Poison
Chapter One
Harleen Quinzel was currently being subjected to Arkham Asylum's annual fundraising party. Where all the elites of Gotham gather to act like that give a single damn about the people who are admitted to the mental hospital. Of course every able bodied staff member was required to attend this grand ball to present the staff as more than just babysitters of insane criminals.
Harleen hated how they all looked down on the inmates. How they all looked down on the doctors for working with the inmates. It was a job, an honorable job. But they didn't care. If it didn't give them a spotlight they would never care.
Harleen had been working at Arkham for over four years by now, for four years she had to be subjected to this same game that Gotham socialites loved to play. One would think that when you work with the most exhausting group of individuals known to mankind you would be just a little more tolerant.
But Harleen wasn't a very tolerant person. With the inmates, they couldn't help being the way they were, she felt bad for them. For people like Alexia Cobett? She had to grin and bear it. This shit only happened once every year. And she wanted to kill herself over every single time.
"Oh, Osman!" Alexia suddenly shouted to someone behind Harleen. Harleen cringed at the sound, especially when the people around them looked at the woman with disapproving looks. "Harleen you must meet Osman, he's really such a doll." Oh, Harleen doubted that.
"Alex! Good to see you." The man greeted Alexia with a kiss on her check. He turned to Harleen and a look of recognizing passed through his face. This confused Harleen, she had never met this man before but somehow it seemed he knew who she was.
"Harleen," Alexia began to introduce the two. "This is Osman Thomas, a very talented lawyer. Osman, this is-"
"Dr. Quinzel!" Osman Thomas greeted her with a firm handshake. This threw Harleen a bit off her game since most of the men she had met tonight had all greeted her with a kiss on her fingers. Obviously trying to get a look at her cleavage. "You are Dr. Quinzel correct?"
"Osman! You're scaring the poor girl." Alexia interjected, seemingly just as confused by Osman's familiarity as much as Harleen was.
"Oh, terribly sorry. But, you are Dr. Quinzel, yes?" He asked for the second time. Suddenly Harleen was wishing she wasn't Dr. Quinzel.
"Yes, I am." She gave him a pelite smile. Alexia looked even more unbalanced when Osman gave Harleen the biggest smile she had ever seen on a man. Well, maybe except one...
"I've wanted to talk to you for a long time." Harleen's smile slightly faltered at that statement. She realized Osman's hand had been clutching her for a very long time. When she pulled her eyes down to their linked hands he finally decided to let go.
"You wanted to talk to me?"
"You worked with the Joker, that's something to talk about!" Ah.
It seemed word had somehow gotten around to who exactly worked with the Joker. The asylum had never really gave an official statement on which doctor was on Joker's case since they always seemed to change every week. But since she had been with him the longest everyone just referred to her as his psychiatrist.
Well, former psychiatrist.
"When I heard the Joker broke out from Arkham," Osman pauses, shaking his head a little. "I just knew I needed to talk to the person who sat opposite from him almost everyday. All the other doctors tell me that was you."
Why? What was so curious about Harleen. Did he think she had somehow been in the know of his escape? Far from the truth. She had been just as surprised as anyone. No, Harleen was probably more surprised. Before he escaped the Joker had seemed perfectly fine. She thought they had an understanding and was willing to go through what ever needed to happen to make his time at Arkham easier. But in the end, it seemed like he had never wanted to be comfortable.
"I wanted to know, what's he like?" Osman finally asked. Alexia sighed, taking the opportunity of a passing Gothamite to speak to as her way out. If only she could take Harleen with her.
"You're going to have to be more specific, Mr. Thomas. The Joker was many things, you couldn't really just pin it all on one thing."
"But you you agree he is a psychopath, yes?" Osman was still giving that overly friendly smile and it was starting to make Harleen uncomfortable. Everyone who had asked her about the Joker so far would just mention him in passing. Terrified to even talk about him. Especially since his escape last month, everyone was on their toes about what he would do next.
"That's a very large umbrella term, Mr. Thomas. Like I said, he had many problems. I couldn't possibly get into them all now." Harleen was hoping this would finally get the slightly older man off her back. But Osman was apparently a determined man.
"Oh, I have more than enough time to discuss him with you. To be honest these parties are so drab, but having interesting people around makes it all up." He gave her a wink with a slight smirk on his playing across his face. It made the slime alarms in her body go off almost instantly. She thought maybe if she was lucky someone else would notice Osman and rope him into their conversation. However, an even better savior appeared.
