Thank you AmaneManiac for your lovely review! Truly, nothing compares to the feeling of someone liking what I write! Enjoy the chappie!


Believe it or no, a guy could get tired of beauty queens. Bruce Wayne took his eyes off the road for a moment to watch Angie as she smiled, understanding now why Alfred had scoffed at every woman he had brought home since Rachel. For the first time in a long time, he was able to relax with his date. He wanted to listen to what she had to say, and he wanted to make her laugh, to see her nut-brown eyes light up. She was always smiling.

It was only when they pulled up outside La Chambre that Bruce noticed the vague shape of a bat against the light sky. The floodlight upon the MCU building was up and running once again. As a bad memory often does, the Joker's voice leaped up in his mind, "They need you now, and when they don't, they'll cast you out." A frown etched in his forehead, he got out of the car and went around to open Angie's door, only to find she had done so herself already. He smiled. Of course she had.

"What's the matter?" she was asking. He pointed upwards.

"Look at that."

"Do you think he's up there?" Bruce shrugged, and put an arm around her shivering form as they stared at the sky. "They want him again."

"They need him again."

She fumbled in her handbag for her keys, and finding them, looked up at Bruce, doe eyes sparkling in the moonlight. He leaned in and kissed her suddenly, one hand tipping her face up to meet his whilst the other settled in the small of her back, bringing her closer to him. He pushed all thoughts of MCU and the Joker out of his mind, allowing himself the few precious moments before he would have to answer Gotham's call.

She pulled back from him and smiled. "Do you want to come inside?" Bruce planted a kiss on the tip of her nose, and pressed his forehead against hers.

"I want to," he murmured. "I really want to...but I have a lot of work to do before tomorrow." He let out a long, frustrated sigh. "I shouldn't even have allowed myself this evening off." His gaze strayed ruefully toward the shape in the sky.

"Everyone deserves a break once in a while." She ran her hands up and down the lapels of his suit and held them, keeping him close to her.

"I will." He kissed her again, inwardly cursing Jim Gordon, the Joker, all of Gotham City. Why should he answer them? The warmth of Angie's body against his tempted him, toying with him, until his conscience took hold again. He asked her neck, "Will I get another chance?"

She giggled lightly and nodded, then turned slowly to the door and unlocked it. Both his hands cupped her face when she faced him again. "I'll hold you to that," he said softly.

"You better."

He planted one last peck on her lips, before stepping back, his hand seeming to take an age to leave her back. "I'll call you as soon as I can." She waved him goodnight as he strolled back to the Lamborghini.

She was scarcely inside when she heard the phone ringing. "Hello?" she answered, a slow smile spreading across her face.

"About next time..."


The old man's wrinkled hands shook as he unlocked a glass case of jewelled necklaces. He touched a button to stop the case from rotating, and then stepped back to allow two of the Joker's clowns to take them.

"Now, don't be greedy." The Joker tapped one of the clowns on the shoulder with his handgun. The two men paid no attention, grabbing the necklaces with little grace. He turned to the jeweller. "Lunatics, hmm? I must say, you're being very obliging. I'm beginning to think you have something up your sleeve." He hissed the last word, grabbing his arm and baring his yellow teeth in a grimace, even as the sirens began to wail in the distance. The gun was raised to the man's temple, and he scarcely had time to plead with his assailant before the Joker growled into his ear - "Very. Poor. Decision." - and pulled the trigger.

He laughed and fired the pistol again, up into the ceiling this time. Reaching down, he grabbed a duffle bag full of items he had already 'liberated' from the small store. His eyes darted back and forth wildly, scanning the room for a back exit, but there was none, and the door that led upstairs to the jeweller's apartment was locked. The Joker kicked open the front door, throwing aside the handgun and unslinging his trusty M76 from his shoulder as he went.

The small crowd that had gathered outside dispersed in panic as soon as he emerged firing loud shots at cars and pedestrians alike. Hutch had been taking a trip around the block, but the Joker had neither the time nor the inclination to wait for him. Not caring to stop and see if either of the clowns were following, though he had no doubt the morons were still inside filling their bags, he took his boot to the next door and let himself in.


Angie heard the commotion, but she didn't dare to venture outside, instead choosing to place a call to 911, only to be told that the alarm next door had been sounded already and police were on their way. Robberies weren't common in Merchant's Square, but they weren't unheard of either. In any case, she had no great desire to get involved. Instead she allowed her mind stray to Bruce Wayne and the previous evening, as so often it had this afternoon.

