(Hello, Dear Readers, I'm back with more madness! With this quarantine going on, I was able to dedicate a little more time than usual to complete this chapter. We'll be seeing the return of a certain character, but one that the Mad House group won't be giving a warm welcome to. Also, has anyone had any guesses as to the identity of Amelia Rose's uncles? It's kind of a hint as to my next upcoming fanfiction.)
{Granted Requests}
Yami Mizuma – requested the honey badger
JanieLucindaLacraix – requested the chattering teeth
[Songs used and suggested for Chapter 28]
~ 'Get Out of London' by The Pretenders (I suggest listening to this when Katlyn starts screaming at the top of her lungs)
~ 'Red Dress' by MAGIC! (Yeah, I know this song wasn't around in 2013, but it's the perfect fit for the scenes when the Joker's dreaming)
~ 'These Boots Are Made For Walkin' by Nancy Sinatra (When Amber starts to leave her date)
~ 'Daydream Believer' by Davy Jones (the perfect intro to the next day; May 16th.)
~ 'Nobody But Me' by Michael Bublé (This song has been the top song I've had in my head for the Joker and Amber.)
~ 'Recovery' by Frank Turner
~ 'Cold, Cold Heart' by Troy Baker
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Is There A Doctor in the House?
May 15th, 2013
Wednesday Afternoon
Amelia Rose by no means considered herself a veteran of Arkham Asylum, but she'd seen things during the month and nine days that she'd been there. After all, she witnessed and took part in the exile of the dreadful ogre Lyle Bolton, and soon she would prove that the one who fooled everyone into thinking he was Edward Nigma was in fact Spring-heeled Jack! She just had to keep a close watch on him and pounce the moment he slipped up.
"She's still watching me, isn't she?" Nigma asked Katherine as they ate their lunch together in the cafeteria.
Katherine peeked over his shoulder at the maroon haired teenager boring holes into the back of Nigma's head from where she sat at the table behind him. Katherine went back to trying to unsuccessfully spear her jello. "Yep."
"And you're not at all concerned about this?" Nigma inquired suspiciously. Usually Katherine would be ready to fight any female caught looking at him for longer than three seconds.
"Nope," Katherine answered, violently stabbing her jello.
"You're not worried that she's secretly infatuated with me?"
Katherine kept her eyes on her food tray as she repeatedly jabbed her spork into the gelatinous circle that was quickly turning into mush. "No. I. Am. Not!"
"Okay – okay – Katherine, hey!" Nigma reached over and snatched up the spork, holding it out of reach if she tried to get it back. "You've murdered the jello, alright? Good job, it's dead. It's not coming back." Katherine pouted and angrily gulped down her water without looking at him. "What the bugger is wrong with you?" Nigma asked.
"What's wrong is that my therapist doesn't believe that you and I are a couple!"
Nigma gave a snort of laughter, thinking she was pulling his leg. "Oh, come now, kitten –"
"It's true! I had my session with her yesterday and I finally told her that you and I were a couple 'cause I thought that it would prove to her that I'm capable of having relationships other than the 'boss and minion' kind and she thinks I'm making it up!"
"Did she say those exact words?"
"No, but I can read between the lines. 'Oh, so Mr. Nigma must be giving you more attention now that your friendship with Katlyn is going through some changes.' Or how about, 'I'm sure that spending so much time with Mr. Nigma can seem like the two of you are dating.' Grrrr!"
Nigma's brows lifted. "She growled at you?"
"What? No. That was me."
"Oh, so you growled at her?"
"No! There was no growling! I'm growling now to express my frustration at the unfairness of it all!"
"It doesn't matter if she believes you or not, kitten."
Katherine placed her cheek against her palm as her elbow rest on the table. She didn't look convinced. "We are a couple, right?" she asked in a soft, uncertain tone that Nigma couldn't recall ever hearing her use.
He braced his own elbows on the table and lay his chin on his interlaced fingers. "Question: What is yours but you can't actually hold?" He waited a moment for her to respond. She gave a half-hearted shrug. "Answer: My heart."
Katherine's face broke out in a grin as she put a hand to her chest. "I think I just swooned." Her aquamarine eyes suddenly flicked away from him to something just at his right. "Back off, he's mine!" she snapped. Amelia Rose, having snuck closer to Nigma in the hopes of overhearing anything incriminating, yipped in surprise and skedaddled back to her own table to hide behind Crane.
Katherine met Nigma's gaze with a satisfied smirk. He gave one in return as he handed her spork back and said, "I do believe I saw that jello twitch a moment ago."
Katlyn had snuck away from the cafeteria and was tiptoeing along the corridors to the arts and craft therapy room. She'd woken up that morning with the urge to fill up mason jars with buttons to make her own maracas and she could no longer suppress it. She needed buttons. Lots and lots of buttons. But what she found as she turned the corner chased away all thoughts of her beloved buttons. She lurched back to avoid being seen and very carefully peered behind the wall's edge. There was no denying what she was seeing. The others had to be warned!
She quietly crept back the way she came until she was at the entrance to the wide hallway that was a straight shot to the cafeteria's double doors. She could even see them from where she stood. What she did next would have to be carried out in the most discreet manner possible.
"Hey, you ain't supposed to be out here," an orderly said, coming up from behind her.
Screw it.
"The British are coming! The British are coming! The British are coming!" Katlyn screeched at the top of her lungs as she ran all the way to the cafeteria, leaving a confused orderly in the dust.
Amber could hear Katlyn shouting long before she entered the cafeteria. Belatedly, she chastised herself for realizing the younger woman had left the cafeteria without her knowledge, but that was soon overtaken by her puzzlement over what Katlyn was yelling. "The British are coming! The British are coming!"
"What in the world…" Joan began, turning to face the doors along with Amber, Aaron Cash, Gatsby, and Dr. Gretchen Whistler.
"That would be one of mine. Excuse me." Amber rose from their table and made her way to the doors. She stood at the entrance, hands on her hips, and waited. Katlyn came to a screeching halt in front of Amber and went silent at the reproachful frown aimed at her. "Mmmmh-hmmm," Amber sounded disapprovingly.
Katlyn held an index finger up, "Hold that thought," and latched onto Amber's wrist, pulling her along as she ran to the group's tables. She let go the instant they reached it and all eyes were on Katlyn and Amber.
"Katlyn, what is the matter with –"
"The British are coming!" Katlyn announced to them all.
"You're about two hundred and thirty-eight years off," Nigma informed her with a wry smile.
"Katlyn, what do you mean?" Amber asked, exasperated.
Katlyn stood on tip-toe to grab hold of Amber's face and pointed at the doors they just left. "I mean, the British are coming!" And as if he'd timed it himself, Dr. Bernard Fitz strolled into the cafeteria.
