Arthur Fleck and Joker Imagines

Open and shut case - Part 1 - Joker x Reader

Life! Why does it always seem to have a terrible tendency of passing you by, while everyone else around you appears to get to live it? Or maybe it was just (Y/n), she didn't know. Maybe she was doing something wrong. Maybe she had broken, no, shattered some great law of the universe that she didn't know about. And this was all some terrible punishment for her crime. She had always known the rule that ignorance of the law was no defence. But she would have at least liked to have known what law she had broken. Maybe god, if there was one, in her, his, or their greater wisdom, just didn't like her. Maybe she was cursed. Maybe she had done something terrible in a past life, and this was her sentence? Maybe..........

"You're doing it again, (Y/n)." A voice suddenly said. Bringing her back from her thoughts.

"Doing what again?" (Y/n) enquired as she looked up at Rowan. The man sitting on the edge of her desk and shaking his head.

"Drifting off. You know as the daughter of the senior partner; you should really take things more seriously. A few more years, a few more cases under your belt and your father could make you a partner. Hell, one day you could be running the whole show. Your name on the door of the big office, instead of your pops. Let's face it, even the old man has to retire sometime. And seeing as you are the only one in the family to have actually followed in his footsteps, you have to be a shoe in for the job." Rowan chuckled. (Y/n) sighing as she looked up at the associate.

"Maybe that's the problem. Maybe being a Thomas is the whole reason that life seems to just be on the other side of a window. A window that I can't break through. James, Elizabeth, and Jackson are all off living their lives. Yet here I am, still under the shadow of my father. Fighting to make a name for myself instead of always being known as the daughter of Charles Thomas. The greatest defence attorney that anyone has ever met." (Y/n) sighed again as she dropped her head onto her desk.

"Have you ever thought that there must be more to life? That while we sit in this damn office, working out how best to defend some of the state's biggest scumbags. Out there, some wonderful things are happening. Great and glorious things. That life is for someone else, and you are merely existing?" (Y/n) continued. Looking up as Rowan began to laugh.

"Oh, my god. You can't have one of those existential crises, (Y/n). Your family is too rich for you to have one of those. Life isn't passing us by. We see life in the raw. And those scumbags that you talk about, are some of the richest and best clients that your father has. You don't become as feared and influential as Charles Thomas is, by defending nobodies." Rowan scoffed. Knowing that this was not the first time he had heard such things from (Y/n).

(Y/n) was a highly gifted attorney, just like her father. She was intelligent, quick and cunning. But as far as Rowan could see, all she lacked was the true Thomas killer instinct. The instinct to win at all costs. To win for your client, even if, said client, was, as (Y/n) had so eloquently put it. A scumbag.

Rowan could accept that being in the shadow of her father was no easy thing. That his shoes were big ones to fill. But if she did truly want that big office and the shiny nameplate. Then this idea that life should be something more, was one that she would have to dispense with.

"You know. I think that we have to either find you a man. Or you need to go and have a talk with Jackson. You know that he always cheers you up." Rowan told her, knowing that her brother seemed to be the only person that could make (Y/n) see sense when she was having one of these moments.

"A man? Who has time for that? I can't remember the last time that I went out on a date. And when a guy did pluck up the courage to talk to me, I'm sure that my father scared him off. I might as well be a nun for all the action I get." (Y/n) groaned.

"But seeing Jack could be fun. He always seems to know what to say to make me feel better. And if Brett just happens to be with him, I might get a few laughs too. Either that, or drunk. But both work for me." (Y/n) chuckled. Feeling a little better about the world as she thought of her brother and his friend.

"(Y/n)!" A familiar voice called out. (Y/n) groaning internally as she saw the figure of her father appear. The old man coming out from behind the great doors of his office. One of his usual cold looks plastered across his face.

"Yes sir?" (Y/n) asked nervously. Not sure whether her father making his way out of his office to see her, was a good or bad thing.

Most of the time people went to see him. The old man never usually having to move. The great Charles Thomas holding court from behind his antique oak desk. But occasionally. Very occasionally, he would venture out, and it was anyone's guess what mood he would be in when he did.

When not in the office, (Y/n) and her father got on quite well. In fact, she was the only one of his four children that Charles actually seemed to have any time, or care for. But at work, she became just another associate. A situation that most of the time, (Y/n) could appreciate. Not wanting to be shown any favouritism because she was his daughter. But sometimes, he seemed harder on her than anyone else. (Y/n) sure that he always gave her the hardest cases. The ones that seemed unwinnable. Constantly pushing her to prove that she was good enough. Constantly pushing her to prove that she was a true Thomas.

"What happened with the preliminary for the Barker case?" Charles asked, as he stood before his daughter's desk.

"Er......a date has been set for the hearing. But I don't anticipate any problems. Judge Sanders will be presiding, and as far as I am concerned, the case is pretty open and shut." (Y/n) explained as she handed the case file to her father. The old man doing his best not to smile as he looked at the work his daughter had done.

"Excellent. Well, that means that you will have time to come and meet someone. He has an important case that I want you to handle. He's waiting in my office right now." Charles said. Indicating for his daughter to follow him. (Y/n) internally groaning once again at the thought of yet more work to add to her case load. The young associate having a terrible feeling that she wasn't going to get chance to go and see her brother if this latest client had brought trouble with him.

"Why me? I mean....... Rowan and Trisha's workloads are a lot lighter than mine. I'm sure that they are perfectly capable of........."

"I'm giving you this to look after because what it is, is very important. Rowan and Trisha are good enough for lesser clients, but not this one. I need someone that I can trust. Someone that I know has only the firm's best interests at heart. And you (Y/n) are the only one that I know that can handle this." Charles explained, as he opened the door to his office and letting his daughter in.

"(Y/n). I would like you to meet Terence Bannister." Charles announced. (Y/n) watching as a pale haired man rose from the chair, recognising the older man as an attorney from the public defender's office that she had seen a number of times around the courts. (Y/n) wondering why he would be bringing a case to her father's firm.

"So nice to meet you Miss Thomas. Your father had been telling me so much about you. I have seen you a number of times in court, and I am quite impressed with your body of work. Your efforts on the Austin case were quite exceptional. You had the jury eating out of the palm of your hand." Bannister cooed. (Y/n) having a strange feeling that all this was leading up to something that she wasn't going to like.

"That's very nice of you to say, Mister Bannister. But I believe that flattery is not the reason that you are here." (Y/n) replied. Her brows furrowing as Bannister and her father began to laugh.

"Oh Charles. She is definitely your daughter. And I think that she will be perfect to handle this case." Bannister chuckled, pulling out a brief from his bag and handing it to her with one simple word.

"Joker."