I updated a little bit earlier than I'd originally planned, but I figure how this story will work is that I'll update as soon as I've finished a chapter. There's no point in finishing four days before I'm supposed to update and just letting the chapter rot in my Microsoft Word bin of files.
Anyway, without further ado, here's the next chappie! Lots more of Jack in this one. I'm really having fun writing him and Jeannie; they seem to click in an odd way.
"Are you going to tell Dad?" Jeannie asked her brother as they turned back onto the forest path.
Liam gave her a funny look. "Tell him what?"
"That we saw a boy in my class being beaten!" she exclaimed. Never mind the fact that it's Jack Napier. If I told Dad what we'd seen, he'd arrest Paul for sure.
Liam sighed. "Jeannie, you have to understand something. You're probably not old enough to realize it yet, but sometimes we shouldn't intervene with other people's affairs."
"Why not?" she exclaimed. "You're going through law school, Liam! Don't you agree that beating your child is illegal?"
"Of course I do. But you have to gather all the facts before you go around arresting people. What if it becomes worse for the boy if his father is arrested? Is he a bully himself? How will he cope to being in a foster home? What if his mother is angry at the fact that her husband has been sent to jail and starts beating him herself?"
"I don't see your point," Jeannie said through gritted teeth.
"I don't expect you to." Liam ran a hand over his chin. "Fine, then. Have it your way, Jeannie. Just make sure Dad gets all the facts first."
After dinner that night, Jeannie approached her father. "Dad?" she asked hesitantly.
Mr. Kerr looked up from his paper. "Hi, honey. What is it?"
"Do you remember last week when you were telling me to keep an eye on Jack Napier?"
"Yes, I do. Have you discovered anything new?"
"Um…" She winced. She'd always been a terrible liar. "Can you tell me more about his father first?"
Mr. Kerr frowned. "I don't think I'm allowed to tell you that, Jeannie. I swore an oath of secrecy when I became a police officer promising that—"
"It's not as if I'll tell anyone!" she pleaded. "Besides, I'm your daughter, not just some random person on the street. I just want to know the basics."
Her father surveyed her for another moment before speaking. "If you tell anyone this, Jeannie, my job could be in jeopardy."
"I swear, Dad."
Mr. Kerr finally nodded. "Here are the basics: Paul Napier grew up here in Gotham. As a teenager, he was convicted of several assaults and robberies. He married a woman named Diana Grant when he was twenty-four and they had a son a year later. When his son was five years old, Paul was tried for murdering his wife, Diana, but was declared innocent. Three years ago he remarried, to a woman named Marissa Moore. He's been under the radar ever since then, at least until last week."
"And you haven't found him guilty of anything yet?"
"No—the woman he purportedly assaulted refuses to take the case to court. Until we find solid evidence, he's perfectly innocent." Mr. Kerr fixed her with a knowing gaze. "Now, what is you wanted to tell me?"
Jeannie bit her lip. She ought to at least tell Jack what she was going to do before she told her father. It seemed almost cowardly to just let Mr. Kerr arrest Paul Napier without telling his son first…
"Nothing, Dad. There's nothing I want to tell you."
Yet.
At school the next morning, she was even more agitated than usual. Jack hadn't shown up.
"What's eating you?" Emily asked after a while. "You look worried."
Jeannie debated on whether or not to tell her, but decided that there was something personal about it. If her parents were beating her, she wouldn't want a boy she had just met telling his friends everything he had seen.
Halfway through Math class, the door opened and Jack finally walked in. The teacher didn't even pause; he just continued the problem he was doing on the board. There were several suppressed snorts from the other students.
Jeannie surreptitiously glanced over at him once he sat down. He looked to have a black eye and his scars seemed more prominent than usual. She felt a pang of pity. Nobody deserved to go through what he appeared to every day.
At recess, she found herself alone. Emily had a soccer practice, and seeing as how she was Jeannie's only friend, the new girl had nowhere to go.
