This is the kind-of sequel to "And to All a Good Night." For XxXHarleyQuinnXxX :) A bit of Valentine's day fluff. Hope you Enjoy!

Part 1/3 I think I taw a Puddy Tat! I did! I did!

"Say, Red, do you think I should get Mistah J somethin' for Valentines Day? It's two days away," Harley said, twirling her blond ponytail around her finger thoughtfully.

"No," Ivy said point-blank, flipping her red hair off of her shoulder. She was painting her fingernails green, and Harley was trying to figure out what to do with her hair.

"Why not?" Harley asked, looking over at Red and pulling out her rubber band.

"He's not good enough for you, he's a psycho lunatic clown, he gave you a black eye last week," Ivy rattled off, having composed this list some time ago. "Shall I go on?"

"Nah," Harley said. "I know you don't like him, but my puddin' loves me."

"Would someone who loved you hurt you?" Red asked, glaring.

"I dunno," the harlequin replied, her shoulders slumping. "Mistah J's the only guy I've ever loved."

Red sighed and went back to painting her nails. "Maybe you should date around, Harl."

"No," Harley whispered to herself, wrapping her arms around her chest. "I'm all he's got."

Ivy's phone rang, and she picked it up with a still-drying hand. "Helloooo?" She said into the receiver. She rolled her eyes with disgust and handed the phone to Harley. "It's for you," she said, the way someone would say 'the dog just threw up on your shoes'.

"Hello?" Harley asked, grabbing the phone.

"Hello, Pooh."

"Hi Puddin'!" she squeaked.

"You need to feed the, ah, hyenas before they eat the hired help," the Joker said, sounding impatient.

"Okie-dokie, puddin', I'll ask Red to gimme a lift, 'kay?" Harley said.

He slammed the phone without responding.

"Told ya he loves me," Harley said matter-of-factly.

"Oh, really?" Red asked sarcastically, grabbing her costume and car keys.

"Yup," Harley said, grabbing her hat hand makeup and dashing to the bathroom before Poison Ivy. "I call dibs!" she said triumphantly, locking the door. "And he wants me to come back home because the babies are hungry and he misses me."

"He only said something about the hyenas," Red said. Why does she have to have such good hearing? Harley wondered to herself, yanking on the back-and-red ensemble.

"Well, he always calls me pooh when he misses me," she said defensively.

"Whatever," Red said as Harley left her bathroom. "My turn."

Red backed out of her driveway in her pink car Rose Bud. Harley had to ask Red to drive her home because Red obstinately refused to give the Joker her antidote to the toxins that were all over Paradise Meadows, or Toxic Acres, as it was now called.

They drove into Gotham with the top down, wind blowing in their hair and in Harley's case, jester hat. Harley couldn't imagine how Red's hair stayed so perfect even when windblown; maybe it was some kinda new fangled plant conditioner? Harley shook her head and stared at the road just as some small ball of fur dashed into traffic.

Harley shrieked, causing Red to jump and yell, "What? What?!"

The big monster truck in front of them didn't stop, and hit the small object. Harley grabbed the wheel from Red's hands, wrenching them out of their lane and skidding over into the other lane. Red hit the brakes and they skidded to a stop.

"What did you do that for?" Red demanded, freaking out.

Harley didn't answer, dashing out into traffic after the ball of fur. She crouched down as cars whizzed around her and stared anxiously at the small animal that turned out to be a cat. It wasn't moving, and its back legs were at a funny angle. Blood was beginning to seep into its fur, but Harley could see its chest move up and down. "That creep!" she screamed, pulling her huge gun out of her purse and firing at the quickly disappearing monster truck.

The bullet struck home, and the truck spun around, slamming into the stoplight down the street and exploding into flames. Ignoring the chaos she just caused, the harlequin gently gathered the small kitty into her arms.

By this time, Red was at her side, yelling. "Are you completely crazy?! Do you know how many cars almost hit you?!"

"That guy ran over the pussy cat!" Harley shrieked back. "What was I supposed to do?"

"Leave it alone?!" Red said, angry with her.
"Just because it's not some stupid plant doesn't mean it's not worth somethin'!" Harley said. "We have to take it to a vet! It could die!"

Poison Ivy stared at her friend and sighed, knowing when Harley would not back down about something. "Fine."

Harley pulled her Harlequin cap off her head and shoved it under her arm as she dialed the pay phone in the reception area of the vet lobby. It rang about four times before someone picked it up.

