CHAPTER THREE

BREAKFAST & HATS

Knock, knock, knock.

"Come in."

Alfred calmly opened the door that lead to Bruce Wayne's room and sighed when noticing that his young master was staring at his laptop screen with a focused gaze, eyebrows furrowed as if whatever his computer screen was showing didn't please the man.

Although the bed sheets were covering his master's legs, Alfred was pretty sure Bruce hadn't slept. Again. The butler, in all honesty, was quite worried about his employer. The whole city had begun hating their protector ever since the Joker stepped in. Chaos, madness…Alfred hated to say it. But the Joker had shown people's true colors.

They were scared. Costumed madmen ran their city now. And Batman was the one to blame.

He quietly walked in and placed the breakfast tray on the nightstand next to Bruce's large bed. The prince of Gotham didn't look away from the computer screen. Mr. Pennyworth gave a small sigh.

"You know, when I advised you to spend the night in the penthouse, Master Wayne, I actually meant you should get some sleep."

A small smile flashed through Bruce's face as he typed something on his laptop.

"Sorry Alfred. I got distracted with work. "

The older man arched an eyebrow and titled his head a bit, in order to see what his employer was searching on the internet. Both of Alfred's blue eyes widened a bit.

"And by work we mean breaking into Arkham's confidential staff files, sir?"

Bruce's smile faded a bit as he scrolled down the page.

"We can't afford having Joker escaping that place. He almost destroyed Gotham."

Alfred examined Wayne's expression and pursed his lips a bit.

"With all due respect, Master Wayne, I don't think the Joker is your main priority at the moment."

Bruce's eyes finally pulled away from the screen and glanced at Alfred. His butler and most trusted friend had a small smile on his face. The kind of smile a father shows when catching their child with their hand stuck in the cookie jar.

"You don't need to hide anything from me, Master Bruce. But there are easier ways to catch a woman's attention. Like…Buying her a jet perhaps."

There was humor in Alfred's voice. Bruce stared at him for a couple of seconds before letting a very light chuckle escape from his lips. He looked away, glancing at the computer screen.

"Gotham is thankful for what Batman has done, sir. But you cannot forget who hides behind the mask. Bruce Wayne has a life of his own to live."

The young millionaire looked down and scratched the back of his neck. Bruce hadn't put on the Bat mask for several months now. Gotham despised him and blamed him for this plague of madness and violence. And, in all honesty, Bruce was having a hard time giving up his old vigilante habits. He wasn't even sure if he wanted to lose them…But what else could he do?

Even now, he spied on the woman he was currently seeing rather than talking to her face to face. This was not healthy. And Bruce knew it.

"...Thank you, Alfred."

The butler smiled and nodded politely.

"You're quite welcome, sir."

With that said he left the room, gently closing the door behind him.

Wayne took a last glance at his laptop's screen, examining the woman's picture with a serious expression as Alfred's words echoed inside his head.

"Bruce Wayne has a life of his own to live."

Gotham's prince calmly pressed the off button of his computer before getting up from his bed. He calmly walked over to his wardrobe and took out the clothes he'd be wearing that day. As he removed his pajamas and folded it, Bruce couldn't help but to glance at his laptop's screen one last time as Doctor Harleen Quinzel's file slowly faded into black.

The Joker blinked his eyes; slightly surprised at the name he had just been called. He had heard a lot of names throughout the years. Clown, freak, terrorist, nutcase, maniac, psycho, crazy, Jay man, monster…But never Cheshire. Jervis didn't seem bothered by the way the clown simply stared at him with narrowed eyes, as if trying to see through the neurologist's forehead and into his brain. The clown licked his scarred lips and crossed his arms over the table.

"Uhm. Yeah I…I think you're a bit confused."

Joker said while nodding with his head at Jervis, his mouth pulled into a sheepish smile. The other inmate however kept his polite little smile up and shook his head after releasing a warm little chuckle.

"Me? Confused? Oh, not at all, my friend. You are the Cheshire Cat." Jervis said cheerily before pointing a slim finger in the clown's general direction. "Who else could you be with that devious smile of yours?" Jervis asked before resting his chin on his hand.

A moment of silence rose up between the two. Joker's once red lips pursed together as both eyebrows arched. That comment actually made sense. Well, in Arkham, sense had a different meaning than in the outside world. But still the Joker decided to see just how far he could stretch that man's insanity.

"Hm, so. If I'm the Cheshire…Then. Who are you?"

The brunette's smile grew wider when being asked who he was. His large hand was suddenly held in Joker's direction, waiting for him to shake it.

"I am the Mad Hatter."

Jervis said filled with pride and cheer. Mad Hatter…That was the name the newspapers had given him after the police found his poor victims with pages of Alice in Wonderland stuck down their throats. Dr. Tetch had enjoyed that name…He had found it quite a good compliment. To be named after one of his favorite characters of all time was nothing but an honor.

The green haired inmate didn't even glance at Jervis' hand. Instead he kept gazing into his eyes, looking for something that would make him crack. Joker wanted to know what it was that could make that bubbly and peculiar man break down and start crying like a newborn baby. He wanted to know what his limits were…To stick his cold fingers inside his mind and twist…

"Yeah, no. See…You…Don't have a hat."

The clown said pointing at Jervis' head with his eyes, before licking his lower lip, bringing his crossed arms closer to his chest. He felt quite pleased at that observation. Sure, Joker had the unusually large smile that resembled to the Cheshire Cat…But what did Jervis have?

Joker's lips twitched a bit when a small moment of awkward silence spread between the two of them. The skinny fellow just stared at him with wide puzzled eyes. And the clown thought he had won. Any minute now, he'd see something flashing before Jervis' eyes. The perfect little pretend world he had built around himself would come crushing down on him because of one obvious little fact that he had missed.

But suddenly, something happened.

Jervis shook his head. Simply shook it. As if disappointed at whatever the Joker had said.

"My dear friend…You should know by now," At this point, the Hatter leaned closer to the clown, making the Joker lean back a bit, wrinkling his nose in a comical expression of disgust.

"It is not the hat which makes the man. It is the madness."

And with that, Joker's eyes seemed to glint with fascination. Nobody would see it unless they were sitting where Jervis was. But it was there. The clown clicked with his tongue before grabbing Jervis hand ,which had already given up on receiving a shake, and squeezing it a bit too tightly.

"Couldn't. Have said it. Better."

That last word seemed more of a growl than anything else.

But the Joker wished no harm towards his new friend…At least not at the moment. No, he had much greater things to worry and think about at the moment. And now that he had met Jervis Tetch, Joker was sure that his plans of checking out of Arkham early would end up being rather successful.