It was one of those moments where Victoria wished she had someone to talk to. She wished that her mother was still with her. She would know how to deal with Jonathan. Vicky had no idea what had happened between the pair of them earlier.

He had bought her lunch. He had told her that there could be something going on between both of them. Well, he had told her something in a cryptic state. Victoria wasn't entirely sure what it meant. She hadn't really had her fair share of boyfriends since college. She had chosen to stay away from them. She was a loner. It was the safest thing to be in Gotham.

She finished work and her mind was still whirling. She grabbed her leather jacket and shrugged into it, leaving it loose before she pulled her hair to fall down her shoulders. She bid a goodnight to the staff she passed on her way out before she walked in the fresh air of Gotham.

The sun was slowly setting down as all of the night owls prepared to go out for the evening meal. She chose to return back to her dingy apartment after picking up some groceries. She settled on making Spaghetti Bolognese for the evening and reading a book.

She stuffed her hands into her pocket and entered the small supermarket, wandering through the aisles with a basket in her hands. It was only when she reached the end of the aisle did she see a man staring at her. She turned to stare at the nearest thing on the shelf, picking it up and studying it as she willed for the man to walk past her and ignore her presence.

He didn't. She had assumed she was paranoid but she had grown used to noticing Falcone's thugs.

"Vicky," he whispered as he stood next to her and easily prised the jar from her hands, admiring it for himself. "I see you feel like cooking something up tonight then. What you feeling?"

"Who are you?" Victoria asked, obviously unimpressed as she brushed past him and move to walk down the aisle again. "Did Falcone send you?"

"Of course," he nodded at her. "However, we seem to have an issue. Rob came to see you last night."

"I remember," Victoria told him. "He took my wages for last month. Fortunately I was paid tonight."

"I see that fancy doctor of yours was around today. He bought you lunch, I see. That is very sweet and considerate of him."

Victoria glanced up at him as she stood by the freezer aisle. He was lean and thin, making her think that she could maybe hurt him if it came to that. His brown eyes pierced her and his thin lips were held in a small grin. He continuously pushed his hand through his sandy blond hair as he smirked at her.

"Come along, Vic," he urged her. "I find it slightly odd. Your doctor works at Arkham and Rob ends up there this morning."

Victoria took a moment to gulp before she shrugged and opened the freezer, finding out some ice cream for her evening as she ignored the man next door to her.

"Coincidental," she decided to say. "Was it Jonathan who admitted him or found him?"

"No," he said.

"He was found in an alleyway...and not by Jonathan. I don't know what happened to him and I don't care what happened to him. He was an asshole who deserved all the misfortune that came his way."

"My, my," he chuckled. "Someone is bitter with the world."

She scoffed at hearing that and moved over to the pasta aisle, sliding past an elderly man as she did so. He kept up with her, smiling at the man as he pressed a hand to the small of Victoria's back.

"Tell Falcone that I still don't have what he wants."

"He isn't sure what he really wants. We both know that," he responded to her and Victoria shook her head.

She dropped some pasta into the basket before looking for tomatoes and garlic. She doubted she'd find anything too fresh in the shop. Victoria had an idea what he wanted. It was some kind of toxin which had killed both of her parents. She still had no idea what toxin it was her father had made all of those years ago. She doubted she would know.

"I want to know why he is still so desperate for it," Vicky admitted to the man. "Years have passed and things have changed."

"He works for someone else who wants it," the man shrugged. "I don't know who it is. I don't ask questions about anything. It saves me time and patience."

Vicky snorted and placed some tomatoes in a plastic bag before reaching for the garlic. "Just tell him that I have no idea where it is and I have no idea what happened to Rob."

The man nodded and rocked back and forth on his heels before placing his hands into the back of his jeans pockets. He studied Victoria for a few moments, watching as she tucked her hair behind her ears and did her best to ignore his presence. She was clearly off put by him.

"Rob always spoke so crudely of you. He said he thought that you'd sleep with anything for some money."

"I'm not a whore," Vicky said, not offended in the slightest by what he had told her.

"No," the man agreed with her. "You're evidentially not. I do find it odd that Rob has ended up in Arkham though, as does Falcone."

Victoria groaned and turned back to look at him as he bent down to her height, his finger curling under her chin as she saw something flash in his gaze. It was something which she had never seen from Rob before. All he had shown her was taunts and teases.

