This chapter might make you fall asleep but that had to be one if the others haven't bored you to death already, did struggle with this chapter but i have good ideas for the next one. yeah this one is short again as well so i'll try to make the next one longer, now on with the chapter!

No sleep. Alice lay in the large bed, staring at the ceiling. The first night out of Arkham and Alice couldn't sleep, there was an eerie silence, and though sometimes there was silence at the Asylum but this was different it was a cold silence. Alice felt she was too old to count sheep and singing softly to herself didn't help, the warm maroon sheets did nothing for the winter air. All the windows were shut but still the night air crept through cracks of the apartment, Alice rolled on her side and shut her eyes firmly but they just opened again a few minutes later. Eventually Alice gave up and tried to think of logical explanations for her lack of tiredness.

It could be insomnia but it's only been the first night. Nightmares? No I haven't fallen asleep to have nightmares and they didn't stop me sleeping in Arkham, Anxiety? Again no, I feel calm. Great I'm starting to sound like Dr Crane, he has a lot to answer for.

Alice gave up and dragged herself out of the warm bed; she was wearing a plain white cotton nightgown which stopped at her knees. Her blonde hair fell over her right shoulder as she moved her legs to the side of the bed. Carefully she edged herself towards the bedroom door, trying her best not to make too much noise. The door handle turned with ease and Alice was soon in the living room, she walked straight up to the window and opened it onto the balcony. Alistair was leaning against the edge of the balcony with a cigarette in his fingers; he wasn't surprised to see Alice and smiled at her. He took a deep breathe of the cigarette and blew out the grey smoke before he spoke.

'Can't sleep?'

'Yeah… That's a bad habit.' Alice turned her gaze at the cigarette then back at Alistair who twisted the cigarette in his hand to look at it.

'Maybe I like bad habits, I'm only joking but everyone smokes in Gotham. I guess everyone needs it to get rid of the stress of modern life, I think you'll find that out soon. I'm not surprised you can't sleep with all the changes and that, you'll pay for it in the morning though.' He smiled a warm smile and took one more breathe of the cigarette then dropped it over the balcony, Alice half expected someone to scream in agony as the lit cigarette burnt the scalp of their head. Alice found herself staring at Alistair's appearance, his normally neat brown hair stuck up everywhere and blew softly in the wind. He was wearing a black dressing gown which was open slightly at the chest area and showed a grey t-shirt, the centre of the t-shirt were the words 'toy soldier'. Alice quickly looked down when her cheeks began to burn.

No! He's just a friend don't you dare go there! You're meant to be an adult not a love struck teenager!

'I remember when you could hear a scream every night, that was back when Falcone ruled Gotham. Everything has changed now. I'm not sure whether to believe Batman really killed all those people, it doesn't seem right that after he helped so many people he would then try to hurt them. You know what I mean?'

'Yeah, I think you are right… the police are defiantly covering something up.' Alice was surprised at how steady her voice was after shouting and cursing at her immatureness. She shivered from the cold December air but it didn't bother her, goose bumps appeared over her arms and legs. The lights from the other apartments created eerie shadows on the entrances of the alleyways below, some large when others were small. It was truly dazzling in Alice's eyes, the night sky filled with tiny diamonds though the sky wasn't clear, it had grey mist covering most of it. Feeling the cold crystals go through her skin and make her body tingle with discomfort, it was all new.

'I think we better go back inside, don't need you getting ill.' Alice nodded and walked back inside closely followed by Alistair; he headed straight for the kitchen and looked in the fridge, the light from the fridge enlominated the whole kitchen with a yellow glow.

'We got nada except for chips, you hungry?'

'Not really.'

'We'll have them later then, did you find the TV remote in the end?'

'It was in the bathroom… by the sink.'

'Ah, that would explain why I found the soap on the coffee table then. I have this mate… he's a bit of an idiot.'

'An idiot or was he drunk?'

'Probably both, it wouldn't surprise me.' He closed the fridge and brushed passed Alice as he went for the remote, he turned the TV on and it became a screen of colour. He flicked through the channels, trying to find anything that was even slightly appealing.

'No…no…no…God no, finally something worth watching. Have you watched Sleepy Hollow before?'

'No but I've heard of it.'

