Happy hoildays guys! I'm finally home from uni with all my work done YAY! I decided to write a long chapter to make up from the long gaps inbetween updates so i hope you enjoy it. I love being able to get the Joker back in the picture, hes been away to long XD Tell me what you think i love hearing from you guys. Thank you so much to those have you that do follow the story it means a lot to me and as always im soorrryyy for any spelling mistakes i missed (seriously i get like multiple people to go over it for me xD)
I had to admit my plan was genius considering I had only just come up with it in the last five minutes in Peter's office. While he was going on about how much he was looking forward to seeing Roselyn Hunt's first sessions in the afternoon, I was planning a way to make sure I got the Joker back. Yes I had an obsession, I couldn't deny it. The Joker was mine to open up, mine to discover and I wasn't handing him over to anyone else.
The first step of my plan meant manipulating Steven into giving me what I needed. My priority was knowing what was going on in the sessions so that I could plan my moves accordingly. The difficulty was that Peter would never let me watch the sessions, he wanted me completely away from the Joker. I also couldn't approach Roselyn without arousing suspicion and coming across as obsessed. Sure I was insane for being this attached to a psychotic clown, but I wasn't a complete idiot. If I wanted the Joker back, and to keep my reputation intact, I had to take this the subtle route. That's where Steven came in.
I didn't take much effort to track him down after I'd left Peter's office, I only had to ask a few of the other orderlies to find out he was busy helping subdue patients in the east wing. Apparently a few of the patients had started to act out violently yesterday and it had only gotten worse overnight. Now an entire ward was rebelling. No doubt there was someone behind it, purposefully agitating the patients in order to cause mayhem, it was the norm around here. At least once a month we had patients take advantage of the more damaged inmates to cause problems for the Asylum. Normally it would cause issues for me, I'd have to reorganise my patient schedule but today it worked out perfectly. Today it meant that Steven would be busy and wouldn't get his break until much later than planned. Seems like things are working out in my favour, Steven should be on break at just the right time, right when the Jokers session is.
There wasn't much I could do in the hours waiting, it was torturous thinking of how Roselyn was getting ready for her session. I wonder if she is as nervous as I was. I wonder if her legs shake as she walks in to see him. My mind tried to shy away from thinking about how the Joker would react to her. There was no way he could see her in the light same as me, after all he said I was different to everyone else in Arkham. He called the other physiatrists sheep, it was only me that could grow to understand him. My mind would not even accept the idea that the Joker would talk to her the way he had with me. Once the thought entered my mind I couldn't shake it though, try as I might to research the Riddler so I could be prepared for our session.
I'll admit the Riddler did intrigue me even if I couldn't focus fully on his file. From what my half focused brain could gather his obsessive compulsion and narcissistic nature is what had caused his delusional actions. He had a clearly high level of intelligence that aided him in his crimes, and yet it was his obsession for proving that intelligence that held him back. That and his obsession for riddles. His obsession really made him quiet a bad criminal, he had to leave riddles and clues about his crimes. It seemed he was easily beaten every time by Batman, and those defeats had only worsened his compulsion for riddles. Even though his case was interesting, his intelligence would no doubt make for challenging sessions that would only intrigue me further. But he wasn't the Joker.
I was so wrapped up in my thoughts of him that I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard a knock on the door and Steven's voice the other side.
"Harley, I heard from a couple of the guys you were looking for me earlier. Should I come in?"
I needed to pull this off right, one wrong move and they'd never let me near the Joker again. The first step was pulling out my hair from its tight bun so it cascaded down my shoulders, I needed to look vulnerable and girly. I stared in my compact mirror, brushing my hair out with my fingers and attempted to pull a sad concerned face. It would do.
"Ohh, Steven thank you so much! Please come in" I nearly cringed at my own voice, baby sweet and hollow. It was so fake I couldn't believe he wasn't laughing on the other side of the door. I thought he'd at least be trying to hold back a smirk when he came in, instead he was full of concern that only became more blatant when he saw me.
"Harley are you okay? It's not like you to ask for help around here." He had that puppy dog look in his eye, Guess this was going to be easier than I thought.
"I think that's my problem Steven, I don't really know anyone here at the Asylum that well. I mean I've only been here a few months and I don't even know who I can ask for help" I stared at the floor with my shoulders slumped.
"Harley what's wrong?" He moved across the room and even staring at the floor I could see his arm hesitantly reaching out and pulling back, although I don't think Steven realised I could see him, my hair cascading around my face hiding it from view.
