Chapter Seven:

The First Session

YEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSS!

It finally happened! It finally happened! It finally happened!

Dr. Arkham has finally granted me the Joker.

The Joker is officially my patient!

I am freaking out! I knew I wouldn't have to wait a whole year to meet him, but I didn't expect any of this to happen so soon. I'm flipping out! Almost literally. When I left Dr. Arkham's office that Friday, I did several cartwheels in an empty hallway on my way back to my office. I was so excited, I needed to release some energy somehow.

I have been a roller coaster this whole weekend. On Friday I was so excited and happy that I forced Guy to go out and celebrate with me without telling him why. On Saturday I was freaking out about meeting my soulmate for the first time and I was worried about what impression I'll leave on him. When Guy came over to help me pack, he noticed how nervous and jittery I was, so I told him about how I was given the Joker as my new patient. Of course, I made sure to leave out the tiny detail about him being my soulmate. Guy was really happy for me. He told me that he understood why I was so nervous, but he gave me a ton of reassurances on my skills as a doctor and he told me that he believes in me; which means so much to me. After that, I cheered up again and let myself be excited for the rest of the weekend.

Today, however, I am freaking out again! Right now it's 8a.m. on a Monday morning and I'm getting ready to start the day. The problem is I don't know what I am going to do with myself today. Before I get into this problem, I want to emphasize the severity of my situation: I AM MEETING MY SOULMATE TODAY FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER. I MUST LOOK PERFECT.

I guess whatever I choose to wear doesn't really matter because my lab coat will cover it anyway. I usually wear my coat fully buttoned, but I think today I won't button it at all so that I can show off my outfit. I've decided to wear my really cute red blouse with a black pencil skirt and black tights to go with it. And of course I'm going to wear my signature black stilettos; I never go to work without them.

When I finish getting dressed, I shuffle around the bounds of boxes stacked up in odd places in my room, and find myself in the bathroom looking into the mirror above the sink. Okay, what should I do with my hair? I want to wear it down because I don't usually wear it like that to work; but there's a reason for that. I look like a Barbie doll; my co-workers and my patients would never take me seriously. My classmates and professors never did. I don't want the Joker to take one look at me and assume I slept my way through school. I'll just tie my hair up in a ponytail. It's a cute hairstyle anyway; you could never go wrong with a cute ponytail.

Now, as for my makeup, I think I'll keep it somewhat simple. I apply brown eyeshadow above my eyes and then I carefully trace my eyelids with black eyeliner. I brush some mascara on my lashes and rub on some pink lip gloss for the final touch. I look into the mirror satisfied with my results. I don't look like I'm trying too hard to be noticed. I wouldn't want him to think that I got all dressed up just for him. After all, I do want to keep this relationship a professional one; at least until I declare him sane.

When Guy and I arrive at the Asylum forty-five minutes later, Guy wishes me luck and bids me farewell as he scurries off to go start his first morning therapy session. I on the other head straight to Dr. Arkham's office. There are still some files and instructions that he needs to give me before my first session with the Joker today. When I reach his office, the door is open so I decide to walk right in. Dr. Arkham is sitting at his desk writing furiously in a notebook.

"Dr. Arkham? Are you ready for me?" I ask.

Dr. Arkham immediately closes his notebook upon my arrival and gives me his full attention. "Oh! Umm, yes, Dr. Quinzel, please have a seat."

"Thank you." I slide into the seat opposite him and rest my hands on my lap.

"How are you today?"

I smile shyly. "To be honest, I'm a little nervous. But don't worry, I won't let my nerves get to me."

Dr. Arkham returns my smile. "I'm sure you won't. I'm positive that you can handle this. I'm actually excited to get you in the session room with him. I'm confident that you will be able to make some progress with him." I honestly think I will too. How could the Joker not open up to me; I'm his soulmate. If I can't cure him of his insanity, then no one can.

"Thanks, I'm sure that this arrangement will work well too."

Dr. Arkham produces a key from the left pocket of his lab coat. He uses the key to unlock a small drawer on the right side of his desk. He shuffles through a couple of beige files before he finds the one that he is looking for. He briefly opens the file to skim its contents before handing it to me. "This is the Joker's file. It's not much, but this is all we've been able to uncover about him."

I open the file to find that the patient's profile is practically empty. Every category has the Joker's personal information listed as unknown. I shoot an eyebrow at Dr. Arkham. "This doesn't give me anything to work with."

