Things start to change within the next few days, starting with one afternoon in particular. Arthur wakes up to yelling in the other room, between Joker and some unknown man. He quietly walks out of the room and heads towards the noise.

"What did I tell you before you left? What did say!"

"I'm sorry Boss!" The other man trembles in the doorway, and Joker doesn't looked pleased at all at his cowardness "I-It won't happen again!"

"No, it won't" In the blink of an eye, he whips a gun out from his pocket and shoots the man dead. He falls to the ground bleeding from his head and Joker breaths roughly in anger, barking an order at someone else at the door "Get rid of him"

Then, Joker turns to Arthur. His blood runs cold at the expression in his eyes, a whirlwind of cold, pure anger that cuts him to the core. He can't move his legs. Frozen in fear, a sharp tickling sensation climbs up his throat, indicating the start of another attack. No, not now. Don't do this to me. Unable to hold it back, he explodes into panicked laughter which rips through his throat, and squeezes his lungs.

Joker starts towards him, but Arthur's legs regain sensation and he stumbles back towards the bedroom, slapping a hand across his mouth in an attempt to muffle the sounds. He continues to laugh, each one ending with a wheeze, gasp or a strangled sound. When he starts coughing from the scratchines in his throat, he continues to laugh which ends up choking him more. Joker keeps approaching him, but Arthur continues to back off until he finds himself in a corner.

Tears start to cloud his vision, but he doesn't cry. He's never been able to cry -only a few tears ever fall and that's it. It's not out of fear though. No, he's embarrassed. He thought this had stopped when he became Joker, but nothing seems to change. And now he's embarassing himself in front of the only person who saw worth in him and willingly wants him around. Joker took him in; he's the only person Arthur has now. What would he do if he gets rid of him?

He slides down the wall and presses his knees to his chest laughing, ashamed of himself but also in pain. His lungs and throat ache, but there's no sign of it stopping. It lasts a couple of minutes in reality, but to Arthur it feels like forever. Joker stops and sits down about arms reach front of him, then reaches over to touch him. He brings his arm back when Arthur flinches away with a loud wheezy chuckle.

"Are you scared of me?" Joker eventually asks once Arthur's laughs are reduced to small chuckles.

"No-" He replies slightly too quickly.

The clown sighs and carefully shuffles closer to him, satisfied when Arthur doesn't flinch away this time. "Arthur, I'd never hurt you. You're valuable. Unlike that...clown out there. I gave him an important job, but he messed it up, and we can't have that around, can we? So wipe your face...and smile"

Arthur rubs his eyes and finally looks at Joker, taken aback by the concern in his eyes. He briefly rubs his throat, before asking "Why do you care about me? What makes me important enough for you to bring me back here? You don't seem like someone who makes friends"

"There's just something about you that..." Joker pauses, a dark look momentarily crossing his face as he looks towards the window "We're not so different"

Arthur watches him with a frown. He wonders what that means, since it could mean so many different things. Silence fills the room for a few seconds, before he looks at Arthur again, "I want you to help me out on something I've been planning. I can't tell you what it is yet, but I'll explain it all soon"

He wants to ask what it is -it feels like it's illegal at least- but all he does is nod "Okay"

Joker leaves the next day, leaving Arthur alone in the apartment for a few days.

Day one is fine. He looks through the apartment, finding old board games, clothes, pictures and expired medication in the bathroom. Most of it feels like it had been abandoned without the people coming back for their belongings. In the bedroom drawers he finds a picture of a couple and their dog. The woman reminds him of Sophie, with her dark curly hair and soft smile, creating an ache in his heart. He wonders what she's doing now, where she is, and if she even remembers him. Laying down slowly in the bed, Arthur continues to stare at the woman in the photo with a frown, before placing it back in the drawer.

The next day is okay. Arthur finds various different ways to try and entertain himself, but finds himself bored within the first few hours. He ends up ripping the boards off the window so he can get onto the fire escape. It's cold outside, but the air feels nicer than the stuffy room.