"So, you're the new Head of Security?" Dr. Fitz confirmed as he and Cash shook hands. From over Fitz's shoulder, Joan was giving Cash a strained look that he couldn't figure out. When Fitz finished exchanging pleasantries with him and moved on to the next staff member, Joan grabbed hold of Cash's sleeve and hauled him towards the head of the table where Gatsby waited.
Joan didn't waste time or mince words. "Amber hates him."
Cash chuckled. "Amber couldn't hate anybody."
"She hated Bolton," Gatsby reminded him.
"For good reason," Cash acknowledged. "But Dr. Fitz don't seem bad –"
"Oh, but he really really is," Gatsby assured.
"Why would Amber hate him?"
"Dr. Leland," Fitz's accented voice called out. Joan and Gatsby stiffened like children caught in the act then pasted professional smiles on their faces. Dr. Fitz maneuvered his way to their group and shook Joan's hand. "It's good to see you again."
"Mmmh, yes," Joan answered vaguely.
"I've seen just about all of the staff I was familiar with from my time here, but I haven't come across Nurse Amber. Do you know where I can find her?"
"Erm," Joan sounded, glancing at the last place she'd seen Amber without even thinking about it. Dr. Fitz followed her gaze.
"Ah, there she is. If you don't mind, I'd like to tell her the good news myself." He nodded at them and set off towards Nurse Amber and her charges before Joan or Gatsby could voice a coherent protest.
"Oooooh, Amber is not gonna be happy," Joan muttered.
"I don't want to watch but I can't look away," Gatsby said, grabbing Joan's arm for support. Pretending to raise his voice, he stage-whispered, "Run, child – run!"
Amber thought about running. True it would have looked odd for her to run when it was obvious that they'd made eye contact and he was walking directly to her, but maybe she could get Caleb and Amy to distract him long enough for her to get away? She caught movement from the corner of her eye and glanced back to see the Joker halfway to his feet, eyes locked on the doctor. Not wanting things to get messy, Amber laid a hand on the Joker's shoulder – please stay put – and walked forward to meet Fitz. Anyone who was watching closely would have seen the Joker grit his teeth and reluctantly lower back into his seat.
"Dr. Fitz, what a surprise to see you back here," Amber said with a stiff smile.
"Yes, it is a nice surprise, isn't it?" Fitz grinned.
"I didn't say it was a nice one," Amber responded, her smile going flat. The Joker let out a bark of laughter.
Fitz cleared his throat to dispel the awkwardness and tried again. "I'm sure you're wondering why I'm back."
"I think we all are," Amber agreed, gesturing at her charges seated a little ways behind her. Unbeknownst to her, they were all leaning forward, obviously eavesdropping.
"Of course. Well, after presenting my report to the Board of Mental Health, they were very intrigued by your methods and interactions with your charges. They wanted me to take on another study that would have you as the primary focus."
"Oh joy," Amber said, holding back a whimper.
"But then that fiasco with Officer Bolton occurred and they changed their mind."
"Oh drat! Well, you win some – you lose some. Better luck next time." She turned to walk away.
"They approved my request to be transferred here permanently."
A collective gasp sounded from behind her. Amber halted in the act of lifting her foot. She slowly faced him again. "Beg your pardon?"
"Well, 'permanently' sounds too final, doesn't it? I suppose 'indefinitely' would be a more accurate word, but I digress. The Board has granted my request to transfer my employment here until I feel that my research has come to a satisfactory end. That could be years from now."
Amber said nothing.
"I've even got my own office in the building!" Fitz added excitedly, fishing a key out from his pocket for her to see. A piece of tape was wrapped around the keyring as a makeshift tag with the office number scrawled in black sharpie.
A polite smile was painfully frozen on Amber's face. "Mazel tov," she said, her voice strained.
"I better go. I want to have my office all set for tomorrow. See you around, darling."
Amber remained rooted to the spot several seconds after Dr. Fitz took his leave. She dragged her feet to the table. Nigma, noticing the dazed look on her face, vacated his seat and silently guided her to sit down. Amber let out a long sigh as she slumped over and buried her face in her folded arms. The Joker hopped into the seat across from her and mimicked her slouched position except he kept his face upright on top of his arms. He stared at the crown of her head for a moment, then lifted his eyes to meet Nigma's. The Prince of Puzzles gave a single, slow nod. The Joker returned his attention to Amber and lazily reached out to tug on a lock of brown hair that had escaped from her ponytail. "Hey," the Joker said.
"Mmmmng," Amber groaned, not moving.
The Joker gently tugged on her hair again. "Peeeacheees," he coaxed in a sign-song tone.
Amber huffed and raised her head to look at him. A sly grin spread along his mouth. "Wanna give Britt-ney a proper Arkham welcome?" Try as she might to keep a straight face, Amber couldn't resist giving the Joker a mischievous smile in return.
"Are you suuuure you don't want to know what's coming to Britt-ney?" the Joker asked from his cell, watching as Amber shouldered her messenger bag, black sweater draped over it. After all, she rarely gave in to looking the other way when it came to her charges causing mischief to other staff members. Of course, she'd given them some ground rules; none of the pranks could be maiming or fatal. So, while she was away on her break, the Rouges snuck into Dr. Fitz's office after he'd gone home for the day. No questions were asked when Amber returned to finish the rest of her shift.
Shaking her head at their appeals, but with a smile on her lips, Amber said, "No, guys, I have to go or I'll be late." She caught sight of her transparent reflection in the glass wall of the Joker's cell and made a face at the state of her ponytail. She pulled it down and began to reapply it.
"Where are you off to in such a hurry?" the Joker asked, flashing a grin as leaned against the glass so that he was in her view.
"I've got a date," Amber answered without thinking. The realization of what she'd done made her snap the hair tie. Crap.
"You've got a date!" Harley squealed excitedly, bouncing on her toes. Amber cleared her throat and concentrated on binding the broken ends of her hair tie together. "Is it with an employee here?" Harley asked, unable to see the look of unease on Amber's face due to her cell being at Amber's back. But the Joker had a front row view and he wasn't smiling when Amber glanced up from the hair tie. Their eyes locked. She turned away to face a very excited Harley. "Is it a security guard? An orderly?"
"Do you really think Nurse Amber would stoop to dating a security guard?" Crane asked condescendingly.
"I'm not a snob, Crane," Amber snapped, glaring at him coldly. It caught him off guard and he couldn't think of anything to say back. This was how their interactions went now. Ever since she'd discovered he was the one sending those letters as an experiment. It was the only time she'd ever struck any of them in anger. She kept her distance and spoke very little to him. He didn't want to admit that it was a bit disconcerting. This behavior was so unlike her based on his observations. Amber wasn't a cold person.
"Word of advice," Ivy spoke up. "Wear red. It's definitely your color."
The corner of Amber's mouth quirked upward. "Really?"
"Absolutely."
"Red makes any woman look hot," Dent interjected.
