Chapter One: About Last Night

It was pouring down rain for the first time in over a month. Perfect timing. Every drop felt like ice, but she kept running, violently inhaling a mix of cold air and rain water. It was hard to tell if she was still hearing his voice screaming her name or if her mind was simply replaying the sound. Regardless, she decided not to stop until her body could no longer take it. She kept going through tears and rain, not checking for cars when she dashed across streets or caring if she slammed past someone.

After what felt like hours but could've only realistically been 10 minutes or so, she collapsed behind a dumpster and started alternating between gasping for air and crying hysterically. This is the last time, she swore to herself for the millionth time. As the adrenaline subsided, the pain and fatigue resurfaced. She closed her eyes and told herself that she'd rest for just a minute before finding a payphone to call and ask to crash with someone for the night.

She woke up to blinding lights and a sharp ringing in her ears. How long was I out? Where am I? She started to get up then felt a hand on her back, "Hey, slow down, I haven't finished patching you up." She felt her eyes adjust to the light and a pair of warm brown eyes met hers.

"I'm Dr. Leslie Thompkins, but you can just call me Lee if you want." The woman in front of her stuck out a hand.

She grabbed it and shook it politely, still confused, "Am I at the hospital..?" Her surroundings didn't look like anything more than a makeshift doctor's office, but she had yet to land herself in the hospital since moving to Gotham, so for all she knew, this is how their hospital rooms looked.

Lee smiled, "No, you're at the police station. I'm the resident doctor here. One of our officers found you behind his apartment complex this morning when he took out the trash. He's new, so he didn't feel comfortable taking you to the hospital without letting me see you first. You're pretty lucky he found you. I was worried you had a concussion with that head wound. And your name is?"

"Scar," she said as she put her hand up to her forehead and ran her fingers over a set of stitches.

After reaching for a pen, Lee began to scribble on a notepad, "Is that your legal name?"

"No, it's Scarlet, but my boss at work calls me Scar and I ended up liking that better," she replied, stretching out her limbs.

Lee smiled, "Scarlet is prettier…but I hear the same thing about Leslie. Do you remember anything about last night? You were in terrible condition when Eric brought you in."

Scar shuddered as it all rushed back to her, but decided lying was the best thing to do. It wouldn't be the first time. "Um, I must've gotten attacked on the way home from work last night. I work at a bar and some guys there are creepy, so I must have been followed. It's fine, though, I don't want to press charges or anything, so…" she trailed off when she realized Lee looked skeptical.

"Really…" Lee began, "…oookay. It's just that most people don't go to and from work without a coat, phone, or wallet. You've been our Jane Doe up until a minute ago."

"I mean, I just didn't even think about it yesterday when I was heading out. I—"

"You don't have to lie," Lee interrupted, "I won't pry…" she leaned in and lowered her voice, "…but some of the officers out there will, so if something's going on or if you're scared—"

Scar stopped her and spat out, "I'm not scared. I'm fine. Honest." Lee gave her a disappointed but sympathetic look.

The door cracked open and a young man peeked his head through the door. "You can come in, Eric, she's doing fine," Lee said. She turned to Scar, "This is Officer Eric Graves. He's who brought you in."

He smiled and gave a sheepish wave, "Hi."

"Eric, this is Scar. She doesn't remember what happened, but she's doing alright," Lee said, making eye contact with Scar as if to say 'your secret is safe with me.'

Scar smiled back, "Thank you. Seriously, you're one of the few good people left."

He blushed and choked out, "Welcome," then turned to Lee and said, "I'll be at my desk if you need anything."

After he closed the door, Lee rolled her eyes, "He must think you're cute."

Scar let out a small laugh, "Yeah, so cute with my eyeliner washed off and hair tied up."

"Hey, it's a look," Lee said grinning, "Maybe you can give him your number as a thank-you."

Scar's smile faded into a more concerned expression. Lee put a hand up to her mouth, "Oh…I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to offend you or anything, I just—"

"No, no, you're totally fine," Scar said, looking down, "it's just I have a boyfriend, and you know how boyfriends are."

Lee furrowed her brows, "What do you mean?"

"Just…I mean…he's a normal boyfriend. He flips the hell out when I talk about my male coworkers, doesn't trust me to go out, sometimes he…" seeing that Lee looked more concerned than understanding, she took that as a cue to shut up, "…ya know what, nevermind."

Alarmed, Lee started to connect the dots, "Scarlet…Did he—"

The door slammed open and a man waltzed right in, "Good! Miss Doe's up. Now we can talk."

Visibly upset, Lee dragged the man out into the hall and slammed the door behind them. Curious, Scar slowly got up and started to creep towards the door. She winced at how sore her muscles were, but overall felt surprisingly better than expected. "I told you I have it covered!" Lee shouted, "I was finally getting her to open up!"

"Well we ain't got all day, so your little chit chat needs to wrap up," the man griped back.

"Chit chat?" Lee repeated, "Have you seen her? You have no idea what she's been through, Harvey!"

Though the door's window was distorted, she could see Harvey throw his hands up in defeat, "Look, I'm soooorry. Captain's been on my ass a lot lately and I can't have her here for much longer."

