Disclaimer: I do not own DC, nor any of the characters in Batman

Warmth: The quality, state or sensation of being warm; moderate and comfortable heat.

"What was your childhood like?" Jeannie wasted no time in asking her first of her two-a-day questions. She hadn't seen Jack in two days and she was practically bursting with anticipation when she saw that he was there in their booth, waiting for her after her shift at the club. She didn't bother greeting him. She made a bee line for him once she saw his dirty blonde, messy head waiting for her.

"Impatient little thing, aren't you?" Jack deadpanned.

"Yes!" She exclaimed. "You were a no-show for two days! I thought you were standing me up."

Jack smiled. "Missed me?"

Jeannie rolled her eyes, and ignored the question by deflecting. "Did you oversleep or something?" She did for a fact, miss him. It was weird to her. She barely knew him, yet the two days he didn't show up to the diner, she was saddened by his absence. That, and annoyed. She had some questions that she wanted answering and she was dying to know the answers about the mysterious Jack Napier.

"I had a few things I had to take care of." He handed her the mini bowl of half and halfs.

Her eyes narrowed at him. "Then we're exchanging numbers." She snatched his cell that was sitting on the table, off to the side. "I'm not sitting here another night like a loner, waiting for you." She typed in her name and then her phone number. She then called herself from his phone and hung up after a couple of rings. "There. Your have my number and I have yours." She slid his phone back to him. "If you're not going to show up you can shoot me a text or call me so I'm not sitting around like an idiot."

"Didn't you always sit alone before we started this," he held his hands up, motioning between the two of them, "whatever this little game is."

She shot him a glare. "Don't sass me, mister."

He chuckled and wondered for the millionth time just why the hell he was there and why he was playing along. Part of him knew that there was a high probability that she'd turn tail and run screaming for the hills once she got to know him. The only people that could really handle Jack were the people that grew up with him and the people that worked with him…pretty much people that lived the life Jack did. The other people, people like Jeannie, didn't understand him…and they really frowned upon what Jack and his friends did as a profession. And, again, he asked himself what it was about Jeannie that made him get up at 4am in the morning or skip going to bed altogether to meet with her at Norm's and talk…about each other. It was very unlike him to go to such lengths for a woman.

"Repeat your question." He sighed.

She smiled as she toyed with her coffee. "What was your childhood like?"

"I was in foster care since I was five. It was shitty."

Jeannie waited for him to elaborate, but when he sat there silent she groaned in frustration. "Can't you elaborate?"

"Is that your second question?"

"No!" She threw her hands up in the air. "Come on Jack!"

He merely looked at her and took a sip of coffee.

She groaned, again. "Why was it shitty? Why were you in foster care? What happened to your parents? And don't say that's too personal to answer, because you did the same thing to me just the other night."

Jack cast his eyes downward. This subject was rarely talked about. As a matter of fact, only a handful of people knew the details of his childhood. His jaw clenched as he thought whether or not he should divulge such information, and then, a thought struck him.

"I'll answer your question, when one of two things happen." He raised his pointer finger up. "Either I feel you're ready to hear such information or two," he put up two fingers, "you tell me what happened to you."

Jeannie's brow furrowed and her shoulders sunk. "What do you mean?"

Jack lifted his head and couldn't help the smug smirk that tugged at his lips. "I'll tell you when I either feel that I know you can handle the story of my childhood, or you tell me why you're hiding behind your smiles and fake happiness." She started to say something to him, but he cut her off. "Something happened to you Jean-nie, something that haunts you every single day of your life."

Her eyes hardened and she stayed silent for a few beats. "What makes you think something happened to me?" Her voice, like her eyes, hardened as well.

"I recognize a person who's had something hellish happen to them. Something life changing, and not in a positive way, either." He matched her stony look, looking at her directly in the eyes, purposefully making her uncomfortable. He studied her, watching every shift and every blink. Jack could be patient when he wanted to, and with this, he would be. His curiosity was peaked when they first met and she laid the smiles on a little too thick. What possibly could have happened to a girl like Jeannie to make her hide behind a smile? The possibilities were endless, especially for an individual in Gotham. But, he'd bide his time and play their little game of twenty questions and when the truth did come out, he'd savor it.

Because…after all….misery loves company.

Her eyes finally shifted away and down to the table top. They stayed silent for a solid minute until Jeannie lifted her eyes up to Jack again. She was angry. The glint in her sea blue eyes shined like a rocket in the night sky and her jaw clenched shut as if she were trying not to scream at him, but she remained obstinate.

It made her look all the more attractive to Jack.

