"You slept in your clothes," Bruce noticed Adriana was wearing her clothes from the previous day.

Adriana wanted to change the subject immediately.

"And you... look like you've been on your computer all night," she said. "Did you sleep at all?"

Bruce stood up and walked over to her.

"A couple of hours," he said.

They stood and looked at each other.

"Br-" she started to say.

"Adr-" he started to say at the same time.

"You...you should go first," she said.

"I had a lot of time to think last night," he said. "About you..about us. About this League. And I've come to the conclusion that whoever they are...their ultimate goal is to destroy Gotham. Even though I am not active as a vigilante right now, they are trying to shake me. My best guess is they are recruited people who are skilled to help them complete...their end goal. People like the Catwoman. Sidi once me that I would suffer greatly but I would also save the city. They will not be successful in the end, though they will cause a great deal of destruction. She gave me no indication that Arsenio would he harmed."

Adriana nodded.

"So...you should be able to spare a month to go the rehab then?" Adriana asked, wasting no time. "I mean, we already know what they want. And thankfully...because of Sidi, we know they will fail ultimately. And our baby will be fine."

Bruce looked pensive for a moment and then replied. "Yes."

Adriana let out an enormous sigh of relief and then ran to Bruce and hugged him.

"Bruce I'm so relieved," she said. "I don't want you to have to leave but I want to makes sure everything is alright-"

"I can do it without leaving," Adriana heard Bruce say into her hair.

"Huh?" she asked and leaned back in their embrace to look into his eyes. "How?"

"If you would really like me to have treatment or therapy, Dr. Kapoor can handle it," he told Adriana. "I can stay at home."

"I don't understand," she said. "How will you be monitored. I mean, that's the whole point of rehab...they monitor you."

"I will stay here," he said. "In the manor. You will know that I am not using anything. I won't have a way to acquire anything."

Adriana pulled herself out of his arms.

"Bruce I don't know what you're doing," Adriana said. "I thought that was pretty fucking clear when I found pills hidden in your shaving tools. And we have staff coming and going, anyone could bring you anything."

"No staff then," he said. "We've already given most of the staff time off so that we can keep the wound you have hidden from as many people as possible. We will give everyone a break. No one will come or go. You can put me in a wing alone and search through everything I will take with me. I know that Arsenio will be fine but I still cannot leave right now. It would upset him too much."

Adriana crossed her arms. She did not disagree that Bruce leaving for another month would be a lot to explain to Arsenio and likely too much for him to go through.

"You've really thought this out," Adriana said.

"Yes," Bruce said. "Dr. Kapoor will test me regularly for opiates."

Adriana could see that he was serious.

"If you're willing," Bruce said. "No staff would mean no one would be here to help you with housework but Alfred and Harri I suppose."

"Harri is leaving today," Adriana said. "And I don't mind the work but-"

"She's leaving?" Bruce asked.

"Yeah...something happened last night," she said. "She asked Jack to paint his face. To prove to her that he was who we told her he is."

"And she," Bruce said, his voice deepening. "Finally believed him."

Adriana nodded.

"He left too," Adriana said. "Last night."

"Are they alright?" Bruce asked.

"Harri...I think she's going to be fine," Adriana said. "We talked about everything last night...including me telling her about you putting Jack underground for a year."

Bruce nodded. It had to come out eventually.

"And Jack?" Bruce asked. "Is he alright?"

"I..." Adriana said, and remembered their kiss. "I don't know. I think he's okay."

"I will call him shortly," Bruce said. "To check on him."

"I'll do it," Adriana offered, knowing that it was likely that Jack would still confess to the kiss he had given her the previous night. It seemed like he felt overwhelming guilt and wanted nothing more than to tell Bruce everything. "You..focus on starting at home rehab."

"So you are on board with this?" Bruce asked.

Adriana was reluctant but she finally nodded. She had never heard of anyone being treated for drug use this way. But he had offered to submit regular opiate testing. Maybe he had been clean all of this time and she had been overreacting.

"Yes," Adriana said. She managed a smile. She wanted him to know that she was rooting for him, that she loved him and that she was open to his idea.

Bruce took her hand and kissed it.

"Thank you," he said to her. "I will let Dr. Kapoor know it's a go. You can choose which wing I will be staying in. He'll have everything assessed and cleared."

"Assessed?" she asked. "Cleared?"

"Dogs," Bruce said. "To make sure there are no opiates. A team will come in and set everything up for me. It will be restricted to the area. You won't be able to see my doctors."

Adriana nodded, knowing they needed to keep her wound under wraps.

"Arsenio will not have an easy time with this.." Bruce said.