" 'Lo?" a young voice on the end said. It was Sammy, the seventeen year old who was into bombs and arson electricity. He worked for them sometimes after school. He was a cute kid.

"Hiya Sammy," Harley said. "Could ya get Mistah J for me kiddo?"

"Sure," he said. He yelled something on the other end and thumps and bumps echoed down the line as the phone changed hands.

"Is that you, Pooh?" the Joker's somewhat irritated voice asked.

"Yeah, Puddin'! Listen, could you come gimme a lift after all? I'm at the vet's," his harlequin said with a glance at Red, who was giving death glares to everyone in the office, motivating them to fix the poor kitty faster. "Some scum sucking loser in from of us hit a kitty cat and we're at the vet's getting it fixed up. Can I take it home and keep it? I'll feed it and nurse it and makes sure the babies don't make it mad…" she said really fast, babbling on as she waited for the kitty to come out of surgery.

The Joker frowned in annoyance at his end, holding the receiver away from his ear as Harley prattled on and on. He was thinking. He could tell when she wanted something bad enough to fight for it. This was one of those times. If he said no, she'd most likely pitch a fit and go back to Poison Plant's place for another week like she did after he gave her that black eye.

As much as it killed him to admit it, he wanted her back. The spot in his chest that the few good feelings came out of always had stabbing pains when she was gone for a while. He lifted the phone back to his ear and said, "Okay, Harl," interrupting her long-winded speech.

He had to move the phone away from his ear again as her squeak made him wince.

"Thank you Puddin'!!!! Are you comin' to get me?"

"Yeah, Harley," he said, and got the address. After slamming the phone down, he grabbed his purple coat and an assortment of knives, shoving them into the pockets. "I'll be back later," he told the men engrossed in a poker game around the kitchen table.

"Okay boss." The voice came from the counter, where the kid Sam was perched, eyes on a chemistry textbook. Showed promise, that kid did. If he ever got the hang of being random and not methodical. Of course, the Joker would never tell him that. He made a point of never telling anyone anything good about themselves.

Hopping into the car, he roared across the road and into rush hour traffic. He was angry for admitting to himself the fact that he wanted Harley, so he caused two fender benders and a three-car pileup. He might admit it to himself, but never to anyone else, and never to her.

Why am I not surprised? The Joker wondered to himself as he strode into the animal clinic. Harley was deeply engrossed in conversation with a four-year-old about a turtle. The mother of said four-year-old was about to pass out from the shock, and so did not attempt to stop her son from talking to his harlequin. She jumped up when she saw him come into and threw her arms around him, burying her face in his chest. That spot in his chest stopped aching. He wasn't sure if he was glad or not.

"Hi, Harl. You, ah, miss me?" he asked. His smirk made his scars stretch and the old twinge of pain flared up again. He liked it; he could forget about the spot in his chest.

"Yep!" she said happily, standing on her tiptoes to reach his mouth. He pressed her lips to his own hard, not caring what Itchy Poison or anybody else thought. This was his harlequin and he'd kiss her if he wanted to. She was his, after all.

Harley relaxed in his arms, knowing she was safe and sound. From everybody but him, but she understood him. He had been hurt a long, long time ago, and he buried it with craziness and mayhem and lashing out at others. So sometimes he hit her. It wasn't right; she knew that, but he hadn't hurt her real bad in a long time. He loved her; she knew it. She knew Red was staring pointedly, but she stayed where she was, in his embrace. She watched him as his black-rimmed eyes rolled in irritation and she smiled, hoping to put a smile on his face.

"Harley…the cat's here," Ivy said, ignoring Mistah J.

She gave a tiny squeak and wriggled out of his arms to inspect the tiny bundle the terrified nurse was holding out. "Awww, poor kitty," she cooed.

"She's still, um, heavily sedated. There's -some medicine you can give her, once she wakes up. She sh-shouldn't -move around much for a while," the nurse stammered out as Harley tenderly gathered the cat into her arms and rocked it slowly.

"Look, J, she's blinking," Harley whispered, gazing down at the bleary eyed cat, who's irises were a yellow-green color.

"Uh huh. C'mon, pooh, let's go."

She waved goodbye to Red and followed the Joker's purple coat out the door, passing the chairs filled with shrinking, cringing average people, scared to death of the Joker. She climbed in the passenger's side of the car and away they roared.

Please review! ps- is anyone else having problems saving underlined & bolded things? just curious.

~~MBE