Time passes slowly, as Arthur sits on the bench, curling his hand in the fabric of his jacket as he stares off at the wall. Caught in a daze, he doesn't acknowledge Gordan coming back up to the cell in an attempt to talk to him. He tries for a while, but eventually gives up when he realises that Arthur isn't snapping out of it any time soon.

The lack of windows or clocks in the room . He can't tell what time it is or how long he's been here. The only indication is that there's less officers in the room than there was, as most of them had gone home.

Not too long after Arthur jolts back to reality, he notices the man from earlier stood at the door. He walks over, moving close to the bars and speaking in a hushed voice as to not be caught.  His eyes catch the name tag on his shirt, which reads 'Jesse'. "Arthur"

Arthur slowly approaches, watching as the man glances around before shifting onto one foot. He pulls something out of his boot, then with a quick motion grabs Arthur's hand and presses a warm metallic object in his palm. "Wait for the signal. I'll come and get you, only use it if you have to once you're out. Okay?"

"Signal?" Arthur frowns confused, holding onto the object as Jesse's hand slowly let's go of his, "what signal?"

There's no reply as he walks away, leaving Arthur confused. He finally looks down at the object in his hand, and frowns uncertain as he stares at the strip of metal. His thumb lightly traces the sides until he finds a small button, which releases a blade when pushed. A knife? Why would an officer give him a knife?

He pushes it back into the handle and puts it in his pocket, before sitting down again. Something that Joker had told him before the mission comes back to him. Don't worry, I have men on the inside. This Jesse guy doesn't seem like the sort of person that would work for the Joker. His greying hair and tired expression leaves little thought on what he could do.

He waits. And he waits.

Then it finally happens.

Gun shots echo through the building as officers scream, people running around in panic. The officers guarding Arthur's cell run to go and help their peers, but one is shot down in the doorway. He laughs, watching 4  men in clown masks run in to free him.

"Lets go" The man with the purple coded clown mask says, shoving him out of the cell and towards the door. He grips the knife in his pocket with one hand running beside them. Suddenly, a man beside him is shot down but they don't stop. They continue.

Nearly out of the door, Arthur is grabbed by the arm but in one swift movement he stabs them through the eye. They run towards a van and jump in.

"Where's Cal?" John asks as he throws his mask off and turns the key in the ignition.

"Dead. Move, quickly" The other guy barks at him, pulling off his own, ask to reveal the cop. John hesitates briefly as he stares at him in the mirror, before racing off down the road.

"Now we're out of there, I can introduce myself" Jesse holds his hand out, "I'm Mark. Nice to finally meet you"

Arthur stares at his hand momentarily, noticing what seems like chemical burns dancing up his fingers, and the indent of what was once a wedding ring. He takes his hand, "Arthur..."

"Joker has talked about you quite a bit. So has the commissioner. I heard the other officers talk about how you've 'come back from the dead', somehow. That's very interesting. It seemed like a surprise to you as well- I was actually watching the interrogation...you're quite the catch"

"I just passed out in an alleyway and woke up at the hideout. I have no idea what happened..."

Mark let's out an intrigued 'hm', leaning back in the seat with his head resting on his hand, "I see why he likes you, Arthur. I'm sure Gordan will be upset that he lost you though, he seemed very interested in your case. It's not everyday that you arrest someone working for a terrorist who turns out to be someone who should be dead"

He hands Mark the knife back, and bites the inside of his lip when he catches sight of the burns again. The rest of the journey is in silence, allowing him to reflect on what he's now learnt and think about the new person beside him.

It feels like an hour before they pull up outside the abandoned apartment block. As Arthur hops out the car, he's pulled into a tight embrace by John. "I'm so glad you're back..."

"Hey. Off, now" Mark pulls him away and shoves him towards the door. John frowns, glancing back at them before walking inside.

"Don't worry about him, he's always been like this. If he decides you're his friend you really have no say in it unless you really piss him off or hurt his feelings. Which of course is exactly what most people here will do. So far Joker is the only one here he considers a friend, apart from some new recruits, but I think he's already attached himself to you" Mark holds the door open for him and walks back up the stairs towards the apartment. "You shouldn't expect much from someone who lived in Arkham Asylum for so long anyway, they're all insane one way or another"

"Have you been to Arkham?"

"No...I mostly just enjoy the thrill of it all, I'm not like the Arkham clowns at all. How about you?"

Arthur frowns, "A few times...it felt safer in there than it is out here" 

Mark snorts as a response and pushes the door open, "I don't see anything wrong with you, did you admit yourself"

"I-" Arthur trails off, mind drifting off to the faint memories pressing at his mind, but unable to penetrate through. Only the feelings remained. His hand moves to rub a faint burn scar across arm through the fabric of his jacket, as it almost begins to burn again. He doesn't even remember how he got it.

Mark stares but doesn't press any further. They head upstairs, and walk inside the apartment.

Joker turns and walks over to them, "Arthur, it's good to have you back. We have a rat among us, that's why we were ambushed. I will not allow this to happen again"

Joker is actually pleased to have him back, which settles his nerves for good. He's wanted here. His disappearance mattered to them. Then, the calmness that settled inside him is hit by a sudden feeling of dispair, "I died"

"What?"

"Arthur Fleck died 27 years ago in Arkham. I'm dead in your world" His voice wavers, "He shot himself on the show instead of Murray but survived for a few months. I tried to kill myself on live television"

The expression on Joker's face is unreadable as he stares at Arthur deep in thought, "Died?"

"Yes. A seizure. A group of doctors witnessed it. Joker, I...I need to find a recording if that night. I need to know what happened to him on the show" He tries to ask nicely, but the tone of his voice almost sounds like begging. The clown continues to stare at him with his cold, expressionless eyes before turining his attention to John.

"Do you think you'd be able to find that for us? They might not have left the recording of a suicide on tape, but I'm sure someone has it somewhere. 1982, Murray Franklin Show, Doctor Sally is on before him"

John nods eagerly, "I can try, I'll ask Cam!" He darts towards the door, stumbling slightly as he almost trips over, then runs out.

"Good to have you back..." Joker placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezes gently, the ghost of a smile present on his face.

_

Days pass, and Arthur continues to run the events through his mind. It feels like he's missing something, but he can't decide whether it's to do with his death or his encounter with Batman. Why does he recognise him? And why does Arthur have a strong feeling that he's already met the man behind the mask?

Sighing, he brushes cigarette ash off his book and scribbles down another name that could potentially be an answer. White male, brown eyes, fit. Arthur doesn't remember many people in his life like that, but this is 30 years later. Whoever it is has aged. Perhaps they were just a child when we met...

Without warning, the bedroom door slams open and John comes bounding in grinning with another man. Amongst the men with green hair, Arthur never would've expected a man with firey red hair to be stood there. The man is very pale, with light freckles scattered across his face.

He studies Arthur for a few seconds then looks at John "This is the guy on the tape?"

"Yes! This is Arthur. Arthur, this is Cameron. He found the tape for you"

"It took a while but I know a guy who could help. Simple really" Cameron shrugs and hands the VHS tape over, before turning back to John, "Anything else?"

He hesitates briefly, looking between them, then nods, "Thank you"

As he walks away, Arthur turns the tape in his hands "Thanks John...I'd...like to watch this alone"

John offers a smile, then walks out leaving him alone. Arthur moves towards the tv, turns it on, and slides the tape into the player and presses play.