"You just waking up?" Damien asked Adriana. He was standing at her front door with a pizza box. "No wonder you haven't answered my calls. I've been calling you since 9."
"What time is it?" she groaned and let him in.
"2 p.m.," he told her as she shut the door. "Nice robe."
"Ugh.." she groaned again and rubbed her forehead. "Slept late. Sorry. Why have you been calling me since 9?"
"Good news," he said opening the pizza box.
"Sausage, mushroom...and fire roasted tomatoes.." she said, unable to resist smiling. "My favorite."
"I know," he said. "Smells amazing."
"Yes," she said and grabbed a slice. "Wait," she said, while chewing. "Are you trying to make me feel better about something? What happened?"
"Madame Twyla-" Damien started.
"That bitch still wants to press charges?" Adriana demanded.
"No, no," Damien tried to calm her. "But the best the lawyer could get her to agree on was two hundred."
"Two hundred thousand? Shit...I know the stuff in her shop wasn't worth nearly that much," Adriana said. "And she must have insurance."
"Can you afford it?" he asked.
"Yes...luckily.." Adriana said. She was still a millionaire even after spending hundreds of thousands on blue potion from Madame Twyla. Thanks to Bruce paying her for her first job working with him as the Batman. Ten million dollars and she wasn't sure she could ever spend it all.
"That's great," Damien said cheerfully as she took another bite of pizza.
"Can't believe..all this crap...feels like a dream. Getting a mugshot taken and locked in a cell," she said.
"Yeah, I can't believe it either. Neither can Gordon," Adriana said.
"Does he think I'm crazy?" she asked. "He didn't say much to me yesterday. I wonder if I'm fired...you know, from working with the police."
"No, he doesn't think that, come on. He's just concerned, like me," Damien said. "And she dropped the charges so you don't have a record."
"I think the madness stops now. I won't be using anything from that woman ever again. She gave me something and it made me so...reckless. I don't want to end up hurting someone, or myself. I felt like I lost control of myself in her shop," Adriana told him.
"You really shouldn't be taking any substances, Adriana," Damien said. "You don't know what it is. Could be drugs of some kinds."
"And I won't ever again," she told him and took a sip of the bottle of ginger ale he sat on the counter.
"Glad to hear it," he said and walked over to her to take the pizza from her hand.
"Dam-" she started to say but he had already kissed her.
She leaned back, surprised.
"Sorry," he said. "It's just..you look so beautiful right now."
"What?" she said and started to laugh. "Yeah I'm sure I look wonderful," she said and pushed her messy hair back. She couldn't help but think about the kiss he had just given her and how little she felt from it.
It felt like nothing.
"You do," he said and went in to kiss her again but she moved her lips away.
"Damien...I appreciate everything you've done but..." she said.
He looked at her. It really was over.
"Yeah, I know," he said and took a step back. "I should get back to work."
"Okay..." she said but noticed him staring at the side of her face.
"What's that?" he asked and reached for her cheek.
"What's what?" she asked and touched her face, feeling nothing. She felt blind without her gift and being unable to immediately see what he saw.
"There," he said and licked his thumb before swiping the left side of her jawline. He showed it to her, it was white. White paint. Paint had rubbed off onto her skin.
"Oh.." she said, her mind racing for a lie. "Must be leftover face mask from last night."
"Feels like dried paint," he said.
"Well that's how face masks feel," she lied to him. He wouldn't know anything about skin care.
"Okay then," he said.
"Thanks for the pizza," she said.
"No problem," he said and wiped the paint off on a paper towel. "Enjoy."
.
.
.
"You're late."
Shade turned after hearing the voice behind her. She used her grapple gun to ascend to the roof of a hotel across the street from the Regio Casino in Gotham. Everything looked normal on the outside but they both knew what was happening inside. One of the Casino's guests had written a text message expressing distress. In her haste, she texted her mother rather than the police. The Batman was alerted to the text message as was Shade. But the police had no idea.
"I am?" she asked him.
"Well..later than usual," he said.
"What's happening," she asked him for a rundown while looking over the colorful lights surrounding the casino.
"Security footage is compromised, front doors have been locked. Looking at it, I have to assume it was an inside job and there are employees involved in this heist. Also," he said and placed a hand on her shoulder and pointed. "There's an armored truck in the parking structure there. They're loading it up. We likely only have a few minutes. Not sure how many of them there are inside. The police will likely be here in fifteen."
"So what's your plan? What are you doing here?" she asked and then looked into his eyes for answers. Without knowing his thoughts, she knew, and smiled. "You were waiting for me. You want my help."
