1.

Bruce kept a resolute gaze fixed on the back of the police car driver seat. Very little was said between the passengers; the ever-present tension seemed to bar any dialogue beyond quick instructions. Gordon was busy coordinating over the phone while Lucius skillfully checked and rechecked the signal disruptor. Both were absorbed by their tasks leaving the two passengers in the back to stew in their own thoughts. Bruce's attention was finally drawn to the passenger next to him. Jeremiah Valeska was drumming his fingers nervously on his thighs. Perspiration appeared on his glasses; he removed them and carefully wiped them clean with a pocket square from his dark purple suit.

A twinge of guilt ran through Bruce. He'd convinced Jeremiah to come with them. It was for a greater cause, but the task asked of both of them was a deadly one. Bruce was at peace with anything happening to him; he'd said as much. As much as people like Alfred, Gordon, Lucius, or Selena might object, he felt a duty to stop Jerome in any way he could. After all, Jerome had set up the entire trap just for him and the man sitting next to him. Still, asking for the same resolute will from someone who wanted nothing to do with the operation felt wrong.

"I'm sorry if I unsettle you," Bruce snapped out of his thoughts; he'd realized he had been staring at Jeremiah as he thought. "I've often lamented that I share any resemblance to that psychopath."

"No, it's not that, Mr. Valeska."

It was a half-truth.

Seeing the same features of the man who'd haunted his childhood dreams was enough to set him on edge. It was petty, he knew, but also something unconscious that was hard to break. However, with Jeremiah, it didn't bother him as much as he thought it would. When he'd heard of a sibling—an identical twin no less—to the notorious psycho-terrorist, he'd imagined someone like Jerome's uncle, an equally disturbed individual. However, when he met the spectacled, recluse engineer with a clammy handshake, he was pleasantly surprised. A few inspiring words and a compliment later and Jeremiah was stirred to confront his brother. That, and a stiff drink.

"It's fine," Jeremiah shook his head. "I've read about the things my brother has done. The terror he's inflicted on you and everyone in Gotham." He looked out the window. "I've known about it for years now. I should have done something sooner, not waited until he decided to come after me."

"I'm sure there was nothing that you could have done," Bruce reassured him.

Jeremiah shook his head, "There were things I could have done. Things I should have done." He left it vague, like he was affirming that to himself rather than being concerned whether Bruce understood. "I apologize profusely for your abduction into his schemes."

Bruce was quite for a moment, the apology seemed to stem from nerves and dismissing it would not help the situation. Jeremiah became progressively more anxious as they neared their destination. Bruce decided to alleviate Jeremiah's stress quickly. The last thing they needed was Jeremiah to run and give Jerome an excuse to kill more people. Bruce chose to distract him the same way he had in the bunker.

"The battery," Jeremiah looked at Bruce as he said this. "How many have you made?"

Jeremiah scoffed bitterly, "It seems irrelevant to talk about it when I'm probably not going to be around to build anymore." Having gotten his pessimistic thought out, he focused on the question, "Just the one. It's a prototype at best. Haven't done all my tests on it yet for it to be functional. Even if I did, I doubt I would have the man power to mass produce. So, it would be a novelty for the rich at best."

"That's where Wayne Enterprises could help," Bruce saw a light appear behind Jeremiah's eyes. "If I could get you the funding and factory space, do you think you could make more of them after the prototype is finalized?" Bruce added, "Think of the world-changing prospect of your work mass produced. The humanitarian value alone would be astronomical."

Jeremiah was stunned for a moment, "Given a week or two, I could have the prototype finished and the plans sent into Wayne Enterprises. Yes! That could work!" Jeremiah paused, taking it in. "You do have a penchant for inspiring speeches, Mr. Wayne. Planning on going into politics?"

It was a half-hearted joke, but Bruce was glad he could make Jeremiah forget the situation for a moment.

"Just doing what my parents would have if they were in my place," Bruce said. "And, you can just call me Bruce."

"Bruce," Jeremiah nodded with a small smile.

