F.I.L.W.A.H.M Ch. 02

Ch 2. The First Interview

I pulled into Arkham parking lot ten minutes early for work, something I did rarely. I got out of the car with a brand new notebook, and a piping hot cup of coffee. My heels clicked on the wet pavement as I made my way towards the sliding doors of the main entrance. I wore red heels with dark blue jeans and a light pink turtleneck. I had stopped wearing my more attractive clothing to work when I had gotten vomited or pissed on a few times. It also is considered better to dress conservative around patients.

We doctors like to think that our patients sexual urges won't be directed towards us if we dress plainly. I knew that wasn't true, I had two years under my belt after all so the veil was lifted. Yet the stigma of attractive clothes at work still persisted here at Arkham. I was actually sent home twice when some staff complained my skirts were too short, at knee length. They weren't even pencil skirts.

Even what I was wearing right now would be considered graphic to my co-workers. They all wore clothes like paper bags and gray knit. So maybe, just maybe, I wanted the Joker to think of me as attractive? I could justify it by saying that it's a ploy to get him to open up to me. But, deep down, I knew it was because I was meeting a powerful character of Gotham society, and I wanted to impress him just a little.

Not to be vain, but I know that I am perfect ten walking into any bar on any given night. Conservative clothes couldn't hold down me down!

This mental pep talk had me entering the building with a confident swagger in my step. Judy the secretary noticed right away, I could tell by her frown. Because some people were hopelessly predictable and open faced. I smiled at her brightly and walked by without so much as a pause.

Inside my head I told her she better keep her fucking mouth closed.

As I made my way to my office which was down four other corridors I ran into Jed. His face was tense even while he smiled to greet me. "Hey Doctor Quinnzel." He stopped his journey wherever he had been going to talk with me. He had a small med kit with him. "Good morning Jed, how have you been?" I hadn't seen much of him in the last couple days, I had been doing some personal paperwork in my office since my patients haven't been roudy.

"I'm fine, it's just... The new patient... He really puts me on edge."

Usually Jed had no qualms about spilling the dish on patients, it worried me to see him so uncomfortable. "What do you mean?"

He looked down at the floor a minute, then looked at me, his expression was pinched. "Since he got here wednesday, I have had to tranquilize him six times. He is already at his max dose for the week." He took a pause to think, but I could tell he wasn't finished so I didn't interrupt, just nodded my head. "He also tried to bribe me, and threaten me, in the same sentence."

"Wow." I was kind of impressed, it usually took a few days or week before the bribes come along. "Fast talker I guess?" Jed nodded "I need to report it to the security commander for him. He needs to know that Joker is serious about bribes, he offered me ten thousand dollars Doctor!" My eyebrows went even higher. It was a high enough amount that he might really be able to persuade someone here to help him. "You are right to talk about it Jed, you should tell the security guy today." Jed nodded and moved past me a little, telling me with body language he was ready to move on. "See you later Doctor Quinnzel." I waved to him and stepped into my office moments later.

On my desk were two boxes of files, the side of the boxes labeled "The Joker" with sloppy penmanship. I sat down in my little wheely chair and start fingering the file title heads. It went by decade and big events. 1940-1950's, His other persona called Red Hood, 1960-1980's, The poisoning at the U.N., 1990-2010's. If he had been about twenty years old when he started his criminal life then he had to be around 96 years old now. I dove into the files.

I learned a ton about the Joker, although it didn't give a great description of his personality. Most of the paperwork came from decades of police reports on him. He has killed easily 2,000 people and over, but never saw any long term jail time. He had been put in Arkham asylum dozens of times and had escaped or been set free every time according to incident reports. I started to realize that he never seemed to stay anywhere more than a few months to a year, even when he is lawfully committed.

--- 3rd POV

Harleen felt a deep sense of the invisible hand at work in the Joker's life. That bigger angles were turning in Gotham than people really understood. Or, maybe the whole system is inept and corrupt, she didn't know.

She asked herself, if the Joker is this old, doesn't that mean that Batman had to be the same? There was no way that a 96 year old Batman is still searching the streets every night. Who are these heros and villains? How is it possible that they have been involved in Gotham's history over generations?

Why didn't anyone know the Joker's true identity?

She had only gotten through a quarter of one box of the files before her phone went off with an alarm. It was time for her first meeting with him. She picked up her brand new notebook, her coffee thermos and put on her white coat and glasses. Then stopped by the break room for a coffee refill which was halfway between her office and the Joker's cell, number 777. She rolled her eyes, Harleen didn't need to read the files to know that the Joker had a penchant for gambling.

Peter one of the regular guards was outside the room, he was the sullen serious type. Probably a good fit to watch the Joker, since Peter never laughed.

"Hey Peter! Hey! Hey! Heyyyy!" Came an angry yelling from behind the door. Peter totally ignored the voice and just looked at me, "Hello Doctor Quinnzel, let's get this over with." I raised a brow at his attitude, but he didn't notice because he was talking to his walkie talkie radio. "All right, she's here, let's move him to the interrogation room." The radio crackled with an affirmative type answer.