"I know," Adriana nodded. Arsenio had been stuck to Bruce like glue since he had come home.

"We'll have a few hours together each day but," Bruce said. "It will take some adjustment. If Harri is leaving, Jack could come back to keep him company when you are out. When you call to check on him let him know that."

Adriana looked into Bruce's eyes.

"I'm..." she said. "So happy Bruce. I'm glad you're doing this."

.

.

.

"So, Bruce says a private jet can take you to Chicago," Adriana said. "Since there aren't any first class tickets available unless you want a red eye."

"You know, I don't have to fly first class," Harri said.

"Bruce insists," Adriana explained.

Harri nodded as she folded clothes and placed them into a suitcase.

"I didn't realize how much shopping I did," Harri said. "It's like I gained at least two more suitcases worth of stuff than what I came here with."

Adriana smiled and sat on the bed.

"I have Alfred bring you some extra suitcases then," Adriana said.

"Thanks," Harri said. "Can't believe I get to fly on a private jet. How posh."

Adriana watched Harri neatly folding her clothes and felt herself daydreaming. She was remembering Jack's lips on hers. It was such a brief kiss. A single kiss. She would remember it forever.

"Earth to Adri?" Harri asked.

"Hm?" Adriana asked.

"I was saying, I got these two for you but I forgot to give them to you," Harri said and handed Adriana two tops.

"Oh, thanks," Adriana said.

"The conveniences of being rich," Harri said. "Private planes and at home rehab. I'm sure other rich people have done it."

"Well...I've never heard of it but," Adriana said. "I'm willing to give it a shot. It sounds like Bruce and Dr. Kapoor have a legitimate plan."

"Then why do you look so worried?" Harri asked.

"Do I?" Adriana asked.

"A little," Harri said.

"I'm not..I'm hopeful," Adriana said and looked down at the two shirts on her lap.

"Good, so am I," Harri said. "And I'm sure Bruce is fine."

"Mhm," Adriana said and felt herself slip off into another daydream as Harri kept packing.

She loved Bruce so much and the fact that he was finally getting some type of help made her so happy she wanted to shout. But at the same time, she was in love with another man. Jack had told her the previous night that he loved her. She did not say it back. But it was how she felt. Everything felt like it was in limbo. Adriana needed to call Jack later to invite him back to the manor and since she had not told Bruce what had happened between them she felt like she was now the one with a heavy secret.

She had also not told Bruce that Arsenio had overheard Harri calling Jack a terrorist and saying that he was Arsenio's biological father. Fortunately, Arsenio had no knowledge about what either of those things meant. But so much had gone unsaid.

"Harri," Adriana said.

"Hm?" Harri asked and folded a scarf.

"Everyone I've told...Bruce...Dr. Kapoor...Lucius..." Adriana said. "About me and Jack and how we were involved and...Arsenio.."

Adriana looked into Harri's eyes.

"The first thing they all thought or said to me was.." Adriana sighed. "They all wanted to make sure I wasn't tricked into anything or violated or forced. I...don't know your thoughts anymore. But you've never been shy about asking me anything-"

"I wasn't thinking he raped you, Adri," Harri said.

Adriana looked at her sister.

"Why?" Adriana asked. "Everyone else did...everyone...Damien too."

Harri sat down.

"I guess," Harri said. "You're my sister. No one's ever been able to trick you into anything. Even when you ended up with shitty guys it was because you wanted to be with them. And if he forced you...I don't know I just feel like I would be able to sense that. And I don't. You never picked guys very well, sis. Well, not until Bruce."

"You really think Jack is that horrible?" Adriana asked.

"Adriana," Harri said. "What do you want me to say? Something nice about what he did? He's blown up buildings. Robbed banks. Killed so many people. Sliced people open, used mentally ill people, killed cops, tortured people, burned them alive, cut them up into little pieces, poisoned them-"

"Wait, he never cut anyone up," Adriana said.

Harri frowned.

"I mean..." Adriana said. "At least..not...into little pieces."

"The point is," Harri said. "His past is horrific. There's no getting past that."

"But...what if there is?" Adriana asked.

Harri blinked a few times, stood up and crossed her arms.

"What?" Adriana asked and looked at Harri's defensive stance.

Harri tilted her head and began to shake it.

"You're thinking about going back to him," Harri said.

Adriana could not even deny it. In a way, she was glad it was out in the open.

"Are you kidding me?" Harri asked.

"Harri...I love him," Adriana confessed.

"And what about Bruce?" Harri demanded.

"I love him too," Adriana said.

"But you're planning to leave him?" Harri asked Adriana. "You've been with Bruce for years and now you're wanting to leave him for the Joker? The Joker? Who you were with for a few weeks years ago? The Joker, seriously?"

