'There were eight of them," Bruce said to Adriana over the phone. "We had an agreement that you wouldn't-"

"I know," Adriana cut him off. "But I did it Bruce. I fought off eight guys and I'm totally fine-"

"You sound like you're in pain," he said.

"I'm just fine," she lied. Her neck ached horribly, but she knew it would be better in a few days. "I took a bad hit and fell but I'm just bruised. It's totally okay."

Bruce was quiet and she could tell that he wasn't happy. Adriana looked over at Arsenio who was in the middle of their bed playing with a soft stuffed polar bear that Alfred had given to him as a gift. Occasionally he glanced over at her and smiled as she made funny faces at him.

"I'm sorry," she finally apologized to Bruce. "I'll just stick to groups of six or less...but they were going to kill someone who didn't pay them-"

"Four or less," he said. "And a drug addict."

"Fine, four," she said. "Yes, he was a drug addict but that shouldn't matter...he didn't deserve to die. I had to stop them."

"Anything could have happened," Bruce said sternly.

"Sweetheart," she said. "I know. We are both vigilantes...there's risk. I promise...four or less. Unless it's really important-"

"No," he said. "Anything more than four, I will handle."

"Bruce," she sighed into the phone. "You're not exactly in the city right now. You're in Dubai again. Anything more than 4 criminals should just be ignored because you're not here?"

"The police will handle it," he said. "And even if they're not able to, that doesn't mean you should risk your safety like this. There's no need. The city is much safer now, safer than it ever had been. You don't need to handle every little thing, Adriana. Just turn the notices off once in a while."

"Do you?" she asked.

"Do I what?"

"Turn the notices off?"

He was quiet and she knew the answer was no.

"So why should I?" she asked, finally. Truthfully, she couldn't turn everything off. Bruce still didn't know that she had her gift back. She loved using her gift to help others and wanted to as often as possible. Even if she shut off her phone and ignored any and all notifications about incidents in the city..she couldn't silence her mind anymore and she didn't want to.

"Because I can filter out which incidents require my efforts and which don't," he said.

"You're saying that I can't?" she said with her voice slightly raised.

Arsenio was staring at her, he was able to sense her tension and could hear the strain in her voice. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself because she could feel the phone call turning into an argument.

"All I am trying to say is that you need to be more discerning," he said. "Injuring yourself on something frivolous might jeopardize a more important situation in the future."

She took another breath before speaking again, more calmly. "Okay," she said. "I see your point."

"Ma..." Arsenio said softly, looking at her with concern. He could tell that she was still upset.

"I'm okay, my sweet baby," she said and sat on the bed beside him, leaning down to give him a kiss. "Ah.." she moaned as her neck ached again.

'I don't want this to drive a wedge between us," Bruce went on. "You're injured and no matter how many times it happens, I still cannot get used to it. I just..want you to be safe. I love you, Adriana."

"I know.." she said. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry about my attitude...I guess..I'm too much of an empath. Every thing feels important to me if I feel like the police can't handle it or get there in time..I'm not sure how I could ignore..."

"It's not easy," Bruce said. "Believe me. I feel guilt about it sometimes..but I have to be logical."

"Yeah.." she said as Arsenio crawled onto her lap. She held him and kissed his forehead.

"How is he doing?" Bruce asked.

"Just fine," Adriana smiled. "He slept in here with me last night, almost time for us to eat. Want to talk to him?"

"Of course," Bruce said and Adriana moved the phone by Arsenio's ear but he kept trying to grab it with both hands. Once he heard Bruce's voice he began to squeal and speak back loudly.

"Daaa...yooouu!" Arsenio said.

"I love you too," Adriana heard Bruce say. "I miss you!"

.

.

.

"It's a Twix bar," Adriana said to the Joker as she held out the candy.

"I can read," he said, and she could hear that he was not in the best mood.

