Joker sat in his cell, the plexiglas giving no illusion of privacy. His mind was on the physical he'd received, remembering the fun. They had him cuffed to the bed while they did the usual blood pressure, heart rate, weight, height, blah, blah, blah.

Much to their chagrin, he was healthy as a horse. Joker watched the tiny nurse, she seemed scared to death. She would have to get a measurement, then walk across the room to her clipboard and write down the results.

"Do you have any open wounds that need tending?" she asked.

"No."

"Do you have any medical conditions we should know about?"

"No."

"Any known allergies?"

"Food? Or Medicine?" he asked.

She raised her face to look at him, "Either."

He smiled, "No."

Her frown made him chuckle. She set the clip board down and moved to the counter. He noticed how her hands were shaking.

"I...I need to draw blood." she said.

"Why?"

"Standard procedure."

"No."

She froze, "Um." she wasn't sure what to do with that.

He watched her stand there, tourniquet in her hand. She wasn't sure what to do.

"Listen, I am sure you would like to go home tonight and sit in your dreadfully dull apartment, petting your boring dog, while you sip cheap wine. You try to stick me with anything, I guarantee you, I will kill you, leave this building covered in your blood, head to your apartment to skin your dog alive , then burn the building to the ground."

His voice had stayed calm and almost caring. The nurse burst into tears and left the room. Joker had chuckled, very pleased with himself. Until the guards came in. Davis shot him in the chest with a dart gun full of heavy duty drugs.

Joker had woken up inside this cell. His chest a little sore, a small bruise surrounding the puncture wound. He moved his arm and winced as he pulled the bandage from his skin. He frowned at the small needle mark in the crease of his elbow. That bitch nurse was on his list, right under Officer Davis.

His head was pounding, a side effect of the damned tranquilizers. They never lasted long in his system, most medicine didn't, but he was just human. He got up and moved to the small sink and got a drink of water. He had to get the hell out of this place. It always slowed him down once they started drugging him.

He hated the slowed down feeling he got once the drugs started. He even had one doc try to give him ECT. That hadn't been very fun, but he had pushed through and taken care of that Doctor.

He moved back to the bed, and laid down. He let his mind wander. And strangely it wandered back to the pretty little blonde eavesdropper, Harley.

That had been a fun little half hour. He wouldn't mind running into her again. She was ballsy, he had thoroughly enjoyed watching he fight against her own instincts, so she could feed him a cookie. He felt his stomach growl.

Harley, Harleen Quinzel, sheesh poor kid, he'd go by Harley too. Blonde hair, blue eyed, Harley Quinzel. He ran the name through his mind obsessively and then he burst into laughter. Harley Quinn, Harlequin. It was too funny. One overzealous, and now deceased, reporter at the Gotham Gazette had dubbed The Joker himself as the Harlequin of Hate.

He thought the moniker was ridiculous. He didn't hate anyone. Well, that wasn't true, he hated a few people but not enough for that kind of name.

His thoughts moved back to the girl. Harley. Oh he really hoped he would run into her again. It could keep him entertained during this stay.

Lucky for Harley, no one knew about her meeting the newest resident at the asylum. She would have been in a lot of trouble, probably fired. Three days had gone by and it seemed like she was in the clear. She figured Joker wouldn't have told anyone. He didn't seem the tattle tale type. She was happy that she and Frankie would have this job done by the end of the day. She could enjoy her weekend and get to do real work starting Monday. They were sitting in the employee lounge chatting.

"I'm telling you Harley, It will be fun. My cousin has connections and can get us in. Live a little."

Harley mulled the idea over in her head. Did she want to see inside the new night club that everyone wanted to get into? Duh! Did she want to go with Frankie? Not really.

"Come on, Just friends, you can be my wing man, help me find a girl."

She laughed at that. "Okay fine, I'll go." She stood.

"I'm gonna go get a nap in before lunch is over." She grabbed her bag of Skittles and left Frankie looking pleased with himself.

She made her way to the room, looking through the very tiny slotted window. Empty, good. She moved inside and onto her favorite couch. She laid down and set her alarm.

The shrill sound of the alarm woke her. She stopped the sound and wiped the dried spot of drool from her cheek. She moved to sit up and saw a folded piece of paper in the cushion of the couch. She was 100% sure that had not been there when she laid down.

He hand moved to grab it, without thinking. She almost dropped it when she saw her name written across the front in crayon. She looked at the paper. Then against her better judgment, she opened it. She read the message inside and couldn't help but giggle.

