Terror In Gotham City

Chapter 11

*Accalia*

Jerome's arms don't release me fully. He leaves one arm around my waist, holding on to me like I am going to vanish right in front of him. As soon as he sees who I have brought with me, I am pushed behind him and his eyes are burning with fury. He recognizes Edward from yesterday, and I don't blame him for being pissed off, but he could at least attempt to understand why the doctor did what he did. Gripping Jerome's hand, I walk out from behind him despite his attempts to keep me there. Standing in front of him, I place my free hand on the side of his face. "It's alright, ginger. He's not going to hurt me."

Jerome relaxes at the contact, but his eyes are still wary. "He drugged you. How are you trusting him?"

"He did it to stop me from hurting myself. Edward and I have known each other for years, almost as long as we've known each other. In some way, he cares about me. Alright?"

"You have no need to worry, Mr. Valeska," Edward says, his normal stuttering voice nowhere in sight. "Accalia is someone I care deeply for. I would never hurt her."

Jerome's eyes narrow, scanning the dark haired M.E. "You're different from yesterday. What's wrong with you? There has to be something for this drastic of a change."

I put my lips to the ginger's ear. "Split personality. Severe. One is stuttering Edward who wouldn't hurt a fly, and the other is, well, what you see here. He's as insane as you and I, ginger."

"Keep your lips there and I won't be responsible for what happens, little terror."

I pull back, raising an eyebrow and crossing my arms over my chest. Walking backwards, I half skip over to the bed, flopping down onto it and grinning up at the ginger, his green eyes annoyed with my teasing. As he stalks over to me, his eyes predatory, I catch movement as Edward slips out of the room, sending Mr. Scott a smile while saying something. My gaze turns back to Jerome as he carefully sits down beside me, his face utterly vulnerable and bare. He raises his hand and hesitantly places it on the side of my face, my hand resting on top of his and my eyes fluttering shut as his warmth soaks into my cold skin. It's only been a day, but after living with him for two weeks, I was craving his touch after only being apart hours. Opening my eyes, I smile at him and his lips curve into a matching one; a smile not tainted with malice, craziness or desire. It's a smile that I rarely see, and that fact makes warmth pool in my stomach and butterflies to flutter in my stomach.

"There's something wrong," Jerome murmurs. "Isn't there?" My smile shrinks away and I nod slightly.

"What's wrong, Cali? Are you hurt?"

"No. Physically, I'm fine. It's just some stuff that Edward said. They're making me....rethink things."

"I don't follow."

"He said you..."

"It's alright. You can talk to me about anything, you know that."

"The way you acted at the precinct yesterday when the officers touched me, Edward saw something in your eyes - not the stuttering Edward, but the other one. He said that you... that you seemed like you loved me." Jerome says nothing, but he is listening intently.

"Earlier, when Mr. Scott was getting you, for some reason, I began to think that you weren't going to come. Edward gave me a look and asked 'do you honestly think that he won't want to see the girl he loves?' Honestly, my heart skipped a beat, but I told him that we were just friends. Then he said that what he saw yesterday was not 'just friends'; that you are in love with me."

"It sounds like I'm going to have a little chat with this Edward. He seems interesting, and quite intelligent." I watch as Jerome's eyes begin to sparkle, alive with fire and delight. Behind that, there's fear - and quite a lot of it. I've never known the ginger to be afraid of anything, so I am not sure how to handle this situation. Sighing, I lay down on the bed, pulling Jerome with me. His arm works its way around me and holds me as I soak up the warmth radiating off him, heating my cold body. He sighs and pokes my cheek, drawing my attention. "Cali, you should know something." I don't move, but I make a sound to show that I am listening. I don't want to push him to say anything that he doesn't want to reveal.

"I'm scared. I've never been scared before, and it feels... liberating in a way."

"What are you scared about?"

Shifting slightly, he swallows. "I am scared about telling you what I am about to tell you; the truth." Rolling slightly so I'm lying on my stomach beside him, I look up at his green eyes. They're staring right back at me with sincerity. "Your medical friend, he is right." I find myself at a loss for words. Jerome's admission had caused my heart to skip another beat, and my eyes to sting with tears; tears of disbelief and happiness. My lack of words is taken the wrong way as Jerome's eyes darken and he shoves me away, moving away from me as fast as humanly possible. I watch without knowing what to do as he buries his hands into his hair and pulls at it, ripping out strands with every tug. As his hands move to his arms and his fingernails begin to dig in, I launch myself at him and grip his hands tightly, glaring into his tormented green eyes. Tears run down my face and I shake my head, holding his hands to my chest, so he can feel my heart beating. His body relaxes, but his eyes remain tormented and hurt. The look causes me to begin to cry, my body shaking as I bow my head to hide my emotion. Moments later, his arms wrap themselves around me and hold me softly against him, rocking back and forth as he hums a wordless song that I recognize as 'Jerome' by Zella Day. I smile and clutch his Arkham uniform, not ready to let him go. "Cali, I'm sorry," Jerome whispers, holding the back of my head. "I shouldn't have admitted that to you. It's my fault you're like this right now."

I shake my head. "No. It's not."

"You're crying."

"Not sad tears, ginger. I'm happy. So happy." He pulls away from me and stares down at me, pushing hair out of my face. I smile up at him and sniffle, wiping my tears away. "I love you too, ginger. I always have, and I always will. Don't you ever forget that." For the remainder of our time, we spend it laughing about our childhood together. Truth be told, Jerome and I only met during the winter months in Gotham due to Haley's Circus being a travelling circus, which meant that I never got to spend his birthday with him, but he got to spend mine with me. When we were younger, we used to mess around with the circus equipment and watch as the performers completely screwed up their routines due to the tampered equipment. Those were the years that we wish for. In the blurry confines of my memory, I can remember there being another child with ginger hair being with us. As soon as I mention it, Jerome shuts me down and changes the subject to something not relating to himself - usually something to do with the orphanage I spent the majority of my childhood in, or even the parents I never knew. Edward has returned by that time, and the three of us make up a plan for a road trip to that orphanage to see if there is anything in my file about my birth parents. I can easily get it cleared with Jim and Barbara, especially if Edward is coming with me. They trust him to keep me safe and out of trouble, but, little do they know, he's the other trouble magnet. Jerome doesn't exactly feel comfortable sending me off on my own, even with Edward as company - more like especially with Edward as company. To placate the ginger, I tell him that I'll attempt to take Travis, an old friend of ours, with Edward and me. As soon as I say that, Jerome retorts that just "you and the medical freak are fine".

Mr. Scott clears his throat, drawing all three of our attention. "I am truly to say this, Miss Gordon and Mr. Nygma, but, your time is up."

Edward is the first to get to his feet and walk out of the room. "I leave you two to say goodbye. Just don't take too long, Accalia." Flushing slightly, I roll my eyes and look over at my best friend, tears already threatening to fall. Jerome sees the look and shakes his head, his own eyes glossing over. "Don't you start crying, little terror. Come on, you're stronger than this. Be strong for me, Cali."

I shake my head, squeezing my eyes shut. "I don't want to leave you in this hell-hole, ginger. It's not fair."

He pulls me into a hug and kisses the top of my head. "Nothing in life is fair."

"I... I love you, Jerome."

"I love you too,Accalia."