Between Stripes

E I G H T

Dr Quinzel was actually letting me meet her daughter. I simply couldn't wait, in all honesty. She sometimes talked of her in my sessions. I liked Dr Quinzel. She was nice to me and didn't push me to answer anything.

Joey thought it was a little weird but I explained it would help Dr Quinzel (junior) develop her skills as a psychiatrist. Or whatever. He was still convinced that it was a strange move on Dr Quinzel's behalf. I told him that I wanted a cookie. (It shut him up.)

Day 1071 was when I was 'scheduled' to meet the infamous Harleen Quinzel.

That's a mouthful and a half.

Little-Jerome was right. In my head (and occasionally to Dr Quinzel) I called Harleen Harley. It was just easier and rolled off the tongue.

The day came faster than I'd thought (Arkham was strange when it came to time). And Joey was leading me through the halls.

"Be careful Georgia." He warned and I rolled my eyes.

"I know, I suppose Dr Quinzel will be in there too." I said as he opened a door for me.

"I've heard different." He grumbled.

"It'd be a stupid move for Dr Quinzel to leave a psychotic murderer alone in a room with an unqualified girl who wants to be a shrink." I stated the obvious.

"Exactly my thoughts. So try to be nice or whatever." Joey ordered as we reached the familiar door. He removed my cuffs and opened the door. As I stepped inside he closed it behind me.

In front of me was someone sat at the desk, as usual. It wasn't my usual buddy though. It was someone that looked remotely similar to her. More youthful though older than me. It was Harleen Quinzel.

It turned out that Dr Quinzel had other plans than to guard a killer and an unarmed girl with barely any experience.

"Morning Harley." I chirped, walking closer to the desk and plopped down on the armchair which sat opposite the woman behind the desk. She seemed much older then me. Visually it was different but the way she held herself.

"Erm m-my name is Harleen." She said as her voice stumbled a little. I rolled my eyes. Hopefully she wouldn't be this sheepish for long.

"Tip, be confident around your patients. They thrive on fear."

"Well thanks. It's nice to meet you Miss Fishwick."

"Call me Georgia, we're practically the same age Harley."

"You do realise my name isn't-"

"Yeah but the entire 'Harleen Quinzel' shabang is a mouthful to say. So I'm gonna call you Harley."

"Okay then. Well... My mother told me that you wanted to meet me or something along those lines."

"Yeah and do ya actually call her mother? Isn't the whole relationship supposed to be super chill? Like don't ya call her mom?" As I asked the question Harley fidgeted a little in her seat. I'd probably hit a sore spot.

"She's a little professional for that kind of stuff." She sighed, placing her hands on the desk and beginning to drum her fingers. I speculated. Harley was a little strange. My guess would be that she didn't have many friends and her so-called mother had brought her up to be very work-driven.

"Wanna be friends?" I chirped which broke the tension ridden silence. Harley's jaw dropped.

"W-what?"

"You heard me." I smirked as she mentally tried to pull herself together.

"I'm here to be professional and be more educated in the psychological area." She stated as her eyebrows inched closer together.

"Harley, you're barely eighteen. You're supposed to be having fun and making friends. Not becoming a younger version of your mother." I locked eyes with her as I spoke. The message would sink in better. It was true too, I weren't in here I'd be at parties and having actual fun. Rather than analysing people's brains for a head start in the career which was ahead of me.

"And I'm supposed to be thinking about brains and whatnot. You sure do know your stuff Georgia." Her voice quivered a little as she said my name but she mostly used a teasing tone.

"What can I say? I've got a lot of thinking time in here." I let out a light laugh.

"I can imagine," Harley laughed too. She then added, "I've got a question."

"Go for it." I chirped.

"In a strange place like an asylum, is it possible to find love? Or whatever's closest to it?" She asked and Jerome immediately popped into my head.

"It's possible but there's slim chances." I said slowly. Before Jerome, I'd never thought of anything like that. Never. Arkham had always seemed the complete opposite of welcoming a budding love.

"Ooh! Do tell." She chirped, moving forward a little.

"What do ya mean?" I attempted to laugh. She'd noticed the small hesitation before I'd answered her question.

"Fine. There's this... guy. He's one of my few friends here. He's a little strange. A little bloodthirsty. A little clever. A complete psycho." I glanced at Harley and saw her hanging onto my words. "I've known him a while. He's a year or so older than me. A-and he's called Jerome."

"Jerome Valeska?" Harley asked. I nodded.

"Mother has mentioned him before. She's his psychiatrist too."

"If she's not told you, or if you've never seen him, he's quite the looker too. And a pretty good kisser." I felt myself blush. (Which was becoming a more common sight.)

"You've kissed him?!"

"On a few occasions. He's not too generous with them." My face was bound to be bright red by now. "And on his birthday, he told me that his wish for when he would have blown out his candles was that I could be his."

"That's so goddamn adorable!" Harley squeaked. I let out a stream of laughs which Harley joined in with.

We sat there laughing for a couple of minutes before Harley piped up.

"Why are we laughing?" She took off her glasses and set them on the desk, the grin didn't leave her face.

"Well I was laughing cause you seemed so formal and boring like fifteen minutes ago and now you're squealing about me and some guy." I smiled.

"You're such a chilled person, and easy to be around. I guess that's what made me loosen up." Harley said thoughtfully.

"Geez thanks Harls, I think that's the nicest thing a sane person has said to me for a while." I felt another smile tug at my lips.

Had I just made another friend, miraculously, in this place?

Possibly.

A.N.
What do you guys think about the new cover? I'm not sure if it's a little much compared to the previous one. Let me know!

Hope you liked this chapter, it was a little rushed. Sorry!