The cool autumn wind blew, making Ellie Turner shiver as she clenched her jacket shut. Placing her hands in her pockets, she walked quickly down the sidewalk, with a backpack strapped tightly to her back. It was around one o'clock in the morning, and Ellie walked on trying to find a motel to stay at for the night. She wasn't in the best part of town, so she instinctively reached one hand into her jacket, lightly touching the gun in her inside pocket as if to reassure herself that it was still there. Removing her hand from her jacket, she placed it back into her jeans pocket and continued on walking.

The streets had an eerie silence to them which was usually not common for this area in Gotham. Paranoia started to set in as Ellie made her way down the seemingly abandoned street. She checked behind her every few minutes, as well as constantly feeling for her gun, making sure it was truly there.

Finally, Ellie reached a motel. It looked run-down and neglected, graffiti painted all along the sides of the building. Sighing, Ellie pushed open the door, looking behind her one last time, but seeing nothing out of the ordinary.

Once inside, she went over to the counter where a scruffy looking man sat, drinking a beer and watching god-knows-what on a mini black and white t.v. Ellie had to clear her throat to get the man's attention away from the t.v. screen. Once she did so, he looked up at her, a wide grin quickly spread over his face as he looked her over.

The man was in his mid-40's, balding, and had grease stains all over his once white wife beater that barely covered his beer belly. Someone that could be considered not very appealing to the eye.

"I need a room. Single bed; two days." She said simply, in a quiet, somewhat cold tone.

Looking her over once more, the man spoke. He had a sort of gravelly sounding voice, "Alright, but it's goin' to run ya about eighty bucks." Ellie raised her eyebrows and looked around the place. To put it nicely: it was a dump. Plain and simple. The rooms couldn't be much better and definitely wasn't worth forty dollars a night. Ellie let out a small, annoyed sigh. She needed a place to stay so she wasn't going to complain. Chances were, if she did complain, the man would just jack up the price even more.

On the counter, Ellie placed down exactly 180. The man looked at it, then at her. Before he could even ask, Ellie answered his unspoken question, "the extra hundred is to help you forget ever seeing my face." The man nodded, understanding what she meant and then he took the money from the counter. In exchange, he gave her a key. That was one advantage of being in this part of town; slip someone some extra cash and they'll forget your face in a heartbeat.

After inserting the key into the lock of her hotel room and having to jiggle the knob a few times, Ellie managed to get the door open. Once inside, Ellie took in her surroundings. The room was medium size, and contained a bed, a beat up dresser, a ragged couch and a small glass coffee table…must be what this hotel considers its 'suite.' Ellie thought as she laughed a bit to herself and continued looking around. The wallpaper, a pukish yellow color, was peeling off the walls and the window drapes were moth eaten. The carpet looked like it dated back to the 1970's and the bed…well let's just say you probably wouldn't want to run a black light over it.

'Well at least it has a bathroom.' Ellie thought to herself, sighing as she fully walked into the room, closing and locking the door behind her. 'At least I won't be here long.' Ellie never spent more than two days in the same place. It was too risky. For the past year or so she had been 

running; running from both sides of the law. But the police didn't scare her as bad as did the man that wanted her the most. A year ago, Ellie had made the biggest mistake of her life; a mistake that she hoped wouldn't catch up with her. So that's why she ran. From motel to motel every two nights, surviving on what was left of the money that wasn't even rightfully hers in the first place.

Taking her backpack off, Ellie tossed in onto the bed and unzipped it. The contents of the bag consisted of: a change of clothes, a set of pajamas, some extra bullets, a pocket knife, and a wad of cash that was slowly diminishing by the day. These were the only possessions she owned. When you were constantly on the move, you couldn't bring much with you. She alternated between her two outfits every couple of days, stopping at local laundry mats every so often to wash of them. Ok, life on the move wasn't exactly glamorous, but it was necessary to survive.

Ellie pulled out her sleepwear: a tank top and a pair of pajama pants. Then she grabbed the gun out of her jacket pocket and placed it on the coffee table. Yawning, Ellie went into the bathroom, which turned out to not be in much greater condition than the bedroom either. 'Well, what do you expect from a two star hotel…' Ellie was slightly surprised however that clean water actually came out of the tub faucet as she turned it on, drawing herself a bath.

The steam from the hot bath threatened her with sleep, but Ellie managed to suppress the urge…at least for the first few minutes…

"We're going to rob two banks at the same time. I'll get you a couple guys and you and them will clean out one back while I handle the other."

……………………………………………………

'Just take it and go. Leave this life behind…with that kind of money you can do anything.' Ellie's conscience screamed at her.

The decision to listen to that little voice changed her life that day. A change that was not for the better….

Ellie woke, still in the bathtub. Rubbing her eyes, and yawning once more, Ellie drained the water and got out. She changed into her pajamas, leaving her dirty clothes on the bathroom floor for now.

Drying her hair off with the motel's 'courtesy' towel, Ellie left the bathroom. But what she saw made the towel drop from her hands and her whole body froze instantly. In her room was the man. The man that she had been afraid of encountering for the past year. He was sitting casually on the tattered couch, his feet propped up on the coffee table. He had her gun in his hands and was eyeing it with a mischievous grin on his face.

He then turned his head slightly, taking his attention off the gun and directed his stare towards frozen Ellie. Seeing the look of horror on her face made the man laugh. A cold, chill-full cackle that made Ellie tremble.

A moment later, the laughing stopped a she looked her dead in the eye. "Ah, El. You're a hard woman to get a hold of. But now that I'm here, I think we have some business to discuss. Wouldn't you agree?" His own comment brought out another fit of laughter from him. He wiped the tears from his eyes, smearing the black and white make-up that plastered his face. But what frightened Ellie the most was his smile. His lips painted in blood red which reached up to the 

sides of his mouth. Under the red make-up were scars. Scars that forced this man to have an ever-lasting smile, no matter what his mood may be. The man with the smile that haunted Ellie's dreams. Some called him a 'murderer'. Some, 'the devil himself'. But for the majority, he was known as one thing: 'The Joker.' But his jokes were no laughing matter; at least for everyone besides the Joker who found them hilarious. And tonight, Ellie knew,

The joke was going to be on her.