Solomon Arkham, Head Administer and owner of the asylum, decided to finally take the stage at that moment. Harleen breathed an internal sigh of relief when Osman immediately turned his attention away from her. She stepped back a few feet away from him to make sure he wouldn't make any moves as the lights dimmed.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the 34th annual Arkham Asylum Charity Ball." The older man began. Solomon Arkham was the oldest living member of the Arkham lineage. His oldest daughter, Carolina Arkham, stood off to the side of him while her husband and adult children lingered in the crowd.
Harleen could describe her relationship with the man as 'on thin ice'. Ever since the Joker had escaped him and the rest of the board had been hounding her about her role. They believed she had somehow convinced him to leave. Maybe suggested ways on how to best get out. Out of all the staff he had encountered during his escape, the Joker hadn't killed Harleen.
But there was no evidence suggesting she had been involved other then being an unwilling hostage. They couldn't fire her and they knew it. So making her job much harder than it already was, was the next best thing.
"Today we are honoring the legacy and reputation that our lovely institute has been able to uphold time and time again. Today we honor the staff that has saved thousands of lives with their compassion and thoughtfulness. Today we honor the inmates…" His speech would likely just go on and on.
Another reason to hate these balls. The higher ups would go on that same stage and explain over and over how they loved the asylum. How all they were trying to do was help people and get them to be normal functioning people. Harleen could see Alexia Cobett next to her father, whispering in his ear with hushed laughs.
None of them actually cared about the inmates. They only did this to make it look like they were above the others who didn't attend. That they were more aware of the issues surrounding Gotham City. But in reality, it was most likely their managers and publicists who told them that if they attend, they would be seen in a better light by the public eye. They would dominate just enough to brag about later and forget all about the damaged island. Going back to their ordinary higher class lives.
Usually Harleen didn't care about these types of things. But the last three weeks had been torture on her mental health. She had hoped to be able to skip the ball this year, but her superiors wouldn't hear it. She didn't want to be polite for one night. She just wanted to go home and snuggle with her cat.
"For now," Solomon continued. "I'd like to honor some of the doctors. These men and women have sacrificed so much to cure our patients. The best among them should be recognized for what they do." Carolina handed her father a stack of cards. Harleen doubted her own name was one there, even though she had achieved things at Arkham that had made even the older doctors proud.
She wasn't angry just disappointed. All her hard work would never be seen if those around her weren't accepting of a younger woman showing her spine. Harleen has shown her superiors time and time again that she was capable. Somehow just one unforeseen mistake was enough to convince them of her incompetence.
She hoped that they would bother to honor the legacy of the deceased staff at least.
"The first doctor I would like to hono-" The sound of a loud bang rang throughout the room. Before Harleen or anyone knew it, Solomon grabbed at himself and fell onto the stage. Carolina and other venue staff members hurried over to assist him. The crowd however had descended into a chorus of screams. The partygoers were quick to search out the exits but found that they all were blocked by men dressed in all black wearing clown masks.
"I don't know about being a doctor!" A voice shouted over the chaos. A hush fell over the crowd as the shooter stepped away from the shadows to reveal himself. "I'm just a clown, Solomon, but it's the thought that counts."
"It's the Joker!" Someone shouted, leading the crowd into another roar of chaos. Harleen covered her ears. She watched as the Joker gave the crowd around him a big smile, motioning to the men around the room.
The masked men raised their guns at the Gotham elites and shouted, "Get on the ground!" The crowd immediately complied, not wanting to get shot like the older man on the stage. A few good hearted men tried to stand up to themselves. However, they only found themselves punched by the Joker's henchmen in response. "Don't be a hero." Harleen heard one mutter as he lead a group of people close to her.
"What do you want you bastard!" Harleen turned and saw Carolina Arkham standing on the stage. Her father was still slumped, being attended to by the venue's staff. Harleen wasn't sure where Solomon had been shot. But the fact that he seemed to not be moving at all was not a good sign in her book.
"What does anyone want my dear?" The Joker began to monologue. "I want a lot of things. Let me give you the list." Oh god he was really going to monologue wasn't he.
"Just spit it out clown!" Carolina shouted. Harleen has to give it the woman some credit. She had some real balls to be able to yell at the Joker like this when the man had just shot her father.
