Chapter 2

Through the Cold

Nothing much to say, just enjoy!

Arkham's parlor wasn't that crowded in general. Alfred preferred it like that anyway. He hoped Bruce would be fine, he received news from him yesterday, apparently, he had been into a fight. It was cold in here! Alfred shivered, but not so much because of the winter's chilly air. He shivered because of this atmosphere. He had seen many horrible things as a soldier, and done atrocious things as well. But this…You could almost smell and taste the insanity. Maybe that was actually the smell of medicine and detergent, actually. To think his boy was in such a place! He would murder whoever made that happen!

He saw him arrive, in that white outfit with black strips. He went to him and hugged him although the guardians tried to stop him. Bruce returned the hug eagerly.

"Sir! You mustn't get close to…"

"Try to stop me!"

He looked at Bruce's face and saw a bruise on his jaw.

"Bloody hell, what happened to you?!"

Bruce huffed softly. "Come on, I got worse than that while training with you."

"Sir! Let us follow the procedure or you'll have to leave."

Alfred reluctantly complied and looked as Bruce was handcuffed to a table. They sat face to face. Seeing handcuffs around his wrists…He really felt murderous wants. The teen perfectly knew that, he knew his guardians was boiling with anger.

"I'm fine, don't worry." That wasn't entirely true. Not only he was devastated by Jim's death and his imprisonment, but he was also feeling…Queasy. He had a cough and he was shivering a bit. He hoped he wouldn't get sick.

"Did that ass hurt you a lot?"

"No. And you should see him right now!"

Bruce said that with a quite proud expression and Alfred felt a bit relieved. It was good to know Bruce could fight back, and it was good to see he was still himself. He looked tired, though. He rubbed his hands together and Alfred took those. The warmth was comforting to the boy who remembered all the times Alfred hugged him or comforted him. He smothered a cough.

"Your lawyers are still working on your case, don't worry, I'm not letting go either. Now the most important for you is to keep your head above the water."

"I know…I'm just…Jim is dead and whoever did it is running free."

Yes, there was that as well. He was so concerned about Bruce that he would sometimes forget how really tragic the cop's death was in itself. He tightened his hold on Bruce's hands.

"Listen, if it can make you feel better, consider it as another part of your training. Remember when you ran away with Miss Kyle? Well, I was furious at you, but now maybe it will prove useful: if you could survive the streets of Gotham, you can survive this."

The teen nodded: "That's what I thought as well…"

"But there is something troubling you, isn't it?"

"Jerome Valeska is here. He didn't try to hurt me, but he acted very weird yesterday. He basically said that…I'm his."

Alfred's eyes widened in stupor while Bruce went on: "It was in the common room. I was…I don't know there was music and I started moving along a bit. A girl came to dance with me."

"Really?" This seemed like a strange thing to do for Bruce, he liked music but he wouldn't just loose himself dancing on it.

"Yeah, I was incredibly bored and I just wanted to forget a bit, to just let the music take me away. I know that wasn't the best thing to do among lunatics but…"

"You needed to let go. It's actually natural. However, be very careful around Jerome, okay? Who knows what he'll try."

Bruce bit his lip: "I thought about it all night. I think…I don't know, I think he wants to scare me, to toy with me, to mess up with my mind."

"Maybe. Whatever it is, don't get caught in his trap…"

"Actually, I thought about trying to manipulate him too. That could be my training."

"This is way too serious to play that kind of game."

"You think I don't know that? I know this is not a game, I'm locked here! But Jerome will try to hurt me! And…I have to find a way to survive."

Alfred sighed. "Be careful, that's all I ask. Don't take any unnecessary risks. Also, remember: you mustn't let them get into your mind. Be careful about what you say. When you're starting to feel angry, count to three first in your head before speaking.

He approached a bit closer: "Also, key to manipulation is to let other people think we can give them what they want. If you have to manipulate Jerome, remember that. You mustn't do anything without understanding him and what he wants."

