Chapter One

I tapped my needle and pushed the air out. No matter how quickly I moved, the heroin never hit me fast enough. In the two years that I had been an addict, I never once felt like I was a good person. I was one. Before I turned into this. I hit my arm a couple times, finding my favorite vein. I shoved the needle into my arm and injected the warm substance into my bloodstream. The high never got old. It never got any less terrifying. Every time I did this, I was playing Russian Roulette with my life. I knew this, but I didn't care. I didn't have anyone. I had myself and that was supposed to be enough. But it never was. My junkie partner in crime, Casey and I always shot off together. She was the only family I had. We were Gotham City street rats our whole lives. Together.

Just as I started to feel my body float away, I felt Casey shake me. I felt a foamy liquid coming out of my mouth and I felt as though an earthquake was erupting through my body. I was overdosing. I knew it was a matter of time. Casey screamed my name as loud as she could. She tried to slap me to snap me out of it, but being as high as I was, she couldn't do much. I felt my body slip away and I felt at peace. For the first time in my entire life. I was gone. I was dead.

I shot up in my queen sized bed, my chest heaving up and down rapidly. Another nightmare about my past. I had been sober for ten years, yet the nightmares never ceased. I wiped the sweat from my forehead and headed to my master bathroom. I looked in the mirror and noticed I looked like utter shit. I sighed heavily and splashed cold water on my face. I looked down at my arm and saw my severely faded track marks. I hated them being there. I had surgery after surgery but no matter how many procedures I had, they never went away completely. Not to me anyway. I looked at my huge clock hanging on my bedroom wall and saw it was already six in the morning. I may as well stay up at this point, I thought. I always tried to be at the office before eight. I was what you might call a workaholic. It was the only thing that gave me a fix now without almost killing me, for the most part. I was the lead journalist for the Gotham City Times Newspaper. After my heavy OD with Casey, I got my shit together. I checked into a community rehab and detox center to get clean. I did and luckily didn't have any relapses. Casey unfortunately did not. I tried to get her to come with me but she refused. I hadn't seen my best friend in ten years. I missed her, but I shrugged it off and hopped in the shower. I washed the night away and got ready for work. I dressed in my dark skinny jeans with black heeled boots and a dark green button up top. My blonde hair swayed behind me and followed all the way down my back. My sobriety led me to a life of OCD. I always had to look perfect and my shrink said it was a side effect of long term sobriety. Great. I grabbed my coffee cup and headed out of my apartment building. I loved my apartment. It was my sanctuary. I made good money, so I lived in the upper east side of Gotham. It was a good neighborhood. I walked quickly down the busy street and pulled my phone out as it started vibrating. I clicked the green answer icon and blew my hair from my face.

"Yeah, this is Leah." I said almost out of breath already. No one said I was in shape, I just looked good in a bikini.

"Leah, it's Brett. I need you at the Museum downtown. Like now. Huge story broke out this morning and we need it covered by the best." Brett said awkwardly.

"Alright, what happened?" Leah asked.

"The Joker. He hit it last night. Cops won't say if anything is missing. Or if he decided to leave any messages for Batman like he did when he offed Robin. He really likes the museum I guess." Brett said as he sipped his coffee loudly. I had only been at the Gotham City Times for a couple of years so I had not really had a chance to write a piece about the city's most feared crime lord. I had to admit, I was excited. The Joker had always intrigued me and I knew his stories sold. I switched my phone to my other ear and proceeded down Broadway.

"Alright, I am on my way. I will see if I can't get one of the GCPD guys to give me some info. I will be in soon." I said as I hung up. I knew Brett probably wanted to tell me to hurry like he usually did so I wanted to beat him to it. I walked a few more blocks and saw the GC Museum. Swarms of people were in front of the gorgeous building, taking pictures and gossiping. I tried to listen in and only caught a few bits I already knew about. I saw the GC Coroner Van pull up and I immediately knew what to do. I pulled out a random badge I had in my bag and hurried to the guarding police officers standing in front of the yellow crime scene tape.

"Can I help you, ma'am?" one cop asked me with a flirty tone. I batted my eyelashes and played along.

"Maybe, i'm Stacy from the Gotham City Morgue. I'm an assistant and was told to get a pre-report of the bodies." I said smiling. He looked at me sideways. Fuck.

"Bodies? Hate to disappoint you little lady, but only one dead guy today." he said, not sounding too suspicious.

"Oh! I must have misread the request. Anyway, I will only be five minutes. Please?" I asked as I flashed a sexy grin his way. He sighed and lifted up the yellow tape.

"Five minutes. Boss will have my hide if he finds out I let you in." the rookie cop claimed as I bent underneath the tape and winked at him. He blushed and continued holding back the nosey crowd. I peeked my head into the huge entrance of the museum and followed the blue uniforms. I followed the many different exhibits in the long halls and reached the crime scene. There were bloodstains everywhere on the marble tile and a body lay sprawled in front of the prehistoric hunter display. I recognized the victim as Sal Maroni. Maroni was Gotham's second best in the mob underworld. He and The Joker had always been in a full out war, but had never had the chances to kill each other. Until now.

