"C'mon lady! I don't have all night!"

Kat grumbled to herself as she leaned over from the back of the taxi to reach into the pocket on the side of her green cargo pants. She undid the button and reached in for her small wad of cash while in front the bald cabdriver sighed impatiently as his eyes fell to a short man up ahead, waiting on the curb for a taxi. With another annoyed, audible sigh he looked back to Kat in the mirror, his dark and bushy eyebrows raised.

"Keep the change," she mumbled sourly to him as she practically threw him the money before she shoved the door open. She quickly got out, and once she grabbed her dark blue suitcase from the floor of the car and closed the door the cab driver quickly sped down the road just a little bit to pick up the short man. "Asshole," Kat mumbled to herself as she hoisted up her heavy suitcase. All day she had done nothing but deal with grumpy people, and she was getting real sick of it, real fast. She took a deep breath in through her nose as she closed her eyes, trying to calm herself down. She should be happy, if anything, right now. She knew this, but the weight of the anger from her bad day was just to heavy for her to realize that she had finally made it to Gotham city. After nearly a year of wanting to, months of planning and working two jobs to raise enough money for her journey, and finally making that step out the door to drive to the airport, she was here.

She turned around around now from the curb, and she looked up at the big, black building in front of her in wonder. She continued to slowly glance around, taking in the massive, bustling city. Cars flew by, one after the other, on the street next to her, couples and loners walked past her without so much as a glance. Even under the night sky and new moon, the city was still bright, leaving Kat to wonder vaguely what time it was. Suitcase still in hand, she reached into her pocket to draw out her tiny phone. Nine forty three, she read, and she slumped her shoulders as she rolled her eyes. Had everything gone to plan today, she would have already met up with her friend, Paige Williams, and would be at her apartment right now, sitting comfortably on the couch with a cup of tea, perhaps. But due to plane delays, rude people, and taxi drivers who didn't seem to know where they were going in their own city, Kat was forced to make a quick change of plans.

She glanced around, wondering if there were any hotels within walking distance of her. She rolled her eyes as she started to walk down the street, noticing that the same taxi she had rode in was still parked at the curb, and she pulled out her phone to begin scrolling through her contact list. She selected Paige's name and held the phone to her ear. "Yeah, it's me. No, I just got here... plane got delayed fucking twice," Kat spat into the phone, ignoring the glare a woman passing her on the wide sidewalk shot her. "Whatever, look I'm at the corner of..." she trailed off as she strained her eyes to make out the names of the streets on the traffic lights just up ahead. "Main and... Crow... are there any hotels close to here?" She listened as her friend thought, and after a short moment she finally came to answer. "The Night Inn? Sounds superrrr," Kat said flatly as she picked up her pace to head across the street. "No, it's fine, I'll be fine. Okay I'll see you tomorrow." Kat hung up her phone and placed it in her pocket before she pushed the button for the crosswalk, glancing over at the taxi before the light turned, and she started across.

The walk to The Night Inn was short luckily, for Kat was desperate to place her suitcase down and sleep off her sour mood. With the motel just up ahead, Kat tried hard to ignore its rundown appearance. Kat knew, as it always was, one always started off at the bottom when new to things, so she quickly pressed herself on across another small street and she marched up to the front doors of the motel.

The lobby was small, but seemed clean, and was completely barren except for the lady that sat behind the main desk. She looked at the time before she glanced up at Kat, and she forced a smile. "How may I help you?" She tilted her head as she looked at Kat, waiting.

"I need a room for tonight," Kat said. "I can pay now."

"Okay," the receptionist said as she brought up her forum on the computer. "Name?"

"Kat Megans," she answered in a low, tired voice as she leaned against the desk. She watched as the lady typed in her name, among a few other things.