Alfred's visit ended too soon at his taste. His guardian swore he would do everything to help before leaving, and though Bruce knew he meant it, nothing guaranteed Alfred's success. He was pushed back in the Common room, and rubbed his arms. It was still cold in here, really! He coughed again. The atmosphere was a bit calmer than usual, maybe the doctors had forced more pills on the patients today, or maybe they were down because of the cold. He didn't spot Jerome anywhere.

When you're angry, count to three in your head before answering anything. Key to manipulation is to let other people think we can give them what they want. He would keep those advice in mind.

He spotted that girl with whom he danced yesterday, he wasn't sure what her name was because she gave him three: at first she said it was Marina, then Stacy, then Carmen. But maybe he would have to get used to that kind of behavior here. She waved at him and he went to her. He'd rather have a few friends in here, being alone wouldn't help. And she wasn't unbearable to talk to. She coughed that morning, just like him.

"Are we dancing today?" Asked she eagerly.

"There is no music," he casually told her.

"Oh…Would you rather have sex with me?"

Ah yeah, the sex-addict part…Not the most appealing one, but no one was perfect, especially here. "Hum, no, thanks."

"Oh…I'm not pretty enough?" She coughed again.

"It's not that, I just got out of a difficult relationship. And I don't want to do that with someone I don't know…"

"I see…You're such a lovely dove!"

The compliment made him huff in slight amusement. "Remind me your name?"

"They called me different names…I think it's Lolita."

"Yesterday, you told me Marina…"

"Marina if you want!"

He could still ask the nurses or doctors for it. They continued to talk a bit, 'Marina' wasn't always coherent, but it was okay. Then, he suddenly heard yells of pain. He looked in that direction and saw people gathering in a circle, people were fighting? He rushed there, and found his way through the crowd.

That was no fight but just bullying.

A big guy was straddling a young man, punching him and laughing. The guy stopped laughing and punching though when Bruce's foot connected hard with his face. The guy jerked up and another kick was enough to make him fell down.

"Hey!" One of his friends was about to help him, and Bruce recognized one of the three guys who wanted to beat him yesterday. He narrowed his eyes and the lunatic froze.

"You want another round?! Get lost!"

He grabbed the young man by the arm and helped him to stand. The others just watched him and did nothing. Bruce helped the guy to walk out of the common room. The young man was gripping him tightly.

"We're going to the nursery, come on."

He took a look at the security guard who was on his phone, not even paying attention. He would have a talk with that asshole, for sure. "Hey, someone got beat up!"

"Yeah, well, go to the nursery."

Bruce rolled his eyes and they continued.

"Thanks…"

Bruce almost missed that. The guy was trembling. He had brown hair, and was thin, very thin.

"You're welcome. What's your name?"

"Jonathan…Jonathan Crane."

He heard footsteps behind them, Bruce looked back, fearing it was some of those guys but it was only Marina. She followed them, looking at Jonathan with curiosity.

"You're bleeding. You'll need ice, whenever I got punched, I would put ice and it would disappear," she muttered and the coughed.

"The doctors will probably give him some."

"You're Bruce Wayne," Jonathan said while biting his nails as they entered. "They spoke of you."

"What did they say?"

"Well, you beat up that guy and you are pretty scary. Why did you help me?"

"You were getting beaten. Why wouldn't I help you?"

Marina left the two to get a doctor while Bruce helped Jonathan to get on a bed. The latter looked at him as if he said something incredible, and Bruce guessed Jonathan had never been helped by anyone here. He had even stopped biting his nails.

"Some guys here want to hurt you. But maybe they won't do it," Jonathan said slowly, darting his eyes everywhere as if he was looking for a threat.

"Who? And why wouldn't they do it?"

"Well…"

"Mr Wayne!"

The two looked up and Bruce froze as he saw Dr Strange. That man…He had been a friend of his father, but now Bruce strongly suspected him of having a role in his parents' death. Still, he kept a poker face. He noticed how Jonathan hunched and seemed to curl up.

