"Hi I'm Natalia! welcome to Romano's. can I start you guys off with a drink?"

"Oh baby you could start me off and then finish me" one of the men replied. All three of them snickered. Natalia just scowled.

"Babe, I'll have a Budweiser and what do u recommend is good to eat?" the other man asked as he eyed her chest the whole time.

Trying her best to ignore him and smile she said "well, the provolone cheeseburger platter is pretty good" she suggested.

"I'll take that" the man replied and winked at her. She did another one of her fake smiles. "and did you boys make up your mind?" she looked at the other two men. They both laughed and one said "you know toots, we'll all have the same. Make it easy on ya." they all laughed again. "Ok, be back with your beers" she smiled. As she walked away, their eyes were glued to her ass and legs.

'pigs' she thought as she was walking to the bar to get their drinks. Many men hitted on her on a daily basis so she was used to it. She was what any girl dreamed to look like, yet she still didn't think she was all that pretty. She was all Italian. 5'3, long dark brunette hair that went so well with her perfect olive skin, dark brown eyes that she really brought out by wearing dark shadow and liner, and manicured nails. She weighed 105 lbs. Another thing she was gifted with was her boobs. She really does hate them at times because there are so many cute shirts she cant wear cause of them. But she realizes that girls get them done bigger because they wish they had them. The only reason that she is working here at Romano's restaurant and bar is because she needs the money. And the guys who eat/drink here tip big. So, all she had to do was put up with perverts. 20-year-old Natalia Russo decided that college wasn't for her. She wanted to become an actress, so she starred in Broadway productions at Gotham City Music Hall to build her some sort of resume. And, she worked here at Romano's.

"Wat's the matter u look kinda pissed" Antonio teased. He was one of the bartenders. "Ha. Yea, just some guys again" she said.

"I figured. U always look that way when u slam down beers, ur little nose scrunches up and ur small little hands ball into fists…"

"oh shut up Tony" she laughed as she was walking away.

"Anything else you need?" she asked as she was placing the beers down in front of the guys. She noticed where all of their eyes were. "my eyes are up here you know" she teased. One of the guys smirked at that.

"well babe, you should be flattered u have a nice rack. A verrry nice rack."

'don't punch him. Don't punch him. You want nice tips' she kept telling herself.

"well..err..thank you" she replied

"you got a boyfriend?" one of the other men asked.

"yes" she smiled. She really didn't

"lucky guy"

"I know he is. Your food will be up in a few." and she walked away after she smiled.

"damn she is hot." the same guy said. The other two nodded.

As natalia was walking back to the bar she caught a glimpse of the TV. It stood out because moments ago a hockey game was on now it's a breaking story. She listened.

We have for you breaking news of the recent capture of the Joker. We just received word that moments ago he broke out of prison. This is the second time to which he has done so. The Joker has just been captured earlier this evening while hanging from the top of an unfinished building complex. He was to be transferred to Arkham early tomorrow. We will keep you updated on the latest.

She was shocked, but also not surprised. Natalia had read a lot about the Joker and she knew he was capable of anything. He was extremely dangerous, and it frightened her to know that Gotham PD couldn't even contain him. After that news brief she noticed everyone in the bar looked uncomfortable. She heard conversations striking up about the Joker and the recent events as she brought herself back to reality when she heard Antonio call her name.

"Nat. Platters are done."

"ok. Thanks." she was in a daze as she went to retrieve them and brought them to the table. She didn't even realize that she was putting the plates down or anything until..

"Yoo hoo. Toots I'm talkin to ya"

"oh, I'm so sorry please forgive me. I'm just a bit shaken up from th-"

"don't worry bout it babe. Ya got ketchup?"

"sure. Anything else?"

"naw were good." he said

After she brought the men the ketchup the rest of the night just went by. It wasn't even busy to begin with, which was unusual since the bar was right around the edge of where the good part of Gotham ended. Mostly Italians lived here and this was the popular place for them all to meet eat and drink. It was almost midnight and the manager decided to close early since it was quite. Natalia was counting her tips and smiled as she remembered that those three guys gave her an 80 dollar tip. Each. 240 dollars from three guys. And all she had to do was act all nice and smile. 'guys' she thought as she put her money in her purse and saw a piece of paper that was there. She smiled as she looked at it and zipped her purse. The paper was her reminder of her first audition that she was going to go to for a major film. They were filming in Gotham and wanted an unknown for the lead role. She thought this was it. Her big break.

