"At least let me call a driver," Bruce said to Adriana as she put in her earrings. "Or I can come with you."
"Bruce...I will be fine," she said and kissed his cheek. "I can't stay inside the house forever...and if you come then your anniversary gift won't be a surprise."
"It won't be a surprise anyway," he said. "The paparazzi will be posting photos of whatever you buy within the hour."
"Right..." Adriana said.
"You don't need to get me anything," Bruce said.
"Did you get me something?" she asked.
"Of course," he told her.
"See..." she said.
"I'll have security follow you, you won't even know they are there," Bruce offered. "Just let me make a call-"
"No," Adriana said. "I will be just fine, I promise."
After applying light makeup, Adriana left Wayne Manor. It was a cloudy and cool day and the air was refreshing. As she drove into the city, Adriana knew that she was being followed. She loved Bruce's protectiveness but needed a moment to herself. It wouldn't last long once she was recognized in the city but a few minutes was all she needed.
Once she arrived downtown, she pulled into a parking garage structure that was right next to the subway. While she walked through the garage to the machine to pay for parking she saw a dark car drive by behind her with dark tinted windows. Security. She put on her sunglasses. Before the car could drive much further she got into the elevator, went down to the ground level and made the dash down the stairs outside to the subway trains.
She laughed to herself about her mad dash as she got into the subway car. She stood leaning against the door as the train took off. As she looked around, she noticed the four people in the train car looking at her. They knew who she was, which she didn't mind, as long as they weren't media.
Adriana took a seat and looked out the window as the train made it's way through the dark underground tunnels. She was incredibly familiar with the city and the public transport system. After a few stops she got off of the train and walked down a few small streets until she arrived at a small toy shop. Being able to go out and shop was a simple task but it made her feel normal again.
Fortunately, she was the only customer in the store.
"Mrs. Wayne," the store owner, an older man with an Irish accent said and came up to her. "What a nice surprise."
"Mr. Mckinley," she said with a smile. "How are you?"
"Oh wonderful," he said. "And.."
Adriana could tell he was thinking of everything he had seen on the news about her abduction and wasn't sure what to say.
"I've been doing okay," Adriana said. "I haven't been out of the house in a while but I'm happy to be out today."
"That's lovely to hear," he said.
"Arsenio loved the xylophone set," Adriana said. "He plays with it every day."
"I'm so pleased," he said. "What brings you in today?"
"Oh...just browsing," Adriana said.
"Well let me know if you need anything," he said to Adriana and touched her shoulder before walking away.
Adriana gave him a smile and began to browse the store. She was supposed to be out shopping for Bruce but spent nearly an hour looking at everything in the to store. She ended up buying a wooden compartmental learning toy. It had several games and activates on all sides, was colorful, and she knew that Arsenio would love it.
After leaving the shop with her very heavy bag, Adriana decided she would stop by a department store close by. It was a long walk but Adriana loved it. It felt like exercise, carrying the bag and walking several blocks. It was a feeling she missed. The doctor had suggested she wait another week before training in the gym again, and it was driving her crazy.
Once she arrived at the luxury department store, she was immediately greeted by the staff who offered to take her bag while she shopped. As she tested several colognes at the fragrance counter, she heard flashes outside. Paparazzi.
"I'll take this once," Adriana told the sales associate about a Bvlgari fragrance.
She ignored the cameras and went further into the store, finding a shirt and a pair of silk boxers for Bruce. As she paid for her items, she planner her escape. There was an above ground train stop half a block away. She retrieved her other bag and briskly walked past the people taking pictures outside.
She heard them calling her name, asking her personal questions, but she ignored them. The tried to follow her on the train but she expertly switched trains three times and lost them all. Going from train to train and moving quickly made her miss being active and her vigilantism even more.
While riding on the last train, she realized she was close by where the Joker was living temporarily. It was a great risk but she decided to get off of the train and stop by.
After walking many more blocks from the train stop she made it to the small apartment building. She pressed the button on the door. The speaker came on and she heard him speak.
"Yes?" she heard the Joker say.
"It's me..." she said. "Adriana."
She heard the speaker cut off and the buzzing sound of the door being unlocked. She went into the building and he opened the door for her. After she walked through the front door he took her bags and sat them on the floor.
"Whew..." Adriana said. "That was a long walk."
After sitting her bags down the Joker turned around to look at her. It was the first time they had seen each other since he left her at the hospital.
"Good to see you're well," the Joker said.
"You too," Adriana said, still catching her breath.
After a few inhales, she realized she was transfixed and staring at him. He looked away and down into the bags.
"I assume the Zoo World Activity Center is not for me," the Joker said, looking down at the large box. "Or the...100% silk boxers?"
"Oh," Adriana laughed. "No...stuff for Arsenio and Bruce."
"You're aware I wasn't serious?" he asked.
"Right.." Adriana said.
They were again quiet and she felt she needed to thank him.
"I...never got a chance to thank you for everything," she said.
"You should thank Lucius," he said to her.
"Luicus?" she asked.
"He's the reason I figured it out," the Joker said. "Also he supplied me with his car and a weapon, which was very risky."
Adriana smiled.
"Very smart man," he said.
"There's no need to be modest," Adriana said. "You saved me. Thank you."
He finally accepted the gratitude. "You're welcome."
Adriana watched him begin to rub the side of his neck as he searched for something else to say.
