Joker&Harley Oneshots

Goodnight Sleep.

The Joker rolled over and opened his eyes. The clock read 3:00 am in bright red numbers. He had gone to bed only an hour ago because Harley had wanted him to get a good night's rest. However, his insomnia had other plans. He was maybe lucky to catch two or three hours of sleep a night if his insomnia wasn't cruel, but then he would still have to contend with his nightmares.

He sat up in bed. A faint snoring was coming from the door. The henchman who stood guard outside his bedroom door must have fallen asleep again.

Fucking useless.

They were all useless. Every single one of them. It didn't matter who he hired, or who was crazy enough to volunteer their services. They all lacked what the Joker needed in order to succeed in taking down Batman, and that was personality. They were all flat, sedentary underlings who couldn't tell their left from their right, and when it came to making things interesting, the best they could come up was bombing Gotham City's orphanage.

Fucking amateurs.

Except for Harley.

Granted Harley had her flaws, like her brain damning stubbornness, but she could still get the job done.

The Joker looked over at his partner in crime to find her sleeping. Sometimes he found himself staring at her when he couldn't sleep. It helped calm the noise in his head. Other times he couldn't bear to look at her because he simply didn't deserve her.

She truly was useful to him. Even if he never let her know it. The Joker wouldn't be where he was without her. He knew it, and somewhere inside him, he knew that she knew it too. This made him want to scream somedays. How could someone who got so under his skin make him feel so alive at the same time?

It was a question the Joker still couldn't answer himself after all this time.

He sighed as he slipped his fingers into a stray strand of her silky blond hair. Harley stirred in her sleep, turning her head towards the Clown Prince, eyes still closed. She looked so beautiful to him.

An unyielding urge came over him for human connection. He reached for her hand and pulled her onto his chest in one swift motion.

"Puddin'..." she mumbled sleepily, eyes still closed.

"Hush, Harls. Go back to sleep."

He felt the evenness of her breathing as she settled into him.

Sleep was not meant to be his tonight. The Joker laid there listening to her even breaths.