Authors Note; Here is Skin Deep, my new Joker story. I have up to 40 chapters planned out so updates should be quick. Hope you like it, please review!

Skin Deep

By Nara Rinn

Prologue

I am locked in an Asylum. Arkham Asylum. How I got here you ask? I, myself, am not too sure. The doctors told me it was because I was mentally unstable and paranoid and would need to take a few weeks out to recover. It had been said few weeks and they promised I could go soon. But regardless, I still feel eyes watching me... all the time... It is daunting. I feel like the hunted being coveted by the hunter. There is a man in the bed beside me, he's just been brought in, I can hear them talking about him.

"This is him?" A doctor nodded.

"I can't believe were expected to treat The Joker!"

"He's been heavily sedated, he can't harm us."

The second, uneasy doctor eyed the sleeping criminal wearily, untrusting of the unmoving dangerous creature, as if he would jump up and slaughter them at any moment.

"Just get the first aid kit, damnit!"

I look at the sleeping man, he is very dirty. His attire peculiar to say the least, followed up with a mop of greasy, dirty green-ish hair. Are they just going to leave me here with this man when they have finished? Oh I can't wait to go home...

The man, they called The Joker stirred.

"Oh my god, he's waking up!"

Chapter 1; Watching Me

I always feel that somebody's watchin' me

And I have no privacy

I always feel that somebody's watchin' me

Tell me is it just a dream?

Someone was following her. She had read about stalkers, but they belonged in a different, violent world. She had no idea who it could be, who would want to harm her. She was trying desperately hard not to panic, but lately her sleep had been filled with unbearable nightmares, and she had awakened each morning with a feeling of impending doom. Perhaps it's all in my imagination, wouldn't be the first time... Evelyn Hoffman thought. I'm working too hard. I need a vacation.

She turned to study herself in front of her bedroom mirror. She was looking at the image of a woman in her mid twenties, neatly dressed, with feminine features, a slim figure and intelligent, anxious crystal blue eyes. There was a quiet elegance about her, a subtle attractiveness. Her light brown hair fell softly to her shoulders. I hate my looks, Evelyn thought. I'm too thin. I must start eating more. She walked into the kitchen and began to fix breakfast, forcing her mind to forget about the frightening thing that was happening, and concentrating on preparing a fluffy omelette. She turned on the coffeemaker and put a slice of bread in the toaster.

Ten minutes later, everything was ready.

Evelyn placed the dishes on the table and sat down. She picked up the fork, stared at the food for a moment, then shook her head in despair. Fear had taken away her appetite. This can't go on, she thought angrily. Whoever he is, I won't let him do this to me. I won't!

Evelyn glanced at her watch. It was time to leave for work. She looked around the familiar apartment, as thought seeking some kind of reassurance from it. It was an attractively furnished third-floor apartment, with a living room, bedroom and den, bathroom, kitchen and a guest room. She had lived her in Gotham City for three years. Until two weeks ago, Evelyn had thought of it as a comfortable nest, a haven. Now it had turned into a fortress, a place where no one could get in to harm her. Evelyn walked to the front door and examined the lock. I'll have to put a dead bolt in, she thought. Tomorrow. She turned off the lights, checked to make sure the door was firmly locked behind her and took the elevator to the basement garage.

The garage was deserted. Her car was twenty feet from the elevator. She looked around carefully, then ran to the car, slid inside and locked the doors, her heart pounding. She headed downtown, under a sky the colour of malice, dark and foreboding. The weather report had said rain. But it's not going to rain, Evelyn thought. The sun is going to come out. I'll make a deal with you, God. If it doesn't rain, it means that everything is all right, that I've been imagining things.

Fifteen minutes later, Evelyn Hoffman was driving through downtown Gotham. She was employed at Wayne Enterprise, a successful, fast-growing young company with two hundred employees. As Evelyn turned the car onto Harrison Street, she had the uneasy feeling that he was behind her, following her. But who? And why?

She looked into her rear-view mirror. Everything seemed normal. Every instinct told her otherwise.

