She's always there, waving her arms enthusiastically whenever the guards bring me in, almost as if she knew that I was being brought in today.

"Hiya, Red! How ya doin'? Didja take on ole Bat-breath?"

She is so blissfully happy to see me, so eager to get me to smile even in the gloomiest of occasions. She can't stand seeing me frown.

"Hi, Harley. No luck with Batman. He took down my flytrap and caught me before I could get away."

"Aw, gee! That's too bad, Red. Stupid Batsy just ruins everything, huh?"

She smiled sympathetically at me like she always does and I notice that there are no pictures of her beloved Joker in her cell. Odd.

"How did you get in here this time, Harl? Where's your so called 'boyfriend'?"

She sighed and scratched her head embarrassedly.

"Mistah J and I-we're takin' a break from each other for a little while."

I snorted. "You mean he's still out there running loose and he left you behind for Batman to catch you again."

Harley glared and shook her head. "Nuh UH! Puddin' is going to perform a solo caper against the Bat. It's a two-man act. No girls allowed."

I rolled my eyes and turned away from her, not wanting to get into a heated discussion about how ''great'' her Joker was to her and how ''he could do no wrong''. Cocking her head, Harley tapped me on the shoulder to get my attention.

"Say, Red? Hows about you and me bust out of this joint and mess around Gotham for a while? Ya know-just the two of us; the queens of crime! The mistresses of mayhem!"

I shrugged and leaned against the cold stone of the wall.

"Whatever. After all, what could happen?"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Twenty hours later, Harley and I were zooming far away from Arkham asylum in the car we had stolen, Harley's feral driving making me nauseous as the loud wail of the police sirens echoed in the blurring distance.

Dimly, I could hear Harley taunting and blowing raspberries and I was glumly reminded that it was too late to go back. The seed had been planted.

"Not gonna catch us! We got tha speed! We got tha moves! Dumb ole guards neva even saw us escape until we were already outside. I can already tell that this is gonna be one great girls-only experience, huh Red?"

I swallowed and nodded at the exhilarated blonde.

"Let's hope so, Harl."

And thus, the cycle began.