CHAPTER ONE

THE AUDITION

Click, clack, click, clack, click, clack;

The sound of her new high heels echoed through the hallways of the most dreadful place that a Gotham citizen could get sent to. Although there were shouts, screams, moans and cries, all that she could hear was the sound of her high heels; her brand new, shiny black high heels.

Click, clack, click, clack, click, clack…

Two guards walked in front of her, like they were her own personal body guards, making sure that nobody nor anything would hurt her. They did make her feel safe, but, somehow, she didn't feel nervous or fearful about that important meeting she was about to have. Was it a bad thing to not feel nervous, or was it just a sign of how confident she actually was?

Click, clack, click, clack, click, clack;

While passing by the many locked doors, each one attributed with its own number, the woman dared taking a peek through the small window that showed what the patient on the other side was doing. Some of them screamed and waved their arms, like they were arguing with the walls of their cells, others sat on a corner, hugging their legs in an attempt to keep themselves from shaking, but the one patient she was about to meet didn't seem to have any of those 'insane' behaviours.

Click, clack, click…

Her feet finally stopped walking while the two awfully muscled guards did the same. The room she was about to go into had no number on its door or a mad psychopath inside; at least not yet. Once one of the guards opened the door, the female's eyes widened slightly. It looked rather simple and empty…emptier than she expected. It contained an old dark green chair that, despite looking worn out, also looked very comfortable, there was another chair, which allowed her future patient to just lie down and speak his mind out.

The other objects in that small room were hardly worth mentioning. There was a small desk on the corner, nothing on top of it, a small painting of a peaceful field on one of the walls, and stripped wallpaper with a dark yellow colour that just gave a cheesier look to the room. Both of her hands held her small notebook tightly. It was worse than she ever imagined…

"…cuse me?"

Both of her blue eyes widened slightly as she turned her head in the taller guard's direction. He had a frustrated look on his face, like he had been calling her for a long time now. "I'm sorry, Dr…" His eyes narrowed slightly. He didn't remember her name. The doctor cleared her throat, both arms pressing her notebook against her chest while she tried to focus on the man in front of her. "…Quinzel. Dr. Harleen Quinzel."

"Quinzel? That's a funny name, isn't it?"

The guard showed a friendly smile at her, like they were mere friends having a small chat. But if he knew the number of times Harleen had heard that sentence before, maybe he would have decided to keep his mouth shut. Dr. Quinzel tried to show an equally friendly smile…but it came out wrong. It made her look like a sarcastic know-it-all; and she didn't want to look like that. Did she?

"Yes it is…But I'm not a very funny person."

That last sentence made the man release a small chuckle; at least her voice didn't play any tricks on her. "Dr. Quinzel, we're just going to get your patient. Take all the time you need to settle down, okay?" He was a nice guy. She could see that. The way how he spoke and looked her in the eye…he was trying to make a connection with her; trying to be friendly. Harleen gave a small nod accompanied by another small smile and as soon as the two guards began walking, back into the corridor full of mad men, she closed the door behind her and gave a long sigh.

She should be nervous. As a doctor, that session was one of the biggest things that had ever happened to her. Harleen didn't even know how she'd got her hands on that opportunity. Why wasn't she nervous then? Why didn't her legs shake or her hands sweat like it had happened on her first session ever? Harleen calmly sat on the dark green chair, crossed her leg over the other and placed her notebook on her lap, looking down at it with a serious expression. She held a blue pen on her hand and quickly wrote with gentle and beautiful letters "Session number one". A couple of seconds passed by before Harleen decided to write down the name of her patient.

"The Joker"

Both of her blue eyes blinked slowly, while staring with a proud smile at that name. She'd never been in a session with a big fish like him. That was the man that tried to turn an entire city inside out; the man who almost killed The Batman. A man who was described as a psychotic clown with no limits or rules what so ever. And yet, Harleen acted like he was just another patient…That was good.

Right?

The door of the room suddenly opened, making Dr. Quinzel's head swirl, her blond hair almost hitting her in the eye. The two guards, who looked so friendly at first sight, now showed serious expressions, their chins sticking out, reminding her of pouting children. But her eyes quickly focused on the third man who stood between them, both hands cuffed as well as his feet. He wore the orange uniform that every other madman wore in Arkham and the guards held his thin arms tightly. But what called Harleen's attention was none of those things…

It was his face; his scarred face. She'd seen him on the news many times before, always wearing heavy make-up and that extravagant suit…But now he was only a couple of meters away from her; and even if his face had no make-up at all, it still looked like he was smiling at her. Harleen's hands held her notebook tightly when facing that weird character. His hair had a strange light green colour that looked worn out…Harleen supposed that Arkham's people had tried to wash the green colour of his hair…but it never came out; at least not totally.

