Lily ran the silky material of her light pink dress though her hands, savoring the touch. She had just left Bruce Wayne's party early, and was now packing away her things. She hadn't particularly enjoyed the party; it was a bit of a bore to her and she had somehow persuaded her parents to leave early. Her mother and father were highly respected judges in Gotham, so they were frequently invited to different parties and social events. She was just barely seventeen, but it was only proper for her to be seen out with her parents once in a while.

She looked around her room and sighed, placing the dress in a cardboard box, and picking up her stuffed duffle bag. This was the last time she would see her house in a while. Her family was being placed under protective custody by the police department for some reason. She didn't mind the extra safety precautions. She had seen what the madmen out there were doing and was glad she was going to be kept away from it. Two police officers had shown up at their house not twenty minutes earlier, instructing them to pack lightly and to follow the instructions in an envelope they gave to her father. She guessed this was all to protect her father and mother from any remaining gang members. Her parents had persecuted all Harvey Dent's mobsters and put them behind bars. Lily didn't see why they would come after her family; Mr. Dent was the one who caught all of the men, they would have been put away by any judge after what they had done. She was just glad that they could be kept safe now, even if there wasn't a big reason for it. It didn't matter anyways; she was headed out to Michigan in next year for college (she had applied even though she was a Junior, and had gotten into their advanced start program). She would finally escape the daily horrors of Gotham city.

Downstairs, Lily's father opened the large manilla envelope just as she entered the room. There was a lot of tension in their small kitchen as her father read the first few lines of the yellow paper to himself.

"Well," her father said adjusting his glasses, "It seems that we are next on someone's hit list. All of us, including Lily."

"How do they know?" Her mother asked after a moment's pause.

He read a little further, and his eyes widened slightly. He cleared his throat and said, "The man somehow got our DNA, and planted it on his last hit."

"He… he has our DNA?" Lily said in disbelief as the reality of the situation settled upon her. She felt like he had invaded her personal privacy, her life. She no longer felt secure, and she could feel the barriers keeping her safe from the outside world beginning to crumble around her. She turned back to the conversation when she heard her father say they had to go.

"Oh wait!" Lily exclaimed suddenly as she realized something, making them jump a little. "I forgot my photo album! Hold on, just let me grab it. You can go to the car, I'll be right down and we can head out." They nodded and grabbed their bags heading to the door. Her family lived in an apartment building so their car would usually be in the parking garage, but they left it on the curb after the officer had approached them.

Lily couldn't believe she had forgotten her album. It had all of her childhood memories in them. It also kept the people who she had lost, close to her heart even after they were long gone. She mentally kicked herself for forgetting it. She shoved it into her duffle bag quickly as she closed and locked the door to the apartment. She started quickly down the stairs when an explosion shook the building. Lily, who had already begun to lose her footing on the old steps before the blast, fell the rest of the way down to the lobby. Her large bag landed on her back. She rubbed her neck as she got up slowly, blinking her eyes to get rid of the fogginess.

As her brain cleared she realized what must have happened. "No, no, no," she whispered to herself over and over as she crawl-walked slowly to the heavy wooden doors leading to the outside. She pushed the door open and was met with a wall of black smoke. She slipped through the crack, ducked under the rising cloud and headed down the front steps, coughing.

Her breath caught in her throat. Her parent's car was almost gone and what was left of it was on fire, lighting up the early night sky. Lily sank down on the steps and let out a cry of despair. Her parents were gone. She couldn't accept it, and allowed the contents of her stomach to empty onto the curb in front of her. Her head cleared a little more as she wiped away the tears that were streaming down her face. She noticed in the light of the blinking streetlamp that the air and street was littered with little white cards. Getting up shakily, tears still blurring her vision, she crossed to just in front of the flaming car to where the cads were piling the highest. It was hard for her to bend, but she managed to pick up what felt like a playing card. When her eyes finally focused on the small designs, Lily knew who murdered her parents. Screaming, she threw the card down and ran back towards the apartment building. Still a bit disoriented, she tripped on the stairs and fell forward, her hands hitting the hard stone. She felt the stinging on her palms and knees, but just curled up where she was. She didn't care what happened to her. She wanted to die, so at least she could be with her parents. She couldn't even bring herself to check the car. Seeing their burnt corpses might have driven her to insanity.

Just across the street a looming figure was observing the scene in annoyance. He had watched as the two adults went to the car and got in, but the girl he was also supposed to get rid of was nowhere in sight. They started the car before she had gotten there, and his plan was ruined.

