"Take my advice Quinn," Batman's gravelly voice growled as he loomed over the shrinking blonde. "Get out of Gotham."
Gulping in fear at the Dark Knight's warning, Harley just nodded in response as she watched him and his plucky sidekick walk down the hallways out of Arkham Asylum.
"Maybe I'll head somewhere sunnier," Harley chuckled to herself before nervously scurrying out of the asylum.
Roller skating down the packed sidewalk Harley laughed uproariously at how much more fun Metropolis was than Gotham. Everything was brighter, the streets were clean of used needles and the buildings weren't covered in graffiti and slime. It was like a whole new world.
Except everyone was still running away from her, not that she knew the reason was because she was being pulled down the block by her pet hyenas and not due to her outfit, which is what she assumed to be the problem and why she stopped in at the first outlet mall she found.
It took her a while to find something special but she knew the baby blue sundress was just perfect. Harley was so excited about the new dress she just threw it on with no regard for any other customers when she stripped down to her undergarments and ran out the store happy as can be, or she would have had the store's alarms not triggered when the tag that the clerk hadn't had a chance to remove passed through.
Unfortunately old habits are hard to break, so when Harley heard the bleating from the door sensors and the security guard was being directed over to her by the clerk she was in a panic about being arrested that she took off running with Bud and Lou, her pet hyena's, tearing through the store after her. Bad luck meant that a passing patrol car heard the alarms and saw the blonde woman sprinting down the street flanked by wild animals and figured something must be afoot, dispatch had told him that a young woman was taking large dogs or something like that around the area and he was called to check in on that situation.
Pulling his squad vehicle into the path of the woman, the officer stepped out with one hand up in front of him with the other on his holster. "Ma'am I'm going to need you to stop."
"But I didn't do anything!" Harley shouted while looking for an alternate route to escape from the police but the buildings in Metropolis were much closer together and didn't have the dank alleys that littered Gotham's downtown. So her only way out was to keep running and hope to lose the cops.
"Wait a minute you're Harley Quinn," the officer said in recognition after getting a better look at the woman's face. It had taken a few seconds considering she wasn't wearing her iconic harlequin outfit or had on the grease paint, but the blonde hair, thick accent and the two hyenas helped out in putting a name to the face.
"Yeah so what?" Harley stated defensively, pulling her arms into her chest while her eyes noticed the growing crowd.
"Look why don't you get in the back and we can sort all this out down at the station," using the hand not on the holster to pull open the door of his squad car, causing Harley's eyes to grow wide with fear about being put back behind bars that she took a step back when a voice called out. But Harley didn't think it was possible as it sounded like the person who just spoke was above them.
Turning her head to the sky she remembered that while Gotham had the infamous Caped Crusader, Metropolis had its own superhero and this one was like the polar opposite of Batsy. Floating down like some kind of deity, the red boots touched the pavement in between the officer and herself. She wondered if Superman knew that him taking a position in the center subconsciously showed that he wasn't taking any sides in the conflict. Not landing behind or in front of the police meant he didn't just blindly assume anything. Hey she hadn't become a psychologist without learning something.
If she hadn't become so accustomed to watching her surroundings she would have missed how the tension seemed to leave everyone, including the cop, just by him arriving. "Hello there Ms. Quinn," Superman greeted with a smile and nod. "I happened to be passing by when I heard the alarm, do you happen to have anything to do with that?"
"I-I-I paid for this dress, honest Supey," brushing her hand along the fabric. While Batman never bothered to ask questions and just busted some heads, Superman was supposed to be different… she hoped.
Listening to the pounding of her heart Superman knew she was scared, but not lying, he could even see behind her that a security guard was running up to them. Only the overweight and out of shape nature had him taking longer to get there. "Well I think this gentleman might be able to shed some light on this predicament."
The huffing guard raised a hand before planting them both on his knees. "Ma'am you forgot to… get the tag removed… from your dress," stretching back to take big gulps of air while also holding a tag remover and motioning for the woman to let him take off the plastic piece.