"Please, Harri," Adriana said, struggling to keep her voice even. "Stop calling him that."

"It's who he is," Harri said.

"No," Adriana said. "It's who he was."

"You have a family to think about," Harri said. "A son and a husband. You're being foolish-"

Adriana stood up.

"I'm going to go have Alfred get your extra suitcases," Adriana said,

"Just like that, you're going to bail on our conversation like you're bailing on Bruce?" Harri said. "Look, just go an get my suitcases I don't want to talk about it anymore."

.

.

.

Harri looked out at the city of Gotham, distant growing as she sat by the window in the jet. She thought of her sister and the decision she seemed to want to make. Harri wondered if Adriana had lost her mind or if perhaps she was just bored and was likely about to make the worst decision of her life. It would be best to keep out of it, she told herself, but she needed to do something. Warn Bruce? She wasn't sure. Call Adriana and warn her about how stupid her decision was?

She picked up the airplane phone beside her and looked through the contacts list in her cell phone.

"Hello?" she heard the voice on the other end of the line.

"This..is Harri," she said.

"Harri," she heard Jack say.

"Yeah," she said.

They were quiet while he waited to see what she wanted to say and while she figured it out.

"Look," Harri said. "My sis...has feelings for you."

He said nothing.

Harri paused again. She rarely had reason to call him on the phone and whenever she had before the interaction was very brief. His voice was very deep, calm, and attractive, which was distracting her.

"I just wanted to say," Harri said. "Bruce has been good to you. And breaking up his marriage is no way to thank him for his generosity. I understand you and my sis have feelings for each other but you can't be this selfish."

"Selfish," he said, in a voice indicating that he wasn't hearing anything from her that he didn't already know. "Selfish is all I have ever been. Selfish to the extent that I would feel nothing when burning another human being alive. Nothing. Could have been newspaper burning for all I cared. My therapist insists I do not suffer from psychopathy, but I question that."

Harri felt uncomfortable. Such a rich and handsome voice saying such unnerving things sent a shiver down her spine.

"I want you to stay away from my sister," Harri said, trying to make her voice sound firm.

"As do I," he said. "She is...too good for me. But she's been as foolish as I have been selfish."

Harri knew neither of them could control Adriana.

"So you think she'll come around you," Harri said.

"It's likely," he said.

"And you're selfish enough to forget about Bruce," Harri said.

"I have not forgotten about Bruce," Jack said.

Harri felt frustrated. The manner in which he communicated wasn't like anything she had ever experienced. She was terrified of him but also wanted to strangle him at the same time, yet still wanted more of a reply than he was giving before the strangling began.

"What is your plan?" she asked finally. "For you? Adriana? Bruce?"

"Well, that is simple," he said. "To stay in their good grace to remain a part of Arsenio's life for as long as possible until he learns the truth and then wants nothing to do with me."

Harri closed her eyes. The answer he had given was so raw, real, and honest. But the tone of his voice didn't sound like he was coming clean about anything. Was this what attracted Adriana to him? He was enigmatic to say the least. Harri felt that he would tell her anything and she wondered if her feelings were right. It seemed like nothing made him uncomfortable. His level of bluntness was not something she was used to. Even though for the past few weeks she had spent a lot of time around him, she hadn't had any deep or personal conversations with him.

"Do you love my sister?" Harri asked.

"Yes," he said immediately without even a moment's hesitation. He had no shame in admitting to loving a married woman.

"And you understand she's married right? To Bruce? Your friend?" she asked.

"Yes," he said.

"So you don't care about Bruce?" Harri asked. "You want to hurt him?"

"I do not want to hurt him," he said. "He is a friend."

"But you just said you loved his wife," Harri said. "And I know he hurt you. Locking you away until you nearly died. He tortured you."

"You asked if I loved her," he said.

"Well, yeah-" Harri started to say.

"And I've given you the answer," he said. "My love for her is not an act of defiance. Something I am doing to spite him. To get back at him."

"Then why?" she asked. "Why can't you find someone else and let them be happy?"

He finally paused. He had readily responded to everything she had asked him so far, so the silence was almost eerie.

"I very much want them to be happy," he said to her. "But it seems you are asking me to stop loving her."

"Well, yes, I am," she said.

He was quiet again.

"Will you tell me how?" he asked.

Harri was then quiet. The question, his voice, darkness and purity and all in one. It was like he had become a child needing assistance. He wanted to know how to stop loving her.

"Jack..you just stop," Harri said firmly. "You find someone else to love. You let go."

"Let go," he said. "I am not holding on to her. She..."

Harri said nothing and waited for him to finish the sentence.