To my dear friend Harley,

I haven't stopped thinking about that delicious cookie.

Best Wishes

-J

She folded the paper back up and put it in her pocket. That had to be the most ridiculous note she'd received since 3rd Grade, when a boy named Aiden wrote her a note saying her hair was long. She grabbed her things and moved back to the Archive room.

By the end of day she had completely forgotten about her note from 'J' . She headed home, dreading going with Frankie that weekend. She luckily hit very little traffic and was home and eating her dinner of Buttery popcorn before she remembered the note in her pocket.

She pulled the note from her pocket and decided to stick it to her refrigerator door with a little star magnet. She finished her popcorn and stared at the silly note. It gave her strange feelings in her stomach. She tossed the last of the popcorn in the garbage bin and called it a night.

She woke the next morning and started her Saturday morning routine like normal. She got up and started her Yoga. The controlled stretching helped center her. Once she went through the entire routine, she moved to the silks she may or may not have hung from the ceiling without her landlords approval. She was flying, she loved the silks it helped her feel so free.

Once she finished, she stretched as a cool down. Once it was done, she showered, her body feeling loose and clean now. She slid on a taken top and a pair of shorts for now and made her way to eat some breakfast.

Cereal, the biggest portion of the sugary goodness was her go to breakfast. She ate her cereal and checked her phone, Frankie had already texted her twice. Making sure she was still going with them to the club and telling her where they were meeting. She finished her food and busied herself with chores around the house.

Throughout the day she would catch herself staring at the little thank you note on the fridge. She pulled her attention away and moved to her room, starting to decide what to wear. She had to dress the part to get in. She finally decided on a mini-dress, that looked black but was a very, very deep red. She wore a pair of black pumps had a small flat wallet she kept tucked into her bra. She made sure her ID, credit card and a small amount of cash and the spare key to her apartment. You had to be smart to survive the Gotham nightlife.

She tucked it deep inside her bra safe and sound. She grabbed the cash she'd left out for the cab. She had kept her make up light, not wanting to draw too much attention to herself. She headed down to the street to see if the cab had arrived yet. She had left her phone in the apartment, not wanting to chance losing it.

The cab was there and she gave him the address to the club. The drive was thankfully quick and she was stunned to see the long line that wrapped around the side of the building. She paid the cabbie and headed to the front of the line to look for Frankie.

She straightened her dress and walked past everyone in line. She liked how the neon lights covered everyone, making them look strangely painted. She heard her name and looked up to see Frankie near the front door waiting for her. She headed towards him.

"Harley, this is so exciting." He pointed to the pair he was standing with. "This is my cousin Barry, and his 'friend' Stacy."

"Nice to meet you." She said.

They nodded and smiled. Barry turned to the man at the door and spoke to him, then like that they were escorted inside. Harley was bombarded with loud music once they stepped inside. She was regretting this already. Frankie grabbed her arm and pulled her to the bar.

"Drinks are on the house tonight, so drink up."

She smiled and ordered a shot of tequila. The burn was good and the music was loud. She ordered another, and downed it as well.

The next thing she remembered was waking up in her apartment, her mouth tasting like death and her knuckles on her right hand bruised and scabbed over.

She rubbed her face, groaning out loud as she sat up. She regretted that move almost instantly, as her head exploded with pain. Well it felt like it had exploded. She felt her way along the wall to the bathroom to find some aspirin.

She swallowed the pills dry, closing the medicine cabinet. She was shocked when she saw her reflection. Her hair was a knotted mess, her lip was split, she couldn't help but run her tongue along the bloody scab.

She had the start of a nice shiner on her left eye. She groaned and made her way to the kitchen. She needed coffee. Very strong coffee. She grabbed a bag of frozen peas from her freezer and put them on her eye as she waited for her coffee to brew.

She poured her coffee and moved to the couch, she set her coffee down after a large drink and saw her cell sitting on the table. She grabbed it and with her good eye she looked at the many messages from Frankie.

She dialed his number, put her phone on speaker and leaned back.

"Holy shit Harley You are alive."

"Barely, I don't remember anything."

She could hear his laughter and it grated her nerves. "Oh, you got wasted. You were dancing and having a blast most of the night."

That explained her sore muscles.

"Then some guy in a nice suit tried talking to you. You were so sloshed you told him off in your very adorable Brooklyn accent."

