No one left the courtroom as the jury went to deliberate. The entire city expected the deliberations to be completed quickly. They would all go to the jury's deliberation room and emerge in less than three minutes to deliver their unanimous vote. But five minutes passed, then ten, then thirty, then an hour.
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"What the hell is taking them so long?" Bruce asked the television screen as Alfred placed a drink on the table in front of him.
"They are deliberating," Alfred answered.
"Yes, but what is there to consider?" Bruce went on. "They've been in there over two hours!"
Adriana walked into the living room, still a bit surprised that she had fallen asleep, given the circumstances.
"What's going on?" she asked, after hearing Bruce yelling at the screen.
"The deliberations are taking longer than expected," Alfred said, calmly.
"Oh," Adriana said and sat down.
Bruce was shaking his head, looking at the screen wordlessly as news reporters in Washington, D.C. came onto the screen interviewing experts.
"Gotham's trial of the Joker is the first of it's kind in American history," a woman said. "The trial has been expedited and has reached deliberations in just under three weeks. I'm here with Percy Meinhard.."
"This makes no sense," Bruce said and looked at Adriana when she didn't reply.
"Yeah.." she agreed and pretended to be paying attention to the interview on the screen.
"Great question," the man said to the woman interviewing him on TV. "At this point none of us can be sure of the outcome, but if a guilty verdict is found, we have heard that Gotham officials would also like to proceed with enforcing the sentencing as soon as possible."
"You mean capital punishment," the woman said.
"Yes," he asked. "At arraignment, the plea made was 'not guilty by reason of insanity' but the evidence is staggering. At this point it is up to the jury. Gotham's Joker has numerous capital offense allegations, many of them confirmed on video. At this point there is no doubt that this man is a killer."
"So what you're saying is he likely won't spend much time on death row?" she asked.
"We can only speculate, as outsiders," he said. "But generally, inmates are given years on death row. This is to ensure that we reduce the chances of executing someone innocent. There is ample time for appeals, locating new evidence, and more. But in this case...from what I am hearing there are at least eighteen video recordings of this criminal actively engaged in homicide."
"So appeals aren't likely," she said.
"Absolutely not," he answered. "This will be wrapped up quickly."
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"We have seven guilty votes," a juror said.
"And the five of you refuse to vote," another said.
"I don't know...I mean I know he's guilty but-"
"There! Eight guilty vote. Now...you four-"
"Man...let her finish," another juror said, defending the woman who had been cut off.
"Fine, go ahead," the impatient juror said.
"Look..." she started. "I know he's guilty, we all do. But we're not here to vote guilty or not guilty. We're here to vote guilty or not guilty by insanity. I mean..we all can tell that he is insane."
"Can we?" the impatient one asked. "He never took the stand. He just sat here daydreaming with paint on his face. Listen to yourself. Let me tell you this...If you find him innocent and he breaks free again and kills more people, it's on you! I don't want him killing me or one of my family members next!."
"Right!" another juror chimed in.
"But if we find him guilty," the impatient juror kept speaking. "No one will blame us. He will never hurt anyone else again. We will be heroes. This is the easiest decision ever-"
"But-" the woman cut him off. "We're not supposed to be voting based on that. Based on what he could possibly do in the future if he happens to break out again. We're supposed to vote...innocent until proven guilty. I mean, they proved that he is insane, all those doctors. The prosecution proved he committed gruesome crimes..but the didn't exactly show that he wasn't clinically insane-"
"You four!" the impatient juror barked to the other who had not voted. "You agree with her?"
Two of them nodded. The other two looked at each other before speaking.
"We vote guilty."
"Both of you?"
"Yes."
"Yes!" the impatient juror said. "Nine guilty, now you three. Please...think about this. He's blown up hospitals. He's responsible for the governor having a heart attack and dying. He's kidnapped a child...he's killed police officers and innocent civilians. They don't let us watch the news when we are cooped up in the hotel but I know you can hear the screaming and shouting. The protesters outside. They are grieving their loved ones..they want justice-"
"I know they do...but that's not supposed to influence our vote-"
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The jury was obligated to stay in the hotel again that night. The Joker himself was surprised at how much time they were taking. The conclusion was obvious. He was guilty.
He was in his cell laying on the hard mattress and staring up at the grey ceiling. Time. The jury was taking a lot of time. Time. Time. Time.
He had never thought much of time. Which is probably why he had no idea how old he was and had never been concerned with it. But now he could see that time was a very bitter thing. Time never stood still.
The past 3 weeks he had been sitting in a courtroom hearing the voices of the DA, his lawyer, the judge and others.
He felt like he was beginning to forget her. He would never entirely forget her...not ever. But he was losing the precious details. At the start of it all her voice was in his mind. He could perfectly recall the resonance of her voice. He remembered his first night in this cell. He would close his eyes and would see and hear her vividly.
Now...it felt like she was slipping away. Things were becoming hazy. He didn't like the way it felt. He wanted to remember her. He wanted to rewind...to go back...to see everything again. But he was here and she was gone forever. He remembered the conversation he had with Gordon. Gordon believed a God could forgive him, but the Joker knew that he was beyond redemption.
