Author's note: Hey guys, long time no see. Sorry about the break in between chapters, I was just having major writers block. Anyhow, I hope this doesn't disappoint. I didn't really have enough time to super edit it so hopefully it's still okay! And as always enjoy!

The sound of the Joker's whistling disturbed the otherwise silent sublevels of Arkham Asylum. It bounced off every white wall, and submerged into the darkness that plagued every corner of the place. 'It was all just too easy'. He'd have clapped his hands together if it weren't for the straight jacket tightly bound around him.

Escaping had been easy. And getting the nurses there had been even easier. Having over half the guards on his payroll had helped in the matter, and it amused him to no end that Harleen had played right into his game. 'Maybe she isn't as smart as she thinks'. He giggled darkly, choking slightly on the red liquid that had pooled in his mouth.

That was the downside. The only downside. After he had been dragged out of his therapy room and back down the stairs and taken part in the long descent back to his own personal hell, the Joker had taken more than a couple good punches by the few guards that weren't on his payroll. But he'd be sure to get back at them later. However, now he had things to plan, ideas that were far too entertaining not to put into motion. 'It's high time that my little Doctor stop being so naive'.

His already dark laugh came out as deep gurgles as the blood continued to gather in his mouth, and if any guard dared to walk by, which no one did, they would have seen nothing but the flash of his silver grill lite by some phantom source in the unfathomably dark cell.

'Oh my god, oh my god. He didn't. He couldn't have'. Was all Harleen found herself thinking as she sat in her office, staring at a wall blankly. But she knew better. Of course he did it.

After the Joker had been dragged out of the therapy room, Harleen had sank to the ground, feeling just about nothing. She hadn't wanted to think about it, to think that he was capable of doing such a thing. But she was stupid, after all, he was in the asylum for doing acts even more atrocious. She hadn't moved for a long while, and if it weren't for her stupified state she would have been peeved that no one had come to check on her.

Once she had managed to collect her breath she found that her feet were moving on their own, driving her out from the therapy room and straight towards the place she wanted to avoid the most.

She had to see it. Had to see it with her own eyes. Maybe then she'd start feeling something close to remorse.

But when she got there, what she felt was even worse: she wanted to feel repulsed. She wanted to see the pale faces of the nurses before her and cringe away from the sight. But she didn't feel anything but pure fascination and awe at the sight before her. It had almost looked like they were asleep, the only thing that gave away their true state was the lack of chest movement, and the very obvious black chard marks that were ran along each of their temples.

He really had done it.

"Doctor Quinzel, you really shouldn't be in here." Someone said softly, speaking as if she were a child that had just woken from a nightmare.

A white cloth was pulled over the dead men's faces, but Harleen could not stop staring, she had been mesmerized by the stillness of the two bodies before her.

Suddenly she was being pulled from the room. Rough hands trying to sooth her rubbing her back and neck. And she wanted to scream for them to not touch her because their hands reminded her of past violations, they brought back the feeling of fathom hands that plagued her when she was alone. However, she was too far back in her own head to even be able to move her tongue in order to articulate her annoyance and distress.

"Come on Doctor Q. Let's get you out of here. Doctor Leland and Doctor Arkham want to have a word with you."

"It'll be okay Doctor Quinzel, you're safe." Sang the voices of people around her.

But Harleen ignored them, she was too busy trying to imagine just what they had looked like the moment before the life left there eyes.

Doctor Leland and Doctor Arkham ushered Harleen into an office, speaking soft reassuring words to her. However, Harleen could hardly stand to pay attention, she just wanted everyone to leave her alone with her thoughts.

There was so many things crowding her head; each thought was bouncing around like angry bees inside a hive. She should be feeling more. Guilty at the least. But she felt nothing. In fact, the only thing truly bothering her was that J had outsmarted her. She felt like a fool for allowing him the chance to kiss her in the therapy room. 'Almost kiss me.' She thought with bitter remorse. She was the Doctor, she should have known better, or at east resisted it more. 'How desperate am I?' Harleen thought, rolling her icy eyes as the embarrassment sunk in.

'What's going to happen now?' She thought, as she realized that J was no doubt suffering right now. Locked away in the dungeons of Arkham Asylum. She couldn't stop the desperation that sunk into her chest when she thought of how long they'd be kept apart after this.

"HARLEEN." Harleen jumped as she felt someone shaking her frail shoulders harshly.

"What?" Her voice was far off and weak.

"You should be paying attention honey. I know you're probably still in shock." Leland offered her a soft smile.

A childish giggle escaped Harleen's pale lips, but she turned it to a cough when she saw the stunned looks of the faces before her. Laughing wasn't the appropriate responses she reasoned with herself. 'Well then maybe they should be more careful with their words'. A voice argued inside her head; her thoughts now swirling around the word shock.

