A/N
I hope everyone is staying happy and healthy in these difficult times x
Just a quick thank you to those still reading this! And reviewing - I do read every review and they all make me smile!
Special thanks to FanGirl19 for the reviews and the song recommendation, I really liked the song! As for dreamcasting, I don't watch enough tv/films to know of many actors whoops, but India Eisley seemed close to how I've imagined Lacey to look, good suggestion! If anyone else has any ideas of actors who could play any of the original characters in this fic, I'd love to hear them! Same goes for songs etc.
On a side note I'm thinking of changing my penname slightly so look out for that xo
Anyway enjoy the chapter and please leave reviews if you can spare a minute, they always help to motivate my lazy brain! :)
"You don't talk much do you." Lacey muttered as she followed the unnamed blonde through what appeared to be a maze in the middle of the woods. While the young woman appeared to know the mysterious labyrinth like the back of her hand, they'd still been navigating through the tunnels for a good twenty minutes. And in that time, Lacey hadn't heard her new acquaintance say a single word; she was starting to become distrusting, wondering if it was all a trap. Yet another cruel game orchestrated by Jerome.
"What's your name anyway?" Lacey asked, eyeing her suspiciously. There was no reply, not even a pause in the woman's pace.
Frowning, Lacey stopped dead in her tracks, hiding her gun behind her back. "I'm not taking another step until you say something."
The blonde turned around, rolling her eyes impatiently. "We're almost there."
"Almost where?" Lacey snapped back, "at the secret dungeon where you're going to torture me?"
"No, where Mr Wilde is waiting."
"And why should I trust you exactly?"
"What else do you have to lose?" She replied bluntly, resuming her fast-paced strides through the tunnel. Reluctant but curious, Lacey followed her once more, but keeping her gun firmly in hand just in case.
Eventually they reached a sturdy-looking metal door and the woman knocked twice, the sound echoing down the winding tunnel. "It's Ecco, I have her."
There was a loud buzz and the door slowly opened.
The blonde glanced at Lacey coolly, "enter."
Lacey walked past her and entered the darkened room, but not before glancing over her shoulder with a smirk. "Ecco…no wonder you didn't want to share that doozy of a name. See you later, 'Ecco.'"
As the door slammed shut behind her, her new 'friend's' words repeated in her head:
What else do you have to lose…
There was barely any light in the room so Lacey had to squint to find her way into the centre. She immediately noticed the blueprints and newspaper articles that adorned the walls. But the headline in the centre immediately caught her attention:
GOTHAM GENERAL DOCTOR BRUTALLY MURDERED
The newspaper had been published that morning but Lacey hadn't seen it. She'd spent most of the day at the GPCD, then at Arkham, so she hadn't even thought of the stories the presses were churning out. The editor had chosen a photo of Hannah smiling next to a young girl she'd cured a few months prior. Lacey had remembered how nervous Hannah had been before carrying out the surgery, fearing that one slip-up could've cost the girl her life. But as always, Hannah had been the hero and another life had been saved thanks to her.
Lacey only wished that she'd been able to save her sister's life.
"I like that picture of her." A male voice spoke from the corner of the room.
Startled, Lacey turned around, making out a shadow by the desk on the back wall. The tall silhouette stepped into the light, closer towards Lacey, and her first reaction was to hold her gun out in front of her. Unable to comprehend the face staring back at her.
"Please, put the gun away, Lacey." The young man said calmly, holding his hands up to indicate that he meant no harm. Not that Lacey was going to take any chances.
"This has got to be some kind of sick joke." She hissed, still gripping her gun tightly. "Who the hell are you."
"I'm Jerome's brother, Jeremiah." He feigned a small smile, clearly feeling uncomfortable with the entire situation. There he was, in a darkened room with his psychotic twin brother's ex-girlfriend, who was also the younger sister of his old friend. "Before I say anything else, I have to express how sorry I am about Hannah. She was a good person."
Lacey searched his expression for any hint of malice, for a sign that this was all a trap. But his bespectacled eyes bore tears and she saw him swallow the lump in his throat.
"Everyone keeps saying that, that Hannah was a good person. They don't even know the lengths she went to for her family…"
"I do." Jeremiah took a step closer towards Lacey, causing her to take a step backwards, her aim still firmly at him. "We grew up together at St Ignatius. I watched her study medicine into the early hours, I saw how her face lit up the day she graduated, knowing she was one step closer. I…I heard her cry every night for your mother…for you. She dedicated her life to bringing you and your mother home, Lacey."
She paused for a moment, allowing what Jeremiah had said to sink in. His sorrow at Hannah's death appeared genuine yet she still couldn't bring herself to trust him. "And how do I know that you're not working with Jerome…or even Jerome himself?" Lacey knew her accusation sounded stupid, but Jerome had a way of doing just about anything. Hell, he'd even come back from the dead before so being able to lead a double life wouldn't have been impossible for him.
"I can assure you that this is no trick." Jeremiah told her calmly. "I want Jerome locked up just as badly as you do. Out of our lives for good."
"Oh, I don't want him locked up. I want him dead." Lacey watched Jeremiah's face closely for any sign of Jerome, but she found nothing. "Jerome would've laughed at that. He would've revelled in hearing me say that. You're not Jerome."
Jeremiah almost exhaled a sigh of deep relief and gestured towards his desk, where a chair had been placed on either side. "Please, take a seat."
