(Y/n) sat at the table looking down at her hand; it was her number one rule never to touch these guys, no matter how quiet they may seem they were all killers, and physical contact was never a good thing, you had to keep a respectable distance, not put yourself in danger, yet she had gone against everything she knew and touched him.
She let out an aggravated sigh, mentally slapping herself for already letting this man get so close; she knew all too well how some of these guys worked, lay on the charm, lull you into a false sense of security, and before you knew it they were picking at your brain, getting you to tell them things that you should never tell anyone, especially not a convicted serial killers. She physically shuddered as she remembered an old colleague that had got too close to a violent offender; she had let him into her life, believed everything he told her, everything that he promised her. He had sworn that he loved her, and told her that if she felt the same then she would help him escape, which to everyone's shock, and the bureau's embarrassment, she had done, the couple being on the run for months before they had finally been captured.
But this was different (Y/n) reasoned with herself, she had only touched his hand for goodness sake, she wasn't some love struck fool that would be taken in by a handsome face and a pair of perfect eyes; no, she had this under control, that was the first and last time there would be any physical contact between the two, and even though she had promised him that she would tell him the truth to anything he asked her, she would try telling him only the bare minimum, and just hope he that he was satisfied with her answers.
"Special Agent (Y/l/n), Doctor Jackson would like to see you before you leave." An older guard said from the doorway, as she gathered the last of the paperwork together.
(Y/n) couldn't help but groan; Jackson had been the man that her boss had spoken to, to arrange her meetings with Joker, his one condition to her interviews was that she had to give him a debriefing at the end of each session, but there was no way in hell she was going to give this jumped up quack anything useful, she had been assured that her interviews with Fleck would be private, and that was exactly what they were going to stay.
"Thanks, could you show me the way?" She asked, as the guard locked the door behind her.
"Sure, no problem. This way miss." The older man said, as he showed her down the corridor.
"So, Fleck. Interesting character you've picked for your study if you don't mind me saying." The guard said, as the two made their way to the doctor's office.
"I was here when he used to come in, before he changed, you know, to Joker; underneath it all he's not a bad guy despite the killings. He always hated it in here, he was always a nice kid; quiet, but respectful, how the hell he put up with his mother for so long I don't know, she was one nasty bitch if you ask me." The man told her, as she stopped and looked at him.
"What do you think about him?" She asked. She had never though of talking to any of the guards, most of them seemed like insensitive morons who were a little too handy with their batons.
"I'm no psychiatrist miss, but I've seen enough troubled souls go through this place in my time to have a slight insight into people like Arthur. If you really want my opinion, that poor kid was gonna kill someone or end up dead himself; you can only mistreat someone for so long before they snap. Its like confining a wild animal in a cage, and then systematically beating and starving it, then expecting it not to go mad and attack its tormentors at the first opportunity. Don't let all that swagger and boldness fool you, Arthur is still in there, he might be deep down, but he's still in there." The guard told her, as he motioned to a door just further down.
"That's Doctor Jackson's office. He'll be waiting for you in there." He told her, as he walked away.
"Ok (Y/n), play nice." She quietly told herself, forcing a fake smile to her lips as she knocked on the door.
"Ah, agent (Y/l/n), please take a seat. How did your first interview with Mr. Fleck go?" Jackson asked, as she sat down.
(Y/n) couldn't help but feel slightly uncomfortable, the man sat across from her, wore a faker smile than she did; he was an unpleasant looking creature who seemed to be a little to close for comfort. He looked like the stereotypical sex offender, and as he shook her hand, she couldn't help but feel slightly nauseous.
"Er...... it went very well thank you doctor. Mr. Fleck has agreed to the interviews so I will be here for the rest of the week." (Y/n) told the doctor, who smiled at her, as he still held her hand.
"Well, that's wonderful to hear; its so nice having such a beautiful woman take an interest in what we do here. I was wondering whether you would like to meet later so that we can discuss Arthur further? I'm sure I could give you some special insight into our infamous inmate." The doctor asked, as (Y/n) pulled her hand away from his sweaty palms.
"That's very nice of you Doctor Jackson, but I have a lot of work to do, and its already been a very long day, so if you don't mind, I'll be going." (Y/n) said, as she made for the door.
"Such a shame, but I will be seeing you tomorrow anyway. Please have a wonderful night in our fair city won't you Special Agent (Y/l/n)." The doctor told her, as she put her hand on the door handle.
"Oh doctor, just one thing; the guards that brought Mr. Fleck to our interview today, I don't want them bringing him again. The way they manhandled him was a disgrace, his punishment is to be kept in here, not to be mistreated by your staff. I mean, if people were to find out how inmates are treated in here, it wouldn't look good, and we don't want your good name, and the name of Arkham sullied by two inept guards do we? Well, goodnight doctor Jackson." (Y/n) said, smiling as she left the office.
>>---------------------------------<<
(Y/n) sat in her hotel room, going over Joker's file once again; she had read it so many times now that she knew it word for word, but she always hoped that if she read it just one more time that it would reveal some secret that she hadn't seen before, something that she was overlooking that would make everything fall into place.
Taking another drink from the large glass of wine in her hand, she picked up his mug shot.
"Well Arthur, it looks like you and me still have a lot to discuss, because I'm not leaving Gotham until I understand you; so, you better get used to seeing this face." She told the picture as she placed it back in the folder and walked over to the large window, looking out onto the city below.
She had been in many cities, but Gotham was the darkest, it seemed bleak and unforgiving, the weather had been bad since she had arrived, and showed no signs of getting better. All cities had their rich and poor, their good and their bad, but Gotham seemed to be a breeding ground for the displaced, the forgotten downbeat masses that mostly lived on the breadline or below it. The city reeked of uncollected trash, and the number of rats was only matched by the number of homeless that gathered on the streets. She could see why the people were so quick to flock to Joker, he was one of them, he was fighting the system, fighting the inequality of the city, fighting all those that had held him down.
From what she had seen at the interview, he was enigmatic, charismatic, and charming, but all the best killers were; but unlike the others she had spoken to, his crimes had no sexual motivation. The people he killed had wronged him, hurt him, abused, beat, and bullied him, and that was why she was so fascinated; he was a puzzle, and she was determined that when they met again tomorrow, that she would begin to crack his code.
>>--------------------------------<<
As Joker lay in his room, he couldn't help but go over the day's events in his mind. (Y/n) was intriguing to say the least, and she seemed to know more about him than he did, which he wasn't sure whether he liked or not, but the fact that this woman had invested so much time in trying to understand him, had his curiosity piqued.
He had noticed a lot about her as she had sat there giving her theories on his motivations for his crimes; she wasn't wearing a wedding ring which made him think that she was one of those agent's that was married to the job, and given how much she had studied him, she probably took her work home with her. She was well dressed, which meant she had taste, but the suit wasn't expensive, though he wouldn't expect anything else on an agent's salary.
But it was the little things that had him really curious; as she took his hand, he noticed the tattoos that seemed to extend from her wrist up her arm, not something that was usual for an agent, particularly a female agent; then there was the large scar on her throat, it was ragged and didn't appear to be that old, he had only noticed it as she would mess with her shirt collar, constantly trying to cover it up, sometimes even unconsciously covering it with her hand as she spoke. Joker knew that it wasn't self-inflicted, he'd seen self-inflicted knife wounds before, no, this one was done deliberately by someone else, and Joker had to find out who would harm someone like her. His new visitor was certainly a mystery, and Joker was going to enjoy finding out her secrets.