Disclaimer: I do not own Batman or the characters from the comic/movie.

Relationship: noun/ the way in which two or more concepts, objects, or people are connected, or the state of being connected.

Good versus bad.

It was so very black and white for most people. People who broke the law were bad. People who abide the law, were good…and so on and so forth.

But Jeannie didn't see it as black and white. There was gray, a middle ground, and she really didn't believe the whole good and bad was a no brainer thing.

Her parents, for example, were 'good people'. They paid their taxes, were never in trouble with the law and gave to charitable causes. But because the Kerr's 'followed the rules,' in the eyes of others, they were good.

The criminals who made the headlines for knocking over banks were bad….

But as she got older, and wiser, her view on the subject became fuzzy. The people she was trained to see as 'bad' gave her a job, protected her from being harmed and rescued her from being killed. The people that were supposed to protect and love her tossed her to the wolves, beat her almost to death and raped her as though it were as normal as preferring your eggs sunny-side-up.

So when she met Jack, it had made sense that his profession and his past and present discretions didn't really bother Jeannie. Because even though Jack did what he did, he still had a good side. He befriended her, took care of her and protected her. And it wasn't for his own benefit, either. He didn't ask Jeannie for anything in return. He did it out of the goodness out of his own heart. Which, if Jack knew this is what she thought, that he had a heart, he'd laugh.

These thoughts were running through her mind when sat down to watch TV and heard Ryan's name mentioned on the nightly news.

Apparently Ryan's body had been found wrapped in a sheet, floating down the bay by an early morning fisherman. He was almost unrecognizable, since the GCPD assumed he had been submersed for at least two weeks. They also assumed that he had been weighted down but somehow freed from whatever had weighed him down. So far, the GCPD had no motive or suspect, and anything left behind on him had probably been washed away… though Jeannie knew there wouldn't be any evidence left behind from the start. Jack was good.

Ryan Samson was on the fast track to being a cold case… just like eight out of ten average Gotham City held for murder investigations.

She knew it had happened before anyone else in the world. But it wasn't until then that she felt as if an elephant-sized weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. She felt safe and free…

All because of one man.

One law breaking, murdering, good man.

It took it a while to click…

Jack and Jeannie were dating.

They were inseparable; They went to the movies and went out to dinner. She'd make dinner, sometimes breakfast for the two of them and they'd watch TV or rent movies; Jack loved the psychological thrillers, Jeannie liked the SciFi's. They joked around and had conversations, which came easy for the two of them. There were a few instances that Jeannie would end up snuggled up against Jack while watching tv and there were a few close calls, kiss wise, but it happened when Jeannie had popped a few Norco's, which made her a little buzzed. Jack stopped it from happening, not feeling right that a make out session was triggered because she had chemically induced warm and fuzzies.

He knew Jeannie was still a little shell shocked from Ryan and knew that the impending 'next step' would be stalled a bit because of the mental scars that were left behind. Although, she seemed to be happier and a little more care free, breaking out of her shell, especially after Ryan took a nap with the fishes.

Like it or not, Jack had entered a relationship.

How did he not realize it until now, he didn't know… or maybe he did? Either way, when it finally sunk in, he really didn't mind it, like he always thought he would. All of the sudden a relationship didn't sound half bad to him.

Jeannie to him was an easy target. Besides the odd way they started their relationship, Jack had intended on breaking her. Her smile and happiness told him so much and knew it held a dark secret, and he wanted to poor salt in her wounds…why? Because he was Jack. He loved to spread misery… but Jeannie halted him right in his masochistic tracks. And if he didn't sense trouble for himself before, the red flashing lights and air-raid sirens that were sounding off in Jack's head were now being ignored, because he was in too deep.

He knew it. And, even though the voice inside his head was telling him to run; to nip this in the bud before it manifested into something more, the strange attraction between the two was much to powerful for either one of them to ignore.

It was getting harder and harder to resist his urges that would make this whole 'together ' thing irrevocably true. She simply was not a hitt'er and quit'er kind of chick. Like for instance when she sits next to him on the couch when they are watching TV; she'll reach over to grab a drink on the coffee table and will brush his side or grasp his knee to steady herself, effectively giving him the warm fuzzies from her touch and giving him a nice view of her exposed neck that he very much like to riddle with hickies. Either she didn't know what she was doing, or she was an evil genius.

He was convinced that she was an evil genius and it was apparent that it was a game of wills. Who would crack first?

His fingers tapped his upper thigh impatiently as he stood outside the entrance to the Ice Berg lounge. It was his night to run security, his least favorite thing to do. It was boring. Nothing exciting happened except for throwing out the occasional out-of-control drunk. It was all too drab for him. He needed to bloody his knuckles, use his brain and hatch plans. And tonight the time was ticking by painfully slow.

