Mama Gotham

We'll Be A Perfect Family

"Stupid recipes, turning deliciousness into work..." Alyssa muttered as she fumbled to find all the necessary ingredients. A bag of flour slipped from the counter and exploded all over her. "Ah! Damn it..."

"What are you doing?"

She looked up to see Jerome in the kitchen doorway watching her with an amused smirk. Alyssa huffed and let her hands drop to her sides, the flour puffing where her hands hit her legs.

"Uh, the 'Mama Gotham Foundation' is having a bake sale. Or its supposed to anyway; for some reason I'm only a good cook when I'm the one that gets to eat what I make."

"Want some help?"

"Yes please."

He smiled at her. "Go clean yourself up, I'll see what I can do here."

With a grateful smile, Alyssa left the kitchen to wash the flour off her. Selina watched the exchange from the living room, slightly unsettled. She had been unsettled ever since what Jerome had told her last night. The Jerome she knew was the sweetest, most caring boy in the world. Not that his mother didn't deserve what she had gotten but....whoa.

She felt bad for it, but it made her see him in a slightly different light. She had seen Lyla's body, how the hell could the same person who did that be baking brownies in her kitchen with a content smile?

"Ya know, I can feel you staring." he said without looking up.

She blinked and shook her head. "Sorry."

"No, if you have something to say, then say it." he looked up at her.

Selina frowned as she studied his expression. No, there was no sign of malice, or even anger. Right now, Jerome looked like the same sweet boy she'd declared her brother. "I'm just...still trying to process it."

"The bitch deserved what she got."

"I know. Its got nothin' to do with her, its you. I never you'd be the kinda person...."

"Selina I'm still me." his hands gripped at the edge of the kitchen island. "I'm the same Jerome I've always been. I'm still your brother."

His grip tightened with every word, and his gazed hardened. Selina nodded and agreed with him, but she couldn't ignore the chills going down her spine.

For the first time, Jerome had looked like somebody who'd kill someone.

******

Alyssa Connors was rude, brash, obnoxious and stubborn as heck. But....she was also a good person. She was loyal, and she had a good heart.

Jim knew that, and he respected it. But after she had all but shut down his case, he didn't really think much of the woman's redeeming factors.

He tracked down the man who had worked the case to get Alyssa custody of Jerome, and was stunned when the name came up: Harvey Dent. What the hell was a district attorney doing working with Alyssa?

As it turned out, quite a bit.

"Alyssa approached me when she first returned to Gotham." Harvey informed, once he had calmed Jim down slightly. "Want my help in creating a charity that takes in street kids. The kids took to calling her 'Mama', and the press came up with the name from there."

"But why you?" he frowned. "She had the money, why not hire her own lawyer?"

He shrugged. "Said she wanted someone who genuinely wanted to help; not someone who was only there for the paycheck."

"And Valeska?"

"Good kid in a bad situation, you can see how that's Alyssa's MO."

"And you just went along with it?"