A/N:I know you all want to kill me right now because its been like a reeeeally long time since I've updated. But, I'm back and so is this story. This is the end of part one, which was Jack's life before TDK, and from the next chapter on it will be the events a little bit before TDK, but in the same time and place. I hope you all are still with this story, if you are just drop me a review and let me know! I'd love to hear what everyone thinks about this chapter, this story. For some reason, I feel really proud of this chapter, maybe it's the epic ending? I don't know. Just let me know what you all thought, cause I would love to hear from each and every one of you!

Alessa was released from the hospital almost a week later, it had taken them that long to make sure she didn't have any internal injuries or lasting damage. They pronounced her fit to leave, but the amount of pills she was forced to take suggested otherwise. He was walking over to her house from the gas station as he thought about it, a cigarette hanging lazily out of his mouth, his hands shoved deep into his pockets. There was so much that had to be done, things that still needed to be figured out, so much to be said.

Something had to be done about Richard, he wasn't stupid and he certainly wasn't blind, he knew there was something corrupt going on with Gotham's 'finest', it was only a matter of time before everyone else did to. If only there was a way to expose them...to show everyone who there heroes actually were; scumbags and criminals. He didn't need to plot revenge on Richard Gallagher, no, he would get what was coming to him, but he did need to start thinking about how to make people see what the Political and Police of Gotham actually were.

He jumped the fence that lead to the Way's backyard, thankfully when the three of them had gotten back to the house from the hospital Richard was nowhere in sight, apparently he had knew it wouldn't have been a good situation if he came back. And not seeing the undercover cruiser told him that Gallagher had made the right decision in still not coming back from the city.

They didn't know where he was, Jack assumed he was staying at the police station, and he almost wished Richard had come back home. There was no telling what he was plotting over in the city, no telling what kind of lies he was spreading about what had happened that night, about how 'innocent' he was. The man was lucky, Jack hadn't been lying when he said he would kill him, because he would, it was only a matter of time.

He took a long drag from his cigarette before stubbing it out on the ground, flicking the bud out of his fingertips. He walked in through the kitchen door, but once he entered he could immediately feel it, he knew something was wrong, it was silent except for the running water of the sink and the muffled yells from up the stairs. He shut the door behind him quietly, turning off the tap, and made his way slowly into the living room and stood at the base of the stairs.

"You can't do this! It's irrational, and insane, and...illegal!"

He heard banging, like something heavy was thrown down against the ground, and what he was pretty sure was Alessa's soft crying. He resisted the urge to run up the stairs and instead walked up slowly, quietly, skipping the third step entirely so it didn't squeak. He kept his ears open, hoping to catch more of the conversation, to see who was in the room with them before busting in.

"I can do whatever I want, did you forget that Jaynie?"

He said her name mockingly, as if it would hurt her more in some way, Jack felt his breathing stop. Richard.

"Did you think I was going to let her get away with this? Did you?"

He heard a smack of flesh on flesh and a yelp of pain, he reached the top of the stairs and went quickly into the spare bathroom across the hall, waiting until Richard left to go in. He wouldn't be any use to them if he barged in there now, all fists and rage, attempting to fight the burly man and getting arrested for it.

"You have an hour to pack your things, I think I'm being generous enough to give you that much time. Daniels will be waiting to take you to the airport, I'll be waiting at the terminal. If you try and run, if you try and get out of this, I'll know. And trust me," He could hear Alessa's soft whimpers and knew Richard had grabbed her in some way. "you won't like what happens."

"Richard, Richard please!" Jayne was crying now, her voice no longer harsh, her tone no longer screeching, but instead almost gentle, pleading. "She's my daughter! How can you do this?"

Richard chuckled darkly, "Because I can." he threw open Alessa's door, turning back for a moment to grab Jayne by the hair. "Never forget that." He forcefully let her go, throwing her head away from him like she was diseased, before stalking out, stomping down the stairs and right out the front door. "Remember, one hour!"

Jack quickly strode into Alessa's room, it had taken all he had not to walk out from the bathroom and push the man down the stairs, or something to that effect. He found Jayne sitting on the floor, her head in her hands, crying deeply. Alessa sat on her bed, her wide eyes staring aimlessly out the window.

