Freedom! {Open}

[Harleen Quinzel]

Free, the very words sent trembles down her spine. She was free at last to see the world, explore the city. However, what was she going to do? She couldn’t go visit Mr. J, they wouldn’t allow it, she couldn’t run around stealing things… So for now she had to lay low, well as low as she could as she rollerbladed down the sidewalk with a set of headphones in her ears.

She turned sharp corners on occasion knocking people over as she would blow bubbles in her bubble gum. Oh how she missed her Joker. How smile, the way he would laugh, his plans to kill the Bats. The woman stopped forcing herself forward and just allowed her to skid until coming to a peaceful stop before a store window. It was almost Halloween, and it seemed like everywhere she went, she saw his smiling face.

The window display downtown was no help. She saw the clown faces and she let out a saddened sigh. The woman moved forward and put her hand gently on the window and looked inside. “Oh Mr. J.” She whispered softly as her fingers ran over the glass tracing the outline of the clown. She could make out his features, see his smile, the red lipstick, the white paint. Oh how she wanted them, she wanted to touch his scars and kiss his lips she wanted to feel him close to her again. Her body felt cold suddenly as if a large piece of her was missing and all she could do was stare into the store longingly. “I promise you Mr. J I am going to do everything in my..” She stopped speaking as soon as she felt someone near, she turned and offered a typical Harley smile. “Oh hi!”

[Jim Gordon]

The commissioner had been informed early that morning that Harleen Quinzel, or better known as Harley Quin had been deemed "mentally sound" and had been released from Arkham Asylum. However, Jim himself didn't find Harleen sound at all, so after thinking it over he decided to go in pursuit of the former asylum patient to see if she was really "mentally sound" as they had said she was.

Gordon took a walk into the heart of Gotham city, his eyes peeled for the flash of that insane grin. However it wasn't his eyes that caught the first sign that Harley had been around, instead it was a heap of citizens clamoring to their feet after a woman on roller blades knocked them to the sidewalk.

There was no doubt in Gordon's mind that he'd found Harley.

Following her was easy, you just had to follow the long line of annoyed faces. He found her peering at a clown in a store window, murmuring to herself, however she stopped when he approached, standing behind her just a ways away. That typical smile was hard to miss as anyone by Harleen Quinzel and Jim sighed, wondering what he was in for.

"Out and about I see?" Commissioner Jim Gordon inquired, regarding her with the emotionless glance of a trained cop.

[Harleen Quinzel]

This wasn’t what Harley needed, she didn’t need to see him, she had been doing so good. She looked around to see if there was anyone else around, sadly, there wasn’t. The young woman let out a broken hearted sigh, though smiled at him all the same as she shrugged. She was trying to be her perky self, but behind her eyes he could see how much of a mess she really was. “I don’t see why not. I don’t have the babies anymore, and I got nothin’ else ta’ do until I find my self a job. Are you hiring for a secretary?” She asked in her perky way.

Honestly the woman didn’t know how to take the Commissioner. In fact she didn’t know what to do with herself, she had turned in several applications that day but no one was honestly going to hire her. Her name had been flashing over the papers for years. No one was going to believe she was cured. Her eyes drifted back up to the clown costumes, had she been cured? She was fine with out temptation, and now, looking up at the clown costumes, she didn’t feel alright, she felt a huge void in the middle of her heart, a void that could only be filled by one man. One green haired, red lipped, purple suit wearing hunk of a man. Only her Mr. J could fill this spot in her soul, he was her soul mate, she needed him.

A wishful noise escaped her before she turned her attention back to the commissioner. “I am not allowed to make contact, neither is he, they wanted me to get working right away, keep my mind busy, and stay away from reminders.” She actually sounded like a person for a moment, a normal person. Though like with most things, it slowly faded away behind a smile she forced up. She had to be a different person without her puddin’ she had to be strong without him and not allow anyone to take hold of her again. She would never let anyone take hold of her again! However, if he came back, oh she could feel the warmth spread through her body, how she wanted him to come home.

[Jim Gordon]

Jim arched a brow. There was something...different about her. Perhaps she was mentally sound. She seemed oh he didn't know how to describe her. She was just different. He sighed. He didn't see how talking to her could hurt, perhaps he could take advantage of this new found soundness to her behavior. Perhaps he could somehow help her into becoming a normal person. Oh he severely doubted it, but it was worth a shot. Right?

"Secretary?" he tried, and failed, to hide the disbelief from his voice as she asked if he was hiring. Why would she, Harley Quinn, want to be a secretary for the Commissioner himself, one of the people who had hunted her down and placed in that god forsaken asylum? He sighed, feeling almost a bit guilty for that, as seeing her current state.

He watched her through carefully guarded eyes, holding back a small little flicker of sympathy for the woman. She made it hard not to feel a little pity for her. He frowned slightly, that smile broke everything, but somehow it just seemed out of place. He had nothing to say. What does one say to a woman free from insanity?

[Harleen Quinzel]

Harley rolled over to him and wrapped her arms around his as she tried to move him towards a more populated area. Mainly because she didn’t trust Jim not to lead her to the bat or get in her trouble for something, she wanted more witnesses “Yes a Secretary. I can’t go back to working with patients, or use my degree for anything really. No profiling, no patients, nothing, nothing at all. So, I thought that so I was told to pick a calming job and being a Secretary has to be calming right? I mean, sure it will be stressful but it will be nothing like working for Mr. J. I just think that might be best.”

