"How many episodes of Nikita are you going to watch?" Harri asked Adriana.
"All of them, I guess," Adriana replied. It was her fourth day in a row of being retired to the couch and watching shows. "She's so...strong."
"Yeah," Harri said and took the remote and shut off the TV. "I have to leave tonight and go back to work tomorrow morning, but I'm not entirely sure you won't turn into a total vegetable after I go. You seem depressed. I mean...break ups are never easy, even with toxic assholes. I think I should stay...I need to make sure you're okay. I can call my boss and-"
"Harri, I am totally fine," Adriana said and picked up her cup of coffee.
"You're depressed," Harri answered.
"I'm not..I'm just adjusting," Adriana said.
"Are you sure that's it?" Harri asked.
"Yeah..I'm just trying to get used to this," Adriana said. "What would convince you I'm okay?"
"Actually leave the house," Harri sad and picked up the empty coffee mug. "Do something other than lay here..."
"I will, I promise," Adriana said.
"You sure? Because I will call out of work tomorrow."
"No, don't get fired because of me," Adriana told her.
"You need to do something good and productive," Harri said. "I think it would make you feel better."
"I know," Adriana said, sounding a bit excited, amd sat up. "I'll go to the bank and pay off my house."
"Really?" Harri said. "I'm impressed. You can afford to do that?"
"Yes," Adriana said. and finally stood up and smiled. "I'll go and do that."
"Okay.." Harri said still sounding unsure. "Don't be out too long. I want to have dinner with you before I leave."
.
.
It was 4:50 p.m. when Adriana arrived at the downtown branch of Gotham National Bank. Since they were closing in ten minutes the place was nearly empty. She walked to the waiting area for people needing to see customer service representatives and signed her name on a sheet and her sign in time. After sitting in a couch in the area she tried to relax, but again was thinking of Damien. She wondered how he had been capable of doing what he had done to her. She remembered saying no, over and over. She felt weak and she hated it.
"Adriana Navarro?" a man called her name and introduced himself. "Ryan Kane, come with me." He was very tall and lean with silver hair and thin glasses at the tip of his nose.
She followed him to his desk which was behind a glass partition with four others.
"Ms. Navarro," he said with a smile. "You wanted to make a payment on your mortgage?"
"Yes," Adriana said and sat down. "Actually I wanted to pay the rest off."
"Excellent," he replied and took his seat. "You have an account with us?"
"Yes," she answered. "I would have sent a check but I don't have any."
"We can get you a new checkbook today," he said. "May I have your name and date of birth please?"
She gave him the information and waited for him to pull up her account.
"Alright," he said. "It looks like your balance is $41,500."
"Sound's correct," she nodded and sat her purse on the seat beside her.
"Alright, if you would like to pay from your saving's balance I will just go and print some paperwork for you to sign," he said and stood up after clicking his mouse several times.
"Sounds easy," she said.
"It is," he said.
A loud gunshot startled them both and Ryan went from standing to laying flat on his stomach on the floor. He reached up and grabbed Adriana's arm.
"Get down!" he said loudly.
It seemed like he had witnessed this happening before. Adriana felt taken off guard and again weak.
She went down onto the floor beside him and covered her head with both hands. One more shot fired and they both flinched.
"Don't move or say anything," Ryan said, facing the floor.
Adriana turned her head to the right and saw through the glass two masked robbers at the teller's desks with guns pointed. She could see one of the tellers, an older woman with tightly curled blonde hair stuffing cash into a black bag. Two other robbers were shouting and pointing guns at a few of the customers who were crouched down on the floor with their hands above their heads. Another one was coming in their direction. As he got closer Adriana put her face back down onto the floor and closed her eyes tightly.
He walked through the glass and over to Ryan's desk and kicked him in the leg. Adriana saw a few other robbers pass him, and she could see their thoughts. They were heading to the vaults.
"Don't move!" the robber shouted. "Stay down. Did you call for help?"
"No, I swear I didn't," Ryan answered. "I dropped to the floor as soon as I heard the gunshot."
"Good," the robber said and walked to the door. "You two get up now."
Adriana could see his thoughts. He wanted them in the other room with the other hostages. Adriana pushed up from the floor and stood slowly.
"Go," he ordered them to pass them as he pointed a gun in their direction. "Hands in the air. Wait-"
The robber grabbed Adriana's wrist as she passed.
"You," he said. "Come with me."