She had just walked into the physical therapy room where Dr. Kapoor was working with him on his external hip rotation. The doctor had instructed him to rotate his ankle out to the side while he was sitting. The Joker tried but it seemed like the muscle that controlled this action was dead. He physically was unable to rotate his leg outward. The doctor kept encouraging him, but the leg wouldn't budge. Eventually, his frustration led to an outburst. As Adriana walked in she saw the Joker yell a few words at the doctor who sighed an walked away.

Dr. Kapoor was no longer afraid of the Joker, and the outburst and yelling did not frighten him at all. He simply told the Joker that they would take a break and resume the exercise after 20 minutes of rest.

"Take it," she said. "It'll make you feel better."

He reached forward and took the bar and sat it on his knee.

'You're doing really well," she told him.

"Hah," he said, thinking about how he couldn't produce such a simple motion.

"You are," she said. "You're trying. Your hips and joints really took a beating..sitting on concrete for over a year would damage anyone. But you'll heal, it will just take some time."

He pushed his long hair straggly back over his shoulder and picked up the candy bar.

" You're here today?" he asked. "Don't you have a life to attend to?"

"Yes," she said. "I have a little neck injury so I'm taking it easy today."

"Actually what I meant was," he said while peeling open the wrapper. "Don't you have a husband? Where exactly does he think you are right now? You've told him you're frequenting some...private high rise medical facility with no windows?"

"He's...on a business trip right now," she said, wanting to change the subject. "And you're right, there are no windows here so how would you know we're in a high rise?" She couldn't tell by his thoughts how he knew.

He shrugged one shoulder and bit into one of the bars. He continued talking while chewing.

"The air," he said as though he was guessing. "I can just tell. We're at least 30 stories up. We still in Gotham?"

"Why?" she demanded. "You're trying to narrow down which building we could be in?"

"Well," he shrugged yet again. "What else have I got to do all day? This is the most fun I can have. Solving the mystery of where we are."

"I'll get you some actual puzzle games to solve instead. It doesn't matter where we are."

"You're very secretive," he leaned back. "I think whoever owns this building and facility is whoever you are married to. Someone wealthy enough to have a facility like this..millions of dollars in medical equipment and machinery. Hmm...are you afraid to tell me?"

"Why would I be?" she asked. "And why do you assume my husband owns this place?"

" Your ring," he looked at her hand as if putting all the pieces together. " Represents the type of wealth someone that could afford a place like this and barely ever use it themselves has."

She could see through his thoughts that he was telling the truth. He has no access to television, radio, news or entertainment of any kind. His mind was growing restless. Solving this mystery was his entertainment.

"I'm sure I'm almost well enough for you to allow me to leave here soon. Once I can walk correctly," he said. "So it's only a matter of time before I know. He must be a public figure. Very wealthy."

The way he was speaking was very thoughtful, and it didn't sound like he was pressuring her at all. It almost sounded as if he didn't want her to tell him, we wanted to figure it out on his own since it would be more fun that way.

"You..." she said after a few moments. "You don't know him so it doesn't matter. I'm glad you're sounding optimistic about the healing process for your joints though."

"Try me," he said. "What's his name?"

There was no way to prevent him from ever finding out- they couldn't very well keep him locked away here forever. Never in a million years would he guess the entire truth..that she was married to the man who had locked him in an underground prison alone.

She watched him bite into the second candy bar, looking as if he didn't care how long it took her to tell him the name. But she knew that he wanted to know. Maybe keeping it a secret would make him suspicious. She decided to tell him.

"His..name is Bruce," she said finally, and as soon as she said his name aloud she felt weight off her shoulders.

The Joker looked at her blankly. Mostly, he was thinking about the way that she had said the name. It was as if her voice became softer and more delicate, slightly higher, as the name 'Bruce' passed her lips. She was enamored with whoever this man Bruce was. He could hear it.

"Bruce..." the Joker said, thinking she may have been right. Maybe he didn't know of this person. "What's the last name?"

