Disclaimer: The Joker and Harleen Quinzel do not belong to me.

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A Twist Inside

Slowly making her way from door to door the portly matron directed the light from her torch into each small window illuminating the sleeping patient within. The ward was quiet except for the near-silent padding of her soft shoes on the floor as she made her way along the row of cells, ticking off each patient as she monitored them. Checking her watch as she approached the last door she again shined her torch through the glass. As her eyes became accustomed to the darkness on the other side of the door she realised the bed was empty. Frowning, she panned the beam of light around the room finally resting on the bottom half of a man swaying slightly in the dark.

"I need help over here!!" the words boomed down the hallway shattering the serenity of the isolation ward. Fumbling through the large bundle of keys attached to her waist she finally found the right one and thrust it into the lock. As hard footsteps rushed towards her she dragged the door out of its frame and ran inside, grabbing the hanging man by his legs desperately trying to lift him up. "Page Dr Cunningham!"

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Swiping her keycard over the scanner Jess stormed through the doors into the isolation ward and rushed past the nurse's station to the only open door. As she pushed her way past the nurses she began shaking her head.

"No, no, no! What happened? How the hell did he manage to hang himself?" she glared at the medics around her. "Well?"

Each face her stare fell onto was blank; no-one had an answer. Making her way further into the room the young doctor knelt down beside the still, greyish body and brushed the man's hair away from his eyes.

"He was found about fifteen minutes ago,"

"By who?" Jess raised her head to look at the matron.

"By me. I noticed he wasn't in his bed, then I saw his legs. As soon as I got into the room I tried to take the pressure away from his neck by lifting him up as best I could...He was already dead," the older woman shook her head.

"Where's the noose?" Jess frowned glancing around the room.

"Um…"

Turning to the nurses behind her Jess repeated herself, "Where's the noose?"

Shrugging their shoulders both nurses shook their heads slowly before looking at one another and frowning.

"Has anyone else been in the room?" Jess turned back to the woman kneeling close to the dead patient.

"No, no-one has been in here except us and the guard,"
Jess looked around the room again, "What guard?"

The matron frowned, "I think his name was Gray, or something similar."

"Where is he now?" Jess stood up and walked back towards the open door. Again she got no answer. "You all better leave the room and wait at the desk, I'm calling the police."

"Wait, Dr Cunningham…"

"I said, I am calling the police!"

"It's obviously suicide,"

"Really? So how the hell did he manage to get his bedsheets over the lights?"

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Flames flickered orange and red against the black of the city-limit sky as the lone silhouette of a man slowly removed numerous items from a black holdall at his feet. Stepping forward towards the bonfire he threw each small object into the flames and watched it burn before tossing the bag onto the fire. As the fire crackled and sparked the uniformed man stood silently still; he waited there until he was certain that every item had been destroyed then he simply walked casually back towards his car and drove into the night.

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"What do you know about Carl Jefferies' suicide?" Jess almost took the door off its hinges making the restrained man jump in his chair. Slamming her hands down on the table she repeated herself, "What do you know about Carl Jefferies' suicide?"

Frowning the Joker turned his face away from the doctor and peered at her from the corner of his eye, "Me?"

"I don't see anyone else in here, do you?"

The Joker looked around the room then back at Jess with one eyebrow raised, "I'm guessing the answer is no?"

"So?" she demanded.

"What?" the scarred man's eyes darted from side to side. "I didn't even know he was dead."

"Well, now you do. He hanged himself last night in his cell. He used his bedsheets,"

"And? What do I have to do with it?" the Joker slowly licked his lower lip and gazed lazily at his psychologist. "Hmm?"

Jess paused for a moment, rocking slightly forward on her hands. "I don't know," she finally relented shaking her head and slumping into the plastic chair behind her. "I just…"

"You just?" the Joker leaned forward in his restraints and bit the inside of the scar on the right side of his mouth. "You just thought I would know because of our little conversationthe other day…didn't you? Huh? Either that or you think I had something to do with it…"

"You seem to know everything else that goes on in this damn place!" Jess snapped. "What do you know?"