Scar put her ear to the door as she heard Lee lower her voice and say, "I'll have her out soon, okay? Let's see if she has anyone who can come get her." She saw the two figures head back towards the door and tried to hurry back over to the examination table. The door swung open and she realized she wasn't fast enough to go unnoticed.

Lee's face went from annoyed to embarrassed, "You heard all of that, didn't you?"

Nodding her head, Scar said, "It's fine, seriously. I understand being on a time crunch, I'm sure you all are busy."

Harvey stepped forward and reached out his hand, "I'm Detective Harvey Bullock, Lee's punching bag for the day."

Lee let out an over-exaggerated sigh and Scar took Harvey's hand in hers, "I'm Scarlet, but I go by Scar. You look familiar, honestly."

Harvey puffed out his chest, "Well, I am one of the most hard-working cops on the force, so you've probably seen me around."

"Or she's seen you at one of the bars you practically live at," Lee called over her shoulder from putting away her tools.

"Don't mind her," Harvey whispered loudly, "she's just a little grumpy."

Scar felt oddly comforted by his off-humor and for a second almost forgot the predicament she was in. Reality came back when Lee asked, "So is there somewhere I can take you? Or do you have anyone who could come pick you up?"

"Yeah," Harvey interjected, pretending to be helpful, "a friend? Boyfriend?"

"No!" Scar said louder than she intended to, "I mean…I have someone, I guess. You can call my boss and I'm sure one of my co-workers wouldn't mind coming to get me or something."

Harvey side-eyed Lee uncomfortably, "Oookay then, just give me the number and I'll go get Jim to call the place up." Lee turned around and handed Scar a pen and notepad. She scribbled the number down, tore off the page, then handed it to Harvey. "I'll be right back," he said, walking out with the paper.

"He's a mess," Lee said, "We love him here, but sometimes I could just strangle him."

Scar laughed, "Yeah, we all have co-workers like that. He seems nice all-in-all…maybe not too concerned with my condition, but nice nonetheless. Speaking of, how long will it take for me to heal up?"

Lee smiled, "Your stitches were minor, so I'll just give you my number to come in and have them taken out in a couple of weeks. Other than that, your bruising should go away in a few days. Make sure to keep ice on your face and wrists. If you have any questions, start to develop an infection, or need anything, I'm always here. Just give me a call." Scar nodded gratefully, and Lee added, "Seriously. Anything. Even if you just need someone to listen." The two exchanged a look that made it clear they both knew what Lee was referring to.

Scar quickly changed the subject, "So, how long have you worked here?" Lee kind of laughed, "Well, I just recently got re-hired. I used to work here for a while, then moved away. Now I'm back. Honestly? It's a long story." Scar shrugged, "We've got time."

Harvey pushed his way back into the room and interrupted Lee's story by announcing, "Graves said your ride should be just around the corner. How convenient. I'd offer to drive you myself, but my ex-partner just had to use my car this morning. He should be back in a sec if you want to meet him. Lee better hide, though, or it might get awkward."

Lee punched his arm, "Some of us are adults. We're fine being in the same building."

"It's fine," Scar replied, "I appreciate the offer anyway. If your partner is half as…charismatic as you, I'm sure he'll be fun."

"Those two definitely feed off each other," Lee said, "I'll go see if I can find Jim." She excused herself and left.

After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, Harvey leaned against a counter and folded his arms, "So do you want to talk about why you're here? I hope you don't think Lee or I buy that you suddenly can't remember an hour's worth of time but still remember your name and something as specific as you boss's phone number."

Scar shook her head, "Not…really…"

"Well at least you aren't going to try to convince me that that story was true," Harvey chuckled.

The door opened and a well-groomed man came in, following Lee. Harvey patted the man on the back and said, "Well, now that you're back, I'm gonna go get a little drinkypoo."

The man smiled at Harvey, then stuck out his hand, "Jim Gordon. Glad to hear you're okay. I was told we had someone in but didn't know the condition…Lee's a good doctor."

"I know," Scar said, taking his hand, "She's been great, seriously. I don't kn—"

"Jim, you're not gonna wanna come out here!" Harvey said, immediately rushing back in.

"Why?" Jim asked, gruffly.

Harvey turned to Scar, "Man, I don't know if you know much about your employer, but lemme tell you, you have no idea what you've gotten into."

The sound of a throat over-dramatically being cleared came from the down the hall.

"Hello, Jim."

Author's Note / Introduction: This is a story I posted last year and deleted. I wanted to re-write it to make it more accurate and overall better-written. I didn't like a few of the chapters I had written before, so I'm changing some things. Just a few things to help make reading my story a little easier: When I put in a line-break, that's meant to be where a "commercial break" sort of moment would be for the show. It's either to pass time or be seen almost like a dramatic moment. When something is italicized but not in quotations, it's a thought that Scar is having. When something is italicized but is in quotations, the word is meant to be read as drawn out and/or sarcastic. If a word is bold, it's meant to be emphasized when read. I try to write in a way where you can really visualize and hear these characters saying and doing these things. I try to keep everyone as in-character as possible. I'd prefer the comments to stay vague, spoiler-free, and positive...so please send criticism, questions, or suggestions to me in a private message. I hope you all enjoy my story! Make sure to check out another Gotham story of mine, No Hypnosis Needed. It's another one I wrote, deleted, and am now reworking, but it's about Jervis Tetch. Much love to you all!