{A/N: Here's my 2nd installment of but of course "Jester's Girl" and I do hope you truly enjoy this installment just as you did the first :) reviews are gladly adored and welcomed :D Okey-dokey, here. we. go. *}
0000
`I sat in the back seat inside Wayne's limo, Alfie was driving me to Arkham Asylum. Today was my first session with the hovering and smothering Dr. Noelle Arkham. You remember her, right? Yeah. Thought so. Apparently they thought I had some emotional internal trauma that I needed to work out at Arkham of all places. Gordon had disagreed with it of course but whatever. And okay, maybe I'm being a little mean to Noelle there but she was a little smothering, I mean I told you she was. And whatever reason would little ol' me have to lie to you lovely readers out there? Hmm? Okey-dokey then.
I looked out the side window, staring at the buildings that we passed, heading to bridge that took people to the Narrows. I sighed softly and sat back and turned away from the window, looking down at my fish-net fingerless gloved hands that were in my lap. The gloves were black and I liked them. Wayne had let me get them from Hot Topic after the whole GCPD incident. I'd rather not talk about that though at the moment. It made me sad for some reason. Maybe I'm depressed, that's what the other doctors at the hospital said. I didn't like them. At. All.
Alfie looked at me in the rear view mirror, even with my head turned down I could feel his eyes burning into my head but when I looked up he had his eyes back on the road again. We were about to go over the bridge as I could tell when I had leaned forward, looking out the windshield. My hair was longer now but I wanted it cut, it hung over my shoulders so it wouldn't' get caught by anything or tugged from behind. I was going to eventually ask Alfie to take me somewhere to get it cut, and maybe get some highlights or something like that. I bet Harley would like that.
My eyes trailed over to the other side window, at my right. I looked out and saw the Gotham river now, we were already on the bridge. Great.
"Are you feeling alright, Ms. Jessica?" Alfie asked me
"Alfred." I never called him Alfred unless I was serious or scared, and I wasn't really scared right now "What did I tell you?" I quirked an eyebrow at him as he looked at me in the rear view mirror
"Sorry, Ms. Jess." I giggled for once, I hadn't done that in almost like forever.
"Thank you. And, yes. I'm A-okay." I nodded then looked back out the side window, that's when we fully entered the Narrows. I felt queasy now but I didn't show it. I just coughed once, clearing my throat and seemed to lean back into the limos leather seats, hoping I'd be engulfed by it. I looked over then down at the seat instead, seeing my notebook. My lips twisted into a grin as I set the notebook on my lap, then flipped it open. On the front it had my top five goals for the month.
Goal--One: Visit Harley.
Actually, I was kinda doin' that right now if you wanted to get technical.
Goal--Two: Get hair cut.
As said I was eventually going to have that one accomplished.
Goal--Three: Get back at
Falcone and her wannabes.
Well, she did point me out when the Joker was looking for me at school that one day. So, it's not really bad to get even with her.
Goal--Four: Go to
Arkham Sessions held by Noelle
Hey, I said I'd try it not completely go to every single one. But Alfie would probably just bring me anyway. Now, goal number five where are you.
Goal—Five: Be myself.
Be myself. Hmm. If only it was that easy.
I felt the limo jerk forward a little bit then I looked up from my notebook and out my side window, seeing that we were deeper into the Narrows now. We drove past a small sized sign that read 'Arkham, 1 mile' and had a arrow pointing right, the same direction we were headed. Then my eyes flashed forward at the rear view mirror. We were approaching Arkham Asylum now, one mile just as the sign had said.
The iron gates on front were opening and a guard stood near by in a little box set-up thing. He stared at me as the limo drove on by, and I quirked an eyebrow on me. He quickly looked away as if frighten and I had to put a hand over my mouth not to smile but then I licked my lips as Alfie looked back at me.
"Here we are, Miss." He tried to smile but even he seemed not to like Arkham. Who did really?
"Yeah." I whispered, not really answering but I looked at Arkham as Alfie drove the limo over into a parking lot area, slowly driving past already filled spots, looking for an opened one. But my eyes stayed at my side window as I looked at Arkham.
It was big that was for sure. Big and old looking. It looked dangerous but a lot of things in Gotham did. Finally Alfred found a place and pulled in, then turned off the vehicle. The limo stopped moving then and was lifeless. I slowly closed my notebook, setting it to aside onto the seat at my right. I looked back at Alfie with a smile and he got out but I had already opened my side door, he stood there pulling it a little bit more open for me, smiling the best he could.
I stepped onto the parking lot gravel and was happy that I wore nice shoes today. It looked like if I had worn my sneakers or something that I'd have rocks stabbing into them and all that good stuff. Alfie nodded and guided me around the main parking lot to Arkham's main doors, we walked up the few dirty marble steps that made me cringe slightly but I ignored it then Alfie opened the right side door for me and I walked on into Arkham Asylum.
Alfie was right behind me but I felt like I was alone at the moment. I looked around and saw guards standing near by, all staring at me as I walked on by with Alfie up to the main information nurse's desk. At least that's what the sign overhead said with the nice little arrow pointing forward for our amusement.
"I'll go check you in for your appointment today then I'll be right back in a jiffy." Did Alfie honestly just say the word 'jiffy'? It made me smile but I nodded anyway
"May I go sit in the waiting room?" I looked over at the sign that said the waiting room was only so far away and Alfie looked at me as I looked back at him, he nodded with a smile then walked over to the main desk, away from me. I grinned but then it faded as I turned on my heel and walked away into the waiting room, sighing as I looked around. There were empty seats. Apparently today just wasn't visiting day or something.