"Nat?"

"yeah?"

"you wanna ride? I mean with the joker guy on the loose again and all-"

"Tony I'm fine. I live in walking distance remember? My apartment is 5 blocks away"

"Yeah, well I'd feel better knowing that you got home ok. How bout I walk ya?"

"thank you Antonio but I'm fine. Honestly. I can handle myself" she smiled.

"Yea little Natalia knows her jujitsu. Don't mess with her, all of her 100 pounds will kill ya"

"oh shut up Tony. I'll see ya tomorrow night. Night Sonny" she called out to the manager in the far corner. He waved bye. "be careful" Sonny called after.

"Yea I've been tryin to tell her that" Antonio said to him as she went out the door.

As natalia was walking she kept frantically looking all around her. She always kept aware of her surroundings, especially since she worked late late hours. She always kept her cell phone in one hand with 911 pushed in ready to dial if need be. She didn't know why but she just felt that someone was watching her. Her phone than rang. "Antonio" she said to herself and smiled. "hello?"

"hey u get home ok?"

"I've only walked two blocks. Do you think I can fly?"

"Funny. I was just checking if your ok."

"well thank you but I am."

"ok then."

"ok"

"fine"

"yep"

"well, ah.. I'll see you tomorrow. Bye"

"By-"

He hung up. 'rude' she thought and than smiled to herself. You know when guys make it obvious that they like you and they love to annoy you? Same thing with Antonio. Natalia is not going to lie…she flirts back. She finds him very attractive. Tall dark hair and sexy. But she just never would mix work with outside life. It may seem silly but that's just how she was. And it sucked cuz they both obviously like each other, but what if it didn't work out? Theyd still have to work together. Se finds flirting with him harmless and that will just have to do for now. She didn't have time for a boyfriend or dating. All she could think about was her big audition.

'What the hell?' she thought as she was interrupted with her thoughts with what seemed to be the sound of some people arguing. She wanted to know what was going on so she followed where the sound was coming from. She walked around the corner to the back of an alley and saw four men. Two of them where holding one man who seemed to look frightened. The last man she saw had on what seemed to be a long coat and was standing in front of the frightened man toying with a pocket knife. She couldn't really see what any of them looked like because of how dark it was.

"Boss, I-I said I didn't do it" said the frightened man.

"Well, uh Joey. That's just funny. Because that is not what my sources are telling me" said the man in front of the guy whose name appeared to be Joey.

Right away when she heard that voice, she knew she should run. But she couldn't. It was like her feet had froze. "the Joker" she whispered and put her trembling hand over her mouth. She continued to listen.

"B-boss I-I didn't"

"I don't like liars Joey. Not. One. Bit." the Joker said as he put his knife to Joey's neck and drew some blood.

"OK OK PLEASE STOP" Joey screamed.

"What was that?" asked the Joker.

"I did it I'm sorry! I didn't mean to I didn't know that he was a cop! I didn't know!" Joey cried.

"Aw. He says he didn't know. That is a shame Joey. I got caught unplanned because you didn't know. You're lucky I escaped"

"I-I am Boss?" Joey replied nervously.

"Uh yes you are Joey. Lucky so I can do thiis" the Joker pulled out a gun and shout Joey in the head.

"Take care of that" the Joker said to the two men holding Joey's dead body.

Natalia was horror-struck. She didn't know what to do. She just saw the Joker shoot one of his men. She was slowly backing up, when she stepped on a broken beer bottle. 'Shit' she said to herself as she saw the Joker's head look in her direction. His head was tilted as he tried to figure out where the noise was. Without thinking she turned and started to run, which was difficult because she was terribly shaking and it didn't help that she had heels on. She didn't care about anything at that moment she just wanted to get out of there. The Joker heard her heels clicking while she ran and darted in her direction. He was too fast. She didn't even hear him come up behind her and grab her arm. She froze as she felt his strong grip holding her back.

