"I'm sorry I wasn't much fun today sweetie," Adriana apologized to Arsenio who was sitting beside her head in pajamas in Adriana and Bruce's bed. She was laying on her stomach, half asleep.

"Still have the headache?" Bruce asked from near the door.

"Yeah," she answered and Arsenio put down his plastic octopus and crawled forward to kiss her on the cheek. "Awww, my sweet boy."

"Sidi said it should clear up in two or three more days max," Bruce told her.

"Yeah," Adriana said again, somewhat listlessly as she rubbed Arsenio's back.

"We have migraine injectables," Bruce reminded her about the resources they had in the medical facility.

"I tried one earlier..did nothing," she said, not wanting Bruce to go down the medical facility for any reason. "It's okay, it goes away when I sleep I think."

"Okay," Bruce said and walked over the bed and kissed the back of her shoulder.

"O!" Arsenio said and pointed to the ring on Bruce's keys that were in Bruce's hand.

Bruce looked down and realized Arsenio was recognizing it as a letter.

"Yes, that's a O," Bruce said and sat the loop of keys on the dresser.

"Yaa! O!" Arsenio said again.

"You know the letter O?" Adriana said and sat up a little.

"He knows all the letters," Bruce said.

"Huh?" Adriana asked. As far as she knew he could only recognize A and B, the first letters of their names.

"Ah actually..." Bruce said and realized he had spoken to soon. Arsenio had learned all letters and most colors by name, but that was in the future that he had erased. Now, so far, he only knew three letters. The rest would be learned in the following month. "I mean..A, B, and O...You know...like the blood types. Maybe he wants to be a doctor. We learned O this morning."

"I'm so confused," Adriana said and put her face back down on the pillow and Arsenio kissed her again.

"Are you ready for bed little one?" Bruce asked Arsenio.

"Nooo," Arsenio said clearly and Adriana and Bruce both laughed.

"Okay, thirty more minutes," Bruce said, wondering how anyone else with a ten month old would perceive what was happening. The speaking and interaction, negotiations with a baby. Arsenio was highly intelligent and Bruce already knew that the child would be a genius.

"Yaa!" Arsenio exclaimed but then seemed to realize that he was loud and looked down at Adriana apologetically. "Mommy..."

"It's okay, baby," Adriana said and touched his foot sleepily.

"Hey, little man," Bruce said and reached forward to pick him up. "Let's let Mommy sleep and we'll watch a cartoon."

Bruce kissed Adriana before taking Arsenio to the in home theater where Arsenio fell asleep in Bruce's arms twenty minutes into his favorite show. After putting Arsenio to bed and having a long chat with Alfred, Bruce went back to his bedroom where Adriana was sleeping soundly. Bruce showered and got into bed beside her.

As he began to drift off, he felt her hand on his chest, slightly rousing him from his sleep.

"Are you awake?" Bruce heard himself whisper, although he was barely awake himself.

"Mmm," she moaned against his cheek, also nearly asleep when she began to kiss him.

They made slow and passionate love, both minds somewhere between consciousness and the dream state. Afterwards, Bruce fell asleep almost immediately and was taken back into his memories of the past.

.

"You're free to go," a guard told Bruce in his dream. "Your lawyer is waiting. I'll take you to collect your things."

"The preliminary report came back," Bruce assumed, emotionlessly. He was drained.

"Yes," the guard said. "Your lawyer will explain it to you."

Bruce felt all eyes on him as he collected his shoes, shoestrings, and identification. All the things he had on him that had been confiscated during intake. Once he and his lawyer returned to Bruce's penthouse, his lawyer began to explain the results.

"You're off the hook," the lawyer said as soon as they were in the door. "So far what we have-"

"Excuse me," Bruce told him. "I need to see my son. This can wait."

"Oh," the lawyer said apologetically. "I'll wait here."

It was almost ten in the evening and Arsenio was asleep. Bruce stood in his room watching him for almost half an hour while his lawyer waited in the living room. Bruce returned to the living room and found his lawyer looking through the folder.

"Everything alright?" his lawyer asked.

Bruce didn't know whether to say yes or no. His wife was gone and he was sure nothing would ever be alright again.

"What's in the report?" Bruce asked.

"The cause of death was ruled as pressure and swelling in the brain," he told Bruce. "No head trauma or signs of foul play."

Bruce sat down weakly.

"We're still waiting for the full toxicology report but as far as the coroner could see, it could have been due to illness," he went on and Bruce stared at him.

"You can go now," Bruce told his lawyer abruptly.

His lawyer nodded wordlessly and left quickly. Bruce returned to Arsenio's room and sat on the couch awake all night, watching his son sleep. Arsenio woke on his own at five in the morning and Bruce was there beside his crib.

Arsenio looked up at Bruce, quiet and sleepy. Bruce picked him up and held him tightly and beyond his control, Bruce began to cry even though he begged himself to stop.

"I'm sorry," Bruce apologized to Arsenio over and over.

More than anything, Arsenio looked confused at Bruce's tears. He had never seen Bruce cry before this moment. Bruce kept telling himself to stop crying as he could see it was upsetting his son, but he couldn't stop. Eventually, Arsenio began to cry too.