"Yes, I know. I need you to fill out that profile as much as you possibly can. Unfortunately, you're going to have to go into that session blind; we do not have any information whatsoever on the Joker's past. However, there are some suggested illnesses that we believe he might be suffering from. You can start by treating him with the assumption that these diagnoses are valid. I trust you've studied his criminal record over the weekend?"

"Yes, I have. He has quite a colorful record might I add."

"That he does. Studying his every known move should assist you in your analysis of him. Now before I send you off, I'd like to remind you about the security measures. Naturally there will be two guards overseeing your therapy session for your protection; would you like them stationed in the session room with you or would you rather have them waiting outside the door?"

Well, I certainly don't want any gossiping guards listening in on my therapy sessions. "I'd like to have them waiting outside the session room please. I would like to create a comfortable and trusting environment for the Joker. If I had the orderlies in the room, then they would completely destroy those efforts."

"I understand. I'll inform the guards immediately of your instructions. The last thing you need to remember is that each session will be visually recorded. Unfortunately, this facility is far too old and is in need of some serious upgrades; The cameras do not record sound and they only film in black and white."

"Wow, really?"

"I know. It's a pretty old system huh? Will this be a problem for you? Would you like a different method of recording your sessions?"

Hell no! This is kind of perfect. I don't want anyone listening in on our sessions but I don't mind people watching them. It's not like I plan on doing anything with the Joker that requires privacy. We're only going to be talking. "No. The old cameras will do fine, thank you."

"Very well. At this point all I can do is remind you of the faith I have in you and wish you the best of luck."

"Thank you Dr. Arkham," I say as I rise from my seat. "Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to do this." Dr. Arkham rises from his chair with me to escort me out of the room.

"You're welcome Harleen. I know you can do this." I smile back at Dr. Arkham before he closes his office door on me. His faith in me fills me with determination and I'm even more confident than ever that I will be able to get through to the Joker.

I have twenty minutes before my first therapy session with the Joker. That gives me plenty of time to go to my office and review his criminal records. I want to remind myself of the kind of man that I'm dealing with. I've heard stories of how when a person meets their soulmate for the first time that they feel this overwhelming feeling to walk up to them and embrace them. I'm obviously not going to allow myself to do that, so I want to keep in mind just how violent a person this man is. I'll only allow myself to be with this man when he has been declared sane and is out of this asylum. Until then, he will be receiving no romantic gestures from me.

When I arrive at my office I immediately plop myself down in my chair at my desk and start rereading The Joker's criminal records. I also have this pretty thick binder of articles about the Joker's crazy shenanigans and public displays of terror and destruction. I have to say, this man has done some pretty insane things in the past couple of years. He's murdered so very many people. I wonder if he'll ever be able to repair the damage that he's caused to all of those people. Probably not. The things that he's done is more than enough to scar anyone irreparably for life.

As I'm flipping through the binder I hear a light tap at my door. I look up to find Dr. Leland standing shyly in the doorway.

"Hey Harleen. Do you have a minute?" She asks softly and timidly walks into the room without taking a seat.

"Of course Dr. Leland. Would you like to have a seat?" I gesture towards the seat opposite mine.

"No, thank you. I don't want to keep you. I know that your session will be starting soon. I just wanted to ask you one last time to forget about treating the Joker."

I sigh heavily. "Joan-"

"I already know what you're going to say. I know that you're not going to give this up. I just had to try one last time."

I can't help but smirk at her. "Why Dr. Leland you make it sound as though this is the last time you're going to see me."

"It just might be! I've told you Harleen, the odds of surviving your first session with the Joker are slim. I just couldn't live with myself if I didn't try to talk you out of this again."

With great effort, I ignore the need to roll my eyes at her. I am so sick and tired of this same old song and dance. I do appreciate her concern but I'm tired of hearing her tell me what I should and shouldn't do. I feel like she's butting into my affairs and it's really irritating. Unlike Guy and Dr. Arkham, she has no confidence in my psychiatric abilities whatsoever. I know she regards me as a novice in this line of work so it's no wonder that she sees me as a dead woman walking right now. I plaster a smile on my face and try to sound as sincere as I possibly can. "Thanks again Joan for your concern in me but I promise you that this isn't going to be the last you'll see of me."

"I hope so…" Joan sighs and slowly walks out of my office.

I'm glad she dropped this conversation so easily; I was prepared to give her a whole other speech of reassurances. I'm glad I didn't have to though. I get to save my breath.

