Author's Note: I own nothing except my OCs. Some more Jerome/Jonathan for you because Joker/Scarecrow was my first ship in the Nolanverse Dark Knight. This is pretty short but I'm still nervous about introducing the OC until she's just right.

Jerome licked lazily at the popsicle he'd stolen from one of the carnie's station in hope of getting Jonathan's attention, seduction was an art and apparently one that his friend wasn't privy to.

"Well fuck you then," Jerome exclaimed throwing the popsicle down into the grass and receiving a raised eyebrow from an impassive Jonathan, "you just don't appreciate a good tease!" Jonathan scoffed and went back to reading some dumb sciencey book he'd asked Jerome to pick up from the library. The older boy resolved to never do it again, Johnny didn't deserve his kindness. He was just about to huff and storm off in a tizzy when Jonathan rested his hand on top of Jerome's. He didn't look up from his book or even glance at the ginger but it was enough to make the other boy grin and lay back down. His touch starved little heart being happy with just a good hand-holding.

"He doesn't talk as much anymore," Jonathan murmurs, "now that I'm here with you."

Jerome, surprisingly, keeps his mouth shut and just listens because he knows this is important.

"I've read that Scarecrow, that's what I called him, is a reaction to my trauma," he laughs bitterly at this before continuing, "yes I fear him but I also depend on him to protect me from danger. That's when he comes out- when I feel threatened. I'm assuming the whole Scarecrow attire comes from how I was attacked by crows as a child. I depend on him to scare them away. And now that I'm here and my father and grandmother are dead, where the crows can't get me, and I'm not being kept in some hospital with only him for company- I guess I just haven't needed him and he kind of just sleeps most of the time. So thanks I guess for keeping me not scared?"

Jerome smiled crookedly, the real smile, "No problem Johnny you being here has made my life a whole lot better too."

They went back to their lazing positions after that, Jerome wasn't needed on the grounds that day and he'd run off before his mother could try to rope him into anything stupid. He napped for a few hours with Jonathan being careful not to wake him on his one day off. Jerome was a fidgety sleeper- fingers twitching to grasp at something imaginary, body jolting every few minutes, and brow furrowing as small grunts escaped his lips. Jonathan would pet his hair then offering the same comfort Jerome gave him whenever he'd jolt awake from nightmares. Jonathan would wake up in the middle of the night having escaped his grandmother's glaring eyes, the sting of pecking beaks, and skin being shredded by sharp claws only to be instantly comforted upon seeing Jerome laying next to him, a reminder that he was far from all that now.

As the sun started to set Jerome woke up and laid still for a few minutes. When he finally did manage to get himself up he told Jonathan to wait there, as if there was any other place for him to go, and then disappeared into the treeline. He didn't return until the sun had almost completely set and he looked quite pleased with himself.

"Please tell me you didn't kill anything," Jonathan calls out as soon as the grinning maniac pops back into his line of sight. Jerome had recently started to act on some of his murderous tendencies, killing homeless people that he deemed to be expendable though Jonathan had noticed that it was mostly the people that they had spotted on their walks, people that had a predatory eye on minors or other vulnerable people. He wouldn't argue that Jerome was a good guy, the boy did after all still relish in the thought of shooting someone's head off or slitting a throat to watch the blood gush out, but he did believe that at least for now Jerome was trying to make himself believe that he was doing a good thing.

"Oh Johnny have a little faith," Jerome scoffed as he came closer, "I would've told you as soon as I was out of earshot of the grounds if I'd done anything fun."

Jonathan raised a brow at the description of taking lives being fun but kept his mouth shut as he knew that he also dabbled in the same fantasies. Jerome dropped onto the grass next to him unceremoniously and grinned widely, his arms had been kept behind his back since he'd returned and Jonathan waited expectantly for the big reveal.

"I got ya something," Jerome said and produced a small white mouse from behind his back. It was cupped in his hands surprisingly gently and for a second Jonathan thought it might be dead because it wasn't squirming but it was breathing just fine, simply laying there calmly in the psychopath's hands.

"Thanks," Jonathan said sarcastically, "just what I wanted. A rodent riddled with disease."

He thought it was a joke, the type where they teased each other by being assholes. He thought Jerome had just found the mouse and brought it back to annoy Jonathan by trying to get him to touch it. He thought wrong as was made clear when Jerome abruptly stood up.

"Fuck you," he spat at Jonathan, "that's the last time I spend anytime trying to do something nice for you."

He stormed off then leaving Jonathan speechless and still waiting for the punchline. When a few minutes had passed and the mouse had already scurried off back into the wild he realized he'd just hurt Jerome's feelings. He sniffed and shook his head disbelievingly resolving that all he could do was wait until the older boy came back so he could apologize.

What if he doesn't come back. Scarecrow hissed in the back of his mind for the first time in days.