When Alice woke she was immediately aware that there was something noticeably different. The bed was different. The startling realisation hit her quickly and for a moment she was in shock.

It was different because she was not alone.

Arthur was wrapped around her like he never wanted to let her go, and she was all too aware of the sensation of his body behind her. Well, all around her.
He had a long arm wrapped tightly around her waist and an even longer leg intertwined with hers.
He felt warm, and solid, and tantalisingly good. His face was nuzzled into the area between the back of her neck and shoulders, and she could feel him breathing softly against her skin. It was all extremely intimate. Nice...amazingly nice....but undeniably intimate, and she had to admit it was also a strangely emotional experience.

It had been such a long time since she had woken up with a man like this. Until now, she never thought she would again, nor had she particularly wanted to.
But Arthur's embrace was unlike any others. It was secure but tender and felt right somehow. He himself felt so right.
Or so her traitorous emotions kept telling her.

But this was also Joker, she reminded herself sharply. He was wanted for murder and was well on his way to becoming some sort of mafia boss or crime overlord.
It wouldn't do to become too attached or expect any stability from him in the long run. Even though, she was getting way ahead of herself there. But she'd always been a stickler for planning in advance and being sensible by looking to the future.
Which was another reason why she'd been hesitant to get involved with him in the first place.

But, given time maybe he would start to open up about his past.
Admittedly she wasn't convinced she'd ever be fully prepared to hear all the grisly details, but she'd walked into this with her eyes wide open.
Grisly sort of came with the territory.
Until that time came however, she knew they'd have to take one day at a time and she decided just to enjoy the closeness and ignore the undeniable yearning deep inside which she found quite unsettling.
A yearning to learn everything about him. A yearning for more of this and them. Waking up in his arms and maybe spending a lazy day together, cooking, watching TV, laughing and dancing, learning more about each other.

She felt him stir, his large hand and his lovely long fingers pressed into her stomach and instinctively pulled her closer against his wall of torso.
It wasn't intentional, as he was still half asleep, but the effect was still startling.
Her heart was racing now and something deep inside her stomach started sending out waves and screams of absolute pleasure. Much like when they'd been smooching up a storm on the couch. But then he'd remarked on feeling woozy, so she had gone to make him coffee and there'd been no more kissing after that, which was probably a good thing.

Arthur was the only guy she'd ever felt so deeply attracted to and didn't really trust herself around when he was being amorously affectionate. It was tough because she wanted to take things slow but was finding it incredibly difficult.

Just then she noticed the arm she'd been laying on had gone numb so delicately tried to wriggle it free. Extricating her from his embrace, Arthur duly rolled onto his back and away from her slightly with a bit of a grunt.

Alice turned over carefully and looked at him. Running his hand through his hair and down over his face, he muttered something inaudible under his breath.
His green eyes flickered open. They were hazy with dark circles underneath them.
His skin looked dull in the dim light of the room and his cheeks a little sallow, but he was still so undeniably handsome.

"Hey you." She beamed, running her fingers through the tousled locks of his emerald hair. "How do you feel now?"

He blinked at her, mouth kicking up at the corner. "Oh, hey."

How did he feel?
Arthur considered the question as best he could, having only just woken up. Woken up to find himself ensconced in the comfort of soft pillows and smooth linen, Alice propped up on one elbow gazing down at him with...if he wasn't mistaken....tenderness in her eyes.

So how did he feel? He had never felt better in his life than he did in that moment.

"I feel great." He enthused, his voice a croaky mix of hungover and sore. "Thanks to you."

"Me?" She giggled as she continued to look down at him, smiling fondly. "Why what did I do?"

"You don't have to do anything." He smiled sweetly at her, gently ghosting the back of his hand over her cheek. "Just being you is enough. Being here with me, like this and--" His words trailed off, and suddenly he was remembering that he was in fact meant to be somewhere else right about now.

"What's wrong?" She asked, seeing his expression alter drastically to one of anxious concern.