I glance at the clock on the wall and notice that it's time for me to start heading down to maximum security.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAA!

I can't help but smile at the sound of the Joker's laughter. Suddenly I feel really excited to finally meet him! He's probably laughing right now because the orderlies are moving him to the session room.

I grab a pen and the Joker's thin file before I leave my office. I sneak a really quick peek at my reflection in my tiny compact mirror before I lock my office up completely. I'm still satisfied with the way I look so I hurriedly toss the mirror to the side and scramble out of my office in fear of being late for my first session with my soulmate.

"Good afternoon Harleen," says Lyle after I finish passing through the various security gates. He's leaning up against the wall as though he's been waiting for me to arrive.

"Good afternoon Lyle, how's it going?" I say as I walk right past him. Lyle hurries to my side and walks with me to the therapy session room all the way at the other end of the ward.

"Well, I'm hoping that this goes well. I don't want to see anything bad happen to you Harleen. Are you sure you don't want us in the room with you guys?"

"I'm sure. Don't worry Lyle, you guys will be just as effective waiting outside the door. If anything goes wrong, I promise I'll scream for you, okay?"

"If you say so." At this point, Lyle and I reach the door to the therapy room. The sight of the Joker through the door's window swells my heart more than I'd like it to. He's leaning back in his chair with his handcuffed arms resting on the table. His eyes are fixed on the very tiny barred window. He's watching the wind slam the rain violently against the window without blinking his eyes at all. His vibrant green hair is smoothed back perfectly. Overall, the Joker looks pretty well cleaned up today. Aw, did he fix himself up just for me? I wonder what he's found out about me; like whether or not he knows that we're soulmates. I sort of hope he doesn't. This will be so much easier on me if I know that he has no clue about who I am. I guess I'm just going to have to work with the assumption that he doesn't know anything.

"Alright Dr. Quinzel, listen up," says the orderly who isn't Lyle; I don't know his name yet. "Under no circumstances whatsoever are you allowed to make any physical contact with the patient. If a situation arises where contact is necessary, call us immediately and we will handle the patient. We are going to be standing outside this door for the entire session. All you have to do is scream and we'll come in running, got it?"

I nod. "Got it."

"Also," Lyle butts in. "Dr. Arkham told us to cut this session off after thirty minutes so make sure you work with the time you've got."

"Only thirty minutes? I can't get much done in thirty minutes."

"Sorry Harleen but that's the boss's orders." Ugh… fine! Whatever. I'll work with the time I'm given for now. I'll just make a mental note to speak to Dr. Arkham about this later.

With my hand on the knob I close my eyes and breathe in deeply. This is it Harleen. It's time to meet the love of your life.

First impressions are everything, so after I turned the knob and open the door, I make sure to walk in with confidence and appear as calm and collected as possible. The Joker turns his head to watch me as I enter the room and sit down in the seat opposite him. I place his file down on the table and shove my pen behind my right ear. I'd like our introduction to be somewhat casual; I don't want to start scribbling down notes right off the bat. I fold my hands above the table and I finally allow myself to really look him in the eyes. The moment that my eyes meet his, all of my emotions pour from my heart and make my chest squeeze and my breath quietly deepen. I can honestly say that the only thing I want to do right now at this very moment is walk around this table and wrap my arms around him. Everything in me is screaming at me and yearning to be embraced by him. With great effort, I manage to lock all of these desires in my aching chest and allow myself to simply smile at him. I'm probably flashing more teeth than I should be, but I can't help it; I feel so happy right now!

"Good afternoon. My name is Dr. Harleen Quinzel and I'll be overseeing your therapeutic needs from here on out." I wait a moment to give him a chance to introduce himself but he says nothing. As a matter of fact, now that I'm actually paying attention to him and not focusing on controlling my inner emotions, I notice that he's regarding me quite coldly. He's staring at me almost the same way he did a couple of weeks ago back in the medical ward; only this time he isn't exactly glaring at me. He's looking at me pretty intensely but I wouldn't say that he's trying to come off as menacing. He's just looking me directly in the eyes, expressionless; and without blinking might I add. His stare is a bit unnerving, but I decide to pretend that it doesn't bother me at all.

