~ What the hell would I be without you

Brave face talk so lightly

Hide the truth

Cause I'm sick of losing soulmates

Won't be alone again

I can finally see you're as fucked up as me

So how do we win~

Jerome Valeska was not a morning person.

He'd always had a penchant for the bitter taste of a scalding hot coffee, a beverage prohibited from Arkham's inmates. Of course this did not stop the guards and various other staff from sipping their mugs in front of the caffeine starved patients, the scent wafting through the air, tempered down only by the smell of Zoloft and the whiskey residents would slip into their morning cup of energy.

Now this little act of disrespect against people with such... fragile mental health seemed just plain rude to Jerome, and it almost always put him in an irritable mood in the mornings.

But this morning was different. Today he skipped merrily through the corridors. Nobody knew the reason for his jubilant, and since most of them had been the receiving end of his wrath before, most orderlies kept out of his way.

But Nurse Bough tried valiantly to make the maniacal ginger go back to his cell. However, he barely spared her a glance, much less a second one, before slamming her head into the wall beside them, leaving behind a rather sticky scarlet stain.

"Deck the halls with boughs of holly! La la la la la..." He let out a harsh bark of laughter before continuing on his jolly way.

It was the Christmas season and Jerome was in a giving mood. He'd always considered himself a... generous soul, and now was the perfect time to show that to his little harlequin.

This marked the second time he went to see her. She wanted to see him again! That thought was the only thing sustaining him at this particular moment of coffee deprived days.

And it was Christmas! He had the perfect present for his Harley too! He wanted to make this the most... entertaining Christmas she'd ever had.

His memories of Christmas weren't particularly warm and fuzzy. The only gifts he ever received were the punches delivered by the drunken fists of his Ma and whoever she was sleeping with that night. So in reality, Christmas was the same as every other night.

His skipping stopped abruptly.

He had arrived.

His fist met the cool steel of the door, and his playful knock reverberated through the empty halls.

He knows that she can't open the door from the inside and for a second he wonders about letting her out. But then he realizes that she's not like the others and that's exactly why he's here, and if she really wanted to leave she would have done so ages ago.

So Jerome slipped the key inside the lock, opened the door and stepped inside.

Once again he was momentarily blinded by the darkness. But then his eyes adjusted and once again he could see her.

She did not appear to have moved since the last time he saw her.

Jerome wondered if her bones ached, if her joints were numb from inactivity. Then again she didn't appear to be someone who felt something insignificant as pain.

He grinned.

"Merry Christmas Harley-girl!"

For a moment it looked like she wouldn't respond, but then her face rose up to meet his, azure eyes opened wide, and she smiled.

She smiled at him.

"Jerome."

It was statement not a question, and it's message relayed recognition and relief. Jerome knew it was all an act but it made him pleased that she had tried.

That was his Christmas present.

"Smile again. You're so beautiful when you smile."

She giggled, and it was so light, so airy and carefree that it made his blood rush.

In a few skips his long legs made their way towards her and like a child he hopped down to the floor.

"How have you been?" He asked.

This time she didn't answer. She just stared at him, eyes seeing more of his soul then they should have. Eyes seeing him for what he really was. Eyes which contained something equally as dark and dangerous.

He refused to be dettered, hands reaching into his jumpsuits pockets. "I got you a present gorgeous."

Harley's eyes brightened, but she didn't blink.

He pulled a tube of lipstick, the packaging chipped and hideously stained, but the product it's self was untouched.

He held it out towards her, arm outstretched, eyes locked on hers and not moving, not blinking not breathing.

But then Harley's gaze shifted to the lipstick and she slowly tugged it out of his grasp. Their fingertips brushed, and the sensation almost made Jerome jump. The energy that surrounded her on a constant basis skyrocketed to new heights when he touched her.

She was so cold.

As her arm retreated to the darkness, he caught a glimpse of a reddish purple blur.

Within an instant Jerome had Harley's limb in his firm grasp.

They stared at each other.

Harley's face was expressionless once more.

So was Jerome's.

"Well what do we have here dollface?" He asked, tone deceptively lilting and light.

They sat in silence as his eyes raked up her arm. Her skin was a mass of purple bruising and cigarette burns. Her flesh littered in white lines and red scars, some self inflicted but most were not.

He looked into her eyes again, the baby blue eyes that held so much and gave away so little. He knew she wouldn't tell him anything today. Jerome's gaze locked on hers, he released her arm without a word.

Instantly she seemed to forget it ever happened, focusing once more on her gift. She regarded it with an almost childlike wonder, looking at it from different angles as if she could see clearly in the nonexistent light. Who knows, maybe she'd spent so long in the darkness that she'd become one with the shadows themselves.

It seemed that she soon lost interest, and she returned to her customary position. But Jerome was a patient man. He knew that despite all appearances, that the show wasn't over. Was it ever really with the two of them?