Jervis tsked disapprovingly. "Such crassness, Mr. Dent. You should say that the colour red makes all women look attractive."
"I say what I want, Tetch!"
"Wanna consult your coin about that?" Katherine taunted.
"Shut up!"
"Eddie! Harvey yelled at me!"
"That's enough!" Amber's raised voice warned, and they fell silent. "I'll be back tomorrow morning. Try to stay out of trouble 'til then."
"No promises," Dent called out.
The Joker had remained quiet since Amber's admission to going on a date. A variety of jokes had come to mind, but in that moment…none of them struck him as very funny. In fact, the idea of her going out on a date with a stranger wasn't funny at all. He nearly told Ivy to shove her advice where the sun don't shine when she encouraged Amber to wear red. Yeah, Amber looked good in red – more than good, actually – she looked downright delicious in that color. He knew that, but that didn't mean every male in Gotham needed to know too!
Flopping onto his bed, the Joker tried to distract himself with counting the number of banks he'd robbed, but every time he pictured them, Amber would walk through its doors in a swanky little red number that hugged her curves just right – oblivious to all the men's stares as she walked by. Giving up, the Joker put his linked hands behind his head and closed his eyes to try and catch a few winks before dinner. Within minutes, the Joker's chest rose and fell with the rhythm of a man in deep sleep. His dreams on the other hand…When given very little information to go on, the brain feels the need to supply the imagination in order to fill in the gaps.
He dreamed he was dressed in all his purple splendor as he entered the ritziest restaurant in Gotham and spotted Amber with her date. She was dressed to the nines in red – sweet beautiful chaos, she looked so good in red – with her hair falling in natural waves and bright crimson lipstick that made her mouth look so inviting. She looked like someone who would have been photographed with Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, and Marilyn Monroe. Despite constantly seeing her in scrubs and converse shoes, the Joker had Amber pegged as a classy, vintage-wearing dame. An old soul born in the wrong decade. Takes one to know one.
The guy he dreamed up as her date was pathetic; a pansy with his nose in the air and no idea how lucky he was to be sitting at the same table with a woman who could stand toe to toe with the Clown Prince of Crime. He was dressed in some ruffled monstrosity of a tuxedo that looked like it was straight from the 70's, complete with being a blinding shade of lime green. Nigma would be envious. Probably. Not really. He'd probably try to stab him in the eye if the Joker tried to make him wear such a thing.
"Perhaaaps," Mr. Pansy drawled in a nasally tone, "you should have reconsidered wearing such a color before going out with me?"
Amber's brow furrowed as she self-consciously looked down at her sweet-heart neckline. "What's wrong with red?"
"It completely clashes with my outfit!" Mr. Pansy whined, flapping a handkerchief about his face. "Honestly, woman! Everyone knows that red and lime green just aren't the thing!"
"Maybe you should have considered wearing something from this century then," Amber muttered under her breath.
"What was that?"
Amber feigned a smile. "Nothing."
"Then don't mutter. Muttering isn't the thing. Best to speak clearly and loudly."
"You certainly got that last part down," the Joker said as he came up behind Mr. Pansy and tipped his chair way back while keeping a firm grip on it. Mr. Pansy let out a yelp when he thought he was about to fall over. "And I'm not just talking about the outfit, pal." The yelp turned into a high-pitched scream when he saw whose face was hovering over him. "Hello there," the Joker greeted lowly with a devilish grin.
The great thing about dreams is that you don't question when someone runs in midair for several seconds like Shaggy and Scooby-Doo before taking off like the Road Runner. "Dessert?" the Joker asked, righting Mr. Pansy's chair and sliding into it with ease. Amber's answering smile was all he needed.
"Best behavior, Joker," she warned him.
"I'm not exactly the most well-mannered guy, peaches," he answered with a wink and a click of his tongue.
Amber's smile held a hint of mischief. "I know."
He was already at the coffee house, sitting at the plush sofa, eyes on the screen of his cellphone. Amber took a calming breath as she stared at him through the glass. Tall, dark, and handsome was a very apt summarization of him. Dark hair, dark eyes, with high cheekbones and skin that left her wondering if he was of Middle Eastern decent or possibly African American with a light complexion. Either way, he was very attractive. Like a movie star or a model.
She made a few adjustments to her maroon colored dress, her black fedora, and pushed the door open. "Anthony," she called. He looked up and beamed a megawatt smile.
"Wow, you look great," he remarked, standing when she was within arm's reach.
They'd run into each other several times at the bookstore. The first time they met, Amber was debating whether to spend money buying a book she'd been dying to read for months. Anthony, having witnessed the internal debate for almost two minutes, moseyed over and said, "Do you hear that?"
Amber was startled. "Hear what?"
"That voice. I think it's coming from – wait – wait…" He cupped a hand to his ear, head tilting closer. "Yes, I think it's coming from the book it's saying… 'Buuuuuy meee!'" Amber burst into giggles and they talked for a little while. He asked if she was single. She ended up not buying the book.
She came back after she got her paycheck and felt a tap on her shoulder as she waited in line. Anthony grinned at her and they chatted some more. He blatantly flirted with her and she blushed as she gave a few witty remarks of her own. After a few more run-ins at the bookstore, he asked for her number and she hesitated for a moment. She wasn't used to giving out her number to men she barely knew.
When it came to dating, she still felt like she was fifteen years old and wasn't allowed to date. Well, not exactly. Her parents weren't that strict. She'd agreed with them about not dating anyone until she was sixteen. There was nothing more awkward than the idea of sitting in the backseat of a car while her date and the lawfully required licensed passenger sat in the front. But it had been easy to agree with her parents then because it wasn't like boys were jumping at the chance to ask her out. Nothing changed after she turned sixteen either. Her first date occurred when she was eighteen. Only two dates with the same guy. The third happened when she was twenty-one. Then there was Fitz, but that didn't exactly count.
It had been so long since she'd been on a date, and not very many of them either, so she was understandably nervous. It also came as a surprise that someone so attractive was pursuing her. The lack of interest from men had slowly been chipping away at her confidence.
As far as conversations go, there was never an awkward moment of silence between Amber and Anthony. He was funny and liked that she was funny too. It wasn't until they were half-way through their food that he started asking a lot of questions about her being a Christian and at first, she thought he was genuinely curious about her faith…until….
"So…you're a virgin, right?"
Alarm bells began to go off in her head and Amber nearly let out a sign of exasperation. She should have known. She gave him a strained smile. "Yes."
A wolfish grin appeared. "So, you've never had an orgasm before?"
Amber felt her face flush with indignation and felt something inside of her snap. "You've got a lot of nerve, you know that?"
Anthony had the gall to look puzzled as she stood from the table, her food half-eaten on the plate before her. She snatched up her purse and angrily shoved on her fedora. Every. Single. Time. Every date. The second they caught a glimpse of her purity ring the conversation would turn to her virginity and the true intentions of the date would become known. Why couldn't a man want to date her for her?
