no honor amongst criminals.

Her head was throbbing when she woke, the lights almost blinding her --- she felt hung over as her eyes adjusted to the light. Hand lazily touching her torso and feeling the warm material of her Asylum outfit. It was dream, another bad one. She wanted something for the pain, she knew the nurses could give her a simple over the counter drug for her headache. Raising up from the uncomfortable cot she started down this long hall way, it didn't look like the normal one. Or Harley was so disorientated from her awful dream and headache that she couldn't tell where she was. She gagged a little bit over the smell of blood, was she in the right place? The crunching wasn't helping, her vision was blurred but she could see this large mass of a man. "Croc?" She asked her hand still on her head as she rubbed the quickly dirtying blonde hair on her head.

He didn't respond for reasons still unknown to only two people. Those of course being Waylon Jones and Julian Day, that monster of a man pausing as his rugged and thick jaw would continue to rock in the heavy chewing he was performing. As her foot steps would become the trace bit louder, he'd pause what he was doing, his body clearly tensing up now as that massive skull would slowly turn around and reveal the smeared red around his cracked mouth. Joker paint it was not, that tracing of blood all the more apparent. Large hand would slowly release the item in his hand, allowing a limb? Arm. Arm to slowly fall into view from in front of him. His smile was produced, the stuff of nightmares. Sawed and disgusting pointed teeth apparent and showing trace amounts of torn flesh still hinted around his maw. He'd wipe his large arm across his mouth and slowly pull to his knees revealing what had been seated in front of him. Julian Day, The Calender Man, stomach torn open and a look of horror frozen upon his face. Croc's voice found itself, as he would coldly laugh to himself, his voice speaking up in that guttural sound. "Well, well. Ain't it a sight for sore eyes. Little Harley Quinn. You want some? Or you wanna be part of the meal?" Though this was becoming abit redundant, something was off about Croc. Where once he had been at least the slightest bit approach, something was lost to him now. The rumors about his cannibalism had always been rampant, but it was more just that. Rumors. But here was the bloody disgusting truth, or was this a new development. His pace was timed, much like the predator stalking it's prey as he started calmly after Harley. Mouth hanging open as he breathed exclusively with throaty, hungry gasps. "Way boss left me high and dry, I think a eye for a eye is in order. Or in this case--" And the arm went out, open hand moving to grab at the smaller creature. "A LEG FOR A LEG!!"</b>

She loved Croc, thought of him as family. She cared about him more then she cared about any one of those 'Lost Boys' Joker called henchmen, and next to Joker, he was the only person in the Asylum she cared about, worried about. That was made obvious by how she reacted to his torture with the new collar that all the Super Criminals had. She'd never worried about approaching him, the pair had had a good relationship, she wasn't a threat to him. And she didn't believe the rumors about his cannibalism, she'd known him to be a biter, she'd known that he'd bit the hand off a guard once. She should have been used to bloodshed, she'd caused and witnessed enough of it to not bat a lash at it. But the intense smell, and noise was making Harley ill. Covering her hand over her mouth and nose she tried to breathe but she kept gagging and resisting the urge to vomit. "Croc what are you...oh god. Croc you didn't?" Seeing the red all over his mouth she should have stopped there, but she didn't she kept looking, she saw Julian staring right back at her. She'd seen a lot of creepy, crazy and fucked up things in her day, med student, she'd seen the inners of a human before, but not like this. She gagged again, turning her back to Croc, big mistake she looked over her shoulder. "Croc, why? You're gonna be in so much trouble." Never once did she think that she'd be food to Croc, Joker had placed a heathly amount of fear in him, or so it seemed. Right now she was worried about Croc being shocked to comatose levels again. It wasn't until he started stalking after her, that she realized she was in trouble. Not like Harley hadn't been stalked before, but when she played that part it normally was Joker at the other end. "Croc, whatta mean? Joker didn't leave you high and dry." She whimpered trying to talk him out of this big mistake.

