Divination (Joker x Batman x OC)

Chapter 58

"Sidee ilmahaygu yahay?" Adriana's mother asked over the phone, in Somali language. How's my baby?

"Waan fiicanahay," Adriana answered as she stood in front of her bathroom mirror, her hair full of red suds. I'm fine.

Adriana shook her head as she considered what her mother would think if she knew what a mess her daughter had gotten herself into. After daydreaming for a moment about how horribly things had gone, she noticed her mother whispering in Spanish to her father. Telling him something sounded wrong.

"I'm fine, mom," Adriana said but it seemed her parents were ignoring her.

"Hija mía, hay un gran terapeuta en Madrid del que me habló mi secretaria," her father had taken the phone. He was telling her about a therapist in Madrid. They always assumed she needed more therapy.

"Papa..Estoy bien, te lo juro," she said firmly. I'm fine, I swear.

She heard more talking between her parents. Her mother said that she thought it would be best if Adriana came and visited them while they were in the Netherlands. Her father agreed. Adriana knew she could go nowhere.

"I'm fine," she said in English. "I'm seeing my regular therapist tomorrow, in fact. Dr. Andrews. I'm perfectly fine. I'm just tired..I've been busy."

"Just come to Amsterdam for a few days, mi hija," her father said. "We will pay for your ticket."

"I can't go anywhere right now," she said to him, struggling to hide the pain in her voice. "I have...work."

"Con la policia?" her father asked. With the police?

"Um..yeah," she lied. "We have a few..major cases to work through right now and I guess it's just stressing me out."

"Vale..vale..." her father said, not sounding entirely convinced. Okay, Okay.

"I'll come and see you guys as soon as this is all over, I promise," Adriana told him.

"Maybe we will come to visit you, honey," she heard her mother say. "For a couple days-"

"No," Adriana said somewhat forcefully. When she heard how it came out, she felt on the verge of tears. "Sorry mom...now is just..not a good time. I have to go..I have some workout training stuff to do."

"Oh, that's good," her mother said. "Good for stress-"

"Exactly," Adriana said. "I have to get ready to go..love you both."

"We love you too."

Once the call was ended, Adriana flipped her hair down into the sink and watched the red dye swirling down the drain.

.

.

.

"If your hands really hurt, you don't have to keep trying," Bruce said to Adriana as he looked up at her hanging from his pull-up pole. "Or we can switch to chin-ups"

"Why can't-" she grunted as her hands slipped and he caught her. She immediately grabbed his shoulders and wriggled until he released her. "Why can't I do this? Why am I so fucking weak?"

"You're not weak," he said, curious about why she seemed so angry. "You have average strength for a woman of your size. You are getting stronger."

"But I can't pull myself up," she said. "That's fucking weakness." She peeled off the fingerless gloves she was wearing and threw them on the floor before walking over to the weight rack.

"Adriana," he said carefully as he walked over behind her. "Is everything okay?"

"No!" she shouted, so loud she surprised herself. "Sorry...sorry..I shouldn't have yelled."