In Another Life IV

Chapter 10

"Harley, it's so good to have you home again!" exclaimed Mrs. Quinzel, hugging her daughter tightly as she entered her parents' apartment. "We miss you so much when you're away in Gotham!"

"I'd love to come home more often, Mom, but work keeps me pretty busy," said Harleen, returning the hug.

"But you enjoy the work?" asked her father, coming over to hug her too. "That's the important thing."

"I really do, Dad," agreed Harleen. "And it's been very helpful in helping me deal with some of my own issues. I'm seeing Dr. Leland about...the incident."

"Oh," said Mr. Quinzel. They didn't ever mention the incident between themselves. "Well...good. If it helps."

"I don't see what good can come from remembering that," said Mrs. Quinzel, shuddering slightly.

"I do remember it, Mom, but not clearly," said Harleen. "Not in a way that I can make sense of. And it's still affecting my life. I have to take control of it, and trying to remember it is the only way I can do that."

Mr. Quinzel sighed. "I'm sure you know what you're doing," he said. "But I've spent my whole life since it happened trying to forget the whole terrible affair."

Harleen cleared her throat. "In that...uh...vein...does the name the Joker mean anything to you both?"

Her parents shared a look. "It was the name of your clown doll," said Mrs. Quinzel. "I still have it somewhere, I'm sure."

"Can I see it?" asked Harleen. "It might help."

Her mother nodded. "I'll go look for it," she said, entering Harleen's old room and rifling through the closet. "How's Ricky?" she asked as she searched.

"Oh, he's...uh...fine," stammered Harleen. "We're fine."

"He's such a nice young man," said Mrs. Quinzel. "It's obvious he loves you a lot."

"Yeah, I'm a...lucky gal," said Harleen. "He wanted to come with me to visit, of course, but he...had to work."

The truth was Harleen hadn't invited him, but she didn't want to tell her parents that. They were happy she had someone to look after her in Gotham. But Harleen wanted any revelations about the incident to be experienced by her alone. It wasn't anyone else's business, especially not Ricky's. If her suspicions were correct, and she had been in love with Jack, she doubted Ricky would want to hear about it.

"Here he is!" said Mrs. Quinzel triumphantly, holding up the clown doll. She handed it to Harleen.

The sight of it and the feel of it sent a million different, conflicting feelings and images rushing through her. The doll looked just like the Joker, down to the huge smile. And she began to remember how she had played with the doll, how she had made up stories about him and Harley Quinn. How she had done that with...someone else.

"Mom...does the name Harley Quinn mean anything to you?" asked Harleen, quietly.

Her mother nodded slowly. "When you were...returned to us, after your kidnapping...the boy who brought you back...he gave you back the doll and told you to smile because...Harley Quinn always smiled. I guess it was some sort of pretend game you played."

"And the boy, what was his name?" asked Harleen.

"It was Jack," said Mrs. Quinzel. "Jack Napier. He was the son of the guy who kidnapped you, 'Hiss' Napier. That wasn't his real name, but he...Harley, what is it?" she asked, shocked, as Harleen started back as if she'd been hit.

"Jack...Napier?" she whispered.

"Yes. You were very attached to the boy – you didn't stop crying for weeks after he left. He...saved our lives, and I don't doubt he saved yours too. Remarkable young man."

"Oh...my God," she whispered. The name clicked. Jack Napier was her Jack, her Mr. J. And Jack Napier was also...the Joker.

"Mom, I...I think he's in Arkham," she whispered. She stared at the doll. "I think he's the Joker."

Harleen clutched the doll tightly as she explained to her parents about the new patient, and how familiar he was to her.

"The poor man," whispered Mrs. Quinzel. "What a terrible accident. And a terrible thing to have to happen to that nice boy."

"It's a shame that he had to turn into a criminal like his father," agreed Mr. Quinzel. "But I guess it was fairly inevitable."

"I don't think...he's a bad man, though," whispered Harleen. "I don't remember Jack Napier very well, but I do know he wasn't a bad man."

"Didn't Batman arrest him for murder..." began Mr. Quinzel.

"Batman is not qualified to arrest anyone," interrupted Harleen, angrily. "The man's a bullying vigilante, nothing more. The police should have done their job for once, and arrested Batman along with the Joker. I guarantee the streets would be safer."

Mr. Quinzel was silent. "Harley, I understand you're inclined to think kindly of...this man because of your history together. But people change..."

"Yes, physically he's changed very much," agreed Harleen. "But if he is Jack...Jack could never change into a bad man. It's just not possible."

"I just think you need to be careful before you trust a dangerous man too much," said Mr. Quinzel.

"Jack...wouldn't hurt me," said Harleen, quietly. "I trust Jack."

"You don't even know for sure he is Jack," said Mr. Quinzel, gently. "He doesn't remember."

"I'll help him remember," she said. "I have to try."

"What does Ricky say about all this?" asked Mrs. Quinzel.

"I...haven't told him everything," said Harleen, slowly. "I don't remember everything. But I have to believe I can help the Joker remember who he is. I have to believe I can turn him back into Jack Napier. I have to try."

"Why?" asked Mr. Quinzel.

"I...just think it's right," she stammered. She couldn't admit the truth to her parents. She couldn't really admit it to herself. But she was in love with him.

...

"There's Harleen Frances Quinzel!" exclaimed the Joker, beaming at Harleen as she approached his cell. "Missed seeing you around, kid."

"I...uh...went home to see my parents," said Harleen. "And I found something there that you might wanna see."

She handed him the clown doll. A look of recognition and pain suddenly passed over his face. Then he smiled. "That's him," he murmured, beaming at it. "That's the Joker."

"My parents said...I'm Harley Quinn," she murmured. "They said a man named Jack Napier called me that. Is that name at all familiar to you?"

"Jack Napier," he repeated. "Yeah, I think I knew him."

"I think...you are him," she whispered.

He stared at her. "He...he saved my life," she murmured. "I don't remember how exactly, but he did. I'd like to return the favor by...trying to save yours. Trying to help you remember who you used to be..."

Joker laughed. "Doesn't really matter, though, does it?" he chuckled. "I'm the Joker now. I mean, look at me, toots. You think I could ever live a normal life after this?"

"Maybe if...you had help...it wouldn't matter how you looked," murmured Harleen. "Maybe if someone...loved you for who you were...you wouldn't care what anyone else thought about you."

"Well, a guy can dream," he laughed. "But dreams don't tend to come true, do they, toots?"

Harleen didn't respond. "Though I gotta say," he continued. "If someone told me a gorgeous doctor would care enough to try to help me get better, I'd have said they were dreaming."

Harleen blushed, and turned to go. "Do you believe in fate, toots?" he asked, suddenly.

"I...didn't used to," she said. "Now I'm...not so sure."

"Crazy kinda thing to believe in," he said. "But then I guess so is a guy who dresses up as a flying rodent every night to go fight crime. It's a mad, mad, mad, mad world, Harley Quinn. Time to admit it, doncha think?"

Harleen said nothing.