"How did it go?" Bruce asked Adriana as soon as she was home.
She pulled out the tightly folded bill that she had wrapped in plastic.
"What's this?" he asked.
"Careful..it's in there," she told him.
"Oh.." Bruce said and looked it it. "Well done."
"Thanks," she smiled as he kissed her.
"Anything interesting happen?" Bruce asked and walked over to the scientific equipment he had set up on the living room table.
"Mateo was there," she said and began to pull off her wig. "He recognized me."
Bruce sat slowly.
"Not as Adriana Wayne but as...the red head with the brown eyes that worked for the Joker," Adriana assured him.
"The one that maimed him," Bruce said.
"He was happy to see me," Adriana said. "After all...I saved his life. He helped us to get what we needed."
"So he didn't recognize Jack," Bruce said.
"Not at all," Adriana said.
"That's a relief," Bruce said and carefully opened the bill, exposing the powder. "This is a tiny amount. Was some of if lost?"
"In a manner of speaking," Adriana said. "They didn't trust Jack..thought he might have been a cop-"
Bruce started to laugh immediately. "If only they knew."
"Right well," Adriana said and watched Bruce delicately move the powder onto a small clear tray. "They told him he had to prove himself by using it."
Bruce paused and looked at her.
"What?" he asked.
"He did a line..and was able to somehow trap some if it in the rolled bill he was using," Adriana said.
"Where is he?" Bruce asked. "Is he alright?"
"He seemed okay," Adriana said. "There was only a tiny amount to start with...he had a very very small amount."
"I got a hold of a few of the autopsy reports, for the users we know of," Bruce said.
"The dead users," Adriana said. "The one's the police had to kill...what was in the reports?"
"Nothing topologically which is mad," Bruce said. "Everything was normal except abnormally large pineal glands."
"You think that's happened to Jack?" she asked.
"Are you sure he's fine?" Bruce asked. "He didn't have a reaction at all?"
"Not really...he was just loopy and...well very honest with his words," Adriana said. "You think we should go check on him? I mean..I'm sure he's okay."
"No," Bruce said. "It's alright, I trust your judgement. We don't have to go and bother him at this hour. I'll just give him a quick video call before I drop this off at the lab. Though I'd be able to test it here but the amount is so small I don't want to risk any loss."
"Got it," Adriana said and pulled Jack's keys out of her purse. "I didn't want to take any chances of him driving anywhere. You could return these to him."
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"Jack," Bruce said over the phone. He could see nothing but pitch black on the screen. "This is Bruce."
"Yeah.." the Joker murmured. "I know."
"I am calling the check in on you," Bruce said. "Adriana told me what happened tonight."
"Ahh..." the Joker said under his breath. "I should turn on a light then."
Bruce looked at the Joker after he turned on a light in his bedroom. He looked fine.
"Are you feeling alright?" Bruce asked.
"Swell," the Joker said. "Light's hurting my eyes."
Bruce watched him flick the lights back off.
"Sample good enough?' the Joker asked Bruce.
"It should be," Bruce told him. "I'm on my way to the lab now."
"Mhm," the Joker said tiredly as he looked at Bruce in his car. He held the phone far away from his face since even though it was on the lowest brightness setting it still hurt his eyes.
""If you don't mind, I'll come in to check on you tomorrow morning around 8 before I go in to the office," Bruce said.
"Yeah...great..." the Joker said.
"Okay well I will see you then," Bruce said. "Goodnight."
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.
Bruce arrived at the Joker's apartment at 8 a.m. sharp. He rang the bell numerous times and got no response and finally got one of him neighbors to let him into the building. After knocking on the door a few times, Bruce let himself in.
"Jack?" Bruce asked as he came in. All the lights were off and windows were closed.
The apartment was quiet as Bruce waited for a response. As Bruce walked further in, he finally saw the Joker emerge from the hall beside his kitchen. He was entirely nude. He walked over the refrigerator and opened it, not noticing Bruce was there.
Bruce cleared his throat and the Joker looked at him.
"Bruce?" the Joker asked.
"I knocked...rang..." Bruce said.
"Oh," the Joker said and then looked into the refrigerator. "Ah!" the Joker said and covered his eyes.
"Light still bothering you?" Bruce asked.
"Yes," the Joker replied and turned to face Bruce.
"You do realize you are not wearing anything?" Bruce asked to make sure.
"What?" the Joker asked and looked down. He began to laugh and then left to go back into his bedroom.
He came out seconds later in a shirt and sweatpants.
"You know," the Joker said when he came out. "I've been thinking a lot about this drug."
"Oh?" Bruce asked.
"Makes no sense how hard it is to get," the Joker said. "Makes me wonder if it's being...planted somehow. Only given and sold freely to certain targets."
"Targets?" Bruce asked.
"I felt very impulsive last night," the Joker said. "I didn't act. I could be wrong...but I believe someone is using this to damage the city..damage the police."
"Do you have any basis for believing this?" Bruce asked.
"Nope. Just gut," the Joker said. "Adriana should not approach the users."
"She's agreed not to," Bruce said.
The Joker shook his head. "And you believe she won't? She's a vigilante. She will encounter one of them at some point."
"Well I can't ask her to stop her vigilantism until this is cleared up," Bruce said. "She'd never go for it."
"Tell her to," the Joker said.
Bruce laughed. "You think I can control her?"
"No," the Joker said. "Tell her nicely and she might comply."
"I've told her nicely," Bruce said. "The drug is being examined now. Hopefully we can wrap this thing up before it comes down to me having to order my wife to do or not do anything."
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.
"What do you mean, you've got nothing?" Bruce asked the chemist.
"As I said," the chemist told him. "We've been examining this and...it resembles cocaine but with an added element we cannot identify."
"Unidentified element," Bruce said. "Well surely you can tell me something about it. How it would have been manufactured or where it could be acquired-"
"I'm sorry, Mr. Wayne," the chemist said. "We are just as mind boggled as you are. The atomic structure was most similar to Xenon."
"That's a gas," Bruce said. "What I gave you was a solid."
"Yes," the chemist said. "As I said..closest resemblance. It is not xenon. We are at a loss. I do not know what more I can tell you."
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"It was amazing!" Adriana told Bruce. "I mean, except for the part where the guy tried to bite me. But his teeth didn't go through my suit. I had to snap his arm in two places and crush his ankle to subdue him but it was enough to keep him down until the police got there. They were ready-"
"Adriana," Bruce said, not wanting to disappoint her in her moment of glory or start a fight. "You did very well."
"I know," she said smiling.
"But we agreed you wouldn't go near these people...these drugged-" Bruce said.
"Didn't you hear me?" she asked and walked over to his desk where he was sitting at Wayne Enterprises. She placed a hand on each of his shoulders. "I did it!"
"I've told you Jack's suspicions"-" Bruce said as she sat on his lap.
"That someone is behind this," Adriana rolled her eyes. "But we have no proof of that and so far...I've been able to stop this one from killing someone. Can't we just be happy about that?"
"We have no leads...not a single way to stop this," Bruce said. "You could wear yourself thin trying to stop them if their numbers increase-"
"You let me worry about that," Adriana said and kissed his cheek.
Bruce nodded once, very reluctantly.
"Well, I should go and pick up our baby from Jack's place," Adriana said. "Looks like you have a lot of work to get done."
"I do," Bruce said, not wanting to drop the subject but he knew he had to. "I'll see you tonight."