Chapter 21

The Curtain Fall

Hi people! The last chapter before the epilogue! I included a little Past moment, it will be the last one. Enjoy!

Past

Seeing Jerome wounded wasn't such a surprise anymore for Bruce. And seeing Bruce bruised wasn't such a surprise anymore for Jerome. The boy wasn't mistreated but he was training a lot at home. Hell, they would hurt each other whenever they would spare for fun. Yet, seeing Jerome bruised never left Bruce indifferent.

This day, when he tapped at the door of his caravan, Jerome just told him to enter and Bruce saw him sitting and cleaning off blood from his arm. Bruce was alarmed at this sight. The cut was bleeding a lot and Bruce went to him immediately.

"What happened?"

"A knife."

Bruce rolled his eyes. He knew Jerome wouldn't tell him, but he suspected his uncle. They were alone in the caravan and Bruce was relieved for that. Even Jeremiah's presence could have been a bad thing in that case. He took the pads and gauze and before Jerome could do anything, he started to take care of his arm.

It stunned Jerome a bit. "What are you doing?"

"Helping you," Bruce simply stated. Jerome watched with some kind of weird fascination as the young boy applied the pads and gauze carefully.

"You know I can do it myself. I'm used to."

"I'm here, I might as well help you."

Jerome titled his head and saw a slight bruise on the boy's jaw. "Did you do that while training?"

"No. A kid wanted to play tough and tried to pick up on me. You should see him, though!"

Jerome chuckled. He knew Bruce wasn't lying. He had seen him fight, after all. Bruce was done with his arm and looked up at him. Jerome moved his arm. It wasn't hurting so much anymore.

"Thank you."

"You really won't tell me who did that?"

"It doesn't matter, Bruce. Don't worry so much!…You know, there is something I wanted to ask you."

"What is it?"

"You remember when I told you I wanted to be a showman. I want that because it's me, what I really am inside, but…What do you want to be? Will you really be just…Head of Wayne Enterprises?"

This surprised Bruce. "Well…I'm still thinking of it. I will have to take care of Wayne Enterprises, at least keep an eye on it. But…I don't know, there are other options, my dad was a doctor, you know."

Jerome was strangely not surprised and yet he hoped Bruce wouldn't do that. "You shouldn't be a doctor."

Bruce huffed: "Why? Didn't I patch you well?"

"Nah! I'm just sayin' that it's not your path. No, you need something…Spicier."

Even though he didn't expect it, Bruce suddenly started to clean another cut, a more superficial one which Jerome didn't take care of. "Why that sudden interest for my future career?"

Although he didn't like the word 'career', Jerome didn't say anything. He still watched Bruce taking care of him. Something weird sparked in him as Bruce did that: softeness. He would rarely feel that, but seeing Bruce genuinely caring was enough. It would still surprise him at times.

"I just don't want you to go the easy way, the one which is handed. Being CEO of Wayne Enterprises, that's not for you. You know, the fact society designed you to do that doesn't mean you should conform to it."

Looking up at him, Bruce simply answered: "Don't worry. I'll find what I should do. And…I'm sure we'll be here for each other."

Jerome smiled, truly touched at this. Bruce couldn't help but squeeze his arm a bit, wanting to show him he meant it. For the very first time, they could feel what it really was like to have a sibling.

Present:

Lying in the hospital bed, Bruce could hardly keep his eyes open, but he couldn't find any sleep either. He was thinking of that day, when he helped Jerome with his wounds. It could have been a sweet memory, but a few days after, Bruce had seen Jerome beat Jeremiah. Had someone told him things would turn out like they did now, he would have never believed it. But it happened. Jerome was arrested and he was in a hospital bed. Alfred was at his side.

"You need to sleep," his guardian whispered gently.

"I can't, not right now."

They heard the door open slightly and they saw Gordon coming in. The detective smiled to them but in reality, he couldn't help but be shocked. The sight of Bruce in this hospital bed, with bruises, cuts, bandages around his arm and looking so tired…That was hard to stand. His eyes also spotted the marks around his wrists made by ropes each time he was tied. They truly made the kid go through hard shit.

"Hey, how are you feeling?"

"Tired."

