Jerome exploded into his signature evil laugh, holding onto his stomach from the strength of it, but then he abruptly stopped giving Barbara a bored look. "As much fun as that sounds, I'm not sure Natalie is ready for that yet. So I think I'll have to take a pass." He replied turning towards the door.

"What would you do if I told you she needed you to, to protect her?" Barbara stated putting her hands on her hips.

It was also as if you could see Jerome's ear perk up when he heard that. "I'm listening," he said as he turned his head back towards her. He plopped down in the chair next to Barbara and interlaced his fingers in front of his body, like he was negotiating a deal. "So how exactly is killing Natalie's father going to protect her?" He questioned.

"I think you know already Jerome," Barbara hinted tilting her head slightly to the side with a small smile on her face. She only promised not tell Jerome about her daddy issues not hint to them.

Jerome's face blanked for just a moment and as his brain weaved through the possibilities. Finally he stopped at one and immediately his voice turned menacing and raspy once again as it did before with Natalie's attacker. "Do you mean..." he trailed off looking at Barbara as she nodded her head. "I'm in."

As she suspected, she had gotten it when she made it home. She withered in pain as she lied in her bed, curled in the fetal position. Tears steamed like a river down her face as she remembered all the physical and emotional pain she has endured last night. She didn't know what made this time seem so much worst than all of the others though.

Usually her tears would be dried by now and she would be getting cleaned up and ready for bed. But tonight it felt like she couldn't even get up, like her own body was a heavy block that didn't want to move. The only noise she was making was small whimpers of pain and sadness as she clung to her pillow as if she was a child clinging to their favorite stuffed animal. She felt weak and small, like she did when she was ten years old and her father started hurting her. She didn't like this feeling. She wanted to feel safe and warm again, like how she felt when she was little. Like how Jerome made her feel.

She didn't know what it was about him. Maybe it started from the time when he saved her from the middle-aged man on the streets of Gotham, or even the way he wrapped his arms so securely around her in the hug they had shared earlier. She remembered how strong he felt, and how warm and comfortable that had made her feel. She missed that, she wanted that back so badly.

But right now her world felt so cold and painful, almost unbearable. So she stayed curled in her tight, little ball with her arms wound around the pour pillow as her finger nails dug into it's fabric. And then she forced herself to shut her eyes and wished for all the pain she was suffering right now, physical and emotional, to disappear.

Natalie was currently standing across from Jerome in what appeared to be the middle of nowhere. It was almost like there was no setting, just a light gray background cast behind them, bellow them, and above them. He was just standing there, staring at her with all the love and affection she's ever seen. She almost had to look behind her, just to double check to make sure there wasn't anyone standing there that he was actually staring at, even though her and Jerome were the only ones so far to be found in this strange dream. Natalie turned back to Jerome. She wasn't exactly sure what she was meant to do here so she observed him similarly to what he seemed to be doing with her.

First, she noticed the thing everyone seems to notice about Jerome, his unique, fire, red hair. Although, it seemed slightly different. Instead of being messily slicked back as she has seen before, it was neatly parted off to the side and slicked back with just a little gel to keep it out of his face. Next she noticed how his jaw seemed to be very angular but the rest of his features seemed soft on his face. Even the small smile he was wearing as he looked at her seemed to be gentle. And then his eyes, his beautiful blue-green eyes seemed to be staring at her with the same expression as before, still full of affection.

"Natalie," Jerome seemed to be calling to her.

Almost on their own accord Natalie's feet seemed to be moving towards him. When she was standing in front of him, Jerome wrapped his arms securely around her small frame. She placed her cheek up against his chest and held him as well, feeling the thump of his heart under her delicate, translucent skin. She's never felt so much tenderness and care in her life and she would have been content to be stuck her for another hour if she could stay like this with him.

Of course, that didn't happen though.

The dream seemed to flash for a second and it was as if someone had pressed the reset button and she was back in the exact same position she started in. The setting seemed exactly the same, only this time there seemed to be an eerie black smoke that covered the gray background around them, almost like in horror movies. She looked over at Jerome afraid, which surprisingly didn't help to comfort her at all like it did before. In this version of the dream, he practically was her worst nightmare.

The first major difference was his smile, this one she didn't like at all. It was pulled back, ear to ear, as far as it would go, it almost seemed as if his face would crack if it was any larger. It was maniacal and horrifying, she has never seen anything like it. His smile, this time, seemed to have the opposite effect in this version of the dream. Instead of making her calmer and giving her a warm, comforting feeling, it made her skin crawl and her stomach turn unhappily. Another big difference, and perhaps the most horrifying one for her was his eyes. His head seemed tilted forward a little bit and it seemed he was staring at her just below his eyebrows almost, which didn't help make him seem any friendlier. His eyes themselves, his beautiful blue-green eyes, held the most malevolent, unpleasant stare she's ever seen on anyone.

And just like in the other dream she looked behind her to make sure that horrifying stare was for her. This time it wasn't, which made her feel some what relieved, but at the same time confused.

Behind her was a women who almost seemed like the exact opposite of Natalie. The women had short, dark, brown hair, tan skin, and had curves that seemed to be in all the right places of her body. Where as Natalie had long, blonde hair, fair, porcelain skin, and had a lot less curve to her body than the other women. She also noticed the women's attire, it seemed to be something straight out of the circus, maybe a dancer of sorts? Natalie wasn't really sure.

Natalie stepped out of the way and Jerome didn't even seem to notice her presents this time, as if she was invisible to him in this dream. Why was Jerome staring at that women like that though? 'What had she done to him to make him hate her so much?' she wondered in her head.

Suddenly, Jerome seemed to pull a hatchet out of nowhere and the women's and Natalie's eyes widen. Both women watch as Jerome stalked toward the dancer quickly and right before he was about to strike her down Natalie yelled, "Jerome don't!"

Natalie shot out of her bed, only to suddenly feel all the aches and stinging sensations from all the bruises and possible fractures she had gained from the night before. Her face felt chalky from the dried tears from last night she didn't clean from her face, as well as the feeling of wet streaks of new tears making their ventures down her face. Wiping them away quickly, she got out of bed and limped around her room to get ready this morning. But she was abruptly stopped when she heard a knocking on the front door. Knowing her dad, he would still be to hung over to get it this early in the morning, so she sighed and made her way towards the front door.

"GCPD! Open up!" she heard through the thick door as she got closer to it. Quickly opening the door, she saw two detectives standing before her.

"Hello detectives, what seems to be the problem?" she asked confused.

"We're just here on a call, some of your neighbors said they heard screaming last night from this house. Would you happen to know anything about that?" Asked the detective with the name tag that said Jim Gordon on it.

"Not that I know of, I got home around five o'clock and went to bed around eight o'clock I believe. I didn't wake up from any screaming last night though if there was any," Natalie stated feeling nervous. She was wondering if during her father's beating she accidentally got a little to loud or if the nightmare she had could have caused it possibly.

"Do you mind if we have a look around?" asked the other officer who seemed to not believe her for what ever reason. Maybe he saw her nervousness and had mistaken it for some sort of guilt.

Natalie stepped aside to let the two detectives into the house. The only thing at the time she was worried about was them finding her hung over father somewhere in the house. But what they did end up finding was much worst.

"Gordon, I found a body!" yelled the other detective as he went into my father's study. Detective Gordon quickly made his way over and Natalie followed him close behind in confusion. When they made their way into the study Natalie saw her father dead, his blood splattered on the walls and a kitchen knife firmly impaled into his eye.