Ch. 7 The Next Day

I woke very well rested.

When I got to work Friday morning there were construction crews all over the grounds and, plastic covering the spot where the sliding glass front door used to be. After getting through plastic wall/door I looked at the reception area. The first thing I noticed was the bullet holes and burn marks all over the walls, then the damage to the chairs and decor.

My heart jumped seeing all the damage, I wondered what had happened here. They must have come into the room guns blazing, smashing things, going wild. I sort of wished I could have gotten in on the action, that I could have taken a big ol' sledge hammer to Judy's stupid desk. Thinking of her, she was not behind the desk. Jed was behind the desk, facing away from me and talking on the phone.

I walked up to the side of the desk and within his view. When Jed spotted mme his eyes went wide and he pulled the phone away just a little. I could hear the person on the other end yelling at him he blinked and looked at the phone like he had forgotten he had it in his hand. Then hung up.

"Doctor Quinnzel!" He rushed from around the desk and gave me a big hug. "I was so worried about you after what happened yesterday! I couldn't find you anywhere! I called you last night and got no answer, I was so worried that he took you and killed you!"

She laughed at his emotional reaction, she hadn't expected that when she came in today. "Oh Jed, I am fine, fine, I called in sick yesterday." He pulled back and looked at her with an odd expression. "You, knew. Yeah! You told me-" Harleen put her finger to her lips quickly and her eyes darted around the hallways to see if anyone had heard. "Shhhh!" Jed's face quickly became serious.

"I told Robert, Jed, I warned him on Wednesday what the Joker had said to me."

Jed shook his head, like I had planned the break out. Which got me shaking my head, none of this was my fault. I did the right thing by warning the staff and looking after my own security.

"Jed, Jed, listen to me, I couldn't stop him, no one could, so I stayed away from the danger, I protected myself. You can't blame me for that."

"You could have stopped him."

"How? How! Was I supposed to stop the most infamous criminal in Gotham from breaking out?"

"You could have, could have... Drugged him up or..."

"What? So his lackeys could pick him up and take him out without a fuss?"

Jed kept shaking his head. "I didn't help him in any way Jed, I don't fucking care if you believe me." I turned and walked away from him. I wasn't about to start a fight at work, and if he kept insisting I was wrong for some reason I was going to punch him in his face.

I cooled down in my office, then went to see how my patients were doing. I had five patients total, Henry, Gilda, Henrietta, Stephen and Omar.

I decided to start with Henrietta because I had blown her off on Thursday. Henrietta was an African American woman, only a little younger than myself. She had gotten into a very serious car accident when she was younger that left her with severe brain damage. She did get quite violent sometimes and after she murdered a family pet they put her into Arkham.

Henrietta had good days and bad days, I had asked her to keep a diary to help her understand her emotional rhythm. She was nice enough to share her diary with me and we talk about how Henrietta thought about herself, her life, her disability. From what I understand of Henrietta's past psychiatrists was that they were mostly men than focused on keeping her calm, believing that activity caused her outbursts. From what I have observed watching her when alone, just with me or in a group setting she is triggered. There seem to be a couple different triggers for her and I have yet to be able to broaching the subject without agitating her. She hasn't answered about it much. Lately I have been focusing on collecting information about trigger events. But because of her brain damage her reaction can be delayed, so it needs careful monitoring.

I went to her cell but she wasn't there, which meant she was probably in the lunchroom. I took a roundabout way over to the lunchroom and I passed the high security wing, since I was curious about the damage to more of the building.

There is a whole wall blasted out and cinderblock piled around from where it had landed and people moved it to bring in supplies. There was still blood splatter on the walls, but none on the floor, someone had started cleaning but hadn't had the time to get it all. It was obvious many people had died here, probably guards. I stood still, looking at the destruction, imagining what happened. The Joker's men blasted the wall and flooded in raining bullets and knives, freeing the man who would pay them for their murder and mayhem. Then they moved through Arkham and out the front door.

I moved on, down the halls and towards the lunchroom which had been untouched by the destruction. I found Henrietta there, trying to teach a patient called Bridgette to play patty cake, it didn't seem to be going well but Henrietta didn't look discouraged. She giggled at Bridgette's mistakes and told her to keep trying.

