"Did you have fun?" Adriana asked Arsenio when she came to pick him up from the Joker's apartment. "Huh sweetie?"
"Mommy!" Arsenio said as she lifted him into her arms and gave him a kiss. Arsenio hugged her. "Ya!"
"Are you ready to go home?" she asked him.
"No, mommy," he replied. "I droow!"
"I see you've been drawing," Adriana said and smiled. There were countless colorful sheets of paper all over the floor. "Maybe you can come back this weekend and finish, okay?"
Arsenio nodded and then looked at the Joker. Adriana noticed that the Joker was very quiet and had said nothing to her.
"Want to say bye to Jack?" Adriana asked Arsenio.
"Bye Dak!" Arsenio said and waved.
The Joker finally smiled. "Goodbye Arsenio."
"Dak!" Arsenio said and stretch both hands in the Joker's direction.
The Joker blinked a few times and walked over. Arsenio reached for him and Adriana let him go into his arms. For the first time the Joker felt Arsenio give him a hug. It was brief and after a couple seconds, Arsenio turned back to Adriana.
The Joker had seen Arsenio give Bruce an embrace every time he came to pick him up. This was the first time Adriana had come to pick him up. The Joker wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel about the embrace, or if his overwhelming joy was appropriate. But he made no effort to control it. He was happier than he had ever been.
"Ok, bye Dak!" Arsenio said again and waved.
"So..we'll see you this weekend," Adriana said. She could see the Joker was ecstatic. His attitude towards her changed very quickly. He became talkative.
"Of course," he said to Adriana with a smile. "See you then."
"Alright," Adriana said and picked up her bag and went to the door.
The Joker opened it and watched them leave.
.
.
.
"Very spacious," Adriana said about the warehouse where Bruce had their computers and equipment moved.
"Indeed," the Joker commented.
The warehouse was large and was only well lit where the computers were.
"Are there more lights?" the Joker asked.
"Sure," Bruce said. "We only need to light this area though. Why do you ask?"
"No reason," the Joker said. "So, shall we start?"
"I think we should," Adriana said.
They went to their computers and began to work. They were nearly done going over all the video footage they could find of the Joker. Bruce estimated they could finish their work in seven or eight more days.
All three of them were focused, worked long hours on the project and were determined to get everything finished as soon as possible. After about an hour of working the Joker stood up. Adriana and Bruce both assumed he would go to the bathroom but he went outside.
Adriana and Bruce looked at each other for a second and then she shrugged. They resumed their work.
"Look at this," Bruce said to her after a while.
She stood up and went over to his computer. Footage from a storage facility yard. Adriana remembered the night. She saw herself on the screen. Her face was not visible but she could see her shoulder and the back of her head. There were many other people around. The camera was far enough away that almost no one's face was clear.
Bruce zoomed in multiple times at the moment Adriana turned. She could see a pixelated image of her face. She could see the fire engine red hair she was sporting.
"How bad is this?" she asked.
"Not bad," Bruce said. "There's other footage with you in it, but fortunately you wore a ski mask. This one's pixelated and has not ever been retrieved by the police as far as I can tell. Good thing we caught it in case there were any future investigations."
"Whew.." Adriana exhaled.
Bruce was quiet as the shooting started on the screen. Adriana watched herself drop to the ground to avoid being shot.
"What the hell happened there?" Bruce asked. Based on the footage everything looked okay and then the Joker began to suddenly open fire.
"Well-" Adriana said, but the Joker had come back into the warehouse. "I'll tell you later."
"I think I'm coming down with something," the Joker said to them without walking over to them. "I should go, before you catch it."
"Oh...well," Adriana said. "That's okay, we've got things covered here."
Bruce nodded. "Do you need anything?"
"No," the Joker replied.
"Okay," Adriana said. "Well, we hope you feel better soon."
The Joker said nothing and turned to leave. Adriana and Bruce could hear a car starting and then driving away.
"That was abrupt," Bruce noticed.
"Well...must be a lot, having to look through this stuff for him," Adriana said. "Have you noticed he's been behaving oddly lately?"
"Odd in what way?" Bruce asked.
"I don't know..." Adriana said. "Barely speaking. Kind of distant...cold?"
Bruce remembered what the Joker told him. He felt he needed to be cold with Adriana sometimes. It was a discussion Bruce had never told Adriana about.
"What is it?" Adriana asked Bruce. "You know something?"
"No," Bruce said. "I haven't noticed that at all."
"Really?" Adriana asked. "When I go to get Arsenio he's like...saying two words to me."
"And..what...you want him to say more?" Bruce asked.
"Well, not if he doesn't want to," Adriana said. "It's just weird. I just hope he's okay."
