"I really hope we won't need these," Adriana said as Bruce handed both her and Jack the tranquilizer needles to store in a compartment on belts they were wearing,
"With any luck," Bruce told them both. "We won't need to use the tranquilizer guns or needles. We'll come and go without being seen."
"Hopefully," Adriana said.
"The case," Bruce said and opened a small, silver colored suitcase. "The sample."
"Can't believe this tiny thing is a freezer," Adriana said and looked down and the cool white smoke coming out. She could barely see the tube inside the case.
"Not to be left open for longer than ten seconds at a time," Bruce reminded the Joker who had been quiet as they prepared to leave.
The Joker nodded once and Bruce closed the case.
"Remember," Bruce said. "Our timing needs to be impeccable. We'll meet at the rendezvous point at 3:40. We will wait no longer than 120 seconds, two minutes, no matter what. There will be another security round and we cannot risk getting caught..even if all of us aren't there we can't take any chances. We will have to leave."
"We've been over this a million times Bruce," Adriana said.
She and Bruce would be staying together to infiltrate the security technology within the building. They would unlock doors to allow the Joker to get in to swap his DNA sample with the alternative one Bruce had provided. One more step to erasing who the Joker was.
Bruce was making it clear that they would only wait two minutes at the designated meetup point, and if the Joker didn't make it on time they would have to leave him. It was risky.
"I just want to make sure we are all clear," Bruce said.
"Crystal," the Joker said.
"Right then," Bruce said. "Let's go."
.
.
.
"Here," Bruce said as he, Bruce and the Joker walked in the wooded area.
Adriana could see the lights from the building in the distance. The building they needed to break into. She felt nervous but knew the she would be beside Bruce the entire time and he would not let anything happen.
The Joker had a heavy bag on his shoulder. It was full of tools they needed to cut through metal.
"How gross is this going to be?" Adriana asked as Bruce uncovered the manhole.
"Fortunately there hasn't been any rain in a few days," Bruce said. "Shouldn't be too bad."
The three of them were quiet as they scaled tunnels until they were under the building. Bruce and the Joker were able to open access to the ventilation system in the building. They crawled through so many quiet, dark, tight passages that Adriana wasn't sure exactly when they entered the building. But after some time she could hear voices. They were inside.
"Security cameras are down," Bruce said quietly. "We'll have 8 minutes total."
"Got it," the Joker said, who was in the front.
Adriana was crawling behind him and Bruce was behind her.
The Joker carefully opened the vent and looked down into the room full of filing cabinets. He placed a hand on either side of the opened and disappeared through it. He moved quickly and fearlessly.
"You're next, sweetheart," Bruce said behind Adriana.
She crawled forward towards the opening into the dark room. Even though the lights were off the could see how far away the floor was.
"Wow...this is really high up," Adriana said.
"It's fine," Bruce encouraged her. "Jack will help you down."
Adriana nodded and moved over the opening. She crawled over it and let her legs down first. She could feel the Joker's arms around her calves. His arms moved up as she lowered herself and she felt like her lower body was going numb. Sensations of warm pulsations went up her legs, into her abdomen and up into her face. Her body's reaction to his touch. She needed it to stop. She climbed down him quickly and he backed away from her. They looked up, waiting for Bruce.
He passed the case down to the Joker before moving to jump down.
"Stand back," Bruce said, indicating that he did not need help getting down.
He came through the opening and jumped down as the Joker had. Once he landed, he froze in place with one knee slightly bent.
"Bruce?" Adriana said and walked around to the front of him. "Are you okay?"
Bruce moved very slowly to standing straight.
"Yes," he said.
"Are you sure-" Adriana began to ask and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Change of plans," he said.
"What?" Adriana asked. There plan had been set in stone and they had gone over it countless times.
"You'll go with Jack," Bruce said to her.
"Why-" she began to ask but he stopped her.
"Go now, we don't have much time," Bruce said and looked at his watch.
The three of them were wearing ski masks and Adriana wished she could read Bruce's facial expression. But it was impossible.
"Rendezvous point in seven minutes," Bruce said firmly before going to the door.
"Bruce-" Adriana said but Bruce seemed to ignore her as he went out the door and made a right turn. He was gone.
"You heard him," the Joker said. "Let's go."
The Joker held out the case for her. "Take this."