"Hello Henrietta!"

She looked over at me with a sunny smile and popped up from her chair. "Oh! Miss Harley!" She rushed over to hug me. "Miss Harley, so glad to see you!" I smiled, she was easy to get along with today. "It's good to see you too Henrietta!"

I sat down and had a nice conversation with her for over an hour. Then made my excuses and went to see my next patient Omar. He is a Pakistani man who became catatonic after his wife died, his family wasn't able to care for him 24/7 so they put him in Arkham. Many of our patients have a similar story, that their families just weren't equipped to care for someone with excessive needs. Very few patients at Arkham are criminals and violent like the Joker.

As I predicted Omar was fine, lying on his memory foam mat on the floor of his room, I checked his charts and I had just missed one of the caretakers who had come in to bathe and change him. Being catatonic meant he didn't get up to go to the bathroom, so we have diapers on him. Feeding tubes and eye drops were also required items for his care. I was lucky I didn't do much of that stuff, I just checked him out, talked with him for a while and left.

Stephen was my last patient, his room was closer to the high security wing and I had to walk across half the facility to get back over to his room. When I got there, I immediately knew something was wrong. The door to his room was gone, and the door frame was twisted and ripped up partially. I slowly moved closer and peered into the room, no one. I went back down to a main hallway and grabbed the first caretaker I saw, "What happened to the patient in 503?"

The female caretaker just blinked at me. "Doctor Quinnzel, Stephen got hurt in the break out, he didn't make it." You would probably think I would feel remorse right? Because that's what I showed the caretaker with my face. Inside though, I felt relief.

I had secretly hated my patient Stephen, I kept my feelings quiet and tried very hard to be unbiased during our sessions. Stephen, was a chronic sexual abuser, of children. After he had been arrested three times and done time in prison they eventually put him in Arkham for life. He obviously couldn't be rehabilitated and wouldn't stop breaking the law, so they put him in a hole where he would be away from children and watched closely.

While I hadn't been a victim of sexual abuse as a child, I had gotten physically abused. That made it clear in my mind how awful it would have been to be one of his victims. It made it hard to listen to him talk about it, sometimes I even threw up after a session with him because it turned my stomach. What's worse, is he didn't see it as bad or abuse, he saw it as loving them.

The urge to puke came back and I swallowed it down. I wanted to actually eat lunch today so I had to stop thinking about Stephen and be glad that he is dead. He can't hurt anyone ever again. I wish the Joker would kill every child abuser out there. Including my piece of shit repeat offender father who was in jail at this moment, where he belonged.

I don't know who else got killed in the break out, I am sure some innocent people got hurt and it's horrible. But I was thanking Mista Jay very much for taking out one more awful person in Gotham. I walked back to my office, I planned on starting a little paperwork before I went to lunch a little late.

I was going to handle Stephen's paperwork after lunch.

I decided to leave for my meal, I went to a Taqueria and sat in my car while I got grease all over the million napkins I put on my lap for that reason. I was thinking about the Joker again, wondering what he was doing right now. Wondering if he was thinking about me, I doubted it, why would the Joker give two shits about a psychiatrist lady he had for one week? He probably wouldn't even remember me if he saw me again. Since he was known for extreme psychotic episodes, memory can get very fuzzy during and inbetween those times.

When I got back to Arkham, I finished the paperwork required for a death of a patient and called the appropriate people to inform. I also found out that Lisbon still hadn't returned for work, the upper manager doctor's were taking care of everything. I wasn't surprised to hear that about Lisbon though, I knew he was dirty in more ways than just his stained white coat.

I left at three o'clock, it was early but most people weren't paying any attention to me today. And I just felt like starting my weekend an hour early, who could blame me?

What was I going to do this weekend? There were more of the Joker's hang out spots that I could go to. There was the clubs, his favorite was Gold Mine. I saw three pictures of him there online. I knew it was a really exclusive club, but it I dressed really nice I am sure they would let me in. Clubs were always looking for beautiful women to populate the dance floors in, that's how they get men to come and spend money there. Men trying to buy those beautiful women too. I didn't want to be bought though, I wanted to be chosen, by the right man.

