Wendy was quiet on the driver back into the city. After Arthur ran into her, he explained everything to her and Travis about what his mother told him last night. Although she loved him, Wendy didn't believe one word of Arthur's story was true. She didn't think it was accurate, but she didn't bother to tell him that to his face.

Travis glanced in the rearview mirror at the auburn-haired woman, who was staring out the window and not paying attention to Arthur sitting on her left.

Travis felt the tension between the two and turned his head and looked at Arthur. "You're really serious about that?" He asked him.

Arthur leaned forward in his seat and said, "I've never been more serious about anything in my entire life."

Travis returned his eyes forward and said, "Well, look, uh...While we're in the cab, I'd rather not discuss politics, you know. I got a real bad history with them. As a matter of fact, I was just telling Wendy about it this morning."

Wendy didn't even bother looking at Travis. Instead, she focused her attention on two people standing on the corner wearing clown masks, one of them holding a baseball bat, the other one holding a sign upside down that read 'Resist'.

Travis and Arthur looked the other way and witnessed a gang of five beating up a homeless man on the ground. Three of them were wearing clowns masks, the other two were wearing makeup. Travis was a little unnerved by the shocking act of violence, while Arthur couldn't help but show a small smile on his face.

Travis shook his head in disgust, wishing a heavy rain would come and wash away the city of the filth and scum of the earth. It was no better here in Gotham City than it was in New York.

"Fucking unbelievable", Travis said to himself.

"I know", said Arthur. "Isn't it something?"

Wendy continued looking out at the wretched city, brooding and wishing these two men would shut up already. "It's stupid", she said at last.

Arthur dropped his smile and looked at her. "What?"

Wendy turned her head and looked at Arthur. She was angry with him. She looked forward and demanded, "Pull over, Travis. I wanna get out."

Travis pulled over and parked next to the curb. He put the meter up and turned his head to look at Wendy. Before he could tell her the full amount for the fare, Wendy handed him some money and told him, "Keep the change. I'm sorry I wasted your time." Wendy opened the door and got out and slammed the door hard. Travis flinched, wishing she hadn't done that. She obviously didn't read the sticker outside that read Please Do Not Slam Door.

Turning his attention over to Arthur, Travis looked at him and asked, "All right, what did you do to her?"

"Travis, I didn't do anything", Arthur defended himself.

"Well, you better go after her. I don't know what's gotten into you, Arthur, but you're acting pretty weird lately, you know that?"

Arthur ignored his comment and got out. He shut the door and ran over to try and caught up with Wendy, who was halfway down the sidewalk.

"Wendy, wait", said Arthur.

"Forget it, Arthur. I don't want to talk about it", said Wendy, not looking at him.

Getting irritated, Arthur grabbed her by her wrist and said, "Wendy, goddamn it!"

Wendy yanked her arm away from him and turned on her heel to face him. "Watch your mouth, Mr. Man! I don't take that kind of talk from people! You wanna get slapped in the face next?"

"Wendy, what is wrong with you? Do you really think I would lie to you about something like this?"

"You really expect me to believe that bullshit story you just made up?"

"It's not bullshit, Wendy. It's the truth."

"Well, what did you expect, that Thomas Wayne was going to roll out the welcome wagon? Just because your mother worked for him years ago, doesn't mean he's going to give her special treatment. You told me last night you never had a father. Even if you were the illegitimate son of Thomas Wayne, which I highly doubt you are, you don't look anything like him. I told you I loved you for who you are. What's wrong with being Arthur Fleck?"

"You really want to know what's wrong with being Arthur Fleck? I'll tell you. When people stop and stare at Arthur Fleck, all they see is a loser. People harass me and abuse me everyday, but I go on with my life acting as if it never happened. I've been called every name in the book and I pretended to show that it doesn't bother me when, in fact, it does. I don't want to be hurt anymore, Wendy. I just want to be loved and accepted, but everybody walks right over me like garbage and act as if I don't exist. People take one look at me and they see me as some kind of freak. It's a lot more easier to laugh at Frankenstein's Monster on the beach than it is a fat guy, right?"

Wendy was even more confused than before and questioned him, "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

Arthur groaned in frustration and turned to walk away for a moment, running his hands through his hair and gathering tresses of dark brown tufts between his fingers. He lowered his arms down to his sides and turned to Wendy, walking back over to her and saying, "Just forget it, okay? You'll never understand."

