Ana inwardly groaned as she spied a group of people sitting together on the soft park grass. They appeared to be that perfect new family - a father, a mother and a very young daughter. All of them carried smiles that were unblemished, still untouched with the worries of this world. Their happiness seemed to radiate to others around them, uplifting everyone's spirits.

She watched as if in a daze as the mother held out some cake to her husband. He opened his mouth expectantly and gasped in surprise as she smashed it into his face, turning his shocked smile into a sugar frosted one. The two parents then turned their attention to their daughter who merely laughed at the two of them, clapping her chubby little hands in delight. She could not have been more than three years old, still carrying an air of innocence and perfection. Ana saw the way his father gazed at his family, his eyes filled with love and compassion. She could tell he would be ready to do anything, go up against anyone to protect them

Looking away from the sickly sweet scene, she grabbed a lock of her curly light brown hair and twisted it in her finger out of habit. Her thoughts turned back to the matter she had brought herself to the park for – to make a decision.

Today was the day she finally earned enough money to pay for a space in the Gotham newspaper. Depending on which part of the news paper you hired out, the expense changed. Ana had been working for a space on the very first page of the busy newspaper, which had totalled to a very hefty sum seeing as there were other more important things that people wanted to put there. However, she knew she was only going to do this once and so would try to put it in a place that she knew her father would see. That's why she wanted the space after all, to find him and make contact… to find out if he was even still alive... to find out if he cared.

However, her mind was plagued over whether or not she should actually go through with it. Her aunt Clara, who was in fact her legal guardian, had no idea about what she was doing. Ana had told her that she was getting a job to earn money towards a new computer. Clara had not told her much about her dad, only his name and that he had left when she was two years old after her mum had died. She had not seen him again after that and said she had no way to contact him.

Ana reached for her purse which was sitting on the bench to her right. All the money she had carefully earned and stashed over the course of six months was sitting in there, waiting for her to make her decision.

Her eyes wandered back over to the young family, the father was now tickling his daughter, making her squeal in delight. With that, her mind was made up. In a rush, she grabbed her purse and made for the bus stop, heading for the place where the Gotham newspaper was published.

After twenty minutes of nervously waiting on the bus, her mind at war with her heart, she got off at the right stop and stood in front of the towering building.

C'mon you can do this, she urged herself, forcing her legs to walk through the front door and to stride up to the young receptionist waiting there.

"I'm Ana Smith, here to see Wayne Scott," she spoke confidently, hiding how she really felt. Wayne Scott was the editor in chief of the Daily Gotham – a ruthless yet kind man who had agreed to letting her place her letter in the newspaper, although at a price of course.

"Take the elevator to the top," she smiled after she verified the appointment with the computer screen in front of her.

Ana waited impatiently in the elevator and jumped as it stopped at the top floor so soon. In one step she was out of the claustrophobic space and into a large office that overlooked most of Gotham. Ana gazed in awe at the walls which were covered with the articles of different newspapers, forming an odd choice of wallpaper.

"Hey kid," she jumped as she noticed Wayne standing to her right, in front of a bookcase that she had not seen before.

"Hi Mr. Scott," she greeted him, shaking his outstretched hand, "I've got the money."

He nodded and strode over to a large mahogany desk before taking a seat behind it, he then motioned to the other chair sitting in front of the desk. She took a seat there gingerly, placing her purse in her lap.

"Do you know what you're going to put in your space?" he asked curiously, waiting as she fished through her purse. She handed him the hand written letter she had taken a while on, and also the wad of cash she had stashed there.

Ana waited nervously as the editor read her letter, his eyes expertly skimming over her slightly untidy, cursive handwriting.

"I like it kid, I like it. It's going to tug on a few people's hearts, even if your dad doesn't read it," he mused, "Jack Napier? That your dad's name?"

"Yeah," Ana answered as he placed the letter on his desk.

"Then why's your surname Smith?" She wondered how he knew her full name until she remembered giving him her details a few months back.

"My aunt's my legal guardian, she had my second name changed when I was little," she explained as he nodded at her.

"Okay then, this will be in the morning edition of tomorrow's newspaper, you have my word Ana," he stood up and once again shook her hand whilst leading her to the elevator door.
"If your dad reads this, we have all your contact information so we can call you and get you in touch with each other."
"Thanks Mr. Scott," she mumbled, her cheeks growing red.

"No problem kid," he smiled as she stepped into the elevator and the doors closed behind her.

The joker skipped down the hallway of the small pokey flat he inhabited, arms outstretched as he turned a corner by latching his right arm to the wall. He hummed a meaningless tune, slowing down his pace as he reached the front door. Grinning from ear to ear, he opened his front door and gazed down to find his morning paper placed there welcomingly on the welcome mat.

"Ahh, Good morning chaos," he stated to no one in particular as he shut the door behind him and once again skipped down the pokey hallway to the living room.

