Hey everyone! Sorry for the delay and horrible grammar/spelling mistakes. This story doesn't officially have a beta reader YET but anyone is welcome for the job as it desperately needs one. Lol. Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! Please continue to tell me what you think. Is Joker in-character? I really want to know so I can make improvements. :) Thank's so much!


A young boy walked hand in hand with a thin blonde haired girl just a month younger than himself. She hummed a happy little tune as they made their way down the sidewalk to the park where the others busily ran around on the school playground at recess. Suddenly the girl let out a scream as a loud bolt of thunder roared from the angry sky above, followed by a flash of lighting. She tripped on a small rock and would have came face to face with the pavement had the boy not reached out and grabbed her, steadying her balance. "Are you okay?" He asked worriedly, concern etched within his deep brown eyes.

She offered a weak smile in return. "Thanks Jack. I'm sorry, I've always been afraid of thunder storms. They make me think the sky is gonna eat me." She giggled softly, causing her companion to join in.

"Well just remember your safe with me Harl. I'll protect ya from any monster who tries to hurt you." He smiled reassuringly. "And to prove it… I'm giving you this." He pulled from his pocket a tiny silver trinket and placed it in her hand.

"What is it?" She smiled, studying the object curiously for a moment or so before averting her attention back to her friend.

"It's a friendship necklace silly! The locket has something special hidden inside, but I don't want you to open it until…just the right time." He smirked humorously, flinching away at her reaction of punching him lightly in the arm.

"Jaaack! That's not fair! How will I know when it's the right time to open it?" She whined, shooting him a playful glare.

He turned sharply, laughing at the look of surprise that lit up her face. He entwined his fingers with hers for a moment or so before gently taking the locket from her delicate hands and fastening it around her neck.

"Well that's what make's it fun! Only you can know when it comes. 'Gives you somethin' to look forward too." He grinned, watching as she fiddled with the locket, focusing all her attention on trying to rid its lock.

"Uh-uh Harley, no cheating! Or I'll let the storm eat you." He waved a disapproving finger and smirked as she stuck out her tongue, pouting in mock-frustration.

"Fine." She looked away, pretending to be hurt. Her hand still clasped around the locket, though it made no intention of trying to open it.

"Come on Harls, you otta know I wouldn't let anything happen to you."

He cupped her chin softly in his hand and tenderly turned her head to look him in the eye. She didn't' resist, simply let him. A weak smile escaped her lips as their eyes locked for a moment or so before a harsh, unwelcoming voice stole each of their attention away from the other. The boy, recognizing the voice at once, released his gentle hold on her chin and whipped around instantly, protectively taking the girls tiny hand in his own.

The famous school bully… Every school had them and Jack's was no exception. The bully had paid him special attention ever since the first day of school. Even when they were little, he would always make it a point to steal Jack's Browne or throw sand in his eyes. When Jack met Harley, it seemed things only spiraled farther down… Tom had a crush on Harley, much to her distaste, and had it in his head that Jack was trying to steal her. The battle between the two raged on throughout their time at school, only now it had thrown Harley in the middle…

"Well, well, well if it isn't the freak. Come on Harles, what did I tell you 'bout hanging out with a loser like him? The 'ugly' disease could begin to rub off. Not to mention he only hangs out with you because he's a sissy and only hangs out with girls!"" A brown haired little boy not too older than Jack spitefully poked him hard in the chest.

Harley glared daggers into the boy's eyes even as a group of his "possy" had began to gather around them like annoying house flies. Most of them were simply too frightened of him to disobey orders, even if those orders were given by an 11 year old little boy.

"Jack is not a freak! If anyone's the freak it's you, Tom. You're nothing but a bully." She snapped, taking a dangerous step forward. She was a brave little thing, Jack would give her that much. Going up against a bully twice her size took courage, maybe even a bit too much for her own good. Still, Jack knew his best friend would do anything to protect him, even to the point of placing herself in danger to keep him safe, and that is what worried him the most.