The tension started to creep back in again, but Jeremiah seemed slightly less anxious. The wheels of thought were turning in his head as he looked out the window. They started to pass police officers and barricades as they approached the destination. Jeremiah wiped his glasses again, and Lucius went over the plan again with them both. Lucius finished, and the last few moments before they arrived were left in that cursed tense silence.

"I'm sorry this had to happen on your birthday," Jeremiah said very suddenly.

Bruce blinked, taken aback by the sudden statement, "How did you kno—"

"We're here," Gordon announced abruptly as the police car stopped; all thoughts dashed from Bruce's mind.

Bruce just turned front and nodded at the reflection of Gordon in the rearview mirror. Jeremiah let out a shaky breath and clenched his fists to collect himself. The door to Jeremiah's side opened, and he stepped out. Bruce found himself taking a similar moment and preparing himself. He needed to be calm, be ready for anything, for his sake and everyone else. He grabbed the door handle and stepped out into the cold February evening.

There Jerome was: dead.

The haunting shadow that had loomed over Bruce was finally gone, a smile on his face. Bruce oversaw the corpse from a distance, but the beady, lifeless eyes seemed to somehow stand out in the darkness, as if still tracking him. Bruce had unfortunately seen many corpses over his life, but this was the first time he'd seen the same man's corpse. Jim and Bullock quickly dispersed the crowd of poking and prodding civilians. Among the disbanding group, Bruce caught sight of the blue-gray overcoat of Jeremiah.

Bruce felt relief. He'd lost track of Jeremiah in the chaos of the evening. Bruce had been caught up in untying the mayor and what was left of Jerome's hostages. He'd completely forgotten about Jeremiah, and, when he turned back around, Jeremiah had seemingly vanished. Bruce hadn't blamed him for running, but Jeremiah's reappearance surprised him.

Jeremiah stared for many moments at the corpse of his brother mangled by the top of the car. Bruce watched as a quick burst of emotion ran through Jeremiah's expression. A glimmer of happiness quickly snuffed out by anger and sadness. He furrowed his brow, lowered his head, sniffled, and strode past the corpse. Gordon and Bullock didn't speak as Jeremiah left, leaving a space for Jeremiah to be alone.

As Jeremiah brushed past, Bruce had an epiphany. No matter how much they'd hated each other, no matter their psychological differences or the years of distance, Jeremiah just lost his brother. He was in pain but crying over a lunatic was something Jeremiah felt that he could not indulge. At least when Bruce lost his parents, there were people who mourned with him. Jeremiah had no one. No one would mourn Jerome except for his cult, and that wasn't sufficient company. Bruce felt compelled to do something, but hardly knowing the man left a distance that he couldn't cross. So he went to the next best thing.

"Mr. Valeska," Bruce found himself saying. The red head turned to face him. Bruce continued cautiously, "I meant what I said. Let Wayne Enterprises fund your work with a grant."

For a brief moment, his eyes lit up with hope again. Then he cooled to a somber expression and took Bruce's hand, "Thank you."

With that, he trudged down the street, wrapping his jacket around him, and promptly disappeared into the night.

AN:

This story will be multiple parts. It's going to primarily focus on the relationship between Bruce and Jeremiah as they go from friends to mortal enemies. I'm going to focus on "off-screen" parts and most of it will [try to] be canon compliant. Certain things will be speculation, such as Bruce's age which I'm going to set at eighteen. There might be a few scenes that I add that are in the show, but not too many. I'll try not to repeat the scenes, instead summarizing them or showing them from a perspective that focuses on the thoughts of the characters rather than the actions in the scenes.

There is one break from canon that I'm going to highlight: Jerome's insanity gas will not be set off like it did at the end of the episode. I just figure it might be good to have these two become at least acquainted before I turn on the gas. Imagine the delivery truck broke down, or one of Jerome's goons lost the keys to the closet it's in.

Also, I have no idea what my update schedule will be like. I'm finicky like that since I'm in college.

Thank you for reading and happy new year! And I do not own Gotham in anyway.