My Dark Knight

Chapter Three- Face To Face With The Joker (Rewritten)

(A/N: another trigger warning for mentions of gore!)

In just two days, The Joker had already thrown Gotham into a state of utter chaos. I heard from my Dad that the Joker card on the Batman imposter contained the DNA of Commissioner Loeb, Judge Surillo, and Harvey! This put me even more on edge. If he had the ability to get to them, who was to say that he couldn't get to me? However, my mind was on other things as Bruce had been taking me out more and more often, and it was now being insinuated that we were dating. I had been back to work that day and gone out to lunch with Bruce again, but unfortunately, we had to leave early as we had been swarmed by the paparazzi, and I began feeling extremely uncomfortable with all the attention. When we were stopped at a red light, he asked:

"Carter, would you like to be my date for Harvey's fundraiser tonight?" I turned to him.

"You want to take your secretary to something with all those important people to impress?" I asked. He smiled.

"No, I want to take my beautiful girlfriend." He said. I blushed, then looked at him.

"Girlfriend?" I asked, curiously. He smiled and nodded.

"I was hoping to do this in there, but seeing as we were so rudely interrupted..." He turned to face me "...Carter? Would you be my girlfriend?" He asked. I was shocked!

"You...you really want to date me? Bruce, I'm nobody special, I'm just your secretary!" I said. He raised an eyebrow, as we began moving again.

"I disagree. Carter, you are kind, caring, beautiful. You are so much more than just my secretary. Since you have started working for me, I have completely fallen in love with you! So, what do you say? Will you be my girlfriend?" He asked. I smiled, blushing bright red.

"Yes!" So, that night, Bruce told me he would come in with two models on his arms to keep up his playboy billionaire image, until later when he would announce that we were dating, and I agreed. I arrived in a nice, sleek, emerald green strapless dress, with a black sash, a pair of black heels, my glasses (I'm blind without them), and had my jet black curls pinned on top of my head. Bruce arrived soon enough, models on each arm. After addressing the crowd, and Harvey, he came over to me. "So, is my date mine now?" I teased. He laughed and nodded.

"Yes, Carter, I'm all yours!" He said. This time, he pulled me out to the center, and announced our new relationship. There was a lot of clapping and people telling us congratulations, and that they wished us well. I couldn't help but to smile and blush, and let Bruce pull me away after. "Now, may I have this dance?" He asked, holding out his hand. I nodded, and we danced to a few songs. Suddenly, he stopped and looked me in the eyes. I knew what that meant. I nodded and he left. A few minutes later, there was a loud noise, and we all turned. The Joker and his men were here!

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. We are tonight's entertainment!" The crowd separated as he and his goons moved through. "I only have one question: where is Harvey Dent?" The Joker asked. The crowd remained silent, as the Joker kept walking forward, grabbing food off a platter and eating it, then knocking back a glass of champagne. He looked at the people as he passed them. "Do you know where Harvey is?" He asked each person as he passed them. I had begun to shake. I thought Wayne Tower was safe! He took ahold of a man's face. "Do you know where Harvey is? I just have to ask him something! No..." He mumbled, shaking the man's head so it looked like he was saying no. He walked over to another man. "You know, I'll settle for his loved ones!" Now, I was getting angry. How dare he?!

"We're not intimidated by thugs!" The man said. The Joker looked at him for a minute.

"You know...you remind me of my father." He started, then grabbed ahold of the man's face. "I HATED my father!" He growled. That's it! I can't take this anymore! I stepped out in the middle of the crowd.

"Hey, knock it off!" I said, stepping forward. He turned to me, and a jolt of fear ran through me. What did I just get myself into? He walked towards me.

"Well hello, beautiful! You must be Wayne's squeeze! And you are beautiful!" He said. He came up to me, and circled around me, causing me to flinch away from him. Once he was back in front of me, knife in hand, he spoke again. "You look nervous! Is it the scars? You wanna know how I got 'em?" He slowly moved towards my face. "Come here." He began to grab my face, and I tried to move away, but he had a tight hold on me. "Hey! Look at me!" He muttered, and held my face close to his, the knife right against my cheek. "So I had a wife, and she was beautiful! Like you! Who tells me, I worry too much, who tells me, I oughta 'smile' more! Who gambles and gets in deep with the sharks." I tried to jerk away, but he held me tight. "Hey! One day, they carve her face, we have no money for surgeries. She can't take it! And I just wanna see her smile again. Hm? I just want her to know that I don't care about the scars! So, I stick a razor in my mouth, and do this..." He motioned to the scars on the corners of his mouth that went up in the shape of a smile. "...To myself. And you know what? She can't stand the sight of me! She leaves. Now, I see the funny side. Now I'm always smiling!" He finished. I didn't believe it for a minute! I then punched him in the gut, and he only laughed!

"Screw off!!" I snarled. I certainly sounded braver than I felt!

 "A little fight in you! I like that!" The Joker began walking towards me again, a look in his eye that I didn't like. Then, in a low, gravelly, voice, I heard:

"Then you're gonna love me!" And I ducked. I backed away a little ways while they fought, until the Joker grabbed me, and held me out a broken window! I looked at Bruce, eyes wide with fear. "Put the gun down!" He said.

"Sure, just take off your little mask, and show us all who you really are!" Joker said.

"Let. Her. Go!" He stated.

"Very poor choice of words!" The Joker said. He then looked at me, the insane smile still on his face. "I'll be see you soon, Miss Gordon!" He said, before letting go of me. I was now free falling from the very top of Wayne Tower! I screamed and closed my eyes. I then felt two strong arms wrap around me. We landed hard on the hood of a cab, Bruce taking most of the impact.

"Are you alright?" Bruce asked. I looked over to him, and I could feel the hysterical sobs in my chest that threatened to wrack my body, however I tried really hard to put on a brave face.

"Let's...let's not do that again...please..." I said, but my voice cracked on the last word, and tears spilled from my eyes before I could stop them. Bruce gently pulled me into a hug and held me while I cried. "I'm sorry, Carter, I'm so sorry." He whispered, picking me up and carrying me back into Wayne Tower.