And now the fun starts. YAY!

Forgive the mistakes you'll no doubt find, if you can. I wrote this so quickly and just rushed to post it. Hopefully I'll have the edited copy done by tomorrow.

As always, enjoy and leave me your thoughts.

It seemed that all staff on hand was on the first floors with Crane. No officer at the security desk, no cleaning crew. I was alone, and under the circumstances, I viewed the open, sterile hallways as the setting to a horror movie. And wouldn't you know it, here I was alone, unarmed and blonde. A perfect recipe for the first hapless victim.

Great.

On the other hand, no security meant I didn't have to flash credentials to get into the wing I wanted, which saved time, but brought up a question. Even if the patients needed transfer, even under-staffed, someone would be guarding this floor, of all of them. Anyone who worked here would know that if the Joker escaped, it would come down on all of us, so why the hell would anyone risk it?

I stopped at the corner that led to his hallway. Leaning around just far enough to get a look down the hall, I saw Mike. The PO was bent in front of the Joker's cell door digging through a dufflebag. He seemed rather intent on the task, and I figured this would be my best chance to surprise him, so I kicked off my shoes and rounded the corner. Despite my best efforts, my heart beat heavily in my chest, so loud I feared that he must hear it, but Mike remained at his duffle bag.

Halfway down the hall I dug into my coat pocket, grasping the syringe and uncapping it with my thumb. Mike grunted, tossing out a shirt and pants. Quickening my pace, I noticed the Arkham security logo on the front of the shirt. He was going to give it to the Joker and walk him out during the panic as staff.

Well, not today buddy.

I slowly pulled the needle from my pocket, raising it to aim for his jugular, and poised to leap at the end of my run. Mike chose that moment to stand and kick the bag against the wall with a curse. Just as I'd made it behind him, he turned, jolting back.

He spotted the needle before I could stab him, snatching my wrist and jerking me close enough to grab. With a firm hold on my work blouse, Mike took the time to inspect the needle. He scowled at it then at me and sighed heavily.

"You weren't 'sposed to be here, Doctor." He twisted my wrist until I dropped the needle, "That was the point, no one was 'sposed to be. What are you doing here?"

I struggled to get free, clawing at his hand, but he grabbed that one too. This however left my legs open, and I needed that syringe.

"Well," I began, glancing around nervously while he stared at me as if I were stupid. I dragged on the silence, watching his annoyance grow. A few more stammers popped out of my mouth and the PO sighed, rolling his eyes. At the same time, he relaxed his posture just a bit, too irritated to see me as a threat.

My knee to his groin helped proved otherwise.

Mike went down with a wheeze, folding into himself on the floor. I followed him down, but only to snatch up the syringe and jam it in his arm. I didn't bother with niceties like checking for air bubbles or drawing blood first. Instead the sedative rushed into his bloodstream, he called out something non-coherent, and then began drifting off. It didn't happen instantaneously, so he reached for me as I passed, but it was clumsy and easily avoided. My focus was now on the cell door.

The unlocked cell door.

What if he'd already gotten out? What if Traitor Mike was meant to catch up? I couldn't take the chance, and the holding cell here had a primitive steel door. There was no nifty little window to peek into. I had no choice but to open the damn door and check myself, hoping to god that if he was inside, he didn't kill me.

With this in mind, I uncapped the second needle, thankful again that my earlier case hadn't required it. At the very least I could stick him and call for reliable security, like Aaron Cash, to high-tail it back to the institution before he woke up again. This thought, however reassuring, was not enough to make me comfortable with going in that cell unarmed. Unfortunately, Mike's firearm was nowhere in sight which posed a duel threat in my mind. If he was inside, what if he was armed?

Taking a deep, steadying breath, I moved the hand with the needle behind me, out of sight, and pushed open the door. It had been designed this way to stop a patient from bursting out on you, something that worked in my favor now. It didn't stop the trembling. Then again, I doubted anything really could at this point.

It was lights out for patients, which meant his cell was dark. Too dark for me to see inside of it, or where he was hiding, but he unfortunately could see me. I screamed when the weight of him slammed against me, and we both hurtled out of the cell, landing on Mike and rolling away. He recovered first, jumping back to his feet while I scrambled to do the same.