"What's going on?"

Jayne looked up, her skin around her eyes was puffy and brutally red, the hand print on her cheek already starting to bruise in a palate of indigo's, her chest rising and falling with heavy breaths. She looked every bit of the shattered and broken woman he had made her; abused, disheveled, desolate. It reminded him too much of his Mother, how she looked after James had decided to play with her. She looked nothing like the strong, vivacious woman that she actually was. He didn't like it.

"Oh, Jack! R-Richard..."

Alessa didn't look away from the window when she answered, her Mother had become incapable of speech so she said it instead. Her long legs were dangling off the bed, her arms limp at her sides, she was unmoving, so still like a statue. Beautiful and made of stone.

"He's sending me away."

Her voice was strangely calm when she spoke, eerie almost. He wasn't sure why is irked him so to hear her like that.

"What."

She sighed, turning to look at him, "Just what I said, he's sending me away. Sending me to live with his sister so she can "keep and eye on me.", says its for my own good, it'll teach me to stop lying."

He clenched his fists, his jaw set. "I don't think so."

"Jack, it's not like I have a choice in the matter. He has an officer waiting to escort me to Gotham International in an hour. I'm going."

He couldn't understand how indifferent she was being, the shrug of her thin shoulders, the downcast of her eyes. It made him angry, how could she just give up like this, when all she needed to do was fight?

"Jayne!"

He turned back to her Mother, how could she let this happen? He knew she actually had no control over what Richard did or not, she never had, but he couldn't help the rage that was starting to consume him. He had a feeling that seeing as in the same position his own Mother once was in had something to do with it, wondering how she could just sit back and take the abuse, let that...thing take away her daughter and not do a damn thing about it.

"Jack." He could hear it in her voice, the gentle warning tone that told him to shut up, he looked back to Alessa, "Why don't you help me start packing. Mom, could you get my suitcase from the attic for me please?"

He watched as Jayne slowly pulled herself up, as well as attempting to pull herself together for everyone's sake, she nodded toward Alessa before leaving the room, leaving them alone together. They stared at each other silently, they hadn't had a moment like this in almost a year, before they had started dating. The air in the room hung around them, it was heavy with disdain, thick with sadness, and neither was quite sure what to say or how to say it. He walked closer to where she stood in front of her bed, his strong jaw clenched, her wide eyes glazed over, he gently brought his hand up to softly stroke her face.

"This isn't fair."

He didn't care if he sounded like a child, he felt like a child at the moment. He wasn't sure how to feel, all the emotions running through him, blending together in a mesh of unidentified pain, the fact that Alessa was standing before him, all shockingly caviler didn't help either.

"I know." She shrugged one thin shoulder and dropped her gaze, "But there's nothing we can do."

He felt oddly empty inside, the emptiness wasn't a stranger to him, it came and went, but this was different. He felt a hollow in his chest, like something had scooped the insides right out of him and there was a gaping hole where his heart should be. He grabbed her face gently in his hands, his thumbs running softly over her cheekbones, her smaller hands had come up and grasped onto his forearms, seemingly to keep him in place.

He watched as the breath caught in her throat, how the gaze that was locked with his became teary, "I don't want to go."

"I know."

He caught the tears as they spilled slowly from her eyes, rubbing them away with the pads of his thumbs.

"What am I going to do without you?"

He lightly shrugged a broad shoulder, "I don't know." apparently now it was his turn to be the calm one, to tell her the horrid and undeniable truth. For some reason, it hurt a lot more this time than it ever had before.

Her grasp on his forearms tightened as she brought his body closer to hers, "I know that we're not together and that we still have so much shit to talk about, but Jack...I love you so much...I don't know...I don't know what I'm gonna do."

She was actually crying by then, a sad sobbing cry that made his insides break, he brought his lips to her forehead and held her against his chest, his hands still on her face, and her grip still tight around his arms. There was so much to be said, so much he was angry about, so much she should be upset about, so many comforting words and phrases he should murmur, but he didn't, he just kept her pressed against him and let her cry, letting himself cry.

