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75. The Deep South

I had never slept so soundly, never waking once. It was as though I were dead. But I was in Bruce's custody now, and I had to trust him, all the way to where we were going. I trusted Bruce with my life. But nothing would have ever prepared me for what I was about to wake up to.

At once, my eyes fluttered open. I had no idea how long I had been unconscious. Bruce was seated beside me. We appeared to be at an airport.

A sign behind me read 'G'day, and welcome to Sydney!' My heart sank into my stomach and then immediately rose into my throat. My stomach held the butterflies captive as they swirled relentlessly about my gut. Bruce glanced over at me and smiled.

"Good morning, sunshine," he leaned forward and placed a hand to my forehead.

"Where…where are we?" I asked, afraid for the confirmation to the answer I already knew.

"Welcome to the Land Down Undah," Bruce's Australian accent was terrible.

"For real?! We're in Australia?! I was out for that long?! That's like a…a…24 hour flight from Boston!"

Bruce laughed, "we flew to New York and then from JFK, we flew to Sydney. It was 21 hours, to be exact, but yes, you've been out for roughly that long. I had to do it, Giada. I had to get you as far away as possible,"

I glanced about me, my head aching, "well I'll say so. This is about as far away as it gets, quite literally. What day is it? What month is it? What season is it?!" I was frantic. I stood to my feet and glanced at my phone. It was roaming. Fuck this was going to be an expensive phone bill.

"It's March 23rd, and it's technically autumn here," Bruce smiled, "but let's get going. The limo's here and taking us to my penthouse in the central business district, or the CBD as they call it," Bruce gathered our things and stood to his feet. He had a penthouse in Sydney too? I should have guessed. The man's a billionaire. He probably had a penthouse in ever major city of the world.

I stood to my feet cautiously. I had sea legs like I'd never experienced! He must have slipped me a narcotic and a muscle relaxant in that bottle of water. It tasted like water—I hadn't detected anything uncouth. Bruce was just as cunning as my Joker.

Aside from being totally blindsided by Bruce's temerity, I was rather excited as we pulled out the airport. I had always wanted to visit Australia! It was one of those inexplicable fascinations I always held. I even thought I had remote family there somewhere in Adelaide, according to my cousin, anyway. And there I was—cruising down the highway, on the left side of the road with the windows down. A warm breeze swirled throughout the limousine as we drove. Sydney was a temperate climate, I recalled, at a similar latitude in the southern hemisphere, to the Carolina's in the northern hemisphere. Surely winter here wouldn't be nearly as tragic as winter was in Boston with all those nor'easters, or Gotham for that matter! Those midwestern winters were atrocious. I certainly held a healthy bit of excitement inside as we drove on and on.

The Sydney skyline was impressive. I couldn't wait to get to Bruce's penthouse and explore the city. I hadn't the faintest idea of how long we'd be visiting and when we'd be returning to Gotham, so I had to make sure I saw everything!

Of course, Bruce's penthouse was gorgeous. It was incredibly well-lit with windows and skylights in nearly every room, including a skylight in the master bathroom directly over the large jacuzzi tub. There was a sizable balcony which lead to an impressive view of the city. I could hardly hold my excitement for the setting sun so that I could see the city lit up at night.

Bruce showed me to my room, which was rather large and well furnished. I plopped down onto my king sized bed and breathed a sigh of relief. I was finally a far away from the Joker as is physically possible on this planet. Save for shooting me into orbit or landing on the moon, I couldn't be further away from him than I was at this moment. This prospect both devastated and thrilled me. I wanted nothing more in my life than to spend my life with him, but I knew I couldn't let myself do that unless we held a normal life together.

I gazed at myself in the mirror in my own personal bathroom and touched the scars at each corner of my mouth. They were small, but they were a constant reminder to the life I so desperately needed to leave behind me. They were also a constant reminder of my unyielding infatuation for a mass murdering clown. To my dismay, the scars were noticeable enough that I would never be able to forget. My heart sank deeply as this prospect. I needed to forget it was to ever move on from him.

