Jeremiah | Gotham one shots

The Charity Ball

I exhaled heavily but discreetly, dusting off my clown themed polka dot dress anxiously for the fifth time this night. I hated formal occasions like this, especially with rich folk, as I could feel their eyes burning on me, as I tried my best to fit in and not embarrass myself.

The fancy dress ball itself had been set up by Bruce Wayne, as a charity ball, with food, music and a speech by the man himself. I had been invited to come as a date by a fairly rich guy in my psychology class named Martin, but now he was more interested in chatting up some of the daughters of wealthy businessmen. At first I was excited as though I had no interested in Martin, he was a way to see a different, brighter side of Gotham, and mingle with people. Possibly even strike a bond with someone. Now I was just stuck thinking of better ways I could have spent my Christmas evening.

I exhaled again, forcing the same smile that I had all night, and was surely going to give me premature wrinkles. A man offered me some hoer de oeuvres, albeit I rejected, and rested against a wall. The anxiety made my stomach turn, and the last thing on my mind was food. All I wanted to do was go home, but the night was only young, and it seemed to move as slowly as it could.

I stared down at my drink.

Honestly, I don't know why I took the time to get dolled up, as I felt the heels wearing down my feet, and the dress only dug deeper and deeper into my sides as I tensed up. One thing positive to note, however, was that the interior of the Oberland Hall was stunning, and it really was something for a working class girl like me to be in a place as fancy as this.

"And who might you be?" questioned a voice, as I pushed my dark brown hair away from my face.

The man was a little bit taller than me, with bright blue eyes, and fair blond hair poking out of his pirate hat. He wore a kind smile, revealing his dimples.

"I'm Miriam." I stuttered, not expecting to actually talk to anyone. "I was here with a friend but he seems to have left."

The man chuckled. "I don't see why, you seem very nice, and I'm Henry. I can keep you company if you'd like, not that a woman needs company or anything." he replied.

"That would be nice, thanks." I replied, politely, and he stood against the wall with me. "I was starting to think it was a zoo, with all these people staring at me."

"It's only because you're beautiful, don't worry." he flirted, and I felt a slight blush come to my cheeks.

I smiled. "You're too sweet, really."

"Maybe you'd like to go to dinner sometime?" he quickly put forth, looking straight in my eyes as he waited for an answer.

I opened my mouth to answer, but before I could make a sound, there was a blood curdling scream, followed by two bullet shots. My head snapped up, looking to the top of the wide staircase leading down to the floor where we stood. There there stood five men, three of which were wearing clown masks. There were two men that looked starkly different from the other three; one had greying hair that stuck out wildly, and dressed in robes. The other, I was much more interested in.

"So you were just gonna have a party and not invite little old me?" he exclaimed, feigning hurt.

He had dark ivy green hair, that was nothing like the stuff punks got out of a dye bottle, that was pushed back, but some strands still flopped in front of his face. His skin was bleach white, much lighter than my own porcelain skin, and though I traced my eyes over it, there was not a blemish in sight. A big ruby smile wiped his face as he inspected his blood covered purple suit, and raised his hands above his head, announcing himself. Of course I recognised him, he was Jeremiah Valeska, a man I had seen nonstop on the news since his brothers death. I was studying medicine, and trying to understand just what kind of chemical drove him that mad, and changed his appearance.

But all of that was useless as he beckoned his men to move towards everyone. They aimed their guns, keeping people away, as the clown skipped down the stairs, and sighed happily.

"Please, take everything you want, just don't hurt anyone." Mayor Oakley pleaded, as he tried to get the men to lower their weapons.

Jeremiah leaned over the stout, balding man, giving him a mocking grin. "But what if what I want, is for people to get hurt?" he asked, low and cold, before emptying a couple shots into the man's skull.

The crowd gasped and squealed as the mayor fell with a crack to the floor. The clown stepped over the puddle of seeping blood, and strolled towards the crowd, all of which backed away from him in fear.

"Jeremiah, enough." The other man cut in, coming down the stairs with his head raised like he was royalty. Jeremiah seemed to obey him, yet still messed around.

He jeered at a man in a Ken doll costume, who tried his best to look strong as he hid his Barbie doll wife behind his back. The clown squared up to him, reaching about the same height, and stared blankly, looking him up and down. He leaned in further, watching their faces with a smile.

"Boo." the man whispered, and the man flinched back.

Jeremiah burst into to a fit of laughter, turning to the crowd to see their reaction, but only facing petrified, sick faces. He continued to laugh as he turned back around, and shot the man and his wife dead.

My breath hitched, as I watched the clown beat people to a bloody pulp, or shoot them for fun. People were too scared of drawing attention to themselves to cry or yell, so the whole room just stared back in stunned silence.

The other man joined him by his side. "My name is Ra's al Ghul, and I've come to find Bruce Wayne. Whoever does their part and tells me where he is, won't suffer for him." he stated, completely private from emotion.

Everyone stayed silent, clutching each other and whimpering. Bruce was in the back somewhere and hadn't come out before, and a I looked around, I realised he still hadn't. We were all well aware that Bruce was here, but none of us said a word. Ra's began to signal the men to go into the backrooms, whilst he searched around for Bruce.

Jeremiah sighed loudly, and started looking around the room, studying everyone's faces, in case it was someone Bruce cared about. That was until he saw me. His pace sped up a little, as he strode through the crowd, and took several steps toward me.

"Why hello there little clown." he purred, his eyes wide, looking me up and down. I felt very vulnerable as his eyes burned on me, and I tried my best to cover myself and look away.

He grabbed my face hard, inspecting me and pulling me close. It hurt but I was too afraid to stop him. His eyes were a bright unnatural green, like a vat of chemicals, and I couldn't help but look right into them.

"The clown schtick is my thing I think you'll find." he stated, pressing his gun into my side, and sliding his other hand down to my throat.

"Wallet."

"I-i don't have much money." I stuttered, taking my wallet out, my words not forming as confidently as I'd liked. He scoffed, looking through my purse, until he found my wallet; he pulled a slim card out of it, before proceeding to throw my purse on the floor. I scrambled to pick it up, as he read through what looked like my ID.

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" I heard Henry growl at the man, and my stomach twisted. He was going to get himself killed. Jeremiah turned slowly to him, like he was in a horror movie. I could tell by his face and his shaking hands that he instantly regretted his words, as the clown chuckled, and took a proper look at him.

"Look what we have here - a white knight! All brave and trying his best to save the damsel in distress!" he started, jesting at Henry, before taking out his gun. "Sorry bub, but you're not getting a happy ending in this story."

Henry's breath hitched, and he looked nervously at the gun. The Joker stared in his eyes, relishing in the fear, before smacking him with the back of his gun. "Take both of them, and lets head out." Jerome ordered, and the men nodded.

One man, a burly, stern faced man, pulled me from the ground, and hoisted me over his shoulder. I wanted to wriggle and protest, but all I could do was lie there, and struggle to take in everything that just happened. I watched the ground as me and Henry were dragged out of the hall, and down out the building, until we came to a van. The two of us were cuffed, and thrown in the back, where it looked like the other hostages were.

I could hardly take in the surroundings before I felt a sharp blow to my head, and my vision became fuzzy.