Authors note: I haven't based my version of these characters on any particular 'era' of the DC Comics. Feel free to to imagine them as is. Part 2 is in the works but with no current time frame. Please enjoy!

'When it rains, it pours.'

That's what he mumbled to himself under his breath. Another late night at the station, another pot of coffee. Another walk home in the rain. Essentially…just another night in Gotham City.

James Gordon shuffled in his seat as he went over the papers in front of him once more. He sighed as he signed the search warrant, knowing full well that Harvey Dent would have cleared his estate of all evidence long before the GCPD went knocking. Nevertheless, he had to do what he had always tried to do-his job.

And as of late, that job had become much more harder. Years of battling the Gotham crime had hit the Gotham City Police Department hard. In what used to be a thriving office, full of bright young faces ready to change the world one scumbag at a time, now stood a handful of officers, hardened and bitter from the strains of the cities underworld. Gotham had earned its reputation as being one of the hardest cities to work in and the list for new applicants to the Gotham Police Academy had dwindled to next to nothing.

Gordon sat back in his chair and thought back to the press conference held this morning about Gotham's most recent big news murder. Jacobson, a Gotham Police rookie had shot a young man in cold blood in the street after a small argument over a parking infringement. The Gotham public were outraged, claiming that the Gotham Police were failing them. And the scary thing was, through all of his assurances that it was an isolated incident, that the GCPD were handling the increase in day to day crime, James agreed with the public.

Crime was on the rise in Gotham. Not just the petty thieves and daylight robberies. The seedy characters of the underworld were beginning to stir more and more with each passing week. Informants came to see Gordon day after day with new stories of increased activities by the likes of Killer Croc and Black Mask. Civil unrest was at an all-time high. James could feel it in his bones-there was a storm brewing and it was heading straight for Gotham City.

There was only so much he could rely on Gotham's 'Dark Knight' to deal with. Regardless of all the myths surrounding Gotham's dark protector, he was still at the core a single man. Dwindling police numbers meant that resources were stretched to the max. Rookies worked double shifts, veterans dealt with the most serious of crimes. There was no one to deal with the everyday things such as muggings and home invasions. The atmosphere around the city was heavy with aggressive tension. James felt it every time he stepped out. The distrust of the eyes that followed him up the street was increasing.

'Damn cigarettes are drenched.'

James turned around to see the heavy figure of Harvey Bullock walking through the front door, his patched jacket dripping all over the linoleum floor of the station. In one hand, he held a tray with 2 cups of coffee from the pop up vendor down the road. In the other hand was the remains of a cigarette packet that was slowly turning to mulch.

'Got a light?' he asked. 'Damn picket pushers held me up outside in this damn rain.'

James chuckled to himself, reached into his desk draw and handed over his pack.

'How many are there?' James asked his partner. 'I'd like to actually get home tonight.'

'Weathers sent most of the rats back to the sewers' said Bullock as he sipped his coffee. 'Only the left wing doomsayers are there tonight…I think we're finally wearing them down.'

James stretched back in his chair, looking out the window at the rain battering against the glass.

'You'd think they'd give us a break after putting Nygma back into Arkham last week. No mention of that in all the rags they've been printing lately.'

Harvey grunted his approval of James's statement.

'You really expected any credit on that? It was the Bat that put Nygma away. We just provide the handcuffs in the presses eyes.'

James shut his eyes for a moment, letting the rumble of the distant thunder echo in his mind. Harvey was right of course, the GCPD hadn't been given any form of credit for the longest time. Why expect any now?

'Where are the others?' Harvey asked, motioning towards the empty desks in the room.

'Jones is looking at car crash down on Fifth Street and McCree is dealing to an armed robbery over in the east side. Someone said they saw Penguin's crew around the area. Which is the second time this week that Cobblepotts men have been seen in Black Masks territory.'

An audible moan escaped from Bullock as he took off his battered old hat and ran his hands through what was left of his hair. 'That's exactly what we need. A damn turf war on top of everything else. What do we do about that?'

'I'll swing by Cobblepotts club tomorrow and ask around. I'm sure it's nothing.' replied James without any real conviction.

'It's not like we can arrest them for walking down a street anyway.'

