Confessions of a Locked-Up Harlequin

Summary: The previously unreleased case files of Prisoner #Q091192 aka Harleen Quinzel aka Harley Quinn. This is a PREQUEL to the game.

AN: Hey, all :) I changed the beginning and took out the screenplay format. Why? Well because people have complained and that "playwrighty feeling" I had? It was actually a really lame idea. And looking at that beginning gave me an itch. So enjoy the slightly modified chapter 1 :) Same story line, different beginning.

I wasn't looking forward to the interview I had to give. Of all the insane patients we've had, this was the one that chilled us all. Harleen Quinzel, also known as Harley Quinn, accomplice to the Joker, and former doctor here at Arkham. I was hard to look at her as I went into the interview room, but it is necessary to establish a level of trust from the beginning. Or at least respect. I was standing, walking free, while she was sitting, bound to a chair in a madhouse. I was the one in charge.

A beautiful girl sat before me. She had been scheduled for immediate psychotherapy, they didn't even give her time to change into Arkham protocol attire. She still wore her small, form-fitting harlequin dress.

She was completely calm. With my experience I knew that those were usually the most dangerous. She sat with her legs crossed, cuffs built into the chair binding her wrists. She looked straight at me, not intimidated like some inmates, not murderous like others. She just stared.

"You know why you're here, Harleen."

She thrashed suddenly against her bindings. "Don't FUCKING CALL ME THAT! My name is Harley! Harley Quinn!"

I struggled to maintain my composure as she calmly resettled into hers. "Yes, well. Miss Quinn then. Please know that I am here to help you. Help you recover from your illness."

She threw her head back and laughed like the maniac she had become. "What illness, Warden? I've never felt better. Everything is so..." she paused and searched for the right word. "clear now."

"Well your definition of clear is killing people, innocent people."

She stared me down and broadened her grin, "Nobody's innocent, Doc. Everyone has their dirty little secrets, only some people, like me and Mistah J, know how to let 'em go. It's liberating. Like every mask you've ever worn is thrown in the dumper. You can give in and be the person you really are inside."

I found that hypocritical, as her mask was still painted clearly on her face. "Giving in to madness is never the answer. Doesn't it bother you at all that the people he's killed, the people you've killed, had families? Friends? People who loved them, people who were devastated to have them torn away from them."

Her smile dimmed to a scowl. "Everybody's gotta have some loss, Doc. It's a part of growing up, a part of life. I think everyone needs to learn that lesson. I might as well do it, I mean, who else is gonna teach 'em?"

Her smile grew again, "I know what ya thinkin'. 'How did this bright young woman, who had such a bright future ahead of her, get to be this way?' Well I'll tell ya, Doc. I've always been this way. Harleen was the mask I wore to cover my true self. My true self wanted to fuck and drink and live. She wanted to be free. But she was trapped by the confines of society. So I got ridda my personal prison. I got ridda Harleen."

I broke down my demeanor. It was impossible to see this woman, who I had been through so much with, in such a state and remain professional. "What the hell happened? What happened to Harleen?"

Her grin grew wider and she giggled. "Haven't ya figured it out yet, Doc?" She leaned in close and beckoned for me to do the same. I obeyed, my curiosity getting the better of me. Her head was at my ear now, and she whispered something very softly.

"She went mad." Her eyes sparkled when she pulled away. She remained seated and settled herself in comfortably.

I pulled back a moment later, slightly shaken. I patted my brow and scribbled on my notepad.

This was going to be a long night.

AN: I apologize in advance if I make Warden Sharp OOC at all. I don't know too much about his character so if I get him wrong you may tell me so. Please tell me so.