"𝐂𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐬 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐬"

𝟓𝟓. "𝐁𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧!"

"Don't move. Don't speak." I ordered the ginger and started looking around.

For whatever reason, the gas hadn't been released, which I was incredibly grateful for. Jerome probably wasn't as happy as me about it, but I couldn't care less. The only thing I was thinking about was how to get him out of the shady alley and somewhere safe before someone spotted him. The sun started gradually disappearing from the sky, and it was quickly dimming. Suddenly, I couldn't have been more glad that it was winter and it got dark rather early.

"Grace?" A man spoke up out of nowhere. I immediately spun around and pointed my gun at him.

"D-don't shoot." Tom begged and raised his shaking hands. My eyebrows shot up with surprise, and I swiftly lowered the weapon.

"Tom? Why are you here?" I asked with utter confusion. He stayed mum and looked at the ginger.

Thankfully, since the bullets weren't big, he wasn't bleeding out. Instead, he was slightly hunched over with discomfort, leaning on the brick, graffitied wall and staring at his shoes. Tom was clearly waiting for him to say something, but it was just not going to happen after all the threats I made.

"Yeah, he can't talk." I told Tom.

"W-why? What happened?"

"Nothing. I just told him to be quiet."

"Wow. Ok. Well, uh..." He cleared his throat and once again sent Jerome a questioning look. I rolled my eyes.

"Jerome, look at him." I ordered. He picked up his head and glanced at Tom.

"Tell her." He croaked. I frowned a bit.

"I was, uh, supposed to help you get out of here, but t-there was a complication." Tom explained. I ignored my surprise that Jerome picked him of all people for that task and exhaled deeply.

"Good. So you can get him out of here too. I need to make sure no one sees him. Can you manage that?" I cocked my eyebrows at him.

"Yeah, the car is just around the corner. Come on." He smiled, turned around and headed forward.

"Jerome, go." I commanded. He immediately began hobbling after Tom.

I could tell he was struggling more and more which each step he took, so I carefully wrapped my arm around his waist to help him. He instantly looked down at me with wide eyes. I ignored him and fixed my gaze on Tom's back. As soon as we left the backstreet, he clicked a button on some keys and unlocked a cream-coloured Mini Cooper.

"D-do you like it?" Jerome mumbled. I shut my eyes to stop myself from crying and rubbed my face with frustration.

"Yeah, it's so much better than being married to the man I love." I snarked, let go of him and came up to the car and Tom. As luck would have it, no one was around.

"Here. The other one is for your place. I was supposed to go there with you, but I don't think that's still the case." He smiled awkwardly and handed me a set of keys.

"My God." I chuckled humourlessly and shook my head with sheer disbelief at what was happening.

"Don't get excited. It's just this grotty, tiny apartment near the Gotham river." He told me and gave me a piece of paper with the address scribbled on it. Jerome loudly cleared his throat.

"U-uh, b-but it's got its c-charm. A-and it's t-temporary." Tom mumbled tensely and nodded.

"Whatever. Thanks for agreeing to help him." I sighed softly and sent him a small smile.

"My pleasure." He grinned.

I suddenly felt an urge to hug someone, and so I quickly wrapped my arms around Tom's waist and nestled my face in his chest. He instantly returned the embrace and pushed his face in my curls.