Thursday passed uneventfully. Jonathan left early in the morning at the same time Addison dropped Archer back off at home, and everyone spent the rest of the day lazing around. Oliver stayed in his room with Banjo, while Charlie went to work, Chloe and Jackson spent most of the day in the backyard while Jerome and Addison supervised them.

Jerome barely slept that night, way too worried about the next day to fall asleep. He was too worried about what his aunt was going to say. He was too worried that maybe he was a lost cause, and everyone was just wasting their time on him by trying to help. He was too worried that he was too far gone, and he was too worried that Kristen wouldn't be able to help and he'd be afraid of himself forever. He finally fell asleep around three, when his brain didn't have enough energy to be pessimistic anymore.

He awoke on his own the next day, surprisingly, around ten. He didn't know when his aunt would arrive, so he slowly and carefully untangled himself from Addison and went to shower before asking Charlie when Kristen was supposed to come.

"Um... About thirty minutes," She said, looking at the clock above the stove.

Jerome sat on the couch with Oliver and tried to fight off an anxiety attack while he waited for his aunt. Addison woke up and took Chloe and Jackson to Curtis', letting him know that Kristen was coming to talk to Jerome and they didn't need any interruptions. When she got back, Kristens car as well as Jim Gordon's were in the driveway.

Addison walked into the living room to see Jim, Charlie and Oliver sitting on the couch.

"Where's Kristen?" She asked.

"In Jerome's room with him. She wanted him to feel as comfortable as he could, and his room was the perfect spot. She said it should only take about an hour... She's already got an idea of what it is." Charlie said.

"Which is?"

"She didn't say. Just said she had an idea."

Addison sat next to Oliver and watched him play on his phone for the next forty-five minutes until Kristen came into the living room from the hallway.

"Okay..." She said upon entering the room and taking a seat.

"What's the matter with him?" Oliver asked.

"Antisocial Personality Disorder, or ASP."

"What's that?"

"Exactly what it sounds like. Its a personality disorder in which people may experience antisocial behavior, deceitfulness, hostility, irresponsibility, manipulativeness, risk taking behaviors, aggression, impulsivity, irritability, or lack of restraint. All of which Jerome displays vigorously."

"What causes it?" Jim asked with a tilt of his head.

"Researchers have their own ideas about ASP's cause. One theory suggests that abnormalities in the development of the nervous system may cause ASP. A recent study showed that if mothers smoked during pregnancy, their offspring were at risk of developing antisocial behavior. This suggests that smoking brought about lowered oxygen levels which may have resulted in subtle brain injury to the fetus. Lila began smoking shortly after Charlie was born, and didn't stop when she got pregnant with Jerome."

"So, what? He's sick because he was an oxygen starved fetus? There's gotta be more to it than that," Oliver said

"There is, much more. Erratic or inappropriate discipline and inadequate supervision have been linked to antisocial behavior in children. Involved parents tend to monitor their child's behavior, setting rules and seeing that they are obeyed, checking on the child's whereabouts, and steering them away from troubled playmates, which Lila failed to do with all of you. Good supervision is less likely in broken homes because parents may not be available, and antisocial parents often lack the motivation to keep an eye on their children. Lila was very antisocial herself, often steering away from any unnecessary social interactions. She joined the circus when our mother died, leaving me, Curtis, and everything she knew behind for good. We didn't hear from her until she became pregnant with Charlie. Then we had limited contact with her. But other than that, she was very closed off. She always had been, even growing up."

"So... Jerome's shy because our mom was?"

"Its not him being 'shy' Oliver. Jerome isnt shy. He just has absolutely no interest in social interactions with people he doesnt know. Addison, thats why you had to approach him when you first met him. I remember you telling me that you were interested in him but he would never come to you. You had to approach him first, until you two became close. That wasn't him being shy, it was him simply not caring for social interaction." Kristen explained, while Addison nodded her head in understanding.

"A child who grows up in a disturbed home may enter the adult world emotionally injured. Without having developed strong bonds, he is self-absorbed and indifferent to others. The lack of consistent discipline results in little regard for rules and delayed gratification. He lacks appropriate role models and learns to use aggression to solve disputes. He fails to develop empathy and concern for those around him.
All the signs point to Lila, and her neglectful and often abusive nature towards you all. Why Jerome was the only one affected this heavily, I'm not sure. There may be more underlying mental health issues, but I'll leave those for another day. I'll be keeping a close watch on Oliver, and Jackson as well, just to make sure she didnt have this effect on either of you."

"What about Charlie?" Oliver said, "And Chloe?"