"I tell him he should sleep but he won't," Alfred explained, though he could understand why Bruce didn't want to sleep now.

"I can leave if you want."

"No, it's okay if you stay."

He sat at the other side of the bed and spoke gently: "You know I'll eventually have to ask you a few questions about what happened. We don't have to do it now, yet if there are some things you want to talk about, I'm here. And maybe it would be better if you speak soon."

Bruce didn't say anything at first; once again, there were many things he wanted to say, and yet he couldn't put his thought in a right order. The events passed through his head in a blur and he found himself saying: "He killed people before me, they all did…and at times there was nothing I could do. He made me watch a man burn…" He took a big breath.

"Can you tell us what happened?" Asked Gordon gently

He told them about Uncle Zack, everything, the time he warned him against Jerome, the day he hit him, and he spoke of his final moments. His guardian listened, obviously upset; he never told Alfred about Zack being violent. Bruce took a deep breath: "I don't know what I should have done…I didn't want to do that, there were children hostage but I…" He was at loss of words.

"Bruce, hey, it's not your fault. You already saved those kids, they went back with their parents thanks to you. Look, I didn't manage to save all of the people they attacked, would you say I'm at fault?"

"No."

"Then don't start to blame yourself. You're still a kid, and even adults have their limits. Anyway, Jerome would have killed his uncle, Zack was condemned."

Bruce nodded, knowing he was right, yet he couldn't help but feel guilt and there was a deeper reason for that: "The worst is, I hardly felt sorry for Zack. Even when I still think about it…I can't help but feel like…"

"Like Jerome had the right to get his revenge?"

The boy nodded: "I know no one deserve this, I know it. But Jerome didn't deserve what he went through as a kid either! I'm pretty sure he wasn't always a monster. He became one and I'm sure it's because of them…Whenever he was with me, he was different, at least, until he snapped."

Gordon didn't know whether Bruce was right or not, but the abuse certainly didn't help indeed. He looked at the bruises on the boy's neck. "Is Jerome the one who did that? Or his followers?"

"Jerome. He was angry after I saved Jeremiah, he was really mad at me. His followers wouldn't really dare to hurt me, unless they were asked by him."

Speaking of that, Jim remembered what Laura told them. "Bruce, listen…There is something else, and I'll ask you to be completely honest about it. We interrogated a girl named Laura. She seemed to like you in her own way." Bruce nodded and Gordon went on: "The way she spoke, she told us some…alarming things. She told us that…that Jerome might have feelings for you. She also spoke of a man named Derek." This was never easy to formulate. "Bruce, I have to know if you went through other kind of abuse."

"Is that necessary?" Alfred blurted. "He is exhausted!"

"The more he waits, the harder it will be."

"You mean, like rape?" Asked Bruce

The fact he stated that with no real difficulty reassured Gordon a bit. A rape victim would have more difficulty to speak about that.

"It didn't happen, but…One of his men went to me one evening and I don't know what he would have done, but I managed to defend myself and Jerome killed him." Bruce swallowed uneasily, Gordon was right, he had to let that out now: "They were all partying, I was lying down somewhere and my hands were tied. That guy went to me and he started to…" He shifted a bit, obviously uneasy. "He pinned me down."

"What else?"

"He was mad at me because I stopped him from killing people and raping a girl. I struggled, but…" He gulped in disgust. That was the most difficult part to speak about. "He tried to kiss me, so I bit him. I…I actually…I tore his lip off…" He remembered the taste of blood in his mouth and almost gagged. "I think it was Laura who called Jerome. I was kinda happy to see him at that moment. He told the guy he had no right to touch me and he killed him before everyone. To set an exemple."

Alfred's grip on his hand was almost painful, yet Bruce didn't wish him to let go. He couldn't look at him however, what he spoke about was so embarrassing. Yet somehow, it felt good too, as if he was getting rid of something.

"So it was really you who tore off his lip?" Bruce nodded. "We'll have to make you pass through some exams, just to check out. How did you feel back then?"

"I didn't think at all. I just did it. After that, I was just…I couldn't get rid of the taste."

Gordon bit his lips, he didn't want to do this, but he had to: "What about Jerome? Did he ever try something? I won't ask you anything else after that."

