Kirsty's Note:

Welcome to my Dark Knight fic-!

Tru is the Gotham Vampire Slayer by night, copywriter assistant by day. She's supposed to slay the creatures of the night, dusting them one by one. Whilst Batman deals with the humans.

But what happens when she meets the most sinister creature of the night only to find out...he's human? A human that not even Batman can take down.

She can't kill him, but he can kill her.

The Joker and the Slayer - They're not quite enemies but there is something they do share...

Please R&R - I love the Joker and so have done my best with his mannerisms, please let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: I don't own the Dark Knight or its characters. I own Tru. Although I wouldn't mind owning the Joker...mMMm *ahem anyways...

When the Joker met the Slayer

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Chapter 1

Meeting

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A cackle of manic laughter rang through the darkest alleys of Gotham. The Joker and his cronies had had a successful night. First they done up a couple of stores downtown, then caused havoc by car racing down busy streets.

The smell of danger was in the air and they were high just living off the frenzied screams of Gotham's nearby citizens.

In his infamous blue shirt, green waistcoat and painted smiling face, the Joker grinned hysterically as he leaned out of the speeding car.

Listen to all the screaming people…he licked his lips in delight It's a beautiful sound.

Laughing again he pointed upwards, "Back to the ranch boys!" he sang as the car turned towards home.

It was like this most nights, as the politicians appeared on broadcasts promising "a brighter future for Gotham" with the arrival of a potential new candidate, the Joker seemed intent on wreaking havoc into the hearts of the people living here. Even the Batman seemed to be having trouble dealing with the eccentric newcomer. The new whisperings around Gotham seemed to be making out that Batman had finally met his match. What with this and the new DA taking on campaigns in the fight for justice, the people of Gotham had enough to talk about.

But unknown to the politicians and the innocent people of Gotham, Evil itself had made a home in Gotham long before any of these criminals had stepped a foot into the city limits.

Creatures of the night had been making a nest here for centuries, but unlike the other criminals, placing them behind bars wasn't punishment enough for them.

The only way to stop vampires was to slay them.

And there was only one person who could do that.

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Tru banged her head on her desk again…and again…and again.

OK that last one hurt.

She rubbed the front of her head, "stupid table, stupid table in a stupid office with a stupid…but ooh sooo cute boss."

Gazing at the Wayne Enterprises sign on the door she sighed. It was a Thursday, 5pm on the dot. Which mean only half an hour to go before she got to go home. That meant by the time she got home she'd have about 14 hours before she had to come back to start a nine and a half hour shift all over again.

Ooh the life of a junior office assistant.

Not that she hated working her job, she just hated the way she was treated by all the gorgeous supermodel slim associates who kept walking by with their uber deluxe Starbucks skinny lattes and Chanel suits.

She had been working there eleven months as a copywriter assistant and not so much as a whiff of a promotion had been headed her way.

Her immediate boss Davina, a snooty pearl wearing thirty-something be-atch smirked at Tru from her luxurious oakwood desk and marched towards her.

Davina never walked, she preferred to remind others of her presence with a firm solid march. Except when Mr Wayne paid a rare visit where she took a break from her dragon self and swayed and just positively oozed charm, "Why Yes Bruce, I am in complete acquiescence of your opinion" she would say with a stupid schoolgirl giggle.

Tru would just roll her eyes.

Smothering a yawn Tru took a quick glance at the office wall clock.

5:15

Oh god hurry up…

"Truuu" she drawled and smiled that sickly sweet smile she did when she needed Tru to do something a few minutes before she got to go home.

Which funnily enough happens to be quite a lot.

Tru gave a smile back at her, also sickly sweet, "Yes Davina what can I do for you….now" she muttered the last part under her breath.

"I need these filed before you go home," dropping the sweet act she dropped about 140 pounds of paper on the peanut sized desk. "And don't forget to label them this time, See ya tomorrow! Oh and before I forget-" She paused and plastered on another fake smile, "Not too much wild partying tonight darrling, we have a early conference meeting at 8am sharp. The coffee needs to be there before the clients! Ta-ra!" and with that she disappeared.

"Too much wild partying?" True sighed as he opened the bottom drawer of her desk and reached into the back. She pulled out a stake.

She smiled sadly, "Not much chance of that."

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Fuck it was cold.

Tru zipped up her hoodie tighter to her neck and slapped her leather trouser-clad legs to keep them warm.

Why can't vampires and demons migrate south for the winter?

Like really…really south.

