Batman was the enemy. Joker had escaped from Arkham. Gotham City had, once again, been thrown into chaos with no sign of hope to look for. Commissioner Jim Gordon often found himself wondering if now might be a good time to retire to Florida. Or maybe he'd request a transfer to California; his sister said high taxes were the only thing you really had to worry about out there. No Jokers, or Batmen, or psychotic psychiatrists. Gordon sat at his desk, feeling out of place in city hall, starring out the window as the sun set over the city. What will you do tonight? Blow up more buildings, kill more innocents, or just keep us waiting in fear? The sound of his office door opening behind him drew him out of his melancholy.

"Nice digs. Not quite as cozy as Major Cases, but hey, what can ya do? Right, Popsicle?" A young woman stood leaning against the doorframe, a black duffle bag at her feet. She was short, only five feet five inches, and wore tattered black jeans, a tight black shirt that had the word 'riot' written across it in dripping red letters, and a black leather jacket.

"Chloe!" Jim rushed over and pulled the girl into a hug. "When did you get in? I thought you weren't coming back till next month. And what the hell did you do to your hair?"

Chloe held up a lock of her deep purple hair. "Aw come on Dad, I'm twenty-four. Legally I can do whatever I want to my body, hair included. Just be happy I didn't get the piercing. And I told you last month I'd be in next month."

"I don't want to hear anything about any piercings. And last month was a very busy and stressful time for all of Gotham."

"Yeah, I know." Chloe walked over to the desk where some security camera stills of the Joker lay. She picked them up and looked at them. "You had to deal with the explosion loving clown boy. Funny I thought he'd be scarier."

"Those don't do him justice. You've got to meet him to grasp his insanity. So you've got place to stay?"

"Well I've got a place in the works but I was wondering if I could crash at your place till everything's finalized."

"Of course you can Chloe." Jim grabbed his coat and ushered them out of the office and out of the building. "But let's try to get home before it gets too dark. With that man back on the loose no one should be out after dark."

"Not even the ass kicking daughter of a cop?"

"Not when that dad happens to be the police commissioner." They headed to the parking garage and saw a fast looking street bike parked next to his car. "Please tell me that's not yours."

"Sorry pops, she's my baby." Chloe said tucking her hair into the collar of her jacket and zipping it up. "You still living at the old place?"

Jim nodded and Chloe smiled before slipping on her helmet, getting on her bike and heading out of the garage. Jim just shook his head, smiling softly, before getting in his own car and following her out. They were halfway home and in a meaner part of Gotham when he finally caught up to her. She noticed him and sped up more; buy the time he'd caught up to her again, she was waiting in his driveway with a smirk on her face. "What are you trying to do? Get yourself killed?"

"Jeeze Dad. I was just messing around; I'm really good on that bike. You don't have to worry."

"I'm always going to worry. I'm your dad."

"Dad-" She was cut off from a scream inside the house. They both rushed inside and searched the house to find Barbra in Jimmy's room trying to calm the young boy down. Chloe rushed to the bed and took the young boy from the older woman's arms. She stroked his hair and whispered 'It's okay' to the now crying child. He looked up at her with red eyes.

"Chloe?"

"Hey little Jay."

"Will you sing your song for me?"

"Sure baby." Jimmy leaned his head against her shoulder and snuggled into Chloe.

"Come little children I'll take thee away,

Into a land of enchantment.

Come little children, the time's come to play,

Here in my garden of magic."

She hummed a bit of the slow melody as Jimmy's eyes fluttered closed and he slipped back into sleep. Chloe tucked him in before leaving the room, Jim and Barbra in tow. The congregated in the kitchen sitting around the table in an almost uncomfortable silence. "I can't believe that still works on him."

"I think that song and your voice is his earliest memory, Chloe." Barbra said tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "He needs that comfort right now; it's good you've come back."

"How bad is he?"

"Well," Jim leaned forward on his elbows. "The doctors say he's traumatized, they both are but Jimmy-"

"Jimmy was the one that bastard held a gun to." Chloe spat venomously.

"Right. They say because of the trauma he sometimes reverts into a younger state, a safer state. Normally he's fine though; he's just regular old Jimmy. But when he has a nightmare or hears a noise like a gunshot, he's like that."

