Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Batman or DC comics. This story is just for fun and I am not making any money off of it.

Chapter One

Gotham City. This is my home and my birth place. I have come to accept Gotham as a place that won't ever change. The crime rate is very high and a vigilante roams the streets at night dressed as a bat. He helps but also allows for crazier villains to arise from the ashes of the pervious criminals. Joker, Riddler, and Scarecrow, are just a few to name. Joker is perhaps the most dangerous of all the criminals. He is cunning and is very unpredictable. The weapon of his choice is a knife, that's so he can savor the pain he inflicts on his victims. Like most criminals, he causes most harm at night, however unlike other criminals he is not opposed to robbing a bank during the cold daylight when it is full of people. I feel mostly safe during my walks downtown as long as I avoid the Narrows, which is called crime alley. This is where the crime is the highest in the city and perhaps the most dangerous place in the city.

My job may not be the safest since it is in Arkham Asylum. This is where the criminally insane are imprisoned at or for those who seek psychological help. At the moment, the Joker is being housed here, alongside the other criminals that I mentioned earlier. I have yet to meet the infamous Joker, and will perhaps keep it that way. I deal with all the paperwork in the asylum or in other words I am basically the personal assistant and file keeper for all of the doctors of the asylum. Not the most glamorous job in the world but it pays the bills. Most of the doctors treat me with a degree of respect; however there is one who does not. Doctor Stepof is a very mean-spirited individual. I find him not quite as intelligent as the other doctors, but he is the most handsome out of all of them and he knows it. I have heard he has slept with half the staff of female nurses in the asylum. I doubt it but he does get around. In respect to myself, Dr. Stepof treats me very poorly.

He always insists that I am filing his papers all wrong when I know for a fact that he rearranges the documents before I file it away for the night. He also is concisely bumping into me when I am carrying heavy boxes or a stack of papers. On more than occasion, he has knocked the papers all over the place and he never helps or apologizes to me. Instead he walks by stepping on the papers and once he stepped on my hand, which caused him to look at me with his striking blue eyes. He gave me a look of annoyance and continued walking on top of my papers that he knocked out of my hand. He made me feel inferior to him.

By nature I am a quiet individual and I do not make uproar over anything. So I was not inclined to say or do anything back. Revenge was not in my vocabulary. Dr. Stepof's paperwork always was done late in the evening and so in turn if I did not file it by the correct time when he was finished, I would get into trouble. Dr. Stepof worked his charm on the Chief Doctor, my boss, Dr. Young. Dr. Young was a small petite Asian woman. She was very beautiful, however easily manipulated, which made her a perfect target for Dr. Stepof's charm and manipulation. Thanks to that, I was always stuck at the offices, a section in the asylum, late at night. While everyone left, I would be stuck looking over and filing paperwork.

"Goodnight Grace," one of the older doctors said, leaving for the evening. "I'll see you Monday." Friday nights were always spent in this fashion. The type of paperwork I deal with were the files on the different patients that the doctors dealt with. I insured that everything was filled out correctly before filing it away. When I got this job I had to sign a legal document stating that I could not diverge any information that I read over about the patients in my checks over the paperwork. Most of the time, I never read the folders information too much. I would just make sure signatures and dates match. I was also to keep an eye on the documents to insure no unethical practices were in play. I would log everything into the data base and file the document away.

I looked at the clock on the wall and it read: 8:30 p.m. I still had several more documents left. The next one was the Jokers. Curious and knowing that I could not give away confidential information away, I looked over the notes made by the psychologist, Dr. Harleen Quinzel.

She was a new doctor here at the asylum. Her blonde hair and small but full figure made her popular among the men co-workers; however she has a very mousy personality. I wonder how she was able to get such a high profile patient, such as the Joker. The only information I was not allowed access to listen to was the tapes that were used to record the conversations between the doctors and patients. That was completely confidential. Usually a lot of times, the notes on patients would be footnoted in reference to a certain taped conversation. Dr. Quinzel's notes were very short but held a lot of footnotes. She noted that Joker's personality is referred to below to tape three. This made me a bit more curious. Why would she not have more notes on the Joker? Maybe her research had to be kept secret. I passed it off as a research reason to why she did not write a lot about the patient.

