A/N: this story is a bit different than my last few. It is a Joker/ Harley story. Joker in this story is physically Dark Knight Joker, his personality is a blend of personalities. I know not everyone likes this ship but I do...sometimes...I have this and another story I am typing up so maybe random upsates. Not 100% sure.
23 year old Harley was fresh out of school, happy to have an internship set up for her at Arkham Asylum. It was hard to get approved there, and if rumors were to be believed, dangerous too. It was unpaid for the first 2 weeks, and if you were asked to stay, they paid minimum wage. The thought was sickening, but the experience there was priceless.
If she could survive there, she could have her choice of hospitals to start her real career. But that was a big if. The rumors were, not great, but she would not be deterred. The patients here weren't just mentally ill, some were even hardened criminals.
Harley had sat through the week long orientation, that unfortunately did not count towards the two week trial. She had listened intently as they, she and Frankie, were told about proper procedure, and interacting with patients. They were given the overview of security and a tour of the office portion on the building.
Today was their first day as actual interns. Frankie was also on the day shift with her. They had known each other only in passing at school. The past week had made them pretty close friends. They instantly bonded when she had learned his actual name was Francis. He hated the name and shortened it to Frankie. She could commiserate, Her middle name was Francis. She hated it. Their friendship had snowballed from there.
She was parking her shitty car in the employee lot and made her way into the lobby. She scanned her badge and moved through the door into the asylum. She pinned the badge to her shirt, just like security had shown them the week before.
They had told them to dress comfortably, that she would be filing reports into patient files for today. She was pulling her hair back into a bun as she approached her boss' office. She felt slightly under dressed, wearing a baby doll tee and a black pair of skinny jeans. They had told her no shoes with laces, so she opted for a pair of slide on Vans.
She stepped up to Joan's door and knocked. The woman's voice clear and loud, spoke through the door.
"Come in."
Harley opened the door and stepped inside. She smiled at the woman sitting at the large desk.
"Oh, Harleen, you are early."
She smiled brighter, "My dad always told me 'If you aren't early, you're late'"
Joan chuckled. "I like that." She gestured for Harley to set down. "We are just waiting for Francis."
Harley stifled a giggle. The pair had given up correcting Joan on their names. They set in an awkward silence for a few minutes before Frankie burst through the door.
"Sorry I'm late." He said breathing heavily.
Harley held in the laughter that threatened to bubble up.
"Mr. DeMarco, you are to always knock and wait to be told to enter any office in the building, regardless of you lack of punctuality. If I would have had a patient in here with me, you could have sent them into a manic episode barging through the door like that."
He was blushing, "Sorry, I wasn't thinking."
Joan looked at him, brows knit together. "Obviously."
Harley had to physically pinch herself to keep from laughing out loud at the entire scene.
Joan stood. "Now, if you are finished wasting our time, we can get you to busy for the day."
"Yes, ma'am." he said.
Joan stepped through the door and gestured for them to follow her. Frankie let Harley go first. She assumed it was to put a little space between himself and Joan, instead of some form of chivalry. The two followed Joan through the long, similarly painted hallways. Harley was trying to memorized the signs on the walls and build up the cognitive map in her head. It would take a while.
Joan stopped abruptly and turned to them. "This is the records room. You two will work in here until the the backlogged reports have been filed in the appropriate patient files."
Harley used her badge and the light turned green, unlocking the door.
"You will both scan to enter and leave the room,The computer logs the information for security purposes. These files are confidential. Most are medical information on current and past patients."
Harley looked over at Frankie and nodded her head towards the badge reader. He nearly jumped forward to scan his badge as well.
"Lunch will be whenever you'd like to take it, between Noon and 2:00PM. You can either bring lunches from home, eat from the vending machines or go to the canteen and eat whatever the kitchen is serving or the day."
"Got it." Harley said cheerfully.
Not waiting for Frankie to reply Joan smiled. "Good, get to work." Joan turned and walked back the way they had come.
Frankie let out a groan. "She hates me." He moved into the dusty room.
"You know, I think she might."
"Thanks." he muttered.
"What are friends for?" she laughed.
Harley grabbed a box off of a stack that they had to go through and file. Harley had talked to the security guard that had taken their photos for the badges, and found out that these two weeks would be mostly shit work like this. Then, if they made it to the third week, they would get real hands on experience. He had told her they did this every summer. File current record, then they would have to remove any closed file older than 10 years old and pack them away for archives in the large basement.
She had no problem filing for now, she really wanted this job. She started to work and ignored Frankie as he leaned against the door frame, typing on his phone.
She figured, since she already knew what was next, she would go ahead and do both jobs now. She first filed what was in the box, and once shed finished that, she started at the first file cabinet, pulling anything closed that was a decade old. She stopped, marking her place in the cabinet once the box was full.