"Doctor?" he asked as he grabbed my lab coat, hauling me up onto my knees by it. "Well isn't this a surprise!"

"I guess that makes us equal." I said through my teeth, swinging my sedative-armed hand toward him. The Joker caught it with little effort, laughing when he spotted the needle and snatched it away.

"This was your plan?" he asked, and I couldn't help but feel a little insulted by his tone.

I yelped pitifully when he surged forward, throwing me back against the wall and pinning me there with his forearm across my throat. I grabbed his arm, yanking without progress and tried to melt into the wall. Anything to get just a little distance. This had happened too fast, I was still reeling and now, on top of it all, I was terrified.

You wanted him to touch you, Harl's. How's this?

The mocking voice stirred anger, but it was only enough to regain a little composure and meet the psychopath's eyes levelly. A challenge in itself.

"How did you plan to surprise me, Doctor, or had you not worked that part out yet?"

"No plan." I replied evenly. He'd given me enough leeway to breathe and speak, which was good for now. At least I wasn't suffocating. "Just kinda rolled with it."

A smile crept over his face at that, and he tilted his head to regard me with an expression I couldn't translate. For a moment we remained in silence, simply starring at one another and then I felt the prick in my leg. The bastard had stuck the needle into my thigh, applying pressure to my throat when I began to struggle.

"No!" I managed to choke out, under his weight, but he only hushed me.

"Sh sh sh. Relax. I won't put you out all the way." He stopped the flow of chemicals just over halfway and slipped the needle out again, wiping away the tiny oozing of blood with his thumb. The rest of the sedative was emptied onto the floor beside us where it couldn't be used against him. The needle, he threw down the hall.

"I've just had an amusing idea."

I didn't respond, too busy working through the thick, heavy wave that had rushed over my body. I felt gelatinous, as if my bones had been replaced with lead, but the rest was pliable as dough. My head dropped under the sudden weight, rolling to the side, but he released my throat to lift it up.

"Stay awake now, Doc. I know you're little, but that shouldn't have been enough to drop you."

"Why did you…" I tried to shake away the haze, only managing to make myself dizzy with the movement.

"We can chat later." He said moving to Mike's bag and letting me droop down the wall again. I watched him dig a moment, laughing happily at whatever he found inside, then move to the clothes.

The man had no shame and quickly stripped from his orange jumpsuit and regulation cotton shirt, throwing them to the ground. He was lean of course, but tighter than I'd imagined, in fantastic shape for one who'd been wasting away in a mental hospital. For a moment, I could only stare at him, close to naked and glancing at me from time to time, but there was no time to process the feeling that swept through me at the sight.

Instead, I tried to stand, managing to lift myself a foot before collapsing again. The Joker laughed and turned his back on me, now in the supplied, black cargo pants and reaching for the shirt. I scowled, clenching my fists at my helplessness, and wanted to smack him. Instead, I gathered the strength I could, and tried again. This time, I managed to hold myself steady, though my legs wobbled beneath me, threatening to give at any moment. With the help of the wall, I stood completely, then wondered what exactly I planned to do now that I had.

Stupid, stupid, stupid! I raged internally, trying to maneuver myself toward the bad and Mike's radio. With it I could at least signal the officers on duty. Someone had to do something. This had been a mistake. A terrible, idiotic mistake. Now he was going to kill me and I barely had the strength to put up a fight.

The Joker hummed to himself as he pulled on his shirt, turning to Mike's unconscious form beside him with a tsk. He kicked the PO onto his stomach and knelt down to strip off the man's jacket. It was too big, like the other clothes, which I assumed were Mike's extras, but it gave him the appearance of extra weight. At first glance he looked like someone else entirely. I'd made it to the bag by now, but the Joker was already moving toward me. With a gentle shove, I fell back against the wall, wobbling unsteadily long enough for him to grab something out of the duffle bag and turn back to me.

"Come one, Doc. Time's a waistin'."

"What are…you can't.."

He smiled, wide and malicious, and grabbed my upper arm, dragging me closer on my unstable feet and throwing my arm around his shoulders.

"We can argue about it later." He said, stepping over Mike and pulling me along with him. He was strong enough to support my weight and move quickly, which baffled me since he seemed so thin. Then again, I didn't put much thought into it, what with the growing nausea that came with sudden movement.