"You can't rely on anything these days," he drawled in a low voice, watching the girl figure everything out. "You have to do everything, yourself." The man pulled out a small tool that shinned menacingly when the light hit it. He crossed the street slowly as the teen hit the steps.

Lily heard the footsteps and slowly sat up, her sobs slowing to sniffling hiccups. The first thing to cross her mind was that it would be someone who was going to help her. She saw the shining blade of a knife out of the corner of her eye and her stomach dropped.

Black dress shoes that were spattered with a dark red substance and covered over in a thin layer of soot rested before of her face. Her eyes traveled up the purple suit that covered the man's body. The knife she saw earlier hung from his hand. The blade wasn't even the length of her hand, but looked sharp enough to cut through her bones. She continued her gaze upwards only to meet his dark empty eyes hidden deep in his black painted sockets. The rest of his face was painted white, but his mouth and a continuation from the corners of his lips were splattered blood red. The playing cards that were stil falling around him were adding to the already terrifying situation. He began laughing maniacally to match the grin on his face as he grabbed Lily by her brown ponytail. She finally found her voice when she shrieked as he pulled her to her feet by her hair, bringing her face two inches from his and pressing the knife to her throat.

He licked his lips and looked as if he was about to say something when his head jerked up to look up at something over hers. Lights had flicked on in some of the windows. The explosion must have woken some of the other tenants up, and now they were finally doing something about it. He acted quickly, pulling the girl temporarily into an ally next to the apartment.

Lily was pressed against the side of her building; she could feel the knife against her face, yet his other hand wasn't present, and must have been groping for something on his person. As a blinding light was shinned in her face, she knew what he had been searching for.

"Ohhh, look at you," the man breathed in her face. "Aren't you a pretty little thing." Lily squirmed against his body and his crazy laugh came back, softer than before yet just as bone chilling. She could feel his elbow pressing against her chest, keeping her pinned.

"I think," he continued, stroking her face with the cool blade, "we can have a lot more fun than just killing you now, hmm? You think so princess?" She whimpered under his gaze as his tongue slid across his bottom lip. She knew who he was, what he did. Lily had no idea what he wanted, but it had to be worse than the death she now longed for.

"What's your name princess?" She ignored the question, trying to focus on anything but her current situation. He grabbed her chin with his gloved hand and made her look him dead in the eye. "When I ask a question, you answer me sweet pea. Now, what is your name?" His voice was low and menacing, like he was about to explode.

"L-Lily," she said shaking.

"And do you have a last name to go with that first one, princess?"

"Shouldn't you know?" She spat, a little of her courage coming back. "You just killed my parents!"

He laughed in a creepy, low giggle kind of way. "Now sweetie, I don't remember everyone I kill, even if it was just a few moments ago." He pressed harder against her body, the knife drawing a small line of blood on her neck. "Last chance; what is your name?" He growled, slightly shaking her.

"Lily Surrillo." She choked out. The Joker's grip on her tightened. He licked his lips again, grinning; Lily could smell his foul breath.

A crowd had started to form outside the building. Lily could hear their wails and shrieks as they discovered who had been killed. The Joker had obviously noticed this too, because the flashlight was gone and he was searching for something else. He dragged her back into the street, firing two shots from the gun he had produced from his long purple coat. Two people dropped to the ground. People screamed and ran for the door as The Joker pulled Lily by the hair, screaming and flailing in his iron grip, out into the open. Some people saw her and yelled out her name in a foolish attempt to alert someone of her situation.

They were in the middle of the street now; a few cars narrowly missed them as they sped by. The Joker pulled her back flat against his front side, aiming the gun in his hand at an oncoming car. Lily watched in horror as the car screeched to a halt inches from where they were standing and The Joker shot the shocked driver through the wind shield. He bent Lily over the front hood, slamming her face into the still warm metal. Her taped her wrists together and shoved her into the passenger seat. She stared at the poor driver next to her, trying not to scream.

"Lily, Lily, Lily," he said as he crossed in front of the car, growling the last time he said her name. "You don't know how important you now are." He opened the driver's side door and looked down at the freshly dead body. "'Scuse me, I wanna drive," he said, pulling the body out of the car, giggling to himself. He got in and looked straight into Lily's fearful eyes.

"And you are now all, mine."

A/N:

Please, I would like some feedback! I have only ever written HP fanfiction, and never as explicit as this may get. I want to know if I should continue! I am open to any and all criticism!