"Nothing, nothing at all. Why would I know anything? He was down theeere…and I…Well I was up here. That's two floors of difference Doctor," he sucked his tongue slightly allowing it to click against the roof of his mouth before grinning widely. "Does this mean that you agree with me? You know, about your er little situation?"

"When Ricky Moffett died Carl said it was a clown. You were a suspect, you know that. You said that you killed the guard to prove that you didn't kill Ricky…"

"Hmmm," the Joker agreed.

"I don't think that Carl killed himself,"

"My my, we are getting paranoid…aren't we?" he prodded his lower lip with his tongue.

"The Matron said that he hanged himself and his bruises confirm that. But the noose is missing. The only thing he could have used was his bedsheets and they were missing…this is my fault," Jess' tone changed suddenly. Her whole demeanour seemed to change as her gaze fell to the floor and she sat forward resting her head in her hands. "I told them to give him back his bed. This is my fault!"

The Joker sat watching her silently. Feeling the familiar twist of concern in his gut he allowed every line and furrow of regret and sorrow slowly creeping over her face to burn into his memory. Although her eyes were not gazing in his direction he could still see the hurt in them. She honestly thought her patient's death was her fault. The Joker laughed quietly to himself and bit down hard on his bottom lip. Desperately trying to block out the twist in his insides he increased the pressure of his teeth and turned his face away from the troubled woman.

Staring at the adjacent wall he recalled his thought from the previous evening. They didn't seem to matter now, he didn't understand why his head was telling him one thing and his insides were making him feel another. On the one hand he had convinced himself that eventually he would kill her, but now- as usual- his whole body was telling him he was wrong. The woman had an unnerving ability to make him question his whole existence. Why was he feeling like this? Turning back to look at Jess the Joker sighed heavily then cleared his throat. She turned back to face him.

"It's not…Really, it's not. It's not your fault," he regretted the words escaping his mouth as soon as they passed his lips. Beneath the confines of the thick straight jacket the man could feel his hands shaking. Clearing his throat again he allowed the tip of his tongue to gently caress the corner of his mouth, "You weren't to know he was going to do something like that. You can't be held responsible for his untimely…demise."

He watched as the young woman's features softened slightly and noted how pretty her eyes were before silently scolding himself for doing the moment between them grew longer, Jess felt the hairs stand to attention at the nape of her neck. She knew, as did he, that she should look away but she felt as though her eyes had been locked into his stare. As each second passed she could feel a small knot tightening in her stomach and she could hear her own breathing rate increasing.

"Miss Quinzel wishes to sit in during our sessions. I think it's only fair that I notify you of the change to our routine," she suddenly changed the conversation tearing her eyes away from her patient. Her voice was abrupt yet seemed a little reserved to the Joker; she appeared somewhat unnerved by the previous five minutes of their session.

Feeling her heart pounding in her chest Jess nervously ran her fingers though her blonde hair. Every fibre of her body told her to believe him but she knew damn well that her conscience would not agree with him. Slowly she raised her eyes to his once more. The Joker turned away and clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth.

"She's the kid, right?"

"She's not a kid," Jess corrected him quickly. "She's a psychiatrist and she wants to study you."

"Well, I suppose it'll make things a little more interesting," a sly grin spread across the Joker's face as he mentally counted the ways he could use Harleen to his advantage.

"I'm going to organise another session for this afternoon," Jess stood up slowly before running her fingertips over the surface of the table. She noticed the Joker's dark eyes follow her hand and she quickly looked away. "Is that ok?"

Turning his head to the side the Joker raised his eyebrows once more, "Rack 'em up."

Jess stood for a moment looking at the restrained man before leaving, "I'll take that as a yes."

As the door closed behind her the Joker grinned, "Rack 'em up, rack 'em up!"