Anthony hurried after her, asking her not to leave, they were having such a good time, what had he said that was so wrong, 'I'm a good guy', etcetera, etcetera. Amber paused just outside of the café's entrance to dig for her car keys and Anthony resumed his monologue. She finally located her keys and went to take a step forward when Anthony moved in front of her and placed his hands at her elbows. "Look, it's nothing to be embarrassed about if you haven't had an orgasm yet," he said consolingly.
"I know that," Amber said through clenched teeth. "But this date is over because that was a completely inappropriate question to ask me. Especially on a first date! Dude, I don't even know your middle name so what the heck makes you think it's alright to ask a question as personal as that!"
She shifted to walk around him, but he didn't move and kept his hands on her elbows. Not tightly, not firm enough to keep her in place, but he was using his body to block her from leaving. "Okay, but you're acting like I'm a terrible person and I don't want you to think that. If you'll give me a chance –," he then promptly tried to kiss her.
Amber leaned back, avoiding his lips. "No."
"I'm willing to bet you've never been kissed before, right?" He leaned in to try again and Amber put her hand up at his chest, pushing him back.
"Do you have a hearing problem?" she asked, glaring daggers. When she saw him readying to try for a third time, Amber plucked off her fedora and shoved it at his face. "Hard pass, Casanova."
Stepping back from her, Anthony eyed the hat as it was placed back on her head. "Oh, come on, how can you not trust this face. I mean," he gestured at his handsome features and flashed a perfect grin. "Look at this smile. How can you not trust this smile?"
Amber looked him dead in the eyes, gave him a close-lipped smile of her own and said in a voice that sounded far more friendly than she was feeling, "I've seen villains with far more trustworthy smiles than yours. In fact, I should take you to where I work at Arkham Asylum and have you and my charge, the Joker, compare smiles."
The color drained from Anthony's face. "You…you work at Arkham?"
Amber nodded, the false smile still in place. "Yep. Been working there for about two years now. The Joker didn't like me much at first, but now we're just the best of pals."
Anthony backed away and cleared his throat. "Well, um, I know you've got somewhere to be, so I won't keep you any longer. Good-bye." He dashed back into the café without so much as a backward glance.
Amber marched directly to her car, head held high, shoulders back. She slid into the driver's seat. Cranked the car. Stared blankly ahead for a moment. A sob escaped her and she slouched forward as the tears came. Her birthday was this upcoming Saturday. She had no celebration plans with her friends who were now leaving her calls and texts unanswered, and no second date to look forward to. There was no telling how long it would be before she was asked out again…if she was ever asked out again…
With a sniff, Amber straightened up, grabbed a few Kleenexes from the middle console, and dried her eyes and nose. "Not the end of the world," she muttered to herself. After a few more calming breaths, she put the car in drive and headed home.
May 16th, 2013
Thursday Morning
Dr. Fitz whistled a jaunty tune as he strolled the halls of Arkham Asylum, twirling the ring of keys on his finger. So much potential was to be had for the day. All the work he could accomplish here. His thoughts were far from reminiscing all the horrors that the Gotham Rogues had put him through during his previous stay at the asylum. If he'd taken a moment to recall them, he may have practiced a little more caution when entering his office. Unfortunately for him, this was not the case. He was doomed the moment he opened the door. The only warning he had was the sound of a hoarse, animalistic scream before a flash of black and grey-white fur shot right at him and knocked him on his back.
Out of instinct, Fitz lifted his briefcase to cover his head and was grateful he'd listened when claws began to shred at the case, no doubt trying to go for his eyes. His nose was assaulted by an overpowering stench and all the while, that horrible, hoarse cry continued. "Help!" Fitz cried out, using his shoulders and legs to wiggle and push him along the floor. The creature would not be deterred and followed.
By now, the noise had attracted the attention of some orderlies down the hall. They rounded the corner and were a bit shocked at the scene. "Dude," one of them, his name badge read 'Patrick', began, "What are the chances that the honey badger that was stolen from the Gotham City Zoo yesterday is the same one attacking this guy?"
His buddy rolled his eyes at him and was about to dart forward when the third orderly grabbed him by the arm and hauled him back. "Sean! Dude, that's a honey badger!"
"Yes, Keith, we've established that," Sean said with exasperation.
"You don't mess with honey badgers! Ain't you ever seen that Youtube video? 'Honey badger don't care!' That thing could eat your face! It freakin' castrates its larger pray and waits until its weak from blood loss to go for the kill!"
Fitz jerked his head around. "It does what to larger pray?!"
Patrick suddenly began to whoop and holler. "Hey, badger! Hey!"
"What are you doing?" Sean yelped.
"Well, we gotta get it away from him so it doesn't castrate the guy. Hey, honey badger! Hufflepuffs suck!"
The honey badger's head whipped around with a snarl.
"Oh crap…"
With a hoarse growl, the animal turned away from Fitz and began to give chase to the screaming orderlies, its' stocky legs giving it far more speed than they assumed.
When Amber arrived for work later that afternoon, the hot topic of the day was the honey badger that had somehow gotten locked inside of Dr. Fitz's office. It also happened to be the same honey badger that had gone missing from the Gotham City Zoo less than twenty-four hours ago. Amber feigned surprise and confusion among the other orderlies as she stored her things in her locker. The moment she and Joan were left alone though….
Amber closed her locker and asked, "Where is he? The cafeteria?"
"He got an early lunch cause he's meeting with his new psychiatrist in about twenty minutes, so he's in his cell."
"He's gonna be glad there's a wall of glass between us," she said, marching past her friend to the door. Joan finally allowed herself an amused smile. The younger woman had come so far. The Amber Johnson that had arrived in Arkham nearly two years ago wouldn't be on her way to give Gotham's famous Rogues a stern tongue lashing.
"Gooood afternoon, peaches," the Joker greeted in a lilting tone as he pushed himself off his bed and approached the glass of his cell. Amber stood with her hands on her hips – a smirk twitched at his lips in memory of what those hips could do in his dreams the other night – and a glare on her face. "What's with the frown, sweetheart?"
"I specifically told you that the prank couldn't be something that would seriously maim or kill him," she hissed.
"And it wasn't. I'm a man of my word, remember?"
"Dude! You sicced a honey badger on him!"
"Yeah, aaan-duh?"
"Honey badgers are dangerous!"
The Joker scoffed as he lazily leaned against the glass. "Please. What could a honey badger do? I mean, they must not be too dangerous if they're considered the lowest House in Hogwarts, right?"
Amber stiffened. "Honey badgers are fearsome creatures that can go up against lions, for your information! They can crack a tortoise's shell with their teeth! And have skin so tough that they're practically indestructible! You don't. Mess. With. Honey Badgers."
