"Those are so pretty," Adriana said about the bouquet of flowers in Bruce's kitchen.
"They are for you," Alfred told her. "A gift from Master Bruce."
"Oh, that's so nice," she said, though a bit confused about why Bruce would surprise her with flowers. "I guess I should call him and thank him.
After eating a snack, she went into Bruce's office in his penthouse and called his office at Wayne Tower.
"Hello, Adriana," Bruce said immediately. The call went straight through to him, without having to be transferred through his secretary.
"How did you know it was me?" she asked, smiling. "It could have been Alfred."
"He doesn't call me from my office," Bruce answered.
"Oh," Adriana said. "I just wanted to thank you for the flowers. They're gorgeous, beautiful daisies and carnations. I love them."
"You're welcome," Bruce told her. "Just a little get well gift. Alfred told me you were a bit sick this morning."
"That was very thoughtful," Adriana said. "Thank you so much. Definitely makes me feel better."
"Then I'm glad," Bruce said. "So what will you do today?"
"Oh...you know.." she said. "Eat...watch TV...window shop online..."
"If you want to shop, go ahead," Bruce said. "My credit card information is saved in the browser on the computer in my office."
"Seriously?" she asked.
"Of course," he said. "You deserve it."
"If you say so..." Adriana replied, wondering if he would feel that way if he knew the truth.
"Have you talked to your sister, or parents?"
"Yes, yesterday. All of them."
"I mean, did you tell them you're expecting?"
"I haven't..." she said honestly.
"Don't you want to? I'm sure they'll be happy for you."
"Yeah...I'll tell them, eventually," she said. She knew her parents would be happy, even though she was now going to be a single mother. But Harri would have so many questions, and it would be hard to lie to her.
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"You want me to be honest?" DeMarco said to Damien. "This is a wild goose chase that is a waste of our time. We should be looking for jobs instead of this."
"No," Damien said and took a bite of his egg salad sandwich and went on talking with his mouth full. "There's something here, I'm telling you."
"The woman that's just another employee of the Joker's to throw behind bars? Not worth it man," DeMarco said. "Gordon won't lift our suspension for that."
"So what are you going to do? Go apply for a security job at the mall?"
"No...actually, I have an interview for security at TimeMobile," DeMarco said.
"The cell phone store?" Damien said. "Come on. We can do this-"
"Sorry, but I'm out," DeMarco said. "We're running around town all the time, burning up gas and money and getting no where."
"We have a few leads-"
"And I can't spare the gas money to check them out with you," DeMarco said. "Sorry man, but you're on your own."
"No problem," Damien said. "I don't need a partner."
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"You have a visitor," the guard said to the Joker who was laying on his back on the bed in his cell, looking up at the ceiling.
"You," he said to Gordon, jokingly. "Aren't another priest are you?"
"No, but I could have another one come to see you if you would like," Gordon said, before sitting on a chair he brought in with him.
"Nope," the Joker said, without sitting up.
"You don't seem concerned," Gordon said. "Closing arguments are tomorrow. The jury will likely reach a decision quickly and-"
"And they'll," the Joker said and sat up, swinging his feet over to the floor. "Vote to have me burned at the stake. I'm aware. But would you like to know what I have learned?"
Gordon looked at him, knowing that he would tell him whether he wanted to know or not.
"It doesn't matter if I am insane or not, guilty or not," he told Gordon. "A lethal injection...a poisonous substance...can kill even the innocent. A dose of poison can end the most beautiful, the most caring, the warmest and most loving of us all. The most unjust part of it all, is that me...the complete opposite of all of those things...I get a heads up. I know what's coming when the dart comes for me."
Gordon waited, mulling over the Joker's words a few times before speaking.
"What happened?" he asked finally.
The Joker retreated onto his back again, looking at the ceiling. Gordon noticed that he looked neither happy or sad. Neither anxious or relaxed. Not vengeful or accepting. He just was.
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"You're not going to work today?" Adriana asked Bruce. It was seven in the morning and she had just woke up. She found Bruce in the kitchen removing the shell from a boiled egg. He was usually gone by seven.
"No," he said. "I think I should watch the trial here."
"Right.." Adriana said. "Today is..."
"Closing arguments and deliberations," he told her.
"It happened so fast," she said.
"Just under three weeks," he said. "It's truly impressive."
"Yeah," she murmured quietly.
"How's the raspberry?" Bruce asked with a smile.
"The baby," she laughed, remembering that she told Bruce a couple of days ago that his personal physician told her that the baby was around the size of a raspberry at 8 weeks. "Pretty good. I think he's bigger than a raspberry though."
"He's healthy," Bruce told her.
"Yes he is," she said. "So...how do you feel about everything. The case and all?"
"I think we will all get what we want," Bruce said. "Which is justice for the people we lost."
He was thinking of Rachel, and she knew it without being able to see his thoughts. He wanted this nightmare for Gotham to be over.
"After I lost my parents," Bruce said. "I wanted to do everything I could to prevent anyone from having to go through losing a loved one to senseless crimes. Cuffing him to that pipe at the metal factory and turning him in...I just can't wait for the verdict."
She nodded wordlessly.
"And you?" he asked. "How do you feel about the trial? You must be relieved the monster that forced you to work for him is finally going to be gone for good."
There were no words she could think of to answer him, so she gave a half-hearted smile and looked away.
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Adriana and Bruce watched the early morning news. News about the trial was on every channel. Adriana sat on the coach with her knees up and her feet to the side. She rested her chin on her palm on the arm rest and watched the screen blankly. The day's court session was due to begin in less than an hour. Bruce sat with his feet on the floor and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, rubbing his hands together. It reminded Adriana of men watching sports, when things were uncertain and it looked like their team really needed to pull through to come out on top.
