The Horseman and The Hooded Crane
By: Miaiko-sama

From a psychiatrists point of view, nothing is more interesting than a criminally insane patient- trying to understand the way they think, their reasons for why they feel compelled to do what they do. Perhaps this was why Dr. Jonathan Crane, chief psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum surrounded himself with them. A professional curiosity that in time- grew to be an obsession. Some say that to be a great psychiatrist, to understand the way the warped mind of an insane patient thinks, you yourself must be at least a little unhinged.
Well, in the case of Jonathan Crane you would be right indeed. Behind closed doors nobody really knows for certain what happens between doctor and patient, and mind is a terribly fragile thing. Who would ever believe the words of a loon over that of their doctors?
Cue Rachel Dawes, Assistant District Attorney. The attractive brunette had always felt a little wary of the doctor- his handsome features and shocking blue eyes doing little to soothe her distrust. Every time she met his gaze she couldn't help but feel as if he was dissecting her, like one of his patients. His eyes held a glint of something she couldn't quite put her finger on, hiding just beyond her reach. That something, as she would soon find out- was pure madness.

"Doctor Crane?"
"Yes Felecia?"
"Miss Dawes is in early for her appointment"
"Have her wait, I'm just about done in here." Jonathan's finger left the button on his phone marked 'intercom' but his face was not that of Jonathan Crane.

He was Scarecrow.
Cold eyes stared down at his patient- Magdolyn Bishop, an intern working in the D.A's office. She was fairly pretty girl with pale features and light blonde hair. Her dull grey eyes stared ahead, almost lifeless. She was shaking helplessly on the tan jute carpet, and aside from the occasional whimper she was silent with what could only be described as pure unadulterated fear. Scarecrow took off his mask, and like Mr. Hyde leaving Dr. Jekyll to pick up the pieces he moved quickly to get what he needed. From his desk he pulled out a small syringe, he checked the unit scale before removing the cap and giving Miss Bishop her injection. Slightly agitated at the interruption, but almost giddy at the prospect of getting under Rachel Dawes skin, he dragged Magdolyn's small form into the room adjacent to his office. His disheveled hair fell in front of his ice colored eyes, but for some reason he waited until he opened the door to the waiting room before clawing a hand through it. He noted that Rachel had noticed.
"Miss Dawes, you're early."

His lips formed a polite smile that Rachel had refused to mirror, obviously not in the mood to deal with whatever mind games the Doctor had thought to play. Strictly business as usual. She let the suited man move off to the side, then strode into the office when he gestured for her to enter.
The door clicked behind her.
"Do you think I'm stupid?" She whipped her head around to face the psychiatrist, miscalculating how close he was- which to her discontent caused her to angle her irritated gaze upwards. Suddenly she wished she hadn't taken off her heels before leaving the D.A's office. Standing opposite from him (both literally and intellectually in the case of Carmine Falcone) she felt more confident when she rivaled his height.

Doctor Crane made his way to the beautiful cherry wood desk placed in the far left corner of the room and sat down gingerly. He then began organizing his notes on Bishop, pushing them into a large manila envelope and locking them in the top drawer.
"Miss Dawes" He sighed, professional courtesy never leaving his words.
"Every time you come into my office I'm met with such hostility." He saw the petite woman fidget from his peripherals and smirked to himself as he stood from his desk. With one eye never leaving her, Crane replaced himself in one of two large chairs, closer to the center of the room. Rachel made a point to keep standing- it did not go unnoticed.
"To answer your question, no. I don't believe you are stupid."
"Then why do you insist on treating me like I am?" She said quickly, her eyes boring into his. The doctor grew uneasy, wondering exactly how much the young woman knew.
"Miss Dawes, your delusions are beginning to-"
"Oh spare me, Crane. You continuing to chalk my words up to delusions won't work-"
"Doctor." Jonathan counter-interrupted, noticeably irritated by her lack of honorifics.

Rachel pushed again, the irritation on his face secretly pleasing her and fueling her suspicions of him, she continued.
"You continue to do the same old song and dance, but I know you're up to something. I can see it."
"I understand that you want to blame faulty police work and sloppy depositions on something, or rather someone to feel better about the outcome in the courtroom, but your allegations simply aren't true. We're both on the same side here." Crane chided. A 'tsk' escaped Rachel's lips. She was not buying it.
"I highly doubt that, Crane. I fight to make sure murderers are put in Blackgate, not thrown in a sewing circle to talk about their daddy issues for a few months."
"Doctor, Miss Dawes." He voiced again, this time with a less forgiving tone.
"That's what you'll need- a doctor. Because only insane men deal with Falcone." Jonathan felt a 'pang' in his chest at that last jab, staring ahead as Rachel stood up from her seat and moved toward the door.
"And we both know where insane men end up. See you in court." She finished, closing the door behind her to let her words sink in.

Jonathan kept the same tolerant expression on his face for a good minute, his intense glare burning a hole into the fine leather of the chair Miss Dawes had occupied. He forced himself to stand, then paced around the room, his hair once again falling over his eyes as his expression darkened. Obviously Falcone didn't have as tight of a hold on 'his' city as he had originally thought. But that wasn't all his fault necessarily- some people just couldn't be bought off.

Rachel Dawes option not to fall in line would prove to be her downfall, and Jonathan couldn't wait to see her come crashing down from that high horse.