A slow, knowing smile passed over the Joker's face as he observed Amber's reddening complexion and the steely glint in her eyes. "You're a Hufflepuff, aren't you?"
Amber stomped her foot. "That's not the point!"
"Aaaaw, wittle Amber's a witty bitty Hufflepuff," the Joker teased.
Amber glared. "I swear, Joker, if Fitz was injured –"
"Relax, peaches, Fitzy's fine…The orderlies who got the badger to chase after them on the other hand…"
Amber groaned.
"Hey, they're getting paid leave," the Joker assured her.
Pinching the bridge of her nose, Amber released a resigned sigh. "I know I said I wanted to be kept in the dark, but in light of the situation, I feel like I had better ask. Are there any other pranks waiting in the wings for Dr. Fitz?"
"Just a little one."
"I've quickly come to realize that our definitions of things don't quite match up."
"It's just a chattering teeth toy."
Amber released the breath she'd been holding and gave a relieved smile. "Oh, well, on that we can agree about it being a small thing." She was about to walk away but paused in mid-step, swinging around to narrow her eyes at him. "What else does it do?"
The Joker feigned offence. "I'm sure I don't know what you mean."
"What else. Does it. Do."
The Joker looked up and down the hall, as best as he could being confined to his cell, then motioned for Amber to come closer. She did so. The Joker licked his lips then lowered his voice. "…Has anyone ever told you that your eyes get really green when you're mad?"
"Oh, for cryin' out loud!"
The Joker giggled and leaned on the glass as he watched Amber pace the length of his cell. "I can assure you, sweetheart, this little toy of mine won't kill him. You'll have to settle for that."
"It's too early in my shift to deal with your shenanigans, Joker," Amber mumbled.
"You love my shenanigans, peaches. It keeps you on your toes."
"I'm an orderly, not a friggin' ballerina!"
"How was your date?"
The sudden change in topic threw her off guard. "What?"
"Your date. How was it?"
Amber observed his body language; very still. His face; impassive. "It happened," she answered carefully.
The Joker scoffed and gave a smile, "C'mon, Amber. Did he sweep you off your feet? Was he charming?"
"It's really none of your business, mister." She turned to go. "I'll have some guards pick you up so you can join the rest of us in art therapy."
As he watched her leave, the Joker's smile became strained. His hand squeezed into a tight fist. "…What happened, peaches?"
Amber's charges were just finishing up their lunch when she collected them from the cafeteria. Gatsby already had the art room set up for the group's therapy session. Twelve stools with easels and canvases in front of them were arranged in a circle in the middle of the room. Joan was scheduled to supervise and take note of the results.
"Today, I would like for you to focus on what makes you feel calm? What soothes you? When you've got the answer, put it on the canvas before you – Katherine, what – what are you doing?"
Katherine paused in the middle of pulling Nigma off of his stool. "You said to put whatever soothes us on the canvas."
Gatsby ran a hand over his face. "I meant artistically. Paint it, sketch it, use watercolors, charcoal, etcetera, etcetera."
"Oooooh. Well that makes more sense."
Some of the group began working on their canvas right away, while others took a few minutes to think it over. As Gatsby continued talking, explaining the usefulness behind the activity, Joan sidled closer to Amber and whispered under her breath, "So, how'd the date go last night?" Unnoticed by them, Harley – who was seated closest to them – perked her ears.
"It wassss…" Amber trailed off, unable to sum it up in a simple phrase.
"I need details, hon."
"It started out fine. But then, eventually, the real purpose of him asking me out was discovered. I swear, it's like men think it the greatest accomplishment in the world to get in bed with a virgin on the first date."
Joan's mouth dropped open ever so slightly. "No," she gasped lowly.
"Yep."
"That cocky douche-bag."
"Oh, you have no idea. The guy tried to kiss me three times even though I told him no, over and over. I had to shove my fedora in his face. And then, get this, he asks me, 'How can you not trust this smile?'"
Joan pretended to gag. "What did you say?"
Amber's answering grin held a hint of pride. "I told him, 'I've seen villains with more trustworthy smiles.' Might have dropped a few names to give him an idea of the competition. He took the hint and ran."
Joan fought to muffle a snort of laughter and ended up holding her clipboard over her face.
"Miss Rose, may I ask what you're depicting on your canvas?"
Amelia looked back and forth between Gatsby and the dark brown specks that littered her canvas. "You mean you can't tell?" she asked as if it were obvious.
Gatsby angled his head every which way but still came up with zilch. "Uuuuuuuumm…"
"It's sunflower seeds," Crane informed him.
"…Sunflower seeds," Gatsby repeated dubiously, then saw the triumphant look on Amelia's face. "Sunflower seeds?" he questioned, surprised.
"Yep!"
"Well…to each their own, I guess." Gatsby went round the circle, looking at each canvas in turn. "Dent, that's fantastic – really fantastic – how you've managed to capture the metallic glint of your coin with watercolors!... Ivy, that greenhouse looks like it's thriving indeed, indeed…Jervis, that's a lovely pattern you're drawing on the tea set!...Katlyn, such a fluffy, fluffy bunny…Tommy, that beanie and scarf looks absolutely cozy!... Edward….are you going to cover that entire canvas with riddles?"
"I do what I want!"
"Fair enough, fair enough. …Harley, are those hyenas?"
Harley gave the sketch a fond smile. "My wittle babies."
"Caleb, what exactly is happening here?"
"Caleb is standing in the shower and letting the water wash all his fears and anxieties away."
Gatsby, Amber, Joan and the rest of the group all blinked in surprise. "Caleb, I believe that's the most any of us have heard you say."
"Caleb like water. Pretty water."
"Aaaaand it's gone."
"Good evening ladies and gentlemen!"
"And there goes our peaceful session," Gatsby sighed with regret.
"Did you miss me?" the Joker asked as he was escorted by three burly orderlies to his own stool and easel.
"If we say 'no', would you leave?" Nigma asked sardonically.
"I know you're only masking your true feelings, Eddie. It's okay. I won't hold it against you."
"Mr. Joker, we're depicting something that calms us. Whatever soothes you."
The Joker gave a sardonic, close-lipped smile. "You wouldn't like mine, Gassy."
"Oh, I'm sure it's not so bad –,"
"Fire, murder, blood spilling –,"
"How about something less violent," Gatsby hurried to suggest.
"Weeeeell…" The Joker's dark eyes rolled up to the ceiling in thought. "Hm." His eyes began to lower and happened to catch sight of Amber and Joan, watching in curiosity. His gaze lingered before moving back to Gatsby. "I guess I could come up with something."
"Excellent; really, really excellent!"
"Psst! Mistah Jay," Harley sounded near his right elbow. "Don't make it obvious I'm talkin' to ya. Act natural," she advised in a loud whisper. The Joker grumbled as he took up his paintbrush and began mixing colors. "I just got the deets about Amber's date last night."
