Tainted Innocence

Chapter I

A warning before you read

This is a dark romance. If you are a reader who prefers fluffy stories then Tainted Innocence might not be the best choice. I do not intend to change Jeremiah Valeska or to redeem him. I try to write him as he's portrayed in the show while throwing in an romantic interest and sticking to the show's plot in later chapters.

I truly hope that some of you might enjoy my take on his story arc.

Have fun reading what crawled out of my head ;).

Chapter I

For as long as Lynn could remember her parents had been close friends with the Wilde family. At least once a month they would come to their luxurious mansion which was situated in a rather rural area far away from the sinister, depressing city that was Gotham.

In fact the Wildes and Parkers were so close that they even spend each Thanksgiving and Christmas together. When Lynn was a child, she'd often wondered why Anne Wilde deemed it necessary to dote over her like her own mother and why the latter never felt awkward about her friends odd behaviour. It was only when she got older that Lynn realised that Anne had always wanted to have a child of her own. Unfortunately, Anne had been diagnosed as infertile, so little Lynn had been somewhat of a surrogate for the dream child Misses Wilde would never have. Lynn didn't mind her strange behaviour. In fact she was basking in the affection the woman held for her. She was like another, although much younger grandmama. Never angry with her, always willing to play a game, making the best presents ever, treating her like a little princess.

However, things changed when Lynn turned ten. For as long as she lived she would always remember that particular Christmas when she first met Xander Wilde. If she had known that the shy boy would one day become her worst enemy, she would have left on the spot.

*

"Don't forget the bag with the presents, Howard."

Lynn suppressed a giggle as her father made a sound of annoyance at her mother's order. While unbuckling her seatbelt, she looked through the car's window at Wilde Mansion's facade. With a grin she remembered how she had always compared the huge, old house to a fairy tale castle. She liked being here, liked the antique furniture inside and the air of grandeur that lingered in every corner of the house. Whenever Lynn strolled through its corridors, she felt like a queen.

Of course, she now deemed herself too old to play queen and her invisible entourage of loyal courtiers anymore. She was ten, almost an adult! That's what she thought at least. Nonetheless, as she got up, she felt the same excitement bubbling up inside her which she had felt in the years before.

Getting out of the car she couldn't help but grin even wider. 

"Damn it, Clara. How many presents did you buy for just two people?", she heard her father exclaim as she walked up to the entrance. Lynn turned her head to see her father struggling with a huge bag packed to the brim with neatly wrapped presents. She snorted in amusement which promptly earned her a glare from her father. He opened his mouth, undoubtedly in an effort to tell his daughter what he thought of her behaviour, but was prevented from doing so when his wife cut in.

"Two people I haven't seen in what feels like ages and don't forget that I had to buy one more present this year!"

Howard Parker grunted and muttered something under his breath that, Lynn guessed, her mother wouldn't have appreciated if it had been said aloud. Meanwhile, Clara Parker had pressed the doorbell. A few moments of silence passed before the huge wooden door was practically teared open by a beaming Mister Wilde.