"So, if he does know more about this League than he's letting on," Lucius said to Adriana over and afternoon coffee. "He hasn't said anything to me about it."
"Mmm.." Adriana said, only half listening.
"Something on your mind?" he asked.
Adriana shook her head and Lucius gave her a look.
"Okay...fine," Adriana said, looking over her shoulder, even though they were alone. "I had a...really weird dream last night."
"Well," Lucius said. "It was after all, just a dream."
"Yeah but it was really," Adriana said and rubbed her forehead. "Bruce and I...we were together...and Jack was there."
Adriana took a deep breath.
"What I mean is.." she said, wondering if she needed to explain further but Lucius raised a hand, stopping her.
Adriana started to shake her head.
"Sorry," she apologized, knowing that it was something he did not want to picture. "I wish I could wash my brain out. I can't believe I dreamed that. I woke up and Bruce heard me talking in my sleep. Fortunately it wasn't anything too bad. Then I went back to sleep and I knew it was a dream. I knew for sure I was dreaming then. But...I kept it going...with the three of us. I feel icky-"
"Well, we cannot control what we dream, even if we are aware that we are dreaming," Lucius said. "And we do things in dreams that we would never partake in, normally."
"That's true," Adriana said. "Let's talk about something else. Like your business trip to Barcelona. How was it? "
"Barcelona is a beautiful city, but I am sure you know that very well," he said.
"Yes," Adriana said. "I went there many times when I was younger. My dad has some family there."
"It's especially beautiful this time of year," Lucius said.
"Yup, not too hot," Adriana smiled. "Bruce, Arsenio and I should go on a vacation soon. Maybe. I mean we've never taken Arsenio on a trip."
"He's two," Lucius said. "That combined with keeping him out of the public eye. So it makes sense you haven't vacationed as a family yet."
"I'll talk to Bruce about it later," Adriana said. "When he's done his therapy and meditations and whatever they have him doing over in the west wing for ten hours a day."
"I am surprised he is still continuing with the rehab," Lucius said. "Given the results of his drug tests."
"Dr. Kapoor said that the tests don't mean that he doesn't need rehab," Adriana shrugged. "Just that, he might be finished sooner than anticipated."
"That is good to hear."
.
.
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"What exactly were they after?" Commissioner Gordon asked Shade.
"Adderall," she told him. "And who knows what else."
She had just detained three men who had broken into a biopharmaceutical company building.
"They would have gotten away if you weren't here," Gordon said, thanking her.
"Since their getaway vehicle was a Tundra," Shade said with a laugh. "I think you would have caught up to them easily."
Gordon was squinting at her. "Your laugh," he said. "It's familiar."
She smiled and backed away. "Goodnight Commissioner."
"Thank you for your help tonight, Shade," he said as she left.
.
.
.
"How long were you laughing?" Bruce asked Adriana.
"Just for a second," she said and pulled out one of her dark brown contact lenses. "Barely."
"I don't think it's likely that he will recognize who you are," Bruce assured her. "And if he does, I don't think there's anyone outside of our closest circle that I would trust more."
"That's true," Adriana said. "Even if he did, I know he wouldn't say anything to anyone."
Bruce nodded and watched her take out her second contact.
"I am glad you do all of this," he said. "To conceal who you are."
"It can be a pain in the butt," she told him. "Especially with the wig."
"Well, you make it look very realistic," he complemented her.
"Thank you," she smiled and gave him a kiss.
"You must be tired," Bruce said to her.
"Yes...just an exhausting day overall," she said. "This city has a major dr-"
Bruce waited for her to finish.
"Major what?" he asked.
"I was...going to say major drug problem," Adriana admitted. "I'm sorry."
"What is there to be sorry for?" he asked. "It is the truth after all."
"I didn't want to offend you," Adriana said. "Or anything like that."
"I am not offended," he told her.
"Let's talk about something else," she offered.
