Disclaimer: Property of: Warner Bros, DC Comics, Legendary Films, Chris Nolan, Christian Bale and Heath Ledger (R.I.P).

Warnings: Slight hint of slash and violent in some parts.

A/N: I've been going through a Batman phase ever since I saw The Dark Knight. I liked Batman Begins a lot, much better than (shudders) Batman and Robin. And I was looking even more forward for the Dark Knight, especially when I knew my favorite villain, the Joker, was going to be in it. It blew me away. I loved the film so much and Ledger's the Joker was the best thing in the whole movie, he stole it. Anyway after reading quality fics out there by the likes of Evil-Irish-Wolf who writes the Joker so well he's practically cannon, I decided to try and write my own fic.

Basically it's just my own interpretation of what would happen if the Joker encountered a potential victim. Slight warning this has no fluff what so ever. Its post TDK and set two months or so after the Joker escaped Arkham Asylum. This was originally going to be a one-shot, but since I'm incable of writing one that's less than 2000 words, I decided to split this story into two chapters. I'll write a Batman One-shot at some point. Anyway enjoy!

He Always Smiles: Part 1

"People will die, starting tonight. I'm a man of my word." -The Joker, the Dark Knight

"Where are you taking me?" This was the fourth time Lucy Adams has asked this question and still she had not received a satisfying answer. The driver Detective Miller, a cold, bossy, rude woman despite her motherly appearance ignored her, having already said "we're almost there", "not now" and "would you please shut the hell up?"

The man with a bad cough, dressed in a scruffy suit and wearing a tear faced clown mask sitting next to her was Jonathan Miller. Apparently he is the detective's 'husband' and that she "needed someone to help her" so she brought the "closest person in her life and someone who she could trust." Frankly Lucy thinks she just picked some random guy off the street, because they sure didn't look all that close or even like each other...

Lucy shuddered as she stared out the window. She could remember shrieking when she'd caught sight of the man wearing the clown mask. Miller had assured her that the whole thing was only a disguise to fool any henchmen (or 'hench clowns' as they were sometimes referred to) who might come and attack; that he wasn't really working for the Joker. It was hard to believe now but she had actually trusted the woman at first. That when she was woken from her sleep and clamored into the car saying she was being taken somewhere safe she had actually believed Miller.

Apparently some of the police officers who were looking after Lucy currently were corrupt and would sell her out to the Joker. Detective Miller was taking her somewhere safe on Commissioner Gordon's orders. Lucy had actually believed these words at first. In her defense she had been only half awake, still sleepy, and still in shock from what had happened to her and her family.

Of course now she was no longer in shock, and had had time to properly reflect on everything that had happened, and the drowsiness was gone completely, so she was able to think clearly. So as Lucy sat there in Detective Miller's worn down, and rather crappy car driving in the dead of night to god knows where, she knew that her protection was the last thing on the Detective's mind. The exact opposite actually. Lucy wasn't surprised though. The woman didn't so much as even show a reaction when she'd broken down hours previously as the full knowledge that her parents and sister were dead had hit her. Nor did the Detective even offer a word of sympathy for Lucy as she had sat repeatedly scolding herself for the whole thing. Maybe she saw in Lucy what Lucy had seen in herself then and still did now; a coward.

When the Joker and his henchmen came bursting into her house grabbing her dad and hysterical mom and dragging her sister from out of her room, threatening them with shotguns, Lucy had managed to go unnoticed sitting in the space under the stairs surrounded by blankets. She had been there to get a cover for her bed when they came.

Her family had assumed she'd escaped. Part of her wishes she had, at least she wouldn't have had to sit and watch their deaths. No, that's not true... What Lucy really wished is that she had been brave enough to do something.

She could still remember her family's faces as the Joker stood watching them and cackling. She could remember the evil glint in the Joker's eyes as he stepped forward and grabbed her mom, dragging her towards him and then making her face her dad and her sister. "I want you to tell me who you love more. Who you'd pre-fer to keep in your life" he had explained, his grin widening. When the only response he had received was her mom's confused stare he had elaborated, "I want you to decide which of these two-" he waved his hand in her dad and sisters direction "lives." She could remember her mom's horrified face as she stared at him stunned. "Oh and toots, you have five minutes to decide" the Joker had said as he shoved her forward, standing back to watch the show.

