A/N: Again I have to apologise about the late update, I didn't get a chance this or last week to really sit down and write – so let's get straight onto the story!

Thank you everyone that has been reading, including jamcneill680, hulouhoop, permanentsmile, Guest, Cow-Lover2214, Suki. Fictionist, NoirDixMois, green book worm, Tattooes-are-art, AmeliaDogwood, AubriannaRose, Zombies-and-Crossbows, and marissakess for reviewing, following and/or favouriting this story, you are absolutely brilliant. :)

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from The Dark Knight trilogy. All I own is Cora and any other original characters.


I followed everyone outside, finding myself hanging back a little to leave a couple of seconds' distance, though sensing someone behind me. My stomach was churning, goosebumps immediately forming on my exposed arms as the cool evening air chilled my skin. Rubbing them for a second, I watched as the men in the clown apparel climbed into two pick-up trucks that were parked by the curb. I could feel the anticipation rolling off them like a wave, as one by one all of them gradually turned to look back at the Joker for an indication as to what was going to happen next. Said man was a couple of feet away, his beady eyes unfocused and his shoulders hunched as always as he took a glance at his watch.

"Now," he said, beginning to pace a little, "even though this is a part-y and I want all my little clowns to have a good time, we still have a very important job to do. You all know what I mean when I say that I will do all the talking," he finished, gesturing at his chest.

A couple of the men looked a little disappointed at this but it soon disappeared when he lazily raised the gun he was still holding and aimed it at a couple of them, giving them dark looks before strolling over to talk to Caleb as if nothing had just transpired. I felt someone take me by the arm and pull me over quietly to the black van that we had been driving around in for the last two days, parked behind the two trucks. John let me go by Kimberly who I saw was checking over a small gun in her hands.

"We're going with the Joker in this one," she said, her eyes on her weapon. I nodded, feeling something close to relief rush through me for a second; I'd assumed that we'd all be travelling together with these new thugs. Though I was sure that they wouldn't try anything with the Joker around, I'd seen the way they'd looked at me and Kimberly when he wasn't keeping an eye.

She must have seen the thankful look on my face. "You happy about that?"

"Well, I'm not sure," I replied absentmindedly, glancing back out of the corner of my eye at the Joker who seemed to be reaching the end of his conversation with Caleb. I heard her chuckle a little.

"With him is where you're safest," she said, meeting my questioning gaze for a moment before looking back down at her gun, cocking it harshly. The sound of the truck engines switching on with synonymous growls behind me met my ears, and a sense of urgency hit me as everyone prepared to leave. I'd caught something in her eyes just then, a barrage of conflicting emotions so thick and so fast it was impossible to get a grasp on them.

"What do you mean?" I asked her lowly, conscious that it was all too easy for the Joker to listen in if he wanted to, but within seconds I realized that Kimberly had already grown visibly guarded again.

"Just get in the van," she said, turning away from me just as Caleb approached us and nodded his head at the vehicle as well. Pushing what had just occurred to the back of my mind for now, I followed the two of them over to the back of the van, a gloved hand curling itself tightly around my wrist and pulling me the last couple of steps.

About to climb up, I froze when the sound of wheels rolling on tarmac as a car pulled in next to the curb met my ears from behind me, sensing the Joker as well as Caleb and Kimberly who were already in the van turn to look at it. Glancing around myself, interested in why everyone was reacting like this (maybe it was the police), I realized that this was someone who had taken them all off guard. It couldn't just be a passer-by; why would anyone stop here when the Joker and a bunch of thugs were in plain sight?

My heart was thudding when a balding, grey-haired man who looked to be in his mid-fifties climbed out of the car, shutting the door behind him calmly before continuing his journey over to us on foot. Caleb had stepped down from the van, gun now pointing at him, but the man didn't stop. When he took the step that brought him so that he was a couple of meters away, the Joker stepped in front of me so that the man was now obscured from my view, almost protectively. I heard the shuffling sound of his footsteps come to a halt.

"Maroni sent me. I'm an officer at MCU. He thought you might like a little help getting in tonight."

As everyone visibly lightened, Caleb lowering his gun next to me, I felt my mouth drop open. A corrupt cop. I clenched my fists, scowling at him from what I could see of his face around the Joker's back.

"Maroni, you say?" he was drawling. "Hm. Ya know, I gotta hand it to him," he said as he strode over to the man, swinging the gun by his side. "Maybe he does have some balls."

A couple of the men laughed, watching. The Joker pressed his shotgun up against the man's head.

"So, your first job for the night – you can drive us to Bruce Wayne's little party," he said, and he pushed him roughly in the direction of our van. John kicked the door open and leapt out, grinning as the man wearily climbed his way inside, giving us all looks as he did.