"Here's your chance Jeannie. Here's your chance to run while you can."

Her glare hardened on him and she thrust her chin up in the air defiantly. "Why would I want to run, Jack."

He couldn't help the sly smirk. "You're playing a dangerous game Jean-nie. You go too deep into the rabbit hole, there's no coming back out."

Jeannie's happy demeanor was long gone. Her smile had melted away and for once, Jack knew he was seeing the real Jeannie, the one that hid behind her perky mask. "I've already entered the rabbit hole, and I'm not sure if I can come back out." Her voice had changed too. It had turned into stone.

His brow rose slowly and he grabbed his worn out deck of cards. "Ask me a different question."

She looked at him and then down at his deck of cards, thinking. "Why are you so serious?"

He stopped mid shuffle and looked up to her again, annoyed. "Ask me a different question."

She inhaled deeply and thought of a question he may be willing to answer…or he thought she was ready to hear, but every thing she thought she'd ask, she somehow knew he wouldn't answer.

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

His brow perked up at the question and she exhaled when he didn't tell her to pick another question.

He smirked. "No. I don't."

"Have you ever had a girlfriend?" A small smile crept back onto her lips as Jack stopped shuffling his cards and put the deck down.

"I'm not a girlfriend kind of guy."

"Oh, so you're gay"

Jack nearly choked on the coffee he was taking a drink from. "Eh-hem." He coughed and pounded on his chest to clear it from the coffee that went down the wrong pipe. "No. I'm not gay." He shook his head. "Just because I don't wish to have a girlfriend doesn't automatically make me gay."

Jeannie shrugged. "Well, maybe you should get yourself a girlfriend and get laid. Maybe then you'll crack a genuine happy smile."

"Who says I don't get laid?" He grinned, showing her his bright white teeth.

"Ohhh." She exaggerated and nodded her head as if she had just figured something out. "So you're a hit'er and quit'er kind of guy."

She wagged her eyebrows up and down and winked at him, her previous darkened mood seemingly gone.

"Ha!" He bellowed and went back to shuffling his cards. "I guess I am."

She giggled and the air around them lightened. Jeannie was taken aback by Jack's assumption, and the more he pressed the more uncomfortable and cornered she felt. At one point she wanted to smack the smirk right off of his face…but what made her calm down and look at Jack just a little differently was when he said he recognized someone who has had something bad happen to them…and because she had a feeling he was one of them.

They fell into a comfortable silence: Jack shuffled his cards and did tricks by tossing one or two in the air and catching them, while Jeannie sipped her coffee as they both waited for their early morning breakfast to come.

"You kids should hurry up and eat," Linda said, breaking the silence as she slid their full plates of food in front of them. "Weather reports are saying it's going to start snowing soon and it's not going to let up for a while. It's practically sleeting now…and if the forecast is true, then the monorail isn't going to be running for very much longer." She slid a pitcher of syrup and tossed a few individually wrapped butters on the table and left the two to eat.

Jeannie looked over Jack's head to look at the window. Linda was telling the truth, it was sleeting and the gutters were almost overflowing with freezing slush and water. "Ugh. This is not going to be a pleasant walk home." She looked at him, hopeful. "You have a car?"

"I do. But it's in storage. I walk or take the monorail." He said between bites of his omelet.

Jeannie looked at him in disbelief. "Why would you walk or take the scary ass monorail if you have a car?"

Jack shoved another forkful of food and rolled his eyes. "I live in the Narrows. It'd be stolen in a blink of an eye."

"I'm not sure about that."

He put his fork down and gave her his full attention. "Why is that Jean-nie?"

She shrugged. "Something tells me that people know not to mess with your stuff."

It was true...to an extent. People in his neighborhood knew who he was and who he worked for, and for the most part people left him and his belongings alone…but that didn't mean everybody did. He wouldn't put it past some of Falcone's men to find out where he lived or maybe a cop who wanted to give him trouble. Even though it would be their mistake if Jack ever caught them in the act, it didn't mean it wouldn't happen. Plus his car was the equivalent to Jack's baby. His 1967 Plymouth GTX rarely saw the light of day, unless it was necessary…plus a car that beautiful attracted attention, especially to the car thieves of Gotham.

"Although it'd be hazardous to their health, there are some that are stupid and think they can."

She chuckled. "Hazardous to their health how?" She put up her hands, stopping him from answering. "You know what? Don't answer that. I don't want to know just yet."

It had only taken him a mere five or six bites to inhale his omelet, and once the last piece was chewed and swallowed he shoved the plate to the side and reached for his pocket where his wallet was.

