SPOILERS. I know, I know. Jerome is very much dead. Honestly, going into this story, I was pretty sure that would be the outcome of his character. I think it's waste, considering how brilliant the acting was and how much more could have been done with the character. I'm especially annoyed at how the Joker is now going to be a copycat of Jerome because, for me, that ruins the entire basis of the Jokers character. Alas, you'll just have to wait and see what I do with this story. Like I said, I knew he might die, so I thought of everything ;)

You & I

Chapter Three

Family

No sleep, no chance, no need
Forget about it
One life, live free, big dreams
We're all about 'em

You're finding it, take it, take it in, it's all here
You and me, no one else, nothing else but us right now

- You & I - Crystal Fighters.

I used to love food. I used to taste everything with such...vigour and excitement. My father used to swear that I could be a chef, or a food critic, or something along those lines. I loved good food that was filling and wholesome and full of everything that was bad for you.

I had a habit of liking things that were bad for me, apparently.

I remember asking you if you actually tasted your food when you ate it, and you had a cracked a smile and barked a laugh at me. I scowled. 'Don't laugh, Jerome. I honestly don't think I've ever seen someone eat as quickly as you do, you know'. I then glanced down at the bland, worrying looking substance you were eating. 'Then again, maybe it is better to just eat that as quickly as you can'.

You clucked and moved and looked me up and down. We were in the cafeteria; the first ones to enter the room in the morning. 'Maybe you should actually eat, beautiful, huh?' You touched my dress and ran a finger along my ribs. 'All skin and bones. We need to make you solid again, don't we?' You laughed hard, like you had made the worlds funniest joke.

Your friends entered then, the men that I had avoided so consistently since checking into the Asylum. Sionis frowned at me, foot nudging into mine as they sat down at the table, surrounding us and ruining the perfect contentedness that I had acquired form just being with you. Dobkins leered at me and giggled with such ferocity I thought that he might fall off of his chair. Helzinger simply guffawed.

'Don't,' you snapped at him, and that was that.

'Little Madeline,' drawled Sionis, dark eyes forcing me to turn and look across at him. 'How are things?'

I blinked and bristled. 'Fine, until a few moments ago'.

Sionis smirked. He was a lovely looking man, there was no denying. You knew this, because when I looked at you your face and fallen into a look so terrifying and so foreign to me that I had to do a double take. You were not threatened, I knew that much, but I knew the kind of crazy that you were, and I knew the kind of man that you were. I was yours. You thought that was such profound clarity that it must have been infuriating for you to see me surrounded by the men you had kept me separated from.

I thought I should make you feel better. I though perhaps, I should be kind to you. 'Careful, Sionis,' I warned, pressing down my skirt and glancing up at him with wide eyes. 'How is your arm, by the way? I heard you almost needed stitches'. I grinned at him.

Greenwood kicked the table. 'I got three weeks in solitary for that, bitch'.

A part of the story you hadn't know before that, was that I had made special sure that Greenwood was blamed for the whole event. A cannibal, of course, so who would the guards and Doctors believe? Little Madeline who was so quiet and meek and only wanted to get better, or the scary, bulking cannibal who constantly threatened to eat those who wronged him?

It wasn't hard to guess.

You laughed louder than I had ever heard you laugh before. Your mouth opened wide and your hands slammed onto the table in honest amusement. Sionis grimaced. Dobkins giggled. 'Oh, Mads!' you hollered, landing a hand on my shoulder. 'I'm never gonna get enough of you! But-' You continued to grin, mouth stretching painfully across your cheeks as you stared Greenwood down. 'Call her a bitch again, and I'll make sure you'll never eat food again, let alone a person!' You burst out laughing once again, and I could only smile. Almost sweetly, you cradled your head and your hands, turned, and grinned at me.

Greenwood growled and went to stand, but was quickly quietened down by Sionis.

'Look, Madeline,' snapped Sionis, glaring away from Jerome. 'Jerome here has insisted that I treat you fairly; he said you're not going be such a violent little shi-' he caught Jerome's eye and rolled his own. 'Said you're not going to get so...frisky any more, around me. You do that, and you get in with me. You do me favours, I do you favours. How does that sound?'

