I'm really stoked that you guys were as excited about the addition of Fleck as I was. This arc and the release of the movie was perfect timing (because I do love adding new challenges for Kay). Writing for him is difficult, as I can't find a script for the movie, and obviously I don't have a copy of the film quite yet (that's on pre-order haha).

I'm also trying to keep it as spoiler free as possible with those of you that have not seen the film in mind, but eventually I will have to spill the beans. However, I will be sure to put a spoiler warning at the beginning of the chapter.

As per usual, thank you very much for the continued feedback and support. Have a great week!

The first few weeks in the Asylum were highly uneventful. If they weren't going to cure you by any regular means, they would do it with boredom. I felt it a catch-22 however, as the boredom never compelled me more to go out and do something mischievous with my time than it had then. I was anxious, and I was upset that the boss hadn't yet come for me. I thought for sure that I would hear an explosion and my knight in dirty purple lapels would come casually cackling into my cell. But it hadn't happened. And to say I was disappointed is an understatement.

My stay did, however, give me time to reflect on that fact. Maybe I wasn't as important to his plan as he chalked me up to be? Maybe this was a part of his plan? And how was I supposed to know?

While I sat in my cell staring at the wall, loud laughter echoed in the hallway. I pulled myself up to look out the window. As I had suspected, it was my neighbor. He had a strange way of laughing, that was unlike anything I had ever heard before. It wasn't comparable to the way the Joker laughed, as the Joker's was more playful. This was deep and intense. He usually did it when he was being moved from his cell, and I began to suspect that he only did it to creep out the guards. I'm not sure if it worked on them, but it certainly worked on me.

That man, the one they called Arthur Fleck, I had done everything in my power to avoid him ever since the day we had "met." Another inmate had told me that he had a small, but impressive rap sheet. Small, in comparison to the Joker's. Still, I would often request to take my recreation time in my cell to stay away. I wasn't sure what he had to do with the boss, as no one would or could tell me much about him.

He called the Joker an imposter.

But the Joker doesn't have an identity, so how could that be? This was another fact I couldn't wrap my head around, and I had plenty of time to think about it.

I stood to the side of the window so he wouldn't see me while I observed him getting his cuffs removed by security. I hated the way he looked at me. Those eerie blue eyes stabbed straight through my brain.

WHAM!

A loud noise came from the window, inches away from my nose. I jumped back, nearly tripping over my mattress. Dean, one of the security guards who would often cart me around the asylum, waved his baton and laughed at me from the other side of the door. I rolled my eyes and slowly approached the door with my hands where they could be clearly observed. Dean slowly opened the door and signaled for me to put my hands out for the cuffs.

"You're scaring easier these days, Bennet. Have we finally put the fear back into you?"

"The others maybe. But not you, Dean. You're the least scary of them all."

I slyly smiled at him. While he was looking back down at me, he yanked on the cuffs to make sure they were tight.

"Start walking," he commanded.

I turned and began to make my way down the hall.

"Hi Kay," a raspy voice called out from behind me.

I stopped and looked back over my shoulder. Fleck had a wide, intense smile spread across his face. I felt that I could only approach his greeting one of two ways: I could make him a friend, or I could make him a foe. And since I wasn't particularly fond of the idea of being stabbed in the jugular while I slept, I chose the first option. If it suits my needs, I will always choose this option. Which is, unfortunately, one of the many missteps that landed me in the asylum.

"Hi Arthur," I responded quietly.

The wide smile fell from a long and wide Cheshire's grin, to a small smirk. He seemed pleased that I had responded, but I wasn't sure what it meant.

Dean bumped me in the shoulder with his baton.

"No time for socializing. Get going."

I began the two-person parade and was escorted to my daily therapy appointment. Dean led me inside. He didn't order me around; he knew that I was aware of what to do. I took my usual seat on the other side of the table, the furthest away from the window. He bent down to hook me onto the floor and left me alone in the room. Ten minutes passed, and Dr. Stoner finally made his entrance.

"Ms. Bennet. How are we this morning?"

He took a sip of coffee from a Styrofoam cup he was holding.

"Fine, I suppose," I replied.

"Just fine? Nothing to add?"

"I talk to you nearly every day. My life here in the asylum is painfully uneventful. Unless you'd like to talk about how many tiles I counted in my cell."

"That's quite alright," he said. "I did, however, want to pick up where we left off yesterday. Tell me more about your employer. You seemed hesitant yesterday."

