EPILOGUE

It was eight months before she was caught periodically releasing him, stripped of her medical license and incarcerated in the asylum. She was caught by the guard Ethan, whose suspicions had been raised by something as simple as a smear of lipstick on the side of Joker's red mouth.

By then the damage was irreversible. Those further eight months of alternatively obsessing and idolising over The Joker while he was free, or being subjected to his careful manipulations and attentions whenever incarcerated had done their job perfectly.

Harleen Quinzel was stark-raving insane.

She was quietly committed, Doctor Arkham wanting to avoid the public scandal of this almighty blunder, and Doctor Joan Leland was assigned to her case. She considered going to the psychiatric board to have Doctor Arkham's actions scrutinised, but ultimately decided she could help Harleen more as her therapist.

Harleen was stripped of her belongings and assigned her own set of Arkham pajamas into which she changed happily. Her Aunt was notified, but her only acknowledgement of what had happened to her niece was to request that the keys to her apartment were mailed forward. After Harleen attacked and beat Doctor Andrews with a chair for an unrecorded remark, she was assigned to the Maximum Security Solitary Ward. Doctor Andrews suffered a head injury that prevented him from further practicing psychology.

Harleen sat in her barren cell and sang to the walls, adding her own melody to the asylum's symphony of sound. She did not seem to mind the abrupt change to her lifestyle but declared herself glad to have three square meals a day and a free gym and accommodation at her disposal and attributed it to her "Puddin'" taking care of her.

Initial tests found that Harleen's mental age had regressed to that of a twelve year old. When Doctor Leland entered the therapy room to find the formerly assured, well-presented young Doctor in girlish pigtails and a straitjacket wanting to know why everyone was "so cross at her - couldn't they take a joke?" she almost had the first breakdown of her career.

The former Doctor Quinzel displayed as much steadfast determination to resisting treatment as she had to everything she'd gone after in her life, dreamily declaring that her and her one true love would soon be reunited and show the world up for the ridiculous joke it really was.

Doctor Leland privately despaired, and blamed herself.

Three months after that, the earthquake came.

oooo

Woo! DONE! Who can believe it?

I imagine that a great deal more happened in those eight months to further twist Harley's mind and regress her behaviour. Obviously, by the end of this story she's getting more immature and is beginning to be sucked into Joker's worldview, but she's not fully there yet. So, attribute to it those eight missing months mentioned here.

A couple of notes on the things I've dreamed up for this…

To my mind, someone who had a truly strong support system around her would not be so easily twisted by The Joker. Even in my story 'Fan Mail' I made sure that everyone who wrote to him already seemed a little off-balance. Oh, I think if you gave him a couple of years, he'd have anyone wrapped around his little finger, but if Harley had come from a loving family and a busy social life, it would never have been so easy for him. It wasn't simply a matter of naivety and credulity - I don't believe it. She's not stupid. Look at how canny she was in the pursuit of her own goals.

Harley wanted fame and glory. She yearns for respect. It stands to reason she therefore hungers for love. That's what made her easy pickings for him. She was so desperate to go after "love" as she perceived it, she did a lot of things she should not have, simply because they made her more vulnerable. She didn't study properly, which meant she wasn't properly 'up' on all the psychology stuff (and I theorise she didn't study properly because she was too busy socialising and didn't want to lose friends, i.e.: "love"), and she went straight after an extremely complex psychopath despite having no experience, which meant she was swiftly blindsided by his charm.

I speculated all of this came about because Harley didn't have a great family life - not an abusive one, you understand, just a neglectful one. Her Parent/child dynamics with Joker further enforce this for me, particularly the 'Daddy' stuff. She has a deep need for attention and love which manifested itself in her goals and desires.