"Do you really think the interrogation room is necessary?" Peter looked at me incredulously. In his opinion I was out of my mind not to have the Joker locked up like a high security prison. I guess the danger hadn't set in enough for me yet. Maybe meeting him would change that?

"Yes ma'am, it's very very necessary." He said directly and a little sarcastically. I couldn't blame his feeling I guess. My new patient has killed and tortured thousands of people, who else would be a high security risk?

That thrill went down my spine again and I felt my heart pound in my chest from anticipation.

A whole team of guards showed up in the hallway fully dressed in tactical gear and some even hand guns. As far as I knew the guards were not supposed to have lethal weapons on the grounds at all. I backed away from the door and let them do their job.

Peter pulled out the key card for the door and the others spread out around it some of them having tasers in their hands. Peter pulled the handle and the door opened slowly. He had been placed in a full padded room, so the door had cushion on the other side. Half the guards spilled into the room to restrain him. It took a few minutes to put the hand and ankle cuffs on, and then the straight jacket. I could hear them rustling as he struggled and their orders barking at him. He laughed while he struggled, clearly disturbed.

As they began to pull him from the room I flattened myself against the wall and let them pass. Finally I saw him, his visage striking me so soundly that I stopped breathing, seeing through his unusual coloring he was absolutely gorgeous.

Our eyes lock onto each others, once I caught his eye he didn't let go, twisting his neck around to peer at me as he was dragged down the hall. He wasn't fighting the guards anymore. Just staring at me. For a few minutes I was paralyzed. Until I blinked and they were most of the way down the hall, I jogged to catch up with them, my heels were loud on the floor.

"Is that luscious lady mine?" I heard him ask Peter loudly. His voice echoed down the hall.

"She is your assigned psychiatrist, yes." Peter answered with a growl. The Joker laughed again as he let them drag him away. I let myself lag behind, cooling down from the sudden heat that took over me. Why was I having such a strong reaction? I have never had an emotional reaction to a patient before, not to anyone really.

I slowed down to walking casually. I didn't even register the yelling and blabbering patients in the rooms around me. Just the pounding of my heart and the image of his face in my mind. It was dawning on me that a new chapter of my life was unfolding and I wasn't sure where it was taking me.

I breathed deeply to calm myself. I needed to get into my professional headspace again. I couldn't walk into this meeting with my heart on my sleeve for him. He would devour me. Again I had that electric thrill run down my spine. I just tried to relax and get to the interrogation room.

I found the guards outside the room, in a line on each side of the door. Peter was waiting to talk to me, face grim. "I didn't want to get in your way, on the move." I said as an excuse that I was minutes behind them.

Peter pressed a small black pad with a red button on it into my hand. "Hold this at all times, at any moment you feel threatened or he touches you at all, press this. You can also yell for us."

"Come on Lady! Get in here and talk to me!" I heard him yell through the door.

Peter opened for me and came in after me. He checked the chains that were laced through bars on the table. I knew the table was bolted to the floor. Peter was glaring at him, I was staring at him. And he grinned back at us, eyes on me. I saw his gaze slide down my body like a caress, ending with my heels. He grinned back up at me.

Suddenly I felt shy and afraid. He was like a snake hypnotizing me while he planned how to eat me alive. I swallowed thickly, then made a safe rather than sorry decision. I leaned on the table and pulled off my heels and gave them to Peter. At first he seemed angered, then understood.

I sat down on the chair in front of my patient. He quietly watched me. "Hello... Mr. Joker...I am Doctor Harleen Quinnzel, and I am going to be treating this time around here at Arkham." I made sure he understood that I knew he was no first time guest here at the Asylum. He giggled, I guessed he liked my attitude.

"You are so new I can smell the fresh ink on you Puddin." He leered at me.

I wasn't afraid of his over sexual manner. I knew that many men used their sexuality as a threat or a way to control others. It was also a shield from his real feelings.

"I have been here for about two years, you are not my first patient."

He cackled at me, I watched his face squeeze up in amusement and found it slightly attractive. Even though I could see he was putting on a creep factor me, it wasn't working. I knew that he had experience with psychiatrists before, had even killed some of them.

He suddenly stopped laughing and looked at me with deep seeded hatred in his eyes. "Don't think you are gonna pry open my head Puddin, your looks won't get you shit from me!" He yelled this at me, but I am used to this. I understood what he meant.

"Well, you have given me a smile Mr. Joker, I am happy to have that at least."

He scowled at me and put his hand over his mouth, it had a tattoo of an expansive grin on it.

He refused to talk to me anymore. I asked him if he would like to go back to his cell and he nodded, still keeping his mouth covered.

I cooly walked out of the room and put my heels back on and walked to my office without so much as a backward glance. Even when I heard him yelling. When I got inside my office I turned around and locked the door, leaning on it.

I felt my heart pounding in my chest.

I wasn't sure why, but I might just have feelings for the Joker.