Alex sat on the sofa, staring at the television. She wasn't paying much attention, she was in her own little world. She looked over to the ginger sat next to her. He seemed to be enjoying it; it had death and murder in it, of course he would like it. The question burned inside of her, but she was hesitant to ask. Jerome could be unpredictable at the best of times. She wasn't sure what his response would be. She knew he would never hurt her, but she was still worried. She wondered if he had noticed her change of demeanor in the recent weeks. If he did, he didn't let on. He was good at hiding his emotions.

When she first met him she was unsure if he was even capable of having emotions, sympathy especially. But they had become close friends over the recent months and she had seen a side of him that few had seen. She felt somewhat honored. She discovered she had feelings for him, but she dare not act upon them. Unpredictable should be Jerome Valeska's middle name.

She couldn't take it any longer. She was having to bite her lip to stop the words tumbling out, if she held it in for any longer she would go insane.

Not that Jerome would complain.

Alex took a breath. "Jerome?"

"Yeah?" his eyes still on the film.

"Can I...can I ask you something?"

"Sure, doll," he smiled, "what's up?"

"Well...," here goes, "what's it like to kill someone?" the words came out in more of a blurt than the cool and collected question she had planned in her mind.

He shrugged. "It depends who it is and why," Jerome turned his head towards her, an eyebrow raised. "Why?"

"I was just wondering," she tried to brush it off as mere curiosity and turned her eyes back to the film.

"There's always a reason behind your questions Alexandra."

Alex began to stand up. "Do you want another drink?" she attempted to change the subject.

Jerome shot his arm across her front, stopping her moments. "Something is wrong."

"No, everything is fine," she faked a smile, but the tears sparkled in her eyes as one fell onto her cheek. She covered her face with her hands and sunk back into the white sofa.

Jerome placed an arm around her and pulled her close. He wasn't too good with the whole comforting thing, but he could at least try. "Tell daddy, what's wrong sweet."

Alex wiped her eyes, smudging her eyeliner a little.

"Are you in some kind of trouble?"

"Not... it's nothing..."

"It sure doesn't look like 'nothing'," Jerome moved a stray piece of her hair from her face and tucked it behind her ears, "are you gonna tell me doll or am I going to have to interrogate you? I'm quite good at that," he winked.

Alexandra smiled a little.

Jerome placed a finger on her chin and lifted her face to look at his. "Spit it out girl."

She steadied her breathing. "You know I've been working at the cafe recently?"

Jerome nodded.

"Well...it was going fine until...I did something...silly."

"And what would you describe as 'silly'?"

"I stole some money from the till."

"You got caught?"

"Kinda...it wasn't by the boss, although I'd rather it was now...it was another guy who works there."

"So a guy caught you taking money, so what?" he smirked, "he will tell your boss and if you're lucky you might get away with a warning. If not, there are plenty of jobs around Gotham," from the look on her face, Jerome knew it was something more.

"I wish he had told the boss. At first he was going to but I begged him not to, I love this job! It's the best I've had in a while. I don't want to lose it...but I needed a little extra money..." she paused. "He's blackmailing me."

Jerome clenched his jaw. He didn't like to admit it but he had taken quite a liking to this girl. He loved spending time with her, even if it was just wasting hours as they sat watching films. The idea that someone was blackmailing her made something inside of him twist uncomfortably. "How?"

Alex looked down at her twiddling hands in her lap. "It...it doesn't matter how he is-"

"Yes, it does," he interrupted firmly, "now tell me. What is he doing?"

The tears came back again. She couldn't look at him when she said it, she closed her eyes and sighed audibly. "I have to be his...booty call...whenever he wants."

"He's using you for sex?" the unknown feeling indie of him grew.

"At first it was just him, but then..." her voice trailed off.

"Oh please don't tell me he's..." Jerome turned his head away to try and hide the anger on his face. He spoke through gritted teeth. "How many?"

"Two...two of his friends."

There was a tense silence between them for a while.

Jerome was trying his best to hide his anger, but he knew it was showing.

That was what Alex was worried about.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Alex looked at him, his face still turned away. "I wanted to but I didn't know how."

"You know you can come to me about anything, doll. You know that!" he was trying to not take his anger out on her.

"I thought I could handle it."

"Yeah? And how exactly do you expect to sort it out, huh?" he snapped his head to her and met the worry in her eyes. "Who is he?"

"I think his name is Jeff. I'm not sure..."

Jerome jumped up from the sofa and headed to the door.

Alex followed him. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to kill him," he reached for his coat.

Alex stood in front of the door. "No! You can't!"

"Why not? Give me a good reason why I shouldn't?" his eyes were full of fire and rage.

"Jer-"

He shoved Alex onto the wall, a hand either side of her head. "He has used you for sex. Not only him, but his friends! How dare they touch you!"

Alex stared into his eyes. She had seen him angry before, but not this angry. She wasn't scared of him, he would never hurt her. But where did this rage come from? Yes, he was angry, but this angry? Why?