"Shit. I'm not supposed to be here!"

Alice frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Sorry Alice. I need to use your phone." He'd sat up now, throwing the covers back so he could scramble out of the bed.

"Uh, sure. It's in the living room, help yourself."

Mumbling his thanks he rushed from the room and down the hall, almost tripping over his own feet.

She heard the rumble of his voice echoing through the wall as he was speaking on the phone, and climbed out of bed. As much as she didn't want to intrude he sounded very agitated and panicked, which was alarming to say the least, given who he was and his current situation.

When she entered the living room a few minutes later she found him pacing in a circle, the phone pressed to his ear and his fingers curling around the cord anxiously.
He looked deeply troubled.

"What happened?" He was demanding, with a scowl.

Alice hovered in the door awkwardly, feeling decidedly anxious herself now.
There was something in the stern contours of his face, the rock-hard set of his shoulders, as he perceptibly tensed.
Then his eyes widened and his expression crumpled, betraying grief as well as agitation.

"Is he.....is he alright?" His voice cracked a little with emotion, causing Alice's heart to lurch.

He seemed almost oblivious to her presence. Too absorbed in the conversation that was undoubtedly shaking him.

"I need someone to come pick me up." He managed with great effort. Then whoever was on the other end of the line must have vexed him because his jaw hardened and when he spoke again there was venom dripping in his voice. "Don't you think I don't know that? I don't give a fuck! Send a car to meet me at Burnley station now!"

Alice flinched slightly due to the uncharacteristic raising of his voice.
Okay, something was seriously wrong.

Slamming the phone down, Arthur turned and saw Alice watching him. "Shit. Sorry Alice. I really have to go."

"What's wrong?" Crossing the room she hurried into his outstretched arms and hugged him back tightly. "What is it, Arthur?"

"Something bad happened." He said leadenly, as he rested his forehead against hers. "It...it's nothing for you to worry about though."

Alice pulled back so she could look up at him. "Nothing to worry about? Of course I'm going to worry. Please, just tell me what happened."

Undeterred, Arthur shook his head and reluctantly broke free from the embrace. "I can't right now, angel. I don't know the full story myself yet."

She sighed, watching him as he retrieved the trousers, T.shirt and hoodie he'd been wearing the evening before.

"Is there anything I can do?"

"No. There's nothing anyone can do. This is my fault. I should have been there and I wasn't."

"Been where, Arthur?"

Arthur hesitated, unsure of what to tell her.

King had strongly advised him against sharing such personal details with her, so Arthur had kept schtum so far about the plans the gang had made.
Perhaps if he hadn't then Alice would've made sure he was awake in time to get back to Amusement Mile.
They'd arranged to hit the bank at 11:00am, but now it was 12:45 and he had a bloodbath on his hands. Dead cops. Dead robbers. Even dead civilians.

"Arthur, what are you talking about?" She persisted, her small brow furrowing. "Where should you have been?"

"Gotham National Bank."

"W-what?"

He'd slipped on the T.shirt now, and without ceremony or warning he dropped his pyjama pants, treating her to a fine view of his snug-fitting boxers.
Needless to say she blushed deeply and tried to look at anything other than him. Which was silly of course. He was her boyfriend...sort of. So there was absolutely no need to act bashful like a young girl who'd never seen a guy in his underwear before.

"The bank." She managed, trying to stay focused. There was much more important things going on right now. "What, you mean you were going to....rob the bank?"

Pulling the trousers up his long legs, Arthur avoided her eyes as he fastened his zipper. "Yeah."

Feeling a bit winded, she perched on the edge of the couch, not knowing what to think or how to feel.
What did she expect? He was a criminal.
A criminal she cared for a lot.

"So what went wrong?"

He paused. How could he even begin to answer that? If Alice knew he was responsible for such carnage it was bound to change her opinion of him, and he couldn't risk losing what they had.
But what if she saw it on the news? Surely it would be better coming from him.
He ought to tell her what he did know, and to hell with King.