It was easy mindless work. She had finished emptying and refilling 2 boxes before Frankie finally grabbed a box and started working. She had her earbuds in and listened to music while she worked. By the time she stopped for lunch, she had finished 6 boxes and pulled files from 2 full cabinets. She was proud of herself.
She wandered through the hallway looking for the employee lounge. She was checking messages on her phone as she ate a pudding cup she bought form one of the machines that lined the wall.
"Is that all you're eating?" Frankie's voice broke through her wonderful silence.
"Huh?"
"That's not a healthy lunch." He flopped down in the empty chair across from her.
She looked at the snack. "I'm not very hungry." she shrugged.
"I'm starved." he bit into the sandwich he had obviously bought from the same vending machine.
"You better slow down, you might choke." She laughed.
"Nah." he took another large bite.
She shook her head and got up to put the empty cup in the trash. She looked at the time. She had a bit left of her lunch break. She decided to find a quiet place to take a nap. She had seen a few empty rooms that looked unused, on her walk to the lounge.
It didn't take long. She found a treatment room that didn't have anything written on the schedule. She tried the door, unlocked. She slid inside and looked around. Lights were out and it was fairly dim. There was a large metal table with a loop in the center for cuffs. The table and chairs were bolted to the floor.
The far side of the room looked different, more relaxed. There was a big chair and thank the stars a big couch. She shuffled over to the big couch and set down to try it out. She liked that the back faced the door, so someone popping in wouldn't see her right away.
She set the alarm on her phone and snuggled down into the cushions. She was asleep almost instantly.
Her naps had become a routine part of her day. Work, lunch, nap, and work. No one had used the room and it was nice and quiet. She and Frankie had made it through the first week, and the start of the second week seemed promising.
By the time lunch came around Monday, she was tired of all of the buzz around the place. A dangerous patient had been checked in over the weekend and all the staff were whispering. She wanted to go to her quiet place and get away from it all. Frankie seemed to be a gossip hound and was bugging everyone.
Harley moved to the canteen and bought a cookie and left before Frankie could corner her to gossip more. She just wanted to get the paperwork done and start on the real work. She laid on the couch, set her alarm and listened to the cheesy romance audiobook she downloaded.
The voice in her ear was relaxing and she fell asleep rather quickly. She had to have been dreaming about what the voice was saying. It was strange, she was a servant girl in a castle, trying to keep the hands of a tall handsome knight, out of her skirts.
A noise that didn't fit the dream broke through, a loud string of almost painful sounding laughter. Her eyes cracked open, she was still in her sleep room, but things were different.
For one, the lights were on, bright and making a buzzing noise. She wanted to panic. She wanted to jump up and run out but Joan had warned them about startling people in this place. She let her rational mind take over and she stayed still.
She glanced at her phone, She had 15 minutes until her alarm would sound and wake her. She heard the sound again. The loud harsh laughter that seemed abrasive to her skin. Almost like sandpaper. She tried to not move, worried one of the springs would creak and give her up. She stayed still as death. She pulled the earbuds out and could hear the conversation that had been going on.
She sucked in a breath out of reflex and held it.
"We will try again, and again, until you answer us." Harley recognized Joan's voice.
The laughter again, over exaggerated and almost shrill moved through the room, seeming to echo. She waited, maybe the session would be over soon and she could sneak out without getting caught.
"Doc-tor, I told you the answer. It's just not what you wanted to 's not my fault." The nasally voice was odd, it seemed familiar but still alien to her.
Joan's harsh voice cut through the room like glass. "You were not born with the name Joker."
Harley had to slap her hand over her mouth to stifle the sound of surprise that tried to burst out of her. She was accidentally eavesdropping on The Joker's therapy session. Shit! If Joan knew she was here, she would be fired, no questions asked.
"Believe whatever you like doc." His voice sounded amused, almost playful.
"We only have a minute or so left, I have one last question then we will have to pick this up another day, I have other, more cooperative patients to see today." Joan was shuffling papers.
Harley was impressed, Joan sounded unafraid of the city's scariest bad guy. If he was her patient, Harley was sure she would have peed her pants.
"It says your age is estimated between 24 and 35 years of age. Would that be accurate?"
Harley heard the sounds of metal sliding on the table. Then Joan sighed were loud.
"Don't be upset doc, If I knew, I would tell you... Scout's honor." Then the laugh again. Harley heard Joan's shoes squeak on the floor as she walked toward the door.
"The orderlies will be out here, we are waiting on the guards to get you to medical for your physical intake exam."
"Goodie."
Harley hear the door click shut. She felt her pulse skyrocket.. She was alone in the room with The Joker. Double shit!
"You can show yourself." She heard the voice again. It wasn't as nasally as before. It sounded deeper, and soft just above a whisper.
Harley swallowed and peaked around the back of the couch. He was looking right at her. She froze, trying to keep her bladder in check. He was watching her, his dark eyes locked on her.
