"Come on Shade...Maybe we can work something out?" the man she had just chained to a radiator said once he regained consciousness.
"Not interested," she said. "You're going to prison. There is nothing to work out. The police will be here to collect you soon."
"Shade! Wait! Come on!" she heard the man's voice echoing through the hall as she left the apartment.
"As ice," she heard the Batman say behind her. He seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.
"The only way to be," she said to him, not acting surprised. "Doing what we do."
"Yes," he said and pulled out a very small black velvet bag.
"What's that?" she asked as he handed it to her. It was around three inches long on all sides.
"Open it," he told her.
"Hmm..." she said and loosened the small tie at the opening of the bag. She poured it's contents into her palm. "Diamonds?"
"Yes," he said. "Real. They were all mined by companies I own."
"How nice," she said. "Good for you." She put the four diamonds back into the back and tried to hand it back to him.
"A gift" he said. "For you."
"Sorry, I didn't get you a Valentine's Day card," she said, jokingly.
"That is today, isn't it?" he said.
"You didn't know?" she asked
"Slipped my mind."
"Why are you giving me diamonds?"
"To repay you," he said. "For your lost tooth. I'm sure it's cost you to have it treated and replaced. Consider this payment for pain and suffering."
"Right..." she said, unimpressed. "Paid in diamonds?"
"Well...they're small enough that you could sell them individually with an appraiser or dealer. It should more than cover the costs," he said.
"Thanks," she said and squinted at him. "I'll do that."
.
.
.
"Pleasure doing business with you," Bruce said over the phone in his office to as associate in Taipei, before hanging up. He leaned back in his chair and contemplated what he would order for lunch. Before he could even think too much about it, he sat up straight, shocked at the figure that had slowly walked through his doorway.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Wayne," Shade said, seductively as she crossed the office floor. "Hope you're not working too hard."
"You.." he said and rose to his feet slowly, in shock..seeing Shade at Wayne Enterprises in downtown Gotham. "Can't be here."
"Don't worry," she said and traced her index finger along the edge of his desk. "No one saw me."
"That's not possible," he said.
"Oh..." she said. "It is, trust me."
"You need to leave," he told her.
"Why?" she said, sweetly. "Worried this will expose your identity? Like you're trying to expose mine?"
"What are you talking about?" he asked.
She dropped the diamonds the was holding in her other hand onto his desk. Two of them fell onto the floor.
"I'm sure you have every consignment dealer and appraiser in the city in your pocket now," she said. "Ready and willing to take my name and identifying information. I bet you have all of their security camera's up on your computer screen right now."
"Shade...listen," he said. "I have no intention of exposing you, I just want to know-"
His words were cut short as she pushed him back against the wall and lifted her right leg up high enough to place her foot against his neck.
"And I should believe you're just curious for curiosity's sake?" she said, balancing on one leg with more stability than Bruce had ever seen.
"It's the truth," he lied.
"Whatever," she said. "You're not smart. Don't do anything this stupid again."
"Whatever you wish," he said with pleasure, as he stood with his back towards the wall, looking at her standing in front of him slightly turned.
She squinted and tilted her head, her foot still pressed against his throat.
"What is this?" she asked, as if she was taken aback. "You like to be dominated?"
"That depends on who is in charge," he said and watched her facial expression change.
She lowered her foot and he rubbed the front of his neck.
"So," he said, after noticing her demeanor change. She was not interested in flirting with him. "You said you were seeing someone."
"I did," she told him.
"Lucky man," Bruce told her, still rubbing her neck. "Does he know what you do?"
"You mean does he know that I am a vigilante?" she asked. "Of course not."
He couldn't tell if she was lying. He heard his phone vibrate and picked it up.
"What is it?" she asked as she saw the seriousness intensify in his face.
"A video was just sent to the police," Bruce said sternly.
Shade heard the Joker's voice straight away and a few seconds later she could make out his face in the dark video.
"Governor Mark Wallace...Tisk tisk..." the Joker said, his voice sour. "You've really disappointed us all...especially this one..."
He turned the camera around and showed a child tied to a chair with a large black cloth bag covering her head. We walked up and snatched the bag off quickly, revealing the crying little girl. She was in an enormous room surrounded by drums of gasoline.
"Wallace, you have four hours...turn yourself in...or," the Joker said, turning the camera to himself. "Fireworks."
"It's the governor's granddaughter," Bruce said, his voice lowering. Rachel had died this way.
Shade nodded, she was shaking. She had met the child, Pavla, but she couldn't tell Bruce that. She couldn't be Adriana right now. She was Shade.
Bruce did not ask for her assistance or devise any plan for collaboration. He brushed past her and left the room, saying nothing. He left to go and rescue the child.
Shade knew it would take him much longer to find the girl's location than it would take her.