Fuck, Harley had taken many, many speech classes to get rid of the accent. It only broke through when she was very emotional, or apparently when she was drunk.

"Yea, yea, laugh it up. What else happened?"

"That's the best part. The guy insisted on grabbing your ass. Then you hit him, hard."

She rolled her eyes. "How did I get the black eye and busted lip?"

The laughter got louder. She was never, ever going out with Frankie again.

"Oh, Harley, we were trying to get you in a cab and Stacy was talking with Barry about an article she had read. She said The Joker should just be put to death and the city be done with him. And you fucking flipped out."

Harley groaned,

"You were rambling about peanut butter cookies and then launched at her. Barry and I had to pull you off of her and your face bounced off of you knee." His laughter started again.

Harley had to admit, that was kind of funny. She had kicked her own ass.

"I am never hanging out with you again."

"Barry and Stacy said the same about you."

They chuckled together on the phone. Once the laughter had died down, he continued to bug her.

"Are you really okay? I had a hell of a time getting you to your door, you dug into your boobs and pulled out your key and insisted I left."

I'm fine, a bit hung over and bruised, but I will live."

"If you're sure, I gotta go got to get to church or my mom will kill me."

"See you at work." she hit the end button.

She was about ready to go throw herself off of a bridge.

Monday morning, Harley was caking on the concealer. Her eye still had that half healed yellow look to it. Her lip was better, with the right lipstick it was barely noticeable. She hated having to wear the make up, but she didn't want to have to explain how she had gotten drunk and kneed herself in the face.

She pulled her car up to Arkham and felt nervous. Frankie was waiting in the lobby for her. He kept a knowing smirk on his face as they moved to Joan's office together.

Joan had informed them they had moved up in the world of interns. They would be transcribing notes for the doctors. They would be taking video and audio recordings, or hand written notes and transcribing them. Boring, but better than filing papers.

They had their own small office area not far from the archive room to work in. Harley had no issue typing the notes up. Time flew by and soon it was lunch time. She once again grabbed a snack from the vending machine, a honey bun this time, and headed to her couch for a relaxing nap.

She had fallen asleep almost instantly. She could hear her name, but it sounded faint. Like someone was calling her from far away. She looked around but couldn't see anything. She woke from her dream when she heard her name again. She sat up in a panic.

Joker was was sitting at the table. His eyes looked amused. "You snore." he said.

"I do not." she argued as she looked at her phone, she had slept for almost an hour. "What are you doing here?"

He looked at her for a few seconds then smiled. "Had a date with a lawyer, and now I am waiting for my escort back."

"Oh." She stood up stretching the sleep away from her. She tucked her phone into her pocket and grabbed her snack.

His eyes lit up. "What do you have today?" he asked.

"A honey bun." she held it up. "You want half?"

"Absolutely."

She smiled and opened the plastic wrapper the treat was in. She tore off a piece of the super sticky pastry and held her hand out to him. He leaned forward and took the offered bite. She pulled her own piece and ate it. They were really good. They took turns and soon were down to the last bite. Though technically it would be hers, she offered it to him.

He leaned forward and not only took the offered bite, Harley watched as he sucked the sticky icing off of her fingers. She couldn't begin to describe how good it felt, and how hot her face had started to burn with blush.

"Harley, you spoil me." he said finally.

She laughed at the odd statement.

"What happened to your face?" he asked.

The blush came back, "Nothing."

He looked her over. "Faded black eye, healing lip, and scabbed knuckles." he looked back at her face, "That's a rough nothing."

She scowled at him for a second. "Fine, I went out and got very drunk. Decked a guy who grabbed my ass," she raised her knuckles. Then she pointed to her face. "This I was arguing with someone and fell and kneed myself in the face."

He laughed. "Harley have you ever heard the phrase, 'Your own worst enemy'?" His laughter continued. Once he had calmed down, he looked back at her. "What were you arguing about?"

"She had made an insensitive comment, I didn't like it."

"Mhmmm."

She was glad he let it go with that small explanation. She wasn't sure she wanted him to know it was about him.

"I liked your thank you note." She blurted.

"Good, I'm glad you got it." he set back in his chair.

She looked at him. Really looked. He wasn't allowed to have any of his make up and they had gotten all of the residual smears cleaned. She wondered how he felt about his scars being naked for everyone to see?

"You're staring."

She blinked in surprise. "Sorry, I was thinking."