For five agonizing minutes her mom had stood there, sweat forming on her forehead as she struggled to choose. It was only when the Joker, who had being standing there tapping his foot impatiently watching, was about to speak that her mom finally made her decision. "My husband" she mumbled, hanging her head in defeat. Lucy hadn't being the only one completely stunned unable to believe what her mom had just said. Her dad had looked mortified, no doubt outraged that his wife would choose his life over their own child. And Lucy's sister had just stared up at her mom with betrayed, tearful eyes unable to say what she had wanted to say before the trigger of the shotgun was pulled.

There was silence in the room as her mom stared at her now dead daughter, tears falling down her cheeks. Her father had his head bowed, his expression unreadable, and Lucy herself sobbed silently, arms wrapped protectively around her legs. The silence was broken by slow clapping and all eyes fell on the Joker who stood there grinning madly. "Well done, I have to say I'm im-pressed! I thought you wouldn't be able to choose but ya sure did surprise me! Choosing ya husband over your own daughter? That's pretty cold, and this is coming from a guy who murder's people. Whatever happened to ma-ter-nal instinct?" He had then begun to laugh.

Her mom had backed away towards the wall, her hands clutching her face. "What have I done? What have I done?" she moaned in despair.

"Now, now mommy dearest don't get so upset. Ya see-" The Joker stopped when her mom, whimpering, had begun to back away from him, her eyes flicking repeatedly to his scars and then to the floor. Despite her revulsion she just could not stop looking at them. Lucy didn't really blame her mom, she felt the same way. "Hmm...What's wrong? Do my scars scare you? They do don't they? Want to know how I got em?" The Joker asked. His voice was so casual he could have been asking for the time instead. Before her mom had the chance to answer he had grabbed the back of her head, making her face him, while his other hand held a knife that he rested lightly on her cheek.

"Ya see I used to have a family of my own too. Kinda like this one. My re-la-tion-ship with my pops was, er, was what you would call absent, but when it came to my mother I was the apple of her eye. She wanted me to be a success. But it was my older brother Johnny who she was really strict with. She was, heh, living through him and never gave him a break and this didn't make him happy at all. And when he wasn't happy he took drugs. Well one day Johnny goes a little crazy after taking too much. Imagine my sur-prise when I come back home to find my mother lying there dead on the floor and Johnny just standing there. I ask him why and he tells me how he hated our mother, how she made his life miserable, how she always loved me more and he's happy she's now gone. He then asks me why I'm not happy too and we get into an argument. He be-comes angry and goes mad" Lucy could remember seeing the knife begin to dig into her mom's lip; could remember her fearful moan and appalled expression. "So he picks up a shard of glass, and holding me down, put's it into my mouth. And you know what he said?" the Joker's voice now a dangerous whisper as he closed his eyes lost in thought. "Why he said-"

"Leave my wife alone you crazy freak!"

The whole room became still as her dad's roar echoed around. Some of the goons tensed and looked nervously at the Joker as well as each other. Lucy herself had flinched, not just because of the pure anger in her dad's voice... but also because even then she had known that with those words her dad had dug himself a grave. There was no way he was going to leave this house alive. Her mom must have realized this too, if not by intuition like Lucy then at least by the expression that crossed the Jokers face when the words were said. His expression for one small second was pissed, wounded even, when he turned to face her dad and began to approach him. Some of the henchmen nervously shuffled, eying their boss's expression. Lucy could remember them glancing at the door occasionally. She guessed they always acted like this when the Joker's mood started to take a less then pleasant turn.

As the Joker reached her dad, he bent down on crouched knees and grabbed his face, squeezing the sides of his lips hard so they pursed out ridiculously. "I'm not crazy" the Joker muttered to him, completely serious and devoid of any humor, his trademark smile for once not gracing his face. "I'm. Not." He had then stood up, rolling up his sleeves. "You" he nodded his head in the direction of the goon who stood unoccupied next to the henchmen restraining her dad, "get me the bat" he ordered, his voice cold. It had chilled Lucy to the bone. His voice had held the promises of something horrible to come. When the goon had returned and handed the bat to his boss she could remember the Joker turning to face her dad with a smile now back on his face. "Well old-timer I'd like to say that this was fun and that this won't hurt one bit... but then where would be the fun in that? You bore me and this will definitely hurt you more than it does me hehehe hahahaha!"

