"Dr. Harleen Frances Quinzel," I said to Batman over the communicator. "No criminal record herself, but her father was incarcerated multiple times. Several arrests for domestic abuse, though no trial was ever brought forward on those counts."
"So, she has a criminal upbringing," Bruce said.
"More likely, it's his criminal background that motivated her to pursue psychiatry and therapeutic rehabilitation of criminals," I answered as I continued digging into her files. "She got her degree at Gotham City University. Pretty high GPA- she's smarter than we'd have guessed," I said as I reflected on her 3.6 GPA.
"Doubtful," Batman answered. I shrugged. Book-smart wasn't the same thing as smart.
"She attended the university on a big scholarship for her participation on the university's gymnastic team," I said, my eyebrows raising. "Looks like, when she was a teenager, some recruiters considered involving her on the Olympic team. The only reason she didn't was because her parents weren't willing to devote the time and resources to her training."
"Shame," Batman said. "Could have raised an Olympian. Instead, they raised a terrorist."
"She did her residency at Blackgate, notably working with Alberto Falcone and Julian Gregory Day," I read through her file.
"Calendar Man," Batman growled into his microphone. I nodded to myself.
"She was the one that performed Joker's initial psychological assessment on him when you stopped him at The Royal Hotel. Oh," I let slip as my eyes stuck to a note in her Arkham files. "You've met her before."
"When?"
"Same night, back at Blackgate. She was held hostage by ten prisoners. The file says you saved her and that she provided information that later led to Joker's incarceration," I recounted. Batman was quiet a long moment.
"I might remember her," he thought aloud. "But if I do, I remember that she was unshaken by being a hostage. Anything else?"
"Not much," I answered. "Just that, upon finishing her residency at Blackgate, she was very eager to get job placement at the asylum."
"Wanted to be closer to her 'boyfriend,'" Batman reflected.
"I don't think so," I shook my head, "I think it was her plan all along. Her file says she lost interest in her work at Blackgate when Arkham Asylum reopened and many of the super criminals were transferred out. Her Arkham file indicates she requested transfers to positions there several times. I think she might have just been fascinated with psychopathy."
"Well, she found the perfect subject," Batman acknowledged. "Do we have any evidence tying her to the scene?"
I shook my head, "nothing yet… other than my personal testimony, but I don't think the police would like Batgirl to come strolling into the precinct."
"They wouldn't let you stroll back out," Batman agreed.
"I've got her address and information, and I'm hacking into her Arkham calendar now to see when she has appointments scheduled next. If nothing else, maybe we can just keep her away from Joker until we get something solidly pinned on her," I said, simultaneously hacking into her credit card account to see if she ordered anything incriminating.
"Sounds good. Send me her address- I'll see if anyone's home," Batman said. I sent the address and geolocation to him, and the communication link went silent.
"You figured it out?" Jason's voice surprised me.
"Yup. We've got her. Just looking for some evidence to pin on her before we deliver her to GCPD," I said, continuing my work.
"How'd you figure it out?" Jason asked, leaning over the back of my chair. It annoyed me, usually, to have someone breathing down my neck when I worked, but I made an exception for Jason. He wanted to learn, and it was my job to teach.
I described the various reports I'd run of Arkham staff and went through the information we had for certain on Harleen. "Between her build, physical abilities, and accent, we had a lot to start with. Listening to what she had to say was just as important- it led me to believe she had a medical background. All that, put together with a fascination in criminal minds, led me to her."
"She sounds sloppy," Jason noted.
"Or she just didn't care," I acknowledged. "If she's not planning on returning to her old life… if she no longer plans on being Harleen Quinzel and instead is planning on Harley Quinn, it doesn't matter if we…"
Oh God, I was dumb.
I pinged Batman's communication unit.
"Batgirl," Batman acknowledged
"You need to get to the asylum now," I explained. "She won't head back to her place, she doesn't want to go back to her normal life. She's going to head to the asylum to free Joker."
"Any alarms set off yet?" he asked. I keyed in the security specifications for the asylum.
"No," I answered, "but I'm telling you, she's not going back to her place."
"It's the first place we should check. She'd have to change out of her costume before returning to the asylum," Batman said.
