Author's note:

Guest : Oh my God, I'm so sorry for the delay :P

Robin0014 : Juicey? I like that one. None of the previous chapters were called like this.

SectumSemprae : Despite the fact that Harley tried to kill her, Alice couldn't just watch the Joker killing her.

XoWolfDeviloX : Yep, it would be really awful of her to just leave Harley like this.

dark shadows : Aww, thank you so much for the review :)

Guest : Relationships are complicated. Even more so in fiction. Even I'm not sure where all of this is going :)

sabastian : Well, there is some rampage for you.

ada wong spy : Me too. Unfortunately, life is not that easy.

Guest : Well, not many people are giant crocodile men. But there are other ways to show love :)

P.S Really sorry for the delay. I didn't plan all of this, but I just had some personal stuff to take care of.

"Let's go!", I shouted, seeing a new wave of goons coming at me. Considering that most of the Gotham's thugs were sent to Arkham City, it was not very fucking likely I'd kill them all.

But nothing forbade me from trying.

They were shooting at me with some high-caliber rifles, but my scales could stand it. I got them in only few jumps and started tearing them apart, ignoring yells and pleads. Some of them tried to run away, but I got them too; the adrenaline rush was working just the way it should.

Suddenly, I felt a slight peck on my arm. Then I noticed a pretty large bullet coming out of it, and a sniper on the roof of the nearby building.

I jumped on the wall and started climbing, using my claws. I reached the fucker in two seconds and jumped into the roof.

He probably didn't expect me to get him.

Surprise.

The Joker left the room. I was standing next to his desk, still shocked after everything that happened.

"Are... are you okay?", I asked Harley.

She didn't say anything, she just stood up and walked over to a shelf, grabbed the lipstick and the pocket mirror from it and started to re-apply the make-up on her bleeding lips.

"You're bleeding.", I said. It wasn't a very insightful comment, but still, she didn't seem to notice.

She was quiet.

"Covering the bruises won't help.", I said.

"Will you shut the fuck up already?!", she yelled and looked at me. "Everything was perfectly fine before you showed up.", she said with hatred.

"You call that 'fine'?", I said calmly and gestured at the desk, still covered with her blood. "It happens regularly, doesn't it?", I asked.

"Mind your own buisness.", she hissed.

"This is my buisness.", I said.

"And how is that?", she asked sarcastically, still looking into the mirror.

"I'm a psychologist.", I answered, still calm. "It's my duty to care for..."

"For crazies, right?", she asked with some vile satisfaction.

"...for people with problems. For people who encountered some difficulties in their lives.", I said. "Don't you think that you might have a problem, Harleen?"

"Cut me a break, egghead. And it's Harley, just so you know.", she asked, now mildly annoyed. It looked like putting on the make-up was calming her down.

"Okey, Harley. Still, why do you allow Joker to treat you like this?"

"Ya freakin' eggheads think ya know everything. But you ain't knowing shit. You don't know Mistah J the way I do.", Harley said, putting the mirror and the lipstick back on the shelf. "No one understands him the way I do."

The way those words seemed so familiar to me made me shiver.

"Even if Joker is misunderstood, it doesn't give him the right to abuse you.", I said. "Let's face it, Harley. If I wasn't there, he would've killed you.", I said.

I didn't have time for months of therapy. Right here, right now, I needed to reach whatever was left of her sanity.

She was looking at me for a moment.

"If it wasn't for you, nothin' of this woulda happened!", she yelled at me. "Just... just leave me.", she said. She seemed to be exhausted. I walked to the exit and took a peek through the door, noticing that neither Miro nor his uncle were down there. The last thing I wanted to do was to find myself alone with the inmates. That left only the second door.

The doors that the Joker left throught.

I grabbed the doorknob, unsure if I really wanted to see what's inside of the room. Still, none of the options I had were appealing.

Before I opened the door, I turned to Harley.

"It's never too late to be cured, Harleen.", I said. She wasn't looking at me, but I was sure she was listening. "Never."

I opened the door and entered a large room, which could only be described as bizarre. There were rails both on the ground and under the ceiling, but the thing that attracted my attention was the big, dirty mirror in the middle of the room, with the stairs leading to it. The Joker was standing in front of the mirror, looking at it.

