- Arthur Fleck (Joker) x Reader -
Pronouns: None! It’s gender neutral ;)
Notes: Hello! This is not something I usually do, but since reading this request made by the incredible @ajokeformur-ray , I just couldn’t get this scenario out off my head! So of course, this IS a work directly inspired by her writing and that request in particular, so I recommend you to check it out first! Thank you so much for inspiring me and allowing me to post this, dear <3 Hope you all like it!
Warnings: Mentions of guns, criminal activity and hospital settings. Spoilers.
“Two police officers were injured in a confront inside the National Bank of Gotham City. The criminals took a large quantity of money to later on scatter it onto the streets on their way out.”
You were barely paying any attention to the TV, too concentrated on eating and balancing the plate on your lap as you sat uncomfortably on your couch; a bad habit you developed as your shifts at Arkham started getting longer and longer. There was not enough time in lunch break, so multitasking was the way to keep track of things happening around.
As you found a decent position, you took a bite of your food to then finally take a glimpse of the TV, and the sight of an armed man wearing a clown mask made you freeze, now completely paying attention to the news.
“All gang members were wearing clown masks to hide their ID, a now considered symbol of the rebel movement that emerged several months back when multiple protests took place around the city, sparked by a statement from the deceased politician Thomas Wayne.”
You watched closely as one masked man appeared to be putting money inside big cloth bags and two others guarded his back while holding guns.
The camera zoomed into one particular individual. Thin, medium length hair, red suit.. but still with a mask hiding his face.
He moved with elegance. Despite the situation, he seemed to be dancing around and thriving on the chaos.
“One of the burglars is suspected to be the missing criminal Arthur Fleck, famously known as Joker. The police department of Gotham City is investigating the possibility of TV star Murray Franklin’s murderer being involved in the crimes committed by this particular gang.
Three criminals were injured and are now under arrest, and the remaining five, including the yet to be confirmed Joker, are still to be found.”
You sat and watched the last few scenes from the report, now with a sudden anxiety bubble rising from your stomach… it had to be him.
Since you started working at the Arkham State Hospital, your life took a turn you could never expect. As a naturally empathetic person, you knew you would have to fight to maintain your mental health and sanity intact… working at an asylum would never be an easy job.
You just couldn’t predict you would get this affected by a patient.
Arthur was a unique case, a unique man. You had to admit that you had been wary before becoming his therapist… he did kill several men.
But as you got to know his case, read his files… your heart just broke. Arthur was the perfect example of what negligence and cruelty could do to a person, or make a person do.
You decided that, despite the circumstances, you would be kind to that man. Try to make him experience a little peace, maybe try to gain his trust and care for him. You wanted to befriend him. And without you even realizing, you had fallen… diving head first in the rabbit hole that was Arthur Fleck, crossing a point of no return.
As time passed by, you got closer and closer to Arthur. Brought him food, bought him quality cigarettes with your own money… tried to care for him as much as you could, especially knowing how the other hospital workers would treat him badly. He appreciated every single little thing, you could see it in his eyes…could feel him starting to open up to you more with each session. At the very first appointments he stayed silent, probably expecting another doctor to say some bullshit and just… not understand. But seeing your actual interest in him, Arthur started getting less shy, and with time, he even dared to get a little bold. Always respectful, but still making you blush at his attempts at flirting. It surprised you to know Arthur could be that sweet, and with each visit he managed to find another sweet spot of yours.
For some unknown reason, Arthur Fleck just captivated you. Maybe because he was gentle, polite, interesting to get to know… nothing related to that “freak” image people portrayed of him. They just didn’t care to get to know him… and that infuriated you.
Or maybe because he seemed to treasure you so much… no one had ever looked at you the way he did. And Arthur probably never had anyone looking at and caring for him the way you did.
The day Arthur escaped Arkham caught you (and everyone at the hospital) off guard. Several men wearing clown masks invaded the place, held some staff as hostages and broke into Arthur’s cell.
You had just arrived at work when it all happened. You rushed to Arthur’s aisle, only to have a gun pointed at you by one of his followers.
“The doctor’s with me!” You heard Arthur’s urgent voice from behind you, he touched your shoulder lightly as to make you turn to face him.
“Are you ok?” You couldn’t properly respond, your breath was taken away as you realized… he was so close. There had been times where you would take his handcuffs off during therapy sessions to provide him some comfort, but… nothing like this. You obviously trusted Arthur to behave in a controlled environment, and for your surprise, it didn’t make you feel afraid to have him standing free right in front of you. There was definitely mutual trust between you two.
He had a much calmer expression now seeing you were ok. The look in his eyes was soft, Arthur always looked at you like that… so you hugged him, something you wanted to do since the first time reading through his files.
He proceeded to explain that those men were the same ones that helped him the day he shot Murray… he really did manage to start a movement, huh?
