A/N: Ahem. Howdy Doo? I am so sorry if this chapter came out later than any of you wanted. I've been busy trying to crame some last minutes of freedom into my winter break, school's almost here. Dun dun dunnnnn... It's time for more singling out of people who review and...do other stuff to my story! Dun dun dunnn... I'll stop that now XD
Thank you to: Dyanasty Artemis (again! =D), BunnyinWonderland4, ber1719 (again! :D), pj, flame-dragon2, and The Clown Prince of Crime for reviewingchapter dos. That's six human beings that really like making me happy.
Another batch of 'thank yous' go out to: Frosted-Popsicle, ber1719, and TetrisLOVE for favoriting my story.
Thanks to the following people for putting my story on their story alerts: Dyanasty Artemis, The Clown Prince of Crime, crzybookluvrchick4017, norma renata, flame-dragon2, and DefyGravityCC.
This is just a warning to anybody reading this: this story is not be some fast paced love story with sex in the next chapter. I don't plan on bashingthis stories head open with that. Some people like that so just watch out if you find yourself getting impatient at the lack of intimacy. I mean, are you freal? Joker? And new girl? Beating it up? Immediately? Hell no. Oh, and this will not be the typical "i'm the jokers hostage and i hate him but i really love him!!11one!111one1!1one!!!1" fic. Actually, that won't ever happen in the story. I'm telling you this now: Abiis not, I repeat NOT, gonna be a hostage or sidekick or whatever sue-filled thing is it. I really hope my character isn't a Sue. Tell me if she is, so I can immediately terminate that part of her. kthxxi.
Oh, and if you've read this whole thing: you're a truely kind person.

The body guard gently put me down on the pavement. I concentrated on breathing evenly, the clear morning air seemed to clear my head a bit. I looked up to my 'savior'.

"Thanks. You know, you really should consider a career in the superhero field." I smiled at him in thanks.

He grunted. "Let's leave that to Batman." Oh. Him. No, I thought he was cool and nice for saving people. I've never personally been rescued by the dark knight, so I hold no grudge against him. But that also means that I don't owe him anything, either. I've been hearing rumors that the infamous protector of Gotham actually didn't kill those people a couple of months back. But those are just rumors. I nodded anyway in response.
"Stay safe. Try not to go crazy again." I was about to comment and tell him that I didn't go crazy, that it was just...too stuffy in there, but I saw his light smile that told me he was playing around.

"I can't guarantee it, Sir." I attempted to sound and look serious when I said this. He let out a hearty laugh, nodded to my mother and went back inside. I was starting to feel much--Oh, shit. My mom. I slowly turned my head to the right just as she began yelling at me. She was happy that I was fine, of coarse, but she was angry. Why would I embarrass her in public like that?

"Abigael," I flinched when she said my full name, "You...you..." She seemed lost for words. I couldn't blame her. She knelt beside me on the sidewalk and gave me a tight hug. While she was doing so, it seemed as if all her anger at me evaporated. Ha. "What happened?" She asked me in a half worried half annoyed voice.

"Nothing..." I muttered. I honestly could barely even recall half the things that happened in the last 5 minutes of my life.

"Abi," her tone became stern again. So much for getting off the hook. "Why were you acting like that? I could hear you yelling from the other side of the library! And then that whole crowd of people came..." She shook her head. I could tell that I more or less humiliated her.

"Aren't you worried if I'm okay?" I asked her, refusing to believe that all she cared about was her social status.

"Don't even start with that," she snapped at me. "How could you even ask a thing like that?" I shrugged, she continued. "Honey, you know I care deeply about you. So tell me, what happened?" Her green eyes (got my pale grey ones from daddy-o) stared at me expectantly. I shrugged once again.

"I...I really don't. I guess I was just pissed off at that old man for telling me how to run my life." My eyebrows furrowed together. That didn't sound like such a good explanation not that I think about it. She straightened up.

"What did he tell you to do?" Oh, crap, I forgot that I was supposed to be doingmy history project.

"N-nothing," I stammered. She rolled her eyes at me.

"We'll continue this conversation at home." Translation: I'm still mad at you. Groundage is upon me. "And what are you wearing?" Looks like she finally noticed my orange unicorn pajamas that my grandma gave me for my last birthday. What, did you think that I would actually buy the nasty outfit myself? Well, I did wear them out to public so...
I just grinned sheepishly at her. We started walking down the street to the back parking lot, it was entirely light outside so we were pretty slow.

That's when I first heard the screams. I turned around a second faster than my mom and I still think that's why I got the advantage. Then I saw him. Well, not him him, he was surrounded by his goons. At least a dozen of those clown masked men walked tightly around him, serving as some human shield. A jolt went through my heart when I caught a glimpse of green hair. The screaming got louder as more people began to realize what I already knew. The Joker was just strolling along the walkways in the middle of the morning. Nothing unusual about that. Except for the fact that he had some kind of machine gun and was carelessly shooting at buildings and people as he continued on with his walk. His henchmen were shouting too, but they were giving out orders to the innocent pedestrians who were unlucky enough to go outside today.