After a while she leaned back from his chest and looked up at him, her pale eyes piercing his, her eyes, those eyes...they would haunt him until the end of his days. She leaned up and caught his lips with hers, it was slow and undeniably passionate, full of the love they shared for the other. Her hands left their grasp and travelled up over his muscles, brushing past his broad shoulders, and buried themselves into his golden curls. He kissed her deeper as he picked her up and placed her gently on the bed, he slowly covered her body with his larger one. He kissed her slowly still, and he could feel the wetness from her tears on his cheeks, or was that from his own sadness? He couldn't tell anymore.

She lifted her legs up and hooked them around his waist, he ran his hands down the side of her face, her neck, the side of her breast, the curve of her waist, stopping at her hips where he gently grabbed at. She kept her hands tangled in his curls, pulling and tugging her fingers through them, as though that would bring him closer to her. She knew it wouldn't.

This was it, their last hurrah so to speak. Nothing would be the same after this, they both knew it, they both felt it, and as much as they wanted to fight against it there was really nothing anyone could do. So they did the only thing they could do, cope; and love each other, desperately.

He slowly pushed her shirt up over her stomach, being mindful of the bandages keeping her ribs in place, over he breasts and off her body. He let out the small groan he always did at the sight of her bare breasts, all full and perky, the twin peaks pebbled and ready. He kissed down her neck slowly, nipping at her collarbone, he heard the slight sighs and quiet moans she was making.

He kissed down the valley between her breasts, stopping to give light kisses on each before continuing down, he let his lips linger on the bandages, on the bruises and breaks that man left on her. He let his lips lightly move over her stomach, stopping at the waistband of her old, faded jeans. He stopped, resting his head on her, looking up at her from where he lay, tears once again gathering in his uncommonly blue eyes.

She smiled gently down at him, running her fingers gently through his curling locks, nodding her head, the tears forming in hers as well. He sat up just a bit, removing the t-shirt from his own body before slipping the pants from her form, leaving feather light kisses on her thighs, then removed his own. He crawled up her, burrying his face in her neck, she felt the wetness start to sting her skin. She lifted her hips, wrapping her legs around his waist, loosely. He put his weight on his arms, so he wouldn't hurt her ribs, and slowly slid into her.

She gasped at the feeling, how he filled and stretched her so, but moved so, so gently. It caused a swell in her broken heart. She wrapped her arms around his back, bringing him closer, not caring about the stinging in her side. She wanted him this way, in this exact spot, forever.

He shifted his hips, hearing the hitch in her breathing, he did it again. He increased his speed just slightly, still gently penetrating, his jaw clenched, his face still burried in the junction of her shoulder and neck. He could feel her breathing become more laboured than it already was, he knew she was close, he lifted his head to look at her. Her eyes were wide with tears, glazed over with emotion, she was biting her lip as she gazed back at him. He knew his eyes were equally distraught, no words needed to be exchanged, they both knew.

She threw her head back, her eyes gently closed, he clenched his jaw as hard as he was capable, his own eyes slipping closed as they both came, together, one last time.

He leaned down and kissed her, so softly. She opened her eyes and sat up with him, leaning against his shoulder as he wrapped an arm around her, rubbing circles on her skin with his calloused fingers. He couldn't help but run his fingers over the scar on her left shoulder, the one from a knife, the one that his Father had given her once upon a time; he tended to forget that he wasn't the only one who came out of it with a scar...

It was silent, peacefully quiet between them. The air no longer crackled with disdain, or anger. It was perfect.

Alessa moved her head from his shoulder to look at him, his eyes tired and heavy with sorrow. She leaned over and kissed him gently, lingering on his lips, before getting up to get dressed. He stood as well, pulling on his pants before turning to help her step into her own clothing. He smoothed her hair down over her shoulders and down her back, she gave him a small, tight lipped smile.

When they heard the slam of a door and the panicked voice of Jayne, he knew their time together was over. She walked over to the hallway and grabbed the suitcase out of the hall closet, Jayne knew where it was but apparently she had also knew that leaving Jack and her alone for a few minutes was a good idea. She brought it back into her room and began to put everything she owned into the bag, and whatever didn't fit into a duffel bag that she pulled from under her bed.

