AN: SPOILERS ahead if you haven't read my fic the Pendulous Fall, as this is a sequel. If you don't care read on if you do read the other first. This one I only have a few chapters planned out so far but...here we go! After all it's October soon, and I just HAVE to put out a new Scarecrow something for the season. Plus I need to get SOMETHING forced out of me. Once again I'm pulling mostly from pre New 52 comic book verse. He'll be a little softer in this fic, more similar to his animated series and very early year runs in many places.
Rating subject to change later if it proves necessary.
"It's our job to tend to our patients, not yours." Doctor Yi really didn't like Crane's idea, and it was evident he likewise had little patients with her.
"With all due respect, doctor, none of you have made any progress prior either. I did."
"You," her words were sharp, "are a fellow patient. You aren't qualified-"
"Then perhaps as a fellow patient I'll have better luck. If you're concerned about me harming the child, you'd be welcome to come with me." her eyes narrowed on Crane, who had been brought back in by Batman only a few days prior.
"Yes, well, the other patients are not my concern. You-" Crane cut her off,
"Let me be frank with you. It's cute that you think you have a chance against me, but there's a reason why the position you fill was vacant for so long. If I set my full attention on you, I promise you will be plucking out your own eyes within the week. You can look offended by my assurance all you like, but it will not create an alternate outcome. Or, you can humor me, and I'll allow your employers to think you're actually making progress." he folded his hands on his lap and calmly waited for her response. Her poor little mind was pondering out the possibilities, going back over his history, weighing what he had offered against the policies in place. After a long moment she sighed and set her notes down.
"Well, I know for a fact no prior traditional methods have had any luck with you. Perhaps this could be worth looking into. I'll speak to my higher ups about your proposal, though I can make no promises."
"Oh, of course not. I understand completely." Crane seemed pleased enough, even going so far as to smile, which seriously sent a chill down Doctor Yi's spine. What the hell had she gotten herself into?
"In the mean time," she continued, "Perhaps we can talk about-"
"Absolutely not!" Jeramiah Arkham balked at the woman for even suggesting it, but continued with his reprimand.
"You've read his file, which means you know perfectly well his history even with-"
"I don't think it's like that. I really think he might care about this, and that alone could be the hope we need to make progress! It's not like we won't be able to monitor the interaction. And, I hate to say this, but it's not like our other patient is improving or can get much worse. Can't you at least think about it?" Arkham looked over the woman with serious consideration, reluctance still tugging at his mind.
"I'll think about it."
Crane was grinning ear to ear, which by itself almost made Doctor Yi change her mind completely and see about putting him in solitary for a few days. Just to discourage anything he might be planning. But in the end she reminded herself that surely even the worst had some element of humanity to them, and it was her very job to dig it out. He had been searched, and every page of the books he carried examined. Thrice. Two orderlies accompanied them, both understandably on edge as they made their way to the medical wing.
"You'll be allowed a few minutes, if you try anything you'll spend a month in solitary for it." she reminded him of the technicalities, though his attention was on the door ahead. Her next words came a touch softer,
"Um...this might not be how you remember. Maybe you should prepare yourself before-"
"I am plenty prepared, you're forgetting I'm the one who dropped her off at the hospital to begin with." A nod, and they moved through the doors.
He paused to take in the details of the room, and he was relieved to see she looked much the same as he remembered. Hair still in a tangled dark mass, bags under her eyes, skin stretched tight over bones and wires in her arms, but she was alive. She was actually alive! He inched closer, noting that she had the same glossed over look from before to her eyes.
"Has she been unresponsive again?" the doctors nodded and he mirrored the motion. They watched and waited, half expecting him to try to pull something at the last moment, though they wouldn't know what.
"Jessica," instead his voice was uncharacteristically soft, trying to get her attention to no avail.
"Jessica, can you hear me?" after a pause that took much too long for his taste, he was about to try once more when her eyes slowly, slowly, turned towards him. Only her eyes, the rest of her remained still. It was still something. His smile returned.
"Everyone thought you were dead, you know. But of course no one stays dead for long in this city." he chuckled to himself, though she still didn't respond beyond the movement of her eyes. He continued,
"I brought you some books. To help pass time while you're stuck in the medical wing." another wait, but her eyes gradually fell to them.
He held out the novels, much as he had for their first interaction. Her arms moved with the same heavy weight as her eyes, he wondered what drugs they had her on? Yet she took the books, looking down at them now. Without a word towards him she cracked open the first binding, leaving him to wonder if she was refraining from speaking to him simply because of the other company in the room. Not that they mattered. He already had a plan for getting them both out of there. Everything had already been arranged.
"I'm going to help you." he didn't much care if the others heard him or not, they were unimportant. He had always wanted a student, a protege, someone to share his work with truly. Someone who qualified and-
Jessica began to rip the pages out of the book. Her eyes didn't blink, tears beginning to fall as she ripped and balled up the pages, faster and faster without looking at him once, throwing what was left of the novels away from herself with a frustrated scream that made him back away in shock and made the orderlies rush in to stop her. And him.
"I...I didn't do that! I didn't do anything! Jessica, stop, it's me!" he tried to explain, but they were already quite literally carrying him out of the room with one on each arm and Doctor Yi quickly following behind.
"What's wrong with her? What did you do to her?" he demanded to know.
"We didn't do anything, but obviously this was a bad idea." she sighed and earned a glare from Crane, who yanked his arms out of the orderlies grasp and nearly fell on his face in the process, but kept his feat.
"If you expect anyone in this place to get anything but worse," his words dripped venom as he closed the distance between himself an his doctor, though she stood her ground and motioned for the orderlies to not bother pulling him away, "then you're living in a dream world." he had knelt down to almost press his crooked nose to hers, but she didn't even blink.
"She was barely alive when they found her, just because her body has begun to recover doesn't mean her mind has. Which is exactly where we come in. Let us do our jobs, and when she improves I'll see about getting you another visit." she believed him when he said he didn't do anything just then. She wasn't sure what the whole story was, but she could tell that he, for what ever reason, had genuine concern. If she could nourish that, she would. He seemed to appreciate the sentiment enough to remove himself from her personal bubble and regain his usual composure.
His plans would continue. If any of them thought he would do anything but all that was in his power, then they had another thing coming. And if she was truly beyond his help, then he would do her the favor of putting her out of her misery.
AN: Even though I want to make this cute coming up, you didn't really expect she'd be 100% okay did you? After near death and a literal possession by a fear element? Oh no, she's going to be all kinds of psychologically jacked up.