"And this is?" Madame Twyla asked Bruce as he held out in front of her a sheet of paper.
"You now own the contents of my safe in a Switzerland bank," Bruce told her.
"And what exactly are the contents?" she wanted to know.
"Gold bullion," he told her. "Valued at 1.3 billion."
"Well," she smiled and snatched the paper from him. "This makes quite a dent on your debt to me. You're a quarter of the way there."
"It will take time for me to liquidate other assets," he told her. "This was the most liquid."
"Of course," she said, smiling at what she now owned. "And you have 29 days to get me the rest."
"I understand that," Bruce said.
"Or this can all be undone," she told him.
Bruce clenched his teeth. He had every intention of paying this woman what he had agreed to. The threat made him disgusted, because he felt it was unnecessary. He had just given this woman the largest cash asset he owned.
"Understood," he said, his voice like venom.
"Well," she said. "Looks like I will be visiting Switzerland soon. I've always wanted a chalet."
Bruce pressed his lips together, saying nothing more. He didn't care what she wanted to buy with her new found wealth.
"So," she smiled and crossed her arms, very proud of herself. "How are you enjoying having your wife back?"
The question was innocent but Bruce didn't want to discuss his personal life with this woman.
"It's what I wanted more than anything," he said. "And now I have her."
"Mhm," Twyla said. "Have you had any dreams?"
"Dreams?" Bruce asked.
"About the erased past?" she asked. "I would assume you have."
"Is this supposed to happen?" he asked her, remembering the tragic dream from the previous night. The dream memory of the paramedics rushing in to try in vain to save his wife.
"Not necessarily," Twyla said. "It's extremely rare."
"Yes," he told her. "I had a dream about my wife's death."
"Poor thing," Twyla said, her voice devoid of any sympathy. "It will continue unfortunately."
"You didn't tell me about this," Bruce said.
"Well I wasn't sure," she said and shrugged. "You are with a gifted woman. And I am assume you have already physically united with her again and you did so before the time where she was to die."
"Wait," Bruce stopped her. "What-"
"Yes," she said. "Perhaps I should have warned you to wait until after the time of her death but I doubt you would have listened."
Bruce knew that she was right, but he didn't appreciate her omitting this information.
"Your wife's gift is still present in her body although it is now absent from her own mind," she said. "You are the only one who gratifies in it now."
"I didn't," Bruce said, remembering rejecting her gift for the first time during the act of lovemaking.
"You did," she said. "Even if you make yourself unaware, the gift will still rub off on you. You are feeling particularly intuitive today aren't you? As you always have after being with such a woman with such a power? That, you cannot block out."
"So what are you saying?" Bruce said. "I can't sleep with my wife if I don't want to have this dream again?"
"Oh no, dear," she laughed. "You'll never have that dream again. You will dream of the past on the date that it happened. There is nothing more rare than returning to the past to save a gifted individual from death and then to continue physically uniting with them. It is not an exact science. You are seeing into your own memories. Reading your own mind...a double life..parallel universe. Just like the gift your wife was born with."
Bruce understood what she was saying but refused to believe it.
"Your wife died early this morning and early this morning you had a dream of it," she said to him. "What were you doing today?"
"I.." Bruce said, still reluctant to share anything with her. "I was in police custody."
"Then you shall dream of that," she said. "If you are intimate again."
Bruce huffed. "I can tolerate the dreams," he said. "The worst night is behind me."
"If you say so," Twyla smiled again. "Anything else you would like to know?"
Bruce realized that he had not originally even asked her a question, but he did have one.
"My sister in law," Bruce said. "She was with me when I came back but she doesn't remember any of it. I called her and she has no recollection."
"Did she say she didn't want to remember?" Twyla asked as though it was obvious.
"Well..." Bruce remembered Harri's words before they went through the dark portal. "Yes."
"Then there you go," Twyla said. "And I assume you said you wanted you wife to live again."
"I did," Bruce admitted.
Twyla shrugged and raised her eyebrows before smiling down at the sheet of paper in front of her again. She was a billionaire.
.
.
.
"Lucius!" Adriana beamed as she came into his office at Wayne Tower.
"Good afternoon, Adriana" he said to her, surprised at her high energy attitude. "You're here today while Bruce is taking the day off."
"Yeah," she shrugged and shut his door. "Gosh..I know I was just here a couple days ago but I feel like I haven't seen you in ages."
"We've all been very busy," Lucius smiled as she took a seat.
"Yes," she smiled. "I just stopped a burglary and a carjacking and though I'd drop in since I was already two blocks away."
Adriana had on her suit underneath a long black trenchcoat, mask and wig in her small bag.
"How's your day going?" Adriana asked.
"Hectic," Lucius admitted. "We needed Bruce in here today, but perhaps you can deliver a few documents to him that I need him to look over."
"Sure," she said.
