Divination (Joker x Batman x OC)

Chapter 36

"She destroyed them," Mateo, the owner of Club Core explained while holding a bag of ice on the left side of his head. "I swear it to you. She came in and opened the safe and..poured everything  out! She might have gotten away with one vial. She destroyed your product!"

"Is that so?" the Joker asked and looked at the damage on the floor.

He could see the area that had been eaten away by the poison that he was here to buy.

"Yes!" Mateo explained, nearly pleading for his life. "I know you needed it tonight, but she just came in and-"

"She attacked us!" one of Mateo's guards chimed in.

"I'll get more! I will have more made!" Mateo said, his voice begging.

The Joker was quiet as he walked in a half circle around the decimated area on the floor. Mateo and his men were quiet, as were the three men who came in with the Joker. They all knew that the Joker must have been angry after waiting for months for his large order of a very particular and rare poison. It was very hard to come by and it took a long time to manufacture. Mateo was wondering if he would be killed right then and there.

"Describe her for me, would ya?" the Joker finally looked up from the shards of glass where vials had obviously been dropped and broken. "This...woman who was able to defeat and steal from you as well as your men."

"Oh," Mateo said with a bit of relief in his voice. Maybe the Joker was more angry at this thief than at him? Maybe he would survive and the Joker would go after her instead. "Well..she was around 5'4'' or 5'5''. Black hair..long. Brown eyes. Small...maybe 110 for 115 pounds."

"Well, that narrows it down," the Joker said sarcastically. "Doesn't it?"

"Please," Mateo said. "She was wearing a mask. But I have Brazilian enemies...it could have been them."

"So, you're telling me," the Joker used his foot to move one of the vial lids on the floor. "A woman this tall-"

They watched as he held his hand parallel to the floor, far below his shoulder and laughed.

"This tall, was able to take my merchandise from you?" the Joker asked.

"I swear it," Mateo said. "She must have been trained by someone..maybe the Brazilians..I don't know why they would destroy everything and only take the one vial. And we have surveillance. I can show her to you."

"Make it quick," the Joker said as one of the Mateo's guards ran and came back moments later with a tablet.

"Here," he said and showed the Joker the footage which only showed her in the dark hallway. There was no surveillance of what happened inside of the office.

"She's there...hiding in the shade from the edge of the wall there-" the man said to the Joker.

"I can see that," the Joker said as he watched her stop the office door from closing.

"I can have a new batch made up for you," Mateo said as the Joker's men looked at the screen, but the Joker began to look at him.

"24 hours," the Joker said. "Are you able to make that happen?"

"A day? That's-" Mateo started to say, impossible. But then changed his mind. He wanted to live."Perfect. Tomorrow night."

The Joker looked at Mateo. He could tell Mateo would not have what he needed by the next night. He would likely be packing his things, pulling all of his cash resources, and attempting to escape within the hour 000000000000000. They all got the same look in their eyes when they thought they would be able to escape without keeping their word. If he needed more time, why not just ask? 

"Do I have your word?" the Joker asked Mateo darkly.

"Yes," Mateos said. "I swear."

The Joker laughed in his mind. He then looked over to his men who were replaying the footage. They noticed the Joker looking at them and returned the tablet and left the room with him.

"Boss," a man said from behind him. "What next? Do we find her?"

The Joker turned to them in the dark hall, the paint on his face glaring.

"Maybe..." the man said the Joker nervously. "She's...some kind of new vigilante? I mean... she destroyed the product when she could have just left with the whole case-"

"She is a meddler," the Joker said. "She will be dealt with."

.

.

.

Adriana stood at her kitchen island looked at the liquid in the vial she had stolen. She noticed it was just barely a blue color when the light was shining directly over it. Nearly crystal clear. It looked so innocent and harmless behind the glass, but she had seen what it could do. A powerful and deadly substance like this was something she had never expected to encounter. She almost found it hard to believe that something like this existed. She took off the cap and took a smell of the tip of the vial. Nothing. Totally odorless.

Call from - Harri. Adriana heard her phone speaking.

"Hey," Adriana answered the video call after quickly but carefully placing the cap back on the poisonous solution.

"Hey, I tried to call you like twice today," Harri said. "Woah..what's with the new look?"

"Oh-" Adriana realized she still had on the wig and contact lenses. She had peeled off the suit as soon as she was home. "Yeah...just trying it out."

"How much was that wig?" Harri asked.

"I don't know, $300?" Adriana answered.

"It's so cute, can I have it?" Harri laughed.

"I'll get you one," Adriana rolled her eyes.

"Okay, Agent Salt," Harri kept laughing. "You look tired."

"Yeah, long day," Adriana said.

She now understood how Bruce passed out into a deep sleep so easily at work, in meetings and in front of others. The adrenaline rush she had felt when she was fighting was absolutely thrilling and powerful in the moment but the after effects were utterly draining.

"Aw, well you should get some sleep," Harri said. "Just wanted to check up on you."

"I'll call you tomorrow after my therapy appointment with Dr. Andrews," Adriana said and rubbed her eyes.

"Okay, boo," Harri said. "Love you muchisimo."

"You too, hermana," Adriana said.

Instead of sleeping Adriana remembered how the fight made her feel. She had saved lives by destroying the poison. She felt invincible. This was her destiny. Sleep could wait. 

She needed to disguise herself even better. Her voice, her facial expressions. Everything needed to be manipulated. The positioning of her lips with every consonant, the amount of breath behind every vowel, the amount of upper teeth that showed when she spoke. She spent all night practicing different voices, recording herself through both audio and video on her phone and playing it back until she could no longer recognize the sound of her own voice.