A/N: Hi guys! Thank you so much for giving my story a read. I haven't written fanfic in about 6 years so I'm a little rusty and these characters can be a little messy to write because they're so dynamic but I'm trying my best. If you could leave a review that would be great! Don't be afraid of constructive criticism either or ideas. Thank you!
Harleen stood at the bathroom mirror, staring at herself as she mindlessly put on the finishing touches of makeup. A quick swipe of the mascara wand and she was done. Pushing the makeup bag to the side of the sink, she smoothed out her shirt one last time into her knee length pencil skirt. She grabbed her bag, keys, phone, ID badge, lab coat and...book? No, not today she thought to herself. Today was her first day of residency. Her first real day as a doctor where mentors didn't hold your hand throughout the day and asked if the kids played well together on the playground. If anything has taught her in her life, it's that you can't rely on anything else besides yourself even if it is an inanimate object.
Harleen pulled up to tall iron gates of Arkham Asylum and look at the mansion like structure that stood before her. That feeling of dread crept inside of her, voices of her intern friends came to mind.
"You can't be serious wanting to leave this program for Arkham." One said
"Harleen, you've got a free ride at Gotham General if you finish up your residency here. It's just one year." Another said as she gathered her belongings from her small locker that they provided her. A jacket, a few essential items and a small picture of a young boy and that's all she needed. She walked to the office of the program director, with her head held high, and gave a timid knock before entering the small room with abstract paintings on the wall. It was supposed to bring some kind of comfort she assumed but if anything it made you want to stay away from it. Handing in her letter of resignation she left that room, and those hideous framed pictures along with it, hoping she didn't ruin her career with that single piece of paper and a need for something more exciting in her life.
She pushed the thoughts aside and pulled up to the security booth and held up her badge. The security guard leaned out of the booth into the light shower of rain to scan it before allowing her to advance further onto the property.
"Have a nice day Dr. Quinzel." The guard gave her a faint smile and a tilt of the head before opening the metal shut gates.
"Thank you. You as well." Harleen slowly inched her way past the gates and onto the stone paved drive way to the staff parking that was past the nicely kept from area, behind the asylum. Few cars scattered the visitor parking lot, keeping the eerie feeling that this place wasn't an abandoned building at bay. Vines grew up the columns wanting to take it over, making the stone look even darker than it originally being. Cracked windows on the upper floors, the metal bars attached securely covering them up nicely. Chipped paint on the front entrance sign, nothing a little paint couldn't fix. It's the little details like this that family's seem to forget when they're dropping off their little sister or uncle to be taken off their hands and drugs to fill empty minds but it was the little things are what stood out to her the most.
She parked her car, grabbed her things and headed for the employee entrance. Showing her badge one more time to the guard that was placed in the narrow hallway. Once up the small flight of stairs she made her way over to a directory and tried her best to find which wing the doctors' offices were located at.
"New here?" A deep voice distracted her train of thought. Prying her eyes away from the board she turned her head to meet deep brown eyes along with tousled brown hair. He was quite handsome and his body posture seemed to show that he knew it and used it to his advantage.
"Hmm..Yes I am. Is it that obvious?" She gave a small smile and turned her attention back to the board. "I'm looking for Dr. Leland's office. Would you by chance-"
"South wing, second floor and to your left." The man crossed his arms and gave her a satisfactory smirk, "James Scott. Second year." He held his hand out to her
Cocky much? Harleen adjusted her bag on her shoulder and took his hand in hers and gave him a firm shake. "Harleen Quinzel." She pulled her hand out of his and took a step towards the south entrance. "Thank you for your help Dr. Scott. I'll see you around." Or not. She turned and started to head towards her new destination as she felt dark eyes burn into her back. Using the directions he had given her she managed to find Leland's office quite easily. She knocked on the door and entered after hearing a faint 'come in' from the other side of the door.
"Dr. Leland. Harleen Quinzel. It's very nice to meet you." She held out her hand for the doctor to take. "Thank you for this opportunity, I don't think I can express how much it means to me. I hope to live up to the expectations." Leland motioned for her to sit down on one of the plush chairs in front of her desk.