The blonde shrugged a little and looked up at Jim. “I believed everything Mr. J told me you know. I honesty believed everything he told me.” She rolled around the corner and stopped with a sigh and showed him her left shoulder, it was a scar that spelled “Joker”, done in the clown’s hand writing. “I am suppose to be his forever, but now he’s gone and I finally see everything for what it is, you know?” She actually sounded depressed, like a veil had been lifted from her eyes and she had seen a monster for the first time. “I suppose this doesn’t make much sense to you does it. Why I loved him, or let things happen the way they did… Besides Commissioner, I guess I thought being around the police would keep me from getting in trouble you know? After all you would all be watching me and waiting for me to screw up. I just wanted the chance to show you all that I was alright, that I am not the same person I use to be, that I was, fixed.”

What she fixed? Well Harley didn’t know. She had been doing well so far keeping everything in check. Then again, she was still taking her medicines, she was still doing what needed to be done. Her arms slipped from his and she sat down on a bench and looked up at him. “How is the bats these days?”

[Jim Gordon]

Jim sighed and went with her as she led him into a more densely populated area. He looked down at her, running a hand back through his graying hair. To tell the truth, the commissioner had thought about retiring, but if he allowed Harley to be a secretary at the police station it wasn't likely he'd be able to retire, not until she proved that she was truly sane and wasn't going to fall back into her old self. He knew it would have to be his job to keep her on the right side of the others, but then he knew he could always put Amelia or John hell maybe even Dave in charge of her, but he didn't want to do that to them.

His eyes leveled on the scar and he frowned, she actually sounded depressed and he couldn't help but feel a little bad. But was did he feel bad enough to actually hire her? "Truthfully I don't understand why most people do what they do..." he muttered. He looked at her, that was true. He would be keeping a very close eye on her. He sighed and took a chance and said, "Alright...if you can prove to me - and to the rest of those at the station - that you aren't the same Harley Quinn we used to know, you get the job. But if you put one toe out of line..." He let the sentence hang like leaves in early fall, she could figure out the rest for herself.

Gordon sat on the bench, not far but not too close either. He glanced over and her. "Alright." He told her, wondering vaguely why she cared. He looked up at the cars zooming past and nearly chuckled slightly at the thought of what he was doing. If someone, even Amelia, had told him he'd be offering Harleen Quinzel a job as secretary he would have laughed at her. He wouldn't have believed it for the world.

Against all odds, though, it was the truth.

[Harleen Quinzel]

There was a fine line she would have to walk, and honestly, Harley wasn’t walking it, at least not well. There was so much temptation and the part of her that was the woman that waned to help people, well that woman wanted help. However, there was something deeper, Joker had done something to her and God, she needed him back in her life. To fill her in every way, but maybe if she was cured she would no longer worry about this stuff right?

It wasn’t until he agreed, well seemed to be agreeing with her, to give her this chance. Harley threw her arms around him and hugged him close. She kissed his cheek and squealed a little. She turned bubbly and excited in that instant and a grin grew over her face. “I promise I am going to be the best secretary you have ever seen! I am going to!!!!” She paused and cleared her throat calming herself. She steeled everything and offered her hand to him. “I promise I am not going to disappoint you Commissioner.” She said a little calmer, but who could blame the girl for getting so excited over the idea that she might have a normal life? Or perhaps it was excitement about getting into a place where if Joker returned she’d be able to give him information about the police department. All depended.

“When do you want me to start? Should I not bring anything? Am I going to be frisked again? Because if I am I would prefer not Markus he’s a little grabby, what am I expected to wear?” She was calmer now, the hug was over, but she was looking down at her hands nervously, she seemed to be a little scared of the idea of walking into the police department, and honest, who could blame her. She was always looked at by the other officers around the city. .Everyone was waiting for her to screw up, to fail, but this was going to be different, right? No temptation in the police department, right?

[Jim Gordon]

Already he was having doubts about this. He didn't know what he was going to tell his team. 'Oh, so you know I just allowed our old friend, Harleen Quinzel, to be our secretary.' Yeah. That was going to go wonderfully well. He sighed, biting his lip slightly and was startled when she hugged him, kissing his cheek. He hadn't hugged her back, shock had glazed over his eyes but when she broke away he offered a slight smile, just a half curl of his lips.

"I'm placing my trust in you, Harley. Don't let me down." He told her sternly, as he took her hand and gave it a shake. He hoped, he surprised himself by doing so but, he hoped she would do well, he really did want her to live a normal life, it looked like that was what she wanted. He wasn't going to deny her a chance at a normal life. He could only hope that the Joker wouldn't be coming back anytime soon. Without the Joker, Jim believed that Harley would be able to life normally.

But if the clown returned, he knew it would be only a matter of time before Harley was back to her old ways.

"Tomorrow. You start tomorrow." She would have to be frisked, he didn't exactly trust her not to bring any weapons into the station. Besides, his team's safety went first. He promised, "I'll make sure it's not Markus." Despite the fact Commissioner Gordon didn't trust her, he didn't want her to feel more uncomfortable then she already would be at the station, considering she would be working there. "As for what to wear, I'll get you a uniform to wear."

Then there was the dilemma of training. Despite the fact she was only secretary she needed to have basic skills in combat and negotiationating, in case someone entered the station that was unwanted or in the case that she would be needed out in the field, should the situation require it. He didn't know what she knew, past knowledge in combat usually came in handy. It did for Strategic Response Unit member, Amelia Raven Blake.

But Jim wasn't going to mention training for a while. He could only hope he was making the right decision.