A/N: Thanks for the reviews :) I don't own anything except for Danny and Chelsea.
"Hi Mr. Murrey, it's Chelsea. I won't be coming into work today. Something, something's happened..." She emotionally explained over the phone how Danny was in the explosion that was reported on the news and went on to discuss his injuries. He told her to stay home from work today and tomorrow. "And, Ms. Edwards, don't worry about attending Bruce Wayne's event tomorrow night, I'll make your apologies. Unless your partner was doing better and you wanted to get out of the house?" Chelsea looked out from the window in her apartment and saw clouds starting to gather over the city as the wind picking up. Would she be able to convince him to let her go to the party and get the time off work as well?
"Umm, we'll I'll be at the hospital quite a bit today and tomorrow. If Danny was doing alright you wouldn't mind if I came along, you know, as a distraction?" she held her breath.
"Yes, yes that's fine my dear. Although if you're up to going to the party how about you drop by the office Saturday night to write up anything that's urgent for someone else to take care of while you have a rest. Use your annual leave and take off next week as well if you want to" she pumped her fist in the air "It's time you had a break anyway". They agreed. Hanging up the phone Chelsea let out a relieved sigh. She felt bad that she had decepted her boss like that but she needed some space to plan her leaving. She also would have to get used to manipulating people like that where she was going. On Saturday night she could collect her personal belongings from work, somehow she knew she wouldn't be returning.
"Mr. Murrey, how good to see you. And you must be Mrs. Murrey" Bruce kissed her hand as they entered his charity event "Please come in". Chelsea tried to walk in after them but Bruce blocked her "And where is the lovely Mr. Chelsea?" he looked over her shoulder as if expecting him to materialise there.
"He, ah, wasn't able to make it she said pushing past him. They walked forward together to Chelsea's boss. She was wearing her purple silk, floor length dress. It was low cut down the middle with a silver and glass flower which gathered the material on her chest. She had her chocolate hair in a messy bun with her eyes made up with smoky dark brown which brought out their bluey-green colour. She wore silver high heels.
"Real shame about your man, Chelsea" Mr. Murrey said once she had reached him. Tonight he was wearing an old moth ball smelling tux. His wife, who was in her 60's too wore an old, faded mauve ball gown with a fur piece covering her shoulders. She epitomised the rich old aristocrat with a permanent scowl on her face. Now she was looking shocked "You didn't break up, dear, did you?"
"No, no he-" she looked up at Bruce, for some reason she was embarrassed "No, he was in an accident. He's at Gotham General" she said flatly.
The older lady gasped "My dear! Shouldn't you be with him?" Mr. Murrey looked a little embarrassed himself. "No love, Chelsea has already been by his bedside enough already the last two days, he should be fine. He was involved in the explosion down town two days ago". Chelsea did not want anyone else to know that and cursed herself for not telling him to keep it to himself. Her boss has a tendency to tell other people things he should keep quiet, especially if they partly attach him to an exciting story. She didn't think it would be long before people found out the only ones present at the warehouse were mobsters.
"He's a plumber. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time" she said reusing the story she had given the police commissioner two days earlier. They started walking off towards the champagne table so Chelsea followed, looking to see if there was anyone else here she knew. She looked to her side expecting to see Bruce there but when she turned she saw that he hadn't followed. He was looking at her with a closed expression on his face still standing in the same place they had just been. Two people walked up to him and started talking to their host, he tried to keep looking at Chelsea but she turned away.
Not really knowing anyone there Chelsea made the rounds being polite to some people. There were a lot of big names here and by the looks of it many models male and female. She felt very out of place. She was good looking enough but in the end wasn't exactly one of these tall, perfected models. She was shorter than most of these people for a start and her jewellery was nice, but was not the diamonds these ladies were flashing.
Eventually Bruce made a small speech and Mr and Mrs Murrey left for the night not up for a big one. As they were leaving Chelsea could tell Mrs. Murrey didn't think much of her as she was at a party rather than doting at her boyfriend's side. Smirking at the thought of what Mrs. Murrey would think if she really knew what was going on in Chelsea's life she made her way around the room again.
Chelsea was having a polite conversation with Harvey Dent and Rachel Dawes when they excused themselves and spoke with Bruce. He had been avoiding Chelsea and she really didn't understand why, perhaps he is friends with a policeman and was told about the accident being mob infighting? Bruce would have a lot of powerful friends so he could easily find this information out. Having thought about it though she didn't complain about him ignoring her as she found she was easily replaced. She could tell this as every time she looked around to see him there was another giggling girl hanging off his muscular arm. Idiot, she thought.
Chelsea grabbed a prawn cocktail and walked through a thick group of people. Suddenly things went quiet, there were a few screams and then a gunshot. As there were so many people between her and the lift she couldn't see anything but looked around madly at the guests around her to gauge their reactions. "Good evening Ladies and Gen-til-men. We are tonight's...entertainment!" Chelsea couldn't see where the noise was coming from, she assumed in front of the lifts. More importantly she couldn't see who was making the noise, looking around the panic on the people's faces was contagious. Their eyes flicked from guest to guest wondering what to do, rooted to the spot. Chelsea's heart thumped and she thought how much more comforted she'd be if she had someone she knew near her. Mr. Murrey had gone and she couldn't see where Bruce was. She hoped if it was the mobs they wouldn't single her out. They would have to know she was more use to them if she could keep her day job? Her hands became sweaty.
