She watched the Joker step out of the back of the van. He was being transported, back to Arkham. Somehow the gas that had rendered all of the security unconscious hadn't affected him. He walked and walked through the wooded area, aimlessly. The sky was gray, the sun was barely up in the sky, and the air was brisk. His hands and feet were shackled, which was slowing him down. He couldn't find the keys on the guard in the back of the truck. He wasn't running, he wasn't walking slow, he was just moving.

Then he saw it..the bridge.

She watched him climb it. Was this real? How could she be seeing this. Once he was high enough he looked over the edge. There were hundreds of rocks in the shallow water. She felt pain...her body ached immensely as she watched him. The pain was unbearable.

Stop! She heard herself shout to him. He glanced in her direction..his face bare, waves in his hair moving slowly in the wind, mostly blocking his eyes. He looked back down at the water, and she ran over, climbing the bridge much quicker than he had. She heard herself shouting again and again, telling him to stop, but he seemed to be ignoring her. Once she was beside him, she reached for his arm..But it was too late, he jumped. She couldn't look down.

Don't look down, don't look down, don't look down.

She looked...he wasn't there. All she could see was the rocks and water...her body felt wet. Like she had fallen into the water. And there it was again..immense pain.

Had she jumped? She felt herself screaming in pain but couldn't move. She was dreaming.

.

.

.

"Adriana!" she heard a loud voice, waking her.

Her eyes opened and she saw Bruce, standing beside the bed with both hands on her, trying to wake her. Her throat felt sore and raw like she had been screaming.

"Bruce?" she said and sat up, another wave of agony hitting her. "Ahhhh...God, I'm in so much pain-"

"Yeah," Bruce said and looked down at the bed, it was wet. "Your water broke...I was trying to hard to wake you, you were hollering-" She could see in his thoughts be did not understand how she could sleep through such pain.

"Ohhh..." she moaned in the torment. "No...no...this is bad...this is...no...I can't...why does it hurt so much? Something must be wrong-"

"It's okay," Bruce said. "The doctor is on his way."

"Okay.." she said as the wave of pain subsided. "Okay..It stopped."

"Good," Bruce said and kissed her forehead. "Don't worry. You can do this."

"Yeah," she said, still relishing the relief that the pain had stopped for now.

"I'll go get the door, that's him," Bruce said and left the room.

Adriana moved her feet to the edge of the bed and moved to standing on her feet. She felt okay at the moment, but despite the pain, she kept replaying her dream in her head. Looking down at the rocks after he jumped...he wasn't there.

"How far apart are the contractions?" she heard Dr. Kapoor say to Bruce.

"The last two, about fifteen minutes," Bruce answered and they came into the room.

"Very good," Dr. Kapoor said, and looked at Adriana. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm alright," she said. "Not looking forward to next one."

"How long ago was the last one?" Dr. Kapoor asked and Bruce answered him.

"Less than two minutes ago," Bruce said.

"Are you able to walk?" the doctor asked Adriana. "If you are able to, we could go downstairs to the medical facility."

"Yes," she said. "I feel okay to walk."

They went to to the private elevator and went down one floor. They made it to the front door of Bruce's private medical facility when Adriana felt the intense wave like pressure in her abdomen. She grabbed Bruce's arm to stop him and leaned with her other arm against the wall. She blew air out of her lips quickly, and waited for it to pass. Her eyes were squeezed shut.

Both Bruce and Dr. Kapoor waited quietly and patiently as she breathed through it. She felt Bruce's hand move to rub her back. Her body felt very tense, full of discomfort, but Bruce's hand made her feel comforted. Once it passed she nodded to them and began to walk again.

"Seven minutes," Dr. Kapoor said to himself as they went into the room which Dr. Kapoor had prepared for her labor.

Bruce helped her onto the bed, which allowed her to sit upright. Once she was on it, she squeezed his hand.

"Thank you," she said to him.

"I love you," he said and kissed her.

"Another one.." she groaned as the contraction surged through her.

"They're getting closer together very quickly," Dr. Kapoor observed as he came back into the room.

"Yeh-" she barely managed to say through the pain.

"I would like to check the dilation," Dr. Kapoor said.

Bruce glanced at the clock in the room as Dr. Kapoor checked her.

"The last ones were around two minutes apart," he told the doctor.

"You're dilated, the full ten centimetres," the doctor told her but she barely heard him as another contraction seized her.

"Forty seconds," Bruce informed the doctor and he nodded.

Once it passed she realized how hard she was squeezing and crushing Bruce's hand. He noticed her glancing down where she was gripping him, and smiled and gave her another kiss.

"Your labor is progressing very quickly, and I expect you to give birth in the next thirty to sixty minutes," Dr. Kapoor said. "So unfortunately at this time, I will have to recommend against an epidural at this stage. Things are progressing much quicker than I've ever seen, and I'm certain we won't have time."

