Rapunzel <J. Valeska>

4.8

Watching Jerome leave to change clothes and clean himself off makes Daisy realize her own situation. With a flush, she recognizes that her own underwear is more than a little damp. A bit frantically, she searches the room for something to help her wipe some of it up. She finally spies a box of tissues and scurries over to it, pulling a tissue from the box and awkwardly reaching into her pants and underwear to wipe herself off a bit.

Daisy manages to get herself cleaned up for the most part, but she notices with a grimace that there is no helping her panties themselves, as they are still rather wet. I suppose I'll just have to go change myself once Daddy is done.

It's then she remembers that she is meant to be choosing their activity on their last night together before Jerome has to leave. The girl struggles to think of something to do, but nothing really jumps out at her. She just wants to be able to be near him and enjoy his comforting presence before he has to go again and she is left alone with her thoughts.

Being alone again for the first time in a while is daunting, to say the least. Even when living with Lee she was never truly alone. There were scant few times the woman would ever leave her by herself, even to go to work. She only really ever felt alone at night, lying in an otherwise empty bed. Knowing that Lee was just in the next room did not comfort her the way that Jerome's presence does. There is no replacement for the tender, impassioned way in which the man takes care of her, banishing her fears and anxieties and replacing them with his love and praise. It's truly frightening to contemplate the idea of being completely alone again.

Thankfully, it's just then that Jerome finally exits the back room, having changed his pants. Daisy leaps up and hugs him without further explanation.

"Everything okay, princess?" Jerome asks as he hugs her back, a little concerned.

"Yeah, I just missed you," she mumbles into his chest. She pulls back a bit. "I'm gonna get changed into pjs and then I wanna cuddle in the bed."

"Whatever you want, babygirl," he smiles as he nuzzles into her hair. "Let me know when it's okay to come in."

Daisy nods in agreement and pulls back out of the hug to walk into the bedroom. As she walks past him, Jerome taps her ass cheekily. She looks back at him incredulously, blushing, but he only winks.

Moving rather quickly, Daisy changes out of her clothes and into sleep appropriate ones, being sure to make new underwear part of the switch. When she's decent and ready, she reopens the door and peeks out at Jerome. He's staring at the burner phone with a combination of intense concentration and barely concealed rage.

"Daddy?" Daisy asks tentatively. He turns towards her, changing his expression to one of reverence. "I'm ready. Come to bed?"

Jerome smiles at her a bit wistfully. "Of course, doll."

The man moves towards her, taking her hand gently and letting her lead him into the bedroom and into their shared little bed. Both climb in and snuggle up to one another, unsure what to say.

Jerome is having misgivings about going to Galavan the next day. Not only does he not trust the weasel, but he is nervous that after he leaves, Daisy may escape back to Lee and Jim. He wants to trust the girl, especially after all that she's given him, but his own past abandonment issues and other insecurities make him nervous. Plus, he knows that she disapproves of what he's about to do (as well as all the other dark things he has done) and that on top of her anxiety surrounding being alone makes a deadly brew that could cause her to break her promise.

A small hand tracing his chest distracts him from his thoughts. He looks down her arm and to her face, noticing the look of trepidation there. Jerome reaches up and rests his hand on her own, stilling it. Daisy looks up to meet his questioning eyes.

"I don't want you to go," she admits quietly.

"Princess," he sighs. Daisy shakes her head, sitting up to look down at him, tears shining in her eyes.

"I don't trust this Galavan guy, and last time you left me, someone found me and took me away," she pleads. "Why do you have to go back to him anyway? You don't owe him anything! Sure, he broke you out, but you didn't ask for that! He's been using and manipulating you and the other inmates this whole time, not the other way around."

"I know, baby, I don't trust him either, but he needs me to do this last thing. I'm the only one left aside from Babs and Aaron. I can be done after this," Jerome replies.

"'Only one left'? What happened to everyone else?" Daisy questions.

"They all were killed. Sionis on the first day, Dobbins when he was captured, and I killed Greenwood for getting on my nerves," he explains.

"You're not seeing a pattern here?" Daisy demands. "This guy is making you do his dirty work and then offing you when you've served your purpose. If he desired glory the way you do, he would be making himself publicly seen leading you all. But he's not. So clearly he's got some other plan.

And, he doesn't want his connection to you known, which means there is no way he'll chance you telling someone about his involvement. Trust me, this is how Pepper and I lost friends over the years. Rich people care way too much about their image to chance dirtying themselves publicly. They would do anything to preserve their reputation."

Jerome lies there, contemplating all that she has said. Her eyes beg him to believe her experience and doubts, and he is inclined to. Something about the whole Maniax thing has always felt off to Jerome, but he always shook it off previously, sure it was undue paranoia. Sure, the Galavans were wack jobs, but he didn't really have any room to judge on that. Now Daisy's put words to the feelings he's been harboring this whole time. He sits up.

"Okay, Daisy, I agree with you," he says finally, using her name so she knows he's serious. "But what else can we do? My dad knows where we are and Tabby is supposed to meet me at his place tomorrow. If I don't show, she'll get our location from him for sure and then we're screwed."

"They think you're showing up tomorrow?" Daisy confirms.

"Yeah, Galavan texted me on the burner phone. I'm supposed to be there at 11," he says.

"Then that doesn't give us much time," she mumbles.

"Time for what?" Jerome asks in confusion.

"For us to leave Gotham."

————————————————————————
A/N
Sorry this is late, but I suddenly had a drastic change in plans for this story, as you can probably tell. These two are too smart to fall for another one of the Galavans' plots. Look out for more coming soon. Stay safe!
Gingy