In Another Life VII

Chapter 1

"All right, listen up, everyone!" shouted Commissioner Gordon, clapping his hands and trying to silence the room full of cops talking amongst themselves. "This is an important briefing! This operation is going to be delicate, and require stealth, cunning, and courage, and we've brought in a specialist to brief you on it. Could you all please welcome Dr. Harleen Quinzel, from Arkham Asylum."

"Thank you, Commissioner," said Dr. Harleen Quinzel, adjusting her glasses as she approached the overhead projector. She heard a few wolf whistles and glared out at the audience.

"Hey baby, you wanna get me on the couch sometime?" chuckled Detective Bullock, soliciting a laugh from the others.

"Yes, I've...never heard that one before," growled Harleen, reaching into her briefcase.

"Dr. Quinzel is a professional, and she should be treated with respect!" snapped Gordon, sternly. "The next person to speak gets sent out!"

"Thank you, Commissioner," repeated Harleen. "This is our man," she said, slapping a picture onto the overhead projector. "Real name unknown, alias the Joker. He's committed several atrocities over the years – you name it, he's probably done it – arson, murder, robbery, kidnapping, extortion, the list goes on. He's motivated by nothing else than a sick sense of humor – he believes that the crimes he commits are funny, and often uses gag items in these crimes, self-styling himself the Clown Prince of Crime, which we assume is some identity he's built up based on his appearance. That's not makeup, by the way – the clown look is permanent. He was the victim of some horrible accident, the details of which are still vague – he always gives doctors different versions of the events, and of his own past, so we really don't know anything concrete about him, other than the fact that he seems to have an unhealthy obsession with the masked vigilante known as Batman. A lot of his crimes seem to be just to get his attention, but we don't know why. However, if you have any other questions about the Joker, I'd be happy to answer them," she said, turning the projector off. "He's a bit of a specialty of mine. I've dedicated years to researching his methods and personality."

A policeman raised his hand. "Have you ever treated him personally?" he asked.

"Not yet, no," retorted Harleen. "I've just been transferred to Arkham, and the Joker has been on the run since my arrival. But I can tell you that reading about him is just as good for research purposes as meeting him."

"Whoever gets chosen for this mission is going to be working very closely with Dr. Quinzel before beginning it," said Gordon. "We need our officer to be as well informed about the maniac as she is. Now do we have any volunteers?"

Every male in the room's hand shot up, and Harleen rolled her eyes. "Serious volunteers only," snapped Gordon, glaring at them. "This is going to be a lot of work, and it's a highly dangerous mission. Going undercover to infiltrate the Joker's gang is no joke. If the maniac suspects he's got a traitor in his midst, he's not going to show him any mercy. This guy is a serious psychopath, despite his silly appearance."

"Are you sure this whole undercover infiltration is necessary, Comish?" asked Bullock, raising his hand. "I'm sure any information we need about the Joker, we can get by roughing up some of his guys..."

"I don't condone police brutality of that sort," snapped Gordon. "And anyway, a single henchman is only going to know so much. Our undercover officer can actively seek out the things we need to know about the Joker's gang – targets, methods, you name it. The kinda info he could source would be invaluable to preventing further crimes. I think it's a risk we need to take. I would volunteer myself, but the Joker knows me. It has to be an officer he's not going to be familiar with – someone fairly young and new to the force."