"It's," she said. "Wayne."

She watched as one of his eyes squinted, as he mentally placed the first and last name together. Then his face held an expression that was difficult to read.

"Do you..." she asked carefully. "Know who he is?"

"Hmhmhmhm," he laughed softly with his mouth closed and proceeded to eat the remaining candy. "Well I've been underground for over a year, but I haven't been living under a rock my entire life. You may as well say you married the president and ask me if I know who that is."

"I wasn't trying to insult you," she said. " Or your intelligence."

"Okay then," the Joker replied.

There was something strange about the way her revelation made him feel. He wasn't expecting it. It seemed like a fun game to try to figure out who the mystery man was. He had a name now, and a vague memory of what Bruce Wayne actually looked like. The Joker had always hated wealth, it actually disgusted him more than anything else at one point. But now he was almost numb to it. He looked down at the stunning diamond ring on her finger. He hated wealth and the wealthy, but now she was one of the wealthy. She was the wealthiest in Gotham now but here she was using her time to help him in his recovery.

" Does he own this place?" the Joker asked. " Luxury medical spa for those who would never simply go to a hospital full of every day peasants?"

" He's not like that," Adriana said, trying to keep the defensive tone out of her voice.

" Like what?" the Joker asked.

" Whatever you're implying, " Adriana told him. " Snobby? Stuck up?"

The Joker made an innocent and dramatic face.

" So he's humble, like any other commoner on the street?" he asked.

" He's not an elitist snob," she said. " He just.. can afford to have a place like this, which who wouldn't have it if they could afford it? You're benefiting from it. If he didn't have a place like this.. you would be in a normal hospital right now handcuffed to a bed.. if you would have even survived. And they wouldn't have given you new teeth."

" So," the Joker did. " Will you be thanking him for me? Out should I thank him myself?"

" Not funny," she said. " He'll never know you were here."

He tried to remember exactly what Wayne looked like but the more that he recalled, the more he realized the new reality. Adriana was with this man, she had married him and she was his. Perhaps this was the true purpose of wealth and why it was sought after. To be able to secure such a woman, and that woman was decent enough to help those in need despite their evil pasts. It was mind-boggling but somehow it made sense.

"Good for you," he said finally. "And Wayne. For the marriage."

"Thanks," she said. "Now that you know who I'm married to and who owns this building maybe we can go outside. I think you should see the sun.. I mean it's been over a year."

"Outside?" He asked knowing that he would be arrested on the spot.

"Yes. It's totally safe don't worry. There's a private elevator here that goes up to an isolated portion on the roof of the building. We could just go out there for a few minutes...I mean wouldn't it be nice to get some fresh air and look at the sky?"

He wasn't particularly interested in going outside but she seemed to be insisting so he followed. They stopped by the optometry office in the medical facility on their way to the elevator and she grabbed a pair of disposable sunglasses for him. Once they got to the roof and she opened the large steel door in the tiny room they had ascended to the sunlight seemed to flood in around him. Even though he was wearing sunglasses the sunlight seemed incredibly bright. One step out onto the roof and immediately he retreated back indoors.

"Hey," she said and reached for both of his hands with both of hers. "It's okay."

Slowly while holding both of his hands, she pulled him gently to make him come back out onto the roof. She could see the tension in his shoulders as he raised them up by his ears as if protecting himself from the light and the sound of the wind. After a long minute she watched him relax and reach up to remove the sunglasses. His eyes squinted so much that he could barely see, UV light from the sun was unfamiliar to him. It felt like it was burning his eyes. Gradually they made their way over to the edge of the building. There was a wall that reached up to the center of his abdomen and he held onto it with both hands and looked over. He didn't know what to think or feel as he looked down over the city of Gotham.

A bright sunny spring day, sounds of cars honking in the distance, and a soft wind blowing over his skin. Gotham as he had never seen it before..brighter than ever. The moment felt fresh, like a rebirth... A beginning.