"Unless she planned to head back to Joker right after the attack," I insisted. "Everyone's focused on the scene in Gotham Square, which is just far enough from the asylum that she could set off all the alarms and get him out before the cops arrive." Batman was quiet a long moment. I hurriedly stood and started pulling on my suit.
"Alright…" he began, coming to a decision, but I interrupted.
"This is why there are two of us, Batman," I said as Jason watched me frantically getting dressed. "I'll head to the asylum, stay in touch if you find anything in her apartment."
"You should stay at the cave, see what you can find in her accounts," Batman insisted. I looked up at Jason.
"I'll get some work automated and let you know what comes back," I answered, then clicked off my comm unit. "You want some work to do?"
"Well, Dick was gonna…" Jason started.
"Sit down, run through her purchase history and her case file notes on Joker to see if you can find anything incriminating. Look for purchases that might indicate weaponry, her new costume, anything peculiar," I insisted as I finished suiting up, zipping my back up.
"What if Bruce calls?" he asked.
"Don't answer," I said, "but call me with whatever you get, I'll send word along to him. And watch the security feeds at Arkham. You see anything, call me."
"Where'd you find her?" Dick asked seriously, coming up alongside me with his backpack in hand.
"Not positive, but I think she's at the asylum," I said, pulling my cowl over my head. Dick had reached into his bag and pulled out his Nightwing suit. We made eye contact and time seemed to still for a moment.
"Want an assist?" he offered, frozen. I gave a half smile.
"If she busts Joker out of there, I'll need one," I said. He smiled a bit back at me and a fire lit in my belly- that was the Dick I knew. He hurriedly began to change, stripping off his exercise shirt and unfurling his suit.
"Wait, what if Batman comes back here and finds me at the computer?" Jason asked, nervous.
"Tell him you were trying to help," I said, "don't make it too complicated."
"Right. Got it," he said, jumping in the chair and spinning towards the screens as he began typing.
"You have your Nightcycle here?" I called back to Dick.
"No," he answered. I groaned.
"Hurry up. I'll give you a ride," I said, hurrying to the pad and getting my motorcycle ready to go. I heard Jason giggle, and I turned back towards the guys to see Dick almost tripping as he tried to put a boot on. He took maybe 10 more seconds to finish changing, putting his domino mask on as he hurried to me on the bike. I started us up and gave Jason a small salute as Dick jumped on the bike behind me, hands landing just above my hips. I hit the throttle and we were off, speeding towards Arkham Island as fast as I could. His hands tightened around my waist as we sped along the highway, the afternoon sun beginning to set.
It wasn't romantic, wasn't sensual; but it was close. And something about it, his gloved hands grasping around my shielded torso, felt perfectly normal.
My comm link pinged and I shouted into it.
"Whaddaya got?"
"The asylum… fire alarms were just triggered in the high security wing," Jason answered. "Security footage looks like a bomb was set off in there."
"A bomb?" I shouted back, speeding up as I weaved between cars.
"Still no sign of Quinn," Jason replied. "GCPD is sending some cars that way." I shook my head.
"By the time they get there, it'll be too late," I said. I took the exit I needed and took the corner towards Arkham hard, my foot touching down on the asphalt for a moment to stabilize us.
"We driving into a war zone?" Dick called up to me. I gave a thumbs up in response. We drove under the metal archway to the asylum and I pinged Batman on my comm unit.
"Batgirl," he answered.
"A bomb just went off in Arkham's high security wing," I said. "I'm a minute out."
"You're a target," he reminded me.
"We both are," I retorted. "I brought Nightwing. Don't be too late for the party." The comm link went quiet and we pulled into the main entrance of the island just in time to hear machine gun fire. I saw a fleck of the road in front of me fly from the ground and realized the gunshots were aimed at me. I veered the bike to the right and into the foliage of an old, overgrown, ruinous building. We hurriedly dismounted the bike.
"We need to get to Arkham west, that's where Joker was kept," I reminded Dick. He nodded back at me.
"Before we can do that, we gotta take out the guys shooting at us," he said. I looked up at the guard towers to see men with painted clown faces looking into the brush where we'd come from; Joker's men. I nodded.
"I'll get the guy in the tower above us. You take the west tower back," I reiterated. He nodded. In order for the plan to work, I needed to take the east tower before Dick could launch himself towards the west.
