Divination (Joker x Batman x OC)

Chapter 196

"It's a terrible idea!" Adriana said to Lucius.

She was ranting in his office while he sat as his desk.

"He needs to stay put until it's time for him to leave the country," she said. "All this has nothing to do with him."

"Except it does," Lucius said. "You're being targeted because of your previous involvement with the Joker. And he was the Joker. He told me you ended up agreeing."

"No. I don't agree. So..that's it?" Adriana said, feeling her heart pounding so hard she was getting dizzy.  She moved to sit in the seat in front of Lucius' desk.

"Two days in the city," Lucius said. "As you saw during his work finding the Catwoman, he is quite the expert at tracking people down with little to go on."

"And what if he finds them?" Adriana asked.

"He has agreed not to interact," Lucius said. "He will tell us. We will handle it. I don't believe we have anything to worry about, Adriana."

"You should have told him he can't go," Adriana insisted. "And that it's a terrible idea."

"Adriana," Lucius said. "He's a grown man. He's not being held prisoner. He is free to do as he wishes."

"I know that..."Adriana said. 

"I've given him subtle adhesive facial prosthetics," Lucius said. "No one will recognize him, not even the most sophisticated facial recognition devices."

"I Know.." Adriana repeated.

"It will be fine."

.

.

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Bruce descended on the elevator platform into his former Batcave. The place was dark, cold and empty.  He held the small box of vials he had gotten from Madame Twyla in one hand.

He knew that it would be easy and he was not nervous at all. He would see the Joker, he would see the security team extract him, he would listen closely to hear if any of them mentioned where he was being transported to or any other clue of where he should go next. Or he would see if he recognized any of them.

He had six vials, enough to see for eighteen hours. Twyla told him he simply needed to concentrate on what he wanted to see. It was before noon and he doubted he would need to use all the vials.

Bruce placed the small box onto the floor with one vial in hand. He opened it and swallowed it quickly. He walked over to a wall and slapped his hand down.

He was looking at himself, the Batman. He was standing, waiting for the man chained to the floor to wake up. The Joker was still unconscious. Bruce remembered it like it was yesterday. He had gone back too far. He needed to see the Joker's extraction which wouldn't happen for over a year. Bruce lifted and placed his hand back down onto the wall and kept seeing the same thing. He couldn't skip ahead. The last time he had skipped ahead accidentally so he knew it was possible. What had Twyla done? She told him it would be easier to maneuver but he didn't know what he needed to do.

Bruce sat against the wall with his back and his palm flat against it too. Had he wasted the first vial and three hours? He wanted to see who he hated and of course it showed him the first moments the man spent in this place. He was a fly on the wall seeing it from the start.

Bruce sighed and decided to watch.

The Joker opened his eyes. His face was bare, his expression was neutral. He looked at the Batman and began to look around. Bruce heard him ask about Adriana. He wanted to know if she was dead. The entire interaction seemed so different now that Bruce knew the whole story. He could see the sincerity in the Joker's questions. It made his nauseous. It made him want to kill the man even more.