He grabbed the crumpled pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and lit up his last cig, tossing the empty box carelessly onto the sidewalk.

There was barely anybody at the club. It was Christmas Eve, after all. Normally, he wouldn't blink twice at the mention of Christmas. It was just another day. But since Jeannie made him get a tree, he had a daily reminder that the day was fast approaching, blinking lights and all. And god help him, he'd got her a gift, too. And he was actually excited to give it to her.

He took a long drag off his cigarette and watched two intoxicated girls pile into the cab that was waiting at the curb, rolling his eyes as the yellow car drove away. This scene was getting old. He needed to use his brain… get some grime under his fingernails, maybe a blood splatter or two on his shirt. He expelled the smoke he took in from his cigarette and checked his watch. Fifteen minutes until his shift ended and he'd be on his way to get Jeannie from work.

Across town Jeannie, too, was staring down at her watch. The minutes were ticking at a snail's pace. It wasn't a slow night, wasn't busting at the seams, but there were enough people to keep her busy and to keep her from being bored. Time was passing slow because her new co-worker, John, was bugging her to no end, which was making her wish her shift would end sooner rather than later.

He was extremely annoying. Always watching over her shoulder and always hovering around. If it weren't so annoying, she'd be creeped out by his constant closeness.

She quickly collected all the stray glasses and bottles strewn about the dance floor, not wanting to be there any longer than necessary, especially since she was now alone with John as she worked on completing her after closing duties. She felt somewhat silly feeling so nervous around him. Usually, she was such a people person, but there was something about John that made her grit her teeth, like one would do hearing nails on a chalk board. All in all, John seemed like a nice guy, other than the smart ass comments he'd make from time to time. John seemed to think he was funny. Apparently he was; her co-workers always laughed at his jokes. But Jeannie thought otherwise. There was nothing that she could really pinpoint why she didn't like the man, she just knew, there was something about him that made her feel she needed to keep on her toes around him…

"You need a ride?"

Jeannie kept herself from sneering. "No. My friend is picking me up." She grabbed the last beer bottle and tossed it in the recycling bin, then grabbed a rag and started to wipe down the bar.

"You're boyfriend?"

"…Yes." She looked up at him firmly. Technically, she wasn't lying. He was her friend and he was a boy…and as of late their friendship had seemed to take a turn, had exited the 'friend zone' and into something more romantic like.

She looked up at him and was caught off guard to find him staring directly at her, making her flinch slightly. "Have I done something to piss you off?" He leaned up against the back of the bar, crossing his arms. "You've been short with me ever since we started working with each other."

She continued to wipe down the bar, not really sure how to respond. She very well couldn't tell him straight up that he creeped her out. "I…" She rolled her eyes, thinking of something to say. "I'm going through a lot…I'm a little on edge." Again, it was true. Maybe that was it. She had just gone through quite a bit with Ryan…

John nodded his head. "That's understandable. You're eye healed up nicely." He gave her a sly smirk.

Jeannie's jaw clenched, keeping the slew of curse words that she very much wanted to say to him, but since he was in the mob and her boss and she wasn't really one for cursing someone out, she figured it would be in her best interest. "Thanks." She mumbled and tossed the wet rag behind the bar and grabbed her purse and jacket. "Merry Christmas."

She hurried out the exit and was happy to see Jack pulling into the empty parking lot of the club. She made a bee line for the black GTX, fleeing from John curious eye, making her panic a bit since he had followed her out to the parking lot. She ripped open the door and all but dove into the car.

"Well hello." Jeannie looked to Jack, his brow raised and a small questionable smile on his face. "Bad day at work? You practically tossed yourself into the car."

Jeannie shook her head and looked out of the tinted windshield, Jack did as well and his eyes instantly glared at John, who was now leaning up against the door and lighting a cigarette, all the while watching the car Jeannie just entered.

Jack turned to Jeannie, a murderous glint in his eye. "Is Guido over there bugging you?"

She huffed and buckled her seatbelt. "He's just annoying."

He kept his gaze on her. "Just say the word, Jeannie, and I'll take care of him."

Jeannie snorted. "No, Jack. Don't kill him." She rolled her eyes. "He's a jerk and rubs me the wrong way, not a rapist…that I know of." She turned to look at Jack and smiled at him. "But I must say, it's very sweet of you to offer."

Jack smirked. "I'd commit a felony for you anytime, Sugar."

Hot cocoa in hand and Bing Crosby crooning in the back ground, the two sat on Jack's hardwood floor in front of the Christmas tree.

Jeannie was busting at the seams. The worries of her work day had melted away and the excitement of their gift exchange was making her giddy, especially since she found out this was Jack's first time exchanging gifts.

"I wanna give you your gift first." She grinned at him as she practically shoved two boxes at him. "Open them!"