I was on my last file when the clock chimed signaling that it was midnight. The last file I had was documents on Edward Naston (a.k.a Edward Nigma). He was an interesting character as well. The notes from his doctor always referred to him as a narcissist personality and in want of attention. His alias is the Riddler and his IQ was very high. In short, he was a genius and he knew it to the extent that he wanted everyone to know it. At midnight and due to a lack of sleep, I found his picture and that him to be handsome. He had reddish brown hair with green emerald eyes. I signed the documents placed them with the rest of the files.

I lay back in the office chair to relax from leaning over my desk for so long. I rubbed my eyes and stretched out a yawn. I was tempted to lay my head down and sleep away my exhaustion. However I need to file away the huge stack of files I just spent hours reading and looking over.

The filing room was down the hall and down a flight of stairs before beginning at the entrance towards the cells/rooms that held the patients. It was caged box similar to an evidence locker at a police station. Only a few people held the key to getting into the filing room. During the operation hours, doctors would come to me to sign out their documents and tapes for their patients in which they also add to. Then I assured it was processed and filed away. The documents also held the medical history as well so it was important to check medical records for the patients.

I do not see patients too often unless they are walked to the doctor's office; this only happens if the session is scheduled to happen there. This was rare and only was usually allowed with lower profile patients.

Once I finished placing everything away and locked up, it was almost two in the morning. I was very exhausted and could not wait to sleep in my comfy bed to sleep my weekend away. Turning the key to the right and hearing the click, I knew it was locked and I was off the clock. I stretched out one more yawn before taking steps forward towards the doors on the opposite end to leave. Soon, however, red lights began flashing and sirens went off. That could only mean one thing: an escaped patient. A voice came over the intercom. It was the automatic voice system:

Code Red Alert. Level 5 patient has escaped. Please stay on guard and report safely to a secure location until further notice. Again Level 5 patient has escaped.

Just when I was about to head home for the weekend. I decided that I would lock myself in the cage with the files till it was safe. So I turned the key left and went inside. I locked it and decided to sit at the desk inside. It was a small desk and was just used to sign out documents to the doctors. I used a bigger desk upstairs in the offices to process returned documents.

I sat in the chair laying my head on the desk; I was almost asleep when I heard footsteps by the cage. I looked up to see a patient in their orange jumpsuit, which was used for the patients that were imprisoned at the asylum. He did not have his make-up on but anyone could tell it was the infamous Joker. If not for the scars on his face, but for his stance and the way he had about him. He was looking at me with his dark eyes. They were very intense. He had a very handsome face despite the tragic scars that marred his face with a forever smile. He licked his lips before giving me a sickening smile that promised chaos and destruction.

"Looks like I have found myself a caged little bird," his tone was playful but had an edge to it. "Why don't you come out, little bird? I don't bite much," He then laughed his high pitched signature laugh. It was very haunting and scared me to the core. Before I could even think about answering, the guards' footsteps could be heard approaching on the other side of the door.

"Seems we have to cut this meeting short," He leered at me, "Grace." Then he was off. I looked down and noticed he was looking at my name tag. When the guards did finally rush through the door, I pointed them in the way that the Joker went. The guards began going in the direction of the Joker. One guard stayed behind and helped me to my car so that I could leave the asylum for my own safety. Once home I finally got to my bed and the last thing I saw was my table clock letting me know it was five in the morning.