'It's a good film if you don't mind blood and gore, Johnny Depp is a very good actor especially in this.' He dropped the remote on the coffee table and motioned Alice to join him on the sofa, she tip-toed over and sat on the edge trying to act casual. Alistair didn't notice her cautiousness and kept his eyes glued to the TV screen. It wasn't long before the first blood of the film was shown though it didn't bother Alice in the slightest, there are some advantages of committing murder, nothing gory backs you feel sick or nauseas. The film continued and the plot deepened and Alice let her brain run wild with ideas. Reading all those Sherlock Holmes books paid off as she kept with the story and understood the reasons for the murders, the beheadings or deaths became more brutal as the film went on though Alice still didn't bat an eyelid. Alistair however was slightly uncomfortable with the deaths especially when it showed Ichabod Crane as a child, it did catch Alice's eye and once the film had finished she had to ask questions.

'How come you don't like blood then I mean you chose the film?'

'It's not that I don't like blood as long as there isn't lots of it, I don't know why. It's strange because I can watch documentary's and that but when it comes to horror films I will watch it but I don't necessarily like it. How bout you? What films don't you like?'

'I can't stand paranormal films, it's basically the same with you horror films but if anything moves on its own I freak out.'

'Everyone has their Achilles heel. Is that really the time? There's no point in going back to sleep, I've got to work today are you going to be fine on your own?'

'Just as long as you point in the right direction I should be fine. When is Dr Arkham coming? He said he would come to check on me.' Alice was actually looking forward to seeing her doctor though she didn't know why; Alistair scratched his messy hair before answering.

'I'm not sure, maybe around eleven. He wouldn't come that early so it would be later. Oh word of warning a friend of mine might come in to pick up some stuff, don't worry he's not all forward or anything but he can be a bit of a Joker when he wants to be.'

'So much for getting away from Joker's quirks then. Is this the friend that's not very bright?' Alistair gave a sympathetic look that answered her question; he then stood and headed towards his bedroom but called Alice before he disappeared inside.

'Shouldn't take too long, if you want a drink of coffee or tea there's some in the kitchen.' His shouting caused a bang on a wall and was followed by angry shouting from the other apartment; Alice sighed and walked over to the kitchen. The kettle had no water so she had to refill it by the tap, she put it on and it began to boil, as she waited for it she opened one of the cupboards and found tea bags and a coffee jar. She grabbed a tea bag and dropped it into a small mug.

Better play safe, never had coffee before and don't know how it will affect me.

The kettle finished boiling with a growl and warm steam, negotiating the hot water into the small mug earned Alice a burnt finger which she put under the cold tap, the pain soon subsided and she put milk inside the mug. She took a sip straight away and her tongue stung with the sharp pain of boiling tea.

Note to self, wait for tea to cool before drinking.

The knock on the apartment door made Alice's body go stiff. Her appearance wasn't exactly the neatest; she was wearing a cameo t-shirt that was three sizes too big so it hung at the arms and the rim came to her knees. Her denim jeans again were too big so she had to wear a belt to keep them up and the ends dragged under her white sneakers. Her mangled blonde hair was tied up in a messy ponytail; Alistair had unnecessarily bought a silver necklace that had 'Alice' written on a small silver plaque. It fitted perfectly and hung just above her chest. She walked over to the door and opened it so she could see who it was but kept the chain on (she knew that much), a man stood there. She had no idea who he was but his appearance was pretty comical, his shirt was a bright purple with a yellow type animal in the chest area. His jeans were a tint of purple when in the light of the corridor, his cap was the same colour as his shirt but a bright yellow 'K' was sown poorly into the middle. His eyes were the only good features to his appearance as they were a hazel/cream colour; his face was covered in spots that looked like they were going to pop any second.

'Ullo there… You're not Alistair's whore are ya sweetheart? You look too cute for that sorta thing, I'm just 'ere to pick some stuff up. Alistair didn't tell me bout you but I guess he told ya about me. I won't be long, promise.' His voice was deep with a New York accent and Alice struggled to not laugh in his spot filled face, she sighed loudly and removed the chain. He slipped inside once the door was big enough for his thin frame and headed straight for Alistair's bedroom, leaving Alice still at the a jar door.

'I'll just stand here then, no thanks just leave me here.' She mumbled while closing the door with a small bang, just at that moment the man stumbled in with four cardboard boxes in his arms. His head wasn't in view as the brown boxes covered it, he dropped them on the coffee table and turned to Alice with a hand out stretched.

'I do know manners y'know, Drury Walker but me friends call me moth. What's yer name sweetheart?' Alice stared at the hand then shook it slowly; he however shook her hand vigorously.

'Alice McGuiness, what's in the boxes?' She let go of his hand as quickly as possible without being rude, he smirked and opened the box on top carelessly.