Jack chuckled at her and rolled his eyes, pretending to scoff at her excitement. But he too was feeling it. It was his first Christmas, really. He never really did get a real Christmas with gifts… except for that one time when his mom had scrounged up enough money to buy him a deck of playing cards and a teddy bear. "You're kind of ridiculous right now, Sugar." He grabbed for one of the boxes, but his hand was slapped away.

"Not that one. That one." Jeannie pointed to the other box, the larger of the two.

Jack gave her an exacerbated look, but did as he was told. He made quick work of the green and red wrapping paper and couldn't help the dry chuckle at what was inside the box.

"The Art of Smiling and The Big Book Of Laugh Out Loud Jokes?" He deadpanned her as he held out the two books, but his serious, almost bored look melted away and a small smile crept up on his lips. "Really?"

Jeannie nodded. "Yup. Maybe you'll get something out of it." She shrugged nonchalantly. "Maybe even crack a smile or two."

He sucked air in through his teeth. "You mean like this?" He smiled, showing all his teeth, stretching his lips as far as they could.

She laughed, her arms outstretched, waving her hands at him. "You definitely need some practice. That's the smile of a psycho."

Jack shrugged. "If the shoe fits…"

Jeannie rolled her eyes. "Open your other one, psycho boy."

He made the international hand signal of 'crazy' with his index finger and sticking his tongue out before he grabbed the last gift and ripped the wrapping off the box and opened it. The moment he did, he froze.

…as did Jeannie.

He let out a small breath as he looked down the sexiest switch blade he had ever seen. The handle, although unusually colored, was what he instinctively loved about it. The outer part of it was a deep purple and the middle was a bright green, but what really made him chuckle lightly was the happy face and 'Turn that frown upside down' engraved upon the shiny blade.

He took it out of the box and tested the blade, flipping it open and closed a few times, smiling at the slicing and clicking noise it made.

And he smiled. A genuine smile that Jeannie had never seen before from Jack.

"Jeannie…" He grinned up at her.

She beamed back at him. To be honest she didn't know how he'd like his gift… she wasn't planning on getting it. She had been perusing a second hand shop and found it. The colors on the handle was a bit odd, but so was Jack. He seemed to always have some sort of knife on his person at all times, but none of them were as pretty as this one. And, when the owner of the shop had offered to engrave it for free, she had to take him up on the offer.

"Do you like it?"

He snapped it shut. "I do." He smiled again. "It has a certain flair to it."

She laughed. "That's exactly what I thought."

Jack put it in his pocket and slid a medium sized box to her. "Your turn. Although, I only got you one gift."

Jeannie tore at the paper, shredding it to bits in her excitement, revealing a slender plastic box. She looked up at him, slightly confused.

"You've got to open the box, Sugar."

She stuck her tongue out and opened it, revealing a hand gun…with hot pink grips. She had never held a gun before…as a matter of fact, she was sure she never really saw one in real life. Timidly, she picked it up and looked at it more closely.

"A girl like you needs protection. Wave this in somebody's face and they'll piss their pants." He scooted next to her and lifted the gun out of her hands. "It's a glock 45, sugar. Pretty powerful. As a matter of fact, I have two myself." He handed it back to her, pausing to look at her, gauging her reaction….which was a mixture of shock and something else, he wasn't sure. He handed it back to her and grabbed her hand, gently putting the gun in her hand and wrapped his hand over hers. "This is how you hold it."

He lifted both their hands up, aiming at the tree, all the while smirking behind her, when he felt her pulse quicken and her breath catch. "It has a powerful kick, but I'll teach you how to handle it."

Jeannie closed her eyes. His chest was flush up against her back and his arms were practically encasing her in his warmth. She was practically shaking with apprehension; just like every other time they were in this sort of position.

"Well, Sugar, what do you think?"

She nodded. "I…I love it." She never thought she'd ever have a gun let alone liking the fact that she was the owner of one. "The color is perfect too." She giggled.

He chuckled. "I figured you'd like that. It's custom made. Just for you."

"You do realize that we gave each other weapons for Christmas." She slowly rested her head on his shoulder, getting comfortable in his hold. His arms where now lazily draped around her, and it didn't at all feel uncomfortable or awkward. She felt at peace.

"The couple that slays together, stays together. At least that's what Grandma always says."

They both laughed at Jack's quip, his arms tightening around her.

She moved her head to the side to get a better look at his face and bit her lip, mulling over whether or not to ask the question that was at the tip of her tongue.

"What is it, Sugar?" Jack asked, cocking his head to the side. His emerald green eyes sparkled from the twinkling lights on the tree.

"Are…are we a couple, Jack?"

His light hearted expression melted away and was replaced by one of his ever-famous penetrating looks. He had compared himself to a cat. He targeted his prey, he stalked his prey, he played with his prey…and only after completely satisfied, went in for the kill.