"Dr. Quinzel." Someone suddenly whispered from beside her. She turned and saw the smiling face of Osman Thomas looking expectantly at her. She stared at him in confusion, how the hell could this man possibly be smiling right now. "This is your opportunity. Please, go!" He pointed at the armed men around them before Harleen realized what he was trying to say.
He thought she could get the Joker to back off!
Someone next to Osman who had been eavesdropping looked at Harleen with wide eyes. Possibly recognizing her name as one of the Joker's psychiatrists they scooted closer to the pair. Harley recognized her as Mrs. Regan O'Neill, an older socialite who Harleen remembered seeing on TV sometimes growing up.
"Dr. Quinzel," She suddenly began. "Please, if there's anything you can do, please, stop this man." She whispered with desperation in her voice. Harleen looked back at Osman who's expression was falling the longer she did nothing.
Harleen looked over at the Joker who was busy taunting Carolina, waving his gun around with that stupid grin on his face. Harleen wanted nothing more to sink into the floor. She could easily say fuck them and do nothing. But how would that look for the Asylum? Did she really care about losing her job that badly?
...yes she did.
With a long sigh she gave Osman a final resigned looked, squeezing Mrs. O'Neill's hand for comfort. She turned back to looking at the Joker, mustering up the last bit of her courage before slowing standing up to her feet. The henchmen closest to her was startled and pointed his gun right at her.
"Get back down!" He shouted, catching everyone's attraction. Including the Joker's. She watched as he turned to his head and made eye contact with her. Her heart seemed to freeze and she suddenly didn't feel as brave a she did a moment ago.
The Joker she had always interacted with was always restrained. In the end, Harleen always had control over the situation. At least she did physically. She always knew she was safe when she was in his presence. Before she had cameras, chains and orderlies keeping the Joker in check.
This was different. This was so, so different.
The henchmen yelled again, this time pressing the barrel of his gun against the side of her head. "I said get the fuck back down or it's a round through tha-" But he never got to finish that sentence. The sound of a different gun going off rang throughout the room, making everyone scream in despair as they watch the masked man fall down. One gun shot through his stupid head.
Harleen stared at his lifeless body for a long moment. She'd seen a dead body before. She'd seen so many dead bodies before. But this time? This time was different. It made her think of back at the Asylum, when she'd seen the trail of bodies Joker had laid in his wake when he had escaped. Orderlies and doctors alike lining the halls until he had pressed her against the he gotten to a certain someone's jail cell...
She finally turned away, bringing her attention back to the Joker who had a shit eating grin on his face. The people around her were scrambling to get away from the dead body. The two other henchmen around her rounded them up farther away from the dead man and the frozen Harleen.
She continued watching him with a nervous hint in her eyes. This was stupid, so stupid. She shouldn't have gotten up, she should have let Osman Thomas be disappointed all he wanted. He should've let Mrs. O'Neill live with fear in her heart for however long this took. She wouldn't have gotten a guy who was just doing his job killed.
"Joker." She finally said. "Please nobody has to get hurt."
What in the actual hell was she going to accomplish her. Absolutely nothing. What, she begs the Joker not to kill everyone and then what? He'll probably do it anyways, just because he can. He doesn't need his former psychiatrist trying to convince him otherwise. He probably thinks that this very moment was the highlight of his whole night.
'My former psychiatrist that I talk philosophy with is trying to get me to not kill everyone, how hilarious!' That's exactly what he was thinking.
"Please. Just let everyone go." He just kept staring at her and it was really starting to get on her nerves. Just say something damnit!
Maybe it showed on her face, but the smile on the Joker's face slowly melted away and she was suddenly worried if this really was the wrong thing to do. Then almost at that same moment she felt a hand land on her shoulder.
Harleen turned, worried that another goon was trying to make her back off. Instead she was even more stunned when she saw it was Osman Thomas standing beside her. The older man gave Harleen an encouraging smile, squeezing her shoulder in a comforting way.
Suddenly it wasn't the Joker who was the crazy one, it was Osman. What the hell did the man think he was going to accomplish doing this? Harleen turned back to Joker when it suddenly hit her. He wasn't mad because she was scared. He was mad because Osman was in his way.
"Mr. Thomas, I need you to sit back down." Harleen whispered to him.
"I felt bad for pressuring you, you need a man to support you." He whispered back. Oh for the love of God. Harleen really didn't need this kind of bullshit right now. He took a step in front of her. Harleen started thinking about if there was any possible way that the floor could suddenly collapse and kill her right then and there. She wondered if the goon next to her would just shot the damn gun at her.