"I wasn't there like I was supposed to be which meant they were down a man, so Jack went in my place." He faltered, raking his fingers through his hair. "And he.....he got shot."

"He got shot? Oh my god, Arthur! Is he...is he okay?"

"I don't know." His throat clenched with emotion. "Things got out a hand. A few people got hurt."

He was trying hard to hold it together, but the strain was apparent on his face. In his eyes. His voice. His body language.

Without stopping to think, Alice rushed over to him again and flung her arms around him. She didn't know what else to do other than hold him, and the way he clung onto her in return suggested he was exceptionally grateful for the hug.

"What are you going to do?" She whispered.

Arthur's eyes stayed tightly shut as he stood holding onto her, burying his face in her hair. "I don't know. But I have to go. Even though I don't want to."

"Can I come with you?"

Taken aback, Arthur took a step back to survey her fully. "You? Oh, no I don't think so Alice."

"Why not? I want to be there for you."

"You can't. It's a mess. There could be trouble."

"All the more reason why I want to come with you." She pointed out.

"I'm not having you dragged into this, Alice. No way."

"So what, I'm going to have to stay here going out of my mind with worry?"

Arthur stopped midway through tying his shoe and stared up at her, temporarily blindsided by her words and the meaning behind them.
She really did care for him. It was a novel experience, but unfortunately it wasn't the right time to be dwelling on his emotions.

"Oh angel, please don't worry." Wrapping his arms around her once more he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "It'll be fine. But please, I need to handle this. You can't be there."

Feeling dejected she could see she had no other choice than to respect his wishes. He was only trying to look out for her after all, and she couldn't exactly play the girlfriend card. They hadn't been involved all that long.

"Fine." She grated, folding her arms. "If that's what you want. But what if the police catch you?"

"They won't." Pulling his hood up to hide his hair and partially cover his face, he flashed a self-assured grin. "Ten is going to pick me up from the station."

She smiled weakly. "You promise you'll call me and let me know you're okay?"

Lacing his little finger around hers, Arthur pulled her hand up to his mouth and kissed the back of it. "Pinky promise."

* * *

Thanks to a mob of his clown goons creating a diversion, Arthur was able to re-enter the gates to the fairground on Amusement Mile without too much ruckus.
A couple of squad cars had intended to stake the place out but weren't able to get close enough, thanks to the rowdy clowns erecting a make-shift barricade in the road and violently hurling bricks and other debris at the hapless police officers who dared to try and breach the boundary.

Once safely inside the large, rusted ornate gates, Arthur accompanied Ten through the Fun House and into his office, where he sat motionless at his desk, trying to digest the information he was being given.

Apparently a man, dressed in Joker's unmissable suit, had turned up at the bank late, wielding a gun.
At first everyone assumed it to be him. That was until he started shooting at random, senselessly killing and fatally wounding numerous people.
Chaos had ensued. The police had arrived, gang members had been thrown into panic, naturally unable to comprehend why their leader would turn on them, and the Joker imposter had escaped capture. The robbery had been abandoned, with the clown-masked gang members fleeing the scene.

All in all it was a bungled fucking mess.

"What I want to know.....is who took my suit." Arthur spoke at last with eerie calmness, like the calm before the impending storm. "Your decoy idea." He turned his accusatory gaze on King. "Where's the guy that wore my suit?"

"Falco's clean, it wasn't him." King insisted. "Your suit has been right there the whole fuckin' time." He indicated to Arthur's clothes which were on a hanger hooked over the door. "Ask Ace."

Arthur glanced at his suit before his steely gaze settled on the corrupt police woman. "Well?"

Ace nodded, her face grave. "He's right J. Nobody's touched your suit since Falco came back last night."

"So what are you telling me? That somebody out there has gotten hold of a suit just like mine?" He ground the words out, his patience being stretched beyond the limits of his endurance.

