Adriana kneeled in the muddy earth, digging her fingers and nails into the ground. She could see a blurry reflection in the polished headstone. Her own. She ran a muddy finger down the stone and bit her trembling lower lip. The police were probably ransacking her home right now, waiting until she either came home or was caught. Everything she had was left back at the loft…her money, her jewelry, her clothes…
She had nothing left.
Adriana leaned her forehead against the cool, wet headstone and closed her eyes, sucking in her breath sharply.
"Am I making you proud yet, Carlos?" She whispered, brushing stray hairs away as they stuck to her soaked skin. "That's what I'm trying to do. I hope you understand. I'm showing you how I can go on with life…look, see? Everything…everything is going to be fine." Adriana rubbed her cold cheek against the rough carving of her husband's name.
After a moment, she picked up her sopping wet purse and pulled out a slightly wilted lily, placing it among the various dying roses arranged before the grave.
"I'm sorry, love. I know it's not much, but…it's all I could grab before I left home." She started to rummage through her purse, murmuring to herself. "I…I did manage to bring something else. I know you'll like it." After a few seconds, Adriana abruptly stopped moving. She could hear a faint sloshing coming up the path, slowing to a stop beside her.
Her eyes slowly drifted up the dark figure's body until she was staring at his face, the rain flooding her vision. She gave a startled gasp, leaping to her feet, and pointed at the figure.
"Y-you! Batman! What are you doing here! Get out of here now!"
"What? Not happy to see me?" He asked gruffly. "I thought you were "waiting" for me…Did you get cold feet?"
"This is my husband's grave. How dare you even think of coming here…you have a lot of nerve! Get away, now!"
The caped figure slowly circled around her. "I was looking forward to seeing the girl who's holding a grudge against me for something that was an accident."
Adriana quivered. Not out of fear, but out of pure hatred and anger.
"An accident? You call this," she thrust her hand at the grave and scowled, "an accident? You stepped out of the path of a bullet in order to save YOUR life. How very heroic of you…"
"I was only doing my job…" The bat muttered calmly as the young lady approached him.
"Job? Your job…oh! That's right! Protecting the good people of Gotham. How could I forget?"
Batman lowered his head and frowned at her. "You're not exactly the picture of innocence yourself."
"Don't you dare talk to me like that!" Adriana brought up her hand, slapping the hero across his face. The bat took a few steps back, holding his cheek, and scowled at her.
"You're stronger than you look…" He growled, setting his jaw. Adriana stood a few feet away, shaking her hand a bit as a smile crept onto her lips.
"Well, you have no idea how long I've wanted to do that…"
Batman watched as the delicate-looking lady picked her purse off the ground and squinted at him through the rain. The caped figure glared at her.
"So…is that it then? You kill four people to get to me…you give me a sissy slap, and now what? You gonna hightail it out of here?"
Adriana took a few tentative steps forward and stopped just inches away from Batman.
"Actually," She gave a soft, chilling laugh. She placed an arm around his shoulder and rested her soft hand on the back of his neck. She smiled up sweetly and stared up with oddly inviting eyes. "I wasn't going to leave until I could do this."
Bruce scowled as the lady leaned up, coming too close to his face for comfort. Before he could pull away, he felt something sharp against his abdomen. He blinked, staring down as Adriana's demeanor changed from warm and gentle to ice cold.
"Oops." She muttered and pushed him hard away from her. The caped man fell backwards and looked at his stomach for the source of the strange feeling. All he could see was the handle and the lower part of a blade sticking up from his suit. He wrapped his hand around the handle and wrenched the weapon from his suit, hissing in pain.
The girl crouched beside him, grabbing his face in her hands. "So…what does it feel like, you disgusting little vermin, to see your world turn upside-down? Does it hurt? Does it hurt to know that a pathetic girl like me was able to do this to you? Never let your guard down, Batman. Anything can happen when you do…lesson number one." She twisted his neck towards the tombstone nearby. "See that man's grave? That man…he was a good man. Sweet, honest, loving…he was devoted to his work and his duty as a husband. And where has that gotten him? Into a box under the dirt….dead…thanks to you." She squeezed his face harder. "We were going to move out into the suburbs. We were searching for a nice home out there, hoping that we could find a good one in a good neighborhood. We were going to start a family, settle down, grow old together, watch our children grow up…" She picked up the fallen blade from the mud and held it up against his neck. "And you just had to ruin it all. Well…you're not so smart…look how easily letting your guard down allowed me to trick you into my little web."