"I used to have a car." She looked down at her half eaten waffle. "I miss that car."

Jack tossed a twenty dollar bill on the table and shoved his wallet back in his pocket. "Did it get repo'd or something?"

She shook her head. "My ex-boyfriend took it." She looked up and flinched when she saw that Jack was looking at her intently. She knew he was going to ask why, and she mentally kicked herself for even opening her mouth about it in the first place. "Don't ask."

His eyes narrowed on her. Oh, he'd ask. Just not now. "You take the monorail home?"

She nodded her head, her mouth full of waffle. "Mmmhmm. I take route 2."

"I'm taking that route this morning. Hurry up and eat, the weather's getting bad."

She nodded and started eating faster.

When she was finished she waived to Linda, thanking her for the waffles, and the two set off, huddled under their hoods, trying not to slip and fall on the slick cement while they jogged the two blocks to the monorail station. The monorail gods were looking down upon them: the second they stepped foot onto the platform, the train pulled up.

They dove in and sat down, facing each other, closest to the exit. The train was empty, since it was still early in the morning. The only riders were them, and a homeless man seemingly sleeping on a row of seats with a newspaper covering face. There was new graffiti, Jeannie noticed, above the windows and if it were possible the floor of the car looked grimier than the morning before.

"I remember when the cars of the monorails were bright and silver." She said, looking up at the words 'Gotham is the seventh circle of hell' scrolled in artistic handwriting.

Jack grunted and wrung out the sleeves of his sweatshirt out. He was soaked to the bone, as was Jeannie. He slicked his long hair back, splashing water onto the back of the seat and dripping a good amount down his already wet back.

"Where you getting off at?"

"Gotham Village."

"Really?" Jeannie smiled. "That's my stop! Do you live in Gotham Village?"

Jack shook his head. "No. I've got some business to take care of down off of 3rd Avenue."

She looked at him, baffled. The only thing that she could think of that was off of 3rd Avenue was the police station and a health food store that only hippies went to. And, as much as she wanted to ask what kind of business he may have at either the police station or the hippie store, she bit her tongue. "Well, my place is on the way there, so at least I'll get company on the walk home."

He crossed his arms and gave her a contemptuous look.

"Fine. Don't walk me home. See if I care." She stuck her tongue out and pouted as she looked out the scratched windows of the car. She peeked at him and couldn't help but giggle when she saw he was smirking at her little pouting act.

The monorail ride was short, The two reluctantly exited their safe haven and headed out into the now heavily snowing night, quickly walking to get to their destinations.

Mercifully Jeannie's apartment was just two blocks away from the monorail station.

"This is me." She announced, breaking their silence. She pointed to a large two story brick building that held four apartments. "That window there," she pointed to a large bay window that faced the street. "That's my apartment."

Jack nodded.

Jeannie bit her lip, warring with herself. "If…if you find yourself stranded after you're finished with your errand, you are more than welcome to come back here." She shyly looked up at Jack.

His brow furrowed in almost confusion. Kindness was not something he came across… "I'll be fine."

She shrugged. "Well, the offer still stands if you change your mind." She smiled at him and started to head to her door but stopped and turned around to face him again. "Oh. I have the next two days off, so I won't be at the diner."

Jack nodded and watched as she gave him a thoughtful look and turned again to walk to her front door. He waited until she was in and then continued down the street.

Unlike the sleepy streets of Gotham, the police station was lively. He slipped in, expertly navigating his way to the row of desks for the detectives. A few street cops nodded at Jack and some completely ignored or gave him nasty looks as he passed by. He nodded his head at the cops that acknowledged him and noted the ones that sneered at him.

He sat in the free chair that was at the end of Oliver Hammet's desk. "Hello Officer."

The heavy set man jumped in surprise and almost lost the jelly filled donut out of his mouth. "Mmrf." He half choked as he swallowed the remainder of the pastry. "Jack. What the hell are you doing here?"

"You have info for Cobblepot. I guess you can say I'm the middle man."

Oliver gave Jack a hateful glare and Jack returned it with fervor .

Oliver was not Jack biggest fan. Mostly because Jack kicked the shit out of him when he was a rookie cop a few years back; he had failed to pay a gambling debt in time to Oswald Cobblepot, and when Jack came to collect, Oliver thought he'd win the fight, but in turn he received a pistol whipping, a broken hand and an unwanted job with one of Gotham's notorious crime bosses. And since Oliver liked to gamble and lacked the necessary moral compass one would have if they were a peace officer, he obliged with Cobblepot and in exchange for information or favors.

