"You're trying to kill him," the Batman's voice growled in her face, glancing in the direction of the Senator and the knocked out guard beside him.
"I'm not!" Adriana said, her voice growling back. "I'm trying to save him! He wouldn't cooperate."
Adriana started to speak again but then heard the sounds of someone speaking on a microphone saying Senator Wagner's name. There was no time to argue. Adriana twisted the baton he was pressing over her just enough to give her the space to strike him in the jaw before sending her elbow into his neck, which was covered in armor for support. She managed to twist the baton away from him and send it down vertically hitting him again and again until she could get most of her body from underneath of him. He gripped her arms so she used her legs in a way that she could not even explain to herself to pin him down. It came instinctively and she was astonished at what she had done as she pressed the baton down over his neck.
"There's no time for this," she said and stood up, throwing the baton across the room and going back over to the senator and tore open his shirt. The pacemaker had a bit of bandaging over it. Adriana felt the Batman's thoughts as he stood behind her.
He came over and shoved her aside before pulling the bandage off and examining the stitching and gliding his hand over the wound. Immediately he lifted the senator and threw him over his shoulder.
"We need to get him out of the building," he said in his husky voice and walked towards a door at the back of the room.
She followed him until they were out of the building and in the back alleyway.
"There!" Adriana pointed to an ambulance. She knew it was the one that the Joker and his men were using. It was a little over half a block away and she realized she could not tell if there was anyone in it. As they got closer, the thoughts of one man in the driver's seat came in loud and clear. "Wait here."
The Batman stood by as she walked over to the driver side, opened the door and pulled the man out. He was astonished at how quickly she was striking him until he was on the ground and had given up. She pretended to look around on his body for a detonator even though she knew he wasn't the one who had it.
"Come on!" she said, once the man was face down and nearly losing consciousness.
Once the Batman approached she could see that he was concerned there may be someone in the back of the ambulance and that he would have to sit the senator down to fight. Adriana immediately went around and flung open the back door and got in. The Batman was silent as he placed the senator onto the stretcher.
"There's ketamine," Adriana said after looking through the ambulance supplies.
"We need to get him away from the buildings here," the Batman said to Shade.
They looked at each other for a few seconds in deliberation.
"You drive," Adriana demanded. "I will remove this device."
"How do I know you know what you're doing?" his voice rumbled.
"I guess you don't," she answered.
He stared at her for a few more seconds before jumping out and shutting the doors and getting into the driver's seat. The vehicle pulled off so quickly that Adriana nearly fell but once she stabilized herself again she sedated she senator.
She took several deep breaths as she sanitized her hands as best she could before pulling on gloves and grabbing the scalpel.
"We have company," she heard the Batman say as he glanced at the rear view mirror. Adriana strained to see the thoughts of whoever was following them but it became easier as they approached rapidly. They needed to be close to activate the detonation but not too close since they didn't want to perish as well. Once they activated it there would only be ten seconds to get away.
"Go faster!" Adriana shouted. "We have to stay away from the detonator!"
The vehicle went faster and the thoughts of the Joker and his men faded as she made the incision into the senator's chest. She removed the pacemaker quickly as they hit a bump in the road.
"I got it!" she said. "Slow down a little!"
He barely slowed down until the Joker was close enough to activate the detonation.
10...9...8...7...
Adriana opened the back door of the ambulance and flung the device the the direction of the truck that was following them. She stopped breathing as she and the Joker made eye contact. All she could see was the paint on his skin through the window and penetrating eyes. He turned the steering wheel sending the truck spinning as the bomb exploded, destroying the passenger side of the vehicle. As she and the Batman sped away in the ambulance she could see the Joker quickly evacuate the truck before it exploded.
"He's okay," Adriana said as she shut the door. "The senator. He needs to go to the hospital. This wasn't sterile-"
The ambulance came to a screeching halt.
"Go ahead," the Batman said and stepped out of the ambulance. Adriana jumped out of the back door and met him on the side of the truck.
"You're going after the Joker," Adriana guessed.
"Yes," the Batman said and went in the opposite direction
"Okay," Adriana said, maintaining her disguised voice and slowly walked to the driver's side door. Before getting in she looked back at the Batman who was glancing back at her at the same time.
.
.
.
.
"I don't like surprises," Adriana said to Sidi as they sipped hot chocolate.
"Well, if you tell me exactly what happened maybe we can figure it out," Sidi said, sounding a bit annoyed.
"I can't...it's personal," Adriana explained.
"Mhm," Sidi looked away and sat her mug on the table.
"It's just...I was about to do something..concentrating," Adriana said. "And he just came out of nowhere. I didn't even sense him coming. And I'm not able to sense anyone that's too far away. They have to be really close, maybe no more than 40 yards?"
"And how was it before I attempted to treat you?" Sidi asked.
"I dont know..Ever since I was young I would automatically hear all thoughts of everyone all jumbled up all at once from all over. Neighbors from half a block away to people that I knew were around fifteen miles away. Sometimes even thought from people that I didn't even know where they were..could have been further," Adriana said. "Now they have to be close and I have to be focusing very hard on them to sense anything and now people can sneak up on me and I never had that problem before. I hate surprises."
"You mentioned that," Sidi said. "You ungrateful girl."
"What?" Adriana said. "I'm not ungra-"
"You are," Sidi said with a sour smile. "You came to me absolutely miserable. So many problems, telling me you were cursed-"
"I was! I couldn't sleep...I was sick, I was institutionalized-"
"Yes and now look at you," Sidi said. "Complaining about not hearing as much as you used to. Sorry for the inconvenience, you ungrateful child. If you would have followed my instructions when I treated you, you would be hearing nothing now! How would you be reacting then?! And how will you react when your gift goes awry? It is only a matter of time. Then I will have to remove it for good and what then? Will you come back complaining you silly girl!?"
"I'm...I'm sorry Sidi," Adriana apologized. She thought of all that Sidi had done for her. She finally felt normal and could have a somewhat normal life. She finally could enjoy the newfound bliss of sleep without having to take several medications that were destroying her stomach. Sidi had told her that her gift would either have to stay in it's natural state which was hearing everything around her from everyone or it would have to be completely removed. Now she was somewhere in the middle and it was frustrating to not have her gift be as predictable as it was before.
"Yes, yes," Sidi said. "You are taking for granted that you are not suffering as you were."
"I know," Adriana said and looked down. "It won't happen again."
