Fearing The Unknown

By
TheSodaVampire

Author's Note: I know, I KNOW.. I promised I'd work on my Twilight story.. But.. The plot bunny just wouldn't leave me alone! Until I get back into the Twilight-y mood, here's something for you to enjoy. Oh, and this is based of Heath Ledger's fantastic performance in 'The Dark Knight'. Complete Nolanverse. Post movie though. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Jessica 'Jesse' Abigail Whitley. And Destiny Rose White. If you want to use them, ASK. But, all the rest belongs to their respective owners and creators. Hell, I can't even afford the money it costs to see TDK again! TT

Chapter 1:
In Which Things are Destroyed, Discovered, and Reveled.

The night was far too quiet. Like the calm before a storm. And every heart in Gotham city was aware of the false sense of security, whether they chose to accept it or not. The abrupt and shocking reveal of the true identity of The Batman had taken place only a few hours before and the atmosphere that had been left in it's wake was that of pure and reluctant unease.

There was no doubt in anyone's mind that the city's newest menace, The Joker, would attack the heavily guarded convoy that held the now ex-vigilante Harvey Dent, as they traversed the newly blocked and deserted streets of Gotham. Like a mighty storm just before it breaks, it was no longer a question of 'if', only a simple a matter of when.

This unavoidable fact weighed especially heavily on the hearts of two off duty detectives as they sat well out of the line of fire, in a quaint Italian restaurant a few blocks northwest of the doomed path of the convey.

Apprehension and guilt echoed silently between the pair. They sat, each absorbed in their own thoughts as they stared at their untouched meals.

Though unspoken, the two of them mulled over the same unanswered question: 'Why should I get to be here, safe and warm, when my friends are out there, putting their lives in danger..?'

One of the two was a petite woman with long golden blond hair that came to her mid back, which shone like spun gold even in the dimmed 'ambience' lighting of the restaurant, lightly tanned skin, oval shaped face, bright sky blue orbs with long black lashes, a small button nose, and full rose colored lips, which were pulled down into a distressed frown. She idly pushed around a piece of broccoli on her plate and sighed softly in her soprano tone.

This disruption of the heavy silence brought her companion out of her mental holiday. She looked up from her own plate and caught her friend's eye, asking quietly, "You doing okay, Des?" in a deep, albeit feminine voice.

Destiny Rose White set down her fork and smiled apologetically. "Sorry.. I'm just so…" she trailed off dejectedly as her attempt at a smile fell from her beautiful face.

Her friend smiled humorlessly back at her. "I know what you mean.." she muttered dryly. Jessica, aka 'Jesse', Abigail Whitley gave a tired sigh of her own and ran a hand through her short hair in a nervous gesture. This was true torture at it's worst, it seemed.

It could be said that the two women were truly at opposite sides of the spectrum, whereas Destiny was petite and waif-ish in stature, her friend and partner, Jesse, was anything but. She stood nearly a head taller than the blond, at 5 ft 7, with short cut auburn hair, pale skin, a round face, green eyes, glasses, a wide nose, full pale pink lips and two sharp canine teeth which she affectionately dubbed her 'fangs'. And while Destiny was more on the firm and toned side, the auburn haired woman was what she liked to call 'fluffy'.

"I just wish that.." Destiny trailed once more, but once again, her partner finished her thoughts.

"I know." Jesse muttered unhappily. There was really nothing either one of them could do for themselves or their friends.

Destiny tried to smile "They'll be fine though. They know what they're doing." she assured, though Jesse wasn't certain who it was her she was trying to comfort more, Jesse, or her self.

"Yeah," Jesse agreed, but her tone was grimmer than before as she continued ominously, "But so does he." There was no question of whom she was referring to.

Destiny shivered unconsciously. Then the blond looked up at her partner sharply, "Don't talk like that!" she admonished shrilly, fear causing her voice to go up a few octaves, "You make it sound like he's the devil or something!" she pulled her cream colored sweater closer, though the restaurant was plenty warm.

