Chapter 51: You’ll Need Me

The next morning, Arias planned to sleep in after a rather late and rowdy night with his masochistic employee, Harley Quinn. However, the incessant buzzing of his doorbell early in the morning prevented him from getting the rest he wanted.

He was surprised to see Harley sleep through it, not flinching even once. Only after trying to wake her up himself did he realize that she was simply unconscious.

"At least she's not dead," he muttered to himself before reluctantly getting up to answer the door, already having a guess as to who was behind it.

Upon opening the door, his guess was confirmed: Barbara was standing there, looking impatient.

"It was you, wasn't it?" she asked abruptly.

"You're going to have to be more specific than that," Arias replied coolly.

"Catwoman—her capture—it was you," Barbara emphasized, to which Arias gave a casual nod of acceptance.

"I played a part, yes. Is that why you decided to disturb my sleep? I'm starting to regret granting you access to this floor."

Barbara was taken aback by how readily Arias accepted his involvement in the recent capture of Catwoman. Despite it being obvious, she had expected him to deny it.

"How did you even find her? Even I didn't know her identity," Barbara questioned while trying to enter Arias's penthouse, but he blocked her way with his outstretched arm.

"That's my business. More importantly, where are you going?" he asked, his tone indicating that he was not in the mood for her company.

"Inside? Am I not supposed to?" she responded, genuinely confused as to why he didn't want her to enter. She even started to think he might be hiding something.

"Yes, I no longer see the point in you doing so. Despite saying you'd be useful to me by providing information on criminals, you didn't. To sum it up, you're useless to me, and I don't see why I should bother wasting my time on you."

Barbara was stunned by Arias's harsh words. She had been under the impression that she was contributing, but his blunt dismissal made her realize otherwise.

"I—" she started, but her confidence faltered.

"You what? Thought you were special? Don't fool yourself. You screwed up, and the masked wonder you look up to hasn't done anything to help your situation. To be honest, I only agreed to you working for me—if you can even call it that—because I felt sorry for you."

Arias's words cut deep. Barbara felt a wave of shame wash over her as she realized the gravity of her mistakes.

"You're a failure of a hero who got her identity exposed, risking the lives of her innocent family and her own in the process. Did you ever once consider how badly the day of your capture could have gone? What if I was a murderer? A rapist? Or a psycho? Did you once think of that?"

Barbara bit her lip, struggling to find the right words. Her previous confidence was now shattered.

"I—I did think about it in a way…" she stammered, feeling increasingly embarrassed by her own actions.

"Oh, you did? But despite me keeping your secret safe and asking for nothing in return, you failed to help me bring a criminal to justice. Maybe I should just expose your identity and be done with it—both yours and Bruce's."

When Arias mentioned Bruce's name, Barbara's eyes widened. It was a reflex; she quickly responded, "Don't. I'm the one who went back on our deal, okay? I'll do anything—just don't bring others into this."

A pleading look appeared on Barbara's face, bringing a smile to Arias as he broke out into a small laugh.

"I get it now—you have a crush on him. It explains quite a lot, actually: your blind belief in his words and ideals, your desire to impress him, and even your ignorance toward his wrongs. After all, I'm sure the public would be furious to learn he let Catwoman go multiple times because the two were intimate."

Barbara's mind was a whirlpool of emotions—fear, disbelief, frustration, anxiety. She didn't know how to express the turmoil she felt, her teenage heart grappling with the possibility of betrayal.

"He wouldn't do that," she quickly rejected Arias's words, despite the uncomfortable connection she could make from them.

"Right, I'm sure that's why Selina begged me not to reveal it. What reason do I have to slander him? I could ruin his and your life by simply revealing your identities. Go ask him yourself; I'm done playing games."

Arias was about to shut the door when Barbara hurriedly grabbed his hand, stopping him.

"Wait, please. Please don't reveal them. I'll do anything…" she muttered, feeling helpless and pathetic.

Arias paused, turning to face her before crossing his arms as if bored.

"Get on your knees."

"What…?" Barbara looked around, as if worried about the location, but what did Arias care?

"Did I stutter?"

Barbara bit her lip in frustration but did as she was told, feeling a deep sense of humiliation. She reached toward Arias's pants and tried to unzip them, but he stopped her.

"I wanted you on your knees, nothing more. You're so pitiful, it's not even entertaining. Leave. I'll keep your secret and his, for now. There's nothing I need from you. Rather, it's you who has to offer me something you think I would want."

Without waiting for a reply, Arias shut the door, leaving her rejected in that humiliating posture. He wanted to thoroughly chip away at her pride and beliefs, so that the next time she came, she would have a greater realization of her situation and act accordingly.