"You can do it," Bruce said to Adriana.
Adriana's palms and fingers burned as she held onto the pole and try to pull herself up. Her skin felt like it was tearing as her chin barely reached the bar and her hands finally slipped.
"Why is this so difficult?" she asked Bruce as he caught her and placed her onto the floor.
"You have to build more strength," he answered. "This in particular is never easy starting out. Plus you have been avoiding it for a while. If you don't practice you won't get stronger."
"I don't think I went to practice this pull up thing anymore," she said. "Look at my hands they're all red."
"No problem," Bruce replied and watched her sit on the bench by his weights.
"Do I sound like a snob?" She asked as she shook her hands.
"Not exactly," Bruce replied.
"You think I sound like a girl," she laughed
"Well, it's not my fault you're in my thoughts," he responded with laughter.
"That is true," she replied. "I guess I better get going. I know you have that conference call to to Tokyo in a bit."
"Unfortunately," he said with boredom in his voice at the thought of the call. "You know I have been thinking maybe we should take a trip together. "
"A trip?" She smiled. "What's the occasion? Where will we go?"
"The occasion could be a celebration of the fact that the Joker is finally behind bars, once I make that happen. We could go anywhere you want. "
"That sounds amazing. How long do you think it will take to find a way to finally stop him and get him arrested again? "
"I'm not sure. All I know is that in my search for him over the past few weeks, I have lost a lot of time and energy. Once he is finally detained I will be able to relax and we can finally really spend some time together. I could actually leave Gotham for once without worrying about having to rush back."
"I'd love that," she said and stood up.
"We'll go someplace special," he said and wrapped his arms around her. "Disappear for a couple of weeks. Once the Joker is finally away and hopefully in a maximum security prison I will finally be able to leave Gotham for a bit. Leave my phone here. Leave any interruptions here."
"You wouldn't leave your phone," Adriana started to laugh. "That's ridiculous."
"It's ridiculous how much I know I need some alone time with you with no interruptions or distractions or meetings or emergencies. We can finally... "
"Mhm," she said as they kissed. "I hope it won't take too long to apprehend him. "
"I was thinking," he said well sounded like he was being careful with his words. "Perhaps this vigilante, Shade can help. I met her again last night. "
"And now you want her help? I thought you didn't like her. "
"I never said that I didn't like her. I said that she was suspicious and that I did not trust her. "
"Right," Adriana burst into laughter. "Because that's completely different. "
"It is."
"So you trust her now?"
"Not exactly. I trust that she has access to good information and I am not sure how. She doesn't seem to do much work when it comes to trying to apprehend the Joker or stop him. She had an opportunity to shoot him at the church and didn't take it. Maybe she is avoiding it for some reason. Perhaps she's afraid. She's good. I'm sure she would have no problem with my help finally detaining him...if she's willing. "
"Only with your help?"
"I doubt she could handle him on her own. "
"Why? "
"Can you see my thoughts? My memories? "
"Sure. Anything in particular I should be looking for? "
"The last time that I saw her. She was... "
"She was what? "
"I'm not entirely sure. First time that I met her she was very serious, sharp, precise. She performed surgery in the back of an ambulance without hesitation or nervousness as far as I could see."
"And this last time? "
"After the museum robbery which she stopped successfully... I saw her and she seems like she was almost a bit drunk? Or drugged? She was laughing a lot and seemed a bit silly a bit looser than the first time that I encountered her. "
"Oh.." Adriana said and thought of the blue potion that she had used. She didn't remember feeling are behaving in the way that Bruce was describing. But when she looked into his thoughts she could see what he meant.
"Maybe that's her real personality and she was hiding it from you the first time that she met you. Maybe she's more comfortable now? "
"That's possible," Bruce said.
"So you're sure you will ask her to help you with finding the Joker? "
"Yes. The next time that I see her. "
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.
.
When Adriana got home, she realized that she was feeling incredibly impulsive. It was not a feeling that she was used to. She felt rebellious. She needed to take action and could not wait any longer. As soon as went through the front door she made a direct line into her kitchen. The bottle of the blue potion that on the countertop in plain sight. The color was alluring and hypnotizing in the dark. Immediately she picked up the bottle and without measuring took several gulps. As she waited for it to take effect, she thought of Madame Twyla's words... Telling her to take no more than one dose in 48 hours. The first dose did not make her feel any after effects so she felt pretty sure that it would be fine. Fine. Everything will be fine, she told himself.
.
.
.
"So I suppose you're never going to tell me how you figured this out?" Batman stood in front of Adriana and asked her. "How you knew they were planning to abduct the Van Doren's son for ransom before they even arrived on the scene. And how you knew that the maid was involved? "
Adriana realized what was happening again. She had forgotten everything that had happened. The drink made her have these blackouts and she would have to search through both hers and Bruce's memories to put the pieces together.
"Oh.." She said as she began to have somewhat of a clearer picture of what happened. "Well I can't reveal all my secrets. Can I have this?"
"If you tell me who you are working for and how you knew about all of this," he said as she admired the grapple gun in her hands. He didn't want to give it to her but thought it was a small price to pay for good information. As far as he could she she didn't have any fancy tools and seemed impressed with the gun.
"I can't tell you that," she said. "I really like this..."
"Fine," he said. "Keep it. I have more."
"Thank you," she said.
They were in a wooded area in the hills of the outskirts of Gotham. The Van Doren mansion in the distance was visible in the blue and red reflecting lights of the police cars.
" I'm surprised you contacted me for this. You handled most of it on your own. "
"Well you gave me your number so I figured I might as well," Adriana smiled, pleased that he had given her the grapple gun.
"Seems like he wanted to show off, perhaps," he said.
"Not at all," she said hearing truthfully but the silly slightly drunken tone in her voice made her words less serious sounding. "Well I must be going."
She started to walk away through the woods but he stopped her. He walked around and stood in front of her quickly.
"Yes?" She said and smiled at him expectantly.
"Do you have any intel on the Joker?" He asked very directly.
"Why?"
"Because we need to stop him. "
"You've been trying to stop him for a long time," Adriana said as if she was just an innocent observer. "And now you've realized you need help? "
"Gotham needs help. Do you have any Intel or not? "
"No.. Not yet. I haven't been doing much work involving the Joker. "
"Except for the night where you saved my life? In the church? I think you know more than you are letting on. "
"Not really," she said. "But I know what you mean. Maybe I should go after him. "
"On your own? " he said with obvious disapproval in his voice
"Why not? And it would be a great triumph I guess...but I guess I can see how you feel? I mean you have been going after the Joker forever. It would be pretty strange for a new vigilante to get him so quickly and send him off to prison. "
"You think this is about acknowledgement? That I want to take credit? Is that why you're doing this? "
"No. I think you know where we're doing this. Because of them," Adriana looked out over the dancing beads light of the city of Gotham through the trees. That's the reason we don't stop. Reason why we barely sleep. The work in Gotham never stops and we have to be the heroes. We have to fight the battles. Ego doesn't really play a part. If it did we would have given up long ago. "
The Batman was quiet as he understood what she was saying. Sometimes he wondered how he could continue going on fighting, damaging himself, putting his life on the line every night.
"I want the Joker stopped," he said in his breathy growl. "If you can do it alone great. "
"Are you serious?" she asked him.
"Yes. But if you need my help you know how to reach me. I must warn you..the Joker is dangerous, manipulative...You may want someone on your side who has experience with him before you make any attempt as going after him."
"Thanks for the heads up," she smiled innocently