No time like the present.
I grappled up to the tower and launched myself over the railing, my legs kicking into the side of a henchman's face before he'd even noticed I was there. He dropped his gun and fell to the floor limply, just as the man in the opposing tower caught sight of me and pulled his trigger. I ducked behind the guard tower wall, just in time to hear another groan of pain and gunfire stop. I looked back around the corner to see Nightwing had dispatched the other gunman.
My comm link pinged.
"What'd you find?" I asked Jason, careful not to say his name.
"A receipt for a harlequin costume and jester hat, all in black and red," Jason described. "There's also a lot of recent purchases for lingerie. Like, a lot. I think she's got a honeymoon in mind."
"Gross," I noted as I glided towards the secure entrance to Arkham west. I could hear Nightwing parkouring out of the tower and across rooftops behind me. We hurried onto the western section of the island towards the penitentiary. Just as we arrived in front of the visitor's center, we heard the front doors of the penitentiary slam open.
"My Harley, you've really done it this time!" Joker's voice elatedly squealed out, and I felt chills creep down my spine; it was the first time I'd ever encountered him in person. Joker was in his standard issue orange jumpsuit, but Harley was no longer in her harlequin costume. She was dressed like a normal woman, the woman I saw in her file, the image of the woman on her security badge. She had wavy blonde hair, a lot of it, twisted into a lazy bun at the back of her neck. Black reading glasses hung on her nose. A red collared shirt was covered by a white doctor's coat, and her long legs ended in practical heels. Her face froze in surprise at seeing me, then burned red with fury.
"What's the Bat-bitch doing here?!" she screamed in her high-pitched Jersey accent as she lowered into a battle-ready stance on her heels.
"Oh, Harley!" Joker smiled, raising his hands in a boyish clasp. "You got me a gift! Batman's newest pet, plus… um… who's that one again?" he asked as he pointed at Nightwing.
"Let's get to know each other, Joker," Nightwing suggested, pulling his Escrima sticks from the holsters on his legs.
Joker's giddy smile lowered into a sinister, wicked smile. "Oh, I'd love to- but I believe we're on a bit of a tight schedule… eh, Harley?"
Harley pulled a handgun out of her coat pocket and fired, giving the two of us only enough notice to dive out of the way. Dick dove into the thick shrubbery at his left, whereas I threw my weight into the doors of the visitor center, knocking them to the ground and throwing myself inside. I rolled atop the door and somersaulted back to my feet, knowing full well I hadn't escaped danger yet. I landed in a low lunge, watching the opening I had created for Quinn.
She would have to choose one of us to attack and, when she did, the other could take her unawares from behind. And I had a feeling she wouldn't be going after Dick.
"Ready or not, red," she sang to me, and I could hear her heels slowly stepping on the pavement outside. "Here I come!" She stepped into view, the gun pointed my way and her finger on the trigger.
In perfect time, an Escrima stick knocking her in the back of her head. I launched out of my lunge and kneed her in the stomach. She dropped the gun and fell to her knees.
"Nightwing, get the Joker!" I called as I pushed Quinn flat to the ground, kicking the gun out of her reach. Joker's laugh returned to me from below. I looked over the knoll to see Joker on the lower level, rushing to a parked ambulance.
"I hate to ditch on our double date! Maybe we can take a rain check?" he giggled as he started the ambulance and hit the gas.
"Go, Mistah J! Go!" Harley screamed into the dirt as Nightwing bolted out of the shrubs and sprinted towards the ambulance. He leapt onto the back and held on to the handle of the door as the ambulance turned up the hill- and headed straight for me and Harley, speeding up and slamming on the horn.
I dove onto Harley's back, wrapping my arms around her torso, and rolled with her out of the way. The ambulance turned at the last possible moment, Joker's hysterical laughter audible over the whine of the siren. Nightwing's body jostled on the back of the ambulance as he held on, but he managed to keep a hold on the vehicle as it drove through the doors back towards Arkham north and the exit of the asylum.
"Get offa me, Bat-bitch!" Harley squealed beneath me, my weight crushing her face and chest in the dirt.
"Yeah, you used that one already," I said as I leaned back, ensuring she still stayed on the ground but taking some of the painful pressure off her. "Stop squirming or I'll knock you out," I ordered her.
