Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC. The Joker belongs to DC Comics.

Chapter One: "Well hello, Beautiful."

March 18th.

Charlotte Marlone looked up at the sky with great disdain. It wasn't the usual temperate day in Gotham City. In fact, the sky looked as if it were about to crack in two. Seeing this didn't help the fact that she was already late to school with a few more blocks to go. Charlotte's parents would never allow her to take public transportation, and the thought of riding a bike in a school skirt was laughable to her. She could barely walk without tripping over things most days. So, the only other option was to walk to the school that her parents claimed was within "walking distance".

'Pfft', Charlotte thought. 'Walking distance my ass'.

God must've been particularly irritated that day. The moment she'd finished her thought, a loud crack of lightning shook the sky, startling her. She hadn't even gotten the chance to take another step before heavy droplets of rain began pelting the sidewalk.

"Brilliant!" Charlotte yelled angrily up at the sky, before running into the nearest store. The street she was on was a pretty busy one, so it wasn't hard to find shelter. The bell on the door clanged upon her entrance, alerting the convenience store owner. Charlotte bared him a grim, closed mouth smile before walking into one of the aisles. If she was going to waste time in this store while she waiting for the heathenish rain to stop, she might as well try and grab some breakfast.

After choosing two granola bars from a box on a shelf, she made her way to the cashier, trying not to cringe at the sound of her boots squeaking against the wet tiled floor. The glass case beneath the cashier contained fake jewelry and various other knick knacks that Charlotte stared at while the cashier rung up her small purchase.

"$2.58," The cashier grunted out, and Charlotte handed him the exact amount she had already put together. She placed the money on the counter - she didn't want to touch the cashier's meaty, hairy hand. His fat left wrist had a golden chain linked tightly around it, and it glinted against the glass of the case as he reached to take the cash. His face looked familiar, with a slick black ponytail and a stubbly face, he looked just like any other Italian mobster in this neighborhood. She even bet he had a gun hidden somewhere in the store. Charlotte didn't wait for a bag, she uttered her quick thank you and hurried out.

Charlotte looked both ways on the street before deciding how to make her way to school. She chewed on her breakfast bar thoughtfully as she looked up at the sky. The heavy, pounding rain had stopped and instead was replaced with a light sprinkling of misty rain. Charlotte supposed she could walk through this weather, although it'd be rather unpleasant. Thankfully, she remembered a little shortcut that was tucked away, not far from here. She'd seen a few teens and a few questionable people take it a few times while on her nightly jog. While many of the people she'd seen go into the alleyway looked questionable, it was now close to nine in the morning, and the logical part of her brain reasoned that there couldn't be any criminal activity going on this early in the morning. Without another thought about it, she dipped into the alleyway as soon as she saw it.

Faithful that it would shorten her walk to the school by a few minutes, she strode through the grim alleyway that was just as gray as the street outside. Charlotte still found it to be lucky however, the sparse apartments above sheilded her from the rain. The walk was eerily quiet, which she supposed was unsettling - she'd been ready to deal with seeing a few homeless people here and there, but there was nothing in the alley but her, the only sound accompanying her was her Doc Martens splashing in a few puddles with the sound of rain overhead.

'What the hell are you doing, stupid?' Charlotte thought, scolding herself. 'If you get mobbed or raped it's going to be entirely your fault.'

To make matters worse, she was beginning to get the strange feeling that someone was following her. Charlotte peered out of her peripheral's every so often but when she heard a foot splash that wasn't hers, she began to run.

'That's it, I'm done for...I guess this is the end' Charlotte thought, turning her head to look behind her for a brief second. The water was splashing up to her ankles now, and the beating her back was taking from her bookbag thwacking against her wasn't pleasant, but she couldn't stop running.

It was when Charlotte turned back to look for the exit that her body collided into a hard wall, sending her toppling backwards. Her head collided against the pavement with a harsh crack and she saw stars before her vision blackened.

It must've been less than a minute that she was out, before she heard herself groan in pain.

