Damage Control
Summary-
She had been warned when she had accepted the chance to shadow under Dr. Markus Jefferson and help him collect notes for his paper on the Joker. She had heard the whispers and the rumors, but she had ignored it all. And all because she wanted to prove that she was more than just pretty face with the 'most perfect body'. That she could play with the big boys, that she could handle herself.
Chapter Two-
Harleen Quinzel was tired, sweaty, and exhausted. Her two day weekend from both school and shadowing under Markus Jefferson had ended way too quick. It hadn't even truly felt like a weekend what with all her homework and studying she had to do. She was just thankful she had been able to escape having to document Jefferson's work. It was hard work to be going for not one major but two. For years she had been working to be both a Psychologist and a Psychiatrist. She hadn't originally wanted to do both when she first applied for Gotham University. But had eventually talked herself into it by saying it would prove she wasn't the dumb blonde bimbo.
Harleen stretched her aching muscles. It hurt but in a good way. She had just finished doing her gymnastic workout routine, this was her way of releasing her all stress. Usually she had time throughout the week to de-stress, but had had to give up what little free time she found during the weekdays to shadow Jefferson. So now, she had to wait until the weekend to de-stress.
Harleen stepped out of her vintage 1970's light blue vw Beetle, locking it and moved to the front of the car to open the trunk when her eyes caught something that didn't seem to belong on the campus. A man in a suit with combed back black hair and a neatly shaved beard and mustache, he wouldn't have stood out so much if it weren't for the way he held himself. She saw that he had noticed her noticing him because he was watching her intently, but instead of looking away he just nodded to her and continued to watch her.
Harleen sighed and tried to ignore the man's staring, after all she was used to being stared at. But, she countered glancing back at the man, his starring felt different than all the others. Harleen grabbed her gym bag from the trunk and slammed it before forcing herself to spin on the balls of her feet and march to her dorm building. So much for de-stressing. She angrily swiped her school I.D., opened the glass door and made her way to the elevator. She needed a steaming hot shower and then go to bed.
She took the elevator to her floor she walked down the hall to her dorm room thinking about nothing but that shower. Harleen stopped and groaned when she noticed the white ribbon tied the door handle indicating that her roommate had company over. Whelp, there went her steaming hot shower and a good night's sleep. Harleen glared at the door fighting the urge to kick it in a tantrum like way. She was tired and wanted her shower, it was getting quite late and she needed sleep if she wanted to make her medical class in the morning.
With another groan, Harleen spun on the balls of her feet and stomped back down the hallway towards the elevator. Looks like she was gonna be sleeping in her car. She knew that normally when someone's roommate had company they would just spend the night in a friend's room, or spend the night as company in their partner's room. But there was a problem with that for Harleen: she didn't have friends or a boyfriend.
Making it back to her car, Harleen opened the trunk again pulling out her spare blanket and pillow. It's not like she wasn't used to sleeping in her car, having done so many times before she got her scholarship into Gotham University courtesy of her gymnastics skills. She slammed the trunk closed and went to climb into the backseat when she spotted the clothes folded up neatly in the front seat. Well, that solved her little problem of fresh clothes in the morning, but who had left them for her? The man in the suit flashed in her mind's eyes and she looked around for him, but he was gone. Who was he? Why was he watching her? What did he want from her? How did her know she would be in need of clothes?
-?-
Harleen sighed as she pulled up to Arkham, she was late. After her last class had ended, the professor had pulled her aside and they had an impromptu meeting about her theses paper. Her professor wanted her to change the subject from the the mindset of someone who had been mentally and emotionally, but not physically, abandoned by one of their parents while loved by the other to the Joker. Had practically told her that she would be failed if she didn't. Her professor had apparently already written to Jefferson to allow her to question the Joker for her new theses paper.
Harleen sighed again and rested her head on her hands. She didn't want to start a new theses paper with the hand in date was just around the corner. She was happy with her theses that she had been working on. She was almost done with it. Now she had to toss it aside and start a brand new theses. Harleen squeezed her eyes shut trying to will the urge to scream and cry away. She was on the verge of snapping, she could feel it, and right now she wanted nothing more to go back to her dorm room for a long hot shower and to bury herself into her bed.
Her impromptu meeting had kept her from being able to run back to her dorm room to quickly shower and change. All day she had felt dirty, unclean, because she hadn't been able to shower at all today. She never had time, today was her long day with barely anytime to rest between her classes. And now she was suppose to walk into Arkham still smelling of sweat from her workout yesterday and her hair and teeth unbrushed. She was just thankful that whoever had left her a change of clothes had left her clothes that were someone professional looking.
"Stop stalling." Harleen hissed at herself as she forced herself to open the car door and exit it. She quickly made sure she had everything before locking the door and quickly made her way into the building. She nodded and smiled as politely as she could to the security guard at the front desk, the security guard nodded back and buzzed her through.
"You're late." The guard said with a smile.
"I was held back by my professor." Harleen told him brushing a strand of blond hair away from her face as she walked through the door. She felt the guard's eyes rake up and down her body.
"Oh, I bet." The guard said with a smirk and Harleen instantly knew where his mind had gone, he assumed she had been sleeping with her professor. With a huff of annoyance, Harleen stormed away from the guard, if she stayed around him another second she would surely bite his head off. As she turned a corner she ran into someone causing her to stumble and nearly fall.