"Dr Strange?"

"I'm happy I get to see you, I heard there was an incident yesterday? A fight."

"Yes. And one of your patients just got beaten a few minutes ago."

As Strange looked at Jonathan, the young man just curled even more into a ball, as if he wanted to disappear. The doctor just smiled at Bruce: "We'll make sure the culprit is punished. But I would still like to talk about yesterday's fight."

"It wasn't him," Marina suddenly spoke up, coming back with a nurse. "It was Buddy, he is mean…"

"Thank you, Miss," he cut her off before looking at Bruce again. "We'll still have to talk this afternoon. You'll be at my office at 3 pm. I'm sure we'll do great work together."

Bruce just watched him leave silently. The nurse told him and Marina to leave, and instead of going back to the common room, Bruce found a deserted corridor where he could talk with the girl.

"Hey, what did they say about me, do you know?"

"Oh! Most of them were just amazed you could beat Buddy, I think. Jerome spoke of you too. He said he was excited to have you around. I think he wants you."

"What?!"

"Yeah, he wants to sleep with you. He is pretty handsome, even if he is scary."

Bruce gaped in shock but regained his senses soon. Marina was a sex-addict, she was probably wrongly interpreting. But it was true that Jerome's words had sounded incredibly weird. You're mine…But no, this was probably just a way to get into his head. One of the employees saw them and immediately threatened to call the security if they weren't to return to the common room. Both teens obeyed.

Once they got in, Bruce started to cough. God, it was cold here! He remembered his time in the streets: he had been colder than that back then. He got his hand on another book. Marina was about to sit at his side when she suddenly ran away. He wondered why when he saw a bunch of guys coming toward him. He upraised his chin and stood his ground, no way he would show fear.

"You! You think you can do whatever you want!" A big bald man yelled.

"What is it with you? I took your sit as well?"

"You beat up my brother!"

He rushed toward Bruce and the teen just had the time to dodge and punched him when his arms where grabbed by behind. The bald guy smirked and giggled. Bruce tried to free himself but that wasn't easy! The lunatic was about punch him in the stomach when another suddenly grabbed him and pulled him away before he could hit the teen.

"What…"

"He belongs to Jerome!"

"Fuck him, I don't give a…"

"Woaw, what did I hear?"

Jerome's voice made everyone freeze. The bald man was obviously scared and Bruce felt the hands holding him releasing their hold. Jerome grabbed the bald guy's neck and gave him a threatening smirk. "So, what is it you said?"

"I didn't mean to…"

Jerome punched him in the stomach hard and his followers started to take him away. Bruce gaped as he saw the guard among them, the same one who did nothing while Jonathan was getting beaten! He advanced toward Jerome:

"What are you gonna do to him?!"

"Me? Nothing! It's only up to the security staff and the doctors to…"

Bruce cut off his mocking, hypocritical tone: "Oh, stop that!" He was about to go after them when Jerome caught him back and took him by the elbow, stopping him.

"Not even a 'thank you'? I defended you here, I saved your ass!"

Bruce saw the group leaving the room and the guard locked the door behind them. He wouldn't be able to do anything now. He turned to Jerome instead: "You did it to defend your pride."

"Not entirely. You don't seem to get it, but I mean it when I say I won't let anyone touch you. And…" He pulled him closer, "I mean it when I say you're mine."

Freeing himself brutally, the ten huffed as if Jerome had said the silliest thing possible.

"I don't know why you would want me to be 'yours', but that won't happen anyway."

"You'll come around."

"And why would you want me?"

The look Jerome gave him scared him. For a moment, he felt his courage leaving him. Jerome walked in circle around him, slowly and a shiver crept up Bruce's back. "You're handsome and you're a savage."

Shaking his head the teen could only reply: "You tried to kill me…"

"Can't a guy change his mind? No one ever gave me so many difficulty as you did, and as much as it could annoy me, I must say the challenge is thrilling. And anyway, if you have a bit of brain, you'll see you'd better stick with me."