Jack watched for a moment before going to help her, he watched as she attempted to pack her whole life into two bags. What distressed him the most was that she was able to. He started to help her, folding clothes, grabbing trinkets off shelves, stacking books. He hadn't noticed when Jayne had showed up, he wasn't even exactly sure what time it was. He felt...numb. Empty and numb. He could only imagine how Alessa was feeling, but she gave no clue to him on that particular subject, she wasn't even crying anymore. He didn't take that as a good sign.

Just as he finished packing the last of her picture frames and zippered up the dufflebag, when the officer was at the doorway to her bedroom and pointed to his watch, "Alright, your hour is up, I gotta get you to the airport, so come on, let's go."

The officer named Daniels came into the room from the hallway and grabbed the bags from her bed, he wasn't sure when the cop had decided to join the party, or when he had even come inside for that matter. It startled him that he was so focused on such a mundane thing as packing that he hadn't even noticed the police officer's presence.

Alessa grabbed his hand tightly as they made it out of her room and down the stairs, he grabbed her cardigan from the couch and handed it to her. Jayne returned from the kitchen, Alessa's medication in a bag, her eyes starting to water yet again. He couldn't even fathom Jayne's internal struggle, a part of him still not as sympathetic as he wanted to be with her because the situation reminded him of a warped, distorted version of his own once upon a time ago.

He watched as Jayne grabbed Alessa's shoulders, wrapping her arms around her daughter's from as they walked to the car. They all sat in the back of the cruiser, Alessa squished between them. It was silent except for the music playing lowly in the front of the cab, Daniels' fingers drumming to the beat lightly on the steering wheel. He once looked in the rear view mirror to find Jack's intense eyes narrowed and full of dangerous emotions and ever darker intent, the officer had quickly looked away and had yet to look back since.

The ride to Gotham International was faster than he remembered it, but still long nonetheless, it was filled with thick tension, and the air in the car was heavy with despair. Daniels had pulled right up to the doors, flashing his lights and keeping them on, he jumped out of the car and opened the door for them to pile out. Jayne exited first, letting Alessa all but crawl out, before smashing her to her form and keeping her there, he hopped out last, watching as Daniels slam the door behind him. He grabbed Alessa's things out of the trunk, handing one of the bags to him, not once looking him in the eyes, then grabbed Alessa by the arms and led them into the airport.

They bypassed security, which he wasn't even aware someone was allowed to do, ever, and straight to where Richard was standing next to the terminal. His arms were crossed over his chest, his foot tapping, a crooked grin on his oily face. Jack had never been more ready to kill someone than he was in that moment, he wanted to wipe that smug smile from his mouth.

"Ready girlie?"

Alessa turned in her Mother's arms, wrapping herself tightly in Jayne's embrace, they were both crying heavily. Jack watched patiently, he knew Alessa would come to him before Richard made her get on the plane. He watched as the asshole had the audicy to check his watched and roll his eyes at their display.

Alessa moved from her Mother's arms to his, she jumped into him, squishing her body against his, molding herself to him. He wrapped his arms tightly around her form, pulling her even closer to him than he thought possible. He could feel her tears wetting his shirt, feel the hard sobbing in her body. He did his best not to cry, he wouldn't give that bastard the satisfaction.

Alessa leaned up and kissed him gently on the mouth, they could hear Richard's grunts of anger at the display but they paid him no mind. She pulled back and dug something out of her pocket, handing it to him.

"This was your birthday present, I - I...after the fight I was going to wait until graduation to give it to you, but now..."

She started sobbing again, her beautiful face scrunched up in pain, fat teas leaking from her wide eyes. He took the small box from her and held it in his hand, he wouldn't open it now, he couldn't.

"Alright, alright, that's enough. You've had your goodbyes, now its time for you to go."

They could hear the call of her flight number over the intercom, it was real, this was all really happening. Richard came and grabbed her arm, dragging her towards the terminal. She lifted the sleek sliver chain from within her shirt, "I have the matching one."

He nodded at her, watched as the tears that never subsided came down harder, Jayne grabbed onto him.

"I love you Jack, I love you Mom!"

"I love you baby! Pleas don't ever forget that! I'm sorry, so sorry!"

He thickly swallowed, "I love you Alessa. I do."