"You need to listen to her, she can help you!" Osman started to plead. Harleen grabbed on to his suit, hoping to convey to him that this was the worst idea he could have in his entire life. The Joker still hadn't responded. The people around them were looking between the madmen, his goons, Harleen and Osman. Trying to figure out if everything going on would turn out good or not.
But Harleen knew it wouldn't. She could see it in his eyes. He was mad and whatever he was thinking wasn't a good thing. She had to Osman out of the way.
She squeezed his left arm with both hands, turning him to the side so he was facing her. "Mr. Thomas, please. I can do this by myself, you are only making the situation worse!"
"Grab him!" Harleen jumped. The Joker had shouted a command at one of his boys who rushed forward and grabbed Osman by the neck. Pulling him away from Harleen, Osman struggled against the man until another henchmen tackled him to the ground.
Harleen watched them in shock. Osman was an idiot but she didn't want the fool to die. However he attention was immediately diverted when an arm quickly wrapped around her neck, a gun being pressed against her head.
"Well, I think we can all agree that was a very dumb decision. Can't we doc?"
•••
"Who the hell do you think you are!" Dr. Cavendish suddenly shouted. Harleen jumped at the sound, not expecting the good doctor to have an outburst like that.
She watched through the security cameras as Dr. Cavendish stood up from his seat and hurried out of the room. The other doctors around her flew up from their seats to meet him in the hallway. Harleen stayed behind for just a moment, watching the screens as the man in the room stared back at her through the camera.
"Did you even hear what he just said to me!" Dr. Cavendish shouted at the others. Harleen finally got up from her seat and ran it to the hallway. Dr. Cavendish was being blocked from the exit by her fellow doctors who were all trying to get the man to calm down.
"We all heard doctor, but please, you cannot leave like this." The senior amongst them, Dr. Redfern, pleaded. Cavendish however seemed to be steaming mad. The session he had with the Joker affecting him much more than they believed.
"No you didn't hear! He spoke about my daughter. My daughter!" Cavendish shouted. "How the hell would he know she's graduating, huh? Go on, tell me doctor!"
Redfern backed up a little at his outburst. The orderlies by the door watching them with a wary look. Harleen felt bad for Cavendish, but honestly the man should have expected something like this. Every doctor that's spoken to the Joker has had their whole life laid bare before them through his words. Harleen included.
She had been his doctor for the past four months. To her, the progress she had been seeing was massive. He wasn't particularly opening up about his past, but he was having civil conversations with her. Talking about his beliefs and his outlook on life. She had gotten more out of him than any doctor had those first two months.
But the higher-ups were impatient and apparently Harlem's sessions weren't progressing enough at all. They said she was just wasting time and if her tactics didn't change they would take her out. To show how serious they were, they hired Cavendish.
Cavendish was a well respected psychiatrist from Keystone City that Harleen's superiors had hired specifically for the Joker case. They said that the doctor would work with Joker for two weeks. If nothing progressed, she would get him back. But if Joker responded to him, she would be taken off the case.
However Harleen was sure that Dr. Cavendish wouldn't make it to two weeks.
The first session had been rough. Joker had refused to talk to Cavendish at all until the last few minutes when he had went on about someone he had killed once. Cavendish has been a bit unnerved, but stated he was used to crazy men trying to get under his skin. Obviously the Joker was unhappy about the new arrangement. Especially since no one was telling him how long it would be for.
The second session went exactly the same way. Except that time the Joker had actually asked for Harleen. Cavendish of course gave him a vague answer, saying that she was unavailable unless the situation changed. Joker had given him a long, long look before looking away again.
The higher-ups were frustrated. Cavendish was supposed to be giving them results, but they just found themselves back to square one. But the old hags were stubborn and ordered Cavendish to do the next four sessions. If nothing changed, Harleen would be given the case back.
Harleen had hopes nothing changed. It made her giddy in a weird way that he didn't respond to Cacendish at all. It made her proud that she was the first and only doctor to really get the Joker to talk.
Cavendish had told Harleen in private that he didn't really want to be there. He was terrified by the Joker and found that whatever Harleen was talking with him about was at least getting him to talk. So Harleen threw him a bone by giving him some advice that was wholeheartedly unprofessional on her part.