By now, he had noticed that Tom's cheek's had turned bright read and his hand had balled into a fist. If this were a cartoon, Jack was sure he would have seen smoke coming out of the other boy's ears.

"Harley, just stay out of this!" he suddenly cried, pulling her out of the way just in time for Tom's fist to collide into his face with a horrible force that sent his vision into seeing stars. There was a horrible snapping sound and blood came poring from Jack's nose which he was sure now, was broken. He struggled to catch a glimpse of Harley. If she were hurt in any way he would kill this kid. Luckily for Tom, she didn't look in the least bit harmed, instead he noticed her eyes were lit with a fury that he'd never before seen in her beautiful chocolate brown irises. She leapt off the ground where she lie and would have tackled Tom in her fit of rage if the others hadn't held her back, all the while kicking and screaming insults in Jack's defense.

Out of pure spite, one of the boys picked up a stray grey kitten by the scruff of its neck harshly while another pulled a dagger from his pocket. The kitten let out a small meow, innocent eyes pleading for escape. Harley could already feel the heat behind her eyes. Jack new she had a deep passion for animals and hated to see any one of them harmed, she had told him that the day they met. The thought of what these monsters were possibly going to do to this cat made both their stomach's churn.

"How about we do to your little friend here, what were about to do to this kitten…" Tom placed the knife near the kitten's neck, though before the cold metal touched delicate skin, the boy let out a sharp cry as Jack lunged for his neck. He fell to the ground, dropping the kitten in the process, which quickly took off running in Harley's direction. She elbowed her attacker hard in the side, jerking herself free before running over to the fleeing kitten and scooping the poor animal up in her arms.

"Shh…it's okay." Jack could hear her coo softly, petting the kitten tenderly on her pelt in attempts to calm her. Though her gentle voice had distracted him from the danger lurking behind him, it was in this moment that Tom had managed to grab him by the neck and started to squeeze.

"Harley, quick get otta here!" He yelled through struggled gasped. It was then when Harley realized that Tom had him by the neck and was choking him. She quickly handed the kitten to a sweet girl only a year younger then herself, just passing by.

"Can you keep her save for me? Hurry, run to the treehouse, don't tell anyone where your going I'll meet you there later, okay?" She whispered for only them to hear.

The red haired girl nodded without question and ran off to follow out her instructions. Luckily no one noticed the scene. Harley realized in horror that this was because most of the boys were too busy beating the crap out of Jack.

"Stop it you jerk! GET OFF OF HIM!" She screamed. Never in his life had Jack heard her scream so loud, so much emotion inspired the action and clung to her vocal chords dangerously. He watched helplessly as she flung herself on the one who had his hands around his neck, breath slowly drained from Jack's exhausted lungs, his face going deathly pale as he struggled to no avail to gasp for air. He new Harley must have noticed this too because her arms were now around his attacker's neck, her nails digging deep into his flesh. Of course it was not deep enough to cause any real damage. Her goal was not to kill this boy, only to make him release his death grip on Jack's neck, which he did only to whip around and slap Harley as hard as his strength could muster across the face, sending a trail of bitter tears down either side of her face.

This made Jack's blood begin to boil. Nobody laid a hand on his best friend and got away with it. He quickly recovered from the blows and before he even catching his breath, attacked Tom, punching him in the gut repeatedly with every ounce of strength he had left. Only the sound of a police officer's loud whistle halted the deadly action that could have vary well ended the boy's life. Weather or not it was his actual intent to murder Tom remained uncertain even to Jack himself.

By now everyone had stopped to stare in shock at the scene before them. Most was simply innocent onlooker's watching in terror, save Harley, who he could hear still yelling out protests not to kill the boy, only to make him suffer enough to teach him a lesson.

"Okay, okay knock it off!" The deep voice of a police officer suddenly bellowed as he pulled Jack harshly off of his victim who was desperately gasping for air, and onto the pavement carelessly.