He passed an arm around Bruce's shoulders.

"I guess you're wondering why. Well, look around, some of those people aren't dangerous, I'll give you that. Hell, some will never dare to attack you. But as you saw, some others aren't easy to impress. They will gather together like they just did right now, and they will take you down eventually. Will they only beat you? Kill you? Or…" He leaned closer and spoke into his ear: "Will they do something else? But I can protect you."

Bruce turned to him with an angry and determined face which only delighted Jerome: "Do you seriously think you're the first person trying to threaten me? Do you think they would be the first to attack me? No. I'm not easy to impress either."

With that he pushed Jerome away and started to leave when he coughed hard again. He heard the redhead's sinister laugh behind him:

"Be careful. Getting sick would weaken you."

He just ignored him and walked away toward the nursery to see Jonathan again. Jerome just watched him with fascination. He could understand why Jeremiah was fond of him. His brother had told him he had approached Bruce Wayne after being hired to help on a scientific project. Jerome had thought it was stupid to take interest in that brat, but now he could understand Jeremiah. The teen was handsome, fierce, witty and brave. Jeremiah told him he was very smart, and Jerome supposed he was if he had managed to survive in the streets of Gotham. Why did Bruce Wayne wander in the streets, by the way? He forgot to ask. Whatever, he had all the time to do that.

O o O

"We can start slowly Mr Wayne," Strange murmured. "We can simply start to know each other. Unless you have a subject you want to talk about in your mind."

That was something Bruce didn't want: letting Strange know him. Comfortably seated in his chair, Hugo was looking at Bruce who was sitting before him in another seat. The room was warmer than others and more comfortable, yet Bruce just wanted to leave. Jonathan had told him he was cruel and manipulative, and he had no trouble believing that. As far as he had seen, the way Arkham was handled spoke volume. He coughed.

"Do you do that with a lot of inmates?" Asked Bruce.

"What?"

"Taking them as personal patients."

Strange readjusted his glasses. "I couldn't, take many of them, even if I wanted to. My position as head of this establishment wouldn't allow me. But it's important for me to take care of a few, after all, I'll always be a psychiatrist, and fascination for the human mind is definitely what got me where I am now."

He seemed genuine, and somehow, Bruce believed he was.

"Why am I one of your chosen ones?"

Strange laughed at the term 'chosen one', it was a bit weird, but quite fitting actually. "Well, you probably know I was a friend of your parents, your father especially. I'm sure they would have wanted me to do my best to help you."

Yeah, and you killed them! Do you do that out of remorse or because it amuse you?! No, he wasn't sure yet whether or not Strange participated to their murder. Count to three before answering.

"Do you want to talk about them?"

He was dying to ask questions but his guts were against it. This smelled like a trap. Bruce shook his head: "Maybe not now."

Hugo's smile deflated a bit and he seemed disappointed. This convinced Bruce that he was searching for something indeed.

"But I would like to talk about what happened this morning." He winced as his head throbbed and he coughed again. "A patient got attacked and your staff did nothing…" Another cough.

"And how did that make you feel?"

Bruce was stunned: seriously?! Was that all he had to say? He was about to burst in anger but he remembered what Alfred told him. 1…2…3…

"Actually…I was wondering the same about you, doctor. How does the lack of your security makes you feel?"

Hugo's smile was more crispate and anger was clear in his eyes.

"Let's not reverse the roles, Bruce."

He was avoiding giving an answer. A normal person would have simply promised to answer this problem. Bruce continued: "I was attacked again today. By three men."

"You don't look banged up, though. Although I know you can handle three opponents."

"They would have been harder to beat, I think. But I got help." He coughed: "From Jerome Valeska."

All traces of anger disappeared from Strange's face who almost beamed. Bruce wasn't expecting. "Ah yes! Mr Valeska is one of my patients too! We had a session this morning, and he spoke only of you."