Bruce mustered his courage. When Alfred would learn that, he would be hurt. Yet he couldn't hid the truth. He looked at Gordon and finally spoke: "He tried to kiss me once. It was a long time ago; before killing his mother and capturing me."

"When did that happen?" Asked Alfred, horrified. As Bruce explained what happened that day, his guardian's guilt only rose. How couldn't I see that? "You never told me," Alfred murmured.

"I…I couldn't." Bruce knew he just hurt his guardian, but he couldn't hide that truth from him anymore. He went on: "After he took me away, it was different…There were moments I wasn't sure, but…He would look at me or touch me in ways which made me uneasy. It was just ruffling my hair though, or grabbing my shoulders or talking closely. Thing is…It wasn't occasional, it was very often. There were also a few times I thought he was about to kiss me, but he didn't."

"There is really nothing else?"

"No. I assure you, you can ask him, he wouldn't bother hiding it. We spoke about it once. He said it was optional…having me like this. That in the end all that mattered was having me in his life, no matter how. I think he meant it, because…Hum…Jerome, he got no affection, as a kid; Jeremiah didn't know how to handle him and the rest of the family was violent. I think he simply mixed up everything. Maybe he doesn't know how to categorize feelings."

"He's obsessed with you…It could be confusing for him."

This would be indeed the case, Bruce was the only one he felt love for, or at least the twisted kind of love someone like Jerome could feel. Gordon couldn't help but feel that in some way, Bruce did understand Jerome more than he ought to. The boy took a deep breath and his cheeks were redder with embarrassment.

"Also…Before you came to rescue me…I…I did something…"

He told about their fight in the elevator, how biting Jerome had been ineffective. He told them how the redhead had been lying over him after he fell down. And he told them how he kissed him.

"It was brief. But biting him didn't work, and I had to make sure that this time, he would really be…I don't know how to explain."

Although he was unsettled, Jim didn't show anything. As weird as it was, he understood: "You wanted to throw him off guard before attacking again."

He nodded, looking only at the detective, not daring to look at his guardian. "It worked, I freed myself like that." Jim told him it was indeed difficult to take control again when you were pinned down by an adversary, especially a bigger one. Even though he was a bit weirded out, he didn't want Bruce to feel guilty at all. Maybe he would have to ask Lee about it.

Alfred shifted a bit and finally spoke: "You know, a soldier of my regiment did something like that too, once. I won't tell you the whole thing, but you wouldn't be the first to do that."

A nurse entered and went to the bed: "Mr Wayne, it's time for you to get some rest. I'm gonna give you a sedative and you should be able to sleep." He tensed when he saw her preparing a syringe. "No."

They looked at him questioningly. "Are you afraid of needles?" Asked she

He shook his head: "I want to sleep normally, I don't want to be drugged."

"It would help you…Would you rather have a pill?"

The boy shook his head again. The nurse bit her lip: "Alright, try to get some sleep, I'll check up on you later."

After her departure, Jim leaned a bit closer to him. "What's wrong?"

He told them about the substance Jerome gave him after he saved Jeremiah and before invading Arkham. He didn't tell them how he woke up in a bath-tub and got drowned several times. He said enough for now. He sighed and his eyes started to close, and Gordon saw he was really tired.

"Is there anything else you want to talk about right now? Or do you want to talk tomorrow?"

"Maybe I'll try to sleep," he mumbled.

"Okay...Before, I leave, though, I have to tell you that you did really great. Not that I would encourage you to fight a psycho again, but overall, you handled the situation exceptionally well, much better than some adults would have. Hell, some cops wouldn't have done that well, I'm sure. There are people who owe you their lives. Remember that, okay?"

Grinning a bit, Bruce nodded, not able to find the words at this. Jim was right, he didn't save everyone, but at least he saved some of them. Gordon exited the room and went to find Lee again. Alfred seemed distraught.

"It's all my fault."

"Why?"

"I brought you to that circus. And it was me who told you to run home. If I hadn't…"

"I'm the one who approached Jerome. I could have also refused to meet him the next day. I could have simply realized what he was before, or gave him more help…"

"Bruce, there is nothing you could have done to help him. He is what he is."

"Would he have turned better in a nice family?"

