'You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.'

~Eleanor Roosevelt

Trust the night.

That's what Master Wen first told him after he'd traveled high into the mountains of Tibet in order to train at the legendary sensei's knee. It was another part of the lesson he needed to learn if he was going to become the warrior of justice he wanted to be.

"Let the night become your ally, your friend," the wizened grand master told him during their initial training session. How Wen had known-indeed, how he'd even come to suspect just what it was that he planned on doing with all the training he'd collected over the numerous years he'd spent abroad, he still did not know. But somehow, Wen had known.

He'd learned much while training at that old swordsman's knee.

Trust the night.

The phrase flickered into his mind as he plunged into the shadows of the dark tunnel that led into the subterranean caverns burrowing beneath Wayne Manor. It was the constant reminder that told him that no matter what, the night always knew best. The night had never steered him wrong. The night had, in fact, predicted everything that was going to occur at Arkham. It was the night whispering to him about the events about to be unleashed by the Joker. It was also the night who'd helped him to prevent the Joker's plans from being even more fatalistic than they might have been otherwise. There was only one event the night had not revealed to him: Jonathan Crane's infatuation with Dr. Raya Kean.

It was an attraction he fully intended to prevent from blossoming beyond its current stage. Whatever was necessary of him to do, he'd do it. And he didn't much care if Raya approved of his methods or not. Not only was she very important to him on a personal level (being like a daughter to him), but keeping her out of Crane's hands was vital on a professional level as well. Bruce believed that Crane's interest in Raya stemmed less from any true romantic feelings that the doctor might have towards her, and more from a desire to get his hands upon Dr. Matthew Berkeley Sr.'s notes about the behavioral modifying agent he'd code named Inceptive right before his untimely death. Bruce did not know how exactly the behavioral modifying agent functioned. Raya refused to share what she knew with him, and he had never pushed the issue because of how many dark tidings were associated with the agent. Nonetheless, he could guess from Crane's continued desire to get his hands upon the ultra secret formula that it was something that did not bode well for the people of Gotham.

How Crane knows Inceptive still exists is what I want to know.

The only person who had that particular answer was currently waiting for him back at the cave. The tunnel began to widen and grow lighter a few seconds later. He flew out the chute into the Batcave and allowed the Batwing to hover while a pair of slate cubes rose to form a landing pad. He touched down on the cubes. The canopy opened and Batman emerged. And was instantly immersed in the vocal chaos and heated discord that was coming from the grotto directly above him.

"And you're nothing but a stupid, ill-mannered, stubborn, jealous son of a bitch!"

Bruce's eyebrows forked. What's going on here? he wondered.

"Aw, stop flirtin' with me, Kit," there was a nasty nip in that whiskey rough voice. "I'm in no mood for it."

"You've been in a mood ever since we left the Asylum!" was snapped back in a voice that reminded Bruce of spiced cider. "And I really don't understand what about!"

"You know exactly what about!"

"No," she gritted. "I really don't, Jason."

"Well, gee," sarcasm just rolled off his son's tongue. "Lemme see if I can explain it ta ya."

"Oh, you mean you can actually get over your snit long enough to explain why you're yelling at me?"

Bruce smothered a chuckle. Well, at least he knew his imp was up and about following her run-in with Crane at the Asylum. And apparently she was in fine fighting form from the sounds of it. It assured him that she'd suffered no adverse side effects from the fear gas that Crane had sprayed in her face. Something his son, Jason, was clearly not taking into consideration. You are being just as brash as ever, he thought with a slight shake of his head. He'd never managed to instill in Jason the same ideals or principles that he had in Dick or Tim. He'd never managed to teach him the art of patience. And I never curbed the tidal wave of rage that flows inside him, he thought with a trace of that familiar sadness. It was one of the hundreds of sins he carried around inside him. One of the thousands of regrets that he brooded over before managing to fall asleep somewhere around dawn.

"Ya were the one who was standing there while that psychotic nut bag put the moves on ya!"

"I was gassed, you horse's ass!"

Deciding he should probably go and intervene before things got any uglier than they already were, Bruce began walking across the platform towards the stairs that led up to the main platform. He shed his cape and cowl, officially balancing between the vigilante and the billionaire as he went.

"I'd stay down here if I was you," a droll voice said on his left. "Just let them shout it out."

Bruce glanced over to see his oldest son, and the first Robin, Dick Grayson, was sitting on one of the weight benches in jeans and a black t-shirt. "How long have they been at it?"

"I'm not sure," he replied with a slight shrug of the shoulders. "They were going at it when I came down."

"When did you get here?"

"Just a few minutes before you did, actually."

Bruce arched an eyebrow at the cheerful note that was in the younger man's voice. "Are you actually finding this amusing?"

"Uh-huh."

Bruce's lips twitched. "Care to explain why?"

"Well," Dick said cheerily. "Jason is finally getting a dose of his own verbal medicine."

Bruce just shook his head. Only his oldest son could find humor in his brother and best friend screaming at each other.

"Do you know what they are fighting about exactly, Dick?" he asked before hearing Jason bark a "Ha!"

