Chapter 1

(I own nothing: DC comics, batman, or anything else)

She was a beautiful little thing. Small but powerful, he could sense it in her. He could tell though that she didn't use that power to laugh, she did once in her life, but not anymore. That laughter yearned to be unleashed, to live. He stared at her staring back at him, he had never sensed a glare like hers before. It was different, more eager, more desiring. He liked that, he wanted that glare forever in his memory. He smiled wide and realized it made that new glare even better, her eyes wide with fear. He knew that this one was going to be fun.

"Hello, my name is Dr. Quinzel…" Slight hesitation in her voice, but he just smiled knowing exactly what was going through her little mind.

"Afternoon Doc." Dr. Quinzel jumped momentarily just enough for it to be noticed by him, he couldn't resist laughing within himself, she was a jumpy little thing, scared out of her mind, and he was overjoyed by the new doctor they had prescribed to him.

"Your name is Joker correct, Mr. Joker?" She said tentatively and he held a laugh within his throat.

"That it is what they call me; I rather like it, sticks out in a crowd." He said with a deep and hoarse voice, looking up at her, his right eyebrow slightly raised and a gleaming smile across his face.

Dr Harleen Quinzel was the new doctor at Arkham. She had been accepted with great ease straight out of college because of her fantastic grades.

"You didn't come up with the name yourself?" She talked with great caution not wanting to make him upset in anyway, she had heard the stories. The murders, crimes, tortures. She admitted to herself that she was scared, scared beyond belief, but she knew what she wanted and she was determined to learn the mysterious mind of the Joker.

"I don't remember, maybe I did, maybe I didn't. Either way I think it suits me quite well." He grinned ear to ear towards her. "But you, you are such a nice looking girl, what's your name?"

"You can call me Dr. Quinzel." She still responded with great fear, and the he relished in it.

"Dr. Quinzel yes, but what is your first name? Surely that can't be your first name." Joker stared deep into her eyes, oh how he loved the future they would have together, he would pick deep into her tiny thoughts.

"On a professional basis Mr. Joker, I believe that you should refer to me as Dr. Quinzel."

"Well, I just won't call you by your first name, but that doesn't mean you can't tell me what it is." He responded without looking at her, he already knew what each expression she would be revealing to him.

"Do you have a first name Joker?"

"Well that doesn't seem fair, I asked you first." He shot a glare at her still smiling, didn't want to scare her to much and kill her in the first session with a heart-attack or something. Although he mused about the image of it.

"Okay, I'll bite." She figured that if he was going to tell her his name it was worth losing her name to him.

"Oh you bite do you? I like biting." He said alluringly. He let out a small chuckle and flew back onto the couch and calmly lay there staring at Dr. Quinzel.

Her eyes widened immensely. "Please refrain from speaking in those terms Mr. Joker, back to the subject of the matter, my name is Harleen."

"Harleen," he paused and stared at her, "Harleen Quinzel."

"Yes, now what is your first name Mr. Joker."

"I don't know how to tell you this but you see my name has been kept secret, I don't ever recall telling it to anyone." His bright eyes gleamed as he frowned. "I don't know if I can tell you, I mean really we just met, I think I'm taking our relationship too fast."

"Joker, I told you my name, I believe it's fair of you to tell me yours."

"My, you're a needy little thing aren't you? I barely know you and already all you want from me are answers." He smiled at her, he loved this so much.

"But if you must know…" Harleen quickly grabbed a pen and her notebook, she couldn't believe this, it was only her first day and the notorious Joker was already going to give her his first name, she was thrilled beneath her calm and professional exterior.

"It's…well…hmm…you know, I don't know my first name!" He laughed loud, and hysterically, Harleen jumped up scared out of her wits by that laugh. She knew it was a laugh no other could produce but she had never experienced anything close to a roar of laughter like she just had heard.

Joker noticed he scared her, and although he liked it, he felt it was rude of him to be making her feel that way on there first session together. "I am so sorry Harley, but really I don't know…or maybe I do, I don't know." Once more he chuckled low.