"…It's hard to say. Maybe it would have been better, but I can't say for sure. It's useless to wonder now. You really need to sleep, you look like you're about to faint. At least try to close your eyes."

The boy obeyed and even though he mumbled something about not being able to sleep, he was dozing soon. Alfred watched him with a mix of affection and sadness. He was alive, but this would leave scars on him, and not just physical. Alfred knew it was impossible to erase that, but maybe, maybe he could teach his boy to live with it. Eventually, he felt his eyes closing as well.

As he walked away from Bruce's room, Jim soon found himself smiling, as he saw Lee sitting on a chair in the corridor. She was wearing sleepers lend by the hospital. Once Bruce had been safe, he had found her and Nygma in the security room. He had been horrified at Nygma's sight, but also relieved to see they were both alive. The sight of her bare feet had been weirdly shocking to him. It wasn't much though, and he had seen way worse things, and yet...

He sat at her side and stroked her hair while she leaned close to him. "I'll take you to do some shopping," he promised. "I'll buy you new shoes."

"You don't have to do that," she murmured, smiling hugely.

"You sure?"

She shrugged slightly, titling her head in a way which always made him melt a bit. "Well I surely don't mind if you do."

He chuckled and they kissed before cuddling a bit. It was good to hold her, to know she was safe. "You know, after all that, maybe you should speak to Bruce Wayne? He will need a psychologist, but I know him, he could refuse one. Maybe he would be open to you, though. He told me something which will probably work him up."

He told her about the kiss and Lee listened carefully. "You know, considering everything we know, there probably was a lot of tension going on between them, and Jerome lying over him only intensified it. Bruce surely felt it unconsciously and was influenced, even though he didn't realize it. He seems to understand a lot, but not enough either and it's normal at such a young age."

He understood what she meant. He stroked her back. "Are you feeling okay? You told me they wanted to give you electroshocks."

"Laura said she wanted her own work of arts. Maybe I shouldn't have participated to that interrogation."

"You helped me out, and it's thank to that we got the mole. Lee, you did something dangerous but we all had to put ourselves in danger, that situation wasn't normal. And who knows? Maybe they would have just killed you if she hadn't been interested in you in some way. And in the end, hadn't you been in there, Nygma would have died and you wouldn't have been able to help us out."

That was true…In the end, things didn't turn out so bad. Footsteps echoed and they saw Kristin Kringle coming in their direction.

"How is Ed?"

"They took off his nails…The doctors are taking care of him, he is under a sedative, completely asleep." She said in a quivering voice. "He told me you helped him," she stated to Lee before hugging her. "Thank you."

Lee returned the hug. "It's alright. He'll handle it, he was really brave as well."

Yet…When she thought about what happened. Something in Ed had been weird. Maybe she was wrong, maybe he had simply acted like that because the events had been overwhelming, but still, something nagged her. Her thoughts were interrupted by Jim.

"Maybe we should go and visit Essen. Harvey is with her, but maybe she would be happy to see us."

"My, she'll be a bit crowded with the four of us," Kristin pointed out.

"Well, it will remind her of GCPD," Lee pointed out wittingly.

The three chuckled at this and went to Sarah's room, allowing themselves some friendly time before returning to the mess left by the psychos.

O o O

The next morning, the medias were already talking about the arrest of Jerome Valeska and probably all Gotham was breathing again. Jeremiah was certainly no exception. He was still sore, but hell, he was alive and that was almost unbelievable.

"Hey."

He turned around at that sound and saw Selina coming toward his bed. He was kinda happy to see her. Although she had rubbed him the wrong way at first, he had to admit she wasn't only an annoying girl.

"You look good," he genuinely told her.

"Would you believe that, the doctors still wanted to keep me, just in case. I mean, as if I was going to vanish for some bruises."

"Yeah, even I will be able to go back home today I think. I'm pretty impatient to do so, I'm a bit tired of them giving me weird looks."

"I guess so, it kinda suck. And you haven't been home since days. Where do you even live?"

"I'm mostly living at the private school, and for the rest of the year, I live in a foster family. I don't think school will be easy after what happened, but well…"

She could guess that foster family was probably not the best, since they weren't even here.

