AN: Hello! This is just something a little fun that I thought I would try. It's supposed to be a one-shot, but if people like it enough, I'm happy to keep writing, really this is just a way to burn off some extra creative energy! Please feel free to leave a comment or review. This is my own version of Harley and Joker, pulled from different influences of their characters over time, although looks wise, I'm basing it off of Suicide Squad, as I feel it gives them a more lifelike look that makes it easier to imagine in my head. Thanks for reading!
Doctor Harleen Quinzel walked through her rounds today with a spring in her step. Usually, for an intern, rounds were dull and boring, with the odd crazy shouting some horrible things at you, but today was different. Each of the interns had been given a patient, one that they were going to start working on, far more dangerous than the normal crazies, each one was different. Harleen had worked hard for this moment, reading case file after case file, begging her superiors, even trading... favours for some. But it had worked off, she had been given the Joker. the most fascinating and dangerous criminal Arkham held. She thought his mind would be like a treasure trove of secrets, she wanted to be the one who 'fixed' the Joker, or at least, found out what made him tick, why he was the way he was.
It was time for her appointment. She wouldn't admit it to anyone, but her stomach was turning, she had run to her locker beforehand, fixing her hair into her usual straight ponytail, her glasses cleaned and sitting on her face, her coat was clean and straight over her usual black pencil skirt and a red blouse, she may have even put on the teeniest bit of perfume. She made her way back to her 'study, cold and grey on the outside, her name on the door with several locks. She had a desk in one corner, scattered with paperwork, files and cases, filing cabinets with a vase on top, empty. She also had a patient sofa on the other side of the room, accompanied by a table and two chairs sitting across from each other.
She sat in one of the chairs and waited, her clipboard and coffee sitting open. It was going to be them alone, a guard would be outside, but she knew that the cameras weren't scheduled to be fixed until next week, with budget cuts, only a few of the cameras actually worked, not that the patients knew about this, as far as they were concerned, they were being monitored around the clock. "Stupid funding.." She muttered quietly to herself, but it only egged her excitement on.
She looked up as the sound of cackling came closer, sending her heart racing. "Oh look boys! How fun, a new toy!" A voice cried from the outside. Cold and hard, there was a small lit to it that Harleen couldn't place, but before she could think on it any more, the sound of a metal slab sliding over penetrated the room and two guards walked in the clown prince of Crime.
He was grinning widely. His time in Arkham hadn't worn on his smile, though his skin took more of a death like glow, rather than the flawless white she had seen it. He wears makeup, she thought to herself idly. She could see several scars on him that she hadn't seen before, around his eyes, coming to small points, like a clown. His lips were faded, a deeper shade of red as opposed to the brightness she saw them in pictures, though the contrast made the silver plated teeth stand all the more out as he grinned at her. His hair was faded slightly, though still green, it almost clashed with his orange Arkham pants and white straight jacket.
She felt her heart give a small flutter as she looked to the guards. "Thank you... I'll see you in an hour." She said with a smile, the guards nodding. "No problems Doc. We'll be outside, give us a shout if you need anything." One of them told her, almost as if pitying the girl, she merely nodded her head, her gaze turning back to the Joker who sat patiently in his chair, rocking slightly as he regarded her, the grin ever present. The door slammed shut and they could count each lock as it was switched.
Harleen couldn't believe it. Here he was, sitting in front of her. She could lean across and touch him if he wanted, not that she dared to. "Hullo!" She exclaimed brightly, her Boston accent coming through as she tilted her head welcomingly. "I'm Doctor Harleen Quinzel, I'm going to be your attending for the next little while, we'll be having hourly sessions each day, but don't feel like you gotta talk all the time though!" She said, knowing she was rambling, she did it when she was nervous. She didn't want to come off as too much of a 'doctor'. It was a strange thing to think, but she had seen how he behaved with Doctors who had taken a more 'clinical' approach, it hadn't ended well for them, and she thought the security footage was far more terrifying than anything else she had seen of his.