Okay, now he was interested. "Oooh, do tell."
And she did. In true Harley fashion, with a lot of embellishments and her own suppositions to fill in the blanks, but the Joker was able to pick up the most important bits. Some Casanova douche had tried to kiss his nurse three times despite being told no each time. He felt his paint brush snap in his hand. That just wasn't funny.
"So, tomorrow's Visitation Day," Amber reminded her charges as they enjoyed a rare afternoon of sunshine outside of the asylum. She tilted her face up, eyes closed, basking in the warmth from the sun. "Anybody expecting a visitor?"
"My motha," Harley said, rolling her eyes. "Probably gonna tell me how I shoulda taken that gymnastics scholarship instead of pursuin' psychiatry."
"My uncles," Amelia piped up.
Amber's eyes opened. "Oh good, I've been wanting to meet them and…have a talk."
"One of my uncle's have been wanting to meet you too."
"Oh really?"
"Yep. He's usually really busy running Hell and all that but figured Visitation Day would be the best time to talk to you."
"Well it's nice that he's making the effort to – wait, what about Hell?"
"Pudding!"
"Where did you get that from!?"
As Amber attempted to wrestle the pudding cup from Amelia, Katherine closely observed the Joker from behind a tree trunk. She'd seen him eyeing Nurse Amber when she'd been enjoying the sunshine. But there was some tension in his body language.
He'd been a bit off since – well, a bit more off than the norm – since art therapy. When Dr. Leland had gone around the circle to take pictures of their art for documentation, she'd appeared a bit distressed at the Joker's work. "Is there a problem, doc?" he'd asked, his tone holding an edge to it. Even Harley, sneaking a peak for herself, had gone a bit subdued and thin lipped. Since Katherine was situated across from the Joker, she wasn't able to get a glimpse until Nurse Amber lead them in single file out of the room. Katherine dashed over to the Joker's easel. At first, all she saw was the color red and some vague shapes done in varying shades of the color and a splotch of brown and slashes of peach. But as she looked at it a little more closely, she began to make out the shape of a woman in a very flowy, red dress, with wavy brown hair. The slashes of peach were her limbs. She looked like she was about to dance.
"What are you doing, kitten?"
"Sassafras!" Katherine yelped, whirling around to find Nigma standing behind her. She clutched at her heart. "Eddie, I love you, but jeez, man! Make some noise next time!"
"I did. I believe I said, 'What are you doing, kitten?'" He quirked an eyebrow. "And I pose the question again."
"I'm watching the Joker continue to be in denial of his feelings about Nurse Amber."
The Riddler groaned as he leaned on the tree next to Katherine. "Not this again."
"I told you what I saw in that painting," she hissed.
"It could have been any brunette in a red dress."
"Eddie, for a genius you can be such a dumb-dumb. And I say that in love."
"I am brilliant!" Nigma insisted.
"In everything but relationships. But that's okay, because that's a common handicap all men share."
"Ssssh!" Katherine sounded, suddenly covering Nigma's mouth with her hand. A feat he found a bit impressive due to the fact that she never once looked away from the object of her spying. "The Joker approaches his lady-love!"
"Hey, Ambs. Got a second?"
Amber's brow furrowed with uncertainty. "Um…" Glancing at her charges to be sure she knew each of their locations and finding nothing amiss, she looked back at the Joker and gave a hesitant nod. "Sure." She scooted over on the bench to make room. The Joker sat and angled himself towards her, a rather gray expression on his face. "Why so serious?" she asked, unable to help herself. The Joker pulled a perfectly executed, sardonic lift of his eyebrow while remaining straight-faced. Amber couldn't stop the smile from spreading but managed to subdue her laughter. "What's up?"
"I've been hearing a rumooor about something that happened on your date."
Amber's smile dimmed. "…Oh?"
"That some putz tried to kiss you after you told him 'no'…more than once."
She avoided his gaze, looking out at her charges enjoying their free time outside. "That's a personal matter, Joker."
"So it's true?"
"…I can't talk to you about that."
"Did he hurt you?"
Amber was a bit startled at the sharp edge of his tone and made the mistake of meeting his eyes. The intensity she found there nearly made her gasp. She masked it by drawing in a deep breath through her nose and looking away. If she remained silent and let him think the worst, she had no doubt the Joker would track Anthony down and kill him out of whatever twisted sense of favoritism the Joker had for her.
"He didn't hurt me," she assured him. "He just wasn't a gentleman is all."
The Joker leaned back and also turned his eyes outward to the others. He tongued the scar tissue inside his cheeks while mulling over her words. "Average Joes like him don't deserve classy dames like you."
Amber felt her breath hitch as her eyes stung with the threat of tears. He couldn't possibly know how badly she'd needed to hear that. And from him of all people! She took a calming breath, waited for the threat of tears to subside, then chanced to look at him. This time he was the one not meeting her gaze. "Coming from the Clown Prince of Crime, I'll take that as a high compliment…Thanks."
The Joker gave a single nod then stood from the bench and began to walk away. "Oh Pammy! Are you talking to the flowers again? Don't you know people might think you're crazy?"
Amber sighed and shook her head. Another day at the asylum.
May 17th, 2013
Friday
Dr. Fitz carefully opened the door to his office, an umbrella shoved through the slowly widening crack and waving it about for good measure. When nothing attacked him, he waited til the count of ten to be certain then stepped inside. He observed the space for any hints of mischief or malice awaiting him. He detected nothing. Cautiously he removed his overcoat and hung it on the coatrack. Sitting in his chair, he booted his laptop and set about organizing his desk for the day's work. Opening the drawer to his right for his favorite pen – he didn't keep it in the pencil holder on his desk for fear that someone might borrow it and never return it – he let out a yip of surprise and jerked back his hand when he saw a chattering teeth toy chattering away in the drawer.
Letting out a sigh of relief that swiftly turned to anger, Fitz glared at the toy. "We'll have no more of that." He snatched up the mechanical gadget, intending to toss it in the trash, and felt a peculiar sense of Deja vu come over him. He should have known it wouldn't be that simple. The toy, unable to continue chattering due to Fitz's tight grip over its' teeth, was forced to switch over to its' second setting. It gave a recorded maniacal laugh and released several shock waves of electricity. Fitz tried to drop the toy, but the teeth suddenly clamped down on his finger and continued to shock him. They weren't deadly bolts of electricity but imagine the biggest jolt from static electricity you've ever had, and you can understand the discomfort. Fitz yelped and howled all the way to the medical ward.
"He's the Hook Man, I tell you! The Hook Man!" Amelia Rose loudly insisted, pulling against Amber's hold on her arm.
Amber sighed and exchanged a tired glance with Aaron Cash. "Ya mind giving us a minute?" she asked. Aaron held up his hand and hook in a, 'no problem' gesture and walked a few feet away. "Amelia," Amber began with a stern tone. "That's not the Hook Man; that's Aaron Cash, the new Head of Arkham Security. He came to help me transfer the patients with visitors from the rec room to the visitor's area while I stay here with my charges who don't have visitors."