"Well I think that this has all just been one misunderstanding," Superman said with a grin while nodding to the officer who decided to take the cue to leave. After the guard removed the tag and returned to his position at the store, that left Harley standing awkwardly with the Big Blue Boy Scout. Floating off the ground gently, he was prepared to take off to go do more good for the city when he felt someone grab onto his cape.
"Um, if you don't mind Supey, do you think you can help me?" Harley nervously asked. She knew that she was one bad day from going straight back to Arkham Asylum, but if anyone could manage to keep her from being locked back up it would be who people were calling 'The World's Greatest Superhero'.
Touching back down, Superman turned to face the former villain with a raised eyebrow. "What seems to be the problem Ms. Quinn?"
"Me, I think that I- might be the problem," pursing her lips in self-reflection. "I just got my paper that says I'm all right in the head."
She presented the clean bill of health she had gotten from Arkham with a small smile of pride for her hard-earned achievement, but it fell very quickly from her face. "I don't want to go back and I'm scared that I'm gonna mess up."
With a sniffle Harley rubbed her eyes to try and prevent tears forming in them. "I bought a dress and nearly got arrested because I couldn't keep myself from doing something stupid."
Superman could see that this was clearly important to Harley Quinn and it wasn't difficult to understand why. She had a long history of crime behind her that she was trying to leave and all it would take is her slipping up to fall back in. Trying to do this all on her own was going to make it as difficult as possible, she was practically doomed to fail when she faced adversity on this very long road… but if she had someone helping her she just might be able to do it.
"Then it's a good thing that I believe in second chances Ms. Quinn," offering her a hand.
Harley stared at the offered limb for a second before Bud snarled and lashed out, biting down on Superman's arm. "BUD NO!" Harley shouted thinking that one of her babies just put them all in hot water when the superhero let out a chuckle and gently patted the hyena's head.
"It's alright Ms. Quinn, I like dogs."
Slowly the hyena let out a whimper before letting go of the arm which didn't bear a single scratch beyond some slobber. "Anyway, I figure we might go somewhere to talk about your situation."
It was so surreal for Harley to be sitting on a park bench while watching a freaking superhero talking to a hotdog cart vendor as if it was the most normal thing to do, so she had to shake herself from her thoughts when she saw the caped man turn back and walk towards her with some food in hand.
She took the offered food and stared at the hero who was nothing like what was used to. With him sitting next to her, she had expected it to feel oppressive, after all the Bat was just a man but this Superman was something beyond that. He did things that mortals only dreamed of, wielded power that made armies insignificant. But somehow, she didn't feel afraid of the man. He was calming actually, so relaxed.
"Not that I'm not grateful and all Supey, but don't you normally got a kitten to save from a tree?" Harley asked even if she was glad to just have a moment of time with someone who actually seemed to give a crap about her.
"I have a few spare moments here and there throughout the day," Superman chuckled and smiled at the woman. "No cats stuck so that means you have my undivided attention."
Seeing such a powerful figure just sitting calmly with her, was a bit daunting. "Like I said, I got out of the loony bin, and for real this time. But I'm worried I'm going to just go right back in after a screw up or if… he shows up," Harley gulped nervously. In the days she had been out of Arkham there was always this lingering worry that Mister J. would break out and come for her and if he did, she couldn't see a way to resist falling back under his charms.
Superman didn't need much context to know who this 'he' was, what the Joker had done or tried to do had reached his ears. While he was certain Bruce had Gotham mostly under control, Joker was a wild card and now there might be a reason for him to come to Metropolis. "Admitting that is a good first step Ms. Quinn."
"Yeah I know, psychiatrist," Harley softly smiled and pointed to herself. "But I don't know how to get away from crime. Maybe you could give me pointers?"
Taking a moment to think about it, Superman took a deep breath. "Well I would think the first thing is to have steady employment. It will help you in many ways."
