The unwelcoming doors to the morgue opened without hesitation, sensing their presence and beckoning Bruce, Jim, and Alfred into the dimly lit building. Bruce, between them, faltered for a second, eyes assessing the inside area with a discerning gaze. Even when he came to the conclusion that this indeed wasn't some last minute trap by Jerome -and if it was, it certainly wasn't obvious- the brunet felt disinclined to enter all the while his gut gnawed at him, urging him on, pulling him towards the inevitable.

As soon as Bruce stepped through the doors and over the threshold-the brunet could feel it, like a shadow, casting its presence over him, expanding hands with long fingers that curled about his throat, robbing him of air.

Jerome's body was definitely here.

Struggling to breathe, Bruce grasped the edge of his turtle-neck as subtly as he could, feeling the skin beneath. Just as he thought, nothing, and yet his breath was stilted. From the corner of his eye he looked at Alfred, then at Jim, neither seemed to be affected by it. Instead they were the ones giving him odd looks. When Bruce said nothing, Jim departed from their group, talking quietly with the woman at the reception desk.

Dropping his hand, the brunet looked down the hall, his eyes passing over each door, and was caught unaware as a wave of nausea hit him over the head. The floor tilted in his vision and Bruce shot out his hand, gripping Alfred's arm as the world distorted before him and his stomach threatened to heave what little he had managed to eat for breakfast.

"Master B, you alright? There was alarm evident in Alfred's voice but Bruce hardly heard it, too busy with staring down that hall, eyes having locked on a particular door. There wasn't anything different about it in comparison with the others. But . . . he couldn't explain it, but through the haze of a world turning on its axis and his stomach doing acrobats, he knew that behind that door was where Jerome Valeska's body rested.

Bruce felt a rise in his chest, his own breathing stuttering out and wondered briefly if Jerome was somehow breathing along with him, through him. Shaking his head, he looked up at Alfred with desperate eyes.

"Help me. I have to see, Alfred. I've got to make sure." Hearing the urgency in Bruce's words and the frantic gleam in his gaze, Alfred simply nodded and walked him down the hall. At the halfway point, however, the brunet inhaled briefly, and let go of the butler's arm, walking the rest of the way himself, swaying ever so slightly. Jim, having left the woman, came to Alfred's side, stopping and both sharing a bewildered look as Bruce grabbed the door handle and let himself in.

Not all too far from Bruce's location, Jeremiah was seated before a desk riddled with papers, some with quick words sprawled over them, others were detailed blueprints, his bright glassy green eyes looking over them all in quick succession. So many plans to concoct, but for that to happen, his late brother's crew was essential. The very thought had the redhead inhaling with distaste, he was greatly opposed to the idea primarily due to them having been his twins, but he needed people -followers - for his plans to come to fruition. So, achieve their trust, he would have to do. However, he wasn't off to a good start. They were already wary of him. To be fair, he'd expected and anticipated it and their suspicions were warranted, after all, all he'd done was stick to this room. In reality, he was planning. The plan had gone completely awry, the last piece having not slipped into place. Jim Gordon had never made his way to the bunker. True, the generator in said bunker had overheated, just as it should have, only the victim hadn't been there to be killed by it. Thus, a problem. A lose end.

Not at all according to plan.

It left him surprised and vexed at the complication he'd assumed would surely happen. Jeremiah had been satisfied in believing he'd known Jim enough to anticipate his exact actions, had banked on it and had been wrong. Now, this thought, had Jeremiah's blood boiling hotly beneath his pale skin, and slammed his fist against the table, scattering pages every which way as he glared unseeingly. Perhaps Jim had caught on to his play and avoided the action all together? If he had -and that was a big if- then he was smarter than Jeremiah had previously thought. A part of him, however, didn't believe this was the case and considered the other option, that Jim had somehow been warned. This thought did not escalate his mood one bit.

A knock soon followed and Jeremiah remained where he sat, knowing that knock. There was a moment of silence before the door opened and in stepped Ecco, a cellphone in her gloved-clad hands. "Mason called in, he spotted Bruce at the morgue. Apparently, they brought in Jer-" Ecco stopped when the first syllable left her lips, catching sight of Jeremiah's glare and switching tactics, "your brother's corpse." Jeremiah stared at her, his expression blank, not really seeing her as he tried to discern the situation. Why had they brought his body to a morgue? Did they suspect he'd done something to it? And, more importantly, why call Bruce in? Surely his Bruce loathed that mistake just as much as he did?

Ecco stepped closer, tilting her head in question when she got no response. "Jeremiah?"

Jeremiah wasn't one to usually make quick responses, but he couldn't help but contemplate the one he currently was considering. He wanted to see Bruce, had been for the past few days, he'd missed his friend and now, here was the opportunity. Not to mention the corpse was there and, now that he thinks about it, wouldn't he sleep better at night if he removed it from existence? Yes, yes indeed he would.

Straightening up, Jeremiah grabbed his coat, throwing it over an arm and drifting past Ecco with a twitch of anticipation.

"Come Ecco or we'll be late."

Author: Yeah, another chapter done! So happy about that.
Hope you're enjoying it. Sorry about there not being any Jerome yet, he will get here, very soon, I promise~
Until next time luvs! Please comment and leave kudos if you enjoyed it or are impatiently waiting for the next chapter (I know I would be in this situation).
Have a lovely day!

-Jinx of the desert