His arm was around my waist, and I felt him slip something heavy into my coat pocket, but only got a glimpse of it. The two metal prongs had given away as Mike's issued taser. Great. As my head rolled bac a moment I caught sight if the mounted camera at the end of the hall. Was no one watching? Shouldn't somebody have sounded an alarm by now?

"Alright Doc, where's the nearest supply closet?"

We were moving, and I could hardly keep up with the weight of the sedative in my veins. "The what?"

"Sup-ply clo-set." He repeated, giving me a little shake to keep me focused.. I couldn't even see strait anymore.

"Down…down there" I motioned vaguely toward our right and he was off again, dragging me toward a small door with a plate sign on its right. I didn't get a chance to read what it said before he'd opened the door and released me.

Without his support, I hit the ground hard and groaned, clutching my head. The Joker ignored me and went straight to the cabinet at the far side of the tiny room. This wasn't a supply closet, so much as the nurse's station. I watched a fuzzy Joker grab things off the shelves and finally break into the cabinet to rummage through it, hating by the way my vision swam in and out of focus.

Oh this was just wonderful.

With his pockets full, the Joker grinned again and turned back to me. He was about to say something, when one of the dozen white bottles in the cabinet caught his attention. He snatched it, read the label and chuckled, slipping it into my pocket before lifting me back to my feet again.

I stumbled along beside him as he took us to the elevator but he didn't head for the lobby. We got off on the floor above it, meeting no one as we continued on. I hoped that someone would see us, maybe take the Joker down long enough for me to get away. He didn't seem very worried though, in fact we seemed to be getting closer to the security room.

"What are you…" but my words were slurring and soft. The Joker bounced me back up against his shoulder and giggled as we stood outside the security door.

"Just a little fun, Doc. Don't worry." His tone, however, suggested otherwise.

Pulling my arm up around his shoulders he opened the door and slipped his hand into my left pocket where he'd stashed the taser. There were two guys in the room; both seemed completely involved in a porno they were playing on one of the surveillance screens. No wonder no one had sounded the alarm. These bastards hadn't even seen the Joker escape!

I opened my mouth to warn them, after all I couldn't just sit here, but the Joker's right hand slipped over my mouth and he shook his head.

"No, Harley dear. Let me do the talking."

The guards jumped from their chairs at once, panicking when they saw who the quirky voice belonged to.

"Dr. Quinzel?" the first asked, "Are you hurt?"

The Joker chuckled, giving me a pat on the cheek while my head rolled forward from the weight.

"Oh don't worry, Jr. She's just a little overworked, the poor thing." I felt his hand curl around the taser in my pocket and forced myself to look up.

"Get…"I tried at first, while both men raised their very real guns in our direction. What came after was a wheeze and the Joker's amused little half-smirk, I grit my teeth and nodded toward the alarm button. "Help."

"Let the doctor go." The second guard said narrowing his eyes. Neither understood or cared what I was saying and were now ignoring me.

The clown was loving it, though, the fucker. He giggled, drawing his right arm tighter around my waist and giving it a squeeze for their benefit. The guards scowled, cocking their weapons in sync and the first glanced back at the control panel. Maybe the idiot had heard me after all.

Everything went crazy after that. The Joker laughed, long and loud, deafening me and shoved me to the side. I spun and landed hard on the floor with a groan, hearing the taser go off just before a gun. One of the guards yelled and something heavy hit the floor. When I'd managed to push myself up enough to see them, the second guard was unconscious on the floor and his partner was backing up against the monitors. Somehow the clown had gotten the second guard's gun.

I felt him pull the trigger before it happened, feeling my stomach drop to the floor as the round exploded from the chamber and caught the first guard in his firing arm. He went down on a knee, clutching the thing to his stomach, but the Joker didn't give him time to retrieve his weapon. He fired twice more into the guard's gut and head, then stepped up to the control panel and kicked him aside.

My head was spinning as I stared at the dead man. I'd never seen a murder before. Never got to watch the light disappear in someone's eyes, like they described in books. It was…chilling. He'd gone from alive to something cold and motionless in less than a second. I watched his blood pooling around the ruined bits of skull and brain matter across the floor a long time before I realized that the Joker was looking at the security screen for the door locks in the basement.