Searching feverishly through my bags that Bruce procured from his hotel suite in Boston, I found my makeup case. I searched through it for the right kind of makeup to cover the scars. Nothing quite covered them as well as I hoped, but they certainly eased the redness of the new scar. It was still sore opening my mouth, and laughing certainly was pained. I guess the Joker got the last laugh on that one. Laughing was now painful for more. How could I always be laughing? I frowned into the mirror at the thought, but my heart beat deeply for him. That one night in Boston that was supposed to be for me ended up being the most romantic night I had ever experienced with him. Now he was thousands of miles away from me, somewhere, I presumed, in Boston. Maybe he was looking for me. Maybe he had given up the minute I left cafe Vittoria.

I spun around on the heels of my feet and glided through the penthouse. I needed to see the city.

"Well, what do you think?" Bruce asked, coming up behind me.

I turned around and smiled up at him, "it's fantastic. I never knew you had a place in Sydney. I would have asked you to take me here soon!" I jested, "I have always wanted to come to Australia. Even when I was a little girl, I held this strange fascination with Australia, but I never imagined I'd actually get to visit,"

"I'm glad you're here too. I think you'll really take a liking to it. The Australians are such nice, easy going people,"

"How long do I have here before we head back to Gotham?" I asked. Bruce shifted uneasily in his stance.

His silence perturbed me, "Bruce…we are going back to Gotham at some point, right?"

"I will be headed back there in a couple of weeks. I bought you a one way ticket here, Giada,"

My heart sank. A one way ticket?! I wouldn't be headed back to Gotham with Bruce. I was going to be stuck here for as long as it took me to afford a plane ticket back to the States. Plane tickets to Australia were horrendously expensive, which was one of the main reasons I had never jumped on the opportunity of traveling here.

"I…You…I'm…excuse me?" I was speechless, "Bruce, what am I to do for work? What am I to do about making a living? I know nobody here!"

"I know, I know. I did what I had to do to keep you safe. Giada, this is literally the further place I could have taken you to get away from the Joker, save for maybe Japan or Hong Kong. But I figured Australia was perfect. They speak English here. They need healthcare workers. You can live here at the penthouse. It's not forever, Giada. I promise you, I won't be gone for long after I leave. I'll try and come back every month to see how you're doing. We can SKYPE too, when I'm not here. But I couldn't risk having you come back to Gotham with me, only to have him find you again and drag you down into his depths of despair. You've been down that road several times now. He always seems to find you and now he knows you always run home to Boston. I had to take you somewhere he'd have no way of ever finding you, or any way of ever getting here even if he did figure it out,"

"You sorely underestimate him, Bruce. He will find me, I assure you. It may take him a while now, but he will find me and when he does, he will find a way to get himself here. I don't know how he does it, but he will come to Sydney one way or another,"

"I think you seem to hold him in some higher regard than he is, Giada. He's just a man. He's not some super hero, or otherworldly kind of telepath who can just act outside of the forces of the natural world. He's just a man, with no more ability than I or you have. He will not find you here," Bruce soothed.

I inhaled deeply, considering all he spoke. He was right. The Joker was just a man, no different than Bruce or myself. He had no special abilities. He was cunning, and he was brilliant. But he had no way of knowing where I was. He had no way of reaching me, no phone directory, no one outside of our small circle of common acquaintances even knew I was here—just Bruce.

"I have to call my mother," I said finally. Bruce smiled.

"Of course," he handed me a phone, "you need to dial the country code first before you enter her phone number. The prefix code for calling the States is 011"

"Where is your phone?" I asked, glancing around the immaculate penthouse.

"You can't call her now, Giada. It's like 2 in the morning in Boston right now,"

"Oh right," I had completely forgotten that there was a huge time difference. I would have to configure some kind of time chart for myself so I could know at all times when it was appropriate to call my mom.

"Are you hungry? Let's go grab some dinner,"

"Sounds like a grand plan," My stomach was definitely grumbling. I wondered what kind of different foods I would discover while living in Australia!