I had thought about this, knowing that once I started to sit with the real maniacs of this place, then Doctor Isis would really start paying more attention to my out of therapy doings. Could I risk that? I had spent so long making sure that I would not be watched, as to get away with anything that I did do. You knew this, and you always seemed quite impressed by my ability to do such things, but I knew full well that you wanted more from me. You wanted to see me grow and, the more I thought about it, I kind of wanted to do the same. More than anything, for me.

I looked at you out of the corner of my eye and saw you give a small, barely noticeable nod of your head. Impulse told me trust you. Everything told me to trust you. In there, in Arkham, you forget that there are people out in the world who would think that idea ridiculous.

I shrugged. 'Alright'. A man like Sionis would hate such a blasé reaction so his apparent gallant offer to me. The idea gave me more joy that it probably should have.

Sionis sighed in annoyance whilst Greenwood leaned back in an unimpressed manner. You, on the other hand, looked at me like everything was falling into place exactly how you wanted it to.

'Now that that's sorted-' And they began to talk about mundane things. Greenwood boasted about the women he had killed and how he ate them, all the while throwing me sideways looks. I glared furiously at him and bared my teeth, whereas Sionis simply told the brute to sit away from me if he could not handle the attitudes of a teenage girl. Teenage girl. Like I was nothing, Jerome. Like I was a petty fly in their space. Little did they know.

I felt you then. I knew you had most likely grown as bored with the conversation as I had, so perhaps it was some kind of excitement you were looking for. Why, of course, you could not simply suggest terrorizing the guards or starting a riot, I will never know. So, instead, you had put me in the awful position of gasping loudly when your hand practically dove up my skirt and curled around my right knee. Sionis, who sat opposite me, gave me an annoyed look before turning away and continuing to brag to Greenwood, Dobkins and the ever quiet Helzinger about something.

Next to me, you breathed out of your nose.

I reached for a book that had been thrown across the other side of the table, just past your elbow, but you stopped me by reaching for it yourself with your free hand. I took the book quietly and met your eyes and bit my tongue at you, watching as you smirked beautifully.

Very slowly, your fingers dripped to the inside of my thigh, pulling my legs that little bit further apart. I had never been so aware of how many people were in a room, nor more aware of every letter that had been printed onto the book in front of me. I bowed my head, hair falling over my shoulders, and stared hard at the words that meant nothing to me.

Your fingers played up and up, so slowly that I'm sure you don't realise how much it hurt. I wanted you. I wanted you like any human being would want someone like you. Do you know how long it had been since I had felt something like that, Jerome? I was completely devoid of such feelings. But you...oh, you. With your long legs pressed against mine, and your pale fingers weaving their way up the inner expanse of my thigh...I could have come right then.

You squeezed hard enough to make me bite my lip, and that was when I'd had enough. Who were you to play me like that? I was Madeline. I was Mad, Mad Madeline who shouted at things that did not exist and who killed her mother to teach her some manners. It was when your fingers met the curve between my sex and my thigh that I decided I had given you too much control.

Lowering my right hand beneath the table, I played none of the teasing games you had decided to play. I, instead, pushed one hand over the top, high part of your thigh and reached down, fingers finding exactly what I was looking for. The talk of our friends had died into nothing in the background, nothing mattered but how warm your skin felt through the striped trousers and how dark your eyes had become when I peeked up to you. You pushed your knee hard into mine and dropped your free elbow onto the table with a thud.

I squeezed. You dropped your head. There.

With a flourish, I pulled away my hand and plucked yours from my thigh. Patting down my dress, I had stepped away from the table and announced that I was going to spend the rest of the day in my room, reading. The others had barely bid me farewell, but with one look at your face I knew I would be in for it tomorrow.

And, oh, how I had loved seeing you like that.

I didn't see you at all the next day. You know the reason, of course. You know that the moment I went into Isis' office to have my session, she sprung my father on me. I suppose, here, you can see what actually happened because I never really wanted to talk about it with you. I never really wanted to talk about it with anyone. I broke. I snapped in two.

I hadn't seen him in three years.

