Chapter Text
If Jeremy had to pinpoint when in his life he found himself straying from the path laid out for him, he’d have to say it was his tenth birthday.
It had been rather unremarkable compared to any other ten year old’s birthday. His father, mother, and his future bodyguard Keanu stood around him, as well as many of his family members. Not in the literal sense, of course: his dad called them his family, The Family, so Jeremy did, too. In reality, they worked for his dad. They were extremely loyal to him, and loved Jeremy as much as his dad loved him. Jeremy knew all of their names, even then. They all brought him gifts and cards, excited for him and giving him pats on the head and such. They didn’t have to, but they did.
If everyone had been less concentrated on Jeremy blowing out candles and unwrapping gifts, maybe what happened next could have been avoided. Maybe he wouldn’t have been scared so much so early. Maybe he wouldn’t have developed such a resistance towards the idea of taking over the family business. But they didn’t, and the following events left Jeremy unable to do what was expected of him.
It had been a long, exciting day for Jeremy. Playing in the snow, getting a ride in his dad’s big, fancy work car, a dinner with lots of people…. It had worn him out. Keanu was tucking him in around eight o’clock, despite the promise of a nine o’clock bedtime that night. His father and mother had had a disagreement about his party for some reason (they had a lot of those, and Jeremy learned at a young age trying to understand it was futile), so the responsibility of putting Jeremy to bed was given to Keanu instead. Jeremy was absolutely livid about this, and was fighting tooth and nail to avoid having to sleep.
Keanu was fourteen at the time, barely old enough to go to high school and already working for Jeremy’s dad. He’d worked for his dad since he was eleven, and had even taken on the name Keanu as a homage to Mr. Heere’s nickname for him. Keanu, Mr. Heere said, was picked as he’d had a friend when he was younger named that. Keanu’s given name was a mystery, as he’d shed it as soon as he entered the family. When he became Keanu “The Squip” Heere, Keanu “Grim Reaper” Heere, assassin and bodyguard. But back then, all he was supposed to do until he was sixteen was babysit Jeremy. After that night, that changed drastically. That night was a night of firsts for many, and in the most unfortunate way possible.
He recalled that he’d been begging Keanu to let him stay up later or some similar situation when he saw something move behind him. He trailed off, and watched in horror as a shadow came out of his closet.
He’d gone almost completely silent, muttering about a monster and grabbing Keanu’s arm to try and hide behind him. Keanu was angry, already frustrated from having to deal with a petulant child. He smacked him on the cheek lightly and told him to stop being ridiculous, before turning to point out that monsters didn’t exist. Jeremy was ten years old, he exclaimed, monsters are for babies! But when he saw the shadow, he froze.
Years later, he told Jeremy it was the most scared he’d ever been.
In the face of this danger, Jeremy saw the shadow as a horrifying monster. Keanu saw a dangerous man with a gun. To Keanu, they were very different things, but Jeremy saw them as one and the same.
The man yelled something, and Keanu was scrambling to try and act with a scared child clinging to him. He got out his own gun, a Colt, that he’d only ever shot at targets under Mr. Heere’s supervision and pointed it. His hands were shaking uncontrollably. There was shouting, things like “Put it down!” and “You first!” and “Who are you?”. Jeremy was terrified, so terrified, sobbing behind Keanu and pleading with him to stop this, to make it all go away. Keanu had made the mistake of using Jeremy’s name while trying to comfort him, and the man’s eyes widened. Jeremy was his target, the son of Mr. Heere. They found out later Jeremy’s death was meant to help try and start a fight between the two families, specifically the Heeres and the Valentines.
The moment this realization hit him, the man ran at them, getting close, so close, and-
Bang .
Jeremy would never forget the way Keanu steadied right before he pulled the trigger.
Red was everywhere as the bullet tore through the man’s head. Crimson didn’t go well with baby blue. It just didn’t. It didn’t go with his baby blue walls or baby blue blankets. It didn’t go well on Keanu’s face, with his too-blue eyes. It didn’t feel good, either, as the blowback caught Jeremy and Keanu, Jeremy being short enough for it to be in his face. Jeremy couldn’t tell if the sensation was in his head, created out of shock, or if he really had been hit with the man’s blood. The gunshot from Keanu’s Colt had put a hole in the man’s forehead, and totally blew off the back of it.
It was silent after the shot for a long time, until Jeremy broke it and started screaming again. Screaming because he had blood on him, screaming because of the man missing the brunt of his head in front of him, screaming because he was too young to have to see something like this. Keanu was breathing heavily, staring at the mess. He didn’t even attempt to comfort Jeremy again, beyond pulling him close to himself. Jeremy still remembered the way his skin stuck to Keanu’s, sweat and tears. Everything smelt like death and blood and fear. And they just stood there, Jeremy screaming and Keanu panting, for what felt like forever. Jeremy’s voice cut out at some point, but his mouth didn’t close. His voice was gone for the subsequent two days, throat ripped raw from the screaming.
They’d been found soon after, the door being kicked open by his father and followed by everyone still in the house. Jeremy’s mother ran over, scooping him in her arms and carrying him out of the room. She hushed him with comforting words, but the disgusted look on her face told a different story. He picked up on that, and it kept him from calming down. As he was taken away, he saw his dad pulling Keanu into a hug as the boy stared into the distance with empty eyes. He didn’t see Keanu again for almost two weeks after the incident. He had apparently showed some weird behavior afterwards. Jeremy was never brave enough to ask exactly what that behavior had been.
