Chapter 2: The First Meeting

"GORDON!"

Harvey stormed into the precinct, dark brown eyes scanning the room until he found who he was after. Jim looked up from the desk he was leaning against while talking to his partner, Harvey Bullock. Dent walked over to them and grabbed at Jim's suit jacket.

"Where is she?"

"Harvey, calm down," Jim tried to pry Dent's hands off him.

It took Harvey only a second to realize what he was doing before he pulled away, apologizing. He straightened himself before calmly talking.

"What happened, Jim?"

"Jeremiah Valeska appeared at the docks and kidnapped your sister. Do you have any idea why he would?"

Harvey shook his head. "None."

"Maybe he just wants to rile up the DA," Bullock suggested. "You did just come back and are helping lead the charge against all the loonies that are runnin' amuck."

"That is possible," Jim said. "Hold Miss Dent as a bargaining tool against you."

"I don't care why he has my sister," Dent said as his eyes darted between the two detectives, "but you have to find DJ."

"We will Harvey," Jim said as he placed a hand on Dent's shoulder. "We will."

My eyes slowly opened, a massive headache quickly developing. I looked around, only seeing stone grey slabs around me. I sat up rather slowly, noticing that I was not tied up or chained down.

Something felt off and I didn't like it. I stood up and walked around the room trying to find the door when a sudden low thud grabbed my attention. I turned around and saw the door open and in walked a blond woman in a red and black jester-esque outfit.

"Miss Dent."

"Who are you?" I asked. "Where am I?"

"Follow me."

And with that, the woman turned on her heel and walked out. I took a few steps out of the room and saw a long stretch of hallway both ways. The blond woman was walking down the left corridor. I hesitated for a moment, wanting to go the opposite direction when her voice called down the hallway.

"You won't get out."

I looked at her. She had stopped in her tracks and looked at me. "Follow me."

I hesitated for a moment before deciding to follow her. I had no idea where I was. I could be wandering around for hours. Best just follow this woman around until I know at least who kidnapped me.

We walked for god knows how long until we came to a stop. The woman pressed a button and spoke.

"Ecco 496."

"Welcome miss Ecco," a computerized voice spoke. The door opened and she stepped aside.

"He's expecting you."

I walked towards the door, keeping an eye on the woman, before walking into the room. I looked to my left and saw the back of a tall and slender looking man. His hair was pitch black and I could tell that his skin was surprisingly pale.

"Welcome Miss Dent," the man said. His voice made chills run down my spine, and not the pleasant kind either.

"What do you want?" I asked. "Why am I here? Who are you?"

The man turned and faced me. I felt my eyes grow wide. The man cocked his head to the side as he took me in.

"Interesting."

"What is?" I asked, fear starting to seep into my voice.

"You, Miss Dent." The man started to walk closer to me. "I find it interesting that someone such as yourself with some social standing thanks to your older brother would be involved with a psychopath."

He stopped in front of me and it took all my willpower not to back away.

"Why am I here?" I asked again.

"One last request from someone that held you quite dearly." He walked over to the large desk in the middle of the room and picked up a book. "He mentioned you quite often in this. I honestly was surprised that he could care for someone on a romantic level."

The man turned towards me once again and leaned against the desk. He flipped through a few pages and began reading.

"My darling DJ was able to sneak back into Gotham just to see me. I swear the day I run into that bastard will be his last for keeping my sweetheart away from her home and from me."

My heart skipped a beat hearing those words. He flipped a few more pages and read again.

"She's full of surprises. I can only imagine the dangerous things she could do if only she was free of her brother. She'll get that freedom and take her place as my Queen, where she rightfully belongs."

The pale man looked up at me. "Such a romantic."

I stayed silent. Those same words ran through my mind in a different way than he spoke them. He sounded almost disgusted while I was happy. I know how genuine those words are and he's trying to use them against me. Me of all people.

He placed the book down and walked towards me again. He started pacing in a circle around me. I could feel his eyes on me, figuring out the questions he had in his head.

"So you know who I am," I said as calmly as I could. "It's impolite to not introduce yourself, however. So I'll ask again, who are you?"

He stopped in front of me and cocked his head to the side as he inched closer to my face. "You know exactly who I am," he seethed.

"Do I?" I challenged. "I haven't been in Gotham for quite a few months. I've missed a few things."

The man smirked as he stood up straight. "You may call me Jeremiah."

"What, no last name?" I asked.

"Don't play dumb with me," he said. "I know you can see the resemblance deep down."

I shrugged as I crossed my arms. "Possibly. Though I can tell you don't have his smile."

We stared each other down for a few seconds before I asked him, "Why am I here?"

Jeremiah's eyes looked behind me and I turned around to see TV monitors.

"His followers gave me a tape, said it was important I find you. The last request of a dead man. It did take longer than I had hoped to find you. But after connecting the name in his diary to the person he left this for, all I had to do was wait for you to come back."

Jeremiah walked past me and place a hand on the console and looked over his shoulder at me. "Care to see it?"

I walked forward and pulled the chair out from in front of the TV sets and sat down. "Play it." I looked up at his piercing green eyes. "Play it and get out."

A small smirk played at his blood red lips. "I won't be leaving." He pressed the button his finger was resting on and walked away. I watched him walk to the back of the room before turning my attention to the screen in front of me.

An antique looking fireplace with two lamps above it filled the screen. Not a second later did a small laugh fill my ears. A laugh that made my skin crawl in that pleasant way only he could make it crawl.

Soon my eyes drank in the fiery red hair and broad shoulders I could never forget. And then I saw him, big smile and all. Though riddled with scars from when that idiot carved him up, his face was still one of the most beautiful things I saw.

"Hello my darling Darla," Jerome smiled. "It's been too long."

A/N: Yay longer chapter! Trying to keep DJ in her "innocent state" is proving harder than I thought. I can't wait to be able to start writing her the way she's meant to be. Plus her backstory with a certain redheaded psycho that we all adore and love.

I might write a separate story that's centered on DJ and Jerome's relationship, depending on what I end up writing in future flashback chapters. Would y'all want a separate fic or just include the key things in flashbacks?

Feel free to message me on my Tumblr (crazydcchick) about DJ, this story, or if you just wanna fangirl about Jerome or Jeremiah.