She furiously nodded her head at his admission, she knew how much it meant, and he knew how much it meant to her. He stood with Jayne watching Alessa being dragged though the door and to the plane, they waited there until Richard came back from the terminal alone. When he walked back over to where they stood, he grabbed Jayne's huddling form from Jack and started to pull her away.

"Wait, wait, Richard where are you taking me?"

Jayne's frantic tone was putting him more on edge than he already was, the fact that they were in a public place didn't escape Richard though. He just squeezed Jayne's arm tighter and started speaking through a tight, forced smile.

"I'm taking you home darling." The word was uttered harshly as to shut her up, but pleasant enough that people who were walking by wouldn't notice. Richard looked him over, he laughed at the glaze in his aqua eyes, the dried tear marks from where he had cried, the look in Richard's brown eyes was an easy one to read: Pathetic. Richard thought that he was pathetic, because he had cried at having the only constant thing in his whole life ripped away from him. "Daniels, take him into custody."

Jack's eyes narrowed at the older man, he looked over at officer Daniels, who in all honesty, looked rather scared at the thought of being alone in a squad car with him. Just as he should be.

"What! Why? He hasn't done anything!"

He gripped Jayne's arm tighter, hushing her, he didn't need the extra attention. He started to pull them out of the airport, back out through security, and down through the lobby. Once they were outside and near the parked squad car, did he answer Jayne's question.

"He has done everything, he has ruined this family, he has you wrapped around his finger all the while he was corrupting my Alessa, under my roof!"

Although it was whispered angrily to Jayne, Jack still heard every word of it, mainly because Richard wanted him too.

"The last time I checked, Alessa isn't yours, she never will be. And Jayne's house, was there before you, and it'll be there after."

He narrowed his eyes at Jack's statuesque form, he didn't care anymore, not about anything. Alessa was his rock to reality, she kept him grounded, kept him from falling into the dark place inside of him that he had started to drift into. Without her here, without her with him, he had nothing left for this reality, it didn't want him and he didn't want it. So, it was time he let the dead bury the dead, and moved on into his new, bright reality. And he had a plan, oh did he have a plan.

He smirked as Richard stared him down, as he pushed Jayne into his car, and as he ordered Daniels to take Jack in. "For what sir?"

Richard smirked right back, "For assaulting an officer."

But Jack couldn't even be bothered to care, not as Daniels placed cuff on him, or as he pushed him down into the police car. All he did was stare at Daniels through the rear view mirror, the whole way from the airport to the police station, the smirk still in place, he knew it looked insane with his scars, it just added to the appeal of doing it.

Daniels let him out of the squad car when they arrived at the station, apologising as he led Jack into the station. The poor man thought he stood a chance, too bad none of them did, and he was so excited to show them.

Daniels un-cuffed him and processed him, he didn't take Jack's mugshots, nor did he get any information out of Jack whatsoever, other than what Daniels had already known about him. When he lead Jack into the cage in the middle of the precinct he handed him the small box that Alessa had given him at the airport, they had taken it out of his pocket when they patted him down for any weapons, he was slightly grateful that this officer now felt guilty, remorseful, for doing Richard Gallagher's bidding.

He sat down on one of the benches in the cell, it wasn't exactly filled but there were more people around him than he was used to. They were all much older, larger, meaner than he was, but none of them came near him, whether it was the scars, or the silent rage coming off him in waves, they new to back off.

He looked down at the box in his hands, the box that Alessa had given him, he let his fingers brush over the soft, velvet texture of it as he thought of her. He popped open the top, actually looking at what was inside.

A ring, a sleek, silver ring, sitting on an expensive metal chain.

He picked it up out of the box, examining it, it seemed to be all silver except for the small raised piece that was in the shape of a triangle. He smirked, why a triangle he wondered. But, then it dawned on him, making his face fall and his chest feel heavy, he couldn't ask her why, and he supposed he'd never know.

He had spent the past four days in the police station, all because of his fake assulting an officer charge, Richard eventually dropped it, playing the nice victim yet again. He was now on the train home from the city, at four in the morning, sporting a black eye and a few cuts.

The good luck he had on that first night had run out, and the next morning there were more guys in the cage, more brawlic, angry thugs. They of course looked much worse than he did after the fight, he wasn't someone to be messed with, and every single person was slowly finding out that little detail.