Harley nodded her head, it made sense. If she was employed then it would have her around other people, getting connections, being a part of a community. At the very least it would take up hours out of her day that would otherwise be spent with just herself. "But who would ever hire me and even if I got a job doing whatever manual labor I could, that doesn't help me now. I gots nowhere to go."
Superman tapped his chin. "I know some people who would help you out."
"Ab-so-lutely not! Kent, are you actually insane? You really want me to hire that lunatic out there," Perry White shouted at his reporter who came in to see him.
"Please, sir, I know it sounds not quite right, but…" Clark sighed as he had hoped that his boss would stick his neck out for the girl. "Sir, I'm asking you to help me."
"Help her, she is one bad day away from turning The Daily Planet into rubble," Perry objected and shook his head to give his answer.
"I don't believe that. She came here because she wants to change, and I refuse to let one potentially bad day or even a million stop me from helping someone who is asking for it. It just wasn't how I was raised," Clark stood up taller and straighter at his declaration.
It wasn't often Perry saw that level of conviction in his mild-mannered reporter, that was normally Lois' thing, to stand in his office and look down on him. Tugging at his collar, because it was apparent to him that Kent wasn't going to back down on this and to be quite honest, Perry did believe in second chances for people. Just he felt that Harley Quinn had used hers up a number of times over already. "Fine, but she's going to be your photographer, she does know how to use a camera right?"
"I'm certain she can learn," Clark smiled happily that his boss was going to go with his plan to help Ms. Quinzel.
"Well, if you stop coming into work mysteriously, just remember that I told you so," Perry mockingly said as he pushed Kent out of his office and back out to where Harley was sitting nervously.
Harley wasn't feeling small, she felt microscopic under all the glances sent her way. In a building full of reporters everyone was good at looking at the details. It was making her wonder just what was going through Superman's head when he sent her here after their talk in the park. But it made some sense as that reporter dame of his, Lois Lane, worked here and maybe he would convince Lois to hire her on as a cleaning lady or something. What she hadn't expected was a wall of a man named Clark Kent to come downstairs to get her.
He said he was a reporter for The Daily Planet, and that Superman had asked him to get her a job at the paper. She didn't think it was possible but when that big lug came out of his bosses office with a smile on his face, she had to think something good came of the talk.
Clark went over to his desk and picked up an old flashbulb camera. "Do you know how to use one of these?"
Hopping up and following behind this Kent guy, she looked at the camera that might have been older than her. "Yeah, I mean, yes sir. I can use a camera."
"Fantastic, because I convinced Perry to hire you on as a photographer, we'll be working together."
It was almost starting to unnerve her how much this Clark Kent was smiling but his smile was warm and inviting, not cold like Mister J.'s was. "What's this?" a voice called out from another desk. "Smallville finally got his own camera jockey and can now stop stealing Jimmy from me."
"Hello Ms. Lane," Clark smiled while stepping aside so Lois could greet Harley herself. "And yes, this is Ms. Quinzel. She'll be helping me get some photos to go alongside the articles I write."
"Kent, mind stepping over here with me for a second," Lois crooned her finger to indicate that Clark should follow her.
Offering a shrug Clark walked across the room to where Lois was sure no one else could hear her. "I mean this in the nicest way possible, but what is wrong with you? Did a mule kick you in the head on that farm of yours? That is Harley Quinn."
"I'm aware," Clark rolled his eyes at the comment, as if he didn't know who he just fought his boss for to get her a job.
"Is this some hick farmer thing because she's going to gut you for that psycho clown boyfriend of hers," Lois hissed.
"If by that you mean giving a girl who wants to do better a chance when clearly everyone else would rather condemn her for life, then yes this is something my ma and pa raised me to do," Clark looked down his nose at Lois. There were times when he adored her city cynicism, but this wasn't one of them, but he also knew that Harley had come to him for help.
"Clark this is really adorable, but have you thought this through at all?" Lois worriedly said with a bit lip, leaning to look past Clark to where Harley was standing around his desk and if she didn't believe the former criminal had ill intent would actually have looked meek.
"I have, believe me," Clark reassured his coworker. "She needs this and I'm going to help her stay away from crime."
