Harvey was an intelligent man when it came to the criminal dealings of Gotham City. He knew generally who dealt with who. He knew where one territory ended and another began. He knew what criminals did and did not do. There was a criminal rule book that everyone followed... even the Joker. What was the one golden rule? Never cause trouble by your hide-out. You mess up and the cops gain entrance into your lair with oodles of evidence against you. So where ever there was a lack of Joker, that is where he would find him.

The Narrows had been unusually quiet. There was a random attack here or there by the painted maniac, but compared to other places, it was quiet. It would make sense that Joker would chose that place to fester. It was riddled with crime to cover him up; it was perfect for recruiting, and he could keep the mob feeling uneasy. If he could just keep an eye out there, he might be able to find the Joker. He was one to appreciate the guidance of a teacher and who better to instruct him in the ways of chaos than the man who had first opened his eyes. Oh, and he needed to make other arrangements with him. The Joker couldn't hide for long. He would find him.

XXXXXXXXX

'I... am so bored!' Rachel thought as she lay sprawled on the lumpy couch. Since the Joker had put his foot through the television a few days ago, she had had to find creative ways of keeping herself entertained, but nothing was striking her fancy now. Solitaire was only good for a few rounds, card houses were never her thing, no one around here liked checkers, and every room had been searched with the exception of a few that she knew were strictly his. He would not like her going into his study, and she would gladly appreciate her friend's privacy. There were things that he did that she did not want to be a part of and things that he wished to keep secret from her.

"Rachel, have you seen my trench coat?" Joker asked, walking into the living room with an irritated and harassed look about him. She reluctantly untangled herself from the long purple garment and tossed it to him.

"Here you go Ace," she informed him moments before it smacked him in the face. He sighed and shook his head, though a smile now graced his lips.

"I told you not to call me that," he protested. In truth, he generally liked her little nickname, she was sure of it. Ever sense that night he had come back injured, things had really changed between them. She was very comfortable around him and definitely saw him as a human, not a monster. As for him, well he seemed more natural around her and had reduced the daily number of threats to her person from 15 to 7. It was a pleasant change and she was actually able to really enjoy life nowadays. "You may only call me Joker, The Joker, Your Lord and Master, or Mr. J," he instructed playfully. His ego shown through with his recommendations.

"Mr. J? That's a new one... hmmm... perhaps with a little southern drawl... Oh Mistah J, don't you just look simply charmin' today?" she tried it out. A giggle escaped her lips at the ridiculousness of it. "Sorry, doesn't work for me. You'll have to stick with Ace, my lord and master," she teased him.

"Well, don't steal my clothes at least," he bit back, unable to argue with her. He was finally discovering that she had a stubborn streak.

"It's not my fault! It's cold today," she complained.

"Not my problem. Well, I have to run. Try not to harass my employees," he assured her with a quick pat of her head like she was dog.

"Uh, you're so irritating," she called out. No one patted her head!

"I love you too Beautiful," he yelled back with a sharp laugh. 'Men, who needs them?' She curled back up and tried to fight off the boredom and the coldness.

XXXXXXXXX

Rachel Dawes. What an interesting creature. Really, if he had known all it took for her to warm-up to him was to let her fix him up, he would have run himself over with a truck ages ago! Again, it went to show how fickle most humans were. 'Oh, it changed you too,'a little voice snuck up on him. He balked and shook his head like a dog trying to remove water from its ears. That was so not true. So she was not terrible company and she was useful to have around when Batman felt like using him as a punching bag. That did not mean he was softening up to her. 'Of course not Ace,' the voice taunted him. Why did his inner voice suddenly sound like a sleazy woman sitting at a bar, her black dress hitched up way too far with a dirty martini and three olives? Why did he need to put that much thought into the "image" of his inner voice? Why was blue called blue? So he let her call him Ace. And so he did not mind it too much. He simply found it funny considering he didn't have the looks of an Ace as he had already told her. There was nothing going on with him.

He continued to make his way down the alleys of the Narrows on this drizzly Friday afternoon. It was unusually still here today, but normal people did not like the overcast rainy scene and that included the mobsters that roamed this area. While light rain was doing terrible things for his mask, no one was around to notice. Well, hopefully not no one was here. He was looking for one person in particular and he hoped they would be smart enough to locate his general vicinity. See, the reason he had not told Rachel what he was doing, as he normally did to her chagrin, was because he did not like lying and he could not let her know yet what he had done.

Harvey "Two-Face" was on the loose. He had to admit, he had not expected him out of Arkham so soon, but as former D.A. he probably knew all the tricks of the establishment. Oh, his new little pet would be so much fun to guide and play with. He knew he had made such a good choice with Dent. Hehehe. Now, where was his new toy?