"Your total comes to fifty-four dollars and sixty nine cents," the lady said. Kat reached into her pocket again, only to find she had one, crinkled ten dollar bill in it. She laid this on the counter before she bent down to rummage through her suitcase to find the small bag that contained the rest of her large sum of money. She counted out the bills and placed them on the counter as well, the lady glaring at her as she unfolded all the bills to place them in the register. She handed Kat her change back without a word, and she stood from her chair to retrieve her key. "You're room eleven," she said. "Have a wonderful night," she added in a false, polite and happy tone. Kat ignored her, grabbed her key, and started towards the only hallway inside the building.

After a short walk, she found room eleven, and she slid her room key into the lock. She pushed the door open, accidentally slamming it behind her, and finally she let the suitcase flop down nosily on the floor in front of the bathroom. She flipped on the light and stepped further into the room, taking in the wanna-be nice and expensive look of the room. It seemed everything was black or a color close to it, as everything in the city appeared to be. But Kat was too tired to be choosy, and she yawned as she drew the curtains in the room shut. She headed towards the abandoned suitcase and dragged it into the middle of the room in front of the bed, and she snapped it open, rummaging around to find her pajamas.

Once she had changed into her plaid pajama pants and a gray tank top, she stood in front of her mirror, rinsing off her tooth brush before she placed it back into her toiletry bag. She ran her fingers through her long and wavy, dirty blond hair before she slammed off the light, and she made her way towards the squeaky bed, hoping she'd be asleep with in minutes, despite all the noise from the city just outside her window.

–

The faint wind blew past from behind Joker as he stepped into the lobby of the old hotel. He shook his head quickly, his way of unsticking his greasy hair from his head before he finally opened his eyes to take a look at his new home. His gang of royal thugs, which consisted of two, fat brothers named Rocco and Henshaw, a much smaller man Joker liked to call Bacardi, and a tall, skinny man who went by the name of Bozo, all watched as they stayed by the door as Joker slowly spun around, taking in the dingy, old room.

"So this is it," Joker said once he had come full circle, and he stared at his most trusted men, the rest of his gang standing behind the old receptionist counter. "This the new Joker abode I trusted you four to pick."

"Ya see boss, we spent a good month lookin' around, and this is the only place off the cops radar, and we-"

"Calm down, Rocco," Joker said with a grin. "I never said I didn't like it, did I?" He turned back around, glancing at the dirty floor, stained ceiling and ripped furniture. It wasn't exactly the place he would have picked, but he knew to expect this when he trusted his henchman with the job. But regardless, at this point Joker didn't care where he was staying, as long as it had hot water and a comfortable bed, which is the only thing his body longed for at the moment. "I want room sixty-nine," he said now said now. "Rocco, ol' boy, why don't you tell me where that is."

"Up the stairs and to the right. It's about ten doors down," he replied. Joker nodded, and headed over to the desk, wanting nothing but to take off Arkham's orange jumpsuit. He reached out his hand and waggled his fingers, waiting for someone to hand him both room keys. Once in his possession, he started towards the stairs without another word in search for his private room.

Unlocking the door, the first thing he noticed was the gray, peeling wallpaper and askew, dark red curtains. Both of the beds, however, were made and neat, and in front of them sat a large TV set. He locked the door behind him before he tossed the keys on the bathroom counter, and he snapped on the light to the sink area. He placed both his hands on the counter as he leaned over it, looking at himself in the mirror. His ridiculously greasy hair had faded into its natural dark blond color with a faint green hue lingering on the tips. His face was one-hundred percent bare of any face paint, and he stared at his deep, jagged scars for a moment before he finally unzipped his jumpsuit to strip it off. He went into the bathroom, quickly starting the shower, not bothering to let it warm up before he stepped into it.

A good hour and a half later, Joker emerged from his room, forced to wear the jump suit again, though this time he only put the pants on, leaving the top half unzipped, the portion bouncing behind him as he walked to the stairs. His hair dripped water onto his bare face and exposed chest, and he cracked his knuckles as he reached the lobby, where he found everyone lounging around on the old furniture.

