Author's Note: I have a question about whether it would be preferred if I just mentioned when Harleens Brooklyn dialect slips through, or if you would like me to try show it phonetically (which I'm not sure how well I could do it without making the writing heavy and hard to read). Also please let me know of any opinions thus far, the more feedback or commentary I get the more motivated I am to post, so please do comment. Please let me know of any errors, so I can correct them.
Chapter Two.
Harleens first two weeks at Arkham Asylum passed without incident. Harleen had thoroughly thrown herself into her work, pushing back all thoughts of her past and focusing entirely on proving herself as competent to her fellow doctors.
Thoughts of the more high risk patients had not left her mind, as Harleen walked briskly through the Asylum towards her office, Harleen couldn't help but daydream about the possible therapy sessions she would have with them. Her thoughts drifted towards the true reason she had chosen Arkham Asylum as her job choice, The Joker.
Harleens grades had been excellent, enough so that she could have chosen to intern at any number of institutions. Many of her fellow students had questioned her choice of Arkham Asylum, given the unusually high number of staff who were injured, both physically and mentally.
They didn't understand, she reasoned with herself as she brewed coffee in the staff break room, that the chance to understand and even help some of the most notably insane criminals was just too much to give up on, even at the risk of injury.
Inside she ached to start her sessions with the high risk patients, though she enjoyed helping her current patients, they held no true interest for her. Deep down Harleen knew she would not be satisfied until she had a chance to act as a therapist for The Joker.
A chill went up her spine at the thought, The Joker had been the motivation behind her thesis, he had been her reason to select Arkham Asylum as her workplace, she knew she could help him. She knew that she would be the one to understand his chaos, before any other Doctor.
A new sense of determination lit a fire in her belly, if she wanted to help him, she needed to start the groundwork. Harleen knew that as a new Doctor, it would take more than a little work to get to The Joker. Harleen had been shut down rather quickly with a dismissive "You're new here Doctor Quinzel, don't try and rush into more than you can handle" so Harleens only other option was to go over Doctor Leland's head.
Doctor Arkham raised his eyebrows at the presence of Harleen as she stood before him in the staff break room. "Excuse me Doctor Arkham, would you mind if I joined you?" Harleen asked, a sweet smile on her face as placed a hand on the chair across from him. "Oh Doctor Quinzel, why of course, please sit" Doctor Arkham responded politely.
Harleen seated herself before smiling again at Doctor Arkham "It's alright if you call me Harleen, Doctor Arkham. I hope I'm not intruding, I just wanted to thank you again for the opportunity to work here. It was my first choice actually."
Doctor Arkham seemed to relax slightly at her words "Very well, Harleen it is. Well of course. I must say I was surprised that a promising young Doctor such as yourself chose Arkham Asylum to work. It is admittedly not the first choice for most, given the calibre of patient we have admitted" He said.
"Oh well actually, I must admit, the high risk patients are the reason I chose Arkham Asylum in the first place. A major drive in my study was the desire to work with the most extreme cases of the criminally insane. I believe in the healing of people, no matter how far gone they may seem. Even if there was no hope of truly healing the extreme cases I believe there is so much to be gained from further understanding their minds." Harleen spoke passionately, leaning forward slightly as she spoke.
Harleen flushed suddenly, sitting back in her seat "Oh do excuse me Doctor Arkham, I didn't mean to ramble, I-" Harleen was cut off but Doctor Arkham waving a hand lazily, though he eyed her with interest "No need for apologies Harleen, I appreciate the passion, it's not quite so widely spread here of all places. Yes, yes I agree, perhaps we can have you start to sit in on some of our more infamous patients therapy sessions. I of course cannot allow you full access at first but given your specialty, I think it would be beneficial, do you not?"
Harleen was bursting inside at his words, it was more than she could have hoped for "Oh thank you Doctor Arkham, that would be an incredible opportunity!" Harleen eagerly responded, she could hear the distinct Brooklyn dialect slipping through into her speech, cutting off her vowel and adding new ones.
She took a moment to calm herself so that she could push back the accent, she had worked hard to change her speech, she needed to sound professional, she reminded herself sternly. Taking a breath, Harleen thanked Doctor Arkham again. "It's quite alright Harleen, as a matter of fact I believe Doctor Ingles is going to be conducting therapy with Jonathan Crane later this afternoon, stop by Doctor Leland's office and pick up his file, and you may sit in on his session if you wish" Doctor Arkham responded calmly, though Harleen had picked up on the slight upturn of his lips at the appearance of her accent.
After saying goodbye to Doctor Arkham, Harleen quickly made her way towards Doctor Leland's office, Harleen took a moment to smooth her coat and to adjust her glasses, before knocking on Doctor Leland's door. "Come in" came the cool reply from behind the door.
"Hello Doctor Leland, I hope I'm not interrupting. I was speaking with Doctor Arkham and he has invited me to join in on Doctor Ingles session with Jonathan Crane today, he told me to come to you to get a copy of Cranes file" Harleen spoke slightly nervously, unsure of how Doctor Leland would respond to the request.