Lacey did as Jeremiah had asked, helping herself to the plate of biscuits that had been left on the desk. "So why would Jerome never mention you?" She couldn't make any sense of it; surely Jerome would have told her about his brother – his twin brother nonetheless – they told each other everything. Or at least, they used to.
"Our relationship was…strained at best." Jeremiah began, leaning against his desk. "We were always very different. I had an interest in mathematics and architecture at a young age. Jerome was more interested in plotting different ways to kill birds and alley cats…and then me."
"He tried to kill you? Why?"
Jeremiah shrugged, "perhaps it was jealousy, but I always just assumed that he…wasn't wired up quite right…"
He paused, noticing Lacey's raised brow. His statement had amused her.
"You do know you're talking to an ex-Arkham inmate, don't you?" She smirked, "and I was never actually declared sane…"
"I…I apologise. I hope you know it wasn't my intention to offend you." He stammered, averting her strong stare.
Lacey smirked at his awkwardness, finding it amusing. Despite the circumstances. "Relax, I'm just playing with you. Go on."
Jeremiah cleared his throat quickly, "w-well I had to be taken away for my own safety. He was hellbent on punishing me for something I didn't do. It was like living in a nightmare – not knowing if I'd wake up when I closed my eyes to go to sleep at night. My mother feared that he'd eventually succeed so she had my uncle take me to St Ignatius, and that's where I met your sister." He reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a tattered photograph of a much younger Hannah with a redheaded boy who Lacey recognised as Jeremiah. "We became fast friends. Being four years older than me, she took me under her wing and treated me like her younger brother. We remained close throughout our time at St Ignatius and I knew almost everything about your family's tragic past. I knew about her plans to clear your mother's name, that her intentions for becoming a doctor ran deeper than her genuine desire to help people. She trusted me and I trusted her. Your sister meant the world to me."
Lacey thought for a moment, remembering what Hannah had once said about her friend whom she had entrusted her secret to. "I know she put her trust in you, but you never really deserved it, did you."
"What do you mean?" Jeremiah asking, immediately sensing Lacey's hostility towards him.
"She told me about her friend, the one who knew everything but did nothing to help her. You abandoned her when she needed you. She nearly died trying to get proof of my abduction – you didn't do anything. Even when she was lying in that coma, you continued to hide down here. So how can I believe you when you say how Hannah meant the world to you."
Jeremiah hung his head, "I feared she wouldn't want to see me…that me getting involved would have worsened the situation."
"No, you were scared of Jerome finding you." Lacey was now standing before Jeremiah, squaring up to him in spite of his height advantage. He was almost shrinking away from her, fearing that she'd turn on him. "You didn't have the balls to crawl out of your hole to protect your friend from some really powerful people." She stared him dead in the eye. "She fought her battle head on and all on her own. All you've ever done is hide away in the shadows waiting for the day when you'd eventually have to face your fears."
Lacey's words hit Jeremiah hard and he found himself barely able to muster up the courage to speak a single word. But he knew she was right. Yes, Jerome was dangerous but his friend had needed someone to hold her hand on the battlefield and he'd just left her there to potentially die alone.
"I admit that I've been a coward." Jeremiah mumbled, "but I really cared about Hannah." His eyes bore a deep sorrow that Lacey couldn't ignore. "Since construction on my labyrinth began, I went outside only once. I went to see Hannah; I hadn't seen her for a year and, having never been apart for so long, it had given me a lot of time to think. I wanted her to live here with me, so that I could…protect her. I knew she was going up against some of Gotham's wealthiest people and I couldn't bear the thought of something happening to her." Jeremiah turned his back on Lacey, too embarrassed to look her in the eye. "I begged her to stop. I knew that it was dangerous and I couldn't stand the thought of her getting harmed. I was probably speaking more from my own fears about Jerome coming back but I've always regretted how it came across, like I didn't believe she could succeed. Hannah didn't take it too well so I decided to stay away – I didn't want to upset her any more, or give Jerome any reason to go after Hannah if he ever found me. Over the years I always thought about going to see her again, to make amends and try to rekindle our friendship but…that day didn't come until two days ago."
"You saw Hannah the other day?" Lacey paused, thinking back to how suspicious Hannah had been the morning of the day she'd died. She'd claimed to have been called in to the hospital late at night but Lacey had never truly bought that story.
"I invited her here through the guise of a puzzle. Hannah had always been the most intelligent person I knew so I wasn't surprised that she turned up here. She was clearly scared for your lives. I proposed that we work together to capture Jerome – you, Hannah and I – so that he could never harm another person. But she refused; she didn't want you to get involved. She was so angry that I suggested such a thing but…" Jeremiah stopped and shook his head. "No, there's nothing more to say on the matter other than how deeply I regret that that was our last conversation."
Lacey could tell that Jeremiah was being sincere, that he meant every word of what he was saying. She wasn't sure why, but she trusted him. Maybe it was because Hannah had done the same, all those years ago, when she was all alone. Much like Lacey was now.
What else do you have to lose…
"I'll do it. I'll help you trap him here." Lacey didn't care what Jeremiah's plan was, just that they shared a common enough goal. Besides, unlike Jim Gordon and the GCPD, Jeremiah seemed to have the resources to keep Jerome locked up. It was inside the Labyrinth that Lacey would eventually kill Jerome – but of course she wouldn't tell Jeremiah of her secret addition to their plan. "Whatever it takes, I'm in."