Maybe saving a life

The False Harlequin #2

Re-introduction

Everything was too bright, everything was too loud, everything was happening too fast and not fast enough, maybe it was for the best, because she was sure that if she was perfectly fine she would be a mass of fear and rage, maybe screaming and crying would help, but that would be a problem for future… for “Future Harley”.

Oh lord, this felt like a bad joke, which on itself was not a good thing, bad jokes, something ‘her’ boss would like in an ironic way; right now she was able to find the humor on it, that was okay, it meant that while she was in shock and still processing things, there was still something inside of her that kept her under control, now, if only she could lay down and take a nap, that would surely do something about her headache.

That’s when she heard it.

A scream.

Terror.

An attack.

She didn’t know how she was able to run this fast, but soon she found herself at the place where the scream had come from, and she had to fight back a gasp at what she found. She was young, not young enough to be still at school, but someone that had just started her own life, and she was there, on the floor, with her white dress becoming red quickly.

Standing there, not knowing what to do where four boys, not even teenagers, they didn’t seem like kids of the street, the usual younglings that survived together as if they were a pack of wolves, those that had been pushed aside by bad decisions or simply bad luck; no, these were kids that were apparently looking for something new to do, something to make them rebels, to make them cool in the eyes of the world.

Those were the dangerous ones.

One stood looking at the red stain and at the knife that was still on his hands, while the other three showed their courage… quickly screaming into the night and running in search of their daddies and mommies, wanting to make the terror go away. Cowards; they’ll probably point fingers at the poor idiot that couldn’t even move the next morning, all to avoid responsibility for what they had done.

At the sound of her boots, the kid quickly turned to her and immediately recognized her if the look of terror in his face increasing was any indication. Even worse, he kept repeating that it wasn’t his fault, before snapping and throwing the knife at Harley.

She had an instant to react, but something was different, she could see the knife traveling through the air in her direction, but she knew what she had to do, her hand moved upwards and caught the blade of the knife between her middle and index fingers, all without even blinking, just looking at the kid, making him scream in terror as this one also ran. Something told her, that this moment, well, he won’t be able to run away from the memory, not of what he had done tonight.

Throwing the knife into the street, Harley took a closer look at the woman that had been the victim of the night, a young woman, redhead, quite the beauty if she said so herself, which was heartbreaking; then she remembered, this was Gotham City, something like this could happen every day, and there was only one Batman to go around; it wasn’t fair.

The woman’s eyes were wide open, still with life, gasping for breath as she had her hand on her injury, maybe thinking that if she did that she could fight back the inevitable, and the sadness inside of Harley increased, this wasn’t fair, a girl like her didn’t deserve what had just happened, this wasn’t fair.

This wasn’t fair.

NOT FAIR!

She felt something weird, as if the world around her had started to change, she had changed, everything from now on would change too.

Nothing made sense, but she felt the change, and there was an inkling, something that she could do besides offering the last rites or accompanying her in her last moments, she could do something.

“Hey girl,” Harley kneeled down, at the side of the girl, as this one was still struggling to remain in this world “I don’t know if I can help you, and I’m sorry if I cannot, but please, trust me, I don’t want to see you in pain no more,” she then pulled down her cowl, freeing her natural blonde hair, she then ripped the domino mask from her face and in some way, she felt true to herself, whoever this new self was.

She then held the mysterious woman’s hand on her own and felt the strength to cling into life on her fingers, and she dived deep into her own self, not having any idea of the power that she was going to free, a light that encompassed her and the woman on the floor.

It was a light that was felt by nobody, it didn’t register in any machine, in any recording or radar, no one, be it human, alien or metahuman felt it, nobody except Harley and the woman that she was saving; it was a connection, they were both one for a brief moment, and as the injury closed, the two of them looked at each other and pulled at each other.

A kiss like no other was the next stop, one that neither Harley or the woman knew was the next step, but both welcomed with open arms; it was a kiss like no other for both of them, with so much love and passion that didn’t need to be explained and then, she felt ****. Later on, once she had time to think, she will reach the conclusion that it had been the sum of it all that made her black out, something to let her brain deal with everything that had happened, but for now, she woke up to the sound of sirens coming closer, but she was not afraid, instead, she felt as if she was right where she needed to be, where she wanted to be. With her head on the lap of the woman she had just saved, and fingers slowly and carefully massaging her scalp, it was a peaceful moment that had to stop.

With a sigh from both of them, they got to their feet, and Harley knew what she had to do as the police got close to her; just her luck, she had been transported into a comic world, just for her to get into the body of one of the infamous enemies of Batman, but just as she was going to be hauled away, she felt the woman at her side want to do something to free her.

Quickly looking at her side Harley shook her head, feeling immediately the woman relax, albeit slightly, this was definitely weird, but really, what wasn’t crazy in this whole situation?

“Is okay, I’m used to this by now,” she tried to keep things calm, but knew that being arrested was by no means anything to be calm, but the woman accepted her words, while the policemen that were about to escort her to jail, or maybe Arkham, simply stood watching the bizarre interaction.

“I’ll wait… I’m Renata Morrison by the way.”

“Harleen Quinzel, it was my pleasure,” and just like that, Harley was escorted into the police car and soon one more night in Gotham came to its end, with basically no one in the city knowing, and probably the world, that it had changed without even realizing it.