As all good fic writers do (or at least I hope they do lol), I'm fussing with the Gotham timeline just a bit. Gotham to begin with has an indefinite timeline sometimes, so taking a few liberties won't cause any harm. Enjoy!

CJ would have believed last night was some kind of twisted nightmare if it weren't for the severe pain coursing through her body upon waking. But when she opened her eyes and found herself staring at an unfamiliar room, the memories came flooding back in fragmented pieces, her heart rate spiking rapidly, anxiety beginning to scream in the forefront of her mind. She began to hyperventilate, each breath causing her pain as she tried to piece together how she got here and who had brought her. Her eyes bounced over the bed, the furniture, and the room around her, pausing wide eyed to stare at the storm clouds rolling by outside the window, but they held no answers for her.

Her heavy breathing caused sharp, stabbing pains to shoot up CJ's ribcage, and she reached down with shaky hands, tugging aside the large shirt she was clad in until she could finally see the gross array of bruises down her side, her skin a deep burgundy across what little was still exposed of her ribs; the rest of her middle was wrapped in bandages, and CJ's jaw began to quiver as her eyes watered, attempting to steady her breathing. But the motion in her jaw caused intense pain to pull at every corner of her mouth, causing her to unexpectedly gasp, only amplifying the agonizing discomfort. Slowly, hands still shaking, CJ reached up to lightly touch at her jaw, flinching as her fingers brushed her swollen skin. She could feel metal on the inside of her lips, but dared not try touching it, fearful of any more pain she would experience. She carefully, slowly ran her tongue along the backs of her teeth, feeling around at the wires securing her mouth shut.

Anxiously, CJ began to look around herself with frantic eyes, and, against all better judgment, attempted to push herself out of the bed, cringing and groaning at the excruciating pain from the motion. When she was finally to her feet, her body felt like it was on fire, head dizzy and limbs shaking unsteadily. Logically, CJ knew better than to attempt moving like this in her condition, however, she was in no state to think logicallyㅡshe was beaten half to death the night before and couldn't remember where the hell she was now.

With her weak body and a heavy, painful limp to her left leg, CJ didn't get very far in her attempt to scramble to the door. No, all it took were a few steps before she tripped and toppled over, shouting out in pain as she roughly collapsed onto the solid wooden floor. The shout that left her lips tugged at the wiring that kept her mouth nearly shut, and all CJ wanted was to cry out more from it.

Tears poured from CJ's eyes as she held her jaw and her ribs, shaking as she curled into herself as much as she could without causing more pain. Her breathing had become ragged, pained moans building up in her throat.

When the door suddenly flew open, slamming into the wall behind it, CJ jumped in shock and fear, eyes widening as they fell onto Victor, whose expression was serious and concerned, dark eyes intense as they spotted her crumpled body on the floor.

Despite his expression, Victor's tone wasn't nearly as harsh as expected, though CJ could nonetheless hear how serious he was, "Hey, relax."

He drew out the word as he took sure steps further into the room, slightly hunched over to appear less large and intimidating, causing CJ to attempt to push herself away from him. Victor paused in his steps, head tilting with the slightest furrow to his brow as they stared at each otherㅡshe was afraid of him, he realized. Despite how he helped her last night, she was fearful, and Victor couldn't help the slight upset he felt somewhere deep in him.

But CJ couldn't remember it. No, the last thing she could recall was lying cheek to the cold, damp grass as she watched Pino and Umberto disappear from her vision. She couldn't remember pulling herself up, trudging to the house until she found Victor, or being brought up to what was once his teenage bedroom. Again, all logical thinking was out the window, as deep down she knew Victor wasn't the one to be afraid of. But her brain was still in a fog, frantic and scrambled, and even if it had been someone other than Victor, CJ still would have responded to them the same way.

For a minute he waited, the both of them staring at one another. CJ's heavy, strained breathing was the only sound as she tried to calm down, repeating mentally to herself that this was just Victor and she had no reason to fear him.

Eventually, she opened her mouth as far as the wires would allow (which was barely an inch), but Victor took a step forward, lifting a hand in her direction.

"Don't." He spoke first, noticing how her breathing was finally starting to relax. So, he took another step forward, and another, until he was finally able to kneel down beside her, "Talking won't do your jaw any favors."

CJ nodded slowly as they stared unblinking at each other. With a slight, thoughtful knot to his brow, Victor leaned a little closer to her, noticing the nervous flash in her eyes.