"You can't…"I took a deep breath, trying to make sense of what I'd been saying then pushed on. "There are 6 digit codes for each wing and the high sec..downstairs has two."

"I'd realized that, darling." He said distracted as he clacked away on the keyboard, "but thanks for being so helpful."

The red bar across the screen turned green as he fed the first code into the computer and I frowned. Obviously someone had already told him the codes. Damnit. No wonder the asylum got ragged on for its security. We sucked.

"Someone will have heard those shots." I tried again.

"Oh…"he typed in the next code and smiled at the new screen that came up, feeding in cell numbers to unlock each door. "I think they might be a little distracted."

After that, talking was really out of the question. I focused on breathing and not looking at the dead man four feet from me. He'd let out all of the high security and was working on the next level up. Oh god, if anyone was hurt this would be my fault! I'd already gotten one man killed, two if the other guard woke up before the Joker was finished. I was an idiot!

On the other hand, the clown was completely focused on his job at the moment and it gave me an idea. The door was still cracked open behind me, if I could make myself move fast enough, I could get away from him and call the police. If anything I could stop him from doing anymore damage.

It was a struggle to stand, even more so to do it quietly, but I got it after a few tries. The Joker was halfway through the second security level when I stumbled toward the door. He didn't even turn around as I fell out into the hall and caught myself against the far wall, too absorbed.

The stairs were out of the question, so I made my way toward the elevator just as the lights flickered and went out. (The Joker's doing, no doubt.) I cursed, falling against the wall and focused on staying conscious long enough to get to the phone in the lobby one floor down. The backup generator kicked on, filling the halls with an ominous red light. (why was it always red?) Our elevators ran on the backup as well, for safety's sake, so when I hit the button, it dinged open and I fell inside.

What have you done, Harleen?

The doors dinged again as I hit the first floor and I grabbed the support bar to hoist myself back up. As the doors opened, I let my head fall forward again and stepped out, reaching blindly for the wall to keep myself up. Not far now, I just had to get to the front desk.

Then someone groaned.

It was a sound of incredible pain, and when my head snapped back up to find its source, I went still as the statues that decorated the outside walls of this asylum. I saw the form, even through the dim red lights, hunched down over something that seemed to be leaking. I knew it was blood that was leaking from the body, just like I knew who the one above the victim was before he stood.

He'd folded the top half of his jumpsuit down and tied it around his waist, so even in the darkness I could see his scars. God, I'd forgotten how many he had. They covered everything, every inch of skin, even his back, though he must have had trouble with those. And each scar I knew marked a victim, someone he'd killed for no other reason than he pitied them for being alive.

My next breath was shaky, and louder than I'd anticipated. He heard me, glanced back and smiled. He wasn't worried that I would run it appeared, because he slowly stood and turned to me. I watched as Victor Zsasz dragged his scalpel across the four tacked lines on his forearm, completing the five mark tally. His smile grew wider the closer he came to me and I sank down against the wall until I'd hit the floor.

"It's wonderful to see you again, Doctor." Zsasz said amiably as he squatted down in front of me, resting his arms on his thighs, and letting his blade dangle in my view. "I was so very displeased when you left me for that jester. Though," he titled his head, dark eyes catching the light like a cat's and reflecting it evilly, "greener pastures I suppose. I never took you for the greedy type, Harleen. I must admit I'm a little disappointed in you."

"H-hello Victor." I swallowed, glancing over at the body that had stopped writhing just moments ago. "I see you've started working again."

Zsasz chuckled, glancing back at the corpse and shrugging. "Yes well, she seemed like such a dour young thing. It was fate that she stumbled across me first. Her liberation reminded me of all the work I could be doing outside."

"You can't leave, Victor."

He laughed, gripping the scalpel a little tighter, and shook his head. "But who will stop me, Doctor Quinzel? Certainly not you." He reached out, making me flinch, though he ignored the action and grabbed my chin to lift it up. His hands were slick with what I could only assume was blood and it made me tremble with fear.

"You seem deliciously helpless, my dear. Did someone not take kindly to their medication?" He licked his lips, "Are you in much pain, darling? I can take it all away you know. I promised to save a place for your mark. Do you remember?"

"Of course, Victor." I said, noting the tremor in my voice. He probably loved it. Victor liked me, sure, but in his mind, killing me was the kindest thing he could possibly do.

