A/N: Can we pretend I didn't say anything yesterday regarding a certain new movie? Hm? OK. Don't really like giving out spoilers, but hey, when a geek gets excited...You know nothing! Anyway, here's the next chapter to get my plot ball rolling.


Chapter 1: The Personal Life of Dr. Harland

Despite conducting two more appointments that morning, they were brief ones at that, with Amelia simply checking up on those patients. The rest of the day, she found nothing better to do but to pace up and down her office, thinking of the first major case of her. Scarecrow.

The level of difficulty associated with him would be astronomical, especially since he'd been under similar circumstances before. He would know right away what would take place. Other members of the staff may have considered her brilliant, but that was nothing compared to this man. In fact, what Amelia primarily worried about was that Scarecrow would seize control of her mind and irreparably damage her. Then, she would end up in one of the asylum's most strictly operated holding cells. And she would not like that.

No, he was no Killer Croc, all brawn yet very little brains. What struck her the most with dread was his intelligence. A genius criminal was the most unnerving type of all.

However, if she went in with that frame of mind tomorrow morning, he would automatically hone in on that. Expand on it. Capture her totally in his ever growing addiction for fear. He fed off it like the most sadistic horror movie character. A Freddy Krueger or a Michael Myers came to mind.

If Amelia aimed to succeed with these sessions, she would have to remain calm.

Out of curiosity, after having lunch in the cafeteria later on, she shut herself away in her office and researched him. Scarecrow, formerly Jonathan Crane. She had to admit that it was a damn shame that he went from respected doctor to twisted criminal. At the same time, it sickened her that some…monster like this used to be a doctor. Treating patients or, more than likely, ruining them with his experiments.

Bile rose in the back of her throat, yet she determinedly kept on. Apparently, the last doctor who had spoken with him ultimately committed suicide a year ago.

His specialty was in fear-inducing drugs and toxins that he'd invented himself, as was widely known. Why did such a mind have to be wasted in harming Gotham? For, there had been several escapades that had led to his most recent arrest, more attacks on the city. Three weeks ago, for instance, he reportedly had sprayed toxin on certain members of the city council. During a town hall…Several witnesses telling the police that they'd heard shrill, maniacal laughter.

Eventually, the council members were cured via an antidote that wealthy yet resourceful Bruce Wayne provided.

An interesting but mostly chilling story.

"Sick bastard," Amelia muttered, doubting more and more of her abilities to cure him. The man was incurable, simple as that.

She sighed, "I can't do this," and was about to e-mail O' Riley before a message popped up in her inbox:

Hi, Amelia

I was wondering if we could hang out at our favorite bar tonight. I think it would be a great end to a lousy Monday, wouldn't you say? Only if you're free, though, that is. I know how busy you are most of the time, but you do deserve a break. Respond ASAP.

Thanks,

Cate

Amelia couldn't resist smiling upon skimming the e-mail from her friend and colleague Dr. Catherine Nelson, someone with whom she'd instantly hit it off when she first was new. Cate was two years older than her, yet this didn't make a difference in their friendship. What was the most beneficial about being friends with her was that she had a professional side along with a sparkling, free-spirited one. In other words, she knew how to have fun, something Amelia assumed she could never stop learning.

Her job required so much of her personal time away that she rarely spent time on herself except for weekends and the occasional night out. Because of this, she rarely pursued serious romantic relationships, only saw other men. Actually, she had been seeing a man named Mark Young recently, and she was supposed to meet up with him at a Thai place this weekend. As pleasant as he was, Amelia immensely looked forward to this third date with him. If she kept this up, she just might go steady with this endearing attorney.

For now, Cate's idea sounded very much appealing to her, as she also didn't go out with friends (or, rather, a friend) that often. The bar they both preferred, Harry's, was a trendy, classy place. Not like some bars, which seemed too much like run-of-the-mill brothels or saloons.

Happy to respond, Amelia sent her reply e-mail within a minute.

