Disclaimer: I don't own the Joker or any other DC/Nolanverse character.

A/N:

Also, if you read this, and you don't like it. Please leave me a comment on how I could make the first chapter more appealing because my other chapters are better, IMO. I would appreciate it.

Intro:

This is not a love story. It's about two friends who loved each other once. They went their separate ways. One turned to a life of crime...

And sometimes in life, you need to accept the fact that you can't change people. You either stay out of their way, or join them for the ride.

PROLOGUE - They Call This A Glasgow Grin

"Hey Julia!" Jack popped out from behind the counter, trying to scare me. "Are you afraid of the dark?" He asked. I rolled my eyes.

He grabbed me by my waist. "Oh, ha ha - so funny!" I replied, sarcastically. "You're going to make me drop the popcorn, you bozo. Quit joking around."

I looked at the TV. "And please tell me we're not watching that .I freaking hate that show."

He dived onto the couch. "Well too bad. You don't want to watch what I want to, so we're watching this."

I sat down beside him and handed him the bowl of popcorn. "We are so horrible. We should be studying right now," I told him.

I picked up a book from the floor. "The Catcher in the Rye," I read. "When did you go to the library?"

"Claire and I went a couple days ago" He replied.." She said she needed a book - some Agatha Christie one. What was it? Oh, it was called, And Then There Were None."

"Ooooh, scary. I never heard of it - sounds morbid."

"Yeah - but I never read it though." Jack said.

"Sure, you didn't. You've read everything."

'"Almost everything," He corrected.

I heard the sound of a twisting doorknob. "What was that?" I rose up from the couch. "Jack?" I looked at him, unsure.

"Shit. You have to go upstairs and hide." He shoved me towards the stairs.

"I thought you said your dad wouldn't be home at all tonight."

"Well he is."

"But wait, where do I go?"

He grabbed me by the arm and pulled me upstairs into his room. "Stay here. I'm gonna head downstairs." He shoved me into the closet and closed it. I could still see him through the small horizontal slits in the wooden door.

He pressed his face against it and reached his fingers through the closet and connected them to mine.

"Julia, I need you to promise me you won't make a sound," he whispered.

"I won't." I said obediently, though I wondered why it was such a big deal.

He smiled and started to back away from the closet, before he went to open the door. My heart jumped at the next sound I heard.

"And just where do you think you're going?" His father had already reached upstairs and was backing him into the room. It seemed like he was about to turn his head in my direction, before he straightened up, turning to face his father.

His father smacked him across the face. He didn't react. He just calmly replied, "You're drunk dad. Let me take you to your room." He turned to me slightly and nodded. He put his hand on his father's shoulder in an effort to lead him out of the room, but it didn't work.

"You get your hands off me, boy!" His father snapped, pushing his son backward. I shifted my body by accident, and it made a noise. Shit.

He looked at his son. "What was that?"

"It's nothing, Dad."

"Fine - Just clean this place up." He said, simply, but he stopped and eyed the closet, suspiciously. He took a step towards it.

"Dad." Jack reached out and tried to put his arm on his father to stop him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He had forgotten he was even heading to the closet. He was more angry about Jack putting his hands on him.

"Have you lost your damn mind? You get your hand off me, I said!", he shouted. Jack backed away.

His father took a switchblade out of his pocket and Jack raised his hands in defense. "Wait! I'm sorry."

What was happening? I knew things with his dad were bad. He wouldn't actually stab him, I thought.. He told me his dad was sick in the head. Which only got worse when he drank. I just couldn't have guessed the extent.

He flipped the knife open and charged at him with the it.

I covered my mouth as tightly as I could. I wanted to scream, but I knew I couldn't expose myself.

Then, he made a sudden stop and laughed...a disturbing, slightly psychotic laugh.

He was teasing Jack for how frightened he was. He looked at him and asked, "Why so serious?"

I calmed down. OK, maybe he was just joking around. My breathing slowed, but Jack didn't look convinced. That's when his father grabbed him angrily by the collar."Why so serious?!"

He pushed him down on the bed and stuck the blade in Jack's mouth. His pleas were muffled as he squirmed against his father's weight. My heart was beating so fast, I thought it would pop out of my chest.

He has to be kidding, right?

"Let's put a smile on that face!"

No...Dear God, no, I thought.

"You see, son...", He said while his son struggled beneath him. "They call this... a Glasgow grin." I closed my eyes and screamed.

I had kept my hand over my mouth, but I couldn't stifle it all. It didn't matter anyway, Jack's scream must have drowned out mine.

I don't remember how or when his father left. The next part was a blur.I just remember us yelling at each other. I was only trying to help...

"Oh my god!" I grabbed a towel from the floor and came towards him. He was scared...and in pain. I could tell he didn't want me to look at his face.

"Get the hell away from me!", he hissed, through a stifled voice. He held on tightly to his mouth.

"Please let me help! We have to get you to the hospital."

"No! Stay away!", he warned.

I was scared. Blood was dripping into his hands and onto the floor. Blood freaked me out. To me, blood meant death and whenever I saw it I thought someone was going to die.

"Please! At least come home with me. We can tell my mom. It's just... you can't stay here with him." I pleaded again as I moved closer.

He grabbed me by the shoulders and shoved me out the door. "Get the hell out!" When he did, I got a closer look at his badly slashed face, I closed my eyes and cried.

"Stop it." I yelled. I just wanted him to stop trying to scare me off. He pushed me backward.

After that he ran and quickly ran to the bathroom to look at his face. I could only imagine how much pain he was in. Was he mad at me? Did he blame me for what happened to him?

Anyway, I did what he said. I ran downstairs and headed to the front door. I stopped to look to see where his father had gone. He was no where to be found. The house was empty, so continued out the door. When I got outside, I paused.

I just couldn't bring myself to go...not until I knew he would be okay. I looked through the open door and up the stairs. No one.

I sighed and turned around and saw that his dad's car was gone and felt relieved. He would be safe for now.

A few moments later, he came downstairs to the front door...hood covering his head, duffle bag in one hand. He had a cloth draped over his mouth and was holding it with the other. He just brushed past me.

"Jack." I said, weakly.

He didn't say anything to me, but he turned. The look in his eyes...the way he glanced at me for a quick second, before he took off down the street.

It was dark and that night was hazy, but I remember what I saw. And I just knew...that I would never see that same boy, ever again.

That boy was gone.

A/N:

This story won't be like the others, so this will probably be one of the only flashbacks I use. I noticed most of my stories so far, have a common theme, people being reunited.

EDIT: I changed a bit of the story and added a different name.