"You could just call out," Adriana said as she put makeup primer onto the small bruise under Bruce's eye.
"It's a small bruise," Bruce said to her while they sat at the kitchen.
"I know," Adriana said and kissed him. "I'm sorry about it though."
Alfred walked into the kitchen seeming unfazed by Adriana putting makeup on Bruce until he saw the bruise. He raised his eyebrows to ask Bruce what happened. Alfred wasn't as used to seeing Bruce with bruises since he had stopped his vigilantism.
"It's nothing, Alfred," Bruce said. "You know Adriana just likes to practice her karate chop on me on the weekends."
"He's obviously joking," Adriana said immediately. "It was an accident."
"I'm sure it was," Alfred said and began to pour Bruce's coffee.
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"Aya!" Arsenio said as the Joker scrolled through pictures on the tablet Adriana brought along on their visit. The tablet was full of Arsenio's favorite pictures, movies and TV show.s.
"Aya," the Joker said as he looked at a photo of Arsenio being held by a young woman.
"Her name is Aymara," Adriana explained.
"Aya!" Arsenio said again.
"She's a friend of mine and Arsenio loves her," Adriana went on she's great with him."
"Aya fyee pay!" Arsenio said to the Joker as Adriana held him.
"No," Adriana said. "She doesn't fly planes yet, but she's working on getting her pilot certificate."
"Impressive," the Joker said.
"Daddy, mommy fyee pay!" Arsenio said.
"That's true," Adriana laughed. "Daddy and I can both fly a plane. Although...Daddy's a licensed pilot and I'm not."
"Affa!" Arsenio said, his voice loud and cheery as a picture of Alfred came up on the screen.
"That's Alfred," Adriana said. "He's our butler and practically family. He's essentially Arsenio's grandfather in many ways."
The Joker nodded and swiped again.
"And this is," the Joker looked at a picture of another woman holding Arsenio.
"Haiiiee!" Arsenio said, very excited to name everyone in the pictures.
"That's my sister," Adriana said. "Harri."
The Joker looked at the picture. "Seems familiar."
"Really?" Adriana asked. "You've never met her. Maybe she looks like me a bit?"
"She doesn't resemble you much," the Joker said and looked at the picture. It felt like a strange deja vu as he looked at the woman on the screen. "Must look like someone else I've seen."
"Probably," Adriana said and pulled out her phone.
She rolled her eyes at the number on the screen. She rejected the call and sat her phone back down.
"Someone's really trying to get a hold of you," the Joker said after she rejected the call a second time.
"Would you watch him for a minute?" Adriana asked and sat Arsenio on the couch next to the Joker. "I'll just be right in the hall to take this call."
"Yep," the Joker said as Adriana stood up and went into the hall.
She answered the phone as it began to ring again.
"What do you want?" she asked.
"Hi," Damien said.
"I'm hanging up now-" she said.
"Wait!" he said. "I need to see you."
"I know," she said. "You've been emailing me for months. I don't care what you need-"
"It's important," Damien said. "I think."
"I don't have time for this-" Adriana said.
"It's about a.." Damien said before she could hang up. "Wyatt Freeman."
Adriana paused and closed her eyes for a second.
"Do I have you attention now?" Damien asked.
"Yes," she answered.
"I texted you my address," Damien said. "I'll be waiting."
Adriana looked at the text message after Damien hung up. He had moved to luxury condos a few buildings away. She tried not to let the creepiness of it get to her. Maybe this was some tactic to try to get her back. But the name..Wyatt...she had to go.
"I...have to go down the street for just a minute," Adriana said to the Joker after ending the call and going back into the rec room.
The Joker looked like he wasn't surprised. He assumed it was her vigilantism pulling her away again.
"We'll be here," the Joker said and she walked over to kiss Arsenio before leaving.
Once she was gone, the Joker looked down at Arsenio.
"Don't try to jump off the couch or anything or the sort," the Joker said to Arsenio. "If you get hurt your mother will string me up."
"Haa! He!" Arsenio laughed at the Joker.
"What's so funny?" the Joker asked.
"You!" Arsenio answered. "You scahh mommy!"
"You think that's funny?" the Joker asked the tiny child. "That I'm afraid of your mother."
Arsenio nodded wildly.
"It only makes sense," the Joker said. "Have you seen the size of her triceps lately?"
