Chapter 7

Harley walked out of the examination room and headed for her office. She didn't have any more sessions today until 2:00 PM and that left her a lot of time to deal with paperwork. She had also promised to have lunch with Cassidy today at noon.

When she sat down at her desk, Harley brought out the Joker's files to add the notes she'd taken, even though she had barely written anything. It was easy to forget to take notes whilst in his presence. So that's why she had to sit down and write some more now while it was still fresh in her mind. Her thoughts got carried away and a smile crept up on her lips when she recalled his compliment on her smile before. She had also laughed. She couldn't remember the last time she did that.

"Harley?" She jumped in her seat and looked up to the source of the voice. Patrick stood by the door. Great. "Sorry," he said, "I didn't mean to frighten you."

"That's fine," she assured him. She looked down at her watch. 11:26. She would probably have to head into town to meet up with Cassidy.

"Okay. I was just wondering if we could talk for a moment." He put on a hopeful smile which would have made her feel sympathetic, but after their last meeting, there was no way that was ever going to happen.

"Sorry Patrick," she said and quickly got out of her chair and grabbed her purse and jacket. "I have a lunch date with a friend, so I need to hurry if I'm going to get there and back here in time for my next session." That was a lie. Just a little one, she told herself. "We'll talk later." And with that she rushed past him out the door, leaving him speechless and probably disappointed. Not as disappointed as I was last Friday.

Harley arrived at the diner where she was meeting Cassidy at 11:50. Whenever they had lunch together, they always came here. It was their favourite place. When Harley walked in, she looked around to see if Cassidy was early too, but she wasn't anywhere in sight. So Harley found an empty booth and sat down. One of the waiters came over, but she told him she was still waiting for a friend. Whenever the door opened to the diner, Harley looked up, but it wasn't until the fifth time that Cassidy was the one who entered. Harley smiled and waved and Cassidy came over to sit down. "Hey," she said. "I think for the first time, you're the one who's early."

"There's a first time for everything. Are you hungry?"

"Starving. Let's eat."

During their lunch, Cassidy made Harley retell the events of Friday night all over again. But what she was most curious about was Bruce Wayne. "Was he as handsome as in the pictures? Who was the girl with him?" Harley chuckled.

"Cass, if you want a date with the guy, I can just ask Patrick to talk to him."

"There's no need. I know he's out of my league."

They both ordered coffee after lunch and that's when the ambiance completely changed. "So…" Cassidy started. "How is the freak doing?" Harley reacted to the word. It was so filled with venom. She knew who Cassidy meant. When she had first told her that she was treating the Joker, Cassidy had been all but happy. Now she kind of regretted having told her, but there was no hiding it. Once it was official, it had been reported in the papers and on the news.

"Don't call him that," Harley said in a low voice. Cassidy snorted.

"Well, he is! Come on, do you honestly believe he can be sane again? If he ever was sane." Harley thought about it. The answer that popped into her head made her proud of herself.

"Well, if I didn't believe, then… I don't see why I agreed to take the case to begin with." That seemed to shut her up. Cassidy shrugged.

"Okay. I just don't get how you're able to put up with him. If I were you, I would be scared shitless."

"Don't get me wrong. He terrifies me," Harley confessed. "But, he also fascinates me, so that kinda makes up for it." Cassidy furrowed her eyebrows.

"I don't get how anyone can be fascinated by a criminal." Harley was starting to lose her patience. Couldn't she just leave the subject alone? Still, she felt the need to explain herself.

"It's not the fact that he's a criminal. It's… the way he looks at the world. The way he looks at society. All his… ideas…" She trailed off, suddenly lost in thought, thinking back on their previous session.

She clearly remembered all the things he said. She remembered his voice. And his face. With time, she got more comfortable around him and now she even dared to fully look into his eyes. They were brown, but with a little bit of green in them.

"Harley?" Cassidy snapped her fingers. Harley looked up and blinked.

"Oh, sorry."

"I asked you what kind of ideas?" Oh yeah, they were talking about the Joker. Harley sipped on her coffee again in hopes of staying alert this time. It was never a good thing to zone out.

"I'm sorry Cass, but I can't tell you anything. It's confidential."

"Aw, come on. We're talking about the most dangerous man in the city! Do you think he cares?" Now she was really losing her patience. She couldn't believe how Cassidy could be this reckless. He may be a criminal, but he was also a human being with the same rights as them.

"It doesn't matter who he is." Harley was stone-faced, boring her eyes into Cassidy's, hoping she would get the memo. "I treat him the same way I would any other patient. And he expects me to keep all the information he gives me inside of the asylum. If you wanted to know so much about him that bad, then why didn't you go to med school to later apply for a job at the loony bin?" She hadn't meant to become aggressive, but Cassidy asked for it and it seemed she finally decided to drop the subject. She just grew quiet. "You know what?" Harley said. "Let's just don't talk about work."

And they didn't. They barely talked at all. Harley felt bad about it. Cassidy didn't dare say much more. Or maybe she just refused to speak because she was pissed that Harley wouldn't please her with info on the Joker. But how could she? Even if they were friends, it could get Harley into trouble. And she didn't want that. Dr. Arkham trusted her. And she wanted to believe that the Joker also did.

They parted with halfhearted goodbyes and Harley headed back to work, not looking forward to the rest of the day.

A/N: Hey there! Sorry for the delay, but as I mentioned, I had a cold and it got worse, so I had no energy to write anything before I went to London. I got home yesterday and boy am I glad to be home! It's really exhausting to travel a long distance and I hate flights. London was nice and all (I got some Suicide Squad merch, yay!) but I don't think big cities are really my thing. It was too much people for my liking.

Anyway, this chapter is probably very boring and it's not very long, but since it's been a while since I posted chapter six I just really wanted to get something out while I work on the next chapter, which will hopefully be a bit more exciting. I also want to thank everyone for reading, reviewing, following and adding this story to their favourites, it really means a lot and helps me keep going!