Early Monday morning Gotham Federal Court adjourned. Rachel Dawes donned a classic black skirt suit with matching pumps and a sleek ponytail. She smiled at Carl Finch, Gotham's District Attorney and took her seat to the right of the room closest to the aisle. She then opened her briefcase and scanned over the details of today's hearing, serial killer Victor Zsasz. Reading over her files she cringed, hoping her visit with Dr. Crane opened his eyes. The brunette took a long sip of coffee and sighed, Mr. Zsasz's 'zombies' as he called them were all listed, his murder signature apparent with every single one of them- and the substantial amounts of evidence left at the crime scenes were miles long. There was no way a respectable person could allow this man to get out of jail- The key element, of course being a respectable individual. Rachel hated to admit it, but with the way things were going- Jonathan Crane's analysis of Zsasz's mental instability would hold the most weight in the outcome of the hearing. In the back of her head she wished Judge Faden wasn't in.
The prisoner was ushered into the court room via the door opposite the judge's chambers, and soon after Dr. Crane followed. The two met eyes for a second longer than a glance, and Rachel could have sworn she saw him wink. Despite her loathing of the man, she held her breath when he entered the room... She pretended to drink her coffee.

"All rise for the honorable Judge Faden." The bailiff voiced, chairs creaking and the sound of wood scraping against marble tile echoed throughout the courtroom. Faden entered from his chambers and called court to order.
The defense and prosecution reiterated their depositions and as predicted, Dr. Jonathan Crane, Arkham's chief psychiatrist was soon called to the stand.

"Doctor Crane, could you briefly summarize your analysis of the defendant after your evaluation last week?" The psychiatrist nodded, taking his seat beside the bench. He loathed that once again he had to step in and save one of Carmine Falcone's grunts from a little bit of time at Blackgate Penitentiary. To be perfectly honest he'd rather let them both rot away in some piss-poor cell,. He could only imagine how long Falcone would last with so many rival scumbags biding their time behind bars.
"In my opinion Mr. Zsasz is as much a danger to himself as to others, and prison is probably not the best environment for his rehabilitation." His monotonous voice was slightly amplified by the microphone in front of him. Judge Faden dismissed the doctor and continued with the sentencing.
As Dr. Crane stepped down from the stand he glanced at Rachel who was visually distressed, shuffling her papers and putting them into her bag. He could tell she was painfully aware that Mr. Zsasz wouldn't be doing any time for his crimes and had to be getting sick of this, but Crane couldn't help feeling just a little smug at her defeat.

"Doctor Crane?"
"Ah, Miss Dawes." The psychiatrist feigned surprise at the sound of the feisty brunette, quickening her pace to catch up to him. He made no attempt to slow his pace and continued to stare straight ahead at his destination.

"Do you really think a man who butchers people for the mob doesn't belong in jail?" She asked, refusing to let the issue go- like a mad dog. He had to admit he admired her determination, albeit the wrong side of the playing field.

"I would hardly have testified to that otherwise would I, Miss Dawes?" He quipped, still walking at his regular pace. Rachel- being ever so passionate about the subject, moved quickly to cut him off.

"This is the third of Carmine Falcone's thugs you've had declared insane and moved into your asylum." Rachel secretly felt pleasure in rivaling his height. Jonathan's eye twitched. She was indeed getting too close to the situation and due to Carmine's ineptitude, he was on the ropes.

"Well, the work offered by organized crime must have an attraction to the insane." He said 'matter of factly' taking on the defensive in this now, un-amusing conversation. Jonathan clenched his jaw and made his way for the wooden doors behind Rachel, brushing her aside. The brunette- refusing to let him close the door on her, turned heel and followed after the man.
"...Or the corrupt." She challenged, aiming for his credibility. Dr. Crane stopped suddenly in front of her and silenced a groan, his eyes scanning the room before landing on a familiar face interacting with a blonde co-worker.

"Mr. Finch." He called.
"I think you should check with Miss Dawes here just what implications your office has authorized her to make." Jonathan said, dragging out the syllables of her name as a final taunt.

"If any." He added quickly with a tight lipped smile before he resumed walking past Carl Finch and striding right out of the courthouse.

After a surprisingly satisfying talk with Falcone and a few words on his progress to put Ra's at ease, Jonathan went back to seeing his patients. Namely Miss Bishop, who for the most part had been responding fairly well to her treatments.

"I had another nightmare, Doctor Crane." The woman said, looking completely unhinged.
"I feel like I'm losing my mind, I don't know what's real anymore... I-" She cried, barely able to stand upon being ushered into his office. This woman was clearly a crisis case.
"Shhh, Miss Bishop. You should give in to the fear." Dr. Crane grabbed his 'special briefcase' and rested it on his desk.

"Do you think Falcone is still looking for me? Could I- go home?"

"Now, now, Miss Bishop. We can't afford to take that chance. We don't know for certain, and I'm beginning to think that you wouldn't be safe without supervision- especially with your delusions."
"After all I'm only doing what I think is best for you." He chided, unlocking the latches of the case and taking out a burlap mask. Jonathan enjoyed testing the fear gas's effects on her, she was a perfect guinea pig, but with the time at hand so close, he couldn't afford to keep any loose ends. Magdolyn turned her attention to the Doctor, only to be temporarily blinded by the gas. When her vision returned, all she could see was the Scarecrow- The horrible scarecrow that plagued her to no end. A blood curdling scream escaped her lips as she tried to scramble away from the living nightmare before her.
"Oh God please, not again." She choked, repeating the words over and over again until her voice was barely a whisper.

Scarecrow's plans were in motion, and he doubted at this point he could even stop himself if he wanted to.

[Author's Note:]

Yayyy I'm back!
Okay, so I was watching Batman Begins and really loved the idea of Rachel and Crane getting together- so obviously that's how this story came to be. I'm kinda playing it by ear, but I like the ideas I have so far sooo- we'll see how this goes. Tell me what you think of it is so far and I'll update when I can =)

-Miaiko-sama :)