I woke to a bouncing mattress. I didn't need to open my eyes to know who it was, so I didn't. Maybe if I kept pretending he'd get bored and fuck off. Feeble as wishes went, but I didn't have many options. We sat there in silence a long moment and I tried very hard to keep my breathing even and deep as if my heart weren't thumping like a rabbit's.

"Deep sleeper," he chuckled beside me. "I guess you won't mind if I get you out of these filthy clothes then."

My eyes popped open at that and he laughed softly, clearly unconvinced by my attempt at acting.

"Do you usually pretend to sleep to avoid people? It's a little rude."

The Joker was stretched out beside me, propped up on his elbow and looking far too pleased with himself. As I stared back at him, he grinned from ear to ear.

"Good morning sweets. Did you sleep well?"

My eyes narrowed, moving pointedly to the handcuffs holding me to the headboard. I gave them a short tug, but the stiffness in my arms sent a spike of pain shooting down both arms, so I went still again.

"I'd give it a one star on yelp."

He snorted, shaking his head. "There's just no pleasing some people."

The Joker pushed himself up and turned to the cinder block that served as his side table. "Ya thirsty?"

I didn't respond, simply glared back at him. The memory of our last interaction was too fresh to dismiss. It kept my heart thumping against my ribcage like a hammer, my body stiff and ready for what little retaliation I was capable of in my position. Unfortunately, kicking seemed to be the sum total of my capabilities at the moment, but I'd sure as hell put everything into it if I needed to. The Joker turned back holding a glass of water and wiggled it at me, sloshing water onto the mattress in the process. I would have liked to tell him to go fuck himself, but my throat was too dry, and I wasn't going to wait for the next time he decided to grace me with basic necessities. I gave him a stiff nod.

The clown leaned closer, tipping the glass sloppily toward my mouth. Most of the water made it in, but the rest splashed down my chin onto my blouse, making me sputter and jerk back. Honestly, it couldn't hurt the ruined thing, covered in blood and dirt the way it was, but that didn't make me any less irritated by his obvious teasing. He giggled to himself and set the glass back on the night stand before settling back onto his side to look me over.

"You're a bit of a mess, aren't you?"

My jaw clenched until I could hear my teeth and the Joker let out a soft chuckle at my expense. "We're going to have to get you in a shower soon Harls. You're getting pretty ripe in here."

The thought of being naked anywhere near the deranged maniac sent a buzz of fear down my spine. I shifted away on the mattress, but the handcuffs kept me from getting more than a few inches. My obvious discomfort didn't seem to faze him, and he scooted closer to make up the distance.

"Don't touch me," I snapped, practically growling at him. It made his brows raise and a soft little giggle floated between us.

"You seem nervous." His hand rested down on the mattress, inches from my chest. I watched it like it was a lion creeping through the grass. "I hope it's nothing I did."

"What the hell do you want?"

He pursed his lips a bit in a disapproving frown. "I see you're not a morning person."

The short chain of my handcuffs clattered loudly as I jerked them against the iron barred headboard. It briefly drew his eyes but they settled back on my scowl as I let out a heavy, furious breath.

"I'm sorry. I'm not having the greatest couple of days. My shoulders are killing me, I've been stuck on this bed for who knows how long, and I'm covered in...in..."

The words wouldn't come, and he made a mocking display of being sorry, hissing a breath in through his teeth for effect.

"You're covered in the blood of that guy you murdered?"

The knot in my stomach did a little flip as Joshua's face flashed through my mind. Guilt was a cold blade that settled in my gut after. It was fitting, seeing as that same blade should have been there to begin with. If I wasn't such a selfish piece of trash it would have been, and Joshua might still be alive. Clearly the clown was going to use that against me for as long as it continued to hurt.

"Did you come in for a chat, or are you here to try and molest me again?" The acid in my tone made him go still, his dark eyes leveling heavily on mine.

"You know Doc, if I was in your position, all chained up and stretched out in a maniac's bed, I might keep the attitude to a minimum. Maybe the next thing I try to stick inside you is a knife."

"Do it then," I hissed.

