"Guests, how nice," Bruce Wayne said when he saw Adriana and Lucius Fox exiting the elevator. They had arrived to a floor that Lucius needed to use his ID badge to access. The place was spacious and open, with tall glass windows that went up to the ceiling. The walls were a matte dark grey color, and the golden early evening sunlight made the environment look much warmer than Adriana imagined it would look under bright daylight.

"Good evening, Mr. Fox," a beautiful redhead said from behind an enormous white reception desk and Bruce walked away from her and over to them.

"Hello, Claire," Lucius responded and handed Bruce a file. "Good evening, Bruce."

Bruce smiled and Lucius nodded and walked away, leaving them.

"Well done," Bruce said. "I had a feeling you would figure it out."

"Oh," Adriana replied. "Thanks."

Like all the pictures she had looked at online, he was the same in person. Incredibly handsome. He wore a dark gray suit, almost the exact same color of the walls and a crisp white shirt with a deep gray tie that had very fine stitching in a brick like pattern. His hair was dark, smooth and lustrous as were his eyebrows. He carried himself with an incredible amount of calm and confidence and smiled in a way that encouraged trust.

"Can I get you something to drink?" the receptionist called to Adriana as she stood. "Or eat?"

"No, I'm alright," Adriana said with a smile. "But thank you."

"Okay," the girl said sweetly. "If that changes let me know and I'll be happy to get something for you."

"Thanks," Adriana said back.

"Follow me," Bruce said and Adriana did so.

He led her across the enormous open reception area and across another large room, which could have been a waiting room except it was gigantic and had only enough areas for maybe five people to sit. They went through a hallway and turned a corner to another.

"Right this way," Bruce said to break the silence as she followed behind him. He came to a door where he pressed his index finger against a small screen which flashed a green light after a second and Bruce was able to push the door open.

"Thank you," Adriana said as he stood beside the door holding it open for her.

The appearance of the office surprised her, since it was such a contrast to the very modern and almost cold ambiance of the rest of the building. The room was warm and inviting, with a dark wood desk and shelves of books. Beautiful deep red upholstery covered the seating, and the curtains were heavy and appeared to be Victorian. There was even a fireplace and a small bar across the room. He had two offices. One for serious business and professionalism and another one that felt cozier and more personal.

"We can talk freely here," Bruce said after shutting door. "Entirely soundproof."

"Your receptionist is very nice," Adriana offered.

"She's great," Bruce said with a smile. "I hope they didn't give you too much trouble downstairs."

"Well," Adriana shrugged and looked around, admiring a painting on the wall. "They were just doing their job."

"Have a seat," Bruce gestured to the couch beside another wall covered in shelves with books. "I mean, I think me sitting at my desk and you there," he pointed to the seat in from of his desk, "Would be a bit too impersonal."

"I understand," Adriana said and sat and Bruce sat and turned towards her.

"Have you reached a decision about my offer?" he asked very bluntly.

"Actually," Adriana took a deep breath and pulled out the check. "I have. I'm sorry, but I don't think I can be of much use to you now. Things have...changed for me."

"You mean after..." Bruce tried to find the correct words. "You told me someone did something to reduce your abilities?"

"Well, yes that.." she answered. "It seems difficult for me to hear what anyone is thinking unless it's just one or two people in close proximity. If there's many people around, like downstairs in the reception area...it's very difficult. Very loud. Also, I used to hear everything without trying at all and now I have to concentrate..."

Her voice trailed off as she wondered if she was talking to much about something he might not care to hear the details about, but she then noticed that he was listening intently.

"I see," Bruce said nodding as if he wanted her to continue.

"And," Adriana took another deep breath. "It doesn't seem like there's much information I could give you about him that would useful. He doesn't have memories of his youth, no weaknesses, nothing that he really cares about, no vulnerable areas..."

"The police officer, Ricard," Bruce started to speak. "He told me you were only with him in the room for less than 30 seconds."

"That's true," Adriana replied.

"Do you think more time would help you see if there's anything we can use?"

"It's possible," she shrugged. "I...imagine I would have to focus and there would have to be as few people around as possible."

"He also told me you became sick?" Bruce said with a bit of concern. "I read a report he wrote for the Commissioner. Was it from being in this situation? Please understand I don't want to pressure you into this. I'm just trying to understand."

"No," Adriana answered. "I got sick from a new medication they gave me. It made me vomit twice. I didn't get to tell Damien that, he probably assumed I was sick from the situation too."

"Damien?" Bruce replied, curious about the first name basis.

"Yeah," Adriana shrugged. "We're...involved."

Bruce nodded.

"So, when you say you used to hear everything without trying, what does that mean exactly?" he asked and leaned forward a bit.

