alive || jerome valeska

you're arrested, again

Lili was angry. So angry, she was ready to rush trough the cheering crowd of hundreds of lunatics, taking down whichever of them dared to try to stop her with her bare hands, just so she could yell at Jerome.

Just the thought of him made her blood boil, mad at him, and herself for not arresting him on the spot, for falling for his sweet act, his warm touch, his nice scent... The girl groaned, letting her head fall back at the back of the car. How could she not blame herself? She let him walk away, she let him touch her, she let her naïve feelings take over her logical mind, and if Bruce dies tonight, she'll have only herself to blame.

She hated how she let herself like him, and she hated even more the fact that she couldn't even deny it anymore, not to him at least. She wondered how long can she hide it from her partners.

"Did I ever tell you I'm adopting a kid?" Harvey asked as he drove the car to the circus, Jim sitting next to him, giving a concerned look to the girl trough the rear-view mirror.

"What?" she snapped back to reality.

"Welcome back, missy, what's in your mind?"

Lili let out a sigh "Just worried about Bruce."

"It's not just that, is it?" Jim spoke.

"I don't know what to tell you." She turned to stare outside the window, watching the chaos on the streets of Gotham "Maybe I could've arrested him, but instead I chose to be selfish and escaped." she explained, trying not to be far from the truth "If we can't save Bruce, it will be my fault he died."

"Excuse me detectives but that's rubbish." Alfred spoke "If you wouldn't have escaped we'd only have one more person to save." the man's words caused a small smile on the girl's lips "Besides, you couldn't have known."

"We'll save him." Jim promised, to Lili, to Alfred, and even to himself.

The car pulled up to the entrance of the circus, she could already hear maniac laughing, painful screams and cries, gunshots, and cheering.

The three detectives and the butler were able to walk trough the gates without any trouble, it seemed like Jerome forgot to put out guards, or maybe, he just didn't care if they got in. Probably the second option. They hid behind a candy stall, watching the ginger's performance

The lunatics were gathered around a stage, where Jerome put on a show, dancing around a tied up Bruce Wayne, laughing hysterically at something, probably his own joke.

"Strike force just arrived." Harvey reported "They're coming in."

Lili stepped out of their hiding spot, aiming her gun at the sky, pulling the trigger three times. The loud sound of the gunshots attracted the crowd's and Jerome's attention, making them go quiet.

"There's my girl!" Jerome's eyes lit up, as if she wasn't there to arrest him "How are you liking the show, sweetheart?"

"Excellent performance, the plot, not so much ." she smiled sarcastically, causing Jerome to laugh. Jim stepped out from behind the girl, aiming his gun at the boy, the red head's expressions immediately changed.

"Detective Gordon! You're just in time for the big finish!"

Not even three seconds later the strike force arrived, firing at the cult members, who decided to fight back. Before the attacking maniacs took up Lili's entire attention, she saw Jerome light the cannon, than disappearing backstage.

She hated how her first thought was good, he didn't get shot, instead of fuck, he got away. She didn't even pay attention to who she was punching and kicking as she fought herself trough the messy crowd, the next thing she knew was that the cannon fired with a loud bang. She let out a relived sigh along with Jim and Alfred when they saw that Bruce managed to escape.