Weeks went by. Harleen Quinzel began to change. She stopped partying, started dressing in drab, dowdy clothes and became humorless and gray. She turned herself into the most studious pupil any teacher could ask for.
Though she still attended his classes, Harley did not linger in Professor Crane's classroom anymore. She didn't try to get his attention. She didn't even look at him when he spoke, though she recorded his every word in her notebook.
On a late afternoon in April, four months after the last time they spoke to each other privately, Harley made the familiar trek across campus to the psychology building. She entered just in time to see another young woman leaving his office. It didn't even hurt.
When the girl was gone, Harley approached. "Professor Crane."
"Miss—" Harley winced as he said it. "—Quinzel."
Wasting no time, she pulled a paper from her messenger bag and thrust it at him. "I would like you to sign this. It's a letter of recommendation for an internship. I saved you the trouble of drafting one by doing it myself."
He took it from her and looked it over. "Arkham Asylum. Well, I was certainly not expecting this from you…"
There was a small victory in surprising him, but she didn't gloat. "I am serious about my work."
"I see that you are, now." He pulled a pen from his pocket and scrawled his name at the bottom of the paper. Then, he handed it back to her. "I wish you the best of luck in this endeavor."
"I don't need it."
"No, I don't suppose you do." For the first time in all the time she'd known him, one corner of his mouth turned up. It was not a smile, but it was close enough.
"Good afternoon, Professor."
When she was gone, Jonathan Crane retired to his office. He took down a binder, flipped it open and scanned one of the pages.
Once he found what he wanted, he took out his pen and added a notation at the bottom:
Harleen Quinzel, 4/11: Experiment results still inconclusive, but v. promising. Change in work ethic, shows signs of great ambition. May reach full potential after all.
YOU ARE READING
Transference - (Jonathan Crane, Harley Quinn)
Fiksi PenggemarLong before she wears greasepaint and he puts on sackcloth, the lives of Harleen Quinzel and Jonathan Crane overlap at Gotham University. There, they play the roles of student and teacher...among other things.