She soon found herself daydreaming, picking things up and moving them around the shop as she often did when her mind was in another place, but she still wanted to feel like she was doing something productive. In fact, she might have forgotten entirely about the robbery taking place next door if it hadn't been for the police sirens, followed almost immediately by a gunshot, then another. Curiosity got the better of her, and she didn't stop to think about what she was doing, rushing to the door and pulling it open as soon as she heard the screams. People were running in every direction but hers, their panicked feet chased by deafening gunshots. She briefly caught sight of a purple suit before common sense kicked in and she was pushing the door closed again.

It was thrown back in her face a split second later, and the cold hard tip of a submachine gun pressed dangerously into the soft flesh beneath her ribcage. She stumbled back and felt her body come up against the wall between two portraits. The man before her ran his tongue over his lips, a hellish red, and took a deafening shot to the head of the Batman figure to her right. Angie winced and felt her body jerk in fear as the gun was once again aimed at her.

Having sufficiently terrified the young lady enough to obey him, the Joker snarled, "I want the back exit, sugar, and make it fast."

She shook her head, fear making the rest of her shake with it. "There is none." The Joker made a face, and jabbed the barrel further into her body. She stiffened and flattened herself against the wall, and in a tiny voice said something that he didn't understand.

"I didn't catch that." His voice was a low, threatening rumble.

"The fire escape," she squealed.

He pulled the gun away and stepped back, gesturing for her to show him the way. The sirens had stopped as the cops arrived outside. Right now there was nothing, but any moment they'd be bringing down the door. "Make it fast," he repeated.


"Where d'you want 'em?" Tony bellowed as he elbowed his way into Angie's apartment, his arms full of the usual assortment of supplies.

"Anywhere at all," she called back from the kitchenette, where she was busying herself emptying the dishwasher. "Tea, coffee?" she offered. Tony dropped the boxes down carefully on the floor next to the sofa and rubbed his hands vigorously down his shirt, shaking his head.

"As much as I'd love to, I'd better not. Schedule's a little tight after the Joker's first appearance this morning. Traffic's backed up. Speaking of which –"

He was interrupted by a few short knocks on the half-open door behind him. Angie turned from the cupboard she was restocking, just as Bruce stepped inside. He moved past Tony, who saluted his client and edged out, shutting the door behind him.

"What are you doing here?" She smiled as he reached out and wrapped her up in an awkward embrace.

"I came as soon as I heard," he replied, his handsome face lined with worry as he surveyed hers.

She laughed. "Well, I'm fine. Really, he did nothing."

"The Joker never does nothing," Bruce frowned.

"I have a couple of bruises, where he jabbed me with his gun, but it's fine! All he was after was a way out."

His arms left her waist and his hands sought his pockets, burying themselves. "I don't mean to be overbearing," he said, his voice soft. "Rachel Dawes was my closest friend, my oldest friend, and the Joker killed her; blew her to pieces." He hesitated for a moment as Angie reached out and took his hands from his pockets, holding and stroking them as he spoke. "I know first hand what he's capable of. He just blows people out of his way. When I heard he came in here, I thought the worst. I wanted to make sure you were all right."

"Oh, Bruce." His thumbs traced tiny shapes along the back of her hands, and he smiled almost sheepishly at her. "Thank you," she murmured.

"I was thinking, if you weren't busy, maybe you'd come back with me for a while?" he asked, lacing his fingers through hers. "Alfred can whip us something up, we can talk. I know he'd love to see you. It was him that woke me this morning, he saw it on the news."

She giggled. "That was hardly morning! What were you doing in bed at that hour?" she asked teasingly, removing her hands from his grasp, so that she could get her coat.

"Well, I was working...and then I spent a long while thinking about this beautiful woman I had just been out with..."

This merited a wide grin. "Okay, you win, I'm coming with you!"

She slung a bag over her shoulder as Bruce's arm wound about her waist. His hold on her was strong, protective. She felt safe suddenly, and happy. A smile lit up her face as they made their way out, past the art supplies piled up by the sofa, not to be unpacked until tomorrow afternoon.


Reviews are loved – they put a smile on my face! Rating will be going up to M in the next chapter. I'm toying with a little Bruce/Angie lemon at the moment (your thoughts?), and the story will contain more language and violence as the Joker gets into it more.

Thanks for reading!