“I’m not going to stop you, Arthur.” You didn’t want to do that, anyway. “But please… be careful, ok??” you said urgently. That moment finally made you realize how bad you cared for him, how bad you were going to miss him now that he’d be gone. Would you ever see each other again?
Arthur looked at you in the eyes for just a quick moment before he kissed you. He held the side of your face ever so gently, and stole a sweet delicate kiss that surprised you, but made you melt.
He then smiled at you, and proceeded to be rushed out of the hospital by his comrades, leaving you completely speechless. That was the last time you saw Arthur Fleck.
Every day you would look into the news, searching for something that might relate to Arthur… you were so afraid for him. Police officers would definitely not be as nice now that he had escaped once again… he could be shot, killed…
You couldn’t fathom that. For weeks you frantically searched for any signs of him, but found nothing.
Months got by and your mind started slowing down a bit, you could only hope he was ok and fine wherever he was.
You missed Arthur… so, so much.
The report from the news channel stayed on your mind throughout the whole day… you felt distracted, distant. Your mind going places you definitely did not want to go. Sometimes you felt like it was best to move on from Arthur, forget him so you wouldn’t suffer so much… but you couldn’t do it. Your heart ached for him, holding onto the hope you had of seeing him again.
When it was just about nighttime, you ultimately decided to take some time for yourself and try to calm your mind a little bit. You started preparing some tea, popped a Frank Sinatra vinyl onto the record player and proceeded to grab a book to read. You couldn’t help but think Arthur would have appreciated the music…
Concentrating to read was proven to be harder than anticipated, so you got up and stopped the music out of frustration. Maybe going upstairs to your room was a better ideia… it had started to rain, that would help you calm down.
Before you grabbed a cup of tea to take to your bedroom, you rushed to close a window you didn’t quite remember opening in the first place… thankfully it didn’t rain inside.
You spent what felt like an hour or so just looking outside of your bedroom window. Watched as the rain fell gently on top of the trees, making the branches full of leaves dance ominously… the movement was so calming combined with the warmth of your tea… you finally started to calm down, the sound of the rain leading you to a trance like state.
The sound of music caught you off guard. At first you thought you were imagining things, but then remembered about the record player downstairs…
“Isn’t it rich?
Are we a pair?
Me here at last on the ground,
You in mid-air…”
Your heart skipped a beat, suddenly feeling terrified. You weren’t the type of person to consider a ghost or anything like that… so there were only two valid options in your head: the vinyl started playing on it’s on somehow, or there was an intruder.
Grabbing the switchblade you kept on your desk, you put on a robe and gathered all the courage inside yourself to go downstairs. You took each step carefully to make as little sound as possible, holding your breath involuntarily as you felt your heart pounding heavy on your chest… ok, maybe you were a little bit afraid of ghosts, after all…
“But where are the clowns?
Send in the clowns.”
As you took the last few steps of the stairs, you managed to take a deep quiet breath and proceed to peek on your living room.
You couldn’t believe your eyes.
Arthur was beside the record player, rocking gently from side to side in tune with the music and with his eyes closed. He was wearing his Joker outfit, makeup and all… he looked beautiful.
“A-Arthur?” you managed to say, starting to tear up and letting your blade drop to the floor.
He opened his eyes and looked at you, letting out a small gasp as he whispered your name. Arthur had planned to visit you for the longest time now, but he knew the dangers and implications of that. He had to stay low for a while, even wore a mask (much against his will) in his last public appearance… but after all those months, he grew impatient. Nothing mattered anymore, only you. And oh, you looked breathtaking. Seeing you now so vulnerable, wearing only a silk robe made Arthur rediscover a passion he thought could never get stronger.
He managed to take just a few small steps before you ran to his embrace… you couldn’t help but cry a little bit, thank goodness he was alright.
“Oh, I was so worried!” you said, now looking Arthur in the eyes. He wiped some tears from your cheeks and held your face gently, taking in the sight of you. Finally… being reunited with him felt so right.
“I missed you, doctor…” he said teasingly, making you chuckle as he smiled fondly at you. Your heart burned with passion, overwhelmed with the happiness and relief that took over you.
You found yourself running your hands up the lapels of his blazer and lightly grabbing at them, and just couldn’t help but pull him into a kiss. A wave of emotions washed through you as he kissed you back slowly, being so gentle yet passionate.
You both spent the night chuckling at each other like two teenagers, dancing around your living room barely letting go of each other’s embrace, kissing and loving each other for hours on end.
You knew what you were getting yourself into. Arthur was definitely not a saint, you knew life with him could get dangerous for both really quickly… it was all really risky and crazy.
But oh, craziness beside Arthur Fleck felt so, so good. You knew deep in your heart it would all be worth it, no matter what.
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