"I'm just not use to the stress" I looked up and stared him in the eyes properly for the first time since he'd come in, hoping I looked sad and vulnerable, because if my glee at manipulating him was coming through everything would be ruined. "I've always depended on myself the whole of my life. I never bothered to try to make friends I never had time but now I just can't cope with everything and you've always been so nice to me Steven"
There was no way he could be buying this stuff, seriously I couldn't be that good an actress, like I really care about making friends. Inside I was practically giggling at how I had him eating out my hand, his face full of concern and worry. I felt just a stab of guilt starring up at that puppy dog face. I did really like Steven because he was a genuinely nice person, which was rare in Gotham, but that was the only reason this might work.
"Harley, trust me on this it's not strange at all. You'd be surprised how many people had breakdowns when they came to Arkham. Arkham Asylum is intense, you can't prepare for it and you can't face it alone, you need all the help you can get to survive here. Everyone here is so focused on their career it can be a bit of a system shock to need to rely on people so much but I'm here for you Harley. What's the problem?"
I took a big breath to create a nice dramatic pause and pulled my hair back from around my face, leaning back in my chair with a sigh.
"Its Peter, I fucked up Steven. The Joker case was just so much of a strain for me but he kept telling me how great I was and I thought I could handle it but I just couldn't." I said it all in a big rush, hoping the quicker I talked the less he could focus on details "They took me off the case and Peter is watching my every move and now with David….."
"David?" He replied hesitantly
"Everyone thinks that I've made such progress with David, even I did. Yesterday though another patient came in with bruises all over his arm, it took a while but he eventually confessed that it was David. Apparently he talks to himself in his cell about how he's got me fooled and how he'll be out in no time. He terrifies the other patients constantly exhibiting violent behaviour and intimidating them into silence. What if he really is as violent and deluded as before and I've just been an idiot?" I gave him my best princess in distress face, blue eyes practically full of crocodile tears.
"Harley that's not a problem at all, honestly. We get patients like that all the time. I'm sure you can fix it, but you don't need to worry too much I doubt it's true at all. I mean I've seen David a few times and he honestly seems more and more stable these days. There are always ways to check and see though"
"Peter can't find out though! He already has it in for me because I showed him up on the Joker case and made him look bad in front of the board members."
Steven looked thoughtful for a moment, I could feel my body tensing for the answer I hoped was coming.
"Listen, I shouldn't really do this without authorisation. My friend Ozzie runs the surveillance room, I mean usually you'd have to get it signed off from someone higher up to take out footage. I suppose it wouldn't be breaking the rules too much if you were to watch some of the videos of David in his cell. I mean you could easily get the authorisation for them, but if you want to keep it quiet Ozzie would probably let it slide as long as I ask him for you."
Flawless victory, surely it can't be that easy? My inner voice wasn't confident, for once it was cautious. I mean, it couldn't really be this easy could it? There couldn't be a catch, maybe I was just more manipulative than I thought.
We walked in relative silence to the surveillance room, the whole time my heart pounding so loudly I thought he must have heard it. Thankfully he left me outside to collect my thoughts while he talked to Ozzie. I'd managed to pull off vulnerable pretty well, holding back my inner giggles, now let's see how the Joker would react to another girl.
"Harley you can come in" Steven shouted from inside and I practically bounced to the door with excitement before I luckily remembered I was supposed to be on the verge of a breakdown.
The surveillance room was surprisingly small considering the importance it held for the Asylum. There were only three men at desks watching the monitors around the room and tapping away at their computers doing who knows what. Then there was a small office in the corner that I assumed was Ozzie. Even better for me if it was more private. This wasn't the only surveillance room, there were small rooms in each ward with live feeds of the patients' cells but it still surprised me the main centre in charge of monitoring all the patients was so…under staffed. That was Arkham for you though.
Steven guided me straight to the office just as I hoped he would. Ozzie was an unremarkable man, simple and plain. He was sat at the desk looking through paperwork and honestly if I hadn't been looking for him I wouldn't have noticed him at all. He just had no presence.
"Listen Harleen, Steve explained the situation and we're old friends so I'll look the other way. There's a spare computer there, so watch away. As long as you don't take any files out of the room I've not got a problem with it." He smiled up at me, well almost up at me, his eyes seemed to be focused somewhat too low to make eye contact. I had to resist the urge to role my eyes and sat down in the corner and start padding out my alibi by shifting through videos of David asleep.
I only had to endure ten minutes of Ozzie's completely obvious staring before Steven managed to draw his attention and the two began laughing and talking amongst themselves. I mostly ignored them, headphones in so they wouldn't know I was listening to their conversation. Trying to look as focused as possible only perking up slightly when I heard the Joker's name mentioned by Ozzie.