Then his small eyes were surrounded by a dark shade, like he had been hit by two heavy fists on both eyes. But, once again, Dr. Harleen guessed that they had tried to clean his face, removing all the make-up…but that black shade had been used on his eyes many times before, it got used to his skin, and refused to disappear. His eyes seemed to gaze at her for a minute, making Dr. Quinzel force a small smile to appear. They examined her from head to toe, but both eyes seemed to quickly loose interest. Harleen furrowed her eyebrows slightly. Was he disappointed about his new Doctor?

Her head shook lightly while she chuckled to herself. That didn't matter! How absurd; for a second she thought she was worried about the opinion of a mad clown. The two guards almost dragged the man through the room, forcibly sitting him on the other chair. The way how their hands grabbed his arms made Harleen's eyes narrow slightly; she was now sure that the many bruises on his arms were made by brute guards…she'd have to take note of that. The two guards gave a small nod at her before leaving the room.

Harleen had already been informed that the two would be guarding that door all the time, and that there was a panic button under the small desk next to her that would alert both of the guards if her patient ever proved to be aggressive. Once the door of the room closed, Dr. Quinzel finally felt the shiver of nervousness running down her spine. He was just sitting there, staring at her with a blank expression, like he was trying to see through her.

Both dark eyes seemed to never blink, which made Dr. Quinzel feel slightly uncomfortable. It was so hard to tell if he was angry or happy. Although he carried a serious expression, his lips just kept on smiling at Harleen… She had to calm down or her head would pop. Her eyes looked down while taking a small but very deep breath. It was show time.

"Good morning Mr. Joker…" The green haired man slowly blinked his eyes, giving a small sigh, his elbows resting on his legs while both hands held each other. His body language showed that he wasn't trying to avoid a conversation. That was a good sign. "Good morning, Doctor Quinzel." She didn't like the way he spoke her name. It sounded like he was mocking her…mocking her because of her weird last name, like she had been mocked most of her life.

Harleen's blue eyes never stopped staring at him. She did feel like her throat had gone dry and like, any minute now, she'd just stand up and walk out of the session; but instead she showed a small warm smile.

"I'd just like to start out by saying that my…my main concern here is your well-being. I may be your Doctor, but in the near future, I'd… also like to become your friend…" His eyebrows arched slightly while a few yellow teeth showed and, soon, a disturbing little chuckle escaped from his mouth. Harleen's eyes widened slightly while she sat straight on her chair, the handcuffed clown in front of her now letting his head fall back while he laughed quietly.

"…And I thought I was the joker here."

He said while focusing his eyes on the woman once again, both eyebrows arched at his doctor. Harleen's blond eyebrows furrowed while her right hand held her pen tight, at least he was communicating, right? But what was that supposed to mean? Dr. Quinzel cleared her throat while taking a few hairs away from her face. Professional, she had to keep professional. "You don't believe I want to become your friend?"

Every word came out of her red lips in a serious and calm way. But the clown didn't answer right away. He lied down on his chair, giving a small sigh of relief, like he was finally starting to feel comfortable. His cuffed hands rested on his chest and he crossed his leg over the other, the cuffs on his ankles made him release a small sound that showed how disturbed they made him feel. Only after that did he look back at his doctor narrowing his eyes a bit, like he was thinking hard about her question.

"No, not really."

The Joker answered while shaking his head and shrugging both shoulders a bit. "Why is that?" Her voice was calm and serious once again, her pen ready to take notes any second now. The madman licked his dry lips, turning his head in the woman's direction. "Listen, it's nothing personal, Doc." His voice seemed strangely worn out and serious, but his expression seemed to mock her once again. It was the very same expression that her first boyfriend used when breaking up with her. "You look like a nice kid. Not to mention you're more voluptuous than the other seven psychiatrists that came before you. They didn't find my jokes very funny either..."

Harleen's pen wrote fluently, her eyes glimpsing at her patient every now and a then while writing down what he said. This was good. He was quite open. Although she didn't like the voluptuous part, he did not avoid her questions or the subject; he simply answered. "All of them gave me the 'I'm your friend' speech, Doc. Every single one of them." Her blond eyebrows frowned slightly. Did he say seven psychiatrists? "But all of them seemed to become rather unfriendly once I tried to poke their eyes out with their writing pens..."

Harleen's hand stopped writing; her blue eyes were now wide open while staring at her notebook.

Seven. Seven came before her...and nobody had told her that. Could The Joker have killed all of them, or did they quit before he had the chance? Many questions came up, but Harleen's chain of thoughts would be interrupted when realizing that her patient no longer sat on the chair in front of her. Before she could do or say anything The Joker had already snatched the pen from her hands and pointed it at her left eye. A moment of silence came up between the two characters now...Stupid. How could she have been so stupid?!