Actually, the groan was way too deep to be her own. Charlotte's eyes shot open in shock before she squinted. The back of her eyes were sensitive from her fall, everything seemed to have a foggy tint to it.

"Hello, ah, Beautiful."

That voice, where had she heard that voice before? Husky wasn't the word to describe it, it reminded her of gravel but was somehow condescending.

Her eyes settled above her for a moment, and as her vision cleared she knew why the voice was familiar. She'd heard it being broadcasted on every television and radio channel for the past six months...

The Joker stared down at her, coal eyes glinting like onyx, the ropey red grin stark against starchy white skin. His green hair hung over his face as he looked down at her, plastered to his skin from the rain.

She remembered hearing about the makeup, or his "warpaint" as she'd heard it being called on the stations. She'd laughed at the thought of a man wearing so much makeup, how did he expect to be threatening? Clearly, it wasn't so humorous now. She wished she couldn've swallowed her words, and perhaps she might not have been in this position. Actually witnessing the mask-like face in person was terrifying, and if she wasn't so shocked she probably would've been screaming.

"You..."

The Joker grinned widely as she stuttered, resembling a demonic cheshire cat. "Well, don't you look surprised," He dragged out the last few syllables against his tongue, his voice lowering an octave. Charlotte didn't need to hear another word, she was up on shaky legs and out of the alley seconds later. She blazed past the buildings, running on pure adrenaline, on fear. She hadn't even realized she was still running until she'd collided with the first row of steps in front of Gotham City High and fell to her knees. Panting for air, Charlotte dragged herself up from her now scraped knees and rushed into the school, into safety. She was more than half an hour late, making her the only student in the hallways. She'd had enough of being alone, but decided that she needed to go freshen herself up in the restroom. Perhaps walking into class late looking like she'd been caught in a tornado wasn't the best idea. Closing the door behind her, Charlotte stared at her frazzled reflection in the mirror. Her light blonde hair had gotten wet along with everything else, and now resembled the color of piss. Her simple eye makeup had smudged underneath and above her lids, and she swiped it away immediately. It reminded her of the Joker's cold, dark gaze.

People were right about him. He truly was a psychopath. Charlotte gripped the edge of the sink a little too hard and she took in lungfuls of air - trying to calm herself. The disbelief she felt was blinding, and each gust of air that entered her throat stung. Had that really just happened? Had she really just witnessed The Joker? In the flesh?

It was too much to think about. It made her brain go numb. It was strange how shock could numb even the most extreme scenarios that clearly required some panic. Charlotte decided that while she was here, she might as well try and make herself look presentable. Quickly wrapping her damp hair in a bun atop her head, Charlotte reached to her side to retrieve her makeup kit from her bag when -

"Oh shit...my bag!"

/

Joker picked up the brown leather rucksack with two of his own leather encased fingers.

'Stupid girl', he thought.'People these days don't even have enough sense to pick up after themselves when running away in fear'. It actually sort, well, funny. The Joker's tongue pressed to the roof of his mouth as he stared off into the direction that the strange girl had ran into. What was some young broad like her doing in these parts anyway? It was strange, how fast she'd been. Almost too fast for him, which was the strangest part. She was strange, he could tell. Kinda ballsy too, he reckoned, from the way she'd spoken up even though she'd clearly been frightened enough to wet herself. The Joker smirked.

No one had run away from him without looking back in a very long time. Dropping these thoughts quickly, the Joker brought his attention back to the bag hanging off of his fingers.

A large portion of the bag was wet, which weighed it down as he held it. He didn't even know why he bothered as he pulled out a switchblade and sliced through the smaller pocket of the bag. A few folded pieces of paper and several pencils clattered at his feet, splashing more water on his shoes. Joker clicked his tongue in annoyance. His tongue rolled over the bumpy insides of his cheeks, and he felt his scarred smile rise as he unfolded one of the papers. His dark eyes glued themselves to the name.

Charlotte. We're going to have some fun.

Hello, this is my first Joker/OC story! More chapters are ready and will be published shortly. Leave some lovely reviews? x