The detective grumbled something under his breath as he brushed powdered sugar off of his wrinkled suit and looked around to make sure nobody was in earshot of he and Jack.

"Couldn't that Penguin son of a bitch send somebody else?"

Jack gave him an impassive glare. "Now now, Ollie boy, let's not resort to name calling. Just give me the information that our boss wants and I'll get out of your unkempt hair."

He grabbed an envelope out of his desk and slapped it in front of Jack. "There you go."

"What's in it?"

Oliver narrowed his eyes at Jack. "That's none of your business. Now get the hell out of here."

Jack slipped the envelope in his sweatshirt and gave Oliver a smile, one that silently said 'fuck-you-buddy'. "Have a great day Officer Hammet." He tipped an imaginary hat and sauntered out of the police station.

Jeannie sat down in the window seat of her apartment, curled up with hot cup of tea and her fuzzy hot pink blanket. It was still pitch black out, but the heavy snow fall was semi visible from the dim street lights. It was hypnotic and it had a strange decompressing effect on her, making her feel at ease. It was something she did whenever it snowed.

She watched as the snow blanketed the streets of her neighborhood, piled high on the stoops of the apartments next door and the cars parked on the curb. For once, the street was peaceful. Void of screaming children and loitering teenagers scoping out their pick pocket victim. She relished in this quiet moment, which didn't happen very often. She worked in a club where it was fast paced and loud, and even when she was at home, alone, she always kept herself busy either by reading, watching tv or doing some sort of project that kept her thoughts from going deep into the dark place that held her past.

She found, when she had first left Ryan, if left alone with her thoughts, she easily slipped into depression and would become paranoid and be fearful; what if Ryan found her? And, frankly, depression didn't look good on Jeannie. She had a certain love for life and was too stubborn to let herself succumb to depression or the irrational fear of being found by him. Sure, the fear was still there. It would be there forever, she supposed.

Her thoughts soon shifted to Jack.

Jack.

The very mysterious man who grumpily came into her life.

She shook her head and propped her head up against the cool glass of the bay window.

She just couldn't pinpoint what it was about him that made her so interested…so…infatuated.

Clearly he didn't hold a normal nine to five job. It was obvious to her the second he sat at the bar; the way he dressed, the way he carried himself and the way he spoke. He had an almost arrogant air about him, but it wasn't the normal arrogance that she found many of the rich men and women projected, not the self-righteous kind. No. He was entitled to his arrogance. He lived through something. Something horrible.

For some reason, Jack made her feel safe. It was weird, So very, very weird, especially since she knew what he was capable of. She was the one that drove Tony to the ER, scissors still imbedded into his hand.

Yet, instead of running away, it was like she ran towards him…

Jeannie squinted her eyes and lifted her head off of the window. She could have sworn she saw a flash of green down the street. She stared and her eyes widened as she watched a man with a green hoodie sweatshirt, one that was very similar to the one Jack was wearing, slowly walk up towards her apartment building. She watched and as the figure grew closer and her heart started to pound in her chest as the hooded figure stopped in front of her window, seemingly hesitant and then slowly trudged up to her door.

She scurried off of the window seat, nearly tripping over the large fluffy blanket she had wrapped around her as she made her way to the front door. She swung the door the door open as Jack started to knock on the door.

"Hi." She said breathless, from scurrying to the door.

Jack looked at her, brows furrowed in surprise. "Uh…Hi."

Jeannie opened the door all the way and gestured for him to enter. "Come in before the snow does." She closed the door behind him and watched as he grumpily knocked the snow off his beat up converse shoes and took a step in. She looked at him with amused interest as he hesitated entering any further into her home. His jaw was tense and it was apparent that he was uncomfortable.

"You're soaked." She said matter-of-factly. "Come in. I'll get you some dry clothes."

It was true. Jack was soaked and freezing, it was his excuse for taking up her offer. But he was feeling out of place and wondering just why the hell just didn't walk the 12 blocks home. He watched Jeannie shrug off the fluffy blanket she was wrapped in and toss on the couch as she turned away from him and disappeared down the hallway.

He ventured further into the apartment and took in his surroundings.

Despite the outside of her apartment building being ugly and drab, Jeannie's apartment was done up nice. Just to the right of him was a decent sized chase lounge couch that was a deep coffee color and on the opposite wall of the couch was a small entertainment stand that had at least a 42 inch flat screen tv on it.

Obviously tending bars paid well.