"Chloe," Chloe looked at the older woman, at the closest thing to a real mother she ever had. "I know it's hard enough for you to be back here in Gotham and I know seeing Jimmy like that makes it worse. But he needs you right now, I hear him calling out for you in his sleep; he's always run to you for comfort in the past. Please don't take off out of nowhere again."

"I'm not going anywhere Momma-B, not this time. I'm not running away anymore. It's been sixteen years and I'm so tired of running." She looked at her dad sheepishly. "That place I told you about, the one I might get. It's her old place. Our old place."

"You can't be serious! What are you trying to do, drive yourself insane?"

"Dad, I need to get over what happened. Being there will help. And even at that I might not even get the place anyway, there's a possibility those buildings are getting torn down soon."

"Chloe, listen to me," Jim pleaded, "It's not just the apartment, it's the whole area. It's unsafe, and now that that sick freak Joker is back it's even more dangerous for you. The moment he finds out who you are you'll be a target. We've already got people watching the house and the kids at school, I don't know if I can get somebody to watch you if your living in that neighborhood. I don't want any more of the people I love hurt."

"Alright fine, I'll call the guy tomorrow and tell him I'm not interested. But what am I supposed to do? Where am I supposed to live? The only reason I was even seriously considering that place was because it was cheap, Gotham is an expensive city."

"You'll stay here until you have enough money for your own place." Barbra interjected in an 'end of story' voice. "And I'm sure Jim can ask around at work tomorrow if anyone needs or wants a purple haired secretary."

"Jeeze what is it with you people and the hair." The older two just shook their heads before leaving the kitchen; Chloe knew where the guest room was. "And I'm not dying it a normal color just so you know. I'm thinking maybe blue the next time it fades!"

Jim found himself thoroughly buried under paperwork all the next day. By three he was starving, having skipped breakfast that morning due to sleeping in, he called home and Barbra said she'd send Chloe down to the deli for something for him; so when he heard a knock on his door, he simply assumed it was her and shouted for the person to come in.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything Commissioner Gordon?" Jim was shocked to find Bruce Wayne, richest man in Gotham, standing in his door way.

"Mr. Wayne! No, not at all, in fact you're rescuing me from paperwork. Please have a seat." Jim gestured to the chair in front of his desk. "What can I do for you?"

"Well actually-"

"Dad you need a better receptionist. That girl's a total stuck up bitch!" Chloe stormed in without even knocking. She made it two feet into the room when she noticed Bruce and blushed. "I'm sorry Dad I didn't know you were busy. I can wait outside."

"No, stay. I won't be long." Bruce said waving her over. Chloe went to stand by her dad, holding the deli bag behind her back. "Commissioner, I was under the impression your daughter was about eight or so."

"You're thinking of my youngest Mr. Wayne. This is Chloe; she's from my first marriage."

"Well Chloe," Bruce stood up and shook her hand, "it's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Bruce Wayne."

"I've read about you in magazines. And my dad told me about that accident with your Lamborghini. Maybe you should start watching the news more."

"You'll have to excuse my daughter Mr. Wayne; she tends to speak her mind."

"I don't mind at all, I find a free spirit very attractive. And call me Bruce."

"Well Bruce," Jim's voice was a little gruff, just because she was grown didn't mean he wanted to watch men flirt with his daughter, "what is it I can do for you?"

"Well actually it's something I want to do for you. I'm holding a charity ball this Saturday to support the victims of the Joker's attacks and their families, and I would love it if you, your wife and Chloe would come."

"We'd be honored." Jim said a little flabbergasted. After all, it's not every day you're invited to a party with some of the richest people in Gotham.

"Well I look forward to see you all there. Have a nice day." With that Bruce left and Chloe plunked the bag of sandwiches down on the desk in front of her dad.

"Screw getting a job as a secretary. I'll just marry him."

"Not funny Clo."

"I was just kidding. He's not my type anyway."

"Good." They ate in silence for a bit. "Although if you were to marry him I wouldn't have to worry about money for my retirement."

"Ha ha, very funny. I'm going to have to get a nice dress now aren't I?"

"Probably dye your hair too."

"I'll do the dress, but normalcy stays far away from my hair!" the two laughed, enjoying having the other back after so very long.