"Maybe if you ask about me." Cavendish has looked at her a little weird, but he seemed to get an understanding as the question was waving in the air. The Joker had asked about her in their first session. Wanting to know where his regular doctor was. When Cavendish had answered that she was 'unavailable for the time being' the Joker had merely stared. He hadn't spoke to Cavendish since.
That third session, the good doctor started out with his usual questions that Joker didn't answer. In the last ten minutes Cavendish finally asked something that piped the man's interest.
"Before I go, I wanted to ask one more thing of you." The Joker didn't respond. Just like he hadn't for the last twenty minutes. The doctors in the monitoring room were so bored by this point that they all had bets on if Harleen would get the case back or not. It was nice when most of them had said she'd probably get it back, but a few others were still skeptical.
"I wanted to ask you about Dr. Quinzel, your former psychiatrist." Finally Cavendish had taken her advice. It was stupid, she knew, and he probably wouldn't get a response with it. But they had to try something.
Unfortunately for Cavendish, what the Joker said next during the ensuing conversation wasn't what he was looking for.
For the first time since he'd started with Cavendish, the Joker pulled his head up from looking at his lap to stare at the doctor. Cavendish felt a sense of victory with this. Maybe he could finally get somewhere. "What did you say?" The Joker asked in almost a whisper.
"I asked about Dr. Quinzel." Cavendish watched as the Joker clenched and unclenched his hands. Stretching his fingers out every time, making the chains on his wrist rattle. With the same unmoving stare.
"No, no, no, no, no doc. What was your whole...question." He rephrased. He continued staring at Cavendish who suddenly felt like he had done something wrong. He realized that he must have worded the question wrong. But if he changed it would the Joker notice?
"I wanted to ask you about Dr. Quinzel, your-um…your psychiatrist." He started again. The Joker lifted a finger, pointing it at the good doctor.
"Ah. Now she's just my psychiatrist." He said with a slight smile. "A moment ago you said 'former' psychiatrist." Harleen couldn't see where the conversation was going. What did matter? Former, present, Cavendish was his doctor for now, why did her title matter?
Cavendish clearness his throat, unnerved by the Joker's sudden willingness to speak. However, he could see that if he didn't pick his next words carefully things would be disastrous. "A mistake. She's still just unavailable. We're not sure for how long."
The Joker looked away from Cavendish for just a moment. He instead turned his eyes to the camera in the corner of the room. It was just a second, but Harleen swore she could see a humorous glint in his eyes. "You're not from Gotham are you doc?" He asked, striking the good doctor with his stare once again.
Cavendish shifted. This wasn't where he wanted the session to go, but if it got the Joker to finally speak to him? What the hell. "No."
"That's what I thought." Joker stopped slouching in his seat. Straighten his back he rested the palms of his hands on the table. Cavendish watched all this with a critical eye. "You live somewhere else, don't you doc? You work somewhere else too I bet. You're not regular asylum personnel from what I can tell."
Cavendish wasn't sure how to respond to that. The Joker could just be pulling that shot out his ass. He had been informed that a good chunk of the asylum doctors had seen the Joker before Harleen got his case. As far as the Joker knew, Cavendish could've just been a new hire. Cavendish however had taken too long in answering the Joker because the madman decided that he could continue.
"Honestly doc, I don't know why you would waste your time here." He gave the man an even bigger smile. Before breaking out into a small laugh. Cavendish jumped a little in his seat. Not expecting the sudden outburst. When the Joker finally calmed he gave the good doctor a knowing look.
"I think your daughter would much rather want you to come back home." Cavendish's blood ran cold. There was no way the Joker knew Cavendish had a daughter. He could just be guessing. Cavendish wouldn't let him get one up on him.
"Sadly, I do not have any children." Cavendish decided to go with. The Joker tisked however.
"Oh but you do. You have a lovely little wife and just one child." He stated. He continued to smile at Cavendish who stared at the Joker with hesitation. "A daughter who would love for you to come back home." Cavendish watch as the Joker kicked at scars from inside his mouth. That same knowing smile on his lips.
"I mean, it isn't everyday that you graduate from the top university of Keystone City."
Somehow that had been the final straw for Cavendish.
"Doctor. please-"
"No! I'm done!" Cavendish shouted. "From what I've seen Dr. Quinzel was doing a perfectly fine job keeping him down. He never attacked her with information about her family like that!" That wasn't true but Harleen could see what he was talking about.