Jesse raised her eyebrows, "Isn't he though..?" she mused quietly and Destiny shot her an incredulous look. The auburn haired woman considered this thought silently, all of those innocents he had killed without a thought, all of the chaos he seemed to enjoy causing so much, surely a person such as he couldn't be considered mortal by anyone's standards. Her words hung in the air like an unvoiced threat, until finally she spoke. "No," she concluded after a moment, "He is just a man. But surely a new breed of man that this city has not seen before." she murmured thoughtfully as she gazed out the dirty window.

Destiny stared at her for a long time. "You make it sound like you're praising him or something.." she muttered wearily as she jerkily stabbed at the innocent piece of broccoli that she'd been toying with for the last few minutes.

This abruptly brought Jesse out of her reverie. "Praising?" she repeated, as though the very word burned her tongue. It was Jesse's turn to look incredulous, "You think I'm praising that sadistic clown??" she demanded pointing a long pale finger at herself. Destiny merely smiled sweetly as she placed the broccoli in her mouth.

Jesse still gawked at her as she made to take a sip of her soft drink, only to spit it out not a second after she had taken a drink.

The all too familiar staccato of gunfire and roar of a near by helicopter suddenly echoed ferociously throughout the restaurant.

Green eyes met blue and a single thought ran through the two women's minds at the same exact moment:

'Oh holy shit.'

As mass panic began to take over the patrons of the small Italian restaurant, as Jesse and Destiny fought against the crowd to get outside to where a lethal shower of glass rained down on the streets below.

Jesse watched in horror as a police helicopter came spiraling down in a fire-y cyclone of death up the street a ways, just as a bullet-pocked SWAT armored truck swept past, only to blow over the burning helicopter.

Not two seconds later, a semi roared past them both, hot on the tail of the truck. The pair locked eyes again and began running up the street towards the mass destruction.

Then an piercing screech was heard and with Jesse's nearsightedness, she could barely make out the form of a dark blur speeding towards the semi at breakneck speed.

It seemed as if the two vehicles were playing a life or death game of chicken as the dark blob that became a motorcycle swept barely out of the way of the semi, but it left a rope in it's wake.

What happened next became one big blur before Jesse's eyes as the real Batman on the motorcycle whipped past her, lampposts toppled over like skinny dominoes, but in all this chaos, somehow, the semi flipped completely over on to it's back with a deafening CRASH!

The Batman agilely turned him self around and started back the way he came, straight for the flipped semi, where a man was stumbling out of the wreckage.

Even with her poor eyesight, there was no doubt in Jesse's mind who that man was. The loping, almost child-like gait, the garish purple trench coat, the haunting whiteness of his clown war-paint, and not to mention the fact that even though he was stumbling out of a major wreck, he was still carrying a shotgun.

The infamous Clown Prince of Crime was walking in her direction, not even 40 feet away. And gaining ground.

Not that he gave her, or Destiny the slightest thought. As he passed, Jesse could've sworn she actually heard his nasal-y voice mutter "Come on, come on, come on, I want you to, I want you to, come on, come on, come on," he murmured, shooting at on coming traffic that obstructed his view of the Batman racing towards him, "Hit me, hit me, come on, hit me," the Joker continued to mumble until his voice became a roar as the motorcycle closed in, "HIT ME!!"

Just as Jesse fear that she'd be splattered by Joker-debris, the motorcycle swerved just in the nick of time. And then careened out of control until the Batman was splayed out on the street from the recoil of his bike hitting the semi at over 60 miles per hour.

Both women stood transfixed as the Joker shook his head, as if he was an exasperated parent dealing with a foolish child who knew better, and then proceeded to skip back towards his fallen adversary.

It took a moment for Jesse to overcome her fear and for her training to kick in. She had to help the Batman. Even if he wasn't exactly the city's most credible hero, he had still tried so hard to save innocent lives every day. She shook her head and began to run forward, leaving her partner behind, towards the caped crusader and the sadistic clown that was coming closer and closer.

A nameless lackey of the Joker's rolled Batman over and another attempted to remove his mask, only to be thrown backwards with a strangled cry by a high voltage shock. A booby trap for those unwise enough to try and remove the infamous mask of Batman's. The Joker cackled gleefully at the lackey's pain as he approached Batman's prone figure. Jesse subconsciously shivered, just as Destiny had before, as she pulled out her .40 Smith & Wesson automatic cartridge.