"I wondered when you would join me, miss Walker.", Joker said loudly. "You need to excuse me this little incident with Harley. The girl got a heart of gold, but the head is empty as that of a scarecrow's.", he said and chuckled. "Pardon the joke."

"You could've killed her.", I said. He knew that. There were no doctors, no antibiotics, nothing.

"Tough love.", he said and turned back to face me. "Very effective, I must say."

"Why am I even trying?", I thought to myself. He's not crazy. He's not crazy at all. It's just all a joke to him. You cannot cure someone who isn't sick in the first place.

"May I ask you to come with me, miss? I could surely use some company.", the clown said happily. He came down to me and opened the door where the rails were leading. He made a theatrical gesture, telling me to go first.

Reluctantly, I did so.

"You must be wondering where Mr. Guzovsky went. Afterall, he did such a good job, bringing you here from ol, uncle Strange.", the madman said and giggled. "He's actually on another mission right now. Going to bring me hell of a trophy.", he continued speaking. I was quiet, unsure what to say. From the path we were walking on I established that we made a half-circle, going to the room right behind the previous one. When Joker opened the door, I realised that the two rooms were very faithful copies of each other. The mirror, the rails, everything was the same. Except for one detail.

There was a table and two chairs on top of the platform, next to the mirror.

"Shall we take a seat?", he said.

I didn't like the direction it was going.

We took the seats and Joker gave me a curious look. He wasn't saying anything, just staring at me. Seeing him like this was very unsettling, just emotionless and calm. Completely not like himself.

"Do you have children?", he suddenly asked.

"What?", I asked, then realised it could've been a bad idea. "N-no, I don't.", I said.

"Hmmm... and any pets?", he asked.

"I used to have a dog.", I said reluctantly.

"Used to?"

"It died when I was ten.", I said.

"I see.", he said with sad expression. I had no idea what game was he playing, but I had no other choice but to play along.

"What about a boyfriend? A husband, perhaps?"

"I...", I said, not quite sure what to say. It didn't seem like lying to him was a good idea. I had this irrational feeling that if I lie, he would be able to just read it from my face. Still, the less he knew about me and Waylon, the better.

"No. No boyfriend, no husband.", I said.

"Great! Then we can safely go straight to buisness.", he said.

"What... what do you mean?"

"Oh, don't play stupid on me, doc. Harley's good enough in this.", he said. "Even a madman like me... needs to talk to someone. And who's a better listener than a psychologist?", he said and chuckled. "I'm giving you the chance no one ever got before. You can ask me anything. I will answer honestly.", he said, the smile disappearing from his face.

From all the possible scenarios that I imagined, this one was probably the only one I didn't think about.

"But... why?", I asked.

"Because you, doc... you... understand me.", he added quietly. "Back in the Asylum... during our session... you realised what my story was. And I know you did. I saw it in your eyes. The sudden spark of knowledge.", he said. "You saw through that clown mask and you saw what no one else has seen before. Perhaps not even me."

"I...", I said, realising that what I'm about to say will probably get me killed. On the other hand, when talking with Joker, everything could get me killed. "I don't understand."

"You will, Alice.", he said, surprisingly calm. "You will."

He went quiet for a moment, then I decided to speak.

"What... what happened to you? What made you what you are?"

"I promised to answer honestly, and I swear I'll try. But the thing is...", he said and smiled, "Sometimes I remember it one way... sometimes another. I can only give you the version that I remember the best and which I think might be true.", he said sadly.

He took a deep breath. "I had a wife. Beautiful and kind, like you..."

I noticed another sniper, this time on a tall building. He was different then the rest of the goons. He had some military outfit. He was probably a merc. I didn't care, though. Nothing that my claws and fangs couldn't deal with.

He shot me in the shoulder, but I was already on my way to get him. He shot one more time and got me in the knee, doing almost nothing. I started climbing up, trying to reach him. The merc pulled a shotgun out and shot me, but I managed to jump to the left, avoiding the shot.

"Damn you!", he said. When I finally reached the top, he wasn't there. I noticed the line he was using to get back on the ground. I heard a quiet beeping sound.

The mine under my feet exploded, destroying the grappling hook that the rope was attached to. The merc fell down, although it was only a couple feet, so he quickly stood up, trying to see something in the smoke that the explosion left.

