Rapunzel <J. Valeska>

2.2

Daisy is still napping when Jerome returns from his jaunt running errands. He smiles fondly at her sleeping face before entering their bathroom to prepare it for his later spa plans. Daisy will need to relax and do something mindless after he breaks the news about Pepper.

Speaking of... Jerome pulls the necklace out of his pocket, making sure there were no spots of blood on it. He kept the necklace with him constantly, it being something that was far too dangerous to be left lying around for Daisy to find. She's going to be devastated by the news, let alone if she ever found out the real truth.

Jerome sets the scissors, comb, and brush out in the counter. This done, he lays out all of the new bath necessities as well as a razor and shaving cream on the bathtub's built in shelf. The last thing he does before revisiting Daisy is plugging the drain and turning on the hot water to start filling up the tub.

When he reenters the bedroom, Daisy is beginning to rouse herself, stirring gently as she finds her way back to the land of the living. Her nose scrunches up adorably in her sleep and her eyelids flutter, as if she is aware of her voyeur and is displeased by it. Jerome chuckles at this and sits down next to her on the side of the bed.

"Wake up, princess. I have something to tell you," he says gently.

Hearing his voice makes her shift again, rubbing her eyes drowsily as she blinks up at him with her big doe eyes. Recognizing him, she grins at him sleepily, rolling over and struggling to get up.

"Hang on a minute there, princess. You may wanna stay sitting for a minute," Jerome cautions.

Daisy furrows her eyebrows in confusion, but does as Jerome asks and remains sitting in the bed, searching his eyes for answers. The man sighs, breaking eye contact as he reaches out to take her hands in his. Steeling himself for what's coming next, Jerome meets Daisy's eyes again and exhales loudly.

"While I was out today, I decided to go looking for your friend Pepper. I found that Sal guy you said she worked for and—" Jerome explains, breaking off as he comes to the hard part. "Pepper's dead, baby. I'm so sorry."

He can't bear to look at her anymore, only partly acting for her benefit. Does he regret killing the woman in the alley? No, but he does regret that she was someone close to his girl, and what his actions in killing her will do to Daisy. Daisy.

She's collapsing in his arms right now, sobbing soundlessly as she struggles to process the information. Her eyes beg for answers. Why? How? When?

Daisy is completely shellshocked. It feels like her entire world is crashing down around her. Her rock, her only companion, only friend, only family gone, dead—forever. I didn't even get to say goodbye.

She only realizes she's crying brokenly in her daddy's lap when she vaguely registers his rocking motions and he swipes his finger beneath her eyes to catch and wipe away the tears as they fall. Suddenly she can feel again, her face wet and cold and swollen from crying. Her sniffles sound loud and pathetic in her own ears, making her wonder what Daddy must think.

Daisy sits up, embarrassed as she tries to wipe her own eyes and stop her babyish whining. What happened? She signs to Jerome.

"It's not a pretty story, princess," he warns. "But if you really wanna know, I'll tell you."

When she nods immediately, Jerome forces himself to continue.

"She was shot in the chest by someone the night we met. I don't think Sal really knew what happened aside from the fact that she'd been murdered. No one reported it, but somehow Sal must have gotten ahold of her body and disposed of it, because he had this," he explains, pulling the necklace from his pocket. "The bastard was planning to pawn it, and the rest of her stuff, off. I, uh, persuaded him to give me this after I recognized it sitting on his desk.