After a bit of aimlessly wandering around, Jeannie found herself sitting by a clump of old trees near the edge of the school property. She opened one of the books she had bought the previous day and began to read.
But before long, she heard the sound of footsteps in front of her. Jeannie prepared to glare up at the offending intruder, but froze when she saw Jack Napier. "H-hi," she said nervously.
"How much did you see?" he asked immediately. His tone wasn't friendly.
"See what?" Jeannie said slowly.
Jack's hands balled into fists. "You know."
Jeannie sighed and closed her book. "I saw enough."
"Who did you tell?"
"No one," she admitted.
He was momentarily surprised. Jeannie watched him closely. She wondered if there was a knife hidden in his jacket like Emily had told her.
"Just keep it that way, then," the curly-haired boy finally said.
Jeannie shook her head. "Jack, I can't see you getting beaten half to death and refuse to tell anyone—"
"Technically, you can." He raised his eyebrows.
Jeannie sighed. "You can get help," she told him. "I'll feel guilty for the rest of my life if I just let this go on."
"No, you won't," he replied. "You'll feel guilty for a while, then you'll shrug it off and just forget about it. Believe me. It's happened before." Stuffing his hands into his pockets, he began to walk away.
"Jack, wait!" Jeannie called. She stuffed her book into her bag and threw it over her shoulders before running after him.
Despite his long legs, she caught up with him easily. "Jack," she said, putting a hand on his shoulder. He immediately flinched away and Jeannie realized her mistake. "I have to tell you something."
He glanced over at her with wary eyes. "What?"
She paused, aware she was taking a risk. "My father is Michael Kerr. He's a police officer—"
Was it just her, or did his eyes turn darker at her words? "Let me guess," Jack said slowly, anger lacing his voice. "Your daddy asked you to make friends with me so he could get the evidence he wants?"
Jeannie didn't know what to say.
He took her silence as a confirmation. "Well, tell him and everybody else to stay away. We don't need anyone's help."
"He was beating you, Jack. Don't tell me you actually enjoy that."
Jack's hand flew to his pocket, and Jeannie flinched. Oh God…he was going to take his knife out and stab her—
And he laughed. He actually laughed. His expression, which had been livid a moment before, had turned to amusement. "What's the matter…Jeannie? Have you been listening to all the stories people say about me? Afraid that I'll stab you with the knife I always carry in my pocket?"
"I—no—"
"You know," Jack said, still chuckling, "You're different, I'll give you that. Most people run away from me as soon as they see the scars."
The bell rang in the distance, signaling the end of recess. But the two eighth-graders didn't move.
"So you want me to lie to my dad?" Jeannie asked. "Or keep your secret? I've barely talked to you."
"Remember the forest a week ago?" Jack countered. "You owe me."
"I don't owe you anything! I would have found a way out by myself!"
"Funny, it sure didn't look like it." Now he was smirking.
Jeannie drew an angry line in the dirt with her heel. "Failure to report a crime is just as bad as committing the crime itself."
"Planning to become a lawyer, are you?"
She groaned. "Why don't you want the police to come after your father anyway? He assaulted a woman and she's refusing to come forward."
"That's kind of the point," Jack said. "Isn't it obvious? She was a prostitute. Some of them complain to the police after they…ah, finish with a customer, complaining of abuse. My father isn't stupid enough to actually abuse them."
Jeannie's mouth fell open. I'm not even going to think about the reason why Paul Napier was with a prostitute in the first place…how do I know Jack is telling the truth?
"If you don't believe me, ask your daddy who that woman really was," Jack continued. "If he shows you proof that she was just a normal citizen, then I give you permission to tell the police every single thing you saw yesterday. Haven't you ever wondered what a decent woman was doing in Gotham Acres anyway?"
"How am I supposed to know? I moved to Gotham—"
"Four months ago," Jack finished, rolling his eyes. "I remember. Anyway, do we have a deal?"
