As Bruce began to drive away he turned on the radio. He turned up the volume to its maximum to try to drown out his thoughts but he still heard them. He heard Lucius' words. His ego was not more important that his wife. He knew that was true but he also did not feel that he was being egotistic.
No one knew where she was but Bruce had a feeling. He drove to Sidi's house. Since wasn't there, Aymara was able to let him him. Sidi had been avoiding him since he stopped Brake's death.
"Where is she?" Bruce asked Aymara as soon as he came in.
"Mother's not here and I'm sure she wouldn't want me to tell you where she is," Aymara said.
"Not Sidi," Bruce said. "I'm looking for Adriana."
"Oh," Aymara shrugged. "She's not here. I haven't seen her since the weekend."
"Makes no sense," Bruce sighed. "Where could she be?"
"You don't know where she is?" Aymara asked, her voice sounding a bit worried.
The hint of worry in Aymara's voice made Bruce realize how foolish he was being. Aymara had no idea what was going on, no bias, and she was worried.
"No..I don't know where she is," Bruce told her.
"Well where did she say she was going?" Aymara asked.
"She didn't," Bruce said. "We had an argument. A..substantial one, to say the least. She walked out."
"Well she should come back soon then," Aymara said. "Give her an hour or so."
"It was last night," Bruce said. The words coming out of his mouth made him realize his mistakes.
Aymara frowned. "She's been gone all night? We should call the police-"
"It hasn't been 24 hours," Bruce said. "They won't assist until then and there's no sign of a dire circumstance. She was angry when she left."
"Is Arsenio with her?" Aymara asked.
"No," Bruce said. He thought of the words he said to Adriana, the threats. There was no way he could tell Aymara this without feeling like a horrible person. Perhaps that was the truth. Lucius was right. It was his ego, he was ashamed.
"Oh...Bruce.." Aymara said, and Bruce could see she was trying not to panic. "Can you call her sister?"
"I could try but I don't want to worry her if she hasn't heard from her," Bruce said . "I'll check her phone record to see if she's even been in touch with Harri."
"You can do that?" Aymara asked about the phone record.
"It can be done," Bruce said.
"Okay," Aymara said, nodding quickly. "If she contacts us or comes here I will call you right away."
"Thank you," Bruce said to her. "I'll contact you one I hear from her."
Bruce walked out to his car. He got in and pulled out the computer that folded out from behind the radio. He checked Adriana's phone records. The last call was to Alfred the previous evening. He didn't know what to make of it. He was also able to track the location of the call when it was received. The parking garage of the hotel where they lived.
Immediately, he picked up his phone and called her. As soon as he heard the automated voicemail message he hung up. He needed to leave a message but he wasn't sure what to say. He took a deep breath and called again.
"Adriana," Bruce said after the beep. He took a long pause. "I know you are very displeased with me right now. We've both said and done some things that..."
Bruce blinked and look out the window.
"Please call me once you check your messages," he said and hung up.
Bruce started his car and began to drive home. Once he was there he pulled out his phone again.
"Adriana," Bruce said to leave another voicemail. "I see you haven't returned home yet...Listen...You must know I didn't mean what I said about custody battles and ..."
He took a deep breath.
"I was wrong," he said. "What I said about your past and..you having been institutionalized and...I am sorry Adriana. Alright? I crossed a line. I wasn't myself, and I know that's no excuse but I need you to call me as soon as you get this. I love you."
Bruce hung up his phone and looked around at the empty penthouse. He wanted to see his son but couldn't yet. He jumped into the shower and scrubbed his body then got out and shaved. As he looked into the mirror he felt something was wrong. He still felt dirty.
He got back in and scrubbed his skin raw before getting out again. As soon as he stepped out he grabbed his phone. No calls or messages.
.
.
.
"We haven't been able to track her down yet," Lucius told the Joker once Bruce left as a garbage truck came down the street.
"What?" the Joker asked.
"I said," Lucius said louder. "We haven't been able to-"
"I heard you I just don't understand," the Joker clarified before Lucius could finish his sentence.
"Jack," Lucius said. "Bruce knows everything. Apparently, he confronted Adriana about it last night. They had an argument and she left. He knows you've met Arsenio."
Lucius waited for him to say something but the Joker was quiet.
"Did you speak to him?" the Joker asked.
"Yes, just now," Lucius said.
"He doesn't know where she is either?" the Joker asked him.
"No, I'm afraid not," Lucius said.
"Lucius," the Joker said. "You strike me as the kind of person that is good at reading people."