I wasn't really thinking things through. Just going with the flow, putting my wants into a plan. I wanted to see the Joker, and eventually he would return to his favorite spots. Patience was the key.

So when I got home I relaxed for awhile, checked emails, took a shower and made myself dinner. I was planning on going to Gold Mine tonight and was just waiting until it opened and got busy. It was around 9 o'clock when I got a knock at my door. I took my pan off the stove and turned the knob off and went into my bedroom to get my gun. My stomach clenched and I just knew it was something bad.

They pounded on the door harder, "Miss Quinnzel! We know you are home, this is the police, open up!"

I bit my lip, the police, were a bunch of wild cards here in Gotham. Some were nice, some were dirty and some were in the Joker's pocket and did his subtle clean up work. I only had one third of a chance they were nice, and my door was nearly off it's hinges from being hit so hard. The odds didn't look good. But I had to remain calm and play dumb and innocent and cooperate. So I put my blue .45 in the small drawer of my coffee table, then walked over to the front door.

"I'm here officers." I said through the door before opening it.

I slowly unlocked and when the door finally cracked open they pushed it the rest of the way. Bumped me to the side and stepped into my apartment with eyes looking every where, like they expected to see someone else.

"Are you alone?"

"Yes, officers."

Officer #1 had yelled through the door at me, he was mid-forties with a thick porn 'stache and a scowl on his face. I could tell he was pathologically suspicious just from the way he squinted at me. "Why did it take you so long to answer?"

I rolled my eyes, "I was sittin' on th' pot okay?"

More squinting. The officer #2 was walking around my apartment and then into my bedroom. This was seriously disturbing my privacy, it pissed me off but I still tried to remain calm. I walked over to my couch and sat down right next to the drawer where my gun is.

"What can I do for yuh officers?"

He flopped down into my stuffed chair and let out a sigh of relaxation. "You can tell us about the Joker's break out. Why did you help him?"

I shook my head. "I didn't help him. When he told me he was planning one I informed security and one of his main caretakers."

"There is no record of that."

"I don't know what Robert did with the information."

"What did the Joker tell you about it?"

Officer #2 came out of the bedroom with a smile on his face. I gave him a mean look. Officer #1 snapped his fingers to get my attention again. "All he said, was that he was leaving soon."

"Why would he tell you that? Are you fucking him?" He said this with a vicious grin on his face.

I reached out to grab my water bottle from my coffee table, the officer slapped my hand and forced me to drop the bottle. I looked at him sharply.

"Answer my question bitch."

I glared at him. This was a mean cop, he just liked to beat up people he saw as trash. I could bet he had a small dick or something, guys like that are taking out some twisted sexual frustration like this. "NO!" I yelled at him.

He stood up to intimidate me. "Don't talk to an officer of the law like that you stupid whore, or I will serve you up some justice, for facilitating the escape of a prisoner."

"You have already broken several laws the way you came in here to question me! I'm not gonna put up with this shit." I went to stand up from the couch and he backhanded me right in the cheek and I fell back onto the couch hard.

Officer #2 was watching, standing on the other side of the coffee table.

"Where's th' Joker!" Porn 'stache yelled at me.

"I don't know!" I screamed back. Flashes coming back to me of my father doing the same damn thing when I was a kid, tears popped up into my eyes and ran down my face. Even while I was angry, I knew I couldn't get away with shooting a cop even if he was beating me. I couldn't defend myself, I was trapped like I have been so many times before. Fear choked me inside.

"Where is he bitch? I can do this all night!"

Officer #2, with his greasy brown hair and pimples, just laughed as he watched, chiming in, "he can yuh know."

Porn 'stache kicked me on the upper thigh and it hurt bad, he wasn't going soft on me to make me cooperate. This was the beginning of a real beating, and if I wanted to get out of this alive I was going to have to think of something.

He gripped my arm and shook me and I screamed bloody murder, hoping to god my neighbor's would do something, anything. A heartbeat later I heard doors in the hallway open on their squeaky hinges. Then the officer punched me again in the same cheek and and blood poured from my mouth, there were stars and bright flashes in my eyes and I was sure I'd black out if I got hit again.

