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There was a tentative knock on my office door, "Harleen? Are you busy?"

I looked up from my paperwork, Doctor Arkhams assistant was at my door.

I looked down at my desk again, it was stacked with piles of paperwork.

"Um, no." I lied.

"Awesome, because doctor Arkham requested to see you as soon as possible"

"Oh, alright. Tell him I'll be there in about ten minutes."

"Will do." She said, walking away.

I sighed, and quickly finished one more page of work. I've been swamped with new patients.

The rest of my work would have to wait until later. I made my way down to Doctor Arkhams office, which was on the other side of the building.

I knocked, poking my head in. "You wanted to see me?"

He gestured for me to come in. "Yes, yes. Come in, I have an important case to discuss with you."

I sat down across from his desk. "As you know, you're one of our top psychiatrists-"

"Oh, I wouldn't say that, sir." I interrupted, blushing.

He gave me a small smile. "You are. You've already helped cure five patients in just six months of working here at Arkham."

I nodded, not knowing what to say.

"And because of that, I'm going to assign you to a..special case."

"But sir, I've just started with two new patients, and I have tons of paperwork to fill out. Dont get me wrong, I'm honored, and would love to take it. But I just dont have the time to take on another case, let alone a special one..whatever that means."

He leaned back in his chair, folding his hands together. "I was afraid you'd say that. That's why i have arranged to transfer all your current patients to somebody else. That is, if you want to take on this case."

"All of them?" I asked in disbelief.

"Oh yes...this patient will take up most of your time here."

"But, my patients needs me..who is my special case?"

Doctor Arkhams eyes lit up. He grabbed his iPad, and started typing in his pass code. He pulled something up.

"He goes by the Joker." He slid his iPad over to me. It was a picture of the clown. Ive seen drawing of him, and pictures of him from time to time on television. But never up close.

His skin was completely bleached white, covered in tattoos. The one that caught my eye was a big spot on his chest that just repeated "ha ha ha" in messy handwriting. Joker also had the word "damaged" written in neat cursive on his forehead. He was well built...very well built. Joker had neon green hair, and fake silver teeth. Bright red lips, dark eyes. Did he wear makeup?

He looked terrifyingly handsome, if I was to be honest.

"The Joker..." I whispered to myself.

"So, its yours for grabs." Doctor said, snapping my attention away from the picture. "I have to warn you, he's intense. Very intense."

I glanced at his picture once more. I felt the need, the urge, to help him. He looked so broken. "I..I'll do it." I decided.

"Thank you so much, Harleen. I could arrange for you to meet with him today, if you're comfortable with it."

"Yes, that would be very helpful." I lied. I needed time, I needed a plan before I met Joker. But I wasnt going to disappoint Doctor Arkham.

"How about at three? Here..." Doctor said, standing up and grabbing a file out of his desk. "This has all the information we've gotten out of him, which is basically none. There are also some CD's from previous sessions."

"CD's?" I asked.

"Yes...you are to record every session with Joker."

"Oh..okay. Thank you then, Doctor Arkham. I'll be at his cell at three PM sharp."

He nodded, signaling I could leave.

___

Three o clock came much faster than I had hoped. I abandoned all paperwork, for I didn't have to do it anymore. I only had one patient now. It felt odd for me to have more free time.

I spent the next few hours studying the Jokers file.

He had no known family, friends, medical history, nothing really helpful to me.

His first CD was from about a year ago, with a psychiatrist I didn't recognize. She introduced herself as Doctor Joan, and got right into the session. Joker seemed agrivated the whole time, Harleen could tell he didn't like how pushy she was. Then, he began to get into her head, and Joan obviously grew terrified of him after just one session.

"Hey, we need some help out here!" A voice in the video called. Joan quickly walked outside to help, when Joker looked straight into the camera lense. "Boom" he whispered, cocking his head to the side. Just then, Harleen heard screams. The video went black.

The next video was Doctor Adam, his second doctor. I also didn't recognize him. Adam tried prying into Jokers past right away, and Joker became angry with him. I could tell by the way his foot was twitching, and his eyes quickly darting around the room. He jumped out of his chair, and strangled the doctor, and slowly walked over to turn off the camera.

The next few videos all ended the same way, they either left Arkham after visiting Joker, or they died during the session.

"Harleen, its time." Doctor Arkham said softly, knocking on my door. I followed him down the hall in silence.

"Ready?" He asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be." I replied, opening up the door to the next wing.

We turned down more hallways, until we came to a cemented wall. "The code is 7683." Doctor said, typing it into the key pad. The wall opened, leading to Jokers cell. It was guarded by two people.

"Be careful, Harleen." Doctor Arkham whispered in my ear, handing me a camera. "I'll try, sir." I replied.

He left and the guards unlocked the cell. "Can we have some privacy?" I asked.

"We'll be outside the wall then. Knock if you need us."

I nodded, and closed the cell door. Joker was asleep on his bed. I sat down at the small table in his cell, straightening out my skirt.

I watched Joker as he slept. The way his hand occasionally twitched, the furrowing of his forehead, his breathing. In ten minutes, his breathing slowed down, and he suddenly opened his eyes, staring at me. I quickly Looked away and blushed, then started up the camera.

"Hello. I'm doctor Quinzel."

He said nothing, just getting up and coming over to the table.

"I want to let you know, you're safe here. You're safe in this room to talk to me, I'm here to help you. This is a judgment free zone."

His eyes never left my face. In fact, he didn't say a word the entire session. He just stared. I decided the appropriate response would be to stare back.

An hour went by, and no talking had happened. It felt like five minutes, his bright blue eyes took over my mind. I couldn't let him do that to me.

I cleared my throat. "I'm afraid that's the end of our session. I'll come back again tomorrow."

Jokers face remained blank as I left, but I let out a silent cheer. I was the only doctor, so far, to leave the first appointment safe, and not terrified of Joker.

I was going to help him, whether he liked it or not.

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