Someone began tugging me over as well, this time to the back. My stomach was a knot as I hurriedly clambered up onto the shelf of the van, heading straight over to the far end of the row of seats. As everyone else joined me, I clenched my hands into fists to keep from shaking, already feeling the sweat oozing out of my pores.

Finally, the Joker leapt into the small space, his body swaying joyfully. As Kimberly pulled the doors closed, he marched over to take a seat on my immediate left, so close that our knees were touching. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end when I felt his lips touch my ear.

"You look beaut-iful," he growled, and the tip of his nose grazed down my neck, just before I felt his hand lay itself gently on my knee. I was clenching my teeth, trying not to start shaking as I focused my gaze to my right. The engine flickered to life, and I felt him lick his lips once before finally leaning back from me, crossing his long legs out in front of him.

With my sanity restored, I felt my thoughts slowly return back to the fundraiser. An icy feeling went over me. What was going to happen to Harvey?


Someone guided me into the elevator. I pushed myself against the wall, glancing around at everyone carefully. The Joker was hanging onto the man from MCU, making sure he didn't try and bow out. He needed him, for now. The doormen had had no choice but to do nothing after seeing the gun pointed to his head, quickly knocked unconscious by John and the others. As I stared at them, grins threatening to pull up their faces, I felt eyes on my back, appraising me. He was always watching. I ignored him, following the others through the beautiful lobby, the pattering of our footsteps the only sound that filled the room.

I pressed myself as close as I could into the wall as he pushed one of the buttons on the wall panel. It lit up with a ding, the lobby sliding out of sight as we started to ascend. Each button glowed for a second on each floor. The skin on my arms was already prickling when we reached the end, the elevator doors pulling open onto a massive room filled with people. The Joker pushed the officer roughly forward and out of the way.

"We made it!" he said. He stepped out of the elevator, and a second later he had fired the shotgun into the ceiling. The loud blast caused everyone to whirl around in shock, their eyes widening in recognition.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen," he said loudly, walking into the center. The thug that was holding me stepped out of the elevator, taking us over to the right of the room as the others started herding people back. I gasped when the sound of a gun cocking met my ears and all of a sudden I was watching it being aimed at groups of guests nearby. Something that sounded like a metal serving tray meeting the ground echoed around the large room, and I glanced over to see that one of the thugs had taken hold of a server and was pushing him into the crowd.

"We are … tonight's entertainment!" the Joker said as he went over to one of the tables. He picked something up and took a bite out of it, chewing quickly. "I only have one question: where – is – Harvey – Dent?"

He let the question hang for a couple of seconds. No one answered. I saw him roll his eyes upward from the side view I had of him before he turned around and changed course towards a line of women. They were all still holding their flutes of champagne, staring at him in horror as he raised the shotgun and swung it around so that it pointed at each of them before taking the glass from the last woman's hand. She gasped shakily, watching along with the rest of us as he spilled most of it in the process before downing the last dredges and setting it down on a nearby table. Meanwhile the thug was taking us slowly along the side of the room, his arm tight around my chest.

"You know who Harvey is? Do you know who he is?" he said to more people before grabbing a man by the face, shaking him. "D'you know where I can find Harvey? I need to talk to 'im about something, just something little, huh?" He took the top of his head and guided it from left to right. "No," he said, looking bored as he walked off again. Swivelling on his heel, he started heading in my direction. I inwardly braced myself as he stopped in front of us to take me by the chin, and immediately the thug's arm slid from around me, backing away a few steps.

"You know where he is, darlin'?" he said, shaking me. I stared back at him, trying to reign in the underlying terror that filled me whenever he got this close. "You see him anywhere, hm?" He ran his thumb down the side of my cheek before letting me go, licking his lips and turning away. I felt the thug's arm take hold of me again as he went over to an elderly, balding man with glasses.

"Y'know, I'll settle for his loved ones," he told him as he plucked something from the table and put it in his mouth. The man leant forward.

"We're not intimidated by thugs," he said, causing him to pause in his chewing. His dark eyes flickered over him, and I felt the already grim tension in the room grow closer, more stifling. Everyone's eyes were on them now. Even the thug who was holding me seemed to want to stop to watch.

"Y'know," he said as he loudly brought one of the champagne flutes down onto the table three times. "You remind me of my father." He nodded slowly. I gasped when his hand shot out to grab him, forcing him close with his knife a hair's width from his mouth. "I hated my father," he hissed.

"Okay, stop," came a woman's voice, causing him to turn his head to see where it had come from. A lady in a long green dress had stepped forward on the other side of the room. The more I looked at her, the more I knew I recognized her. This was Rachel Dawes, Harvey Dent's girlfriend. I felt my stomach turn as the Joker pushed the elderly man away carelessly, an interested expression on his face as he began walking in her direction. Please, no.