Lucy broke her gaze from the window of the car and lowered her head to the point where it was almost resting on her lap. Her hands clutched at her ears as she desperately tried to block out any noise. She couldn't however hard she tried. The memory was too strong. The sound of her dad's muffled screams as the Joker repeatedly bashed him with the bat, looking more psychotic than ever, the image of her dad cowering on the floor desperately trying to protect himself while her mom just stood shrieking, hands clutching the wall as she tried to shield herself from the sight. Lucy had just sat there watching, both hands clamped on her mouth to stop herself from screaming, unable to cover her eyes and block out the image.

When the Joker had finished he tossed aside the bloody bat, laughing to himself which only grew louder and crazier. When his laughter subsided however a small weak groan could be heard. The Joker seemed to realize before everyone else that the noise from coming from Lucy's dad who despite the beating he had endured was still conscious.

By the time everyone seemed to have realized this, the Joker had returned with a draw full of cutlery, mostly knives. Standing directly above her dad he had then unceremoniously dumped the contents onto her dad's head. Lucy didn't have to hear her mom's howl of despair or the Jokers erratic giggling to know her dad was dead. She had always been one of those people who were good with intuition. The Joker completely unfazed by her mom's sobbing frame looked to her. "Oops" he spoke mockingly, "sometimes I can be so clumsy." Looking down and inspecting the various knives he reached down to pick one up which was revealed to be a meat cleaver. "I'm keeping this" he said, which he chucked to one of his goons who stood silently by.

Maybe her mom had thought she was going to receive the same treatment or suffer an equally painful death, or maybe she was just really scared of the Joker himself, but as the clown approached her she desperately tried to get away out of his reach. She was unsuccessful and was soon in the Joker's arms, a knife to her throat, all the while having her cheek stroked by the crazed clown who was trying to calm her down. "Shhh- shusssh. I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to know where your other daughter is so she can come and join our fun little game."

"How do you know about Lucy?" her mom had replied, shocked out of her sadness. Lucy could remember herself flinching when the Joker mentioned her. It was rather horrible for her to realize that the Joker knew about her. Even more horrible was that now he knew her name.

"One of your neighbors mentioned your family when me and my boys paid them a little visit, just like we did the rest. They were all so serious and didn't seem to be having much fun, so we did them all a favor and put them out of their misery. They're all much happier now. In fact some of them died with smiles on their faces" explained the Joker casually as if discussing the neighbor's deaths wasn't an important subject. "So? Where is she? Where's Lucy?"

"I don't know where she is" her mom had said as she tried not to look at the Joker's face.

The Joker himself had paused after hearing this, cocking his head slightly to the side as he stared at her mom, deliberating over her words. His hand which had been stroking her cheek suddenly clasped her jaw and forced her to look at him, while the knife positioned near her neck tightened causing her to let out a sharp sob. "Do I look like an idiot to you?" he asked his voice now considerably deeper and scarier. "Listen, I am going to find your daughter. So unless you want me to torture and do un-think-able things to her when I do, I'd tell the.Truth."

"She-she must-must have escaped! I'm not lying honest!" her mom had shrieked in response.

"Now there's that maternal instinct we were talking about!" the Joker had grinned, satisfied with her mom's reply. "Better late than never right? But don't you worry one bit. Me and Lucy will have so much fun together." He licked his lips and his smile widened as his gaze bore into her moms, "That I can promise!" Laughter which had been rumbling in him suddenly burst out loudly startling her mom who stared at him wide eyed with horror.