"I could visit you at times. Putting some mess in a private school could be funny. Is there stuff to steal?"

"Plenty. And there are some students who I have to get back to, so that would be killing two birds with one stone."

That could be good indeed! They discussed a bit more, and she left, wanting to visit someone else. In the corridor, she learned that a part of the cops had left the place. Maybe she would take time to steal some food first.

While Selina was busy in hospital, Lee, Harvey and Jim were settling back to GCPD. Kristin stayed behind to give both Essen and Nygma some news and support. The place was still a mess and they could see how much their ranks had diminished. Some cops from other towns and cities would be sent as reinforcement until they managed to find new recruits. Hilliger would stay longer as well in order to help track the last cultists who could have escaped. They were starting to clean and repair the place and it felt like a real exorcism.

"I don't know about you, but I hope Essen will be better soon," Gordon murmured. The woman had been happy to learn they finally got Valeska, but also devastated knowing the GCPD had been attacked again.

"It's not the same without her. She is a good leader. Also…Don't ever tell him, but I'm almost missing Nygma already."

Jim looked at him with wide eyes and a little smile. Harvey huffed. "Shut up already. His dorkiness is just familiar, that's all. But well, I guess he'll need time too."

"He will. I wished I had got my hands on the bastards who did that to him. But Lee and he took care of that."

"Yeah, me too. I'm not super fond of him but he is a colleague," Bullock admitted.

Jim nodded slowly. "I'm happy you made it out alive. I didn't want to tell you back then, but I was really worried when you got captured," Gordon admitted.

It was touching but awkward. "You're a freaking boy scout, has anyone ever told you that?" This made Jim chuckle a bit. "Come on, I know you were worried, no need to get sappy, we still have work."

"Yeah, you're right; we have to interrogate Jerome," Jim pointed out.

"Want to go first?"

"I have the feeling he'll be more talkative with me."

Harvey had to admit he was right, Jerome enjoyed teasing Gordon. "I'll watch the two of you."

Jim entered the interrogation room to see the psycho battered. He had even more bruises than Bruce now, probably a gift from some cops, and it didn't bother Jim in the slightest. If anything, he had to hold himself back from hitting him as well. After all, he had to stay conscious. Jerome's lip twitched.

"Detective Gordon. I'm really happy to see you!" His tone was giving another impression.

"I can't say it's mutual."

"You and me, in the interrogation room…It reminds me of that day, when you unmasked me. Now it's all repeating itself. Only your pretty girlfriend is missing. Is she alive?"

Jim wouldn't answer; he didn't want to talk about Lee with him. "You'll be transferred in the military penitentiary, until the damages in Arkham Asylum are repaired. You're accused of kidnapping, murders..."

"Who? Me? It can't be true!"

"Why did you kill those people?"

"Please, detective, we both know why I did it. I'm crazy and I like to kill, that's all! Those people were nothing to me. They were nameless to me. Let's get to the real point, the one we both want to talk about. How are Jeremiah and Bruce? Where are they?"

"Do you really think I'll tell you?"

"Ow, come on! Did you speak to Bruce? I don't know if you would bother about my brother, but you would definitely visit Bruce. What did he tell you?"

"Well, according to his testimony and what some of your cultists said, you were possessive of him. Protective in some ways."

"Of course I am! Bruce is mine, I wouldn't let the others play with him like they did with other people. He is special."

"How is he special?"

"Well…He means something to me. Not only because he was the first one to care about me, but because he gives an edge to things. He makes me thrill…You can't have just fun, you need challenges in your life. He is the most interesting challenge I got."

"He told us you tried to kiss him when he was twelve. Are you usually attracted to twelve years old?"

Jerome made a grunt: "That sounds a bit disgusting, you know. I was fifteen when I did that, that's merely three years apart. And no, I don't like twelve years-old boys. It's Bruce I want, but that's because of who he is. I'll probably still feel attraction for him in ten years, or in twenty, when we'll be both grown men. But it's not sure we'll turn to grown men."

He was actually surprised Bruce dared to talk about that. Considering how he had been affected by it, Jerome never thought he would even be able to mention it. Somehow, it was satisfying to know they knew.

"Did you or any other of your cultists sexually abuse him?"