Lois watched in disbelief as Clark walked away from her to go back to that lunatic and start talking to her about what paperwork she'll need to file for her employment.
That ended up taking up most of the day for Harley and she found herself sitting in the passenger seat of the car with Bud and Lou in the back as her new boss was driving her to his apartment.
Not for that you degenerate.
She had told him that after leaving Gotham so quickly she hadn't actually figured out a place to stay, but she was sure she could find a hotel somewhere to stay for a few days. But this country man wasn't having it and he offered her his guest room, so that she wouldn't have to spend a lot of money just to try and get a fresh start. "You sure this ain't some ploy to tie me to your bed or something like that?" Harley questioned again even as she got in the elevator with Mr. Kent.
Bud and Lou didn't seem to have a problem with him, which was odd as they normally hated anyone but her or Mister J petting them, but they didn't even snarl at him. She just thought he must be good with animals growing up on a farm is all.
"Not at all Ms. Quinzel," Clark chuckled while carrying the young lady's bags into the apartment.
"Swanky," Harley whistled while looking at the spacious living area of this apartment. "Jeez, somethin like this in Gotham would cost you an arm and a leg, or somebody else's at least."
"It does have its price, but honestly it's worth it," Clark admitted, while not saying that having such a high rise would allow for him to exit and leave out a window without anyone ever noticing. That was a big expense but it was most definitely needed, even if he had to cheat a little on his budget by buying things in places that are much cheaper to keep suspicion low about his expenses.
"And I get this whole guest room to myself, not even have to let you touch me in my no no place?" Harley questioned while looking at the guest room that was larger than her old bedroom back when she had a place to stay other than a cell block.
"Please stop, I have no intention of trading for… favors of that nature," Clark gulped because Harley was a different type of city girl than he'd become used to. "At most just normal household chores."
"Sheesh, I was only kidding big blue," Harley chuckled about how large the blue suit Clark wore was, he was like a boat on legs. "Just don't expect me to be wearing no maid outfit. That's for special occasions." Offering a wink back at him.
Realizing that she was toning down her teasing to something he was more comfortable with, which showed she was trying to get along, Clark knew it would help her if he reciprocated when she showed positive change. "Oh darn, and I just had the frilly skirt hanging on the clothesline outside."
Harley barked out a laugh now that the stiff was coming around to some of her humor. She could learn to like someone who bantered with her. "So what do we do now?"
It had been a long time since she was in a place this nice and she wasn't stealing from it. It had an almost alien feeling to it, like she didn't quite fit in.
"Well if you would like, I could whip us up some of my ma's cooking," Clark offered as he moved to the kitchen. "It's not quite the same as what she can do, but my ma is the best cook in the world, and we can get to know each other."
"More than what the papers said about Harley Quinn, I want to know Harleen Quinzel," Clark motioned for her to take a seat at the bar counter while he started cooking.
"Well gee, I grew up in Gotham, right off Crime Alley," Harley started.
"Terrible name for a place," Clark sighed, because it was that type of negativity in the environment that started a downward spiral.
"Didn't you say you were from Smallville," Harley accused the man for interrupting her story.
"Yeah and then I moved to a metropolitan city called Metropolis, life's funny that way," Clark snickered as he moved over to the stove.
"Well stop butting in then, I'm telling the story here," waggling a finger at him while he held up his hands in defeat. "Anyways, I was a little runt, but I saw how messed up things were for the other kids. Their parents were either working crud jobs or breaking the law to get by and I thought that there had to be a cause for all this. Which is why I wanted to be someone who helped people."
"So a doctor?" Clark clarified, since he knew she used to be a therapist.
"But not like a hospital doctor, I don't really like the sight of blood and I was worried about how many people I'd see coming in the door hurt by crime," Harley said before sullenly swirling a finger on the countertop. "Funny huh, how I ended up being the one putting people in the hospital for just that."