"I'm going to pick you up; it's gonna hurt." He spoke matter-of-factly, to which CJ again nodded slowly. With ease, he scooped up her fragile body, a heavy groan of pain escaping CJ as her eyes twisted shut and she leaned all of her weight into him. Once she was resettled back into the bed, Victor took two large steps back, gaze studying her. He remained silent for a long moment, eyes softening slightly while CJ attempted to get comfortable.

Victor eventually turned his back wordlessly, leaving out the door, CJ watching with a curious and near worried look as he disappeared.

For a few minutes, CJ sat in silence, staring out the window as she tried to get a hold of herself; now that she was left alone, she found herself growing anxious once more, and frowned at the realization. If she was alone, she was afraid; but if someone was with her, she was almost more afraid. CJ couldn't help the sadness that settled over her like a thick fog.

Eventually, the door was opened again, causing CJ to startle as her eyes fell on Victor now accompanied by Carmine. The older man approached her carefully, seeing the stress in her gaze. He settled down in a plush chair a few feet from the bedside, studying the young woman, who refused to meet his eyes, as Victor moved to set a notepad near CJ's hand.

"Don't talk." He reminded her with a slight shake of his head, and, to her surprise, his almost parental tone caused a faint warmth to settle in her.

Victor then left once more, CJ's eyes following him until the bedroom door was closed. She then turned her gaze down to stare at her bandaged hands, feeling Carmine studying her out of the corner of her eye.

"I've spoken to the doctor, he'll be in shortly." Carmine started in a gentle tone, gaze not leaving CJ's face as he noted a sadness tug further at the young woman's brow, "Camila, I know you're not ready, but we will eventually need to discuss what happened last night."

Her jaw clenched as she inhaled sharply, eyes widening as she attempted to hide as much of her anxieties about the previous evening from Carmine as she could. The man, though, waited quietly, watching as she went through the cycle of emotions.

The room was heavy with the silence that had grown between them; Carmine watched patiently and attentively as CJ breathed unsteadily, her eyes flicking around frantically as memories of the previous night came to her. She was growing panicked, he saw, caught up in her thoughts and quite obviously unable to discuss anything so soon.

Knowing he had to de-escalate her anxiety, Carmine rose to his feet, which immediately drew CJ's wide-eyed attention. But he held up his hands as if approaching a wounded animal, staying put as he waited for the young woman's breathing to relax even just a little.

"You don't have to worry, Camila, we won't discuss anything until you're ready." His gentle gaze met CJ's, watching as his words processed through her panicked mind. After a moment, he continued slowly and carefully, "If you're alright, I'm going to give you some time aloneㅡas I said, the doctor should be here soon, so I think it's best you try to rest for a while longer."

He waited until finally CJ nodded in agreement and understanding, inhaling deeply through her nose as her eyes drifted away again. For another few moments, Carmine studied her until he felt comfortable to leave her alone again, and wordlessly he stepped out of the room. Victor stood just outside the door, meeting the Don's eyes with question before the older gentleman began leading the way through the hall.

"Gotham has never been a safe place for Camila," Carmine started, his serious eyes staring ahead with an intensity that didn't grace his gaze often, "I fear it's only going to become worse after last night."

"She can't go back home," Victor replied matter-of-factly as he looked back up at his boss for a moment, to which Carmine nodded.

"No…" the two began down the front staircase, both walking with authority in their step, "Perhaps she should go south with me; she'd have Sofia as company and she'd be well protected there."

At the mention of Carmine's only daughter, Victor nearly sneered, sure that, if his own experience with Sofia was anything to go off of, the two young women would butt heads should they be together for very long. Carmine, of course, noticed the subtle disagreement in his wards eyes when he glanced over, and briefly both wondered if it was Victor's disdain for Sofia that had him wanting CJ to stay, or if it was another part of him that was worried about missing her.

"We both know it's what's best for her."

"Yes."

"But you disagree?" Carmine paused and gave a curious look as Victor tried to maintain a neutral expression, the two staying planted where they were for a moment.

"Doesn't matter what I think," he replied, receiving a nod of agreement before they continued on toward the Don's office.

"You're rightㅡit's what Camila thinks that's important." The pair reached Carmine's office door, pausing again to meet one another's eyes, "I'd like you to stay another night, Victor, just in case; Camila may feel some comfort in having you nearby."

Victor nodded, "Of course, boss."

The two stepped into the office, Carmine going to take a seat in his chair as Victor remained standing near the door.

