The Madness Within- Jeremiah Valeska

Mr Valeska

Clarissa wasn't looking forward to seeing Jeremiah Valeska. She was terrified on seeing Jerome's face in his twin's, despite the obvious differences caused by the late-Dwight, whom she'd left to blow to pieces after discovering that Jerome had been reborn. After a quite, tense breakfast, where Clarissa had tried desperately to distract her mind from Selina's glares, and thoughts of Jerome, she'd gotten dressed and decided she'd try to help Bruce and Jeremiah. The generator work was mostly done in the lab at Jeremiah's home, and  Bruce had offered to drop Clarissa off at Jeremiah's home on his way to Wayne Enterprises, but Clarissa had refused. Instead, she'd gotten the address from him and made her way there herself. The house was well hidden, and at first Clarissa thought she'd gone past it. Walking to the door, she knocked twice in quick succession, and waited. A few minutes passed, and a cool, biting breeze played at the hem of the shirt Clarissa wore. She'd borrowed it from Selina, and it fit her well enough. 

 When there was no answer, she went inside, making her way through the halls until she found the half open door to the bunker that lead into the lab. A cloyingly sweet smell hung in the air, and it made her feel light headed. Pulling on the cold metal, Clarissa slowly edged her way inside, and found Jeremiah bent over one of his generators, a clipboard in hand. He looked up as he saw her, and Clarissa's eyes quickly shifted to the floor. She couldn't bring herself to stare into the familar face that had been her life for so long. 

''Nobody answered the door, so I came down to see if you were here.''

''It's ok,'' said Jeremiah, and Clarissa heard him shift slightly. Out of the corner of her eye, she tried to see if he was still looking at her, but when all she could see was his jacket, she looked up. From behind his glasses, Jeremiah's eyes were fixed on Clarissa's face. She expected tears to spring from her eyes, but Clarissa couldn't even move. Jerome's voice echoed in her mind.

''What's that, dollface? You love me? I love ya too...''

Clarissa flinched, and bit down on her lip until she could taste blood. Images flashed across her mind, and she wanted to scream. She didn't even notice when she staggered forwards to lean against the table in front of her.

''Hey, woah, woah!''

Jeremiah's voice seemed distant, and when his hands fell on Clarissa's shoulder she gasped and jerked upright. Tears leaked from her eyes and down her cheeks, and she squeezed them shut. 

''Are you ok?'' asked Jeremiah, his tone full on concern. Clarissa nodded silently, but she knew that it was obvious that she wasn't. 

''I'm sorry, Mr Valeska. It's still a little raw...''

Clarissa's voice broke, and she looked away from where Jeremiah stood beside her. His hand rubbed her shoulder in a comforting way..exactly like Jerome, and she shrugged it off. 

''Call me Jeremiah.''

''Right.''

There was a pause, as Jeremiah took a deep breath as though steadying himself. 

''I'm not my brother, Clarissa. I know that's why you can't look at me. Trust me. I'm nothing like Jerome.''

His hand slid under her chin, gently lifting her head up so that she was looking into his eyes again. She winced, but couldn't move, forced to stare into Jeremiah's face.

''See?'' he said quietly, and slowly, Clarissa nodded.

''The glasses help a little.''

Jeremiah laughed, and grabbed his clipboard again, passing it to her.

''Here, take notes for me.''

Clarissa took the small wooden clipboard, and slid out the pen from the top, uncapping it, she slowly followed Jeremiah around the generator that sat in the middle of the room. She was still glad he wasn't looking at her. Even if he wore glasses, he was still Jerome's twin. The brother of the man who had been the love of Clarissa's life. As she jotted down notes in small neat writing, she didn't notice Jeremiah glancing up to look at her every so often. Her eyes were glued to the clipboard as he told her what to write, and she was blind to anything else that happened in the room.  She walked past an open jack in the box, lying on it's side half hidden under a pile of paper, unaware of Jeremiah tensing up where he stood examining a few panels of the generator. 

''I think it's good now. We should let Bruce know so we can test it.''

Clarissa nodded, and set the clipboard down on the table, her eyes falling onto a corner of the jack in the box. Immediately Jeremiah distracted her, coughing sharply and cleaning his glasses. Clarissa was suspicious, but didn't say anything. Clearly Jeremiah wanted to keep that hidden.

''He was going to be at work today,'' said Clarissa, and Jeremiah adjusted his glasses as he looked at her.

''Oh.''

''Maybe tomorrow. I can let him know.''

''Thank you Clarissa.''

She smiled very slightly, then looked back at her notes for a moment, not noticing when Jeremiah's shadow rose up behind her. 

''Those are very meticulous notes, Clarissa. I'm impressed.''

Clarissa jumped and spun around to look up at Jeremiah, who stepped back hurriedly. Jeremiah reached behind her, knocking the box to the floor out of sight and the said quietly.

''Sorry. May I see?''

''Of course,'' Clarissa replied, and handed over clipboard and pen. It was silent as Jeremiah read through them, a small smile on his face.

''Very clear. Perhaps more detailed than mine, as well,'' he paused and looked up. This time Clarissa didn't need to look away, she focused on Jeremiah's voice, trying to keep Jerome's out of her head.

You're in for it, dollface.

''Would you perhaps, keep notes for me from now on? I can pay you...''

Clarissa shook her head hurriedly.

''You don't need to. I-I'm happy to do it for you...'' she trailed off and fidgeted with her hands. Jeremiah looked pleased.

''That's good. And tomorrow we can show Bruce...do a test run.''

Clarissa agreed, and let her eyes slowly trail back over the desk as she tried to see the box that Jeremiah had knocked to the floor. When all she could see was shadow, she gave up. She'd find some other time, when there was no chance of being caught. There was something about Jeremiah she didn't want to find out about, and she had a gut feeling that, like Jerome, it would come out if she angered him. 

C'mon dollface. Where's your curiosity? 

Jerome's voice whispered in her mind, and Clarissa scrunched her eyes shut to block him out. She wasn't going to crumble without him, she was going to carry on living. Even if she didn't carry out his orders.