Clark knew that this was a depressive cycle that he had to nip in the bud before she spiraled into it. Quickly resting his hand on hers, that drew her attention up to him. "That's in the past, and that was Harley Quinn who was hurting people. You're Harleen Quinzel, and she wants to be better than that."
Harley looked from the steel gaze in his eyes to the large hand softly touching her and she had to turn away while drawing her hand back. It was then she realized that Clark was a dangerous man if he was going to be that sincere with girls like her. "A-Anyway, I thought that it would be a good idea to work with the root of the problem, the repeat criminals. The ones who get locked up just to do it again," Harley continued.
"If I could just figure out what makes them keep breaking the law, I could fix that and it might only be a small change now, but down the line it would have a bigger impact. So I studied really hard to get into medical school and then after all that I managed to get my license."
"And I wanted to make a splash, start big to show everyone that I meant business," Harley proudly stated. "So instead of going to Black Gate or just a local pen, I headed off to Arkham. I thought if I could go to the craziest, most criminal criminal in the city, and cure him then I'd change the way everyone did psychology."
That pride fell from her face and even her hair seemed to go limp. "I figure you can guess who I went to see."
Clark sighed. "I'm sorry for what he did to you."
"But I shoulda seen it coming, they even teach you this in school, don't fall for your patients, because it happens so often. That the really manipulative types can mess with your head and the allure of mystery and wrongness, and I fell for it, hook, line and sinker," Harley cried out in misery about how she had been so easily swayed by the Joker.
"He's a sick man, and he victimized you for his own gain," Clark quietly said while sliding a plate of food in front of the distraught woman.
"What if he comes for me?" Harley asked while prodding the food with her fork.
"Then he'll be quite surprised with who he meets," promising a swift resolution if that mad clown reared his makeuped head in his city.
"You deal with a lot of mad men being a reporter?" Harley asked while taking the first bite of the home cooked meal. It tasted wonderful, better than anything she'd had in years. It tasted like warmth and goodness and caring. She just had to savor the flavor, it was that good. "If you keep making food like that then I don't think I'd mind letting you tie me up."
Getting to bed that night in the guest bedroom Harley had suspected that Mr. Kent would try something in the middle of the night, because she couldn't believe someone could be so nice without wanting anything in return, if that was true then what did that mean for the rest of the world.
Harley was awoken by knocking at her door, with a loud grunt she pushed herself up off the mattress. "Hello, I'll have two cheese pizzas?" she groggily asked at the noise with blurry eyes.
"Ms. Quinzel, it's time to get up, we'll need to be at the Daily Planet in an hour for your first shift," Clark called out through the door. Once he heard on the other side Harley starting to move about and not just flop back under the covers he smiled and walked away to prepare some breakfast.
About ten minutes later Harley came out while trying to get her shoes on, falling to the floor with an oof, she looked up to see Mr. Kent giving her a smile. "Morning Mr. K," Harley chirped. "I gotta take Bud and Lou out for tinkles."
Setting a plate down on the counter. "No need for that Ms. Quinzel, I took your pets out when I got up."
This left Harley confused because Bud and Lou were always so fussy in the morning and tried to make a run for it. "They did put up a fight, but no more than the cattle back in Kansas," Clark said before taking a seat of his own to eat.
"When did you get up to do all that and have time to make a breakfast this big?" Harley questioned while taking a spot at the counter and prodded her meal with a fork.
"My pa always used to tell me that if you get up at the crack of dawn you've already wasted half the day," Clark smiled while turning the page of the Metropolis Gazette.
It took Harley a second to catch on that Clark wasn't even reading the Daily Planet. "You're reading the competition's product? Isn't that against some kinda journalist code or something?"
Clark chuckled while folding the paper. "I could see how strange it looks, but the Daily Planet doesn't cover all the city's news and I'd hate to miss out on the happenings we don't report on, and even more so when we do cover the same stories, having a different opinion available is not just useful it is important for a functioning society."
Harley blinked at the different papers that were on the countertop. "Jeez, you are just the model citizen, should have had you teaching our civics class in high school."
