This is my first fan fiction. I wanted to try to add Vicky Vale into the "Nolanized" Batman universe, and to see if she could work, and how she'd interact with those characters.

The first chapter may come off as being "Mary-Sue" like, but don't worry, we'll get to know her a bit more in the next chapter. The last thing I want to do is write a Mary-Sue, but I wanted to start it off with a wee bit of excitement :)

I love constructive criticism, so please feel free to give me your thoughts! I want to make this an entertaining as possible. Thanks!

Victoria had left something at work that day, a roll of film she wanted to develop. Gus was the guard that night, and he always had a soft spot for her, so she knew popping in real quick to grab it would be no problem. Victoria Vale was a photographer for the Gotham Times and one of the staff's newest members. After years of working her way up doing freelance photography, first for local newspapers papers, then eventually getting noticed by bigger, more mainstream ones, she decided it was time for a change. The editor for the Gotham Times was impressed by her work, and the next thing she knew she was moving to the center of the notorious metropolis. This is usually the time when people say the "heart of the city", but she knew better. This city now had little to no heart.

But this was her home now.

She parked her car behind a tall building and hurried inside. She knew she left that roll on Bill's desk, near the window on the third floor. After Gus gave her his usual sweet hello that stern old men like himself normally try to hide, she took the elevator. Once she arrived, she hurried over to Bill's desk. "Found it!" she thought, as she picked up the film. She stood for a moment, and out of curiosity, she glanced outside, down at the street. During the day, this street would be packed with cars, buses, and pedestrians, but now in the middle of the night, it was empty. She stood there for a moment, taking in the view. As notoriously bad as Gotham's reputation was, there was something beautiful about this city. When she found out she had been hired by the Gotham Times, she was ecstatic. Her mother however had felt very differently, as any sane parent would. Victoria replayed her mother's pleading in her head, how she begged her to get a job anywhere except in the dead center of one of the country's most dangerous cities, and how Victoria argued that she wasn't a child and could take care of herself. She sighed as she remembered that conversation, and continued to admire the view. After a few minutes she started to walk away, but something caught her attention down at the very end of street. There were three men, one of which who seemed to have a particularly odd look about him. She leaned closer towards the window, but still couldn't see them that well. She sighed, she knew she should just ignore this and go home, but as usual her curiosity got the best of her. She pulled out her camera and used the zoom to get a closer look.

"Oh my God." Victoria lowered her camera.

The man in front wore a purple suit that looked like it had seen better days, underneath, a green vest that matched his ratty hair. His face was painted white, with a carved red smile, and two black holes around his eyes. The make-up was probably put on hours, maybe even days ago, judging by how horribly obscured it was. The two men behind him had masks that matched his deranged face, and each looked like they were armed. She heard stories, read articles, and seen reports on the news about the man in front. Everyone in Gotham had. He had become the single object of fear in a city that had become desensitized to the very word. Barely anybody had seen him, and lived to tell about it. And here she was, looking down at him from the third floor.

This man was the Joker.

She leaned against the desk, and finally took a breath. Her fingers clutched the edges as she tried to keep breathing. "I can't believe this", she thought. She at that moment began to recall all of the twisted actions of this human being. "That's using the term loosely", she muttered to herself. Victoria looked down at her camera, and back down at the street. "No one has been able to get a picture of this guy", she thought to herself. At least, none the police were willing to release. Her eyes slowly looked up. She thought about this for a moment, and raised the camera back up, making her decision. She aimed it, and started taking pictures. At this point he and the two men were almost in front of the building. "What are they doing here?" she wondered. "And why are they just walking down the street, in plain sight?" Then again, this was the Joker. His actions were at best confusing as hell. She couldn't wait to tell her co-workers about this, these days it seemed the only things the media cared to report were stories of the Batman and the Joker. She continued to take pictures of him. There was a cadence to his walk, the Joker's walk. It was fanciful, and yet savage all at once. She noticed this, as she continued to capture him in her camera. After all of the things she had read and seen about the Joker, nothing could quite prepare her for what she saw in person. There was a mixture of horror and fascination in her observing. She'd never admit it, but one of the main reasons she moved into the city was so she could maybe see one of these fantastical, practically mythical characters in person. Deep down, she had been hoping for a moment like this.

She didn't realize how many pictures she had taken until her new roll of film already ran out. "Damn", she thought as she started to switch rolls. While looking in her bag for another roll, her spine suddenly froze. The most horrible sensation of a paralyzing burn went through every vein in her body. She looked down at the street.

The Joker was staring right at her.