The Joker had actually figured out that Harleen had a deceased mother, an estranged father and two younger siblings that she hadn't spoken to in years. He hadn't attacked her about it, but she had still been unnerved by his apparent knowledge about her life.
"I'm leaving. I don't care about the consequences, we are done!" Cavendish was able to push the other doctors away. Walking quickly down the hall, most likely on his way to Solomon Arkham's office to tell him off. Harleen wished him luck.
Redfern and a few of the other doctors followed after him, calling out his name as they went. The remaining doctors muttered to each other about him having a weak spine and trudged back to the monitor room.
"If it isn't my favorite shrink." She heard someone, say from behind her. She turned, seeing it was the Joker being escorted back to his cell by the orderlies. "I knew you were around here somewhere."
"Keep walking freak!" One of them shouted, pausing the Joker down towards D Wing. The Joker watched her as passed with Harleen staring him down as well. She refused to be intimidated by him like the others. The Joker eventually had to look away when he turned down a hall away from the interview room.
"I think the incident speaks for itself."
Harleen was sitting in Redfern's office. The last three hours being the most draining of possibly his entire career. Cavendish did in fact call Solomon out, letting the older man hear his thoughts albeit along with some pretty colorful words. He then proceeded to leave the asylum stating that he would be going back home. Solomon then called Redfern into his office, giving the doctor a piece of his own mind. Thirty minutes later Harleen was called into Redfern's office.
Her boss gave a big sigh. He had his head resting on hands. Harleen had never seen the man so defeated before. "You're back on the case." He finally said.
Lifting his head up, he gave Harleen a stern look. "But listen here." He pointed his finger in his direction making Harleen laugh on the inside. She'd never me intimidated by this man. "The higher-ups aren't happy. You need to talk about something, anything that will get him to talk about his real identity."
Harleen rolled her eyes. Knowing that they would just be going in circles at this rate. "You know he lies about that stuff. Hell, he even said his DNA isn't the same as when he was born. They guy won't tell the truth." He probably never would either. She didn't care about his real identity at this point, we'll not as much as she should at least.
"You have to give them something Harleen. Anything! They will get off with your back if you do." Redfern, though Garleen loathed to say it, was right. Even if he lied, just a little something would get Solomon and all her other superiors to leave her alone.
So when the time came for the night shift crew, Harleen took the opportunity to go see her patient.
It had been a long time since Harleen set foot into D Wing. Besides being the Joker's psychiatrist, she didn't have a reason to ever come here. She never visited the Joker, so this would be the surprise of a lifetime. The guard waiting by the D Wing entrance gave Harleen a smile. Tobias Garner usually guarded the entrance of the Asylum when Harleen would be leaving. She was a little surprised to see him at the D Wing entrance.
"They got a new guy, training him at the entrance." He stated. Tobias offered to walk Harleen to Joker's cell, but she knew he would get into trouble for leaving his post. "You be careful then." He closed the door, leaving her to confront the Joker.
It didn't take too long to find his cell, there weren't too many patients in D Wing. It was only for the real dangerous people that ended up at Arkham. Sometimes the doctors used it as a punishment for lower level wing members. D Wing patients never got to go outside and weren't allowed windows. A man could really go crazy here.
"Joker." She watched as he turned around in his bed. It was dark in his cell, but Harleen could still see his surprise at her appearance. He jumped up from his bed. Even though there was a whole cell door between the two of them she still felt a little nervous at the prospect of being alone with him.
"Oo, if I didn't know better I'd think this was a special kind of visit." He said with a laugh, leaning against the glass door that separated the two of them. Harleen shook her head.
"We need to talk." The smile on the Joker's face fell. Realizing this wasn't exactly a social call, he leaned away from the door. Sitting back down on his bed facing her.
"Go on."
"Listen, we can't keep having the same conversations we've been having for the past few months." She began. She Joker was still on his bed and Harleen wondered if he was even listening to her. "My superiors aren't happy with the…lack of progress we've had. We can't keep going on at this rate."
"What are you trying to say?" He finally asked after a few moments of silence. She couldn't outright tell him that if he didn't confess about who he was he'd be transferred to some other place where they'd force it out of him.
"Just make sure the next time I see you, you make it interesting."
She left him with that. Turning away from his cell door and walking back to the entrance. She knew what she said was dangerous, but she hoped Joker would take what she said to heart. Or where he kept his feelings she didn't know.