"Please" she begged desperately, "Don't hurt Lucy, please don-" Her mom never got to finish her sentence. In fact she never got to do anything after that. The Joker still laughing had, with jab of his hand, plunged the knife into her throat. Looking back now Lucy couldn't decide which had been worse; the sickening thumps of the bat hitting her dad's body as well as the snaps as the bones were broken, or the nauseating gurgling sound her mom made as the knife entered her throat. Both were enough to want to make her want to retch.

The Joker and his henchmen had let shortly afterwords, of course not before the Joker had crouched down over her moms body and carved a smile on the dead woman's face and then killed one of his henchmen because apparently he didn't like the knife the goon had given him. After leaving a Joker card in her mom's hand and then warning his henchmen to pay attention to the Gotham Times about the whereabouts of "the daughter", they had then left leaving Lucy alone in the house with the bodies of her family.

Unable to glance at her sister because she didn't think she could bear her sisters dead, staring eyes, and not wanting to check her mom because of the blood seeping about, Lucy had crawled over to the person whose death had hurt her the most, who hadn't deserved to part the earth the way he had, and who spent his whole life a family man devoted to his wife and children, her dad. Wrapping her arms around his limp frame she had then uttered the only word she could really only say, "Daddy."

She later found out that the Joker's attack on her area had not been some random or sadistic whim but in actual fact a plan that he had being formulating all the months since he escaped Arkham Aslyum. A 'Hello Gotham! The Clown Prince of Crime has returned!" type of message, Gordon had explained to her bitterly. Why the Joker was out searching for her and what he had planned for her was another question the cops wanted answered. There was no doubt however about the reason why the Joker targeted the area though. One of the residents in her neighborhood, something which her mom had always boasted about when meeting new people, was a relative of Mayor Garcia. It would make sense after all that if the Joker was going to mark his return back to Gotham, it must be done in a way that ensured lots of coverage and effected people. Who better then the Mayors own family? She was his niece apparently and quite close to him. Lucy had never talked to her but her mom had often said that she was always impressed when she used to hear about Lucy, as well as how she did academically. She had always said how she wanted to one day meet Lucy. Her mom had always hoped that her children would be the family's ticket to upper class society...

Now that Lucy had had time to think everything over and get her head straight she couldn't help but feel so sick about it all. Ultimately, her family and everyone in the neighborhood had died simply because of an attack targeted at a relative of the Majors. They had all just been unfortunate victims. If the Majors niece had never lived there in the area in the first place then everyone else would still be alive. It just wasn't fair!

"What's wrong with you?"

Lucy's head shot up as she heard Detective Miller speak. She had been so lost in her memory and thoughts that she had not realized that the woman had noticed her sitting with her hands covering her ears and head resting bent down. Nor had she heard the woman's questions. Lucy cleared her throat, "I was just remembering what happened to me and my family... trying to forget" she mumbled, "I feel a bit queasy" Mr Miller, as Lucy referred to him, started to have another coughing fit much to his 'wife's' annoyance.

"You're not going to be sick in the car are you?" Miller's sharp voice demanded, sounding irritated.

Lucy saw this as her chance to take advantage of the situation. If the Detective thought she was going to throw up they would stop at the nearest rest stop. Not only would she be allowed out of this godforsaken car and allowed some fresh air and a chance to stretch her limbs, it would give her time to think about what she was going to do. Also as much as she hated to admit it she was rather hungry and was starting to feel car sick. "Maybe, I'm not sure... I haven't eaten anything for a couple of hours so that's kinda making it worse", almost as if to prove her point her stomach growled. Mr Miller's coughing was still going strong and Miller herself just ignored him, only making a sound of annoyance and giving him a dirty look.

"Here", Lucy reached forward and handed him a bottle of water she had lying near her. It wasn't his fault he had a nasty cough so why should he be made to feel bad? Also she felt sorry for the guy. He probably had no idea what he was doing in this car with a fifteen year old girl in pajamas's, or the Detective driving the car who was an absolute cold hearted bitch and made the arrogant snob Bruce Wayne look like a great guy.