"Well, I don't think I'd be much of a teacher; I much prefer to be out in the field," Clark replied to the suggested change in profession.
Scarfing down her breakfast because she still had the old habits of getting in a meal when you can since you might get put in a cell for some time without the police feeding you, she looked up at the clock and tried to think of how long it would take to get to her new place before the boss got angry at her. "You can take your time eating Ms. Quinzel, I already have our lunches packed."
Scanning the room her eyes landed on two brown paper bags each with their names written on them, like it was elementary school. Turning back to Clark who was just calmly sipping his morning coffee while reading another paper, it made her wonder if Mr. Kent was a real person and not just some idea pulled out of the fifties.
Sitting next to him in the passenger seat as he calmly drove them across the city, it was so surreal to be sitting in a car while the radio played the news. "You just love keeping up on everything don't you Mr. Kent?"
"It does help with the job, as they just said that the Gotham Knight's will be playing against the Metropolis Meteors in three weeks, so Perry is going to want to assign someone to report on that, which is an entire day's work," Clark explained as he merged onto the highway.
"Why? Don'tcha just gotta write down the score?" Harley asked because if she was going to be stuck as Mr. Kent's photographer for a while she might as well learn things and Mr. Kent seemed nice enough to not teach her through physical violence.
"Well that's probably one of the most important things to the story, but there's the pre-game interviews with coaches, players and fans, to gauge their excitement and expectations, then who ever is there has to watch the game and make note of interesting plays, notable injuries and the important rules called by the referees. After the game is over there's the post game interviews," Mr. Kent continued as he pulled into a parking garage near the Daily Planet. Without Ms. Quinzel, he could really park anywhere in the city he wanted and get to work on time, but he didn't really have that option, and it was nice to be like a normal worker and not rely on his powers all the time.
"Then the hard part, they come back to the office and get to writing up the article and they have to do it quickly so it can get into the next issue, which means Perry, who is the Editor, has to check it over and they have to get it set for print and distribution. Whoever does it pretty much gets the day off after because they typically aren't done until around two in the morning, and they would have started around four or earlier in the day."
Harley entered in front of Clark as he held the door open for her. "Oh wow, I didn't know it was that big of a commitment just to get a sports report," she said in genuine shock that it was that labor intensive for something she really didn't put much thought into.
"Yes, which is why it's best that we learn of these as early as possible so that whoever has that report is able to clear their schedule around it," finishing his explanation while the pair took the elevator up to the office floor. Despite it being a big building, the offices of the Daily Planet only took up 3 of them for all their staff and equipment, so to keep the building paid for the other floors are all rented to other companies, so there were all sorts of people you could meet on the elevator.
A businessman stepped into the elevator, loudly talking on his phone and mashed one of the buttons. "Yeah, no dump the stock and buy the short on the tech company, I have good information that Lex Corp is going to burn that company to the ground to buy them for pennies on the dollar, we're going to make bank."
The man was so careless in ignoring his surroundings he didn't even feel a hand go for his pocket, which is probably because the hand didn't reach his pocket. Harley didn't even see Mr. Kent move but he stopped her from pickpocketing the rube in front of her. "Aheh, force of habit," Harley nervously smiled and the unamused look on Mr. Kent's face.
"We want to avoid criminal activity Ms. Quinzel," Clark reminded her, and now he could see how difficult it could be for her to stay rehabilitated, an open invitation to lift the man's wallet, he'd never do it but he'd seen professionals do it and with her history, it might be a bit of a compulsion to do so.
"Sorry," Harley meekly said, looking genuinely sad she hadn't even managed a day before going back to crime.
Clark rested a hand on her shoulder gently. "It's alright, I'm not expecting perfection and I never will, it's going to take time to break these habits and there will always be the temptation, it's about learning to control yourself."
"If you had a twelve-step program, I'd buy it," Harley said teasingly, she skipped out of the elevator when came to a stop on the floor and halted when the entire floor was busy with people running each and every way. "Oh wow, this is… different."