Adriana began to cry as the agony hit her again. The pain was becoming too much, and she was hoping at the least for some relief.

"It's okay, sweetheart," Bruce said, encouraging her. "It will be over soon. You're strong, you can do this, I know it."

She nodded quickly, still crying.

"That was thirty seconds," Bruce told the doctor who smiled, and nodded.

Adriana sat up with her feet flat on the mattress and leaned back on her arms, trying to find a comfortable positon.

"Nooo..." she said again as the pain came back. "No...I don't know what to do..What do I do?"

Bruce looked at the doctor. He wasn't sure how to answer her questions.

"It's alright, Adriana," the doctor said. "Everything looks normal, and you will be just fine. Just relax, don't push yet."

"Okay..Okay..." she said to herself. The pain was so bad, she felt that she had to do something. She struggled repositioning herself several times on the bed, hoping something would provide a bit of relief but nothing worked.

After many more contractions, the doctor finally told her that she could push. She began pushing with all of her might, wanting this to be finished. After two pushes she felt an insane amount of pressure and pain that felt like it would break her body apart.

"I can't!" she screamed. "I can't do this!"

"You can!" Bruce said to her. "Just a few more pushes-"

"No..." she cried, her voice a high screech.

"Push again," the doctor told her. "A big push, you're doing great."

She cried more and pushed again, the pain so strong that she knew there was no way she could go through with this..but there was no way out. She pushed several more times. She knew that she was strong..she had exercised her whole pregnancy. But this was more tiring than anything she had ever done. It felt like all of her energy was gone and she didn't have the strength to go on. That, combined with the pain, made her want to give up. Getting through each second of this was taking more out of her than she knew she could give.

"I'm going to die!" she cried more. "I can't...please...we have to do something else...I can't do this!"

"One more push, Adriana," the doctor said. "Just one more-"

"I'm right here," Bruce said. "I know you're strong enough to do this..just one more push-"

"Ahhh!" she screamed and pushed again. She had no choice but to listen to them and trust the doctor, even though it felt like she was shattering herself.

She felt something...foreign...strange. Almost like she was slipping into a dream. The room around her disappeared and she saw flames. Fire. Not only could she see herself surrounded by fire, but she could feel it. More and more, burning her alive. She couldn't breathe as smoke filled her lungs. The flames consumed her...

The baby's cry brought her back to the room. The sound of him crying...it was worth all of the pain.

"How are you feeling?" Dr. Kapoor asked and looked over at one of the monitors while holding the baby.

"I'm...I'm okay-" she said, though her skin felt hot.

"You're burning up," Bruce said and touched her forehead.

"There was a spike in heart rate," Dr. Kapoor said. "Two hundred twenty beats per minute-"

"My baby," she said. "How is he... I'm okay please give him to me -"

"He's perfect," the doctor said and placed him onto her chest.

"She's cooling down.." Bruce said and touched her neck.

"Okay," Dr. Kapoor said and placed a blanket over the baby, who's lungs were obviously very strong. The doctor looked at the monitor again and saw her heart rate was back to 71 beats per minute. "That was...very strange. I'll run some blood work shortly. Are you sure you're feeling alright?"

"Oh..." Adriana said, smiling with her eyes full of tears as she looked down at the baby. "I'm..perfect...perfect...he's so beautiful."

"He is," Bruce said. "Absolutely beautiful."

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.

.

"Everything looks okay with your blood work," Dr. Kapoor said. "That was a strange anomaly..sudden fever and spike in heart rate. Stabilized within a minute.."

"Okay," Adriana said. "As long as nothing's wrong.."

"You're perfectly healthy," he told her as she held the baby and smiled at him.

"Thank you, doctor," she said.

"A very rapid birth," he told her. "Certainly the fastest one I have assisted with. Fortunately no tearing, or complications. Everything went very well."

"Thank you so much, Dr. Kapoor," Bruce said.

"His weight is 7 pounds, 8 ounces," Dr. Kapoor went on. "He is a very healthy boy."

"Yes, he is," Adriana said, unable to take her eyes away from him.

The baby opened his eyes and looked into hers. His father's eyes. He looked exactly like his father. Even if he was gone, she felt so much joy. Joy because she felt she could at least see a part of his father. More than a part.

She leaned down and kissed his cheeks again for the tenth time and looked at his perfect tiny fingers.

"Do you want to hold him?" she asked Bruce.

Bruce nodded as she handed him the baby. She watched Bruce cradle him in his arms, rocking him gently. Bruce looked completely elated and enamored. Adriana leaned back onto the pillows, completely exhausted but incredibly alert. This was the best moment of her entire life. The baby looked so tiny in Bruce's arms. Bruce looked over at her with admiration and love.

"You did an amazing job," he told her.