"The doctor should be here any minute, let's not disturb Camila until he arrives." Victor gave another understanding nod as Carmine turned his gaze onto the paperwork he had left on his desk, mindlessly sifting through them, "We're lucky you got to her in time, Victorㅡshe could've been in far worse shape if you hadn't found her when you did."

The young man shook his head, "She found her way to meㅡshe's resilient, if I didn't bring her in, she would've gotten to us one way or another."

Carmine couldn't help his slight smile of pride, "I'm going to sit in with her on this check-up, make sure she's comfortable with my doctor. I want you to meet with the staff, let them know that she's going to be staying with us for a while and that I expect them all to treat her with as much respect as they'd show any Falcone."

The two met eyes again, and with a final nod, Victor turned for the door, Carmine watching him with a confident gleam in his eyes before looking back at his paperwork.

Six to eight weeks.

It would take six to eight weeks for CJ's body to fully heal. Upon hearing that information, she wasn't sure which emotion she felt most stronglyㅡwas she more sad or afraid or angry? She felt so much so quickly that she couldn't even begin to pinpoint all the thoughts that went racing through her head.

Initially, she felt anxiety and fearㅡfor almost two months she needed to be reliant on other people, which was a pattern she had hoped to end. Two months of needing protection from Pino, two months of sitting around, two months of being someone else's problem.

It was the day after her first check-up that Carmine decided to discuss with Camila the possibility of going down south with him, though he already had an idea of how she'd feel about that suggestion. Nonetheless, it was valuable to mention, and perhaps maybe she'd agree with the Don on what he considered to be best for her.

"I think you should come to Miami with me, Camila." He spoke up after they'd been sitting in companionable silence for a long while. Carmine had come into her room that morning with a small stack of books, hoping to offer her any entertainment that he could muster. She was grateful for his consideration, and after sifting through the novels she picked one to dig into, first, of course, looking to Carmine for permission, hoping not to be deemed rude by ignoring the older man for a book. He happily nodded to her, allowing her some reading time before he popped the suggestion.

Carmine's words managed to draw CJ's attention back to him, causing her to look up with a furrowed brow. As she finally met Carmine's eyes, he ignored the cuts and bruises adorning her face, hoping not to make her feel any more self-conscious about them than she already was.

"I know you're not fond of Gotham, and after the other night I wouldn't be comfortable with you staying."

CJ's shaking hand slowly reached for the pen and notepad left for her by Victor the day prior, and Carmine sat patiently as she wrote.

I don't want to be a burden.

Carmine shook his head, ready to speak, but the young woman again took to her paper, and so he paused to wait for her.

You have no obligation to me. You don't have to help.

"But I would like toㅡyou deserve better than what's happened to you." Carmine argued, "I can't make you go, but know the offer will always be on the table."

CJ looked away again thoughtfully, watching the clouds outside her window as she frowned, casting her eyes down for a moment.

What about my mom?

"She's more than welcome to join us." Carmine gave a reassuring smile, but CJ shook her head.

Pino would never let her leave.

"Pino isn't in charge of the two of you." Carmine couldn't help the upset in his voice as he thought about the oldest Maroni. CJ met his eyes sadly, taking a deep breath before turning back to her paper.

He's going to look for me soon.

"I know Pino is intimidating, Camila, but you are under no obligation to return home just because he tells you to. You have both me and Victor here to help you." If Carmine were sitting closer, he would've reached for the young woman's hand, but he knew she'd be more comfortable if he kept his distance.

CJ shifted in her seat as she thought, wincing at the pain that shot through her ribs as she inhaled sharply. Carmine's eyes saddened slightly as the young Maroni took a few labored breaths while settling her hand atop her ribcage.

Finally, she picked up her pen again.

I can't leave without her.

CJ's eyes began to water as she recalled her last encounter with Pino.

I can't force her to leave.

Carmine nodded in understanding while rising to his feet, "And I can't force you to leave either." He took a few small steps closer to the young woman, gauging her response as he offered his hand out to her. CJ shrunk into herself slightly, but after a moment of staring at Carmine's outstretched hand, she lifted her petite one to meet his. The man gave a gentle yet comforting squeeze, eyes warmly staring into hers, "If you change your mind, you will always be welcome in Miami, you and your mother both."

Carmine slowly released her hand and began for the door, and CJ's eyes softened as she watched him.

"Thank you."

Her small, strained voice caused Carmine to halt and look back at her with a fatherly smile, and after a moment of staring at each other, he disappeared from the room.

