[Fundraiser Plot] Wheel Spins

[Harley Quinn]

((Seeing as it contains the Joker and Harvey, I'ma go ahead and rate this R))

Thrown in the back of the car by the Joker, Harley shifted to sit up properly. She was trying to figure out how things had got this bad. The fundraiser itself seemed so distant in her memory even though it was barely hours ago and now she was driving to God-knows-where with two of the most psychopathic people she knew. At the Joker's question, Harley shrugged, gazing out of the window. Her colleagues weren't here and if she made it out alive, no one would give Harvey or the Joker's words any credit against hers so she didn't bother holding anything back.

'I was more than happy to let Crane suffer back there,' she murmured, 'I wanted him to suffer.'

[The Joker]

Joker scooted closer and put his arm around her, pulling her close to him. With his other hand he gently began to run his knuckles down her bare upper arm.

"Harls," He began, voice soft. "listen to me. He deserved what he got. Don't let what the little intern said bother ya. You were right, he brought all of this on himself. So, cheer up, doll face!"

[Harley Quinn]

Harley tensed as he put his arm around her, but she quickly relaxed. Somehow she felt far safer in the car with just the nutcases than she did back with her colleagues. Perhaps because all she had to lose with the Joker was her life, rather than her dignity, and she didn't feel like her life was threatened.

'That still doesn't mean I should have been happy to let him suffer,' Harley replied, raising a finger and almost nervously tracing a swirl on the Joker's leg, focusing on her finger.

[The Joker]

Joker closed his eyes and clenched his jaw as she began touching his leg. He was mentally berating himself for having to struggle with his physical responses to her, especially after he'd already...released himself with Two-Face.

After he had managed to gain control of himself, he opened his eyes again and looked down at her. "It doesn't? Why shouldn't you feel something positive when someone you hate suffers? You weren't wishing that he died, I saw that when you kept Two-Face from shooting him."

He moved the arm that was around her shoulders to gently run through her hair. "Don't feel bad about it, Harls. There's nothing wrong with ya. You're perfect."

[Harley Quinn]

Snorting, Harley tilted her head to look up at him, giving him a wry smirk. She should have found his face terrifying, with his eyes exaggerated against the blackness outside by the make-up he wore and yet she didn't feel scared in the slightest. 'I'm not perfect,' she stated, 'no one is. Especially no one from this Godforsaken town.'

[The Joker]

Joker chuckled. "Well, you're as perfect as someone from here can be, is that better?"

He stared down at her for a moment, eyes locked with hers. His mind was once again tearing through a million possible scenarios on what he could do with Dr. Quinzel. Going with the lesser of all evils, he moved his hand from her arm and raised it to cup her cheek, thumb rubbing across her cheekbone.

"Ya know, as fucked up as all of this has been, I'm kinda glad it happened. It's given me the opportunity to realize just how much I liked ya." He leaned forward and gently pressed his lips to her forehead before leaning back a bit. "Still upset about the Crane thing?"

[Harley Quinn]

'Better,' Harley conceded, dropping her gaze to her lap as he cupped her cheek. Reading his file she had believed him to be devoid of any tenderness whatsoever but he was showing her a completely different side to the one she had studied and she had to admit, she liked this side of him. As he kissed her forehead, she let her eyes shut momentarily as she tried to pretend that this situation was different - more sane. Opening her eyes, she gave him a small smile. 'Crane who?' she murmured.

[The Joker]

Joker grinned widely down at her. "That's my girl."

His hand lowered from her cheek to stroke her neck. He stared thoughtfully at her for a few moments, inwardly debating whether or not he should make a move. Deciding she was sort of a captive audience, he closed the distance and pressed his lips gently against hers.

[Harley Quinn]

The kiss surprised Harley, though it shouldn't have really, and instinctively she moved her hands to the Joker's shoulders to push him back but found her resolve dying very quickly. After the confusing and dramatic events of the night, Harley had come to realise that the life she'd been living had been a cold one. She was driven by ambition for a future life and had, as a result become a pretty horrible, self-absorbed person who was miserable in what they were doing. It wasn't surprising then, that the first person to show her affection in a long time would be a murdering psychopath. And oddly, she wasn't as put off by this as a sane person should be.

As her hands reached his shoulders, Harley found herself simply taking a gentle hold of his lapels, eventually returning the kiss in a somewhat tentative way.

[The Joker]

Joker smiled into her mouth. He cupped the back of her head with both hands, deepening the kiss. As soon as she began to kiss him back, he pulled away, keeping his hands on her head.

"Well, Dr. Quinzel, this is certainly an interesting development, don'tcha think?"

[Harley Quinn]

As he pulled away, Harley kept her eyes closed, almost making a noise of protest. She didn't want to think about her job or what she was risking as it posed too many questions - the most pressing of which being 'have I lost my mind?'. Opening her eyes again, she fixed him with a look, 'Harley,' she stated, not wanting to be his doctor right now, 'my name is Harley.'

[Harvey Dent/Two-Face]

Harvey had not spoken since Joker and Harley entered the vehicle except to check they'd got out of the room without incident.

He gunned the engine and twisted the steering wheel, taking them down a long, poorly lit stretch of road away from the motel. The horizon was scarlet with the approaching dawn, so at least he wasn't driving half-blind.

As he glanced in the rear view mirror, he saw Joker lean into Dr Quinzel and kiss her deeply. He discretely adjusted the angle of the glass, and face grim, sped onwards into the blood-coloured morning.

It was a good twenty minutes before he spoke.

"There's a hotel a couple of hours drive upstate, next to that plastic surgery clinic. Ilium.
They're upscale, so they're never fully booked. I thought it would be a good place to hole up. for another night or two." He spoke over his shoulder to Joker. "We could wrap our faces in bandages - that's what half the real guests will be doing. Because let's face it, we stand out in a crowd."

He thought for a moment.

"We ought to stop somewhere on the way, get some changes of clothes."

[The Joker]

Joker glanced up at Harvey, absently playing with Harley's hair. "Sounds Kosher to me, Dent. We can drop Harley off some place safe after that since we won't need a shield anymore."

He removed his arms from Harley and stretched, sighing in contentment as his back popped. "I wanna get some plaid pants. I really like plaid. I guess they can't be purple tho...Red! I'll get red ones."

[Harley Quinn]

Harley turned her head as Harvey spoke, biting her lip. When the Joker said they would drop her somewhere safe, she felt relieved to hear he had no plans to keep her in danger and wondered exactly how she was going to go about returning to sane people.

[Harvey Dent/Two-Face]

Harvey adjusted the mirror again so he could see both passengers.

He looked at Harley. "You don't fancy the living the life of a fugitive, Dr Quinzel?"

Harvey slowed down briefly as they came to a blind corner on the road. "Outside of asylums, nobody under the age of 70 wears plaid, Joker."