Season 13.                   Age 11.
the prophecy.

TW: abuse.

☆★☆★→ ←☆★☆★

Charlotte awakes with a start the following morning, surprised she had even slept at all considering the strange place she had spent the night. of course, her back ached and her neck had been bent at an odd angle, but she had slept nevertheless.

it took the young girl a moment to recognize her surroundings, the previous night coming back in a rather slow haze: the persistent doctors who had found her in the park, taken her back to their hospital to take care of her cuts and bruises and broken wrist, and then basically kidnapped her. in the new morning light charlotte is shocked she had agreed to any of that, let alone coming home with them. but she remembered how in pain and exhausted she had been the previous night and chalked it up to just that; she was desperate.

"oh, hey!" charlotte snaps her head towards the direction the voice was coming from, settling on jo brewing coffee in the kitchen. "i hope you slept okay. you can sleep on the couch, you know. much better than that old chair."

charlotte swallows nervously. "uh, it's okay." she shifts awkwardly on said 'old chair'.

"yeah, that's a lie." jo accuses without a second thought, immediately regretting it as soon as she spots the bewildered look on the young girls face. charlotte blanches in anticipation of the usual after effects of being caught in a lie, surprised when the surgeon remains where she is. "but it's okay, as long if you're comfortable." jo quickly recovers. she takes a sip of her coffee before setting it aside on the counter. charlotte nods once, eyes never settling on one spot at a time.

jo eyes the child perched ever so delicately on the seat of the chair, her darting eyes somehow everywhere at once and she constantly scans the room. "it's just me right now." jo informs, sensing the lingering question, "alex already went in to work."

charlotte again nods once quickly, eyes still shifting around the small apartment.

jo grabs her mug back up from the counter. "uh, i'm headed out, but you can come with if you want. i could introduce you to everyone else, maybe sneak you into a gallery if—" the surgeon notices the nervous look once again sporting charlottes face. "or, maybe another time. you should just rest today, anyways." jo crosses the apartment and grabs her bag from the bed. "help yourself to anything in the kitchen, t.v remote's right there," she points at the coffee table, "i wrote my number down, it's on the counter. text, call, whatever, for anything, okay?"

charlotte nods, not expecting the previous nights invite to extend. "you mean, stay?"

"what?" jo is confused at first, but quickly recovers. "oh, yeah, of course stay. i mean, only if you want to, of course. we don't want you living on the streets, charlie." she smiles, relived upon noticing the corners of the child's lips slightly lifting as well. "shifts twelve hours, so i should be back around seven tonight, but don't stress if i'm not back. it's normal for surgery to run overtime." jo starts heading toward the door. "oh, and there's money on the counter for you to order yourself pizza or whatever. bye, charlie, have a good day!" and with that, the doctor slips out the door.

☆★☆★→ ←☆★☆★

When jo returns from work later that night, she is surprised to find charlotte doing the dishes. "charlie, you don't have to do that."

charlotte looks confused. "oh, it's okay. you guys are letting me stay. it's the least i can do."

"right. we're the ones who asked you to stay with us, which means we don't need anything in return." jo joins charlotte in the kitchen, taking the sponge out of the girls hands.

charlotte looks up, suddenly aware of the lack of a third body in the apartment. "where's alex?"

jo pauses for a moment, clearly not about to tell the obviously traumatized child that the doctor who had assured her safety with him was currently staying elsewhere, considering he had put another doctor in the hospital—as a patient in critical condition. "uh... he's working late tonight. actually, you might not see him very often for a while now, he has to go on location soon at a different hospital to help a patient." charlie nods, rightfully not entirely believing what she was being told. jo sighs. "so... since it's just you and i tonight, how 'bout you tell me what happened? i won't tell anyone, not even alex."

charlotte leans against the kitchen counter, averting her eyes in a way that tells jo she isn't very interested.

"you know, i bet you and i are more alike than you think."

"really?" charlotte arches an eyebrow. "you make, what, upwards of two hundred thousand a year, are getting married to a surgeon who likely makes even more, probably graduated top of your high school class and went off to, what, harvard?" the young girl laughs dryly. "trust me. you and i are not the same. i'll never even finish middle school."

"wanna bet?" charlotte slowly raises her head, giving jo just the confirmation she needed. the doctor heads toward the couch, gesturing for the child to follow her.

jo takes a seat on one side of the couch, not at all surprised when charlotte hesitantly sits on the total opposite end. "alright." jo takes a breath, in slight disbelief that she was about to share her rather traumatic and violent past with an eleven year old. however, she has a hunch that charlotte was much more mature than most kids her age.

"my birth mother left me at a fire station when i was five days old. i was immediately put into the foster system, and was bounced around homes until i was sixteen when i decided living in my car would be better. after graduating top of my class from high school, princeton, and harvard med school, i met my husband—"

"alex?" charlotte questioned.

jo shook her head. "no, no. this guys name was paul, and he was awful. charlie, paul was abusive. once, he kicked me so hard he broke a rib and almost ruptured my kidney. after years of his abuse, i ran away. i ran away and came here, i changed my name from brooke stadler to josephine wilson so he couldn't find me. i met—"

jo is suddenly cut off by a sharp gasp coming from charlotte. "stadler as in... paul stadler?"

"yeah... you know him?"

"oh, god." charlotte swallows, squeezing her eyes shut.

"it's okay, charlie," jo assures. "you can tell me. it's okay."

charlotte takes a deep breath. "i-my mother abandoned me, too. she left me on my aunts front steps when i was two weeks old. she-my aunt was awful. she hurt me, all the time, but i could take it then. but she met him—paul—when i was about seven. he moved in and..." she takes another shaky breath. "and then it was both of them hurting me. for years. but paul—he hurt me in more ways than just hitting me. if it was just that, i would have been able to take it, i think. i was used to that from my aunt. but, a few weeks ago, he did it again. well, he tried." charlotte snickers. "i beat the shit out of him with my bat." she points to the wooden baseball bat peeking out from the top of her backpack.