"Don't move Joker." Aw, there he was. The Joker, never very good with instructions, turned slowly to find a not so new and slightly more improved Two Face glaring at him with a revolver pointed straight at his heart. He had to admit, he did not expect to see him looking this well. The gaping holes in the side of his face were missing, though there was definitely heavy scarring and the skin on his left side was a nasty red. His visage fit his name. Also, he had somehow acquired new threads. No scrubs for Two-Face then.

"You didn't saw 'draw.' That's not very fair," Joker scolded Two-Face, pulling his bang gun out of his pocket and pointing it back at his pet.

"I don't want to shoot you. Drop the gun, and let's talk," Two-Face instructed slowly like... like he was talking to a crazy person. That wasn't very nice.

"And I don't appreciate your tone. Let's fix that." He pulled the trigger and a loud bang filled the air causing Harvey to flinch, something they would need to work on. Upon realizing that he was not shot, Harvey opened one eye and saw the little flag.

"I should have know," he mumbled. The Joker gave him an innocent smile, re-aimed at the revolver, and pulled the trigger again, sending the flag at the gun, and knocking it from Harvey's grip. Too stunned to speak, the Joker took this opprotunity to take control of the conversation.

"Now that no one is in danger of being shot, let's get to that talking," he instructed his young ward, throwing an arm around Two-Face and walking back down the alley, stopping only to retrieve his flag. "So, first day out and you're already in Arkham... though everyone thought you were dead. Thankfully, I have a source on the inside and he let me know not to worry about you. Did not expect you to break out this soon either. I will admit, I am impressed. Let's try not to get into the habit of being arrested though. No doubt they've changed your clearance codes and whatnot realizing you're a lost cause and everything," he rambled on. "Don't worry, I'm willing to teach you a few tricks of the trade to keeping out of the slammer." Harvey snapped back into his Two-Face mode (there was a difference apparently) and gave him a business-y look.

"You really are going to help me?" he asked in minor disbelief. Really, he was surprised how few people actually trusted him.

"Of course I will Har-Har-Harvey. Eh, that doesn't really work for you, so forget I ever said that. But yeah, you have been wronged by the world, particularly at my hand, and I need to make it up to you. And, as someone who understands the cruelity of the world, I have to help you. I swear to you, Harvey Two-Face, I shall help you in whatever endeavors you decide to tackle... unless that involves my demise by someone who is not the Batman," he corrected himself. With these lawyer types you had to be careful to cover loop-holes.

"Well, alright then, cool. Uhm, there were a few other things I needed to discuss with you. First, I want you to leave the Police Force, especially Gordon, and Batman to me. You can have any-"

"No, not Batman, sorry kiddo, but he's mine. See, he's kind of like my reason to live... my motivation to educate the world. You can have most anyone else, take Gordon for all I care, but I get the Batman," he firmly corrected him with a quick swipe of his lips. The wheels in Two-Face's brain were whirling, but eventually he caved.

"Alright then, you can have him. Second, I want immunity of all your pranks."

"Of course."

"And... for the time being, and this is more a request than a demand," Harvey assured him, "I would like to... stay with you until I can get settled." Well, that was unexpected.

"No can do."

"What? Why?" he half yelled. Obviously, he couldn't let Harvey just hang around with Rachel there. That would be terrible. Sure, he would find out eventually that his little angel was still alive, but he wasn't ready for that yet.

"Security reasons. Can't have too many people coming and going, especially with your high profile... profile. It would be too obvious if Harvey Dent (sorry Harvey Two-Face) kept showing up at this one place when I have a tendency to stay away from there. However, don't worry. Half these buildings are abandoned. Just pick a place, and no one will ask questions. You're safe here now. So, are we good?" he asked his red-ish friend. Two-Face eyed his cautiously.

"Yeah... we're good." The Joker clapped him sharply on the back and let go of him.

"Excellent! Now, I have a lovely little guest waiting for me, and I would hate to leave her to die of boredom. So excuse me, and I'll see you around," he dismissed himself before running down the alley, coat trailing out behind him.

XXXXXXXXX

He usually tried to preserve the good name of lawyers and be honest and all that jazz, but tonight, he didn't feel like keeping his word. While he would not intrude, it would be a good idea to know where the Joker spent his down time. So taking off at a slightly slower run, he followed him down the alley.

A/N: So, this more normal of an update pattern? This wasn't exactly what I was planning. Decided that I needed two more chapters before that happened. But still, events have been set in motion. In two chapters, the real fun begins. Hehehe.