In the days following, Carmine had assured CJ multiple times she wasn't a burden, though that did little to ease her mind. Carmine was going through too much trouble for her, allowing her to stay in his home while she recovered. The mobster was showing CJ far more kindness than she felt she deserved from him.

It was a week into her stay at the Falcone Manor that CJ questioned Carmine as to why he still hadn't left for Miami, and he revealed that he planned to stay in Gotham a while longer. CJ knew it was because of her. Despite his explanation that a few more loose ends had to be tied off before he left, CJ just knew that it was an excuse. Carmine wanted to stay in the city through her recoveryㅡthough he had claimed before that he and Gotham needed distance from each other, now he was saying that his travels could wait a little while longer.

He should have been going down to Florida, where he had sent Mario and Sofia so many years ago. But he was still here, and for that CJ felt guilty; what would his own children have to say about this change of plan? CJ, of course, was grateful that he stayed for her, as she has been toward everything he'd done for her, but again she couldn't quite fathom the kindness he'd shown her.

Carmine made a lot of time for CJ. He was happy to keep her company when she craved it, and willing to give her distance when she needed. And yet, despite Carmine's presence, CJ still felt a deep set loneliness that she couldn't explain. Her soul was heavy, and no amount of comfort from the man could lift that weight. There was something in her that was empty, and she had no clue how to fill it. This was a whole different kind of pain from what she felt at her father's funeralㅡat least then she could feel sadness and anger and loss. Now, she felt vacant and lost. She longed for something, and she wasn't sure what.

Admittedly, CJ began to desire company more as time passed. Sure, she was still skittish whenever someone would enter the room, but she nonetheless wished someone would make normal conversation with her. When Carmine was busy, the only other interactions she had were with his staff, yet they all seemed to be keeping their distance, much to her confusionㅡwere they given rules on interacting with her, or were they simply choosing to keep conversations to a minimum?

After another week, CJ began to wonder where Victor was, as she hadn't seen him since her first day being bedridden. She knew well enough that he had to be busy with work, but nonetheless both she and Carmine were surprised that he had been away for so long.

It was one more week before Victor finally reappeared, accompanied by the Falcone family doctor for one of many check ups in the coming weeks. CJ couldn't help the small relief she felt at the sight of the assassin, comforted by the sight of his familiar face after over two weeks without seeing him.

As the doctor greeted CJ, she watched Victor studying her, taking in the condition of her injuries with a thoughtful expression. The doctor seemed not to notice the two watching one another as he set up his tools, beginning to explain to CJ the procedure of the check up since it was the first she'd had in weeks.

CJ finally turned her attention away from the silent assassin, though she could still feel his unblinking gaze on her. She listened attentively to the doctor, nodding or shaking her head when appropriateㅡshe'd run out of writing space in her last notepad and was still choosing to use her mouth as little as possible for at least another few days.

It was as she thought this that CJ felt something nudge her fingertips, causing her to slightly startle as she turned back to Victor. She looked between him and the small whiteboard now resting under her hand, smiling slightly as Victor held a dry erase marker in her direction.

"You'll kill less trees this way." He finally spoke, causing CJ's smile to grow as she snagged the marker from his hand.

The doctor soon began examining her injuries, starting up at her jaw, "How's your diet beenㅡare you getting enough food?"

CJ nodded as Victor spoke up, "Those meat and vegetable smoothies as delicious as I imagine they are?"

CJ side-eyed him with a look of disgust, causing the assassin to grin mischievously.

"I know it's not exactly appetizing, but we need to make sure you're getting the right proteins and vitamins while you're recovering." The doctor added as he stepped back, Victor's eyes following him closely as CJ continued to watch Victor, "You're not still wearing bandages for your ribs, are you?" CJ gave the doctor a quizzical look, "Don't wear them any longerㅡthey were supportive initially, but we don't want to compress your torso any longer than necessary.

"Shall we remove them, then?" CJ gave him a nod, beginning to tug her shirt out of the way, holding it around her breasts as the doctor eyed her bruises for a moment. The dark red and black had begun to fade, the very edges of the bruises starting to look a little yellow already and the colors were far less intense than before. As that doctor's steady hands began to unwind the bandages from around CJ's center, her gaze drifted back up toward Victor, who was still staring at the doctor rather than her. Her brow furrowed slightly at his watchfulness of the other manㅡthere was something rather protective about it, and she suspected Carmine asked him to be extra mindful of everyone else around her.

