Divination (Joker x Batman x OC)

Chapter 148

"The flight won't be terribly long," Lucius said to Joker as they stood beside a small plane in an airfield. The sun was setting, and the sky was perfectly clear. "Three and a half hours and you'll be in the Dominican Republic. There you will be escorted to your new home by a Mr. Abbington. He and his team will be waiting for you at the airfield."

The Joker nodded. "Gotcha."

"Do you have any questions or anything before you take off?" Lucius asked the Joker.

The Joker looked him in the eye and then stepped forward, surprising Lucius by giving him a brief hug. When he stepped back, he then turned to Dr. Kapoor who was standing beside him and also embraced him briefly.

"We will have video chat therapy sessions twice a week, but you can call either of us any time," Dr. Kapoor reminded him.

"I'm aware, thanks Doc," the Joker said.

After saying goodbye, he got onto the plane. The plane took off quickly and he looked down over the open fields below. He could see Gotham city in the distance. and the place seemed foreign to him now even though it was where all of the memories from the past few years of his life had taken place.  The sparkling champagne color of the setting sunlight over the city began to fade as the plane went further away and Gotham became smaller and smaller.

He realized how fortunate he was, to just disappear. To leave the city behind. The thought about all of the lives that he had changed...for the worse. All of the pain, trauma and suffering he had caused, as the city finally disappeared over the horizon. If he could take back his actions, he knew now that he would. 

He thought about the son that he would never know.  He was unsure of how to feel about having a child.  He had no idea what the child looked like, and he had never seen Adriana visibly pregnant. It almost didn't seem real, which made it easier. But he was happy that the boy had a father who seemed to care for him. Bruce Wayne. The Batman.

The man who had put him underground for over a year. The Joker openly admitted in therapy and to himself that he was still traumatized by what he had been put through. He was still haunted by the feeling of being unable to get out. Trapped in silence with only his thoughts. Whenever he thought of it his heart began to race. He wondered if the trauma would ever fully fade. What a journey. Trapped underground by the Batman, and now up in the air, completely free...also because of the Batman. Surely, the Batman still wanted him dead, but for now the Joker was free and safe.

The child, Arsenio, was with him. The Joker has initially worried about the child, since he was with a man who was capable of creating the trauma inflicted on him. The visit from Adriana's sister, Harri, had eased his worries. Bruce Wayne still loved the child as if he were his own. For marriage, Adriana had obviously chosen well.

Adriana. She was the reason that he wasn't dead in a ditch somewhere right now.  She was the reason he was free. She was the reason that he knew what love meant. 

It had felt wrong to ask for it, but he knew he couldn't leave without it. He asked Lucius for a picture of her, and he had been given one. He had kept it in his pocket for the past two days.  The stunning beauty of the dim sunlight over the clouds that he could see through the window had been entirely forgotten when he looked down at the photo of her.

.

.

.

"Geem!" Arsenio said as Bruce held up a small green block.

"Right!" Bruce said, constantly impressed by his son's intelligence.  "What about this one?"

Bruce went to pick up a blue block but Arsenio, who was sitting on the colorful carpet across from Bruce, answered before he could touch it.

"Boo!" Arsenio answered easily.

"Okay, how about a more difficult one?" Bruce asked and moved to pick up a yellow block. 

Arsenio leaned forward and Bruce watched him use his tiny arms to push himself up to his feet by holding onto the toy box next to him. He took a couple of steps over to Bruce before falling into crawling positioning. Bruce watching him quietly as he crawled a single pace until he reached Bruce's knee. Bruce was sitting Indian style on the floor and the baby used Bruce's leg to push himself up onto his feet again. He stood and bounced, his little knees bending excitedly for a few seconds. 

"Daddy!" he said. 'Yowooh!"

"Yellow right!" Bruce smiled and took Arsenio with both arms. "You are definitely getting into Yale one day, my boy!"

Bruce was certain, Arsenio was the most intelligent one year old in the world. In this moment, Bruce was happy and at peace. He wasn't thinking about his grief. He wasn't thinking about the fact that Gotham now hated the Batman. He wasn't thinking about the Joker. 

When Bruce looked at Arsenio, he could see no traces of the Joker in him. He had seen the Joker in person and up close countless times, and knew the man's beastly appearance. He was sure that Arsenio looked nothing like him. Arsenio was a beautiful baby, Bruce thought to himself as he held him.  He smiled at him and Arsenio smiled back. A million dollar smile, precious dimples, sparkling eyes. Bruce was proud of him, no matter who his biological father was.  Because it didn't matter. Bruce was his father.

Bruce felt his phone vibrating beside his thigh and picked it up as Arsenio bent down to pick up the yellow block which looked huge in his small hands.

"Bruce Wayne," Bruce answered, not recognizing the number and praying that it wasn't anything to do with work or Wayne Enterprises.

"Very quick, " Madame Twyla's voice came through sounding impressed.  "Such a large transfer to clear overnight, especially on a weekend."

"Glad it went through," Bruce said, feeling Arsenio squirming in his arms wanting to stand again.

"Oh yes, as am I," Madame Twyla said and Bruce held onto Arsenio's arm as he went onto his feet, still holding the yellow block in his hand.

"So," Bruce said. "When can we...proceed?"

"Come by tomorrow evening after closing. I close at seven."

"Oh-" Bruce said, wanting to know why he couldn't come in the morning, but he just accepted it. "Right. I will be there tomorrow."

Madame Twyla hung up, saying nothing else.  Bruce sat his phone down and  watched Arsenio begin to crawl again. He contemplated what he had paid $45 million for. It was astounding how everything felt so perfect right now, when he was spending time with his child, versus how rapidly his emotions deteriorated when he was alone. Every night while he was in bed, Bruce felt nothing but enormous grief and anger. He felt loneliness and disappointment and hopelessness.

He knew that part of his resentment and need to lash out against the Joker was because of Adriana. Perhaps it made no sense to anyone else, but the way that he had treated Adriana at the end....using and then accusing her..he hated himself. He needed someone to take it out on..and what better target that the Joker? Killing him would ease his pain and avenge his wife. Someone had to die after he saved her. 

Bruce hadn't spoken to Lucius since he fired him. Admittedly, he missed him and wished things could have ended differently but he still felt angry that Lucius would protect such a man. On the off chance that this time machine did exist..he would approach the situation in an entirely different way. He could fake remorse and concern for the Joker's well being and then Lucius would share information about where he was being held. Then he would kill him.