"Oh, that," she answered. He smelled amazing. "Basically, I would hear everyone's thoughts and memories at all times. In close proximity but sometimes far away as well. Usually, it would be a lot of thoughts and memories going on at once...all the time. It would be a jumble sometimes, incoherent because everything would be clashing. But usually, whichever thoughts or memories were the most harsh and painful would stand out above the others. The others would become background noise and the horrific ones would be the loudest and clearest."

"All the time?" Bruce said after a pause. "What about when you sleep?"

"I haven't slept much in my life," she explained. "Some medications would help temporarily though."

"I see," Bruce said sympathetically.

"It's much better now after the woman I met, Sidi," Adriana said to ease his concern. "She helped me a lot. I've been sleeping."

"Well," Bruce exhaled and ran a hand through his dark hair. "That's a relief, isn't it?"

"It's amazing," Adriana said and smiled.

Bruce was quiet and looked at her for a few seconds. Adriana wondered what he was thinking.

God, she's gorgeous.

She heard his thought clearly and willed herself not to react. Bruce Wayne thought she was gorgeous? If he knew she was in his head, he might become uncomfortable, she assumed. She could also tell he was trying to control and contain his thoughts but was failing miserably.

"Would you be comfortable going back?" he asked after taking a short breath and looking away for a second, as if breaking free from a trance.

"Back where?" she asked him.

"Crest Hill Institution," Bruce answered. "To see if there's anything else you could find out about him?"

Adriana looked down, pensively.

"We can adjust the compensation to whatever your fee would be," Bruce added. "Just name your price."

"Well, you've given me this," Adriana held out the check for $10 million. "Which is far too generous, and I may not even be able to provide you with anything usable."

"That's okay," Bruce said and surprised Adriana by taking her free hand and placing it over the other hand which held the check. "This is yours-I just need us to at least try to see if this can lead to anything." Their eyes locked for a few seconds.

"He has paid some of the guards," Adriana said, trying to remember.

"Wow," Bruce sighed and released her hands and placed his hands on his knees and looked a bit frustrated. "You're sure?"

"Yes," she answered. "In fact, the last night that I was there I went for a swim and he was there..roaming around free in the middle of the night. They let him do what he wants."

"You were alone?" Bruce said seriously, the tone in his voice darkening a bit.

"Yes," Adriana said, not wanting to tell him that in that moment she didn't care whether she lived or died. "The guard came along a few moments later though and I left."

Bruce looked at her in a way that told her that he knew she was skipping something, and was unsure if he should pry. But he decided to anyway.

"Did he hurt you?" Bruce asked.

"No," Adriana answered clearly. It was the truth after all...she remembered his hand around her throat, firm enough to push her with but not enough to cause pain.

He had been waiting for her to react. Waiting for a flinch or recoil. He would have killed her but she couldn't force the reaction he needed. Even though she had wanted to die, she couldn't pretend to be repulsed by him, when in truth, she felt nothing.

"If you would be open to going back," Bruce said after what Adriana could see in his mind as him trying to decide if he believed her, and then deciding that she would have no reason to lie. "I would send in some security for you. We would exchange the guards for some people working for me. You would never be in any danger."

"That's a good idea," she said.

"Do you know the names of the bribed guards," he asked.

"Yup," she said and told him the names that she knew. "There could be more by now."

"This is very valuable information. And listen, you don't have to make a decision right now but-"

"I'll do it," she said quickly. "It will be much safer this way."

"I truly appreciate this," Bruce said in a relived sigh. "Even if there's nothing new you can find out, just exposing the guards willing to be bribed and possibly put the lives of other patients in danger is a success. Also, the Joker will be blindsided by not having them on his side. If he was planning an escape it will be much more difficult now."

"This really is too much though," Adriana held out the check again.

"It's nothing," Bruce said and gave a small smile.

"Ten million dollars is nothing?" she asked.

"Wayne Enterprises has likely made that in the amount of time we've been sitting here talking," he said and stood. "It's nothing."

"It's a lot to me," she said still sitting and looking up at him.

"Well, here's an idea," he said with a smile. "There's a fundraiser gala next week. If you would like, you could attend and maybe make a donation."

"That sounds good," Adriana said, the thought of charity wasn't too bad. With only a mild attempt she was back in his mind again. He wanted her to attend the gala...not only to ease her guilt about accepting such a large sum of money, but to have a reason to see her again. She smiled and looked down.

"You could bring a guest, I will send you two tickets," he said, and she knew he was thinking of her bringing Damien.

"Thank you so much."

"Not at all," Bruce said took her hand as she stood. "Whenever you're ready to go back to the Institution, let me know."

"You know," she said and looked into his eyes. "We might as well get this done as soon as possible, right?"

"Right," he replied with a confident smile.