A/N: Well hey guys,
So I've been reading through everyone's Jerome fics and reviewing anonymously since I didn't have an account before.
All these amazing stories and the wonderful character in Gotham that is Jerome inspired me to finally make my own account and make my own fic, which is currently a one-shot but may turn into a multi-chapter story depending on the response, so I guess read and let me know what you think?

It was exactly midnight on the dot when she arrived at Arkham.

A rather strange occurrence since it had never happened before. The inmates had always been admitted to the asylum either early morning, or mid afternoon; midnight on the other hand- that was completely unheard of.

But still there she was, being lead down endless hallways, through metal gates that could only be opened by key card or key. The now peeling paint of the mottled walls were once she imagined, a brilliant stark white that had saddened overtime; dark with mould and damp seeping through cracks and corners leaving a pungent unclean smell which had been attempted to be concealed by the clinically clean smell of bleach.

Her nose wrinkled.

She reached into her jacket pocket, plucking a black silk handkerchief out with a lace gloved hand, and she coughed.

Each step she took in her Victorian heel boots echoed from one end of the hallway right down to the other, then up the walls vibrating right through into the next hall; the hall which housed the inmate's.

That was how Jerome knew she was there.

He lay awake in his cell, one leg draped over the edge of the bed and an arm under his head. That was when he heard it. Heard her. Heard footsteps.

His arm slipped out from underneath his head, which he allowed to hit against the flat cushion that may as well have not been there.

Footsteps.

And not the regular footsteps of the guards or orderlies doing nightly rounds. It was a feminine sound made by heeled shoes clicking against the floor, and it was getting closer.

Hopping off the cast iron bed he bounced over to the tiny barred window that his height allowed him to reach. He had nothing better to do since insomnia wasn't going to grant him any sleep, and the unexpected arrival had made his intrigue pique.

Peering out he managed to catch sight of a small figure flanked by two guards, and noted that the time of her arrival wasn't the only thing strange about her. The costume she was wearing looked out of place, out of era even; and that's exactly what it looked like, not regular clothing but a costume.

She was dressed as though she was a character from some vampiric victorian gothic horror. A black velvet dress coat with patterns of silver around the sleeves and hemline was fastened to conceal an equally dark dress, the only parts of which that were visible being the high lace collar and the ruffled petticoat that swung at her ankles. In fact, he realised there was not much skin visible at all, only her chin and mouth, both pointed and prominent on a pale face. The rest of her was hidden by her clothing, by gloves, by knee high boots and a hat with a netted veil that masked her eyes.

Maybe she was a vampire after all, or at least some kind of loon that thought she was one. It would explain the weird dress and the weird hour of her arrival. Yeah, that had to be it.

He nodded to himself as he imagined it, this small girl surrounded by a pile of bodies each and everyone of them drained of blood and a lone victim squealing in front of her begging to be spared as she parted her thin lips, before sinking pearly teeth into their throat, pulling back after hitting an artery and rendering them dead, crimson liquid dripping down her lips and chin and onto her dark dress making it darker.

The whole idea of it made him laugh uncontrollably.

And she heard it.

She had reached his cell at this point and stopped briefly, head tilting, dark lips parting and her eyes quizzically looking at him through the veil, though he couldn't see it. He half expected her to quicken her pace down the hall; take off running or squeal like the other inmates usually did.

But no, she did something rather unexpected. Her plum coloured pout curled up into a smile.

He laughed louder and harder.

Then the girl was marred from his vision as one of the guards stepped forward, rapping his knuckles against the door to Jerome's cell.

"Quit it Valeska!"

Jerome's laughter continued until the guard yelled out another bout of threats, making the teen's smile fall from his face out of annoyance, especially when the man gripped the girl's shoulder and pushed her forward to get her moving again.

And then she was gone completely from his sight, but he heard her voice, a low and curious hum that said 'how interesting'.

Plopping back down on his bed Jerome mirrored back her words.

How interesting indeed.

It was afternoon when Jerome saw the strange girl again, he had headed to the lunch hall early to find her during breakfast but she had been a no show; maybe it was the vampire thing, he mused, a wry grin on his face as he kicked out his legs and crossed them on the table in the centre of the rec room later that day.

He had asked the others in the asylum that he had become acquainted with about her; the others being Greenwood, Dobkins and Sionis-mainly Sionis since he knew more than most due to his money and connections. Unfortunately they had all given him blanks, neither knew of any new arrival let alone a strange girl that appeared during the night.

But that was about to change.