Jeannie shook her head. "Not until you tell me why you don't want my father to arrest yours."
"There are several reasons." Jack left it at that, but there was amusement sparkling in his dark eyes.
Two can play this game, Jeannie thought angrily. "Fine, then. I guess the deal's off." She turned around and began walking back toward the school.
Jack cursed under his breath. "All right. Go and tell your daddy—"
"Stop making fun of me!"
"—All about what you saw yesterday. Then when his friends come after your family because your dad threw him in jail, don't say I didn't warn you."
Jeannie slowly turned around to see him smirking. "You mean we'd be in danger?"
"That's what I just said," Jack replied. "If you want to take that risk, go ahead."
She glanced around the property. They were the only ones in sight; sooner or later a teacher would spot them and send them to the principal. "Meet me here after school."
Jack nodded.
"You know," Jeannie said as they walked back to the school, "You're different. I thought you were this silent kid who never talked."
"That is the general opinion," Jack agreed. He turned his unnerving grin onto her. "But mostly it's because they don't care enough to talk to me first."
"I care," Jeannie said suddenly. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly the most popular person here."
"I can see that," Jack said. It wasn't clear whether he was joking or not.
I feel bad for him, Jeannie thought. He really is nice when you start talking to him. People shouldn't judge him just by personal appearance.
It never occurred to her that he was a loner because he wanted it to be that way.
When the final bell rang, Jack was the first to leave as usual. But this time, he shot a knowing smirk at Jeannie before he disappeared. This didn't escape the notice of Emily, who stared at her friend wide-eyed. "Did that—did Jack Napier just acknowledge you?"
"Yes," Jeannie admitted.
"Why?" Emily looked curious and a little bit shocked.
"I…" Jeannie liked Emily, but she didn't feel close enough to her to explain things just yet. "It's a…family connection, I guess you could say."
This seemed to placate the other girl, who dropped the subject. "Do you want to come over to my house sometime?" she asked. "My mom always wants to get to know my friends." She smiled apologetically. "We can bake cookies or something."
"That sounds great," said Jeannie happily as they walked out of the classroom. "When?"
"How about this Friday? My dad's away on a business trip. You'll just have to deal with my weird brother, but he's harmless, really."
"You have a brother?" Emily had never mentioned any siblings before.
"Yeah. Edward's only two years older than me, but he's already in twelfth grade. He's a genius." Something in Emily's tone hinted that she was leaving a lot out of this description. Jeannie didn't mind; she'd just left out a huge piece of her story.
The girls exchanged telephone numbers and parted ways outside of the school. Jeannie quickened her pace as she walked towards the soccer field; she was suddenly anxious.
But Jack was nowhere to be seen. At first Jeannie was worried, but it was soon replaced by an annoyed feeling. He seemed just the type to go back on his word; he was probably halfway home by now. Well, at least this meant she could go tell her father everything.
"Looking for someone?" a voice said in her ear and she jumped. Jack was standing beside her as if he had been there all along, grinning easily.
"How did you…?" Jeannie trailed off, willing her heart to slow down.
"You're not very observant," he chided. "You're caught up in your own little world all the time. Maybe you should work on facing reality, Jean-nie." He drawled her name out, pronouncing every syllable separately.
It annoyed her. Oliver had used to say her name a similar way. But she couldn't help but be surprised; the intimidating and serious Jack from the previous week was gone. It was as if he was a different person. There was no trace of the boy who had snapped the word "No" at her while his dark eyes flashed a dangerous expression.
"So," Jack began. "Where were we?"
"I believe you were telling me about how my family would be in danger if your father was sent to jail," Jeannie said.
"Ah, I remember now," he nodded. She wished he would wipe that stupid smirk off of his face. Then again, with those scars, it looked like he had a permanent smile…"I'm not stopping you from squealing on him, of course. I want my father gone as much as everyone else does."
"Then what was the point of our conversation at recess?"
