Bruce looked at Adriana, and she felt he was looking at her like he didn't know her at all.
"So," he said, his voice in the sternest tone she had ever heard him use with her. "I have married...Shade."
Adriana could hear it. He had wanted to marry her, Adriana. He did not want to be married to Shade.
"I'm sorry," Adriana said. "That I lied-"
"You lied," he said. "Repeatedly."
"I'm sorry..." she said and watched him rub his face with his hand covering his mouth.
"I can't see it," he said and looked at her.
"See what?" she asked.
"Shade..." he answered. "In you."
Adriana looked down.
"Who are you?" he asked and her gaze met his again.
The question made her heart ache. He grabbed his jacket and left the room.
She couldn't even bring herself to ask him where he was going.
She sat still after he left and several minutes passed. Since she didn't know where had gone too, she didn't know when he would be back. She stood up and began to pace the room until an hour had gone by. She looked at the empty fireplace and then at the window. It was so quiet.
What if she had told him the truth? Would that have made it any better? No, she told herself, it wouldn't. It probably would have been even worse. She hated Damien.
After a shower she went into her luggage. Harry had packed her so much sexy lingerie. Adriana went through it all and found a silvery gray colored chemise with black lace around the bust area. It was the most tame item she had to sleep in. She put it on and got into the bed alone.
As she laid there in the dark, she couldn't help but think of him. The Joker. The fact that she had known him, and could remember him...brought her immense comfort. She found herself thankful for having had known him, and for all of the memories he had given her. Because she could reach for them, block the world out and remember them when things got hard. Then she felt relaxed, relieved, and peaceful.
Before she could drift off, she heard the door shut in the other room. Bruce was back. She heard his footsteps as he came into the bedroom. She laid still on her side with her eyes closed. She heard him walk over to the bed, stand still for a few moments and then go into the bathroom.
She heard the shower running and then eventually he came to bed. He got into bed carefully and quietly, trying not to wake her. It was their honeymoon, and they were laying back to back in the bed.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered, with her back to him.
He was quiet.
"Bruce..." she said. "Where did you go?"
She decided that a question would give him something to respond to.
"A walk," he said.
"Oh..." she said.
"I did a lot of thinking," he said.
She waited for him to speak again.
"And I cannot understand why you would continue to keep this from me," he said. "You were never planning on telling me-"
"Bruce..." she said, still looking at the window on her side of the bed. "I was...I swear... I just needed to find the right time to..."
"There were countless right times to tell me," he said. "Before we married."
Adriana closed her eyes and felt a hot tear fall from her eye and roll over the bridge of her nose.
Who is it?" he asked, his voice stern. "Who knows? Who is blackmailing you?"
"It's Damien..." she said.
"Right," he said. "Okay then."
He went quiet again, with nothing more to say.
"Bruce," she said, so quietly she barely heard herself.
"Yes?" he said after a long pause.
"Do you..." she said, unable to hide the sound of tears in her voice. "Do you still want to be married to me?"
She felt him moving around as he sat upright.
"Look at me," he said.
Hesitantly, she lowered the blanket and turned to lay on her back and looked him in the eyes.
"I love you," he said. "Nothing can change that. Even though you quite literally dropped a bomb me tonight."
"I'm sorry," she apologized again.
"We will take care of Damien," he said.
"Okay," she said. "I hate that it you had to learn the truth like this...what I did...I mean, who I am. Shade. What my life really...is like."
"Am I to understand that..," he began to ask. "You want to go back? You want to go back to being Shade?"
"I... I love you Bruce. And if you don't want me to, I'll never go back to it again," she said.
"Would that make you unhappy?" he asked.
She paused while she thought about the question. "Yes."
"Then, you're just like me," he said.
" I am?"
"Yes. If someone told me that I needed to stop being a vigilante... that I could no longer be the Batman... I would be devastated."
"That's how I feel... But for you I would learn to get over it," she told him.
"I want you to be happy, Adriana. I don't want to stop you from doing what makes you happy. It is hard as it is for me to admit this.. You... Shade... You're absolutely brilliant at what you do. You've proven yourself. You've done very well. And there's no way for me to not at least acknowledge that," he said.
"Really?" she asked and sat up beside him.
"Yes," he said. "You're amazing. You're my wife and if you want to go back to it then I will support you. You... You handled yourself. You're an amazing fighter and defender of the innocent in our city."
"I know you didn't agree to marry a vigilante," she said.
"No I did not," he said. "I didn't agree to a life of worrying about if my wife would be killed every night."
She nodded a couple times.
"But...if you can live with those fears," he said. "So can I."
"Bruce...I love you," she said and embraced him.
He wrapped his arms around her tightly and then gave a her a warm kiss.
"I love you too," he said tiredly. "Just...know that you can be honest with me."
She nodded again as he leaned back onto the pillows.
"Okay," she said and looked down at him, feeling just as tired as he looked. "I know."
"Goodnight beautiful," he said and touched her cheek.