"What don't I understand? If you truly believe you're the illegitimate son of Thomas Wayne, that's on you, Arthur. Not me."

"I thought you said you were on my side!"

"I am on your side!"

"Then why don't you believe me?"

"Because the fucking timeline doesn't make any sense!" Wendy blurted out. "You said your mother worked for the Wayne family over thirty years ago, right? Well, tell me this, Arthur, if you're forty-five and Thomas Wayne is a man in his late fifties, how old was he when your mother had you, fifteen? I'm not calling you a liar, Arthur, but I would appreciate it if you got your facts straight, because either your mother's not telling you something or you're just trying to fuck with me!"

Arthur turned around and crossed his arms, shutting himself off completely from the auburn-haired woman. "Why did I bother opening myself up to you? I thought you were different, Wendy."

"Well, if you don't like the car you're driving around with, maybe you can trade it in for a different color, maybe a black one." Turning around, Wendy started to walk away.

Arthur, detecting a hidden racial message in her voice, turned around immediately and questioned her, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Wendy stopped and turned back to look at him. She knew what she said and wasn't going to correct herself. Instead, she was going to give Arthur a piece of her mind. She walked back over and explained, "There are a lot of things I can take, Arthur, and some things I can't. But what I can't take is when a man starts losing interest in me and starts staring at other women. I wasn't going to say anything because I thought it wouldn't bother me, but it does. I don't mean to sound prejudice, but when you give a girl the wrong impression, she thinks you're not interested in her. I didn't want you to lead me on, Arthur. If a wanted a guy like that, I would have stayed with Mark."

Arthur looked at her like she was crazy and asked her, "What are you talking about?"

"Why don't you just admit it, Arthur", said Wendy. "You're using me to get to Sophie."

Arthur didn't like where this conversation was going and asked her, "Why are you saying that?"

"I saw the way you looked at her that day outside the bank. And last night when we went out, I noticed you kept looking the other direction trying to find her in the crowd. I saw her with that other man, Arthur. I'm not a idiot. I can read your face like a book. You love her, don't you? And don't try and tell me you don't, because I know you do. If you didn't want to go out with me, you should have just fucking said so."

"Well, what did you think, that you and I were a couple?"

Wendy gasped softly, her eyes widened in shock and horror. She stared at Arthur in disbelief, feeling her heart shatter like a glass mirror.

Seeing the look of hurt in her eyes, Arthur quickly realized he fucked up. He shook his head and tried to touch her, but Wendy stepped back from him.

"Don't", said Wendy, her eyes turning misty. She covered her chest with his arms and said, "It's all right, Arthur. I can take a hint. You don't want me for a girlfriend. You just want me for a support system. I get it."

"Wendy, I didn't mean it like that." Arthur tried placing a hand on her shoulder, but Wendy turned away and faced her back to him. "Wendy, just listen to me, please? Even if I did love Sophie, she doesn't even know I exist."

Wendy looked over her left shoulder, trying hard not to cry, and asked him, "Then why do you love her?"

Arthur didn't know how to respond to that. He couldn't find one thing to say about Sophie that he liked. He thought he loved her, but he didn't know anything about her.

Wendy looked away from him again, tightening the grip on her upper arms. "You're so immature, Arthur", she murmured.

"I didn't know that was how you felt about me", said Arthur. "You said you only wanted to be my friend. You never said anything about-"

Wendy lowered her arms down to her sides and turned around, cut him off and saying, "You think I don't know that you exist? When we first met, I only thought of you as a stranger. But then you became my friend. When I said I wanted to be your friend last night, what I really meant to say was that I wanted to be your girlfriend. I was just afraid to tell you because I knew something like this was going to happen. If you don't want me as your girlfriend, that's fine. I can live with it. But which would you rather have, Arthur: somebody who loves you and wants what's best for you or somebody who doesn't even know your name?"

Arthur said nothing and just stared at her. She told him she only wanted to be his friend when they first started out, now she was admitting that she loved him? What kind of mind game was she playing with him, he wondered.

Taking his silence as a sign of rejection, Wendy shook her head and told him, "Just forget it."

