Cruel

The First Session

My heels clicked loudly against the cold concrete floors of the hallway. Agent Decker stood at the end, his feet spread wide along with the two guards he stood in front of. He nodded as I approached.

"Miss Quinzel," he greeted. I smiled.

"Agent Decker. You look chipper as always." His face remained blank as I stopped in front of him. I sighed.

"Harleen, you know what you are about to walk into, don't you?" he asked, his brow furrowing in the smallest way, breaking his stone expression. I fought the urge to roll my eyes.

"Yes sir, I know, we've been over this-"

"Well humor me then, Miss Quinzel." He paused and looked at me expectantly. I sighed and nodded. "This man is one of the most wanted and dangerous villains not only in Gotham city, but in the world. He's extremely calculating and not to mention convincing, Miss Quintez. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"I won't be coerced by him, Decker. He's just another one of my patients. I'm here to do my job," I said, almost bouncing in my heels with the itch to get in there. He looked at me hard for a few seconds, until he nodded and moved aside.

"Alright boys," he gestured to the guards, "open it up." One of the guards punched a code in that he shielded with his body. A series of clicking sounds vibrated through the door that I could feel through my body, and then it was quiet. I looked between the guards. Suddenly the door popped open a crack with a quiet hiss of air. The men in front of me stepped away.

"Good luck, Doctor," Decker said quietly from behind me. I nodded and took a breath before pushing the door open.

The room was bathed in white light from the sole window on the far wall. The floors and walls and ceilings were all concrete, as if we were in our own little protected box. The only thing in the room was the table at which he sat at, centered in the middle. His long fingers fiddled with the cuffs encompassing his wrists as he stared out the window, seemingly lost in thought. I was almost entranced by the image of him. Stark white skin with tattoos climbing everywhere I looked. And the hair. The bright, green, slicked back hair would be funny on anyone else, and I might have laughed if it didn't look so absolutely wicked on him.

The door shut behind me and I jumped, broken from my trance. His head snapped towards me, as if he didn't even know I was there. But I knew, without even knowing this man, that he knew I was there all along.

He broke into a wide, Cheshire smile and brought his hands to his lap.

"Oh, my, my," he said, his voice raspy and seemingly slinking around my body. "What in the world have they brought me today?" I sniffed and brought my head up a fraction of an inch as I walked towards him.

"My name is Harleen Quinzel. You and I are going to be spending a lot of time together over the next couple of months." His eyes were the only thing to move as I sat across from him. I could feel his eyes burning into me as I gathered my things from my bag. Placing my recorder and notebook on the table, I finally looked up at him. His blue eyes seemed to dance and laugh as he looked me over.

"I think we should get right into it, don't you think?" I deadpanned. He pursed his lips and nodded his head in false eagerness. Picking up my pencil, I pulled my glasses down from the top of my head and looked over my questions.

"Alright, uh... Joker. What-"

"J," he cut in. I looked at him over my glasses.

"Excuse me?"

"Call me J. That's what all my friends call me, and I can tell we are just gonna be great friends." I cleared my throat.

"Right. Mister J-"

"'Mistah J!' Oh, I just love your accent Harley- can I call you that? Harleen is just too stuck up for a pretty thing like you. No offense darlin." His mouth hung open slightly as he stared at me intensely, waiting for a response. I swallowed.

"Everyone calls me Harleen," I said mildly, but I couldn't ignore the slight satisfaction I got from this little nickname he gave me. He breathed out and smiled happily.

"Perfect. It will be our little thing then." He paused, tapping his fingers against the table and looking serious for the first time since I've met him. His eyes burned into mine as if he had come to a revelation. "Or maybe," he drawled out, regaining his devious smile, "it'll be the name you take on after a certain... transition." I frowned.

"Sorry? What transition?" I asked, concern making my voice waver slightly. He smiled reassuringly.

"Nothing, my dear Harley. I'm crazy, don't you know?" he said loudly, tapping my notebook with a slender finger. "I say lots of things lots of times that don't mean lots of anything!" I narrowed my eyes at him, but chose to ignore the statement for my own sanity.

"Right. Ok. So let's start with some exercises that-"

"So you're really my new shrink, eh?" he cut me off again. I sighed and dropped my pencil, giving up for today. "Your'e too pretty to be in this asylum, baby. What happened to my old one? I was so sure we were getting close to... a breakthrough." He lingered on the last words, almost burning them with his wicked sarcasm.

"Dr. Allen had fulfilled her duties." In actuality Dr. Allen had almost lost her mind in the few months she had worked with this man, and by the way his mouth twitched I could tell he knew that.

"Ah, well that's just too bad." He looked side to side as if someone else were in the room before sliding his hands forward and leaning towards me. I fought the urge to back away. "But to be honest, darlin," he whispered, "I think I'm gonna like you much better." He looked at me, waiting for me to flinch or look away. But I refused to show any fear. If I was ever going to get through to him, I could never show how much he affected me. He would use it to his advantage. I locked my jaw.

After a few seconds he cocked his head to the side and blinked. In the blink of an eye he threw himself back and laughed the most sinister laugh I had ever heard. He seemed to be lost in it, as if he had just thought of the funniest joke he had ever heard. I tried not to notice the ice it sent down my spine. Still laughing, he slammed his hands down on the table and shook his head at me.

"Oh, Harley. You and I are going to have so much fun together."