"Doctor Quin..zel.." The Joker said, finally speaking. His voice low and earthy, he dragged out her name in a way that made her want to shiver, but she managed to suppress it. He let out a small laugh, more of a wheeze as he looked to her. "My my my my my.." He mused, his pale eyes looking over her slowly before they came to rest on her electric blue ones. "So young, so pretty... So so not for a place like this.." He said, looking around the room slowly again, as though he had cut down his normal speed by half. "Tell me, Doctor... How old are you?" He asked, looking back at her with a charming smile.
Harleen could feel herself blushing as he looked at her, complimenting and observing, she wished she wasn't such an easy read. "I'm twenty four.." She said with a small smile, looking at him. "How old are you?" She asked curiously, no one really knew, there were estimates, but nothing concrete. All the same when it came to Joker.
He let out a laugh, tilting his head back this time as he looked back to her, stopping suddenly as his eyes blazed, almost with an icy burn. "My darling Doctor, I'm immortal." He said with his grin, teeth glittering in the clinical light. "I was never born, I will never die, I just simply... Am." He giggled, manic and fast. "And twenty-four! My goodness, they're letting them in young, you must have wanted to be a doctor for so long! How exciting for you." He said mockingly.
"Well... I actually wanted to be a gymnast." She told him, thinking that maybe letting him get to know her a little more might get him to trust her so they could move onto something a little more personal about him, a fishing technique she had been taught in school. "I was really good too, drafted to the Olympic trials, I really enjoyed it." She said with a smile.
"Oh, I bet you were just the prettiest little thing in those leotards.." He said with a smirk, making an effort to drag his eyes over her, letting her know exactly what he was getting at. "If you were so good, why did you quit?" He tilted his head to the side. He wasn't stupid, he could read her easier than a child's book. His question specific, he was bored in here, and he wanted to have some fun. Why not with a pretty blonde while he was at it? "Did you just give up?" He asked, almost accusingly.
"I didn't! She said a little hotly. Her face still burning as she looked at him, sitting back in her chair as she realised she was leaning in a little too much. "My Mother didn't think it would be something I'd be able to keep up forever. She thought that maybe it would better for me to be a doctor." She said with a small nod. "I still like to practice." She added, a small smile tugging at her lips.
"Oh, not a good relationship with Mommy then? How about Daddy?" He asked, nudging her on as he held in another laugh, this was far too amusing.
"I-I don't want to talk about it." She said quietly, deflating a little as she looked down at her lap. She swallowed thickly. After her daddy died, she didn't like to talk about him, it brought back so many memories, most of which were actually good, it was the effects of his death she hadn't enjoyed. Joker raised what would have been an eyebrow, if he had any, but stayed silent, taking it all in. She sucked in a breath, forcing a cheery smile on her face as she looked back up to him. "But this isn't about me! I wanna talk about whatever you want to!" She exclaimed, looking back at him with a grin.
"Ooh, a favourite subject of mine! How did you know?" He said with a laugh and a wink before his smile dropped and he looked at her. "But I must say. Hearing you talk, I'm feeling a little better. I've been feeling a bit… down lately, and I was only saying to myself how much I would have loved a perky blonde to have some fun with.." He grinned, laughing as Harley blushed even more. "Harleen, such a pretty name. Unusual, I like it... If not a little bit full in the mouth. Gotta nickname gorgeous?"
It was hard to keep up with his speech, rapidly slowing down then suddenly, words were spoken so fast she had a hard time keeping up. But the admittance that her speaking was making him feel better she beamed a little, it was all she wanted to do after all, and it wasn't like it was all that important her life, even she was bored with it. "Well... My daddy used to call me Harley, he thought it was cute, used to call me his little Harl-"
"Harlequin!" The Joker interrupted with a laugh, looking to her with a new set of eyes, oh this would do nicely, she was perfect. He thought to himself. Harleen smiled, nodding a little. "Harley, Harley, Harley.. Where have you been all my life?" He asked. She couldn't tell if he was being serious or not. "Tell me, why did 'daddy' use to? Why'd he stop?" He asked, pressing the point. He was curious, he had several ideas, all that worked in his favour. Such a poor lost little thing.
