First story I have had "published." Written a few years ago, inspired by The Dark Knight. I do not own any rights to anything Batman.

The rain poured over Gotham City, dancing to an unsung tune as it landed. People raced to get inside and away from the cold, and Lin hugged her black leather jacket tightly around her body. It went down to her knees which she was thankful for, and even had a hood which she took full advantage of. Lin imagined her face had become paler than before from the cold, contrasting greatly with her long, black hair and sharp, violet eyes.

She listened to her footsteps hit the pavement in tune with the constant rain, and smiled to herself a little as she made my way to the local cafe. She looked at her watch and found that she had plenty of time to spare, and allowed her mind to wander.

Lin was fifteen years younger at the age of ten, and had brown eyes back then. That day was a bit blurry, but she remember running around with a boy a little bit older than she was at the time, playing in the fields behind her house.

His dirty blonde locks flew past him as he ran from her, laughing a laugh she loved to hear. He was wearing a pair of blue overalls and a white t-shirt underneath, while she wore a blue sundress. Both were barefoot as the tall grass whipped past them.

They finally fell on their backs at a clearing at the top of the hill and just stared up at the cloudy sky. Lin turned to look at the boy next to her with the eternal smile. The scars on either side of his lips were upturned, creating the illusion that he was smiling all the time.

His father had given them to him personally a while back, but he truly did smile more often now that the man was locked up behind bars.

"Jack, tell me how we first met again?" Lin asked him, wanting to relive that moment once more. He just smiled and turned towards her.

"It was lunch, and two boys were picking on you so bad. They were calling you names like Chink and Jap and told you to go back to Asia. That's when I came in and threw food at them."

"It was rather funny." She said with a small giggle. "It's strange how it's been two years since we met."

"I'm glad we did."

"Me too."

Lin was pulled out of her reverie, seeing as her body had already taken her into the building. A man called Jonas Peterson ran this place, and graciously offered her a job to be the second bartender at a bar called "Petersons." .

Jonas was in his mid-forties and was a sweet man. He had a wife and a kid, and felt sorry for her when she told him that her only living relative was her younger sister, and she was far away in California.

"Hello Lin." Jonas said with a warm smile. His hair was graying, but his bright green eyes still kept their youthfulness.

"Hello Jonas." Lin replied with a smile.

"Have you seen the news lately?" He asked.

"No, I haven't."

"There's a new criminal in town. He goes by the name of "Joker." Isn't that something?"

She just nodded my head and placed her jacket in the back room and started waiting on the occasional customer. Jonas was in charge of the cash and was head bartender.

"Hello Billy." She said to the teenager in the back. He was Jonas's son, and was pretty much forced to work a few times a week. Jonas said that it would teach the boy responsibility, which Lin couldn't argue with.

"Hi Lin!" Billy said with a grin. "I didn't know you were working here today."

Lin just rolled her eyes.

"Bills, I work here everyday."

"Oh, yeah…right."

Lin just smiled as she studied the nervous boy. He was only sixteen, with shaggy brown hair and a thin frame, with hazel eyes. He had always liked Lin, perhaps a little more than needed.

"So what do you think of this Joker fellow?" Jonas asked her, pulling her attention away from the boy.

"I'm not sure what to think." Lin said as she placed a beer down on the table for one of the only customers. He was reading the paper, and she couldn't help but notice that the Joker had made it to the front cover.

"He's killed countless amounts of people." Jonas added. "C'mon Lin, don't tell me you haven't heard of him."

"Of course I have, I just haven't given the issue any thought." She defended.

"They say he's a psychopath." Jonas said. "You might have been safer in China, Little Lin." That was his nickname for her.

She just rolled her eyes.

"I'd rather not go back to China, thank you very much."

"I don't see you going around killing everyone in sight." Jonas said coolly, ignoring her last statement.

Again, she just rolled my eyes.

"Anyways, is there anything ELSE new?" Lin asked.

"Oh yeah, I volunteered you to be a caterer at this ball that Bruce Wayne is hosting tomorrow night."

She just stared at him in disbelief.

"What? Why?"

"Who knows how to whip up any drink better than us?" Jonas said with a smile. "Also, the restaurant next door was suppose to cater but they're short a few people so I volunteered you into the mix. He wasn't too thrilled about it at first but you know me."

"Yeah, you'll do anything to campaign this little place, even if it means doing something that makes absolutely no sense at all whatsoever."

Jonas shrugged.

"God knows how those people need a drink."