If he was praying man, he would pray for something to lead him back. Something to help him remember. This cold, dark, gray room had nothing to remind him of her. Nothing of her likeness was here at all. This was hell and he was already there.
The room was cold the bed was hard, the sink beside him was dripping. The sink was dripping. Sound of a sink dripping beside him put him in a bit of a hypnosis. It felt so real. He remembered more than he thought he did. He remembered hearing her sink dripping.
It was in her kitchen. As he remembered it, he could almost remember the snow hitting his face right before he went inside. It was dark. He had come over unannounced for the very first time. He was taking a chance. It was a risk. He hadn't knocked on the door, he had not alerted her to his arrival at all. Perhaps she wouldn't want to see him. Perhaps for the first time she would reject him. The idea didn't scare him or upset him, he was prepared for it. He remembered how he felt.
He walked through the kitchen and down the hall. The house was dark and quiet. It was almost 3 in the morning and he was sure that she must have been asleep. He pushed open the bedroom door slowly and quietly. She was laying on her stomach, hugging a pillow. He then made his way over to the bed and stood beside her. She slept very beautifully, he thought. She was nothing like him. She appeared to be an angel.
He touched her arm, not wanting to wake or disturb her, but because he could not resist. Her skin was smooth and soft to the touch, like touching feathers. He watched her eyelashes move for a second before she opened her eyes.
Adriana looked up at him and he looked down at her. She didn't look disturbed or bothered. She smiled. She then pushed the blanket off of herself and got onto her knees and kissed him. He wrapped his arms around her.
"I'm glad you came," she whispered.
"Why?" he asked.
It was the first time he had asked her anything like this. Why did she want him?
"Because," she said with her arms around the sides of his neck. "It's cold..."
She leaned against him and looked at his lips.
"And you are warm," she said.
He felt her push both his jackets off of his shoulders and then she began to undo his tie.
"So," he said as she slipped the tie off and began to unbutton his shirt. "You are cold then."
She finished undoing the last button and held his shirt with her fingertips.
"I was," she said and smiled and walked back on the mattress on her knees a couple paces. "But now I'm hot. I guess you have the effect."
She pulled off the shirt she was wearing, and was then only wearing a simple black thong. He watched as she lowered her upper body onto her elbows in front of him. He could not help but notice how excited she looked as she moved to undo his belt and unzip his pants/
Once he was exposed she began to caress and stroke him with her hand. She was massaging him slowly, and he was admiring her hand..delicate and feminine. This was their fourth time together, but the first time he felt put on the spot. As her hand went up and down, he felt like he needed to contain himself. He wasn't sure he could be like her. She was so uninhibited..she would moan and even scream..she was entirely liberated and free from what he had seen. And so far he had been content to be an observer. It was much easier to keep himself calm when he was in control. But now she was, and her hand moved faster, up and down, twisting him gently at the tip.
He felt a moan he couldn't suppress come up through his throat, but he kept his mouth shut, allowing the sound to only go through his nose. He couldn't hold his breath to keep it in. Eventually he began to relax again but then she took him into her mouth. He felt his body relax and it seemed the suction in her mouth was pulling all of the tension from his body. A few minutes later, it was back and he felt himself about to explode. He wondered if he should give her some warning, but she seemed to know what was about to happen. She began to move faster and faster and looked up into his eyes. The eye contact sent him into release.
She smiled and leaned back onto the covers, her hand over her lips for a few seconds. He had sent everything into her mouth and she didn't seem bothered by it.
"Thank you," he said. He wasn't sure what else to say. He actually wasn't sure if he had ever even thanked anyone for anything.
"You're..." she said. "Very welcome. I figured I should...return the favors..."
She smiled again and traced her finger along her bottom lip.
"Favors," he said, still feeling dazed.
"Well," she said. "You've done a lot for me. You..."
She extended one leg, touching his abdomen with her toes. He looked down, admiring her.
"You are..." he said. "Quite lovely."
"So are you," she said.
He caressed her ankle with a sigh, as if to say that she did not need to lie to him. He knew who he was, how he looked, what he represented.
She grabbed his arm, pulling him down over her. Her lips were against his but she did not kiss him. He noticed she was waiting for him to breathe out and the she was inhaling his air.
"You are," she said again.
"Count!" he heard a guard say and shine a flashlight into his cell, breaking him from what he now realized was full sleep. The guard disappeared as quickly as he had arrived.
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"Are you going to sleep soon?" Adriana asked Bruce who was still sitting in front of the TV at 2 a.m.
He shook his head and she walked over.
"You know, nothing's going to happen in the middle of the night," she told him and sat beside him. "Even if they have reached a decision...they won't announce it until court is in session..which would be during the day."
"I'm aware," he said and looked at her. "But-"
"You need sleep," she said and took his hand. "Come on."
"No...I just need to keep an eye on-"
"You need shut eye," she said and began to pull him away from the couch. "Don't let this make you crazy and sleep deprived."
"OKay..." he said as she began to pull both of his arms with both of hers. "Okay. You're right."