Oh hey there, I didn't see you there... Nah, I did. Um, so, this is my first fanfiction. It's alright I guess, I'm still a bit iffy on my characterisation, but I figured you guys could give me some constructive criticism? Yeah? No? Maybe so?

Eh, whatever. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this. I mostly write for fun, but I might update this. If I feel like it, or if enough people like the story enough... So yeah, hi. Okay, I'll stop, I swear, just... get onto reading the story before I say something super embarrassing.

Disclaimer:I don't own anything from the Batman franchise or anything associated with this story that is not mine. The characters and back stories belong to DC, not me. The only character that I own is my OC, Chace, and the plot(s) involving her.

It was a cold night; raining.

She had her knees curled up to her chest, arms wrapped around them too; trying to generate the smallest bit of heat. She'd really have to complain to the man - the one that thought that he owned her - about the lack of heat.

She was sure that she could barely even feel her toes, hands, fingers, ears, anything.

She had decided to get up and get some hot chocolate some time ago, trying to drink heat to get some heat. No such luck.

She shivered - for the forty-fifth time tonight - and turned her head down into her knees. You'd think that a grown man - that had, basically, bought her - would at least try to take care of her; her little twelve-year-old frame wouldn't have even made a cannibal hungry; no meat on her. Nothing to keep her warm.

She wished that someone could have stayed; keep her company.

That was when she heard it; a noise (on the fire escape?). She wanted to move, but she had to mentally prepare herself first; the cold had - practically - solidified her into a block of ice. It hurt to move.

During the time that it took her to move, she could hear the noises wedging open the window to the fire escape; loud, it frightened her at first. She wondered if this person knew that she was here. Though she did remember the man - the main man - saying something about having to help people during the night; to not be afraid of the people. They worked for them.

She wondered if that was who was coming in.

She was standing and shivered one last time before she walked - quietly - into the living room, well... not into the living room, she just pulled open the door from her bedroom to the living room. It, thankfully, didn't make a sound but her intruder did; a hiss. At first she thought that they had seen her, but they were clutching their side. It looked like they were hurt.

Maybe it was a person was coming in to get help.

She watched as he collapsed on the couch; eyes closed (in pain? Concentration?) and teeth bared; yellow teeth. Looked like they didn't even know what a tooth-brush was. Her nose wrinkled in disgust and she opened the door a bit more; it creaked, she froze.

The person's eyes shot open and their head snapped - it looked like, if they had moved fast enough, they would have snapped their own neck - in her direction. Their eyes were black; no... brown. Green? She couldn't decide.

She did feel scared though; like a deer in headlights. They had seen her, no one was allowed to know that she was here - apart from the main man's workers. The girl still hadn't decided if they were friend or foe. Although, he did look a bit too hurt to be considered a foe, right now.

He didn't look like one of the main man's workers. They were black, he was... white? Pale white, not skin colour. He had a big smile; red, like blood. Well... it looked like blood. His eyes definitely looked black, he had big, black circles around them. He looked like the devil... a really happy devil.

Her eyebrows furrowed when he grinned at her; wasn't he hurt? Shouldn't he be asking for help? "Have a uh, bad dream?" She blinked, confused. How would she reply to that? He was still grinning; the red blood paint made it look like his smile covered his whole face.

Her head tilted, curious. She wasn't sure if she should talk. Instead, she looked down where he was clutching; definitely bleeding. She swallowed, wondering if she should help him. She chewed on her lip, looking back up at his eyes; dark. She shivered - not from the cold - he was watching her intensely, studying her. She wondered if he was always so intimidating; the main man wouldn't hire anyone like him.

"Hmm?" He asked, his voice hoarser than the first time he talked. The grin was gone, still looked like he was smiling though.

She tilted her head in the other direction, confused and a little nervous. "No, I didn't."

His mouth curled in a sort of smirk... but not a happy smirk, more an annoyed smirk. "How un-for-tun-ate." Her eyebrows furrowed; he wanted her to have a bad dream?

Well, isn't he a delight. She turned back into her room and was about to go to sleep, when the thing - that some people call a conscience - started bugging her. She sighed and looked at the half closed-door, skeptical.

She decided that she would help him.

Going into the bathroom, she grabbed her first aid kit and peeked - again - out to the man; he was trying to get up. She frowned, pushing the door open - wanting the door to creak to get his attention. He stopped trying to get up and grunted when he landed back on the couch, looking at her. Her curious eyes met his annoyed ones; clearly he didn't like being hurt (and useless?).

