And finally we have Part 2! I'm so surprised I'm cranking all these out this fast, but incredibly proud at the same time. I'm running out of ideas here, though (i have like, one left), so if you guys have anything you'd like to see, review and I'll see what i can do :) Oh, and make sure to check out my other story, Take the Shot for some more YJ goodness!

"Happiness hit her like a train on a track
Coming towards her stuck still no turning back
She hid around corners and she hid under beds
She killed it with kisses and from it she fled"

- "Dog Days Are Over" by Florence and the Machine

… "Here ya go, hun. Can I get you anything else?" Beth interrupted yet again, handing me the cup. We both shook our heads. "Alright, holler if you need me."

"So that was how the whole Jesster thing got started, then?" Robin asked, staring at me. I nodded, biting down hard on my lip and staring out the window. I never realized how absolutely stupid I had been at that age. I mean, to actually trust a psychotic criminal? No wonder my dad dubbed me a schizo, I was crazy! "I just...can't believe he did something like that to an innocent kid like you."

"Yeah, well...You can't really be all that surprised, can you? The man's a manipulative animal; I was just the first one he got to. And then..." I trailed off, unsure if I should continue. He's probably heard most of this next story anyways.

"And then Harley?" he prodded, watching me carefully over the top of his burger.

I nodded my affirmative. "And then Harley. Unlike what you probably think, she was the first one I have ever met to show actual, genuine concern for my wellbeing. She came to work at Arkham when I was nine, after an inmate breakout that killed three of the doctors. Joker, obviously, was the cause, and he too escaped, but he was captured and brought back by Batman after a couple of weeks. He was placed in solitary confinement, and I wasn't allowed near that cell block, so Harley took it upon herself to take care of me...

… "C'mon, sweetie. It's time for my first interview," Harleen grinned, swinging me around excitedly. I was very small and light for my age, mostly due to the lack of good food in the Asylum.

"Who are you interviewing, Harleen?" I asked eagerly, watching at her with my doe eyes. I had made friends with quite a few of the inmates, and I was crossing my fingers it would be someone like, like Ivy maybe, or Bane.

"The Joker," she replied, and sounded absolutely mystified. "I mean, wow, my first patient is Gotham's most renowned criminal. I must be getting up there."

I turned away my head to hide my smile. I liked Doctor Quinzel a lot, almost as much as I liked Joker, but sometimes I wondered who was smarter – me or her? I'm only nine and I've never even set foot in kindergarten, but I seem to possess much more common sense. "Either that or nobody else wants to go near dad...Joker."

She froze, looking at me from behind her wire-rimmed, circular glasses. "Did you just mistakenly call the Joker...dad?"

"...No..." I snorted, staring at her with my eyes narrowed. "Maybe you should get your ears checked..."

"Hm...maybe you're right. Oh, we're here! My very own office! C'mon, Jessie!" she grabbed my hand, yanking my inside of the small, cluttered space. The room was small, barely enough to fit us, plus Joker, two guards, her overly large desk, and three chairs in. If it weren't for the small room I had now in the Asylum, I would be very claustrophobic. "They're bringing Joker down in a couple of minutes, so I gotta make it look professional."

Rolling my eyes, I helped move the chairs and desk around to look more "professional," and when we were finally finished, a knock came at the door, signaling Joker's arrival. "Come in!" Harleen called, shuffling some papers around on her desk before plopping down in her seat. I stood in the corner farthest from the door, waiting impatiently for my dad to arrive.

They carted him in, straitjacket and all, practically picking him up and throwing him down in his seat, making the three of us scowl. The guards, obviously, could care less about what Joker thought, but Joe looked kinda confused about Harleen and I's immediate disdain towards them. "You can leave now," Harleen stated, pushing up her glasses on her nose.

"Regulation states –" the one on the left began, but was cut off by my dark glare from my corner. I stood up, hands placed on my hips, and narrowed my eyes to slits as I walked closer to them.

"Go. Away."

"...Fine, but holler if you need us," Joe sighed, opening the door and sliding out with his friend close behind. Once the door was closed, I ran at Joker with a big grin and threw myself at him.

He laughed loudly as I situated myself on his lap, giving Harleen a big smile at her shocked look. "Joker and I are best friends, Harley," I explained, hugging him again.

"I told you not to call me Harley, Jessie," she sighed as she took off her glasses and rubbed her face.

"Harley, huh?" Joker smirked. "Like Harlequin –"

"Like Harlequin the Clown. Yeah, I know. Believe me, I've heard it before."

"Well, I like it, it brings a smile to my face. You know what else brings a smile to my face? This little kid right here," he nudged me, and I giggled, falling off the chair. "She's like the daughter I never had."

"Really? You like kids?" Harley asked with a surprised, pleased look, and leaned forward on her desk.

"I love 'em!"

I looked between the two from my spot on the floor, unable to keep the brilliant grin from spreading across my pink cheeks. Everything was going according to plan for me. At this rate, Harley will be my new mommy in no time...

