Zara Smith was a normal woman in Gotham. She came from a normal family, had good friends, and a pretty normal job as a bank teller. Sure, she had to participate in work mandated therapy because Batman just let the Joker run rampant and the bank was usually the first place he hit. He never did it when she was there though, and she considered it being the result of her mothers constant praying and protection charms she put all over her apartment. She did feel bad for the other girls who had to be there when he got in one of his moods. Poor Sarah had to get several surgeries to make sure her face went back to normal after being forced to wear Smile-X. She quit and moved to some quiet town in Virginia.

Which is why Zara was at the bank that day. Taking a shift she needed so she could finally pay for the cruise that her mother and father deserved to get them the hell out of Gotham and hopefully a taste of the finer things and they'd want to get out of this crime riddled cesspool for good. They deserved the absolute best and it was only fair that she gave it to them, because even though they raised her in Gotham. She always felt that it was a little brighter, little happier, because of them. Now it was her turn.

Counting money was something Zara was really good at. It was something she could do blindfolded if she had to. Being in a closed space did that to her. It made her want to be good at her task so she could be out of that vault as quickly as she got in there. She had finished the last stack of twenties when the banks alarm rang out like a small child in a grocery store. Her first instinct was to hide, and that's exactly what she did "Honey anytime you hear a warning you hide. We will come find you. God knows they won't." Was all she could hear when she scuttled under the table. Her fathers voice as he opened yet another paper where the Joker, Two-Face, or Penguin did something outlandish and there was a girl on the cover who looked just like her with the big bold letters above her smiling face MISSING.

A girl she played with in the park once. A girl she borrowed a pencil from. A boy she liked who would steal glances across the lunchroom. Now just an empty swing, an empty desk, an empty look. She curled into herself tighter. Praying that one of them would just protect her this one last time, but she just knew that was not how it was going to go. Something in her knew that she was their get out card. Like her father said. Who was going to save her? Her father was in his 50's now. He was frail since he got ill. She was alone, she never much liked anyone, and everyone she did. Ran to metropolis when they had the chance. Just to get a view of a skyline not filled with toxic gases.

Zara heard the footsteps and shut her eyes tighter. Tears forming the seal. She pictured her mothers face as the cops walked up to her and told her that her daughter was no longer coming home. She heard them stop over the table where the crisp twenties sat. She heard the laugh. The iconic sickening laugh. She wanted to vomit. She was entirely to close to death with no way out, no way to get where she belonged. In her mother's arms, crying, telling her how happy she was to be home. "So many pretty twenties with no smile. Ya know I always tell'em they should put me on the bills. I have many good sides don't you think?"

Zara didn't hear anyone respond and her bones rattled with fear. She bit her lip and tried to concentrate on anything else other than his monologue.

"I always tell them. Smile! Smiling is fun! Smiling is… Medicine. When people don't smile, they do upset me. No one ever seems to smile when I come around. I am not that bad… I have my moments, but other wise I'm very likeable. Wouldn't you agree?" His voice was stomach curling because it was so pleasant. It was a tone that reminded you that you were in immediate danger, but you were going to have fun. Zara didn't want to have fun. She wanted to go home. "You don't talk much." He continued as if hearing her response from her head. "I don't like to feel ignored, but I understand. You being in a room with your idol. It can be a lot." He chuckled and then his footsteps stopped again.

Zara opened her eyes to his green eyes glaring into hers with a wicked and sick smile. She wanted to let out a scream. Instead she scrambled, attempted to run. But she hit her back on the table in the attempt to get up, and it knocked her down. It didn't stop her though she was back up, she wasn't going out like Becky in 'Swampman 2: Return to Greenlake.' No she was going to run and keep running until she either died or made it out. Where was Batman!? Or the Cops?! No one fought crime at noon? She made it to the safe door when she was pulled back by the coils of her hair.

"I gotta give it to you kid. You've got spunk. You're the only one who ran." Joker laughed.

'Fight Zara! FIGHT.' She could hear the voices in her head command it from her. She stamped her foot on his Stacy Adams. And swung a wild punch that made the Joker release her hair and she could run. She made out of the safe and the door to get out of the area and back into the Lobby. She shoved it open and there were two guards from the bank lying on the ground glassy eyed in their own blood puddles. No rookie mistake for her. She lunged over them and slid to the ground trying to make it to the Lobby where everyone else was, gone. The lobby was a mess, but everyone was gone. They didn't even check the safe. She was shocked. Did no one tell them he was back there? Did no one tell them she was back there?!

She went to the door and attempted to open in. It was locked from the outside. She was trapped and no one told them anything! What about her? She was back there. She beat the door screaming "HELP ME! IT'S ME I'M HERE! SOMEONE PLEASE OPEN THE DOOR." She cried. "MOM! MOM I'M HERE I KNOW YOU'RE OUT THERE!" She was desperate. She just punched the Joker in the face and now she was trapped with him in this damn bank! She was dead. Really dead! And over her cries she heard laughter.

"Pity when they don't come for you isn't it." Joker laughed "No one ever comes for people like you. That's why we picked this bank you silly girl."

"Please don't kill me. I'm sorry."

"Oh, don't plead for you life just yet." He smirked gripping her face. "I liked you better when you had some fight!" He said and laughed "But it's my turn to return the Punchline."

Then everything went black.