Desdemona covered her ears as she listened to Jeremy and Fionna argue.
"Greenland?! You could have at least asked me!"
"Oh? And what would you have said? We're moving there anyway, why ask?"
"I don't want to move away from my life here just because of you, Jeremy."

"Is that so? I thought you wanted to keep Desdemona safe...?" Jeremy's voice dropped, and Dessie removed her hands from her ears.
"You would never hurt her." Fionna spat. "I would never let you."
"Well... I have to show you that I'm serious, don't I?"

Jeremy's voice faded out as Desdemona ran away from the argument, fleeing into her bedroom. She sat down on her bed, sobbing, until an idea came to her. She'd run away. Not too far, obviously, but just upstairs, to Marshall and Jazz. She grabbed a plastic backpack (emblazoned with Power Heroine) and filled it with a jumble of random clothes. On further reflection, she decided that she could sneak back downstairs for her toothbrush. Her teddy bear was coming with her though, as was her doll.

Mean Jeremy would probably do something bad to them anyway.

Dessie jumped as Fionna entered the room.
"What are you doing?" Fionna asked gently.
"Packing." Dessie said vaguely, priding herself on her ability to not tell a direct lie and give everything away.
Fionna sat down on her daughter's bed. "I know that you don't want to leave..."

Dessie nodded, satisfied. Fionna would make Mean Jeremy go away, and then they could stay. "...but at least we'd leave together."
"I don't get it."
"I... he would try to take you away from me, if I didn't... if we didn't go with him." Fionna corrected herself.

"He said he'd hurt me."
"You heard that?" Fionna looked up in shock, and Dessie nodded.
"Mommy, I don't like Mean Jeremy. He's a liar, and he lied about how he acted, and he's mean. Make him go away so you and Marshall can live happily ever after."

"It's not that simple." Fionna argued. "It... we can't just leave. He hasn't hurt either of us yet, so it's not like the police would..."
"You are the police!"
"And I can't just arrest him unless he actually raises a hand against either of us!" Fionna blurted out. "We-we're stuck with him! And I know he's manipulative, and awful, and... we can't all have a happily ever after, okay?"

"Why not leave him?"
"Because he'd turn from verbal to physical." Fionna replied in a low voice. "And I don't want you hurt, no matter what. I'm not going to wait for him to hurt you so I can get rid of him once and for all. Please, please don't make him angry, okay? If you did, he might not hurt you... but he might hurt Jazz, and the matter of him hurting you is not something I want to argue with, okay?"

Dessie drew back, shock flickering across her face. Her strong mother was powerless. It created a sick and heavy feeling in her stomach. Tears began to roll down her face.
"Don't cry." Fionna hushed her, drawing her daughter close. "I'm sorry, I should have made him leave... I'm sorry."
Dessie soaked her mother's shoulder with tears. "It-it wasn't meant to be this way."
"I know. Dessie? Do you want to go back to Vulture Gulch?"

Dessie looked up at her mother curiously. "With you?"
"No, to live with Aunt Cake. If you want to, you have to go now."
"No. Not alone." Dessie answered.

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It was the middle of the night when Dessie left, her little backpack slung over her shoulder. She made her way upstairs, jumping when she heard a clattering in the alleyway and a dog bark.

She knocked on the door of Marshall's apartment until Jazz sleepily opened the door.
"Whattya want?" Jazz slurred, rubbing her eyes,
"Can I come in?" Dessie whispered.
Jazz opened the door wider, and Dessie slipped inside.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

Fionna dashed around the apartment, calling out futilely for Dessie.
Jeremy watched her coolly, sipping from a mug of coffee, when she raced over to him. "Where is she?!"
He shrugged, sipping his coffee.

"Of course you know! This is because I wanted to take her back to Vulture Gulch, isn't it?! Give her back!"
Jeremy leaned against the wall. "I legitimately don't know where she is. She's my leverage, why get rid of her? Better yet, why not tell you about it? Perhaps she fell out a window or something."

Fionna flinched, before glaring at him. "If I find a scratch on her..."
"You'll arrest me?" He smiled into his coffee. "That should be a fun conversation. I sincerely hope your coworkers like you, or you might find my bail quite low..."
"Screw you, Jeremy Cloud!" Fionna hissed.

"Why are you assuming that I am the villain here?" He asked. "What if a jealous Abadeer took her? Hm?"
Fionna blinked at him for a minute before tearing out of the apartment as if a wildfire was behind her.

Upstairs, Marshall sleepily answered the door. "Hmm? Hey, Fi."
"Is Desdemona with you?" She demanded.
"What? Fionna--"
"Is she with you? I don't have time for chit-chat, Marshall!"

"Yeah, she's here." He answered. "I thought you sent her up...?"
"I didn't. Dessie? Time to go home." Fionna called past Marshall's shoulder.
He held her back. "Fionna... Dessie told Jazz about the Jeremy Cloud thing. About what a manipulative little snake he is. Do you need any help?"

Fionna shook her head. "No. I don't."
"...I can't force you. But dear Glob, you're just going to let him... control you like this?! You'll let him destroy you?!"
"When it comes to Dessie, I don't want to take any chances. And I won't let him destroy me! If he touches me, it's all over. Same if he touches Dessie. But Marshall, he..." She peered past him, before muttering, "He threatened Jazz."

"I'm going to kill the sick son of a--" Marshall growled.
Fionna shook her head. "I'm going to stay like this, okay? But it's not fair to have you take care of Dessie for me. I guess... this is going to be goodbye soon, right?"

He swallowed. "Right."