Silence weighed heavily between us as we stared at one another. I couldn't say the look on his face didn't frighten me, but I'd had just about all I could take in the threat department. There was no doubt in my mind now that he would kill me. Frankly, getting it over with seemed like my best option. At least that way I wouldn't have to live with the sick, roiling fear that had been slithering through my gut for the last couple days. After what felt like an eternity, the Joker sighed, his dark expression slowly fading into something that vaguely resembled boredom.

"I can see you aren't adjusting very well to your situation. Don't get me wrong, I understand. Growth can be painful and frightening, but don't worry. I promised to help you see again, and I will, even if I have to drag you kicking and screaming into reality." He sat up on the mattress to lean over me, getting down in my face to search my wide eyes. I pressed myself deeper into the stained cushion, anything to keep distance between us.

"But there are limits to my kindness. If you keep rejecting the carrot, there's a perfectly good stick to make up for it."

"You aren't capable of kindness." The words came out just above a whisper, but they made his eyes narrow all the same. His mouth twitched, a soft growl of irritation rumbling up out of his chest.

"Stick it is then."

My chest tightened as he pushed himself off the bed to stand. For all I knew the threat was literal and if it wasn't, it couldn't be any better for me. I waited for him to pull a knife, or a club, or any other horrible implement of pain, but he just shrugged out of his jacket and tossed it onto the mattress at my side.

"Since you seem to be determined to make this hard on yourself, I went ahead and found us a little professional help."

His hands flourished toward the door, fingers wiggling as if he were revealing the end of a magic trick. For a long moment we sat in silence and after a time his small smile melted into a perturbed scowl. The Joker cupped his hand over his mouth and raised his voice to shout at the door.

"I said, I brought you professional help!"

I blinked at the silence that followed, turning a questioning look at the clown who grumbled under his breath. He grabbed the glass off the makeshift side table and lobbed it at the wall beside the door, shattering it with a loud crash.

"Get in here!"

The door opened slowly and a tall figure bent in, looking over the broken glass on the floor with a disapproving scowl. The moment I saw his face, my heart leapt in my chest at the familiarity of those ice blue eyes and sharp features.

"Johnathan?"

Crane stepped over the glass carefully, brushing his hand down the lapel of his suit jacket as if the mess had somehow befouled him. In the other hand he gripped a black briefcase, and I would have bet my car it wasn't filled with paperwork. His pale, blue eyes turned up to me briefly before they moved slowly across the dirty room in distaste.

"Harleen," he said in a stiff greeting. His tone made it clear he was not happy about his current surroundings. He probably didn't want to be here at all. It wasn't as if he and the Joker were anything resembling friends.

"A little showmanship wouldn't hurt, you know." The Joker plopped down on the side of the bed with a heavy sigh. "You really undersold it there Jonny."

"Forgive me," Crane moved steadily into the room, looking as if he were trying to avoid even the air that filled it. "I don't share your flare for the dramatic."

"Tormenting people with a potato sack over your head seems pretty..." the Joker paused, chewing his lip and looking thoughtfully to the side. "No, you're right. It's just weird."

"Hilarious," Crane deadpanned and swept a hand back through his newly trimmed hair. He looked more like himself out of the orange jumpsuit. He was freshly shaved, wearing one of his impeccable blue suits, all clean and sharp and fitted with a silk pocket square. It was almost enough to make me forget he was just as much of a madman as the clown sitting beside me. Crane had always been civil with me, but I wasn't exactly expecting that to lead to any help for me. If he was here, there had to be a reason, and there was no way it was to rescue me. When his cool gaze finally settled back on me, he seemed to realize for the first time how terrible I looked. He noted the blood with a tiny scowl and shot the Joker a questioning look.

"Do I even want to know what you've been doing to her?"

The Joker laughed, glancing back at me to wink. "Don't worry Jonny, that's not her blood. Last night I practically had to drag her off some poor shmuck. She went all Lizzy Borden on him." He laughed. "She didn't quite make it to forty, but damn did she try."

"He made me!" I cried as Crane glanced back my way. "He-"

"Quiet pooh," the Joker cut me off with a pat on the thigh. "The boys are talking."

