The Freaks Of Gotham (Jeremiah Valeska x OC x Jerome Valeska) (Gotham Fanfic)

Chapter 2

He pulls me into a hug and runs his fingers through my hair, sobbing slightly.

"I thought you were gone forever, I thought something had...." He trails off and looks down at me. "I begged them to wait for you, or at least for them to let me search for you, but they wouldn't listen, they forced us to leave no matter how much I complained, I'm sorry... You probably thought we had abandoned you..."

"No J, it's nothing like that, you don't need to be sorry, they didn't stay because I'd already told them..."

"Told them what?" He questions, looking into my eyes.

"I left the circus, I packed up all my things and I moved out with a friend, I just didn't have the heart to tell you so I got my stuff while you were busy," I say, sighing slightly. "I'm sorry J, I should have said something." My phone buzzes so I pick it up off the floor to check the time." Oh, sorry, I have to go, my roommates boss is coming over later and he wants to meet me... "

"Oh, ok, you'll come to visit us again before we leave right?" He asks, I look into his hazel eyes, look at how sad they seemed.

"Yes, of course, I will J," I say as he releases me from the hug.

"Ok, I'll see you soon then, oh and happy birthday Ash, I'm sorry I don't have anything at the moment for you, I'll have something ready for when you come back to visit." He says, standing up and walking away. As he leaves I notice a slight shade of purple creeping up beneath the sleeve of his shirt. I quickly grab his arm, stopping him from moving. He finches slightly from my touch, and I carefully lift his sleeve to reveal his arm covered in bruises.

"Oh my... Jerome, who did this to you? Was it your mum? I know she was bad to you when we were younger but I didn't think she would..." I trail off, unable to think of how to phrase what I wanted to say.

"It's fine, I've got everything sorted, she won't hurt me again after tomorrow... You don't have to worry about it, Ash." He replies coldly.

"What do you mean by it'll be fine by tomorrow, J what are you...." He stops me from talking by passionately kissing me. I quickly pull away, unsure of how else to react. He looks into my eyes for a second, and I can see the sadness within his chestnut eyes, then he walks off without another word.

I walk into my and Ecco's apartment to find all the lights off. It is mostly dark except for an orange glow emanating from the kitchen. I walk in to find a chocolate cake covered in candles. Ecco quickly jumps up from behind the counter.

"Happy 21st birthday Ash, sorry I didn't say anything about it earlier, but I had to make sure the cake was perfect." She says, handing me a small box. "You can open that later, for now just blow out the candles and go get ready, my boss will be here soon, oh, also I told him about your birthday so if he comes in with a present for you then don't be surprised." She says, then walks out of the room after I blow out the candles.
I walk into my room and quickly get changed into a nice red dress.
Since I have a few minutes to spare I decide to pick up my favourite book. I vaguely remember one of my close friends from the circus giving it to me before they left, but I am unable to picture him as each time I think about it all I see is Jerome giving it to me. The doorbell rings while I'm reading so I go to answer it with my book in hand.

"Hello, are you Ash? Ecco has told me quite a bit about you, can I come in?" He asks, I don't look at him as I'm too concentrated on my book.

"Yes, I'm Ash, you must be Ecco's boss, come in!" I say, turning around and putting my book down on a nearby table.

"What book are you reading?" He asks, walking into the apartment and removing his hat and coat.

"Oh, it's (insert book name here), a childhood friend gave it to me," I say, spinning around and looking at his face for the first time. I stare as I realise he looks exactly like Jerome.

"J? Is that you?" I ask, looking at his face. He's about to say something in reply when Ecco walks in.

"I see you two are already getting along, Ash, this is Xander Wilde, my boss, Xander, this is Ash." She says smiling as she wanders into the kitchen and returns with a few bowls of snacks.

"Oh, yes, Ash, I brought this for you since Ecco said it was your 21st birthday today." He says, handing me a small box. I carefully open it to reveal a beautiful necklace with a moon on it.

"Wow... This is beautiful, thank you." I say, carefully putting it on.

"It looks great on you Ash," Ecco says as she walks over to one of the chairs and sits down.
Me, Ecco and Xander talk for a few hours, but I don't pay much attention to anything as all I can do is stare at his face. He looked exactly like Jerome, everything was identical, except for the fact that he wore glasses and styled his hair differently. But, they couldn't have been related, they had completely different names. My head started to throb as I tried harder and harder to remember.

"I'm going to get a drink, do you two want anything?" I ask, however as soon as I stand up, my vision blurs and a wave of nausea passes over me.

"Ash!" They both yell. Everything becomes black as the world around me begins to crumble.

Through the darkness, I can hear a child crying. I stumble around until I find a grey cell with a young girl.

"Ash? I'm professor Hugo Strange. Your parents brought you here a few days ago for some tests, they needed the money. Anyway, welcome to Wayne enterprises. By the end of this, you most likely won't remember any of it." A man appears near the grey cell, then the entire image changes. The girl looks to be a bit older now.

"Ok, Ash, today is the day you leave us and return to the world. It's just sad that you won't remember any of your time here, now, tell me, what must you never do while you're out there?" He asks. The girl's eyes glow as she giggles.

"I must not use my ability to mess with others." She says. I stare amazed as a piece of chocolate begins to float out of the man's pocket and over to the girl.

"Good, now remember no one else can move things with their mind, only you can Ash."

"Ok, Strange, I understand, I'll miss you!"

"I'm sure you will." He says, then mumbles something incoherent under his breath. The image changes to the trailer me and Jerome used to stay in. A little girl sits outside, reading to a young boy sitting next to her. Another boy sits across from them.

"Ash! This book is boring!" One of the boys whined.

"Oh, ok, what would you like me to read then Jerome?" The girl asks. The boy is about to answer when the boy next to her starts talking.

"No, Ash, don't stop, this book is interesting, please ignore my brother." He says.

"Jeremiah! Why would you say that?!" The small boy whines at the other one. I stare at them all, realising that all of these visions must be my memories. There was me, and Jerome... And Jeremiah, how did I forget about him... But what was the other vision about, who was that man, and what did he mean...