Just as she turned and was about to walk away for good, Wendy felt a tight grip on her left wrist and found herself being pulled back over to Arthur, who kept his right arm wrapped around her waist. Wendy fell against his chest and looked at him, noticing a warm, soft glow radiating from his pale face. His green eyes were soft and warm, bright and intense. It was the same look he shared with her back in his apartment the first time they met. Arthur didn't know what was happening to him. Ever since the night of the subway killings, he had been battling himself with an alternate ego that was begging to be released from inside him. He showed her a small taste of that other ego last night when he spotted the clown drawing on the newspaper. He could still see the faces of those three men he killed. He remembered how they held him back and knocked him down and abused him to the brink of insanity. He had to defend himself. If he hadn't, he wouldn't be standing here having this conversation with Wendy right now. It was all very conflicting.

How can I tell if she really loves me? Arthur thought to himself. She seemed real enough. She didn't act like she was faking it. Maybe she really did love him. If so, he wasn't sure how to tell her how he really felt. Arthur never believed in romance, but then again, he never had a steady girlfriend before. He admitted to himself that Wendy was beautiful and had a caring heart, but it was her fiery spirit and headstrong personality he loved even more. She didn't ridicule him for his laughing condition. She went to his stand up act, and even though she didn't like the crowd, Wendy still agreed that he tried his best and gave it everything he had. She stayed with him after the show and even went on a date with him. Whether he liked it or not, Arthur had to admit he was happy with Wendy whenever she was around him. He wouldn't be young forever and he was already pushing for fifty in a couple of years. Maybe it was time for him to finally give love a chance.

For many years, Arthur felt alone, never having anyone for company aside from his mother. He loved his mother very much, but a mother's love would not satisfy the secret urge for the companionship of another woman. He needed someone who would understand and love him and encourage his comedy, no matter how dull or senseless it may have seemed. Wendy was the perfect woman to fit that description. She was kind and patient with him and cared for him a lot. If this was what it took for him to fulfill that sacred love dream, then so be it.

"You really want this to work out between us?" Arthur asked her.

Wendy slowly nodded her head and whispered, "Yes."

"And you do love me?"

"Yes."

"Then you believe me about Thomas Wayne and my mother?"

Wendy hoped he had forgotten about that, but out of fear of being turned down and losing Arthur, she found she had no other choice but to give in to his insane version of reality and accept it. "Okay."

That wasn't quite the answer he wanted to hear, but Arthur took it as a yes.

Wendy continued to stare at Arthur, hoping he would make the first move. Her heart ached so much for him right now. She wanted him to kiss her, to touch her. Anything. She just wanted to reach up and bring her lips in contact with his, but figured she was rushing into it too quickly and needed to take some time to think things over with Arthur before jumping into dangerous waters. Swimming with sharks, just like her uncle warned her.

"We should get out of here", Arthur whispered to her.

Wendy was lost for a minute, not sure if she heard him correctly. "You want us to leave the city?"

Arthur shook his head. "No. I mean it's not safe around this part of town. We should get out of here before something happens."

Wendy lowered her gaze and said in a disappointed tone of voice, "Oh. Okay."

Arthur took hold of her hand and began to lead Wendy away from the dangerous part of Gotham. "Come on, I'll take you home."

"No!" Wendy stepped in front of Arthur, placing her hands on his chest so she could stop him. Arthur looked at her with wide eyes. Wendy removed her hands from his chest and said calmly, "No. Not just yet."

"Why not?" Arthur asked her.

Wendy didn't know what to say to him. What was she supposed to say, that she was being constantly harassed by an uncle who held a gun to her and threatened to kill her over the pettiest of things.

"Let me talk to your mother first", Wendy insisted. "If I could just talk to her for a little while, I might be able to understand her better."

Arthur shook his head and told her, "I don't know if that's a good idea right now."

"Please?" Wendy begged him, her voice soft and gentle.

Arthur looked away for a minute and breathed out through his nose. When he looked at Wendy again, he told her in a stern voice, "If you do or say anything to upset her-"

"Arthur, I swear to you on my life. Just let me talk to her for five minutes. Five minutes, that's all I'm asking. The first sign of any discomfort I cause your mother, and I'll walk out of your life forever. I promise. Please, Arthur?"

Arthur couldn't understand her sudden interest in wanting to talk to his mother. He knew Wendy didn't believe him, but there was something about the tone of her voice that made it seem like she didn't want to go home right away, like she was scared of something. The only thing he could think of was her uncle. Had he done something to her? Arthur knew Wendy wouldn't tell him, but he still wanted her to be safe. He nodded and said, "Okay."