AN: Yay! Another chapter is up!! And I promise, it's about to get interesting so enjoy and I'll update again as soon as I can. Oh, and as always, please take the time to review when you get done reading, thanks! :)

I was running as fast as I possibly could through the streets of Gotham. It had to be really late because there was no one around and it was nearly pitch black aside from the occasional street lights along the sidewalk. I was trying not to trip and kill myself but I had to keep looking over my shoulder to know if he was following me. Except that I knew that he was…and he had a knife…he was ready to kill me…and I was literally running for my life. The gap between us kept closing rather than growing, and I felt myself slowing down as if I just couldn't run anymore. I tried to urge myself forward, but it was almost like I was running backwards. It didn't take long for him to catch me. He grabbed my hair and pulled me to the ground; except, that I never hit the ground. He pulled me into him and we both landed on the ground and he wrapped his arms around me so tight I could barely breath, holding the knife only inches from my face. I froze, my brain screamed at me to struggle, but I just held my breath knowing that the end of my life was here, now, right before my eyes...and there was no way in hell I would let him get the satisfaction of knowing that I was scared to death. I closed my eyes, waiting to die.

But no pain came…nothing to signify that my life had ended. So I slowly opened my eyes and realized that the scenery had changed. I was in a hotel room, one of those giant ones for like people on their honeymoons. I noticed the bright lights of Las Vegas shining bright as day outside. I frantically looked around but didn't see anyone here with me. I looked down at my hand and noticed a ring on my left hand, on the ring finger. I knew that wasn't a good sign. I heard keys at the door, so I ran into the bathroom and locked the door. I heard him come in, "Honey I'm home!" he said with a laugh. Then there was a knock on the bathroom door, "You in there? Everything ok?" I half jumped when he spoke to me, but I managed to reply "Yeah, everything is fine, be out in a second." That's when I looked in the mirror and did a double take. I walked closer and peered in the mirror, studying my face…I had scars…it looked like I was smiling. My face looked like The Joker. I backed away from the mirror and fumbled to get out of the bathroom quickly as possible. I flung the door open and The Joker was standing on the other side, looking at me with pure lust in his eyes. I screamed when I saw him, glancing at his left hand and seeing a ring. I screamed knowing he was my new husband and that my face looked just like his…

I woke with a start, sitting up fast as I could to look around my darkened bedroom in a cold sweat. It was just a dream, nothing more than a dream, you're not married to The Joker, I thought to myself. Unconsciously, I reached my hands up to my face, touching my cheeks to be sure there were no scars. When I was satisfied that my face felt completely normal, I sighed a deep breath of relief. It had been just a stupid dream that I had. I looked at my clock, 4:02 a.m., and groaned as I rolled over to go back to sleep. I was safe, no need to believe The Joker was anywhere nearby to harm me; I really had nothing to worry about until 8:30 p.m. if I was to worry at all.

The day seemed to pass at lighting speed, which didn't make me very happy. School went by so fast my entire day was more or less a blur, and once I was home before I knew it, it was nearly 8:00 and I needed to get changed and head to the park. I went to my closet and pulled out the purple dress he had given me. I pulled it out and sighed as I changed into it. I then went to the bathroom and fixed my hair. It wasn't until I was trying to find shoes that I realized I didn't have any to match. I hunted through my closet until I found a pair of silver sandals that I felt was suitable. Then I went to the living room to tell my dad that I was leaving. He told me to have a good time, and I faked a smile. I exited the house and walked to the park with a sense of doom looming over my head.

When I got to the park, it was completely deserted and I didn't see The Joker anywhere. If he stood me up, I swear I'll kill him, I thought. But then he appeared out of the shadows, walking towards me, "I'm so glad you decided to join me!" As he came closer, he said licking his lips, "And you look delectable in that dress."

I didn't say anything. I just stared him down as he circled me, taking in every angle of me in that dress. Finally, once he had circled me like half a dozen times, I spoke, "So what's the plan for tonight?"

"Aah, straight to the point. Not a lot of foreplay for you, I like that," he said with a half maniac smile.

"Well, you clearly brought me here for a reason. And I highly doubt it's just for a nice stroll in the park under the stars like normal people."

He laughed, "Who says I can't be normal?"

I scoffed, "You're kidding right? Look at you…how is anything about you normal?"

He looked back at me slightly confused, but then he said, "To know normal you have to know abnormal. Besides, sweets, it's really a matter of opinion what 'normal' is. Hell, for all you know I am the normal one and you're the one who is nuts!"

I just stared at him. There was no way he could seriously believe that he was normal. He was insane, and he knew it. I knew he knew it. Apparently, the look on my face suggested that I was confused because he burst into a fit of laughter. I just stood there waiting for him to regain control. When he did, I asked again, "So why am I here?"

"Well, clearly you came here because you wanted to see me," he said, grinning.

"Let me rephrase the question then. What do you want me to do?" I said, getting perturbed.

"Now, now, why must you always rush into the action? Come here, take a little walk with me first," he said, holding his hand out for me to take it. I reluctantly did, and he pulled me close, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. When we reached the edge of the trees that marked the beginning of a small patch of forest, we stopped. He stepped away from me and said, "I have a little test for you in there, my sweet. Need to know if you are a suitable partner for me." He grinned and continued, "You'll have to battle your way through against some of my henchmen, see if you can get out alive. Of course, if you need help I'm sure you can figure out what to scream for me to come to your rescue."

I stared at him in disbelief, "So you want me to fight through the woods, potentially kill your own henchmen just so you can decide if I'm worthy of being your girlfriend?!"

He licked his lips and laughed his maniac laugh, "Something like that. Ought to be quite entertaining, you know. Start whenever you're ready, darling." He then nudged me forward toward the woods as he took a few more steps away from me so he could observe like some scientist in a lab watching the mouse go through the maze to get the cheese.

I took a deep breath and plunged into the fast darkening woods. I couldn't believe I was actually going to go through with this just as The Joker wanted. I figured it was better than last time; at least this one didn't seem to involve me blowing anything up. As I walked away from him and felt the trees close around me, I could hear his laughter. Psycho, I thought.

--

From across the deserted park, hidden in the shadows, watched Batman. He took in the entire spectacle unfolding before his very eyes. His assumptions had been confirmed, The Joker clearly cared a lot about this girl…more than anyone else, and it was strongly leaning toward love. Batman was still uncertain about Melanie's feelings though it appeared that she was at least interested. He continued to watch, undetected, as Melanie entered the woods to complete The Joker's test. Batman thought about intervening, but elected against it figure he could learn more about this unique relationship if he stayed back and watched…and that was exactly what he was doing.