They replayed footage from over two hours earlier, showing the Joker being led into the courthouse in handcuffs. His lawyer, looking very serious and determined. He was a public defender, everyone knew this, but he gave his all to this case even though he knew it was hopeless.
There were large crowds of people surrounding the courthouse, holding signs and shouting. Every so often, the camera would show a view of the street, making sure to include city hall which was still under construction after the Joker had bombed it months earlier.
Then, they began to let the civilians speak to the cameras.
A woman held up a photo of a young man, with tears in her eyes.
"He looked just like his father and he was as smart as his grandfather," she cried. "My son's name was Brent and he was killed-" the woman's voice broke as she cried to the camera. "I just want justice. For my child...he was only 22 years old."
A man came on camera next, looking very angry. "My business was destroyed..my whole future..."
Another woman, young, holding a little girl on her hip. "My husband never got the chance to say goodbye..He was a police officer-"
"She wanted to join the WNBA," an older woman smiled with tears in her eyes, while holding a photo of a beautiful young woman.
"I just want to say, God tells us to forgive, but he also tells us to cast out demons in our presence!" a man wearing all back said firmy.
"My father was just...he was just driving. He wanted to live..he was a three-time cancer survivor. But the Joker, he just shot up his car. It happened after that helicopter crash and when that freight truck flipped a few blocks away..right before the Joker was arrested the first time. He just shot up the car my father was in..they say he died immediately..he didn't suffer...but I just...I just-"
"Excuse me," Adriana said to Bruce and left the couch and went into the bathroom. She closed her eyes and leaned against the door. It was too much. She went into her room.
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"The citizens of Gotham cannot thank you, people of the jury, enough for your dedication and attentiveness over the last couple of weeks. Most of us cannot conceive what you have been through, sitting through such a detailed presentation of the crimes committed by the worst criminal in Gotham's history. We also cannot conceive the weight on your shoulders. Twelve people with the potential to change Gotham's future. The potential to end an era of misery.
I truly hope that I have done my duty in presenting to you, all the evidence we have or record, not only that the man before you, known as the Joker, is a criminal mastermind responsible for countless deaths. But, that he is not clinically insane. An insane person does not plan and conspire as meticulously as the crimes I have laid out for you have been. It may appear that he makes his decisions randomly...spur of the moment...as an insane person... but as you have seen in the evidence I have shown you..this man plans things days, weeks, even months in advance. He is coherent. He is logical. He is...and do not mistake this as a complement...highly intelligent. This is dangerous.
It is a rare opportunity, that the twelve of you have, to change course of history. To make Gotham's future brighter. And to put the dark past behind us for good. This man has escaped police custody before, and we all pray that it will never happen again. We never want to see another child abducted, another person hanging from a building or bridge, another family destroyed. You all have to potential to be Gotham's heroes here today. All you have to do, is use your logical judgement, just like the Joker, as sane man, uses his, and find him guilty.
In plain English, this nameless man is likely more intelligent and sane than most of the people in this room. The difference is that we do not have the desire to destroy society. We are not anarchists. We are not terrorists.
The people of Gotham, the people in this room, and future generations to come are looking to you to make the right choice. The obvious choice. There is not even the slightest chance that an insane person could be capable of authoring as much destruction as this man before you.
Stand together, stand with your city, stand with your leaders, stand with the victims and their surviving loved ones, and do as this criminal...the Joker...has done all along. Use your intellect and logic to make a difference in Gotham," Brian McCaster, the District Attorney said to the jury in front of him as his closing statement.
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"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I would first and foremost like to thank you for your time and patience. More demands have been put on you than any preceding jury, historically. The service of jury duty puts every day people like yourselves in a position to make a great decision that can impact other's lives. As the prosecution has stated...you will be evaluating this man's case...a man the prosecution refers to as, The Joker.
Think about that for a moment, ladies and gentlemen. His name is ...the Joker. But we all know, that cannot be his true name. But that is the way we all identify and know him. It's the way he identifies and knows himself. He does not know his name. He does not know who he is. He has no knowledge of his life before he became a criminal, his family, his history. No recollection of how the visible scarring that he has... even came to be. We have never been able to find any records or evidence of his background, at least not yet.
Ask yourselves... how can this man be clinically sane? A man who doesn't even know his own age? You have heard the testimony of his previous doctors, his therapists, professionals that have worked with him. You've heard from some of the most educated people we could find in the field of psychology and psychiatry to examine his actions and behaviors. You have heard them all say that this man is, clinically and medically speaking, the definition of insane. The prosecution has only presented you with one professional who has never even treated my client, claiming that he is not insane..based on what? Based on his planning and forethought?
Planning and forethought are not disqualifying factors for insanity and mental derangement.
Your duty here as part of the jury is to decide whether the prosecution has proven, beyond the shadow of doubt, that this man is NOT insane. Have they? It doesn't seem like it to me.
Remember, you are not here to determine whether or not the man in front of you committed these crimes or is capable of committing them again. That has been established. You are here to make a choice on whether or not he is insane. If you vote guilty..you are voting against logic and reason. You are voting with vengeance. You are voting against the half dozen professionals that have testified, letting you know the truth.
Do not make your decision with spite and anger because you want to see this man suffer the harshest punishment possible. Vote with decency and honor. If you have decency and honor, you will do what it right, and find my client not-guilty by reason of insanity. Thank you," Adam Pasche said to the jury as his closing statement.