I jolt awake, covered in sweat, and look over at the alarm clock on my side table. 9:02. On a Saturday. Great. I mean, I kinda got used to not having to get up at sunrise. Then, nightmares happened, so most school days, I'm up at five. This is sleeping in for me nowadays. I groan, rub my eyes, and trudge down the stairs.

"Morning, kiddo," Barbara says when she sees me. "You alright?" I shrug. "What's up?" I shake my head. "Cassie," she drags out my name, "I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong." I sigh.

"I've been having nightmares for, like, the last week," I say. She nods.

"Of what?" I squeeze my eyes shut. "Come here." She leads me by the shoulder to sit down on the couch. I let out a shaky breath. "Come on. Talk to me. What are you having nightmares about?" I gulp and nod.

"A-about my previous families," I tell her. "A-and how they didn't care a-and they just...tossed me out." She hugs me, and I feel a few stray tears slip down my cheeks.

"Shh," she whispers. "I can promise you, we are not going to do that to you." I nod.

"I-I know," I say. "I just, I-I'm scared. I can't s-stop it." She rubs the back of my head soothingly and hums Somewhere from West Side Story. I had mentioned while watching it that it was one of the only songs that could calm me down. She remembered. I pull away and stand up, sniffling.

"I think I'm gonna go for a walk," I say. She nods.

"Are you sure?" she asks. I nod.

"I need some air." I change quickly, grab my key, and run down to the street. I look to the left, then the right, and eventually decide to head into the heart of the city. The sounds of Gotham may remind people how bad our security and crime are, but to me, it's soothing. Before I know it, the sun is high in the sky, and I'm on the complete other side of the city. I look around. I don't think I've ever been here before. I walk a few more blocks and see an open field, currently covered with trailers and tents. I tilt my head in confusion and head towards it. As I get closer, I see a sign. Haly's Circus. Huh. Never knew a circus came through Gotham. I stand there for a while, watching the people going in and out of the tents, before turning around. I continue looking at the people as I walk, and when I turn back to the front, I run into someone, landing on my butt. This seems unwelcomely familiar.

"Oh my god!" the person exclaims. Definitely a guy. "I-I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to, I swear!" I look up at the perpetrator to see a boy around my age with bright red hair and dark green eyes extending a hand to me. I grab it, and he pulls me up.

"You're fine," I tell him, looking around. "Not the first time I've done that." I look back at him, and he shakes his head.

"N-no, it was entirely my fault. I wasn't looking where I was going." I snort at that.

"You kidding me?" I ask. "I was literally looking behind me." I laugh, and he starts laughing with me. I pause. "I...I'm Cassie. Cassie Gordon." I extend a hand toward him, and he smiles.

"Jerome," he says, shaking my hand. "Jerome Valeska." I smile.

"Nice to meet you, Jerome," I say. "Do you live around here?" He shakes his head.

"I-I'm with the circus." I nod. "But you live here, don't you? I don't think I've seen you with the circus, unless you're new." I shake my head.

"I live on the other side of Gotham." He nods. "To be completely honest, I didn't even know a circus came through Gotham until today." He laughs.

"Yeah. We come through every winter." I nod. "You should come see it. I think you'd enjoy it, and if you don't, it's on me." I chuckle.

"I mean, if you say so." He holds out his hand, and I glance down at it before looking back up at him.

"What?" he asks. "Don't you trust me?" I narrow my eyes but smile.

"I just met you." He shrugs.

"So?" He smirks. "You fell for me, remember?" I smirk to match him, cautiously taking his hand and letting him lead me across the rough 'parking lot' and toward the main tent. "My mom's performing in a few minutes, I think." I nod.

"What does she do?" He sighs.

"She's a snake dancer." I try to stifle my laugh but ultimately fail.

"I-I'm sorry!" I say between laughs. "I shouldn't laugh." He shakes his head, now frowning.

"No, you're fine. I don't like it." I stop laughing and place a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Are you okay?" He clears his throat and nods, looking down at me.

"Yeah," he says. He smiles, but it doesn't reach his eyes. "I'm alright." I frown and pull him around the tent, making him sit down. I sit cross-legged across from him and take his hands in my own.

