Duela got into her car, but she didn't start it immediately. She glanced over at her son and took in a deep breath. All she wanted now was to drive home, shut herself in her bedroom or office for an hour or so and just think.

But the worst thing she could do was pretend none of this had happened. She wouldn't be like them.

"Joshua... I'm sorry

Duela Dent tapped the top of her phone. Meeting Jonathan’s family was interesting, spending time with Jonathan was delightful, but she missed Gotham. Not enough to go back just yet, but she felt a bit homesick. She also, though she hardly wanted to admit it, missed her parents. She curled her hand around her phone, willing herself not to call. They ( Read more... )

Duela adjusted her clothes, now free of the machines she'd been hooked up to. She followed Jonathan out of the laboratory, satisfied with his answer that the tests had all shown nothing wrong. She smoothed her hair and took a deep breath ( Read more... )

Joshua Crane was an adult. His mother knew this, but that didn't mean it was like him to be gone all night and not check in. Had something happened to him? Had he run into trouble at the fundraiser? After it ( Read more... )

Almost every part of her wanted to scream. To scream and scream until she lost her voice. One part quieted her, though. If she screamed, she would wake Joshua. He didn't need to know anything that had happened tonight, didn't need to know what his mother now knew.

Instead, she paced the sitting room attached to the ancient bedroom and washroom of ( Read more... )

Duela Crane fell asleep sometime around one in the morning, waiting for her husband to finish his work in the basement laboratory of the Crane home. She preferred when he worked on the second floor, but the lab there was much smaller. It was quickly being adopted by the ten-year-old Joshua Crane. His essays and plans took up one corner and were ( Read more... )

Duela Crane knew her son was brilliant. He might even be more intelligent than his father. Jonathan would no doubt say he was. She marveled at the things he thought up, often got lost in conversations he had with his father. Still, she smiled when they spoke of plans and chemicals and... whatever else it was they talked about. Duela had poured ( Read more... )

After seeing her sister off, Duela Crane checked in on her son in the kitchen briefly before climbing the ancient staircase. Talking with Dalia, thinking about her parents as she had tonight... It was all rather exhausting. Not to mention that she'd admitted to Dalia that she needed Jonathan. Duela... preferred not to say that. She knew it, but ( Read more... )

Duela Dent had already visited one clothing store, the bags safely tucked away in Jonathan's cousin's car. She'd planned to visit another, but a jewelry store caught her eye first. She'd wandered in, now examining the various rings, earrings, and even the necklaces. Those, it would be almost pointless to buy, as dealings with her mother had soured ( Read more... )

Duela tapped on the steering wheel of the silver two-seater she'd bought herself when the new year's line had been released. As far as she was concerned, it was a cozy little ride well worth every cent she'd paid ( Read more... )