There was a knock on my door. "What's going on in there? I want to see Dr. Quinnzel!" I took a deep breath and the tiniest bit of hope wormed inside me. It was Loto my gigantic Samoan neighbor, he was easily twice the size of the officer beating me.

The door was unlocked and when Loto didn't get an answer he opened the door. The officers took one look at him and let me go, turning around to confront Loto.

I took two more breaths and went for my gun as quickly as I could.

"What are you doing to her? You are police! You can't hit a woman like that!" Loto yelled at them as he stepped inside the door frame. He was my big Samoan angel right this second.

"We can question a suspect any way we want, now get the fuck outa here before I find a reason to take you in!" Loto did not like that answer.

I had my gun in my hand though, I tried to stand and couldn't, so I sat up on the couch and pointed my gun at Officer #1, and pulled the hammer to make that clicking sound every one knows.

The officers turned their heads horror movie style to look at me sitting on the couch pointing a gun at their backs. "Get the fuck out of my home, if you ever come back I will shoot you before you step foot inside here again."

I got another squinty look. "You wouldn't dare to shoot a cop."

My face went flat and cold, my fear leaking away. "You aren't cops, you're thugs in uniform."

Loto laughed, then scowled at them, taking my side. "And if I see or hear a peep of yous guys again, I am gonna pound you into the dirt." He was still in front of the door and he was blocking them from leaving. Loto pulled out his cell phone and snapped pictures of them.

"I got your faces now boyz, I'm send these t'all my brudda's." Then he stepped further into my apartment and motioned for them to leave. They walked out, but Porn 'stache had one more thing to say. "You won't always have him around, we will see you soon bitch." Loto closed the door and locked it. I put my gun down on the coffee table, "when I bought this, I didn't think I would be pointing it at cops." My hands were shaky, and I sincerely wished I had just shot them. I would be saving other innocent people from being beaten right? Now I have to wonder constantly when they are going to come back.

I didn't do anything wrong, and suddenly, I find myself on the other side of the law, violently so.

Loto grabbed a clean dish towel and a bag of frozen peas from my freezer, sat down next to me and started looking at my injuries. He wiped at the blood and cuts on my face with the cloth.

"Why did they have to ruin your pretty face huh doctuh?" I knew it was meant to be a rhetorical question but I answered anyway. "Because, some men, need to destroy the beauty in the world because they are ugly and twisted on the inside." I thought that it was people like that who need to be inside Arkham, not people like Henry who just prefer to play with blocks and trains. Henry wouldn't ever think about beating my face in.

"Thank you Loto." He nodded kindly at me. "Any time doctuh." He put the frozen peas in my limp hand and pressed it against my cheek, indicating I should do it for myself. I did.

After he decided to stop pampering me he leaned back and sat comfortably beside me, looking at the empty tv screen. "Gotham is a hard city to live in doctuh, you might want to get out of here while you still can." It was good advice, and maybe I should take it. But I don't want to leave Gotham, I have set myself up to be successful here and I will succeed or die trying.

I shook my head, which didn't feel good. "I'm not leaving Loto. I'm a tough girl, and for a moment I got scared. But I am not going to be scared next time, I am going to be ruthless." I pointed to my gun. He nodded, I'm not sure if it was in approval or in resignation.

"Will you be okay tonight?" He asked while he stood up and looked around. Nothing else had been touched, just me lying on the couch bleeding.

"Yes." He nodded and moved towards the door and unlocked it. "I'm ma be listening for you okay?" He tapped his ear. "Thanks Loto. I'll scream again if I need something."

Over the next week Harleen's face and bruises healed slowly. She was constantly asked questions at work about it. When she told some people the truth about what happened, they often were not surprised. Multiple other people said that some cops of the same description had come questioning around Arkham too. Even starting a big argument with the security guards that had survived the breakout.

