While interning at Arkham, Harleen Quinzel became fascinated with the Joker, and ambitiously volunteered to analyze him. She fell in love nearly instantly with the Joker during their sessions. Her relationship with him was complex and controversial. He often degraded and hurt her, sometimes near the point of death. It was a bizarre relationship.

The woman was definitely sick.

And she needed to be smart enough to deal with her and prevent her from hurting her father.

"You failed!" Harleen yelled, annoyed, pacing around her cell in Arkham. The weird eyeglasses she was forced to wear to inhibit her meta - hypno power made the situation more weird that already it was.

"No," Barbara with a calm voice "I followed your instructions. You got the belt."

"But you didn't kill her!" Quinzel shouted.

"You said you wanted a bird down… She fell down..."

"Don't try to be smart with me, Barbara! I want her dead." The woman lifted her fist in in front of her.

"You wanted her down," the redhead repeated in a calm voice. "She went down. And you are not playing fair. You said you wanted her far from all this and you are involving her."

Harleen observed her carefully. She laced her hands behind her back.

"Do you want to quit, Barbara Gordon?" she asked.

"You know I can't."

"Yes, I know, I'm just making this game more interesting. And I say what the rules are here. You must only obey, remember?"

Barbara looked at her in silence. She really wanted stand up and hit her hard.

The blonde laughed loudly.

"Come on, Barbara, I'm making it easy for you," she said. "I put Huntress on target to help you to finish your job." The blonde crossed her arms and buried her gaze on the redhead. "The job that you didn't do. That's so disappointing. So, I warn you, you must do what I say. Understand?"

"Our deal was to keep her far away."

"You don't want your father to pay the consequences of your error…. Or do you?"

The redhead swallowed her anger. "Of course not."

"Very smart. Gordon," the woman leaned down, putting her hands over her knees looking at her "I'm the one who is in control here. Remember that."

"All right. What's the next mission?"

Harleen turned and paced in silence inside her cell.

Barbara followed her movements trying to remain calm and not show any emotions. Harleen enjoyed the control she had over other people. She knew she was playing to make her lose contro.

"Labor Ten: the Cattle of Geryon. Geryon," the blonde suddenly said, "the owner of some famous cattle that Heracles was now instructed to steal, had three heads and/or three separate bodies from the waist down. His watchdog, Orthrus, had only two heads."

The ex-crime fighter listened in silence. Harleen smiled at her.

"There is a new software called The Cattle of Geryon. Have you heard about it?"

"Yes, it's a special software that learns from its own mistakes and can produce its own programs to fix it. It's an experimental program used to detect software fails and create the solution for it."

"I want it."

"It's experimental, Harleen."

"I said I want it."

"As you wish."

"But… we'll change the rules. Now you must do it all alone. The remaining labors, you must complete by yourself."

"Something else?" the redhead said.

Quinzel narrowed her eyes. Why the fuck did nothing seem to disturb the other woman?

"No."

"All right." Barbara wheeled back, "I'll see you then."

Quinzel followed her with her gaze.

"Do you know what, Barbara Gordon? At the end of this game, I'm going to win."

"We'll see." She wheeled back and turned toward the door. She could feel Harleen's gaze following her.

"I'll see you break, Barbara!" the evil woman said, "I'll see it!"

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The redhead stretched her neck, she always was always in complete control, but, she had to admit, the worry, the tension, and the stress of the last few weeks were affecting her. Additionally, now Helena was pushing her over the edge with her attitude. She had never had been easy, but at this particular moment in her life, she didn't have the humor to deal with it.

Why wouldn't she just follow orders? Why did she insist on being so stubborn and making things more difficult?

Because she was Helena.

Barbara sighed, she was becoming really irritable, a kind of Grinch, and she hated it, she hated how Quinn was altering her usual behavior and her life. She and Helena had barely talked the last days, just as necessary, after the night at the Museum.

She wanted to scream. She wanted… she wanted to do so many things, but she could only could remain calm and keep trying to find her father. She sighed, on the computer screen were two small signals. The girls had caught a group of burglars trying to break into a Bank. Her young protégées were keeping an eye out, waiting for the best moment to move.

"How many, Huntress?" she asked through her mic.

::Four.::

The older woman looked at her screen. "Dinah?"

::Hum… two on this side. Piece of cake."

::Can we attack now?:: the brunette asked ::My ass is frozen.::

::She said the word again.:: Dinah said.

::It is!:: the brunette protested.

"Would you two please focus on the mission?" Oracle pinched the bridge of her nose. Sometimes she wondered how they could joke would at any kind of moment. Over the last weeks, it had become really annoying.

::What do think we are doing?::

"Move now," the red head ordered.

::In winter you should wear sweat pants, leather is cold.:: Dinah said.

::Sweat pants are not 'sexy'.:: Huntress growled.

Oracle could easily hear easily the grunts and moans of the fight.

::What about thermal underwear?:: the teen asked.

::Have you ever gone to work in thermals?::

::What's your point?::

Some blows. Breaking glass and a man's yell interrupted the conversation.

::It's not appropriate to wear thermals to work:: Huntress said finally ::and we are working now.::

::You can wear them under your normal clothes.::

::Sure, you try to wear them under leather.::

"Focus on the mission," the red head said, with a cold voice.

::I am. It's done. Are you done, kid?::

::Yeah.::

::We are done, and if you don't have anything else. Huntress, out..::

She heard the soft click of the communication cutting off. Oracle ahook her head, she wheeled toward the screen to her left, she needed to work on the next labor Harleen had asked of her.

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The brunette walked outside the bank shoving her hands in her duster. Damn, it pissed her off that Oracle was being so cold….. so annoying... so Oracle. Her moods were not exactly the best, usually, but when her mentor chose be in nasty mode, she was worst than her.

Dinah was outside, waiting for her; arms crossed over her chest.

"You two are arguing, right?" the teen asked.

"Who?" Huntress passed next to her and walked down street.

Dinah rolled her eyes following her. "Please! It's so obvious. You don't go to the Clock Tower, you just talk during sweeps. What did you do to her this time?"

"Me?" The dark crime fighter looked at her indignantly. "Why does it always have to be me? She is irritable, it's not my fault."

"Well, you always are the one that always pisses her off."

"Fine, great."

"Is she still mad at you for the other day? When she found you drugged at the Museum when you disobeyed her orders??"

"Yeah, for that and any other thing."

"True, she has been very sensitive lately."

"Sensitive? Man, you can't say anything without pissing her off."

"Well, I think it's fair that you should have patience with her for a few weeks more." The teen smiled. "She had a lot of patience with you for years."

A dark brown lifted. Why the damn teen was so wise sometimes? She glared at her.

"It's true!" Dinah said. "You were a pain in the mfff!"

Huntress put her hand over her mouth.

"Just shut up, all right?" the brunette said.

Dinah frowned.

"I have enough of one Oracle in my life… ewww!!!" Huntress exclaimed, moving her hand back. "Don't lick my hand!"

"Don't put it over my mouth!"

"I'll kick your ass if you do it again." The young woman rubbed her hand on her pants, cleaning it.

"I'm a minor, the law protects me," the teen answered smiling, "and I doubt it, I'm better than you."

"Don't start." Huntress lifted her finger toward her.

"I am, I kicked your ass, remember?" the blonde grinned "That time you were trapped by that nut that made women fight?"

"You didn't kick my ass, I was drugged and I didn't want to hurt you."

"Yeah yeah, keep telling yourself that…" Amused, the teen walked down the alley.

"I was!"

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