Refreshing and quiet darkness surrounded my slender body as I entered my office for the last time, a brief moment of me leaning with my back against the closed door and simply relaxing passed. My key stuck in the door's lock and I tilted my head, some strains of blond hair falling into my face while I looked out the large window across this rather big room where I stared at the moon slowly rising at the horizon, sending its white glow across the city and right into my office.

Steps echoed through the grey, lifeless hallway as guardsmen started their nightly patrols, ensuring the safety of themselves and the inmates the staff took care of. What a brave, selfless task they took upon themselves - truly impressive and I admired them for it, I wouldn't care enough for other people to protect them with my own life. Well. There was one exception.

"Dear heavens, would you look at the time!"

Whispering to myself, I checked on the time by looking at the penguin shaped clock standing motionless on top of my desk. It was time to change into the night shift and to get a fitting outfit for it. So I let the white doctor's coat together with this small name tag fall off my shoulders and onto the ground as I kicked my black high-heels off and walked up to the closet where I had hidden a certain dead body - a long, long time ago - and opened the wooden doors.

Underneath loads of clothes to change into, should blood or some dirt ever get spilled over my outfit, was a brown box with some goods hidden inside. Obviously, I had to hide those contents when I got it inside, so I had Easter Eggs! written in each side so no one questioned it. Unbelievable that this actually worked.

Quietly humming a song, I threw the clothes out of the closet and scattered them all over the room, my eyes only locked on the box. It has been long enough since I've put these things on, and I didn't know how much I've missed them until I opened the box and felt the soft, red and black fabric in my own hands.

A smile grew on my face and my eyes closed at the smell of gun powder emitting from every single piece. It was such an intense moment that my heart started pounding in my chest and my smile grew even bigger until the corners of my mouth felt as if they would rip in half.

The world seemingly changed and a thin fog wrapped itself around my mind as I slipped into the jester outfit, zipping it up on my back and stuffing my hair into both of the horns of the gown as I stripped it over my face. I had a hard time holding back a giggle while I put on a black mask over my eyes, my gloves already covering my hands. And by the time I looked into the mirror over a sink across the room behind me, I had fully changed into my true self.

"Well, hello there, cutie!" Biting my bottom lip in excitement, I ignored the contract I had signed when I started working here as if fell out of the closet and simply picked up a single cubic shaped bubble gum from the box, put it in my mouth and took a deep breath.

The sour taste filled my throat while I stretched my arms and legs a few times, absolutely captivated by the feeling of the old clothes on my body. Maybe I would've spent the entire night just dancing around in my jester costume, but there was no time for that. I hat to get Mistah J out of this cell-hole.

"Slowly...carefully...!" I jumped onto my desk and started removing one of the loose ceiling covers, getting access to the ventilation system that spread throughout the entire building and would be my temporary hideout while I would get out of here and to the solitary confinement cells.

Cool air blew into my face and I growled in disgust, holding my left hand up in front of my face to be able to actually see something - never minding the fact everything was pitch black, anyway.

My heart was racing and I felt as if my rib cage was going to burst in excitement while I turned to the right, my arms shaking in anticipation of what would happen in a few minutes.

Voices of guardsmen and police officers beneath the duct reminded me to not stop in order to avoid getting caught. Junction after junction, I came closer to my destination, sliding down a bend and shivering as the cold air continuously guided me along the way.

And suddenly, I crouched right in front of a large fan, sucking in the air and making my horns wiggle towards it. Turning my head around, I only saw the single way I came from, technically, the fan shouldn't be here. Or should it? Was this even the right direction I started out to begin with?

"Oh, boy. Seems like I'm lost."

Angrily chewing on my bubblegum, I crawled back a few feet and pushed the right side of my face as hard against the bottom of the duct as I could - despite the fan's noises and me shivering like a tree in the middle of a hurricane, I couldn't hear a single sound that'd tell me if policemen were down there or not.

After a few moments, I sat up as comfortably as I could and pulled up the ice cold edges of metal connecting the ducts with each other, knowing perfectly well that I mustn't rush my actions.

"Slowly... Carefully. We don't want this to break off, do we?"

But just as I separated the ducts and pulled the thin metal strip aside, I realized that my knees were applying high pressure on the part I was kneeling on and with a screeching sound, the duct broke in half.

Immediately falling for about an eternity until my head hit the ground, I did my best to avoid getting hit by the heavy and sharp pieces of metal slamming the hard concrete floor only inches away from my face and body. Not the kind of sneaking around Arkham I intended to have, but it could've been a lot worse.

"Don't move!"

And just like that, the entire plan got a lot more complicated.

Two policemen came running towards me with their rifles in their hands, ready to make use of the shoot-on-sight rule that affected intruders. I bit my bottom lip and sat up, rubbing my neck and facing them with a smile.