"Jesus Christ!" she gasped, and almost fell back on the desk. She couldn't breathe. She was only on the third floor, standing right next to the window. Of course he could see her. She just stood there for a moment, trying to process what had just happened. She cursed herself for being so stupid. She tried to calm herself down. Even though she was now away from the window, she could still feel his eyes on her, and it made her shudder. Never before had she seen such malice in someone's eyes, as she had just seen in his. She clumsily grabbed her things. Now seemed like a very good time to go.

As Victoria headed away, she immediately started to doubt the preceding events. It was too surreal. "This can't be happening, maybe I just imagined it", she thought. She could barely think, with the sound of her heart pounding in her ears. The denial of what just happened increased by the second.

She had to look again, to prove it happened. She had to. She was ashamed of her need to validate what she saw, but she went back anyways. She peaked her head, just enough to see.

Nobody was there.

She went up against the window and looked down both ends of the street.

Nobody.

Maybe it didn't happen after all, maybe she was just daydreaming and taking pictures of nothing, and it was all just some wild-

BANG BANG.

She snapped her head around. She knew she heard that. Those were gunshots, and they sounded very close. In fact, they were too close. Then it dawned on her.

"Gus…"

She covered her mouth in horror. They weren't anywhere on the street, and in that short time, the only place they cold have gone was inside.

"Holy shit."

There was only one reason for them to do that. She saw him, she took an entire roll of pictures of him, something no one else has ever done. He saw her do this, and he was the type that needed little to no motivation to hurt someone. He was coming for her. The Joker was coming for her.

Victoria began to panic and started cursing to the point where the words were slurring together into one large muddle. She grabbed her blond hair in her hands, and tried to calm herself. "Snap out of it, Victoria!" She told herself. Her breathing was quickening by the second, but came to a dead stop when she heard a very familiar sound.

BEEEEEEP.

That was the elevator. It was coming up.

Victoria's mouth dropped open, and her bag fell out of her hands. "Jesus fucking Christ…" her voice trailed off. She was completely paralyzed. Dozens of thoughts went through her head. In a split second the entire evening's events replayed themselves. All the conversations she had with her mother, trying to convince her to not take the job, all of her warnings, replayed. All of the horrible words from the articles Victoria read describing the Joker's actions; "slaughter", "psychotic", "deranged" flashed before her eyes. She wanted to cry, but was too scared to even blink.

BEEEEEEP.

One more and the Joker would be on the third floor, her floor. She finally snapped out of her daze, and grabbed her bag. She ran for the stairs, her only thought was to get the hell out of the building. She ran so quickly, that she didn't notice that her wallet fell out of her bag when she grabbed it from the floor.

A few moments passed. She was almost all the way down the stairwell now.

BEEEEEEP.

As the elevator doors opened, the sound of whistling came out. The Joker didn't even look up as he walked out, wiping blood off of his small knife. He continued to whistle as he slowly strutted, practically skipping, towards where Victoria had stood. His two thugs followed him out of the elevator.

"Boss", one of them said, "I think she's takin' the stairs, we could get her right now-"

"No no no no." The Joker lazily drawled the words out as he continued to clean his knife. He looked up at the ceiling and licked his lips as he put the knife away in his pocket. He sighed, obviously disappointed, then looked at his henchmen. "I'll deal with the photographer later." He strolled to a desk that had a bowl of various candies, and started to chew rapidly on a piece. "The night watchman's, " he stopped, chewing more rigorously, "been properly arranged, yes?" He grabbed some more pieces and put them in his pockets. "We've done what we came here to do. This, uh", he started to knock things off of people's desks, "girl, she can wait." Although he was hoping to see the look on her face when he arrived. "Next time", the Joker thought to himself. He jumped now every time something hit the floor now, sometimes letting a joyous exclamation. Eventually seeming satisfied, he cracked his neck and straitened out his suit and tie. He wondered if this voyeur of his would see the old smiling guard downstairs. He chuckled at this thought.

The thugs stared at him, as he took in his surroundings like a young child in a new, exotic place. Suddenly, Joker looked down, and noticed the small leather wallet, lying on the floor. "Ooooh. Tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk", the sounds rapidly rolled off his tongue, "such carelessness." He picked it up delicately with his gloved hand. "Besides, little Gretel, er", he opened the wallet, "Ooooo, Victooooria, here was sweet enough to leave us brrrrreadcrumbs." He smiled to himself as he thumbed through Victoria's wallet, cocking his head as he looked at the pictures inside. As much as he wanted to make a house call that night, he knew he had bigger, more important fish to fry. "Bigger bats and D.A.'s, anyway", his thought was interrupted by a loud screeching, obviously speeding car from outside. "Most likely the elusive voyeur's", he thought. "The old coppers are probably on their way now, time to dash!" They all quickly walked away. The Joker put Victoria's wallet in his pocket, the photographer could come in useful later.