"Crane from what it sounds like. Which," the younger superhero said as he pushed to his feet with a sigh, "I gotta admit he does have a right to be in a bit of a snit about what went down at the Asylum." He shot a look at the computer bay from over his shoulder. "I'd sure as hell would be if I'd been there and seen Crane putting the moves on her."

That Jason Todd had been greatly disturbed by the events that went down just a few short hours ago in the Asylum's Secure Transit area was a gross understatement. He wasn't exactly thrilled about those events either. Then, he had good reason not to be thrilled, he thought, his mind drifting back over those final moments...

Arkham Asylum, Secure Transit area.

Bruce slammed a fist into the face of the remaining goon and turned in time to see Crane lifting up Raya's gloved hand.

"It has indeed been a pleasure, Dr. Kean," the doctor said in a low, intimate purr.

Warning bells started going off inside Bruce's head. His first inclination was to charge in and snatch the petite girl from out of the madman's grasp. He tamped the urge down, told himself that patience was necessary for success at that moment. Yet it didn't stop the fear. Nothing ever stopped a father's fear. Jason dropped onto the platform beside him, all but simmering with the cornucopia of emotions churning inside him.

The elder hero could understand what his boy was feeling at that moment. Raya was his partner, friend, and his more off-than-on girlfriend. It was understandable he wanted to rush in and save her. Not being with someone did not mean you did not still care for them. Bruce knew that for himself.

However, he also knew that if Jason lost his temper and went after Crane the way he wanted that he could risk Raya's life. He glanced over at his son, silently pleading with him to be patient. Those eyes shifted towards him, scorched him with the heat of his anger. Yet what hurt him the most was seeing the fear hidden below the rage. It had been years since Bruce had glimpsed anything other than hate and anger in those blue eyes.

"Patience," he urged. "You can't rush in and save her."

Slowly, deliberately, Crane brushed Raya's knuckles with his thin lips. The act of a gentleman paying court to his lady. Jason spit a vitriolic curse and took a step forward, clearly desiring to tear the man molesting his girlfriend apart. Bruce feared that such a maneuver upon his part would only result in Raya being given a dose of that yellowy substance in the vials which replaced fingers upon Crane's gloved hand. He grabbed the young hero's arm, felt the tightly corded muscles beneath his grip vibrate.

"Jason," he said when the young man snatched his arm away and fixed him with a baleful glare. "He's not hurting her." Not right now, he added silently. "Just be patient. Please."

I care about her, too, son, he told the younger man silently. I won't let him hurt her. You know I won't let him hurt her.

Jason's lips peeled back in a wordless snarl. But then he rasped, "The only thing keepin' me from killing that sick freak right now is the fact that he could hurt her."

With a final, taunting smile at them, Crane nimbly leapt into the elevator and punched the down button. His high pitched laugh echoed in the chamber long after he disappeared. Jason rushed forward, grabbing Raya in a hard embrace while demanding, "are you okay, Kit?"

"Ye-yes," she stammered, burrowing against Jason and banding her arms tightly around his waist. "I'm fine, Jason."

Hollow-eyed, pale and far from fine was Bruce's opinion. He ran a hand over the cap of her hair.

"You're safe now," he told her quietly. "It's over."

Those fathomless eyes shifted, lifted to his. They were hazy, the pupils dilated. Yet beneath it he saw that fire burning, knew she was gathering herself and pushing back against the fear holding her immobile. Good girl, he commended silently. Then his hand shifted and he cupped her cheek.

"Fear rises," he told her quietly. "Remember that, imp. Fear rises."

He saw her nod jerkily. Then she whispered, "Go," in a voice that was thin and reedy. "You cannot let Crane escape."

"Raya..."

"Bruce, go!" There was a vague note of hysteria in her voice; upon her face. He ached for what he knew she was going through. He knew the pockets and doors inside her were slamming open and letting a host of bad memories run free. He'd trade his vast wealth to trade places with her. To take her fear from her. Her hand clutched his; trembled.

"Ray-"

"If Crane manages to escape the Asylum, he will be free to rain terror down upon Gotham! So we cannot let him leave this island!" She squeezed his fingers. "I'll be okay. But you have to go and stop him, Bruce."

Bruce glanced at Jason, saw the tidal wave of dark and turbulent emotions circling in his gaze.

"I'll handle Crane," he told him. "You get her back to the cave." He turned to leave, but paused to look back. "And stay with her, Jason."

He thought his son was going to object, to protest. He knew how badly Jason Todd wanted to hunt down the man who'd dared to not only put his hands upon her, but to gas her as well. Instead, his son nodded before he swung Raya up into his arms. Then he looked at him and gritted, "Just make sure ya get a few punches in for me when ya catch up with the bastard."

Then he turned and began to make his way from the Secure Transit area. Bruce watched for a brief second before he turned to give chase to the grand manipulator of fear...

"It was only a concentrated dose of the freak's toxin," Jason's snarly tone pulled Bruce back to the present. "Not enough to have glued your boots so firmly ta the concrete!"