Ahead of Evelyn was the sprawling, modern-looking building that housed Wayne Enterprise. She turned into the parking lot, showed the guard her identification and pulling into her parking space. She felt safe here. As she got out of the car, it began to rain.

At nine o'clock in the morning, Wayne Enterprise was already humming with activity. There were eighty modular cubicles, occupied by computer whizzes, all young busily building marketing programs, advertisements, web sites and much more. The work floor was divided into several divisions; administration, sales, marketing and technical support. The atmosphere was casual. The employee's walked around in jeans, tank tops and sweaters. As Evelyn headed towards her desk, her supervisor, Dan Bates, approached her. " Morning Evelyn."

Dan Bates was in his early thirties, a burly, earnest man with a pleasant personality. In the beginning, he had tried to persuade Evelyn to go to bed with him, but he had finally given up, and they had become good friends. He handed Evelyn a copy of the latest Gotham Daily magazine.

"Seen this?"

Evelyn looked at the cover. It featured a picture of a distinguished-looking man in his fifties, with silver hair. The caption read "Judge Steven Hoffman vows to wipe out crime in Gotham"

"I've seen it"

"How does it feel to have a famous father?"

Evelyn smiled bitterly, "wonderful"

"He's a great man"

"I'll tell him you said that, were having lunch"

"Good. By the way... "Dan handed her small thin and brown folder.

"Today's reports, I need you to get them written up and edited"

"Will do"

"Thanks. Are we on for Saturday night?"

"Yes."

Dan Bates nodded towards the folder. "There's no hurry on this. They want it last month"

Evelyn smiled. "What else is new?"

She went to work. Evelyn was an expert in filling out reports, checking them and making sure the business transaction that was going through was flawless and the contract air tight. Half an hour later as Evelyn was finishing the first report, she sensed someone was watching her. She looked up. It was Ashley Anderson.

"Morning, honey."

His voiced grated on her nerves. Anderson was the company's computer genius. He was known around Wayne Enterprise as 'The Fixer'. Whenever a computer crashed, Anderson was sent for. He was in his early thirties, thin and bald with an unpleasant and arrogant attitude. He had an obsessive personality and the word around the company was he was fixated on Evelyn.

"Need any help?"

"No, thank you"

"Hey, what about us having a little dinner Saturday night?"

"Thank you, I'm busy"

"Going out with the Boss again?"

Evelyn turned to look at him, angrily. "Look, it's none of your-"

"I don't know what you see in him, anyway. He's a nerd. I can give you a better time." He winked. "You know what I mean?"

Evelyn tried to control her temper, "I have work to do, Ashley"

Anderson leaned close to her and whispered, "There's something you're going to learn about me, honey. I don't give up. Ever. "

She watched him walk away, and wondered: Could he be the one?

At 12:30, Evelyn put her computer in sleep mode and headed for Margherita Di Roma, where she was joining her father for lunch.

-----

She sat at a corner table in the crowed restaurant, watching her father come toward her. She had to admit that he was handsome. People were turning to stare at him as he walked to Evelyn's table. 'How does it feel to have a famous father?'

Years earlier, Judge Steven Hoffman had managed to convict and sentence twenty-four mobsters to life imprisonment and often gave lectures at Gotham's universities to aspiring lawyers and Judges. It was no wonder he was so famous. Evelyn's mother was killed in a car accident when she was twelve and she had no one but her father.

"Sorry I'm later, Evelyn." He leaned over and kissed her cheek.

"That's all right I just got here."

He sat down. "Have you seen Gotham Daily Magazine?"

"Yes. Dan showed it to me"

He frowned, "Dan? Your boss?"

"He's not my boss. He's - He's one of the supervisors"

"It's never good to mix business with pleasure, Evelyn. You're seeing him socially, aren't you? That's a mistake"

"Father, we're just good-|

A waiter came to the table, "would you like to see the menu?"

Judge Hoffman turned to him and snapped, "Can't you see we're in the middle of a conversation? Go away until you're sent for."

"I- I'm sorry." The waiter turned and hurried off.

Evelyn cringed with embarrassment. She had forgotten how savage her fathers temper was. He had once punched an intern during a lecture for making an error in judgement. Evelyn remembered the screaming arguments between her mother and father when she was a little girl. They had terrified her. Her parents had always fought about the same thing, but try as she might, Evelyn could not remember what it was. She had blocked it from her mind.