.

The sound in his dream made Bruce wake from his sleep. He looked over and saw Adriana still sleeping peacefully. The dream had felt so real, real enough to make him confused about what was true. He touched Adriana's back softly and leaned down to kiss her.

He couldn't continue like this. The dreams of the past were simply too realistic. He got up from the bed and went into the walk-in closet and shut the door. Bruce pulled out his carry on suitcase and removed a back panel in it that led to another compartment. It was where he had decided to hide the elixir from Madame Twyla. He picked it up and took off the lid.

A quarter teaspoon. His estimated that the lid looked like it could hold half a teaspoon and filled the lid halfway with the golden orange fluid. He closed his eyes and poured it into his mouth. It tasted like honey initially and then began to taste like lemons after he swallowed. It wasn't unpleasant and was like a lemonade separated. He put the lid back onto the bottle and secured it where it was in the luggage before returning to the bedroom.

He hadn't realized it was almost 4 a.m. but he decided a couple hours of peaceful sleep would be fine. Adriana was asleep, dreaming, and Bruce contemplated staying awake. Going into her dreams was an invasion of privacy that he wished he could ask her permission for. But doing so meant explaining her death, Madame Twyla taking half their wealth, and his journey back to the past.

While examining the ethics of what he had done, Bruce fell asleep.

It was a sharp contrast to his dream, which felt entirely real. This felt like a dream, and he was very aware of the fact that the dream was not his own. He saw flashes of blue and green lights and felt the vibration of music playing. It was a nightclub. He saw Adriana dancing in black leather pants and a fishnet top. It was a goth club.

She smiled as she twirled and climbed up onto one of several stages where many other girls were dancing. Adriana looked more carefree than he had ever seen her. It was a pleasant dream and Bruce no longer felt guilty for drinking the potion. The only strange thing about it was that he was right in her line of sight and she didn't appear to be able to see him. It was as though he was invisible. He tried to reach out and touch the shoulder of a man dancing beside him but Bruce's hand went straight through him. He was invisible.

Then he saw himself. Bruce Wayne in front of him, in a simple black shirt and jeans. He followed himself over to the bar which was insanely crowded. Adriana jumped down from the stage and went over to the bar and got the attention of a bar tender. She didn't seem to see or notice Bruce.

Bruce then watch himself walk around the people between them and find a spot on the bar next to where she was standing.

"What can I get you?" the bartender, a man in heavy black eyeliner asked her.

"Absinthe," she told him.

Bruce watched Adriana and the dream version of him, standing beside each other not speaking. Adriana reached into her back pocket, most likely for money but Bruce saw himself stop her.

"I'll take care of it," he told her.

"Thanks," she smiled as the bartender handed her the drink and she took a sip.

"I'm Bruce," he introduced himself. "And you are?"

"Adriana," she told him.

Bruce smiled in the dream as he watched them meeting under these random circumstances.

"Adriana," Bruce heard himself repeat. "Beautiful name."

She sat her drink down and placed a hand on her hip, smiling at him seductively. The black lipstick she was wearing giving her the aura of dark femininity.

"Want to dance?" she asked and reached for his hand.

"With you?" he asked. "Of course."

She laughed and pulled his hand and they went out onto the dance floor. Guitars and keyboard filled the room with the booming darkness of gothic rock. They danced to several songs until they needed a break.

"You're cute," she said as they stood with arms wrapped around each other swaying to the beat of the music.

"Thank you," he told her. "And you are stunning."

She smiled as an operatic voice, a beautiful contrast to the dark music, resonated over the speakers. The song was beautiful, and Bruce wondered if her dreams had created it or if the song truly existed.

Adriana kissed Bruce as they continued to dance on and on after catching their breath.

.

.

"Good morning," Bruce said to Adriana as she woke up.

"Mm.." she moaned. "You were watching me sleep?"

"Just for a minute or two," he told her.

"You look happy," she laughed.

"Had a great night's sleep," he said to her as she yawned.

"Me too," she said and then frowned as if trying to remember something. "We had sex last night didn't we."

"Yes," he said, remembering the sleepy pleasures of the night before.

"Diaphragm?" she asked.

"Oh..ah...no, we didn't," he told her.

"Ughh..we keep forgetting," she told him. "Maybe I should get the patch or and IUD."

"Up to you, my love," he told her and kissed her.

"Okay," she told him.

"I was just thinking," he said. "We should go out tonight."

"Out?" she asked while sitting up. "Like...dinner? A date?"

"Maybe clubbing," he told her.

She frowned. "Really?" she asked. "Right now? I mean...we have a lot going on-"

"With me being blackmailed and tormented?" he asked. "Yes and that's been hanging over our heads and making us stressed. I think we need to let loose a bit."

"I agree," she smiled. "But are you sure?"

"Yes," he told her. "We haven't done anything just for fun in a while."

"Okay," she was nodding and smiling. "Where do you want to go?"

"Hmm..there's a place...the Requiem," he said. "I pass it all the time. Well, the Batman does."