Mr Miller nodded his head at Lucy and lifting his mask slightly drank from the bottle before sitting still and resuming his recent behavior, which consisted of fidgeting, looking into space or occasionally coughing, sometimes bouts of it. Despite the current situation Lucy held no resentment towards the man. He had probably just been in the wrong place at the wrong time when Miller had found him. He was as innocent as her, even more so perhaps. At least he hadn't allowed three deaths to occur because of cowardice. Of course Lucy was going to try and make up for this somehow some way. She would make her move when they parked at a rest stop, and if she failed somehow she would try again.

They soon slowed down and parked. Miller allowed Lucy to step out the car and stretch and take in the fresh air but warned her not to make a run for it with the promise of 'punishment'. Mr Miller too had got out the car and was now leaning against it staring at the ground. Lucy decided that she didn't have much time so she would have to say what she wanted to say now. "Excuse me?" she said nervously, edging towards Mr Miller who seemed in his own little world. The man jumped a bit surprised when she addressed and approached him. "Err Mr Miller" she begun awkwardly, "I feel that I need to warn you. That woman is a corrupt police officer, and anything she's told you is probably a lie... she's going to kill me."

She was surprised at the conviction and calmness of her words. She would have thought that she would begin to cry as she said them, or at least felt some deep fear. But instead she felt nothing. She guessed that in the hour or so she had spent in the car she had come to accept her fate. She didn't want to die, but if she was going to go then she felt it was better to at least leave the world at peace and with dignity instead of practically having to be dragged out of life, crying her eyes out about the unfairness of it all. Before she went though she at least wanted to do something right, to make up for her inaction and feel better.

"And she'll probably kill you too." she said looking into Mr Millers eyes, or at least what she could see in the holes of the clown mask. The man shook his head at this but Lucy impatient with the little time she had grabbed his arm in desperation. "She will! She's a corrupt cop Mr Miller! If she's willing to sacrifice the life of a fifteen year old girl for whatever reason she has, what chance do you have? Please!" she moved closer to him her eyes never leaving his, "My mom, dad and sister are already dead because I was too scared to try and do anything, I don't want you to be killed too... especially because of me." It was now her voice begun to break, now her eyes begun to moisten. She wiped her eyes with her pyjama sleeve quickly.

"Run. Get out of here while you have the chance. Millers left the keys in the car; you can use that to escape. I'll be fine." Miller shook his head again, which only made Lucy even more desperate and annoyed. "No! Stop it! Go! Save yourself!" Miller shook his head again and moved towards her, steadying her.

"No. Stay with you. Help you" he spoke quietly, his voice low and probably weak considering he'd been coughing most of the car ride. Lucy's hands which had been clutching Mr Miller's right arm let go, her arms falling limply to her sides. There was nothing that she could do to dissuade the man. He was going to come and try and save her whether she liked it or not.

Suddenly a wave of gratitude washed through her and she found herself wrapping her arms around the man and hugging him. She didn't care that she didn't even know his real name, nor that she had only known him for a couple of hours, all she knew was that he was good enough to want to try and save her, to help her. He could not possibly fathom how touched she was by such a gesture.

"Thank you" she whispered to him, although the words were slightly muffled by his jacket, "Really, thank you." Mr Miller who had flinched with the physical contact only patted her head uncomfortably. Lucy guessed he wasn't used to been hugged or any physical affection. She beamed at him as she let go, before walking back to the door of the car to wait. She would not desist though. She would try and persuade Mr Miller to run next chance she got.

Detective Miller had returned now and held a packet of crisps in one hand and a small empty vodka bottle in her other. 'So that's why she took awhile. Must have been to calm her nerves' Lucy pondered as she walked back into the car. The woman must have a strong resistance to alcohol because she was not even tipsy. She didn't seem to like Mr Miller, eying him nervously and trying not to be near him. "Listen you drive for a bit, I want a rest" spoke Miller to her 'husband' as she sat in the passenger seat, not before pushing Lucy who was eating some of her crisps back into the car. Mr Miller only nodded his head. The drive was mostly silent except for Mr Millers occasional coughing and the sounds of the crisps.

Lucy found herself bored very quickly and asked Miller again, "where are you taking me?"

"For the last time somewhere safe so the Joker can't find you" The woman's voice was completely emotionless.

Lucy finally found her patience waning. "I know you're going to kill me. I know you're probably taking me to the Joker. So stop lying to me! Are you really that heartless that you can't even tell me the truth?"