"So, I know that you're used to the general public calling you 'The Joker' but is there anything else that you would like to be called? As your psychiatrist it's inevitable that you and I will develop an intimate relationship, so perhaps you have another name in mind that you would like me to refer to you as. Your birth name perhaps?" I give him a moment to speak and he doesn't take it; again. He just continues to stare at me.

"If you'd like me to refer to you as the Joker, then that's fine by me. I just wanted to make sure that you were comfortable with me calling you that." To be honest, I also wanted to see if I could push my luck and get some good information right from the start, but with the way he's responding to my questions I doubt that I'll get anything good today.

"If at any point during our sessions you'd like me to call you anything else, please let me know. I'd like to make you as comfortable as I possibly can in these sessions." I pause another moment and nothing but silence fills the room. It would be nice if he would at least give me some different facial expressions to work with; his face is completely expressionless as he perceives me.

"So… is there anything in particular that you'd like to begin discussing?" Again, there's no response.

"Perhaps we could start from the beginning. Would you like to talk about your childhood?" Please?

"…" Of course not.

Maybe his childhood is too painful to start talking about right now. "I understand it if you aren't exactly comfortable with talking about your past right now. If you'd like we can talk about more recent events. Like the Gotham city bombing heist you pulled that landed you in here. Would you like to talk about that?" A long moment passes with neither of us saying anything. This man is not cooperating with me at all. I'm trying to make this easy for him but he's trying to do the complete opposite with me. I need him to understand that I'm only trying to help him here.

"Joker?" When I called him by this name, I noticed a slight reaction from him. He blinked and his eyes widened ever so slightly. "You do know why you're here, right?" He says nothing.

"You're here because you are a very sick man and it's my job to help you get better. I can't do that if you won't even say two words to me. Don't you want to get better?" Aaaaaannnd still no response.

"Joker, you have to understand that we cannot continue like this. You cannot continue like this. You do understand that your behavior is unpardonable and needs to be remedied immediately?"

"…" Oh come on dude, throw me a bone here!

"If you could just help me understand why you do the things that you do, then perhaps from there we can find a solution to correcting your behavior."

…cricket, cricket…

"Joker please, I need you to work with me. There are so many things that I need you to explain to me."

"…" His silence is starting to bug me.

"I suppose if you don't feel like talking today, then you don't have to. We can cut this session short. But before we do. There is something that I'd like to ask you. It's probably not something that you can answer right now anyway, but I'll ask you nonetheless." I give him a brief moment to respond but of course he doesn't jump at the opportunity.

"What I want to know is... If there is a method to the madness?" My question hangs in the air in-between us as we both sit in silence, staring into each other's eyes. I wish this scene was as romantic as it sounds but it really isn't. The atmosphere is pretty heavy in here. We stay like this for a while, until a very slow, wide smile stretches across the Joker's face. His green eyes glint with joy and his cheek bones perk up beneath his eyes.

"I like you."

"…" This time I'm the one who stays silent. Did he just say what I think he said? Am I hearing things? Did he actually say that he likes me?

"I beg your pardon?"

His smile widens. "I said, I like you."

I can feel my cheeks warming up. I hope they aren't turning rosy right now. I don't want him to see that he affects me! I was totally unprepared for this. I didn't expect him to say that; of all things! Heck, I didn't expect him to say anything.

"This could be fun," the Joker chuckles. "You want to know how I got this way doc?"

I'm still in shock from his previous statement. All I can do right now is nod yes.

The Joker smiles and pretends to consider whether he should oblige me or not. His eyes roam the ceiling and he purses his lips to emphasize his internal debate. "Hmm… Okay!" His smile returns and the metal on his teeth glints in a way that makes him appear so very amused with this conversation. "I'll tell you what you want to know. …Eventually. But first, you've got to do something for me." He is smiling wickedly.

"What?"

"Smile for me. I want to see those pearly whites again."

My cheeks are on fire! I know that I'm blushing like crazy right now and I can't help it! He's so… charming. I thought that he would remain menacing and indifferent for the rest of the session. This was the last thing in the entire world that I was expecting to happen. He's actually flirting with me! I'm not ready for this! My cheeks burn brighter as I offer him a very shy smile.

The Joker laughs. "There they are. Dr. Quinzel has anyone ever told you that you have a beautiful smile?"

I laugh nervously. "Umm, I don't think so. Thank you." The Joker smiles.

"Umm, Mr. Joker, I-"

"Oh no," the Joker interrupts. "Please. Mr. Joker is my father. You can call me Mr. J." His teeth glint at the end of his sentence.