She strolled away from the main streets and headed into the Narrows, the bad bad part of town. Patrolling was a pain in the ass in the winter. Not only did it get dark majorly early, but the cold just made it so much of a chore.

"If only vampires could just be jailed, it'd make things so much easier" she grumbled, "then the politicians could stop pretending they didn't exist and Batman could deal with them himself."

Truth was the politicians really did ignore the vamps. They didn't know how to deal with those creatures of the night since jailing them hadn't been that effective. Somehow they seemed to break out and start snacking away at everyone. Batman was pretty useless against them too since it would kinda break his 'no killing' rule. The only way to deal with this was to cover up the evidence and hide it from the good people of Gotham.

Sometimes I really hate rules.

God she was grumbling a lot tonight, usually her adrenaline would be rushing through her veins right about now, warming her up and forgetting she was cold.

But tonight was different.

With the Joker's face plastered all over the news, Tru couldn't help but feel a bit put out. She staked vampires pretty much every night, she did her job. Why was this new guy keeping everyone on their toes? He was human for christs sake, surely an easy job for the Batman.

The fact that he was still at large made even the Slayer nervous. What am I supposed to do if I meet him? Can't stake him that's for sure.

Despite the fact no one knew of the Slayer's existence in Gotham, she still felt like there was an unspoken deal between her and the Batman. He captured the bad human guys, while her job was to slay the non-human and whatever other type of evil made its way into the city. No other human criminal had made such a scandal in the city before.

For some reason she felt a little…excited by it all.

It's been kinda normal lately…boring normal. Maybe it's time someone new came in and shook things up.

"Oh for gods sake Tru" she mentally shook herself, "you shouldn't be thinking things like that." She zipped her hoodie even higher and crossed her arms over her chest to keep warm. She checked out her watch, 9:35.

"Right that's it, I'm freezing my butt off, I'm heading back." she turned around and started to head home. A hot chocolate and a chocolate chip cookie were calling out to her at her from dinky little apartment.

Hang on.

She tensed as she felt the familiar tingling up and down her spine. It was her Slayer-sense kicking in, warning her that something not so human was nearby.

She reached into the back of her trousers and gently touched the stake for reassurance. A slight scuffling noise could be heard north west from her position, turning around once more she began to run in a smooth, steady, ground-eating lope. Increased speed was one of the more attractive traits that came with the slayer package.

Noises.

People shouting.

A scream.

Tru heard them all before she got there.

Anywhere there's carnage and murder, you'll find me. She thought grimly.

She stayed out of sight just for a moment to assess the situation, she saw immediately two vampires both leering at a young girl, she looked no older than Tru. They had backed the girl into a corner by a dumpster, the girl was crying, She held out her handbag in desperation, "please take anything you want….just please…"

The two vampires looked at each other and laughed, Tru knew exactly what they were after. One of them grabbed the girl by the neck as the other held her arms down, the girl screamed.

There's my cue

Tru leaped straight in executing a perfect roundhouse kick knocking one of the vampires on the ground. She raised the stake and dusted him before he even got up. She jumped up, the adrenaline had finally arrived, making her veins buzz with excitement.

"Yknow," she walked up to the remaining vampire and kicked him straight in the groin, "I never understood why you guys always go for young innocent girls," she rolled her eyes as the vampire went straight down, "you should know by now that they scream the loudest." As he got up, she kicked him straight in the face, smirking a little when she heard his nose break.

She reached into her back pocket and retrieved her stake, she spun round behind him and twisted his arm behind his back. She felt satisfied when he growled in pain but he also wore a grin on his bumpy face.

"I'm not quite sure what you're so happy about, you're about to become kitty litter" the Slayer chirped, she glanced quickly up to check on the girl who was….gone.

Damn Tru thought, stupid innocents

Angry she twisted his arm further, "Ok since the girl I am supposed to be saving has run off, I'm gonna make this quick." she was about to puncture his heart when the vamp spoke again, "You won't beat him" he mocked, "he's not like us. He'll have your blood Slayer" he hissed through razor sharp teeth.

Tru had no idea what he was talking about, but she refused to be distracted. Quick as lightening she plunged the stake through his unbeating heart, coughing a little as he exploded in a cloud of dust.

He'll have your blood.

She pondered over what he meant, but there was another scream.

"God why does this have to happen when I start thinking about cookies" she gritted her teeth as she ran towards the sound.

Surprise, the runaway had run straight into the arms of another undead creature. Tru sighed as she kicked the vampire in the face. Turning around she pointed a finger at the girl, "Stay. Right There." she ordered. Too late, she saw the girls face blanch and Tru braced herself for pain.

