Crazy Eyes ✧ Gotham [2]

chapter twenty-six

PLEASE KEEP COMMENTING YOUR REACTIONS TO THINGS THAT HAPPEN DURING THE CHAPTER AND JUST THE CHAPTER IN GENERAL

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                "Don't listen to anything he says, Bruce. He's going to want you to face and conquer your fears in the worst way imaginable. He just wants a reaction. You faced him once; you can do it again."

That was the last thing Jane said to Bruce before he went running off after Jeremiah. She tried to be encouraging, but she wasn't sure if she succeeded. Facing Jeremiah was hard, and scary. She thought since she had the experience, she would tell him. 

Bruce didn't explain much when he left - mostly because he had no clue where he was going either. He gave her a guess, saying to go to the alley behind the movie theater where his parents were murdered in. Jeremiah, for some odd reason, was trying to make Bruce relive that night. Jane tried to think from his point of view, but even she couldn't understand the level of crazy her brother had grown to. 

Before she ran to join and help Bruce, Oswald Cobblepot and Selina Kyle ended up at Jeremiah's tunnel. They were there to try and get out of Gotham City, which Jane found extremely understandable. This place was a hellhole. However, Selina was eager to help Jane when told about what Bruce was doing. 

They had went running, leaving Alfred and Oswald to talk amongst themselves. Of course, they had to make a quick pitstop. Jane had to grab a gun and a couple of bullets for this mission. Before she put them in, Jane had momentarily looked at the bullets. These could be the things that kill her brother tonight. Jane was excited, finally everything was coming to an end. Tonight, Jeremiah would be stopped forever and Jane would be free to live her life. 

Eventually, the two found the alley Bruce told Jane about. Apparently, Selina was there that night Bruce's parents were killed. She was able to follow her own footsteps. The universe was definitely on their side in this moment. After Selina and Jane found their hiding places, Jeremiah had come running out. Jane watched silently in the shadows of an old dumpster, making herself small and unnoticeable - a skill she acquired growing up. 

With Jeremiah stood what she could only make out as the fake Wayne's he made. Jeremiah held a gun, ready to end with this massacre when Bruce kept interrupting him.

"Jeremiah! You don't have to do this!"

Jeremiah sighed. "But, I do. You see, I came to this realization. I realized that no matter what I did to bond us, some random gunman in an alley would be the man who you were tied to the most. The man you saw when you closed your eyes." Jane's eyes followed as Jeremiah walked closer to Bruce. Not too much to lose his advantage, but enough. "I want to be the star of the show!" Jane didn't realize how much of Jeremiah's obsession with Bruce grew in the past couple of months. Many of the pieces of the last week started clicking into place; her understanding of everything became so clear. "So if I can't have you as a brother bonded by love.." Jeremiah clicked the gun. "... then we'll just have to be bonded by hatred."

Jane readied her gun. She made eye contact with Selina who positioned herself above them. They were weighing their options of when to jump in. Selina shook her head.

"And you think killing two people that look like my parents will do that? It won't."

Jeremiah playfully smiled. This was all a game to him. "Well, then it's a good thing I already put a bullet in both of their fraudulent skulls." Both Bruce and Jane's faces twisted in confusion. Who were those people standing behind him then? Jeremiah's smile got larger. "Oh, you're confused.. You're wondering if I already shot them, then who's this lovely couple?" After giving them a quick glance, he turned back to face Bruce's reaction. "Thomas.. Martha... Why don't you turn around?"