"Alright," Joker spoke up loudly as he clapped his hands together, grabbing everyone's attention as their heads whipped over to him, the talking immediately dying down. "First order of business, where are all of my uh... possessions?"

"They're in the back boss," Rocco spoke up as he sat up on the couch a little. "I can go get go them."

"Get to it," Joker said simply. Rocco motioned to somebody behind the counter with a scowl, leaving Joker to roll his eyes. "Okay next is supplies..." he trailed off as he took another step further into the room. "Bacardi, if you could be ever so kind as to put down your drink, I need you to run to the store. It's safe to assume you what is considered living supplies, yes?"

"Yes, boss," Bacardi said as he took one final sip from his beer before he placed it onto the ground.

"Let's hope so," Joker growled. Escaping Arkham always left Joker feeling somewhat brain dead and tired, and naturally he always had to deal with starting over. All he needed, however, were his clothes, knives and guns and other objects, and for Bacardi to pick up a few toiletry items for their short stay at the hotel. Joker's plan was to look into getting a better place himself, for he knew he'd be able to do it right, and not only this but he was certain he'd need something to occupy his mind while he took a hiatus from chaos. But for the time being, all he wanted to do was get his belongings and go to bed.

"Man, you shoulda' seen the bitch I picked up today."

Joker's attention turned towards the counter as one of the men behind it placed Joker's many giant bags onto it. Joker stepped up, deciding to join the conversation as he started for the bags.

"And what made her a bitch, Leroy?" Joker asked passively as he grabbed the last bag, an eyebrow cocked as he stared at his 'under-cover' cab driver.

"Just her shitty and bad attitude," Leroy answered with a small laugh. "Bitch gave me a twenty dollar tip though!"

Joker rolled his eyes, but he couldn't help but be slightly interested. His plan that came with escaping Arkham, again, was to simply lay low for a while, though he knew boredom would be a huge issue with this. Perhaps he could simply use a toy, something he could play around with until his next big hit on the city, what ever and when ever that was.

"What did she look like?" Joker spoke up, taking Leroy and the other two men by surprise.

"Uh, she had long, dark blond hair... hot, even with wearing no make-up..." he trailed off, now starting to not remember exactly himself. Joker's interest had been captured, however. A pretty girl with a terrible attitude... she sounded fun.

"What was her name?" Joker asked.

"Kat," Leroy answered. "Don't know about a last name. It looked like she was headed to the hotel on Crow on First."

Kat, Joker thought in his mind. With a satisfied nod he turned around, all three big bags in hand, and he started back towards his room, happy to have found something to keep his boredom levels low. All that was left to do was find this Kat girl, where ever she was in the city, before she got too comfortable...

–

Kat found herself wide awake around nine the next morning. The dark curtains of her room blocked out the bright Gotham sunlight perfectly, with no light escaping past the edges of the curtain. She rose from the bed, wondering to herself if Paige would even be awake at this hour. She grabbed her cell phone off the bed, deciding to call her away. She waited on the line until the phone went to her voice mail, and with a huff she tossed her phone behind her on the bed before she headed into the bathroom for a shower.

After her quick, no longer than ten minute soak in the water, Kat went about quickly packing the few things she had gotten out before she reached for her phone, satisfied to see she had a voice mail from Paige, who in it told her to head over to her apartment any time she wanted. Kat placed her cell phone in her pocket, headed out of her room, and after she gave back her room key and explained to the same receptionist that she paid the night before, she stepped outside just as a taxi had pulled to the curb in front of the hotel. She walked over to it, thinking that maybe today her luck in this new city would be better.

She watched as a large, fat man stepped out of the car, and he turned around to immediately look down at her, almost as if he had been expecting to see her. "You need a cab?" He asked with a heavy, New York accent. Kat looked up at him, her eyes squinting in the sunlight as her eyebrows met in the middle.