I slept well through the morning into mid-afternoon. When I finally decided to get up, I approached my bathroom and took a long hot shower. I was feeling more relaxed and not so worried about what happened at the asylum. Joker was perhaps miles away planning something that would not have anything to do with me or perhaps he has been caught by the Batman. Sweatpants and a T-shirt was all I needed for my Saturday off. I made a bowl of cereal and turned on the television set. I sat on my sofa and watched the news channel. It was reporting the escape of the Joker from Arkham Asylum. He was still missing and consider dangerous. There were reports that it was an inside job and that a certain member of staff helped in the Joker's escape. Despite that, they would not announce who it was yet until it was official. This made me wonder what staff member was willing to help the Joker escape. It must have been someone who was either force to or perhaps they supported Joker in his schemes. I turned the channel to a one of the movie channels. A good action film was on and when it was over I turned the television set off. I laid there for a few moments and soon fell asleep from all the lack of sleep from my work week.

I woke up to a scratching sound at my front door to my apartment. I looked out my window and noticed that it was night time. The scratching increased must be the neighbor's cat again. I got up to open the door and shoo the cat away. I was five feet away from the door when it opened to reveal a tall male figure. I took a step back and slipped. I landed on my back side in a not so softly manner. I could not even let out a scream for the life of me. The figure walked in my apartment, shutting the door behind him. He flicked on the main light to show his identity, the Joker himself in all his glory. Paint had been freshly applied to his face and he wore his purple suit.

I tried moving away and ended up crawling backwards until my back hit the end table that was situated on the right side of my sofa. The Joker slowly approached me and knelt down to my level. He brought his gloved hand out to hold my chin between his index finger and his thumb, tilting my head back to look him in his dark eyes.

"My, my not so graceful are we, Gracie." He looked me over in my T-shirt and sweats. His other hand was on the back of my head, tangling with my brown hair. My eyes were wide with fear and I was slightly shaking from this encounter. I felt like I could not breath and my muscles would not work for me. The Joker brought his face to my neck and his rubbed along the side of my neck. "Your fear smells amazing." He came back to my face. "You don't talk much, do you?" He leaned further into my face. My throat felt very dry and I could not talk. "Answer Me."

I flinched. His voice sounded demonic. "No."

"No, what?" His patience was wearing thin.

"No, I don't talk very much." I whispered with my dry throat.

"I thought as much." He let my head go and got back up to his feet. He held his hand out for me to take. I looked at it for a moment. I knew not to trust him but what choice did I have. I grabbed his hand and he helped me to my feet. However he then turned around and threw me against the wall. He held a knife to my throat, which was situated on the jugular vein.

"So Gracie, how are you with unwelcomed guests?" He expected an answer from me. One of his hands was squeezing my upper arm tightly enough to leave bruises.

"Good, I suppose." My voice was quiet but it looked to be the answer he wanted to hear. He let me go.

"Good, I needed a place to crash till I can get my own place together." He started walking to the kitchen before turning back around. "Next time make sure no one is tailing you when you drive back to your apartment from work. There are some crazy people out there." He let out a laugh as he went back to the kitchen. He began to rummage through the fridge and cabnits. He found himself enough supplies to make a sandwich. I went over to sit on my sofa and try to process what was happening. He was able to find my apartment because he followed me after I drove back from work. I must not have been paying attention to a car tailing me; however I do not usually have to watch for such sights.

I should call the police. I had to think and remember where I placed my cell phone. I looked around and noticed it in the kitchen on the counter. As soon as I locked on to it, the Joker noticed my attention on my cell phone and took it into his hand. It was a cheap flip phone but it did the basic functions and that's all I needed. He flipped it open and broke it in half. "Don't need you getting any ideas of call for the men in blue."

He sat down next to me eating his sandwich. He grabbed the remote off the end table and flicked through the channels till he found what he wanted. He began watching the news channel cover his escape and interviews that were given by the citizens of Gotham. I just sat there in a daze till I could feel sleep creeping on me but I did not want to fall asleep next to the Joker. That would be very dangerous. After awhile, Joker turned the television set off and asked me where he could find the bathroom. I pointed to the door that led to it. Before he left to use it, he looked straight at me. "If you even think about leaving, I will hunt you down and you will not like the final result." With that, he shut the bathroom door.

Soon I could not keep my eyes open anymore and fell asleep, praying this was all a nightmare.