"Very optimistic and aspiring. We could use that more around here." She gave Harleen a genuine smile and pulled out a manila folder and opened it, spreading out sheets of paper. "Here is some paperwork that you will have to sign before starting today. Just some legal stuff stating that this is your first official day and we can put that in and keep record for the program." Joan handed her the few pieces of paper along with a pen. Harleen signed her name elegantly on the dotted line and handing it back to her. "Perfect. Now let's get to the rest of the group. I understand that during the orientation that you had a tour of the facility but given that this is a lot to take in over a sixty minute introduction we will go ahead and give you a more detailed look at what we do here at Arkham." They both stood up and Harleen slipped on her white coat and attached her badge at the pocket. She followed Dr. Leland close behind out of her office and down the corridor into what seemed to be a small meeting room that could comfortably fit five people in. There were three men and one other girl in the room, quietly speaking among themselves. They all stopped once Leland and Harleen entered the room.
"Alright. Now that everyone is here and papers are all signed we can get on with our day. I will show you the grounds a little more in depth, discuss scheduling sessions with the patients. Treatment plans will of course be determined by you but approved by me or another, whoever is on staff that day. Two doctors will need to sign off on treatments at all times for first years. Let's get over to the session rooms and where the patients stay then." She turned on her heels and started to walk towards the elevators, the small group following her. "Sessions will begin after patients have had their breakfast so between 9 and 11 will be ideal. Some cases are different and may need to be accommodated but I don't foresee that happening. At least not until you're ready to take on a bigger case." A bigger case? What could a bigger case entail? She knew there were some upscale criminals in here but to mention it on their first day was just cruel. She came her for more and knowing that the chance of having a session with anyone who's been on the nightly news was enough to keep her mind racing. This is what she had left for and she was already getting a taste of what she could get in the future. Hopefully sooner rather than later.
"Depending on how severe the patient's condition is, sessions could be twice a day others every other day." They all stepped into the elevator and the light for level one lit up. "Your guys' offices will be down here. You can put anything you'd like in there as long as it is in regulation." Getting off she headed towards the offices. "Your names are on the doors if you'd like to go in and take a quick look and set your things down before we move on." Harleen moved down the walkway and looked at the dark grey metal doors until she found hers. 'Dr. Harleen Quinzel' was etched into a silver nameplate and screwed onto the door. She ran her fingers over the lettering and smiled before opening the door. She could smell the fresh coat of paint that lingered on the walls as she entered. Dark blue industrial carpet lined the floor, two small windows that showed the now stormy day outside. A dark wooden desk sat just in front of the windows along with two plush chairs, a filing cabinet and a few cabinets. She set her bag down on the desk and grabbed the set of keys that were beside her computer. One distinctly smaller than the other, assuming one was for the filing cabinet and the other to the office door. She walked out, shut the door and slid in the metal key into the lock and turned it until she heard it click.
"Find everything suitable for you in there? I know it's a little dreary but once you've made it yours it will be a lot more comfortable." Dr. Leland said
"Yes, very much so. I've got a decent view at least." Harleen pointed to the closed door
"Good. Are you ready to continue then?" She nodded and Joan turned to gather the rest of the residents. "If everyone is ready, let's go downstairs and we can see where the sessions will take place along with where the patients stay." Now onto the good stuff. Back to the elevator everyone piled in and the basement light lit up. "Guards will be posted all around so don't worry about not being secured. You may not be in sight of one but voices travel easily down here." The elevator pinged and the doors opened suddenly to an open area with a nurse's station in the center. There were two doors. One to the left and the other to the right. 'Patient Ward' and 'Session Rooms' were stated above them with two guards at each entrance. "Our maximum security patients are one floor down and you will need a special access code to get down there so for now you are only able to get to this level. Let's start with the patient ward." Going to left we entered through the double doors. Past them it seemed as though we left Arkham and entered some else, much more dark and sinister. The walls were an off white, stained from who knows what. The smell of disinfectant entered their noses. They walked down, Leland going on about the different patients and the others now beginning to ask questions about when they will see their first patient and have one on one time with them but Harleen couldn't seem to focus on their conversations. Her mind and eyes wandered the corridor, seeing sedated patients being taken back into their room and being strapped down to thin mattresses for their safety. Others not going so quietly. Guards wrestled them down onto the ground using their body weight to hold them down long enough for a nurse to inject them with something to sedate them. The pleas for them to stop giving them drugs was mind numbingly painful. Didn't they know we're only here to help them?