"Sure you don't want to stay any longer Steven? The Joker session is about to go live, might be fun to watch, he's always a riot."
"Seriously my breaks over in like five minutes I haven't got the time." He paused minute, no doubt looking over to see if I was listening and lowered his voice "Just don't upset Harley with the Joker stuff okay, she got kicked off the case and is still pretty upset about the whole thing"
With that it was just me and Ozzie left in the room, all I had to do was get him to show me the session without it being obvious I was invested in the Joker and I had just the right idea. Taking out the headphones I leaned back in the chair, arching my back and running the fingers through my hair.
"Work is seriously so stressful, glad I got taken of the Joker case." I turned to toward him with a little grin on my face "Think the new girl will do better than me?"
"I doubt that, you had that freak right where you wanted him" He was so eager to get in my good books, but all I heard was him call the Joker a freak.
"I hope Steven didn't tell you I was upset about that, I wanted off the Joker case. That guy gave me the creeps. I'm just annoyed because now I'm in Peter's bad books when he practical forced the Joker on me."
"Well if you want cheering up I have an idea." He walked over to my computer and leant over me, way to close for comfort and starting tapping away at the keys pulling up the live stream of the session.
"You really think watching that psycho will cheer me up?" Never had I had to try so hard to put just calm iciness in my voice, I was practically singing on the inside at the sight of the Joker coming up on the screen. "This only gives Peter more ammunition to make everyone think I'm unstable so he can fire me. Why do you think I'm keeping this whole thing with David so quiet?"
"That's stupid Harleen, you're obviously your more stable than most of the idiots working here. I just thought it might be fun to watch someone else stress over him now you don't have to deal with him"
I didn't answer for a second, pausing as if I was seriously considering saying no, and then turned away from him, staring at the screen. I tried to look vaguely disgusted when I saw the Joker's face in the centre of the screen, and stared back at Ozzie icily.
"Honestly Harleen, it could be kind of fun for you to watch it. Must be fun watching someone else fail cos I can tell you no one will get anywhere with the Joker."
No one will get anywhere with the Joker? Is that seriously his best attempt at getting on my good side?
"I suppose it's the first session so it will be short. I can tell you want me to watch it for whatever reason so why not. I guess it might be interesting to see how he reacts to someone else. Oh and call me Harley everyone does." Fake forced dialogue delivered with a sweet innocent grin, clearly I'd spent too much time around Peter but Ozzie seemed to look happy as he walked back to his deck. No doubt he wanted to take advantage of me, making himself look like a hero, seeing as Steven had made me out to be some sort of emotional wreak.
Thankfully Ozzie was back at his own desk and looking back over papers and videos of other patients so I didn't really have to keep up the act anymore. I'd missed the first few minutes of the session, so I didn't get to see if Roselyn's walk into the room was as shaky as mine was, or how she reacted to seeing the Joker for the first time.
There was only one orderly in the room with her, clearly she was trying to follow in my footsteps but wasn't quite confident enough to go in there with no back up. I had to admit she was attractive, glossy black hair and slim figure but it was clearly having no effect on the Joker. To my relief he was leaning back in the chair and slouched despondently. He was staring straight past her with glazed eyes clearly giving her none of his attention.
"Joker, you need to communicate with me if you're to make any progress" Her voice was clearly stern, with fake concern layered over the top, she must not be a woman used to be ignored, but there was no way a stern attitude would get through to the Joker.
"Obviously you don't think you need to make progress, so why don't you talk about why you're sane instead." She spoke in a level, casual way, damn it she was handling the interview better than I did, she barely seemed nervous at all.
Her new approach seemed to have gotten his attention, if only a little, and I bite my lip as he straightened up in the chair, looking intimidating even on screen. I had to admit I got a smug satisfaction from Roselyn visible flinch at having actually gained the Jokers attention, until I realised I'd have preferred him to carry on ignoring her completely.
He looked at her properly for what I could only assume was the first time for the entire session and let out his signature howling laughter, grin spread across his face and his dark eyes light up. There was life in his face now, no longer a blank stare. He rested his elbows on the table clapping his hands together as he laughed, to give her credit Roselyn only moved back slightly. I watched riveted as he ran his cuffed hand through his hair as though it was easy, I could almost see the cuff cutting into his wrist from the strain. His cuffs where chained to the chair since his last violent outbreak, yet he managed to make it look effortless despite the obvious strain it took to pull them so far.