She took a hesitant step forward, showing him that she was going to - try - help him. "D-Do you need help?" Another step.

He scoffed - and looked like he rolled his eyes (cheeky bastard). "Hard-ly."

She frowned, looking towards his wound. "But you're-"

"Fine." He pressed on, annoyance turning to slight anger. "I'm just peachy."

Her shoulders slouched, seemingly defeated. "C'mon, please?" Only seemingly defeated; not actually defeated. She took another step forward and she noticed his own shoulders rising with her every step.

Did he think she was going to attack him? She was only 4'10, it wasn't like she'd do any lasting damage. "You're uh, asking to help me?" He began grinning again, a high-pitched giggle bubbled in his throat; it felt like he was mocking her.

She huffed, her own lips curling into the beginnings of a grimace. "Well, you won't let me." Her arms had folded and her foot had lifted - just the tiniest bit (if he wasn't the observant man that he was, he'd have missed it) - and stomped back down. She looked like a child; which was alright because she was a child.

His head tilted, eyes roaming over her body. She was sure it wasn't sexual - it didn't seem sexual - it was more him sizing her up. "What game are you uh, playing?"

Her eyes turned hopeful, a small smile gracing her features. "A game of doctor?" She'd even taken another small step forwards; she really did want to help him. Which was... unusual. For him. He did giggle though; clearly she had answered him the way he wanted her to answer.

He licked his lips and leaned forward - as far as he could, it looked like he even flinched. She hoped he wasn't too hurt. "A game of you uh, pretending to be a boy, dollface." She froze, her eyes widened. She was a puppy; a puppy caught by their owner doing something they weren't supposed to be doing.

She swallowed thickly, her throat - suddenly - feeling dry. "I am a boy." She offered weakly, her head was tilting downwards, her eyebrows coming together in a frown; she really did look like a scared little puppy. It amused him.

Her answer didn't amuse him though; his grin turned into a scowl. He looked like a predator ready to pounce, she even had to hold back a whimper. "Don't lie, dollface. A lying mouth will get you into t-rouble." His voice was extremely hoarse and low, it looked like he lost a lot of blood. She wanted to cry; he was practically dying on the couch, he was scaring her and it felt as though he was going to kill her.

She looked down at her feet, not able to look at him anymore. "O-Okay."

As she was looking down, trying to push away fears, she looked at her first aid kit. She let out a shaky breath and tried to meet his gaze; it was hard, so hard. They stayed like that; him - leaned forward, no doubt causing his wound to bleed even more, and he looked more intimidating than anyone she'd ever met before - and her - shaking, shivering, biting her lip, she was the very definition of nervous now. Her eyes were pleading; she wanted to help him. "Wha-t." He growled, she wondered if he was feeling dizzy, having lost all that blood.

She cast her gaze down to it for a split second and then back up to his eyes. "Please?" She pleaded, taking a tentative step forward.

He rolled his eyes and sighed, not doing anything for a minute, before taking off his coat - she noticed him wincing at least ten times, it worried her even more - and lying back on to the couch. She smiled and bound - clumsily, she noticed that as she was standing there, she'd got even more cold. And he scared her, which seemed to make her walk even more clumsy - and plopped herself down beside him. He giggled.

She instantly began tending to his wound once she sat down, trying to stop the shake in her hands so she could be even more careful. He didn't seem like a person that she wanted to hurt, or anger. Or kill. "Be care-ful, I'd hate to have your uh, mother find you in... pieces." Apparently, she had made a mistake in some of the cleaning. Did she hurt him?

Probably not. She did become more gentle with the washing of his wound after that though.

She took her eyes away from her work and looked at him for a second, before looking back down to his wound. "She's..." She cleared her throat. "not here." Then tended to his wound again.

He scoffed. "Living by yourself, hmm? Not safe for a uh, little girl to be living in the Narrows, by her-self." He seemed to be looking at her even more intensely now; studying her. She didn't like it.

She shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. "I... I don't..." It was like looking into an abyss; nothing. She really didn't like it. Weren't the eyes supposed the windows to your soul?

He didn't like her hesitation, he even growled at her. "Don't wha-t."

She hastily shook her head. "Nothing." And reached for the needle and thread in the first aid kit, but a strong hand had a firm grip on her arm before she could reach it; his strong hand. She looked up at him, panicking.

"Oh no, doll-face." His breath stank. "You're going to tell me what you were going to uh, say." And his teeth really were stained; blood orange. "Right. Now." She wondered if that really was a colour. She mentally slapped herself from her thoughts and fidgeted with her fingers, looking down at his wound. She noticed that her breathing was shallow too.