Clark nodded. "Yup, the mornings are always busy, we might sleep, but the news doesn't," easily wading through the crowd. "Hey Jimmy, can I get your help with something if you have the time?"
"Sure thing Clark, I got a minute before Lois runs me off to get photos of Lex's giant bald head," Jimmy chuckled as he saw Harley Quinn following closely behind Clark to not get trampled. "Ahh the good old days of using Mr. Kent as a human battering ram."
"Now I never battered my way through people Jimmy," Clark chastised with a smile.
"Please, you're huge, everyone gets out of your way instinctively," Jimmy laughed while lumbering around. "But what can I do for you?"
"Can you get Ms. Quinzel set up with a camera, something without a lot of settings but would be good to learn with?" Clark requested, because while he was certain she was an intelligent woman having earned a doctorate and then learned all the criminal skills she had, you have to start somewhere.
"Can do Clark," Jimmy saluted before heading to a closet with the cameras they used, everyone had their preferred shooter, so it was considered a bad move to take or mess with someone's baby, but there were still some that others only used as backups or had become a bit outdated. Picking up one he would have used in high school, Jimmy came back and showed it off to the pair.
"That looks great Jimmy, could you show Ms. Quinzel anything you think she might need to know about the camera and maybe a few test photos around the office, I need to check in with Perry about where he wants us going today," Clark requested and got a thumbs up from the redhead who started explaining the basic settings the device had.
Stepping into Perry's office the man looked almost surprised to see Clark was still alive, "Son of a gun you're not my headline, Local Reporter Found Dead in Grisly Murder," Perry waved to the air.
"I told you, you just need to have a little faith sir," Clark smirked.
"We'll see how far faith gets you, your assignment is fluff pieces about old ladies winning awards and the weekend fair," Perry tossed some addresses toward Clark who looked at it questioningly.
"Wasn't I supposed to be going to Metropolis General to meet with Dr. Mansley about their new radiology department?" Clark questioned because that was to be his first interview of the day.
"It was, but then you brought in the liability and I mean that literally. I am not putting that unstable wackjob in any hospital other than mental," Perry snarked. "She's too dangerous and if she was in a school or some other place she could get hostages, I don't want that on my conscience," Perry said with finality.
"I see sir," Clark nodded because he knew he was being too hopeful that Perry would just allow Harleen to work alongside him with no strings attached. "Then it's just up to her to show you how much she has changed and that you can trust her around other people."
"I'll hold my breath," Perry clicked his tongue as Kent started to leave his office. "For what it's worth, I do respect how you try to see the good in everyone Kent, I'm just old, I don't have time to give everyone second chances like you do. And I do hope you are right, mostly because I would hate to be wrong this time."
"Then just believe in people Perry," Clark nodded. "It's what you did with a farm boy who walked in off the street looking for a job."
Stepping back into the bullpen, Clark could see Harley's blonde hair with the dyed ends followed by a frizzy orange top as they moved around the office. So far so good, Clark thought to himself as he went to his desk to scribble out his new plan for the day. "Give it time and people will realize that there is still good in her."
"Hey Mr. Kent," Harley said to get her superior's attention. Clark looked up from his notepad and saw that Harley was ready to take his picture. The flash bulb going off was a bit much but he blinked out the dots.
"Might want to have a bit more distance from the subject with it that bright Ms. Quinzel," Clark suggested.
Harley just sheepishly grinned. "Jimmy said I needed it really bright when I took your photo though."
"Did he now," Clark glanced at the redhead who was just whistling a tune next to Lois' desk.
"I'll turn it down," Harley said while going through the settings to lower the flash output.
"That would be for the best, and we can get going, we have our assignment for the day," Clark said while holding up his notepad before putting it into his breast pocket.
She quickly followed him back outside the office having only been there for an hour, but it was a productive hour nonetheless. But as she went into the settings for the photos she had taken, as Jimmy showed her, she was staring at the photo of Clark that she had taken, Harley softly smiled at the image of surprise on his face, before hitting save on it and mentally preparing herself for the road ahead.
