You look up to the window and began to mentally plan how you were going to climb up the fire escape.

Theo had sent you out on yet another one of his tasks, you had to earn your keep somehow. He had asked you to investigate an apartment; he had evidence to suggest it was where Jerome Valeska had been staying. He explained Valeska had more than likely moved on by now, he never was one to stay in one place for too long,. You hoped the place would be empty. All you had to do was enter, look around, and try to find some evidence about where the young man could be now. Valeska had stolen some of Theo's money and ran. You didn't much care for the reason, you just wanted it over and done with. It was the last task you would be doing for Theo for a while so the sooner it was over, the better.

You manage to climb the first few floors on the outside of the building. You are unsure as to the stability of the structure you stand on. You're happy once you reach the window belonging to Valeska. You brace yourself and lift the window up with all your might, it's surprisingly easy to open. After peering inside, you swing your legs into the apartment and drop inside. It's dark and cold.

The layout of the room is somewhat bare, a sofa, a television set and a small kitchenette to the side with a table and two chairs in front of it. It looks pretty abandoned. Relief came over you as you decide this. You make your way further into the apartment. Stumbling across a small desk, your eyes meet a bundle of papers. Maybe these have some information on. Picking them up, you flick through them and scan them one by one, trying to look for anything that could be taken as a clue. "Nothing." you sigh. You throw them back down onto the desk and turn to scan the room again. You spot what looks like a small book on the table between the sofa and TV. When you reach down to pick it up something catches your eye, an ashtray. It's not the object itself that has caught your attention, but rather, what was in it. Inside of the ashtray there is a cigarette, it's still alight.

He's still here.

You feel something behind you. You spin around and come face to face with the one person you hoped not to meet; Jerome Valeska.

Jerome smiles and tilts his head to the side a little. "Well hello there."

You try to speak, but nothing comes out. You manage to snap your eyes away from him and to the window behind him. You had left it open, you could run and climb out of it.

"You know, if I knew I was expecting company, I would have tidied the place up a bit."

With one quick glance back to him you dart towards the open window. You feel hands wrap around you and pull you back. A cloth covers your mouth as you hear Jerome's voice hush you. Your vision becomes blurry.

Everything goes black.

Your head is spinning as you feel yourself drift back into contentiousness. You open your eyes and it takes a few seconds for your vision to return. For a moment, you have forgotten where you are and struggle to remember what happened. But when your eyes fall on the ginger sitting opposite you, smile upon his face, it all comes flooding back.

"Good morning!" he beams. "Did you sleep okay?"

You shake your head, trying to correct your senses. You attempt to reply to him, but discover you can't. You feel something on your mouth.

"You know, I've used this a lot recently," he holds up a rag, no doubt the one which had been used to cover your mouth. "But I must say, you are by far the heaviest sleeper I've met." he ends his remark with a chuckle. "Oh, how rude of me! Can I get you anything? A drink, some food?"

You muffle something to him.

"Hmm? What was that? Oh" of course!" he stands and walks towards you. With one swift moment, he rips the tape off of your mouth.

You wince at the pain, then look up at him with anger in your eyes. "I-"

He holds a finger up and you pause your speech. "One moment, I seem to have smudged your lipstick. Here," he moves his finger to your mouth.

You snap your face away from him. You hear him growl.

Jerome grabs the bottom of your face and pulls it back to face him, you're inches apart. "I have you. I could easily kill you without a second thought, remember that. So, are you going to behave for me?"

You nod your head and watch the anger disappear from his face.

"Good girl." he takes his finger from your chin and proceeds to wipe the smudged lipstick from the outside of your lips. He stands back and admires you.

You notice a strange expression on him.

"You're not crying."

"Should I be?"

"So...you're not...scared? You're not scared of me? Hmm...interesting..." he seems to be in deep thought for a moment or two. He soon snaps out of it. "Now," he turns on his heels and picks up his chair he was sitting on. He spins it round so the back is facing towards you. "To business." he smiles and straddles the chair. "Tell me, of all the people he has at his disposal, why would Galavan send you?"

Your eyes widen. "You know Theo sent me?"

He laughs. "Of course I did! Mind you, I had to admire his taste." he looks you up and down with hungry eyes. "Did he think you could seduce me or something?"

You try to hide the redness in your cheeks. The very thought! "Theo told me you stole money from him and ran. So he asked-"

You're cut off by the ginger's laughter.

"What's so funny?"

He wipes a tear from his eye. "You are doll!" he composes himself. "I'm usually a good judge of character, but I never thought you could be this gullible."

"Gullible? I am not gullible!"

His face turns into one of concern. "You really believe him, huh?"

"Well, yeah. Why shouldn't I?"

"Oh where to begin. Look gorgeous, I'm gonna cut you some slack here and tell you the truth about Theo Galavan."