"She is in my system," he said, finally. "I do not know how to get her out."

"You find someone else," Harri said again, saying each word slowly and firmly.

"Someone else," he repeated. "Will erase her from me. That how it works? To get rid of love?"

Harri didn't know how to reply.

"Will it work?" he asked.

Even though he asked calmly, he was still intimidating to her. She didn't want to give him an incorrect answer.

"I...I don't know," Harri said. "You're using words like..erase. It doesn't work like that. I mean of course you won't ever forget her completely or what you had but you just move on, you know? Love someone else? Do you understand?"

"No," he said.

Harri was lost for words again.

"Can you leave her and Bruce alone? Let them be happy?" Harri tried again.

"Yes," he said. "But she...it's possible that she will not leave me alone. I will not take her from him. But I cannot turn her down."

Harri understood that he would not pursue Adriana but if she came to him and left Bruce, he would be with her. It was up to Adriana. If this man was not the Joker, Harri was sure she would not feel so strongly that her sister should be away from him.

"You're nervous," he said. "Uncomfortable talking to me now."

"Well, yes," Harri said, not seeing why he needed to point it out and declare it.

"It's very likely that Bruce will kill me," Jack said. "For kissing his wife. That should wrap this up."

"What?" Harri asked. "You kissed her?"

"Last night," he said and Harri could hear a smile in his voice. He didn't sound proud though. It almost sounded like a sad smile. A final wish granted before the end. "And let's be honest with ourselves," Jack went on. "Arsenio is far too intelligent to remain in the dark much longer about who I am. He will learn. He will hate me. He will likely be proud of Bruce for ending me. I am not proud of kissing your sister. I am ashamed. Because her lips are Bruce's to kiss. I took what was not mine and I cannot enjoy what I did for that reason. Because of Bruce. Her husband. He loves her."

As Harri listened, she could finally see how his therapist would not classify him as a psychopath.

"If he kills me it is what I deserve," he said.

And Harri could see how conflicted he was. He loved a woman who, although she had not said it, seemed to care for him and love him. He wanted her but she was still with another man. A very powerful man who had caused Jack the greatest trauma of his life. Something he still had nightmares about. He had a relationship with Arsenio, who he would always see as Bruce's child. But a child he would always love deeply.

"I already deserve that," he said.

"For everything you've done," Harri said.

"Yes," he said, immediately. "If there were any justice in the universe I would be dead already. I would not be allowed to love."

"Allowed to?" Harri asked. She felt like now she was picking his brain.

"Love should be reserved for the best of us," he said. "Bruce for instance. Arsenio. Lucius. Adriana-"

"You were just talking about it like it was a curse," Harri said. "A curse to get rid of that you can't remove."

"Perhaps it's both," he said, thinking out loud. "I need to stop loving her, you've said. I agree. I want her and Bruce to go on...be happy. They are the ones who deserve that. For them it should be blissful. A gift. That should be how they experience love. For me it is heavy. A heavy weight. I can bear it but I cannot get rid of it. It won't let me be. It can be dense...suffocating."

"Oh..." Harri said so quietly, she wasn't sure if he heard her.

"And despite it being a weighty burden," he said. "For Adriana...carrying it is...a heaven I do not deserve. I do not deserve the memories I have with her. But I have them. And I have this...love."

"Jack," Harri said, her voice surprising her. She sounded near tears. "Is that what love feels like for you?"

"Love for me...the one who least deserves it?" he asked. "Yes. That is what it feels like. Feels like I would die for her, no questions asked. But I do not even deserve that. I just deserve death."

Harri wiped a tear from her cheek.

"And if she left Bruce for me," he said. "Me...as terrible as I am. What would I do with another chance if she gave it to me? The thought of letting her down, disappointing her...I fear that more than that pit I was in."

Harri nodded tearfully even though he could not see her.

"Jack...I'm sorry," Harri said.

He didn't know what she was apologizing for.

"It's just...you've done so many unspeakable things and I just thought...I don't know," Harri said. "I didn't know if you loved her or if..it was just...I don't know."

"If I could go back and erase those things, I would do it now," he said.

"I know," Harri said.

After a moment she laughed a bit.

"Like Bruce said he did," Harri said. "Went back into time."

He was quiet. Bruce had really told Harri everything.

"Hello?" Harri asked.

"If he did that, I can do it," he said.

"Go into a time machine?" Harri asked,

"Yes," he said. "It could fix all of this. Not for me but for everyone else. I would erase the suffering I caused. And Arsenio would never have to learn of any of it."

"Well," Harri sighed. "If what Bruce said was true, maybe."

"If it was true," he said. "I will make it happen."