Her father went on, as though there had been no interruption. "Where were we? Oh, yes. Going out with Dan Bates is a mistake. A big mistake. "

And his words brought back another terrible memory.

She could hear her father's voice saying, "Going out with Jim Cleary is a mistake. A big mistake... "

Evelyn had just turned eighteen and was living in her hometown in Pennsylvania. Jim Cleary was the most popular boy in their High School. He was on the football team, was handsome and amusing and had a killer smile. It seemed to Evelyn that every girl in school wanted to sleep with him. And most of them probably have, she had thought, wryly. When Jim Cleary started asking Evelyn out, she was determined not to go to bed with him. She was sure he was interested in her only for sex, but as time went on, she changed her mind.

She liked being with him, and he seemed to genuinely enjoy her company.

That winter, the senior class went for a weekend skiing trip in the mountains. Jim Cleary loved to ski.

"We'll have a great time," he assured Evelyn.

"I'm not going."

He looked at her in astonishment. "Why?"

"I hate the cold weather. Even with gloves, my fingers get numb."

"But it will be fun to-"

"I'm not going."

And he had stayed in Pennsylvania to be with her.

They shared the same interests and had the same ideals, and they always had a wonderful time together. When Jim Cleary said to Evelyn, "Someone asked me this morning if you're my girlfriend. What shall I tell him?" Evelyn had smiled ad said, "Tell him yes"

Judge Hoffman was worried. "Your seeing too much of that Cleary boy."

"Father! He's very decent and I love him"

"How can you love him? He's a goddamned football player. I'm not going to let you marry a football player. He's not good enough for you, Evelyn."

He said that about every boy she had gone out with. Her father kept making disparaging remarks about Jim Cleary, but the explosion occurred on the night of the high school graduation. Jim Cleary was taking Evelyn to an evening graduation party. When he came to pick her up, she was sobbing.

"What's the matter? What's happened?"

"My- my fathers told me he's taking me away to London. He's registered me in - in a college there."

Jim Cleary looked at her, stunned. "He's doing that because of us, isn't he?"

Evelyn nodded, miserable.

"When do you leave?"

"Tomorrow."

"No, Evelyn! For Gods sake, don't let him do this to us. Listen to me, I want to marry you. My uncle offered me a really good job in Chicago with his advertising agency. We'll run away. Meet me tomorrow morning at all the railroad station. There's a train leaving for Chicago at seven a.m. Will you come with me?"

She looked at him for a long moment and said softly, "yes."

Thinking about it later, Evelyn could not remember what the graduation party was like. She and Jim had spent the entire evening excitedly discussing their plans.

"Why don't we fly to Chicago?" Evelyn asked.

"Because we would have to give our names to the airline. If we go by train, nobody will know where we've gone."

As they were leaving the party, Jim Cleary asked softly "Would you like to stop off at my place? My folks are out of town for the weekend"

Evelyn hesitated, torn. "Jim... we've waited this long. A few more days won't matter"

"Your right." He grinned. "I may be the only on this continent marrying a virgin."

When Jim Cleary brought Evelyn home from the party, Judge Starling was waiting, in a rage. "Do you have any idea how late it is?"

"I'm sorry, sir. The party -"

"Don't give me any of your Goddamn excuses, Cleary. Who the hell do you think you're fooling?"

"I'm not -"

"From now on, you keep your Goddamn hands off my daughter, do you understand?"

"Father -"

"You keep out of this," He was screaming now. "Cleary, I want you to get the hell out of here and stay out."

"Sir, your daughter and I -"

"Jim -"

"Get up to your room!"

"Sir -"

"If I ever see you around here again. I'll break every bone in your body. "

Evelyn had never seen him so furious. It had ended with everyone yelling. When it was over, Jim was gone and Evelyn was in tears.