"I don't know. There's no other explanation for it."

Arthur's face contorted into a tight smile, his annoyance visible to all in the room. "An imposter in an identical suit? That's your theory?"

"Yes!" She snapped back defensively. "I've just told you there's no other explanation, but I will find out."

"Oh you will." Arthur growled, rising to his feet he leaned on his desk, glaring at her hard. "And if I find out you have anything to do with it you're going to be real fucking sorry!"

Shaken, Ace jumped to her feet too. "You're threatening me?"

"Oh it's not a threat, Ace. It's a promise!"

"I don't believe this. You honestly suspect me of double-crossing you?"

Arthur's top lip curled like a snarling dog. "You're a dirty cop, of course I suspect you. You could've tipped your buddies off down at the station." Straightening abruptly he made a sweeping gesture with his arm, addressing the rest of the group. "Until I get answers I'm going to suspect all of you!"

"Hey, take it easy man." Ten attempted to calm him, and was met with Arthur's hard, glacial stare, which was enough to make him fall silent.

None of them had ever seen this side to the usually amiable Joker before.
That is, not in person. They had however witnessed this level of anger from him when he'd appeared on the Murray Franklin show.
And they all knew how that had ended.

"Relax fella." King said coolly, placing a reassuring hand on Arthur's shoulder.

Arthur promptly shrugged it off and began to pace back and forth. "Relax? That's funny. How am I supposed to relax exactly when Jack's laid up in the hospital because of that asshole?"

"His condition is critical but stable." Ace piped up, hoping to alleviate some of his worries. "He won't go down for his involvement in the attempted robbery. The chief down at 75th precinct is always open to a bribe."

"And what if Jack dies? Then what?" Arthur spat. His limbs were buzzing with adrenaline, his heart beating like a tribal drum, creating a simultaneous, incessant pounding in his head. "Do we bride fucking Jesus, or the devil?"

Turning his back on them all he stared through the tilted blinds at the small window which afforded a view out over the port. Watching the rolling, murky waves he stood stoically, pausing for a moment of silent reflection.
If Jack died he would feel responsible. He already did feel responsible. Not just for his new friend and ally, but for the innocent bystanders who'd fallen victim to a crazed gunman who had stolen his identity.

A lone silent tear escaped his left eye, staining his cheek, which he roughly wiped away.

"That bastard is gonna pay." He remarked bitterly, turning back their way. "He isn't framing me for this shit."

Seemingly unfazed by Joker's capricious moods, King continued to puff on his cigar calmly. "Don't sweat it, one of our guys saw the car this creep hightailed it in, and fortunately for us he got the licence plate. Ace will get right on it when she goes on shift tonight. She'll run it through the system."

"There's no need." Ten interjected. "I've been hacking into the database, I've almost finished running the files."

Arthur stopped to look at Ten and gave him a nod of approval. "You let me know as soon as you find out who owns that car."

"I will do boss."

Pulling a cigarette from his pack with trembling hands, Arthur slipped it between his lips and lit it with his lighter. A long, tense pause ensued as he took a deep drag, inhaling the smoke before blowing the excess out through his nose.

"Give me a gun." He ordered.

Not daring to defy his command, Ace drew out her spare colt 38 revolver from the inside of her jacket and handed it to him warily. "It's fully loaded Mister J."

"Good. Thanks." He replied, having regained some composure. Inspecting it closely Arthur pulled back the trigger, as if making sure it met with his standards.

He knew little to nothing about firearms, other than how to shoot one and by some happy accident it had become increasingly apparent that he was a crack shot.

"I don't care who you have to bribe, torture or kill, I want this fake Joker found." He said to no one in particular, his focus solely on the gun.
It felt good in his hand. And it would feel even better putting it to good use on the imposter who had taken so many innocent lives.
"When you find him leave him to me. I'll put a fucking bullet in his skull myself and show everyone there's only one Joker."