Adriana frowned, though the Joker couldn't see that. She took the case and sighed, following the Joker to the door. He looked out before they left, as Bruce had. The coast was clear. They made a right turn but Adriana looked back. Bruce moved quickly, as he was nowhere in sight.
They made their way through the halls quietly.
"This is it," the Joker said as they stood in front of a large white door.
That very second a green light flashed at the scanner on the door. Bruce had unlocked it. In a way, Adriana was relived that Bruce was okay and things were progressing as they should have.
Once they were in the room, the Joker went to the freezers. Adriana stayed standing by the door as the Joker made sure everything was cataloged as it was supposed to be.
"I must be special," the Joker said as he put on thick gloves to retrieve his sample. "For them to keep my DNA on ice all this time."
He turned to Adriana, holding the tube proudly.
"Adriana?" the Joker said. "Give me the swap."
Adriana blinked and opened the case in front of her, handing the Joker the dummy DNA. He gave her the cold sample and she put it into their case and shut it.
"He's hurt," Adriana said as the Joker turned his back to replace the DNA he had just removed from the freezer.
The Joker said nothing as he replaced the DNA and then removed his gloves, placing them back onto a Velcro attachment on his hip.
"I know," the Joker said as he shut the freezer.
"He should have let me go with him-" Adriana said.
"Not the time," the Joker said, silencing her. "He made the best decision given the circumstance, I'm sure. Let's go."
Adriana suddenly felt angry that she couldn't express her worry about Bruce but then realized that the Joker was right. This wasn't the time. They needed to focus on getting out without getting caught.
They left the room and Adriana walked behind the Joker. She mostly looked down at the floor. She felt sad and worried. They walked for over a minute through the halls, and all Adriana could hope for was that Bruce would meet with them where they had agreed to.
Suddenly she felt the Joker grab her. He turned to her quickly and pushed her into a corner, clapping a hand over her mouth. She could hear why. Someone's voice was right around the next corner. Adriana closed her eyes. It was happening again.
He was too close. Her entire body felt like it was made of warm flowing water and she had no strength. He removed his hand from her mouth and placed a finger over his lips, telling her to be quiet. It was too late, she lost all control of herself. The case she was holding slipped from her limp hand and hit the floor.
The Joker heard the sound and so did the person around the corner. The Joker's reaction time was impeccable. He reached from one of his tranquilizer syringes and as the man, who was on his phone, turned the corner to see what the thud was, the Joker inserted the syringe into the side of his neck.
As the man collapsed and dropped his phone that he was speaking on, the Joker caught him and laid him down on the floor.
"I'm...I-" Adriana tried to speak but the Joker quickly grabbed the case from the floor and pulled her by her arm away from the scene.
Eventually, they made their way out of the building. It was all a blur to Adriana. Before she knew it they were in a wooded area beside the building.
"I...it just slipped," Adriana said as they looked through the bushes at one of the back doors of the building.
The Joker looked at his watch, not seeming to pay attention to her words. Adriana looked at the door as they waited for Bruce.
"We're early," the Joker said. "We can wait three minutes."
Adriana sighed but then her worry returned. They were early, but Bruce's task was much simpler than theirs had been and he should have been much closer to an exit than they were. The assumption was always they Adriana and Bruce would stay together and would arrive at the rendezvous point first and wait for the Joker there.
They waited in silence.
"We have to go," the Joker said after some time.
"What?" Adriana asked.
"Time's up," the Joker said. "Security will be making rounds here any second-"
"Jack," Adriana said firmly. "We are waiting."
She closer the bushes and a tree in front of her and looked at the door, waiting for Bruce to emerge and run to them before he could be spotted. They waited and waited and the sound of crickets was driving Adriana mad.
"Someone is coming," the Joker said plainly. "We need to move."
"NO!" Adriana hissed and glared at him before turning back to looking at the door.
"Adriana-" the Joker said to her.
"Stop!" she hissed again. "We are waiting."
She continued to watch the door but after about thirty seconds, again she felt the Joker grab her but she pulled away.
"Stop!" she said under her breath with desperation but he ignored her.
He grabbed her by the waist threw her over his shoulder and picked up the silver case from the ground. As he dashed through the trees, Adriana could see a security guard pass by where they has been standing. She wanted to shout and tell the Joker to put her down but she couldn't. The guard would hear them for sure.
The Joker made his way through the wooded area and their surroundings became darker and darker. Once Adriana was sure they were far enough away from the building she began to demand release.