Miller suddenly lost it and swooping around in her sear to face Lucy, grabbed the fifteen year olds pajama collars and begun to shake her roughly. "Listen you goddamn brat!" she snarled, her black hair falling against her face, looking rather crazed. "Shut your mouth! Who are you to judge me? You think I want to do this? That I enjoy having to do this? Do you? They're going to kill my- what?"

Her head snapped to Mr Miller who was poking her with the bottle of water, shaking it in front of her. "Th-thanks" she mumbled, snatching it quickly out of his hands, not looking at him. After glaring at Lucy who was trying to compose herself after been shaken so hard, she began to glug down the water in the bottle. It seemed this had managed to quell her anger because instead of continuing her outburst at Lucy she just rested her head against the chair now quiet.

Time seemed to pass and as Lucy found herself becoming more and more bored with having only the outside world to gaze at from her window for entertainment; she turned back to Detective Miller to demand what was going to happen to her, not even worried about how the woman might react. "Detective Miller what's going to happen to me?" she asked. There was no response. "Detective Miller?" she edged closer to the passenger seat and looked at Miller. "Detective Miller are you ok?"

Nudging the woman there was no response, and the bottle she had clasped in her hand slid and fell to the floor of the car. Lucy quickly checked for a pulse to see if the woman was alive or not, but she quickly found a pulse. She didn't know whether she was happy or not with this. "Detective Miller what's going to happen to me?" she asked again now shaking the sleeping woman.

"I'll tell you what's going to happen to you Lucy." The shock that Lucy felt couldn't be described. She jumped so high it's a surprise she didn't bash her head on the roof of the car. Her eyes, wide and fearful, fell onto Mr Miller who had spoke, his voice once quiet now very clear to hear. Her heart beat began to quicken as the car slowed down to a stop, the car doors were locked, and Mr Miller turned to face her. Lucy didn't like this, didn't like this at all. "Mr-Mr Miller?" she stumbled on her words scared.

Mr Miller bending his head removed the tear faced clown mask to reveal his real face. It was a face that had haunted Lucy since that night, a face that was the stuff of nightmares, a face heavily clocked with makeup; the Joker. Lucy screamed as she saw him and began to back away, her back practically crushing into her seat in her haste. The Joker's smile (always permanent thanks to his scars) widened to an almost Cheshire cat like quality, his yellow teeth gleaming dangerously. "What's the ehehe matter Lucy? Why so, ha, why so serious?" His insane laughter filled the car with his question.

That did it for Lucy. Turning her back on the Joker she scrambled to unlock the door and get out of the car. She didn't care if she was run down by another car or that she'd be stranded and lost. She just had to get the hell out of there. The breath was knocked out of her and she felt herself smashed face down into the seat. The Joker had pounced on her while her back was turned, pinning her down, crushing her body and the air out of her.

Lucy couldn't breathe, his weight was too much for her small not even fully developed body, and she was suffocating. Her fingers clawed at her seat uselessly as she tried to find a way to get out from under him, to stop feeling the agonizing weight on her back that was preventing her from breathing. She suddenly felt herself turned roughly over, and now was staring up into the Joker's face who sat on top of her stomach, smiling evilly down at her. He straddled her as he tried to restrain her arms, succeeding by resting his legs on them, weighing them down.

She had just adjusted to this when he punched her hard in the head, sending her reeling. Before she could even recover from the blow she felt warm, gloved hands wrap around her neck which then began to strangle her. Her arms flailed uselessly under his knees, trying to escape and attack him, to make him stop. They couldn't though so all Lucy could do was gasp. She wasn't sure if it was the blow to the head or the lack of oxygen, but soon afterwards she passed out.

Continued in Chapter 2.

. Thank you for taking your time to this read this; I know it's pretty long for a chapter. It's my first Batman fic so I hope it was good and that you enjoyed it. I also hope my OC wasn't a Mary Sue and actually likable, and the Joker wasn't OOC and actually in character. Reviews are very much appreciated as well as constructive criticism. The only things I don't accept are flames. No author likes to receive them. Again thank you!