"Oh, because you say so?"

"Because I know so!"

With a sigh, Bruce walked up the steel ramp into the main grotto of the cave. He passed the medical bay and the crime lab before ascending another set of short steps to find Raya seated at the main computer station. A large, high-definition flat screen monitor dominated the wall behind her. Seven linked Cray supercomputers hummed quietly, providing enough data storage and computing power to make even the most high tech geek weep with envy. Raya's eyes were fixed upon the man leaning negligently against the railing in front of her and so she did not see Bruce's approach.

"Look, you..."

"Children," he interjected lightly. "Can we stop arguing now, please?"

"Certainly," Jason said in a silky smooth tone. "Right after Raya tells you about why she's been lying through her teeth to you for the last ten months."

"Jas," came the sweet reply. The far too sweet reply, Bruce instantly realized. "You can go fu..."

Bruce clapped a hand over her mouth before she could get out what exactly his son could go do. That her language had gotten quite a bit saltier since she'd started partnering with Jason was an understatement. The more angry she got, the worse her language got. And right now her temper was burning brighter than a Roman candle. Time to separate the two, he decided.

"You go wait for me in the medical bay," he told her.

"Aw, I see daddy is here ta spare ya from having ta explain yourself," Jason said nastily. "Wonder where ole Dickie bird is? Considerin' how tied at the hip the two of ya are, I'm surprised he ain't here ta play the goddamn hero."

Raya snarled and would have gone after him, but Bruce merely nudged her towards the ramp with a firm, "Go."

Before she left, Raya gave Jason a dirty look, and a not-so-subtle finger gesture that had Bruce sighing before she then flounced off in the direction of the medical bay. Bruce turned to look at his son. He saw the light of battle in that electric gaze. And he knew that the younger man was itching for a fight. That he was spoiling for a fight, in fact. This time, however, he was not going to oblige his volatile son with a quick and nasty round of who could hit who the hardest.

"You are not handling things very well with Ray..."

"Spare me the lectures." Jason's lips curled into a sneer. "And stuff the advice. Not wantin' ta hear either."

Bruce sighed. He'd forgotten just how difficult reasoning with this particular boy could be.

"You are trying to place the blame upon Raya for what happened at the Asylum. She's not to blame."

Jason scoffed. "You think that she's innocent? You think that she's not to blame for some of what went on tonight at the Asylum with Crane?" He sneered the words. "Think again."

"You're reacting out of fear, anger and jealousy," Bruce said softly. "And you're not thinking clearly beca..."

"You think this is all because that scumbag tried to horn in on my territory? Because he put his hands on her?" Jason snorted a humorless laugh. "Ya couldn't be more wrong, Bruce. One," he gritted. "That stopped being my territory quite a few months ago. Two? I don't give a crap who she decides to date."

"Then what is this about?"

"It's about Raya lying to all of us for the last few months." Jason saw the flicker of disbelief on Bruce's face and released a stream of vitriolic curses which Alfred would have gone into a fit at hearing. "I see ya don't believe me. Well," he snarled, "why don't you go and ask her about whether Crane called her out to the Asylum earlier tonight or not? Oh, and while you're at it," he raised his voice so that the woman in the medical bay could hear him. "Make sure to ask her about how many other times that the son of a bitch has called her out to Arkham in the last ten months. I'm sure she told you it was only one or two times. And it is complete and utter bullshit!"

Bruce's eyebrows lifted at that. He'd known about Crane making repeated requests for having Raya assigned as his doctor. Requests he knew she'd denied. But he had not known about her going out to Arkham to personally see Crane. That night, or any other for that matter. He filed that information away for use later.

"And then," Jason said, unfolding his arms and stepping towards Bruce. "Ask her about how it is that Crane knows about her grandfather's behavioral modifying agent. I'm sure you'll find her answer about as hilarious as I did."

"Inceptive," came her quiet reply. Bruce turned and saw Raya standing in the archway between the main computer area and the medical bay. Dick was standing right behind her, his hands resting lightly upon her shoulders. Her eyes, he saw, burned with emotion. Jason, if he was not careful, was going to get swept up in the heat of that gaze. "Grandfather's behavioral modifying agent is called Inceptive. And Crane wants to get his hands on it because he wants to use the agent's neural properties to engulf Gotham in a world of fear. And we cannot let him get his hands upon it. The people that he would hurt..." she trailed off, looking helpless and remorseless.

"How does Crane even know that the agent still exists?" Bruce asked. He told himself that he would scold her later for not revealing this imperative data sooner.

"Yeah, Kit," Jason said nastily. "Tell dear ole Dad here about just who it was that told that psychotic freak that Inceptive still exists."

Bruce saw more than heard her sigh. He watched Dick's hands squeeze her shoulders reassuringly. That as good as told him that his oldest son already knew about what had been going on between her and Crane. Not a surprise, he thought silently. They've always told each other everything. However, he wasn't prepared for his imp to rip the floor right out from under him.

"I'm the one who told Crane it still exists, Bruce."

A/N: Hello m'dears…welcome!

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