She took a deep breath and looked back up to his face. "I don't have parents." If he was surprised, he didn't show it. "I'm owned by the mob." He didn't really show anything other than anger and laughter in the last few minutes. Maybe he was extremely light-headed after all the blood loss. Yeah, that's probably it; doesn't explain why he has clown make up on though.

She was too scared to ask about that. "The mob uh, bought you?" He asked, no surprise showing; to her own surprise, interest was showing. She didn't know if that was a good or bad thing. She decided to just think about it.

She'd never thought about it that way; being bought by the mob. She never knew what happened to her; how she ended up here, helping a clown clean and tend to his wound. She wondered if she ever did meet her mother. "I... guess?" She thought that she did, but all that she can remember is, being owned by the mob; no childhood.

None that she could remember, anyway.

He rolled his eyes and slapped his lips together, in - what she could only call - disappointment. Or annoyance. She didn't really that he really didn't like her; it seemed like he really didn't like her. "I don't want guesswork, dollface. Who. Bought. You." He spoke lowly, leaning towards her. She shivered and began to feel scared again.

Her mind was drawing blank and she was beginning to panic - again. She bit her lip in concentration but nothing was coming; just a face. A man's face.

She looked at him, exasperated; scared; confused, even. "A-A guy! I-I don't know who he was!" She didn't know if that was the answer that he wanted. Probably not. All she's ever done is disappoint people; annoy people. What's one more person?

She noticed a twinkle in his eye and a corner of his mouth twitched up, quickly concealed. Was he amused by her fear? Had she been thinking more clearly, she would've called him out on it. Maybe. "I don't n-ee-d a name, what did he uh, look like?" His voice had a bit more bounce to it and she suddenly felt like an idiot, being laughed at because she was scared.

She wanted to hit him; tell him to shut up, but she decided not to. Then he would get really angry and his eyes were scary enough, she didn't need them to look even more terrifying than they already were. He really did look like a really happy devil; odd and scary. And happy.

She closed her eyes and her eyebrows furrowed in concentration. "He was... really tall; taller than you." She took a peek at him; he didn't seem impressed. Obviously there were a lot of people taller than him. She hoped to never meet them. "He-He..." She tried to think of more information, closing her eyes again.

A man cleared his throat. "Sir?"

There was a tighter grip on her back now; she whimpered and he loosened his grip. She looked up at him, big, blue innocent eyes. "What?" She wondered if she was going to see her mother.

She must've looked scared because he began rubbing soothing circles on her back, which did calm her down. "Who's the girl?" She started to feel sleepy, but then the man jerked her, his eyes asking her a question. What did the other man say? Something about her name.

What was it that her father called her? Girl? Was that her name? Her aunt always called her Chace, so she decided that would be her name. "Chace, I'm Chace." She spoke, her voice trembling slightly. It really was freezing out, wasn't Autumn supposed to be a bit warm?

She hoped that she was going to see her mother, she couldn't even think of the last time she saw her mother. "Should we kill her?" Kill? What did that mean? She'd always heard her father saying to her aunt that he was going to kill her, but her aunt always had some good words for him. She wondered if they were taking her to her aunt. She hadn't seen her all day.

She hoped that her aunt was okay; not hurt. "No." She laid her head back on the man's chest, he had a suit on. It felt like a blanket and she was more than pleased to sleep on his shoulder, she didn't know if he'd appreciate it, but she did it anyway.

Opening her eyes again, she had a clearer picture of what he looked like; that was the only time she ever saw him. He always sent the man who was with him that night - Garrett - to meet her, talk with her (rarely, they rarely ever talked), and look after her. He mostly just gave her food though, not really what she wanted, just something that she needed to live.

She had a feeling that no one would be able to give her what she wanted though. "He was black and he had a really nice suit on; velvet, I think." She was looking at the ground, her mind elsewhere as she thought of that night. Her voice was light too, which gave the man two reasons to believe that her mind was elsewhere.

He spoke out, his voice seemed firm; questioning. She felt like she was being interviewed, like the other times that Garrett would ask her questions about what she did that day - most of her answers included gymnastics. "And he definitely worked with the mob, hmm? A uh, head boss?"

The man certainly had a lot of people working for him, Chace had met a lot of them. "Yeah... Yeah, I think so." They didn't think of her as a friend though, just a person. She wondered if they saw a child when they saw her. They seemed so not attached that they didn't even realise that she was there; she remembered that.

