"Mmmmm..." Adriana hummed against the pillow as she opened her eyes. She saw Bruce already away, laying on his side and looking at her. "Morning."

"Hi," Bruce said.

"So..." she said. "You were just waiting for me to wake up?"

"I was up," he said.

"Oh.." Adriana said.

"I went out last night," he said. "I was needed in the city."

"Really?" Adriana asked. "Did anyone see you?"

"No one knows the Batman was involved," Bruce said. "No one saw me."

"So...how was it?" she asked.

"It was amazing," he told her.

She smiled and touched his cheek, understanding his passion for vigilantism.

"You must be tired," she said.

"No...not yet," he replied. "I actually wanted to talk to you."

"About what?" she asked.

"Well," he said after a deep breath. "It..can wait. I shouldn't bombard you as soon as you wake up-"

"No," she said. "Tell me."

Bruce was quiet for a few seconds.

"Are we in trouble?" he asked her.

Adriana blinked a few times. "You were right...that's a loaded question for first thing in the morning."

"And that response..." he said, taking in her words. "Doesn't sound good."

"I...don't know what you want me to say," she said.

"I want us to communicate.." Bruce said. "We need to."

"I agree.." she said.

"I think we need therapy," Bruce said. "And since Dr. Kapoor knows everything already and we have no secrets from him..."

"Oh..." Adriana said. "You want us to see him together? Like...couples therapy?"

"Yes," Bruce said. "I think...in order for us to have a chance...we need to work through our issues."

Adriana paused. "And...what if we can't?" she asked.

She could see the question gutted Bruce. He wasn't expecting such a blunt response. The idea that their problems couldn't be fixed.

"At the very least," Bruce said solemnly. "We have to try."

Adriana looked at him without responding.

"Unless..." he said, and she could see his hurt. "You don't want to and you've already made your decision about us."

"I..." Adriana said. "I'll go. We can go to therapy. We should."

"Okay," Bruce said relieved. "Last night...you really scared me. Leaving all of a sudden. To be honest, I though it was over."

"To be honest..." she said, remembering how she felt. "So did I."

"Wow," she heard Bruce breath after a sharp inhale. "Honesty can be difficult to hear."

"If we go to therapy we are going to have to be honest," she told him.

"Yes," he agreed. "Dr. Kapoor can see us this afternoon, if you're up for it."

"I am," she told him.

"Thank you," he said.

Adriana thought of the previous night, when all of her previous frustrations came to the surface. She was fine..things were going great, until she thought of the Joker. Her desire for him was so strong that it made her angry. And then she went to go and see him. He expressed no desire for her. He only wanted his painting.

"Can I ask you something?" Adriana asked.

"Sure," he said and rubbed her arm.

"The painting," she said. "The one you found...and had at the penthouse the night we fought."

"What about it?" he asked.

"Did...you get rid of it?" she asked.

"I considered it," he said. "The painting made me furious."

"So..you didn't?"she asked.

"No," he replied.

"Why not?" she asked him.

"I hate what the painting of Arsenio represents," Bruce said. "It represents him being in the presence of that man."

Adriana could see he was still bothered by the fact that she had Arsenio around the Joker.

"Yes," Bruce said. "I hate what it represents...but the paining itself...I quite like."

"You do?" she asked. "So...you're not going to get rid of it?"

"No," he told her. "I'm going to keep it."

"Oh..." she said. The Joker would not be getting his painting back.

"Can't believe I'm saying this about something that monster has done," Bruce said. "But it's beautiful."

.

.

.

"Bruce...Adriana," Dr. Kapoor said to them.

They were seated on a couch in front of him in Wayne Manor. Their therapy session had begun. Adriana had not felt nervous about it at all until it actually began. They smiled and nodded at the doctor.

"I'm going to ask you a few questions about your relationship," Dr. Kapoor said. "I'm sure most of the questions will seem obvious since I know you both very well but I would like to hear your answers."

"Okay," Bruce agreed.

"And it will be easier if we have the same order of response," Dr. Kapoor said.

"You can go first," Adriana said to Bruce and he nodded.

"Then let's begin," Dr. Kapoor asked. "How long have the two of you been together?"

"We dated for a short time..a month or so?" Bruce said. "We ended it...then Adriana came to live with me after an unfortunate incident. She was pregnant. We started to date again towards the end of her pregnancy...for a couple months. We married a couple weeks after Arsenio was born. We've been married just over a year."

Dr. Kapoor nodded and smiled at Bruce.

"Would you like to respond, Adriana?" Dr. Kapoor asked.

"No," she said. "I'd have the same answer."

"Alright," Dr. Kappor said. "What made you two seek professional help and what are your goals for therapy?"

Bruce cleared his throat. Adriana was glad he was going first.

