Falling Apart

Adelaide got the location for the antidote from Mister J and obtained it pretty easily. She waited until she was back in the mansion with him before she stuck herself with it. She sat in a chair beside his bed as he watched her cautiously.

"Well, here goes," she told him, holding the syringe with shaking hands.

"Are you afraid?" he asked and she couldn't help but chuckle.

"A little. But mostly just because I'm afraid of needles."

"You're not afraid of remembering who you are, of remembering me?"

"No. I can mostly feel it already. I just need the memories to go along with it," she said to him, extending the needle to him and hoping he'd take it from her. He did and motioned for her to come closer. She scooted onto the edge of his bed and he raised the needle above her arm slightly.

"Ready?" he asked and she nodded. He plunged the needle into a vein and for a moment all she felt was the sting of the needle itself.

"I don't-" she began but was cut off by an exploding pain in her head. She fell off the bed and made a thump as she hit the floor.

"Adelaide?" she heard J saying her name but couldn't focus on him or anything else. She writhed in pain for a minute and then memories started flashing through her head with such force that it almost burnt her eyes.

Everything came flooding back like someone had opened a gate somewhere inside her mind. She remembered everything, everything she'd been told by other people in the last few days and so much more. She remembered every moment of her time with the Joker, and for a minute she couldn't believe it all. Her heart seemed to swell inside her chest with all the feelings for him that she was re-developing.

"Adelaide?" J repeated, reaching for her shoulder to steady her.

"J?" she asked, her vision still slightly blurred as she looked at him.

"Do you... remember?" he asked and she smiled up at him.

"Every second."

"You do?"

Instead of answering him, she got back onto the edge of the bed and kissed him like she'd never kissed anyone before. He kissed her back, wrapping his good arm tightly around her.

"You're back," he whispered, his face still inches away from hers.

"I'm back, J," she told him, kissing all over his face.

"I'm so glad you're back, but we mustn't forget that your sister is still being held captive in the basement. You need to decide what we're going to do with her, Addy," he told her, and she nodded. One thing she definitely remembered was how good at ruining a moment he was.

"I know. But you also have been pretty mum on the subject of her 'curing you', you know," she told him, giving him a serious look. In fact, he hadn't said a word about it since he'd told her he didn't know if it had worked.

"There's not much to tell, really. I do feel different, I just can't exactly pinpoint how. I don't feel any less me necessarily," he said, and she knew what he meant. They'd established two 'sides' of him shortly after they'd met. There was the side of him that was a regular rational human, and the side of him that was a homicidal maniac that didn't really have any control. The problem was that he couldn't really keep either side in line.

"Well, as for my sister we have to let her go. I'm not killing her and I'm not going to let you or any of the men kill her. I know that's what you want, and I know that maybe it's what I should want too, but I just can't. She's really the only family I have," she told him, knowing that he wouldn't be happy. She could instantly see on his face that he wasn't.

"Adelaide, I-" he started, but she cut him off.

"No, J. Seriously. I know she might still come after us and I know we'll be in danger probably, but I can't 'get rid of her'. She's not some thug off the street or some scummy guy in one of the clubs. She's my sister." She could tell he was having a hard time processing her words; she could almost see the darker side of him screaming inside his head to ignore her and take Adrianna out himself. She was quiet as he sat there for a minute composing himself.

"Alright. If that's what you really want, that's what will happen. You can go let her go yourself if you'd like," he said, his voice strained. She knew everything inside of him was telling him the opposite should happen.

"Thank you, J. I know this is hard for you," she whispered and he nodded.

"Leave me for a few minutes please, doll," he whispered back and she nodded and kissed his forehead before exiting the room quietly and shutting the door behind her.

She made her way down to the basement and to Adrianna, who looked overall completely exhausted.

"If you're going to kill me, just do it please," Adrianna said when she saw Adelaide standing in front of her.

"I'm not going to kill you. I'm going to let you go. But you're going to promise me something first," Adelaide told her and Adrianna's eyes went wide like that was the last thing she'd expected to hear. "You're going to leave us alone. That means me and the Joker. You're going to forget about us and never even set foot in this neighborhood again."

"Fine, Adelaide. Just let me go."

"No. Promise me. Look me in the eye and promise me, Adrianna."

"I promise."

"You better keep that promise because I can't promise that I can keep you safe from him after all this," Adelaide said, realizing for the first time just how true that was.

"Just let me go, Addy," Adrianna whispered, tears forming in her eyes.

Adelaide left the room momentarily to call Anthony. Especially after everything he'd done for the two of them in the last few days, he was the only one of J's men she trusted to do anything of substance. She went back into the room in a minute and addressed her sister again.

"One of our men is coming to pick you up. He'll take you anywhere you want to go. After that, you're gone, right?" Adelaide asked and Adrianna nodded.

"Right."