"Would you like to see where I'll put it, darling?" his grin widened, "Better yet, would you like to choose the place yourself?"

"Oh, come on Victor. I'm sure you've chosen the perfect place already. You've had so much time to think about it." Keep him talking Harleen. You have to keep him distracted.

Zsasz smiled in a disturbingly proud way and nodded, lifting the scalpel to inspect its edge with the tip of his finger. He didn't even flinch when he'd cut himself, simply watched the blood trickle down his hand.

"Oh yes. I've had plenty of time." His dark, reflective eyes moved back to me and he traced the scalpel up my throat. I stiffened instinctively and managed to pull back until my head hit the wall, but it didn't get me away from the blade. Zsasz drew it down, nicking the flesh and smiled again.

"Don't worry, Harleen, it's just like falling asleep."

"Only painful." I replied. There were tears in my eyes, and if it weren't for the sedative raging through my blood, I would have fought him, but I couldn't even stand on my own anymore.

"Yes, well," Zsasz chuckled, grabbing my hair in his fist and tipping back my head so he could slit my throat, "It only hurts for a moment."

"I bet you say that to all the girls." I said, closing my eyes.

Then there was the very distinct sound of a gun cocking, and they popped open again as Zsasz went still.

"That would imply he gets any." It was the Joker, and I had never been happier to see the crazy bastard with a weapon in my life. "This one's taken, Zoloft, find your own."

I watched the conflict in Zsasz's eyes. He wanted to kill me regardless, considered it even, but pulled back, holding up both hands as if he were being arrested. The Joker smiled and reached out to slip the scalpel from his hand and into his own pocket. Then he motioned off the serial killer with his gun.

"I'm sure I'll see you again, dearest Harleen." Zsasz said as he stood and stepped away. "I'll keep your place ready for when I do." His hand went to a row of four tallies right above his heart. They were the tally marks of his first and closest victims. In an odd way, I was flattered by this, that I would complete the mark, but at the moment I was more than happy to see him disappear into the darkness of the far hallway.

Oh god, Victor is loose again. They all are.

The Joker crouched down in front of me, taking Victor's place, and stared at me a long moment. Then, without warning, he reached out with the gun and smacked it against the side of my head. It hurt, of course, but it was more surprising than anything else.

"Bad doctor," he scolded me with a frown, "You stay were Daddy tells you. Is that clear?"

I couldn't really answer, too distracted by the gun and the fact that he'd just called himself daddy again. Of all the things. It was starting to really bother me, but at the moment, I was too scared to say anything.

"I'll deal with you later." He sighed, then stood and offered me a hand. "Now get up, lazy bones. We have somewhere to be."

"Uggh!" I groaned, letting my head roll forward, the sedative and my recent brush with death were making me exhausted. "Just leave me alone!"

"Now, here's the hard question, Doc, so pay attention." He said, ignoring me and dragging me back to my feet.

I let my head loll off to the side, imagining how wonderful it would be to sleep right now. Just curl up on the ground and drift off and-

"Harley." I jumped at the deep, resonating tone of his voice, heart racing. He was irritated, and seeing as I was currently using him to stand strait, that wasn't good. The Joker grabbed my jaw, turning my face toward him and searched my eyes. The black of his own eyes burned into me and I drew away, though I couldn't really go anywhere.

"Where's the closest exit?" he asked, "Which way?"

For some reason, I found that amusing and giggled. "Shouldn't you know, Mr. Houdini? You're the escape artist."

The corner of his mouth twitched as if in a smile but he growled softly in irritation, leading us back into the hallway.

"Which way?" He asked again, his tone said no-nonsense, so I sighed, head flopping down to rest against his shoulder again.

"Find it yourself." I grumbled, letting my eyes drift closed a second, "You're the mastermind."

He was already moving again, dragging me passed doors and other orderlies who didn't seem to pay us much mind, or maybe they just didn't see us in the dark. I found that hard to believe, then decided that maybe Gotham had been right and Arkham wasn't really secure at all.

By the time the alarm sounded, it was too late. The Joker had taken us to the first floor and we were stepping off the elevator. The repetitive drone of the alarm was making my head pound, but I told myself it would be over quickly. We were almost outside.