"Put me down!" she said but the Joker ignored her. He was walking extremely quickly.
She shouted over and over but he did not listen. He finally put her down when he reached the car they had arrived in, parked by a small dirt road in between the trees.
As he placed her on the ground, she felt her anger, tension and frustration overflow. As soon as her feet touched the ground she began to hit him repeatedly. In the middle of her outburst she snatched off her ski mask and went after him again. As she swung at him, he raised his forearm a few times to block some of her punches, but otherwise did not defend himself.
"Adriana?" she heard Bruce's voice say beside her.
"Bruce!" she said, hearing the relief and enthusiasm heavy in her voice.
She ran to Bruce and threw her arms around him.
"Oh Bruce," she said. "I was so worried, I thought-"
"Don't worry dear, I am fine," Bruce said. He had already removed his mask and Adriana could see that he as confused about why she had been hitting the Joker.
"I'm glad," Adriana said and wrapped her arms around him again.
"Mission was a success," the Joker said and pointed at the case in his hand.
"Excellent," Bruce said. "I ran into a bit of a hiccup, had to take another way out but things went well on my end too."
"Good," Adriana said. "But Bruce are you okay? Why did you change the plan-"
"I might have sustained a bit of a knee injury," Bruce said. "It will be fine. I thought it best you go with Jack in case I slowed things down. I'd much rather be caught alone than risk you being caught too."
Adriana sighed. "Oh, sweetheart," Adriana said and kissed his cheek. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yes," Bruce said and walked over to take the case from the Joker. "Mission accomplished."
.
.
"Are you sure you don't want me to call the doctor?" Adriana asked Bruce as he held the ice pack on his knee.
"I'll be just fine," Bruce said. "I've had this same injury before. Goes away within a week maximum."
"Okay," Adriana said, still not content. "It's a little swollen."
"This happens, dear," Bruce assured her.
"I'll bring the wraps for it," she said and left.
When she came back with bandages, Bruce was smiling at her.
"You look happy," she said.
"What can I say?" Bruce said. "I'm a man in love."
Adriana smiled and shook her head before kneeling to wrap his swollen knee.
"Does it hurt much?" Adriana asked.
"One to ten," Bruce said. "I'd give it a seven."
"Poor baby," Adriana said and kissed him above his knee.
"Well, your kiss brings it down to a five," he laughed.
As she started to dry his knee with a soft towel before wrapping it, he reached down and touched her cheek.
"What happened tonight?" Bruce asked Adriana.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"You wailing on Jack," Bruce asked. "I must admit that isn't what I was expecting to see when I arrived at the car."
"Oh...that," Adriana said.
"Yes, that," Bruce said. "I would have asked in the car, however my knee was throbbing..quite a distraction."
Adriana pressed her lips together and opened the pack of bandages.
"We were waiting for you and he just...dragged me away," Adriana said. "I told him we should wait for you-"
"Adriana that was protocol," Bruce said. "Waiting would not have been safe."
"Yeah but..." Adriana didn't know how to explain. The way she felt about the Joker was complex...it was feeling like love and hate. He frustrated her. "He just flung me on his shoulder and walked off."
"You must have been cutting it close for him to do that," Bruce said.
"Well there was a guard close by but-" Adriana said.
"He did what needed to be done," Bruce told her. "And I'm glad he did. I wasn't coming out the way I though I would. I told you I needed to take a different exit. Waiting would have been unnecessary and risky."
Adriana looked down and started to wrap his knee.
"Well...whatever," Adriana said.
"Whatever?" Bruce asked. "You don't feel badly about what you did?"
"I mean..." Adriana shrugged. She did feel bad, but she was also embarrassed. "Yes."
"So I assume you will be apologizing," Bruce said.
"Bruce...I'm sure he knows that I'm sorry," Adriana said.
"And I am sure he will know that once you apologize," Bruce told her.
"Bruce...I really don't think it was that bad...I mean I just swatted him a few times," Adriana said.
"You drew blood," Bruce laughed. "Come on. Be a big girl and say you're sorry. You'll apologize tomorrow."
"He was bleeding?" Adriana asked. She had sat in the back seat and avoided eye contact with the Joker the entire ride back.
"Yes," Bruce said. "Just a little from the nose."
"Fine...I'll tell him that I'm sorry tomorrow."
.
.
.