Adriana yelped as the Dark Knight reached up and clung to her hand, an odd, spiteful spark in his eye. "You're not the only one with little tricks, Adriana." The man pushed himself off the ground and hoisted the girl into the air by her arm. She screamed, flailing and kicking her legs. She landed a few good kicks until the caped crusader flung her to the ground like a rag doll.
Adriana let out a strange sound, a kind of squeak and hiccupping noise, as her face hit the muddy earth. She pushed herself up, craning her neck around and staring at the hero through the dirt and blades of grass. She spat out a mouthful of mud and looked down. Right beside the man's feet was the blade, just resting there. She had to get it.
Batman touched the tear in his suit and winced. The knife had gone in deep, but wasn't too long and only punctured the skin. He would be fine. He started towards the girl to pick her up when she scrambled past him on the ground and clutched the knife in her fingers.
Batman lunged after her, but she was already on her feet, heaving and glowering at him.
"You see what I've been reduced to? I'm a criminal. I'm a murderer. I'm a menace. Why? Because…because I have to make my Carlos proud. I have to show him how strong I can be."
"Give me that knife."
Adriana swallowed hard and looked up. She could hear a noise down at the gate. Sirens. She turned to Batman, horrified.
"You called them here…"
"Give me the knife Adriana…"
"You're trying to get me arrested. No…no I won't. I won't go with you, or them, or anyone!" She brought the weapon around, trying to catch him off guard. But the Dark Knight was on it. He immediately grabbed her wrist and clung to it as she wriggled desperately to get free.
"You need to pay up for those murders."
Adriana scowled, dropping the knife into the mud. As a last attempt, she reached out and swung her free hand at his face, striking a few good punches and scratches. She screamed, trying to break away from his grasp, but the man held fast. Adriana slapped him hard across the face and laughed her harsh, cruel laugh. "What's the matter, Bat-boy. Can't take a few punches? Too big of a man to strike back? Whatever happened to sissy slaps? Good job there, HERO…"
Batman's temper boiled over. He brought his fist around and, before he could stop himself, struck the girl across the cheek. He frowned, watching as she tumbled from his grasp, teetering and blinking slowly.
The masked figure immediately regretted it. 'Bruce, what are you doing punching a girl?' He rushed over, trying to catch her before she fell, but it was already too late.
Adriana's vision grew white at the edges, the noise growing to a dull hum. Her head lolled about slowly until she felt her body hit the soft earth. Blurry figures were rushing up to the scene, but she didn't care about them. All she could think of was her talk with Carlos last night. How she could feel him, hold him, talk to him. Then, a quiet memory slipped into her head. The last feeling on her face was from the tears rolling down her cheek. After that, everything went numb and blank. All Adriana could think about was one thing…
"I'm so sorry Carlos…I promised I wouldn't cry."
Gordon raced through the graveyard, weaving through the headstones. He had heard screaming, and he was expecting the worst. Lucky that cab driver had been listening to the news or else they'd have no idea where to find Adriana. But something was wrong. Gordon could sense it. He came to a sudden stop and knitted his eyebrows together as he spotted the lifeless figure in the mud, soaked and dirty.
"Oh no…god no…please tell me that's not her…" He hopped over one of the headstones and fell to his knees beside the young lady. She was bleeding from the corner of her mouth, and a stark red mark stood out on her pale cheek. He placed his fingers on her neck and sighed in relief. She was still alive.
A few other officers trudged up behind Gordon and frowned, looking away from the scene. Adriana had been a staple at the office, always visiting the boys when Carlos was on his lunch break. She was like their sister, everyone's friend. To see her like this, her face coated in dirt and blood, was awful. Gordon looked up at them and held his hand over his face to block the rain.
"Get an ambulance up here. I'll bring her down to the sidewalk." He lifted the girl into his arms, surprised at how light she was. He turned, preparing to leave, when one of the officers let out a shout.
"Sir!"
Gordon turned his head. The policeman held up a dingy, grime-covered object and proceeded to wipe his thumb over it, washing away most of the dirt. It was Carlos's badge.
"I found it in her purse. What do I do with it? Send it to evidence?"
"What for?" Gordon barked. "Let the girl keep it. We can't take that away from her." Gordon started down the muddy path, watching his steps carefully. He didn't want to slip now. Before reaching the gate, he threw one last look up to the hillside. A dark figure loomed there, watching him with unblinking eyes before disappearing into the rain.
Gordon felt the girl twitch in his arms and watched the ambulance scream down the street towards them. He got a mixed feeling from this little victory. He was thrilled to have caught the killer, but sickened at the thought of putting Adriana into prison.
"Commissioner?"
Gordon looked up as a paramedic stood there, arms outstretched. "I'll…I'll help you put her on the stretcher."
The paramedic nodded. "Yessir."