me as I wondered at how long I'd been unconscious. “I need to get her out of there!” I bit down hard on the woman's arm, startling her enough to allow me to wriggle free. I managed to rise to my feet and start off towards the warehouse. Before my third step could fall the building exploded, the shock of the blast sending me flying backwards into the other woman and slamming both of us into side of the car. I rose shakily to my feet, ears buzzing with temporary deafness, and took a few stumbling steps forward before falling to my knees. I couldn't hear it but I know I was screaming her name over and over again as tears streamed down my cheeks. I don't know how long I was screaming before Batgirl lifted me up and took me away from that place.
“...sorry, I didn't know... I'm so sorry, I didn't know...” her frantic whispers slowly began to penetrate my damaged hearing. “I'm so sorry, I didn't know...” Over and over again she whispered it to me, clutching me tighter and tighter to her chest. I leaned my head against her shoulder and cried out my misery as she continued to whisper her broken apology in my ear...
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One special day...
--
“I was going to tell her I loved her that night...” Her voice sounded hollow as she finished relaying the story. “Harley-in-the-Box...”
“What?” She smiled.
“Her Valentine's present for me. She'd been planning to spring naked out of a box, I'd seen her practicing. I was going to let her do it and act all surprised to make her happy. Then I was going to tell her... tell her what she always wanted to hear... but you took her from me.”
“Pamela...” I wanted so badly to ease the woman's suffering and mine along with it.
“She died scared and alone in that building... not knowing how much she meant to me... she died thinking I'd abandoned her...” I walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder.
“If you want... I could take it to her?” I could feel myself perk up somewhat at the hopeful look in her eyes.
“You'll make sure she gets it?” I nodded. “And you'll tell her how much I love her?”
“Of course, Pamela, whatever you want.” The woman seemed to hesitate somewhat before scurrying over to a nearby desk and lifting something off of it. She bit her lip nervously as she approached me and, with some amount of willpower it seemed, handed me the rose and a sealed envelope.
“Would you read that to her for me? It's all the things I was never able to tell her...” The woman was trembling so hard she could barely remain standing. Unable to keep it all in I reached out and pulled her tightly against me in a quick hug before turning and leaving the room, the sound of her falling to her knees and beginning to cry tearing into me as I did.
--
“Hey Harley... been a few weeks since I came to visit but 'Who'd want ya anyway?!' right? I've still been visiting Pamela whenever I have the chance and I think it helps her from slipping away completely. That's what brings me here actually, I've got a few things for you from her.” I pulled out the envelope and opened it, a small, folded slip of paper falling into my hands. Unfolding it, I found the writing slightly erratic and splotched with tears. The first two words alone were enough to set me off crying as well, adding my own drops of sadness to the letter.
“I'm sorry... I'm such a fool to have taken the time we shared for granted. The night I lost you was supposed to be the most wonderful night of my life. I had so much to tell you that night Harley, I didn't want to spoil the mood by telling you in some musty warehouse but now I wish more than anything that I had because I'll never have the chance to see your eyes light up as I speak them to you. I'm so sorry Harley... so sorry...
I loved you Harley, I loved you so much that it scared me. That's why I was always pushing you away and acting cold when you wanted attention. Your annoying pet name for me, the way you always broke my precious samples, the way you would foil our own heists simply to make the experience more fun... I cherished every bit of it, even your cold feet between mine when I was trying to sleep. I would have told you all of that and so much more if she hadn't shown up and taken you from me...
No, I guess it's not right to put all the blame on her. I'm sure if she'd known you were still inside that building she'd have been running in to rescue you herself. Probably the same thing with Bianca's drowning but I'm sure you already knew that, you're so much smarter than people give you credit for. Oh, speaking of which, she comes and visits me almost every day; 'Bratgirl' as you so affectionately called her. At first I thought she was just trying to relieve her own grief but it's more than that, I think she genuinely wants to see me get better and I can't say I disagree with her. I'd probably have joined you in Mother Earth if she hadn't taken the time...
