Disclaimer: I don't own the Joker…or Batman, sadly. Haha, Oh well. They belong to whoever they belong too. (DC comics?) I'm just borrowing. ;)

Authors note: I've never read the comics or even seen the old shows or anything like that, briefly scanned over them after having watched the new movie, but haven't got around to actually reading/watching them, so obviously the Joker will be based completely off of our dear Heathe Ledger's outstanding performance. I doubt I would even be a Joker/Batman fan if it weren't for him. (Eh...I was never really into that kinda thing before TDK.) Go Heathe! You rock dude!

My friends and family would freak if they new TDK is secretly my new obsession but for some reason the Joker fascinates me. I would love to meet him…that is, if he were behind a safe iron gate where he couldn't kill or give me a "permanent" smile. hehe, I've already read so many amazing Joker story's on here, I love reading other people's take on his character. I finally mustered up the courage to add my own. The idea for this just kinda just randomly came to me while listening to one of the Joker's many stories of how he got his scars. Go figure…haha. There is a bit of a mystery to this story, kinda trying out different ideas, so please please please review if you like it and wanna see more. Constructive criticism is always nice too, but please be nice as this is my first Batman fic and I'm trying extremely hard to get everyone into character.

R.I.P. Heathe Ledger. You will forever and always be missed!

I ran down the back alley as fast as my legs chose to carry me, hot tears burned my eyes; they fall freely upon my bruised and battered face. I flinched as the sound of gun shots ring mercilessly throughout my ears, followed by the desperate screams of the unfortunate victims of the mall shooting that had broke loose moments earlier, mixed in with the ones of curious onlookers, their terrified faces still begging for mercy.

The scarring images of death were still fresh in my mind as I turned the corner down another street in a city I regret ever once wanting to visit, one that could vary well imprison me for the remainder of my young life.

A scraggily looking German Shepard suddenly leapt over a trash can and appeared at my side as if in some attempt of helping me escape. Tears once again lit my eyes, this time a mix of fear and grief, the feeling you get when everything had just fallen apart…the kind of feeling you felt after you had just witnessed your vary own mother's death. The pain inside squeezed my heart so tightly I thought it was going to burst, I was barely clinging onto the will to live, and yet even still, I continued to run for my life… A promise I made to my mother before I was forced to watch them steal her away…those horrible monsters in terrifying masks ripped away the only family I had ever known…

I struggled with every ouch of will power I have left to shrug the feeling away, only long enough to try and find the strength to hold onto that last bit of hope hanging in the cold winters wind. Just when I started to think I have given up, suddenly the dog running to my right jotted directly in-between my leg's proving to be stronger then his appearance. He carried my small 8 year old form when I had no strength left to continue. For a reason unknown, I did not question his intentions, only clung onto his dingy fur for dear life, trusting him with only the faith of an innocent child.

He led me down a lonely street where old abandon buildings surrounded us on either side. Feeling the fear once again rise inside me, I tightened my grip on his fur, not wanting to hurt the kind animal, but I longed for some source of comfort. I let out a soft whimper. I did like the way this looked, remembering lighter times when my mother had warned me never to come to such places…something about how it was dangerous for a little girl of my age, said I might get kidnapped or something even worse. Her words echoed in my mind as we passed a few older men who looked as if they hadn't bathed or eaten in weeks. I have a pretty good feeling their homeless…

The German Shepard let out a protective growl as he continued down the path, eyeing them as we passed. The men finally tore their perverted gaze away but I had a feeling this was only the beginning of the danger lurking within this horrible place.

"I'm scared boy…" I whispered, petting the Shepard's fur gently within my tiny hands, for the first time I realized his fur was bloodstained. "Awe…you're hurt. I bet those stupid thugs did this to you, didn't they?" He seemed to let out a saddened whimper in response and my heart filled with a mix of sympathy and grief. I have always had a deep love for animals and hate to see any of them harmed.

"Don't worry boy…I'll take care of you. We'll make it somehow. First you need a name…how about…. Renny?"

He seemed to perk up at the mention of his new name and I let out a slight giggle. It was the first time I had even cracked a smile since the earlier incident at the mall. But who could blame me? Who would want to smile after witnessing countless people die in a matter of mere seconds…? The thought brought me to a place I never want to go again, so I quickly decided to make small conversation with Renny in an attempt to calm my growing fears of the huge city filled with so many horrors lurking around any and every corner. Of course it was a one sided convo but it did help calm me down…at least enough not to burst into tears.

The piercing sound of a gun could be heard from a distance not to far away and I let out a panicked scream. A sound I hoped I would never hear again. And yet all too frequently it had came back to haunt me. An unusually high pitched sound of a man's voice could be heard from the same place someone had pulled the trigger. Renny stopped a few feet away and a horrible manic cackling was heard that eventually faded off into strangled giggles. I had never heard anything like it in my short life, and quickly covered my ears in an attempt to drown out my surroundings. it didn't work.

