Chapter 21

It was February 5th, just a few days after that friggin groundhog predicted six more weeks of winter. The temperatures had plummeted and as I left my apartment to head the asylum the snow had already begun to fall. We would be running on a skeleton crew since they were predicting a very serious blizzard. I pulled the short straw to be one of two doctors in the building throughout the duration of the storm. I packed an overnight bag with several changes of clothes, batteries, a flashlight and candles just in case it got really bad. Since Arkham was pretty much the only thing on South Channel Island, plowing the bridges leading to and from was not a top priority to Mayor Hill. Chances were good we would be snowed in for several days.

Sessions were cancelled for all out-patients and A, B and C wards were sent home for the weekend. Only those patients incarcerated by the state for crimes committed would be present. That left us with three orderlies, four security guards, two nurses, two cafeteria workers, one janitor, two doctors and roughly forty inmates. I arrived around eight in the morning and it was eerily quiet throughout the asylum. It was giving me the heebie jeebies. Since there were only two doctors available all regular sessions had been cancelled to free us up for emergencies, except for my session with Joker. Dr. Arkham agreed we had been making a lot of progress and he didn't want to disrupt his treatment. He hadn't killed, maimed or attacked anyone in over a month, a new record.

I was sitting at my desk answering e-mails and thinking about what we should talk about in our session today. We had touched briefly on his past before his accident and he simply said he had little to no recollection of that period of his life. I decided we should revisit it, besides I had something I had been dying to ask him since we first began our sessions together. I thought about changing my clothes, even with the heat on it was freezing in here, and my sweats and hoodie sounded so warm and inviting just then. I decided against it, I didn't think it would be appropriate to have a formal session dressed down, so I threw my lab coat on over my skirt and button down shirt and sucked it up. I would change after our session.

Joker was only escorted by one security guard today. I had noticed security was getting a little lackadaisical since he had been behaving lately. The security guard cuffed him to the couch and left, which was merely a formality as Mr. J had been slipping out of his cuffs as soon as the coast was clear for weeks now. It still amazed me how quickly he could pick a lock. He glanced around my office, noticed my overnight bag and pillow and smiled.

"Are we having a slumber party?" He said brightly. I glanced out the window, in the past two hours we had already gotten about four inches of accumulation and it was still snowing like a sonofabitch.

"Yeah, looks like it. This isn't supposed to let up until sometime tomorrow so I'm here for the duration."

"Oh goody! We can paint each other's nails, talk about boys and then have a pillow fight! Hahahaha!" I rolled my eyes. I had seen him in these giddy moods before, the puns usually flew and the jokes got pretty bad.

"Very funny Mr. J. Listen, I know we've touched on the subject I'd like to talk about today but I think it's important we revisit it." He sighed and stretched out on the couch placing his hands beneath his head.

"I thought we'd be taking a snow day, Doc. Fine. Let's get on with it already."

"Thank you for indulging me. So, I know you said you have little recollection of any events prior to your accident, but I was hoping you could find something, anything you might recall about your past."

"Oh this old chestnut again. Okay Doc, I do have one memory. It's about my dad." I perked up excited to see at least some small glimpse of the man he was before he became the Joker.

"That's great Mr. J. Please, continue." He sighed heavily and rolled his eyes up to the ceiling.

"My dad used to beat me pretty bad. Every time I stepped out of line, Bam! Or sometimes I'd just be sitting there doing nothing and Pow! He tended to favor the grape you see. There was only one time I saw him truly happy. I was seven and my dad took me to the circus. I remember this clown, running aro-" I started laughing hysterically, I couldn't help it. Joker turned his head and looked at me. "You find that funny?"

"No, I find you completely full of shit." I tried to get my giggling under control and I wiped a tear from beneath my eye. "C'mon Mr. J I know I'm a blonde but do you really think I'm that dumb?" He was frowning at me but he couldn't hold it. Finally, a huge smile broke out on his face and he chuckled.

"Damn, I thought I had you going there for a minute. Oh well, ya gotta admit if you bought it, it would have been a pretty good gag."

"Yes it woulda but I don't have gullible written across my forehead. Come on Mr. J, there's gotta be something you remember. If you physically saw something from your past do you think it might jog your memory?" He sat up and swung his legs around so he was facing me and gave me a puzzled look.

"Like what?" I took a deep breath and pulled the photograph I had found in the box of his things out of the back of my notebook but didn't hand it to him yet.

"This was confiscated from you the first time you were incarcerated here. The date on it indicates it's from before the accident." I handed him the photograph of the pregnant woman. "Do you remember a Jeannie? Any idea who she was to you?" His whole body tensed.

