Headlines(Jerome Valeska)

*sixteen*

I let out a loud sigh of relief when I finally hear the door come through, from the safety of outside I press my back against the wall just beside the window. "Harvey! Window!" I hear Jim yell. I hold my breath gripping Jerome's hand tightly as he presses himself against the wall beside me, gently squeezing back.Not even a minute later I hear the hissing of the knockout gas followed by yelling and coughing.

I turn to Jerome with a grin knowing we got away, only to see him drop my hand and make his way towards a door leading back into the hallway. "Jerome! Where are you going?" I hiss but the boy ignores me, continuing through the door whistling a tune. I shake my head before quickly following after my accomplice into the building. I follow the whistling down the hallway and my jaw falls slightly when I see Jim holding Jerome against a wall, his hands wrapped round his neck choking him out, the ginger points a gun at the blonde detective's head."dont shoot him!" I blurt out, distracting the detective.

    Jim turns to look at me in shock, giving Jerome enough time to swing his pistol at his head and knock him onto the floor. "How about a little flesh wound?" He chuckles darkly, leaning down to Jim's body. I swallow, considering for a moment and deciding to remain silent. Jerome kicks the man on the floor, he lets out a groan.

"sage-" he gasps trying desperately to lift his head to look at me "don't do this..." he just about manages as Jerome grabs him, punching him hard in the jaw.

"you put me in Arkham. You know I'm not crazy" I mutter bitterly, the man continues to groan as Jerome lands punch over punch into his face. I almost felt bad, from what I heard Jim wasn't like the other cops in Gotham, he wanted to clean this place up. If he had been around a few years earlier he probably would have been my idol.

He opens his mouth a few times attempting to speak between gasps and groans before he finally manages to blurt "your mother's alive Sage!"

I freeze. My eyes widen as I question wether I heard right. "Jerome get off" I say quickly, the young man ignores me continuing to swing at the detective "I said get off!" I bark pushing him with my foot, he finally stand up brushing himself off "what did you say?" I breathe looking at the detective in utter shock.

"Your mothers alive Sage... The stress and anxiety of your abuse gave you psychosis... your mothers death was a delusion" he pants.

My heart stops, my breathing speeding up as I gape at the blonde man in front of me. I shake my head slowly in disbelief as Jim continues weakly "She really did leave you, I'm sorry" I don't want to hear anymore, I turn and storm towards the door running out of the building just as Jerome kicks Jim in the head knocking him out and following after me.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

The car journey home had been quiet, Jerome kept glancing at me nervously or asking if I was okay to which I just nodded absentmindedly. I wasn't okay, all these years I thought my mother had cared about me when she had really left me just like he had said. I don't think Jerome knew how to react, for the first time since I met him he was quiet and awkward but I wasn't really in the mood for talking anyway and the concerned looks told me he cared.

When we got back to the penthouse I immediately headed for my room without a word, when I got there I was surprised to see Barbara sitting on my bed with makeup sprawled around her and a huge grin on her face. I starred at her blankly, letting out a huff. Her smile falls and she hurries off the bed towards me. "my moms alive" I explain quietly, Barbara's eyes grow wide before she embraces me in a tight huge. I tense for a second before hugging back, I wasn't used to this affection yet. "I thought she died Barb, she really left me" I mumble into her shoulder.

Barbara pulls back, her hands rubbing my arms comforting as she forces a smile "well who needs the bitch anyway right? You got me and Jerome and we'll never leave you ok?" she tells me, "besides you can look after yourself now" she adds with a wink. I smile weakly at her attempts to cheer me up.

"thanks Barb" I whisper and she gives me a gentle squeeze, sighing.

"Now go get a shower, we've got a big night tonight and your going to steal the show" she beams, I nod staring blankly at a spot on my carpet.

By the time I get in the shower the initial shock of the news had worn off.I sat on the floor, my legs pulled up to my chest as I allowed myself to process everything. A few tears slipped from my eyes which was unusual, I hadn't cried properly in years, I was usually completely numb when it came to my parents. After a while I sighed, forcing myself to stand up, telling myself sulking wouldn't change things. This was Jerome's big night, the night he had been waiting for his whole life, he was finally going to be a star and I didn't want to ruin it with all my moping.

      Barbara and I chatted as she worked, I could tell she was trying her hardest to distract me as she complained about her large pink headdress she had been forced to wear. I glanced down gratefully at my Scarlett mask, large red and black feathers stemmed from the side assuring I would remain anonymous until the time was right. "So what're you and Jerome  gonna do after tonight?" Barbara asked with a smile, it was only then I remembered Theo had said this would be me and Jerome's last job, I swallowed nervously.

"I dont know... there's just something about Theo I don't trust" I mumble, Barbara stops blending my eye shadow and looks at me concerned.

"What do you mean?" She asks confused

"I mean this whole time, I've had this feeling about Theo... something tells me he isn't going to let us just walk away like that"

    Barbara nods slowly in understanding "I guess you should trust your gut instinct then... but I'm sure everything will be fine" she says, I furrow my brows slightly when she contradicts herself, she finishes with a weak smile that tells me she isn't quite convinced either. When she finishes my makeup I stand up to get changed into my outfit, a long, slim black dress with a large slit up the skirt which revealed my legs.

     Placing the mask over my face I made my way out to the main room where Jerome was already waiting. He wore a fancy black suit, his hair was parted and jelled back but what stood out was the red fake beard. I giggled at his unusual look, catching Jerome's attention. He moves towards me, lifting his hands. "Sage my dear! You look fabulous!" He says forcing a fake accent Italian accent, I roll my eyes with a smile.

"I'm not a fan of the beard" I laugh his smile falls, he cocks his head, his lips forming a straight line.

"Heyyyy it looks smart" he groans in his normal voice, I shake my head smiling at the boy.

     He lifts an elbow "now my dearest, I believe we have a show to stop" he says with a laugh, the accent back. I smirk and link arms with him, allowing him to lean towards me and plant a kiss on my lips.

"we better get going then" I say and with that we're off.