'Would make the job a helluva lot easier.' Harvey growled.

A flash of lightning ripped the sky apart as James reached for his coffee. The lights in the office flickered briefly before losing all power, plunging the room into complete darkness. Some choice curse words came from the corner where Harvey was sitting.

'Give it a few seconds, backup generator should boot up soon.' said James.

The only light source was the rolling circles of the headlights from the outside traffic, the only sounds was the rumbling of cars outside and the gentle ticking of cooling lightbulbs. In the dark, James Gordon and Harvey Bullock waited. And waited. For a split second, James thought he felt a shift in the air, a shuffle across the floor…

'Screw this. Where's the damn flashlights at…' grumbled Harvey, stumbling through his desk drawers.

When the second lightning flash hit, that's when James caught the first glimpse. The room lit up with white light for the smallest of times but to James it felt like an eternity.

The bleach-white skin.

Those cold, dilated pupils.

That smile.

That smile.

Every one of James' haunted dreams came rushing from the deepest parts of his mind. His darkest, most private thoughts and fears were being violently ripped from his person and displayed for all. And at the centre of every single one of those damn nightmares…was THAT smile.

The room fell dark again and James opened his mouth to utter a warning, to cry out that the devil himself had just walked through the door. His mouth opened but nothing came out except for a guttural whisper. His mind jumped to the gun he had on the hoister in his jacket and made to move for it. His arms felt like lead, pinned to his sides by fear, unmoving.

Then a voice crawled out of the shadows, invading the room with its sweet, crooning tone.

'Is that YOU Jim-boy? Oh how I've missed you!'

The rummaging in Harvey's corner suddenly stopped. All that could be heard was Harvey softly murmur.

'What the…'

'Oooooh and Harvey too! A witness! This will be just perfect!' screeched the voice in the dark.

A click echoed from somewhere in the distance.

The back-up generator finally booted up. A soft yellow light began to fill the room, allowing James and Harvey to see the full scene before them.

Before them stood a figure with skin as white as bone. Slicked back, lime-green hair framed a narrow face. On that face was a smile, an impossibly long smile that stretched from ear to ear, a smile that burned itself into James' eyeballs each time he closed his eyes.

The figure was clothed in a smart suit, deep purple in colour. The suit was laced in a dark green trim, complete with a black bowtie.

James found his voice and attempted to force out a sentence.

'J...Joker! Stop where you a-'

'Oh shush Jimmy! Let's not ruin the moment…I've waited soooo long to come and ask you something so you sit there and you listen and then…' Joker flourished his arms wide as if he was inviting James in for a hug, like a loved one. 'You'll get your turn to answer.'

James could feel his courage leave his body, like blood draining from a wound. He hated himself for it. Even after all this time, after all the crooks and bastards he would encounter on a daily basis, he could never overcome this pit of fear when it came to dealing with the Devil himself.

'Now then…'

Joker began to reach into his jacket with a black, leather glove. Harvey pulled out his gun with shaky hands.

'Hold it right there, freakshow!' James heard the slight tremble in his partner's voice and wished it was more concealed. Joker had a tendency to read people like a book and right now, the always impetuous Harvey was being displayed like a library. Instead of pouncing on the obvious fear of the armed officer, Joker grimaced. His earlier sweet tones became a deathly growl.

'Now now Harvey…let's not be hasty. It'd be a shame if I had to ruin my nice new suit by covering it in your blood…why, it would ruin the moment tremendously. That's an awful lot of hassle over a simple question.'

James knew that the quickest way to end this was to play along. You could never prepare for the Jokers mind. No matter what you did, Joker always seemed to roll with the punches and still thrive. Everything was one big game and James knew Joker loved to toss the pieces everywhere. The best chance for himself and Harvey to go home tonight in one piece…they had to play Jokers game.

'What's your question?'

Joker slowly turned his head towards James, the smile creeping ever further up his gaunt face.

'Awwww, straight to the point, eh Jim-boy? That's awful smart of you…you've been hanging around HIM too much I think. And maybe I have too...' Joker paused for a second as if he was suddenly in a deep trance, lost in thought.

James itched to reach for his gun at his side. Joker seemed distracted, like something was picking at his mind.