"Sure, if that's what you'd like, Mr. J."

"Yes, it has a better ring to it, don't you think?"

"Yes. As long as you're comfortable with it. That's the most important thing."

"Oh you are so very thoughtful, doctor."

"Well it's my job to make sure that you're taken care of and that you are as relaxed as possible."

The Joker leans back in his chair and raises -what should be- his eyebrow at me. "Really? Are you sure that you're only doing this because it's your job to?" I look at him surprised. Is he hinting at what I think he is? Has he figured it out? The Joker smiles wickedly at my shocked face. With wide eyes, I open my mouth to say something when Lyle and guard number two walk in to end my session.

"Oh pooh," says the Joker. "The boys have come to ruin the fun."

"Alright clown, it's time to get you back in lock-up," says the other orderly. He unlocks the Joker's chain from the table and he and Lyle grab him by each arm to escort him back to his cell. Before he leaves the room though, the Joker says something over his shoulder. "I'll see you on Wednesday doc."

The walk back to my office is a long one. I'm replaying everything that just happened over and over again in my head. I can't help but smile when I think about how flirty he was. But I'm still concerned about whether he knows that I'm his soulmate or not. I'm certainly not just going to ask him about it because what if he doesn't know. I'd like to keep him in the dark if I can.

When I reach my office door, I notice that the light is on inside. Is someone in there? I open the door to find Dr. Arkham and Dr. Leland sitting and waiting for me. I smile and throw my arms in the air in a way to show off my success. "I'm still alive!" Dr. Arkham smiles and Dr. Leland runs up to me and envelopes me in a tight hug.

"Oh Harleen, I'm so glad you're okay," she says after releasing me.

"So am I."

Dr. Arkham gets up from his seat with eager eyes. "So? How did it go?"

"It went surprisingly well. At first he wasn't being cooperative, but then all of a sudden he started enthusiastically engaging in the conversation. We didn't get to discuss any real issues yet but we were about to when the session was cut short. Dr. Arkham, I'm going to need more time with my patient if I'm ever going to make any real progress with him."

Dr. Arkham smiles. "You've got it. I'll tell the orderlies to start letting you two have hour long sessions."

"Thank you." I smile victoriously.

"So Harleen," says Dr. Leland. "Are you sure you're okay? He didn't try to hurt you?"

"No, not at all. He was very well behaved."

"I'm so glad to hear that but I'm also very pleasantly surprised by it." I wrap my arm around Joan's shoulder and give her a gentle endearing squeeze.

"By the way," I say. "How did you two get in here? I thought I locked up."

"Oh you did," answers Dr. Leland. "Dr. Kopski let me in and then shortly after Dr. Arkham joined me."

"Well, that's the last time I give Guy a spare key to anything of mine." I mumble teasingly.

"Well that wouldn't have stopped us." Says Dr. Arkham. "I have a key to every room in this facility."

"Fine, I guess I'll forgive him," I smile. "Just this once."

"Well, Harleen, I'm also glad to hear that you're okay and I very much look forward to reading your progress report next week." Dr. Arkham walks towards the door and throws a nod at Joan and me. "Ladies, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to work." And with that, he leaves.

"I have to go too," says Dr. Leland. "I have another session in ten minutes. But you and I must celebrate this. Would you like to go out for dinner tonight? We can invite Dr. Kopski and I'll even bring my husband."

"Sure that sounds like fun. I can't wait."

"Okay, you can decide where we'll go because it's you we're celebrating after all. I'll stop by later once you've made your decision, okay?"

"Okay. I'll see you later." Dr. Leland smiles at me before she leaves.

Wow. What a day. I'm glad everything turned out okay. I honestly can't wait to have my second session with the Joker on Wednesday. I wonder if he'll behave the same way he did today. If he does, I swear I'll be ready for it this time. I won't let myself get flustered again! I'm going to have to work really hard to keep this relationship a professional one; but I'm confident that I'll be able to get through this.

AN: My apologies for the long wait, but, you all understand that this chapter had to be perfect, right? It took some time for me to actually work up the nerve to sit down and write it. I'm super happy with how it all worked out though. This is by far my favorite chapter so far. I swear to you all that I was seriously fangirling when I wrote this! XD I couldn't help it, I love these two characters so freakin much. Thank you guys for reading and reviewing my work; I hope you all are enjoying this story as much as I am. And to those of you living in America: Happy Thanksgiving! :)