Prologue

She could hardly hear anything. Every time she tried to hone into a noise, she wanted to block it out. There was nothing but loud high-pitched squeals and people shouting out. She could only make out vague statements, but words like 'lost a lot of blood' and 'liver failure' didn't exactly fill her with confidence. It made her not want to open her eyes. She didn't want to look. She didn't want to know what was happening. Instead she felt a sense of peace. Before she had blacked out there had been nothing but pain, but now she was in her own mind. She was in her own mind and it was quiet. No one was hurting her.

"Olivia!"

She recognised the man's voice instantly. She knew who was calling out to her. She wanted to open her eyes then. She wanted to tell him that she was fine and she would always be fine. But there was nothing. She could say nothing to him. Instead she could only listen as he spoke, his voice sharp and full of pain.

"Sir, we need you to stay back."

"I'm her brother," he responded. "I'm with the GCPD. Tell me what happened to her."

"She was in a car crash," the voice responded. "She's lost a lot of blood and we suspect there are multiple organ failures. We need to get her into surgery sooner rather than later."

"A car crash?" he echoed, fear clear in his voice. "What…she…"

"We don't know anything else, Detective," the woman responded to him. "Please, we need to get her into surgery."

She didn't hear him complain. In fact, she didn't hear anything much after that. Noises seemed to die down in her ears and then there was nothing but blackness. Perhaps this was the end? Perhaps this was how she ended? Her mind went back to him for another moment, contemplating what he was doing. Did he know what had happened? Would he even grieve for her? Would he even care? She had told him that she had moved on. She had told him that she wanted nothing to do with him.

That had been before she had kissed him. It was before she had ran to him because she had nowhere else to go. But then she had told him that it had been a mistake and she had left. She had gone because she knew it had been foolish to go to him. Their final conversation had just been an argument. It had been yelling. It had been accusations. Perhaps that had been for the best. Perhaps this way he wouldn't grieve like he might have done at one time. Then again, she didn't really know who Edward Nygma was anymore.

…

Jim Gordon hated waiting. Patience had proved not be a strong point of his and recently it had been lacking significantly. He had driven everyone he loved away. First it had been Lee and then it had been Olivia. He should never have blamed her for what had happened to him. The fact that he had spent time behind bars had been nothing to do with her. She didn't know. Deep down he knew that, but he still took his anger out on her.

"Hey."

Looking up from the floor, Jim let his gaze move over to the voice that had spoken. Rising to his feet, Jim dropped his hands to his hips and nodded; uncertain of what more he should say to her.

"Hey," was all that he could respond with.

"Harvey told me that had happened," she said. "I didn't know whether to come down here or stay away, but then…well…"

"It's fine," Jim said with a nod. "It's fine that you're here, Lee."

Lee raked a hand through her dark hair and stepped further into the empty waiting room. The space was bland and beige, uncomfortable leather seats running around the edge of the room. There was a coffee machine by the door and in the middle there was a large brown coffee table covered with magazines. Lee doubted anyone read them while they were trapped in that room.

"What happened, Jim?" Lee wondered, tugging at the gloves she wore on her fingertips before sitting down in a chair, Jim taking a seat next to her. "What happened to her?"

"She was in a car crash," Jim said. "I don't know what else happened. I have asked Harvey to send some officers down to investigate. She…they said she was found driving away from Penguin's mansion. She had been to see him. I know she had."

"Nygma?" Lee questioned. "Why would she go and see him?"

"Because…because…" Jim trailed off, uncertain if he could say anything else. He had been so angry when he found out. He had wanted to do nothing more than yell at her and ask her how she had been so foolish, but then she had told him that she regretted everything. She regretted involving herself in the mess.

"Jim, your sister hasn't been the same for a long time," Lee spoke. "What happened to her? What went on?"

"Lee," Jim sighed her name, "I know you care for her. I know you love her…but she…I don't want that to change. I don't want you to think any differently of her. I don't think she could handle it if you did."

"I will never turn against her," Lee said, clasping her fingers together and leaning forwards, her body turned to the side as she looked to him. "What could she have done that was so bad?"

"She knew," Jim spat out. "She told me that she knew what he had done. He had called her…asked her to help him…she knew what he had done to Officer Dougherty and Kristen Kringle and she didn't tell me. She protected his secret. She protected him. That's why she hasn't been herself. That's why she was with him. I found out the truth the other night and we…we argued…I yelled at her and said some pretty horrible things."

Lee didn't know what to say to that. She felt her mouth go slack, her eyes closing as she let her head droop. Jim nodded, brows arching on his forehead as he saw her reaction. It was a mixture of disappointment and upset. Jim had felt that at one stage, but inherently he had felt rage with her. He had felt rage that she hadn't told him the truth, that she could lie for a man like Nygma.

"She knew about Kristen?" Lee checked.

"She knew," Gordon responded. "She knew everything."

"She shouldn't be messed up in this, Jim," Lee said. "She should have left Gotham when she had a chance. She should have gone for a fresh start."

"I know that," Jim said. "I should have made her go."

Jim tugged his tie down his shirt, undoing his top button. He heard Lee begin to speak again, but he didn't listen. Instead he was too busy looking at the man who had just appeared in the corridor outside. Rising to his feet slowly, Jim felt his rage grow inside of him as Lee turned her head over her shoulder to see what Jim was looking at.

"Oh no," Lee whispered and jumped to her feet, but she couldn't stop Jim.