When the smoke was gone, I was still standing there, only slightly dizzy. I quickly came to my senses and noticed the merc, now using the carbine rifle to shoot me. Needles to say, he wasn't doing a very good job.

I jumped off the rooftop and landed on the ground with so much force it broke the asphalt under my feet into pieces. The merc threw a grenade at me, but I just stepped on it. The explosion, weakened by my mass, didn't bother me at all.

"What the fuck are you?!", he said in panic. He tried shooting some more, but the bullets were just bouncing off my skin. I slowly came closer. He realised it was pointless.

"Where's... your hostage...", I asked slowly.

He just looked at me with terror.

"Where is she?!", I yelled, loosing my patience.

"Alice?", he said with sudden realisation.

"You know her.", I said and grabbed his arm, making him drop the rifle. I lifted him in the air and made him look me in the eyes. "Where is she?", I asked slowly, carefully pronouncing each word.

"She's in the Steel Mill!", he said with panic. "In Joker's office, there are doors leading to his rooms! He mostly gives me orders from there, that's where he was going to bring her. That's all I know, I swear!"

I dropped him on the ground, then started my way to the Steel Mill. I heard him behind me, pulling the pin out of another grenade. As soon as he threw it in the air, I turned back, grabbed it and threw it away to him. He tried to jump away, but it was too late; the incendiary grenade exploded, covering that fool in flames. His screams echoed throughout Arkham City. I continued my way, trying to convince myself that the aching pain in my chest would cease.

"Don't worry, Alice. I'll be there soon."

"One detail stays the same.", Joker said. "The Batman."

"Joker...", I said reluctantly, but I decided to go on. "Why did you really bring me here?"

"What do you mean, doc?", he asked, the smile appearing on his face.

"You... you want to get cured?", I asked.

"Doc... Alice... I told you before, you understand me so well.", Joker said. "But you're completely wrong on that one.", he said and grinned.

I didn't like that grin.

"I don't want to get normal. If I weren't crazy, I'd be insane! That's the only way we can survive in this crazy world of ours!", he said. "That's why we match each other so greatly.", he said tenderly.

"You understand my insanity the way no one else does."

"What... Joker, you..."

"Well, I assume the men you're usually dating aren't wearing more make-up than you, now are they ?", Joker said and chuckled. "They may have some scales on them, though."

I froze for a moment. "You know?"

"About your little affair with the world's biggest crocodile? Yes, I know it all.", he said and chuckled. "I know many things."

I stood up from my chair.

"Let me go, Joker.", I said, determined to get out of here.

"Now? It would be very rude of you to end the meeting so early."

"I'm not going to be another Harley Quinn.", I said with anger. All this time, he was just playing with me. I should've know.

"You already are one!", he announced with joy. "Being the girlfriend of a sociopathic killer with cannibalistic tendencies? How is he any better than me?", he asked and laughed maniacally.

"Waylon is not like you.", I said. "You want to see the world as some black, awful joke. But maybe people out there are not like you, Joker. Maybe not everybody cracks as easily as you.", I said with contempt. The smile faded away from Joker's face. "Despite everything that happened to Waylon, he's still trying. You just gave up. Maybe all this time, it was just you."

Joker slowly stood up from his chair, with dark shadow on his face.

"I see.", he said. "Well, doc... maybe I need to demonstrate to you how easy it is for a human being to crack.", he made a step closer to me.

"Maybe I just have to prove to you that all it takes is one, bad day to reduce the sanest man alive to lunacy."

He made another step. I made a step back.

"Just where I wanted you to be."

Suddenly, I gloved hand pressed some sort of mask against my mouth and I heard Quinn's laughter. I felt dizzy, the world started to spin.

"Gas...", I managed to thought before falling unconcious.

I slashed my way through the Joker's goons, not sparing a single one of them. Alice's scent was getting stronger; I knew I was close.

I found some sort of passage with rails, feeling Alice's scent at the end of the tunnel. Eventually, I found a door, and my senses were telling me that Alice was behind them. I kicked them down and entered a giant room, filled with dozens of thugs. There was some sort of platform, covered by curtain.

Suddenly, the curtain fell, revealing the Joker, laughing maniacally, and...

Alice.

She was in some kind of cage, which was hanging on a rope attached to the ceiling.

"How nice you could join us, Croc, old boy!", Joker shouted. "The show is about to begin."