"You really were obsessed with this whole family thing," Robin commented, wearing a slightly concerned expression at my sudden silence. I couldn't help it, I rolled my eyes. I didn't want any form of sympathy coming from him.

I dunno why, but I felt the incredible need to justify myself against him,"Hey, if you didn't have any parents at that age, you would be like that, too."

"Actually," he began, looking down at his plate and refusing to meet my eyes. "My parents were murdered when I was nine...right in front of me."

My eyes widened for a fraction of a second, before I schooled my face into looking like I thought it wasn't a big deal – even though it really was. Jeez, both of our childhoods have sucked, haven't they? "I...really? What happened?"

He sighed, "I can't tell you. I really wish I could, but..."

"Batman's rules?" I guessed, bitterly rolling my eyes. Of course.

"Batman's rules," he confirmed.

I took an angry bite out of a fry and waved it at him, "You know, one of these days I'm going to give that overgrown flying rodent a piece of my mind...with explosives!" He snorted. "I'm being serious!"

"No, you're not."

"...I know," I whined, huffing. "But it's still a nice thought!"

"Why don't you continue your story before you start making plans to kill my mentor?"

"Ugh, fine. Let's see, where was I...Oh, yeah, Harley. Well, she became Joker's regular therapist, with me sitting in, occasionally pushing them in what I thought was the right direction. It was obvious she was infatuated with him after the first meeting, and her obsession with him grew over the course of the next few weeks. And it wasn't like he wasn't trying to make her that way, he was completely manipulating her like he had manipulated me. He even broke out of his cell just to put flowers in her office, though I'm not sure if it was Ivy's doing or not. Eventually, he convinced us both that Batman was crazy, instead of, well, us...

… "He's crazy, you know," Joker muttered, leaning forward onto Harley's desk with a grin.

"Who, Batman?" she asked, surprised by the sudden change in subject. I, of course, was intrigued too, having heard a lot about this Batman that all my friends seemed to hate.

"No, Santa Claus. Of course Batman! Always Batman, Harley! Screaming mad starkers, he is! And dishonest, hiding his face behind that fright mask of his. Well, no masks for me! I have absolutely nothing to hide. I laugh at the cruel absurdity of the world. But Batman..."

"He's trying to trick us all!" I blurted, wide eyed from my chair in the corner. "Make us think he's more than human under that suit – that he's better than us stuck in here!"

"Exactly! Batman's got them all fooled. He's made everyone in Gotham think he can make a difference. That he can actually make things better. And the joke of it is, they all believe it! Every last one of them!"

Harley leaned forward, intrigued. "The police?"

"The police, the media, the frickin' junior rangers, every last sack of walking meat in this urban cesspool!" he sighed, calming himself down as much as the Joker could. "Listen, sweets, Batman knows we're on the same funhouse slide into madness, but why won't he admit it?"

"He's in denial, I imagine," I shrugged. "That Batman must think he's better than us, don't you think? He seems like the type."

"That's right. He's up there in his belfry laughing at us. And the real gag is, the miserable liar is allowed to run free while me and poor Jesster here are stuck in this hellhole."

"That's really incisive," Harley remarked, shocked at his way of thinking and how it all made complete and utter sense (Honestly, right now I'm just shocked she knew what that word meant).

"Then you understand, don't you? You know why I do what I have to do. You know Gotham's only real savior..." he paused, face bursting into the biggest grin I've ever seen grace his face. "is me."

"If didn't think he was crazy before," Robin began as we walked towards the park, hand in hand. While we were in the restaurant, it had started snowing, making our journey less than enjoyable, and practically guarantying a cold on my part. Robin, however, just had a bright red nose and ears. I thought it looked adorable. "I definitely think he's crazy now. Do you really think he's convinced himself that's the truth, or was he just saying that to get Quinn on board?"

"Hell if I know," I shrugged, pulling my hat farther over my ears to block out some of the whistling wind. "He's psycho."

"And that explains everything, of course," he snorted, and I punched his arm playfully. "I'm just saying...jeez you punch hard."

I rolled my eyes, "It comes with the job description."

"Speaking of the job, have you thought of what you're going to do after today?"

"You mean, go back to living on my own and robbing banks?" I clarified, and he nodded, looking apologetic. "I dunno. I mean, being a criminal is kinda my thing, you know, so that's just gonna be the way it is. I'm gonna do stuff, and you and your bat friend are going to stop me. As for where I'm living...I haven't the foggiest idea of what I'm gonna do."

"You could always...come live at the Cave..."

"I...I could?" Well, I certainly didn't expect that. "And that robot guy and Batman wont mind?"

"Actually, they won't, uh, know," it seemed like the more he talked about it, the more Robin thought it was a bad idea, too.

"You mean, you're going to hide me? Don't you think the world's greatest detective and his superpowered friends will notice something's up? I mean, it's not like your Speedster friend has a padlock for his mouth, and Manhunter can read minds."

He looked at me with a smirk – the same one he wears before he knocks one of Joker's goons out with ease. "You sound scared."