Jerome didn't know when it was that she had come to the rec room, just that one moment conversation was flowing like usual, with the odd background noise of wailing and incoherent mumbles, and then it had all stopped. One minute she wasn't there; and then she was.

A whistling noise flooded through the silence, a short tune repeated several times in a variety of pitches, sounding more like a calling or haunting song that made him turn in his seat.

It was coming from her.

She was perched on the window ledge, one leg crossed over the other and feet dangling above the floor, bare with toenails painted with a black glitter looking like a malevolent pixie.

Her hair wasn't black like he had formerly thought, but a dark purplish red that danced in different variations of colour underneath the flickering fluorescent light. It was completely straight this time too, the few curled strands having been brushed out.

But he still couldn't see her face.

She was looking out towards the window, though he couldn't begin to fathom why, there wasn't much of a view from the window; just wall and the usual dank overcast sky that was ever present in Gotham.

She lifted a hand clad in the little lace gloves that the staff had for some reason let her keep; and drew a pattern on the condensation in the window, a pattern that soon became a dripping flower, then her hand fell to her lap and she shuffled on the ledge, planting a foot on it as she slouched down a little.

"That's the girl you saw Jerome?"

He waved a passive hand at Sionis, who was also watching the girl with intrigue, and Jerome removed his eyes from her for just a fraction of a second to send the billionaire a warning stare; this one was his.

What he hadn't realised though, was that as he did this, the girl's eyes flitted over to the group, landing on him with a matching ghost of a smirk.

When Jerome looked back again she was tossing a large gold coin into the air and repeatedly catching it, paying no attention to any other body in the room.

His hands hit the table and his legs swung over the edge of his seat, as he leapt up, deciding he was going to go over to her, see what she was all about.

He sauntered over, slouching against the wall beside the window ledge, head tilted in her direction and hands stuffed in the pockets of his trousers.

She continued the same rhythmic motion of flipping the coin into the air and catching it, paying him no mind.

His mouth scrunched up in annoyance and he reached out, snatching the coin before she could. This received a satisfying response. She tilted her chin upwards, startling eyes that were a glowing, anti freeze green sharply fixing on him. He wondered for a split second if they were contacts.

"Hey beautiful."

His grin was positively fiendish, and hers uninterested; but her eyes gave her away- they dazzled with curiosity.

Her pinkish/red lips were formed in such a way, with the top lip shaped into a prominent cupid's bow arch, and her bottom lip much fuller and rounder, with sharp cuts at its points making it look like she was forever mocking you with a devious smile.

"Hey."

She replied sleepily, reaching for the coin but he moved his hand out of reach and held an impish grin in amusement. She was nowhere near as amused, he could almost see her furrowed brows hidden under her bangs.

"I'm Jerome."

She nodded curtly and he sighed, slipping further down the wall as he threw his arms up in the air.

"Come on little vampire, i'm trying to have a conversation here."

This time he heard her laugh.

It was a melodic sound much like the earlier song she had produced; both soft and sharp, cruel and kind. And just as it started it had ended; he wanted her to do it again.

"Vampire?"

The word rolled off her tongue slowly, as if she were repeating a word that had been said in a foreign language she had no knowledge of.

She had looked at him incredulously then, wondering why ever he had applied such a title to her, then her eyes widened ever so slightly as it clicked in-last night , of course.

She laughed again though this time was even shorter, followed by the closing of her eyes for a moment and a shake of her head as she tutted.

"How typically, jejune."

Then her eyes opened again, and she gave him a pointed stare.

"Not a vampire."

Jerome huffed, his features forming into a face of a dissatisfied child. Not a vampire? That just made her significantly more boring.

"Then what are ya?"

The strange girl grinned, small pearly teeth like a kitten's and dimples that gave a false impression of sweetness, before she pursed her pink lips in a pondering pout.

"What am I?"

She hummed in a wondering tone as if she were mulling over one of life's biggest unanswered questions like 'does God really exist' or 'is there life after death'.

She could tell that she had annoyed him. His smile was twitching and eyes glinting with malicious intent. He was obviously someone who liked attention, a showman from what she could tell of his over-emphasized actions, and that was exactly why she was playing the part of the uninterested, unwilling to share girl; it would only make the ending outcome all the more enjoyable.

Jerome was slowly getting more annoyed with every second. The whole mysterious thing was kind of hot at first, especially paired with the vampire idea, but since that was a bust now she was just plain irritating. He had half a mind to turn back to the table with the others and say to Sionis that he could have her.

But then he saw something in her fingers, golden and glinting under the light.