'Bits and bobs, mostly light bulbs and flash lights. I'm an electrician so I understand this stuff but being an electrician don't get you a lot of money. The best yer can get is forty bucks a job, it may seem a lot to you but I ain't had a lot of business lately.' He pulled his cap up and walked over to the boxes and Alice could clearly see the rim of his boxers, Drury picked the boxes up with a grunt and stumbled over to the door. Alice had to grab his arm when he nearly collided into the wall, she led him near the door and opened it for him.

'Thanks babes, if yer ever need a light bulb fitted or yer need a flash light just give me a call.' He walked out the door and not two seconds later Alice heard a yell and glass smashing.

'OH FUC-' Alice closed the door quickly and continued her assault on her mangled hair with the unlucky brush.

The knock on the door was quick and Alice was at the door just as quickly, jumping from the sofa in the progress. She left the chain on even though she knew who it was; the force of opening the door nearly broke the chain. Instead of the short man she was excepting a tall dark skinned woman stood in the corridor, her black hair was cut short so it only just covered her ears. She coughed which made Alice close her mouth.

'C-can I help you?'

'Are you Miss McGuiness?'

'Yes'

'I'm Dr Leland, Dr Arkham was unavailable but he called me personally to see you. May I come in?'

'Um yeah of course, come in.' Alice took the chain off and opened the door for Dr Leland who stepped in with a posh walk, she looked around the apartment and seemed to scrunched up her nose. Alice motioned her to take a seat on the sofa on the far left while Alice sat on the right, as soon as they had sat down Dr Leland pulled out files and papers out of her hand bag which Alice didn't see before. Dr Leland got straight down to business.

'Now how have you been since you left the Asylum?'

'I've not had a break down if that's what you mean, I did have trouble falling asleep though.'

'I wish you wouldn't joke about stuff like this but Dr Arkham did tell me about your… humour. Have you had anything to drink or eat since you've been here?' Dr Leland's voice was bored and toneless which did annoy Alice slightly but she thought best to get the check-up out the way quickly.

'I had a tea in the morning and I've had two glasses of water so far, I haven't had anything to eat since there isn't a lot in the fridge but Alistair will be getting some stuff once he's finished work.'

'You need to drink more and you need to eat something at half past one. Now onto jobs. Do you have anything ideas of what career you would like?'

'Um anything that gives steady payments, I don't have any qualifications so I don't know what job I could get. What jobs do you think I could do?' Dr Leland heaved a heavy sigh and tapped the end of her pen on her knee.

'Well we are going to struggle, can you read and write?'

'Yes I can, I'm not that hopeless.'

'Yes my apologizes, I think I know the job for you. I am good friends with commissioner Gordon and I think he is looking for someone to write up the reports in the GPD it will mean you need to type on a computer, it shouldn't take you long to figure it out. I'll give him a call shall I?'

'Yes thank you Dr Leland, I will try my best honest.'

'I'm sure you will, I think that's it for now I'll come in a couple of days' time to tell you the news on the position.' She packed all her files away and stood up with little effort, Alice shakily stood up as well and opened the door for Dr Leland. Alice remembered something just as she was about to close the door and shouted after Dr Leland.

'Wait Dr Leland!' She ran after her and caught her on the stairs; she sighed and turned around to face Alice.

'Yess Miss McGuiness.'

'I was wondering how Dr Crane and the other rogues were.'

'Mr Crane is his usual silent self; Mr Tetch seems lost without you around. Miss Quinzel has flooded Dr Young's office and Joker is his usual manic happy self. Oh and Miss Isly is annoyed about the fact you get to leave and she is stuck inside while her plants scream and die.'

'That sounds like Ivy alright. Thank you Dr Leland.' Dr Leland gave a fake smile and continued her descent of the stairs as Alice skipped back inside; she flung herself onto the sofa and sang softly to herself.

Come little children, I'll take thee away,

Into a land of enchantment,

Come little children,

The times come to play,

Here in my garden of Shadows,

Follow sweet children I'll show thee the way,

Through all the pain and sorrows,

Weep not poor children,

For life is this way,

Murdering beauty and passion,

I needed at least one criminal in this chapter though this is before Walker becomes Killer moth and i hope you liked the back story with the light bulbs, i know the jobs bit quick but it isn't that good really as in it doesn't pay much but it needed to review. I'm doing a dr who story as well as this one so if you wanna check thst out its called Allonsy Amery!