Chapter 14

After her unexpected visitor, or more accurately; intruder, had left her apartment last night, Harley had managed to fall asleep in front of the TV. Luckily, it automatically went to stand-by mode after a couple of hours. When she woke up around nine o'clock the next morning, the TV was off and the sun was shining bright through the blinds in the windows. She picked up her cellphone on the table in front of the couch and couldn't believe she'd actually slept for that long when she saw what time it was. She also felt the hunger in her stomach getting more intense by the minute. Time for breakfast.

Harley was happy that she'd decided to stay home today. There was no need to rush anything. She had no appointments and no place to be. She could just stay home all day and do nothing. How boring. She scolded herself for thinking that way. It didn't matter if it was boring. She needed to rest. As she sat by the kitchen table, suddenly her phone started ringing from the living room where she had left it. She made her way there and picked the phone up in her hand. The number on the display was unknown to her. Could it be? Harley bit her lip, thinking hard. What if it was him? If it was, she supposed it was best not to answer, but right now, she was not interested in listening to her voice of reason. She picked up.

"Hello?" She held her breath as she waited for the other person to respond. However, she was let down as the voice she heard was not his. It was a woman who spoke.

"Hi, is this Dr. Harleen Quinzel?" the woman asked.

"Yes, that's me," Harley answered.

"Hi, Dr. Quinzel, my name is Vicki Vale. I'm a reporter for Gotham Gazette. I was wondering if maybe you would be up for an interview?" Of course. She should have known. It was a wonder she hadn't been contacted yesterday, but it seemed as if people were at least kind enough to give her some time. Harley sighed.

"I – I don't think so," she answered and it was the truth. The last thing she wanted was to be talked about and she certainly didn't want to talk about yesterday's events again. "I don't have anything to say," she added. Thankfully, Vicki didn't push her.

"That's all right, I understand. If you ever change your mind, you can reach me on this number."

"Okay, thank you. Goodbye." She hung up and heaved another sigh, this time of relief. But somehow she had a feeling that it wouldn't be the last call she would get.

She was right. Jimmy Olsen had called her from the Daily Planet in Metropolis. She had told him the same thing. They had also called from GCN, wanting an interview on TV that night! That was even worse than an interview in a newspaper! But then she had received another call that didn't come from a company. It came from her father. He still lived in Brooklyn and not once had he contacted her since she started working at Arkham. Not until now.

"Hey, dad," Harley answered.

"Harley, I'm so glad to hear your voice!" Really? If you missed it so much, why didn't you call before?

"And I'm glad to hear yours," she said, just to keep him content.

"I heard the news last night and I wanted to call then, but I figured you needed some space. I knew things wouldn't end well. You have no idea how worried I've been!"

"No one could have known this was going to happen," Harley said. "And if you've been worried about me, why haven't you called earlier?" She heard him sigh on the other end.

"Harley, sweetheart… I always worry for my little girl. As a parent, you have to tell yourself that it's all right. That you have to let your kids go. But now I'm thinking maybe it was a mistake to let you go." There was a quiet moment. Harley didn't know what to say, so inevitably, her next words didn't come out well.

"No. No, the mistake was that you never encouraged me to pursue my dreams! You don't have to worry about letting me go, because now… I'm letting you go." She kept the phone by her ear, half expecting an answer, but it was quiet. She hung up.

Cassidy never called her, but sent her text messages instead, writing things like: How are you? You okay? Do you want to talk? Call me, okay? After she had received about a dozen of those, she sent one back: I don't want to talk. I'm fine, that's all you need to know. Maybe it was a bit rude, but she didn't care. Cassidy hadn't cared that night at the bar, so why should Harley?

On Thursday, she came to work and the day went on as usual. Except for one thing of course. Harley had to stop herself halfway to the examination room when it was five minutes to three o'clock. Right, she remembered. No Joker, no session. It was obvious that all of her coworkers pitied her. They gave her sympathetic looks, but that was all. They avoided talking to her. It was best that way, really. She wasn't interested in talking to anyone who would only ask her how she was. That was why her therapy sessions with the other inmates had gone so well that day. She had the chance to ask someone else how they were and what they were feeling. This was the reason she had wanted to get back to work. Now she could forget about herself and her troubles for a while.

After she got home on Thursday afternoon, there was one thing that came to her mind. She thought about the Joker's escape. Arkham Asylum had good security. To plan an escape like that would be nearly impossible if you didn't know your way around the place. There were plenty of guards and surveillance cameras. If there were clowns approaching, someone must have noticed. How would the Joker's men know where to get in unseen and how would they know where he was at the time they broke in, unless the Joker told them himself? He had no way of contacting them. Or maybe he did? What if there was someone who could tell his men exactly how to get in and execute the plan without failure? And then she thought about his session with Dr. Wilson. How did he know about her family? Someone must have told him and that someone couldn't be just anyone. Suddenly all the pieces fell into place and it dawned on her. The Joker had an inside man.

During Harley's first break on Friday, she headed straight to Dr. Arkham's office to have a private audience with him. He was surprised when she entered and closed the door behind her. "I need to talk to you," she said and sat down in the empty chair across from him.

"Okay," he said slowly, slightly uneased by her serious tone. "I'm listening." Harley didn't hesitate, but shared her suspicions with him.

"I think the Joker has a man on the inside." Dr. Arkham raised a brow.

"Really? I think I would know such a thing."

"Yes, but hear me out. Just think about it. How could he have known all those things about Dr. Wilson? How could his escape have gone so smoothly? I don't think his men would willingly break him out unless he had told them to and how could he have contacted them unless it was through someone here? My guess is that it's one of the orderlies." Dr. Arkham blinked a couple of times. He had no idea what to respond.

"Wow," he said. "Well, now that you mention it… I think you might be onto something here." Harley couldn't believe her ears. He actually agreed with her. "It does seem strange how he could have known all those things and there is really only one reasonable answer to that. I also believe one of the orderlies is our rat. I mean, apart from you, they are the only ones he's had any social interaction with." Harley nodded.

"That's true. Do you know which ones were assigned to him? Hartley is one of them, that much I know."

"Yes," Dr. Arkham confirmed. "Hartley and, let me see," he shut his eyes hard, thinking. "Yes, Carter," he said as he remembered and opened up his eyes again. "And also… Dwight." Harley nodded again, slowly.

"Okay, well I don't think it's Dwight, since they shot him," she thought out loud.

"Who knows, maybe he is one of them, but they wanted to make it look convincing so it wouldn't give him away?" Dr. Arkham suggested. Harley shrugged.

"Maybe, but I don't think so. Anyway, this has to stay between us. If word gets out, then whoever our rat is might find out and get away with it."

"I agree. Are you going to tell Commissioner Gordon?" Harley took the phone out of her pocket.

"I'm already on it." Before she could do anything however, her phone rang right as she held it in her hand. Without bothering about the number, she answered it and to her surprise, it was Gordon who spoke.

"Dr. Quinzel? I think we've found him."

A/N: Wow, what a cliffhanger, huh? Once again, I find myself putting certain things on hold. There was supposed to be a reunion in this chapter, but it would have ben way too long, but I promise Harley and Mistah J will reunite again in the next chapter! Thanks for reading and reviewing! :)