"What?" Ryan turned defensively. "Let her go-"
"You, go out there," the robber demanded and Ryan backed away slowly was the gun moved slowly to be pointed at his head. "Or I will put a bullet in your brain."
Ryan obeyed and walked away carefully until he was with the other hostages. The robbers were working quickly and were already returning from the vault with enormous bags of cash.
"Badger," one called the the man holding Adriana's arm firmly. "Let's get a move on. We're done here."
"Wait," the robber, code named Badger, called to the other. "What about this?"
"Her?" the other asked.
"Yeah," Badger nodded and the other laughed darkly. "Could be fun."
Adriana felt more ill than she ever had before when she examined his thoughts. His intentions.
"Agreed, but that's not what we came for. Leave her, we are already two minutes behind."
"Fuck," Badger said and flung Adriana to the floor and they left hurriedly.
A few moments later they were gone and the employees and customers in the bank finally stood. Some looking angry, a few crying and a few on their phones. Ryan rushed over to Adriana immediately and helped her up.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Yeah," she replied, a bit shaken.
"The police are on their way don't worry," Ryan said. "They'll be caught."
"I know," Adriana said. She knew the names of the two she was in close proximity to, but that didn't make her feel any better.
She fell into one of the seats and took a few deep breaths. The thoughts of Badger had disgusted her so much that she wanted to go after them herself, guns blazing. But she...was weak. At leas physically. Ryan was looking at her with a great deal of concern.
"I'm fine," she told him calmly. "We're all a bit shaken."
"Yes," Ryan agreed as the sounds of sirens came closer. "This has happened to many times here."
As the police filed into the building, Adriana began to daydream. She thought of moving to Chicago with her sister. Maybe she could rent out her house after she paid it off. She now had enough money to move anywhere that she wanted. Gotham was always a horrible place to live, but it seemed to always be getting worse.
"Navarro," a police officer said to Adriana. Adriana recognized him from when she would visit the police precinct for her freelance work but his name escaped her.
"I'm sorry I can't remember your name," she said.
"Officer Page," he said."Are you hurt?"
"No," she answered. "I'd like to leave."
"We're taking statements now," he said.
"They came in, shot at the ceiling and took the money. I'm sure you heard it already."
"Yes," he said. Adriana felt a bit guilty, hearing the bad attitude in her voice. Inside, she was boiling with anger and not just at the robbery. She felt angry overall and was getting very annoyed with Officer Page, even though he had done nothing wrong.
"Can I go?" she asked.
"I don't see why not," he said and she walked past him quickly after grabbing her bag.
Everything was a blur as she made her way to the front exit of the bank. As she went down the front steps rapidly she heard a familiar voice call her.
"Navarro," Commissioner Gordon called from the other end of the steps by the sidewalk.
"Gordon," she said, as he walked over.
"You were here when this happened?" he asked.
"Yup," she said, now knowing he would question her too.
"Anything you can offer?" he said, with no pressure in his voice. She nodded. "Come with me."
They went back into the bank and Gordon asked the manager who had been hiding in his office for access to a room where could have a discussion privately. The manager offered his office and they went in. After the door was shut Adriana let out a huge, unmistakably exasperated, sigh.
"Yes, this is very frustrating," Gordon said, placing his hands on his hips.
"Those fuckers," Adriana surprised herself with the outburst.
"We know what happened," Gordon said.
"They were working for the Joker," Adriana said. "He hired them before he went to Arkham. Some of his money has been confiscated. Me and the Batman were working on it."
"I see," Gordon said, not writing anything down. Adriana felt a bit relieved that she could talk to Gordon about these things. He was the only one who knew that she was working with the Batman.
"Two of the robbers," Adriana said, pulling from her memory and quick work penetrating the minds of the robbers. "Names were Nick Camper, and Bobby Polarco."
"Okay," Gordon said, finally pulling out his pen and writing.
"They are going to a warehouse on South Lee Street right now. They won't be there long," Adriana said. "One with..red paint around the roof area. The top of the building is painted red the rest gray."
"Navarro this is priceless," he said. "As usual. I'm sorry that you had to witness they but at the same time I am thankful you were here. Anything else?"
"Nope," she said. "That's all. Can I go?"
"Of course," Gordon said and Adriana walked out right away.
As she left she could see Gordon working quickly to gather his team. He was making a call, which Adriana knew was to get nearby units over to Lee Street. She heaved another angry sigh and kicked an empty cup on the ground so hard that in flew straight up into the air and fell back into almost the same spot. After rolling her eyes she hailed a taxi back home.