"Come on," I say, thinking back to my conversation with Barbara this morning. "Jerome, I wanna help you, but I can't if you don't talk to me." He looks up at me, then looks back down, sighing.

"My mother...doesn't like me," he says. "She...puts me to work while she bangs any guy she can get. And when she's not doing that, she takes her drunk anger out on me." I rub circles on the backs of his hands, a gesture my foster sister in my second family had taught me when I was upset. Jerome sighs and tackles me in a hug. I'm surprised at first, but I smile and hug him back.

~~~

As Jerome and I walk down the street, hand in hand I might add, I'm racking my brain trying to come up with an excuse to tell Barbara why I never came back to the apartment.

"What about..," Jerome starts, "you got lost. I mean, it's a big city. It's easy to do." I shake my head.

"I don't get lost," I tell him. "Unfortunately, they know that." He nods and looks up ahead of us, suddenly smiling.

"I have an idea." He pulls me toward a building, and I look up at the sign. Chrissy's Cones. I look at him.

"An ice cream shop?" I ask. "That's your big idea?" He holds up a finger and pushes the door open, waving to the person at the counter and pulling me towards a booth. He sits across from me and crosses his arms on the table.

"This is my idea." He clears his throat. "Do you have a job?" I sigh.

"I see where you're going with this, and no, I don't have a job." He smiles and waves to the worker, who comes over quickly.

"Can I help you two?" he asks. Jerome nods.

"Uh, we'd like to talk to your manager about getting a job here." The boy nods and rushes to the back of the shop. I look at Jerome.

"Jerome, why would they want to hire me?" I ask. "I have no experience, and for the last three years, I've apparently been regarded as a crime boss." He chuckles.

"That, my good friend, is why we specifically came here." He smiles. "You don't need any experience. It's so out of the way that not many people want to work here. They pretty much hire anyone who's a good worker and isn't a total bitch." I laugh and nod.

"Okay. I guess it is better than any other idea we've come up with." He nods as a woman walks up to us.

"You want a job?" she asks. Jerome points at me, and I nod. "What's your name?"

"Cassie Gordon, ma'am."

"You a hard worker?" I nod.

"Yes, ma'am," I say. "I've had to take care of myself for three years."

"You got a legal guardian?" I nod.

"Yes, ma'am." She smiles and extends her hand.

"Then welcome aboard, Cassie. Come by tomorrow and we'll talk details." I smile and nod.

~~~

It's nearly night by the time I get back to the apartment. Neither me nor Jerome had any money, so we had to walk the whole way. We stopped outside the building, and Jerome turns to face me.

"Is your dad gonna be mad you're so late?" he asks. I shrug.

"Probably." I smile. "I'll be fine, J." He smiles and hugs me. I blush but hug him back. "Go on. Get back to the circus." I frown. "I don't want your mom to get mad at you because of me." He shakes his head.

"I'll be fine, Cass." He waves and walks away. I let out a deep breath and walk inside. When I open the door to the apartment, Jim and Barbara are right inside. Lucky me.

"Where have you been?" Barbara asks. "You said you were just going for a quick walk, and then you were gone all day! We were worried sick!" I freeze and stare at them, then hold up the tub of ice cream I had gotten at Chrissy's.

"I got ice cream!" I say happily. I walk toward the kitchen before pausing. "Oh-" I look over at them. "-and a job." I walk into the kitchen, smirking at the fact that they're probably extremely confused. Sure enough, they follow me into the kitchen as I put the ice cream in the freezer.

"You got a job?" Barbara asks. "Why?" I shrug, but Jim shakes his head.

"No. Don't give us that," he says. "You know why. I know you do." I sigh as I close the freezer.

"I've never done anything for myself," I say. Jim goes to say something, but I cut him off. "Legally." I sigh again. "I want the chance to prove to myself and to everyone else that I can be a normal kid. So I...got a job at an ice cream parlour across town." They look at each other but eventually, Jim nods at Barbara, who sighs.

"Alright," she says. "But we need to have a serious talk about telling us when you go somewhere."

I do not own Gotham or its characters. I do however own Cassidy Alexandra, Ice, Gracelyn Ventura, and their plot, so don't steal. It's not nice.