RELAPSE - Arthur Fleck | Joker FANFIC/LOVE STORY

Chapter 27: The Slip

Days after the the incident in the subway, it was all over the news, on the front page of every newspaper, and on the tongues of every Gotham citizen. A man wearing a clown mask was seen running away from the subway where 3 employees of Thomas Wayne were murdered. Everyone was also suspecting that there was a kidnapping involved because the witnesses at the subway saw the man in the clown mask pulling another person along with him as he ran away. It was weird listening to all of the theories of who the murder was and why he did what he did, but I had all the answers and I couldn't say a word about it.

The thing that was most shocking about the situation was that the lower-class citizens were actually taking the murder's side - Arthur's side. They were basically considering the killer clown a hero. Someone to look up to. Someone to follow. Which was starting to affect Arthur's behavior. It wasn't anything drastic, but he definitely seemed a little more sure of himself. I assumed because he felt a little less alone in this big world now that people were obviously feeling the same way he did and they were rallying together to support his actions. He unknowingly started a movement the night he committed those murders, which was proving to be greatly affecting the course of Gotham. It was actually quite amazing when I really stopped and thought about it.

Sadly, all of this also caused Thomas Wayne to decide to run for mayor. Hearing this news filled me with rage. He acted like he was the hero that was going to swoop in and save Gotham. Fuck that. And to make it worse, Thomas Wayne appeared on a talk show one day and said the murderer - Arthur - was a coldblooded coward, but he didn't know that Johnny, Nicholas, and Andrew were attacking us before they were shot dead. No one knew that fact and how would they ever find out about it? They wouldn't. Not unless Arthur and I came forward about it. But we couldn't do that. If we did, both of us would be hauled off to Blackgate. Fuck Johnny, Nicholas, and Andrew. Fuck Thomas Wayne. Fuck everyone like them.

I laid on the bed, staring at the ceiling and thinking about these things when I suddenly heard Arthur call out for me. I got out of the bed and went into the livingroom where Arthur was. He was sitting on the couch, on the edge of his seat, with his eyes glued to the TV. I didn't even ask him what he wanted, I simply joined him in looking at the TV and was shocked to see that Arthur was on the screen. I saw the Pogo's sign behind him, so I knew it was from the night he performed at Pogo's. The show I regretfully missed.

"No I won't, Ma, I'm gonna be a comedian."

Arthur let out an excited laugh and shot a glance at me. I missed the first part of the joke, so I didn't get the punchline, but before I could say anything, Murray was back on the screen.

"You shoulda listened to your mother."

I saw Arthur's smile immediately dissapear from his face. Murray went on to ask for another clip to be played, only to make fun of Arthur again, before moving onto the main part of the show. I went over to the TV and switched it off.

My back was facing Arthur and I could hear him reach for something on the coffee table. The flick of his lighter revealed that he was lighting up a cigarette. I made my way over to the couch and sat down next to Arthur. He was now puffing on his cigarette furiously as he leaned against the back of the couch, running his hands through his hair, and nervously bouncing his legs up and down.

I placed one of my hands on his left knee, "Don't think about what Murray said, Arthur, he doesn't know what he's talking about."

Arthur took the cigarette out of his mouth and peered at me through the corners of his eyes, "How would you know? You weren't there either."