"Well, well, well. What do we have uh here" the Joker said as he grabbed her other arm to turn her around. Her head was down and she was biting her lip. She was completely scared. She knew she was going to die, but she just couldn't bring herself to cry. She just waited, hoping that he would make it fast.

"Look at me" the Joker said. She looked up at him right away, her eyes completely blank.

"Good girl. I'm impressed. Usually when I say that I have to uh repeat myself. But no, no, no…you're well-trained aren't you."

"I-I-"

"Shh shh shh" he said as he placed his gloved finger over her trembling lips. She noticed that he still had the knife in his other hand.

"You are beautiful. What is your name?"

"Natalia" she said softly.

"Pretty name. Pretty, pretty. And oh. Look's like you're a waitress. Romano's" he said as he traced the name on the corner of her little white t-shirt that was her uniform. Her eyes were watching his gloved finger as he did this. Her body shivered and she looked back up at him only to meet his eyes.

"You uh like that?" he asked with a little smirk. She blushed. Of course she didn't like that she told herself. Her life was now in the hands of a cold blooded murderer. She shifted a little to try to get the feel off him off her when the Joker noticed something in her hand that he apparently had missed.

"And what is that?" he asked nodding to her hand holding her cell phone.

"Um..it's my-my cell phone."

"Why are you holding your cell phone?" he asked as he took it from her hand. She didn't even care. If he wanted it he could have it she thought. He looked at the screen and saw the numbers 911 punched in. Before she could even register what had happened he slammed her against the wall behind her, pressing all of his weight on her. His knife was now to her neck. She could feel the cold blade pressing sharply in her skin. She looked into his dark eyes and saw anger. Pure, irrepressible anger. 'This is it' she thought.

"Pretty little Natalia just couldn't mind her own business" the Joker said, his voice a little deeper with anger.

"So I'm guessing you saw what happened to Joey. Yep. Welluh it didn't end so nicely. Trying to be a good little citizen hmm? You spot the big bad me and right away you just have to report it. Even though I have never done nothing to you" the Joker was barely inches apart from her face. "Yet" he then added. She could feel the heat from his breath on her neck. The Joker noticed her expression change.

"What? I-I was not going to call the police on you" she said defensively.

"Then I must be seeing things. Yep, I guess that's it." he looked deep into her eyes.

"Look, I just got done work and I was on my way home. I walk. By myself. So, I keep my phone in my hand with 911 punched in in case some guy ever tries to rape me or hurt me. That way all I gotta do is just push call. But tonight-" she paused and noticed that was actually listening. "Tonight I heard yelling. I know, I should have minded my own business but I just couldn't help it. I-I don't know what came over me. But I wasn't going to tell on you. I was just going to pretend I never saw a thing. I have some family members in the mob so I know about loyalty and stuff an-"

The Joker put his hand over her mouth. 'Crap, I must have been rambling' she thought. The Joker just stared at her for what seemed like a long time. He finally removed the knife from her neck, but didn't move from her.

"I uh believe you. I'm a pretty good judge of character you could say. And it looks like you're telling the truth"

"I am. But why do you believe me?" 'Uh oh. Maybe I shouldn't have asked that' she thought.

The Joker just looked her up and down. It looked like he was about to say something, but instead licked his scars.

"Well, for one look at you. You're gorgeous. I bet you are scared that someone would try to get a piece of this" he said as one of his hands traveled down her back to her ass and grabbed it. She so wanted to slap his hand away but she figured if she wanted to live she better not.

"What I wanna know is why you didn't press call when I grabbed you. You could easily have." he suggested.

"I- I figured that you had heard me and that was you who grabbed me and well, you're the Joker and-" she was interrupted by his outburst of laughter. She looked at him confused and then he finally said something.

"You know Natalia, you are a smart girl. I like that" he said as his lips were almost touching hers. "So, I think that I'm gonna keep you" he said as he hit her head hard with something she couldn't tell and fell unconscious into his arms.