"You asked me what it was like to kill someone, so don't you dare say the thought hasn't crossed your mind! Come on, one! One good reason why I shouldn't kill the mother fucker Alex!"

She swallowed. "Because I don't want you to."

Jerome's expression softened a little. He couldn't deny her any request, however much he wanted to. He pushed away from the door and paced a little. "Listen Alex, I would be doing you a favor."

"How? How will killing someone help?"

Jerome smirked. "Oh, you have no idea," he brought his attention back to the matter in hand. "If he lives, he will continue to do this to you. What you expect to ask him to just stop and he will? Guys like that never stop. Once they have something on you, they don't quit. Trust me, I should know. If he is dead, however, it will work in your favor in more than one way."

"I doubt that."

"Oh?" he held up a finger. "Think about this then, if he dies no one knows you stole the money," another finger, "if he dies, you will be able to get more shifts which means more money," a third finger was held up, "if he dies, you won't have to be a..." his jaw tightened at the thought along with his fist, "booty call for him and his friends. Now if he lives, what will happen?" he held out his arms. "You could have asked anyone for help yet you came to me. Surely you knew I would want to kill him? Otherwise, why else would you come to me?" he threw his hands onto his chest, "me of all people!"

As much as she hated to admit it, Jerome had a point. "It's not going to be...messy like that guy down the club is it?"

"Only if you want it to be."

"No!" she replied instantly. "No, I don't want him to suffer."

Jerome grunted. "No fun."

"Hey, this is my problem, not yours. I don't want a messy crime scene so I'm not getting one okay?" she was trying to hold the shake in her voice back. If this was going to happen, she had to make sure Jerome didn't make more trouble than there needed to be.

"You know I love it when you're determined side shows doll. You need to do it more often."

"The only reason its showing is because I can't take this any more!"

"You took your time doing it, but you came to me," he stood before her and ran a finger along her jawline. "I'm glad you did gorgeous. Now, let's go sort this out."

Jerome sat at the cafe bar. The building was abuzz with the rush of hungry people. He sipped his coffee and watched numerous people around him.

Alex was working her shift, it was busy, but that was to be expected at lunch time.

The rush was almost over when a dark haired man approached Jerome. "Can I get you anything else?"

Jerome looked at him, then down to his name badge. Jeff. He smiled. "I'm good thanks, but you could do me a favour."

"Oh yeah? Ask away," the man began to wipe the tabletop.

"That girl over there," Jerome nodded towards Alex, "you know if she's, you know, single?"

Jeff scoffed. "I'd stay away from her if I were you."

Jerome acted surprised. "Why?"

"She's a trouble maker mate."

"Trouble eh?" he glanced over to Alex. "I like a bit of trouble."

"Trust me, she'd rob you within a heartbeat."

"Rob?"

"Yeah," he leaned over to Jerome and lowered his voice a little, "you know, I caught her stealing from the till the other day."

Jerome gasped.

He nodded.

"I hope you told management."

"You don't know a lot about woman mate, do ya? Listen, here's a free tip. If you can get something on someone, you can make them do anything," he held up his hand and motioned to his small finger, "you can wrap them round your little pinky and make them do anything."

"I take it that's what you've done?"

"Damn right. Wanna know what I got her doing?"

"What?" he asked, trying to hold his temper and sound curious and ignorant of the situation.

"I got myself a booty call," he sang.

"Nice!" Jerome smiled. He looked over to Alex. "Looks like I need to get some dirt on her then as well."

"I can introduce you if you like? And by introduce I mean there is a free room out back and she's due her break soon."

Jerome lifted an eyebrow. This might work out nicer than he expected. He was walking right into his death. "Sure."

Jeff looked over at Alex. "Alexandra!"

She shot a look at him and saw Jerome looking at her also.

"Go take your break."

She nodded, acting unfortunate. After she had finished with a customer she excused herself and entered the empty staff room.

Shortly after, Jeff entered with Jerome.

Alex stood up from the chair and looked at Jeff.

"Young man here has taken a liking to you. Go on, you know the drill."

Alex stood for a while, her mouth agape. She didn't expect this to happen.

After Jeff had offered Jerome to sit down, he turned to her. "Well? Get on with it. I will be outside the door. You got ten minutes."

Alex bit her lip and looked over to Jerome.

Jeff shut the door behind him.

Alex sighed with relief. "That was close. I thought he was going to stay."

Jerome chuckled and stood up. "Yeah, shame."

Alex looked at him in shock.

He laughed. "I'm kidding doll, I wouldn't let you do anything unless it was okay with you."

"Now what?" she lowered her voice.

"Now we wait for a while, when he comes back in we shoot him."

The door opened and Jeff stood before them. "On second thoughts, I think I will watch. The last customer complained you didn't do as you were told," he walked to the opposite side of the room and took a seat against the wall after lighting a cigarette. "So I'm gonna make sure you do as you're told this time."

Jerome looked at Alex. He could see she was scarlet.

"I..." backtalk was not the answer. She looked at Jerome, a worried look on her face. She could see he was surprised as well, but his expression didn't last long. She knew he was witty and a quick thinker, but she wasn't sure how he would get out of this.