Jerome let out a disbelieving laugh: "Is that what he told you?!"

"Just answer the question."

"Oh Jim, please! That's not the kind of guy I am. Anyway I can guarantee you that I had plenty of willing people among the cultists. It doesn't even matter that much if I don't have him. One guy tried to molest him and I killed him; didn't he tell you that? I protected him! All that matter to me, is to keep him. But now thanks to you, Jeremiah is the one who'll have him."

"Bruce isn't a possession." He had a hard time controlling himself.

"He isn't a thing, if that's what you mean. He is still mine. I wanted him very soon, have you ever looked at someone and thought: 'I want that one'? I did, and I'm the kind who takes what he wants."

The worst was, he kinda did, the first time he saw Lee. Back then, he was still grieving over the end of his relationship with Barbara, but when he saw her, that's when he really started to stop thinking about his ex. But this wasn't the same, he wouldn't have hurt Lee.

"Let's talk about Galavan now."

Jerome rolled his eyes. That man wasn't interesting anymore to him. What mattered was Bruce. What was he doing right now? What was he thinking? He would have given a lot to know.

O o O

In General Hospital Bruce woke up in a startle. He expected to see Jerome, maybe feel his arms around him; he expected to hear crazy laughters and shouts. Hell, he expected to be sleeping on the ground and maybe see a severed head on the breakfast table. It took him a few moments to understand where he was. Relief washed through him as he remembered what happened. The bomb was defused and Jerome had been arrested.

He saw Alfred sleeping in the chair next to his bed and couldn't help but think it was probably very uncomfortable. He didn't try to wake him up, he was probably exhausted. He was hungry, he looked at the time, it was morning. Maybe they would give him breakfast soon. He was feeling a better already, his body was still very sore, his head still ached, but at least he was rested and safe. Footsteps echoed and he expected to see a nurse or a doctor. He was surprised at the person he saw.

"Selina?"

He smiled and tried to prop himself a bit. She was still wearing her usual clothes, and she looked actually fine, apart from a small bruise. She also smiled at him.

"Hey. You don't look as terrible as I expected. But you still look terrible."

He chuckled a bit at that. She sat at the other side of the bed. "I heard you beat up Jerome?"

"Yeah, well, we were fighting when they arrived. Not sure who would have beaten who, but I didn't want to let him go."

"I said it many times, but you're a crazy kid."

"The same could be said about you, you know?"

She huffed and rolled her eyes in amusement before getting a bit more serious. "How are you?"

"I guess it could be worse. I don't know, it's weird, I have a hard time realizing it's all over."

"Yeah, I guess I get what you mean. Jeremiah is okay, just a bit banged up, but he'll get over it."

Jeremiah…He thought of what happened in Arkham and how he admitted lying. He had pretended all that time that Jerome tried to put his bed on fire…He would have to speak to him.

"Selina, I'm happy you're alright. I was worried about you."

"You were worried about everyone."

"It wasn't the same."

Her expression changed a bit, softening. "Well…I was worried about you too." His smile grew at this. It wasn't often she would admit something like that. She looked embarrassed at that confession and her eyes fell on Alfred who was still sleeping.

"He saved my life you know. I will never tell him, but I'm really grateful. Don't tell him I said that."

"I will tell him, you know that."

"You bastard!"

They laughed softly, trying not to wake the sleeping man. The sound slowly died and they just looked at each other in the eyes. Silently, Selina leaned over him. He propped himself up a bit again. As they kissed, both of them felt electricity running through them. At this moment, they were feeling alive, and it was sweet to feel alive without violence and danger. His hand went to her hair, stroking gently. When they parted, she was blushing a bit, he noticed that.

She stood up. "Well…Better go and see Ivy. She is still taking care of her…Plants and stuff. I'll see you again."

"Does this mean we're…together?"

"Shut up."

With that she left. He was still smiling. How one could be so brave but so shy as well whenever it came to such things? He promised himself he would see her again as soon as he got out of that hospital.

A lot of dialogues, I know, but well, it's kinda mandatory for that kind of chapter. Only the epilogue left, it should be out soon, at least I think so. I can't tell whether it will be longer.

Don't hesitate to tell me what you think!