Tobias told her to have a good evening when she left, Harleen wished she had as much confidence about that as him. She knew that for the rest of the night she would worry over her conversation with the Joker. She felt like he might do something dramatic in their next session. He was always chained to the table and floor, but his verbal attacks where just as effective.
She finally made it back to her office after running into a few doctors and nurses who stopped her on the way. Taking off her lab coat, she slumped into her desk. Today really had been a long day. After the Joker session Harleen had been in session with a man who was totally convinced that his puppet had his own personality. Poor man believed he was being tortured emotionally by it and committed himself to the asylum for help.
When Harleen has asked if simply getting rid of the puppet would help him the man had shook his head. "He always comes back." He had said.
It reminded her that while a good portion of the asylum's patients were violent man and woman There was also a good portion of them who were here for actual help. Who truly believed there was something wrong with them. Some of them were cured and sent right back out into regular society. The rest never left the asylum and many ended up dying there.
It made her think about the Joker. There was a chance he would never get cured. He seemed very fixed on his ideals and morals. It was likely the Joker would die in the asylum. Well, not Arkham Asylum. But he would die in a facility before he even tried to associate with the rest of society.
She opened her top drawer to take her cell phone out. She had gotten a call from her grandmother. The only person the Joker hadn't figured out was still apart of her life. The woman hadn't left a voicemail so Harleen decided she would call her back in the morning. Below that was a text from her friend.
We still on for Friday? Selina has written. Harleen sighed. She hadn't gotten together with he close friend for almost a month. Knowing that she had to to have some interaction with people outside of the asylum Harleen sent a text back saying that she would still show up. It was Wednesday, so she had more than enough time to mentally prepare herself to actually go out and try to have fun.
Harleen set her phone down, turning to her computer. On the screen where emails upon emails about the asylum. She stared at them for a moment, contemplating for a moment if they were worth dealing with tonight. She tugged at the clips in her hair,
A loud thud and glass breaking suddenly sounded from behind her door. Harleen jumped, looking up at her office door for a long quiet moment. No other sound was heard but she knew someone was there. A shadow passed under her door, stopping right in front of it. They gave a few knocks on her door. They then gave her door knob a try before realizing it was locked.
"Doctor Quinzel?" The person said. It was the voice of a woman. Harleen sighed, shaking her head at her stupidity. Someone must have just dropped something.
"Yes?" She answered.
"I'm sorry to bother you," the woman started. "But may I ask for your help. I flipped my cart with some medication and the glass is anywhere." Harleen quickly stood up. She was probably embarrassed that Harleen had heard her and wanted to let the doctor know everything was okay.
When Harleen unlocked and opened the door however, her thoughts began to shatter.
The woman in front of her gave no sound as the Joker pulled the knife from one side of her throat to the other. Some of her blood squirted out from her neck, covering a part of Harleen's shirt in blood. The Joker let the nurse go making her fall to the ground. Harleen watched as the nurse struggled for a few seconds before slumping in the pool of her blood.
"Hiya doc." The Joker greeted. Harleen started to shake as she looked past the nurse to the cart that she had actually flipped. The Joker must have ambushed and scared her. A knife was then thrust into her face, making Harleen step back in shock.
"It's not nice to ignore someone when they're talking to you." He commented. Harleen almost, almost started crying. She had just witnessed the Joker kill someone and now he was going to kill her too.
"How-how…"
"How'd I get out?" He asked for her. He tipped his head back and gave out a deep laugh. The kind he gave when he found the conversations they had together particularly entertaining. Harleen though saw her opening.
She quickly dashed out her door, past the laughing madman, running down the administrative hall. He could hear his laugh die down and hurry after her. Harleen quickly headed for the staircase, grabbing at the door handle. She tried to open it but was stunned to find out it was locked. She kept shaking it before realizing the Joker would catch up with her if she didn't hurry.
She turned to go the other way to the next nearest staircase. But there standing behind her was the Joker. He grabbed at her. Turning her around so her back was to his chest. He pointed the knife at her eye, making her tremble as he left it hanging there.
"Now, doc. I don't want to kill you, but if you don't stay right where I want you, I won't have another choice." He said gravely into her ear. Harleen wanted to shake him off. But she knew better to try something so stupid.
