Chapter Text
At Arkham Asylum, Harley Quinn, or Harleen Quinzel, is undergoing her final results to see if she is sane enough to be released from Gotham City’s most infamous looney bin. She has spent a really long time being the loveable sidekick of one insane Joker, whom she calls "Puddin’" or "Mr. J".
Luckily, Harley finally found the light after she was almost killed by the Joker. After that, she spent some time trying to act right.
Finally, the big day came, and she visited her doctor, a Dr. Leland, for her final examination. She waited patiently, but nervously; she was fidgeting with her fingers.
After looking through some paperwork, Dr. Leland gave Harley a smile, not a wicked smile, but a sweet one. “You’ve made wonderful progress since you were brought in that day after your run-in with the Joker. You have passed your competency exam, and tomorrow, you are expected to be declared legally sane and released from Arkham Asylum.”
Harley couldn’t breathe as she heard her doctor telling her that she has passed her examination and will be declared sane and soon to be set free from Arkham Asylum. After many moments of letting the information sink into her cranium, she suddenly cheered jubilantly.
“WHEEEE!!! Woo-HOOOO!!! WHOOPEEEEE!!! Yay! Yay! Yay!”
Harley suddenly stopped as she realized what she was doing. Realizing that she was making a fool of herself, she already caught herself and cleared her throat.
“I mean… Thank you, Dr. Leland.”
“That’s okay,” Dr. Leland replied, not feeling offended by Harley’s sudden joy to be released from the looney bin. “You have every reason to be proud of yourself for accomplishing a feat many believed you would never accomplish.”
“UNHAND ME!!!”
A man’s voice suddenly interrupted the conversation. It came from outside of Dr. Leland’s office.
Leland suddenly sighed solemnly. “I just wish the rest of those patients could make sort of your progress.”
“That sounded like Dr. Crane, no?”
“Yes,” Leland confirmed. “It seems that Batman and Robin have apprehended him once again.”
“Yeah, sounds like it,” Harley agreed. “And I don’t know about you, but I seriously doubt that Crane will ever make my sort of progress.”
Harley and Dr. Leland headed over to the door, and opened it to see Batman and Robin dragging a vehement Dr. Crane, AKA Scarecrow, through the hallway. Dr. Crane tried uselessly to get away from his apprehenders.
“I am the master of fear, the lord of despair!” Cried Crane. “You will cower before me in witless terror!”
Batman and Robin paid no mind to Crane’s threats as they continued dragging the insane former psychologist through that hallway. They were forced to stop as Harley suddenly spoke out to them, to Crane actually.
“Hi, Professor Crane!”
“Good evening, child,”: Crane said politely and sweetly to Harley before snapping violently to Batman. “You will worship me one day, Batman! You will scream hosannas of anguish to the Scarecrow!”
At last, a pair of workers arrive to grab Dr. Crane. When they did, Batman ordered them to stick him in his cell.
The workers did as was told and they vehemently dragged the insane psychologist away. Once they were out of sight, Robin spoke plainly to Batman.
“I think he’s getting better… Sort of.”
Batman rolled his eyes at Robin before turning to Harley. “I understand that you are getting out of here tomorrow?”
“That’s right,” Harley confirmed, sounding like a bully. “You got a problem with that?”
One moment, Batman was still, but then the other moment, he suddenly raised his arm. Harley flinched, fearing that the dark knight was going to strike her.
A moment later, Harley saw that Batman had extended his hand to her, aiming to shake hands with her. She slowly, cautiously did so.
“Congratulations,” Batman said to her, sounding rather cooly.
“Thank you,” Harley replied, sounding uneasy. “I have made a few mistakes here and there, but I’ve got my head together and I am going to live my life right.”
Harley was about to pull away from Batman, but she couldn’t because he tightened his grip on her hand. This made her feel more uneasy.
“For your sake,” Batman said warningly, “I hope you are right.”
At last, Batman releases Harley, and he signals Robin to walk with him out of the asylum. As they walked away, Harley suddenly called out to them.
“I’ll show you boys! Starting tomorrow, I’ll show you and Gotham City that Harley Quinn is just as sane as everyone else!”
As Batman and Robin drove the Batmobile from Arkham Asylum back to the Batcave, the two had a conversation about Harley. “You really don’t think that Harley is going to stay clean as soon as she gets out, do you?”
“Hard to tell, really,” Batman admitted. “I mean, back when the Penguin got out of jail, I was aching for him to be bad again, but he really had turned a new feather until he was bamboozled by Veronica Vreeland and that snooty friend of hers.”
“Oh, yeah, Pierce Chapman,” Robin added. “Yeah, he was a real snot! But then again, you were rather snooty when you gripped her hand back there.”
Batman glanced at Robin for a bit. The Boy Wonder couldn’t tell what emotions were going on in his master’s head because of that scary cowl he is wearing.
“I guess you’re right,” the dark knight finally said. “I made a mistake with the Penguin, but I am not making that mistake again. When Harley gets out of Arkham, Bruce Wayne will make contact with her… and try to be friends with her.
Robin gave his mentor a look. “Are you sure? You know if you do something like that, Gothamites will call you... No, they'll call Bruce Wayne crazy.”
“Maybe, but I am absolutely sure,” Batman confirmed. “When Harley gets out, she will be made fun of. The Gothamites will treat her with contempt. I have to make sure that it doesn’t boil her to a point of making any mistakes. Bruce Wayne will guide her.”
“Alright, you’re the boss, boss,” Robin replied. “I just hope you know what you are doing.”
“So do I, Robin,” admitted the Batman. “So do I.”