NightQuinn

BANG!

The Batcave, 12:30 PM,

Dick, Harley, Bruce, Tim and Damian were all stood around a table on the central platform of the Batcave, looking at 3D schematic holograms of the steel mill and Joker's warehouse, they ran through every possible entry and exit point. Every detail of this needed to be planned. First, they checked the warehouse. Due to how Joker had hidden the place, the only holographic scan of the warehouse was old, they only had the base information for it, there was no telling what Joker had done to the place in the time he's been hiding out there, but that's reason why Harley was so crucial to this. Harley knew about every trap, every measure of defence, every guard patrol, every last detail, and she told her new team all about it. She'd filled in any blank spaces on the building's digital reconstruction, mapping out every way in and out.

Eventually, they settled on a plan for the warehouse, Tim and Damian would both sneak in, Tim attracting attention at the back entrance while Damian found his way in from the roof. There was a problem, however. If Joker was still at the warehouse, Bruce didn't want only two of them there to confront him, but if they were to go with the idea they had in mind of the other three to go to the steel mill, this was the only option. "We need an alternative." Bruce remarked. "I don't want to send you two in on your own if Joker could be there."

"Well, these are the cards we've been dealt, Bruce, fate's given us a dead man's hand." Dick replied. "Unless, maybe, you go with them, me and Harley handle the steel mill?" He mused. Bruce paused and looked over at Dick and Harley, he knew he could count on Dick, but, as much as he has had to accept Harley, he didn't feel one hundred percent sure he could trust her on something like this, the look on Bruce's face said all this, and Harley picked up on it. "I'll be honest," Bruce sighed. "Harley, I still can't feel like I can trust you on this." He turned himself to face her more directly. "I need to be there in case..."

"In case I turn against you?" She asked, folding her arms. "You honestly think that I'm still planning something?" Bruce didn't say anything. "Let me prove you wrong, then. Let me prove you can trust me, because if you think that I'm honestly still working with Joker, this is the only way to win you over. Let me do this, Dick's gonna be there with me, if anything happens, you can trust him to handle it."

"Bruce," Dick said as Bruce remained quiet. "let it happen. You've always been like this, but you need to start letting people in, I understand that people have turned against you but you need this, you need to trust her." Bruce folded his arms, looked at Dick, then stared at Harley.

"Alright," He said. "prove me wrong. Do what you said you'd do. Dick's right, I need to start trusting more people, but the reason why that's the case is because very few people have earned my trust, so, Harley, this is your chance."

Dick and Harley began assembling a plan for infiltrating the steel mill, Harley insisted that Bruce, Tim and Damian let her and Dick plan this together, this was their mission, but she knew it felt more important to her. Not only was she about to earn Bruce's trust and prove herself to everyone, but she was finally going to show Joker that she wasn't his anymore. She was no longer going to fall for any of his tricks, his lies, she was going to get her revenge. Revenge for everything he had done.

Dick's room, 6:44 PM,

Harley was sitting in Dick's room, waiting. Waiting because Dick had went down to collect her new gear, made with the same methods and materials that all of the Batfamily's gear was made from. Harley was giddy with excitement, she'd be getting her own proper costume. This was the kind of thing that she would dream of as a kid, she always wanted to be a superhero. Her thoughts were taken well away from the serious topic of tonight's mission. She'd also be getting upgrades for her weapons and equipment, plenty of gadgets and tricks were added to her mallet, baseball bat and her guns, which had now been modified to take the family's own non-lethal stun rounds.

The door to the room burst open as Dick was in the doorway, propping himself up on a large black crate he had as he was breathing heavily. "Probably should've asked someone to help me carry this, huh?" He smiled, out of breath. Harley's eyes lit up and a grin covered her face.

"You've got my stuff!" She rushed across the room and spread her arms for a hug, Dick did the same before Harley wrapped her arms around the crate of her gear. Dick blushed, ran his hand through his hair and bit his lip. Harley giggled. "Don't worry, I got somethin' for you too." She grinned before planting a kiss on his lips. "How's that?" She asked, smiling.

"It's worth carrying this thing from the cave." He gestured to the crate. "Wanna see what's inside?".'

They carried the crate onto Dick's bed and lifted the lid open. Harley looked through the case with a smile, but her face fell after a few moments. "Really?" She pulled out a jester's hat from the case. "I like this whole thing but you guys expect me to wear this?" She tossed it to one side. "Ugh, it's like something Joker would make me wear."

"That's what I told Bruce when he was getting this designed, he wouldn't listen." Dick reached into the case and pulled out the armour for her to wear under her jacket. "I also said you wouldn't like this, was I right?" Harley turned her face upon seeing it.

"Yeah, I am so not wearing that." Harley picked up the remainder of the gear and went over to the rest of her clothes. "Give me five minutes and I'll fix this right up."

A few minutes later, she walked back in the room wearing her modified costume. She wore boots that went halfway to her knees, one boot red, the other blue. She carried the colour scheme to the rest of the costume, including her tight leather pants which had holsters and pouches on for all of her gadgets and weapons along with a silver utility belt, she'd always wanted one of those. On her upper body, she wore a red crop top with a red and blue leather jacket and fingerless gloves of the same material and colour, one glove red, the other blue. She had her hair in pigtails with the tips of each one fitting with the colours of the costume, the rest of her hair was held back with a pair of old motorcycle goggles she'd worn on her head. "Whadda ya think?" She asked Dick, who was speechless and wide eyed. "You look freakin' awesome." He grinned. She walked over and got on her toes to kiss him. "Aww, thanks." She smiled.

Just then they heard a noise at the front door, not a knock, but a...

BANG!