"We're going to take a little trip. Come on." He gripped her forearm, dragging him along through the hallway. They retraced their steps back to her office where the nurse's body still lay discarded. Harleen couldn't bare looking at the poor woman again. Instead she focused on the broken glass as they passed by.
Harleen started thinking of ways to escape. If she could just get far enough away from the Joker. Or maybe incapacitate him, she could save herself. These thoughts were dashed when they entered the administration buildings lobby and she saw the dead bodies of the receptionist, another doctor and a guard. All of them at lash marks on their necks, all laid in a pool of their blood. It made Harleen want to throw up.
They hurried out the door where the body of another guard laid in wait for her. How many more people did he kill to get to her? Why was he trying to get to her so bad? They ran through the asylum's main courtyard where Harleen thought he would immediately head over to the front parking lot. However, he quickly ran the two of them over to the B Wing building.
At the entrance laid another guard, but this one didn't seem to be dead. On the side of his body was a keycard that would open the door to let them in. The Joker pushed Harleen towards the man. She looked back at him in shock, confused on what was going on.
"Grab the card." He commented. She nodded, looking back at the man. When she crouched down to grab the card, she priced the man's chest rising up and down. He wasn't dead. Harleen felt relief but she suddenly wondered what happened to him and why they Joker hadn't killed the guard.
She grabbed the card off the ground. Turning to the door, she swiped it through where it quickly unlocked for the two of them. Stepping inside the building she could feel the sound of something being hit on the building's wall. She spun away and almost screamed at the sight in front of her.
The Joker had bashed the guard's head against the building. "No loose ends." He muttered, pushing Harleen inside B Wing.
He grabbed her wrist, dragging her down the long hallway towards the back exit. She clutched the card in her hand, knowing she would need it when they eventually got to the door.
"Joker! We had a deal!" An inmate shouted as they passed. Harleen looked over at the cell, but in the dim light she couldn't tell who it was.
"Don't worry my boy, I'll get you out of here soon enough!" The Joker laughed, tugging Harleen along. She could hear the inmate continue to call after the Joker, but he ignored him.
Stopping at the exit door, Harleen quickly used the key card to open the exit door. Stepping out, she watched as a man quickly jogged up to the two of them. He wore a guard uniform and was looking at her with guilt in his eyes. It was Tobias Garner.
"Tobias." She breathed. Out of all the things she'd seen tonight, the sight of Tobias was probably the most shocking. He'd seemed like such a nice and outstanding guy.
"You ready boss?" He asked instead. The Joker finally let go of Harleen looking around the back parking lot.
"Let's go." He finally stated. The Joker turned back to Harleen who shrank back a bit at his stare. If he was going to kill her, she'd prefer he do it now.
"Well it's been fun, doc." He chuckled. Harleen looked at Tobias who looked almost uncomfortable as she felt scared. She felt the Joker's hand fell on her shoulder, making her jump and look back at him. "I'll see you around. Promise." He let her go. Stalking off towards one of the cars in the lot.
Was that it? Was he really letting her go alive?
Harleen suddenly realized that Tobias was still standing next to her. She looked back at him and saw the guilty look was still plastered on his face. Oh no. The Joker wouldn't kill her, Tobias would.
"Tobias." She began to plead. "Please, you don't want to do this." She was looking at him, begging him to not kill her. Tobias signed however, giving Harleen another guilt filled look.
"Sorry, Dr. Quinzel." He stated before lifting his arm hitting something to the back of her head. Harleen fell unconscious, landing on the asphalt with a loud thud. Tobias looked at her for a moment before running off to the nearby car.
Opening the driver side, he settled himself in. He watched as the Joker found the duffle bag next to him in the backseat that had the clothes he came to the asylum with in. Giving Dr. Quinzel one last look through his side mirrors, Tobias started the car up.
"Wasn't Dr. Crane suppose to come along as well?" Tobias had grabbed the man's items too. But when he had seen Joker only leave with Dr. Quinzel he was a bit confused.
"Change of plans Toby." The Joker stated. "Had to grab the good doctor instead." Tobias hummed in response, not really understanding.
"Was there a reason it had to be Dr. Quinzel?" He dares to ask. Tobias knew the woman was Joker's psychiatrist, but he was under the impression that the Joker didn't care about her. Hell, he had left her alive in that parking lot.
"Oh, it's all part of the plan." The Joker rolled down the car's window. He laughed as he threw the asylum's jumpsuit out the window. He continued to laugh even after they had left the narrows behind.