"Any why should I believe you?"

"Because I could have killed you by now."

He had a point.

"Tell ya what. You seem like a smart gal, so I will tell you my side of the story, then you can decide for yourself which one of us is telling the truth."

"That's stupid."

"How so?"

"Because if I tell you I don't believe you, you will kill me."

He shrugs. "Not necessarily."

"Go on then, tell me your side."

"Theo was right, I did steal money from him and run. What he failed to tell you is how he planned to kill me."

"Kill you?"

"I overheard him talking to someone about the gala that was coming up. I was supposed to replace the magician, then cause anarchy. I was fine with it, sounded fun. But then I overheard him talking to someone about his plan to kill me at the gala. I wasn't sticking around to find out if he was serious or not. As for the money? Well, I could hardly run away with nothing but the clothes on my back could I? I needed a little something to get by."

"Theo...I...don't understand. What could he gain from killing you?"

"From what I figured, he allows me and the Maniax to throw Gotham into a state of panic, then steps up to be the so called hero. He kills me, the boss of the Maniax, and becomes a hero!" he smirks. "I mean killing me is one thing, but stealing my limelight?" he smiles at you. "So, who's talking truth, sweets?"

Your eyes fall to the floor as you think for a moment. "It does sound like something Theo could do...plus he did kill the other two..." your eyes move back up to him. "It's plausible."

Jerome pulls out a knife and moved behind you.

You feel the ropes loosen on your wrists as he cuts you free. You pull them in front of you and rub them, in an attempt to subside the pain a little. "What now?" you ask.

He moved in front of you. "Now you have two options to choose from. You can go back to Theo and tell him where I am. But no doubt after this, he will have no use for you. We both now know what he does with people he sees no need for don't we?"

"Theo wouldn't kill me." you say as you stood up.

"Wouldn't he?"

"You shake your head.

"Why?"

You try to think of a reason as to why he wouldn't kill you. You can't find one.

"Exactly."

"What's the second option?" you're not sure if you should have asked this.

"The second option," he began as he places the knife in his pocket, "Is you could do me a favor."

"A favor huh?" you place your hands on your hips. "And what favor would that be?"

Jerome makes his way to the small kitchenette area and brings a glass out from the cupboard. "I only took a small amount of money from Galavan."

"It's running out?"

"Yeah." he fills the cup with water. "I need more money. I can't stay here, it's barely livable." he returns to you and hands you the glass.

You take it without question, your throat is unbearably dry.

He watches you as you chug the water in one go.

"What did you have in mind?"

"I'm thinking a bank job would be the easiest option."

"Bank job? Rob a bank?"

"I need a lot of money, much more than some corner shop will have. What do you say? Up for it?"

"You want me to help you rob a bank?" you can't quite believe what you are hearing.

"Yeah! Why not?"

"You're insane Valeska!"

"Of course I am!" he laughs. "And please, call me Jerome."

"If I do, if I do..."

"Yesss?" he sings.

"What's in it for me?"

"You can have a cut of the money...and I wont kill you."

"I don't have a choice then, do I?"

"You could always go back to Theo."

"I have the choice of Theo killing me or you. Something tells me it would be more fun to be killed by you."

He laughs. "You're a funny one doll. Hey, how about this. If you help me, I always have a sofa you can crash on? That way, you don't have to go back to Theo."

"Why are you doing this?"

"It's a shame to see a pretty face go to waste."

You giggle at his comment, but his expression seems to say he means it. "Alright, fine. Hell, it could even be fun."

"Fantastic!" he smiles and throws his arms in the air. "We shall do it tomorrow! Oh but hang on a second. I need to make sure you're up to the job. Make sure you can handle it."

"I think I will be quite alright." you reply in a sarcastic tone.

"You sure?"

"Yes I'm-" you duck when he swings a hand at you. You counter his next attack and push him back into the wall.

Jerome chuckles and pushes himself from the wall and towards you.

You try to move, but he grabs you and throws you to the floor.

Your face hits the floor hard and you immediately throw a hand to your head with a groan. You feel a hand grab you, you roll over and kick your foot into his chest. You jump to your feet and throw a punch at him.

He caches your wrist.

You spin around so your back is towards him and push your foot into his kneecap. When he lets go of you, you turn to face him.

He now kneels on the floor.

You throw your fist across his face.

He takes the hit and looks up at you, a huge smile on his face. He lunges towards you and slams you against the wall, holding your wrists in one hand. The other trails from your arm to your chin, he holds it firmly. He pushes his face closer to yours and slowly licks the droplets of blood from your bottom lip.

Your eyes flutter shut as he does so, you can' help but let a small gasp escapes you. When you open your eyes he had pulled back, the smile still on his face.

He chuckles. "You'll do."