"I would say that's accurate," Lucius said.
"Would you say it's possible that he's done something to her?" the Joker asked through what sounded like clenched teeth.
"No, Jack," Lucius assured him.
"Okay," the Joker said, taking his word for it. "Is he looking for her?"
"I believe he will be," Lucius said. "He believes she needs to take some time to herself after their argument. Which is possible...if she was very visibly upset she probably would have waited to go and see Arsenio."
"Okay but it's the next day," the Joker said.
"Yes," Lucius said. "I've tracked the location of her last received phone call, which doesn't provide much guidance. It's at her home location."
"This..ah..." the Joker said, his voice sounding thinner and higher. "Is not good."
"Yes," Lucius agreed. "This is not like her at all. The last call was around 7 last night."
"Then we...may need to contact the police," the Joker said, realizing it was the first time in his entire life that he ever thought of contacting the police of Gotham for assistance. It was as though the universe had been flipped inside out.
"It will be a public fiasco but it's looking that way," Lucius said. "I will let Bruce know and will call you back."
They hung up without saying more.
"Anything?" Bruce said as soon as Lucius picked up the phone. It seemed their disagreement in the street had been entirely forgotten by Bruce.
"No," Lucius said. "You will need to contact the police."
Bruce thought about it. Who was he? He was Gotham's dark knight and he couldn't even find his own wife. Getting the police involved would mean a media frenzy. But in the moment, Bruce did not care. It needed to happen.
"They will be called now," he said to Lucius and hung up.
.
.
.
Adriana felt so weak and light headed she could barely open her eyes, but the sound of gunfire woke her. She wasn't sure how she had even fallen asleep after what had happened. She heard three rounds go off and then silence. The police? Rescue?
She heard no sirens, no dogs, just quiet. Her neck was so sore from the way her abductor had handled her that she couldn't even move her head. Her pants felt wet and she knew her bladder had finally given out in her sleep. She tried to lift her head to see anything but her neck felt like it was torn. Her throat was so dry that it felt full of sand.
She knew they were going to kill her. She was a wealthy woman, married to a famous billionaire. One of the men would not risk assaulting her, without a mask, even though he wore sunglasses. She could probably identify him in a lineup.
The man in the mask was a mystery. This man was likely the enemy of the Joker and for some reason he wanted to stay anonymous. The Joker had disfigured many of his enemies and maybe this man was one of them.
The cabin she was in was so quiet. She couldn't hear footsteps. The gunfire wasn't from a rifle. There was no hunter nearby. A ray of hope gone. A few seconds later she heard the sound of the front door slamming and then the sound of furniture being thrown around and heavy breathing. Then silence again. Then the front door shutting again. More silence.
.
.
.
"I should be out there," Bruce said to Lucius after a group of detectives left his home. It was the third group that day.
Adriana's disappearance was all over the news within twenty minutes of Bruce's call to the police.
"You need to stay here in case she returns," Lucius said. "The police can see this is a high profile case and you need to be present. Running off into the night would appear suspicious."
Bruce swallowed. Deja vu. He had gone back in time and it was happening again. Had he lost his wife? Had he saved her only to lose her again? The city of Gotham would presume once again that he had harmed her but he didn't care about that. What if all this time he was fighting to replace her death, while doing nothing more than encouraging it to happen again?
What if once again it had ended in a fight? What if this was his fate no matter how many times he could go back into time?
"Bruce?" Lucius said after Bruce went quiet.
"I'll stay," Bruce said. "But you...you have to find her. Lucius.."
"I will do my best," Lucius said.
"Bruce," Commissioner Gordon said and walked over to Bruce again once he could see that he and Lucius had momentarily stopped talking.
Bruce looked up.
"If there's anything else you can think of.." Gordon said.
"I wish there was," Bruce told him. "Excuse me."
Bruce went into the bathroom and told himself over and over again that she was fine. But the more he thought about the situation, the more he realized that was not true. As soon as she saw the reports on TV, she would have realized how worried he was and would have called him right away.
Harri had called him frantically several times over the last few hours, relaying everything back to her parents, which was useless. They called him relentlessly as well. Every time the phone rang he wanted to see her number.
He had never felt so helpless. He should be out there, searching, but the situation was so delicate. He realized in this case..he was not just the Batman. He was a prominent public figure as well. This was the first time it had impacted him so negatively. He couldn't leave him home without looking guilty. He couldn't stay without feeling guilty for not joining in on the search. He was trapped.