"About?"

"I was trying to decide if you are scarier with or without your make up."

The smile that spread across his face was terrifying.

"And what answer did you come up with?"

She bit her bottom lip, the scab broke and it bled lightly. She sucked it into her mouth subconsciously.

"I think the fact you are human underneath it all is terrifying."

He looked at her, searching her face for any sign of a lie.

"I think our times up today princess."

She hopped from the chair and hid on her couch. Within seconds the door opened and the heavy footsteps were back.

"What are you smiling about?"

"Having a decent conversation for once."

"You're all alone clown."

His laughter echoed in the room and out into the hallway. She exhaled as she heard the door close. That had been weird. She waited a few minutes then got up to leave. She made her way back to the small office and finished her stack of files for the day.

Joker was starting to like the girl. She was interesting and always had the best snacks. He had been in the room with his lawyer when he had heard the snores. His lawyer started to panic, but Joker had calmed the man down assuring him the snores were of no threat.

He'd woke her up as soon as the lawyer had left. Not only was she cute, and a bit strong willed, she was also funny. She seemed mostly honest, not always with her words. Her body language spoke volumes about her. But her eyes said it all. Such pretty eyes, and he enjoyed how easy it was to make her blush.

He loved that she was scared of him, but still moved close enough to hand feed him whatever goody she had brought with her. It was beautiful watching the war she fought with herself. She knew she shouldn't engage with him in any way, but she did it anyway.

He sat in his cell, wondering what he should do now. He needed to get out of here. This place was dull enough to drive a man crazy. His lawyer had refused to pass along any messages for him. He figured it was just his luck that he'd get the one straight laced lawyer in Gotham.

Maybe he could get Harley to do it. It would be a good way see how far he could push her. Oh the possibilities.

It was nine days before she ran into him again. This time she was walking through the hallway, Joan showing her where she'd be working the next day. She was going to be helping log medical charts into the computer system. They were severely backlogged.

Joan had walked her to medical and was opening the door to the office area. Harley's heart skipped a beat when she saw his face heading to the patient area of medical.

His eyebrows rose in question and then he winked. Harley was sure her face turned crimson. Joan had ushered her into the office showing her the ins and outs of logging into the records, how to save, blah, blah, blah.

She was too lost in the view she had of Joker being hand cuffed to the bed he sat on. She watched the orderly push him into an exam area with a movable curtain. She watched as he looked from place to place, memorizing each item.

Harley was entranced as Joan prattled on. She watched him, the way he sat, hunched forward. That was not how he sat with her. When they talked he was usually sitting up back straight. Making eye contact. Now he sat shoulders slumped and his head slightly tilted to the side. It gave him an even more intimidating feel.

She watched as the doctor approached Joker, She watched as he looked at the man as if he had intruded on a private moment. Suddenly Joker's face turned and his eyes locked with hers. He kept his gaze on her until the nurse came up and pulled the small curtain closed.

Harley let out a breath. Her heart beat was in her throat. She was excited, it was thrilling to have him watch her like that.

"Any questions?" Joan asked.

"No, I think I got it." Harley lied. She knew she could probably figure it out in the morning.

That night, she laid in her bed, and dreamed of Joker. She was in the medical ward and he burst into the room she had been in earlier.

"Miss me?" his nasally voice was back.

"No." she told him as she continued to type.

He moved behind her. "Liar." he leaned down to her ear. "You know what happens to bad girls who lie, don't you?"

She continued to type, there were no words on the screen just gibberish lines. He pulled her chair back, causing her to have to stand or fall on her ass. She stood, but didn't, couldn't stop typing. He pushed the chair away and put his hand in the center of her shoulder blades.

He pressed forward, causing her to lean over, she still didn't miss a keystroke. Her elbows hit the desk, it was harder to type but she couldn't stop. He was standing to the side of her as she was bent at the waist.

His hand slid along the curve of her spine, her typing sped up. When his hand connected with her backside she woke from the dream with a loud cry.

She was sweating and throbbing between her thighs. She looked around her apartment, it was still dark out. She rubbed her shaking hands on her face.

"What the fuck was that?" she asked her empty room.

She got up and got a drink of water, her body still feeling hot and tight all over. She couldn't believe she had just had a somewhat naughty dream about the Joker. The cold water helped. She moved back to her room to check the time. She frowned It was 4:00AM. She decided to stay up. She really didn't want to risk another dream like that.