He was too busy storming outside, his feet stomping on the ground. Tugging the door to the waiting room open, Jim stepped into the corridor and moved to the man. Grabbing him by the collar, he knew that he had the physical prowess to beat him into a pummel without a second thought.

"You son of a bitch!" Jim shouted, slamming Nygma up against the wall, his hands still holding the collar of the white shirt he wore under his blue suit jacket. "What was she doing with you? What did you do to her?"

"I did nothing," Nygma said, his voice a snarl. "So I suggest you let me go before I have someone arrest you."

"Arrest me?" Jim snapped. "Is that supposed to be funny?"

"I find nothing about this situation mildly amusing so I suggest you put me down," Nygma said.

"Get out of here," Jim said, pushing Edward against the wall but releasing him, his fists by his sides as Lee stood behind his shoulder.

"I am going nowhere until I see her," Edward responded, straightening out the jacket that he wore. "I want to know what happened to her. I want to know exactly what happened."

"She is here because of you," Jim said, his lip turning into a growl. "I know what-"

"-I know," Edward said. "I know that she told you the truth. I know what you said to her."

"This isn't going to help anyone," Lee said, knowing that the two of them were going to continue arguing if someone didn't intervene. "Olivia is in surgery and when she wakes up then she doesn't need to wake up to this, does she?"

"She isn't going to wake up to this," Jim said, "because Edward is leaving."

"Did you not hear what I said the first time?" Edward responded. "I am going nowhere until I see that she has woken up."

"You did this to her!" Jim yelled. "She was on her way back from seeing you. She was on the way back from seeing you and…God…I don't know what she was doing with you, but everything you have done has hurt her. You hurt her and ripped her heart out. You betrayed her. You put her in here!"

"Did you ever think that this might be your fault, Jim?" Edward asked, snarling Gordon's name. "That she only came to me because of what you said to her? She told me everything. You were the one who pushed her away. You were the one who sent her back to me."

"And what did you do?" Jim asked from him. "What did you tell her?"

"I told her the truth," Edward said. "I told her that I still loved her. I told her that I would do anything for her. I told her that we could be together if she just let herself be happy."

Jim almost felt his throat clench at hearing that. "She will never love you-"

"-She does," Edward interrupted. "She told me last night that she still loves me. Do you not get it, Jimbo? She will always love me. Why do you think she lied for me? Why do you think she never left Gotham? She never stopped loving me, despite everything, and I never stopped loving her."

Jim held a hand up to silence Nygma. He couldn't listen to anything else. He didn't want to hear anything else. He shook his head and backed away, hands on his hips before he turned away from Edward. Lee looked to Edward, her jaw harsh and her teeth clenched together as she saw him meet her gaze.

"You should leave," she warned him.

"I have no intention of going anywhere."

"You should," Lee said. "If you stay here then eventually you will get kicked out for brawling with Jim and we both know the cops here will take Jim's side."

Nygma said nothing then, uncertain of what he should say. He kept his hands by his side as he saw Jim turn back to glare at him. He knew exactly what was going to happen and Lee might have a point. But Nygma was going nowhere. He was going to stay in that hospital until Olivia was awake.

"I will wait in the cafeteria."

"Fine," Lee snapped and watched the tall, lanky man wander off down the corridor before she turned back to Jim who still glared after him. "Jim, come on, let's go sit down."

She took hold of Jim's arm, dragging him back into the waiting room and forcing him to sit down. She moved to the coffee machine, pouring two cups from the machine and handing one to Jim. He took hold of it, his cheeks still flushed and red from anger. He held the cup in both hands.

"He is going nowhere near her again," Jim said.

"There's only so much we can do, Jim," Lee responded. "You can't keep her away from him when she gets out of this hospital. She has her own mind."

"No," Jim said firmly. "He…he can't get his claws into her again. He can't go anywhere near her. I need to get her away from Gotham and him…somewhere she can make a fresh start…somewhere she can be safe."

"If she chooses to leave Gotham then so be it."

"No, she will never agree to that," Jim said. "I know her. I know how she feels. She won't make that decision."

Lee's brow furrowed. "So you are going to make it for her?" she wondered. "What are you going to do? You can't send her away. Besides, even if you did send her away then Nygma would probably go looking for her. You saw him out there. You saw how he was."

Jim gulped and then shook his head. "He wouldn't know," Jim whispered. "He wouldn't know what happened to her."

Lee tried to comprehend what she was hearing from Jim. It took her a couple of seconds before she shook her head, a look of annoyance on her features as she studied Jim's stoic face. She knew exactly what was going through his mind.

"You can't make that decision for her," Lee seethed. "If she wants to go away…fake her death…then that is her decision. It is not yours to make for her. I won't let you do that, Jim. It's not fair on Olivia."

"No," Jim said sternly. "What isn't fair is Olivia not living her life because of Nygma. I have been with her through everything. I have seen what he has done…how he has killed…how he corrupted her to protect himself…she needs me to step in and make this decision for her future. If she doesn't escape him now then she never will."

Lee remained mute, knowing that Jim was too stubborn to be reasoned with, especially when it came to Olivia. And so she kept silent. Pursing her lips as she sipped on her coffee, she wondered just what was going to happen. Of course, Jim's entire plan rested on one thing: Olivia actually waking up from surgery.

…..

A/N: A new story with a quick prologue. Do let me know what you think!