"Don't treat me like a-" My foolish attempt at a snapback was promptly cut off when he rolled onto his knees and grabbed me around the throat, pressing me down into the mattress with a snarl. I choked, yanking frantically at my cuffs as he leaned down to look into my frightened eyes. I manged to kick at the mattress, but he quickly shifted to sit on top my legs.

"I said quiet Harley. You can listen, or I can pop out one of those pretty, blue eyes and give it to Crane as a souvenir."

The man in question sighed heavily behind him. "I'd prefer you just gave me what we agreed on. I have no use for the body parts of former colleagues. "

"Ya know, I forgot how boring you could be Jonny." The Joker turned to frown at him. "You should really learn to live a little."

"I think our definitions of living are vastly different."

The Joker snorted. "I wouldn't call what you do living. All that chemical expertise and you're still a one trick potato sack."

"You seemed happy enough to use that expertise when you called me." Crane's pale eyes shifted to me when I made a strangled sound of fear. Lights were dancing at the edges of my vision, my body growing heavier by the second. There was no pity in his expression, no guilt, simply cold indifference. I had always imagined that there was still some spark of good left in Crane, some tiny part of him that remembered we had been something close to friends. Looking at him now, I realized I'd been wrong. Frankly I was beginning to wonder if my job at Arkham had been an utter waste of time. Clearly my judgment wasn't what it used to be.

"She's turning blue," Crane sighed. "The treatment won't work on a dead woman."

The Joker looked down at me, tilting his head to the side. The fascination in his expression as he watched me choke filled me with ice. Tears slipped back into my hair as I sputtered again, my chest screaming for air. The world was going dark and panic made my lungs fight harder for the air they so desperately needed. The madman licked his lips, then finally released my throat and sat back to let me drag in my first breath. I gagged and coughed, letting out a broken sob as my lungs once again filled with blessed, cool oxygen. The Joker watched this dispassionately, almost bored. When the coughing had subsided, he searched my eyes with his eyebrows raised in question.

"Are you going to behave?"

I nodded, letting out a miserable whimper, and he patted me on the cheek.

"Good girl. For the record, I like your eyes right where they are. Wouldn't want to ruin that pretty face."

"If you're done brutalizing your new toy, might we get this over with?" Crane pinched the bridge of his nose. "Despite what you might think, I do have better things I could be doing."

The Joker rolled his eyes, shifting to sit beside me on the mattress. He reached into his pocket to tug out the key to my cuffs, muttering under his breath as he unlocked one and lowered my arms.

"So judgey."

After so long in the same position my shoulders ached with the movement. I hissed in a breath, garnering a brief glace from the clown and a tiny smile. He dragged me up into a sitting position, settling me against his side and wrapping an arm around my waist. He gave me a little tug, wiggling his eyebrows with a grin.

"Guess it's time to peel the wool off those baby blues Harley. Good thing you still have them. Tha-at would have been awkward."

Crane sighed heavily, moving up beside the bed to set his briefcase on the cinderblock. I watched him open it, shuffling through the contents with a soft clinking of glass. There was no part of this that could be good.

"Normally, I would just give you the aerisol, but that runs the risk of leaving her comatose or babbling like Falcone."

"He still talks about you. Between you and me, I think he's got a crush."

Crane ignored him and pulled a small bottle of clouded liquid from the briefcase. My heart leapt up into my throat at the sight of it. I scrambled back, smacking against the iron rods of the headboard with a loud rattle. The Joker giggled beside me, tightening his arm around my waist and grabbing one of my arms.

"Whoa there sweetheart. Don't start fighting now. It's time to take your medicine."

"No! Don't! Please I-"

"Ah-ta-ta," he shook his head. "What did we say about being quiet?"

At this point I really didn't care. It wasn't hard to guess what was about to happen. Even if the liquid version of Crane's fear toxin was less potent than its gaseous form, that didn't make it any less dangerous. He was already filling a needle, and my head was spinning in terror at the prospect.

