Paralyzer [Gotham]

22

After sending the first wave of patients my way, Gordon tried convincing me to work within the town clinic, said he could have my medical license reinstated after we rejoined the mainland, but I honestly prefered working out of my home. Victor, on the other hand, finally convinced me that it wasn't good to hold business and shack up within the same walls. At night I'd shut down the clinic and he'd take Andromeda and I to his house.

I only agreed after he promised to look into a new place after things were settled once again. With the military coming in to help reestablish the city, that didn't seem very far away. Until that day came, I could continue to hold out. Andrew stopped by and babysat if we direly needed it, and for the most part I think he was starting to adjust to Zsasz's presence.

I watched said menace as he sat with his daughter in his lap, her back leaned against his torso as he read a book to her. I could help but notice how comfortable he was with her, after his initial steps back, her little baby sausage fingers trailing back and forth over his tally marks without it causing him any sort of deterance. He didn't often spend one on one time with her, so I took my chances to admire the moments he did choose to.

Unable to help the smile on my lips, I walked up to the back of the couch and slid my hands over his shoulders and down his chest, one hand smoothing down Andromeda's untamed fuzz of hair. "Hey, good doctor," Victor hummed, a curl coming to his lips when I kissed the side of his head.

"I told you so," I mumbled, keeping one hand on Andromeda's head as the other roamed his chest over his dress shirt. At the silent question I'd raised, I answered, "You're an amazing father."

"Gloating doesn't suit you, you should leave that to me." I scoffed but leaned into him all the same, staying there a moment before slipping my arms around him to reach for the baby. I remember from the textbooks I'd read back in medical school that once babies saw people often enough, the obvious example being their parents, they could recognize those features once again. I swear I saw Andromeda's little face light up as I turned her to face me, my eyes trailing after Victor as he stood from the couch.

These days he came home still bleeding, the quicker he was off the streets the better, and that was just personal incursions. Apparently before Penguin insighted the riot, Victor was able to store away enough supplies that he could come back for them once I forced him to get some rest. Honestly, kids were expensive even when you had everything at your fingertips. Scavenging with a new born? Honey, love was not strong enough to define what I felt for this man.

I understood that most of it stemmed from his uncertainty about fatherhood, and honestly if he needed space to breathe I gave it to him as much as possible. But between parenting and doctoring, we hardly had much time between the two of us. "Hey," I called, balancing Andy on my hip as I took slow steps to him. "You know, I don't get to say it often, but you're honestly the best." Victor turned to me with a lifted invisi-brow, his lips a flat line but no irritation to be found. "You do so much for us, more than people usually have to undergo for being a parent."

He released a deep breath as he turned to face me, all seriousness in his expression. "You do a lot too, you know. None of these people are worth your time and yet you think they're owed it," he pointed out. "Just because you go through something traumatic doesn't mean it's your fault that something bad happens every other time the seasons change." I took a deep breath and adjusted how Andy sat before reaching up to hold his cheek.

"No, but there aren't many doctors left in Gotham. All the other ones have stepped up to the plate, don't you think that statement should apply to me, too?" With a sigh, Victor nodded and leaned into my hand, pressing his lips to my palm in a lazy show of appreciation. Attitude aside, I knew he meant it. "Andrew's coming over tomorrow, unless you had things to take care of, we could take a day off; from doctoring and parenting. He loves this kid." The ghost of a smile tugged on his lips, opening his mouth to reply as a rushed knock came on the door.

I closed my eyes in preparation, internally rolling them when another round of knocks came. With yet another deep breath, he took the infant from my arms, pecking my lips before locking himself and our daughter in the bedroom. I made it to the knob as the third round had finished, opening the door for a mother and a bleeding child.

[]

I relaxed impossibly the bed, Zsasz's weight soon dropping beside mine in the same exhausted manner as I curled into his shoulder. I was glad to have time to ourselves, that each time a knock sounded on the front door he refused to let me leave. After a certain point I held no argument, and although I thoroughly enjoyed myself, it seemed a bit redundant to busy ourselves even if we'd been previously resting each time one came. At this point, I didn't even know if I had words.

I shuddered when his fingers drifted over my skin, tensing up wherever his skin made contact with mine. To be fair, I was beginning to feel sore, a short whimper leaving me as he took hold of my breast. "Sensitive?" Victor chuckled darkly, and I could only flick him in response. A dazed smile grew on my lips all the same at his ensuing laugh, tracing over some of his older tallies in the same lazy manner he touched me.

Finding my words, I had to part my lips a few seconds before actually speaking them; was it possible for someone to screw your vocabulary out the window? "I'm almost sorry I hadn't done this for you sooner." With another low chuckle, Victor sat up and pressed a kiss to my shoulder, making me jump when he suddenly laid his hand flat on my stomach.

"If you still think we're doing this for me, you've got the wrong point here, doc." I closed my eyes as he leaned back a smidge, enough to speak in my ear. "People who scream near me don't generally have as much fun as you." I took a deep breath, unable to fight the hot wave that trailed down my abdomen at this words. Before I could even formulate a response, another knock sounded on the door, rolling his eyes as he pulled himself from the matress once more and began to gather his next plan of action.

"When are these people gunna get it?" he breathed, leaving me little room for protest when he took hold of my thighs. I barely got his name out in warning before he made me squirm, sucking in a breath and cursing the onslaught of knockers and hoping they hadn't just been a reoccuring Andrew.