"I'm fine." Harleen said, in a pinched voice that she could barely recognize as her own. She hoped Leland and Arkham wouldn't decide now was the time to start asking questions, because now it didn't matter, she could hardly get out of her own head at this point.

"Alright." Leland sighed, lifting her hand off Harleen's shoulder hesitantly. "Now that we've gotten your attention again, we want to discuss matters concerning your safety."

"My safety?" Harleen asked quietly, barely able to keep her mind on the conversation taking place.

"Yes Harleen. You're safety." Leland said, in slow voice, acting as if she were talking to a child. "Now, this is serious. We know the Joker doesn't play games."

Harleen finally broke free of her stumper to scoff.

Leland and Doctor Arkham turned towards Harleen with the same stunned looks on both their aging faces.

"Doesn't play games?" Harleen started out softly. "Doesn't play games?!" Her voice rose to a roar as the two Doctors made eye contact from across the small wooden table. Harleen laughed then, a dark and cynical laugh, and the two Doctor's concern escalated tenfolds.

"Harleen." Leland voiced, while Arkham cleared his throat uncomfortably. Slowly, Joan reached out a tentative hand, attempting to rest it on the blondes slender shoulder once more. "Harleen, calm down."

Both doctor's watched as Harleen's pale blue eyes explode like fireworks with rage. Her voice reached a deadly octave, as she quietly spat out her next words. "You, both of you, know nothing about him. Everything, everything is a game with him."

"We didn't mean to offend you Harleen, obviously he's sick and-"

Harleen cut Leland off sharply. "I'm his Doctor, I know him. And the only way to win, is to play the game." Her voice was cold and both Leland and Arkham recoiled from it, stunned that the quite, young, blonde had so much anger. "We have to warn him."

"Who Harleen?" Leland said, still trying to play the role of peacekeeper. Harleen wanted to strangle her: to strangle both of them. 'How can they be this stupid?'

"The only Nurse that he hasn't been killed yet."

"Oh Harleen, I wouldn't worry about him. Obviously, he now knows what's happened, but frankly we're more concerned that the Joker will go after you next." Leland voiced.

Harleen's blue eyes were frosty as they darted between the two faces before her.

Arkham finally decided to contribute to the conversation. "We just feel that since you were the one to make the decision to… direct his treatment in the direction that you went, you are probably the next person he would want to get to."

Harleen's eyes widened, she couldn't believe she was hearing this from Arkham of all people. He had literally just congratulated her on her work.

Leland continued speaking then, watching as rage continued to consumed Harleen's delicate features. "Let's get you home Harleen. We'll sort this out, I've already contacted the police, they'll be surveilling you and your home for the next few days. Or at least until we can ensure that the Joker doesn't have anything else planned."

"You guys can't even prove it was him." Harleen seethed, deciding to stand up for J. "How the hell are you going to ensure he doesn't have anything else planned?"

"We understand you're scared Harleen, but we all know it was him. Even if we can't prove it." Harleen rolled her blue eyes, and tuned Leland out. She wasn't scared, in fact, she had never felt more alive in her entire life. Until this point in her life she had felt like she had been walking through everything, feeling nothing, as if she had been dead until now.

The only problem was that she did feel responsible for that last Nurse. She needed to find out his name: needed to find him. To warn him that J wasn't messing around, and if he escaped once he could easily do it again. She had no doubt in her mind of that.

"Okay." She said softly, interrupting Leland's rambling.

"Okay?" Leland questioned, dark eyebrows scrunching together.

"I think you're right. It's probably best I go home for awhile. I'm actually feeling rather dizzy." Harleen said, playing up the drama so she could get out of that room, and away from the two people before her.

"Oh okay, alright." Leland said. "I'll call the police now, they'll escort you home, and one of them will stay to make sure nothing happens while you're home."

"Thank you." Harleen replied in a civil voice. "If you'll excuse me, I'll just be going to gather my things."

"Of course." Leland and Arkham said at the same time, both with similar tones of sympathy.

As soon as Harleen reached the hallway, and had escaped the irritating gaze of her two colleagues, she turned quickly down the hall in the direction of the convulsive therapy rooms. Once she reached the door of the room she had used last Friday, she began frantically flipping the pages, looking for the logs of who had been with her on that fateful afternoon. 'Damn, too many Doctors use this method'. She thought with repulsion as she continued to flip through pages. She almost jumped with joy when she found the right sheet; scanning quickly she found the name...Mitchell: Austin Mitchell.

Harleen jumped for real when she heard a deep throat clear sound from behind her. Turning, she half expected to see him, but instead she came face to face with the very person she was currently looking for.

"Austin?"

"Doctor Quinzel?" He said in a voice even quieter than her own.

"I was just about to look for you."

"Well here I am." He whispered, and Harleen heard the quiver in his voice. "Harleen what's going on?"