"You're not putting that shit inside me!" I yelled, wrenching my arm out of the Joker's grasp and elbowing him in the face. It knocked him back against the bars, and I used the moment to scramble down to the end of the bed. He cackled loudly, the sound filling the room while Crane cursed and moved back, needle in hand.

The Joker managed to grab my ankle just as I made it to the edge of the mattress. My hands closed around the edge and I kicked back at him, catching him in the chest. He grunted, but his hold didn't loosen. I kicked again screaming at the floor. My head turned to Crane, my eyes pleading. The slight surprise on his face was the most he had emoted since he arrived, but I didn't care. Desperation made me beg.

"Please Jonathan! Please don't do this." I tried to pull myself over the edge of the bed but the Joker was dragging me back by both ankles now. "Please! Don't let him do this to me! You're my friend. You can't let him do this!"

He sighed, his eyes closing briefly, and for just a moment my mentor was alive again. For one fleeting second, there was something close to pity in his eyes.

"It isn't personal Harleen. For what it's worth-"

"Will you just jab her with the damn thing," the Joker snapped. "These gymnast legs are not exactly weak."

"Get away from me," I shrieked, rolling over and trying my best to kick him in the ribs. This time he wheezed, his eyes going wide a moment. When he spoke again it was ragged and breathless.

"She doesn't..skip leg day."

I twisted on the mattress, rolling like an alligator trying to drown its prey. It twisted his arms around one another until he was forced to let go and I scrambled frantically onto the floor, screaming so loud I couldn't hear what he said next. I crawled until I managed to stumble back up to my feet, then I was running for the door. I slammed against it at first, unable to stop myself in my panic. My hand closed around the handle, turning and jerking it open.

The Joker barreled into me from behind like a truck. The force of my body hitting the door slammed it shut again, ruining my chance at freedom. His hand knotted in my hair, wrenching back my head and slamming it into the wood hard enough that I saw stars. My knees crumpled beneath me, the world swirling into black a moment and when I'd stopped spinning he was already dragging me back across the room by my hair. I clawed at his hand, indifferent to the pain in my scalp when there was something so much worse waiting for me. With a soft curse, the Joker smacked my head against the floor, sending me spinning again. I blinked my way through fog opening my mouth to scream again just before something stung the backside of my arm. My eyes shot wide, turning to Crane, standing above me with wide eyes.

"No," I gasped in horror at his now empty needle. "Nonono!"

The Joker whistled in relief, releasing me to run a hand over his face. It smeared his makeup just a bit as he panted and shook his head at me.

"Jesus Harley, you fight like a wounded tiger. I haven't had this much exercise in years." He huffed out a breath. "Jonny, do you know any good gyms? Wait, nevermind. Forgot who I was talking to. The day you see the inside of a gym is the day Batman turns in his cape and cowl for a pottery class."

I barely heard him rambling. Panic was clawing its way up my chest like jagged shards of ice.

"I'd restrain her if I were you," Crane sighed. "It will take effect in roughly three minutes. She might hurt herself, or you for that matter."

My eyes narrowed and I shot to my feet, balling up a fist and cracking it across his jaw. His head snapped to the side and Crane stumbled back a step, eyes wide. The Joker was there to wrap his arms around me from behind before I could swing again.

"Hurt myself?!" I shrieked, kicking out at the stunned lunatic as the Joker attempted to wrestle me back. "I'm going to kill you! Do you hear me? I'll rip your fucking eyes out you bastard!"

Behind me the Joker cackled. "Looks like you should have worried more about yourself, there Jo-" I cut him off by rocking my head back into his face. My skull throbbed, but the satisfaction of his grunt of surprise was worth it. Crane, rubbing his jaw, actually chuckled at that.

"You too clown."

I might have done more if the Joker hadn't spun me around and planted his fist in my stomach. It doubled me over, forcing the air from my lungs in a rush. As I struggled to get it back, he lifted me up off the ground and tossed me over his shoulder.

"Leave the bottle Crane. Harley might need more treatments in the future. She's incredibly stubborn. "

I gagged against his back, turning my eyes on the ex psychiatrist. I hoped he could see how much I hated him. How much I wanted to rip off his face. He met my eyes only briefly as the Joker opened the door and carried me into the hallway. As he moved down the hall, Crane scrambled to follow.