"Don't you worry, guys, I fell on my head!" My eyes connected with those of the taller policeman and an instant wave of rage filled my heart, spreading through my body and blurring my already troubled mind.

Benjamin. The man who enjoyed torturing Joker with the new tasters.

A moment of silence passed and just as the guy next to Ben reached for his walkie-talkie, he stopped the second he recognized my face. Was it really that hard to notice who I was beneath the mask?

"Harleen?" He gasped and I chuckled while he lend me a hand to help me stand up, completely unaware of the fact I was trying to sneak around to get Joker out. "What are you doing?"

His gentleman-like behavior almost gave me a bad feeling of regret as I took his hand, only to use the hunting knife which I removed with a swift move from his belt, stabbing him in the throat as fast as I could.

Blood splashed onto the floor and his eyes widened in terror and pain, both of his hands shot up to the wound to cover it. But the injury was too deep, and the shock and loss of blood quickly caused his knees to give way so he fell down into the small puddle of dark red blood.

I wasn't done regaining my footing from getting pulled up so quickly, as I heard the familiar sound of a gun being loaded. Naturally, my head turned around to Ben who had his gun pointed at me, his cold eyes locked on me without him blinking even once.

"You know the sad part of you making this mistake?" He asked and walked up to me, an angry look on his face faded into something else.

"No, I do not know, what is the sad part?" Hiding my arms behind my back with a sharp piece of duct that broke off in my right hand, I tilted my head innocently while maintaining an equally confused look. Benjamin immediately got aware of me trying to pull some trick on him and sadly, the plan of me elegantly slicing his throat open like a sheep walking to slaughter went out the window.

His gun pushed into my stomach and his free hand tightening around my throat, he used is legs to throw me off my feet and slam me down onto the ground. I still held the metal in my hand, but as his grip on my throat tightened, my body began to relax.

Green flashes appeared before my eyes and I bit my lip even harder, trying to breathe under his strong grip on me - but I wasn't panicking from the lack of oxygen, it was the exact opposite reaction from what any other person would feel in such a situation.

A mischievous smile grew larger on my face and at one point, I couldn't help but let out a small whimper, my entire body slowly starting to heat up and tickle at his intimidating voice. Words I completely missed out on abruptly turned into gagging noises as my hand, in a moment that was mostly motivated by a simple reflex, shot up to his face, sinking the metal in his open mouth and severing the back of his throat.

I had no idea how long the entire action took, but as his hand finally let go of my throat, I was close enough to passing out and slightly angry about the fact that this low goon of Arkham dared touching me with so much as a finger.

Two bodies were shivering on the ground, one from blood loss and one from slowly suffocating from metal separating his trachea and nose. What a delightful sight, knowing that these two people were the last beings standing between me and Joker.

"I am really sorry, but I have to ditch you sweethearts right now, I have an appointment with Mistah J, and he doesn't like it when I'm late. See ya!" And quicker than a bunny, I turned away, skipping down the hallway, past many closed doors containing the worst of criminals. And Joker.

"No. Nope. Nada." Popping a large bubble I made with my gum, I walked past each and every door, until I stopped, recognizing the four distinctive numbers like a white light at the end of a long, dark tunnel.

"Aha!" My eyes looked around one more time, making absolutely sure that no one was watching me before I checked the time on one of the clocks ticking on the walls. After all, the bubblegum had to be chewed just about long enough to reveal its secret.

Knock knock

"Who's there?" A rough, dark voice erupted from the back of the cell, almost angry that I disturbed his sleep but I totally ignored Joker's bad mood, twisting the bubblegum around my finger.

"Irma!"

"Irma who?"

"Irma gonna blow the door off it's hinges!"

With a quick move, I threw the pink bubblegum at at door while jumping back at the same time, plugging my ears with my fingers as the enormous explosion went off and setting off an alarm in the entire building as well as covering everything in smoke.

My eyes were burning and even though I was kind of used to smoke filling my lungs, I slightly coughed but kept my eyes locked on the spot where the entrance to Joker's cell was, eagerly awaiting his dark silhouette to appear behind the grey smoke.

"What took you so long?"

Finally, I could see him walking out of his cell, his voice did sound annoyed and a tiny bit angry, but there was also something joyful about it - he sounded almost happy.

"Oh, gee, it's almost like I have to be careful to not get shot on sight or something!"

With his tall, strong figure right next to me and the warmth of his body radiating from him, I let out a sigh in relief, happy to finally have my puddin' back. But it seemed as if he wasn't too excited about being with me again as he sloppily waved his hand, growling in annoyance and trying to get a clear sight through the thick smoke. "Yeah, save your sarcasm for later, what's the plan for getting out of here?"

Silence.

Blushing, I locked my lips together, taking a step away from him and my hands behind my back as I looked down. I totally forgot about coming up with a plan to escape!

"Oh, that! I...uhm..."