Arsenio laughed again and fell against the Joker's arm.
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"I'm here," Adriana said as soon as Damien let her into his condo.
"Yes you are," Damien said slowly as he shut the door behind her. He circled her and looked her up and down. "And damn you are looking fit...tight and right-"
"Why am I here?" she asked.
"Right," Damien said, not wanting to rush. Adriana could see he wanted to keep her there as long as possible. "Can I get you something to drink-"
"Damien!" Adriana shouted. "I have to get back home. You're wasting my time-"
"Okay fine! Fine!" he said raising both hands. "I'll get to it."
"Well go ahead then!" she said. "What's this about Wyatt?"
"Right," Damien said. "Formerly knows as Brake. Member of the Joker's team, going to be locked up for at least another few decades even with good behavior."
"I know all of this," Adriana said.
"He called me," Damien said. "I gave him my card months ago and he called. Wanted your number and said it was urgent-"
"I..." Adriana said and paused. "I saw him a few weeks ago. He told me you came to see him-"
"Yes," Damien said. "I was trying to track down the Joker after his suicide which I believe was faked. He's out there somewhere."
"He told me you had questions about the Joker," Adriana said. "You asked him-"
"I had questions about you," Damien said. "I knew the Joker was seeing a woman and good 'ol Wyatt didn't crack. He lied to me and told me the Joker was seeing an Asian woman to throw me off the trail. But you know, I'm highly intelligent which is why I figured it out-"
"I know all of this," Adriana said impatiently. "Why did he call you all of a sudden?"
"You told him about me knowing everything," Damien said. "Why?"
"I don't have to answer that," Adriana said.
"It's not like I can tell anyone after the gag order your husband made me sign," Damien said. "And you know you can trust me. I've never told anyone about your indiscretions. Never will."
"Fine," Adriana said, wanting Damien to get to the point. "My husband found out about the Joker being Arsenio's father and I thought it was you that told him. Brake told me some useless cop came to see him-"
"So you trust that convict more than you trust me," Damien said. "You told him everything didn't you?"
"He knows everything, yes," Adriana said. "Damien...if he called you, this must be really important. This sounds like some last resort shit-"
"Only way he could get through to Mrs. Bruce Wayne," Damien said.
"Tell me what he wanted already," Adriana demanded.
"Well it wasn't easy to get it out of him but he sounded desperate," Damien said. "So I worked diligently to get him to tell me...though we had to talk in code in case the call was monitored. he didn't even ask for you by name. Clever chap. Really trying to protect you-"
"Damien!" Adriana said, losing all patience.
"He sounded a little paranoid," Damien said. "Told me some of the guards there were out to get him. Recognized one of them from a former employer who he believes is out to find and destroy the Joker. I didn't pay it much mind, he sounded crazy to be honest."
"When did he call?" Adriana asked.
"Three days ago," Damien answered.
"And you're just now telling me?" she asked furiously.
"I didn't think anything of it, baby," Damien said. "But then I heard from a former colleague that the last of the Joker's crew was likely dead."
"Oh my g-" Adriana said and clasped her hands over her mouth.
"He's alive," Damien said, and placed both hands on her shoulder.
"He is?" she asked.
"He's in the hospital," Damien told her . "Guards though he was dead but he still had a heartbeat. Stabbed over 30 times. He's in the hospital, critical."
"Someone attacked him?" she asked.
"Likely tortured him too," Damien said. "So, we don't know what he may have told them. Someone could know about you, the Joker, your son."
"No.." Adriana said, feeling her knees get weak but Damien wrapped his arms around her.
"It's okay," he said and held her.
"No..no this is bad...I have to tell Bruce-" Adriana said.
"Or I could help you," Damien offered.
Adriana pulled away from his embrace.
"What?" Adriana asked. "You have some kind of plan?"
"Before jumping the gun we should ask him if he caved and told all your secrets," Damien informed her.
"Huh?" Adriana asked. "He's in the hospital-"
"Yes, with collapsed lungs and in critical condition," Damien said. "Wouldn't be easy but it would save us a lot of trouble"
"I'm going to have to tell Bruce anyway...I can't keep this from him-"Adriana explained.
"But wouldn't it be much easier to tell him that you went and checked and all your secrets are safe?" Damien asked.