I'm not going to let my father ruin my life. She said on her bed for a long time. Jim is my future. I want to be with him. I don't belong here anymore. She rose and began to pack an overnight bag. Thirty minutes later, Evelyn slipped out the back door and started towards Jim Cleary's home, a dozen blocks away. I'll stay with him tonight and we'll take the morning train to Chicago. But as she got nearer his house, Evelyn thought, no. This is wrong. I don't want to spoil everything. I'll meet him at the station.

And she turned and headed back home.

Evelyn was up the rest of that night thinking about her life with Jim and how wonderful it was going to be. At 5:30 am, she picked up her suitcase and moved silently past the closed door of her father's bedroom. She crept out of the house and took a buss to the railroad station. When she reached the station, Jim had not arrived. She was early. The train was not due for another hour. Evelyn sat on the bench eagerly waiting. She thought about her father awakening and finding her gone. He would be furious.

But I can't let him live my life. One day he'll really to know Jim and he'll see how luck I am. 6:30 ... 6:40 ... 6:45 ... 6:50 ... There was still no sign of Jim.

Evelyn was beginning to panic. What could have happened? She decided to telephone him. There was no answer. 6:55. He'll be here any moment.

She heard the train whistle in the distance, and she looked at her watch. 6:59.

The train was pulling into the station. She rose to her and looked franticly around. Something terrible has happened to him. He's had an accident. He's in the hospital. A few minutes later, Evelyn stood there watching the train to Chicago pull out of the station, taking all her dreams with it. She waited another half an hour and tried to telephone Jim again. When there was still no answer, she slowly headed home, desolate.

At noon, Evelyn and her father were on a plane to London.

She had attended a college in London for two years, and when Ashley decided she wanted to be involved in working with computers and business, she applied for the prestigious MEI Wang Scholarship for Women in Engineering and Modern Technology at the University Of Gotham City. She had been accepted and three years later, she was recruited by Wayne Enterprise.

In the beginning, Evelyn had written half a dozen letters to Jim Cleary but she had torn them all up. His actions and his silence told her all too clearly how he felt about her.

Her father's voice jarred Evelyn back to the present.

"Your a million miles away. What are you thinking about?"

Evelyn studied her father across the table. "Nothing"

Judge Hoffman signalled the waiter, smiled at him genially and said, "Were ready to look at the menus now."

----

It was only when Evelyn was on her way back to the office that she remembered she had forgotten to congratulate her father on his cover of Gotham Daily Magazine.

When Evelyn walked up to her desk, Ashley Anderson was waiting for her.

"I heard you had lunch with your father."

He's an eavesdropping little creep. He makes it his business to know everything that's going on here. "Yes I did"

"That can't have been much fun" He lowered his voice.

"Why don't you ever have lunch with me?"

"Ashley... I've told you before. I'm not interested."

He grinned. "You will be. Just wait."

There was something eerie about him. Something scary.

She wondered again whether he could be the one who... She shook her head. No. She had to forget about it, move on.

---

On her way home, Evelyn stopped and parked her car in front of a familiar book store she drove past every day but never bothered going into. Before she went in, she studied the reflection in the storefront mirror to see if there was anyone behind her whom she recognized. No one. She went inside the store.

A young male clerk walked up to her. "May I help you?"

"Yes. I - Do you have a book on stalkers?"

He was looking at her strangely. "Stalkers?"

Evelyn felt like an idiot. She said quickly, "yes! I also want a book on - err - gardening and - and animals of Africa."

"Stalkers and gardening and animals of Africa?"

"That's right." She said firmly.

Who knows? Maybe someday I'll have a garden and I'll take a trip to Africa.

When Evelyn returned to the car, it began to rain again. As she drove, the rain beat against the windshield, fracturing space and turning the streets ahead into pointillist paintings. She turned on the windshield wipers. They began to sweep across the window, hissing, " He's gonna get you... gonna get you... gonna get" Hastily, Evelyn turned them off. No. She thought. They're saying... No one's there, no ones there, no ones there.

She turned the windshield wipers on again. 'He's gonna get you... gonna get you...gonna get you.'

Evelyn parked her car in the garage and pressed the button for the elevator. Two minutes later, she was heading for her apartment. She reached the front door, put the key in the lock, opened the door and froze.

Every light in the apartment had been turned on.