The sound of my footsteps seemed to echo against the dirty marble floor as I walked towards the farthest corner seat, plopping down with a sigh of relief. My eye lids drooped as I looked down at nothing really, folding my arms across my chest I leaned back in the seat but then repositioned myself quickly as I felt uncomfortable. Dang it. How was someone supposed to sit in these plastics little things? Oh well. I just propped my legs up so I could hug them tightly to my chest, and rest my chin on my knees. It was cold in here. Didn't they have a temperature device thingy or something? This is one of the many, many reasons people don't want to visit Arkham, aside from all it's inmates that house the place.
I shut my eye lids for a few moments, breathing regularly for once but then...
"Coop!"
Oy vey.
My eye lids flashed open and I tried to un-prop my legs but then I was tackled by no other Harley Quinn, my new mummy. She lifted me up and off the seat, my legs dangling in the air as she held me up like that in a tight hug. My ribs started to hurt after a while but then she finally put me back down on the ground and let me stand up straight. I looked at her with a slight twitch of the eye but still I forced a smile. My lips at first just twitched and tried to resist it but I smiled. I really did.
"Hiya, Harley." I groaned as she pulled me into another hug, her giggle was really high pitched and hurt my ears this time just like it had all those other times.
Secretly I wondered where the Joker was but I didn't have to wait long for an answer as Harley released me again, I backed up two steps and she looked at me with her head tilted to the side and her blond bangs shifted to the side again so it hid her left eye just like before but today her hair was also in pixie like pig-tails. Well, I had to admit, Harley Quinn did have good fashion sense at times.
"Mr. J doesn't know I'm up here. He thinks I'm out gettin' some face paint for him from the nurse's station." Face. Paint. But of course.
"Really?" I tried to act surprise and it worked as Harley nodded quickly but then looking around as if worried someone was watching before her eyes rested back onto me "Harley, does anyone else...know you're in this...particular area?"
Her happy joy-joy attitude quickly faded to a gloomy state then to a fake mask of confidence "Of course they do."
And of course she was lying. She had to be really persuasive to have a guard let her up here of all places. The waiting room to be exact as said before. I quirked an eyebrow at her answer and stepped to the right side, slowly moving around her as if wanting to run off and Harley was watching me, so she reached over, pulling me to her side, wrapping her right arm around me and I could hardly breath with my face was pressed against her right cheek uncomfortably. The smell of sweet ginger created my sense and it made me smile for real this time, not a mask of something I wasn't. Mask.
I would have shook my head in protest at my thought there if I hadn't been pressed against Harley here like that. Then the sound of guards shuffling over echoed and I felt a tugging, two arms wrapping around my waist and pulling me back, trying to pull me out of Harley's embrace. I could hear Harley's protesting as they finally got me out of her hold, pulling me far away from her but my eyes remained on lock.
Harley was clawing and biting at the guards that tried to pin her down to the ground, kicking and shoving to get away. To get to me.
But then one of them hit her with his plastic see-through cane that he carried obviously on his belt. That triggered my anger as I lashed forward and then the guard who held me hit me on the head and sadly for him, his left hand that he chose to hit me with had delayed pulling back and I snapped my teeth at it, biting down hard until I could taste the rusty moisture of blood touch my tongue and then I was hit by another guard and I pulled back, my lips stained blood. I snarled at him and felt my arms pinned together behind my back and I flipped my heart back.
Then I saw Alfie standing near by with a horror struck face but then he seemed to remember how to move and went directly at the guard who now held me and had a determine look on his face.
"Let her go." Alfie didn't have to ask twice as the guard who held me took one look at Alfie's face and let me go, stepping away and I could see in the corner of my eye, Harley being dragged away out of the room. Still conscious too which made me relieved to no end. I wiped my mouth with my sleeve then looked over at Alfie, he had a look of relief as well on his face then he beckoned me away, leading me out of the waiting room and away from the other remaining guards.
"He hit me." I looked up at Alfie as he guided me away, biting my lower lip that was still a little bit stained with blood as I could feel it. Alfie stopped and tried to smile as he took out a tissue from his pocket, dabbing it softly on my lips a few times before placing it back into his pocket then continued to guide me away like he had moments before.
"I know." He nodded in agreement "I know."
But he was just saying that. So I wouldn't make a scene, not that I planned to. I was just upset at the moment, ticked off at the guards and how they acted. People were rude here. No wonder if had such a bad reputation, other than the Doctors and inmates. I licked my lips once, then waited in another area with Alfie until a petite nurse called my name
"Jessica Hilton?" I cringed as she said my first name, nobody really called me 'Jessica ' anymore but I forced a smile and nodded as she looked over at me, getting up from seat and looked back at Alfie once then back at the Nurse, who guided me around the corner, out of Alfie's sight then down the hallway.
We passed a set of cells, see through plastic walls in the front of each cell, inmates in them, staring at me with greedy eyes. As if they wanted to get me alone in a room with no one around. I looked at one them and narrowed my eyebrows, their eyes widen and they quickly dashed back into one of the furthest corners away from the front of the cell, whimpering. I raised my eyebrows then at this, nearly in awe until I felt the Nurse tug at my arm. My gaze snapped back to the pretty little Nurse and then walked around the left corner with her but then she stopped. Her beeper was going off.
"Um--" She looked back up at me with a worried expression "You think you can get to the room okay?"
"Oh, sure." I nodded, mocking her a little bit but held back the urge to take it too far
"Okey-dokey then." She smiled then scurried back down the right side hallway and around the corner, out of my view. I snickered but then cleared my throat and looked back at the left, at all the doors that were lined up. Now just to find which one. Gee, this would be fun.
0000