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Gotham was not silent when night fell, on the contrary, it became even noisier than before.
The gunfire echoing through the alleys and the occasional screams made it even harder for anyone to sleep soundly.
In the master bedroom on the second floor of the apartment...
Harley Quinn leaned back in Allen's arms, wide awake and unable to drift off either.
Allen's steady breathing could be faintly heard in the quiet room, indicating he was clearly asleep.
His gun, as usual, was placed on the bedside table within her reach.
After nightfall, she had taken a bath and then saw him enter the room to sleep.
There were no other beds, only a couch, so she took a while to decide before she also took a seat on the edge of the bed.
'Why is he like this?'
She thought he would definitely make a move on her at night.
After all, he didn't seem like a particularly respectful person and this was Gotham, after all, but in the end, he just went to sleep just like that.
He didn't even ask her to join him.
Which somehow resulted in her feeling complicated.
Even if she had never really been in love before, she knew what usually happened after someone took a warm shower and entered a dimly lit room with another person.
After making up her mind, she chose to also sleep on the bed.
And yet...
Was she being treated like a body pillow, now?
This guy naturally grabbed her as soon as she laid down, and hugged her.
She didn't find herself to mind it much, if at all.
'Allen…'
He could've taken what he wanted, and yet, not only did he not touch her, but he even placed a weapon within her reach as if he trusted her.
Her gaze turned to the nightstand where the gun was placed.
'An unpredictable lunatic,' Harley Quinn thought, closing her eyes slowly with a complex expression.
****
Bang! Bang! Bang!
She didn't know how long she'd been asleep when gunfire suddenly jolted her awake.
Her eyes snapped open.
It was already bright outside, sunlight peeking through the blinds, and the space beside her on the bed was now empty.
Startled, Harley Quinn got up instinctively.
She opened the bedroom door and went downstairs barefoot.
When she reached it, she found the apartment door was wide open.
Allen leaned back on the sofa like he hadn't moved all night, holding a gun still pointed lazily toward the street outside.
Several people lay sprawled on the street outside.
Very clearly dead, by his hands, no question about it.
"Morning. How'd you sleep?" Allen greeted her with a casual smile, not even looking away from the door.
"Morning. I slept well... How about you?" Harley Quinn asked, brushing her hair back.
"Not bad." Allen grinned and pointed casually toward the kitchen.
"I made breakfast. Want to try it?"
"You... you made breakfast?" Harley Quinn blinked, caught off guard.
It wasn't that she doubted his cooking skills or anything, it was just one wouldn't expect someone like him (A lunatic) to be doing something like that.
Harley Quinn walked into the kitchen, still confused, and sat down for breakfast.
Eggs, bacon, orange juice, and even waffles.
The taste was actually pretty good, better than expected.
Bang!
Bang!
While eating, she watched Allen casually raise his arm from time to time and shoot at people on the street who were foolish enough to try and approach the apartment.
She learned that Allen was incredibly accurate.
One shot, one kill.
Each shot, a clean, perfect headshot.
"Thanks... the breakfast was great." After finishing, Harley Quinn walked over to Allen, her voice a little softer than usual.
Allen handed her the gun without a word.
"Your turn, now."
"Me? Why? My aim isn't as good as yours," Harley Quinn said, momentarily stunned.
"Not interested anymore." Allen curled his lip and shrugged.
He had been curious at first, but after a few shots, it became boring.
Even if his accuracy was good, it felt no different than shooting at paper targets.
"I'm going out for a walk." He patted Harley Quinn lightly on the shoulder and jumped up from the sofa.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gunfire erupted instantly.
Harley Quinn instinctively ducked behind the sofa for cover, heart racing, only to suddenly remember Allen had just jumped into the gunfire.
"Oh no,"
When she peeked out, she saw Allen casually walking down the street like he was out for groceries.
Although the gunshots continued to ring out around him, it was as if he could predict them before they were fired, weaving around them with bizarre angles and fluid movements. Eventually, the gunfire began to thin, and Allen vanished at the far end of the street.
'This... isn't this too ridiculous?'
Harley Quinn was stunned.
She jumped out from behind the sofa and chased after him, but she couldn't copy Allen's exaggerated, borderline cartoonish movements.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
All she could do was dodge and shoot wildly in return.
"Back off you stupid bastards! I have things to do!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
By the time she reached the street corner, Allen was already gone.
He was Nowhere in sight.
Harley Quinn suddenly felt a wave of regret wash over her.
The street was in chaos, filled with the scent of smoke and gunpowder, she had no idea where Allen had gone.
With the remaining bullets in her gun not enough to fight her way back to safety, she had no choice but to find a nearby place to hide and wait for Allen to 'maybe' return.
The constant day-and-night chaos had left the street looking worn and miserable, trash littered the sidewalks, windows were shattered, and there were almost no people moving about. Occasionally, a face would peek out from the cracked windows of residential buildings on either side, only to quickly pull back and draw the curtains shut tight.
Ring! Ring! Ring!
About ten meters ahead of Allen, a public telephone suddenly rang out of nowhere.
The crisp ringtone pierced the silence of the street like a shrill cry.
Step by step.
Allen slowly walked toward the phone booth... and then passed by it as if he hadn't heard a thing.
He didn't even glance in its direction.
Ring! Ring! Ring!
The phone continued to ring stubbornly, as if unwilling to give up, until Allen had walked far away.
Then it stopped abruptly with a final ringing.
But when Allen reached the next phone booth in his walking path, the ringing started again.
It was persistent and mechanical.
Allen still ignored it.
The third time.
The fourth time.
Each time Allen passed a phone booth; the phone would ring like it was chasing after him.
It wasn't until he finally left the main road and turned into a nearby alley that a dark figure suddenly leaped down from the rooftops on either side nimbly.
Thud!
The figure landed lightly on the ground.
The grappling gun retracted with a mechanical snap, and the eyes beneath the bat mask narrowed with mild annoyance.
'Was this guy deaf?'
She had called so many times on those phones, and she was chasing him from several blocks away along the rooftops just to get his attention.
Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she was just about to speak when Allen casually pointed at her and chuckled.
"Want to take a breather first? You seem a bit winded."
"..."
She didn't even get a chance to say anything, and he shut her down with a single sentence leaving her speechless.