BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! "Aw, God," A voice groaned from a pile of blankets. A hand managed to worm its way out of the pile and tapped the snooze button on the alarm. The pile started to move before-

THUNK! "Dammit!" A voice growled. The lump of blankets had rolled from the bed onto the floor. A head emerged from the pile and glared around at her surroundings before turning her eyes to the alarm clock on the nightstand. She sighed when she saw the time and stood, stretching as much as she could before stumbling out of the bedroom and into the bathroom.

The woman quickly went about her business and showered before grabbing a bag and leaving her apartment and the building.

Just as she was about to turn from Park Row in the Narrows onto East Boulevard, she tripped over a body.

"Oh, God," She muttered, pulling herself up off of the pavement. She turned to look at whomever had tripped her and found an unconscious man. "Oh, I'm going to be late for work," She muttered. She tried to pull him up so she could at least try to carry him and found him incredibly light – much lighter than he appeared to be. She half carried and half pulled him up into Melrose Apartments – the building she lived in – before dragging him into her own apartment and laying him on the sofa. She then grabbed her cell phone and called the Doctor's Office she worked at.

"Hello, thank you for calling Gotham Central Health Offices, this is Miranda speaking, how may I help you?" A woman asked. Evie sighed.

"Hey, Miranda, it's Evie, is Cooper in?" Evie asked.

"Yeah, you want me to transfer you over?"

"If you could, please."

"No problem." Evie waited for a minute before a man answered the phone.

"Dr. Cooper Harris," He said.

"Hi, Dr. Harris, it's Evie."

"Hello, Evie. Is there any reason you called me or did you just want to say hi before you came into work?" Dr. Harris asked sarcastically.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Harris, but I can't make it into work."

"May I ask why?" Harris asked.

"I'm sorry, but it's an incredibly personal issue," Evie said, looking over at the man currently lain haphazardly on her couch.

Dr. Harris sighed angrily. "Is there any way you can come in later, at least for a little bit?" Dr. Harris asked. Evie looked over at the man. He was severely injured. He needed to go to the hospital.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Harris," Evie said. She hated calling into work. In the two years she'd worked at the office, she'd only ever called in three times and in all of those times, Cooper Harris had always tried to get her to come in anyway, going so far as to make her feel guilty. "I'm not going to be able to make it at all. It needs to be taken care of immediately and it'll take my entire shift."

"Well, you're putting me in a very tight spot," Harris said irritably. "I'm going to have to find someone to cover your shift or else I'll be here by myself until Jan arrives."

"I know it's not the most desirable situation, Dr. Harris, but I wouldn't be calling in if it wasn't important."

"Yes, well, have a nice day," Harris said before hanging up. Evie pulled the phone away from her ear and glared at it.

"Dick head," She growled before turning to her patient. He was starting to stir.

When he was completely conscious, he turned to Evie and grabbed her throat, attempting to lift her off of the ground. Evie clawed at his hands, even though he couldn't actually lift her. He was squeezing hard enough to stop the flow of air to her lungs. "Where am I?" He asked, his voice raspy.

"In-In Melrose Apartments. Park Row, in the Narrows," Evie managed to gasp out. The man's grip was weakening and soon he had to let go of her. "I found you near East Boulevard. You were severely injured. I was going to wait until you woke up to bring you to the hospital."

"No hospitals," The man spat at her.

"You could be-"

"No. Hospitals," He growled. Evie sighed but nodded.

"Fine. No hospitals," She said. "I guess I'll have to take care of you myself," She said. She reached for his shirt and started to unbutton it before the man bat her hands away. "I need to see the extent of your injuries so I can treat them."

"Not there," He told her.

"You've got a blood stain on your chest and it looks like it's yours. I need to take the shirt off," Evie told him. The man rolled his eyes unhappily but allowed her to continue to unbutton the shirt. Her eyes widened in shock at the dashes on his skin. "What on Ear-"

"Do you like my marks?" The man asked.

A/N: Well, there it is. After becoming obsessed with Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City, Zsasz stuck in my head and refused to leave. Add a bit of boredom and a story comes out. Hope you like it. Oh, and apologies for the shortness. It seemed like a good spot to leave it at.

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L.D. Eddy (Previously LadyGotham)