I looked down at my hands and ringed my fingers.

"There's not much to tell. I don't even know that much about him."

"What type of man is he?"

"Well," I sighed. "He's smart. Very smart. And I wouldn't call him a kind person. He works within his needs."
"I see. Are you afraid of him?"

I looked back up at the doctor.

"Sometimes."

"Only sometimes?"

"I'm not sure how to explain it. He has a way of making you feel at ease, although you sense that you should be on your guard. He's a very effective social engineer."

He jotted something down in my file and thought for a moment.

"Do you know what he's up to? If he's planning anything, I mean."

"No," I lied.

Of course the boss was up to something. I didn't know exactly what it was, but I knew it was better to keep my mouth shut. The boss was not fond of squealers.

"Kay," he began. "In order for us to help you and stop him, you need to tell me everything you know."

I laughed, "My closeness with the boss is only with proximity. He doesn't trust anyone, not even me. I don't know about plans until they're actually happening."

"Does that hurt you?"

"Hurt me?"

"The fact that he does not trust you. You've laid your life on the line for him, even saving his own. Yet, he does not believe you to be a trustworthy individual. Doesn't that bother you?"

"No."

Liar, liar.

"Hm."

He began to write in the file again.

"I've also been told that you have befriended Arthur Fleck. What can you tell me about that?"

"Nothing. I wouldn't describe it as friendship. We've said very little to one another."

"You're better off cutting those small ties regardless. Fleck is…well, he's dangerous."

"He doesn't look dangerous. Crazy, yes, but not dangerous."

"What do you know about him?"

"Very little. I know that he's murdered people. That's about it."

"Has he asked you about your employer?"

"He called him an imposter."

"I see…well, again. Best that you don't provoke him."

"What do you know about him Dr. Stoner?"

"Oh, I know everything about him. I'm his psychiatrist as well. However, patient confidentiality prevents me from sharing that information with you."

I narrowed my eyes at the doctor and slowly nodded. I thought it was somewhat suspicious that he would try to guide me away from Arthur. Maybe there was something he didn't want me to know. There was also the possibility that he was afraid that I'd be murdered, very slim, but a chance.

"Moving on. I have prescribed you some medications. I feel that they can help you with your anxiety and other symptoms."

"Don't you have to diagnose me with something in order to medicate me?"

"Not necessarily."

"Then how do you know they'll do me any good?"

"I'm a doctor."

"You're full of shit."

He placed his pen down on the table and smiled thoughtfully at me.

"Are you feeling agitated, Ms. Bennet?"

"Yeah, Stoner. I'm feeling very agitated. I'm starting to feel like I'm not actually supposed to be here."

"Agitated, and paranoid."

"Fuck you!"

I slammed my hands down on the table. The guards outside the door peered in.

"Why am I really here? Not for my own sake, I'm here for someone else's. You wanna stop the Joker? Go. Out. And fucking get him. Cause you're not getting answers from me."

The guards began to open the door, but the doctor waved them away. He calmly placed his hands on the table.

"No, Kay. You're going to tell me everything. Every story, every remark, every touch. I'll be sure of that."

I smiled and shook my head. "You'll have to try real hard."

He smiled back at me. "Guards! We have an upset patient in here. I need to administer sedation."

"What? No! I didn't do anything!"

The guards approached wielding their batons.

"Don't make this difficult Bennet."

"But nothing happened!"

I stood to get away but was stopped by the latch on the floor. I yanked and pulled on the metal hook, panicking like a caged animal.

"Don't sedate me!"

One of the guards approached from behind and placed his hands around my shoulders.

"Stay still."

The other guard reached down and unhooked me from the floor. I took the opportunity to kick him down and pushed myself back against the other guard, knocking him into the wall. But I didn't get far. The guard grabbed onto my chains, causing me to fall to the floor. I got up and attempted to get to the door. Dr. Stoner blocked my exit and held one of the guards' batons in his hand. He swung and caught me in the face, knocking me to the wall. I slid down to the floor; creating a bright red trail of blood onto the white tile on my way down.

"Stay down!"

Dazed, I stayed where I was and remained still. I saw double of the guards and Stoner. One of the guards put his hands underneath my arms while the other held onto my legs. They carried me back to my cell.

