Scream
By TheLostMaximoff
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. Scarecrow is my favorite Batman villain so I was definitely excited to see him on Gotham. R/R.
It takes months for the doctors to stabilize his condition. Jonathan Crane remembers those months in a nightmarish fog. He found himself teetering on the edge of reality, caught between this world and another. His father showed him that other world, the world where there is only terror. Jonathan still finds himself shifting into that world from time to time. He passes between this world and that one like a phantom, never fully belonging to either of them.
When he finally returns to life outside of the hospital, it's a paradox. Nothing about the outside world has changed but Jonathan knows that he has. His hands constantly shake. He finds himself stuttering at times, his teeth chattering. He barely gets enough sleep because he's too scared to close his eyes. The doctors think he's fine, or at least fine enough. How can he be? How can he ever be okay again? He can't be and he knows it. He knows that the doctors are wrong. He's tried to make them understand but they don't listen. Someday, Jonathan knows that he will make them listen. He will make them see what he sees. He will make them feel what he feels. Only then will they truly understand what he's only beginning to understand now.
The Scarecrow is always with Jonathan Crane. At first, the boy thought that The Scarecrow only wanted to hurt him, to devour him like some ravenous beast. The drugs changed that. The drugs made him see The Scarecrow for what it really was, made him see himself for what he really was. The Scarecrow knew that they had to get out of the hospital so they made a pact. They would work together starting with that moment. Jonathan has no family now, certainly no friends. He just has The Scarecrow now. It speaks to him in a voice much like his father's. It tells him the truth about the world and about himself. Everyone is afraid on some level. Jonathan's father thought he could cure himself of that fear, could banish away the haunting apparition of his wife that plagued him. Jonathan misses his mother. She always took his fear away but now he needs that fear. The Scarecrow helps him see the truth. Fear is power. Fear is control. Fear is God and Jonathan wants to be its disciple.
The other kids at school laugh at him. They think he's slow and stupid. They think he's a coward. They mock him but in their taunts, he finds lessons to learn. He watches the popular boys and sees the power of fear in action. They use intimidation to control those around them. They prey on kids like him who are weak and fearful. The Scarecrow shows him the way, lighting the path that he must walk. Jonathan doesn't just study the boys though. He studies the girls too, the ones who do their damage with words instead of fists. They are so afraid inside. They are nothing like his mother. They live in worlds of glass where they can be so easily shattered. In their defense, they arm themselves with sharp tongues and words full of venom. Jonathan knows that all the other kids at school are weak and fearful. He isn't like them and they hate him for it.
As he stands at his locker, Jonathan sees the king and queen of his school. Bo Griggs and Sherry Squire are the worst of the worst, the ones who torment him on a daily basis. He doesn't make eye contact with them, knowing that to do so would only incur their wrath. He watches their movements though, stalking them. The Scarecrow tells him that he must learn the tricks of a hunter and the greatest weapon in a hunter's arsenal is camouflage. So for now, Jonathan plays his part. He blends in. He keeps his head down, but his eyes and his mind stay very alert. People like Bo and Sherry think that they are untouchable, think that they are invincible. Jonathan knows the truth now. No one is immune to fear.
'I want you to make them scream for me, Jonathan.'
"I will," he mumbles quietly to himself, or rather to The Scarecrow. "I promise."