The week passed quickly. Jim found he did need a new receptionist and promptly replaced her with Chloe since he was the only one who didn't care about what she wore or what color her hair was that week. Chloe found that it was expected to wake up at least once a night to comfort Jimmy. Barbra began to notice a dark look in her stepdaughter's eyes after the small boy had fallen back asleep, and warned Jim; both of them remembering the kind of temper Chloe had. But Saturday soon came and Jimmy and Sarah were spending the night at their friends' houses while the three of them had some well deserved fun.

"I feel out of place."

"Well you do have hair that matches your dress." Barbra teased knowing it wasn't the real reason. She thought Chloe looked absolutely beautiful in her knee length lavender dress that did match the now-lighter hair that was pulled into a bun and decorated with jeweled combs. The jewels were sapphire that matched Chloe's eyes.

"Hardy har-har-har. You never get tired of teasing me do you?"

"It's my job. I'm just surprised you haven't fallen in those heels."

"I'm just surprised you haven't dragged Dad onto the dance floor." Chloe gave Barbra a little shove with her hips. Barbra loved to dance, but Jim wasn't so gifted. The two giggled and teased, watching the other couples dance around the dance floor. Bruce had rented the ball room in a historic building Chloe knew nothing about, but the place was beautiful. Like something out of a fairy tale. Jim was off talking with the mayor about the new DA, some little pushover who more than paled in comparison to the 'great' Harvey Dent. In the middle of a playful argument about the remake of some movie, Barbra nudged Chloe and pointed over her shoulder.

"Look who coming over!" Chloe turned to see Bruce smiling and walking towards her.

"Chloe, I was hoping to see you here."

"Well how could I turn down an invitation to a party like this?"

"And here I thought you came to see me."

"Maybe." Chloe felt a slight poking in her back and held back a small giggle. "Bruce this is my stepmom Barbra. Barbra this is Bruce Wayne."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Wayne."

"No," Bruce took her out stretched hand and kissed it. "The pleasure is mine. Do you mind if I borrow Chloe for a dance Mrs. Gordon?"

"Oh not at all. The girl needs to have some more fun and I need to find my husband. You two have fun." Barbra rushed off to drag Jim away from the Mayor for a few attempts at a dance while Bruce led Chloe to the dance floor. The music was classical to match the atmosphere so most were doing some form of a waltz or something of the like.

"So tell me Chloe, why is it, I haven't met you before?"

"I've been living in California for the past six years. I just got back on Monday."

"You grew up in Gotham though."

"Yeah. But I needed to get away for a bit and somewhere along the lines a bit turned into six years."

"So where's your mother?"

"She's dead." Chloe's voice was just above a whisper. "I don't like talking about her."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't worry, you didn't know."

"How long are you in Gotham for?"

"To stay hopefully. I plan on trying to start a life here."

"So I can look forward to seeing you for a while then?"

"You must hold a lot of parties, because I don't think you and I live in the same social circle."

"Maybe I'll just find reasons to be in city hall more often."

"The press will begin to notice." Chloe laughed. "I can see it now 'Billionaire's secret tryst with rainbow haired receptionist.' They'll think you've lost your mind."

"I'm not afraid to break the mould, so I why shouldn't I like a woman who's not the same?"

Chloe opened her mouth to answer but screams cut her off. People were rushing away from the door and to the far side of the ball room. Bruce stepped in front of Chloe as the crowd parted to reveal the Joker surrounded by his usual masked goons. Joker's smile widened when he saw Bruce and headed over.

"Bruce Wayne." He stopped a few feet in front of them, acting like he was meeting an old friend. "Bruce, Bruce, Bruce, do you know how much it hurt me when I found out you were holding another shin dig and didn't invite me. I mean we had so much fun the last time."

"What do you want Joker?"

"I just want to have some fun." Joker held his hands up defensively.

"I know what your kind of fun is. What do you want Joker?"

"Well if you're going to be rude, a little birdie told me Commissioner Gordon would be here." Chloe's eyes widened slightly at the mention of her father. "And considering that back in the good old days he was always the one to go through to find Batman, I thought we'd have a little chat. If not," Joker shrugged, "well a little torture of the innocent has always known to bring the bat out to play."

Chloe saw her dad step out from the crowd behind Joker. "I haven't been in contact with Batman since he killed Dent and all those people, so you can just leave us be."

His words just made Joker break out into an insane bout of laughter. "You think Batman KILLED people! You pathetic SHEEP," Joker grabbed the nearest random person from the crowd. "I guess we'll just have to do this the fun way." He put a knife to the man's mouth.

