In Another Life VII

Chapter 16

The next time Harley saw the Joker, he was handcuffed and chained to the sofa in the interview room at Arkham Asylum. "Could you...leave us, please?" she whispered to the guards.

They nodded. "We'll be waiting outside."

They shut the door, leaving them alone.

"How...are you doing?" stammered Harley.

He didn't respond, just glared at her with pure hatred in his eyes. "Didn't I swear I'd shoot you in the face if I ever saw you again?" he growled.

"Yes, but...I had to see you," she whispered. "I can't sleep, I can't eat, I can't feel anything but..."

She choked on a sob. "Oh, Mr. J, I'm so sorry!"

He continued to glare at her. "So this is who you truly are, Dr. Harleen Quinzel," he sneered. "Nice, normal shrink getup, looking just like everybody else. You make me sick."

"I make myself sick," she agreed. "What I did to you was completely unforgivable, and I will never forgive myself for it. I just...didn't know what else to do. I couldn't give you up...nobody...nobody ever thought I was special until you did. I was never happier being myself than when I was Harley Quinn, your Harley Quinn. I just hate who I am now."

He didn't respond, just looked at her. If his eyes had been daggers stabbing into her heart, they couldn't have hurt her any more than they did. "Nothing I ever told you was a lie," she whispered. "I didn't fake my enthusiasm about everything to do with your lifestyle. I would have gone crazy if I continued the way I was going as a psychiatrist – I would have died from boredom. You made me feel alive and special and free, and I love you. None of that was a lie."

He still didn't respond. "I wanted to stay with you," she whispered. "I was going to stay with...when Henderson brought the cops, I was gonna let myself get arrested with you..."

"Then why didn't you?" he snapped. "If you really loved me, why didn't you tell me Henderson was a plant?"

"Because I knew you'd kill him," she whispered. "And I couldn't do that to him..."

"No, but you could do that to me!" he roared. "You could betray me! Obviously I ain't the one you love, Harley, it's that pig you want! Well, go be with him now – there's nothing stopping you! I ain't there to get in the way and tell you you can't be together! That's who you always really wanted, wasn't it?! I was just the one you had to pretend to want, for the job!"

"No, puddin', that ain't true!" she sobbed. "I don't want him! I don't love him – I love you!"

"Then you should have told me about the pig," he growled. "You should have sacrificed anything and anyone to protect me. That's what someone who loved me would do. So how dare you say those words to me, you lying slut? How dare you?"

"Puddin', I do love you..."

She choked as his handcuffs came about her throat, tightening. "Shut up!" he hissed in her face. "Shut up, shut up, shut up! You backstabbing little whore! You'll never tell another lie again!"

She was gasping for air, black spots swimming in front of her face. "I love you," she whispered, in between gasps. "I'll never stop...saying that...because it's true. I love you!"

And that's when the door burst open and the guards rushed in, ripping Joker away from her and beating him.

"Stop it!" gasped Harley, throwing herself in front of him. "You're not going to hurt him anymore!"

Joker chuckled coldly. "Don't you worry, Doc. Their beatings ain't nothing compared to what I've already suffered. I've been hurt much worse, as you well know."

"Mr. J, please..." she begged.

"Take this animal back to his cell!" shouted the guard as they hauled him to his feet.

"You'd better get a new job, Doc, because once I bust outta here, you're dead!" he shouted back as he was dragged off. "A bullet to the brain, and then I'll see you in hell, Harley! You dirty little traitor! I'll see you in hell!"

"Dr. Quinzel, are you all right?" asked one of the guards, helping her up. "Do you need medical attention?"

"N...no, thank you," she whispered.

"Let me walk you to your car..."

"No, thank you," she said, firmly. "I can manage."

She left the asylum with her head held high, but broke down sobbing the moment she entered her car. Her phone rang and she glanced at the number – it was Henderson. He had been calling her repeatedly since the raid, but he was the last person she wanted to talk to.

She threw the phone into the backseat, crying into her hands. She had made a mess of everything, and she was afraid that she had ruined everything between her and the Joker forever. How could he ever trust her again? He was right – she should have betrayed Henderson to him, she should have done anything to protect him. How could she claim to love him when she hadn't done that? And how could she ever prove her love to him now?

She tried to calm down and think rationally. The problem had been that she hadn't been willing to sacrifice everything for Mr. J. And now she would have to do just that. She hadn't wanted to turn her back on the law, but she would have to. He was worth that. He was worth everything.

She wiped her eyes and took a deep breath, and then grabbed her phone, calling Henderson back.

"Harley, thank God! How are you doing? You ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, Matt," she murmured. "Uh...look, we at Arkham aren't getting anywhere with the Joker, as usual, and I was wondering if you cops wanted to see if you could get any info outta him, y'know, the way you do."

Henderson was silent. "That's illegal, Harley. We aren't allowed to interrogate prisoners without the presence of a lawyer, especially not the mentally ill..."

"After what he did to me, Matt, I wanna see him suffer," whispered Harley. "Surely you could get him transferred temporarily to a cell in Blackgate, away from the eyes of the doctors, and maybe with the henchmen present, so they can watch, and then rough him up and blame it on the prisoners? I could authorize the transfer at my end – you just need to authorize it on yours."

"Harley, I'm not going to break the law..."

"He beat me," she whispered. "After all I did for him, and he treats me like a punching bag. After all I let him do to me, and it was some sick stuff, Matt...I can't even think about it without...hating myself..."

She began crying again. "But Harley, fighting violence with violence isn't the way," he murmured. "You have to be strong..."

"I ain't as strong as you, Matt!" she sobbed. "You were right – I shouldn't have done the things I did for the mission! I can't cope with thinking about what I did! I'm a shrink, and I can't cope with it! I gotta see him suffer for what he's done to me! You gotta make him suffer! Please! For me!"

He didn't respond for a long time. Then he said, "Authorize the transfer to Blackgate – say the police need to speak to him and that the holding cells at the station are full. Promise it'll just be an overnight deal, and it will. Then he's going back to Arkham the next day, hopefully a lot more worse for wear. You won't know anything about it, and the worst they can do is suspend me. Probably let me off with a warning if I blame the violent urges on the PTSD."

"I gotta be there to watch it, Matt," she whispered. "Promise me you'll let me be there."

He sighed heavily. "Yeah, I promise, Harley. I'll let you know."

"Thank you," she whispered. "Bye, Matt."

"Bye, Harley."

She hung up the phone and then started her car. While she was waiting for his call, she intended to do some shopping. She would definitely be needing some new clothes.