Faster than I could react, Joker grabbed my collar and pulled me closer to his face. From the simple way his hand tightened on my outfit I could tell that he wasn't quite up to jokes and I was going to be in serious trouble. Everything else but the happy reunion I had imagined.

"Are you telling me you break me out of the cell but don't know how to get out of the goddamn building?" Anger filled words hit my face and I tried to somehow disappear in the smoke, but there was no way to escape his grip. "Are you kidding me?"

The alarm continued to ring and I already heard footsteps running down both ways of the long corridor. Time was slipping like sand between our fingers and as Joker continued to yell at me, I somehow looked up at the ceiling - and immediately noticed the same ventilation system I unluckily got lost in.

"That one!" I smiled proudly and pointed up at the silver duct. "There's my plan!" Joker's eyes followed mine and his grip loosened a little bit on my costume but not enough to let go quite yet.

"Ha! Did ya really think I didn't prepare?" Laughing as I managed to escape his hand, I grinned at him. "You really don't know me, do you, Mistah J?"

I didn't have to see his face through the cloud of smoke - which I couldn't even if I tried - to know he was rolling his eyes so hard they'd most likely get stuck at the inside of his head at some point. "I know you well enough to reckon a life in prison if you don't open that duct now!"

Within a second, I nodded and jumped onto his shoulders, quickly gaining access to the ventilation system and slipping in before pulling Joker up as well, then closing our way to escape.

Both of us immediately started crawling away from the sounds of policemen nervously yelling orders as they arrived at the scene and I was actually thankful for the intense alarm going off throughout the entire time, because it covered the sounds of me bumping into the metal ducts perfectly well while I did my best to keep up with Joker.

Eternity seemed to consume me and the dark, lifeless tunnels never seemed to end until I gasped at the smell of fresh, slightly warmer air. Joker stopped and removed the final grid at the back of Arkham Asylum.

Searching lights danced on the short, brown grass surrounding this hell hole and dogs could be heard barking, but luckily, from far away. Joker quickly slit out through the opening and I followed right behind, almost yelling for him to run slower as he jumped right off into the forest that led down the hill towards Arkham Asylum's front gate.

Suddenly, he stopped and I did the same, wheezing heavily and impressed by him - after months of being locked up in a tiny cell - being able to be this fast and agile without the slightest hint of exhaustion.

I was just about to ask what he stopped for, but before I could do so, Joker grabbed my arm and pulled me with him as he jumped behind a large oak tree, hiding from a couple of policemen walking by with their flashlights.

Absolute silence between us and his hand covering my mouth while pulling me against him almost had something calming. Joker's eyes followed the groups of policemen passing by without noticing either one of us, but after a moment of happiness, my eyes lowered to look at the ground.

What was Mistah J going to say, now that he was free again? Did he want me to be part of his life again? After all, I was the one responsible for so much stuff he had to go through in Arkham, I ordered things to be done to him I'm not proud of in any way. Would he forgive me dating his main henchman?

At one point, Joker let go of my mouth and my eyes immediately focused on his pale face, still staring after the policemen that slowly left to check another area.

"I'm so, so incredibly sorry for everything i have done, puddin'. I regret everything I've done and said, especially the whole thing with the tasers...the shots..." I shivered and felt my eyes filling up with tears while staring at Joker who still didn't look at me. Was he even listening?

"And the thing I had going on with Jonny...I understand it if you never ever wanna see me again. Just know that I'm so—"

Before I could finish my sentence and a big tear dropped down my left cheek, Joker turned around to face me, his intimidating eyes shut me up at the very moment they connected with mine. How could I do all those things and still expect him to forgive me? Of course he wouldn't.

But just as I decided to accept him hating me for the rest of his life, Joker slightly leaned forward, his mouth barely open and his half closed eyes staring into mine. My heart was racing faster than ever and confusion blurred my mind. Our lips didn't touch while I myself leaned forward, but I could feel his hot breath on my skin.

Despite being this close to me, Joker was hesitating, even as his lips brushed against mine. I knew he was thinking really hard about whether to forgive me or not. Even though the chances were practically zero, a slight glimmer of hope grew inside my heart, my right hand slowly taking his left one and stroking the back of his hand with my thumb.

I suddenly remembered that it didn't really matter if he chose to erase me completely from his life - what mattered was that he was free again, free to do what he wanted, free to choose what he wanted.

And just a moment later, Joker pulled his face back, not even looking me in the eye and shrugging my hand off while turning away.

My heart got shattered into a billion pieces at his rejection and the unbearable pain sent even bigger tears to my eyes. Sure, I never really had a chance of getting back together with him, but now that it all became reality...

Almost preparing to walk away, never to get in Joker's way again, I noticed something moving in the corner of my eye and wiped it to get a clearer look.

Suddenly, I realized what...or rather who distracted Joker and got his attention.

No!

A tall man walked out of the shadows just across the road separating the small forest. I would've noticed that suit and deep blue eyes anywhere at any time.

Frost!