Jerome turned back to her and grabbed her chin, he looked into her eyes and gave a little wink of reassurance. He crashed his lips against hers and brought her into a fierce kiss.

Alex didn't deny him. She knew she had to play along.

Jerome walked back whilst kissing her and sat down again. He pulled her on top of him so she straddled him. Jerome was enjoying this a lot more than he should. He parted her lips with his tongue and deepened the kiss. His hands trailed down to her hips and gripped them tight, pulling her closer against him.

Alex wiggled closer to him and kept her eyes closed, she was embarrassed yes, but she was also enjoying this a bit more than she had expected. She felt Jerome's lips move to her jawline and down to her neck. On the way up his breath tickled her ear.

"Okay?" he slid his hand into hers and squeezed.

She nodded slightly breathless.

"Don't worry doll, I got this. Only what you're comfortable with, okay?" Jerome slid his free hand up the front of her shirt and found her bra. He heard her let out a small gasp. This brought a smile to his lips. To his surprise, she kissed him again.

Alex felt a hand grasp her hair and pull her off of the ginger.

"Fuck sake girl, don't mess about! Give the guy what he expects!" he threw her to her knees in front of Jerome.

She moved closer to him, eyes to the floor. She couldn't look into his eyes.

Jerome watched her shaking hands try to undo his trousers.

He placed his hand on hers as he looked down at her.

Her eyes met his as she saw him reach for the gun inside his jacket.

He leaned forward and placed a small kiss on her lips.

"I'm okay," she motioned towards the gun, "it's okay." she whispered.

"Sure?"

"Yeah."

"Don't worry doll, he'll be dead soon," Jerome winked. He moved back and undid his trousers.

Alex watched him pull his member out of his underwear. Her eyes widened. She wasn't going to lie, she did like Jerome and the thought of him and her had crossed her mind a few times. But she never expected him to be so big.

Jerome noticed her expression and smirked. He stroked his hand up and down a few times. He took her hand and placed it on him. "Show me what you got girl."

Alex moved her head closer to him as she pumped her hand.

Jerome tilted his head back and closed his eyes as she took him into her warm mouth. A small moan escaped him.

Jeff sat opposite and watched the couple. He lit another cigarette immediately after stubbing the other one out. He glanced at the clock. "Better make it quick slut."

Jerome would have responded to the insult towards Alex, but right now he was lost in unimaginable pleasure. He wrapped his finger in her hair and pushed her head down lower, listening to her gag on his length. His free hand took hers by his side so Jeff couldn't see and held it tight.

She squeezed his hand in response and continued working on him. In no time at all she felt his liquid fill her mouth and she forced it down her throat with small gasps. She brought her head back and wiped her lips.

Jerome looked down at her, a content smile spread across his face. He grabbed her chin and kissed her again. "Good girl," he murmured.

"She good?" Jeff smiled.

"Hell yeah. Better than most of the hookers in this town."

"Told ya so," he laughed. "Now, we got a few minutes left or you could call it a day."

"I have a better idea," Jerome brought himself to his feet and pulled the gun from the inside of his jacket, aiming it at Jeff.

The man threw his hands in the air, dropping the cigarette on his leg. "Fuck!" he jumped up. "The hell is this?"

"This is me, about to shoot you, in the face."

"What? Why?"

"This is what you get for blackmailing girls. Now, I wouldn't have cared if it was any other girl, but Alexandra is mine, understand?"

Alex was caught off guard by his words.

"Oh, I see, slimy little whore got her boyfriend to help her out, huh? Couldn't do it herself, had to go running for help? You always were a useless bitch."

Jerome flicked off the safety on the gun. "If I were you Jeffrey, I'd watch your manners."

"People will hear it for god sake!" he laughed uncomfortably.

"Your point being?"

"My point being is you...you can't shot me!"

"Hmm, you're right. I can't," he motioned to Alex, "but she can."

"What?" Alex looked at him in utter horror.

"You said earlier, I can't kill him. You never said you couldn't, plus you were curious about what it felt like to kill someone right? Well, today is your lucky day sweet cheeks!"

Alex looked down at the gun in Jerome's hands. Out of the corner of her vision she saw Jeff moving closer. She grabbed the gun and aimed it at him. Without thinking, she pulled the trigger and shot him in the head.

Jerome whistled. "Nice shootin' doll," he grabbed her hand, "now let's get out of here."

Jerome pushed Alex into the apartment as they laughed.

"That was...amazing!" she laughed. "I never knew it was so easy!"

Jerome giggled. "I'm glad you enjoyed yourself. Now," he approached her and placed his hands on either side of her face, "next time you have a problem, you come to me. Got it?"

Alex nodded and placed a hand over one of his. "Thank you Jerome, I don't know how I can thank you."

Jerome smiled. "I have an idea," he moved his face closer to hers. "finish what you started."

Alex didn't have time to understand what he said as he forced her into a deep kiss and moved her towards the bedroom.