My heart began to beat faster when I saw what direction they were walking in. Mine. For a brief second I think I became literally retarded because in that moment in time, I thought he was heading straight for me. Yeah, right, he didn't even know who I was. I turned around and saw where he was heading, the town square place where the police officers and all those people hold important meetings and such. I faintly noticed a slight tugging on my arms, I turned around and saw my mom fearfully trying to pull me away from the middle of the street. If my face had a look of awe on it, my mom's had one of terror. Our eyes were both wide in shock at what we were seeing. If she wasn't so scared, I would have laughed at her expression.

"Abigael, come on, now. Let's go," my mom urged me, tightly hugging my arm. I was barely listening to her. He was coming closer and closer, and my heart was beating faster by the second. I briefly wondered if it would altogether pop out of my chest. It was now or never, I mean, all I had to do was say hi or just wave my hand at him. Something that would make him acknowledge me. He didn't even have to respond, just look my way. So that I would know that he knew I was...I don't know, someone. That I was alive, that there was someone out there that didn't hate him or was disgusted by him. So I started walking his way.

I easily slipped out of my mothers sweaty grasp, leaving her angrily whispering for me to come back. I ignored her as I slowly made my way up the street. I felt numb, like I was there but wasn't, you know? What's it called...an out of body experience. It felt strange and comforting at the same time, the chaos and fear and confusion all around me while I was in my own little world, headingin the very direction everyone else was running from. As I neared the huge group of thugs/goons/henchmen...whatever, one of the men in front noticed a random little girl walking their way (AKA me). He had a bemused expression on his fugly face. He smiled.

"Hey, girly, wrong way. The party is that way." He called over to me, pointing to the large stage just yonder. Ha ha...yonder... I barely acknowledged him as I continued my little journey. The group and I were meeting in the middle of the road, beknownst to them. And then they were passing me, man after man continued marching un-orderly as I stopped and stared at them. There he was in full view. His lanky form was concealed beneath that large purple trench coat of his. And his face...his scars...they seemed to pop out in the light of the day. I only got a side shot of him but I could see his smile, his real malicious smile, tugging at his scarred cheeks as he looked and saw the expressions of his victims' faces, as he heard the screams of fear and surprise, and as he shot down random souls to the ground. His eyes gleamed mischievously out of the black charcoal that surrounded them, darting every which way they could.

It was beautiful.

I just stared and stared and stared. By the time I had to finally blink because my contacts were starting to dry up, he had completely passed by me. My head shot to my right as I began to trot after him. Wow, even I had to admit, I was looking like a creepy stalker by now. My foggy senses were immediately cleared up when I heard a gun fired extremely close to me. I stopped dead in my tracks and looked down. There was a little bullet hole with cracks around it right in front of me. Some ass hole shot at me! My head shot up and I began glaring at anything I could get my eyes on. I realized that the man in the back of the little Joker parade still had his gun out. He sneered.

"Back up. You're getting too close for comfort." Well, of coarse he thought that, he probably hasn't been witha girl for months, with that crooked nose of his. That's when he noticed the commotion--and me. The Joker looked directly at me. He had this slightly annoyed-slightly curious expression on his ragged face.

'This is my chance! I just need to sum up every thing he means to me in a sentence--or even one word.' So me, being the extremely cool kid and all around clever witted young women that I am, came up with this thought provoking statement (if you can even call it that):

I sneezed.

Hard. Loud. Messy.

I think there was a booger stuck to my nose.

My eyes widened in the sheer stupidity of myself. Quite of few man chuckled. The Joker raised an eyebrow and with that, turned away from me and continued his game of marching and shooting buildings. I stood rooted in my place. I blew it. What "it" was, I'm not entirely certain. But nonetheless, I blew it--crushed it--ripped it apart so badly that I could almost see the little burnt pieces of my dream floating away into heaven--or hell, I'm not sure about that either.

Bye-bye. Nice knowing ya. I barely knew thee. Died just as it was beginning to grow. It's like aspiration abortion. I'm rambling. I ramble. Next thing I knew, my mom was all over me. Filled with tears and repeating "Oh, are you okay? Are you okay? Okay...?" Yep, I was fine. Just peachy. Dandy. It's just that I've never felt more humiliated, ashamed, stupid, worthless, ect., ect. (I could really just go on and on) then I do right now. No biggie. Toootally fine. God, I hate my life.

"What were you thinking!? Going off and...it looked like you were trying to talk to them. You were so near...and then, and then," she began to sob, her shoulders shaking and tears pouring down her tan face. "He shot at you! The Joker shot at my baby!" She began to wheeze and choke while she cried. I just looked helplessly at her. What was I supposed to do? Tell her that I was "sorry for trying to say hey to the Joker and accidentally getting shot at. Sorry"? Wait. Did she just say that the Joker pointed a gun at me? Ha! I wish, well, not really, but it would be a more honorable death than by one of his henchmen. I began to tell her that it wasn't him but was interrupted by sirens. And lots of them.