He was sitting in a chair opposite Isis and the moment I walked through that door he turned and looked at me and he smiled, Jerome. He fucking smiled. Like everything was okay. Like I- like what I had done was normal. If there is anything I cannot stand, it is people treating me like I am glass, and that smile was like fucking bubble wrap.

I think that's why I liked you so much. You treated me like rubber that could not break.

People say I looked like my dad. He had dark, curly hair and green eyes, though his skin was a lot darker than mine. His jaw was square, his eyes were round and there seemed to be grey seeping into the darkness of his hair like snow. I spied at him, startled at how old he suddenly looked. Where had my smiling father gone? I had killed my mother for him, to make him happier, but the three years that I had not seen him seemed to have aged him beyond belief.

'Madeline,' he said, breathless and glassy eyed.

I shook my head and looked at Isis. 'I said no,' I told her. 'I. Said. No'.

Isis nodded. 'I understand that, Madeline, but you have a habit of not trying things. I thought, perhaps, if you saw your father you might change your mind. He has already agreed to leave if you want him too, haven't you Mister Drake?' He said yes, I think, but all I could hear was your laugh playing over and over in my head when I told you that I had killed my mother. All I could hear was you.

I scowled at him and barged into the chair beside him. 'Well then, dad, how does it feel to see me, huh? Do I looked different? Do I remind you of mom?'

He flinched.

'Madeline,' Isis warned. She hadn't seen me like that before. I wonder if she had been surprised. 'If this is going to work-'

'I didn't want this to work!' I snapped, turning on her. My father placed his hand on his knees and stared at me. He was shaven and wearing a smart, pressed suit. He never used to wear suits. 'I wanted to stay here and never see my family again! I wanted to be quiet!' I sneered and turned to him, practically spitting I was so infuriated. 'I did it for you, you ungrateful bastard! I did it so that you could be happy!'

My father shook his head sadly. He felt sorry for me. 'I loved your mother, Madeline. It's only recently that I have come to terms with what you did. You are my daughter-'

'No. No. No. No. I don't want you. I want no one. Leave. Me. Alone'. I scratched at my arms and I yanked at the hem of my dress. 'I'd like to leave, I'd like to go-' It was then that I saw it. The gold band that was wrapped around his ring finger, new looking and shiny and nothing like the one he wore three years ago. I stared at it, mouth agape and something like happiness floating inside of me. 'You remarried?'

He started and Isis leaned back. I saw her hand resting below her desk, most likely on the buzzer that would notify the guards if I lost it. Almost as if he had forgotten it was there, my father stared at the ring. 'Yes'. He looked back at me. 'Yes, I did. Her name is Sharon, Madeline'. He swallowed. 'She has two children. Barry and Harleen'.

'Does she hurt you?' I asked. Like she did, I added silently. My father shook his head, swallowing hard and looking at me like he kind of got it. I stared. This was what I had wanted, Jerome. I wanted him to be happy, so why did I feel so bitter? 'I don't want to meet them,' I told him.

My father nodded. 'I wouldn't want you to'. I appreciated his honesty, but it was then that I realized I felt nothing for the man before me; this utter and complete stranger. I knew he thought the same of me. Where had his daughter gone; the girl who used to climb trees and beg him to read her wonderful stories? I couldn't remember when I had stopped thinking of him as my father, but I knew it had been a long time ago. Perhaps around the same time he stopped thinking of me as his daughter.

'I don't want to see you again'. Isis sighed. My father nodded. I thought he might cry. 'Thank you for coming, though'. When he left, he took with him an umbrella and left me a small bar of chocolate. My favourite as a child. The idea that he remembered such a thing should have been heart-warming to me, but it only made me remember what once had been and what could never be again. He left, and to my surprise, I found myself muttering, 'Bye dad'.

I never saw him again, you know. I also gave Isis that half melted bar of chocolate.

I could be nice. Sometimes.

What do you think? Did you see what I wanted you to see? ;) Review, and thank you so much for the ones that I have reviewed! I'm in shock I have so many with only two chapters! Thank you, thank you! Let us mourn Jerome by remembering what an awesome character he was.