Her patients had been very shocked to see her like that, they cried and worried for her. She told them quietly that she would be ready the next time they came for her. Henry and Gilda had asked the same question. "How can you be so brave?" Harleen had held their hands and looked them in the eyes when she said, "I have been a victim before, but I am older now, stronger now. I'm never going to be anyone's victim again, I will fight and I will live." Henrietta wouldn't stop crying and telling Harleen that she was, "jumping in the dark water." The symbolism didn't escape her. Henrietta was more intuitive than Harleen normally gave her credit for. It was true though, Harleen was beginning to feel like jumping into the abyss was getting more and more attractive each day.

The bruises faded, but her anger didn't.

She knew that they would come back for her. No egotistical man like Porn 'stache could let it go, let a woman win in any tiny way. Harleen brought her gun to work, in her car, and in the grocery store. She began to check her apartment before she went inside. Determined that she would be ready, next time.

It took two weeks for the bruises to fade completely. Now that she was back to looking beautiful Harleen planned on going to Gold Mine.

Harleen spent the next three months like this, every weekend she would go to the Joker's known hangout spots. There were three different clubs she went to regularly, she became observant and watched the way the staff worked and moved around. After a while she noticed they treated her differently. That the bartenders started giving her free drinks every night, and that they would snap a quick picture when she came in. She watched how the bouncers became quite protective of her. She did get guys who harassed her all the time, which is why she so rarely went out like this before. Now though, the bouncers had a careful eye on her. Once she saw them grab a guy before he could even make his way over to her. She got to dance and drink and show off with out all the creeps pawing at her or insisting she came home with them. It was another taste of freedom she enjoyed immensely. Because, nothing is worse then a guy who starts yelling at you to get your ass in his car. She didn't want anything to do with a man who had no respect or manners for a lady.

One night the batmobile finally pulled up along side her as she was walking home. She had wondered when the caped crusader would be interested in her. A gruff voice spoke from inside. "Why do you want to see him Doctor Quinnzel?"

She pretended not to notice him, but answered anyway. "That's none yuh business."

"Stop."

Harleen stopped walking and turned to the dark window. She didn't like that he approached her like this. The first time she meets the most famous hero of Gotham and he is following her like a persistent Jon trying to pick her up.

"No." She said boldly.

"Why, what are you to him?"

She shook her head, and began to walk again. "I am nothing to him."

The batmobile rolled along with her again. "You know he is crazy doctor, he will kill you, hurt you."

Harleen stopped right there, he just pushed her pet peeve button and she was pissed off at him now.

"I am a free citizen of Gotham! I can see and talk to whoever I like and it's none of yuh business. Leave me alone!" She stared down the dark window of the sleek black vehicle.

The window came down all the way, obviously he recognized how ridiculous it was to argue with her while hiding behind dark glass. He looked dangerous in his black mask. "Just stay away from him, I don't want to see another young woman's life destroyed by the Joker."

Harleen was so mad now that her anger felt like steam coming from her ears.

"It's not the Joker who is ruining my life! It's that corrupt director in Arkham, it's violent dirty cops punching my face, it's creeps like you stalking me down the street and telling me how to live my life. When you don't know shit about me! Fuck you Bat-man! What kinda schmuck name is that anyhow?"

"I am trying to help you doctor Quinnzel." He said calmly, ignoring her anger.

"You wanna help me? You wanna fucking help me?" She pulled out her blue .45 from her purse and pointed it at him. She didn't care if he was Batman, no man was going to tell her how to live her life. "Then move along."

He shook his head and rolled the window up and slid away into the night.

Little did she or Batman know, but there was a guy half a block behind them taking pictures of their little conversation.

The information was going back to the Joker, who had been sending people to follow her covertly for some time now. He had taken pictures of her going to dinner, work, out at night, when the cops showed at her place, and her face the next day, her life between then and now. The Joker would know everything the informant heard tonight too.

A/N: As of Sept. 2nd I have watched Suicide Squad 4 times in theaters! I also bought a similar shirt like hers in the movie with Daddy's Little Monster on it, and I wear it going to the theater. So fun! I cant wait for Halloween! I am also trying to convince my hubby to dress up as Joker. I really want him to wear the lipstick too, but I don't think he will go for it! T.T Hahahahah! ^0^ P.S. Next chapter gets a lil sexy.