Harleen

Opening Up

"Arthur!"

The artist formerly known as Arthur Fleck shifted his eyes towards his beautiful therapist, Harleen, while also wiggling around in his seat to get into a comfortable position. He really did hate having his arms confined to this stupid straitjacket. How can anyone be accustomed to it or have been an acceptable form of punishment is beyond him

" I'd like to discuss the incident of you killing those three employees of Wayne Enterprises. That and to get a glimpse into your life, your day to day struggles. What made you lash out and pull the trigger" requested Harleen as she watched Arthur squirm in his seat

Maybe before our next session, I'll ask Duncan if he can have your straitjacket removed. I know why it's been put there, but honestly, I don't think it's necessary for me anymore thought Harleen

" Why? Heh," Arthur shakes his head " You know why, Harley. You watched my rant on MurRay's show. I killed those guys because they were awful" replied Arthur

" I know but listening to you on TV and in person are two different things. If I am to make any progress with you, get to the root cause of your personality disorder, I need to hear it from the horse's mouth" said Harleen

Arthur half-smiled at Harleen " You really do know how to make your patients feel special. Don't you? But since you seem like a nice woman compared to the others before you, I'll tell you what happened on that night. The struggles that Arthur endured"

" You, Arthur. You. Not, Joker. You" corrected Harleen

Arthur rolled his eyes " Fine, me. Every day I was miserable, Harley. I tried time and time and time again to be a good person, to do the right thing, and more importantly, smile. All I wanted is for someone to show some compassion and form an emotional connection. But what did I get in return?" he paused for a few seconds " I get mugged, picked on, made fun of and no matter what I did, it just got worse and worse. My depression was at an all-time high and the thought of killing myself was........a beautiful thought" he smiled briefly before returning to his stoic gaze " But then I remembered my mother, the woman who needed me to take care of. The woman who could hardly move from her bed to the living room"

He looked away from Harleen to reminisce on his thoughts of Penny Fleck, the woman who he thought loved him and would do anything to protect him. Only to discover she was the root cause of his psychological problems and betrayed him in the worst way imaginable

" Yes, I read both the files on you and your mother. It's awful what happened to you, I still don't understand how social services allowed to have you back in her care. Even if she was granted release from Arkham" said Harleen sympathetically

Harleen can see from the way Arthur spoke about his mother it still affected him a great deal, she understood his needs for an emotional connection in this cruel dark world. Just another human being that is kind, caring, and not judgemental. She still hasn't forgotten the murders Arthur carried out, but just hearing him pour his heart out made her understand him a little more

"Heh. She never got over being crazy, Harley. No one ever does, if they are smart and intelligent enough they'll do whatever it takes to be released. I just couldn't see it, until I came here to get her file to see if she really was crazy after hearing that Thomas Wayne might have been my biological father. Only to be told by the man himself and his butler, that she's insane" replied Arthur as he leaned forward, adjusted his position, leaned back and sat upright on his chair

When Harleen heard Arthur's theory of someone like him wanting to be released from Arkham and they'll make up stories and make their therapists hear what they want to hear, it made her raise an eyebrow " Is that what you're doing now, Arthur? Are you feeding me false information in hopes of a possible release in the future?" her voice sounded terse