"Goodnight," she whispered and looked into his deep brown eyes as he closed them.
She closed her eyes too and rested her head on his chest. His skin was warm and she could hear his heart beating slowly under her ear. The rhythmic sound almost made her drift away into sleep. But instead she felt her eyes open again. She kissed his lips again softly. He was halfway asleep but she could feel him rubbing her arm lazily.
She pulled her lips away from his and looked at him sleeping. She touched his left cheek gently and then ran her index finger along his lower lip slowly. His eyebrows furrowed a bit before he opened his eyes and looked at her.
The tip of her nose lingered on his before she kissed him again. He returned the kiss more passionately than before, he was now awake.
Immediately, he began to kiss her deeply and tenderly. He moved swiftly to his side and then up onto his elbows until he was over her. She closed her eyes and felt his lips moving around her face and neck. Her arms were crossed over each other behind his head as his lips lowered to her chest.
He held her breasts with both hands and rested his face in them and she laughed while stroking his hair. He undressed the both of them quickly and began to suck on the skin on her stomach and she smiled down at him and he went lower and kissed her inner thighs.
She felt her eyes roll back as his lips and tongue covered her. Everything was happening so quickly, and she felt like she could barely catch her breath. She felt like she needed a moment to gather herself, to gain control, but all she could hear was her moans and cries of pleasure. There was no control.
One of her hands gripped his hair and other gripped the sheets as she writhed under him. His tongue kept moving and she tried to pull away from him as the sensitivity became overwhelming. He kept going, moaning against her and she felt an explosion almost immediately.
She tried to catch her breath but he was kissing her neck and shoulder and she felt him penetrate her. He was barely inside, but she felt him let out a deep groan into her ear. He stopped moving and looked into her eyes, a look of confusion on his face.
"Bruce.." she whispered.
"I..." he said shakily and took her face with one hand. "I'm..."
She watched his eyes roll and his head turn so that he was facing away from her. His eyes were shut tightly and he almost looked like he was in pain. He wasn't moving at all.
He opened his eyes but he was looking at the wall. It looked like he was concentrating on or watching something fascinating. His body wasn't moving. She had been here before. She had seen it many times. It was her gift, soaking into him. It had been a long time since she had seen this type of reaction from a man. With Damien it happened all the time. For some reason, it had never happened with the Joker. He was always present the entire time. Bruce didn't respond as she called his name a few times.
"Bruce.." she asked. "Are you okay?"
"Hmm..." he groaned while remaining still and then began to grunt several times as he released inside of her before letting out a loud moan.
"I..." he said, knowing that he had finished quickly. "I'm sorry...I don't know what happened."
"It's okay," she smiled and placed her hands on his chest. "It happens."
He looked at her, slightly confused.
"Come here," she said and pulled him down into a kiss.
"Does your chest hurt?" he asked.
"What?" she whispered at the random question.
"I...I don't know..." he said. "It's as though...I'm feeling what you are...or I'm knowing what you're thinking..it's strange. Unless it is my imagination-"
"Oh..." she said. "I mean..my breasts are a little sore but that's normal. I'm fine."
"Okay," he said, still looking dazed.
"Kiss me," she said and he obeyed.
"I love you," he said slowly.
"Mhmmm," she moaned as he entered her again. "I love you too."
"Uhhhhhh..." he sighed and pushed himself into her entirely.
He was incredibly hard and moved slowly, yet again. His body felt like steel above hers and she held onto his back and pulled him down against her, holding onto him tightly.
"I..." he said. "I don't want to hurt you.."
"Bruce.." she whispered. "It's okay. It doesn't hurt...You're not hurting me."
"Mhmm.." he said, sounding like he was trying to get a grip on himself. "I need it baby."
"Me too..." she whispered into his ear, not wanting him to worry or hold back.
He began to thrust faster and faster, and began to feel like he was in a dream. He felt like he had to be dreaming. Drugs were not something that he ever liked to experiment with, but he had tried a few very foolishly in his youth. They were the closest thing he could compare to this experience.
It was if his mind had somehow softened, become open. Open enough to take on other's thoughts but also open enough to release stagnant and painful thoughts of his own. Everything that he had held onto..anger, regrets, sadness..they all seemed to be slipping away. He became aware of other people in the building and in the surrounding town. The experience was only topped by the physical pleasure in his body. It was dizzying. He felt like he was being taken towards a light..bright and warm. He couldn't hear her thoughts too clearly, but he felt as if he could feel what she was feeling physically. He wanted to shout, he wanted to sing, he wanted to cry.
He remembered being a child, and each time he turned his head he saw a new vision. They were all blissful. It wasn't a memory. It was being there again. Comforting smells and sounds he had forgotten embraced him.
Adriana held him close as he moved against her. She didn't know his thoughts at all but she heard all of the shaky words he was saying aloud, and he had never heard him use so much profanity. His body began to shake as he erupted inside of her again and again.