Doctor Leland's eyes hardened slightly "That's… an interesting decision on his behalf" she spoke stiffly before turning away sharply and walking to her file cabinet. A moment later Doctor Leland slid the file across the desk towards Harleen "There you go, I hope this isn't more than you can handle Doctor Quinzel" Doctor Leland bit out, thinly veiled distaste seeping through her voice.
Harleen picked up the file eagerly, a slight shake to her hands as her anxiety spiked slightly at the other woman's tone. "I'm sure I'll be fine, Doctor Leland, this is what I specialized my study in" she reminded, her tone slightly firmer than usual, a fact which surprised herself.
After a quick goodbye Harleen made her way abruptly to her office, seated behind her desk she glanced at the name on the file 'Jonathan Crane' was not the patient she truly wanted, but it was an excellent stepping stone, if she proved herself in his session, she was sure she could convince Doctor Arkham to assign her to the High Profile patients.
Reading through Cranes file, Harleen couldn't help but to be intrigued, and more than a little anxious at the prospect of meeting him. Jonathan Crane was a brilliant man, he had been a respected psychologist before his obsession with fear had led him down a dark path, involving the unethical and illegal experimentation in chemicals and techniques to manipulate fear.
His start as a psychologist intrigued Harleen, as she found herself reading his file thoroughly, hoping to memorise the whole thing. Glancing at the time on her cool blue computer screen, Harleen decided it was not too early to head down to therapy room four, where she had been instructed to meet Doctor Ingles at prior to their session with Crane.
Harleen found herself waiting impatiently outside the therapy room, as she smoothed her clothing and brushed back her already perfect hair. Harleen was adjusting her glasses for the second time when Doctor Ingles showed up.
Doctor Ingles was a classically handsome man of about fourty, Harleen supposed. His dark hair was thick and neat, he had sharp hazel eyes, and a slightly wide build with a somewhat weak jawline. Harleens eyes however, were immediately drawn to the wispy attempt at a moustache Doctor Ingles had, it looked awful and twitched with every movement of his mouth.
With some effort Harleen drew her eyes away from his hideous moustache and shook Doctor Ingles out stretched hand "Hello Doctor Ingles, I'm Harleen Quinzel, I hope you're okay with me sitting in on your session today" Harleen spoke quickly, eager to get started with their session.
"Yes of course, Doctor Arkham informed me of your passion for the more intriguing types we have down here. Well let's get started, Crane is already in the room, I hope you're not easily offended, a lot of what Mister Crane says is an insult in some form" Doctor Ingles said, before swiping is pass card and opening the door.
"Hello Mister Crane, I have a guest with me today, this is Doctor Quinzel" Doctor Ingles said, motioning for the two guards stood on either side of Crane to stand outside the door while Crane ignore Doctor Ingles entirely. Crane was a thin man, with an unsuspecting face, and wavy brown hair. His arms were firmly shackled to the arms of the solid metal chair, which was bolted to the ground. Haleen could see that his legs were also shackled together.
Harleen took a seat beside Doctor Ingles, across from Crane. "Hello Doctor Crane, I hope you don't mind my presence today" Harleen spoke steadily, a small victory given the knots her stomach seemed to have twisted itself into. For a moment Crane didn't speak, he just appraised the pair with cold eyes.
"I do not suppose it matters whether I do or do not mind, but as you have addressed me properly, I am not opposed to the matter currently. Perhaps you will provide some form of intellectually stimulating conversation for once, rather than the drivel I am usually inundated with" Cranes veiled insults towards Doctor Ingles did not slip past Harleen as she nodded at Crane.
The session was somewhat enthralling, Crane did not seem to be inclined to answer any of Doctor Ingles questions, even questions relating to fear did not garner a reaction from Crane aside from a raised eyebrow. Crane instead seemed to spend his time uttering thinly veiled insults towards Doctor Crane.
As the session ended, Crane turned his attention towards Harleen for a moment before he spoke "You seem too young be here, are you qualified?" Harleen flushed slightly at the attention before glancing at Doctor Ingles, who nodded slightly, before she answered him.
"I am a little younger than most I guess, I had early acceptance to Gotham State University, and I studied hard enough that I finished early" Harleen spoke steadily, he was not the first patient, or even colleague, to question her age. Harleen was proud of this particular accomplishment however, given how hard she had worked to gain acceptance, with a full scholarship through her gymnastics no less, at sixteen and to finish up her studies before turning twenty-three.
"Hmm, interesting. Tell me, Doctor Quinzel, what are you afraid of?" as Crane asked this a particular gleam seemed to enter his eyes. Doctor Ingles sat forward looking slightly flustered "Now Crane I'm not sure you should-" Doctor Ingles began before Harleen cut him off "Oh I don't mind Doctor Ingles" Harleen responded before turning back to Crane.
"I don't think I'm scared of anything unusual, Doctor Crane. I have a lot of the standard, irrational fears." Harleen spoke, a small twist of anxiousness pulled at the knot in stomach again.