"Yeah..." she said slowly, thrown off by the awkward moment. "Thanks..." she added as the man held the door open for her. She placed her suitcase on the floor before she got in the cab herself, the fat man slamming her door shut for her. Kat sighed as she made herself comfortable in the car while the driver in front was left to smirk at her through the mirror.

"Small world, isn't it?"

Kat looked up, and she let out an annoyed huff as she slumped her shoulders, annoyed to find she was with the same taxi driver as the night before. You've got to be kidding me, she thought. She didn't reply to his stupid question, and instead she looked out the window, watching as the fat man slowly made his way towards the motel while he took out his cell phone. "Pleasant Side Apartments," she said rudely, informing the man of where she had to go. Leroy smiled, shaking his head to himself as he pulled away from the curb.

On the sidewalk in front of the hotel, Henshaw had just dialed Joker's number, and he placed it to his ear as he turned to watch Leroy drive off. After three rings, Joker picked up, breathing his greeting into the phone on the other end. "Yeah boss? It's me. He just got her."

In the car, Kat made a point to stare out the window while Leroy spent most of his time looking into the mirror back at Kat. She could see this from the corner of her eye, and after so long of trying to ignore it she rolled her eyes to the roof of the car. "Why don't you take a picture?" She asked sourly. "It'll last longer."

"You got a camera?" Leroy asked with a grin as he looked back into the mirror at her. Kat scrunched her face in disgust, ignoring his perverted remark. Leroy chuckled to himself as he looked back to the road. "So what's at Pleasant Side?" Kat ignored him, keeping her arms crossed in front of her chest as she stared at the all buildings go by. Leroy waited patiently for an answer, but after a minute of silence he figured Kat was not going to answer him. "Not a big talker, huh?"

Kat rolled her eyes again, hoping and praying that they were almost there. Luckily, after a right turn at a stop light and down a few blocks, the large sign that read 'Pleasant Side Apartments' fell into view, and Kat could barely contain herself in the car. "Looks like we're here," Leroy said. Kat quickly reached into her pocket to hand him the money she owed before she opened up the door. "Be careful around here," Leroy suddenly spoke up, causing Kat to stop for a moment and look back at him. "Gotham city can be a pretty dangerous place. Especially for a pretty young lady such as yourself."

Kat raised her eyebrows at this before a snort of laughter escaped past her lips, and she shook her head as she proceeded out of the car, quickly grabbing her suitcase. Leroy grinned at his own advice, knowing that only he knew what he was talking about. I'll be seeing you real soon, sweetie, he thought to himself, and he stepped on the gas, the cab speeding down the street.

It wasn't hard for Kat to spot her friend lounging at a table by the pool on the side of the building, even at a distance She walked through the parking lot to the pool area and after opening the gate she made her way towards Paige, who was clad in a dark blue blue sun dress and matching sun hat, with big, over-sized sun glasses. She turned her head, finally noticing her friend approaching, and she stood up quickly to pull Kat into a hug.

"Kat! How are you?" She squealed excitedly, her blond hair bouncing as she smiled, shaking her head.

"Okay," Kat answered honestly as she sat down next to her at the small round table. "What about you?"

"I've been better, to be honest," Paige answered, her smile fading as she smoothed out her dress. "How was the trip over?"

"Shitty," Kat answered as she leaned back lazily, her back slumped. "My plane got delayed, twice, so I had to wait four fucking hours. I didn't get here until like, nine at night. Then I had the worst taxi driver in the world, and then he was my ride here again this morning!"

"That's odd," Paige said. "I mean, the chances of that happening are so slim. There are so many taxi drivers around it's kinda crazy. Anyway, I'm sorry about your plane, dear. Did you call your parents yet?"

Kat rolled her eyes as she turned her attention to the kids in the pool, but they only seemed to annoy her further and she turned back to Paige, knowing this question would come up sooner or later. "No," she answered passively, her low voice and tone clearly screaming that she didn't want to talk about it. Paige frowned, and she took off her glasses to stare at Kat, her bright blue eyes wide with concern.

