A/N Hello everybody no I am not dead, I've been distracted lately but I am going to try to write more often... I really miss it!
Well last time we left off Lily had just had a fight with our beloved Joker and one of her contacts fell out and the Joker saw her eye colour! Also Bruce invited her to a Charity event for Harvey Dent... We all know what this means ;D
Anyway, here's the next chapter... enjoy!
~CandiLand95

Shopping. The very last thing Lily wanted to do but she had to, after seeing the overly modest dresses and cutesy frilly dresses in her wardrobe she drew the line and got a taxi to the nearest shopping mall. She stood at the entrance of the giant countless storey high mall and felt her blood run cold. 'This is madness' She thought as flashy women with horrible fake tans and obvious plastic surgery pushed past in packs ranging between three and ten. Lily looked down at her own body and thanked the heavens she hadn't done anything too drastic before her drowning.

She looked up at the glass of a shop window and stared at her reflection in deep thought. She was pretty but dark circles were beginning to form around her eyes. That's when she noticed the scar in her eyebrow. 'What the hell?'

Another secret from another life.

With a sight Lily walked into the first store, a lingerie store. If you're gonna buy a new wardrobe, you have to start from inside out. She looked around at the racks filled with new bras and matching underwear and picked up a shopping basket. Lily walked around the store and noticed a few women gawking at her and whispering amongst themselves. 'What the hell are they looking at?' She thought angrily to herself as she busied herself with a pair of dark rich green underwear with lighter lacy trimming.

Lily grabbed her size (she had checked her sizes before she had left her house) and grabbed the matching bra. She loved the colour, it would contrast well with her pale skin. Lily shoved the pair in her basket and continued through the shop, ignoring the whispers and pointed fingers.

She moved the the checkout where the checkout woman glanced at her every few seconds. Lily looked away and her eyes found a small rack on the checkout desk filled with white bra and underwear sets with cute laughing clowns printed on them. She bit her bottom lip as she tried to hold back the laughter. The Joker's laugh filled her mind and without another thought, she picked up her size and popped them onto her decent sized pile to be scanned.

"The clowns have been selling like mad since the Joker came around." Lily looked up at the cashier who looked like she regretted speaking.

"Really? I would have thought the sales would have dropped..." Lily said while playing with a bow on one of the bras. The woman gave an awkward shrug and looked down at her work. Lily looked over her shoulder and every single person in the shop diverted their eyes from her. Anger boiled up inside of her. "Why is everyone staring?" She growled.

The cashier let a small giggle slip and Lily looked back at her. "Um, well, everyone's h-heard about what happened..."

Lily's eyes widened and her face grew darker. "How?"

The woman gulped. "Well, being so close to a celebrity like Bruce Wayne c-can put you in the spotlight as well..." Lily's demeanor changed back to the usual and she gave her a charming smile she wore as the Dark Masque.

"Well I am still a person you know..." She turned back to the people and with a snarl said "...And I don't like to be stared at like a freak." Everyone in the store quickly turned back to what they were doing and the everyday buzz slowly picked up as if nothing had happened. Lily looked back at the cashier with a small smile and purchased her delicates. "Thank you." She said as she picked up her bag and turned her heel.

"Come again!" The cashier shouted after Lily, feeling a little star struck.

"Not bloody likely..." Lily murmured as she walked out to the next shop. The next couple of shops were just the same but Lily just ignored them and continued on with her shopping.

Lily then entered a formal wear shop, her arms filled with bags from previous stores. She let out a sigh and walked over to a shop assistant who was standing idly about polishing and overly polished broach. "Um, excuse me..."

The man nearly dropped the broach from fight and Lily caught the rag that had fallen. "Uh Thank you... How may I help you Miss...?" He asked, ears going red matching his flaming hair.

Lily smiled. "Carter. I'm going to a charity ball tonight and I need a dress..." She looked at his name tag. "...Terrence." Terrence's heart skipped a beat when she said his name. He offered to take her bags and lead her to the fitting area. The fitting area was huge, there were changing rooms on each side, a large mirror covering an entire wall, three platforms surrounded by comfy couches and there was only one other girl desperately trying to fit in a short tight black dress to please her screeching friends.

Lily's nose crinkled at the sight and Terrence laughed. "They come in, try on dresses they have no hope in ever getting into and leave without buying anything almost every week."

"Must get tiring putting up with them." Lily commented as she looked at a golden dress that was short at the front and long at the back and swirled over the chest.

Terrence shook his head. "No, no, no gold. It doesn't suit your complexion and is too tacky this season." Lily raised an eyebrow and Terrence smirked. "I have a way of finding the perfect dress..."

Lily smirked. "I'll hold it against you..."

Terrence walked around the shop with a purpose. He would flip through the dresses, one would catch his fancy and he would stare at it for about thirty seconds before shaking his head and moved along. Occasionally, he would pull one out and hand it to Lily and she would try it on feeling unsure each time. The first time she wouldn't even come out of the change room.

"Lily..."