They waited for Dr. Stoner to unlock my cell in the hallway. I turned my head, and saw that Arthur was watching from his cell. He placed his hand on the window and let his fingertips glide down the glass. The door to my own cell swung open and they brought me in. I kept my eyes on Fleck. Dr. Stoner noticed, and yelled at his patient, demanding that he get away from the door.

I smiled as they restrained me to the bed. The doctor pulled a vile and syringe from his pocket and drew up some of the liquid.

As it entered my veins, I looked at the doctor.

"We're gonna get you, you know."

He furrowed his brow at me, and he vanished from my eyes.

I woke just as the sun was beginning to set. My eyes fluttered at the ceiling and blinked the sedation away. The bright yellow orange that erupted from the barred window over my head blazed against the white tile and burned my eyes. I turned my head towards the wall to avoid the light and saw that my hands were still in the Velcro restraints. I pulled my hand down towards my mouth to see if I could release myself, but I couldn't reach. My head plopped back against the mattress, and I let out a large sigh of disappointment.

"You did a great job playing dumb," a familiar voice cut through the silence.

I strained to lift my head from the mattress to see who was there. At the end of the bed, the Joker leaned against the wall. He wore no jackets, only his green vest and blue shirt. His focus was placed on his hands as he used his switch blade to clean the dirt from underneath his nails.

"Boss. Jesus. Untie me and let's get out of here," I said desperately.

"No…I don't think I will."

"What?!"

"Kay, pump-kin. Do you know why you're here? Hm? Have you thought about that?"

I stared at him with my jaw hanging open.

"Why are you talking like that? Please. Get me out!"

He tilted his head in my direction and looked at me from under his eyebrows.

"Do. You. Know. Why you're here?"

"Stop asking me that," I cried.

He sighed, "I hoped for better from you, Kay. To be honest, I'm a little disappointed. Letting the Bat haul you away like that. It's like you wanted to be taken here."

"That's not true," I whispered. "You know that's not true."

A manic giggle protruded from him.

"Oh, heh. No, that's right. What did you tell me in the cage? Boss! There's something wrong with me!" He mocked and giggled. "Sounds to me like you've got issues. Maybe that's why you're here?"

I turned my head away.

"Shut up," I said.

"Poor Kay," he giggled. "Poor hopeless, lost, frightened Kay."

"SHUT UP!"

A loud knock came from the window. I lifted my head to look. Dean was getting ready to open the door. I looked back to where the boss had just been sitting; he was gone.

What the fuck is wrong with me?

Dean approached the bed with another guard in tow.

"You ready to behave Bennet? We came to get you for dinner."

I looked at him, then back at the empty spot at the end of the bed.

"Yeah," I nodded. "I'll behave."

He leaned down and removed the restraints from my wrists and ankles. I sat up on the bed and reached up to my face to wipe the tears from my eyes.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Yeah…I just had a really bad dream," I replied quietly.

"Alright. Get up."

I stood next to the mattress and walked to the doorway. All the inmates on the other side of the hallway were lined up in their doorways. Normally, I would have gone to dinner with the rest of the inmates on my side of the hallway, but because of the sedation, I was brought an hour later with the remaining inmates on the block.

Across from me, I saw Arthur standing in his doorway. In that moment, I wanted very badly to kneel at his feet and beg him for answers.

The guards instructed me to stand in line in the hallway. Arthur got in line behind me, and a cavalry of guards guided the onslaught of inmates to the cafeteria. Once I retrieved my dinner tray, I sat down at one of the round, yellow tables in the room. Arthur took the empty seat across from me and stared for a moment before carefully opening his milk and taking a sip. I sat still, as I wasn't too sure what to do or say to him. I was informed by another inmate that he was easily provoked and had a quick temper.

I took a small bite of my cheese sandwich and looked over at the guards. I wasn't sure if they were aware that Dr. Stoner did not want me to associate with him. In the moment, I supposed that they would have quickly removed him from my company if that had been the case.

"Hi…Arthur," I began.

He looked up from his tray.

"Hello, Kay."

His hands disappeared underneath the table and he smiled at me, almost thoughtfully. I took one quick glance back at the guards. He turned his head in curiosity.

"Don't worry about them," he said. "They won't bother us."

He had a polite, almost sweet-sounding voice. It was the opposite of the Joker's.

I wasn't sure how much I could get out of him in a short amount of time, so I cut straight to the chase.

"Why did you call the Joker an imposter?"

His mouth suddenly turned downwards. He lifted his hands from under the table and rested his head against them. From his nose, a small sigh came forth while his eyes glared up at me.