"Oh god, I'm so sorry." Harleen said to the person who just so happened to be Dr. Arkham. He looked at her with what Harleen could only describe as professional indifference.
"I do not believe we have met." He told her.
"I'm Harleen Quinzel, I'm-" She started as a flash of recognition flew through Dr. Arkham's eyes..
"Right, you're that ditzy blonde fan of his that beg and fucked her way into shadowing Markus." Dr. Arkham said in dismissal and went to walk around her, and Harleen snapped.
"Excuse me! I'm sorry, what did ya say?" Harleen asked angrily, her Brooklyn accent taking over. "I did not 'beg and fuck' mah way into shadowing Dr. Jefferson. He is the one that begged me to shadow under him! And for your information, mistah, I have nevah once opened mah legs to get a head in anything!" She screeched not caring who heard her at the moment, his comment was the straw that had broken the camel's back. After taking a few deep, calming breaths she realized that Dr. Arkham was smiling kindly at her.
"If I may, Miss Quinzel, I apologize for my comment, it was uncalled for. But I must thank you for confirming a suspicion of mine. Walk with me." Dr. Arkham said gently laid a hand on her lower back, but not in a flirtatious way, and began to walk her through the facility. "You see, I've had suspicions about Dr. Jefferson, how he's only been letting young and beautiful young women, not unlike yourself, shadow him. And lately I haven't been allowing him to have his… eye candy, if you will, because frankly, I'm not running a brothel." Harleen couldn't hold in her laughter at that. "I don't mind what he does on his own time, but while he is clocked in his main focus should be helping the patients, not trying to figure out how to get his rocks off."
"Wait, if you stopped letting him have people shadow him, then why am I here?" Harleen asked as Arkham led her into his office.
"I'm not going to beat around the bush here, Miss Quinzel, I have been keeping an eye on you." Arkham told her motioning for her to take a seat. She did so as he walked over and sat behind his desk.
"You've been keeping an eye one me? Why?" Harleen asked nervously.
"I have a few connections at Gotham University, both in the Medical program and the Psychology program, connections that keep me updated on the more promising students. And when I saw your name on both the medical and psychology list, I was impressed. Tackling two majors in one sitting is not easy." Harleen blushed at her hard working finally being acknowledged.
"Thank you." Harleen said not knowing what else to say.
"I have been meaning to speak with you, but I have been very busy." Arkham said.
"About what sir?" Harleen asked.
"About your future. I want you to come work for me after you graduate." Harleen opened her mouth to answer him, but Arkham held up a hand. "You don't need to answer me right away, take time to think on it. And if you want it, there will be an Internship waiting for you here."
-?-
Harleen's mind was racing, she didn't know what to think about the job offer from Dr. Arkham. Should she take it or not? She mentally shook her head, she couldn't think about that now, she needed to focus on what she was doing right now. Harleen jumped when she felt a hand brush along her shoulders before instinctively pulling away from the hands as she looked over her shoulder to see Dr. Jefferson standing behind her. "Dr. Jefferson, this is highly inappropriate." She hissed at him.
"Oh, I don't think the lady likes your touch, Doc-tor." The Joker laughed from his seat across the table from them. They were in the middle of a session with him and Jefferson had just handed the floor to her. He had even gotten up from the table and backed away as if to give her a sense that she was in charge.
"I do apologize, I don't know what came over me just then." Jefferson said sounding very sincere in his apology, but Harleen didn't trust him.
"Mr. Joker…" Harleen stopped at the bored look she received from him, "Would it be alright if I called you something a little less formal, Mr. Joker just doesn't suit you." She asked and he lifted a nonexistent eyebrow.
"Oh? It doesn't, does it?" The Joker asked, his voice almost sounding like a taunt.
"No, I don't believe it does." Harleen told him and felt her heart skip a beat when the Joker stared at her intensely.
"And what do you believe suits me?" The Joker asked his tone light but his eyes were hard.
"You look more like a Mister J." Harleen told him and held his eyes before he seemed to get bored, he leaned back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling.
"Oh, but I like you calling me Mr. Joker. It makes me feel like I'm playing a role." The Joker told the ceiling.
"Do you like playing roles?" Harleen asked curiously and the Joker sucked on his teeth rolling his head away from the ceiling to glance at her with a bored look.
"Do you like playing roles, Doctor Quinzel? Do you like dressing up in big girl clothes and pretending to be one of the big boys? Do you want to eat at the grown ups table? Do you want to sit on your Daddy's lap and pretend to be in on the grown ups big talk?" The Joker teased her, forcing a pout on to his face before bursting out into laughter. Harleen knew then that he knew she wasn't a real Doctor, at least not yet. Harleen racked her brain for a question to show that he hadn't gotten to her, something to prove that she could handle the 'grown up table' as he said.
"I believe that is enough for the day." Jefferson said suddenly, swooping in as if to protect the scared little girl from the big, bad wolf. And as the guards began to chain the Joker up to pull him from the room, the question she needed popped into her brain.
"Wait!" Harleen cried as the guards began to slip a muzzle on the Joker's face. "Just one last question. Something I need to know, something that has been bothering me for a while now."
"Yes?" The Joker asked looking as if he knew exactly what she was going to ask, and he probably did.
"Why did the chicken cross the road?" Harleen asked and smiled at the total shock that appeared on the Joker's face. He had not been expecting that. The Joker suddenly threw his head back with a loud laugh, and Harleen felt a sense of victory, she had proven to the Joker that she did belong at the 'grown up table'.