He shouldn't be surprised, not really. You live in Gotham long enough, and you think you'd seen it all. Corrupt cops, crime bosses running the city, an art heist clued with riddles, magic blood turning people into the worst version of themselves. Jim thought he had seen it all. That was until there was a little redhead lying on the table where Jerome Valeska should be.
He was small… and skinny- couldn't have been more than ten years old. His skin was unnaturally pale, almost a light shade of blue, and he was as still as a rock. Jim would have thought him dead if it wasn't for the faint pulse he felt under his fingers. "He's alive but barely. We need to get him to a hospital. Help me get these wires off him."
Harvey moved to help him; his eyes never leaving the kid's pale face. "Jim, you don't think that's… that's Jer-"
"I don't know, Harvey." Truth be told, Jim had a pretty good idea on who this boy is, but he's not going to think about it until he makes sure that the kid isn't about to die.
Harvey unclipped the last wire as Jim picked the child up off the table. "I'm just saying," Harvey started, following Jim out of the room. "There's been some crazy stuff that's happened I would have thought impossible a few years ago. This isn't entirely impossible."
"I know."
"And look at him! He looks just like him!" He waved his hands at the kid.
"I know, Harvey, but let's stay a little skeptical until we can confirm it's really him." Harvey was uncharacteristically silent after that.
Jim called Lucius once they made it back to the car. If there was any knowledgeable person in Gotham Jim could trust, it was Lucius. "Jim? Did you find Jerome?" He peered down at the limp body cradled in his lap. "Uhh… maybe."
"What?"
Jim blinked trying to clear his head. "Lucius, I need you to go to the site. Turn two doors left and there's a room with the equipment. I think…"
"You think what? Jim, what happened?"
"I think they turned him back to a kid." Man, it sounds even crazier now that he'd said it out loud.
Lucius didn't answer for a moment. "... a child? Interesting… I'll go to the site and look at the machines."
"Thank you, Lucius."
"No problem. I would like to take a look at the machines myself. I would also like to see him, if I get the chance."
"We are taking him to the hospital right now. I'll call you when I get any more news."
"Okay." The call ended.
Jim repositioned the kid's head on his shoulder. He still can't get himself to call him Jerome, even though he knows that's whose sitting in his lap right now. Who else could it be? If the bright red hair wasn't enough to go by, his face looks just like Jerome albeit a little younger. Seeing him now makes Jim think of the first time he'd met Jerome. He mistakenly took Jerome for a young kid who had just lost his mother, an innocent victim. But isn't he though? Deep down in Jim's mind he had always felt sorry for Jerome. In some twisted way, Jerome Valeska was a victim. A kid who endured years and years of abuse and finally snapped.
Then Jim had sent him to Arkham. Another bad guy caught, another case closed, but that was the problem. Jerome needed real help, not some phony asylum. But what was Jim supposed to do? Send him to Black Gate? There was a knot in his stomach Jim hadn't noticed before.
They finally got to the hospital. Jim has to give the nurses some credit; as soon as they saw the kid in Jim's arms they rushed to take him. "I need to speak to who's in charge." He gently laid the boy down on the gurney and watched until he disappeared behind closed doors with the nurses.
Harvey put a hand on his shoulder. "Jim, maybe you should go with him. I'll talk to the doctors. We need to make sure no crazy psychos are going to try and take him."
Jim nodded. "You're right, this could be part of Dwight's plan for all we know. I'll come back soon."
He half ran- half jogged after them, turning a corner just in time to see them go into a room. He started for the door when a nurse stopped him. "I'm sorry sir, but we can't allow visitors in the room while they are working on him. Are you family?"
"What? No, G.C.P.D." Jim showed her his badge. "This is a police matter. He's under police custody."
Something like recognition flickered in her eyes. "Is this a social service matter? Just from the short time I was with him, I noticed multiple bruises on him. He's been physically abused." The knot in Jim's stomach got tighter. How had he not seen that?
"It's… complicated. It's confidential, I just need to be with him."
The nurse looked at him quizzically. "I still can't allow you to come in right now, but you can stand by the door. I will come back out as soon as we know he's stable enough." She closed the door on her way in.
--
It's only been fifteen minutes, but it felt like an hour. Harvey came a few moments ago with the head doctor. He said his name was John Walker. It took a little explaining, but all he knows is that the kid is in police custody and they need a fingerprint match with Jerome Valeska. It was Harvey's idea to keep Jerome's current state a secret. If this wasn't part of the plan, how will Jerome's followers react? They could take him and Jim may never find him.
The nurse eventually let them in the room. He watched as they took the kid's fingerprint. The boy looked so peaceful, and lifeless. It was unnerving to see someone so young to lay like that. The doctor said his pulse was gradually getting stronger; they expected him to wake up in a few hours. Jim hopes the kid wakes up soon. He's got so many questions. How can someone raise a person from the dead and also change them back to a child? Was Jerome always evil? A murderer who laughs at the sight of violence? Even if that violence is directed at him? Jim liked to think the answer is no.
Harvey took a seat at the bedside as Jim remained standing at the foot of the bed. A few officers came at Harvey's orders to guard the room. "So what do we do if he really is Jerome? Lock him up?" Harvey took his hat off and began rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand.
"We can't lock him up." Jim crossed his arms. "Even if he is Jerome, right now he's just a kid."
"All killers were just a kid once." Harvey muttered. "Why can't there just be one normal case, just one."
"You know why," Jim replied. He almost laughed. "This is Gotham. Nothing is ever normal."
"You're right." Harvey stretched as he stood up. "I'm getting some coffee."
Jim waited until Harvey shut the door before taking his seat. The light in the room shone brightly on the kid's face, but he didn't look so unnaturally pale anymore. Now that he was looking, Jim could see bruises on the kid's arm and face. Some of them looked new and some were in the stages of healing. If anything Jerome said about his mother was true, then he had a pretty good guess on who made them. That revelation made him sick.
He needs to figure out what to do with the boy once he wakes up. The nurse said that he should be okay to leave the hospital after a couple of days once he wakes up. The grim bruises aside, he seems healthy. No reason to keep a healthy person in the hospital unless they've been turned back to what? Ten, nine years younger? How old would Jerome be now? Maybe nineteen? Twenty? He was only about 17 when he got arrested.
He was so young.
Harvey got back before the doctor. They discussed what they would do when he wakes up. It was decided they would take him back to the station, but that's as far as they got before the doctor came. He held out some papers as Jim stood up to see.
"This," the doctor pointed to a fingerprint on the top paper. "Is the child's fingerprint." He pointed to another paper. "And this is Jerome Valeska's fingerprint."
"So… is it a match?" Harvey asked.
Jim is actually hoping it is Jerome that he found and brought here. If it isn't then it'll only lead to more problems. Jerome's body will still be out there somewhere and an unknown, abused child will be involved in this mess. The doctor's next words brought Jim out of his thoughts.
"Our experts say that the prints match." The doctor motioned to the sleeping child on the bed. "This is Jerome Valeska."