"Leave him alone you sadistic bastard!" All eyes were on Chloe, after all, who'd be crazy enough to challenge Joker after what happened to Rachel. Joker just laughed, shoving the man back into the crowd and walk towards Chloe.

"You see Brucie, this is why I LOVE coming to your parties. You always seem to invite the spiciest women." He grabbed her, pulling her close and holding the knife to her face.

"Damn it Joker you let her go!" Jim shouted.

"I'm fine dad." Chloe said trying to think of a way to get out of Joker's grasp. Joker looked at Chloe and then Jim.

"Dad? Well now, my night just keeps getting more and more fun. And don't lie to him, you're not fine."

"Please Joker, just let her go. Just leave us alone." Bruce pleaded.

"Oh fine, Batboy's probably not going to show anyway." He sounded truly disappointed. "But before I go, I want one dance with Miss. Gordon here."

"Fine!" Chloe said before anyone could interject. "It's one dance, it couldn't hurt." Joker smirked waving one of his henchmen over and whispering something in the masked man's ear. 

The man ran off to the band and told them to play, they started up a tango but when no one started dancing one of the henchmen shot his gun into the air and soon everyone was on the dance floor. No one, however, came near Chloe and Joker. The pair started their dance and Chloe was shocked the painted man even knew the dance, let alone was so graceful.

"So tell me beautiful, you got a name?"

"Chloe. What about you? Do you have an actually name?"

"Joker will do just fine for now. Maybe when we get more," He pulled her tightly against him and rolled his hips against hers, "acquainted I'll give you something else to call me."

"Keep dreaming. Actually I take that back. I do not want you dreaming about me."

"Aw come on Chloe. We look good together, we match and everything." Chloe groaned realizing they did in fact match in some way.

"Knew I should have gone with all black."

Joker shook his head. "I don't like all black, a little's okay, but all black makes me think of the bat."

"All the more reason for a color change."

"Are you trying to make me angry?" Something sharp pressed into her side and Chloe realized there was a knife in the hand wrapped around her waist. Joker's voice was a deadly growl. "Don't think I won't kill you."

"I should kill you for what you did to my family. To my brother."

Joker threw his head back and laughed, causing the crowd to look at them again. "You think I did that?" His voice was low, but quick and excited. "Harvey Dent did that. Or if you want to believe what they do, Batman did that. I'm innocent there."

"We both know you pushed Dent to the breaking point. You tipped him over the edge. You killed Rachel Dawes."

"And what a shame that was. She was such a sweet and feisty little thing. Not quite as feisty as you though. She cringed when I came near her; I think it was the scars, but you. You didn't seem to care or notice."

"Compared to the things I've seen, you're nothing but a guy in a purple suit with clown makeup. You don't scare me."

"That can be changed." Joker spun her away from him and when he did, she quickly pulled the combs out of her hair and threw them with expertise at him. They weren't combs, but knives! They split into six separate small knives. Two missed, one slashed his palm, one buried in his thigh, one just grazed his side, and the last pinned one of his pant legs to the floor. The music stopped and the people around them stopped dancing. The Joker seemed unfazed by the blade in his thigh and just laughed. "You could have killed me! But you people and your rules. You can't do anything but hurt me, and I love the pain!"

"Enjoy this fucker!" Chloe punched him in the jaw. Instantly three henchmen with guns were on her. She began to fight them off, when one was shot dead. She turned to find Joker holding the gun.

"None of you touch her! I want this one alive."

"Yeah well he wants you dead!" Chloe shouted pointing behind her. Joker turned and was punched in the face again by Batman. People really began freaking out and started running for any exit they could find. In the confusion, Joker and most of his henchmen got away and by the time the police got inside, so had Batman. Chloe was checked over y paramedics, berated by her parents for attacking Joker, and questioned by detectives. She finally got a moment to herself when Jim had to go talk to his detectives.

"Hey."

Chloe jumped and looked up to find Bruce holding out a cup of coffee. "What happened to you?"

"Got shoved out by the crowd and then hounded by the cops. You okay?"

"I've been worse."

"So Joker's got a thing for you apparently. You worried?"

"More about my family than myself. Tell me Bruce," She looked at him with a wild light in her eyes. "Are your parties always this crazy?"

"Only lately."