Disclaimer: As much as i wished i owned the Joker & Btman, i dont

Chapter 1: Different

A/N: ANother revised chapter. Love it or hate it, its here.

(Beta-read by Incarnate009)

I looked up and around, and found that I was taken with the city around me. This was my first time being in Gotham in years, and I was surprised at how much the city had grown. I stepped out into the bright sunlight, allowing its rays to warm me. It had been a long, cold ride on the bus, but the heated rays now overpowered the cold that had all but numbed me.

Once I felt the shower of sun over me, I made my way to the doors of the building with my bags in hand. I stepped through the revolving doors, and again found myself amazed with the astounding décor. The ceilings were high with decorative images etched into them. The floors were made of marble that was so clean you could easily see your reflection. But what I found truly breathtaking, was the waterfall against the far wall.

It was built with what looked like stones, and it reached a decent height along the wall. The water fell into a beautiful little pond that was alive with many small fish. The colors of the dazzling little fish made the display stand out even more than I had thought at first glance.

Glancing around, I realized that I probably looked rather stupid standing in the middle of the lobby staring like a total idiot, so I made my way over to the check-in desk. I was greeted kindly by a middle-aged man with brown hair, and big rimmed glassed that hid his eyes.

"Hello, Miss. How may I be of service to you today?" he asked with a thick French accent.

I couldn't help but smile at the accent that clearly didn't fit his appearance. "Yes. I'm Annabelle Mathews. I believe I have a room reserved," I said softly.

From the look on his face, I could tell that he knew exactly what I meant.

Oh, great. Here comes the special treatment…

"Ah, Miss Mathews! We have been expecting you. Mr. Wayne chose a beautiful room for you, and I am confident that you will enjoy it. Here you are," he said as gave me the key. "It's room 2204 on the second to last floor. I hope you have a nice day, Miss."

With that said, I took the key and quickly found the elevator, for I didn't want to be forced to speak with anyone who decided that they wanted to help little old me, one of Bruce Wayne's oldest friends. I truly hated how people treated someone differently because of the people they knew. It was such a shallow way to act. And quite frankly I definitely wasn't used to it.

As I got into the elevator, I let out a sigh of relief, glad that there was no one else inside. It gave me more time to think without being bothered by anyone who decided it would be nice to strike up a pointless conversation. As high as my floor was, the elevator made it up in record time. I got off the elevator and walked to my room, which was conveniently at the end of the hall.

When I made it to the door, I pulled out the key card and slid it through the lock on the door. With a beep the door unlocked, and I entered my temporary home. I closed the door and dropped my bags in the entrance, glad to finally be able to give my aching arms a much-needed break.

I suddenly decided that a brief tour of my room was called for, but I was unable to proceed, for I felt a hand on my shoulder. At that very moment, my reflexes kicked in. I grabbed the hand, and, with all my strength, managed to pull the body over my shoulder and onto the floor.

It was then that I realized that the man was Bruce, and I couldn't help but laugh. He laughed with me before standing up and straightening out his shirt.

"Well, that wasn't the welcoming I was expecting," he said with a chuckle.

I laughed again and apologized. "I'm sorry about that. You just caught me off guard. Besides, I doubt that that actually hurt, especially with you being… well, you."

A smirk crossed his features before he placed a finger to his mouth. "It's our little secret," he murmured.

He didn't even have to explain what this "secret" was. I'd known for quite some time that Bruce Wayne was Batman. It had been a few years since he had told me over the phone, and at that time, I'd had the feeling that he was recovering from the affects of beer party.

At that time, he had also said that I was one of the few people who knew Batman's identity. From what I understood, there were only a few people, aside from myself, that knew Bruce's secret: his butler, Alfred Pennyworth; his friend and employee, Lucius Fox; and his childhood friend, Rachel Dawes. We were the only people who knew the dark secret that the "Playboy Prince of Gotham" hid from the rest of the world.

"So, how do you like Gotham so far?" he asked.

I thought about it a minute then said, "Well, it's not what I remember, but I think I'm going to like it here. It's, uh… definitely a change of scenery."

I couldn't help but grin as I thought about the "good old times." My "usual scenery" consisted of nightclubs and alleyways. I never really had a nice home, per se, but I loved the nightlife. Clubs, parties, anywhere I could go to have some fun. "Fun" being defined as the major ass kicking I could dish out to all the sly guys who thought they could have a little "fun" of their own with me.

I was pulled back to the present when I heard a loud ringing. It was Bruce's phone.

"Alfred? What's going on?" There was a suffocating silence, before Bruce started talking again. "Right now? Okay. I'm watching it as we speak."

He walked into the living room and quickly turned on the news. Right there, on the screen, was a face I recognized far too well. It was Gotham's most infamous mass-murderer, the Joker.

But… wasn't he supposed to be locked away in Arkham?

The image on the screen was clearly part of a poorly made videotape, since the screen crackled as the lunatic spoke. "Good morning, citizens of Gotham. It's been quite some time since we last saw each other, but now… I believe it's time for us to take care of our… unfinished business."

Judging from his tone of voice, I knew something screwy was about to happen.

"You… tried locking me away in that god-forsaken place, which wasn't… Very… Nice. But… with all we've been through… I'm not gonna hold it against you." He let out a cackle of laughter, and continued on with that signature smile on his face. "I'm just glad that we can finally get back to our little… Game." He smacked his lips together laughed and the screen went blank, with that manic laughter of his, drowning out the static from the tape.

I looked to Bruce, who was frozen in place. A look of hatred and rage been sketched into his face

Moving to stand next to him, I took his hand, trying to calm him down. "Bruce? Hello? Come on, say something!" I pleaded, trying to get him back to normal.

Or at least semi-normal.

Finally, after a few moments of silence, he began to move toward the door. As he neared his target, he grabbed my bags, and carried them into a room off of the kitchen area. When he came back, he just stood there looking like a man faced with the most difficult dilemma of his life.

"I'm… going to go back to my place. It's right upstairs if you need anything. If I'm not there, then Alfred will be, so please… don't hesitate to drop by…" With that said, Bruce strode to the door, opened it, and stepped out into the hallway.

He hesitated for a moment, and said, "There's a dress in your closet for tonight. I'm holding a party, and I wanted you to come."

I walked over to him, pulled him into a hug, and whispered, "I wouldn't miss it for the world" before dropping my arms to wave to him as he left.

As I closed the door behind him, I let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding. I walked into my room to see this dress Bruce had spoken of, and gasped.

It must have been the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. The outfit was black, strapless, and very close fitting. It appeared to be long enough to reach my knees. For a brief second, I felt a little wary. I knew that I wasn't a big fan of dresses, for I much preferred wearing some nice skinny jeans or leather pants and a nice shirt when I went partying. But, as much as I hated dresses, I knew it would make Bruce happy if I wore it.

After all, I had come back to Gotham for a bit of change, hadn't I?

Holding the dress close to me, I sat on my bed, and allowed myself to stare blankly at the ceiling.

A party with the elite of Gotham, I thought. This is going to be interesting.

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