"I'm not going anywhere with the Hook Man! My uncles fought him before and I'm not about to face him without backup! Nope! Nope! Nope!"
Fought him before? "Just who are your uncles anyway, Amelia Rose," Amber asked with exasperation. She'd tried so many times to get an answer from the girl, but never any clear response was given.
"They're hunters…Sort of. Not all of them are. Two of them are – two of them aren't. Well, I mean, he tried to give the hunting thing a shot, but he's not exactly cut out for it –,"
"How many uncles do you have?"
"Four."
"Are they from both sides of your family?"
"Oh, they're not blood related, but Bobby once said that 'family don't end in blood' and I agree with – oh, wait, Bobby's kind of an uncle to me too – so strike what I said earlier, I have five uncles – had five. Bobby died."
Amber blinked multiple times from the vomit of information that came from Amelia. It sounded a lot like…no. No way. Not real. Amelia probably thought it was real though. She really needed to have a talk with her uncle – whichever one it was – when he arrived.
"Nurse Amber!"
She flinched at the sound of her name being shouted with such an aggressive tone and whirled around to find Dr. Fitz marching towards her. It looked like his right hand was bandaged up. "Oh boy, here we go…" She motioned for Cash to come over then addressed Amelia. "Look, Amelia, I can vouch for Aaron. He's not the Hook Man. You've got to go with him and the other orderlies if you want to see your uncle, okay? I'll meet up with you as soon as I'm able." Amelia gave Cash a very suspicious stare but complied and joined the group leaving for the visitor's area. Taking a deep breath, Amber turned to face Fitz.
"Ya think he found yer chattah teeth, Mistah Jay?"
The Joker grinned as he watched Britt-ney wave his hands about and rant about teeth and electrocution. "Yeah, I'm positive he did." Amber snuck a few side-glances at the Joker to let him know she knew it was him. But she wouldn't say anything to Fitzy. Oh no. He knew she wouldn't.
"Fill me in later?" Harley asked as she stood from the sofa. Cash was gesturing at her impatiently to follow the other patients.
"Sure, pumpkin," the Joker agreed, distractedly, his eyes never leaving the scene before him. Harley gave him a quick peck on the cheek and skipped away. As soon as she was gone, he rubbed at the place she'd kissed to smooth his face paint.
"I know it was him," Fitzy was saying to Amber.
"What proof do you have?"
"The toy laughed at me."
"Aaand?"
"Well who else laughs around here?"
"I'm about to if that's all the evidence you think is needed."
Fitz pursed his lips. "Nurse Amber, I find it rather irksome that you're not more concerned over the fact that one of your charges is able to leave his cell and sneak into my office to terrorize me with painful 'pranks' as you call them."
"Until I'm given sufficient evidence that points at one of my charges, I feel no need to be distressed over it."
Atta girl, thought the Joker with a slight upward twitch of his lips. The sofa dipped next to him as Katherine plopped down to watch also.
"He's going to ask her out," she said.
The Joker's face screwed up in distaste. "He wouldn't dare."
"I'm sorry, are we talking about the same narcissistic douche bag?"
The Joker thought about it. Maybe the squirt was right?
"And ya wanna know something else? I think she might take him up on it."
Now that was unlikely. "Hell would freeze over before she went on another date with him," he told her.
"I don't knooow," Katherine sing-songed. "I've heard from Harley how Nurse Amber's last date went. And Ivy overheard Dr. Leland and Nurse Amber talking about it some more. Apparently, Amber's feeling reaaally lonely lately. Most of her friends have ditched her cause she's working here a lot and we're her charges."
The Joker's eyes still didn't look away from Fitz and Amber, but Katherine detected a small twitch of his jaw muscle.
"Anyway…When gals get lonely, sometimes they accept dates that they otherwise would have said no to because, well, let's face it – self-confidence is so fragile. Dr. Ditz pays attention to her and when he's not too busy praising himself he gives her compliments." Katherine shrugged. "It's not too implausible that she might date him again." She watched carefully for any tell-tale body language. The tightening of the Joker's grip on the sofa's backrest told her plenty. "Welp, I'm gonna go help Eddie with that 50,000-piece puzzle. You brood in peace."
As she sat at the table, Nigma – hunched over the puzzle pieces – asked, "And what mischief were you stirring up over there, pray tell?"
"I think your verbiage is rubbing off on me," Katherine commented, picking up two edge pieces and looking for their matches. "I was rather smart sounding just a moment ago."
Nigma's gaze lifted to her. "What did you say to the Joker?"
She waved away his concern. "Oh relaaax, babe. I was just telling him what a cute couple Dr. Fitz and Amber would make."
The puzzle piece in Nigma's hand seemed to fly into the air as if it were a tightly coiled spring. "But I thought you were shipping her with the Joker?"
"I am! It's all part of the grand scheme, My Master Plan, if you will."
"Your Master Plan?"
"The Joker is being – as per usual – dim-wittingly slow. He is the type of guy who is too stupid to realize his own feelings, so I'm gonna hit him over the head with a hammer."
"Dear God, no! He'll kill you!"
"Not a real hammer! A figurative hammer!..."
"Why are you so quiet?"
"Ssssh. I'm basking in the moment of your concern about me."
"…Could you please explain? What figurative hammer are you going to hit him with?"
"Right – right! The plan!" She heaved an epic sigh before continuing. "You've heard the expression, 'he didn't know what a good thing he had until it was taken away'?"
"Of course."
"Well, I'm taking it away."
"What 'it'?"
"Amber!" Katherine covered her mouth and ducked; afraid she'd called Nurse Amber's attention to her. She was relieved to find the young woman was still in a heated debate with Dr. Fitz. "So, the Joker is in the First Stage, which is Denial. We need to move him to Stage Two. Which is…?" She looked at Nigma encouragingly.
"…Confusion?" Cause that's exactly what he felt at the moment.
"Wrong! But nice try. No, it is Anger! Anger at that which he loves being taken away! Only then, can we move to Stage Three: Bargaining."
"Bargaining? What exactly does that entail?"
"Bargaining with Amber to leave the idiot, of course! That brings us to Stage Four –,"
"Depression?"
"You're getting it!"
"No, I just recognize the Five Stages of Grief. Is that seriously what you're basing this on!?"
"…No, that's too depressing. That's not what we're calling this."
"But that's what –,"
On to Stage Four! Depression! Shall strike when she remains with the idiot. Which will reduce the Joker to be a shell of a man and I will finally have a front-row seat to witness him wallowing in misery."
"Katherine, kitten; you do realize you can't have both, right? You can't have him happy with Amber and miserable."