I looked behind me and saw a shitload of police cars, red sirens on full blast, speeding down the road. Looks like they were informed of the Joker's latest stunt. I only wished to know what it was. My mom pushed me over to the sidewalk once more as they drove over to the "crime scene". By then, the Joker and his men reached the stage and began to set up for...something. I didn't know what they were doing, my peripheral vision was limited. The cops filed out of their cars and preceded to circle around the Joker's gang. Some of them started pushing the crowd back, telling them to calm down. Others went on dead civilian patrol. One of the police officers stepped up with a megaphone, I presumed this was the chief, and attempted to talk to the group of 'bad guys' on the podium.

"Stand down. Joker, we have you surrounded, give yourself up and we won't have to resort to shooting." I bet the middle aged man thought he was the shit right about now. Oooh, he stood up to the Joker. Congrats. I hope he knows that he's not gonna live another day. But it looked like the man of the hour wasn't even paying attention to the top cop. I started giggling, my mom glanced at me from the corner of her eye, she probably thought I hit my head at some point. When the Joker didn't respond, the officer brought the megaphone up to his lips once more. He began to speak again but was interrupted by a booming voice.

"Would you just zip it!?" The Joker yelled out in a gruff, commandingvoice. It sent shivers down my spine. It carried out down the street, shutting absolutely everybody up. I saw the police man step back from his sudden burst. The Joker continued in a high pitched (for a dude) voice."I'm trying to set things up," he commented matter-of-factly. When nobody spoke he put a mocking smile on his face. "Thanks," he giggled.

I saw some people cautiously walking toward the podium. Hey, I shouldn't be left out of the fun. I left my mom for the second time that day and literally ran to the stage. The police were so stunned that people were actually getting near the Joker that they didn't react--or stop us--right away. A bunch of us had gathered at the feet of the Joker and his men, who were standing a few feet above us on the stage. He glanced over at us with a bemused expression and continued with what ever he was doing. He finally straightened up and walked to the center with a microphone. He cleared his throat longer than necessary, probably just to annoy the cops watching his with a helpless expression. He smiled wickedly.

"Ladiesss and gentle men, I don't wanna be a, uh, burden," he licked his lips and seemed to hold back a chuckle before he continued. "So I'll just get right to thaa poin-t." He scanned the crowd around him and then everyone else. His eyes hardened and so did his voice, he was being serious. "This will-y be my-ah city. Hate to, uh, break it to ya. So I've, uh, been thin-king about recruiting some hel-p-ah." He cracked a grin. "Don't-ah worry, I'm no-t, no-t-ah gonna dra-a-aft. It'll be your choice." Something in his voice told me that it wouldn't be a good idea to decline the offer. His tone became light and hysterical again. "Hurry hurry, the clock is tick-tocking-ah." Did his tongue just dart out like a lizards? I could've sworn...

"Aren't you, uh, a little young to be joining the bad-ah side alreadyyy?"

My heart skipped a beat. I looked up and saw...that he wasn't talking to me. Phew? I turned to my right and saw him crouching in front of some dark haired teenage girl. Her seductive smile made me blush at her confidence. The girl had loadssss of make up on, including blood red lip stick and was covered from head to toe in black. I saw her lean into him and whisper something into his ears, she pulled back and giggled. What the fuck is this shit? She must like him too, maybe even...like like. Man, fuck her!

He stood up and announced to the crowd, "Okay, let's get this overrr with-ah. I've some plans that I'm just dying to get to-o-o." He winked, he winked!, at the goth girl at his feet. She must be feeling pretty good about herself right about now. I had to admit, I was kinda jealous. I actually have a knack for being pretty much invisible and able to blend in with the crowd, even when I didn't want it, which is pretty much never. "Now, uh, raise your hand if you want-ah be par-t of my...posse." He chuckled at his...joke? I'm not really sure what it was. He was using a, well, childish manner of getting information but it nonetheless worked. My hand rose along with about 20 or thirty others. Wow, I didn't know he was that popular.

"Perrr-fect-ah."

I am sooo so so sooo SO sorry to any of the people who were reading this story before I deleted it. Yes, me being a dumb ass, deleted this story ACCIDENTALLY last night while I was doing damage control to my other story (that I also deleted...only on purpose). So I don't know if your story alerts will alert you guys on further chapters...I don't know, I'll probably just send you a PM explaining the situation. T.T I had 9 reviews! They're all gonnnnne. No worries, me being freaking obsession over my first reviews, will just mentally add 9 to my review count ^^' On the bright side...new people who are just staring to read it are probably thinking that I'm retarded/crazy for thanking 'imaginary' fans. Ha ha..