"You errr, want me to talk huh?" His tongue ran out over his lip, his eyes shining with manic pleasure at Roselyn discomfort.
"I think you want to talk Joker. It can't be fun being in isolation all the time, but I'm here so that you can talk." Despite how her body language was clearly displaying her fear at being near the Joker, her voice stayed even and casual. She wasn't like me, voice breaking and panicked and she certainly had his attention. Maybe I was just fun for the Joker.
"What you wanna taaallkk about Doc? My childhood, my abusive father?" He'd leaned forward now, his arms folded on the table. Again I noticed the cuffs still straining against his wrists, but then I was absorbed in every small gesture the Joker made, anything that could help me understand him better. It was much easier to do that without his intimidating stare, his very presence that demanded focus making it so hard to concentrate on unravelling him. Then again it was hard to trust even his gestures because everything he did was so calculated, it was hard to tell what was real and what was an act.
"You mentioned Peter Kingston in your last session, the head of Arkham. Why don't you tell me what you think about him?"
Roselyn was still leant back in her chair subtly away from the Joker but her face seemed genuinely happy. The fact she'd clearly engaged him and by getting him to talk about an authority figure, but someone tangible rather than a possibly fictional father character meant that they would get a more accurate insight into him. Damn her for being good, how was I ever going to compete if the Joker complied with her?
"Kingston. He's an idiot, but then you won't see it. You're all so…blind. I can see it in you, you adooooore him don't you?"
"Kingston and I have a completely professional relationship. I don't know about adore, but I certainly respect him." Her tone had lost that casual edge. The Jokers only response was to laugh straight at her and give her a patronising stare, one eye brow raised and scarred grin pulled back in a mocked puckered smile. It was strange without his makeup, the scarring so much more prominently stretched with his grin.
"So what's your little plan for me then Doc? Gonna get on my good side so I'll spill all my deep dark secrets? You gonna fix me up, make me normal?" He had the same smug look on his face, same intense stare and yet Roselyn wasn't unnerved at all, she seemed to be completely pulled into every word the Joker said, no longer edging away.
"Yes I am here to help you." She seemed so confident with what she was saying, even I half believed she really did just want to help him "You're an intelligent man so I'm not going to pretend I don't have a plan for helping you, but that's all it is."
"See the thing with plans is, they don't errr…. always go the way you want." I was waiting and praying for him to go back to being despondent, to ignore her presence again but she really was engaging him there was no denying it. I could just imagine Peter's smug face waiting this in his office and it made me want to smash the computer screen.
How was I going to get the Joker back if he was just as engaged by someone else who was handling him so much better, someone Peter clearly trusted? I was utterly fascinated by the Joker, I couldn't help but want to learn more about him, but I had no idea what he thought of me. It was painful watching him talk to Roselyn, sure he hadn't said the same things that he had to me, didn't say she could be different like he had to me. I looked back at the screen, determined to at least watch to the end of the session before I gave up hope. The Joker was still leaning forward on the table, his green strangled hair hung over his face and clearly I'd missed Roselyn's response but he was intensely assessing her so whatever she said must have worked.
"You're pretty interesting Doc, I'll give ya that."
And then like lightening his lashing out. I nearly jumped back on my chair the movement was so sudden, he'd gone from being taunting to outright violent in a second. Clearly he'd been straining at his chains in order to loosen them, or test how far he could pull them. He'd reached across the table where Roselyn had slowly been leaning closer and closer to him throughout the whole session, and in one lightning fast movement grabbed that glossy black hair and slammed her face into the table with a terrifying strength. I could hear the crack as her skull connected with the table that even his manic laugh couldn't drown out.
"I don't need any help" He was still laughing as the orderly moved forward to intervene but he saw the Jokers hand wound tight around Roselyn's hair. I could see his hesitation and panic in case any action caused the Joker to snap further. I guessed he had about 30 seconds before the guard stopped panicking and pulled him off, but his sudden turn had caught the orderly completely of guard and frozen him in place.
"See this is your problem, you just don't understand. You're the real problem." Roselyn was whimpering as he practically pulled across the table, so close he could have been going to kiss her but instead he just laughed and pushed her away so that she feel in a pile on the floor.
I hadn't noticed the orderly finally react, or even the other guard move in I'd been so captivated by the Joker, but they were restraining him now. Not that he was struggling at all. As the strong armed him out of the room, a medic rushing past to check on a silent and unmoving Roselyn I heard him shout one last dig that brought such a smile to my face. Looking straight at the camera he shouted "Hey Pete, if you don't want to be replacing any more staff…..I'd suggest you just send Harley in from now on."