"What did he say."

"That's confidential, I can't reveal the exact content of what he told me."

"He tried to kill me in the past, but you probably know that."

"Of course, during the…How did the Newspaper call those? The Horror Fair events."

"There was another time, during a Charity events organized by Wayne Enterprises. But he had been able to flee from the cops that time."

"Ah yes. Apparently you've been very brave both times. Do you want to talk about that night, eventually? Maybe this is too soon to get to that subject?"

Bruce wasn't sure. He had to give Strange a bone to chew, though. He had heard that patients who were too reluctant to speak could get electroshocks. Maybe that was a lie but he wasn't sure.

"I know you fought off Jerome and you tried to stand up to him. That asks for a lot of courage."

That was flattering, but Bruce remembered what his mother said once: Flattery is one of the best ways to blind people. He didn't even remember when she said that, or to whom, but right now, it was as if she was speaking those words into his ear.

"Before speaking of that, there is something I wanted to know, you're probably the only one who could answer: I heard psychopath are emotionless. Jerome had often been called a psychopath, but he doesn't seem emotionless."

"Well, that's not all true. Psychopath can feel some emotions like rage or excitement. But it's true that they will feel less strongly then regular people. What they can't feel, or hardly depending on the degree of their psychopathy, is guilt or empathy. But, I'd rather use the term, anti-social behavior. You see, trying to put the human minds in well-defined categories is a mistake for me. Our brain and its disorder can have so many variations...In short, everything is possible with the human mind. For example, Jerome falls into the category of Anti-social Behavior Disorder, but trying to fit him with the classic definition of psychopath you'll find in a random psychology book might be more difficult than you think."

Now that was intriguing…Was Strange lying, though? He didn't know, he would have to see it for himself.

"There are some books in Arkham, you know, you can borrow some. The book cart could contain some things you like. There are also a few in the Common room."

"I know, I already spotted those. Thank you for the suggestion." He would have loved to use one of those books to crush it against his stupid face, but aggressive stunts would lead him nowhere.

"Anytime. Do you want to speak of Jerome? I can fell you're worried about his presence."

Give him a bone to chew. They did speak of Jerome indeed, and of the night when Jerome and his followers had invaded a fair, and transformed all the activities into murderous traps. Jerome had been able to capture Bruce and wanted to kill him by tying to a pole and blowing a canon at him. They stopped when Bruce had a fit of coughing. Strange sent him to the nursery. The doctor in here just gave him aspirin and something for his throat before sending him back to his own room.

The next day when he woke up, his head felt incredibly heavy and sore, his throat was dry and hurting like hell! He was also covered in cold sweat. He wanted nothing but stay under the covers (even though those were hardly giving enough warmth), but the guards made them all get up to go in the common room for breakfast. As soon as he entered, Jonathan joined him and they sat together. Jonathan still had some bruises, and he was still nipping at his fingers.

"You're okay?" Asked Bruce.

"Yeah, thanks. I was worried about you, did Strange hurt you?"

"No. You're really afraid of him," Bruce pointed out while trying to eat. He didn't have much appetite.

"Everyone is, except maybe Jerome." Crane had a nervous laugh. "It's funny isn't it? How fear works!"

"Can I ask you why you're here?

Jonathan lowered his eyes and spoke of his father, of what he had done, and how he had given him some toxins which made him feel afraid and see things.

"I know this isn't real, what I see. But I can't help being afraid, it seems so real!"

"Wait…You aren't a criminal? How is it you're among all of us?" Bruce breathed in shock.

"They don't care, they enjoy mixing all of us up…You…You killed a cop, am I right?"

"No. I was set up, I never killed Gordon, he was a friend. I know I'm not the first claiming my innocence, but it's true."

Jonathan frantically nodded: "I believe you."

"Thing…There is that security cam which recorded that…I don't know who it was, but that guy looked like me. He…He knocked Jim and pushed him into the river."