But like he had already found out, Jeannie was not normal prey for him. He had come to face his fate with Jeannie Kerr. Now to go in for a different kind of kill altogether.

He took a deep breath and slowly nodded. "I guess it's time to stop dancing around the subject."

She smiled, pursing her lips. "Yeeea. I'd say so…"

His lips quirked up and he slowly lowered his head so their noses were touching. "I think we make a fucked up pair, Jeannie Kerr."

"Mmmhmm." She hummed, his hot breath on her face making her shiver. "That's no joke."

"I don't think I'd have it any other way."

His lips slowly descended to find hers and Jeannie thought she'd faint from pure elation. She had dreamt of this happening. She twisted around to meet his kiss face-to-face, and when their lips touched she felt like she might melt in his arms. He cradled her head, gently digging his fingers into her hair, and pulled, exposing her neck so he could trail sloppy, hot kisses up and down it.

She moaned. She didn't even care that she'd have hickies all over her.

"There's no going back if we keep going." She murmured.

Jack grunted, all the while his hand was sliding up under the back of her shirt, and expertly flicked her bra clasps off. "Down the rabbit hole, Sugar. You and I, down, down, down."

Jeannie groggily opened her eyes to Jack's slightly lit room and the still blinking Christmas tree. She could tell the sun trying hard to come out, but the snow heavy clouds kept it at bay. It took her a few moments to realize why she naked, the only thing covering her was a thick comforter, and she was laying on top of Jack, who was also quite naked.

He was in a deep sleep still; his deep snores rumbled underneath her chest, tickling her. Jeannie studied his face. He was very much relaxed…almost at peace.

She smiled and then rested her face back onto his chest and closed her eyes.

Last night was amazing.

It was ecstasy being able to finally touch him and kiss him and all the other wonderous things she had been fantasizing about the past few weeks.

She was thankful she still felt the same way she had last night the morning after. She only hoped that he felt the same when woke too.

Opening her eyes again, her sight landed on the still open box with her shiny new pink and black gun.

'He really must like me… I mean, who buys another person a gun unless they really care for their well being.'

She smirked at the thought. She was now a proud owner of a glock 45.

"Morning, Sunshine."

She looked up at Jack's semi smiling face thankful that he was scowling or looking like he wanted to run for the hills having waking up naked with an equally naked Jeannie on top of him . "Merry Christmas." She replied.

"It's still Christmas?"

Jeannie giggled and playfully jabbed him in the side. "It is. All day in fact. What shall we do?"

Jack's lazy smile turned into one of his famous Cheshire cat smiles. "Oh I have an idea or two." He wrapped his arms around her and flipped her over so she was beneath him on his back and went in for a kiss.

Months flew by.

Life got less complicated for the two… at least in the romance category.

Although the two had their doubts due to their very different lifestyles, she'd dare say she and Jack were getting used to being in a relationship just fine, especially when Jack had never really been in one and Jeannie's previous one was nightmarish. Everything was going smoothly, considering.

Jack moved in, since he rarely if ever stayed at his place. The only reason he went home was to change his clothes or grab guns.

It took some getting used to for Jeannie. She more or less turned a blind eye to Jack's 'work', especially when he wouldn't come home for days at a time. The only thing that didn't drive her insane with worry were his texts assuring her that he was still alive. What took even more getting used to was him coming home with blood on his clothes and cuts and bruises all over his body. She would patch him up, no questions asked.

She officially met Sammy, his wife, and their newborn son. They were surprised to see that Jack was actually dating someone…and that she was more or less normal. Meeting Sammy put another puzzle piece in place for Jeannie in regards to Jack's life. He seemed to balance Jack out in a way. He was much less intimidating and seemed like he'd be the voice of reason for Jack while they worked. Sammy was his family, and she could tell it was a big deal that Jack introduced him to her.

"I was skeptical, Jeannie." Sammy had said, the moment Jack was out of ear-shot. "But seeing him with you, you can tell there's a change in him. A good change. I mean… the guy actually cracks a genuine fucking smile now and again."

Jack kept his more dirty dealings to himself, for two reasons. The first, he didn't think Jeannie would be able to handle the gloriously gory details. Secondly, but most importantly, if Jeannie didn't know anything, then she wouldn't be a target.

And Jack was figuring out real fast: the thought of Jeannie being used to get to him didn't sit very well with him.

Not. One. Bit.

But even his new relationship with Jeannie didn't curb his growing appetite for destruction, and wanting to branch out into new ventures. One that involved a lot of gun power, a bank, and maybe a dash of mayhem and possibly a kidnapping or two. He kept his hunger at bay, though…it didn't seem like it was the right time. Not only would his boss most likely put a hit out on him if he found out he went rogue, but more importantly, he knew he and Jeannie's relationship most likely wouldn't last through it.

It was all about timing.

And it would come, and havoc would follow.

Beta'd by: Springandbysummerfall