"I'm sorry, I didn't-"

He slammed an open palm against the table, causing me to jump and grip onto my seat.

"Are we going to have to take you two back to your cells?!" One of the guards yelled from across the room.

Instantaneously, Arthur's expression changed into a sickeningly charming smile as he looked towards the guard.

"We're fine! Just dropped my tray. Sorry!"

He turned back to me and the smile dropped from his face almost as fast as it appeared.

"He's not the Joker. Not the original one."

"Then who's the original?"

The smile returned. He leaned back in his chair and pointed at himself with two outstretched thumbs. His face was beaming with self-gratification.

"You're the original Joker?" I asked in disbelief.

"Guilty," he snickered.

His rapidly changing emotions were exhausting. It was difficult to imagine the man as anything but an inmate of the asylum.

"How? I mean…how did it begin?"

"I did something very funny. Problem was, no one else thought it was funny. I just wanted to make people laugh."

"What did you do?" I asked slowly.

"I was so…tired of being pushed around. For once, I just wanted to be noticed and loved. So, I decided that if I wasn't going to be loved as a good person, it didn't matter what I did anymore. I wanted to do the pushing. Nothing could hurt me."

He slowly opened and closed his eyes while turning in a shoulder towards his face.

"Arthur, what did you do?"

His face turned sour again.

"You know nothing about me. I know everything about you."

I was taken aback by this statement.

"How would you know anything about me?"

"The television. It tells me everything nowadays…my whole life, it's the only thing that's been reliable."

He'd been watching the news and eating up everything Gotham's media had to say about me.

He placed his hands back under the table and stared back at me.

"Kay Bennet, born Kaylin Bennet in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan on April 6, 1981. Moved to Gotham at the age of twenty-four to pursue a career in law. She stands at 5'4", with brown hair, and hazel eyes. Could be disguised in a clown mask. If seen, call the Gotham police immediately. Considered armed and dangerous. Do not approach."

During this recital of the GCN script, he never blinked. He didn't change the tone of his voice; it was like an emotionless robot was reading a public service announcement.

My eyes widened. I wanted to get up from the table and run away. Instead, I stayed put and tried to hide my amplified confusion and anxiety.

"Why did you memorize all of that?" I asked.

"In case we met one day," he sighed dreamily.

I thought that I'd experienced the peak of uncomfortable exchanges with the boss, this was beyond that.

"Didn't you want to meet me Kay? The inspiration for your work?"

My mouth hung open for a moment before I could answer.

"Of…course I did Arthur," I said in a shaky voice.

I was too afraid to admit that I'd never even heard of him before I was admitted. Although, he seemed satisfied with my answer. His smile returned and he began to eat his dinner.

I need to get out of here before this psycho murders me.

That night, I sat on the edge of my bed and stared down at the floor. The moonlight from outside the window created shadows from the bars that spread towards the door. I was restless and uneasy as I replayed our dinner conversation. My intuition told me that I should drop it and leave it alone, but my curiosities told me that I should try to pry a bit more. But I did need to be careful. Arthur's emotions changed faster than anything I'd ever witnessed before, but he left me with more questions than he'd answered. I wasn't sure if he was sharp enough to realize that I would be using him for the information he could provide.

I stood from the bed and began to pace the floor. My hands swept through my hair while my bare feet slapped against the cold concrete floor.

"You believe him?"

I swung around and saw the Joker yet again sitting on my bed. This time, he sat with his back against the wall and his legs stretched out straight in front of him. I shook my head and looked away.

"You're not real," I muttered.

I looked back; he was still there. His hands ran over his torso.

"I'm not?" He tittered.

I slowly approached him at the bed and reached out to touch him. His filthy pant leg felt dusty and warm underneath my fingertips. He felt real. I trembled and rested myself down between his legs, resting my head on his chest.

"Boss," I said. "What should I do?"

One of his hands combed through my hair while the other rested on my hip.

"Do you believe him?"

"I have no reason not to."

He laughed, "He's out of touch with reality. His mind is…flawed."

I lifted my head and looked up at him.

"Was he telling the truth? Is he the original?"

He smiled at me.

"You should get out."

I felt my face drop.

"Why won't you come for me?"

"Bennet!"

My head shot to the door, and I saw Dean staring back through the window. In front of me, there was only a cold white wall.

"Shut up and go to sleep!"