"This is our first session together and I feel like we may be getting off to a bad start, or maybe your just toying with me to see if you can break me early on but, what did you call me?" She stopped mid sentence realizing that he had called her something other than what she had preferred.

"I called you Harley, it suits you better than Dr. Quinzel it's a more dangerous name and I know you're a dangerous girl beneath that exterior of yours, it's dying to be let loose." His voice was calming, dark and evil, but somehow that voice could change in an instant, it had scared her nearly to death when all he said was "Afternoon Doc" and now it relaxed her.

"Please Joker; call me Doc if you want, but please do not call me Harley." It upset her that he was so conniving, he could read her every move, and how did he know that this wasn't truly what she was. She used to be so lively, she could remember. "How did you…" she stopped herself from asking how he knew, for she knew it was for the best if they steered the subject away from talking about her. "Never mind." She said quickly hoping he didn't realize what she was going to ask.

"How did I know your true self?" Joker spoke and she damned herself. "Well Doc, I just kinda have this gift, I'm a great reader." He was tickled how he had already, with great ease, knew about her.

"Let's steer away from that, I want to know about you Joker."

"And I want to know about you Doc."

She sighed, "Your not going to make this easy at all are you?"

"Nope."

She laughed a little with his straight answer, and she placed her hand on her cheek and sighed again, a small and subtle smile on her face.

"You know," he said casually "you have a nice smile, you should use it more often, it's soft."

She wiped the smile right off her face, this wasn't working at all, and maybe what her pupils said was true, she was never going to excel in a real situation with a patient, that she was a joke.

"What's the matter Doc?" His voice sounded eager, like he truly wanted to know what was wrong with her.

She wanted to tell him what was wrong but refused to; she just wasn't prepared for her first actual doctor to patient meeting. She didn't know what it would be like with nerves shaking a mile a second, although she had to admit that she was calmer than when she started the meeting with her patient, she vowed her next meeting with Joker would be prepared and more professional.

"Come on Doc, you can talk to me, tell Joker what's happenin'." She didn't even know this man, this killer, sure she read all about him, knew all his doings that hit the news and books, but she was face to face with him now. It didn't seem right to want to talk about her life with a mass murdering psychotic.

"It will make me feel better about you, allow me to trust you." He knew exactly what to say to get her to talk, the right voice actions, the right expression; she was so goddamn easy to break. He wanted a challenge, but something about her he liked and he was fine with the victim they had selected for him.

"Joker, we need to be talking about you, why don't you tell me something about yourself."

"Dr. Quinzel, I have talked to so many Doctors, and all they do is ask me the same questions over and over again. To be quite honest I'm tired of it, the same boring routine over again and again. I think it would be nice if someone could talk to me for a change. This is our first session together, why not let me know a little about yourself, allow me to become a better patient to you."

Harley thought it over, it actually didn't sound like a bad way to start their relationship of doctor and patient. "You know, we have about fifteen minutes left, go ahead and ask me some questions, I think it would be good for you to be comfortable around me."

"Oh great joy!" He looked like a small child who had gotten his first bike for Christmas. "You're the first doctor who has ever let me ask for a change. Thanks Doc. So, what's eating you, you seem troubled."

"Oh nothing to worry about," She lied horribly and it had no chance of getting past Joker, "just silly things."

"If you haven't noticed yet then you're a terrible doctor, I like silly things!"

Harley couldn't understand it, she was terrified of being around the Joker at first, but now she felt it was okay to just talk with him. It felt easy to talk to a mass murdering psychotic and strangely she was fine with that.

"Just some of my college friends said some things to me, that's all." She felt that was all she needed to say for him to be satisfied, but Joker being the man he was dug deeper into her.

"What did they say?"

Joker liked this, he actually wanted her to stick around, and who knew maybe something would blossom between them. He never had wanted a doctor to stay his, but this doctor, this beautiful blond and blue eyed doctor was his for keeps.

"They called me a joke for wanting to actually pursue a career in psychology, they said I could only pass the class not actually perform."

Joker smiled large, so large so wide, his eyes gleaming into hers.

"I happen to like jokes."