The Joker's hand on my waist tightened painfully to keep me upright as we hurried down the hallway. I could hear the distant sounds of orderlies and PO's, and hoped again that they would stumble over us. My wish was only half-answered.

"Stop!" the voice was unsure, even if it was loud, and we were suddenly thrown into the blinding beam of a flashlight. The Joker, with a wide grin, turned us around to look at the PO holding up his regulation taser. (Very few of them carried actual guns and none of those men had any contact with the patients unless they were high security.)

"I want you to release Dr. Quinzel and keep your hands where I can see them." The guy was saying. The Joker, however, only smiled pulling out his stolen gun. I opened my mouth to warn the PO, but it was too late.

The Joker fired twice, both rounds going into the PO's knees. The poor man screamed out and crumpled to the ground. The clown slipped the gun into the holster in Mike's stolen pants and pulled out the scalpel he'd gotten from Zsasz. He was slowly accumulating weapons and I didn't like it. The PO groaned, struggling to push himself back up, and the Joker slashed outward.

The blade caught the man across his throat, severing the jugular in a single clean slice. I sucked in a breath of shock and disgust, then stumbled forward as he pulled me down the hall again.

"You…you killed him." I managed to say, fighting hard to remain focused on him. It was becoming harder to stay upright, even with his support. My body was getting too heavy to hold up, and that meant that should he want to turn that blade on me, I would be defenseless. The thought made me tremble.

"He'll be fine." the Joker said distractedly as we came up to the exit door.

"He'll be dead."I spat, stumbling a step as we moved outside.

The air was cold enough to shock me into a faltering focus, as we raced into the parking lot, avoiding the streetlights surrounding it.

"Where's your car?" He asked, then frowned at me expression. It didn't matter though, after a short scan of the lot, we were headed toward the shitty old Volvo parked under the streetlight. How he knew which car was mine astounded me, but I didn't ask, top busy fighting my urge to crumple to the ground. Once we'd gotten to it he leaned me back against the door and held out a hand. "Keys?"

I giggled at that, head rolling back onto the roof of my car. "Inside, with my purse, but you're welcome to go get them."

He frowned at that and stepped backwards, disappearing somewhere into the lot as I sank down onto the pavement. God this was a disaster, and I could hardly work up the energy to care anymore. I couldn't stop him. I couldn't do anything.

"Watch out!"

I heard the cry right as glass exploded around me. The Joker cackled, appearing above me, and unlocked my door through the shattered window, grabbing my arm and hauling me up to shove me inside. He pushed me into the passenger's seat and slid in himself, grabbing the rock and tossing it into the window of the car beside us for kicks. Then, still laughing to himself, he leaned down to pop off the plastic cover below my steering wheel and pulled out a handful of wires.

"Are you…"I giggled, not knowing why I found it so funny, "You're hotwiring my car?"

He glanced at me from the corners of his dark eyes, and huffed, licking his lips. "Do you have a better idea?"

"You could go back." I suggested with a shrug, then jumped when my car rumbled to life. My fingers were numb, and though I tried to unlock my door, I didn't have the strength to pull up the latch.

Slamming my door closed, the Joker rolled his head to the side to give me a look that said 'are you serious', then he put the car in reverse and stomped down on the gas. I had to grab the oh shit bar above my door to keep from sliding into the dashboard, then when he squealed us into a left turn to leave the parking lot and enter the main road, I actually let out a cry.

"Where are we…" I sank down into my seat, fighting to remain conscious as the Joker drove like he was playing grand theft auto. Looking over at me, and completely ignoring the road, he smiled, big and dangerous.

"It's a surprise." He said, then his hand whipped out and grabbed the back of my head, twisting into my hair to get a firm grip. "No peeking." He cried, and bashed my head into the dashboard. My body went limp, but I was still conscious and groaned. The Joker giggled and lifted my head back to inspect it.

"Whoops," he laughed, "Let me try that again."

The second crack send blinding pain though me, but I was still awake enough to feel sick. With my head spinning, I slumped against the door watching him as best I could through the whirl of motion around me.

"Jesus, you're resilient." He muttered to himself and shifted to grab something out of sight. When I saw it was the gun, I cried out, but he didn't aim it at me as I expected. Instead he held the muzzle and sighed. "Guess we try it this way."

This time, when the butt of the gun cracked against the back of my head, the world went black.