"APD usually begins to show around mid to late adolescence, which would be around you and Jerome's age. If Charlie had it, it would've already reared its head. I'm not too concerned about you, Oliver, and Chloe wasn't exposed to your mothers abuse long enough to be this heavily affected. But Jackson? I'm going to go ahead and keep my eye on him. The homeschooling doesn't help with his already developing antisocial behavior. His behavior is very similar to Jerome's when he was that age." She said, looking at Charlie.

"What do we do for treatment?" Charlie asked her.

"Unfortunately, there is no cure. That's what's getting to him the most... He's very distraught. But therapy may help the symptoms recede,"

"What kinds of therapy?" Jim asked

"Family therapy, Behavior therapy or Psychotherapy. All of which I am capable of administering," Kristen said with a small smile, raising out of her seat. She hugged her neice and nephew goodbye, grasping Addison's upper arm as she passed and giving Jim a handshake.

"I'll be back to check on him on my next day off. Sometime this coming week, though I'm not sure of the day. I'll call and let you know," she said to Charlie, opening the front door and waving goodbye before making her exit.

"No cure..." Oliver muttered, staring at nothing.

"Hey," Charlie said, getting his attention. "He's gonna be fine. She said she'll give him therapy,"

"She's a psychiatrist, Charlie not a therapist," Oliver said exasperatedly, putting his head in his hands.

"No, but she has a degree in therapy Oliver."

Oliver raised up off the couch and went outside to smoke, not caring if a cop was there to see him do it.

"I'll be back tomorrow, Charlie," Jim said, making his way towards the door. "Tell him I said he'll be alright," he added, talking about Jerome.

"I will," Charlie nodded, and he left.

Charlie went down the hall to Jerome's room, pausing outside the door and hearing him sniffle inside.

"J?" She said, trying to open the door only to find it locked.

"Go away,"

"No... Can you please let me in?"

"No," he sniffled.

"Did she tell you about therapy?"

"Yeah..."

"... I love you, bubba," Charlie slowly walked away when she didn't get a reply.

She left to drive down the road and pick up Chloe and Jackson, making sure everyone knew to leave Jerome alone on her arrival home.

Addison didn't bother him until late that night when everyone had gone to bed and she was still locked out of his room.

"J? Baby, can you let me in? I don't want to sleep on the couch," she said.

She heard an aggravated grunt before the sound of bare feet shuffling across the carpet, and Jerome unlocked the door but didn't open it. She entered the room in time to see him crawl back into the bed and pull the blankets up over his shoulders. She slowly walked over to him, leaning over his back so she could see his face. She brushed his hair back off his forehead, it having fallen out of its immaculate style from an entire day in bed.

"What's the matter baby?" She asked quietly.

"Nothing," Jerome lied.

"J..." She said, rolling him over onto his back. "Talk to me,"

He hesitated before sighing, giving in to her. "There's no cure, Addy..." He muttered, staring at the ceiling. "There's no fixing it. I'm gonna be this way forever-"

"No you aren't, Jerome. She said she can give you therapy and that will help with the symptoms,"

"Still... I have a disorder of my fucking personality. How does that... How does someone get so fucked up that even their personality is screwed..." Jerome trailed off.

"J... Its not you. We've been telling you this all week. You're sick. Your mom is the reason why. She distorted your personality with what she did to you. It was her, baby... Not you... Its not your fault,"

"Why not any of the others then?" He asked, referring to his siblings. "I mean... I wouldn't want any of them to have this... It sucks but... Why was it me?"

"She said she didn't know. But... She said Jackson might be showing signs of it. She doesn't know, and she can't diagnose him with it seeing how he's under eighteen, but she said he's acting how you did at that age," Addison said.

Jerome didn't say anything, just rolled over to face the wall and closed his eyes, feeling his hatred for his mother grow stronger. Addison laid down behind him, pressing her cheek to his spine and wrapping an arm around his torso for her hand to rest on his chest, feeling his heart beat.

"You're gonna be okay, Jerome. Kristen's going to make sure of that. Even Jim thinks so... If he didn't, he would take you back to Arkham. And he hasn't yet... Which means he has hope for you. We all do, Jerome. You just need to have it for yourself... I told you the other night that you're not gonna get better if you don't think you can. You have to believe that you will. Its gonna take time, J... But it'll happen. You'll be okay," Addison said, reaching up to plant a kiss on the back of his neck.

Jerome didn't say anything, just laid there and faced the wall, thinking about what Addison told him. He honestly didn't think that his aunt simply speaking to him was going to make him not want to kill people. But everyone else had hope, maybe he was just too far into his own mind to see the bigger picture, and see where everyone's hope was coming from. Maybe he just needed to forget all the things he'd done for the time being and focus on getting better, and not doing it again. Maybe he'd allow himself to believe he'd get better. Then maybe... Just maybe, he'd be normal like he always wanted to be.