"My wife and I have a very complicated life," Bruce said. "As you know, we are both vigilantes. Things haven't been easy for us lately. We've both done and said things that have put strain on our relationship. We're hoping that you can assist us is communicating more effectively with each other. We have to communicate if we hope to have any chance of our relationship lasting."

"Adriana?" Dr. Kapoor asked.

"Bruce is right," Adriana said. "We have a lot of issues, especially lately. And our communication hasn't been the best. We don't have the type of issues that can just be swept under the rug. So...yes, we need therapy."

"Tell me," Dr. Kapoor. "How would you describe your current relationship together?"

"Adriana and I..." Bruce started. "We love each other very much. Actually...I shouldn't speak for her-"

"I love you, Bruce," Adriana assured him and took his hand.

"Yes," Dr. Kapoor said, taking note of their body language. The entire time that they were sitting their feet were turned towards each other. They sat very close. They were comfortable. "I can see that you are in love. Do you both feel loved by your partner?"

They both were quiet. Bruce knew he needed to answer first.

"I'll go first," Adriana said. "I know that Bruce loves me very much."

"And do you feel loved?" Dr. Kapoor clarified the question again. He wasn't asking what she knew. He was asking what she felt.

"I..." Adriana said. "I know Bruce is doing everything he can...to show me he loves me. I feel that he loves me.."

"And..." Dr. Kapoor said, repeating the question for the third time. "Do you feel loved?"

Adriana realized how difficult therapy would be. She didn't want to let Bruce down, but she wanted to honest. She could tell he was hurt by the fact that she didn't feel loved. But she needed to say it.

"No," she said, finally but then felt the need to explain. "I mean...I feel that he loves me but I can't...feel loved. I feel desired and appreciated and I know he wants this to work-"

"But you don't feel loved," Bruce said, failure apparent in his voice.

"I'm sorry..." Adriana said weakly.

"And Bruce," Dr. Kapoor said to Bruce. "Do you feel loved."

Bruce paused.

"Yes," Bruce said. "I feel loved."

"You do?" Adriana said, not hiding her surprise. "I mean..I love you...I just know I haven't been doing a good job of showing it lately."

"Yes," Bruce said. "I can feel your anger, betrayal...frustration with me. But I can also feel your love and patience. Yes, I feel loved."

They looked into each others eyes.

"I only wish you felt the same," Bruce said.

"Adriana," the doctor said. "Could you tell me why you don't feel loved?"

"Oh.." Adriana said.

Bruce saw her stalling.

"I had an affair," Bruce said. "All three of us in this room know about it. It happened."

"Adriana," Dr. Kapoor said. "Is your husbands affair why you don't feel loved?"

"It's..part of it," Adriana said. "When I found out...I sort of shut down because...I expected this type of thing to happen."

"You expected your husband to cheat," Dr. Kapoor said.

"I've..been cheated on a lot and," Adriana said. "I know it shouldn't happen but it does."

"So you married Bruce expecting he would cheat on you," Dr. Kapoor said.

Adriana looked at Bruce.

"I'm sorry..." Adriana said.

"Don't apologize," Bruce said. "We're here for honesty."

"I expected it but..." Adriana said. "I tell myself to expect it but still...I had some hope that this time will be different. Because Bruce actually married me and..I've never been married before. I though..it meant something. I thought it meant-"

"It does mean something," Bruce said and then stopped. "I'm sorry, I should not have interrupted you."

"It's okay," Adriana said. "I just thought it meant...he wouldn't. I'm sorry...I feel like I was misleading but, it was just a defense mechanism. I..behaved as though it didn't bother me but it did."

"It will never happen again," Bruce said.

Adriana nodded.

"Do you believe what your husband has just told you?" Dr. Kapoor asked Adriana.

"What?" Adriana asked, taken slightly off guard by the directness of the question.

"Do you believe me? When I say it won't happen again?" Bruce asked.

Adriana was quiet and Bruce squeezed her hand gently.

"Please," Bruce said. "There's no wrong answer. I just want...honesty. Complete honestly."

Adriana nodded and looked down.

"Then..no," she said. "I can't believe that. But...I know that you mean it. I know you mean what you're saying when you make that promise to me...it's just.."

"What is it?" Bruce asked.

"We've only been married a year," she said. "And we...didn't date for very long before we were married. It happened so soon...I just...if we're married for year...decades even..it's a long time...even though you mean this promise right now. I just...I'm just being honest."

Bruce kept eye contact, listening to her.

"Adriana," Dr. Kapoor said, and she looked away from Bruce and at him. "And is that something you are willing to accept? A marriage to someone that you feel that you cannot trust to be faithful to you?"

"I...don't know," she said honestly. "It's not what I want."

Bruce wanted to speak up. He knew he meant what he had promised. He never would betray her again. But now all he had to offer her was words, promises, and action would take time. Years. The rest of his life. Showing her that he meant what he said. Words were useless.