"You take the truck, I'll go into the building," he said. "Via the roof. Don't let them leave."
She knew that he could probably do this alone but didn't want to risk one group tipping off the other about his presence there. He knew it would be easier to work together. And he wanted to see her again.
"Okay," she said. "Let's do this."
.
.
Shade hid behind a large blue minivan in the parking garage close to the armored truck. She had to take out one of the team's men at the entrance and she was hoping none of them were trying to communicate with him.
"Four minutes," she heard a voice bark. "And we need to be out. Sprigati!" Hurry up! the man said in Italian.
She lifted her head a bit, looking through the glass on the driver's side and saw the man in a dark suit return to the building. Three others were carrying bags. None of their thoughts would help her now. She needed to act, and let her instinct take over.
She made a mad dash for the truck where there was only one of them there and the other two had gone into the building for more bags. He didn't see her. She went around to the opposite side of the truck and waited for him to turn his back. Her opportunity came and she gave him a hard spinning kick to the back which made his knees buckle. He reacted so quickly that he grabbed his gun before he hit the ground, and she reacted even quicker, kicking it out of his hand before punching him hard in the face. He kicked her back, hitting her in the ribs and she staggered back against the truck. She had no idea how heavy the bags were going to be when she grabbed one. He was making his way back to his feet behind her and she grabbed the bag with all of her strength. It ended up being much lighter than anticipated as she swung it at his face. She swung it hard enough to knock him off of his feet and send coins in the bag flying everywhere.
The other two men were coming down the ramp at her and one fired at her. The bullet hit her suit on the shoulder, giving her a great deal of pain, but fortunately her suit was bulletproof. The one with the gun lunged at her and she ducked when he threw a punch at her and hit him hard in the stomach. The other grabbed her from behind while the first one doubled over in pain. She easily side stepped and elbowed him in the abdomen, as Bruce had taught her before spinning with a kick high enough to strike his face. He dropped immediately and a gun fell off of him. She grabbed it and spun to the other man who didn't have enough time to raise his gun to her again, but was about to.
"Drop it!" she yelled. "Now!"
Slowly he placed the gun on the ground. The instant his fingertips were away from the gun and before he could stand upright again, she came down hard with the handle of the gun in her hand against his temple, rendering him unconscious.
She turned and saw the man in the suit watching her from the top of the ramp, a few feet inside of the building. She prepared herself for him to possibly come at her or shoot. But he turned and ran back into the building. She held the gun with both hands and walked into the building.
It was a bit scary, not knowing who could be around any corner. Anything could happen. She walked slowly down a long corridor and heard a struggle. She walked a bit more and saw him, the Batman, fighting three at once and easily knocking them all out. The room they were in had giant glass windows and there were several tables and money counting machines. There was cash everywhere, all over the floor.
After punching the last one out, the Batman saw her through the glass and walked quickly over to the door to meet her.
"Are there more?" she asked.
"Yes," he answered. "They've gathered all of the guests into one of the lounge rooms. The playing rooms should be empty."
"What do you want to do next?"
"I'll take the lounge rooms..You go to the main rooms and make sure they're empty."
"Sure," she said and left for the rooms after he gave her directions.
She held out her gun as she walked in between the rows of slot machines, making sure there was no one there. Poker tables, abandoned mid game, were clear as well. She made her way to the bar area, it looked clear.
Glass shattering scared her beyond belief after she heard a gunshot. Someone was shooting at her and they had missed and shot at the rows of bottle on the back wall of the bar. She ducked and ran behind the bar as more shots were fired and chunks of wood flew off of the end of the bar top. The shots stopped and she heard footsteps...she held her hand up and fired a few gun shots in his direction. He began to fire back and then she heard the clicking sounds of his gun, he was out. She stood and lept over the bar, running at him and tackling him before he could reload and sending the gun flying from his hand.
It was the man in the suit. Likely the mastermind of the heist.
"Don't even think about it!" she said and aimed her gun at his face as he reached down, presumably for another weapon.
.
.
"We did well," the Batman said to Shade. They were back on the roof of the hotel after the police had arrived. They were watching them load the men into a black truck, all handcuffed.
"Yes," she said. "Good teamwork."
"They would have gotten away with almost six million," he said.
She looked at him, the dark amour, the black cape moving in the wind, and nodded. She was thinking about the Joker and what he would say. He told her to stay away from the Batman, not to work with him, not to conspire with him.
"Til next time," she said holding up her grapple gun before descending the building.