The coin.

Automatically he looked to his hands and found them empty. When had she took it? And why hadn't he noticed? Jerome shrugged brushing it off. It didn't matter, so she wasn't a vampire, maybe she was some kind of con artist or thief instead.

Her attention had diverted from him and back to the coin.

She twirled her wrist, the coin slipping through the two fingers it was wedged between and into her closed palm.

The action was quick, sharp like a knife plunging into someone's flesh with skilled precision.

Her head lifted not as quick, slowly as she looked at him from down to up, taking in his slouched stance against the wall beside the window ledge, capturing every fragment of his person from the striped uniform he wore in a disheveled manner to the stray strands of carrot orange that fell in front of his eyes, before her eyes and his met; venomous green and vibrant blue. She fluttered her eyelashes, long and black dusting against the top of her cheeks and then she held her clasped hand in front of his face and opened it.

The coin had vanished.

She grinned in satisfaction, reaching out for his wrist with her other hand and pushing his into a fist, prying it open again to show that he now had the coin.

Her hands were small, fingers long and slim and dainty in comparison to his. But he didn't care, her little trick did nothing but irk him and he roughly yanked his arm away from her.

She didn't seem all too offended at all by it though, her lips even curled up into a smile.

"The secret to a good trick, is to make sure the audience is looking the wrong way."

Jerome couldn't be sure whether she was talking about the coin trick or something else, but either way he didn't particularly care, not about her, not anymore.

"You're a magician."

Jerome stated dully, with a roll of his eyes and and sudden boredom in his stance. His head swivelled around to the opposite side of the wall and he slid up straight, ready to walk away.

He didn't like magicians.

She laughed.

Well, it was more like a derisive snort. A short breathy sound an equal combination of bitter and sweet that was made to both mock and entertain.

"Magicaaan."

She drawled out the word, and tipped her head back so her hooded eyes framed by sleepy lashes looked closed.

"No."

This caused the boy to pause in his retreat and she grinned with dimples; he was overly curious now, and a little confused. Which was exactly what she wanted, but she needed to do something to keep him from walking way.

"Oh come now, don't give me that look, a girl's gotta keep some of her secrets otherwise she'll lose her sense of mystery."

She batted her eyelashes innocently a pretend upset pout sitting on her lips.

Jerome realised that is was the longest sentence she had given him, and that it was one of the only times she hadn't mirrored his own words. She had been playing a game with him the whole time, and the fact that she had broken out of it meant that she actually had wanted his attention after all.

Well, he supposed it was rude to deny a lady of what she wanted.

"Yeah well that whole secrets and mystery shtick gets boring fast."

Jerome responded, lifting a hand to his mouth and yawning before settling into his signature grin.

"Oh? I heard it's supposed to be rather attractive."

Now he just had to laugh, the girl was hitting on him?

That was just hilarious.

"Yea, well maybe a little bit."

In between his laughter he managed a few words, but couldn't help as the shrill sound became all consuming, echoing throughout the whole room.

Her head tilted on it's side, eyes fixed on his shaking form as the fit of laughter reverberated through him, and she watched him much like a pet owner would watch their newborn kitten play with a ball of yarn.

Eventually his laughter subsided and he cleared his throat, putting on a look of seriousness, though she had to bite back laughter of her own upon seeing this, especially when such and expression was paired with his action of swaying against the wall and rocking backward and forward on the heels of his feet; he really couldn't stay still could he?

"So you're not a magician, and not a vampire...some kind of witch?"

Jerome had asked half joking, and knowing this she had offered a wry smirk.

"Some kind."

She nodded in confirmation and her eyes sparkled suggestively. Jerome' raised an eyebrow, leaning in further toward her with an expression that meant 'tell me more'.

She matched his close proximity, leaning in so her words would fan over his face, and she held his intrigued stare with a green eyed intensity.

"I prefer the term Enchantress."

Then before he could make the next move she slipped off the ledge planting her feet on the floor, smoothing down the skirt of her striped dress.

"Well it's about time I perform a disappearing act."

She joked, making a jibe at his earlier accusation of her being a magician. Then she swept past him, her arm just barely brushing against his side but it was enough to leave a lasting impression.

She paused a few steps forward, turning back to look at the tall teen, raising a hand and waving her fingers as if she were conducting a spell.

"Goodbye for now Jerome."

And then she spun around, the skirt of her dress fanning out around her and then she was gone.

Jerome dropped his eyes downward then, towards his palm where the shiny gold coin sat.

"Enchantress huh?"