Maroni's blood was splashed onto the stone walls and his brains covered the plexiglass behind him. I was able to see the body close up and I saw his mouth. His lips had been carved into a deep yet terrifying smile that stretched from ear to ear. The Joker had won. He won the ongoing battle in the Gotham City Mob war and he left a work of art behind.

"Time of death?" a familiar voice asked the coroner. I looked over and Commissioner Gordon had arrived to the scene. I turned my face slightly, he hated when I used fake badges to get into off limits areas. Commissioner Gordon and I weren't exactly friends, but we would on occasion help each other in our line of duty.

"Well, based on my findings, I'd say ToD is 1:43am, bullet trauma to the head with a handgun. I will have to examine the body further to figure out if the intrusions to the mouth were a contribution. He lost a lot of blood during that." the overweight coroner said as he circled the body. Gordon thanked him then saw me. He rolled his eyes.

"Really?" he asked as he approached me. He folded his arms and eyed me like a teenager who just stole money from his wallet.

"Come on Gordon. I am under orders here. Can you tell me anything?" I asked. He sighed in defeat.

"All I know is that The Joker is stepping up his game. I heard that Harley Quinn left him a few weeks ago after he busted her out of Belle Reve Penitentiary in Louisiana. To be quite honest I'm surprised she is still alive. I don't think the guy handles rejection well." Gordon said as he looked at Maroni's mangled corpse.

"Yeah, no shit. Do you know why she left him?" I asked curiously.

"I don't know Maran. I don't get involved in our most wanted criminals love lives. Amanda Waller has been snooping around our police department so I feel like she is involved somehow. But of course separate entities, you know how it goes." Gordon said with a hint of resentment in his voice. I knew Gordon was getting frustrated with the government getting involved in all of Gotham's issues. It seemed every time the government got involved they made matters worse for example Task Force X. Sure they defeated whatever the hell that thing was in Midway City but all in all, the Force created even more issues afterwards. Gordon turned to me, "Listen, I think you need to be really careful about what stories you publish from now on. I know you haven't done any work on The Joker as of yet but I don't think I need to remind you what ended up happening when you did that story on Batman earlier this year." I rolled my eyes. I did a story on Batman earlier this year and I was kidnapped by a bunch of thugs, thinking I knew his real name. I got out fine thanks to Gordon.

"I will be fine. My office has tight security as of late and my apartment building is near impossible to get into unless you're a resident." I said as I shoved my notes into my bag. "Thanks for not kicking me out, I gotta head to the office. Take it easy Gordon." I said as I slapped him chummy like on his shoulder. He mumbled a yeah yeah under his breath and called after me.

"Just be careful and watch your back. The Joker is not a happy camper as of late since he got dumped. So don't piss him off with those strong words of yours." He said in a fatherly tone.

"Yeah, I got it." I said said as I continued forward. I hurried past the cops before they could figure out that I had no part in this criminal investigation and headed further into downtown Gotham City. I reached the tall building and slid through the the revolving doors. I scanned my badge and headed to the fiftieth floor, Gotham City Times. I did my quick hellos as I headed to my office and slammed the door when I entered. My office was nice, a lot nicer than Brett's. The Chief of Staff, Rob, promoted me a few months ago and even gave me his office since he was technically retiring. Brett shockingly wasn't angry. I sat in my chair and starting checking my messages as I uploaded my recordings from this morning onto my MAC. The day was going by pretty well until I got a knock at my door. It was Brett.

"Hey, Chinese is here." He said as he set down a carton of noodles on my desk. I smiled mumbled a thanks as I grabbed the chopsticks attached to the carton. Brett looked afraid.

"What?" I asked suspiciously. He rubbed the back of his salt and pepper hair nervously.

"We have a new guy. He's the guy from New York Times. Rob kinda wants both of you on The Joker story." He said.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I asked. Brett groaned.

"Come on Leah, I have no say in this. Please say you will be nice and cooperate." Brett asked.

"I am the best here, Brett. I don't need some overachiever getting in my way." I said back. Brett looked at me with pleading eyes. I growled.

"Ugh fine. I guess I don't have a choice." I said in defeat.

"Well yeah, because he is sort of on his way up here to meet you." Brett said as he peeked out of my giant glass walls. I rolled my eyes and slammed my head down on my desk. "And here he is! Hey Jeff! So glad you could make it here so soon." Brett said as a very tall and handsome blonde haired guy walked in. His hair was in a man bun and he was dressed in a hipster get up. He was actually, pretty damn hot. I blinked and sat back in my chair.

"Hi Brett. This must be the famous Leah! I am so in awe by you and your work. Your piece on Batman is hanging up in my apartment." Jeff said in a condescending tone. I nodded in a challenging manner.