She could hear more muffled yelling but things were deadly quiet around the large open room. The person who had yelled out was obviously moving around as his voice was becoming clearer and defiantly closer. A few people shuffled and Chelsea found herself at the edge of a group. A few seconds later she could see who was making all the noise. She gasped. It was the man who had been splashed over all the papers and news reports for the last while. The man everyone feared but secretly wanted to hear more about.
"Does anyone know where Harvey Dent is?" the being under the clown face paint and purple suit said. His voice was sharp, expressive and it commanded authority. Even though he was around fifteen feet away Chelsea could clearly see him in the gap of people who had moved out of the way. Suddenly he snapped around visually sorting through the people around her. He looked at the faces of the guests to her left, obviously scoping for Harvey or anyone producing weapons. He then looked Chelsea straight in the eyes. She froze. A sick smile broke across his face as he slowly took a few steps towards her, arms and hands opened wide. She didn't know what to expect next. He stopped walking; he wasn't particularly close to her but was defiantly close enough for her liking.
Cocking his head to the side he begins in a sing song voice "O Danny boy, the pipes the pipes are calling!" He placed an emphasis on pipes. Her brain wouldn't work, she couldn't process what he was saying. People started to look at her and she looked at them pleadingly with her face reddening, perhaps they could work out what he was doing? O, no. It hit her, she cursed herself for not picking it up faster. She could see the answer staring at her from those enlarged black pits. He knew what happened with Danny because he is in with those people. A cold wave of shock hit her body when she realised he knew who she was. She panicked, how did he know her? Was he at that meeting? He stopped singing and began looking her up and down intently. With his eyebrows raised and gesturing with his arm he commented "nice choice in colour!". He licked his lips taking a step forward.
Before anything else could happen a man from behind the Joker spoke "We are not intimidated by thugs!" the Clown Prince of Crime shot around looking at the man intently, summing him up as he walked "Ya, know. You remind me of my father" he raised the switchblade to the man's face leaning in "I hated my father!" he growled. Chelsea was just happy he was leaving her alone. Suddenly, the girl she had had a very brief conversation before, Harvey Dent's girlfriend Rachel, stepped forward. They started talking, Chelsea was tuning in and out as she looked for an escape route. The Joker was busy telling Rachel a story when Chelsea saw it, the Batman. Suddenly a fight breaks loose and next thing the crowd knows Rachel Dawes is being held out of a smashed window many floors up. "Let her go" Batman said in his gravely voice. The Joker replied in a smirk "Very poor choice of words!" dropping the girl. Batman jumped down after her, 'will she be alright?' Chelsea wondered.
People screamed and started running for the doors before the thugs could start attacking people again. Suddenly Chelsea realised that although she wasn't alone in the room it was slowly emptying out and she was left standing by herself closest to the gang. Walking quickly towards the closest group of people she heard cackled "Not so fast, not so fast". She stopped with her hands hitching up her dress slightly and turned around knowing that voice, it was now etched in her memory. He wore a purple jacket which she could now see was well fitted. It also was a bit dusty but looked to be made of quality material. There was a lilac hexagon patterned shirt, which she could hardly see, with a greenish tie and vest. His brown shoes were scuffed and his dirty blonde hair had green through it. She looked up at his face and saw his cracked make up. White made up most of his face but it was broken up with black circles around his eyes. It was then she saw the scars around his mouth covered in the bright red paint. Or was it lipstick? Being up this close she realised that overall he was quite dirty and his makeup gave him a scary decaying look.
He spoke again "Can you stay for a little chat, hrm?" waving the knife the Joker was standing about ten feet away talking in a reasonable level voice, it was conversational. His manner wasn't conversational though, it was aggressive, the switchblade he carried was readily visible and in the end what he said wasn't really a question, she would be staying for a chat if he wanted it.
*BANG!* All of a sudden there was yelling and the police had exploded into the room. Chelsea dropped to the ground with her hands on her head along with the other guests complying with their instructions. The Joker frowned when he saw them, he was being interupted when he was having so much fun, he started to sweep backwards to the other side of the room barking orders for his cronies to follow him.
He wasn't scared though; he was smirking darkly and taking his time as he got to the other side of the room. He ignored the police's calls to stay where he was, they didn't shoot. His eyes flicked to the window he had dropped Rachel out of, probably checking to see that the Batman hadn't returned, he hadn't. His tongue darted out over his lips "Until we meet again, Ladies and Gen-til-men" and he did some sort of twisted bow. The gang disappeared around the corner of the room and the law enforcers followed. A minute later some came back saying they had lost them. 'How can trained professionals lose him so easily like that?' she pondered.
A few guests came up to her, helping her up and making sure she was ok as they did for anyone who was still on the ground. Things were about to get very complicated.
A/N: Well, what did you think? This will slightly follow TDK, obviously there are some changes (eg. Gordon is already Commissioner, Bruce greeted the guests at the door not from the helicopter). As this goes on I'll see how closely it will fit.