She stood, frozen, outside the Gate to Arkham Asylum. Its tall, imposing structure towered over Gotham, seeming to some to suck the very soul out of the city. It almost had a mind of it's own, it's own voice. Harley could almost hear it speak to her, with a very sinister taunt. ~Welcome to Arkham. Don't look so afraid, I won't HURT you. I look after people like you. I just know we'll have FUN together! I'm your 'friend'.~ She tried not to think of the reinforced steel behind the brick facade. She tried to ignore the voice. ~You can shut out the voices from the OUTSIDE, but you can never escape the voices inside your OWN head.~ She had gotten up early that morning to prepare; a curly, dark wig, glasses, even a very expensive rubbery makeup thinly applied over her face to make the scars virtually invisible. She was almost unrecognizable even to herself. She had fabricated a false press pass to identify herself as Harleen Quinzel... her birth name, and she new it was a risky move in itself, but if - WHEN she pulled this off, it wouldn't matter anyway. She'd be a wanted criminal. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, which didn't help much, she walked up to the Iron gates and pressed the button on the Security intercom. -Who is it?- "Um, Hi. I'm Harleen Quinzel with Gotham Times. I understand that there are open Visitor's hours, and I would like to speak with the Caretaker, if he's not busy." -One moment- She waited outside the locked gates, holding her breath. A few minutes that seemed like an eternity later, the intercom buzzed again. -Doctor Jeremiah Arkham will see you now. Please proceed through the gate and stop at the main entrance for security.- "Thank you." The gates slowly rolled open, and as soon as they were open far enough, she quickly moved through. They closed with a solid clash behind her, a clash that very nearly sounded like laughter. She moved quickly up to the main entrance, where security barely glanced at her forged press credentials. "Alright, Ms. Quinzel, follow me to Dr. Arkham's office. He'll help you with whatever you need." The young security guard led her into the asylum. She heard the sounds of bedlam: creaking gourneys echoing in the empy, white-tiled halls, Inmates pounding on the walls, Cries of pain that seemed to resound from around every corner. She could almost smell the fear, the blood, the madness. ~Will you, won't you, will you, won't you, won't you come and join the dance?~ "Doctor, you have a visitor," the security guard announced, escorting Harley into Dr. Arkham's office, where the asylum itself was dispelled. The office looked very much like one of a college dean, roomy and comfortable. The Doctor was an elderly man, bespectacled and thin, yet he carried himself with a certain pride that only a very confident and longstanding doctor would have. Jeremiah Arkham was the kind of man who could make even an innocent person confess to a crime. The doctor closed a file folder he had been looking at and stored it in his desk, standing to greet his guest. "Hello there, Miss-" "Harleen Quinzel, Gotham Times." She showed him her fake press badge. "Hmm, Gotham Times? I'm not too much of an avid reader of the paper myself, Ms. Quinzel." She forced a laugh. "I'm the new girl, the rookie. I've not written any hardhitting pieces, yet, Doctor." He looked at her over his glasses with colorless eyes that seemed to be able to see right through her. "A rookie, that's interesting. So they sent you to do a piece on Arkham Asylum as an initiation, I assume?" She nodded, absolutely sure that he was going to call her out any moment as a liar. "They always seem to send the rookies. They must be to... intimidated to do the piece themselves." She relaxed as he chuckled at his own joke. "Are you familiar with the Asylum's history?" "No, doctor, i'm afraid i'm not." As a matter of fact, she was. A very long time ago, she had worked as an Intern here. She remembered that with with a jolt, mentally kicking herself for using her real name. But, there was NO way he'd recognize her, she didn't remember Jeremiah Arkham being the caretaker when she worked here. She recalled that he was a psychology professor at Metropolis University, Gotham's sister college. He very rarely ventured to the asylum, and she'd never associated with him when he had. "Well, Ms. Quinzel, there has, in fact, been an Arkham in charge of this facility for decades. The very first Arkham, Amadeus, founded the asylum. Eventually they fortified the building with reinforced steel and concrete. We are the central hub of not only Psychological, but all medical and criminal research in the county. Unfortunately, the reputation of this prestigious facility has been tainted with rumors, and an unfortunate mishap some months ago was confirmed to have taken place in the building's sewers." "Excuse me, Doctor, but you are referring to the 'Narrows Incident'?" "You're not too misinformed, Ms. Quinzel. Fortunately, we have the culprit, Jonathan Crane, in custody. There were unconfirmed reports that he was dead, but now that we know he's not, it's safe to release that information. But enough of the history lesson. Would you like to tour the facility, or is there something else I can help you with?" He scrutinized her, and she had the feeling that he at least had an Idea what she was after. "Doctor, I'm actually here to... find out more about the Joker. If that's possible." The doctor walked around his desk to stand in front of Harley. "That's very... interesting. I knew it would happen eventually, and I really can't release information about him, and I can't arrange for him to have an interview with you without his permission. He isn't supposed to leave the maximum security wing, in fact, and it's far to dangerous for you to venture there by yourself. If i could, I would make an exception just for you, Ms. Quinzel, but, alas, there is no way for me to do so - unless... " "Unless, Doctor?" she pressed. She wasn't going to give up. "Unless I gave you an exclusive tour, and we 'happened' upon the maximum security wing in which the Joker is being held. From there, you would be able to see the Joker for a few moments, long enough to introduce yourself, maybe, and then we'd continue the tour. You would then 'unfortunately' fall behind somehow and lose me, and find your way back you him, and get your interview, maybe." Simply for the sake of her ruse, she pretended to be skeptical of that plan. "But, doctor, wouldn't that be in a way, illegal for both of us?" "I am the caretaker of this facility. As long as I'm giving you the tour, Ms. Quinzel, you have access to all areas of Arkham Asylum."