"The Requiem," she laughed. "You know what, that's such a coincidence. I had a dream last night we were clubbing somewhere like that."

"Oh wow," Bruce pretended to see the coincidence. "Great minds think alike."

.

.

.

"Lucius thinks we should do nothing?" the Joker asked Adriana.

"Well...just for now," she told him. "An actual safe, usable plan would take some time to come up with."

"I see," he told her.

"Also," she said. "Another tape was sent in to the police. It was confiscated."

"He'll be exposed before we can do anything," the Joker guessed.

"Yeah," Adriana hated to agree but he was right. "Unless you have any ideas...I mean what would you do?"

"I'd probably kill her after getting her to tell me who her superiors were," he said plainly.

"That's not very nice," Adriana told him.

"I'm being honest," he said. "Fortunately I'm not the one being threatened."

.

.

.

Adriana wore a black leather tube dress and the highest stilettos Bruce had ever seen a woman walk in. The club they had chosen was crowded, just like in her dream. However the music was dark techno, rather than gothic operatic rock. As they made their way over to the bar Bruce saw at least five people he was absolutely certain were actual vampires.

"I love your shoes!" a drunk woman grabbed Adriana's arm and said to her. "Are you a pole dancer?"

"No, bitch!" the woman's friend, also drunk answered for Adriana. "That's Bruce Wayne's wife. Look!"

"Huh?" the woman turned her head and saw Bruce beside Adriana and began to laugh at herself.

The two women staggered away and Bruce and Adriana smiled at each other and went to get drinks. With drinks in hand they walked over to a balcony and watched the sea of people dancing below them. There were three levels of balconies in the enormous club.

"We are getting a lot of stares," Adriana laughed into her drink.

"I wonder why," he smiled. "Perhaps because you are smoking hot. That outfit is what dreams are made of. Not sure Gotham's seen you this way yet."

She shrugged. "It's a mood," she smiled and took a step forward pressing her chest against him. "Kinda makes me want to tie you up."

Bruce looked up to the ceiling as if praying and quietly mouthed the words 'thank you' and Adriana began to laugh.

"I was just thinking," Adriana said and looked around. "About our...friends."

Friends. Code word for the people who were tormenting Bruce by threatening to expose his identity.

"Ahh," he said. "Do you think we have friends everywhere we go?"

She looked at him intently and gave a single nod. Whoever these people were likely followed them and it was a very real possibility they were in the club now.

"I wonder if they're disappointed," Adriana said. "Because we decided to come out and have fun, despite...their antics."

"Oh certainly," Bruce said. "They're not getting to me. I assume they hate that."

"Hmm.." Adriana said. "Well...maybe in that case this wasn't the best idea."

"Tomorrow they may send what they have to channel 3 or 4," Bruce said. "The city will turn it's back on it's dark knight."

"And you're okay with that?" Adriana asked, keeping her voice low even though the music was loud.

"Oh yes," he said. "In fact, I want to make them even more...disappointed."

"And how will you do that?" she asked.

He wrapped his arm around her waist and began to kiss her deeply. While holding her drink in one hand, she put her free hand into his hair as they kissed. They kissed like no one was watching, drawing more attention as everyone close by could see flashes of their tongues as they made out in the dark club under the flashing lights.

Adriana smiled as they ended the kiss and Bruce was smiling at her. He lifted his drink to his lips and looked back down at the dancing crowd.

Adriana looked around at the lively atmosphere, and something caught her eye. She was no longer gifted but she could feel eyes on her. Everyone in the club was moving, dancing, drinking, active with movement. But she noticed an area of stillness. She looked over Bruce's left shoulder at the balcony level they were on, at the opposite wall of the enormous room.

She was standing still, wearing black. Because of where they were, a gothic night club, nothing that she was wearing stood out as unusual. A black leather catsuit, She had long deep brown hair down to her waist and was wearing a black mask that surrounded only her eyes. Her lips were painted red and full enough to be seen from afar. After looking at her for a few seconds, Adriana also noticed her headpiece. It almost looked like small bits of machinery, pointed on both sides of her head like cat ears.

She and Adriana made eye contact for a few seconds before the woman turned quickly and began to walk away.

"Hold this," Adriana pushed her drink at Bruce. "I'll be back."

Without waiting for his response she went after the woman. Adriana walked as quickly as she could in her heels through the crowd and turned the corner to where the balcony turned on the opposite wall of the club where the woman was standing. Adriana caught a glimpse of her disappearing down a set of crowded stairs and followed her in hot pursuit.

Between the heads of all of the people on the main floor in the club, moving and dancing, Adriana could just barely see the woman making her way to the back entrance of the club. She was getting further and further away and Adriana had to resort to simply pushing a few people to catch up to her. Adriana watched her go out the back door, bouncers barely looking at her as she slipped out.

Once Adriana went out the door, which led to a spacious alley next to a parking lot, the woman had vanished. Adriana looked around, but she was gone.

"Hey," she heard Bruce behind her a few moments later. "Are we leaving already?"

"No.." she said looking around. "I just..I thought I saw something."

"Saw what?" he asked.

"Just.." she looked around again. "Nothing."