"You wish, red," she laughed, and she quickly rolled away from me. I fought to keep my hands on her, seeing her rolling towards the handgun on the ground. I threw my weight over her, straddling her as she rolled onto her back. She tried to reach up and strike me, but I caught her wrists and pinned them to the ground above her head. Despite being dressed in civilian clothes, her eyes were wild and crazed; there wasn't a flicker of doubt that this was the same woman I'd fought in the square earlier that day. She smiled maniacally up at me, her hips wiggling lightly under me. "Whoa," she laughed, "I can see why Bats likes you so much. Maybe we should schedule that double date." I tilted my head at her.
"I told you to stop squirming," I said quietly. She smiled up at me mischievously.
"Have I been a bad girl?" she asked seductively.
"Yeah," I answered, and slammed my forehead down against hers. That shut her up. As I climbed off her, I heard a rushing of air; the Batwing was approaching, fast. I kept Harley's body in front of me, but looked up at the Batwing as I stood. Batman pinged my comm link.
"Where's Joker?" Batman asked.
"Driving an ambulance off-island now," I answered. "He abandoned Harley. Should just be him in there, but Nightwing's on the ambulance trying to subdue him…"
"No, I'm not," Dick's panting voice appeared behind me. I turned in surprise to see him covered in dirt and dust, retrieving his Escrima stick from where it had hit the ground. He hit his comm link on and looked up at the Batwing. "License plate starts with EFJ. That's all I got." The Batwing launched forward in pursuit and Batman was gone, comms were off.
"You okay?" I asked. Nightwing nodded.
"He knew I was on him. Solid attempt, but…" he shook his head. "At least we got Quinn." I nodded. "I'll dump her inside, we can join Batman in the pursuit."
"I'll do it," I said, reaching down and pulling Quinn's limp body over my shoulders in a fireman's carry. Nightwing nodded at me, eyebrows lifted.
"Been working out?" he asked, and I almost smiled at the playful demeanor. I did enjoy our banter.
"Every damn day," I answered, lugging her body towards the penitentiary. "Get the bike started." Inside, officers were armed and pointing guns at the door, but lowered them upon seeing me toting Quinn's body. I lowered her body in front of the registration desk, the officers staring at me in a state of wonder. "Can I leave this here for the police to pick up?" One of the officers nodded nervously. "Thank you."
I rushed after Nightwing back to my motorcycle and we hurried off the island, my hands resting just above his hips, just as police sirens approached the bridge to come to the island. I hit on our comms link to Jason.
"Quinn was subdued, but Joker got away. We're in pursuit now. Can you help?" I asked.
"Yeah, what do I do?" he asked.
"Get into the GCPD database and search for ambulances with the letters E-F-J in their plates. If you can ID it, we might be able to track it," I suggested as Dick drove us back towards Gotham Square. It was where the most ambulances were earlier; Joker might try to ditch his there.
"Okay, I'm working on it," he said. I immediately pinged Batman.
"Anything?"
"I've lost him. Trying to get in touch with Alfred to see if he can find the license plate number so we can track him, but he's not answering," he said. I inwardly cringed.
"Probably because he was on with me," I said, only lying a little. "I just asked for the same from him. I'll let you know if he surfaces anything."
"Is Nightwing alright?"
"Yes, I've got him now," I said.
"Take him back to the Batcave. He's not on this case," he ordered. I was a little surprised by the command.
"He's helping," I said, not understanding.
"You should head back, too. Let me take care of Joker," he said. I wanted to argue, but fell mute. I didn't understand why I was being shut down. "Batgirl," he said, an order for me to confirm my intentions.
"Got it," I said, feeling frustrated. Though I understood; Two Face's men may have been at the square during Harley's attack, and may be waiting for me to turn up again. Dick was just thrown from an ambulance in motion, and could probably use a quick head examination. Jason was at the Batcomputer giving directions; to catch Joker, we may need someone quicker at the controls. I understood the directive, but I didn't like it; I wanted to help reel Joker back in myself.
But I hit Nightwing's shoulder, giving him a hand gesture to wrap it up and take us back to the Batcave. He smiled smugly at me over his shoulder, then turned off our route to head back towards the Batcave. By the time we pulled back onto the pad in the cave, my ears were humming with noise.