"And Bruce," Dr. Kapoor said. "Is that something you could accept? A marriage with a woman who does not believe that you will be faithful to her?"

Bruce didn't want to answer the question but he had to.

"It's not what I want," he said. "I want her to trust me. So the answer would be no. Which...is not a fair answer because I have betrayed her trust. And I need her trust. I can't have a marriage where she believes I will do something that I never will."

Adriana and Bruce were quiet as they thought of their answers. They both had answered no. They couldn't live with such a future.

"Trust takes time to build," Dr. Kapoor said exactly what Bruce had been thinking. "And even more time to rebuild."

Adriana and Bruce both nodded. They both felt hopeless.

"You said Bruce's affair was part of the reason you don't feel loved," Dr. Kapoor said. "Is there anything else?"

Adriana already was feeling emotionally drained from the session. Honesty took a lot of energy.

"Yes," Adriana said.

"And what would that be?" the doctor asked.

"My husband and I...had a terrible fight," Adriana said. "About something I did. I know what I did was wrong, bringing my son around...someone that..."

"We'll just call him as he is," Bruce said. "The Joker."

Adriana was surprised that Bruce wanted to discuss him so directly. Honesty and full disclosure.

"I brought Arsenio around the Joker," Adriana said. "And I know...it was a betrayal. Because I didn't tell Bruce and Bruce..is his father. We had an argument. And I know Bruce didn't mean what he said but he threatened to take my son away and he..."

Adriana felt overcome with emotion. This was far more painful than discussing his affair.

"He said...a judge would side with him because of my past," she said. "And he would get ...I guess a judge would see me as crazy because I've an extensive history with being on psych meds and being admitted to facilities to help me with my mental health. It hurt me more than the affair."

"If I could take it all back.." Bruce said. He hated what he had done and said. He felt like he was losing even though this was therapy and not a win or lose situation.

"I know..." Adriana said. "I know you didn't mean those things but it was hard to hear."

They were quiet again.

"You're an amazing mother," Bruce said to her. "Arsenio couldn't have a better mother. I'm sure of that."

Adriana was able to muster up a smile to give him.

"Thanks," she said and leaned forward to kiss him.

Afterwards they both took a deep breath.

"The issue of trust and loyalty with regards to your future," Dr. Kapoor said. "It is very significant."

They both agreed.

"If the two of you are to stay together," Dr. Kapoor said. "How do you imagine seeing each other in..say ten or fifteen years? With the expectation that your feelings about loyalty will not change?"

Bruce decided to go first again.

"I would...see my wife as someone who doesn't fully trust me," Bruce said. "Expecting me to give myself to other women when...I only want her. And I need her to know that and believe that is the truth. I love her. It would be eat me up inside every day. Because I love her with all of my heart and she will never know how much because...yes it is my fault..but she will never know how much I love her."

"And you, Adriana?" the doctor asked her.

"I love Bruce," Adriana said while looking into Bruce's eyes. "I do. It's just...whenever I'm cheated on it changes things for me. I feel like I'm just being tolerant and..I shut down. I don't feel the same open heartedness, and passion and connection. I feel like it's been broken."

Bruce was gutted and both Adriana and the doctor saw it.

"How would you describe the quality of your sex life?" the doctor asked them.

Bruce looked over at him.

"Before or after the affair?" Bruce asked.

"You could answer for both," the doctor said.

"Before," Bruce raised his eyebrows. "It's been amazing. It couldn't have been any better. My wife is...well..I'll just say I've been blessed. I'm a very lucky man. I didn't want for anything."

"And now?" Dr. Kappor said.

"It's hard to say," Bruce said. "We've only had sex once since."

"You could try," Dr. Kapoor said. "If Adriana is comfortable with you sharing."

"It's fine," Adriana said.

Bruce looked at them both and continued.

"It was," Bruce said, looking for the word to describe it. "Aggressive. She wanted me to be very aggressive with her and I was. I...enjoyed it but I am not sure she did. It wasn't the same. She wasn't as passionate as she has always been."

"Okay," Dr. Kapoor. "And Adriana would you mind describing the quality of your sex life from your perspective?"

"Before," Adriana said. "It was fantastic...I loved it. I've been blessed too..we both have. We have great chemistry...which was definitely a blessing, since we didn't even have sex until after we were married so it was a bit of a gamble. But it worked out perfectly."

"And now?" Dr. Kapoor said.

"Like Bruce said," she said. "We've only had sex once and...yes, I did feel like I needed him to be more aggressive because I just..I felt like, I could feel him in my body but I couldn't enjoy it because..."

Adriana sighed.

"I guess I need my mind and my heart to be engaged or at lease open to.." Adriana said, not knowing how to explain. "I felt like something was gone. Something was missing now. And I couldn't enjoy him even though I tried. So I couldn't..finish."