She was surprised that he used her first name, but then again most people around her seemed to forget that she was more than just an intern now. She opened her mouth to speak, but stopped as she heard voices bouncing off the white walls, coming from the nearby corner.

Grabbing his hand quickly, Harleen spoke. "Come with me." And she was surprised by how easy he made it for her to drag him down the hall towards a janitor's closet.

The door slammed behind them, and they both jumped. "What have they told you?" Harleen whispered, unable to understand why she was scared for people to hear her. Maybe, she was afraid that he would hear her somehow.

"Practically nothing. I just know something happened to Sam and Matthew."

Harleen felt rage build inside her small frame. 'Of course they hadn't told him anything. Probably just worried that they'll be understaffed'.

"Listen Austin, you have to leave. Is there anywhere you can go? Maybe a friend's house, or something. You just can't stay here."

"Whoa, whoa, Harleen slow down. What happened? What's going on?" Austin asked, his voice raising a little in panic.

"It's nothing...you're just not safe here." Harleen said, looking him in the eyes.

"Can you at least tell me why?" He questioned, his eyes softening as they connected with hers.

"It's not good Austin. Trust me, it's probably best that you know less." 'Less for him to have to worry about'. Harleen reasoned with herself.

"They're dead aren't they."

Harleen nodded her head slightly, looking away as she heard his sharp inhale.

"I guess I kind of figured." He said softly.

"Look, that's why you need to get out of here. Arkham and Leland think you're safe, but I know J, and I know he isn't likely to quit once the games started." Harleen warned.

"Okay." She watched as his face searched the wall behind her, obviously trying to digest the information he had just been giving. His carmel eyes came back into contact with hers, and softened. "But what about you?"

"I'll be fine Austin." She said. Her eyes searching for a way to avoid making direct contact with his. No one needed to worry about her, she could take care of herself. Her eyes traveled around his face instead, and she had to admit, he wasn't a bad looking guy. In fact, he was fairly attractive. Too bad he wasn't her type anymore. Didn't have those mysterious green eyes. Or that perfect manic smile.

"Just please be careful Harleen. I know...I know we've never really talked before, but I guess if I die" He laughed awkwardly, and Harleen felt panic rising in her throat as she predicted what he was going to say next. "well, I'd just want you to know that I've kind of had a thing for you since you started working 's why I signed up to help you last Friday."

"Let's not talk like that, you're going to be okay Austin." She said, ignoring his strange confession. She was used to this sort of thing after all. But she knew that most of the attraction normally had to do with a certain apadage of theirs and not anything on an emotional level.

"Look, Harleen, I know I should have just told you this all sooner, that this isn't really the time or place. It's just I've been scared ya know? I know what the guys around here think about you, what you probably have to deal with everyday here because well, you're probably the greatest gift this place has ever gotten. God that sounded pathetic, what I'm trying to say is you're beautiful, but you're also more than that." Harleen watched as Austin's cheeks clouded over with a pink blush, and she felt her insides turn at his words, and not in a pleasant way.

She tried to smile softly, to not make the pity that she felt for the man before her become present on her delicate features. After all, it wasn't his fault that she was hopelessly pining after the most notorious psychopath in Gotham.

"I'm sorry." Austin said, but it was clear that he wanted her to say something, to give him some kind of hope and to convince him that his declaration wasn't as misguided as it appeared to be.

"Listen Austin, you're confused, were both confused and, and scared." Harleen began, trying not to be annoyed by the fact that he didn't seem to be actually hearing her. "But this isn't the time, you've got bigger things to worry about. We both have things to worry about." She placed her hand awkwardly on his shoulder and was surprised with the amount of muscle she felt tense under her touch. "Right now, you just need to worry about getting yourself somewhere safe."

He tried to say something at that moment, but Harleen silenced him by placing a pale finger against his lips. "Shhh. Let's talk about this later." They were both taken aback by her brazen actions, it was so out of character for her, but she had known it would shut him up. She then pulled him into a quick hug, surprising herself yet again. She barely knew the man before her, but she felt at least slightly responsible for what could happen to him next. "It's going to be okay Austin." She smiled up at him, before pulling away.

Austin recovered from his daze after a few moments, and nodded back at her. "Okay."

Quickly she turned and opened the door. "Be safe." She whispered as they both turned down separate hallways.

Author's note: Hey guys, what'd ya think? How are we all feeling about Austin? Should J be a little worried that someone might be moving in on his Doctor? ;) lol, I hope you guys enjoyed it, and the next two chapters should be up within the next three or so days! Amazing right? Idk, I must have just gotten inspired. That and I'm already going back to college by the end of this week so I figured I'd left you all hanging long enough. We just need to get to that damn kiss already! Let me know what you think of this chapter! It means a lot :).