"He's spoken to me when I've been there," Bruce said. "He speaks with Lucius regularly with Dr. Kapoor. He's fine."
"So..." Adriana said. "It's just me then that he's not talking to?"
"I honestly don't know, Adriana," Bruce said, even though he knew perfectly well. What Bruce had to admit was odd was that he could see the Joker's growing coldness towards her even though it didn't seem warranted based on what the Joker had told him. Either way, it did not bother Bruce.
"Maybe I did something to upset him? Or offend him?" Adriana asked.
"I wouldn't dwell on it," Bruce said. "He's a...different kind of person. Maybe he just doesn't feel like being sociable."
"With me," Adriana said. "You just said he's speaking to everyone else."
Bruce felt the need to change the subject.
"Why did he suddenly start shooting here?" Bruce asked about the video on the screen. "Who knows why he does anything?"
Adriana rolled her eyes.
"That guy there was saying some...offensive things to him," Adriana explained.
"What did he say?" Bruce asked. "Looks like he was talking to you too."
"We were all there to pay him for that," Adriana pointed to the case on a table on the screen. "The Joker was short."
Bruce looked at the screen.
"Anyways...that guy suggested that the Joker pay him with me," Adriana said.
Bruce suddenly looked like he approved of the shooting.
"I said no way, and that's when I walked away back to the vehicle," Adriana said and clicked with the mouse. "So that's when he came over and asked me if I was sure my answer was no."
Bruce then raised his eyebrows. "What?"
"He didn't realize what he was asking," Adriana said. "Jack though the guy just wanted me to be a part of his team-"
"Even in this pixelated long distance video, it's clear how he was looking at you," Bruce said.
"Well, Jack didn't realize that," Adriana shrugged. "Anyway, that's when he came over and adjusted his proposition to a few hours with me for his men as compensation for the missing money. I said no again and then the guy starts throwing some slick remarks at the Joker...something about me being willing to have sex with a 'freak' but not his guys."
"How did he know you were sleeping with him?" Bruce asked curiously.
"He didn't he just assumed," Adriana guessed. "I'm the only female member on the team, I guess he just thought that was how it goes. It's funny, we weren't even together at that point. Nothing had even happened between us yet."
Bruce looked back at the screen as Adriana went back to her seat.
"When he called him a freak he opened fire on them," Adriana said.
"Right," Bruce said absently and looked at the screen.
Adriana yawned. "What do you say if we leave early tonight too? We can just work for four hours."
Bruce nodded. "Okay."
Adriana looked at her own screen. There was a brief clip of the Joker on the day of his arrest after kidnapping the governor's granddaughter. The day she was nearly fatally shot with a poison. The day the Batman had nearly killed her but then had saved her.
.
.
.
Adriana felt Bruce's hand on her shoulder. They were in bed and their bedroom was dark. It was almost three in the morning and Adriana could not sleep. Bruce knew it.
"Hey..." he whispered softly against the back of her ear and wrapped his arms around her. "Are you crying?"
Adriana was quiet as she wiped her eyes. Bruce held her closer and she closed her eyes. He didn't push her to talk or to share with him what was upsetting her but after a long embrace she began to speak.
"Do you..." she said, so quietly and with heavy shame in her voice. "Remember when you first brought me to Dr. Kapoor...he gave me the transfusion for that poison and I woke up in the medical facility?"
"Of course," Bruce said.
"And he...told me I was pregnant," Adriana said and wiped her eyes again.
"Mhm," Bruce said against her ear.
"I was just...thinking about what we talked about..." Adriana said. "What I was...considering.."
Bruce remembered. He rubbed her arm. "You were in a difficult position Adriana-"
"I know...I know..." she said.
They had spoken about her consideration for an abortion. Adriana was remembering it so vividly.
"But if I had gone through with it.." Adriana said, her voice now sounding tearful. "My baby...my sweet baby...I would never have known him and...I wouldn't have given him a chance to live...and he's so perfect and I-"
"Adriana," Bruce said. "You have nothing to feel guilty for-"
"But I considered it," she said. "How could I even consider that?"
"I wasn't an easy decision but you made the right one," Bruce said, trying to maintain his even and calm voice. The idea that Arsenio would have never been born was painful. The most painful thing he could imagine.
"We'll never know," Adriana spoke about her miscarriage. "I just...it's so hard, not knowing. Our baby..."
Bruce was quiet. After a while Adriana rolled over and placed her forehead against his chest.
"Our baby was loved," Bruce said. "Even we never met him...or her. That's all that matters."
Adriana nodded as Bruce held her. Eventually she slept.
.
.
.
"Hi," Adriana said to the Joker as he opened his door.
It was an unexpected visit and she was carrying a large brown paper bag. The Joker stepped aside and let her in.
