Gotham was a corrupt place. I have always known this, having grown up in this God forsaken place. I was born in the lower district of Gotham, and was raised on the same street I was born on. Muggers, rapists, thugs, and even possible murderers walked these streets. I grew up surrounded by this darkness, by these sketchy and bad people, if you wanted to go into technicalities, this was all I've known.

But, surprisingly, I loved this city.

This was home. Sure, it was constantly dark both metaphorically and literally, there was always a constant smell of sweat and piss in the lower districts, and I had to always hold my can of pepper spray tightly in my hand anytime I walked at night, but it was home. It was familiar.

Back when I was eighteen, I knew college wasn't a real option, but I did manage to find myself in a small job at the Gotham City police department. I was hired at first as a secretary for their front desk, and my job was just to file papers and answer phone calls and take those messages. Being a cop was never my plan; I didn't want that. So I worked my way from random secretary for the entire police department, to working in the giant file room in the back. There was one other woman who worked back here with me-Kristin Kringle.

There wasn't that much excitement to my job, mostly it was just sorting through paper all day. But it was a job, and it paid good enough. I could pay my rent and live off my money, so it was all fine and dandy for me. Kristin was an okay person to work with; sometimes she'd tell me about her personal life, but most of the time we just worked in content silence with occasional breaks for small talk.

Kristin was working on a particular large file when she asked, "Sydney? What do you think of Arnold?"

I looked up from the computer screen on my desk to glance at her. "Arnold Flass? He's kind of a douche." I snorted softly at my own insult, but Kristin just frowned and gave me a look from out the corner of her eye.

"Well, I think he's a nice man. You just have to get to know him a little better. That's all."

I didn't bother looking up at Kristin on that one. Instead I just started typing at light speed to try and get the report done on time. Captain wanted several filed cases updated. Kristin was fishing around for the files Captain wanted done and then I was typing them out again, except I just had to add the new information on them before sending them right back into storage. It was very mind-numbing work, but it gave me something to keep me busy.

We were almost finished when the door to the office opened. Kristin let out a tiny groan, barely audible to anyone else in the room. The person who had entered was a part of the forensics team, Edward Nygma. I liked him well enough; he was a little odd, but pretty nice. He had a massive crush on Kristin, but she didn't reciprocate at all. The whole situation was enough for me to feel sorry for Nygma.

"Good morning, ladies." Nygma said, loudly and quite cheerfully. He gave me a polite nod but then turned his undivided attention to Kristin. She just sort of gave him a stiff nod in greeting.

"Can we help you, Nygma?" I asked, saving Kristin. Nygma turned his head to me in a jerk.

"Ah, Detective Benson needs the files from the Mason murder." Nygma replied in his usual perky voice. Kristin headed to the corner of the room where the Mason murder file was kept. Nygma watched her go intently. I resumed my typing for a brief moment before Nygma was suddenly in front of my desk. "What're you doing?"

"Captain wants us to update all of the files." I said, not looking up from my computer screen. "Takes a long time, but it's got to be done. What's Benson want with the Mason murder file?"

Nygma paused for a moment before saying, "If I have it, I don't share it. If I share it, I don't have it."

I blinked at my screen and looked up at him. Nygma was wearing a slightly smug expression, probably pleased with himself for answering my question with a riddle. I raised an eyebrow at him for a moment before turning back to my computer. "If it's such a secret then I guess I don't have to know." I smirked slightly at the silence that followed after I solved his riddle, knowing that I had stumped him for the time being.

"Mr. Nygma, here's the Mason murder file." Kristin said, returning with the manila folder in her hands. Nygma thanked her in a tone that suggested that she had just handed him the world.

"Have a pleasant afternoon, ladies." Nygma said before finally turning on his heel and leaving the room. Kristin sighed and shook her head.

"Do you think he's like that on purpose?" Kristin asked.

"I doubt it. He's creepy, but he means well. That's all that matters, isn't it?" I asked, looking away from the screen to give her a pointed look. Kristin understood immediately and turned her back on me, continuing to search through the files.

During lunch that day, the word that was going around was that Detective Bullock was getting a new partner. I caught a brief glimpse of this new detective right before I went back to records office. He was a handsome man with a hard-looking face. We made slight eye contact before I broke it off to go back to my office. He looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

The rest of the work day went by pretty uneventful. Some crooks were pushed into the cells out in the entrance of the police station, but other than that, I stayed inside of my office and finished my work for the day. Kristin and I clocked out at the same time but we took different routes home. She drove her car back home, and I took the train to the lower region of Gotham.

My apartment building was gritty, but it definitely wasn't the worst building here in Gotham. The elevator was busted though, so I had to climb the stairs up to the ninth floor. By the time I made it all the way up there, I was out of breath and sweating. I walked down the old hallway towards my apartment, the lights dimmer than usual. It looked like these bulbs needed replacing before they burst.

The door to my right opened with a snap and I flinched at the sight of my neighbor. I forced a mandatory smile on my face and gave her a stiff nod. "Hi there, Mrs. Kapelput."

"Oh," She said with a tone of disappointment. "I thought you vere my son. 'E should be here soon!" The old lady spoke in a thick accent that I couldn't quite place, and almost every single time I ran into her like this, she was talking about a son I had yet to meet. I was starting to have doubts whether or not he even existed. But I nodded at Mrs. Kapelput and started to side step away.

"It's always nice to see you." I said. "Bye, Mrs. Kapelput." She didn't respond as I turned my back to her and continued my way to my apartment door. I did hear her mutter loudly about me being rude before she disappeared into her own apartment. I rolled my eyes at her closed door before going inside my apartment.