His tongue flicked across his lips. "If your father is the one that sends Paul Napier, one of the highest-ranking Falcone officials—"
"Wait, what? The Falcones?"
Jack sighed in impatience. "Keep up, Jeannie. The Falcones are part of the mob in Gotham. They run a secret underground network. The police have been trying to catch them for ages."
"So your father works for them?" she asked excitedly.
"Yeah."
"Then this is all the evidence we need!" Jeannie said. "He could be in jail by tonight."
Something flickered in Jack's eyes. "Your father can't be the one who ultimately convicts him."
"Not with this again!" Jeannie groaned. "Listen, Jack—your concern for me is touching, it really is, but Dad's a police officer. He can take care of himself. My family will be fine."
"Listen to me, Jeannie!" the boy suddenly burst out, all traces of humor gone. "I've seen what happened to the last police officer's family that turned in a man who had been working for the Falcones. They were cut up in little pieces and scattered all over their house. An arm here, a leg there—"
Jeannie was horrified. "So that's why you don't want your father turned in? Because you don't want the Falcones to come after the police officers?" She thought of Paul slamming his son against the side of his house like he was a rag doll. "No. There's something else. You don't strike me as a martyr, Jack."
"Aren't we using big words today?" Jack retorted bitterly. "Your father saved my life, Jeannie. I would feel guilty if he died and I could have prevented it by keeping my mouth shut."
"He saved your life?"
But Jack pretended not to hear her. "Besides, I have a better way of proving him guilty."
"You do?"
He snorted. "Of course. Do you think I would have just let him beat me all those years if I believed he would always be around?" He didn't wait for her response. "The thing is, Jean-nie, I need a second person to help me with my plan. I haven't been able to find one until now."
"So what you're saying is, you're just using me? You've just been nice to me because you thought I could help you?"
His eyes lit up. "The funny thing is, I find I'm actually starting to like you now. You have guts, unlike most of the other people in this city."
"Thanks, Romeo," she said sarcastically.
"Anyway, isn't that what you were doing too?" He turned on her. "Your daddy asked you to keep an eye on me. You wouldn't have talked to me otherwise."
Jeannie was caught, and she knew it. "Well, Jack, the funny thing is, I find I'm actually starting to like you too."
He laughed. "So what do you say, Jean-nie? Are we friends now?"
"I suppose," she admitted.
"Fair enough." He held out his hand to her. "So you're part of the plan?"
"Not until I hear what it is!"
He narrowed his eyes at her. "I thought we were friends, Jeannie! Friends trust each other."
She glared at him; she had been caught. Besides, there was something in the depths of his brown eyes that made her heart skip a beat. "Is the plan dangerous?"
"Not at all."
"You're lying."
"Me?" He pretended to pout. "I'm a man of my word."
"You're hardly a man," she muttered, but closed her hand around his in a handshake. She noticed that Jack's hand jerked slightly in hers, almost as if it was an automatic reaction when he was touched. Remembering who his father was, Jeannie quickly withdrew her hand.
"Meet here tomorrow before school?" he asked, apparently recovering fast. "We'll need to get started right away."
"Sure," Jeannie agreed. "It's a date."
She could have smacked herself at that moment. A blush quickly crept up her cheeks. Jack was cute for sure, but not boyfriend material. She imagined a scenario where they held hands walking down the sidewalk; the stares they would get would be unbearable. No. That couldn't happen. Maybe if he didn't have his scars…
But he merely smirked. "See you tomorrow, Jean-nie."
"Don't say my name like that!" she snapped.
He raised his eyebrows in a gesture that implied What are you going to do about it?
Annoyed, she stomped away before she could do something she would regret.
Jeannie was halfway home before she realized that, in the space of an hour, she had switched from her father's side to Jack Napier's.
But that didn't have to be the case, right? All Mr. Kerr wanted was for Paul to be proven guilty and everything would be fine.
She hoped.