He wondered how people had reacted to the stunt he had pulled just the night before. He chuckled to himself as he reminisced over how he had kidnapped a particular news reporter who had passed a certain comment on live television, jokingly stating the joker had 'lost his touch' after having escaped from Arkham. After torturing him mercilessly for a few hours, the joker had carved a Glasgow smile into the large man's face and sent the footage of all this to the news channels. Finally, he had dumped the body right in front of his wife's place of work… and had watched when she had discovered the body.

Once in the tiny living room, he bounded over to the sofa and jumped onto it, turning the paper round so it was face up. The smile on his face was instantly wiped off as he realised his story had not made the front page of the news.

A growl escaped from his throat as he read the heading of the front page story.

Teenage girl searches for father.

Then there was a bunch of text and a letter the girl had written for her father.

"Stupid sob story, stupid girl," he mumbled to himself as he glared down at the front page. He was about to crumple the newspaper in anger when he caught sight of the beginning of the letter. It read, "Dear Jack Napier."

The Joker stopped dead, his eyes widening as he read over those words and he felt the newspaper slip from his fingers to the floor. For a second, he felt his cold heart stop in his chest as he understood the implications of what he had just read.

He shook his head in confusion and savagely reached down and picked up the dilapidated newspaper in a rush, before thoroughly reading what was written.

'Ana Smith is an average sixteen year old girl who lives in a small townhouse on the suburbs of Gotham. There she lives with her Aunt Clara as her mother died when she was only two and her dad is no where to be seen. Here at the Daily Gotham we promised Ana a space to write a letter in search of her father, hoping he will see it and make contact with her after all these years. If any of you know a Jack Napier, please urge him to get in contact with the Daily Gotham so we can reunite these two lost souls.'

Underneath this text was a handwritten letter.

Dear Jack Napier,

I'm your daughter… Ana.

I don't know if you'll ever see this… or if you're even alive at all, but I fo know that I have to try get in touch with you, or I'll regret it forever.

I don't know much about you at all, only that you left after mum died. I also know your name. That's about it.

I've always thought about you… wondering what you look like and why you left. Don't get me wrong, I love my aunt and I'm so grateful for all she's done for me, but I want to know where I came from. I want to know you dad.

Please get in touch if you read this.

With love,

Your daughter Ana.

The newspaper crumpled in the Joker's hands as he squeezed it tightly, remembering a time when he was Jack Napier. Before Chaos had ensued.

"I love you Jack, you know I do, but we can't live like this," his wife's voice murmured to him softly as he sat with his head in his hands on their beat up sofa.

"You think I don't know that?" he asked her, taking her soft hand in his, "I'm trying Susan, I swear. I'm trying to provide for you and Ana. I want to give you so much… but at the moment money is hard to come by."
She nodded her head, sighing as he stroked her palm.

"What about that job you tried to go after at Maroni's place?" she asked him, her voice filled with hope. He stopped stroking her palm, closing her hand with his fingers as he turned to look at her.

"I don't know about that… You know what they say about Maroni and his goons," he whispered to her, "They said I could have the job… But I'm worried about it babe. There are lots of rumours going round about that lot."

His wife sighed and leaned against the sofa, her eyes closed as she pondered what he had said. She was about to answer when they heard a knock at the door. Getting up felt like an effort at that time, so she was glad when she felt Jack get off the sofa and stride towards the door. He smiled as he opened it to find his daughter and sister in law standing there.

"Hey honey," he grinned as his daughter giggled and toddled into his arms. He picked her up and squeezed her tightly, "How was you day."

He listened as she began talking in her own cute baby language, he noticed that the only real word he could pick out was 'potato'.

"That's great Ana," he laughed, plopping her onto the floor and turning her to find his sister in law looking at him with a raised eyebrow and a smile on her face. He shook his head and gave a small smile.

"Thanks for watching her Clara," he thanked the woman, beckoning for her to come in and take a seat next to Susan. He gazed as the two women began to gossip about random people. He loved it when it was like this… nothing to worry about, just conversation and laughs.

"Daddy?" Jack felt Ana pull at his black trouser leg and he looked down to find her holding up a picture to him. He took it from her hand carefully, and smiled when he saw that it was a badly drawn picture of him, her, Susan and Clara. They were all portrayed as stick figures of course, splashes of colours depicting their clothes and hair. His own hair was merely three blonde scribbles planted across his face, and all of their faces carried a grotesque giant smile. At the bottom of the picture was a giant pink heart. Jack could not help but feel tears brim in his eyes as he gazed lovingly at the picture, then down at Ana.

"It's perfect, sweetheart," he answered her, leaning down to plant a giant kiss on her forehead. It was at that moment that he knew he would take the job with Maroni. No matter what the rumours, he needed to provide for his family.

The Joker growled as this unwanted memory plagued his mind, momentarily making him forget who he really was. Jack Napier was gone, and the Joker had taken residence in his place… And he was not going anywhere any time soon. He stared down at the newspaper now on the floor, and began to laugh to himself amusedly as he thought about what he had just found out.

"If girlie wants her daddy, here he comes," he shouted with his arms spread wide, before doubling over with more insane laughter.