They sat in silence, Chace not knowing what to say and she suddenly felt really awkward.

He made an annoyed sound, getting her attention. "You want a uh, engraved invitation?" Lifting his arm back up to the back of the couch.

She quickly moved her hands back to work. "No, I-" The girl didn't want to offend him, she had begun to like him; just a bit. She hoped that he was starting to like her too.

He interrupted her. "Why did he uh, buy you?" He slid just a small bit closer to her.

The girl pouted and sighed. "I don't know, he never tells me anything." She grumbled. Chace never really liked that main man, not for the last while at least.

He didn't talk for a minute, neither did she. Chace just tried to tend to his wounds faster because he seemed to be getting more and more annoyed with each passing second, which scared her a bit. "I'll have to change that, won't I?" Now that was interesting. He didn't seem to like her up until then, or at least, he had intimidated her up until then. She wondered if he felt intimidated by her, but she quickly threw the thought away - for the second time that night.

She paused her work to give him a strange look. "You'll... change it?" Her eyebrows furrowed and she imagined that she looked almost comical with how confused she looked.

He even giggled, or failed to hide one. "I. Will. Change. It." He pronounced each word, leaning closer to her with each word too. It felt like he was trying to intimidate her - again - but she couldn't decide. They were some helpful words though; made her feel a bit more comfortable. She wondered if he knew how to be anything other than intimidating.

Probably not.

She tilted her head, curious, yet flattered. "For me?" She had to hide a smile.

He openly grinned at her though. "For you." It seemed like a promise; a dark promise. Chace wondered if this man was going to hurt the main man. She hoped he wouldn't; she'd hate to feel like someone died because of her.

Her eyes widened. "Oh..." That was one of the biggest compliments that she's ever gotten. Imagine that, the biggest compliment that she'd ever get in her life was from a clown. Or someone who looked like a clown.

The man moved to crack his neck and turned to her again. "You got a uh, name?"

She didn't lift her eyes from his wound this time. "Chace." She said simply; nothing more, nothing less. She was just Chace.

He tilted his head and it sounded like he was chewing on something. Did he go into the kitchen to get something to eat? "Just one name?" She looked up, concerned to see that he was chewing on something; his cheek? No, his scars. He was chewing on his scars.

Frowning, she looked back down to his wound, almost done with the stitching. "... Yeah." She spoke thoughtfully, she wondered if the scars hurt. Probably not since he was chewing on them.

He made an amused sound. "I like tha-t." He seemed to be saying things that he liked about her now, which made her feel uncomfortable. She didn't know how to deal with compliments.

Chace hesitated - again - on the last stitch, not knowing how to respond to that. "You... You do?" She'd never been complimented before.

He nodded. "Mmm." She couldn't tell if he was joking; certainly looked like he was joking. He was smiling after all. Though he was always smiling, she wondered if he liked being called a Joker.

Her eyebrows furrowed, confused. She'd never been talked to like that before; it was always demands and orders, never... talking nice to her. It felt nice and she wanted to hug him. She wondered if he was warm, she'd always wanted a warm hug when she felt cold.

She almost felt guilty when she wanted to ask him a question, he'd been so nice to her. Although, she had been nice to him first. And he wasn't as nice to her during the start of their conversation. She looked down to her hands, avoiding his eyes. "What's..." She hesitated. "What's your name?" She assumed that he didn't like people not finishing their sentences.

She wondered if he didn't like her.

He looked thoughtful, like he was carefully choosing his words. "I don't have a uh, name."

The brunette frowned at him. "Then what'll I call you?"

The man raised an eyebrow. "Why - we gonna m-ee-t again?" He teased, his grin even more present. She hadn't talked like this with anyone before. It was nice, she felt... warm, like there was a warmth inside her. She'd never had a warmth inside her before. Not like this. She wondered if he felt the same way...

She slid closer to him, her eyes pleading and a slight smile growing on her lips. "Please?" She'd said please a lot tonight, more than she ever had. She wondered if it had a double meaning; please stay and please tell me. She didn't think about it too much though.

"J. Call me Mister J."

So there it is! My masterpiece... Not really, like I said, I'm not overly thrilled with some of the characterisations that I did, but yeah. You guys are nice right? I'm sure that at a later date I'll update this. Also, rated T because I'm paranoid, sorry.

And I'll stop right here because I will embarrass myself if I talk anymore.

P.S Sorry, this update was just me adding a disclaimer, because I forgot it the first time... Whoops