"I just wanted to bring you some things to eat," she said. "If you're still sick."
The Joker looked tired but not ill. He took the bag and walked over to his dining room table and sat it down.
"Are you feeling any better?" she asked, trying to get a word out of him.
"Yes," he said. "Goodbye."
Adriana felt her eyebrows raise for a second.
"Okay," she said and crossed her arms. "Listen...don't take this the wrong way."
The Joker looked at her with an expression that held a hint of impatience.
"But may I ask why you're acting like such a dick?" she asked.
His expression didn't change at all.
"Perhaps that's just who I am," he said sarcastically and then gestured towards to door.
Adriana rolled her eyes.
"Fine," she said with a fake smile. "But you know, if I did something to offend you or upset you, you could just tell me and stop being so childish."
The Joker began to cough and Adriana could tell it was fake coughing.
"Looks like my virus is back," he said. "Best be going."
Adriana sighed and rolled her eyes again before leaving.
.
.
.
"I think she got the hint," the Joker said to Dr. Kapoor during his therapy session.
"Hint," Dr. Kapoor said. "Communication is best when things are stated clearly. It sounds like Adriana believes she has done something wrong to upset you."
"She will get over it," the Joker said.
"Jack," the doctor said after a pause. "Pushing others away who don't deserve it, is not the best course of action. I encouraged you to speak to Adriana about your feelings so that the two of you could come to an understanding. Being standoffish is not ideal."
"Why not?" the Joker said.
"Arsenio," the doctor said.
"Arsenio?" the Joker asked.
"You want to continue to see him and have a relationship with him, correct?" the doctor asked.
"Of course," the Joker said.
"Well...Jack," the doctor said. "Adriana is his mother. That will never change. How can you build a relationship with him when you are at odds with his mother? This will work best if everyone gets along."
The Joker realized the doctor was right.
.
.
.
"Am I here so you can apologize for being an asshole this morning?" Adriana asked the Joker. He had texted her and requested that she come by again.
"Yes," he said.
Adriana sighed and went into his apartment. She crossed her arms and waited.
"Sorry," he said plainly.
Adriana waited for him to say more.
"That's it?" she asked.
He waited. He needed to say more but at the same time, he needed her to leave.
I don't want her. I don't want her. I don't want her.
He repeated the sentence to himself over and over until he almost believed it.
After waiting for him to say more Adriana went back to the door and reached to the knob. The Joker grabbed her hand, stopping her. What surprised them both was the quickness with which she snatched her hand away from him. Like she had been touched by something burning hot. Like an instant reflex.
"What?" Adriana asked, feeling a slight shaking in her body.
The emotions were confusing. She was so frustrated with him and only wanted to leave but his touch for only a second made her body feel like it was seizing and trembling at the same time. She hated it.
"Look," the Joker said. "I just want us to be...cordial with each other."
"You're saying I haven't been cordial?" she asked.
The Joker realized then that he needed more work on his communication skills.
"You have," he said. "I have not."
"Got that right," she said.
The Joker cleared his throat.
"If you have something to say to me, then just say it," she said. "Tell me what your issue with me is. What did I do?"
"Nothing," he said. "You did nothing."
"Then tell me why you hate me," she said.
"I do not hate you," he said. "Quite the opposite. That is my issue with you."
Adriana felt whiplash in the most bearable way possible. She didn't know what to say. She knew that the opposite of hate was, she didn't need to hear him say it.
"Oh..." she said, lost for words.
They both felt the same. They didn't hate each other. The feeling they did have, which they both knew were wrong, were creating tension that was not easy to ignore.
"I think...being mean to each other only makes things worse," Adriana said. "Jack...look...we don't need to be friends or anything. But...we need to get along, for Arsenio's sake at least. How about..we just agree to be kind and cordial and..respectful at least. I'm sure in time it will be easier than it is now."
The Joker nodded.
"You are correct," he said. He felt a bit of relief.
"Is that why you left last night?" she asked. "You...don't want to be around me at all because..."
"That was only part of the reason," he said.
"What else?" she asked.
"I do not enjoy that warehouse," he told her.
"What's wrong with it?" she asked.
"It's...eh...too similar to another place," he said.
Adriana understood immediately. The place where he had been held underground.
"Oh..." she said. "Well...maybe we can relocate-"
"That's not necessary," he said. "It just need more lighting."
"Okay," she said. "I'll make sure we have all the light on."
The Joker nodded once. They was not much else of them to say but they were staring at each other and saying nothing. Their thoughts were the exact say though as they looked into each others eyes.
I want you. You want me. But it is wrong and it can never happen.
"I better go," Adriana said.
"Right then," the Joker said. "I'll be on site tonight. I'm not sick."
"I gathered that," Adriana laughed. "See you later."