It was after that night, the night Jeremy could have very well died if it the circumstances had been slightly different, that Jeremy decided he wanted nothing to do with the Mob lifestyle. He’d always been excited to take over for his father, but when he was finally confronted with what that really meant, he couldn’t cope with it. Keanu told him again and again that it wasn’t as big a deal as he thought it was, but Jeremy had a suspicion that Keanu liked what he did a little too much for comfort. It had been ten years, an entire decade since that event, and Jeremy held strong to his decision against taking his father’s place. His mother, who had left his father soon after the incident, supported him in that decision. She hated the Mob. His father was upset at first, but eventually gave up on trying to convince him to change his mind. Jeremy showed promise, being decently charismatic (when he wasn’t anxious, which was rare) hand having a knack for guns, but his total refusal made convincing him basically impossible.
The only person who held strong was Keanu. Even now, Jeremy twenty and himself twenty-four, he spoke as if Jeremy would one day take over, despite his protest. Jeremy decided to not even bother anymore trying to correct him. Keanu showed interest in becoming the boss, but hated the political half of it. He could do it, but often told Jeremy it was tedious and annoying. Jeremy found that to be the more tolerable part, honestly, but Keanu was more stubborn than he was. Trying to change his mind was more pointless than the other way around.
But that was Jeremy’s life. Being told someday he’d be a Mob Boss, thinking about the many deaths at the hands of those around him, and having exactly zero charisma when Keanu wasn’t around or he was the least uncomfortable. He was the saddest excuse for a Mob heir that ever existed.
It was a little pathetic, but that was life, he supposed.
****
Despite everything that happened in Jeremy’s life, he still had some fun things he could do. Yeah, Keanu had to follow him around when he went out for safety reasons, but that was usually tolerable. He’d just quietly tag along, with the occasional (usually negative) comment. Jeremy learned to tune it out. He didn’t mind it all that much, really. If he did, there were ways to get out of Keanu’s sight, but he avoided that. Keanu was scary when he was upset, be it angry or worried, so Jeremy tried his best to behave. A salty Kea was better than an enraged one any day. At least salty Kea didn’t threaten his well being and freedom.
Jeremy’s favorite spot to go, without a doubt, was the local speakeasy. It was run by some friends of the family, and he loved the cabaret nights. His friend Christine was up there a lot, performing solos and skits and so on. They’d dated for a while in their teens, but had ultimately decided to just be friends. It had stung at first, he’d had a lot of feelings for her, but now Jeremy was happy for it. He loved Christine to bits, but dating her had been weird. Keanu had been pissier than usual, on top of the awkwardness between him and Christine, so they’d broken up and let everything go back to comfortable normalcy. That included him going to all her cabaret shows and supporting her.
Tonight was no different.
Keanu had had an important job, so Jeremy went by himself. If he wasn’t home by the time Keanu got there, he could avoid the weirdly manic period Keanu always got into post-hit. Ugh.
He’d dressed up nicely, and got over to the speakeasy, called MidSummer's, as fast as possible. It was safer for him in the speakeasy than on the street. The streets didn’t have a bunch of people working for his dad in one place, after all. If someone tried to hurt him inside, despite it being considered a neutral zone, since the brunt was Heere soldiers, they’d get ripped to pieces. When he got in, with no trouble at all, of course, he immediately headed to the back. He was allowed through, all the way to Christine’s dressing room. They knew him. He was here all the time.
“Jere!” Christine squealed when she saw him. She was half-dressed, but she practically tackled him to the ground. “Oh my god, I’m so glad you’re here!”
Jeremy raised his eyebrows. “What’s wrong?”
Brooke, another girl who worked with Christine that he was sort of friends with, spoke up. “Dustin bailed on us out of nowhere. Now we don’t have a lead! I’m so mad!”
“Something about his girlfriend. Hmph!” Christine pouted. “Jeremy, will you cover?”
“M-me? Christine, listen, I can’t …”
“Why not? Your shadow isn’t here.” Brooke giggled. “C’mon, Jeremy.”
“Kea isn’t my shadow, Brooke- and I don’t know the song, anyway!” Jeremy threw his hands in the air, exasperated.
“Yeah, you do! ” Christine pulled out a piece of paper. A lyrics sheet. Jeremy looked it over. He did know it, pretty well in fact. Christine had sung it for him a million and one times. But still ! Just because he knew it didn't mean he'd sing it!
“Christine, listen, I would love to help out-”
“Oh thank god, Jeremy, you're a lifesaver!!” Christine threw her hands in the air. Jeremy stared at her, wide eyed and gaping. “I told you, Brookie! I told you he'd come through for us!”
Brooke gave Jeremy a sympathetic look, and he sighed in response. This could be fun, right? He could suck it up and deal. He’d just have to sing. In front of a bunch of people. All of which knew him and his dad.
Oh god.
He shook his head to clear it, and huffed. “Okay. Okay. I'll do it. Just…. Save me if I mess up.”
“You won't, but okay!” Christine was beaming. “You’re super good at french, so this should be easy. Dustin was okay, but you’re better. You’ll be amazing.”
Jeremy gulped, not at all convinced. This was gonna be bad. But he did owe Christine a favor, and he knew the song, and it wouldn’t hurt him to sing the song. And Brooke was right! Keanu wasn’t there to meddle and shadow him, so that stress wasn’t there. He could do this.
“I can do this.” He said aloud.
“That’s the spirit! Now sit down, so I can make you up!” Christine pushed him into the chair. “And Jacob Dillinger’s gonna be here tonight, too! Exciting, right?”
“WHAT?” Jeremy yelped, just in time to get the powder puff in his mouth. Damn him for rationalizing this to himself!
Why him?
Why always him?