"He told you to turn back, huh?" Dick asked me as I stepped off the bike. He put the kickstand down as I pulled my cowl off, a bit exasperated. "He's funny about Joker. Don't take it personally."
I watched him carefully as he removed his domino mask, wondering if he was just condescending to me. His eyes said he wasn't. I let out a sigh and nodded.
"Thanks," I said. He nodded as he stood and smiled down at me, not a flirtatious smile but an incredibly warm one.
"No problem."
"Got it!" a holler from the computer sounded. "I got it, I found him!" Jason yelled.
"Where is he?" I asked as I hurried from the pad up to the computer.
"Looks like he's crossing the bridge into Bludhaven," Jason said as he slipped his arms into the sleeves of his red hoodie, and then his denim coat.
"Batman," I called into my comm link as I shooed Jason out of my chair, "I'm sending you his location now. He's crossing into Bludhaven."
"Shit head's going into my city…" Nightwing thought aloud. "Son of a bitch pretended he didn't recognize me, but now he's going to my city."
"Speed?" Batman asked, the whirring of the Batwing in the background.
"Average," I answered. "He's doing a good job of blending in."
"Miss Gordon, I think you should hear this," Alfred said, approaching me with a radio unit. I listened to the police chatter, recognizing my father's voice.
"Tell them we want her turned over now," my dad growled.
"We tried," another officer answered with a puny voice. "A bunch of feds came in claiming jurisdiction, carted her off before we could do anything!"
"Feds? What feds? I want a warrant!" my dad bit back over the radio, but I could tell it would be fruitless. I looked up at Alfred.
"Are they talking about Quinn?" I asked.
"I believe so," Alfred answered, and Dick threw his hands at his side.
"Shit, I bet it's Wahler," he said, and he raised his finger to his comm link. "Batman, Wahler's taken Quinn. If we needed any more proof that the Suicide Squad is being reactivated, this is it."
"We don't have time for that right now," Batman bit back. "We need to find Joker and lock him back up. Quinn can wait."
"Where is Master Todd?" Alfred asked, and I started to point lazily behind me- but he wasn't there. Dick and I switched off our comm links simultaneously.
"Where'd he go?" Dick asked me.
"I made him get out of the chair after we found Joker, so I could tell Batman," I answered.
"Well did he say anything?"
"No, but I saw him put on his… coat…" I trailed off. Our wide eyes met at once.
"Shit, he's going after Joker," Dick acknowledged.
"Go, stop him!" I half-whispered, half-shouted.
"I don't have my bike here!" he gestured to his Nightwing suit in reminder.
"Go as Dick Grayson, then! I can't leave or Batman will know something's up, you've got to stop him!" I bit back.
"OR- I'll take your motorcycle, since Asylum staff and Gotham PD have already seen both of us on it so they know we're best buds. 'kay, thanks!" he shouted, then hurried back to my bike. I leaned over the back of my chair.
"Get it back here in one piece or you're a dead man!" I demanded.
Joker on the loose. Quinn kidnapped by the government. Jason going rogue. What an evening.
"Batman," I said, switching on my comms again, "Joker just stopped at Bludhaven General Hospital." I pulled up security camera feeds, flipping through the images until I found one of Joker jumping out of the back of his ambulance carrying two oxygen tanks. A nurse aid on the sidewalk nearby recognized him and, terrified, sprinted back inside as Joker cast him a friendly wave.
"I'm almost there," Batman answered me.
"Hurry, I think he's planning an explosion," I said, watching as he carried the two oxygen tanks inside the emergency doors. Shooting a tank would cause an explosion- and there were always a few gun-toting officers in emergency rooms, in case of depraved patients.
Hope they were ready for him.
It only took about 45 seconds for Joker to come running back out of the doors, firing a gun back through the automatic sliding doors until an explosion burst through the glass, fiery smoke billowing towards him.
"He's caused a fire in the ER, Batman, hurry," I urged him. In the video, Joker ran from the doors and out of sight. About 30 seconds later, I watched as Batman ran through the flames and into the ER. Another two minutes passed and he came out with three coughing pedestrians, another two coughing children in his arms. He went back in to help more people, and I flipped through the other camera feeds, searching for Joker, but I already knew the truth.
We'd lost him.