The Rebirth of Harleen Quinzel

I.

BAM

The whole building shook as it was suddenly filled with the sounds of gunfire and brass bullets hitting the cold cement floor. My clipboard of notes fell as I ducked quickly from all the flying debris. I heard my fellow staff members scream and the security guards yell out orders before the gunfire silenced them forever. I rose my head up to see what was going on, but I could hardly see anything through the dust and smoke. The patient I was treating remained seated on top of one of the beds. He looked excited and curious as to what all of the commotion was.

"Get down!" I tried to whisper as loud as possible.

He remained in place, his bottom lip quivering with excitement as his eyes darted around at the action. I eyed the room for an exit, but decided it best that the office may be the safest place to hide for now. I looked at my patient and planned a swift escape route for us in my mind until the door to our left blasted open. I ducked again and ran to hide towards the opposite end of the room behind a treatment bed. Two security guards bursted through the office door to make a run for it before what looked like a giant panda emerged from the breach and unloaded half of a mag into their backs. I cupped my hand over my mouth and pushed myself as far back into the corner as I could go, but as I did, I saw the last security guard in the office make eye contact with me and quickly run to shut the door.

Asshole!

I cursed as the giant panda with the assault rifle made its way over to the bed I was next to and sprayed the wall with bullets. The pops were so loud that I jumped and knocked over the thin aluminum tray next to me. I saw the panda quickly turn towards my direction and he quickly lowered his assault rifle. I froze in place and heard a faint muffle from inside his panda suit. Suddenly, the wall behind me shook as the other door blasted open. The panda stood facing me as a man in a business suit walked straight towards where I was hiding as another person in a rather curious looking suit followed close behind him. As he approached me, he quickly bent down to grab my right arm and waved at the man behind him, who then grabbed the treatment bed.

"Hey, hey!!" I exclaimed as he forcefully lifted me up by my arm. I began to squirm out of his grip as I heard more of the deafening gunshots now that all doors were opened. "What are you doing?! W-"

As I managed to stumble to my feet, I saw what I thought was a dream.

Mr. J?...

It was as if the time slowed as I saw him walk through the doorway. Every second became a minute as we then locked eyes. He was holding a wooden bat in his right hand and instantly broke eye contact as he swung it upright. He then swung at the door handle to the office, and simultaneously, I felt the pressure on my arm begin to hurt. I was practically being dragged to the center of the room when I heard the security guard in the office plead. It felt as if everything began to speed up again as I tried harder to get out of this man's grip. In the next moment, I felt a pair of hands wrap around my ankles and I was being lifted off my feet. I squirmed frantically as soon as I felt my feet being lifted off the ground and my back then hit the leather of the treatment bed now beneath me. I screamed and kicked as I saw the other man try to wrap the belts around my ankles.

"Agh! Get off me!!" I demanded, trying to pry myself away from these people.

The man in the business suit had his lips pursed as he pinned me down and tried to wrap the belts over my chest.

"Get-"

I tried to fight them both off, but my ankles had already been strapped down to the bed. Defeated, I tried to catch my breath as I threw my head back and listened to the gunfire cease after what felt like hours. I looked over behind the suited man and saw my patient, unharmed and still in the same position. He looked at me and then at the two men in front of me. My heart began to race again as soon as I heard the sound of the wooden bat hit the cement floor, followed by a single pair of footsteps approaching the treatment bed that I was strapped to.