Where was I? It's so hard to focus without you getting into all kinds of mischief in the background... oh right, things I never got to say. We were made for each other Harley! I don't mean that in the cookie cutter 'once upon a time' kind of way either. I lied to you about injecting you with a serum that made you immune to my toxins, there's no such thing. It was just you, Harley, just you as Mother Earth had birthed you, probably the only one in the world... The night I realized this was the first night we made love, the fear that I would live the rest of my life alone utterly destroyed by one night in your arms. I wish I had been able to tell you this face to face as we lay warm in our bed after opening my 'Harley-in-a-Box'. That's right, I saw you practicing the night before but I had been planning to act surprised so as not to hurt your feelings. I hope you're not mad...
I honestly don't know what to do anymore, Harley. Everything seems to have lost its meaning now that you're gone. But... I'm still going to keep trying to return to being the strong and able woman you admired so much. It's the least I can do after all that you gave me during the time we shared...
I'll always love you, Harley...
Red"
I took a few moments to compose myself before fitting the note back into the envelope and tucking it under the base of her headstone to keep it from blowing away in the wind, placing the immaculately trimmed rose on top of it before stepping away. In the process I sent a lone bell jingling, the only thing they'd been able to recover from the fire.
“She wanted me to give you that as well and I bet you're as surprised as I am. 'Just one, and just once a year... she deserves that much at least,' is what she told me. I'm sure you can appreciate how much this means to her... how much you mean to her. Goodbye Harley... Happy Valentine's Day...
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An unusual request...
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“What do you want, Catwoman?” I asked bluntly, in no mood for the usual games.
“Meow, I see somebody already has their claws out,” she said in her usual sultry tone as she strutted over to gaze out at Gotham from beside me.
“I know you were there at the cemetery, you know how I feel right now...” She let out a low purring sound in her throat.
“But what about what I want?” I let out a sigh and turned to face her.
“And what exactly is it that you want?” Her purr grew louder as she began to circle around me slowly.
“Kitty wants her playmate back, it's just no fun without you putting all your heart into it. The thrill of the chase, the exhilaration of being both predator and prey! Don't you miss it?” she asked, curling around me to press her ear against my chest. “Don't you long to feel your heart threatening to beat from your chest through the sheer excitement of the moment?!” She moved around to my back and wrapped her arms around me, dragging the tip of one claw up my chin to tug at my lower lip. “I'm tired of sleepless nights,” she whispered into my ear as she pressed herself tighter against me. “I'm tired of laying in bed with my blood cold in my veins. Aren't you tired too?”
“I... I'm sorry...” She hissed and pulled away from me.
“Yes, that seems to be all you're capable of lately. While you've been drifting about feeling 'sorry', I've been digging. You see, if you do enough of it you're just bound to come across something of interest. Sure, he was just a two-bit thug and I figured he was simply scared of the whip but I looked into what he told me anyway and sure enough I found my prize. Something to put the fight back into my favorite plaything...”
“That's impossible...” I murmured, unable to even grasp at the possibility.
“Oh it's not all catnip and cream, believe me. The girl was always a few kittens short of a litter and I fear that most of the remaining ones have begun to stray... but Harley Quinn is indeed alive.” I whirled around to grab the woman by the shoulders so quickly I caught myself a little off guard.
“Where is she?!” The woman's eyes lit up beneath her mask and she let out an affectionate purr.
“142 Drummond, she's squatting in an abandoned hotel.” I pulled the woman against me, slipping my arms around her waist and holding her tight.
“Thank you so much...” I pulled away and leaped up onto the balcony but paused before springing into action. “Do you think maybe you could... I can't believe I'm asking you this but... would you... could you... bring Ivy here?” The woman seemed genuinely surprised for a moment before her usual catlike grin emerged.
“Oh my, is the high and mighty heroin of Gotham really asking me to spring a world renown criminal from prison?” I returned her sly grin with one of my own.
“I'll do it myself if you don't feel you're up to the task.” Her affectionate purr returned as she mounted the balcony next to me.
“A little different than I was hoping for, but this kitty will take whatever thrill she can get.” With one last lingering look into each others eyes, we leaped off the building in opposite directions.
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Two pieces of one...
--
“Heya, Bats, long time no see!” I was still in shock by the simple fact that the girl was alive so her clear and calm greeting really caught me off guard.
“H-Harley?”
“That's my name last time I looked,” she said with a laugh, plopping down onto a dusty couch and throwing her arm over the backrest.
“You... you look great!”
“Why you so surprised? I do my exercises, ya know!”
“You... died. I mean... I thought...”