Cate,

I'll be happy to take you up on the offer. After what I'll tell you when we meet, you'll know why I could really use a drink.

Amelia

No kidding, she thought bleakly, massaging her temples. She should be satisfied with being presented with such a great opportunity as her next case would be. If she did well, her star in Arkham would rise even higher.

However, didn't anyone realize that this was Scarecrow they were talking about? Amelia refused to think of how she would cope with him for the rest of the day. Instead, she opted to research more on him, to see what was under his Arkham file. Even though that yes, she didn't want to come up with any ideas as to how to deal with him, she had out more about him. That way, she could gather a fair assessment on him and his previous crimes before the guards sent him in to her.

So, Amelia Harland worked obsessively until five o'clock.


She stopped at her apartment home briefly for a bite to eat (to get some food in her system before she went out drinking), watch the news, and check up on Persephone. Her two-year-old cat still had plenty of food in her tray and greeted her adoringly once she came in. Persephone's sweet, gentle nature contrasted from how most other cats would have reacted if their masters finally came home after a long day at work. Most other cats would have been resentful, with their tails haughtily stuck up in the air. Persephone seemed to understand.

However, this didn't stop Amelia from playing with her beloved cat with the toy catnip mouse and petting her velvety soft belly. She smiled fondly as Persephone started purring and batting away at her hands with her de-clawed paws. Even through her highly stressful job, she always had time to take care of her pet. It made her feel less lonely in a way…

Earlier at Arkham, Cate had e-mailed back suggesting that the two of them meet up at Harry's around six-thirty. So, close to that time, Amelia left in her Honda to drive downtown where her destination was.

Once she noticed Cate up by the bar, ordering her drink, Amelia called out her friend's name.

The light brown-haired woman waved her over in response. "Amelia, hey! I'm glad we can hang out together like this. You got to have some fun once in a while, even if working at Arkham is rather on the demanding side."

"Ah, fun…" Amelia half-shrugged. "Between working hard all my life and my current job, I think I lost sight of what it meant a long time ago."

Cate shook her head, skeptical. "Not totally. You make sure to share girls' day and night outs with me. You can't be that bad off. I'll meet you at that booth over there after you've gotten your order."

For, she had just received her order of a fruit cocktail relatively quickly. As it was before seven, the bar hadn't gotten overcrowded yet, much to Amelia's satisfaction.

She simply ordered Chardonnay and then, shortly thereafter, retreated to the booth that Cate had pointed out to her. It was off in a little private corner of their own, which was agreeable considering that the topic she wished to bring up had to be kept secret. Only Cate was entitled to know who she would be interviewing tomorrow. Unfortunately, Amelia wouldn't be able to fill her friend in on any details whatsoever.

The Arkham policy of patient confidentiality and all that business. Not like she necessarily thought that these criminals deserved the same rights and privileges as non-criminals…But, it was only fair for them to at least feel free to speak to their psychiatrists without judgment.

"I decided on a cocktail. Part of me was craving a margarita, but hell, it's Monday morning. I'm not showing up to work tomorrow hung over. Unlike some people over in the X-ray division…like Dr. Mayhew for instance. Oh my God, you wouldn't believe him last week, barely fighting not to slur his words."

Cate happened to work in the X-ray division as well and didn't much care for Dr. Mayhew and his occasional lack of professionalism. As someone dedicated to her career and ensuring that no missteps were made, Amelia could easily identify with her on that level. Cate was never one to gossip with ill intent, but she liked making her opinions known. That was why she was such a great conversationalist: she kept things fresh.

Amelia sighed. "I can't imagine why he would show up hung over. I mean, X-rays are fairly important. If there is such a thing as karma, someone would have reported him or at least caught him."

"Yeah, well…He got away with it…Now, what's this you got to tell me about the reason why you wanted booze so badly?" Cate's brown eyes glinted teasingly as she clasped her hands in front of her, eager to listen.