"Scared?" my voice's pitch went up, and I coughed. "Scared? Me? I laugh in the face of danger! Ba ha...ha...ha..."

"Yeah, you're scared."

"Okay, so what if I am? Can you blame me?" I paused, taking a deep breath. "I just...I really don't want to go back to Arkham, Robin."

"I thought you were the master at escaping from psychiatric prison facilities, Jess," he snorted, obviously referring to my seven break outs since I was nine.

"I've never done it by myself, though. Usually it was Harley or Joker helping me out...or I escaped during a riot. Believe me, getting out isn't as easy as it sounds."

"That reminds me, how did you end up escaping with Joker and Harley?"

"It's kind of a funny story, actually. Oh don't look at me like that, raised by Joker, remember? Anyways, our break out was scheduled for April Fools Day, which was, coincidentally, my 10th birthday. Best birthday present I ever got, I must say..."

… "C'mere, hun, Mr J wants us to go out with a bang!" Harley beamed, tugging me along the halls, a gun stashed under her lab coat that all the doctors wore. It was a really big gun, too.

We skidded to a stop in front of Joker's cell, where we was lounging on his bed with his hands behind his back. He didn't notice us until Harley leaned in and whispered, "I got what you wanted."

"You did?" He sat straight up, sounding shocked. "I mean...good. How did you smuggle it in...? Actually, I don't want to know. So, you ready to stop that evil, murdering bat once and for all?"

"Of course I am!" she replied as she pulled the gun out form under her coat, brandishing it with a proud smile."He needs to pay for what he's done to you."

"Give it here then, quickly!" Harley handed over the gun, and Joker cocked it once, before smashing through the glass, sounding the alarms. He began to walk down the hallway, laughing and wearing a psychotic grin, while I followed close behind, never leaving his side. "C'mon, Doc. We've got ourselves a Bat to kill."

"Ah ah ah. Doc's out, puddin.' Say hello to your new and improved..."she pulled off the lab coat, revealing a black and red leather costume with white diamond pattern on the black leg (I was wearing the costume I normally wear, without all the make up or jingly shoes). After placing a domino mask over her eyes, she stuck a black and red jester cap on her head and gave me a similar one. "Harley Quinn and Jesster!"

Joker stared for a moment, before beginning to cackle, inspiring Harley to do the same. Even if I didn't quite get the joke, I began to snicker to, happily skipping after them and waving to guards that were once in Joker's way, but where now lying on the ground, bleeding profusely. "Happy Birthday, Jesster!" he shouted as we burst through the front doors and dashed out onto the street. I giggled in return, doing a cartwheel. This was the best birthday ever...

..."I didn't know your birthday was April Fool's Day," Robin remarked, giving me a sly grin. "How fitting."

"Oh be quiet! When's your birthday, anyways?"

"November 11," he replied, sounding pretty indifferent.

"Ugh!" I reached out, smacking his arm. "That was a couple of weeks ago – we were friends then, and you didn't even tell me! How rude!"

"I didn't think it mattered to you!"

"Well, of course it matters to me!" I scoffed. "Gah, you're so weird sometimes! Now I feel bad for not getting you anything."

"Do you really?" I nodded. He sighed as we sat down on a snowy park bench, looking out at the frozen lake, where some kids were ice skating near the bridge. The whole park was covered in pretty white snow, the kind that made you want to take a thousand pictures of it just so you could remember what it looked like before it was ruined. "If you really feel the need to make it up to me, there's one thing you can do."

"Oh really?" My curiosity piqued as he reached his hand into his pocket, seemingly searching for something. "What's that?"

"I noticed you were looking at this necklace the last time you robbed that jewelry store on 85th street, and I figured if you weren't going to steal it, I was going to buy it for you," he pulled out a silver chain with a pendant dangling from it. It was in the shape of a bird – actually, a robin – with it's wings spread in flight. It's stomach was a pearly pink, and along it's feathers were small diamonds, with a larger diamond for it's eye. All in all, it was absolutely breathtaking.

"I...wow...and you...wow."

He chuckled, "I'm guessing you like it. Here, let me help you put it on." Standing up, he took the necklace from my hand and walked around the back of the bench. He looped it around my neck and shakily did the clasp, before lifting my hair and placing it over top, but not without kissing my neck quickly.

"I love it, but why is this a present for you if it's for me?" I asked once he returned to his spot beside me.

"That bird, as you probably already guessed, is a robin, just like me," he fingered the pendant as I turned to face him. "It let's everyone know you're mine."

"Hm, I don't know if I ever agreed to this, Robin," I teased. "But I might agree if you answer my question from before."

"And what question is that?"

I paused, leaning closer to him and dropping my voice down to just above a whisper."Am I your girlfriend?"

He smiled, wrapping an arm around my shoulders, "Yeah, I'd say so. That is, if I get to be your boyfriend."

"I dunno, your ginger friend is pretty cute..."

"Jess, I'm being serious," he sighed, looking serious behind his sunglasses. He wasn't joking around anymore. I leaned in and gave him a chaste kiss on the lips,

"But of course."