i wouldn't kill to get you back, and i've officially been asked...

[attending_physician]

Harleen Quinzel is not hungover. Harleen Quinzel does not come to work hungover.

But she does have a lingering headache, which probably has more to do with how she wrapped up her work day yesterday than the half bottle of wine she had once she got home.

She's had two cups of coffee and a couple aspirin to go with them this morning, which have taken the edge off. She needs to be here today. For better or worse, today's her next scheduled appointment with the Joker.

They have a lot to talk about.

Comments

[manofmyword]

"Mostly," he says with a tiny quirk of his lips, "I just think of you as Quinnie."

[attending_physician]

She laughs raggedly, dragging both hand through her hair.

"Well, I guess as long as one of us knows who I am."

[manofmyword]

"Hey," he says gently. "Hon. You okay?"

[attending_physician]

"I really don't know.


But thanks for asking."

[manofmyword]

"Maybe I should see another doctor," he says wryly.

And then, quieter: "I'll leave, you know."

[attending_physician]

Her gaze had drifted down to the desk, but her head snaps up now.

"What?"

[manofmyword]

"I'm here to talk to you, Quin," he says, casually, like it's obvious. "If I'm not talking to you, I won't be here."

[attending_physician]

She has known it, she thinks, subconsciously since about their second session. She has his interest, therefore she has him here. He could have been gone weeks ago if he really wanted it.

(How many people would he kill on his way out the door?

Is that something she's concerned with?)



"If you weren't here, would you still talk to me?

You get out, am I going to have to worry about you turning up in my apartment?"

[manofmyword]

"Well, now, that depends."

He quirks a smile.

"Do you want me to turn up in your apartment?"

[attending_physician]

She smirks faintly back.

"Could I keep you out if I tried?"

[manofmyword]

"You could keep me out if you asked."

[attending_physician]

"Yeah.




But maybe I like knowing how my patients are doing, out in the big world."

[manofmyword]

He chuckles.

"Mm, then I guess I'll drop by for a chat once in a while. If I leave." He cocks his head. "Should I leave?"

[attending_physician]

"I know better than to try and tell you what to do."

[manofmyword]

"Mm-mm," he says, tipping his head from side to side in wry acknowledgment.

"Would you be happier," he tries next, "if I left?"

[attending_physician]

Well, now.







"I thought I was the one who was supposed to ask the tough questions."

[manofmyword]

"Quinnie," he says, "honey, sweetheart. I never play by the rules. You know that."

[attending_physician]

She's quiet for a long moment.




"I think.

I think whatever I'm doing with you, as...as a person, means I'm not much good to you as a doctor. And maybe that's okay.

And if that means that you don't feel like you can stay here anymore, if that's not what I'm going to be, then that's your decision.

As for me being happy...I don't know how to not be a doctor here, how to not at least try, and I think that's what has me so twisted up because this is--"

She gestures helplessly between them.

"--whatever, but it's not doctor-patient. It hasn't been for a while, and I don't know what to do with it, not here.

So maybe you do need to leave."

Maybe we both do is ready on her tongue, but she presses her lips into a thin line and keeps it tight behind her teeth.

[manofmyword]

"You were never any good to me as a doctor, Quin," he says cheerfully. "I never needed one in the first place."

He gets up and comes around to the side of her desk and puts his hand on her shoulder.

"As a friend, though, you're pretty great," he murmurs. "And maybe I needed one of those."

[attending_physician]

She reaches up and lays one hand over his; her other hand goes digging in her desk drawer.

"Here."

She holds our a paperclip.

"Do me a favor?

Try not to make too big a mess on your way out."

[manofmyword]

...He grins.

"Oh, Quinnie," he says fondly, taking the paperclip and tucking it into a seam with absent ease. "Can I hug you now?"

[attending_physician]

"Yeah, okay."

Harleen stands up.

[manofmyword]

The Joker wraps his arms around her waist and rests his chin on her shoulder.

"It's been fun, peaches," he says. "I'm gonna miss this."

[attending_physician]

She's been a doctor for too long to suddenly ignore the hazards of physical contact with a patient, so she can't help freezing slightly when he touches her.

(She cuts her eyes to the side and confirms that her scissors are right where they should be.)

She laughs softly, a touch startled, and lets her arms slip gingerly around his shoulders. "Me too, I think."

[manofmyword]

He giggles, squeezes, and lets go.

"But I'll see you around," he says, grinning at her. His grin is not any less unsettling at close range. "Promise."