The crackled smile that spread across his face as she spoke would cause him to pause before he snatched her up. He'd look at her with amusement across his marred face, his laughter again coming out throaty and amused. His arms were kept to the side, but hands up ready to snatch her up. She was being herded backwards, towards a long strip of wall where the hall divided again into two. He kept his head low, his body looking coiled to strike her, but he spoke. "How you think Joker Man got out of that building alive? It was a set up. See, seems Joker thought you were messin' up his head, I'd say more than it already was, so he figured best thing to do is put you out of the picture. Use you as bait to slow Batman down so maybe kill him too. Thing is Batman got out, and with you too. Course Joker was safe all along, inside a safe. I came through after all the shit gone down, dug em out of the rubble and we were back on the town." He skimmed ahead past all that, though the cruel smile on his face remained. But now she'd find wall behind her, and there was Croc with a massive hand clamping down atop of her head and pinning her against the wall with a show of force. He'd creep his nose in and immediately draw the surrounding air in a heavy waft of her. He liked what he smelt, and despite other ideas fluttering in his diminished thought pattern, Croc couldn't get pulling her apart and sucking on her bones out of his head. The thought overwhelmed him, and he showed this as drool began to dribble from the open maw of his mouth. His ravenous appetite getting the better of him as he'd lap up the air and speak what he thought was a fitting eulogy for her. "So he went soft, I guess in a way I'm doing his ass a favor. I bet you taste like.. heh.. cotton candy."

She was just about to feel that wave of relief come through her, she brought up Joker, she'd be safe. She was almost tickled with herself, that she'd remember that, no one dared miss with the Joker's squeeze. Or so she thought. Suddenly the bomb was dropped on the little bomb. She stared at him, shaking her head no, that couldn't have been true. She had never asked him how he managed to trick the Bat, of course the Bat had tricked her, no one ever telling Harley that no one had found Joker's body, or what they thought was Joker's body in the mess. "You see Harley I'm a fixer / no man can stop you but apparently a woman can." those conversations and words echoing in her now crumbling mind. Harley hurt now, her head hurt, her heart hurt. She ached and almost longed for it to stop, for it to end. She didn't even look scared as she felt the wall creep up behind her. She could barely speak to the big man, she thought her neck would break when she felt his hand ontop of her head. "Croc, I trusted you." Eyes snapping closed, she could smell that coppery smile on Croc as he smelt her. He could probably smell the left over cotton candy on her, but the one thing Croc couldn't smell on her was fear, she wasn't scared. "So, wait. Did he think I died in the explosion? Or did he know I was in Arkham all that time ---?" She knew that he at one point, or he wouldn't have showed up in Arkham to break her out.

Croc was getting agitated with all the talking, and it showed when he'd make an angry face at her and lower his gaze to become eye level with her. His hand squeezed, grasp tightened heavily and almost dared to pop her head briefly off. A snarl, which did such great things to accentuate the carnage splayed across his face. "I hate when my food get's wordy with me. You soundin' like Julian. Talkin' about how this was his date he guessed. I got him to stop talking though." He'd settle a hand across her stomach to indicate he was about ready to tear her open at this point. Tiny thing wouldn't have been much work for a monster of a man like him. Again his breath fled him, rank and vile, the smell all the more overwhelming in close quarters. He'd indulge her conversation, a cat playing with it's food. "Oh yeah, he knew you didn't die when Bat didn't die. Somethin' bout how he was too noble and shit. Probably figured if he couldn't do it, Bat's leaving you to die would be funny. So he left yous in Arkham to rot. I guess he got bored of tappin' all that teenie ass he had around prolly. I didn't stick around, I saw how he's treatin' all the hired help, endin up dead or sold up the river like you. So I busted some heads for Oswald. It was good money too till that shit with Joker. Course see how that turned out." Although not incarcerated like Joker, Cobblepot was now in dire straights with his leadership put in question after the embarrassment Joker put him through. A grit of his teeth and he'd growl at her. The hunger was screaming inside of him, he had to eat again. He couldn't take it much longer, that swell of a gurgle in his stomach apparent despite the fact Day probably wasn't even digested.