Suddenly Harley straightened up, expression completely different than before. Her mouth had twisted into a smile, a spark in her demeanor that hadn't been there before.

"Jerome? Jerome? D'ya wanna see something cool?" She asked, her tone hushed and excited.

Another game. She wanted to play.

Well so do I.

Jerome nodded eagerly.

Harley glanced down again and her hands reached behind her protective wall of knees and legs, and between her thighs, and pulled out a stuffed animal.

Ha! He knew she'd been looking at something! But the question was why...

Harley seemed oblivious to the fact that Jerome was lost in his own thoughts and she enthusiastically waved the toy in front of him. "I want you to meet someone Mistah J! His name is Mister Buttons!"

The object with that name seemed worn and weary with old age. It was an stuffed rabbit toy, a rag doll if you will, the fabric dirty and grey. It had two mismatched buttons for eyes, one blue and one red.

It looked like it had fallen apart several times but had been sewed haphazardly back together. And he couldn't help but notice a small spatter of a suspiciously scarlet stain on it's ear...

"Well Mistah J? D'ya like him?" She asked enthusiastically. Jerome looked at her face so full of hope and smiled.

"That I do, Harley-girl."

She looked absolutely thrilled to gain his approval. Her fingers found the lipstick he gave her and she began to ramble on. "I love people who don't smile. Ever. And I love people who smile. I love your smile, have I ever told you how much I love your smile? It's almost clown like and I do love clowns ever so much.

"You know what Mister Buttons is missing? A smile, he needs to smile all the time like you do. That would make him..." She paused, dreamily lost in her own thoughts.

"Lovely."

She picked up Mister Buttons, and she studied him studiously as she applied lipstick on his mouth. She drew it on his face with the precision of a surgeon. When she was satisfied with her work, she excitedly waved the toy around in Jerome's face.

"All done!"

The crimson jaggered smile gave a the once seemingly innocent toy a sinister look. Jerome felt the corners of his own mouth extended, till he himself was grinning from ear to ear.

"Perfect."

As she became absorbed with playing with the raggedy toy again, another question crossed his mind.

"Harley?"

She didn't look at him but he could sense she was listening.

"Harley... Why did you live in the Narrows?"

At this she became still. She wasn't breathing and neither was Jerome.

And then he heard it.

Notes:

Holy crap.

I AM ALIVE!

I am so sorry it took me forever to update but I have been busy.

I have been GOTHAM BUSY.

Of course I wanted to take a break so I could see what would happen to my gorgeous ginger in season 3 and I worked on theories and sent leaked Gotham pictures to Youtuber JUICEFROMTHEBOX, who's channel you should check out.

And then... I GOT ACKNOWLEDGED BY TWO GOTHAM CAST MEMBERS!

YES YOU HEARD ME RIGHT! I was acknowledged by David Dastchmachilan, (who's name I'm sure I just butchered), who you may know as Dwight from Gotham or as Thomas Schiff from The Dark Knight. And also by... CAMEREN BICONDOVA WHO JUST HAPPENS TO ACT AS MY FAVORITE CHARACTER! (Well she's tied with Jerome and Edward Nygma). I am still shocked by the fact that she thought I was worthy to speak to.

Also in one month I AM GOING TO MEET AND INTERVIEW CORY MICHEAL SMITH AKA EDWARD NYGMA AKA THE RIDDLER!

I have been a busy girl.

Also if you have any questions you would like to ask Cory, directly from me to him, please comment them down below. I will give you his answer as soon as possible after the meeting.

I also was GIVEN VIP TICKETS AND INVITED TO GO TO A PANIC AT THE DISCO CONCERT AS THEIR GUESTS! It was an amazing experience and I am quite frankly dead from it so please forgive me for taking so long with this chapter.

AND HARLEY QUINN IS OFFICIALLY COMING TO GOTHAM IN SEASON 3 EPISODE 22! SO HAPPY! In fact we might have spotted her already... ALL I CAN SAY IS THAT IT BETTER BE ELLE FANNING OR SASHA PIERTERSE!

Also shoutout to The Goddess of Eternal Spring for this lovely review on my last chapter

"Oh my goshhhh, I thought you wouldn't update in a long, long time (or maybe never), but you did! I'm so excited, I just love the plot (even though, it barely start)

I mean, Harley have powers? Hell, I NEED to know which ones.

Ohhhhh, and Jerome's dreams and thoughts... so cute... as cute as Jerome can be, clearly.

Need to know Dr. Strange's plans/experiment.

Gee, I need you to update soon. Your story do catch me, please update or I'm gonna die (ok, not die, but get a little sad)

Well, it seems like I need a lot of things,

Kisses,

Att. The Goddess of Eternal Spring"

Sorry for the rant but 2017 has already been such a fast paced year and like I stated before...

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS YOU WOULD LIKE TO ASK CORY MICHEAL SMITH PLEASE COMMENT THEM DOWN BELOW.

I bet no other writer on here can give you this opportunity, so get in while you can :)