He pulled out a long tube and handed it to her. "Blueprints," he said simply.
"Got it," she said. "So..did Bruce tell you?"
"Tell me what?" Lucius asked.
"About last night? Our friend Sidi," Adriana said, a bit surprised Bruce hadn't talked to Lucius about this at all. "Well, she removed my gift. I can no longer hear any thoughts at all."
Lucius sat up straighter in his chair. "He hadn't told me yet," Lucius said. "I'm sure he would have eventually."
"Yeah," Adriana said. "It just sucks because I don't think he sees me as being of any use with regards to...the mystery anti-Batman cult trying to destroy him."
Lucius nodded.
"Anyway," Adriana said. "I just needed someone to talk to about something and you're the only one I can discuss this with.."
"Of course," Lucius said politely.
Adriana sat the long tube on the floor beside her and moved to the edge of her seat.
"He knows," she blurted out. "Jack knows that Arsenio is his."
"Jack?" Lucius asked. "Have you and Dr. Kapoor begun to call him by his name?"
"Well, no," Adriana said. "I'm not even sure why I just used his name now. I feel so different today Lucius...it's hard to explain. Just..I feel brand new and weird and just different."
"Brand new doesn't sound terrible," Lucius offered. "So, you've told him about Arsenio."
"No," Adriana said. "He broke into Dr. Kapoor's office and looked at out files. He figured it out on his own and asked me about it."
"Mmm," Lucius leaned back. "And how does he feel about this?"
"That's just it," Adriana said. "I have no idea how he feels. He didn't ask me anything about Arsenio, he didn't tell me how he felt at all. He was more concerned about Bruce finding out that he's his son. Right, and he also used Bruce's medical record to figure out that Bruce is the Batman."
Lucius sat up straight again. "Oh, Adriana this is not good."
"No," Adriana said. "But he's told me that he has forgiven Bruce and that he's not angry with him for putting him underground and giving him mental trauma. I know for a fact he still has nightmares about being down in that hole..but now he's just forgiven him."
"Forgiveness is a funny thing," Lucius said. "The Joker...well, Jack...perhaps he is hoping one day people will do the same for him. Forgive him his unspeakable wrongdoings."
"Maybe," Adriana sighed.
"Perhaps I should accelerate his relocation," Lucius said. "The property in the Dominican Republic is nearly ready-"
"What? Why?" Adriana asked.
She wasn't sure what she was feeling. A few days ago she had completely accepted the Joker would be relocating, and now...today for some reason, she felt like she needed him around. She wanted to see him. The thought of now being able to see him made her feel sad.
"Well," Lucius began to explain. "I know it's not likely, but if Bruce ever caught wind of the Joker knowing his identity-"
"He would think he's the one harassing him and exposing those tapes to the cops," Adriana said.
"Yes," Lucius said. "Even though we both know that's not the case."
"Actually," Adriana said nervously. "He knows about that too."
"Knows what?" Lucius asked.
"Jack knows that someone is blackmailing Bruce," She said. "I didn't tell him but he just...figured it out when I told him how bad it was that he knew Bruce's identity and that he could be blamed for something he wasn't a part of."
"He's an intelligent man," Lucius declared.
Adriana nodded.
"That being said," Lucius interlaced his fingers and placed his hands on the desk. "Did he have any ideas?"
Adriana couldn't believe it.
"You mean, about these people tormenting Bruce?" Adriana asked.
Lucius nodded. "As I said," Lucius said. "He's an intelligent man. Perhaps in ways that would offer a different perspective-"
"Your polite way of saying he knows better than any of us how to do something evil like this," Adriana said and Lucius shrugged and nodded as politely as he could.
"I could understand if he did not want to assist the Batman though, of course," Lucius said.
"Actually," Adriana said. "He does seem to want to help. He wants to look at the tapes and the packaging they came in."
"Wow," Lucius seemed genuinely surprised. "Taking the tapes in too risky."
"I know.." Adriana said. "Bruce has literally been taking them out of the safe and inspecting them every few hours..it's impossible-"
"I can give you a copy of the footage," Lucius said. "There's no way we can remove the physical evidence without Bruce noticing, unfortunately."
"Okay," Adriana said. "A copy might work."
"I'll send it to your phone," Lucius said.
"Okay," Adriana said again. "He did have some ideas."
"Such as?"
"Well," Adriana said. "The person who is sending these tapes to the cops and who put that envelope at our front door is likely being forced to do so. The risk of putting the tape at our door..making it through the hotel without being seen and successfully erasing the footage..Jack thinks this person is dispensable and probably being forced to do these things for someone else."
"That," Lucius said. "Actually makes a lot of sense."
"Yes," Adriana said.
"If we figure this out.." Lucius said. "With the Joker's help..Bruce will never believe it."
"That his arch nemesis saved him from exposure and life in prison."