"Ya move yer sorry ass ova an' take care of her, I don't care how ya do that!" Black Seven yelled at me through the phone and I had to take it off my ear, trying not to damage my hearing.

My schedule was full, right now I tried to fix the right wheel of my Batmobile and certainly had no time for Black Seven. "I told you I don't have time!" As if I could jump every time Jay wanted something from me.

"An' I toldcha that I don't give a rat's ass!"

I pressed my jaws together, then wiped some of the sweat off my forehead while taking a glass of water Alfred brought me.

"Why can't you buy those things later? Or ask someone else?" My time was very value and I also had to repair the visual system of my batsuit - I obviously had no time for Jay's request.

"Am I speakin' Chinese or somethin'?" Black Seven almost screamed, even Damian could hear that. And he was at almost the other end of the batcave. "Get.Ova.To.Harley!"

After a moment, I finally gave in and sighed, more annoyed about my need to help than from exhaustion. "Not before you tell me what you are really doing."

"Somethin' you neva had the guts ta do." He angrily growled and hung up - although it sounded more like he broke the cellphone.

Now I wasn't only angry and confused, but also worried. 'Something I never did.' His words floated through my mind. And after what he told me happened to Harley, that could only mean one thing.

"Alfred, call Dick." I quickly finished repairing the wheel, then grabbed my batsuit, not caring about the damage of the visual system. "Tell him to get over to Black Seven's hideout. He'll know why I sent him over when he's there."

He nodded and I immediately jumped into the batmobile after getting changed. 'Don't do something crazy!' I thought and almost had to giggle at this. "Yeah, right. Hope for Jay not to act crazy."

♦♦

'Why do I always have ta escalate before anyone listens?' I asked myself after fixing the collar of my coat. My eyes looked at a big spot of blood in front of Joker's hideout, almost entirely covered by the fresh snow.

My whole body was shivering in anger as I imagined this maniac slamming Harley's face into a piece of glass or whatever it was that made her face look like someone threw a cactus at her.

As I knocked on the door, it opened itself, obviously damaged by being slammed multiple times. Luckily, the lights inside were on and my eyes widened as I looked across the room.

The blood and a bump in the wall next to me were bad enough, but I started to growl in rage as I saw a desk broken in two - that's how Joker broke Harley's ribs. And next to the table, a broken mirror and more blood.

"Blacky!"

I slowly turned my head to Joker whole leaned against the frame of the kitchen door, a glass of soda in his right hand and a smile all over his face.

"What are you doing here, kid?" He asked and I couldn't tell if he was mocking me or he really didn't know why I was here.

My mind became blurry again, this time not of the anger but because I felt the need to throw up because of the way he grinned with the last piece of lips he had.

"You freak!" I stepped closer to the couch and glared at him. "How could ya do this ta Harley?"

Joker chuckled and took another sip from his soda. "She was getting on my nerves. That's why."

"Are ya outta yer mind, ya deranged maniac?" The safest part was that I still admired Joker for what he could do to people. But at least I had the brain to know where to draw the line.

"A little." Joker put his glass of water down and calmly grinned at me. "I don't understand why you defend her all the time. It's her fault. Not mine." His fingers moved over the broken table as he walked over while he smiled brighter. "And - heh...the way she screams when you slap her a couple of times in the face."

Instead of backing off or even moving a finger, his evil eyes just stared at me as he kept smiling. "Especially when you use a..." He started giggling and tilted his head. "crowbar."

There it went. The last piece of self control. For a while, I tried to stay positive, maybe he wasn't that bad. But with that slapping part...no. I was crazy. But he's just an idiot.

"Ya like crowbars?" I yelled at him and let the item slide into my hand, immediately hitting his left arm with it as hard as I could, throwing him to the ground but receiving nothing but a giggle.

I grabbed his collar and pulled him up. Nothing would've made me happier than ripping his face off and throwing him into a vat of flesh eating bugs. But sadly, you don't get such a thing when you need it.

"Makes ya feel great ta slap people, eh?" I punched him twice in the face, tearing off some of his skin with my spikes and quickly hitting him in the ribs with the crowbar. "Feels awesome, doesn't it?" My hand tightened around his throat as I grabbed it and I stared right into his eyes.

At some point, I started wondering why he didn't defend himself. Usually, he was not only faster but also way stronger than I was. 'Who cares?' I glared at him as the white parts in his eyes became filled with blood.

"How can ya treat someone who loves ya like that, huh?" I asked, remembering my own past. "You're one awful human being!" I was actually out of words for him. Which, to this day, never happened.

Joker still smiled but his eyes started to get a softer look. As I looked closer I felt like that look was...regret? I blinked confused.

"Don't you think I know that?" His voice was raspy and quiet but not because of my grip on his throat. I had already taken my hands away as he started to look at me like in that weird way.

Not that this changed anything for me, it even made things worse. I punched him in the face one more time, then pushed him against the nearest wall. "Then why on earth did ya freak almost kill Harley? Do ya like seein' her crying? Is that whatcha want?" I expected a bare-faced lie - so the surprise was even bigger as he answered.

"That...no. It's just..." He looked aside, then back at me and I almost felt like there was a moment of sadness in his green eyes. "We are what we are."

A very poor excuse for someone who usually never misses an opportunity to lie. But I let him talk. He should've the chance to explain himself, after all, I didn't give a damn about his words.

Joker wiped a bit of blood off his face, then coughed. "Nobody is a saint. But isn't all of this Batman's fault?" He asked and I had no clue what he was talking about.

"Whadda heck do ya mean?" Not that I was really going to listen. But a part of me was curious.

"I hurt Harley, that's true." Joker looked aside for like half a second, then back at me. "But that was only possible because The Bat didn't kill me. Who's really guilty now?"

I narrowed my eyes and grinned - more confused than anything else. "That's.. That's not true!"

Joker smiled friendly and moved my arm away from his throat. "I think I need to tell you the truth about the Batman."