"…and depending on how you guys do here your first week you can submit to having one, and only one, session with a maximum security patient if you so chose to." Harleens head snapped back to the front once she heard those words come out.
"I'm sorry. Did I hear you correctly? A session with any maximum security patient?"
Joan laughed lightly, "That caught your attention didn't it? I thought it would. But yes you did. I wouldn't say any but depending on the situation we can see what we can do." Dr. Leland looked down at her watch, "Lets head over to the session rooms and see if we can catch any going on. It's only 10, I'm sure there's bound to be something happening." They walked back into the opening and headed over to the other side and went in. Thick metal doors lined the hallway with guards standing at each one of them. A taser holstered at the thigh and a soft pellet gun in their arms.
"Answering Dr. Korins' question, sessions can begin tomorrow for you guys. Patients will be assigned today and you will have time to go over the file and past doctors notes to be prepared." A sudden alarm went off with a red light flashing above one of the doors and two guards ran in quickly.
"Get him out of here! I want restraints on him at all times. And lets up his sedation, this dosage is too low if he's able to get out of those cuffs." The man from earlier walked out of the room suddenly, rubbing his neck and making quick notes in it. What was his name again?
"Dr. Scott..Everything all right?" Oh, yeah, that's what it was.
"It is now. I had sedated him an hour early to this session hoping to ease him somewhat but that doesn't seem to be working. This is the second time he's gotten out during a session." Faint purple bruises seemed to slowly appear on his neck.
"You know I like it rough boys but I have to say, you're not my type." A deep and rugged voice came from the room.
"Shut it and stand up." A guard said
"We will make sure the restraints are looked over and I suppose we will have to go over the medication and possibly change it if it's not working. Get yourself checked out and we can write up a report once I'm done here." Dr. Leland placed a hand on the other doctor's arm before he continued to walk down the hallway and out of sight. "This is a common thing unfortunately with maximum security patients. We try to avoid it but it is part of the job." Dr. Leland continued down the row of metal doors closer to the open door.
As the group reached the open door a man with restraints on his upper arms along with his wrists cuffed to his waist with a chain stepped out with two guards holding him by his arms. "Dr. Leland. How nice of you to come by and visit me. You know I've missed our sessions. This one doesn't understand me like you did." He slowly let his lips fall into a grin that would make your hair stand up. With no other words spoken, steele blue eyes traveled along the lines on eyes of the new doctors, "Ah..And what do we have here? New toys for me to play with? Mines almost broken, I could use another one real soon." Some of the doctors shifted uncomfortably. Twitching their fingers in there lab coats but Harleen stayed still, calm even. She studied over his features. Bright green hair that was slicked back, white smooth skin and no eyebrows. She could see a tattoo of some sort sneaking out of the top of his dark navy blue uniform. Facial tattoos were hard to ignore. A simple J on his left cheekbone, a star on his right temple and the word damaged written at his hairline. Everything was so much clearer in person rather than seeing stills on the TV. Although him missing his red lipstick made it almost seem unreal.
"Don't keep the doctor away too long. All his hard work would be for nothing." He threw his head back and started laughing.
"Get him back to his cell. I will be there shortly to approve the medication." Leland gave the guards orders and they nodded in unison, "Yes ma'am." The pulled him towards Harleen suddenly, heading to the exit, "Boys, boys, boys…all you have to do is ask." She watched as they pulled him, looking over his features one last time up close when he noticed her staring at him. Their eyes met as he passed by and another slow smile crept over his lips, showing his white teeth. He let out a small growl before turning his head back to face the front. Harleen let out a breath, had she been holding her breath in? Time seemed to stop as he passed by and the clock seemed to start ticking again once should could get her surroundings back.
"Sorry for that interruption. Let's move on." Joan continued.
