Impossible Love

Chapter 1: A New Beginning

Dr. Harleen Quinzel sat nervously in her second-floor office when she heard the loud explosion that rocked the whole building. She knew it was the Joker and his men. She gave him a machine gun, after all. Why did I do this? She thought to herself. I must be as insane as the Joker to have fallen for him. Am I willing to risk my career—my life—for this? For his freedom?

She heard more explosions and a commotion out in the hallway with men yelling while footsteps approached her door. A man in a strange mask burst through, pointing a big gun directly at her. "Dr. Quinzel, you're just the person I'm looking for!" his familiar voice exclaimed. "You're coming with me." Harleen reluctantly removed herself from her chair and timidly approached the masked man. "Come on!" he barked at her. "Move faster!"

She could hear chaos erupting throughout the asylum amidst gunshots and she realized that she was in real danger. Why did I do this? Her heart began to race as she approached the diminutive man dressed as a shark in her doorway.

He abruptly grabbed her by the wrist and jerked her body close to his while sneering. "We got big plans for you, girly. I'm supposed to take you alive, but I wasn't told anything about not hurtin' you a little bit." His grip on her wrist tightened as she tried desperately to pry his fingers away with her free hand. He pushed the tip of the gun into her neck and growled like dog.

This man is insane! She screamed in her head. Her mind was racing and thinking about her next move when a large psychology textbook on the table next to the open door caught her eye. It was within arm's reach. Before she knew it, she grabbed the book, hit the masked man in the face with it, and used that moment of surprise to give him a swift kick in the crotch with her knee. He immediately doubled over, releasing his grip on her wrist.

"You fucking bitch!!" he screamed at her as she ran out into the hallway, scurrying over to the stairwell. She entered just as the masked man began to fire his gun at her from his position on the floor.

Harleen flew down the stairs in her high heels while cursing the fact that she had begun to dress this way. It was all because of him, she thought to herself. I would never have worn high heels and a skirt to my job at Arkham if it hadn't been for him! She had seen the way that the Joker had looked at her, how he held her gaze a little too long. She caught him enjoying the sight of her long legs and she admitted to herself that she liked the attention. He was, in fact, quite vocal about her beauty, albeit in a crass way, but she knew that underneath his tactless compliments his body stirred at the sight of hers.

"How are you feeling today, Mr. Joker?" she remembered asking him at one particular session, as she always asked of him.

"Not too well," he responded curtly.

"Oh? Why is that?" she questioned with a concerned look on her face.

He gave a low guttural growl. "Ever want somethin' that you know you can't have, Doctor?" He tilted his head and squinted his eyes while surveying her gorgeous blonde locks and supple pink lips. "I'm having a real problem with lust..." he said with utmost seriousness while staring directly into her soft green eyes.

For a moment, Harleen almost felt a real human connection with the Joker. And, for a moment, his bright eyes shone with a flash of sincerity, causing her to shift in her seat.

He then reverted in typical Joker style to his toothy silver grin while inhaling a partial laugh. "I mean, what's a guy supposed to do around here if his hands are always strapped in a jacket? I have needs, Doctor!" Then he threw his head back and erupted into laughter.

Harleen's daydream quickly vanished as she was pulled back to the reality of gunfire and screaming. She had made it two floors down to the sub-basement where she believed she was unseen, completely forgetting about the security cameras that lined the halls. She entered a large room—an old storage room—and made her way through a labyrinth of old medical equipment, heading toward the back to a small, windowless room with a table and a few chairs. She decided this would be a good place to hide amongst the forgotten filing cabinets. In a corner, she found a space between the cinderblock wall and a metal filing cabinet where an ancient garbage can resided for what must have been decades. She quietly pulled the garbage can out and took its place in the corner on the tile floor. Harleen brought her knees up to her chest and sat huddled hoping that the police would come and the Joker and his men would leave. She was too scared to want him to find her and save her like she fantasized.