Bruce didn't say anything back. He seemed to have suddenly gone into a daydream. Instead of questioning it immediately, Adriana allowed herself to escape into a daydream of her own. Without hesitation, her thoughts went to Jack. She told herself it was okay, because she wasn't filled with longing. She merely found it incredibly pleasant to take a moment to think of him. To remember his voice, his mannerisms, his eyes.
"Adriana," Bruce said after some time.
"Yes?" Adriana answered.
"I fear that I am losing you," he said to her.
Adriana immediately wanted to tell him that that wasn't true. But then her words would not be true. They both felt that they were drifting apart. It was simply a fact. So in response, she said nothing.
"We aren't as close as we once were," he went on after her silence. "Every day feels more distant than the last."
Still she said nothing.
"I think that we should publicly file a dismissal," he said. "Of our staged divorce."
"What?" Adriana asked. "But that Catwoman said-"
"I don't care what she said and what her league wants. They want to threaten my family, to isolate me, but I won't let that happen," he said. "Neither of us will let anything happen to Arsenio. The fact that you are a capable vigilante and they haven't figured that out yet, according to this Catwoman, means that the cards are in our favor."
"You think we're drifting apart because of this fake divorce?" she asked, not able to make the same connection. But then again, she never told Bruce that she and Jack had kissed.
"I don't believe having that hanging over our heads is helping," he said.
Adriana nodded. She wanted to try to make their marriage work. She was in love with two men but she knew that she needed to at least give her marriage all of the effort that she could. She felt that both she and Bruce deserved that, at the very least.
"Tomorrow," he said.
"Okay," Adriana agreed.
Bruce hugged her and kissed her shoulder. "Thank you," she heard him say into her ear.
"Bruce," she said, while they embraced.
"Hm?" he said into her hair.
"I think we're drifting apart because," she said, with her unwounded cheek against his chest. "We haven't been intimate in so many weeks."
"Mhm," he said. "That too."
"Well," she said. "We could fix that."
It seemed to take a couple seconds for what she said to register, but then she felt his chest swelling with air.
"Now?" he asked.
"Right now," she answered.
.
.
.
Adriana watched Bruce sleeping, knowing that she had been right. She felt much closer to him after lovemaking. She touched his hair and kissed his ear. It felt like her mind had been filled with fantasy lately and his embrace and passion had brought her back down into reality. This was what was real. She kissed the back of his shoulder before standing up and going to the bathroom. She laughed at herself when she saw how wild her hair looked in the mirror. Her hairbrush was close by and she grabbed it and began to detangle her hair before drinking a small bottle of water she took from the bathroom's refrigerator. She was tired and wanted to sleep, but then she looked down at the clothes she and Bruce had left on the floor.
Because of the massive scarring on one side of her face, and the fact that now Gotham knew that Shade was scarred, she decided that most of the manor's staff should have a paid leave until it healed enough to at least cover with makeup. For that reason, Adriana and Alfred were taking care of the manor's upkeep. It was a lot of work and Adriana found it easier to clean everything all the time as it became messy. Little by little was much easier than a mountain of work.
She bent down and picked up the clothes, tossing her clothing into the hamper before reaching for Bruce's. She yawned as she picked up his shirt and underwear, tossing them ahead. Then she reached for his pants. She carried them over to the hamper, intending to shut the lid once she had put the pants in but she felt something poking her forearm. Nothing was visible but something was making a sound, like plastic. She reached into the pockets finding nothing but then found there was another pocket on the inside of the pants that was very small.
Once she saw it,she realized that she had uncovered something that was not meant for her to see. Why else would pants have a secret, miniature pocket on the inside? She closed her eyes and reached in with two fingers because that was all that would fit. Once she pulled out the contents, the pants slipped from her arms. She barely gave herself time to look at what she was holding before she went to the toilet to flush it. Her eyes filled with tears.
Immediately after, she went to the sink and began to scrub her hands.
