I am in the habit of thanking my kind reviewers. Thank you to DreamLand156, OutcastToReality, SomeOtherPerson, Raiast, Kairai ate Eddlyn, LeiathecrazyJedi, Jokersgirl24, Chanandaler Bong, drawingfreak21, and takara410.

And now, on to the story!

In Marlye's empty apartment, a slight ticking sound could be heard. Before anyone would have been able to figure out what is was, a loud boom echoed down the street and her apartment was engulfed in flame and ash.

The Joker's smile got larger as he poked her harshly with the knife.

"Ready?" The man kneeling next to her could hardly contain his insane giggling as he took the reins.

"1…"

Marlye finally got her legs underneath her and locked her eyes on the escape.

"2…"

The Joker's men tensed for the chase as their boss stood up.

"3!"

Marlye made a mad dash for the door, slamming into it in her haste to escape. It wasn't as if anyone had bothered to maintain it, and it was easy enough to go crashing through it. However, the other side of the door didn't contain freedom. Instead she found herself in a huge room, with dozens of doors to choose from.

She had no time to think it through. She ran to a staircase immediately to her left, stumbling up the carpeted incline. It was too dark to see anything around her, but the carpet underneath her feet was stained with something that looked peculiarly like blood. She heard the Joker's men behind her, at the bottom of the stairs. She increased her pace, desperate to find some way to escape.

"Marl, Marl, Marlllllye," she heard the Joker call loudly. "Don't you just love Hide and Seek? There is something so thrilling about the chase!"

Call her crazy, but Marlye was not loving this game right now. If she made it out alive, she was never going to play Hide and Seek again.

The men yelled behind her, animalistic cries of hunger and excitement. She knew she had to think quickly as the men gained quickly on her.

She came to the end of the hallway, which wrapped around to the left. The place the Joker had chosen to haunt was huge, and Marlye was hoping to use it to her advantage. Using the last of her strength, she spun around the corner and found exactly what she was looking for. She sprinted into the room directly to the left and quietly as possible swept the door closed.

She didn't hear the telltale click of it's completed close, but she knew she didn't have time to fix it. The room she had chosen was full of dusty furniture. She spotted a desk, the left side of which was drawers, but the right side left a space usually used to sit in front of. Grabbing a tarp covering a disused couch, she threw it over the desk and crawled underneath. The normalcy of the tarp covering the furniture that was obviously never used was her betting chip. Hopefully, no one would guess she had crawled under there.

The henchmen came roaring around the corner, yelling obscene things they would do to Marlye should they catch her. In their frenzy, they kept running straight past her room.

Marlye breathed a sigh of relief. The yells echoed farther away in the direction she would have been going if she hadn't slipped into this room. The silence afforded her some time to think.

She could leave this room and try to find an exit back the way she had came. She could see how high the drop was from the window on the other side of the room. If that was too high she could take her chances running downstairs and out of a window down there.

But her thoughts were cut short by footsteps walking slowly around the corner.

Her breathing hitched and quieted, praying whoever it was wouldn't discover her hiding place. But the door to the room slowly creaked open. Footsteps stepped slowly and confidently across the dusty wooden floors. The tarp was long enough that she couldn't see exactly where the person was, nor who it was.

As ways to escape ran through her mind, purple-gloved fingers ran almost delicately over the edge of the tarp. They moved slowly along it, almost sensually. Marlye was momentarily stupefied at her reaction to those fingers. She wanted to reach out and touch them, imagine what they would feel like running down her back. As delicate as they had been, the tarp was ripped from the desk and the Joker's face was inches from Marlye's.

"Yes, there is something thrilling about the chase. But there is nothing like the catch."

Author's Note

Don't worry you guys! This story is staying well out of the realm of Mary-Sue. I know exactly how it will continue, but the rest of you will have to wait to experience the singularly original relationship that is the Joker and Marlye. I do know there will be sexuality, so read on with that in mind!

When I began this fic, it was with the intention to write something that brought out the same emotions and atmosphere that so many of the great Dark Knight fanfics on here have brought out in me. I want to write an OC story in which everyone can find something they like. I want to steer away from the conventional ideas of an OC, and bring my own in. The relationship I think of between a man like the Joker and someone else is very complex, and unlike any normal one. I intend to keep Joker completely in character, and to write something you all will thoroughly enjoy!