Eigengrau (Jerome x Bruce)

Chapter 1

~Bruce's POV~

"So, Master Bruce, what do you want from me today?" Alfred asks me this every single year on this day. I appreciate it, I really do. There's just nothing he can do. He can't bring my parents back. He can't ease my grief. He can't find out who killed them. Granted, neither can I, so I really can't be angry at him for that.

"Just leave me. Your presence isn't aiding me in anyway." The second I say it, I regret it. I just don't have the energy to apologize. I need him gone anyway. On this day, three years ago, my parents were shot and killed in front of me. So I think he'll understand my rudeness.

I hear him close the door and walk down the hallway, so I assume the coast is clear. I grab my shoes and climb, quite awkwardly, out the window. Then I make a run for it because I'm fearful as to what my overprotective butler would do if he caught me sneaking out. I dash through the gate leading into my house and turn really quickly to the left. Finally, hidden behind a giant brick wall, I'm able to catch my breath. Then I hear someone yelling.

"Hey kid, you the one that called for a taxi?" I look up to see a middle aged man leaning out of his open window. I'm still don't know if Alfred has seen me, so I bolt to the taxi and jump in hurriedly.

"Yeah. Take me to the motel on 5th avenue." I say breathlessly.

"The Motel?" I'm beginning to lose my patience.

"Yes. Now please drive." I remark, clearly annoyed.

"Okay kid. You running from the cops or something." He asks genuinely concerned.

"Or something." He seemed to get it at that point and just drove in silence. As we drove into the city I see all the horrors of Gotham, homeless children, young girls forced to sell there bodies so they can eat, and people getting mugged left and right. This visual is just another reminder of how privileged I am. It makes me sick. I wish I could do something, but I don't know what to do.

When we get there I thank and pay the driver before stepping onto the broken sidewalk. I walk inside the motel and then I see Selina waiting in the lobby. When I say lobby I mean three old couches shoved in a corner.

"You're late." She says harshly and then I can see the guilt wash over her face. "Sorry. I know today is hard."

"I'm fine. What did you find?" She texted me late last night telling me she had a lead on my parents murder. I don't even want to know how she got a phone, let alone the lead.

"Well, I know someone who knows who killed your parents." She says nervously. I freeze.

"What? Cat, who is it?" I say urgently. I need to know who did it. I'm desperate.

"You are really not going to like this." She cautions. "It's Jerome Valeska."

"The crime lord? Ruler of Gotham's underworld?" How the hell would he know. This has to be a trap. Unless it's not. I have to find out.

"Yeah. We're meeting him in an hour. That's actually why we're here. He demands that all his guest dress like rich assholes. So we have a change of clothes in here." She says as she holds a key to a room.

"Wait how did you get a meeting with the, self proclaimed, King of Gotham?" She looks at me strangely and looks from left to right before replying.

"I've got connections you don't want to know about kid." I cock an eyebrow and decide to drop it. Then she gets up and starts walking to the stairs. I stand up to follow.

"Would you stop calling me kid?" I really wish she would stop saying that. She's a year older than me, not a decade.

"The key says '3B'. So floor three, room B." She says as she turns around to face me. "And I'll never stop calling you kid, kid." I push past her, run to floor three, and find room B. She catches up in no time.

"Someone's in a hurry."

"Yes, Selina, I am in fact in a hurry to find out who killed my parents."

"Got it." She says quietly as she unlocks the door. I have got to stop with the snarky comments today.

"Wow." I whisper as I walk into the room and see two racks filled with cloths to pick from. I walk up to the one displaying suits and find a nice one my size. "I'm going to the bathroom to change." I announce and walk into the small room.

"Don't come out until I say so, okay?" I heard her yell from behind the door.   

"Okay." Just as I said that I finished tying my tie. "Ready whenever you are, Cat."

"You can come out!" I couldn't resist laughing at the irony in that statement. I'm gay, but nobody knows. Not because I'm ashamed or anything. I just haven't really had anytime for dating as of late and it's never really come up in conversation. So I'm just going to continue hiding that fact.

"You clean up nice." She remarks as I step through the doorway.

"Not too bad yourself." I say looking at her black dress with silver detailing. Jerome has good taste I'll give him that. Even my suit is pretty, which isn't a word I'd usually use to describe a suit.

"You ready?" She asks me. "You know, to meet the most feared crime lord in Gotham."

"Yeah, but Cat, he's just a person. A person our age for that matter." I say calmly and I mean it. I'm not nervous or scared. I'm determined to solve my parent's murder and if that means I have to meet Jerome Valeska, so be it.

"All right. There should be a car outside. Let's go." She says shakily. I can tell she's nervous. Which is an unusual emotion for Selina to be feeling. Which, I will admit, dwindled my confidence ever so slightly.

We left the same way we came in and she was right, there was a shiny, black car waiting for us. I look questioningly at the car but I decide to get in anyway. I've already made it this far. I notice the very large and ominous man in the driver's seat. I don't feel the need to introduce myself to him. I look over at Selina to see if she's okay and she gives me a small nod. Then I hear the driver speak up.

"I want complete silence the entire ride. Fail to meet this demand and you run the risk of getting shot." I decide it's in my best interest to just listen. Due to the lack of snide comebacks I assume Selina has made the same choice.

I notice that we're driving further into the heart of the city when all the broken and abandoned buildings turn into lavish apartments and offices. We finally stop in front of the tallest building in the city. After Selina and I are on the pavement I decide it's, most likely, safe to talk now.

"I thought this was the headquarters for a bank. Why would Jerome be here?"

"God, you're so naive. The whole bank thing is just a cover and not a good one if I'm being honest." She says, clearly agitated.

"You don't have to be nervous. Like I said he's just a person. He's not a monster." I'm trying to calm her but my reassurances seem to have no such effect.

"Some would say otherwise. I think you are underestimating the severity of the situation, Bruce." She mumbles, so I can barely hear her. I can't change her mind, but I'm calm and ready. He won't kill us. It's too much of a liability to have one of the richest people in Gotham and his best friend killed.  

"Do you know where we are supposed to go?" I ask genuinely curious.

"They just said to go to the top floor and he would meet us there." I nod in response. Then we just walk through the front doors. The inside is beautiful and modern. Art hanging off of every wall and a huge chandelier in the center of the room.  But my gawking is cut short when Selina grabs my hand and drags me to the elevator.

She presses the button for the top floor and as the elevator rises, so does my anticipation. I'm finally going to find out who killed my parents. I've been waiting for this for three years. Although it seems like a lifetime. And on top of that I've only seen pictures of the notorious Jerome Valeska so I wonder what he's like in real life.

As the elevator completely comes to a stop and the doors open it all sets in. Who I'm meeting. Why I'm meeting him. What he might do. And then all of the sudden, I'm terrified.

A/N: I'm planning on jumping back and fourth between Bruce's POV to Jerome's POV. So chapter 2 will be from Jerome's POV. Thank you so much for reading this! It means the world to me!<3<3<3