"So.." he said. "The cop is dead."
"Yes," Adriana said, looking away for a second.
She tried not to ever think about the fact that Damien had killed himself. She put it out of her mind ever since she was told. And now here it was again...he really was dead.
"I...wish..." Adriana started to speak. "I wish it didn't have to end that way...I wish he could have just moved on and found someone to be happy with and lived his life..."
The Joker listened to her quietly, seeing that she wanted to say more.
"In some ways...I feel like it's my fault," she said.
"Oh?" the Joker asked. "And why is that?"
In that moment, Adriana began to remember what was so wonderful about the Joker. His way of listening and communicating was so different from anyone she had ever met. She was fully certain that if she was to tell anyone else that she felt guilty for Damien's death and that she felt it was her fault, they would immediately tell her otherwise. They would tell her none of it was her fault and the was completely blameless, and then they would move to comfort her and tell her how Damien was not a good person. Which he wasn't. But the Joker did not immediately console her or tell her it wasn't her fault. He was listening to her.
"Well," Adriana said and sat on the edge of his couch. "I feel like I did this to him."
"Mmm," the Joker said, still listening standing up.
"He was really different when we first met," she said. "He was really kind and interesting and...well he was great."
"And what changed?" the Joker asked.
Adriana sighed and looked away, not knowing if she should share this with him. But once she had begun to talk to him she couldn't stop. Nothing seemed to shock him or make him judgmental.
"After we started..." Adriana said. "Well...being intimate, he changed. I could see it happening, it always happens. He started to get this sense of knowing and wisdom and intuition, like the others, it just made him a cocky. He felt he could have any woman he wanted, and I knew it. Because I've seen it over and over. It manifested different in different men but..He became a better communicator with everyone...everyone but me. And it was true...he was able to win over every woman he wanted. And me..."
The Joker looked at her attentively.
"Me... he just needed to come back to, to recharge his superpowers," Adriana said, shaking her head. "That made him feel like God's gift to all women. He never wanted to lose me because that would mean losing everything he had gained to get what he wanted. It was never about me. He thought it was...at the end...but it wasn't."
Adriana looked across the room and sighed again.
"My husband-" Adriana started to say but didn't know if it was appropriate to discuss Bruce.
"Is different?" the Joker asked, a hint of hopefulness in his voice.
Adriana looked down.
"He's..." Adriana said. "He loves me. He doesn't use me to get other women but.."
"But?" the Joker asked.
"He's...used me in the past for business," she said. "To make him a better negotiator...a more intuitive businessman. He doesn't do that anymore but...well recently.."
Adriana rolled her eyes, almost unable to believe she felt comfortable sharing this much.
"He became obsessed about some things in my past," Adriana told the Joker. "Which..led him down a pretty vulnerable path to a toxic gutter bitch...pardon my language. A repulsive woman with whom he had an affair. And..I know she had something to do with it even though he doesn't blame her. She..has a way of changing the way people act, making them act out of character."
"I am sorry to hear that," the Joker said.
"Yeah..." Adriana said after a deep breath. "I'm sorry you had to hear it. Sorry if I'm oversharing."
"Don't worry about it," he said.
She knew she should have ended the conversation there but once she had started to open up, she couldn't stop.
"My husband thinks I don't care about his affair because I've not been crying about it and getting overly emotional," she said. "But..I'm used to this. I'm used to it."
The Joker looked at her pensively.
"Are you?" he asked somewhat dubiously.
"Of course," she said. "When something happens over and over you tend to adapt."
"Hm...yeah," he said, pulling his lips to the side like he didn't want to say what he was thinking before he proceeded to. "But the way you just said 'I'm used to this'."
"What about it?" she asked.
"It was stated in such an intentionally persuasive way," he said. "As though you're trying to compel yourself to believe it. Sounded like a mantra."
Adriana felt the look of disgust forming on her face as she looked at him.
"Well, I disagree with your assessment," she said, hearing her frustration coming through.
"Okay then," he said, realizing he had said something wrong.
"I should be going," Adriana said and stood quickly, flinging her scarf over her shoulder.
She stood and grabbed her bags.
"Oh...I wanted to tell you," she said before leaving, trying to calm the tension in her voice. "My husband may try to get in touch with you. He wants to thank you properly..so he wants to have a party, probably a dinner."
"Mmm," the Joker said, sounding disinterested.
"He'll invite you but you don't have to come," Adriana said. "I mean..it would probably be very awkard."
The Joker cleared his throat. "I will think about it."
"Really?" Adriana asked, surprised he would even be considering it.
"Will..eh..." the Joker began to ask and then stopped.
"Will what?" she asked.
"Will Arsenio be in attendance?" he asked
"Oh.." Adriana said, and heard her voice soften.
He missed Arsenio, and she could see it. She smiled.
"I mean...it will be at night...I'm assuming more of an adult party," she said. "That's what my husband made it sound like."
"Okay," the Joker said, appearing disappointed. "I'll think about it."
After leaving Adriana walked to the train and felt her phone ringing. She sat her bags onto the ground of the train's platform.
"Bruce?" Adriana asked as a train went by loudly.
"The train," Bruce said, hearing it. "That's where you are."
"Yeah..." Adriana said. "I'll be getting off at 8th street station...any way you could have the security guys pick me up there? This stuff is really heavy."
"The ones you managed to escape?" Bruce laughed. "Sure thing."