He sighed as the train came to a hault at his stop, he got off and started the trek back to his neighborhood, it wasn't that far, but he was exhausted, emotionally and mentally drained. The walk from the train station to his house had taken a lot longer than he thought it would, so when he actually go into his neighborhood it was bright, early morning, with people driving to work and kids getting on the school bus. He walked past the Way household on his way to his, it was dark and didn't look like anyone but Jayne was home, he knew better than to go to her thought, and just the sight of the house made his chest ache, so he kept on walking.

It had been about two weeks since he had been at his own house, when Alessa had been released from the hospital he had just stayed at her home with her, then he went with her to the airport, and spent four days in jail after that. He wondered what his Mother was doing right now, if she was worried about him, if she wondered where he was and why he hadn't called.

He was about to find out, he was walking up the sidewalk, his house right up the road, but he stopped in his tracks before he could reach it. There it was sitting boldly on his front lawn, mocking him. He ran up to it, touching it to see if it was real, it couldn't be real...

He heard a car pull up behind him, but he payed it no mind, he was still stuck on what this was doing in his front yard, and what it actually meant. The sound of high heels on pavement is what made him turn around, his Mother didn't wear high heels. It was a ginger haired woman, she was dressed in a blazer and a pencil skirt, she looked official, she also looked surprised.

"Oh, uh, hello there."

He just stared at her, then back at the sign, before he turned back to her. "Who are you." He kept his ground, standing before her, next to the sign, waiting for his answer.

"I'm, uh, Carrie-Lynn Gilsig. I'm the real-estate agent from Point Meadows in Gotham." She put down the box in her hands and pushed the sunglasses off of her face so that she could look at him properly, "Um, who are you? Is there something I can help you with."

Real-estate.

He looked down, shaking his head, his eyes narrowed, his jaw clenched. That bitch. How could she have done this to him?

"This is my house."

Carrie-Lynn, the real-estate agent looked surprised, then of course confused. "Oh, my...Mrs. Napier didn't tell me she had a son, or to expect you to come home. Can I see your i.d.?"

He fished his wallet out of his back pocket, handing it to her, she looked at his driver's licence. There it was, written in bold, black letters: Jack Andrew Napier. She handed the wallet back to him, looking at the boy, he looked so lost, so angry.

"Look, I don't know whats going on, but your Mother already sold us the house, we already paid her for it. Whether most people know it or not, this is prime real-estate for people coming up from the city. It might be low-income housing, but the school district is great, the center of town isn't too far away - "

He cut her off, she was rambling, talking to him like he was interested in buying the house, his house. "Can I just get my things."

She nodded her head, "I was just about to go in and clean up for the open house, but please, you first."

He sharply nodded his head at her, whispering a thank you in her direction. He walked in the house and went down into his bedroom, everything was just how he left it. He sighed and started to pack up his belongings, he took all the money he had saved over time and packed up whatever was absolutely necessary.

He gave the room one last look before bounding back up the stairs and into the kitchen. He looked at the family portrait one the wall above the table, he picked it up and stared at it for a moment. It was late August when they moved into the shabby house down the road from Michael, Jayne, and Alessa. His Mother was a shy, quiet women with downcast eyes and a non-existent smile, his Father was a tall, well built man, with an angry disposition and a sneer on his once handsome face. Together they were James and Joyce Napier, and they had a little son named Jack.

He smashed the picture on the ground, watching as the glass shattered and the frame broke. He picked up the picture that was inside of the frame, and ripped it into tiny little pieces of nothing. They were no longer the Napier's, they were no longer a family, because there were no more members of it.

James Napier : Deceased.

Joyce Napier : Pitiful Runaway.

And Jack Napier?

He stared at the shredded pieces of picture one last time before turning on his heal and walking out the front door. He left it open, not bothering, he didn't acknowledge Ms. Carrie-Lynn Gilsig of Point Meadows real-estate. He just kept walking, he didn't know where he was going exactly, because he knew no one, everyone he knew or loved was gone, all he did know was that when he came back there was going to be some serious hell to pay.

And if she ever came back, well, she wouldn't be able to recognize this city at all.

Jack Napier : Deceased, and always forgotten.