Bullets and Brainpower

Selina Kyle II

^^can we just acknowledge this hot man for a sec?^^

I'm useful! That's right. That's how this chapter starts, kids. The ME stitched and wrapped my hand and wrapped my ribs, then I helped interrogate the kid that fell into the restaurant, got him to trust me, and he told us what happened and who to talk to without Harvey having to beat him up. It was a productive day. Now I'm on my way to the circus, where I'm meeting Jerome. As I approach his trailer, I'm careful to stay out of sight, just in case his mother shows up. I don't think I have to worry about it though. I can hear the yelling from outside.

After about five minutes, the door to the trailer opens, and Jerome walks out. He looks around, and I walk around the corner of the trailer.

"Over here," I whisper. He looks over and smiles as he walks over. It's then that I notice the bruise on his cheekbone. "Did she do that?" He looks at the ground and nods. I frown. "That's not right." He looks up at me and shakes his head.

"It doesn't matter," he says. "I'm fine." I shake my head.

"J, you told me you were fine when I met you, and you most definitely weren't fine, so I know you're not now." He looks down and notices the bandages around my hand.

"What happened?" he asks. I look down at my hand and chuckle quietly.

"Punched a wall." He looks up at me.

"Dude, why would you punch the wall?" I shake my head. "Cassie." Well, crap. Unless he's serious, he always calls me Cass or C, not Cassie. I sigh.

"This guy at my school made me mad," I tell him. "I was frustrated after I got dragged away from him, so...I punched the brick wall." He shakes his head.

"Why?" he asks. "What did he say?"

"Are we gonna go somewhere or not?" He sighs and sticks his hands in his coat pockets as we walk away from the circus.

"You're avoiding the question, you know," he says after about five minutes. "Please just tell me what he said." I sigh.

"He was bugging me and asked what I was doing tonight, so I told him I was hanging out with my boyfriend just to get him off my back," I tell him. "When I that, I was meaning you, as in my friend who's a boy, but I knew he wouldn't take it that way. He kept asking me questions about you, and when I tried to leave, he called you a freak." I look at the ground. "Turned into a fight." I lift my shirt just enough to show him the bandages around my ribs. He sighs.

"You shouldn't have done that for me," he says after a while. "I don't deserve it." I look up at him and shake my head.

"Don't say that," I say. "You are one of my two friends. I don't want to lose either of you." He sighs.

"Why was he asking about me?" I groan.

"Because he's the school playboy," I tell him. "He actually wanted me to bring you to the game tonight to prove that you were my boyfriend. That's why I wanted to get him off my back." Suddenly, Jerome stops walking.

"The game?" he asks. I nod.

"There's a basketball game tonight," I say. "Starts at five." Jerome suddenly smiles.

"Come on," he says, pulling me forward. "I know what we're doing tonight." I frown.

"Jerome, no. We are not going to that game." He stops and turns to look at me.

"You forget-" He suddenly picks me up and carries me over his shoulder. "-I'm bigger than you!" I laugh.

"J, put me down!" He shakes his head.

"Only if you promise to go to the game!" I sigh.

"Fine. Now will you put me down?" He gently sets me down on the ground, I sigh. As we head toward the high school. "I don't want you to try and stand up to him." He shakes his head.

"C, you're my only friend," he says. He looks down at me. "I would do anything for you." I blush and look down, smiling. I feel Jerome's hand slip into mine, which only makes me blush more. By the time we reach the school, it's already five thirty and freezing, but I mean, it is December in Gotham. What do you guys expect?

We push open the doors to the gym, and guess what! Tony is standing right there. Figures.

"Ah, Cassie!" he says as we walk in. He glances down at our interlocked hands and frowns. He looks up at Jerome, who's, like, two whole inches taller than him. "This must be circus boy." I grit my teeth.

"Yeah. I'm Jerome," Jerome says. "Who the hell are you?" Tony smirks.

"Apprehensive, I see," he says. "I'm Tony." He looks at me. "I see you were telling the truth." I nod.

"Sure," I say. "I've probably got plenty of reasons to be ashamed of myself, but lying isn't one of them." He just stands there for a second, but eventually he shakes his head.

"Don't believe it," he says, looking between us. "Prove it, and I'll leave you alone." I go to protest, but Jerome cuts me off.

"How?" he asks. Tony looks up at him and smirks.

"Kiss her." Jerome shakes his head.

"No, man, I'm not-" I cut him off by turning his head to face me and placing my lips on his. To my surprise, he kisses back, but it's probably just because he really wants to sell that we're dating. Yeah. That's it. I pull back and look him in the eye. He looks back at me, and I look over at Tony.

"Now," I say, "stay the hell away from me." I grab Jerome's hand and we leave with a lot of unanswered questions.

I do not own Gotham or its characters. I do however own my characters and their plot, so don't steal. It's not nice.