Once her ribs were exposed, CJ glanced down to get a good look at their condition as best she could, eyeing the splay of colors on her skin with pained eyes. There was a small voice in the back of her head encouraging CJ to poke and prod at her skin out of curiosity, but she resisted, turning her gaze up to watch the doctor as he studied her skin.

"They may still look bad, but for being just over three weeks into recovery, their condition is actually quite good." The doctor stepped back and met her eyes as CJ slowly lowered her shirt, "Just keep being gentle with them, and don't forget to apply an ice pack whenever you feel you need it, alright?"

Again, CJ simply nodded to the doctor as he set aside her old bandages, "Now, let's take a look at that ankle."

The doctor helped CJ remove the brace from around her left ankle carefully then pulled off the layer of bandage, practiced fingers beginning to feel around her swollen skin and apply pressure on different points. CJ's breath became slightly labored from the discomfort as she watched her ankle being worked. He questioned her about her pain levels throughout the day and about the exercises he had her doing to strengthen the ankle, all of which CJ answered with concise messages on her white board or simple nods of her head.

"Well, looks like in less than a week we can probably get you walking on it again." At those words, CJ's eyes brightened as she perked up, her excitement obvious to the two men. Because of the state of her ribs, CJ had been unable to use crutches to get around, severely limiting herㅡsure, she could use the wheelchair to get around the house, but that still felt quite confining to her. To hear that soon she'd have more freedom in her motion gave CJ something to look forward to, and she smiled eagerly as she met Victor's gaze once more.

The doctor began to wrap up their session, reminding CJ of the routines to follow and medications to take as her recovery continued. Eventually, he left the room, the pair of young adults watching him go before turning their eyes to one another. CJ looked at Victor expectantly, sure that he had something, if not a number of things, to say.

"Getting ready to walk already, huh?" He finally started while moving to sit in a chair, "Kids grow up so fast these days."

CJ had to hold back the small laugh that dared to escape her mouth, wanting to avoid the unnecessary pain from it. Victor grinned at her reaction while CJ picked up her white board again.

Where have you been?

"Missed me?" He smirked as the young woman rolled her eyes, "It's been a busy couple weeks for Penguin." CJ lifted her brows in question, to which Victor simply stared at her for a moment, "You know the mayor went missing, right?"

CJ's brow furrowed, but then after a moment she recalled hearing mention of it, and so she gave Victor a nod to continue.

"Yeah, things have been weird since then." CJ gave a look of 'how,' "Well, Penguin's going after the new mayoral candidates…" Victor's tone suggested even he was confused by the whole thing, and he probably didn't know much more than she about the situation.

"Not sure what could be gained from that, but…" He trailed off, lips jutting out briefly with a shrug, staring into CJ's hazel eyes for a long moment with a serious look, "You doing okay?"

His casual tone was a contrast to the look in his eyes, and the corner of CJ's mouth tugged up slightly.

"Yeah." She said smally.

Victor's gaze was unblinking, "Really?"

It wasn't necessarily that he was doubting what CJ said, because he was just there for the check up that confirmed her physical healing was right on track. But he did know emotionally she had healing to do as wellㅡwho wouldn't after the ordeal she went through? He was also sure that CJ probably didn't have an outlet to deal with her emotions, and maybe she needed one.

Not to say that he would try to pry anything out of her. No, Victor knew she wouldn't respond well to that. But what he did know was that he liked the young Maroni, enjoyed her company and hated seeing what happened to her. Though his experiences weren't anything to go by, Victor knew your family were supposed to be the people you could trust, and yet it had always been family that hurt her. And though he certainly wasn't planning on opening up regarding his own family, Victor knew all too well how difficult that type of betrayal was to deal with.

"Really." CJ responded with as much assurance as she could muster, though they both knew she was holding backㅡshe wasn't ready to talk about the anxiety, depression, or nightmares just yet.

Victor gave a curt nod before rising to his feet, "Right."

CJ furrowed her brow, feeling a slight upset as she realized he was preparing to leave.

"Well, I have to work tonight." CJ sighed, knowing exactly what that could mean. Victor stared at her a moment longer with a slight fondness, "Falcone left you my number?"

CJ gave a nod, and Victor started for the door. But he paused, turning back around as if remembering something important he had to tell her.

"There's Thai in the fridge for you." CJ furrowed her brow at the unexpected words, "You can't exactly eat it, but I bet you've really missed that overwhelming smell of curry at work. Bet the chef could make you a really appetizing smoothie outta that."

Victor grinned impishly at CJ's sneer of disgust, giving her a good natured wink that managed to pull a small smile from her, "See you around…"