A/N: I assure you, I have not abandoned nor forgotten this fic. It's just been hard for me to find the time to sit down and write. Plus, I'll admit I'm having a bit of a writer's block here – I know where I want this to go, I'm just not 100% certain on how to get there.
Anyway, I hope everyone had a very happy holiday season! Happy New Year!
Chapter 7
Word had spread quickly through Arkham about what had happened to poor sweet Sammy. And Harley hadn't exactly tried to hide the fact that it was her – she'd let the boys tear the apartment apart and take any valuables they wanted. Johnny had even found a gorgeous gold tennis bracelet for Harley, which she'd added to her collection of trophy watches that decorated her arm when she was playing Manager Harley. They'd even given it the famous Joker touch – the infamous "HAHAHA" spray painted over Sam's walls, any family photos had smiles and moustaches drawn on in sharpie before being placed back into broken frames.
That being said, it was only a matter of time before Batman paid a visit to Arkham. First, he'd interrogated The Joker of course, who only laughed and sincerely expressed to him that he really had no idea what he was talking about, but that he'd like to shake the real killer's hand whenever he, or she, was discovered.
"Liar!" Batman growled. "Your insignia is all over that girl's apartment!"
"Come on now, Batsy. When have you known me to give another person credit where credit's due?" He'd had a point there; Joker's narcissistic tendencies usually led him to immediately and proudly confess to any crime he'd ever committed.
With this knowledge in hand, Batman had no choice but to storm out, slamming the door behind him in hopes to drown out the clown's laughter as its echo followed him down the hall to Dr. Clawson's office. He knocked on the door and was met with a watery sounding sniffle and a "Come in!"
He opened the door and was met with a woman crying at her desk, used Kleenex covering any notes or plank spaces across the wooden surface.
"Dr. Clawson, it's a pleasure…though I wish this were on better terms."
"Of course, Mister…um…Bat?" Dr. Clawson chuckled through her tears. "Excuse me if I'm being rude. Please, have a seat," she sniffled as she gestured to the chair in front of her desk.
"Not at all. You've been through quite a rough week. You've lost a colleague at the hands of your own patient."
"Thanks for the update," Dr. Clawson muttered through her tissue, sounding offended. Batman cleared his throat; this clearly was not his usual approach.
"Dr. Clawson, excuse me if I'm being…blunt. This is not usually the way I gather information from…" he trailed off and Dr. Clawson gave a sharp laugh.
"Am I a suspect?" she asked sarcastically. "My colleague, whom I considered a friend, is dead, and you're here to question me?" Batman decided to cut to the chase to avoid her questions.
"Did Joker mention anything to you about Dr. Brown? That he'd wanted her dead at all?"
"No. He didn't. We mostly discuss his childhood – he feeds me stories which change frequently. The same ones he feeds to every psychiatrist he's ever had. Don't you think I would have I warned someone?"
"I understand your tactics during therapy can be a bit…risky. You frequently reject security. Is that right?" Dr. Clawson sighed heavily.
"How do you people expect him to open up to me if there's a gun pointed to his head for the entire session?"
"I'm just saying, you may want to consider guarded sessions. You might be next." And with a wave of his clock, the Bat left her office, not wanting to further piss the woman off. She was clearly telling the truth. Or so he thought.
A smile spread across Harley's face; not only did The Bat buy her act as poor sad Dr. Clawson mourning her stupid pathetic co-worker, he didn't even suspect Harley Quinn as the killer of Samantha Brown. After all this time, he still believed she was that stupid? If it wasn't so favorable for her, she would have been offended.
A/N: PS – This will be the last in the series from "Home," but I do plan to keep writing after this series. Would you all be more interested in some one shots, or an origin story (which I know, I know, "the horse is dead, stop beating it" but I really do want to write one)? Just so I have a starting point. I'll eventually write both, but I just want to see which one you guys would like to read first. Thank you so much for sticking with me! Chapter 8 is currently being written - I don't plan to go on another super lengthy hiatus this time. Love you guys!
~HxW