The young woman's breath caught in her throat as she came up behind the Joker, gun poised steadily at his green-ish blond mop of hair, just as he knelt down, about to carve up Batman's mysterious visage. At that same exact moment, two lackeys stood to fend off Jesse's attempt to thwart their boss' victory, and a frazzled looking Jim Gordon placed a gun to the Joker's temple.

"We got you, you son of a bitch.." he muttered victoriously.

Jesse could barely tear her eyes away from her formerly fallen captain, now back from the dead. 'He's been alive all this time..' she thought amidst her complete shock. Then she approached cautiously and stood directly above, as the Joker laid down on his back and dropped his switch blade on the ground, a curiously bored look on his jarring features. Jesse couldn't help the immense feeling of unease that grew in the pit of her stomach at this blatant disregard of his own capture.

Edgily, she glanced up at her captain's tired, though relieved face. "Good to have you back, Sir." she murmured quietly, returning her attention back towards the prostrate criminal before her.

"I thought you had tonight off, Detective.." Gordon mumbled casually, though he was still breathing hard.

Jesse's smile was wry, "You know me, Sir, the closet work-a-holic." she muttered sarcastically.

A few moments later, along with Destiny and a fellow brother in blue, Jesse helped move the Joker into the battle-marked armored truck, the same that had just been holding the now innocent Harvey Dent. Though, for a man who could strike terror into the heart of every man, women, and child in Gotham, the Joker was strangely cooperative. He didn't struggle in Jesse's grasp as she lead him towards the truck.

Jesse tried her best to ignore the substantial heat that radiated off of the clown's lean, though muscular frame and to focus on the task at hand.

Although, just as the four of them reached the truck, the Joker stopped short and both women and support officer tensed visibly, ready to take the joker in by any means necessary. Jesse's grip tightened considerably on the Joker's thick forearm, but if he noticed, he didn't give any indication. "Hmmm.. My my, what a duuuuuuumpy little vehicle this is.." he murmured in his nasal-y tone, humming slightly as he surveyed the pocked and marred armor of the truck, "I wonder who could've cause such uh.. con-siderable damage.." he continued in a mock serious voice, which broke into a disturbing high pitched giggle at the end. "Oh. Could that've been moi?" he giggled at his own poor joke.

Jesse could only stare as the Joker hopped up into the truck, only after removing his large and unbelievably heavy trench coat, which he handed over to Destiny with an eerily polite smile as he licked his cherry red lips.

But then, just as Jesse made to slam the door shut, a pale white hand shot out and grabbed onto Destiny's shoulder. "Pleeease be carrreful with my ah.. Little friends in there, won't you…?" the Joker asked oh-so-innocently, though the raging inferno behind his black smeared eyes ruined the desired effect.

Though Jesse could see Destiny trembling in fear at the clown's touch, the blonde's eyes narrowed. "Shut the hell up you sick freak!" she yelled and yanked her shoulder free.

The Joker's face was a living paradox, while his smile widened at Destiny's little outburst, his dark eyes screamed murder. Jesse could tell that even though the Joker was all smiles and deranged laughter, inwardly, he was livid.

Without another word, Jesse slammed the door shut after the Joker retracted his arm. As the truck drove away, Jesse stared at the retreating back of her usually mild mannered partner. The Joker was the creator of fear, and fear only brought out the worst in people, the auburn haired woman concluded silently.

Just then, Destiny called to her, "Ah.. Jess.. You might want to come over here.." the blond called over her shoulder.

Dread washed over Jesse in waves. After what had just gone on, what else could go wrong..? She dashed over to where her partner was standing..

Only to see her beloved silver 2000 Volvo S70 GLT carrying a certain resemblance to that of swiss cheese. Cracks and bullet holes spider webbed across her windshield.

But of course, Destiny's dark blue 2007 Prius was completely untouched. Not even a ding in the opalescent paint job.

The world seemed to crumble around Jesse's feet.

"No no no no no no no.. NO! NOT MY CAR!!"

So.. First chapter. What do you guys think?

I'm trying really hard to write the Joker's mannerisms right.. /