"Kat, you need to call them! Do they even know where you went?" Paige asked, and her frown deepened when Kat slowly looked up at her with only her eyes, her face emotionless. "Oh my God, please tell me you told them where you were going!"

"No," Kat answered again. "Ugh Paige! It's better this way! Believe me," Kat argued as she leaned up from her slouched position. "They're the main reason I left, Paige. Look, hear this. My closet was completely bare a few days before I left, right? And you know how my mom would always go in there to borrow clothes? Well she said nothing about the empty closet or suitcase on the bed, and instead she was concerned about what I was going to wear to her 'small get-together." Kat's mouth fell open as she waited for Paige to react to this, to agree with Kat over how completely insane that was. But when Paige continued to just stare at her, Kat rolled her eyes and leaned back. "Whatever," she mumbled. "Look I'm not calling them because I don't want to talk to them. I don't even want to think about them. Anyway, you said the rent was pretty cheap here?"

"Yeah," Paige answered, sounding somewhat nervous as she leaned back in her chair. "Kat... about that..."

"What?" Kat asked as she leaned up a little, bracing herself for what sounded to be bad news. She waited as Paige nervously looked down, debating with herself on how to bring up what she was about to tell her.

"I'm um... moving back to Florida... back to my parents house-"

"You're what?" Kat's jaw hung slack as she stared at her friend in disbelief. "Paige, don't fucking joke with me, please-"

"I'm not Kat," she said back slowly as she folded her hands onto her lap. Kat's eyes widened and she shook her head as she leaned back, only to quickly sit forward again.

"Why are you telling me this now, Paige? I just got here! We were supposed to-"

"I know, Kat, I know. I'm really sorry, it's just... I can't... stay here." She glanced up to her friend, who was glaring at her, her plump lips thinned, her light blond eyebrows raised as she waited for an explanation to her ridiculously bad news. "Remember that guy I was telling you about? The Joker?"

Kat smiled slightly at this as another snort of laughter escaped from her mouth. She shook her head before she turned back to Paige, still smiling as she tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. "You've got to me kidding me, Paige. That guy?" Kat shook her head again, wondering how anybody could fear a guy who called himself the Joker. To her it was the most ridiculous thing on Earth.

"You don't understand, Kat," Paige said quickly. "He's dangerous, he's just... the worst most heartless guy. He's pure evil."

"Is he the Devil?" Kat asked as she widened her eyes, pulling her head back before she slumped back over with a grin. Paige frowned, wishing Kat would take this seriously.

"Yes!" Paige answered loudly. "Kat I almost died because of him. He blew up four of Gotham's main bridges – I told you about this – and I was ridiculously close to them!"

Kat rolled her eyes as she sat back again, her hair falling back into her face. Paige frowned heavily at her friend while Kat looked back up at her. "Paige, you can't just leave. I just got here. I have nothing, you're all I know here!"

"Oh, and now the infamous loner Kat suddenly needs someone?" Paige snapped back She sighed a short second later. "You're not listening to me. Now that he's out of Arkham the city isn't safe, like at all! That incident really shook me up, Kat. I can't stay here. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, I didn't know how to bring it up..."

"Yeah, maybe you should work on that," Kat said as she stood abruptly from her chair. Paige watched sadly as Kat picked up her suitcase.

"Kat, wait!"

Kat ignored her, however, and she trudged back towards the front of the apartment complex, looking for the office so she could talk to somebody about renting a room. Paige watched her stubborn friend go, knowing there was nothing she could do or say to sooth her friend's anger or make her understand. All she could do was hope that Kat would be safe and never come as close to death as she had...

A.N: Yaaay for this story coming back in a much better formaaaat! i PROMISE to you new people reading this it gets better suuuper quickly, so proceed on. Please please please review, and if you've read the original of this story let me know and tell me how it compares! (better, hopefully!) Hope you enjoyed it, the 2nd chapter is already in the works!