"Well, hellooo, beautifulll," he drawled, pushing back his greasy tendrils. "You must be Harvey's squeeze, hm? And you are beautiful," he said huskily as he began to circle her slowly. Wide-eyed, I felt the man holding me start walking us further away again, his raggedy breath tickling my temple. I kept my gaze on the two people in front of us, feeling my heart thudding beneath my ribs.

"But you look nervous," said the Joker, "is it the scars?"

He brought his face a little closer.

"You wanna know how I got 'em?" he said. He nodded at her before he moved to grab her head, poising his knife over her cheek. My stomach lurched, my mind filled with the image of his eyes boring into mine, the pure ecstasy flickering in them like candlelight. Out of the corner of my gaze I could see the man's outstretched arm in front of me, his gun aiming at anyone who dared glance over at us. It was when the Joker became out of sight that I suddenly felt his arm transfer from around my waist to around my neck, pressing down hard into my voice box.

"You know, you're a pretty thing," he growled into my ear over the gasps that were escaping my mouth, my attempts at screaming coming out no louder than a whisper. I wanted to be sick as I felt his warm breath on my earlobe. "I can see why the Joker likes ya." He chuckled.

I gritted my teeth, about to try and kick him. That was when I heard rather than felt a dull 'thud' and a grunt of pain. Seconds later I was free, doubling over and sucking in gulps of air. I felt at my sore neck, shivering in repulsion. Turning around so that I could slap him, I was surprised when I caught sight of him in a heap on the floor, knocked out cold. I didn't have long to start feeling confused when a shadow fell over me. My eyes focused on the masked vigilante before me, his fist still raised.

"Hide in one of the bedrooms," he said.

I had to stop myself from letting a small tremble go down my spine at the gruff yet powerful sound.

"Don't come out until it's safe."

I nodded and watched him begin to make his way in the direction of the Joker, he and Rachel still hidden by a large group of guests. I couldn't help but stare for a second at how he seemed to simply glide through the shadows, stepping closer and closer to the madman in the center.

I hurriedly shook myself back into gear. Time to get moving. I was still a little dumbstruck but I would be able to think about all this later if I got the chance. Right now I had an order to follow. Ducking my head a little, praying that I was too far out of the way for any of the Joker's goons to notice, I quickly made my way as quietly as I could into the dimly-lit hallway that led off of the kitchen area. I broke out into a full run once I was sure I was out of view.

My head was pounding with my heart, feeling almost dizzy with the part of my mind that felt a sense of exhilaration, but this wasn't the time to celebrate. Slowing down a little, feeling exhausted already, I glanced over at the building across the street from the penthouse, the glassy sheen of the darkened windows from the lights below. I breathed in heavily, pushing myself along. Around another corner, lying spread-eagled on the ground was the body of a thug, out cold. Circling around him, I carried on until I reached a part of the corridor that felt more private than the rest, a chest of drawers against the wall with a collection of photographs arranged on the surface. I hesitated as I opened one of the doors nearby, feeling cautious as I stepped into a beautiful, cream-colored bedroom, perfect like it had never been touched.

Closing the door, I slowly walked into the center, glancing around. A king-sized bed dominated the room, the headboard against the far glass wall. I went over, appraising the space between the two surfaces. Big enough to fit. Sighing, I knelt down and crawled inside, arranging myself so that I was in a sitting position with my legs up against my chest. Above the sound of my breathing, I could hear crashes and thuds coming from the reception room. I guessed the Batman must have made his appearance.

Clearing my head for a moment, I began to listen the sounds of traffic on the roads, turning my gaze down to the flickering streets below. I felt a rush of adrenaline at the fact that there was just a piece of glass separating me from a sheer drop. I wondered how many floors up we were. I had never been one to be afraid of heights, but whether it was because of the view or that the Joker could appear at any moment, my head was reeling.

"It's okay," I whispered to myself. "It's gonna be okay."

It was just then that I realized it had gone quiet. The fighting must have stopped. Straining my ears, I heard the unmistakeable sound of the Joker's voice, sounding like he was talking to everyone again. He was out of breath.

"Looks like the party's over, guys and dolls! Now … where's my girl?"

It wasn't long before the sounds of his angered voice and several sets of footsteps coming this way shattered the silence. Not only that, but the sense that this was over. I'd let myself believe, foolishly, for a moment that this episode with the most dangerous, psychopathic killer in Gotham was over. And I couldn't help but wonder as my insides seemed to shrivel, like they knew the answer: when would this all end?