"nice!" jo laughs back, holding a hand out to charlotte for a high five. charlottes hesitant at first, but eventually claps her hand against the doctors. jo smiles gently. "you can keep going."

"um, so—he ran out after that. my aunt blamed me for him leaving her, so she...you know." charlotte lifts her injured wrist and points to her bruised face. "so i left, and i went as far as i could."

jo nods. "can i ask where this happened? where you lived with paul and your aunt?"

"orlando."

jo's jaw drops open. "florida? you got from florida to seattle all by yourself?

"lots of bus rides." charlotte shrugs. "it was either this or california. too hot, though."

"impressive." jo smirks.

"gotta do what you gotta do."

☆★☆★→ ←☆★☆★

Charlotte wakes the next morning to the newly-familiar sounds of jo brewing herself a cup of coffee. she yawns, cracking the crick in her neck from sleeping upright in a chair once again. jo glances over, noticing her new roommate awake. "oh hey, sorry, didn't mean to wake you up."

"oh, it's okay." charlotte waves her off.

"i'm about to head out. i left mine and alex's numbers on the fridge again if you need anything." jo grabs her bag from one of the kitchen barstools and hoists it over one shoulder. "i feel bad leaving you alone all day."

"no, it's okay." charlotte smiles. "i dont mind."

jo chooses to ignore the part where charlotte said she doesn't mind being left alone. "hey, why don't you come in with me today? i can introduce you to everybody."

charlotte tries her hardest to keep her facial expression neutral and disguise her utter distaste for the idea. "oh, that's okay."

"just humor me." jo insists. "if you really hate it i'll give you cash for a cab back. oh, wait. you're eleven. can eleven year olds take cabs alone?" jo begins to think out loud. "sorry. i'm really not used to.... any of this." she gestures to charlotte. "i never had siblings except for foster siblings, but those never lasted more than like a month so i don't really count them. and i'm not a peds—"

charlotte holds up a hand, stopping jo's rambling. "jo, i bussed across the country by myself. i think i can handle a taxi." she stands up, grabbing her backpack and unzipping it. "gimme five?"

"yay!" jo claps excitedly at having won the girl over.

☆★☆★→ ←☆★☆★

Charlotte was extremely anxious—and that's saying a lot considering charlotte is someone who's pretty much constantly anxious.

"it'll be fine." jo tries reassuring the girl as they enter grey sloan memorial. "i'm sure alex has mentioned you, so they'll pretty much all know about you anyways."

charlotte looks up at the mention of the doctor who had found her originally. "is alex here? are you guys fighting? is that why he hasn't been back to your apartment? if it's because of me, i'll go. i can find someplace. i don't want to be the cause of—"

jo gently lays a hand on the child's arm, not surprised when it's promptly pulled away. "charlie, it's not because of you. i promise. he's staying with a friend right now, but it's nothing to worry about. yes, he's working today. do you want me to find him?"

while charlotte appreciated alex's kindness and understanding, she'd be lying if she said she wasn't just a little bit wary of the man. after all, the girl has never met a man who did not hurt her. she wasn't too keen on the idea of being left alone with the male doctor.

jo senses the young girl's hesitation. "charlie, alex is a good guy, i promise. but i won't leave you alone, not unless you're okay with it. alright?"

charlotte nods. "okay."

☆★☆★→ ←☆★☆★

Charlotte follows jo throughout the hospital until they come across alex karev in the lobby. he smiles upon seeing the girl. "charlie! how are you, kid?"

"uh, good." charlotte smiles warily, sensing slight tension between the man and his fiancée. a short buzz coming from jo's pocket causes charlotte to jump, which in turn causes the girls cheeks to turn a pale shade of pink.

"it's okay, charlie. just my pager." jo slides the object out, showing it to the slightly shaken girl. "shit. i'm being paged to the pit. charlie, i know i promised you..."

"it's okay." charlotte smiles. "really, it's fine."

"okay." jo returns her pager to her pocket. "you have my number. call, text, whatever, if you need anything at all." charlotte nods, watching the woman scurry off down the hall.

"alright, well, i've got a consult. wanna come?"
charlotte glances up at alex, nodding in response. the pair begins walking through the lobby when karev notices two other surgeons.
"webber, robbins!" he calls out, jogging slightly to catch up. charlotte scampers awkwardly behind.

dr. karev reaches richard and arizona at the base of the stairs, a timid charlotte following close behind. "hey, she here yet?" karev asks about his consult patient.

"yep. just got here." arizona confirms, beginning to lead the group down the hallway towards the patient.

"karev, did you know about robbin's job search?" richard asks.

"i dont know anything about anyone. nobody tells me crap." alex responds. remembering the child he trailing behind him, karev gestures toward charlotte. "this is charlie. charlie, this is arizona robbins and richard webber. hey, do you mind if she stays with you while we do this consult?" he asks of webber.

"hi charlie. and no." richard promptly turns on his heels and heads the other way.

"she that kid you and wilson kidnapped that i keep hearing about?" arizona teases.

"she can hear you." alex rolls his eyes, jutting his head back towards charlotte, "and we didn't kidnap her. she came willingly."

"eh, unlikely." arizona disagrees. "hey charlie, blink if you need help."

charlotte stares nervously, desperately willing herself not to blink. "oh, jesus, robbins." karev scolds. "you're terrifying the poor kid."