"Come on, I won't bite," he smiled, "Well, not yet."
Harley moved slowly from the couch, afraid that he would magically get out of the metal cuffs and murder her. She stood straight her impressive 5' 5" height causing his eyes to get large.
"Look at you, you're just a baby."
Harley wasn't sure why that offended her, but it did. "I'll have you know I am 23. I'm not a baby."
The look on his face made her feel like a lost child. The one that wandered too far from home and was now standing in front of a large stray dog, its teeth bared and eyes hungry.
Then his face lightened. "Oh, well, excuse me, sweetheart, I, uh, wasn't meaning to offend."
The word sweetheart had thrown her. "Apology accepted."
He laughed, the sound giving her goosebumps up her arms.
"What were you doing hiding there?" he asked. Face still relaxed and pleasant.
How rude. "I wasn't hiding. I was napping." Shit that sounded so childish to her once she said it out loud. "I didn't realize anyone would be using the room."
He was staring at her, and she felt like she was back in high school being scolded by the principal when she had punched punched Ryan in gym class for trying to cop a feel. She could feel the blush covering her face.
"Do you know who I am?" He asked finally.
She nodded, "Joan called you Joker."
He raised an eyebrow, "Does that," he paused slightly. "scare you?"
"Are you going to kill me?" she countered.
He smiled. "Not yet."
She let out a watery laugh of relief. The sound pulled a chuckle from him too.
"I like you kid. What's your name?"
She knew she should not be talking to him, and she was pretty sure she shouldn't tell him her name. She was shocked when she answered anyway.
"Harley."
His eyebrows rose in surprise. "Harley?" he hummed. "Like the bike?"
She didn't reply, but she did jump a foot into the air when her alarm went off, telling her that her break was almost over. She silenced the alarm and slid the phone into her pocket. She grabbed her uneaten cookie from the arm of the couch.
"What ya got there?" he practically purred at her.
She looked down at her hand. "A cookie."
"Oh, what kind?"
"Peanut butter."
He smacked his lips and then smiled. "Tell you what. You give me the cookie and...I will forget all about you spying on me. Hmmm?"
"I wasn't spying."
"Pa-tay-toe, pa-tah-toe." he said back.
She laughed. The Joker was not going to kill her, but he was trying to blackmail her to get a cookie? She looked at the cookie and sighed. She walked to the table and set the cookie onto the top, backing away quickly.
"Uh, sweetheart, I need a little help here." he wiggled his hands.
Once again, Harley's face was burning with the blushing she was doing. She stepped back forward and took the cookie. She opened the plastic wrapper and pulled it from the package. She moved her hand to give him the cookie.
She froze when he opened his mouth. He fucking wanted her to feed him the stupid fucking cookie. She hesitated. This made every instinct in her scream for her to run away. Her hand lifted the cookie to his mouth.
She watched as he took a bite and chewed the cookie slowly. Now that she was close she could see the remnants of his make up on his skin and the fleshy pink scars on his face. What seemed the strangest was he was eating like a normal person. Well, normal for a man with his hands cuffed to a table.
The idea that he ate food seemed foreign. He moved again and she watched as he got another bite from the soft sweet. His eyes hadn't left her face. The intensity of his stare was unnerving, she fought the urge to squirm.
She held the last bite of cookie waiting for him to finish what was in his mouth. Finally he opened his mouth, she moved to put the small bit inside. As she pushed it over, into his mouth, her finger brushed the flesh of his lip. He didn't seemed to mind, but her finger seemed like it was on fire.
She let out a breath and stepped back.
"That, my dear was a delicious treat."
Harley smiled awkwardly,"Yea, they are tasty."
"Harleen Quinzel," he laughed, "your parents must have hated you."
She looked at him in shock. How the hell did he know her full name?
He must have noticed the shock on her face. "I could read your badge. Normally if someone new comes near they hide the names." He leaned forward. "I don't think they trust me." he whispered as if it was a big secret.
Harley laughed again. "It's a family name." she finally explained.
He laughed the long shrill laugh again."You better go hide, I think my escort's finally here."
Harley moved quickly, hopping onto the couch as the door swung open. She heard the heavy footfalls move into the room.
"Let's go." a man said.
She heard the rattling of his restraints. She frowned when she heard a dull thud and a cough, that turned into barks of laughter.
"That all you got, Davis?" Joker's voice sounded slightly strained.
"Just move."
She laid there waiting until the sounds had left. Had the guard, Davis, just hit a patient? Yea he was The Joker, but he still had rights. He was still human. Once enough time had passed, she got up and out of there, heading straight back to the archive room and got back to work. The last half hour had been the strangest in her life.
"You're late." Frankie was leaning over the top of one of the file cabinets.
"I dozed off and missed the alarm." She lied.
She thought about telling Frankie who the big name criminal was, but decided she would keep it secret for now.