The fire escape allows him to see the street clearer, so he watches the people pass by the alleyway opening. Lighting up another cigarette, Arthur leans against the cold metal railing and takes in the atmosphere. The streets are busier and noisier than they were when he explored Gotham a few days ago, which lets him notice more of how much things have changed. He considers going down and exploring, but that doesn't seem like a good idea at the moment.

After a while, he notices a cat wandering around below him as the sun begins to set. He goes back inside to find something to feed it with, and finds a can of tuna in the cupboard. He carefully heads down the stairs to not scare it, and tries to force the ladder down without it making too much noise. Unfortunately, it gets stuck and he has to use more force. It falls harder than he wanted it to, the noise echoing through the alleyway, but the cat doesn't run.

Once he reaches the bottom, he crouches down and opens the can, placing it down. The cat sniffs the food before eating, and Arthur smiles gently watching. It's black fur is long and fluffy with white patches along it's paws and face, and bright green eyes. He's surprised when the cat allows him to stroke it, but also by the sudden unsettling feeling he gets as soon as his hand makes contact. Arthur chooses to ignore it.

Night approaches fast, and Arthur hesitantly decides to go back inside. As he heads back up the stairs, he notices a strange light in the sky. A yellowish, circular glow surrounding a bat shape looms in the sky ominously. A shiver goes up Arthur's spine as he stares up at it confused yet intrigued. After a few minutes, he manages to tear his eyes away and steps back into the bedroom. He'll have to ask about that later.

Four days after Joker left, Arthur's thoughts start to run and he begins to fall down a dark hole. Being stuck in the room four days alone starts to get to him, and anxiety starts to taint his thoughts. What if he's not coming back? What if he's lying and is planning to get rid of him?

He walks to the bed and tightly wraps a blanket around himself, trying to mimic the straight jacket he wore in Arkham. It sounds strange, but it comforted him when he was locked up there. Almost like a hug. He sits curls up in the corner shutting his eyes, then hits his head hard against the wall, trying to rationalise his own thoughts as a familiar sensation of numbness slowly washes over him. He's coming back. Everything will be okay.

Eventually, a knock at the front door brings him out of his dissociative state. He notices that it's significantly darker than it was as he heads down the hallway, and wonders how long he was out for. Holding onto the blanket one hand, he opens the door slowly to see a man on the other side.

"You're Arthur right? I was told to check up on you, can I come in?" The man offers him a wide grin, and walks inside when Arthur steps aside. "I'm John, it's great to finally meet you in person. ...Are you cold?"

"No, I..." He shuts the door, and follows John to the living room. "Do you want a drink...?"

"No no, that's fine. How about a game of cards?"

"Cards...?"

"Yeah!" John opens a small box under the coffee table and pulls out a pack of cards, "You've been here for days by yourself. I figure you'd enjoy the company?"

Arthur frowns and slowly sits down on the chair opposite him. He still feels like his body is lagging as it tries to wake up from it's previous state, "Okay..."

John grins and starts to shuffle the cards, humming a tune under his breath, and Arthur gets a good look at him. He's severely pale, with grey bags under his eyes, long boney fingers, and he had noticed that John wore odd socks and mismatched shoes. He isn't the sort of person he expected to see in a place like this, let alone someone so high up on Joker's ladder. He seems too friendly to be associated with a potential criminal, but yet there's something unnerving about him.

"I saw you the other day when he killed that guy. Whew, I wouldn't want to make him angry. He'd have my head" He chuckles and hands him his deck, "You should be careful. I wouldn't say he has a temper, but he won't stand for any...misbehaviour or failure"

An uneasy feeling begins to grow inside him, and Joker's words begin to come back to him. How much of it was actually the truth?

"Your laugh is very interesting. I also have a bit of a nervous laugh myself!" There's a proud smile on his face, though Arthur isn't sure why. "I'll let you start"

The two begin to play, but Arthur's still trying to understand the situation "..so how do you know Joker?"