"No! I will have the best of both worlds! I will witness the Joker reduced to a shell of a man sitting in the corner of his cell wallowing in misery, listening to cheesy 80's breakup music, and when the depression is at its' worst, only then will he finally be able to realize his own feelings and thereby we reach Stage Five…Acceptance."
"Acceptance?"
"A man cannot pursue a woman until he accepts his own feelings, Eddie," Katherine replied snappishly. Nigma put his hands up in a 'my bad' gesture.
"Look, I don't want there to be ill humor between the two of us," Fitz sighed.
"It's a bit late for that, Bernard."
"Well, seeing as how I'm to be working here for the unforeseeable future and your methods the main focus of my studies; what say we bury the hatchet and have dinner together tomorrow night?"
Amber's brows rose. "Are you serious?"
"Took the words right out of my mouth!" the Joker said from his spot on the sofa. Amber tossed an 'excuse me – rude' glare at him and faced Fitz again.
"What makes you think I would ever accept another date with you, you condescending jerk?"
Fitz's eyes widened. "Now hold on –,"
"No! I will not hold on. I am sick and tired of douche bags like you thinking they have a right to date me and ask me inappropriate questions and try to get me in bed after the first date! I have had it! And trust me, Fitz; the last thing I want to do to celebrate my birthday tomorrow is by going out with you!"
Amber turned on her heel and stormed out of the room. She didn't see the Joker leap to his feet and raise his fist in the air animatedly. "That's my girl," he enthusiastically whispered. Noticing some questioning looks, he immediately plopped down onto the sofa and busied himself with pretending to watch TV, but the grin on his face stretched from ear to ear.
"Nurse Amber! You just missed my uncles!"
"What? Aw, man." Amber hurried to the window in the hopes of catching a glimpse of them – despite the fact she had no idea what they looked like. Her attention was grabbed by four men walking towards a black 1967 …. No way. Amber took in the backs of the men. One wore a trench coat, one was a bit stocky and wore a black suit, the other two were in flannel. One of them had fabulous hair.
"Um…Amelia…are any of your uncles cosplayers by any chance?"
"What's a cosplayer?"
"…I was afraid you'd say that…and what do they do again?"
"Savings people, hunting things, the family business."
It's only a TV show, it's only a TV show, it's only a TV show.
"Oh, Uncle Crowley left his card for you!" Amelia recalled happily and handed Amber a card. On it, in a sophisticated font, were the words;
Crowley
King of Hell
666
Amber gulped. "I need a vacation."
"Nurse Amber," called a British accent.
"No deals!" Amber yelped, whirling around. She felt the smallest bit of relief to see it was only Fitz.
"Listen, I can't just leave that conversation the way it was –,"
"Try," Amber insisted and walked around him to collect Amelia Rose. "Let's go join the others." But Amelia Rose wouldn't move. Her gaze was locked on Dr. Fitz.
"Uuh, Nurse Amber, I'm gonna need some salt, holy water, and a book of exorcisms."
"Why?"
Amelia lowered her voice as she stepped behind Amber and pointed at Fitz. "He's got demons."
Fitz put a hand on his chest, affronted.
"Why do you think he's got demons?"
"Cuz he's British."
"Just because he's British –,"
"Cristo!" Amelia suddenly shouted.
Fitz jumped back in alarm. "What is this small being talking about?"
Jumping up and down and pointing, Amelia exclaimed, "He flinched! Did you see that!? He flinched!" She pulled a squirt bottle from behind her back and leapt forward, spritzing him with water and chanting in what Amber recognized as Latin.
"Amelia, no!" Amber hurried and dragged the girl away from Fitz, apologizing to him. Amelia protested the whole time.
"Nurse Amber, you don't understand! He's evil!"
"I know – I mean –!"
"Cristo! See! You didn't flinch! He did! Call my Uncle Crowley! Tell him one of his minions have gone rogue!"
"What is she going on about?" Fitz demanded to know.
"Uh, I have no idea." But oooh yes she did. She had a fairly good idea what delusion Amelia suffered from now. Or did she? Amber had just seen four men matching the look of the four main characters of the popular TV show. Maybe the whole family was crazy and believed it all to be real?
"Amelia, let's go. Now." Amber had to drag the girl away, all the while listening to her hiss and the sound of the squirt bottle being squeezed.
"I need a month-long vacation starting tomorrow. Which will be perfect cause it's my birthday."
Dr. Gretchen Whistler chuckled good humoredly as she continued to jot notes in Amelia Rose's file. "And you're certain about this television show?"
"Let's just say I'm certain that the show plays a big part in Amelia's life and leave it at that."
"Very well," Gretchen agreed and finished with her writing. "Thank you for the information. I am not very knowledgeable about pop culture these days. I wouldn't have thought to look up any similarities to a TV show. Do you mind if I keep the card?" Gretchen asked, holding it up.
"Mmmh. I should probably keep it. Amelia seemed to imply her 'Uncle Crowley' really wanted me to have it. So…" Amber shrugged and took the card from Gretchen's outstretched hand.
"Maybe we can finally make some progress know that I know where to start. You said it's on Netflix?"
"Yep."
"Well, I guess I have some watching to do."
Amber chuckled on her way out of Gretchen's office. "Careful, it's an addictive show."
At the end of Amber's shift, she oversaw her charges into their cells for the night and wished them a good night. Once she was gone, the Joker found he was having difficulty falling asleep. He couldn't stop thinking about everything he'd heard about Amber's date and Katherine's prediction that she'd accept a second date with Fitzy.
She's had two lousy dates with two poor excuses of men. When will this gal get to go on a real date with a real man? Someone who knows she's not like other airheaded girls, but a young woman with enough spunk to take on him, the freakin' Clown Prince of Crime! Someone who knows what to do with a woman like that!
Oh…
Oh no. What if…
Was it possible? Could he be developing… feelings for Amber? Real feelings. Not lustful – though there was a bit of that. Not possessive – though there was a bit of that too. Real, real feelings.
The thought made him sit up in bed and clutch at his head. "Noooooo!" he told himself, as if warning his mind not to go any further. Too late. "No – nuh – uh – nope. That's not what's happening! No!" He swung his legs over the bedside and began to pace his cell, his voice growing louder and louder. "No! Nooo! No! No! No!" He was the Clown Prince of Crime, dang it! The most feared criminal in Gotham! He didn't catch feelings! "NOOOOO!"
"Joker!" Nigma snapped from his cell next door. "What are you going on about?"
"It's fine, Eddie!" Katherine assured him. She was happily watching the Joker's mental breakdown from the comfort of her bed. "He's entering the First Stage cause he got too close to Five ahead of schedule!"
(Loved it or hated it! Drop a review on your way, please and thank you! It's been awhile since I've updated, I know and you guys have probably moved on, but I'd love to know what you think. Especially any newcomers! Hopefully I'll be updating again very soon.
Please stay safe and healthy out there!)