She woke with such a start. Sweat poured down her eyelids settling at the nape of her neck, if it didn't fall of her chin first. Harleen didn't want to open her eyes. They were shut so tight that it felt as if she would have permanent wrinkles if she kept them closed any longer. It was uncomfortable to wake up to such an impenetrable darkness. It took about a minute for her eyes to adjust to the dark atmosphere of her slummy apartment. There was a sliver of light coming from her door, which made the trek from her bed a little easier. Tonka was sitting just outside whimpering.

"It's ok lovely."

Whiiiine. Of course. I know you know I'm lying. "I just like to make you feel better."

Huff.

"Hmhmhmhm, you silly girl. You're just too smart for your own good."

A smile was hard to accomplish after that horrid dream, but it would make Tonka feel better to know that her human was using that quintessential gesture to show her well being. But how she hated to smile. Not one authentic smile had crossed her lips since she took this job. Smiling was a way of lying to people. She knew that…and he knew that. That's why it was so hard to think to deeply about her current occupation. Being a psychologist was supposed to be a tough job, but not this tough. Not this grimy at least. Ever since she took the damned job, she knew she would regret it. The dreams started even before she knew she would be researching the Joker. Uhg, researching. As if the inmates were rats in a lab. Let's see if they can get the cheese at the end of the maze in under a minute! It disgusted her. She went into this job to help people. Not test their endurance levels. But that's what it felt like every hour she was on the island. No one related to her feelings about treating them like humans. People had this warped vision in Gotham that anybody who had committed a murder for anything other than money was no longer human, and should be treated as such. Murder is murder. It doesn't matter how it was done or why it was done. It all had the same underlying motive anyway you tossed it. Power. Men liked it. And they would do anything to achieve it. Animals. We're all just apes with a huge brain.

The water she was trying to drink lost its taste after that thought. It brought her back to that dream she was trying so hard to erase. She coughed up the water that entered into her trachea. Her mouth and throat had gone numb.

She could still feel that tongue…"JESUS CHRIST HARLEEN!" Slam! Tonka started barking.

She couldn't think of it.

"Shuddup, Tonka."

It wasn't a thing she could think of tonight. Not when she had to see him again tomorrow.

"I said shut it Tonka!" Tonka started to take strides around the living area. Once around the rug. Twice around the chair. Then once around the rug again.

Harleen paused before yelling at her rotty again.

"…what is it, girl?" She only did that when she was nervous.

--

Harleen checked the locks. One of the dead bolts weren't locked but that wouldn't be a problem. That door was shut tight. Nobody was getting in easily. But nevertheless, she checked the whole apartment. Her windows were slammed in on themselves, making them inoperable even to her. So that wasn't an entry point. Her vents were shut tight.

Huh.

Tonka was never nervous unless she sensed something menacing either outside the apartment or inside. One time she had saved her human from carbon monoxide poisoning. She ran around the living room so fast that Harleen couldn't catch her to calm her down. There were different levels to her mad dashes though. This one wasn't that bad. Just a casual stroll around the rug. Probably because she had slammed her mug so damn hard on the counter.

Better let her finish so she doesn't freak.

Having a Rottweiler was nice, but having one with a sixth sense for danger was even better. Especially for where she had live. It was such a slum hole. She had never thought she'd be in this situation. She had gone through schooling for just the opposite. No. It was just her family curse. No one could ever get out of it. She shouldn't try acting like fate would be any easier on her because of her abnormal capability to process the human psyche. In college, she and her friend had always yacked on and on about how your space defined you. Bunch of rubbish now. She had learned never to trust people after that. Not even if they had a golden seal of approval by societal standards. People were so predictable. Given a chance over something they wanted or something they should do…they'd pick their greed over thoughtfulness. Or their survival. Hey, she was no different. If she had known this when she was growing up, things would've been a lot calmer. How she hated drama.

She heard it before she saw it.

Creeeeaaaaaakkk

An almost misty flash out of the corner of her eye in her bedroom. Or was it in the kitchen?

Damn, how'd they get in. I locked that door up tight.

Tonka was sitting in the middle of the rug, whimpering again. "Shhhhhhhhh, lady."

She needed complete silence. Figure out where the intruder was.

And then stick him with a pen in the neck.

She stood in the middle of the hall, waiting. She knew he knew she saw him.

But she couldn't keep from shaking. That smell…

Rusted metal. Newly restored caulk for the dents in the walls. Body odor. A horrid mix of piss and stomach regurgitation.

And asphalt mixed with gunpowder. Gunpowder.

Shit.

"Hahahahaheehahahahoo. Aheh heh. Heh. The Doctor's humble abode. Not what I was really picturing, love. "