"What is wrong with you?" The officer sighed tiredly, grabbing Jack's arm and squeezing a little too tight. He roughly yanked him to his feet. Jack growled out in pain ready to protest, though stopped short as a soft voice suddenly yelled out,

"Wait! It wasn't his fault! Tom attacked me first…he-he slapped me across the face, Jack only did it to protect me officer!!" It was Harley. She had taken a nervous step out of the crowd to face the officer now staring her down as if she were some sort of wanted criminal.

"Young lady, here at Gotham's Elementary school we do not encourage violence under any circumstances." The police officer brushed off her words as If they were meaningless droplets of rain and turned to face Jack who had averted his gaze to the ground, unable to meet the officers disapproving gaze, or Harley's bleeding lip. It killed him inside to know she was in pain because of him…

"Young man I suggest you start heading to the Principles offence."

It was in this moment when a loud boom of thunder rumbled the earth and a huge flash of lighting lit up the moody sky. The clouds were the color of a nasty grey, a color that Jack welcomed at this moment.

Short to follow, Rain began to pore from the sky as if mimicking the day's events.

Jack finally forced himself to look at Harley, knowing her fear of storms he was sure she had noticed the thunder. Though what he saw in her heated eyes was not fear, but a deep sympathy.

She could feel her heart snap in two. He new as well as she what his father would do to him after they got home…he would punish him, find a way to beat him until he pleaded for mercy, and then…. He would laugh, menacingly laugh, mocking his son's pain. Jack flinched at the thought and walked to her, reading her mind as he wiped a single tear from her torn cheek. He remembered the history of how she had gotten the tiny scar on her upper cheek near her left eye and brushed a single gentle finger against the delicate pink skin.

"Hey…it's going to be alright, okay? Just remember to smile Harley…your smile is what keep's me goin'." He whispered. The words reserved for her ears only. He flashed a weak smile of his own, though she noted it did not reach his eyes. Harley took a few steps forward and gave him a friendly peck on the cheek before pulling him in a tight embrace, a few more tears making their way down her scarred cheek and mixing in with the cotton fabric of his shirt. She did speak, only clung to him as if he would disappear the moment she let go; only releasing him when the police officer cleared his throat impatiently.

Reluctantly, she watched as he began slowly making his way towards the principles office… She hated feeling so helpless. She wanted to yell after him…to scream, shout, cry, plead, anything to prevent that they both new would end up his fate…

He glanced behind, noticing as everyone had began to walk away, the days events slowly fading from their mind as the storm would soon come and go, Harley still stood there on the hill, unmoving. She stared after him with sad eyes.

Oh how he hated seeing her so unhappy. He was sure she was crying, the look in her chocolate eyes told all, even with the rain enveloping her in cold sheets. He sighed, feeling the need to run to her….to hold her, to shield her from the rain and kiss her tears away. Jack let out a slight grunt, surprising the feeling… He new he couldn't. If he drug this out any longer he could possibly endanger her as well and that was something he would not risk. No…her safety was all he cared about. He would go home…he would face his dad alone. He would keep Harley out of this.


I clutched my knee's closer to my chest, completely hooked on every word he said.

"Wh-What happened?" I asked quietly, almost fearing the answer…no I was petrified of the answer. Still, as they say curiosity killed the cat and my mind would not let it rest if the tale were to go unfinished. Luckily, knowing the Joker, there's no way on earth that would happen.

He paused to glance at me, a curious glint in his eye. I think he was just a little surprised that someone had actually wanted to hear his oh-so-famous story that usually ended in a bloody smile, but the tale had intrigued me even though half of me wondered if it were even true.

Nonetheless, he continued without questioning my odd fascination. Drinking in a deep struggled breath, he continued...

"Well that night when I got home…the moment he opened the door my, Uh, my father threw me hard against the cold...hard…floor. I could feel something crack; I new it was probably my bad arm that I just happen to land on. Now by this time daddy is Fuir-ous that I had gotten in a fight at school, mind you, paying no attention whatsoever to how badly I had gotten beaten up by the bullies…" He wetted the sides of his mouth, that same old habit of his.