She found herself on the floor, head pounding from a punch from the vampire who was now straddling her and trying in vain to bite her.

"Die Slayer," the vamp growled as he leant down towards her neck. Anger rushed through Tru like wildfire, "You die first," she hissed back as she head butted his nose. Blood poured from it as the vampire howled. "God I love doing that," Tru grinned as she sat up grabbed the stake and pierced it through the ugly creatures heart.

3 in one night, not bad. Tru dusted herself off and turned around to-

"Fuck sake!" she stamped her foot. The runaway had….runaway again. "Stupid people are never gonna learn." She bent down to pick up her stake when she heard clapping.

Slow methodical clapping.

She turned around quickly but saw nothing.

"That was…truuuly splendid" a praising scratchy voice came out from the darkness. Tru peered hard and was able to make out….a figure.

Two figures.

More came out.

Make that about five.

Oh this doesn't look good.

Tru felt her slayer instincts kick in again when she finally recognised the man with the voice. He came out from the shadows and stared at her, his painted face leering at her from underneath his curly hair.

"You're the Joker" Tru felt her heart kick against her ribs, never in a million years did she actually think she would get to meet him.

She also didn't think she'd be this nervous when she did.

"Aw lads," the Joker threw his hands up in the air and smiled even wider, "I'm officially famous…isn't…that…dandy?" he took a step closer to the Slayer. Instinctively Tru took a step back.

But the smile didn't leave his face, instead he cocked his head to the side and stared her up and down, slowly licking his painted lips as he did so.

"Well now missy…" he gestured to where the dusted vampire had straddled her a few moments earlier, "you ah…wanna tell me where you learned how you do that?"

Tru didn't take her gaze off his, So what am I supposed to say now? Fuck I never thought I'd meet him, let alone have a conversation with him!

Despite him being human, she felt…power exuding from all around him. He was well dressed and his attire suited him. She licked her dry lips and instinctively went to reach around to touch her stake.

No no no don't do that.

She managed to stop her hand from moving but she swore she felt the Joker's eyes briefly flick down to her twitching hand.

"I uh….I'm a black belt in karate." she fibbed, almost buckling under the pressure of keeping her eyes on his. His gaze was piercing, even though he held no expression now, she felt as if he was stripping her naked simply from looking at her.

His curiosity got the better of him, he smacked his lips in satisfaction and looked down at the ground for a second. "And ah…" he flipped his gaze up to hers and stared at her levelly, "you telling' me you learned how to run like the wind in ka-ra-te too?" he laughed breathlessly and clapped his hands together, his cronies followed suit and began to laugh along with him.

Quick as a flash the Joker pulled out a gun and shot one of them in the head without tearing his gaze from Tru's.

Tru's heart stopped.

The lackey slumped in a heap on the concrete.

The Joker tutted several times and tapped his feet on the floor in impatience, to Tru it seemed everything he did was sped up as if he were in a movie and the tape had been fast forwarded.

"I…don't think that was funny, y'know people can be soo rude," he move his head from side to side and smiled when he felt a satisfying pop in his neck, "Someone…obviously wasn't brought up properly" he tutted again and grinned at the Slayer as if he was sharing a private joke.

"Buut…" he tapped the gun against his cheek as if he were in deep thought, his gaze was still firmly on Tru's, "I can tell that you're like me." he grinned, "we both know what's out there, and it's scary. Naughty little kiddies who run away from home deserve to be eaten by the…big bad monsters," he giggled, a frenzied giggle with a touch of menace, "but I'm curious." he cocked his head again, all trace of a smile vanished from his face. "It seems…you got something…different from everyone else…I wonder" he started to grin as he took the shotgun from his shoulder and pointed it at…her.

"Seems you can run faster than a bullet…but girly" she heard him cock it, and she tensed when he smile a little secret smile, "…can you dodge one?"

Without a moments hesitation Tru ran. Her long legs ate up the ground and she was out of the alleyway before he fired.

She was fast.

But not quite fast enough as she felt the bullet tear through her shoulder. Any normal human would have been on the floor from the impact, but the Slayer inside her forced her to keep going.

She didn't stop, or even turn around until she reached her apartment. She allowed herself to turn around to make sure no one was following her, but she knew she was safe. The Joker might be ruthless, but even he couldn't beat her for speed.

She grabbed her shoulder and clenched her teeth in agony, it was gonna hurt like hell for a few days.

But she was alive.

For now

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So how did I do? I was going to make this a one shot but I think there's potential here perhaps? If anyone agrees please let me know! LOVE the Joker ^-^