"If your boyfriend had anything to do with it then you should say something," he warned her and she shook her head.

"He's not my boyfriend," she replied.

"Good," he whispered after a second and stood up tall, brushing her hair behind her ear. She kept still as he reached into his back pocket and dug out his wallet. Victoria remained confused for a few seconds as she saw him hand twenty dollars to her.

"Take it," he urged her, pressing the bill into her fingers.

"I don't want your money."

"No," he agreed, "but you do need it."

He stood back from her as her brows furrowed and she remained confused as to what had just happened.

"Try to stay out of trouble," he urged. "I'll be talking to you later."

"Who are you?" she wondered.

"James," he said and backed down the aisle towards the exit. "James McCormick."

...

"Doctor Crane, I tried to stop her from barging in, but she wouldn't listen to me."

Jonathan looked up from the sheet of paper he had been writing on as his secretary was pushed into his office, an angry looking Victoria behind her. She pushed past the elder woman and dropped her hands to her hips, a plastic bag in her grasp.

"It's alright, Mary," Jonathan promised her; removing his glasses from his face as an audible sigh escaped him. "Victoria is a friend. There is no need for concern."

"As you say," Mary said, holding her head high in the air as she looked down on Victoria. And why wouldn't she? The younger woman looked a mess. She still wore her waitressing uniform and her leather jacket was askew on her body. She dropped her shopping to the floor and took a seat in the chair opposite Crane's, the desk separating them.

"Were you involved?" she snapped as soon as he looked her in the eye.

"How nice to see you, Victoria," Crane drawled out to her, his tone the usual of sarcasm. "Please, make yourself at home."

"I'm serious, Jonathan," she warned him. "I've had one of Falcone's men on at me. He seems to think that it's suspicious Rob ended up at the same place where you work."

Jonathan shook his head and shrugged at her. "I was with you last night and then I went straight home. I had nothing to do with whatever happened to him. Why would you ask me?"

Victoria continued to stare at him for a few moments, her eyes intense before she shook her head and dropped her forehead into her hands. She sniffed for a few seconds and then looked back to Jonathan.

"I find it odd."

"I find it coincidental," Jonathan replied, his tone bland. "Your imagination is carrying you away. I did not find him, nor did I see him after last night. Truth be told, I can barely remember what he looked like anyway."

Victoria crossed one leg over the other before she peered at Jonathan through her lashes. "I think I might end up in here soon enough."

A slim smirk wormed its way onto Jonathan's pale features. "You're not quite there yet."

She chuckled darkly as she heard that.

"I'm sorry for barging in like that...I...my mind...well...I'm hardly rational, am I?"

"Hardly," Jonathan agreed and he stood up, preparing to escort her out of the Asylum. He had work that needed to be done. He had things to do that did not concern Victoria. "I shall walk you out and have Mary call you a cab."

"I walked."

"Through the Narrows?" he checked; his tone one of disapproving.

"I had no other option," she shrugged. "I can hardly afford a cab, can I?"

"I'll pay for it," Jonathan promised, moving to his long coat which was hung up on the coat rack behind him.

Victoria could feel annoyance radiate through her.

"I'm not a charity case," she suddenly snapped, thinking of the dinner he had paid for, and the money James had given her.

Jonathan blinked profusely and placed his glasses back on his eyes as he finally found his wallet in his coat pocket. "I never said that you were."

She kept quiet then, moving to stand up as she pushed a hand down one of her arms, trying to warm herself up in the cold air. She shook her head and looked over to Jonathan.

"I feel like one," she whispered. "I feel so lost...like I have no one to talk to..."

"You have me," he reminded her.

"I need someone to talk to about you," she commented, unable to keep her mouth closed. "I mean...you so confusing. One moment you're cold and the next you are feebly attempting to flirt with me like you did back at the restaurant."

"You think I was flirting?" Jonathan wondered.

He studied her for a few moments, watching as she shifted around uncomfortably from one foot to the other. She took a moment to shrug awkwardly and then looked to the door, longing to make an exit and quickly.

"I don't know, that's my issue," she whispered.

Jonathan grinned. He was having far too much fun with this one.

"Perhaps we will have to wait and see," he whispered and he caught her gaze again, the bewilderment evident in her wide orbs.

Yes, he could get used to this game.