"Sooo…he grabs the kitchen knife. Mommy starts screaming for him to stop, but instead of feeding his anger, hearing her desperate protests of a-gon-ny only seem to make him…laugh. He take's the knife to me, her watching, sticks the blade in my mouth. He begins to tell me how I need to learn to smile more, tells me, all I do is cause more trouble for him, I'm too angry …"

His tone darkened considerably as he spoke, seeming to be lost in some horrible memory, weather it that one or another, he wanted revenge…or maybe he had already gotten it, but it wasn't enough? Either way, the tone in his wheezing voice made me want to scream…to run, to panic, to do something anything, other then just sit there and wait for my fate…still I new even if I tried, it would only land me in a worse scenario. Maybe even one I wouldn't come out of alive. So I just sat there…as if clued in the same position I was before.

"He starts coming closer, knife in hand…Why…So…SeriouS…Son!? Let's put a smile on that face!'"

By now he was yelling, the tone of his voice had changed to malicious. I couldn't help it. I began to tremble. The Joker grabbed the knife from the floor, but instead of sticking it in my mouth he stuck it in his own. Tongue tracing the side's of the blade causing a trickle of blood to drop in his mouth. I stared at him for a moment or so, confused.

"And…. Why so serious, Luna?" His tone went calm again as if nothing has ever happened. I let out a gasp, dreading what I knew would soon come next… Nonetheless I faked the best smile I could muster, hoping against hope that somehow that would be enough to save me.

He raised an eyebrow as if in some form of sick amusement at my useless attempts, pulling the knife from his mouth and placing it in mine. Any hopes of escaping this unscratched were crushed in that single instant…

Darn it!

A trickle of blood pored from the new wound in my cheek, and then gushed over the other side. He twisted it to make a similar notion on the other side. I let out a pained whimper, the only noise that found it's way to the surface as I gagged on my own blood. Gosh it hurt…it hurt like a thousand needles penetrating the inside of your cheek all at once!

It was then I realized that the needles, the agonizing pain had come to an abrupt stop. Just as quickly as it had come, the knife was gone. The Joker took the blade out in one quick motion that left a small cut on my tongue, and studied it for a minute or so while I clutched my bleeding cheeks in utter and complete horror, Coughing and sputtering up blood all over the concrete floor. Ugh! So I hadn't escaped the trademark smile…darn it! Darn it! Darn it!

"You know…it's a funny world we live in. So much violence…and…punishment. They think that these so called 'rules'—he made a quotation hand gesture in the air to exaggerate the point—are gonna save them…those cops, those lawyers, their only as good as the world allows them to be. No, no, no, no…you see Luna; the world need's…Cha-os –to function property. Luckily for them, I'm an ex-perT on Cha-os. " He flashed a manic grin then reached in his pocket to pull out what I was sure was a needle and a roll of white thread. I flinched at the thought of what he was about to do, tears already spilling down my face in long painful lines. Running into the cuts and giving the effect of salt on an open wound.

"Shh, shh, shh, shh… Now really Luna I'm, uh, dis-a-ppointed in you…did ya really think I was gonna kill you? " He let out a short laugh, not unlike the others, only…not as drawn out.

"Bu-But I was smiling!"

I suddenly blurted out the protest before I could stop the words from rolling off my furious tongue. I couldn't believe it…my plan hadn't worked after all! I figured he wouldn't need a reason to make me "smile" if I were already doing it, but no! That stupid maniac clown did it anyways! Argh!

"Hee hee ho ha ha, well think of it this way girlie… -now- uh, you'll be smiling all the time! Like me… See? I was only doin' ya a little, uh…a little favor. Now, no need to thank me…just…uh, just hold still there deary or your only gonna make this worse on yourself. On second thought…it might be a little more uh…en-ter-taining if ya move around a bit." He leaned hid head back to let out another one of his horrid cackles before beginning the task at hand.

