Out of the Belfry, into the Fire

In the Pale Moonlight

It had been some time since Harley had seen Gotham Cemetery up close. Honestly, she had not been there since her great uncle's funeral when she was fourteen. She had not even known him as anything more than a crabby guy who smelled like old cigars and vodka, but the old Bell Tower Mausoleum was certainly something that a young teen never forgot.

Built by some crazy rich guy for his lost foreign wife, it had been constructed over her like a church in honor of her ancestry and how she was like an angel to him. Just another over-the-top story from Gotham. Over-zealousness seemed to be a common trait in Gothamites, and old tragic love stories like this one was more than an Irish ballad could hold.

More drama than Romeo and Juliette, Harley thought. They could make new plays for the high school drama club into the next millennium if they started writing them based on Gotham City.

The façade of the structure indeed looked like a church, but there would be nothing past the narthex as though the rest of it had been cleanly cut away with a flat wall to fill in the gaping hole. The howling wind was a nice touch she had to admit as she used her Lunabat batline to slide over the rail and into the belfry. The bell could have been taken from the bell tower of Notre Dame, and Harley would have believed it. No Big Marie, perhaps, but maybe a Little Mariette.

The belfry was empty at first. For the first time that evening, Lunabat felt a little chilled being in the cemetery all alone.

A double-take.

She gasped.

In the corner was a shadow that had not been there before. Then she breathed a sigh of relief and tittered.

"Oh, Batman, there you are," she breathed with a hand to her chest.

There was no mistaking that square silhouetted head and those cute pointy ears on top of his cowl. Headed towards him, she beamed, but just as she opened her mouth again, the figure stepped forwards, and the cape and cowl were thrown off to the light of the moon.

"Guess again!" grinned the Joker with a happy chirp.

Beside herself, despite her dismay, she could not believe she had been so dense. Completely stupefied and frozen by her mixture of horror and disgust all that came out of her mouth was the tiniest, "Ack..."

After weeks of looking and here he was larger than life like usual, just like she wanted, and he had tricked her to come to him.

"Even if it's more bats in the belfry the merrier, these days! Heh!," said the Joker with a cock of his head.

"Geh..." Lunabat managed to get out.

"I mean," said the Joker then strolling leisurely forwards, "it was all funny at first, but now it's just startin' to bug me. How 'bout with you?"

Despite his grin still present, the dangerous glint was all too evident. His nose wrinkled just a touch above a wry, knowing, and slow, lazy sneer. It was the type that used to give her chills. Well— admittedly it still did, but not the same kind. It used to be more of a thrill, especially when not directed at her. It was the perfect sneer of a hunter ready to pounce upon his prey, but waiting for just the right second as he purred forward completely nonchalantly.

"P—Puh—" Lunabat cracked. "Puddin'!"

She broke into a broad grin, and without knowing exactly what she was doing, a sort of reflexive self-preservation kicked in.

She threw out her arms. Now that she had passed the first part, it was easy now. In a full embrace, the Joker threw out his arms too and took her in passionately into the warmth of his chest against winter's cautioning chill. His arms held her almost gently, and she swooned perfectly for him. Neither one was fooling the other, but it was part of the game. It sent those chills right up Harley's spine. Admittedly, it even gave her that old sense of thrill and a delight that she could not control in the back of her mind as she kissed him and nestled her face into his collar bone.