"He was admitted to Arkham a year ago after he terrorised Gotham and brought Batman down. It was amazing! He robbed a bank, infiltrated a parade so he could try and kill the mayor, blew up a hospital, corrupted Harvey Dent, and almost had a ship full of civilians or criminals blown up! Batman went away for a year after that, but Joker was locked away. Well, I was in there for...mm...a long time before that. He doesn't make friends but I'd say we were close. He broke me and a few others out and I've been helping him ever since!" He chuckles happily at the memory, placing a card down on the pile.

"...Who's Batman?"

"Who's- what rock have you been living under? Batman! The crime fighting vigilante? Dresses in black with a huge cape? Don't tell me you haven't heard of him, everyone knows Batman!"

"Sorry, I don't..." His thoughts go back to the bat symbol he saw in the sky the other night, "Is that what the bat light is?"

"Gee, you really don't know him. I'm surprised. Yes, the bat symbol is how they call him. He fights crime in this city in a way that's not entirely legal, but he's connected to the Commissioner so apparently it's ok. But if I did the same, I'd be labelled as a dangerous criminal and be locked away!"

Pulling the blanket around him more, Arthur nods in agreement and stares at his cards. Old memories of Arkham come back to him, but they're nothing he worries about. He can't actually remember a lot of what happened back then; it's usually just memories of him banging his head against something, staring at the obnoxiously white walls, or the social worker attempting to talk to him. Nothing really haunts him from that part of his life. In a way, he found it more comforting in a mental hospital than it was being at home. But for John, it seems like Arkham only holds bad memories apart from bonding with a criminal clown. He could see it in his eyes when he mentioned it. A wild, yet scared.

"Can I ask where Joker is now or when he'll be back? It's been a while"

"He's sorting out stuff for the next big event. It's gonna be a blast!" He laughs, "Probably won't be back for a few more days, but I wouldn't worry. He does this a lot. I'm sure he'll be happy to see you when he gets back"

The look on Arthur's face must have given away his doubt, as John smiles and continues, "Haven't you heard? Joker told us that we're not allowed to touch you, and only the few people he 'trusts' are allowed to talk to you. I think it's his way of keeping you safe but who knows. He just wants you close by his side, but the question is why. What does someone like him want with you? Why is he shielding you from everyone else except him? It's a bit weird"

"I've killed people. He says I can help him"

John laughs in a low chuckle, "We've all killed people, Arthur. You're not special"

The two play until the sun begins to set, with John winning nearly every single game. John stretches his arms above his head and yawns getting up "It's late, I should get going"

"Thanks for...this"

"My pleasure! I'll be downstairs if you need me. See you around, Arthur!" He shuts the door behind him, leaving Arthur alone with his thoughts in the tiny apartment once again. A lot of what John told him makes him wonder what's really going on here, and what Joker's true intentions with him are. He's not sure he can trust his motives anymore, which is a shame. Joker is just about the only person who likes him, but how can Arthur know whether that's even true or not? If only he hadn't left his gun at the Murray show.

Arthur searches the kitchen for a good knife, before heading back into the bedroom. He hides it under the pillow, and turns on the TV knowing he won't be able to sleep.

"-that he will help improve Gotham's police force, to help support the city incase of other criminals like the ones who terrorised us before. Wayne expressed his concerns over The Joker's escape from Arkham a year ago, and the possibility of copycats following in his, or other criminal's footsteps"

As he reaches over to press the power button, he hesitates seeing Bruce as they play a recording of his speech. But he doesn't hear it. He's too busy staring at the screen speechless. This can't be the same boy he saw at the gates a few weeks ago. That's not the boy he thought was his little brother. That's not Bruce Wayne. It can't be.

Finally, after the story changes over to coverage of an office fire, Arthur manages to press the button. He stares at his reflection in the screen for a while, before crawling into bed and pressing his face into the pillow. Why is everything changing so fast...

He doesn't hear the front door open, but his heart almost stops when he sees Joker open the bedroom door. Shooting up into a sitting position, he grips the knife still hidden under the pillow and stares at the clown.

"Arthur"