I closed my eyes in a fatal attempt to create a false pretence of comfort...needless to say, it didn't work. The pain was unlike anything I had ever felt before, even the time time I had fallen off the porch and skinned up my knee and a good portion of my face, was nothing compared to this. It hurt so bad I wanted to scream for all of Gotham to hear, so loud that all of the miserable city's windows would bust into a zillion little pieces. Maybe then Batman would hurry up and get his little black hiny over here to save me! Gosh, where heck was that man when you needed him most, anyhow?

And yet…I didn't utter a sound, knowing what would only reopen the newly made wounds the Joker was currently sewing up, causing it to sting all the worse and possibly anger the Joker enough to do think of something even more sinister to inflict more pain on me. Of course such agonizing pain was a result of something he had already done…nonetheless, I would not add to my misery by squirming away or screaming bloody murder and messing up his work.

Although I had to admit, he was gentle enough during the gruesome procedure, paying careful attention with every delicate move his gloved hands dared to make as he hummed cheerfully, cruelly, to himself, clearly satisfied with his newest facial sculpture as if the horrid disfigure were somehow his treasured work of art. Ugh…what a demented thought?

When he had finished the horrible task, the Joker took a few proud steps back, placing his hands on his hips to admire his "handy work". He almost reminded me of a woman, standing in that awkward position… The thought was so amusing that I would have laughed if it were not for the fear of ripping the stitches he so graciously had given me after he scarred me with his oh so famous and dreadful, Joker's grin.

"Well my sweet little pet, I'm, uh, I'm afraid our uh, our little qual-a-ty play time together has to come to a sad end…for now. Oh, don't look so glum kiddo…I won't be gone for long. Just a few, humm, errands to run. I'll be back before ya even have time to miss me." He taunted, (like I would really miss him?) taking a few steps forward to give my tangled mass of what was supposed to be hair, a cruel ruffle before turning to leave.

"Until then…my, uh, my buddy here, Charlie will be watchin' over ya to make sure you don't get into anymore trou-ble." He licked his lips, shoving a younger man who looked to be in his early twenties toughly into the room, leering at the frightened goon's face as he immediately obeyed his boss's orders without question. No, scratch that, Charlie was too…kind looking to be called a goon. Let's just call him one of the Joker's unlucky little oompa loompa's.

"Now you two play nice, kay?" The Joker called behind him before racing out of room, making it a point to glance behind his shoulder to give me a wink that sent all kinds of harsh shivers down my spine. It wasn't long before we heard the pitiless sound of the lock twisting to imprison us in the cold little room he had so thoughtfully provided us heat…yeah…the Joker, thoughtful? Ha! Now that was something worth laughing at. Speaking of which, I flinched as the sound of the Joker's manic cackle as it echoed throughout the eerie quiet of the rigged building which looked as if it would crumble to dust any moment now…

It was freezing in here! Still…I didn't have much to worry about…or did I? He, a man who heartlessly kills on a whim without even so much as a single blink of his dark mysterious eyes, had promised not to kill me…if I played the game by his rules. Now how many Joker-victims get that kinda promise? It was just… strange, to say the least. And I couldn't help but wonder, for what horrid amusement would I be of use for in that deranged little game of his? Was only he keeping me alive because he new that in due time, I would only wish I were dead? I shuddered at the thought even as the goon, no!—oompa loompa— named Charlie, cautiously made his way over obviously taken aback by the horrid cuts on either cheek…

I sighed, turning away ashamed.

"You know…you're lucky to be alive kid. They say it's an honor to get the Joker's smile and live." He offered a kind enough smile and took a seat beside me.

My eyes studied him carefully, not letting my guard down.

"Well I think they're wrong." I muttered darkly. "It's not an honor. It's just a bad memory."


I'm not entirely happy this chapter... I know the Joker is far from IC in his little flashback/story. But then again...that was WAY before he became who he is now. Soo...hopefully, it make's sence. Also it was sopposed to be a sort of a mirror to the things that are to happen in the future, so yes, his story is true...well in this one anyways. Lol.