"No! I am not coming out!" She shouted through the door as she tried to reach the zipper to take off the dress. Terrence waited five minutes, listening to her struggles with an all-knowing look and the lock on the door turned and a very grumpy looking Lily opened the door. The dress he had picked out was a flaming red dress that flowed down with a strapless sweetheart neck line with a slit up her right leg. He coaxed her onto the platform and made a few adjustments and took a step back to analyse.

"Red looks good on you but this isn't the dress."

And so the search continued for an hour.

Then he found it. "Here! Try this one on!" Terrence said to Lily as he shoved the dress into her hands. "Go on!" he said encouragingly. Lily changed into the dress and slowly opened the door. The entire room went dead silent, the other girls stared at Lily as she stepped out in a sleeveless mermaid type of dress that hugged her curvy frame and hung loose mid-thigh. It was a pale silver dress with purple fabric twisted with little purple rhinestones the size of her fingernail embroidered. She walked over to the platform just like before but she seemed to walk in slow-motion.

Quietly, Terrence picked up a hair clip and gently twisted her hair into a high bun and clipped her hair into place. Lily looked into the mirror and gasped, she looked so beautiful and the dress matched her eyes perfectly. "It's... it's perfect..." She turned to Terrence and smiled "Thank you."

Terrence waved her thank you away and his ears flamed up again. Lily looked at the mirror one last time and quickly got changed back into her normal clothes while the girls whispered about 'That girl with the purple eyes'.

Lily opened the door and walked over to her things where a pair of silver pair of high heels with a delicate swirling pattern of silver glitter decorated the top and sides, a matching silver clasp and a silver shawl. She looked over at Terrence and smiled. He had guessed her shoe size perfectly and when she slipped on the shoe, it fitted better than any other shoe she had ever worn. Or at least as far as she could remember. "I'll take them." Lily said to Terrence who collected the things and moved them to be wrapped and sold.

Lily pulled out her credit card and just as she finished paying for her formal outfit, gunshots were fired and the air was thick with tension and screams. That's when she heard it, a high pitch laughter that echoed through the stores.

The Joker was here.

xXx

Lily grabbed Terrence's arm and quickly tugged him into the changing rooms where the other girls screamed and pulled at each other's arms. Lily shoved the red-head into the store room and turned to the girls with an agitated look in her eyes.

"Oi! Shut it!" She shouted at them. Amazing, they fell silent except for a few sniffles and hiccups. "Quickly, get in here..." She said holding open the door.

"D-Do you really think he'll come in here?" Asked the girl with a fake tan and bleach blonde hair as they filed into the store room.

"Knowing my luck, yes." Lily murmured as the last girl marched in. The Joker's laughter grew louder and the sound of shattering glass filled the air. "Shit." Lily closed the door and moved a stack of boxes in front of it to make it look like no one uses it. She bent over another box to reach for her fallen handbag, her finger's just centimeters away from her knife and phone.

"Nice view Doll face."

She froze. 'Crap.' Lily straightened up and turned to face him. She could feel the blood rushing to her cheeks and she mentally scolded herself. He walked up to her holding his knife in one hand, playing with it, as he looked into her violet eyes that showed no sign of distress. He knew that look. It confirmed what he had found out that night.

"We've really gotta stop meeting like this..." He growled as he invaded her personal space and backed her against the stacked boxes. "...Lilith."

Something in Lily's eyes snapped. With a sharp shove, Lily pushed the Joker away for a second, distracting him and she dove for her hand bag and grasped the knife. He knew who she was, her identity was no long a secret. The Joker straightened up and laughed as she held up the knife and took a defensive stance. "Don't. Call. Me. LILITH!" she screamed as she lunged at him.

He side stepped her, grabbing her wrist in the process and twisted the knife out of her hand and they engaged in hand on hand combat. They both attacked each other with ferocity, but the Joker could feel she was holding back. She had something dark deep inside her aching to be released. He wanted to draw it out, bring out the monster inside of her... she was already well on her way.

Finally, he had enough.

He grabbed on of her fists and expertly twirled her into a death grip with her back against his chest and her arms pinned under his. He could easily kill her in this position. He could snap several bones, damage several organs and she wouldn't be able to stop him. But the Joker wanted to break her mentally before he physically destroyed her. He nudged her head to the side and breathed heavily on her neck. "See ya tonight Lil-ith." He whispered in her ear. Chills ran up and down Lily's spine both good and bad. Her knees grew weak and for a split second, she stopped fighting against him.

Roughly, he threw her down onto the ground in front of the large mirror and casually strode out. Lily pulled herself up into a sitting position and looked at herself in the mirror. "Great, just great..." She murmured. Her entire person was covered in patches of white, red and black paint and on her neck and surrounding hair, it was tainted red. Bruises, cuts and bumps scattered across her body but the worse part was her wrists and arms.

With a groan, Lily stood up and opened the door to let out the frightened people. She looked at Terrence with a forced half smile. "I'm going to need gloves as well."