"Renny…we have to get out of here!" My own voice cracked in terror. My hazel eyes darted for any sign of the street gang's mother warned me about before we came here, said this is why I should never wander off alone either without her or a body guard…

A shadow ran across the wall behind us and I gasped, feeling my heart beat louder within my chest. With every passing moment the need to run the opposite direction tugged at my heartstrings but I did not move…as if clued in that same position. Hands still tightly clutched to Renny's fur.

Suddenly the dog let out a sharp yelp; a natural reaction to the tall figure that loomed over us from behind. Almost instantly I realized his yelp was not a result of pain, but fear. I struggled to hold on for dear life, literally, but he took off at such a speed that I could already feel myself begin to fall. I landed with a hard thud on the unforgiving pavement and in less then a minute my surroundings were spinning from the impact of slamming into the concrete as I watched him run off, disappearing into the fog of the evening. Oh how I wished we could both disappear, and on the other side of the fog would be the end to my nightmares. I pondered calling after him, but much like my wish, new it would only be in hopeless vain. Letting out a defeated whimper, I glanced down at my knee only to find a nasty scar left from the fall.

Gothom…why or why did I ever agree to come to this horrible place they call a city? Why didn't I talk mother out of it? We were moving there for the sake of mom's precious 'job' she was so good at her job, breaking down crime, that they had decided to transfer her to the Gothom, due to it's increasingly high rate of crime.

When I had began to protest, mother simply had insisted that we were also going there to spend a little time with my favorite Aunt Rachel who was also, coincidently, a lawyer and played a hey role in the huge scheme of fighting crime in an almost lost cause…

Although she wouldn't admit it, I new that mother also was eager to meet the hansom boyfriend, the one Rachel would often talk about for countless hours on the phone, gushing over all of his wonderful little attributes and what he was doing to help 'clean up the city' one that desperately needed a hero, and he seemed to fit the job description well enough, according to Gothom's citizens atleast, he were now known as the hurting city's shining white knight. Nevertheless, no matter how good he was, I new deep down that he would never be as good at cleaning up the streets and fighting evil as the Batman. He may not have been the city's definition of a true 'Hero' but he was still my Hero… Someone I could look up too, someone I admired from afar, but secretly feared ever meeting in person.

Why my mom and Aunt had chosen to live in such a place so plagued with felony is beyond me. I had planned on asking my mother before she…

No…I shoved the thought aside, refusing to even think it. I brushed a few stray tears with the sleeve of my fitted jean jacket. Once more, Grief threatened to indulge me with its agonizing clutch, offering me the comfort of darkness, but fear kept it at bay…the fear of death. Why did I have to have such a fear? My will to live was fading fast… it no longer hurt to die, only to live….left to forever ponder why it had been me who was spared instead of her. Still I will keep my promise. I owe her that much. I would not give into death's quiet whisper…

Suddenly, I heard the same grueling cackle from the figure looming above me and suppressed the panicking need to scream. I didn't move…didn't even dare to make a sound, or even open my eyes. Fear had claimed me…I felt like a dear caught in the headlights. I barely even gathered enough courage to breathe. This was it…I could already begin to see my life flash before my eyes. I was going to die tonight by the hands of some crazed criminal; I could already hear the news story of my death play out within my mind. I stayed in the same position on the ground where I had fallen, clutching my bleeding knee in a quivering grip.

Two gloved hands grabbed my arm roughly and forcefully drug me to my feet. A whimper slipped though my weary lips as the man bent down to my level, his face much to close too mine for comfort.

"Hey! What's a little girl such as yourself, so young…so afraid, so painfully naïve to the dangers of the world, roamin' around a city as dangerous as this one, and in the vary dead of night, too?"

I didn't answer. I couldn't, even if I wanted too. Any word's my brain had mustered to create now refused to come out, which, by the looks of it did not seem to make him happy... To make things worse, It was hard to make out his face due to the dim lighting of the half dead streetlight that kept flickering every once and awhile, I was surprised it hadn't gone out completely.

He twisted his head to the side as if in some sick amusement, his emotion rapidly changing from anger to some strange delight.

"What do you have a death wish of some kind, or something kid? Didn't your motherrr ever tell you about the kind of People who hang around these streets at night…?" I heard a shrill clang of metal as he reached in his pocket and pulled out something silver that gleamed in the pale light of the moon.

My heart skipped a beat as he brought the knife near my throat. Oh mom…why? Why Gothom!? I mentally screamed as he pressed the cold metal softly against my skin.