She shuddered when he touched her, anger welling more. No one was allowed to touch her, until you were covered in greasepaint. His hand on her stomach was making her insides churn and burn. The climate seemed to go cold, for some odd reason she was never mad that Joker had waited seven months to free her, of course she meant have been just overwhelmed with the fact that he wasn't dead that could have forgiven his tardiness. "Ya owed this ta me Croc --- never much of a talker though." Everything about her seemed to go cold about her when she was told that Joker and all those wannabe clown girls had something going on. Her fingernails finding his wrist and in anger she dug in deep, knowing of course that he couldn't feel it --- "So ya betrayed us? Betrayed Joker? Its a goddamn shame that Joker didn't kill ya off, he coulda turned ya into a pair of shoes. And a nice bag for me. So how did you end up here in the first place, the Bat catch ya? Probably because Penguin had ya doing some real dumb things." This hadn't been the first time she was ever staring down the barrel of a loaded gun so to speak, she leaned her head back, the collar cutting into her throat, she had no more to say.

The shoe line was enough, as he'd go to bring his arm back and draw for a heavy handed hit on Harley. Of course, through this all he hadn't noticed due to her distraction a form off to the side of the hall, whom had immediately crept off to inform. Right before he could bring his blow to bare on her, the sound of a familiar beeping was heard. He'd release her head, going to the collar and muttering darkly. "Aw.. shit." The electrical spark that coursed through his veins would cause him to step back heavy. Croc roared, there wasn't another word to describe the sound that came from him. A look of outrage as he'd turn to stare at timid guard with the remote. Down he plummeted after the man, only to be shocked again and taken down with the power of those collars. Croc's knuckle hit the floor with a heavy thud, trying to heave himself back up and being sent another shock for good measure. A small audience began to form as the inmates were now peeking to see what had happened. The crowd moving to observe the scene as staff flooded the halls with concern. It slowly became apparent only two people hadn't been accountable amidst the chaos. Joker. And Dr. Strange. When the gruesome display was first seen down the hall, an orderly immediately puked in the hall. Everyone was staring uncomfortably between the remains of Julian Day, and what could have been the next victim. Harley Quinn.

She'd seen them and hoped against hope they'd get here in time. She no longer felt like she needed to protect Croc. She saw his arm raise back, she didn't even know if she could withstand a strike from the big man, but she braced herself regardless. Hands ready to take the blunt of the blow, or even reach for his collar herself. She felt like she wasn't breathing, she hadn't breathed, sighing deeply and filling her lungs with air she heard a beeping that she hadn't turned before, but she knew by Croc's reaction this wasn't going to end well for him. Again pushing herself against the corner the best she could she was safe from the big man. She seemed to stare at the timid, those blue eyes of hers screaming 'again, shock the fucker again!' Now Harley stood over the big man, a dark glare casting over her features as she watched him wrath in agony. The guards told Harley it was okay she could move, the shocks wouldn't hurt her. But she didn't move, a smile coming over her face. Sick and twisted just like her beau's, just without the scars. She taunted Croc much like Joker did to his victims. Those who thought of Harley as a girl whom just got wrapped up in all of this because she happened to fall for the whack job in a purple suit soon saw another side of Harleen Quinzel, Harley Quinn, they saw that she loved when pain was inflicted on those who she didn't care about. She didn't care about Croc, not anymore. Pamela who was standing next to the other Supercriminals who were accounted for seemed to call Harley over. Even daring to walk over to the demented clown girl who was now flooded with all sorts of thoughts and emotions. Grasping Harley by the shoulders Pammy guided her to the group, that's when she realized something. Joker wasn't there. She couldn't hear Pammy asking if she was okay, telling her that Croc could have killed her. Now she realized Joker wasn't here, now the clown girl was left wondering silently if he even cared. Of course she hadn't pieced together that Strange was missing also, and that's probably where he was.

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artist notes; so totally a manip that is just here for the log. it tells what happened to Joker at the end of the first ark before he decided that he missed Harley and came back for her.

personally i was so sad when Matt had Croc turn on Harley because he was one of my favorite rouges at the time. -_- anyways hi my computer was broken, i was sad.