Albany ran down the stairs and stepped outside. She had made the quick trip to her patient's apartment to retrieve the bolt cutters. She still couldn't understand how someone could live with the mess. She shivered when the wind caught her, it was particularly cold today. The sooner she got back to the facility, the better. As she was walking to the bus stop, her phone rang. She took it out of her pocket and looked at the screen.
Number unknown.
Curiosity guided her finger to press accept. She brought the phone to her ear. "Hello?"
There was silence on the other end of the phone.
"Hello?" she asked again.
A female voice came over the phone. She was singing.
Albany froze. She recognized the voice.
Her mother.
Her eyes widened, her breath hitched, she swore she felt her heart stop. There was only one person who would have a recording of her mother's voice. "You're sick!" the doctor tried to hide the shake in her voice. "You're so sick, you know that?"
"I'm not going to stop, Albany."
"Yes, you are!" she gritted her teeth. "And I'm going to make sure you do!" she held the phone over a drain, she let go and watched it drop into the water below.

Albany threw the bag onto her bed and sat down beside it. She looked up at the photograph of her mother, it sat just behind the charred part of the table. She had managed to clean most of it up, but there was still a few stubborn burn marks that refused to leave. Even though the wood around the photo frame had been attacked by the fire, the frame itself was untouched. Tears filled her eyes. She threw her head down into her hands and sobbed. She heard faint footsteps stop at her door. She steadied her breathing and wiped her eyes. "S-sorry doctor, I...I just need a minute..." No reply, no movement. She looked up to the doorway to see her patient stood there.
He steadied himself with one hand on the door frame.
"Jerome!" she gasped. She looked him up and down. "You...you can walk?"
Jerome didn't reply to her question. "What happened?" he asked. His voice was a little clearer and stronger than the day before.
"Nothing." She wiped her eyes again. "You should sit down. You shouldn't be standing up this early, let alone walking."
"I shouldn't be alive," he smirked. He sat on the bed, the bag between them. He opened it up and looked inside. Without a word, he zipped it back up and placed it on the floor. He followed Albany's eyes to the picture. "He called you again, didn't he?"
Albany said nothing. She continued to stare forward.
Jerome moved his face round to see her face.
"I saw him, a few days ago," she whispered. She turned her face to him. "He's in Gotham."
"I see..." He didn't offer any more.
"He called me today, an unknown number," she paused, "I'm so stupid! I should have never answered it!"
"Yeah, that was pretty stupid."
Albany scowled at his remark.
"But then it's even more stupid of him to call. It's almost as if he has a death wish," he chuckled.
"I didn't agree to your deal before..." She couldn't deny the fact she had been toying with the idea in her head a lot recently. Her father's existence to her felt like a dark cloud forever hanging over her. She thought if she moved away from him it would be better. She thought she could move on and live her life instead of always being on edge and looking over her shoulder. The phone calls unnerved her, but she could always block the number. How many times had she done that? She had decided it was too many. She had so many phones and numbers over the past year alone, how many more would she have to replace? She could afford it of course, but that was besides the point. She never thought he would find her, she worked in a secret facility and didn't socialize often. When she did venture outside, she stayed close, going about her own businesses. Could she spend the rest of her life like this? One of the main reason she took the job at Indian Hill was to give herself more security. She had persuaded herself that she would be safe here. But now her father was in Gotham. He had found her. The thought of moving away again had crossed her mind. She couldn't keep running forever because of one man. The more she thought about Jerome's proposal, the more she began to agree with the idea. Not like, but agree.
Jerome turns his head to her as she paused.
"But now..." She didn't have to say another word.
Jerome's smile grew wide. He held out his hand. "Deal?"
She looked down at his hand, then back up to his face. She took his outstretched hand and shook it. "Deal."

Her teddies sat in a circle around her. She poured the empty cup into one of their mouths. "More tea teddy?" she asked. She put her hand on the top of the pink head and nodded. "How about you?" she looked at the fluffy bunny sat next to the pink teddy. "Oh, another biscuit? Of course!" she picked up a chocolate biscuit and placed it on the small white dinner plate in front of the stuffed animal.
A door slammed.
"Uh-oh." She shot to her feet and gathered the cutlery and plates up.
She was too late.
The bedroom door flew open; behind it stood a tall man. His tie hung loose around his neck and his shirt was untucked from his trousers. The aroma he brought with him would have made any child Albany's age gag. The sad truth was, she was used to it.
She froze, the plates still in her hands.
Her father looked at the stuffed animals on the floor. "Tea party?" he slurred. "A fucking tea party?"
Albany hung her head.
"How many times have I told you, babies have tea parties." He saw what she was holding. "Are those...my plates?"
"Sorry...I was just...borrowing them..."
"Did you ask?"
She shook her head.
"Did. You. Ask?"
"N-no."
"Then you didn't borrow them did you? You stole them." He took a few clumsy steps towards her, then yanked one of the plates from her small hands.
Albany looked up at the giant and watched his face.
He looked down at her and pointed at the plate. "Is this...chocolate?"
Her small body jumped when the plate smashed against the wall.
Her father grabbed another plate and looked at it.
Albany jumped again as the second plate hit the wall. She squeezed her eyes shut to stop herself crying. She knew what was coming.

Albany lay in the darkness. Her eyes were stuck to the photo of her smiling mother. Her shaking breath was the only thing she could hear. Her feet hit the cold ground. She wrapped her blanket around her shoulders and walked into the corridor. She pressed a few buttons on the lab's door handle and it opened with a beep.
Jerome was asleep.
She moved into the lab and shut the door behind her.