“The big boom boom?” I nodded dumbly and she shook her head. “I was able to climb out a side window. Still gave me a little kiss on the cheek though,” she said with another laugh, tracing a jagged line across the right side of her face, “but the make-up covers it just fine so I don't worry none.”
“Harley... why didn't you tell anyone you were alive? I made myself sick thinking I'd gotten you killed and Pam... Ivy... she's just not the same.” The girl on the couch laughed again but it was different, it sounded strained.
“Nah, Red's probably just fine, she doesn't need a clown like me around messin' things up. That's why she left me there, I get it, I'm not all cream pies and seltzer up here, ya know,” she said sadly, tapping the side of her head.
“That's not true at all, Harley! It was my fault she wasn't able to come get you! I caught her before she was even able to get into the car and when she heard you were still inside she fought like hell to...”
“Shut up!” she shrieked, bringing a hand up to clutch at her face. “It was the same with mom and pop and even Ms. J! They left me 'cause I'm no good, ya know. Red too, I knew she was outta my league but I couldn't help feelin' for her. She was so lonely, ya know? I thought maybe she might see me as more than just a klutz in a clown suit but Red was too smart for that. She knew I was bad news and left me to dry, just like all the rest.” I shook my head, pleading at the girl with my eyes to believe me.
“Harley... Ivy was in love with you.”
Click
She seemed to have produced the gun from thin air and it wasn't her usual popgun. The girl leveled the 45 Magnum between my eyes and cast me such a cold look that it sent shivers down my spine.
“Shut. Your. Mouth.” I swallowed hard at the slow, even, words as Catwoman's warning that Harley was a little out of it started making a whole lot more sense. The twinge of broken hearted insanity was all too easy to read in the girl's eyes so I knew I had to keep her calm, get her thinking straight again.
“Harley, when have I ever lied to you?” Both the gun and her eyes twitched slightly at the question but she made no move to respond. “When have you ever known me to be anything but completely honest with you? Even if it meant telling you the thing you least wanted to hear in the whole world I've always told you the truth, Harley.”
“Stop it...” she pleaded, the gun trembling in her hand as the mask she had put on to keep from hurting began to crack.
“Who was it that told you Bianca had died, Harley? Who begged for you to forgive them even though it was just an accident? Tell me, Harley!” The gun fell to the floor as she brought the free hand in to cover her crying face. I kicked the gun away and brought the sobbing girl into a tight embrace. “I'm so sorry, Harley! If I'd known you were in that building I never... I never would have...”
“Red really tried to come save me?” Her voice was small and weak but the hint of hope it held was loud and clear. I pulled away to gaze into those teary blue eyes and nodded.
“Bit me clean through my suit trying to break away.”
“And she was sweet on me? For true?” Her goofy nature forced me to crack a smile as I nodded once more.
“She hasn't been the same without you. Today she even... she had me read a love letter to your grave and... you're not going to believe this.”
“What? Come on already, spit it out, Bats!” she shouted, bouncing up and down with childlike glee.
“She trimmed a rose for you...” The doe eyed look that spread across the girl's face melted my heart... and unfortunately slowed my reaction time, allowing the girl to land a clean uppercut that sent me flying.
“You let her kill one of her precious babies! I oughta knock your block off!” she shouted, leaping off the couch into a classic fisticuffs stance.
“She did it before I got there!” I shouted, massaging my now sore jaw. She froze in place for a second before bringing her hands up to her face in a manner so childlike I couldn't help but roll my eyes.
“Oops, sorry, Bats...” she murmured before offering to help me up. Too late I noticed the buzzer in her hand and received a deceptively strong shock for my troubles. “The hand buzzer, always a classic!” she shouted before bursting into a fit of giggles.
“So,” I grumbled, “I take it you don't want to go see Ivy?” Her giggles stopped cold and she tossed the hand buzzer over her shoulder, offering me her hand once more and helping me up.
“I'll be good so... please... take me to see Red...” Her eyes seemed to light up as if she couldn't believe she were saying them aloud.
“Sure thing, Harley.”
--
“Heya, Red, long time no...” Catwoman, alone, turned from her perch on the side of the building and nodded in acknowledgment. “What's the big idea?! Where's Red?!”
“Oh don't you worry about you're precious Ivy, she's... hanging around,” Catwoman purred, nodding her head off the side of the building before leaping off the balcony in our direction and strutting over to lean on my shoulder. Harley quickly ran to the side of the building and began hoisting something up.