"But.." Bruce said. "You did."

"Oh..right," Adriana said.

Before having sex, she remembered climaxing from his kisses on her neck alone. But she was fantasizing. Thinking of someone else. How honest could she be in this therapy session? There was no way to overcome their problems without it.

"Did that happen?" Dr. Kapoor said, needing to confirm that she hadn't been acting.

"I...had an orgasm during foreplay but..."Adriana said.

"But..?" Bruce asked.

"I was...I wasn't present mentally," Adriana said.

"What does that mean?" Bruce asked.

"Adriana?" the doctor asked when she didn't respond.

"I was...thinking about something else," she said. "And I didn't want to think about it while we were actually..."

"Something else?" Bruce asked.

"Someone else," Adriana said and looked down.

"Oh..." Bruce said and half turned his head away from her. He was watching everything fall apart right in front of him.

"But...I didn't want to think about him while I was having sex with you so..when we started I stopped thinking about him-" Adriana said.

"And when you were with me...nothing," Bruce said. "You felt nothing. But thinking of someone else you came from me kissing the side of your neck."

Adriana looked down.

"Who?" Bruce asked.

"Bruce," Dr. Kapoor said, stopping him. "I don't believe that is a pertinent question."

"It was him," Adriana answered, ignoring Dr. Kapoor. "Since we're calling him by name today. The Joker."

Bruce blinked so hard, Adriana could see his shock. His head leaned to the side for a second as though he was stretching his neck before he straightened it again. He was uncomfortable.

"Have you though about him before? When we-" Bruce asked.

"Never, no," Adriana told him. "Just...that one time. My mind started to wander and I shut it down after that happened."

"Now..." Bruce said. "I'm going to have to wonder if you're thinking about him whenever we-"

"No," Adriana said. "I..can control it. It only happened because..I don't know-"

"Are you in love with him?" Bruce asked.

Dr. Kapoor watched them quietly.

"Bruce..." Adriana said.

"Just...answer me," Bruce said. "The man is...a murderer, a terrorist, a villain. He's a complete invalid by now. Lucius has him locked away somewhere ten thousand miles from here. And after a year locked underground, his mental state has likely deteriorated beyond recognition. And you...you're in love with that? You're in love with that man?"

"I'm not in love with him," Adriana said, but then realized she needed to be honest. "I don't think...I don't think I am anymore. I mean...I might be I just-"

Bruce sighed without making a sound.

"I just...you wanted to have sex and," Adriana said. "You know...I'm sure you've accepted by now that I had sex with him. And..I just needed to think of something and the last pleasant memories I had of sex before you..was him. But..that doesn't mean I'm in love with him."

"Good," Bruce said. "Because he is gone. But I am here...and I want to be with you. I want this to work. But...how can I do that when you've fantasized about him when you're with me? Just like...you think I might cheat again some day even though I wont..."

Bruce took a deep breath.

"Now...I'm always going to wonder..is she thinking about him?" Bruce asked. "That...psychopath? Is that what she wants?"

Adriana and Bruce, along with Dr. Kapoor.

"What does all of this mean?" Adriana asked.

"It means," Bruce said. "We...have little to no chance of making this work. We have enormous hurdles. Major problems here. I want you with all of my heart and I know it could take years for it to be proven to you. But...you hesitated when I asked if you are in love with him."

Adriana could think of nothing to say.

"In love with a man that is gone," Bruce said. "And with me, who you don't truly trust yet. I think it allows too much room for him to enter your thoughts again. We've only had sex once in the past few weeks and I want you. I miss you."

"Adriana," Dr. Kapoor said. "Are you interested in being intimate with your husband?"

Adriana didn't want to answer but she had to.

"No...but...I could be again," she said. "Someday...but not now."

"Is there anything you would like to say Bruce?" Dr. Kapoor said.

"This...is not healthy," Bruce said. "How can I prove myself to you in this moment where you don't want me but you're still pining over someone else that you can't have? That's how..badly I've hurt you...this is my fault."

"How do the two of you hope to move forward in the short term?" the doctor asked and Bruce answered again.

"We can't..." Bruce said. "I love this woman and I want her so badly. I lay next to her at night and I just want to show her that I love her. I want to connect to her. I want to make love to her. It's not healthy for me and it's not healthy for her...for us to sleep side by side and me wanting her so badly while she doesn't want me."

"What..." Adriana asked. "What are you saying."

"I'm saying.." Bruce said. "For my mental stability...and now knowing that...you've had to fill your minds with that...man. That beast. Just to cope with me kissing you..."

Bruce sighed.

"I think we need to take a break," Bruce said.

"What does that mean?" Adriana asked. "You want us to separate?"

"That...is what I am suggesting," Bruce said.