James slowly drifted his hand down towards his holster…

Joker seemed to notice the small movement. His eyes darted to the gun then back up to James's face, finally making eye contact with him. He made an odd noise, halfway between a throat-clearing cough and a stifled laugh. Or it could've been a warning growl.

'Now Jim, I thought you were going to play along? Don't tell me you're trying to catch me off guard? Oh, you HAVE been hanging around him too much…oh and he's going to be ever so surprised…'

There was the dry noise again. James mulled things over in his mind. It was something he had gotten used to in recent years, an automatic habit for stressful situations. Joker seemed…different than he had in previous encounters. There were signs of his usual joyous outbursts but he also seemed more subdued. As if he was contemplating some deep mystery. James had had multiple encounters with Joker before. He was cunning, a maniac and a genius all rolled into one. But to see him standing here actually visibly in thought was disturbing to say the least. Joker had always been one to go with the flow. That's what made him so god damn tricky. At least with people like Victor Freeze, Deadshot and Cobblepott, you knew what their game plan was. Not Joker. Any planning was done far in advance, in his own privacy. Every possible situation had been analysed and every possible outcome was anticipated. His opponent's reactions were telegraphed down to the second they happened.

But you never saw Joker do it. It would always just happen. It would add to his mystique, that it seemed like it was mere coincidence but you could always tell by the way he smiled that it was always one of one thousand different outcomes Joker had prepared for. It was as if a curtain was briefly glimpsed behind at a magic show. James felt he'd rather not have seen it. It was unnerving.

'I'll say it again…what's your question?' James repeated.

Joker looked at James.

'Hasty as always, are we Jimmy? But that's why I like you...no wasted time. Not like him…HE always waits…watches me…everywhere…but not this time…by the book…' Joker's voice trailed off again as if on a tangent only he could see. He shook his head slightly, as if clearing water from his ears.

He broke into smile again.

'I came to ask you one thing Jimmy-sweetie! One very simple, important thing…something I can only ask you…all of our history together. We've shared some times haven't we, Jim? Shared our blood, sweat and tears…I've had some good times…' Joker paused, grinning at James.

'And you've had some bad times but that's how all relationships go, isn't it? Because that's what we are darling…a relationship. And I...' Joker reached into his heavy purple jacket, his eyes fixed on James' face.

'Want to take things to the next level.'

James heard the metallic clang of something in Jokers jacket as he rummaged around. His courage suddenly found him, surging him into action. He took his police issue gun from his holster and aimed its barrel straight at the pasty figure in front of him. Jokers smile widened, his eyes dilated until they were practically specks of black.

'Ooooh Jimmy, you do know how to set the mood! Just how I like it!'

Jokers gaze was firmly on James and slowly, he became to shift towards him.

'Stay where you are! You know I'll pull the trigger if I have to!'

Joker's voice returned to its low growl, but less aggressive this time. James couldn't find the word to describe it. Passion? That seemed the most accurate.

'Jim baby, I know you'd pull the trigger. That's why I'm here dealing with you instead of him.' Joker spat the last word out with some particular venom in his voice.

Joker was right in front of James now, pressing his forehead into the end of James' gun. His eyes were rolling up into his skull in a state of ecstasy. James watched and realised that Joker was getting a kick out of this game. James took an involuntary step back out of revulsion.

The dry rasping escaped the throat of Joker again. James and Harvey still couldn't tell if it was a stifled laugh or a cough.

'One day my sweet. One day…but for today, there's only one thing I need from you Jim and it's a simple answer, especially for someone as close as we are! Because we are close aren't we Jim…like two peas in a pumpkin pie!' He laughed this time, a proper hearty laugh that made every hair on James' body stand on edge, like a thousand chalk boards were being scraped at once.

'My dear, we've been through so much, it only seems right…the reason I've come here today is simply this…'

Joker got down on one bended knee in front of James and Harvey. In his hand, he extended the item he had been searching for inside his jacket. It was a pair of handcuffs with one cuff already attached to the Jokers wrist. It suddenly occurred to James what this felt like. It was almost like a marriage proposal.

'Jimmy, my boy, my love…will you make me…a committed man?'

Joker's laughter erupted to the stunned silence of the room and echoed into the Gotham night.