“That wasn't very nice of you,” I growled under my breath. The woman hissed and dug me lightly with one of her claws.
“It wasn't exactly fun dragging her, kicking and screaming, out of that place and when I finally got her here she tried to jump.”
“Well Harley nearly blew my brains out with a 45, but I'm sure those scratches you got are really ouchy.” She merely hissed again and dug me a little deeper as we settled in to watch the two of them reunite.
--
Anniversary...
--
“It can't be,” I murmured as she unwound the whip from around my body. “You died... I lost you... this has to be a dream, it has to be!” I shouted frantically. Every mannerism, the way she looked, the way she smelled, the way she hummed some mindless tune as she worked to untie me. Every last bit of it was Harley.
“Jeeze, Red, Bratgirl told me you'd gone a little fruit loops but now you're scaring me!” That annoying pet name, the total lack of tact...
“I was going to tell you everything that night you died... how precious you'd become to me...” There were only a few coils left but she paused to tap me on the nose. The tiny gesture had my heart thundering away in my chest, she always did that right before or right after she told me...
“I love ya, Red.” Arms still bound and tears streaming down my cheeks I threw myself at her, bringing our lips together for the briefest moment before she toppled over backwards with my dead weight on top of her. “Ya know, Red, I heard ya even killed one of your babies for me... does that mean...”
“Yes I love you! I love you so damn much I can't stand it so untie me so I can get my arms around you!” With her trademark laugh ringing like sweet music in my ears she undid the last few coils, allowing me to pull her to me and crush our lips together. The tears came all too easy as a year's worth of heart ache and misery melted away from the kiss. It wasn't until my lungs ached that I pulled away from Harley, a blush apparent even through the makeup she wore, as well as something else. I reached up to run a finger across her cheek, a hint of sadness entering her normally radiant eyes as she turned away. “What happened?”
“The bomb gave me a little goodbye smooch... I'm not... I'm not so pretty as I used ta be, Red.” I smiled and shook my head.
“Nonsense, you're just as perfect as I remember you...”
“Aww, Red, why ya gotta go and be so sweet on me in front of Bats and Kitty? They might start thinkin' we're a couple a softies.” I thought about it for a moment as a sly grin spread across my face.
“You know what, I think you're right. You got what we need, don't you?” A grin matching my own formed on her lips.
“I always got what you need, Red,” she said with a wink, standing and helping me to my feet. I turned to see Batgirl and even Catwoman staring at us with sappy looks in their eyes.
“Thank you both so much... for everything... but Harley and I really should be going now,” I said, closing my eyes and burying my face in Harley's neck.
“See ya around, Bratgirl!” Harley shouted, followed by a loud bang and her arm wrapping around my waist. There was a momentary sensation of free fall before my feet touched the ground as Harley lowered us from the side of the building on a spring wire.
“I can always count on you my sweet beautiful harlequin,” I whispered, resting my head on her shoulder for a moment before pulling away to look into her radiant blue eyes.
“Especially today, Red, it's our Anniversary, ya know!”
--
I lowered my cape from Catwoman's eyes, a last second effort to shield her from the flash bomb I knew would be coming. The woman let out a low yowl and shook herself.
“You were planning to let them go anyway, that was pointless.” I let out a bit of a laugh.
“If it makes them feel better about it then I'm not too worried,” I said with a grin, staring off into the night sky as a surge of relief washed over me. The dread that had been eating away at me for the past two years was quickly draining from my body. Bianca's death had been hard to overcome, even with someone to remind me that it hadn't really been my fault, Harley's... she had already been suffering so much, a suffering that had passed to Ivy after her supposed death. Everything had gone so wrong so I knew deep down that even though I had to break the law to do it, bringing them together again was the right thing to do. After a time I was taken from my thoughts as the woman coiled herself around me and angled my face towards hers with a single claw tip.
“Does this 'saved the day' smile and clear conscience mean I've got my plaything back?” she purred affectionately. I pressed my forehead against hers and closed my eyes.
“I think it does, but not today. Today is special. It's our Anniversary...” I murmured, pulling away just enough to be able to remove my mask.
“Oh Babs... whatever am I going to do with you?” I reached out and slid her mask off as well, bringing her in close for a tender kiss.
“As long as it's you Selina... anything is fine with me...”