"That's not a good idea. Too much and her mind will snap."

"You do it all the time." The Joker scoffed. "Talk about a hypocrite."

He stopped and I heard the scraping of another door before we stepped into it. The smell that washed over me from inside made me gag again, and instantly I knew where I was. Crane was still arguing behind us down the hall.

"You could kill her," he insisted. "She could be overwhelmed by the panic and go into cardiac arrest."

The Joker dumped me unceremoniously onto the concrete, turning back to look at Crane as he came to a stop just outside the door, pulling up short when he caught sight of the corpse still sprawled in his dried blood on the floor. To his small credit, he looked adequately mortified by the scene.

"Is that...What did you do?"

"That?" The Joker snorted. "That's Harley's work. Don't worry about it." He waved it off and motioned for Crane to back out of the way.

I was ready to follow, but I caught sight of Joshua and the sight held me momentarily frozen. I don't know why, I simply couldn't move. He was still staring at me but now his eyes were dull and clouded. Behind me the Joker was leaning against the doorway to block my exit, talking to Crane.

"Look, I'm not sure why you're so concerned. This is my therapist, and I know what's best for her mental state. Wait...that might be backwards. Whatever. Just go wait over there and we'll settle your fee in a minute."

My heart felt funny. The beating drowned out the rest of what they were saying. It felt like it was pounding up against my ribcage, trying to beat its way out of my body. A sensation like cold water ran down my body, flooding over my brain. Across the room I heard a soft cracking sound. I knew what it was before I peeked over at the corpse. A body stiffened by rigor mortis snapping itself back into animation. When his arm twitched I nearly screamed, but the sou d was caught by the lump in my throat.

"Mr. J..." The nickname came out high and reedy as I watched Joshua. I knew it wasn't real. It couldn't be, but that didn't stop my breath from pitching into quick, shallow pulls as my heart kick up its pace. Behind me I heard him pause his argument with Crane, telling him to shut up, and I turned to face him. One side of his mouth was pulled up in a curious smirk, his head tilted to the side. I could see now I had split his lip, but he clearly didn't care.

"Haven't heard that in a while. Something wrong Harley-girl?"

I nodded, tears spilling down my cheeks as I heard Joshua's cracking motion again behind me. I was was trembling, I couldn't help it. I told myself it wasn't real again, just my mind turning on me, but I could still hear it. A voice in the back of my mind told me Joshua was coming for me. He hated me for what I had done to him, and he wanted revenge.

"Don't leave me in here," I whimpered. "Please don't. I'll be good, I promise."

"Oh, I know you will sweatheart, but this is what's best. Can't have you running around all out of your mind. Like Jonny said, you might hurt yourself. Maybe even one of my boys. Can't have that. Good help is hard to find these days."

I shook my head. "I can't stay in here."

He glanced over my shoulder at the corpse I couldn't bring myself to look it. He was moving again, dragging himself across the floor. I could hear him getting closer, the sound of his stiff limbs cracking louder the closer he got.

"Please don't make me stay in here with him. I can't-shit!"

Something brushed across my back and I shrieked, spinning around and falling back on my rear. Joshua was still across the small room. His arm was bent up, his bloated fingers gripping the floor in an attempt to pull himself toward me. The door scraped shut behind me and I spun again, scrambling up to my feet. I slammed myself against the door, pounding at it with my fist.

"I can't be in here!" I cried, trying to turn the doorknob, but he'd already locked it. "Please!"

"Think of it as exposure therapy, sweets," he called through the door. "You have to face your demons before you can ever move forward. You know that."

"Don't leave me in here!"

I heard him chuckle. "Don't worry baby, I'll be back when the screaming stops."

Joshua made a wet sound behind me, like he was trying to talk through a mouthful of blood and I turned to press myself back against the door watching him as he lifted his head to stare at me. His clouded, pale eyes were unblinking as they locked on mine. I knew what he wanted. I had to pay for what I'd done to him. Locked in here with him, there was nowhere to run. Joshua was going to get to me eventually and I would deserve everything he did to me once he had.