It was painful to think of it. The images showed a Bruce look-alike who had tried to stab Gordon, but the cop had defended himself. He had been then knocked out, and thrown into the river. His corpse hadn't been found yet, but there was no way he could have survived from that. A laugh was heard and both boys turned to see Jerome approaching; Jonathan cringed hunched, while Bruce sighed; His head throbbed, he was really not in the mood for Jerome.

"What do you want?"

"Well, hello to you as well! They're speaking of you on TV."

"…I don't care."

Jerome just sat at Bruce's side, and passed an arm around his back, drawing him closer while pressing his side. He stared at Jonathan with a little smirk, making the other boy look down again. Bruce grabbed his fingers and pulled his hand away. Jerome allowed him to do so and narrowed his eyes;

"You do care! You don't want to hear what they say, that's all. I understand, they always repeat the same thing: how shocking this is. Boring, really."

Bruce clenched his fist and tried to remain cold-headed. He hated that Jerome could figure him out.

"You know, I'm grateful you killed him," Jerome declared. "I wish I had killed him myself, but it's not that important. I'm just happy someone took away that pest…"

"If someone should be called a pest, it's you!" Bruce snapped. "And there was no way in hell you could have killed Jim Gordon,; do you hear me? You couldn't even beat a fifteen year old."

With that he walked away, furious. He just had the time to make a few steps when he felt even more pain. His feet felt lighter and nausea started to rise. An arm encircled his shoulders and he was relieved to see Jonathan. They went toward the nursery when Bruce suddenly jolted and went to the bathroom. He just had the time to reach the toilet before emptying his guts.

Oh God, this would be difficult.

O o O

That night, Bruce just did everything to try to sleep. The doctor had suggested he could stay in the nursery, but Bruce refused. He preferred his cell/room. It wasn't any colder and at least he had a bit of privacy.

He shivered, his fever was getting worse and his wounds…Nothing bad, sure, but that and his disease were still draining him. He coughed and shivered, trying to rub his feet together, it seemed like those were made of ice. His medicine had made his body limp, which was weird. Why did the medicine they gave him made him so weak? Did they make an error? He had to be strong, though, this was hardship, and he had to face it. It could be worse…

He remembered the time he lived with Selina. Back then, he wanted to search for the guy who killed his parents, his little search from home hadn't brought much. It was Lucius Fox who told him why it was so difficult: people had their eyes on Bruce Wayne. He was a rich boy, and whoever murdered his parents probably watched him. That and he was also way too naïve and inexperienced to truly understand Gotham. That was why he had left his home suddenly and disappeared from sight.

He had called himself Kyle back then and sometimes, he missed being him. He was poor but he didn't have the public's eye on him. And he was with Selina. He had been through a lot, he had understood what being hungry was like, what being cold was like. He had seen the violence, the boredom, the ignorance, the neglect and the fear. He had known danger, the lack of safety, and what it was like not to know where he would sleep at night, and even when they had a place, they weren't really safe. He had seen how difficult life could be for some people, and how easy it was to take a wrong path.

Selina and he had lived together for a year and half, until he had to return to his previous life. Alfred had tried several times to convince him to go home, but he didn't try to chase him through the streets. He knew letting people around know that Billionaire Bruce Wayne was wandering in the streets without any protection would have been more dangerous for Bruce than anything else.

Then, Bruce's investigation and new knowledge of the underground world of the streets had allowed him to find the hired killer who murdered his parents: Malone. He still remembered the first time he saw him…

Footsteps interrupted his thoughts and though he didn't mind at first, he realized it was coming toward him. He forced himself to open his eyes and saw someone sitting on his bed. Jerome! His mind was foggy but he forced himself to raise his bust slightly, leaning on his elbow. He felt a wave of cold while moving. He couldn't clearly see the redhead's face, but he recognized his frame.

"…Jerome? But…" His voice was weak, breathy and sickly.

"Missed me?"

And here we are! What will Jerome do? Don't hesitate to comment!