"Yes... I guess so," Adriana said, not sure why Damien cared so much.
"We can go to the hospital tonight," Damien said. "You may want to disguise yourself."
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"I hear head trauma can take care of that," Sidi said to Bruce when he asked her if she could help him forget everything. He wanted to lose memory of all he had seen between the Joker and Adriana.
"That means you can't assist," Bruce said.
"Tell me why you're so desperate all of sudden," Sidi said. "Well..so much more desperate."
"Twyla gave me a potion. Fly on the wall but she modified it," Bruce said. "It finally wore off this morning. Lasted way long than she said."
"And?" Sidi asked.
"I saw more," Bruce said, not wanting to go into detail. "I didn't want to."
"Of course you did," Sidi told him. "You placed your hand on a wall."
"Well, that isn't quite true," Bruce said and looked away.
"What then? Don't get all shy now," Sidi said and sipped her wine.
"I touched the wall in my bedroom," Bruce began to explain. "Saw that the potion was still active. After that I-"
Sidi rolled her eyes at his pause. She had to patience for suspicion.
"Adriana and I were being intimate and when I placed my fingers inside of her I saw.." Bruce said and looked like he was remembering seeing a ghost. "It was a sort of point of view from this other man that was with her-"
"Arsenio's father," Sidi said, not naming him.
"Yes," Bruce said, sounding shamed. "It all happened so fast, it was as though I saw it all at once."
Sidi pursed her lips and rested her chin on the palm of her hand.
"The only reason you would be this distraught is because you are comparing yourself to him," Sidi said. "That's the trouble with going to Twyla. She only makes things worse."
"I should have listened to you from the start," Bruce said. "That day when you came to my office and said that I needed to make sure Adriana got her gift removed as soon as possible. I should have listened! Adriana would have lived. I would never have gone through the grief of losing her! I would never have needed Twyla."
"I'd say I told you so," Sidi shrugged. "But I'm trying to be polite company. Twyla is no good."
"It's my fault. Adriana told me all of her exes ended up in a jealous rage except.." Bruce said. "So is it unavoidable?"
"No.." Sidi said. "Rare but not impossible."
"Rare.." Bruce said.
"I'm sure you've learned by now," Sidi said. "You say you're possessive and jealous but it could be worse. I'm sure you've learned when you are intimate with your wife, you can reject her gift overtaking you and affecting you. Reject the intuition it gives."
"Pretty much," Bruce said. "It took restraint and practice but..I've learned to resist it about 95% of the time."
"A partner who has resisted every single time," Sidi said. "From the beginning would not experience this mania that you have."
"The worst part," Bruce said. "I feel more possessive and jealous than I ever though possible. And more inadequate."
"Well that is common," Sidi said. "You have experienced a woman that is...well, putting it plainly...a freak of nature. The gift that she has needs to be guarded and cannot be shared with just anyone. This reaction is normal as is not something that goes away."
"Sidi," Bruce said and leaned back. "It sounds like you don't approve of me."
"Oh, I approve of you dear," Sidi said and patted Bruce's hand.
"That wasn't vey convincing," Bruce said and patted her hand back.
"Listen, my child," Sidi said. "I cannot help you to forget what you have done. Exposing yourself to things in your wife's past that no husband should ever see. I can't help you feel better about what you've done. I cannot help you feel less possession over your wife. But I can give you some words of wisdom."
Bruce nodded once. He was disappointed that there was no potion, no cure..no remedy. But he would accept the advice.
"It is useless to compare your love with your wife to her love with another man," Sidi told him. "It will only torment you. Your relationship with her will never compare to his relationship with her. And vice versa. His will never compare to yours. You cannot replace him and he cannot replace you. The comparison and jealousy will sour your relationship. It will make you miss the moments that matter the most. It is not a competition, as you have already won for the time being. You have your wife. All you can do now is love her and stay with her or ruin the bond by dwelling on her past relationship that has ended. Just remember that. Every second you spend thinking about him, thinking about what he has done with your wife, thinking about their bond...is another second you spend loosening your own bond. You will never forget, unfortunately, what Twyla's concoction made you see...and that is your punishment for your jealous foolishness. Perhaps it couldn't be helped, but you need to move forward. Embrace what you have."
Bruce looked into Sidi's eyes, understanding every word.