"Or maybe this is just a plot, a ploy even, a scheme hopin' the infamous 'Batman' will come to save ya, huh? Is that it?" He applied slight pressure and I practically squeaked out the words.

"No…no I promise it wasn't! I…I'm not even from here! And if it makes you feel any better I never asked to come here in the first place! I—"

"Shh, shh, shh, shh." He mockingly cooed in my ear, cupped my chin within his gloved hand, forcing me to look directly into his deadly greenish eyes. I did not struggle to look away, paralyzed by pure and utter fear. "Now, I'm not gonna kill ya….you might be make fun 'lil toy to play with. Either way, I'm sure you'd make a lot better company then my useless henchmen I can tell you that." He jeered, letting out another horrible laugh. The words themselves may have seemed innocent enough if they were spoken by anyone else, that is, but the darkness in his tone destroyed any innocence they may have withheld otherwise.

"What do you want? If it's money I-I can get it for you…my mother…"

"Was a one of those well-known filthy stinkin' rich lawyer's, was she not?" Again, he cut me off with a hint of bitterness in his furious tone. My blood ran cold. How did he know..?

"Oh, and uh, lemme guess…she's left her fortune to you— all of it, and even if she hasn't it wouldn't matter anyways because you have plenty of rich friends back in your snug little home in L.A. who would just love to spring for your ransom. Huh?"

"Well it's not that simple miss uh, forgive me, I don't recall you giving me a name?"

"Lu-Luna." I mumbled quietly, with the knife mere inches away from drawing blood, I did not have any other choice other then to tell the truth. I new if I did anything to set him off it would mean the end of my life.

The man quickly licked his lower lip and a devilish smile spread across his face, which, from what I could make out, seemed to be scarred with a permanent grin, it was covered in ruby lipstick while the rest of his face was painted white with dark black circles around his eyes. If you weren't looking closely enough you could have mistaken them for bags due to lack of sleep. Oh God help me…this must be that insane mass murdering criminal psycho freak clown they keep talking about on the news. They say he calls himself The Joker and had been known to wear war paint to keep his real face hidden from his pursuers…or maybe it was just to scare people? Either way, it succeeded in scaring the living fudge otta me. Ya see? This is why I did not want to come to Gothom! It was like asking for suicide!

"Oh Luna…sweet, innocent Luna. You think all I care about is money?—he let out another one of his shrill cackles—"Whatever would I do with that? And besides if its money I want, I'll get it myself in a more…fun and exciting way! Say…robbing a Bank, for instance." He laughed that same blood chilling laugh that would have sent chills down any sane person's spine, evidently the statement were some inside joke known only to him.

"No...no, no, no, no... What I'm after is something bigger then money. And, uh, commeer'—He forced me to look into those terrible eyes— "and your gonna help me get it! Hee hee ha ha ha ho ha ha!!" His voice was unusual to say the least and almost sounded high pitched, even his manic laugh, and yet oddly calm at the same time. Creepily…calm. I noticed a rattle to his breathing as if he had gotten punched in the chest…maybe even broken a rib. Oh if only…maybe then I could escape. I shook the ridiculous delusion away. With my luck, the raspy breathing in his tone was only due to something as common as mere smoking.

"Pl-Please…don't kill me." I whispered pathetically, tears now freely falling down my cheeks. I didn't try to stop them, knowing my efforts would be pointless. Death does not seem so bad when it's within your own mind, but suddenly, when you're face to face with the knife, it becomes terrifying.

"Look kid, it's Simple. All you have you to do is make sure you play the game by my rules and you'll stay alive. Kay?" He said it with a sick giggle. His tongue traced the sides of his mouth; it seemed to be a habit of his and reminded me disgustingly of a lizard. I frantically nodded, cautious of the cold metal still held to my throat, any form of excess pressure would signal a trickle of blood down my neck.

Finally, he released his iron grip on my face and put the sharp object back in his pant pocket. I didn't even dare to glance the other way, knowing that if it even so much as looked as if I were contemplating an escape, he would not hesitate to kill me right then and their without any second thoughts. The Joker had no regard for life…that part was painfully obvious.

Before my thoughts could wonder any farther, he grabbed my arm in a death grip and practically drug me down the abandoned street of an old derelict alleyway where only the likes of dangerous thugs and thieves were brave enough…or, for lack of a better term, stupid enough to venture down.

"Come on darrrling…we have business to attend too and theirs a few boys I want you to, uh...meeT before the big party tomorrow night." His manic cackle faded into the silence of the bitter night as we disappeared into the darkness. It was hard to see where we were going, but I followed willingly without a single word. Unlike some other misfortunate victims I had sadly heard about on the news, I was wise enough not to cross him and earn myself a permanent smile, or an even worse form of torment.

ME: Eh...I'm not sure if I like this yet...please tell me if you wanna see more.