Time for a Laugh (Jerome Valeska Fan Fiction)

3

The rest of the night was spent in the precinct and Anya was beyond pissed. She rode in the back seat of Jim's car with Jerome without saying anything. He would occasionally look up at her to see if she was looking his way. Each time she would give him a small smile and put a hand on his arm to try comforting him. It seemed like she was failing miserably to her until Jerome held onto her hand. He looked in her in the eye before lowering his head and looking out the window. Anya took the moment to inch herself a little bit closer to him and put her head on his shoulder.

"I'm really sorry about your mother Jerome." She whispered. Jim looked at her through the rearview mirror and shot her a glare. She removed head from his shoulder.

"Anya, do you mind trying to call your sister to see if she got home ok?" Lee said trying to break the tension.

Anya picked up her phone and dialed her sister's number. When Selina didn't answer, she began to worry. She tried five more times before finally giving up.

"She's not answering her phone or the house phone." She said with a shaky voice. Jerome looked at her and saw tears forming in her eyes. He turned back to the window and smirked at what he had just seen. If only she knew.

They arrived at the precinct at a little past two in the morning. Jim and Lee went their separate ways to work on the case while Anya went to one of the empty interrogation offices. She sat in the chair closest to the window and began to drift off. Before she could stop herself, she fell into a dreamless sleep. When she finally woke back up, she heard a knocking on the door. She got up and walked to the door, wondering why a damn cop couldn't get into an interrogation room on their own. Once the door was unlocked, it swung open to reveal Jim and his partner Harvey Bullock.

"See Jim," Harvey said with a smirk on his face. "I told you she would be wasting her time like she usually does."

Anya shot him a glare before making her comeback, "Wow, Bullock! I can't believe you're not drunk off your ass like you usually are! Good for you!" She rolled her eyes before walking past the two.

"Why don't you get your sorry ass back to the Penguin before I kick you out myself!" Bullock yelled back as she walked out of the room.

She rolled her eyes and flipped him off. She didn't want to be reminded of her new boss. Especially since she still hadn't told her sister that she was under new management. She tried her hardest to keep herself from losing her shit, but it was still hard to come to terms with. She sometimes felt as though she was going to have to kill someone just to get out that anger, but then she would have to be sent to Arkham.

As she was on her way out of the precinct, Anya saw Lee walking towards her with a concerned look on her face. She was a nice lady, but Anya had liked it better when Jim was with his ex-girlfriend, Barbara. It wasn't anything Lee did so much as it was how she acted. Lee knew about Anya and Selina's problems and was trying to act too much like a mother to them. Barbara treated them more like the two of them were her friends, not her kids.

"Anya, wait!" Lee called out. Anya began walking faster than ever and tripped over her own feet. "Oh my god! Are you okay? How did you fall?"

"I realized I was running late and tried to get out of here." Anya said with a glare. "I'm fine, really. I gotta go...so I'll see you guys later."

She got up and ran outside. She didn't have enough time to go home to shower and change so she took her spray bottle out and coated herself in perfume. She ran through the doors of what used to be Fish's place and got behind the counter, fixing her hair in the process. The Penguin came out to check how everything was looking. Anya bit her tongue to keep from saying anything rude. She was too late.

"Nice hair, sir. It looks especially terrible today." She said in a monotone voice whilst looking straight at the wall ahead of her.

Penguin walked (well more like waddled his way over to her. "I'm sorry, Anya." Venom dripping from her name as he said it. "I didn't quite catch that." He gave her a warning look.

"Oh nothing sir." She said as he began to walk away. "It just looks as though you took your sense of style from Fish Mooney. And not one of her good ones."

Penguin waddled his way back over to her with a scowl covering his small face. "Ms. Romanov, I have been able to suppress the anger I have towards you, but you have taken this too far now." He took a step closer to her. "You have two choices to choose from: I can either kill you in front of the other employees or you can quit now and swear on your sister's life that you won't say a word of what you have seen here to anyone. Your choice." He stood there waiting for an answer.

"In that case, it was nice working for you, sir." She took off her apron and laid it on the counter before walking out.

Damn him, that asshole. I swear to god I can't stand that little fuckboy. I wish he were dead.

As she walked down the street on her way back to her penthouse, she noticed someone on the other side of the street. She stopped mid step to see Jerome looking over at her from a table at a coffee shop. He gave her a smile and beckoned her to come over.

Was he watching me this whole time?

She crossed the street and walked to his table. "Hey Jerome..." She trailed off getting lost in his eyes.

"Hey pretty girl." He said with a smirk. How is he so confident after finding his mother dead? "Did ya miss me?"

"Yeah I did actually. How are you feeling? It must be hard to deal with losing a parent." She shifted in her seat, unsure of what to do next.

"I'm fine, really. You must know how it feels though." He said in a sly voice.

"I'm sorry?" Anya replied even more confused than before.

"I caught a look at your file while I was at the precinct. How did they die?" He was so nonchalant while talking about death.

Anya shifted once again in her seat. No one was supposed to know about her parents. The GCPD had covered up what happened to them to protect Selina and Anya for a reason. Thankfully, no new evidence had come up for the case in years. Only God knew what would happen to them if something resurfaced.

"Um... They fell down the stairs..." She looked away from him, hoping he would drop the subject.

"Really?" He gave her a questioning look. "Because, when I saw those pictures, there was way too much blood for them to have just fallen down some stairs." He emphasized those last words giving her a frightening look.

"I think I need to get home." Anya said getting up and beginning to walk away. Jerome grabbed her wrist tightly. She looked at him, once again becoming entranced by his eyes.

"Your secret is safe with me." He whispered giving her a wink. Their faces were close enough to touch until he moved away. She ran down the street back to her penthouse and locked herself in her room. She went to the chest under her bed and slowly opened it. Looking away, she reached her hand in and pulled out the key to every nightmare she's had for the last five years.

The knife covered in her parents blood.