Doe Eyes ✧ Gotham [1] #Wattys2019

chapter three

      As promised, Detective Gordon helped Jane and put her with a place he felt was going to be good for her: with Bruce Wayne. Now Jane and Bruce had never met before and Jane didn't like feeling like a burden, but she trusted Jim Gordon with putting her in a place he felt would be safe away from Jerome. 

She walked into Wayne Manor hours after the incident at the G.C.P.D precinct, feeling very vulnerable; her face had acquired multiple cuts and bruises, as did her stomach, and they made her feel ugly. With her was one single small suitcase that held all of her belongings. In front of her stood Bruce Wayne himself, who was only a child, and his butler, Alfred. The Manor was gigantic and beautiful. She had never been in a place this nice in her entire life. She felt so out of place, like she didn't belong. 

His butler took a step towards her. "Good evening, Miss Valeska. We've heard your story and we're very honored to be able to host you here. I can show you to your room if you'd like."

Jane nodded, but hesitated. "I just want to say thank you for taking me in. I promise I won't be a burden. I'll stay out of your way and make sure I don't make too much noise."

This time, Bruce stood forward. "Nonsense, you aren't a burden and you can stay for as long as you'd like." He paused before continuing. "James Gordon told me about what happened to you and everything you've been through. I'm really sorry you faced all of it alone. But I want you to know... You aren't alone anymore."

Jane was so overwhelmed with emotions. Never had anyone told her such nice things. She was used to being alone and just taking it. She never knew what it was like to have someone to rely on. "Thank you very much, Bruce. You have no idea how much that meant to me." 

Alfred looked at the young boy with pride. He was growing up to be a very wonderful and mature young man. He then turned to the small red-head and motioned towards the grand staircase. "After you, Miss."

Jane led the way up the staircase to a very beautiful room, twice the size as her family's trailer. She thanked the butler as he left to let her get herself settled. She set down her suitcase at the end of the bed and looked around. Her small suitcase looked so tiny and out of place on the king sized bed. She felt as if the suitcase represented her: small and out of place in this life. She tried normalcy and it didn't work; she was slowly running out of options. 

Jane quickly started to get sad. She sat on the bed and leaned forward, her elbows resting on her knees. Her hands covered her face and slowly went towards her scalp. She felt lost. Every person she had ever known had wanted to hurt her. Every single person she had ever known had hurt her. Was there something wrong with her? Why did everyone want to hurt her? She didn't understand.

Jane wanted to wash off and get into bed, as this day had been extremely long and tiresome. She wanted to rest it off and pretend for a couple hours that her whole life was a dream. Slowly, Jane rose from the bed and went into the small bathroom that was connected to the room. It was equally as nice, probably one of the nicest bathrooms she'd ever seen. Walking closer to the mirror, she observed her face. Jerome had done a number on her. Her eye had swollen up and there were cuts on her cheeks that had bled a little. She was just glad he hadn't shot her. 

Jane had sighed and turned the sink on and waited a couple seconds to warm up before rinsing her face with water. She made sure she got all the blood off and slowly and carefully went over the sore parts of her face. When she finished, she turned the water off and gently patted her face with a soft clean towel. As she observed her face once more, she realized the water didn't make her look any better, and instead made her look even more like a sad little girl. She gritted her teeth not liking the sight nor the thought of being perceived that way. 

Ever since she was born, that was the perception many had for her. She was small and innocent and frail and couldn't do anything for herself. She wanted to feel powerful, feel important, and not looked down upon anymore. She didn't want to rely on anyone anymore as that was the whole reason she looked like this: she had went to rely on the police to save her. 

In the morning, she thought. I'm going to do something about that.

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The sun from the window shun on Jane's face, waking her up. She had slept good which was something she wasn't able to do for a while. She had just gotten used to sleeping by herself. For much of her life, she had slept in the same bed as Jerome, due to their mother not having enough money to buy her a small one. She was used to hearing someone else's breathing next to her, it had become what soothed her to sleep. Now she focused on her own breath and it worked just as well. 

Jane rose from the bed and went towards the bathroom, washing her face once more before braiding her long red hair into a french braid. She opened her suitcase at last and pulled the limited amount of clothes she wore out and into the huge dresser that was placed next to her bed. She didn't own much so the clothes looked rather tiny in the huge drawers. 

She slipped a pair of dark jeans out, as well as one of her many sweaters (this one, a black one) that were too big on her and covered her entire arms. Most her sweaters were hand-me downs from her brothers. The black sweater swallowed her up as she looked in the mirror. The sweater had belonged to Jerome and was one of his favorites before he grew out of it. Jane felt very conflicted over it. It reminded her so much of him and after everything he had put her through the last couple months, she wasn't sure if she could wear it. 

Nevertheless, she shook those bad feelings off and continued to wear it and quietly slipped out of her room and down the stairs. Jane was always good at staying extremely quiet so when she finally found the other housemates, neither Alfred nor Bruce Wayne had noticed her until she spoke very softly, "Hello."

Both jumped a little. "My lord, Miss Valeska. You surprised me." Alfred replied as she moved closer into the room. It appeared like Bruce and his butler were sparing in a match, as they both had boxing gloves on his hands and Bruce was breathing heavily.

"What are you guys doing?" Jane asked.

"Alfred is teaching me how to fight," replied Bruce with a boyish smile. 

Alfred nodded. "We apologize if we woke you. Master Bruce wanted to squeeze in a session today."

Jane stared at the gloves, feeling motivated. "Can I join?"

Alfred and Bruce exchanged glances. "Are you sure, Miss?"

Jane nodded and sighed. She moved closer to them. "My whole life I was a victim of abuse and I never could stand up for myself because I never knew how." Jane glanced down to the floor, thinking about the previous day. "After what happened at the G.C.P.D yesterday, I don't want to rely on anyone else and want to learn how to protect myself." When she looked up, she was faced with two more looks of sympathy. She groaned internally as that was what she wanted to avoid. She was tired of sympathy. 

"Very well then," Alfred spoke. He nudged Bruce, who stood firmly next to him. "Hand Miss Valeska your gloves and take a break."

Bruce nodded and ripped the gloves off, handing them over to her with a smile. "Here you go." Jane smiled back and got into place in front of Alfred with huge gloves on her hands. She got into the stance she assumed was correct and waited for further instructions.

"Okay, Miss, so we are going to practice a sequence that is very basic for beginners." Jane nodded as she watched Alfred fake punch left, right, then swooped down. "Ready?"

Jane smiled. "Let's do this."