"He... He died when I was nine.." She said quietly, chewing her lip. "He was in a car accident, another drunk driver hit him." After that, all the fun had gone from her life. Her daddy had been the only balance to her mother. After he died her life became all about routines and planning. Her mother wanting her to be the best academically, physically and mentally. Unfortunately, she couldn't have all three. With Harley being diagnosed with ADHD and mild psychosis, her mother had quickly been able to 'fix' her with medication. She took them twice a day, same time, for the past fifteen years. She had only ever missed a day once, and it was clear how much she depended on them.
She had been lucky for Arkham to accept her. It had taken some time with interviews and exams, but they were confident in her ability to take her medicine and function on an ordinary day with little issues. Her scripts were now provided by the Arkham Pharmacy, they were able to monitor her and there had been no issues.
"Really, mine too!" Joker exclaimed suddenly, pulling her from her thoughts. Joker grinned as Harleen flinched, the girl was distracted easily, it was almost too easy. Joker nodded at Harleen's confused look, "my father was a drunk though, drove right off a cliff!" He lied, looking back up to Harleen. "You know Harley, I think we have more in common than you think." He said. "But our parents were opposites you know?" He said softly, almost out of character for him. "My mother was a saint, she'd pack my lunches as a boy, dropped me off at school... But my father.." His face darkened. "Well, he favoured the drink you see. He got jealous, thinking that my Ma favoured me over him. How crazy?" He laughed. "Anyway, he had a little bit to drink one night, and drinkin' always made Ma sad, said he was wasting away, even though he was fat enough to have his own gravitational pull." He sniggered.
Harleen looked to him with wide eyes, this was it, he was finally opening up. She didn't write anything down just yet, she didn't dare break away from him in case he thought she didn't care. She didn't want to stop him so she just nodded, soaking in everything he said.
Joker knew he had pulled her in, the facial expression she had was almost comical if it didn't want to make him blow it off with a shotgun. He grinned at her, watching the blush crawl up her face. How delicious. "But you see, one night he got a bit loud, Ma decided to tell him no more, and well, didn't go down well with dear ol' pop." He said, faking a pout. "Came at Ma with a butcher's knife, and well…" He trailed off slowly, mocking sadness as Harleen gasped, covering her mouth. "Drove himself off a cliff a week later. Coward." He snarled. He might have bowed if he didn't need her to believe all of this. He could hear his own applause in his head and grinned madly, staring off into the distance. He almost believed himself for a moment.
"Oh Mistah J.." She said quietly, pouting a little as she looked to him, her heart ached for him, coming up with her own nickname for him, seemed only fair, and 'Mistah Joker' seemed like a mouthful every time.
"Mistah J'... I like it, your accent just makes it so... Adorable." He grinned, shooting her another wink. He would have to delay his plans a little, this was far too good of an opportunity to give up. He hadn't had a little side piece in a while, plus it would always be fun to kill her once she got boring, but first, he needed to find out just how 'fun' she could be. "Oh dear.. It would seem our time is up." He said, noticing the sounds of locks unlocking and sliding out from their positions.
Harleen looked up, blinking in surprise, it hadn't felt like an hour, maybe they were just being cautious, and indeed, the guards look surprised to see them both sitting there so calmly, Harleen didn't even look like she had cried. "Oh, well... Then um.." She stuttered, picking up her things as she smiled at Joker. "I'll see you tomorrow then, same time."
Joker just laughed, he couldn't give too much away, he had to look, 'normal' for the guards, but it would add to Harleen's beliefs that she was 'special' to him. As he was escorted back, he was finally freed from the Jacket, moving over to his bed where he pulled back the sheets, grinning as an inconspicuous folder laid there. Joker sat down on his bed, his feet up as he opened it, grinning at the smiling picture of Doctor Harleen Quinzel.