"Where did you get this?" His voice had a chilly and dangerous edge to it. I was suddenly nervous.

"I-it was in the file room in a box marked Joker. Who is she Mr. J?" He was staring at the photo and I could see the slight shaking throughout his body. He made a sound that became a growl as he launched off the couch and grabbed me by the throat, pulled me out of my chair and slammed me against the wall. My glasses flew off of my face at the impact.

"You and your prying! All your goddamn questions! I've had about enough of it!" he spat and he squeezed cutting off my airway. So this was it, I had finally pushed him too far and I was going to be his next victim. I instinctually grabbed his hands and tried to pry them away from my neck. Black spots were starting to appear across my vision. Then I remembered something he had said to me. "It's no fun if they don't fight back." Well I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction. I stopped struggling. I dropped my arms, I looked directly into his eyes and I smiled. He started as if he saw something in my eyes he had never seen before and his grip loosened. He let go and I slumped to the floor coughing, gagging and trying to get air back into my burning throat and lungs. He looked down and ran his hands through his hair in a gesture of utter frustration.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it. It was a joke!" He said abruptly. He turned away from me and took a few steps to distance himself from me. "It was just a joke." He turned back to look at me. "You are one daffy dame, Doc. Out of all the asylums in all the world why did you have to walk into mine?" He grumbled. I had managed to raise myself to a sitting position against the wall but I was still struggling for breath. He turned to me and his eyes softened just a bit. "Damn you, Harley!" He strode over to me and I cowed away from him. He knelt down and placed his hands under my knees and behind my back, picked me up and carried me over to the couch like I weighed nothing. He very gently laid me down and perched on the edge checking my neck to see how much damage he had done. "You'll have a pretty bad bruise but you should be fine."

"Who is she Mr. J?" I croaked from my stinging throat. The anger returned to his eyes. He slammed his palms down on either side of my head with his nose mere inches from mine.

"I don't know!" He was shouting now. "All I do know is that when I look at that picture it makes me uncomfortable! It makes me feel the way I feel when I'm around you! It's confusing and I don't like it!"

My eyes widened and my breath caught in my throat for a moment. He grabbed my face with his hands and searched it with his eyes like there was some mystery there for him to solve. Before I even registered it had happened he closed the gap between our faces and placed his lips against mine. He wasn't gentle. There was a raw need in that kiss. It was like he was trying to devour me and I responded in kind. I wound one arm around his neck and plunged my other hand into his hair. I arched my back and pressed myself against his chest. He moved to straddle my leg and I could feel him hardening against my hip. He plunged his tongue into my mouth and deepened the kiss as his hand roved downward and gripped my breast. I inhaled deeply sharing his breath. My shirt must have pulled out of my skirt at some point because I felt the warmth of his hand as it slid up my side along the line of scars that were there. His other hand dug harshly into my bun and he pulled hard wrenching my head to the side, exposing the tender and already bruising skin of my neck. He suckled and tore at my flesh with his teeth. It hurt but at the same time it felt wonderful. I felt his knee pressing forward which pushed my skirt up around my hips. There was a loud knock at the door and we both froze as we simultaneously whispered, "Shit!"

"Dr. Quinzel I know your time's not up but I gotta get back over to the west wing. Can I take the clown back now?" Joker shot up off the couch. I cleared my throat and tried not to sound as breathless as I felt.

"Okay John just give me ten minutes to wrap up here, okay?"

"Sure Doc. I'll come back in ten." I looked at Mr. J as he was attempting to adjust a rather large erection. I stood and tried to straighten out my clothes and hair as best as I could. We were both suddenly a little sheepish and couldn't quite look each other in the eye. Joker rubbed the back of his neck with his hand.

"Well that was…"

"Intense?" He finally met my gaze and grinned.

"I was going to say unexpected, but intense works too." He looked down at his jumpsuit which was still tented out. "Now what am I going to do about that? Damn." I giggled.

"Think about baseball?" He looked back up at me and pointed.

"You need to cover up your neck, I think I may have gotten a little carried away."

I reached up and touched my skin and winced. I rummaged through my bag and pulled out a scarf which I carefully wrapped around my neck. Whatever Joker chose to think about it worked because when John came back to collect him we were the epitome of innocence. I was seated and taking notes in my chair and Joker was cuffed to the couch. As John worked with the restraints Mr. J and I shared a look that said this was far from over. Before he was led from the room, Joker made a point of saying,

"See you soon, Doc."