"No Arsenio," the Joker said when he opened the door for Adriana.
"I told you I'm bringing him this afternoon," Adriana said. "In a few hours."
"Ah, well," the Joker said and closed the door behind her. "Then what is this visit for?"
Adriana crossed her arms and looked at him. One side of his nose was slightly red and the right corner of his top lip was moderately swollen.
"Look..." Adriana said, suddenly feeling bad. "I know...last night...you did what you had to.."
"I'd agree with that assessment," he said. "Let me guess. Bruce sent you here. Bruce is very polite."
Adriana rolled her eyes.
"Yes, but I didn't just come here because of Bruce," she said.
The Joker looked her in the eye and she felt herself looking away. His gaze was too much sometimes.
"So..." she said, looking at the table behind him. "Apology accepted?"
"You haven't exactly apologized," he said to her.
Adriana felt her eyes dark back to his. She felt the urge to strike him again.
"Fine," she said. "I am sorry. I shouldn't have hit you. It was wrong. You know...I wasn't trying to hurt you or anything..I was just upset."
"Yeah I understand that," the Joker said to her.
Adriana fought to look the other way. His eyes were rich and warm. She felt a heart palpitation. Her eyes drifted down to his lips and she had to close them as heat swelled in her chest.
"Apology accepted," he said to her as her eyes remained closed.
"Thanks," she said and opened her eyes, careful to avoid looking at him.
"In a few nights we have another op," the Joker said. "Removing more physical evidence from storage."
"I know that," Adriana said.
"Have you and Bruce ever worked together in the field this closely?" the Joker asked her.
"Well...not recently," she asked. "Why?"
"It seems your partnership in the field is a liability," the Joker said. "You're not at the top of your game. You're focused more on him than the task."
Adriana shook her head.
"Don't do that," she said.
"Do what?" he asked.
"Grade me," she said. "Or analyze me, or whatever the hell it is you're doing."
"Well then," he said. "I will skip right ahead to my suggestion."
Adriana squinted. "And what would that be?"
"Bruce and I complete this next assignment on our own," the Joker said. "It's easily a two man job."
"You can't kick me off the team," Adriana said, trying to keep her voice even and calm.
"You dropped the case Adriana," the Joker said. "You were preoccupied with worrying about Bruce-"
"No, I dropped the case because you were-" Adriana said and then stopped herself.
"Me?" he asked. "What did I do?"
He then tried to remember the moment. He remembered it clearly.
"Oh.." he said with a sigh.
Adriana looked down. Now she was embarrassed. She had apologized and now she wanted to leave.
"Listen, Adriana," the Joker said. "All the more reason for Bruce and I to handle the rest on our own."
"Fine then," Adriana said, just wanting to end the conversation. "You want me off the team, I'm off."
The Joker nodded.
"Thank you," he said. "And since you're in such an agreeable mood.."
"What?" she asked, thinking the discussion was over and she could finally leave.
"Perhaps you should stop fighting with the undead," the Joker said.
Adriana felt her blood boil.
"They're not undead," she said. "They are people...that used a substance that they didn't know the side effects of. They deserve a second chance...and the cops and the people around them don't deserve to die."
"You're aware I have a bad feeling about this," the Joker said to her.
"Yes and I do not give a fuck," she said. "You can't take this from me too."
"The users that you saved are permanently damaged," the Joker said.
"No one knows that for sure," Adriana said.
"None of them show any signs of improvement or detox," the Joker said. "They're essentially zombies on sedation as life support. It's only a matter of time before the families let them go."
"Jack," Adriana said. "I appreciate the concern, but when it comes to this...it's my call. So stay out of it."
.
.
"I hate him!" Adriana said to Lucius.
She was in his office venting to him about the Joker kicking her off the team.
"I'm sure that's not true," Lucius said to her, paying attention to her while typing quickly to respond to an e-mail. "Perhaps the task is best left up to Bruce and Jack."
"I made one mistake," Adriana said. "Dropping some stupid case-"
"As well as breaking protocol, and having an emotional reaction that injured your teammate," Lucius said a nicely as he could.
"Well...he wasn't injured that bad," Adriana said. "Bruce's injury was more serious...but he insists he's fine."
Lucius sighed, seeing that she had changed the subject.
"I'll stay out of Operation Erase The Joker," Adriana said. "But I'm not going to let a bunch of addicts destroy Gotham or themselves."