The doctor's hands were shaking like mad. She had nothing to hold on to now. Her notebook lied between her feet and her pen was being used as a weapon against her; she was defenceless. There was fear written all over her face, but The Joker couldn't help to show a small yellow smirk. "What do you think of this level of proximity, Doctor Quinzel?" Both of her blue eyes were wide open, and all her red lips were able to mumble was "Please don't…"

The Joker licked the corners of his lips while calmly gazing at his very frightened doctor. "You wanna know how I got these scars?" He asked while pointing at them with one of his free hands' fingers. Harleen wasn't really in the mood for stories but she really had no choice. Her blue eyes looked away from the clown's whose face was only a few centimetres away from hers. If only she could reach the panic button under that desk…

"Hey, look at me when I'm talking to you."

His hand grabbed her chin tightly, forcing her to look at him once again. "I once had…a baby brother." He began, taking a small sigh when saying the last word of that sentence. "I used to make fun of him all the time. Always playing pranks on him, mocking him…anything that I could joke with…" Harleen's eyes narrowed slightly. The clown paused every now and a then and looked up, like he was seeking inspiration…Could it be that he was making that story up? "Anyway, my baby brother didn't understand my jokes…And he didn't find them funny either."

The Joker's hand seemed to hold her face tighter, making the doctor's heart beat faster, her blue eyes shifting from her patient to the desk where the panic button was. "…One night, while I was sleeping, my baby brother comes into my room and sticks a scissor inside my mouth." The pen his hand held pressed against the corner of Harleen's mouth. Her eyes widened; but she wasn't sure if that was the fear she felt for the man or the curiosity she felt about the Joker's story.

"He says "Laugh at my face now, bro!" and then…" He paused while showing a large smile at the Doctor. "…Then he slashed my cheeks open without mercy. He didn't even blink. When my parents run into the room, they find him covered in blood while I punched and kicked him with all my strengths…Heh, it didn't make me look good. They sent me to an Asylum." His expression seemed to show a mix of agony and anger while he said that. "Me! I was the one forced to pass seven years, locked up in a room, surrounded by people who called me insane…!"

He paused, his face softening a little. "But it's like they say…Smile, and the world will smile back at you."

The Joker laughed at his own joke while Harleen felt a shiver running down her back, but this time, she didn't look away. Once the green haired man stopped laughing his eyebrows seemed to furrow slightly. Quinzel was frightened…terribly frightened. But she was also terribly touched by that story. The doctor didn't try to hide how she pitied her patient…but that only made the clown criminal more confused. "Aw, what's with the long face Doc.?" The Joker finally said after observing her for a few seconds.

"…Let's put a smile on that face…"

Once he placed the pen inside Harleen's mouth, the blond decided that it was time to react; to think; to just…do something! With a quick move, her leg kicked the man's stomach, making him move away from her, dropping the blue pen on the floor. Harleen's heart seemed to be in her throat now. For a second she just stood there, staring at The Joker who now tried to stand up straight…The button!

The Doctor quickly ran in the table's direction, but one of her heels broke, making her land on her knees. The clown man was already up, walking in her direction…she wasn't going to make it. Her arm stretched in the desk's direction and her fingers desperately searched for a button under it. Suddenly she felt it…and once she found it her fingers pressed it full of panic, making the red light outside of the room blink countless times.

The door of the room opened violently and Harleen's head swirled in the mad man's direction, expecting him to use her as a human shield or hurt her…But what Dr. Quinzel saw left her rather confused. The Joker simply stood there, staring at her, serious and calm while the two guards violently grabbed his arms and threw him against the wall. "Oh, Steven, you're such a beast!" He said before bursting out laughing. One of the guards seemed to get quite irritated and threw the clown against the floor, which only made him laugh more. "Be quiet you freak!"

Harleen watched the entire scene, her naked knees pressing against the floor and her blond hair covering half of her face, a mix of fear and panic made her gasp for hair, like she had been running for a long time. While on the floor, Dr. Quinzel tried to take the hair away from her face, her arms still shaking while watching the guards call for enforcements.

But, while being pressed against the floor, the clown criminal was able to turn his head on his Doctor's direction. "If it serves of any consolation, Doc.," Both of Harleen's blue eyes stared at him terrified, expecting some kind of threat or curse. "…You passed the audition." Wait, what? Harleen's frightened expression slowly turned into a puzzled one. Soon, two nurses appeared one of them quickly placed her arm around Harleen's waist, helping her get up while the other one carried some kind of injection with her.

"Let's go, sweetie. You don't want to see this."

The nurse said while taking Dr. Quinzel out of that room. The blond peeked over her shoulder when hearing The Joker's hysterical laughter, but the door had already been closed behind them. Harleen Quinzel furrowed her eyebrows and looked down. Her high heels no longer made that harmonious sound. They were now a broken instrument, a guitar that missed a string…But now it was a word that echoed inside Harleen's head…

"Audition?"