"Do continue Doctor Quinzel, what are the 'usual' fears and why are they irrational?" Doctor Crane asked, seemingly interested in the conversation for once.
"Well I'm afraid of sharks, and insects. I think a lot of fear is irrational, don't you? I mean the odds of my coming across a shark, or being actually injured by insects are incredibly small, but I still would go out of my way to avoid them" Harleen studied Crane as she spoke, gauging how he responded to her mostly truthful answer, wondering how he would have reacted to the dark truth, had she told him.
A small spark of excitement entered Cranes eyes "Yes, yes, so you must understand the importance of what can be accomplished without the barriers that fear provides. Imagine how far humanity would progress without the ever present fear that currently looms over us, strangling the path to success."
"I suppose so, but fear is what pushes humanity to expand their knowledge, is it not? There would be a lack of motivation to progress in some areas, without the fear of failure" Harleen questioned, truly interested in his reasoning.
The small spark of excitement in Crane's eyes had grown to a blazing fire of interest. Crane leant forward, his chained hands clinking against the chair "Progression because of fear is for the weak of mind, Doctor Quinzel" he said.
"So what is it that motivates you, Doctor Crane, my theory is that it is the fear of fear itself that drove you so deeply into the experiments that you have done" Harleen hoped he would not taken offense to her words, it wouldn't do well to be kicked out of her first therapy session at this level.
"How fascinating. That's an interesting line of discussion, Doctor Quinzel" Crane said, not having taken his eyes off Harleen. Doctor Ingles, who had been quiet, observing the interaction between the pair spoke up "Our session time has run over, Mister Crane, if you are interested in continuing this conversation with Doctor Quinzel, perhaps I can bring her along to more of our sessions" He offered.
"Yes it has been a long time since I have had any one of moderate intellect in my presence" Crane said, leaning back in his chair as the guards entered the room and began unchaining Crane from his chair, before chaining his hands and feet together again and leading him from the room.
"That was very interesting, Crane doesn't usually say anything more than insults, he seemed to take to you quite well" Doctor Ingles said as they walked from the therapy room. "I was sceptical, I will admit, but I think that I would like to have you join in therapy sessions with Crane. I can see the benefits in having you work with our more extreme patient's, I'll mention it to Doctor Arkham, but I think you can continue joining me in Cranes sessions next week, and we'll see from there how it goes."
Harleen felt the knot of tension in her stomach ease, her heart raced as she held back on a beaming grin. Harleen smiled at Doctor Ingles as she spoke "Wow, that would be wonderful, thank you Doctor Ingles"
Whatever Harleen had been about to say next, was cut off by a ruckus from down the hall. Screaming was heard, along with the voices of guards yelling, before a chilling laugh echoed down the halls.
Harleen felt her heart stop at the sound, she knew that could only be one person. Three guards came into view, dragging a man in a straight jacket by the upper arms. Two of the guards appeared to be bleeding, and the remaining guard was a sickly green shade, and shaking profusely.
Harleen could not take the eyes off her reason for being at Arkham Asylum, he was a tall man, taller than Harleen had imagined he would be. He appeared lean, but even from a distance Harleen could see the powerful muscle he had. His hair was slightly disheveled, still a shocking green colour, his skin had no colour to it, it glowed with a flawless white sheen. His deep red lips were currently pulled back in hysterical laughter as pale blue eyes shined maliciously.
Slowly his eyes came up, and locked onto Harleen. "Well hello, hello, hello, I have a visitor! How pretty, are you my new little toy Doctor? Are you going to come play with me?" Joker laughed again, never taking his gleaming eyes off Harleen. Harleen felt her heart race, as her cheeks heated up. Before she had an opportunity to respond Harleen felt a tug at her arm, as Doctor Ingles pulled her away slightly, leading her back through the secure doors.
"I apologise Doctor Quinzel, there must have been another incident with The Joker, he should not have been moved till after the halls had been cleared." Doctor Ingles moustache twitched again, which drew Harleens gaze against her will. "It's fine Doctor Ingles, nothing happened. Actually I found it fascinating, The Joker was a major factor in my decision to specialise in the criminally insane"
Harleen glanced behind her once more, peering through the doors closing behind her to catch a glance of The Joker leaving. Joker turned abruptly, as if feeling her gaze. He winked exaggeratedly at Harleen, snapping his teeth at her in an almost playful manner, before the door closed heavily, blocking her view.
Harleen made her goodbyes with Doctor Ingles quick, as she walked towards the exit, heading towards her car. Her heart had not stopped racing, even as she entered her apartment and carefully removed her shoes. Flopping back onto the couch, Harleen couldn't shake her thoughts of The Joker and even Crane from her mind, this is what she had been working for.
Harleen knew, that soon she would be the primary doctor for the extreme patients, she would be the one to make the medical breakthroughs, to help those who had never been helped. She was close, and she would do all she had to do to make her desires a reality.