Rapunzel <J. Valeska>

3.6

Somehow, a week goes by that Daisy is in Lee's care. The time seems to fly between the two of them, Lee teaching her more signs to use and getting better at deciphering Daisy's spelling so that the pair communicate much faster, and seem to operate on the same wavelength.

And while Lee initially claimed that Daisy would be resting and recuperating with her, there is very little real resting done. The doctor seems dead-set on catching the girl up on all the experiences she's missed. She helps Daisy embrace her newfound independence and explore the world around her freely.

And while they do need to go in to the GCPD occasionally for Lee to get some work done and for Daisy to answer questions from Detective Gordon, Daisy does not feel at all restricted. Even as a suspect (or more accurately, a person of interest) in the Maniax case, the girl has never felt so free as now.

However, while Lee's companionship is great and very attentive, it is nothing compared to the cosseting and adoration Daisy has become used to receiving from her daddy.

Despite her many attempts to change her body's and—to a lesser extent—her mind's instinctual reactions and feelings about Jerome, she can't seem to reorient herself. She knows the man is a criminal, and some of the things he's capable of, but she can't find it in herself to forget that she loves him.

And then there's the investigation into Pepper's death. Jim has kindly decided to help Daisy figure out what exactly happened to her friend, even though he claims it's just in relation to Jerome's part of the case. It's relatively slow going, which makes sense because there's no body, timeline, location, or even a picture of Pepper to give any evidence.

All that their address served to do was bust Sal's prostitution ring, and while Sal gave them a time span, he wouldn't offer much else. Lee made sure that Daisy was not present while Sal was there, considering that he could recognize her and connect the dots.

Lee tries to take Daisy's mind off of all that with her outings, from shopping to exploring to eating. The woman is just about as on top of Daisy gaining healthy weight as Jerome, and is always trying to sneakily get her to eat more under the guise of trying new things.

And although the majority of her body isn't doing much resting, her vocal cords certainly have been, and Daisy is able to steadily decrease her pain medicine dosage as things begin to heal. Lee gives her a simple look over of her vocal cords everyday, and she seems to be very optimistic about the progress made and the potential still present.

Though Daisy has much more independence than before, she can't help but feel a bit lonely and unsafe. There's a fine balance between liberty and security, and while Daisy is happy to embrace the newfound freedom now when she has someone to guide her, the idea of being truly on her own is quite frightening. If she's honest with herself, she would much rather someone (aka Daddy Jerome) do everything for her than try to do it herself.

The idea of failure is just so prominent and frightening, and the consequences of not getting things done right in the real world can be very harsh and intense. Daisy would sacrifice much of her newfound freedom to feel secure and well cared for and to not have to worry about any of it. Being an adult is a big deal that requires a lot of hard work, planning, and organization to succeed and get everything done right.

Of course Daisy doesn't consider that it also takes a lot of luck in terms of connections and heritage to truly succeed in most fields. It's not really a concept she's encountered thus far in her very limited experience.

Meanwhile, a pair of siblings gifted with rich relatives and a need for revenge sit marveling their own luck.

"So Jerome really brought up the GCPD raid up to you? Just like that? And he doesn't suspect anything?" Tabitha asks, suspicious.

"He has no clue at all of our involvement, sister mine, believe me," Theo smirks. "But I've recently realized a little hole in our plans. If we raid the GCPD and Jerome gets his whore back, he may yet bail on us with her, especially if she still wants to go with him. Considering her past and issues, it's certainly possible."

"Well you already said we can't kill her," Tabby scoffs, bored.

"One of my insiders at the GCPD said that recently Jim Gordon has been investigating the death of some prostitute from information the girl gave them. They suspect that Jerome is behind it and want to tie him to the case," Theo informs her.

"The same chick I had to bag along with the guy Jerome killed the first night?" Tabby wonders. "He was very worried about her identity... maybe she has some relationship to his bitch."

"And if the police were to suddenly find the body and weapon...?" Theo trails off.

"They can prove it was Jerome and the girl will be devastated. She won't want to go anywhere with him, which won't allow him much time or energy to get her and run off," Tabitha finishes with an eerie grin.

"Exactly, my dear," Galavan purrs.

"Once you kill Jerome, can I get her from his cabin? I want to see what all the fuss is about, play with her a bit," Tabby teases.

Theo rolls his eyes. "If you must. I really don't care as long as you don't make too much of a mess. Or noise, for that matter."

"Where's the fun in that?" Tabitha laughs.

"Do focus and get the body and murder weapon someplace the cops can find it. Some of Jerome's hair would be great too," her brother chides.

"Whatever, you're no fun. I guess I'll just go and do your bidding, my liege," Tabitha snarks, heels clacking as she stalks out.

—————————————————————
A/N
Hey guys, sorry for the update so late, but here you go. Lots of drama ahead! Let me know if you enjoyed by voting and commenting and I'll catch you in the next one!
Gingy