"I see. Well, since you and I are apparently teaming up on this one, here is my info." I said as I handed him my card. He laughed and shoved my card in his back pocket.

"Yeah thanks." Jeff said as he rubbed the back of his neck. Prick.

"So anyway, I will get you settled in Jeff. Leah, let me know of any updates on J's story." Brett said, trying to change the subject. They left my office and I felt like punching someone. This was supposed to be MY piece. I would get to The Joker. I would get to him before Jeff did.

I was sitting in my apartment, surrounded by mug-shots and files that I had illegally obtained on The Joker. I drank my glass of wine and stared at every syllable. I was trying to figure out his next move. This way, I could get to his next hit before the cops or any competition in the form of Jeff did. I heard the news come on and I ignored it until I saw a bright green light on the screen. I turned up the volume and honed in.

"Authorities say Maroni was dead upon arrival. The Joker is still at large and extremely dangerous. If you have any information on his whereabouts, please contact The Gotham Police Department. In other news, Bruce Wayne attends the Metropolitan Gala this evening with Prima Ballerina..."

I rewound the DVR until it showed The Joker's face on the screen again. I paused the taping and stared into his icy blue eyes. They were entrancing. I had to admit, I was intrigued by him. He was very...attractive. All of the sudden, I heard a knock at my door. I ran to answer in a timely manner and smiled when I saw my neighbor friend Corrine waiting outside my front door. I unlocked the door and smiled as she held up a bottle of Jack Daniel's and ice cream. I may have been ten years sober with heroin, but alcohol was something that I never had a problem with. For one thing, I didn't like it much.

"Girl's night?" She asked as she came in. I closed the door behind her and laughed.

"I suppose. But we do have men in the mix…"I said. She eyed me with a confused look. "Well, we have Jack, Ben and Jerry." I said. She laughed at my joke and grabbed some shot glasses along with a couple of spoons.

"Ugh, I have so had it with men. Steve ditched me yet again tonight." Corinne said as she unscrewed the bottle cap.

"I told you he isn't worth your time." I said as I started to unwrap the ice cream container. "I know. I just hate being single. I have ALWAYS had a boyfriend. Being single is just shitty...Oh God, I am so stupid. It's not shitty, it's just not for everyone!" Corrine tried to plead. I smiled.

"It's okay. I don't take offense to that. I like being just me. We just have to find you a guy that isn't a piece of crap." I said as I clinked her shot glass with mine and shot back my liquor. We headed into my room and I showed her my new subject.

"Damn. He is like stupid hot." Corrine said as she practically drooled over my paused flat screen.

"Yeah, too bad he is a wanted criminal." I said sarcastically as I chuckled a bit. She rolled her eyes.

"Ugh, now a days who cares? I'd let him off me anyday." Corrine said in a slutty tone. I laughed and she laughed with me. We drank the bottle of Jack and she headed across the hall to her apartment to crash. I was pretty drunk, but I had to get some of my story done. For some reason, liquid encouragement always helped with my writing. It was a good thing I had automatic grammar check. The next morning, I presented my outline to Brett while Jeff sat next to me, anxiously hoping Brett hated it. Brett looked up and smiled at me.

"This is great. We need a biography piece before we can start nailing this guys public profile. This goes back all the way to his early days as a crime lord. How did you get this information anyway?" Brett asked curiously.

"Oh I have my ways…" I said as I bit my nail. Jeff scoffed. I shot him a warning glare and continued to look at Brett for validation.

"Well, I will get this to the copy editor and we will have it hot by five. Good work Leah." Brett said as he got up and headed to the copy editors office. Jeff turned to me and eyed me.

"Have something to say, Jeff?" I asked sideways.

"Nope, well yeah. If only I had a nice rack to get legal documentation." Jeff said.

"I don't use my looks or body to do my job." I argued. He scoffed and stormed out. I seriously couldn't stand the guy so far. As hot as he was, he was a douche bag. I went home for the weekend and was actually looking forward to my three day weekend. My piece was going to be published in time for the Friday paper and two television stations had already asked for interviews with me for next week. Life was good. I slept in Saturday morning and sat around in my pajamas all day. Once the evening hit, I decided to finally get out of my clothes and bathe like a normal person. I sat in my oversized tub and sipped on my red wine. The bubbles in my bath were overflowing and the candles dimly lit my bathroom. It was so relaxing. I started to drift off when I heard a loud bang in the front of my apartment. My heart was beating rapidly within seconds. Someone had broke into my apartment and I was in the tub. Naked obviously. My breathing became irregular and my chest heaved. I tried to think if I had time to jump out and make a break for it out of the fire escape. Not a chance, the steps were becoming louder from within my apartment. Before I could carry onto my next stupid plan, pale fingers wrapped themselves around the bathroom door and slowly moved the door open wide. My heart skipped a beat and a pulsating feeling rushed through my body when his tall figure stepped inside.

"Well hello there, Ms. Maran. Mind if I come in?" He asked with his silver grill gleaming against the candle light. That was it, I was done for.