5 Faithful 'til the End

AN: IDk how this came out. I tried to make it cute and stuff, but IDk. :/ Hope you like it anyways. I promise I will go back and edit this story later, polish it up, but right now I need to make the fluff bunnies be quiet. Plus it's a seasonal fic. So I hope you like!

He had to hide the kid somewhere until Harley's birthday. So he stashed the kid at Red Poison and ScareCrane's hide out.

"And just what am I supposed to do with her?" the redhead asked, annoyed.

"I dunno," he said. "Make her water your plants. Teach her minion skills. Something."

"Does she have a name?" Crane asked in a sarcastic tone.

"Gamine," the Joker said. The child looked up attentively. "Kid, this is Red and Crane. They're keepin' ya. Don't break anything."

And then he left.

The redhead looked down at the blond child, who had somehow attached herself to Crane's leg. "Harley did always go in for strange names," she said to herself.
"Wed," the child said. "Cwane."

Blue eyes met green, and they both sighed in unison. Oh well, Pamela thought to herself as she pulled the little girl off Jon, if it makes Harley happy, and the Joker hasn't killed her yet, I guess there isn't too much of a problem. Weren't she and Harley just talking about kids the other day? If Gamine was going to live with Harley and her sometimes violent, rather unstable criminal boyfriend, she'd need a sitter sometimes. And Pam was number one on Harley's speed dial.

I guess this will be good practice.

It was so hard to take a shower with these stitches. First ya got to wrap 'em in plastic, and then tape the plastic down so the water doesn't get in 'em. And once you're done with the shower, you hate to take it all off.

And it really hurt to bend, too, so if she dropped the soap, how could she ever get it again?

Harley soaped up her blond mop and then rinsed. Her birthday was tomorrow. She couldn't remember how old she was going to be, but she knew she wasn't at thirty yet. Definitely not. And she remembered passing twenty-five. So she felt it safe to assume that she would be around 26-28. She wasn't going any closer to thirty. She wondered if people would shoot off fireworks early for the big fourth. She remembered that as a kid, like she was gettin' a special show just for her 'cause it was her birthday.

Fireworks make me all tingly inside, she thought to herself with a smile.

Once her hair was dry, she shut off the water and stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around herself. Harley dried herself off and then peeled back the tape to expose the black line of stitches. Jonny said she could get 'em out today. He was probably waitin' with Mistah J, talkin' about manly stuff. There was nobody manlier than her puddin'.

But she guessed Jonny had to come close, since he was with Red and all.

"OW! OW! OW!" Harley exclaimed as Jonathan came close to her with scissors.

"I haven't even started yet," he said, exasperated. "And Pamela gave you something to numb the area. It won't hurt."

"I don't like needles and I don't like scissors and I don't like stitches," Harley whined.

The Joker suppressed the urge to hit something and rolled his eyes instead. "Let the doc take the sitches out, Pooh," he said in a firm voice.

Pam was helping to hold her down. "Harley," she said, exasperated, "hold still."

Jon began to snip the black threads, and Harley shrieked.

Everyone gave him death glares. "Does no one have confidence in me?" he asked, blue eyes flashing.

The Joker sighed. "Look, Harl, you won't get your present if you don't let Craney take the stitches out."

That did it. She stopped wriggling and said, "Present?" Her face glowed. "Oh, Mistah J, you got me a birthday present?" She tried to throw her arms around him, but he stopped her.

"Yeah, and if the stitches don't come out, the present won't either," he insisted.

She made a face but sat still for the rest of the time.

Afterwards, Crane said to the Joker in a low voice, "Are you sure you want that kid? She has an unusual propensity for getting herself into trouble."

"Li-ke?" the Joker asked, popping the 'k'.

"She's named all of Pam's killer plants. At least, we think she has," Crane said under his breath. "She goes around talking to them in baby talk and plays with them. Do you really want her around the hyenas?"

Said animals were in the next room, fighting over a piece of meat. You could hear it quite clearly now that the harlequin and Pam had gone into the kitchen.

"She's seen 'em before," he said shortly.

Crane's eyes got huge behind his glasses. "When?"

"Christmas," the Joker said shortly, and walked away.

Jonathan resolved to get the full story from Pamela later.

He convinced her to hide in a box that he wrapped messily. It occurred to him that she might not be able to breathe, but he ignored that fact. Oh well. He hoped she wouldn't make much noise. "Day?" her little voice chirped.

"Shshshsshsh," he said. "Bequietforasecondwouldya?" He shoved the box into a closet and tiptoed into the room where Harley slept. It was one AM on her birthday. When he climbed into bed with her, she grumbled and woke up.

"What time is it, puddin'?"

"One in the morning, pooh. Happy, ah, birthday."

She squealed and sat up. "Oh, thank you, J!" She threw her arms around him.

"I haven't even, ah, given you your present yet, Harl."

Her eyes got really big. "Present?" she said excitedly.

"Yeah, wait here and lemme get it."

She sat Indian style and waited for him to bring her the present. She was really touched. It wasn't often that J remembered important dates. And less so that he got her things. But deep down, she knew that he loved her. And she loved him, for all his faults. Love looks different to different people, and they were pretty different people. But she had to sniff back a tear or two. She was all about emotion; he wasn't. She was all about touch. He wasn't, unless it was on his terms. But she couldn't think of living without him.

He carried in a big messily wrapped box and set it on the bed beside her. "Aww, Puddin', thank you," she said, beaming at him.

He smirked. He only did that when he was pleased with himself. She stared at the box with renewed interest. What could it be? Only then did she see it move.

"Is it…a puppy friend for the babies?" she asked. "Or maybe one of Red's hyper plants?"

"Open it and find out," he said.

She ripped the wrapping paper off of the box and lifted the lid, almost dropping it as a little blond head poked out. "Bah-bie," it said.

Her mouth dropped open and she stared, speechless. "Gamine?" she whispered, and then shrieked happily, lifting the little girl out of the box and giving her a hug.

"Bah-bie," the little girl said contentedly. "Mommy."

Harley stared at the Joker, who had a huge grin on his face, wrinkling the scars. "How?" Harley managed to spit out.

"I read in the obits that the rug rat's mom died. They tossed her in a foster home." He shrugged. "And you wanted a kid."

Her heart melted, and the water works started. "And you got her for me?" Harley squeaked. "Oh, J!" She threw herself at him and he caught her and the kid. His arms were so strong and warm. "Thank you," she said, as she drenched his shirt with her tears.

"Couldn't have you, ah, mopin' anymore, could I?" he said, patting her back awkwardly.

"Day," Gamine said, getting squashed. He lifted her up and said to Harley, "This doesn't mean I'm retiring or anything."

"Course not puddin'!" Harley exclaimed. "We can get Pam to babysit when we need to do villainous stuff, and all that."

Impulsively, she kissed him. They could be a family, abet a little strange. But they could. It would work. And remarkably enough, he kissed her back, as a little toddler looked on, happy.

Harley likes reviews. They're almost as good as presents! :)