Arthur Fleck and Joker Imagines

Open and shut case - Part 16 - Joker x Reader

(Y/n) stood outside the old apartment building. She had seen it in photos, but this was the first time that she had actually seen it in person. It was an imposing thing, even in the morning light. The three arches reminding her of those out the front of Arkham State Hospital. The look of the old metal fire escape making her feel uncomfortable. But there again, those things always had. (Y/n) sure that if there ever was a fire in a place like this, and anyone actually had to escape, the damn thing would fall like a house of cards. And it wasn't that it was an unusual building, there were plenty of similar looking structures dotted around. Plenty of old buildings crammed full of people that were probably paying far too much for their apartments, doing what they could to survive. So, perhaps it was just the fact that Arthur had killed there, that made the place just a little creepier. But no, she would bet that most of the buildings in the city had had someone die in them at one point over their history. That some of those death could even have been down to murder. No. I was more that he had suffered there.

"You the lawyer?" A voice suddenly came. (Y/n) turning around to find a tall man dressed in an older looking dark grey suit and long overcoat.

"Er......yes.........And you must be Mister Kennedy? You come highly recommended by my father. I am very glad that you could come and assist me with this case." (Y/n) replied, as she held out her hand for the man to take. The private detective giving her a smile, as he shook it.

"Yeah, I've worked for your dad a few times. Quite a few murder cases, but nothing like this. Your client is pretty high profile, you know that don't you............."

"Yes, Mister Kennedy. I am well aware of Mister Fleck's notoriety. I just hope that you won't let that affect your investigation..............."

"It never has before. I just do my job. Whatever you do with the information I get, is up to you. I'm not here to judge the clown. Just get the facts." The investigator explained, as (Y/n) pulled some keys out of her pocket.

"I am glad to hear that, Mister Kennedy. Now, shall we.............?" She replied, gesturing for the man to follow her through the archways and up to the black front door.

                                                           >>--------------------------------<<

"What you doing?" Kennedy enquired, as (Y/n) made her way to the mailboxes. Finding the right key and placing it in the little lock.

"I just want to see..............." She replied, as she slowly turned the key. Her mind going back to things that she had read. To things that Arthur had said about his mother always wanting him to check the mail for a letter. A letter from Thomas Wayne. The box opening to reveal nothing. The lawyer letting out a heavy sigh as she closed it again. Not sure whether it was relief at finding nothing, or frustration at there not being this fabled letter that Penny Fleck had wanted for so long. That she had made her "son" go to the mailbox for every day.

"Anything................?"

"No..................." (Y/n) replied absentmindedly, as she and Kennedy made their way to the elevator. The lawyer jumping slightly at the sound of the old mechanism.

"You sure you want to do this...........? You don't need to be here. You seem a little nervous............" Kennedy said, as he held open the door of the elevator.

"I need to see this. I need to put myself in his shoes. I can't do that through crime scene photos............" (Y/n) replied, as she moved into the small box.

"You're the boss..........." The investigator retorted with a shrug, allowing the door to close. (Y/n) feeling her heart beat a little quicker, as the elevator began to move. Things getting no better, as they got to the floor. The doors opening onto a dingy hallway. The lawyer feeling an overwhelming sense of claustrophobia, as they made their way to the apartment. Her breathing becoming ragged, as they stood outside the door. It was true what she had told Arthur, she had been to crime scenes before. Scenes that were far worse than what lay beyond this door. But there was something about this. And all she could put it down to, was Arthur. That none of her other cases. That none of her other clients, had been this important. (Y/n) taking a deep breath, before opening the apartment door, and making her way through the crime scene tape. Her fingers reaching for the light switch.

"Do what you have to do, Mister Kennedy." She said, as she caught sight of the blood splattered wall. Her thoughts going to the pictures of Randall. Of his head beaten against that spot. Of his missing eye. (Y/n) slowly making her way throughout the small apartment.

It was dower and dreary. Everything appearing to have seen better days. And it smelt. (Y/n) though putting that down to the fact that the place had been locked up for a while, and that there could be old, rotting food left in the place. Her hand hesitantly touching the back of the sofa where she knew that he slept. Her eyes focusing on the TV upon which he would watch the Franklin Show. Everything suddenly feeling so real. As if she had just stepped into a moment of his life, and any minute Arthur would walk in through the door, and Penny would call out to him. (Y/n) slowly taking a seat on the green sheet that was still draped over the sofa cushions. Her eyes looking at the blank screen of the TV. At her own reflection.

Suddenly a sense of sadness took over her. The desire to cry. A little part of her had thought that this trip might make her think less of Arthur. Might just make her think of him as nothing but the killer that everyone else saw. Yet instead, instead she could now see more of the man behind the stories. More of who Joker, Arthur had really been. And what he had been, was a prisoner. All his life he had been in his very own jail. One created by Penny Fleck to stop him from leaving her. A jail created by the abuse that he had suffered at the hands of his mother's boyfriend when he was young. A jail created by his medical conditions. And even though she knew that he would probably never get to leave Arkham. That he would probably never actually be free. She would do all she could to get him as free as possible. To show him that could be more to life than the prison that he had always known.