Chapter 10 - Cookies
"That's a good idea, Fio. Let's have a tea party!"
The little girl chatted with her toy and pretended to serve tea. "Let's plan how we can annoy Griggs next time, "she whispered to her best friend. The game went on for several hours, stopping only when heard the clicking of high heels and saw a security guard open her cell door.
She carefully put her imaginary tea cup back on the floor of the cell and turned around to see the person standing in front of the cell bars.
"Hello, Celine. I'd like to pick you up for a session," said Miss Evie Jenckson. For a moment, the toddler looked past the psychologist and noticed the grim guards who would probably pull her arms behind her and drag her with them.
"Good morning, Miss Jenckson. Do you want to look into my head again, or do you wnt to talk to Fio?" she asked, pointing to the cuddly toy next to her.
"No, I want to introduce you to someone. I told you last time that I knew someone who could play with you," Evie said cautiously. The little girl jumped up, interested, prompting a click of the guns.
"Really? That would be great! Is the person nice?" Celine smiled and let the guards put on the handcuffs without grumgling. As she was taken out of her cell, Evil took a step back and noticed the sparkle in the two-year-old's green eyes.
"Yes… the person I want to introduce to you is… nice," Evie replied, thinking of how ferocious Harley had been when the guard had taken her to the office in a wheelchair. Evie hoped that this meeting would end well, and that the experience would lead to a social relationship between the two.
"I've been moved, Miss Jenckson, just because I painted beautiful little hearts," Ceine said.
"I've heard about that. That wasn't good," Evie replied as they left the cell block on the way to her office.
"But I had a lot of fun," Celine answered. She asked herself who her new playmate would be. If the person was nice, she could tell Fio about it.
"Can we go back? Fio will miss me."
They'd been walking for some minutes and the toddler was sure that it would be better if her best friend was at her side.
"Fio likes to play too!" she added, but the guards ignored her same as usual.
"Miss Evie?" she asked?
"Sorry, but it isn't possible at the moment. You wait her with the guards. I'll let you know when you can come in," Evie answered, giving the child a friendly smile before going into her office.
"Who is in there? You don't know? Or you can't tell me because it's a secret?" The little girl chuckled, ignoring the little handcuffs that made it impossible to move freely.
Evie closed the door behind her silently and was greeted instantly by a mocking comment from Harley.
"It's really not good to let a patient wait here," she said, giving Evie a cold look. Harley had calmed down.
"That was not my intention, but we're having a double session today, if you want to call it that," Evie said, casting a quick glance at her files on Harley and Celine. This was an experiement and Evie herself had no idea if it woud work or not.
"Ah, so let talk about my deep, horrible past? You look like you've been abandoned by a man before," Harley said, again in the cold voice.
"No. I wanted to see how you two react to each other. Besides, I'm not here to talk about my past, Harley," Evie answered.
The Joker's girlfriend sighed in annoyance. "Blah, blah, blah. This is all so boring. So many people have failed before you. Who is this failure who thinks he can take on me?" The psychologist noticed the sparkle in Harley's blue eyes but could not guess the cause.
"No one wants to take you on, Harley," Evie wanted to say something that might lift the blonde's mood, but she didn't seem interested and interrupted her mid-sentence.
"To you it's still Harley Quinn, Queen of Gotham and Property of the Joker, my puddin'" Harley replied arrogantly.
Evie didn't comment. It was not really possible to have a conversation with Harley. Every time Evie wanted to talk about the past, Harley snapped completely and insulted Evie. She refused to cooperate in conversation and so it was not possible to help this women. Harley was absolutely convinced of her own rightness.
"Is there a secure room available? I'd like to set them both free so it will be easier for them to communicate with each other," Evie said to the guards.
"You want to release these two crazy people? They'll kill each other," one replied, shaking his head.
"Not if we put them in a secure room where they can't threaten anyone with anything," Evie said seriously. "
"Yes, we have a room," one of the guards answered. He spoke into his walkie-talkie to check which room was clear.
"You know what these two have done, don't you?" the guard asked Evie coldly.
"That's exactly why I hope to have success," she retorted.
"I'm not going to talk to anyone. Don't use me for your experiments," Harley said, but she was ignored.
"Yes. Okay. Understood. We'll bring her in," the guard said into his walkie-talkie.
"What happened? Evie asks, prompting an annoyed look from the second guard.
"There was an incident. The prisoner tried to escape and fail, so they came with her," said the guard with the walkie-talkie.
Evie, the guards, and Harley in the wheelchair finally reached the secure room. There was nothing there but a table and a pack of cookies, and the table was firmly anchored to the ground.
"I want to get back to my cage," Harley complained, trying in vain to struggle against the ropes that held her to the wheelchair. Unable to move, the blonde simply closed her eyes and ignored everyone who came in.
"Well, let's set them free and leave the room. I can see you and one can follow the conversations from outside," said Evie. The guards freed Celine from the handcuffs before they released Harley from the wheelchair and then left the room, which was securely locked.
...
Celine was interested in the larger blonde person who had turned her back on the child, apparently not wanting to say hello. At first Celine wanted to go to the woman at the larger blonde person but when she saw the package of cookies on the table the strange person was forgotten. The little girl ran to the table only to find that there was no chair to climb on.
"First stupid doors and now there is no chair," the toddler said, thinking of how she would get to the cookies.
The little blonde stepped back a few steps and took up, jumping up to grab the edge of the table. Her little fingers clung to the edge and she tried to pull herself up somehow, but she was not particularly good at climbing exercises. Unable to hold on for more than a few seconds, the little girl landed back on the ground.
"Ouchie!" the little girl cried unhappily. "Coooookies!" Celine howled, pleading and upset.
"Oh, how sweet!"
The high, enthusiastic voice caught the toddler's attention, and she heard the woman come closer to her, but Celine wanted those cookies. She stood up and tried to stretch her small hand towards the pack, but that didn't help. Before she knew what was happening the larger woman had placed her on the table close to the cookie package.
"Thank you! That was very nice of you!" she said, childlike.
With an elegant motion the woman sat down next to her.
"Harley Quinn. Nice to meet you," the blonde woman said in a friendly tone. The little girl took her outstretched hand while holding the cookie package in the other hand. She carefully shook hands with Harley.
"Hello, Harley, I'm Celine. Are you now my friend?" the little asked before turning her attention back to her cookies. After a few tries she opened the package and smiled happily.
"Cookies! Great!" she exclaimed, clapping her hand, before she put one of the cookies in her mouth.