I'm back with a new chapter! Hope you'll enjoy it!
Next chapter will be a little bit longer, I think, as I'm eager to jump into the action :D

Review, favourite! Whatever floats your boat. Reviews are always appreciated ;)

Allegra rubbed her hands over her arms, trembling, chilled by her damp clothes and the nightly breeze. There was something else. A strange sensation in the pit of her stomach. It grew as she walked on, warm and wild, foreign. She passed a shop window, stopping as she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the glass. She turned to face the window and her eyes widened. Her hands reached up to her face in confusion and a subtle terror, expanding at a growing speed inside her chest, twisting her insides into knots. Her fingers traced the lines of her face—except it wasn't her face. Not like she remembered it.

She was paler than she'd ever been and she couldn't blame it on the cold. Her lips were faint and lacking their usual pink. She leaned in closer to the reflective surface, studying herself. Is this me? The pale reflection moved as she moved, its expression fearful and on the verge of panic. She reached up to her hair. It seemed different, but it was difficult to tell in the dark. She went over to the next shop window, stopping under the streetlight to get a better look. Her breath hitched in her throat. Green. My hair is green! So was her eyes. They stared back at her, unblinking, too vivid and green for an ordinary person. They almost glowed.

She buried her face in her hands, not wanting to see that horrifying reflection staring back at her. Turning her steps away from the window, she jogged up the street, soon running as if her life was on the line. She ran and ran, tears streaming down her face, fear consuming her from within, until her legs couldn't take it anymore. She hid away in an alley, next to a dumpster, where she sank down and wept. The weird sensation frightened her, threatening to devour her from the inside out, but there was something about it she found soothing, the way it promised to take all the pain away. She pushed it back, burying her face against her knees.

After twenty more minutes of crying and hyperventilating, her body relaxed. Her tears had ran out, emptied of all the emotional chaos, and the shock of what had happened began to pass. She'd fallen into the vat of chemicals. Somehow it had changed her. Like it had changed the Joker. But she felt no different on the inside. She was the same person still. Wasn't she? I have no identity. I don't even exist in this world. I'm not supposed to be here. She hugged her knees. She had no purpose, no life in this world. Was there even a reason she was here? Was she here at all? Or had she ended up in a coma from being shot by the mugger back home? Was all this some weird dream? The last one seemed most probable. There was no such things as parallel universes and dimensions. But then why did everything hurt, why was it all so real? Would she ever be able to get back home? She let out a shuddering breath. Either way, she was no one in this place. But that didn't have to be a bad thing, right? She could reinvent herself; become someone new. Allegra Serino didn't exist. She was a canvas, waiting to be painted, to be created from scratch and made complete.

The sound of a whip startled her from her thoughts. A woman clad in a black skin-tight suit landed on the dumpster almost soundlessly. Allegra instantly identified her as the Catwoman. Catwoman looked down at her, a frown on her face, and Allegra looked up at her, cheeks still wet from tears. Catwoman gave her an uncertain look, weighing alternatives, before she finally sighed, and crouched down on the dumpster.

"Are you lost, kitten?" she asked. "You've strayed quite far from Uptown."

Allegra glanced down at her clothes. She guessed Catwoman was referring to her purple tailored autumn coat and the gold earrings—both presents from her mother.

"Kind of," Allegra admitted. "I'm…not from around here."

Catwoman raised her eyebrows. "You're some rich business man's daughter from out of town, then?"

Allegra shrugged, not sure what to say. She was feeling better now, much better. The miserable feeling from before had evaporated, replaced by something akin to indifference. Denial, maybe. Or perhaps she'd given up. It didn't really matter. If she was stuck here, she would have to start over. Build a life for herself. But firstly, she had to survive.

"You wouldn't happen to know a place where I can sleep?"

"A nice hotel. Some rich boy's mansion. You should have plenty of options. Just take a cab and get out of here. Your kind is very appreciated around here, and that's not a good thing. The thugs out here will kill you for those earrings, girl. Just some friendly advice."

"I don't have any money," Allegra said. "I got mugged."

Catwoman slipped off the dumpster and straightened up. "Well, that's unfortunate."

"I'd be grateful if you showed me somewhere I could sleep. For free. Someplace safe, preferably."

Catwoman scoffed.

"Grateful enough to give me those earrings? This is Gotham. Nowhere is safe."

"Safer, then. And yes, if you help me, I'll give them to you."

That peaked Catwoman's interest. A smile spread across her red-painted lips.

"Well, little missy, let's go."

Catwoman showed her to an abandoned apartment. The previous owners had been evicted and now the place stood empty.

"Thanks," Allegra said. She reached up to her ears, but hesitated, wondering briefly how she'd explain to her mother why she wasn't wearing the earrings. Her mother would surely scold her harshly, thinking she'd lost them. But her mother wasn't here. And if Allegra was ever going to get back to her world, she needed to be alive. She removed her earrings and held them out to Catwoman. "Here. As promised."

Catwoman glanced at them, sensing Allegra's hesitation, and then at Allegra. She was silent for a couple of moments. Then she sighed and shook her head.

"Keep them. What kind of thief would I be to steal from lost kids? I have bigger fish to fry."

Allegra smiled. "Thank you. Truly."

"I must say, I have never met a rich girl who's dyed her hair green before."

"It's a Central City trend," Allegra lied. "Everyone's dying their hair strange colours over there."

"Well, I gotta go, lil' kitten," Catwoman said, walking over to the window. She cast one last glance at Allegra and said: "Be careful out there," before she jumped out through the window and disappeared into the night. Allegra stared after her for a moment before walking over to close the window. She glanced down at the windowsill, mouth falling open. There was a wad of dollars lying there. Had Catwoman left them for her?

This Catwoman seemed more compassionate than Allegra had imagined her to be. More kind and caring than she let on. On the outside she was acting tough and indifferent, always confident, but tonight Allegra had glimpsed-not Catwoman-but Selina Kyle beneath the mask and goggles. Allegra slumped down on the worn-out couch, her gaze fixed on the wall.

Now what? She was trapped in this world. She'd found temporary shelter and thanks to Catwoman she had enough woman to buy herself new clothes and food, but she needed a plan. More than that, she needed to find out what had happened to Jack. Her stomach dropped at the thought. The chances he'd remained himself suddenly seemed very slim and unlikely. Despite her efforts, he'd been doomed from the start. So what was she doing here, if not to save Gotham from the Joker? She needed to find out. And she knew one person that could help her for sure.

But she wasn't certain if he'd be as willing to trust her as she would him.

Next chapter will include some reveals about what happened to Jack and we'll also see the masked vigilante ;)