Then she became so consumed with her work, with striving for her goal of becoming famous and respected, it stood to reason she would gradually fall out of touch with her friends, leaving her without a network of support to fall back on. I envision Harley as having been a very popular girl, because she simply is so friendly and likeable, but once she started pursuing fame, that would've all fallen apart. In fact, she very probably would've been perceived as a 'snob' by her usual friends and a 'try-hard' by the so-called "intellectuals" she tried to join. And I think both camps would've resented her success.

Given that she would be received as a smarty pants upstart tramp, as unfortunately women who are both intelligent and beautiful still are, at the asylum, as well as being all too aware herself that she might be revealed as not entirely there on her own merits, there wouldn't be anyone really there she could confide in without betraying herself.

Except for Joker.

Harley strikes me as someone who will ultimately Do What She Needs To To Get What She Wants, and that includes her seduction of her professors. I'm sick of it being either excused or twisted around so that she was totally innocent or desperate to do it, or treated like some incredibly evil thing. It's none of those. She did it because she failed and she wasn't going to accept that. Simple as that. Maybe she could've got the grades if she'd worked harder. She's a smart cookie, in her way. Or maybe there's another reason - after all, it's only Batman who says she didn't study. He wasn't actually there, observing the way she spent her nights. Maybe she studied her brains out, every night, but didn't "get it". I've speculated that she might be dyslexic and caught up in socialising. Someone else posited that a professor had a grudge against her. Whatever the reason, she failed. And when she did, she did what it took to get the grades. I respect that.

Oh yes - and Harley makes a lot of mistakes in session. That's deliberate. How else do you think he managed to get such a hold on her? She was in no way prepared for him. Those Arkham doctors must've been crazy or desperate to let her in there with him… maybe both.

If you're cross at me cos there was no sexual pay-off – sorry. :) The honest truth is I just don't think Joker needs/wants sex the same way most of us do, most of the time. I think he has his moments, but on the whole everything is about power to him, and what he feels will give him greater power over Harley right now is her frustrated desire for him. But also remembering Joker is a creature of self-gratification, I think he finds the tease far more erotic and titillating than actually doing it would be. I don't think he particularly feels a need to reach the ejaculation point of sex (not that he doesn't enjoy it when he gets there…) and I certainly can't envision him masturbating. He's a weird, pansexual sort of guy, our Mistah J.

Remembering that this story is set in the mainstream universe, it is after Joker and Harley have sex for what I believe was the first time in Batman: Harley Quinn, that he immediately tries to kill her. Why? Because he realises that he cares about her and it makes him uncomfortable. The sex, along with her defeating Batman, was the catalyst there – where he suddenly questions his power. If you are keen to read Joker/Harley first time sex, then I will be more than happy to link you to my story on the subject, which fits into the mainstream canon. Just drop me a note with your email and I'll send you the link. Alternatively, click onto my profile, scroll down to the BATMAN header and look for the link to my smut fic. It's the story 'First Time'. It's NC-17 and as smutty as smut fic can get.

If you know my work, you know I'm a devoted Joker/Harley shipper and I believe Joker loves her. However, at the end of this story, I don't think he does quite yet. That comes later, after she joins him in No Man's Land, when he sees truly how far she'll go for him. But he is somewhat fond of her by the end, as far as he can be.

If you're wondering about the 'earthquake' - in the mainstream comics, Gotham City was wracked by an incredibly debilitating earthquake. It was during the aftermath - No Man's Land - that Harley made her first appearance in Batman: Harley Quinn, which briefly recaps the basics of this story - she was his therapist, he seduced her, she started helping him escape and then she was caught and committed.

Finally, thank you to every single reader who has stuck with me through this story, whether you reviewed or not. Your support has been absolutely overwhelming and utterly delightful and I'm so very grateful to all of you, your feedback and comments, your praise and criticisms and your extremely interesting ideas and observations. I'm delighted if anyone has found themselves newly interested in this pairing through this story, or if any devoted shipper has found more joy in the pairing through this story. I'm always interested to hear from you, so feel free to get in touch with me anytime.