It's been about a week and a half since I met Jerome, and I'm now walking out of the gym, trying to get away from Tony as fast as I can.

"Hey, Gordon!" No such luck. I grit my teeth and spin around to face him. "What're you doing tonight?" I think about it.

"Um," I start, "I'm meeting my dad at the station, then I'm hanging out with my boyfriend, then I work from six to nine." Meeting Jim? True. Working? True. Meeting my boyfriend? Well...sorta true. While he's not my boyfriend, I am meeting Jerome later. I just really want to get Tony off my back, so...ya' know. Jerome won't mind.

"Boyfriend?" Tony asks. "Really?" I nod. "I don't believe it." I scoff.

"For once in your life," I say (take a stand with pride), "maybe just accept that you're not always right." He shakes his head.

"Oh, I know I'm not always right," he says. "This is just one of those times when I know I am." I roll my eyes. "Alright. If you really do have a boyfriend, come to the game tonight, and bring him. Then you can prove it." I sigh.

"Tony, I already told you I have to work tonight." He smiles.

"At six," he tells me. "The game starts at five. That gives you an hour to show up and prove that you actually have someone that's willing to put up with you. Where does he live? The Narrows?" I shake my head. "Then where?" I don't answer. "Ah, so he does live in the Narrows."

"No," I say. "No, he doesn't."

"Then where does he live?!"

"Not in Gotham." He scoffs.

"What, so do you just call each other all the time? Tell everyone you're dating?" I sigh.

"No!" This only makes Tony smile more. He knows he's close to getting me to break.

"Well, if he doesn't live in Gotham, where does he live?" I grit my teeth and mutter the correct place. "Sorry. What was that? I could've sworn you said the circus." I roll my eyes, shake my head, and start to walk away.

"He must really be a freak if he's stuck in the circus. No wonder you like him." That's it. I spin around and punch him in the eye, and he stumbles backward, holding the side of his face. Students gasp around us. He looks up at me, a bruise already starting to form on his eye.

"Shut the hell up," I say angrily. He just smirks.

"Oh, I think I like this a little better." I grit my teeth. He tries to punch me, but I duck and land a punch to his stomach. He doubles over, trying to catch his breath. "Little girl can punch." My hand forms a fist, cracking the knuckles. I swing a punch at him, but he catches my fist and punches me in the stomach. I gasp for breath, and he punches me again. The second punch brings me back to my senses, and I knee him in the stomach. He steps back, and I tackle him to the ground. There's a loud crack as his head hits the floor, but I doubt he broke anything. I climb on top of him and punch him in the face again and again. I must punch him five times before I'm pulled off of him, my arms held tightly behind me. Some member of Tony's gang helps him up off the floor. His eye is darkly bruised, and blood is dripping from his mouth.

"You son of a bitch!!" I yell. He just laughs. Whoever is holding me drags me away from the crowd and out the front door, pulling me around the side of the building. I pull my arms out of their grip and turn to see that it's Allie.

"What was that all about?" she asks. I run a hand through my messy hair and shake my head. "Come on, C. Talk to me." I growl lowly and punch the side of the building. "Whoa! What the hell are you doing?"

"I messed up," I tell her. "Big time." She sighs as I slide down the side of the building, sitting on the cold, wet grass.

"Cassie, you gotta tell me what's going on." I sigh, looking down at my hands, one of which is dripping with hot red blood.

"Tony's a sick bastard, is what's happening," I say. "He messed with my head, made me break." I rub my face with the hand not covered in blood. "None of it would've happened if I hadn't told him I was hanging out with my 'boyfriend' tonight." Her eyes widen, and she sits down next to me.

"Boyfriend?" she asks. "What are you talking about?"

"I..." I sigh. "I have this friend, and we're meeting tonight, and so to get Tony off my back, I told him I was meeting my boyfriend tonight." I bury my head in my hands, not caring about that blood that now runs down my face. "If I'd just kept my stupid mouth shut, none of this would've happened." She shakes her head.

"Come on," she says, standing up. "It doesn't matter now. Let's get you to the station and clean you up. You try to go to the nurse, you'll get detention for sure. Just try to lay low for a while. They'll forget about it by the end of the week." I nod, and she pulls me up. "Put your hood up. Hide some of the blood." She chuckles softly. "Your dad is gonna freak when he sees your face, and you're not even the one that got beat up the most." I chuckle weakly, but even that sends pain through my ribs.

"Yeah," I say. "Think I might've bruised a rib or two though." As we walk around the corner of the building, I pull my hood up. The first thing I notice is the car that sits in front of the school. No one gets in it because it doesn't belong to one of them or their parents. It belongs to me. In the front seat, Jim sits, looking around. As his eyes land on me, his facial expression changes. It's not surprise. It's...I don't know, really. If I'm honest, it looks like he expected this to happen. (think like the disapproving Captain America look. Y'all know what I'm talking about ;D) He opens the car door and steps out.

"What the hell did you do?" he asks.

"What makes you think this is my fault?" He just sighs.

"Who's this?" He points at Allie.

"This is Allie Nelson," I tell him. She waves. "She's the one friend I've made in school." He nods and extends his hand over the car. She sighs.

"I'm the one that normally keeps your daughter out of trouble," she says. "Sorry. Got there a little late today."

"Jim Gordon." She shakes his hand.

"Pleasure to meet you, sir." He looks at me, smirking.

"I like her." I roll my eyes, and he looks back at Allie. "Nice to meet you, Allie." She turns to me.

"I gotta get home," she says. "I have to watch Carlie tonight." I nod. "Try not to get in any more fights?" I sigh and nod, and she walks away.

"Jim, what're you doing here?" I ask.

"What's it look like I'm doing here?" he asks in response. "I'm picking you up from school." I nod.

"I can see that," I say. "But...why?" He sighs.

"Look, this is a first for me, too. And I know I've been kinda busy the last few weeks, but I wanna get better at that. I want to be your father." I freeze. "So I figured...start easy. Pick you up from school." I smile.

"You do realize you won't be able to do that every day, right?" I ask. "Seeing as I don't go to the station that much after school anymore." He nods.

"Yes, and that is why I'm specifically picking you up today." He hits the top of the car. "Now, get in the car, and let's go get you cleaned up. It looks like you killed someone." He pauses as he opens the door. "You didn't kill anyone, did you?" I laugh and shake my head, getting into the front seat.

"No, but I'd say I did pretty good." He laughs. "Black eye and busted lip." He shakes his head as we drive off.

"What was the fight even about?" he asks. I sigh.

"He called one of my friends a freak," I say. "And then he continued by saying that it was no wonder I liked him."

"I thought you said Allie was your only friend." I nod.

"My only friend in school. When I got the job at Chrissy's, I also met...someone." He glances over at me.

"Someone?" he asks. "Not gonna say that's not strange wording." I sigh.

"Fine," I say. "It was a boy, and he's literally my only other friend." Jim shakes his head.

"No," he says. "No boys. I'm new at this. I don't wanna have to deal with boys too." I shake my head.

"You seriously want me to not be friends with him and instead have one singular friend?" He thinks about it.

"Guess not," he says. He looks over at me again. "But I don't want to hear anything about you two being a 'thing.'" I laugh.

"So anyway," I say. "How was your day?" He sighs.

"We got a homeless war vet dead and a kid falling through a window of a restaurant." I nod.

"I will just say...neither of those sound super exciting."

I do not own Gotham or its characters. I do however own my characters and their plot, so don't steal. It's not nice.