The walls of her living room was painted a light brown color, something he was sure Jeannie did herself. Apartments like these came as is. Nothing fancy or extra came with it unless the occupants took it upon themselves to spruce it up. There weren't many pictures up on the wall. As a matter of fact, there weren't any pictures on the walls. At least from where Jack was standing he couldn't see any.

To the left was a very small dining area that attached to a small kitchen, all new stainless steel appliances. Everything was clean and put in its place.

"Here." Jeannie said, emerging from the back of the apartment. She handed him a small pile of clothes. "The bathroom is straight down the hall. Change and give me your soaked clothes, I'll throw them in the dryer."

He was about to protest, but stopped himself. Even though soaking in ice cold, melted snow, he was warming up and he wasn't about to refuse and go back out into the blizzard.

Wordlessly, he snatched the pile from her and went straight to the bathroom. He wasted no time stripping out of the wet clothing and tossed his snow soaked clothing into the tub.

Jeannie gave him a pair of boxers, a pair of men's Adidas sweat pants and a bright yellow Gotham Wild Cats shirt and a pair of socks.

Once dressed, he brazenly opened up her medicine cabinet to root around. There was a rolled up ace bandage, a box of pre-cut medical tape for knees, a half empty bottle of Norco prescribed to Jeannette Kerr…he paused when he read her full name.

Her full name was Jeannette… He wasn't sure if he liked it. He preferred Jeannie over Jeanette.

Toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant and some random hair care products.

He scratched going through the drawers and cabinets and exited the bathroom and went back into the kitchen where Jeannie was filling up a tea kettle.

"Go Wildcats." He said in the most mono-tone deadpanned voice, earning him a smile and a small giggle from Jeannie.

She looked him over, nodding in approval. "The clothes fit you well."

He shrugged looking down at his jock like appearance. "Not my style though."

"Most definitely not your style." She giggled again and walked passed him towards the bathroom.

He followed her and stopped at the bathroom entrance and watched as she scooped up his clothes out of the bathtub and then followed her to the small laundry room to the left of the bathroom. "They'll be done in about an hour." She said as she tossed in a dryer sheet and started the machine. "Want some tea?"

"Sure."

The two went back into the kitchen, Jack sat at the kitchen table and Jeannie started to take out the necessities for tea.

"I had a feeling you'd be showing up here." She said matter-of-factly. She kept her back towards him as she reached up on her tip toes to get the tin container that held her tea bags, but was being unsuccessful. The container happened to be on the very top shelf of the cabinet and it was just out of her reach. She growled in frustration and tried jumping up to grab it, but it didn't work.

She flinched when she felt a warm body lightly press up against her and saw an arm reach up and pluck the tin box up with ease and put it down on the counter in front of her. Her heart fluttered and she knew she was blushing like an idiot; the heat coming from her cheeks seemed to catch fire. "Thanks." She said heavily and couldn't help her breath hitch when he didn't move away. A tingle, one that she hadn't felt in a very, very long time, formed in her stomach and then moved its way downward, leaving a fiery, sensual path in its wake.

"You're welcome." He murmured close to her ear, effectively making her shudder. After a few beats he finally moved away, leaving Jeannie wide eyes and wondering just what the hell had happened.

Jeannie stayed put, making herself busy by opening the tin box and grabbing a couple of coffee mugs and spoons. She was still blushing heavily and her knees felt like they melted into mush. If it weren't for the counter she was leaning up against, she was sure she would have fallen on her face.

She cleared her throat, took a deep breath and turned around. Jack was leaning up against the sink, looking at her intently. She flinched and started to blush again.

Damnit.

Ignoring the crimson color she knew she had turned, she smiled at him. "So what should we do?"

He sauntered back to the kitchen table and sat down. "I think we should pick up where we left off." He smiled his mischievous, toothy grin.

"You do, do you? Doesn't that go against your two question a day rule?" She walked to the table, setting down two coffee mugs and two spoons and then went back to the counter to get a little creamer pitcher and sugar and then brought back to the table, taking a seat across from Jack.

"Due to this being an unusual circumstance, I think the two question rule can be lifted."

Jeannie squinted her eyes at him. "Will you actually answer my questions?"

He smirked at her. "It depends on if I feel you can handle it." He pursed his lips. "Who knows, that may happen." He looked over her head to a small window. The snow was falling much harder than it was when he came here.

She followed his line of site and twisted around to look out the window, and whistled. "If the monorail wasn't closed before, it sure as hell is now." She turned around to look at him. "You're not going anywhere anytime soon."

Jack crossed his arms on the table and leaned into it. "I think we'll be getting to know each other quite well Jean-nie."

Beta'd by: Springandbysummerfall