Adriana put on her robe and went back to the bed with her hands shaking. She could barely look at Bruce, but she knew she needed to confront him. But he was sleeping so beautifully. She sat and leaned her back against the headboard, pulling her knees up to her chest. Waiting for him to wake up would take hours, but she did not care. She decided to wait.
Three hours went by and it was nearly five in the morning. Adriana had not moved at all. She heard Bruce making sounds in his sleep. Very soft sounds that she could barely hear. She wondered if he was having a bad dream, but the sounds became more frustrated sounding. He sounded like he was in pain. The sounds he was making began happening more frequently, until is became a steady stream of soft hissing. She wondered how she had never noticed him making these sounds before but the sounds were so quiet, she was almost straining to hear them. Finally, he woke up. He pushed the covers off of himself, at first not seeming to notice that she was sitting up in the bed next to him. He sat up and moved very slowly, putting his feet down onto the floor while sitting on the bed.
Before standing he turned to look over at Adriana, raising his eyebrows at seeing her sitting up.
"Good morning, beautiful," he said to her.
"Hi..." she said. She couldn't bombard him, and she realized she couldn't do it because she loved him too much.
He seemed to flinch and then turn away. He tried to hide it but it was apparent.
"Something wrong?" she asked.
"Just," he said and began to stretch his shoulders by pulling each arm across his chest. "Tight shoulders."
He had pulled his feet off of the bed and onto the floor before he realized that she was awake and watching him. Now he had to stand, it only made sense. Adriana watched him move to stand. He stood very quickly, as though he was trying to get it over with, but afterwards he stood motionless for a couple seconds. He was facing away from her so Adriana could not see his expressions. She watched him walk to the bathroom.
Once he was inside she stood up and walked toward the bathroom door, knowing what she would find. She found him with his pants, retrieved from the hamper. He looked up at her. It seemed like in the minute since he had gone into the bathroom he had broken out into a sweat.
"It's gone," she told him.
"What's gone dear?" he asked,
"The Fentanyl," she told him.
Bruce looked at her blankly. She didn't know what to expect, but she certainly hoped he would start with an apology. An apology for lying, for hiding things again, for betrayal. But he said nothing.
"Bruce-" she said
"Where is it?" he asked.
Adriana was too stunned by his words to answer. No apology. No concern for being caught as far as she could see. He only wanted to know where his substance was.
"Gone," she said again, her voice saddened.
"Gone?" he asked. "Where did you put it?"
She refused to give him an answer.
"Adriana," he said, his posture slumping in desperation. His voice breathless and weak. "You're killing me here."
And then she knew, without a doubt that he was in pain.
"Did you..." she said, trying not cry. "Did you ever even stop? Did you fake that blood test somehow?"
"Adriana," he said her name again. "Please. That's all I have."
She started to shake her head. She did not want to cry now. Not while he was standing in front her naked, in pain, caught lying and clearly desperate.
"I'll tell you," she said. "But...you have to make a choice right now. To fight this...to quit for me, our family and most importantly for yourself. You have to stop this right now or.."
She blinked back the tears that were trying to come up.
"You have to choose right now," she said again. "Me...or the drugs."
He seemed to be considering her words and he looked differently from how she had ever seen him before. He looked like a trapped animal. Panicked and afraid but with unpredictable aggression that could present at any moment.
"So...choose," she told him.
He swallowed and his lips parted slightly. His forehead glistened with the heavy sweat and his dark brown hair looked black from the moisture.
"Where is it?" he asked her again.
Adriana felt her eyes widen again in disbelief. She found herself stunned again and then suddenly she felt all of the emotion drain from her body. Her voice came out in monotone, sounding almost robotic. He had made his choice.
"I flushed it down the toilet," she told him.
In a swift move, he walked around her leaving through a corridor that went through their bathroom through to their closet. He was getting dressed to leave, she knew it. He had agreed not to leave Wayne Manor while he was in treatment there. But now he was breaking that promise. And Adriana stood, felling empty and without the will to try to stop him.