The Freaks Of Gotham (Jeremiah Valeska x OC x Jerome Valeska) (Gotham Fanfic)

Chapter 1

The picture used for the chapter image is Ash. I will be using the chapter images if Ash changes at all to portray how they look.

Backstory (mostly) :

Ash had always been at the circus for as long as they could remember. They were told that they were just found outside the circus when they were younger and the circus had decided to take them in.
Ash was three years older than the Valeska twins, who were the closest people to their age in the circus. Whenever Ash went over to see them, Jeremiah would always have a book in his hands, and normally Jerome would be doing something creepy or trying to annoy his brother.
Ash vaguely remembered finding him outside of his trailer one day torturing a mouse, which he then dissected once it had finally died.
When the twins were about 10 and Ash was 13, Ash had gone over to their trailer to visit them and had fallen asleep on Jeremiah while he was reading. He then woke them up in the middle of the night and told them he was leaving the circus with his uncle.
He begged Ash to come with him, so he could keep them safe from Jerome before he started harming more than just rats. Ash had looked over at Jerome at the other end of the trailer, sleeping peacefully. They told Jeremiah that they can't leave because no matter how crazy he is, he's still the same Jerome that they grew up with.
Jeremiah smiled sweetly at Ash, then gave them the book he had been reading earlier as a gift.
When Ash was 18 and Jerome was 15, the circus stopped in Gotham. At this point Ash had forgotten about Jeremiah, thinking of him as no more than a dream. They had just had an argument with Jerome about how he should stop harming animals, and ended up storming out and going to a nearby café. Ash brought some hot chocolate and sat down at a table, taking a sip of it. While they were there, a blonde woman came over and asked if she could sit with Ash. They said she could and she introduced herself, her name was Ecco. Ash ended up talking with her for a few hours until the sun began to set. She asked them if they had anywhere to stay, and after Ash said that they were staying with a circus, she offered them a room in her apartment, which they accepted.
They had needed to get away from the circus eventually anyway. So they moved in with Ecco. She helped Ash get a part-time job somewhere and provided them with food, shelter and clothes. Ash had offered multiple times to help her pay for everything but she insisted on letting them save up their money for something else.

Present-day:

I woke up to the sound of a bowl falling to the floor, and the sound of Ecco cursing to herself. I walk into the kitchen.

"Morning Ecco," I say as I sit on one of the bar stools in the kitchen.

"Oh, morning Ash, did I wake you? I'm sorry, I was just trying to bake something." She replies, looking down at the mess on the floor.

"It's fine, do you want any help with that?" I say while reaching for the bowl. She quickly smacks my hand away.

"No, thanks, I don't need any help, I'll do it myself, how about you go out and find something else to do, I heard there was a circus in town, maybe go have a look at it?" She suggests while picking up the bowl and searching for something to clean the floor with. "Oh, also my boss is coming over later..."

I quickly stop her from talking. "Ok, so I'm guessing you would like me to be out of the house by then."

"No, no, not at all, I think I should let my boss meet you finally, I've already told him a lot about you and I think it would be nice if he could meet my roommate." She says, smiling at me.

"Ok, I'll be back soon then, I think I'll go see the circus for a bit actually, maybe it'll be the same circus that I was in ages ago, I could meet up with some of my old friends," I say, grabbing my keys and leaving Ecco alone.

After half an hour I reach the circus. I wander over to the ticket booth to buy a ticket.

"Ash!" The man at the ticket booth exclaims. "Where have you been? Jerome was worried sick when you didn't come back three years ago. I guess you found a place here to stay, right? How have you been?"

"I've been fine, I missed the circus a bit but it's been nice in Gotham, apart from all the random crimes about, anyway can I have a ticket for the circus please?" I ask.

"Oh, of course, here you go, and don't worry about paying for it, just think of it as a present for your birthday, it's your 21st birthday today, right?" He says, handing me the ticket. I freeze when I hear him mention my birthday.

"Oh, yeah, how could I have forgotten about that, I guess years go by pretty fast, I wonder if Ecco remembered... Anyway, thanks for the ticket. Also, you mentioned Jerome earlier, where is he? I haven't seen him in forever...His 18th birthday was last month, right? "

"Yes, it was, he'll be somewhere around here, maybe try his trailer, it's still the same one that you two had been sharing from when you were younger."

"Ok, thanks," I say, walking away and into the circus. Almost everyone there instantly recognised me, even Mister Cicero, which was kind of odd since he's blind. I sit down on one of the stacks of hay within the circus and check my phone, I still had about an hour until I needed to head back and get changed ready for Ecco's boss and I still hadn't seen Jerome. I was about to put my phone away when someone tackles me to the ground into a hug, causing my phone to go flying.

"Ash! You're back, I thought you weren't going to come back! It's been so lonely without you!" The person who tackled me exclaims, holding me tightly in a hug. I wriggle out of their grip.

"What the hell, who even are..." I'm about to say but trail off as soon as I see that familiar crimson hair.

"Jerome?" I ask. He looks up at me and smiles.

"In the flesh!"