She may have been avid about hearing the story, but Amelia felt less inclined to actually tell it. Somehow, admitting her most major patient of the year (more like of the century) would confirm it even more. It would implicate that these sessions would take place and that they would be with the self-described "Master of Fear" himself.

As her parents had vaguely suggested, maybe she should have looked at other places to practice psychiatry instead of a loony bin.

Taking a long, long sip of her white wine, Amelia resolved to get this out in the open before it ate away at her too much. "All right, here goes nothing. So…Earlier this morning, Dr. O' Riley called me into her office. She gave me all sorts of nice compliments like how talented I was at my work and with me so young…You understand, she buttered me up. Then, she told me I wouldn't be working with Clarisse anymore."

Cate's jaw dropped in shock. "You're kidding! You were doing so well with her. It was really no secret how well she was learning to cope with—"

"Yes, yes," Amelia cut in impatiently, carelessly waving her hand. "I know. That was a nasty shock for me, too. And you won't believe what she said next. I was advised to leave my current case in favor of a more pressing one…of a criminal."

"So, who is it? Ivy? Mad Hatter? Oh, Amelia, don't tell me"—and here, Cate's voice dropped to a whisper—"Is it the Joker?"

"No, worse, I'm afraid. Cate, it's…It's Scarecrow I have to start seeing tomorrow. Along with taping my sessions."

Somewhat bewildered by this discovery, Cate mouthed, "Holy shit," but didn't actually utter it. She refused to curse severely in public due to her belief that it was vulgar and unbecoming of her. But, she had every right to swear in this instance. Amelia had done that plenty inside her head today.

Her heart sinking lower toward her stomach, she idly tapped a finger against her glass, dissatisfied with this outcome. It honestly would have been better if Cate would tell her that this case wouldn't be so agonizing. That she would complete treating him in a few short weeks due to her sharp instincts. Rather, her friend reflected what she felt, and it was written all over her stunned face.

"Unbelievable…Wow, Scarecrow…Jonathan Crane…He had to be the brightest doctor Arkham has ever seen. Everything he did in his work was flawless—most people here wouldn't argue with that. But, Amelia, it's going to be dangerous with him. He's as intelligent as you, if not more so." Cate, out of agitation, took a large gulp of cocktail. "And you do know what happened to Dr. Martin, right?"

How could she ignore that fact or not even acknowledge it? It seemed to be permanently etched in her mind, the suicide of Dr. Herbert Martin. The part of the tragedy that tugged at her heartstrings the most was that he'd left a wife and two beautiful children behind. Whatever dark magic Scarecrow had worked on his mind certainly had had its intended effect: an innocent man dying. All because he'd volunteered to help Scarecrow in a last-ditch effort to have him back as Dr. Crane again.

When, Amelia realized, it had been virtually hopeless at that point. Scarecrow had no mercy. He had used fear as a weapon on other people several times before. And he could never go back. Never.

She tossed back her head to drain the remainder of the wine before admitting, "Honestly, Cate, I don't know what I'm going to do. For now, I'll do what O' Riley recommends. If he plans on being treated, I'll do that. If not…Well, promotion or no promotion, I have no intention of wasting my time on a lost cause."

"But…But, listen, he will try to mess with your head. Make no mistake about that."

Amelia shook her head so as to block out the image of her friend's overly worried dark eyes. "Of course not. If he does take things too far in terms of messing with my head—say, if he comes to a session with a secret stash of his toxin—I will put him in solitary. I've worked too hard to have him ruin everything for me."

"Careful." She'd rarely seen Cate look half as solemn as she did now, with her brown eyes ever rounder and larger and her voice low in warning. "From what I've heard from the older doctors, he had sounded just like that before…before he'd snapped. According to them, they think that he'd seen the staff as pawns standing in his way. He wanted to do more with his patients than they would have liked to have seen from him."

Amelia ran a hand through her loose pale blond hair, thoroughly exhausted with this conversation. She found herself baffled that her ambitions would be compared to those of Crane's. First and foremost, she was nothing like him, no matter how much Cate apparently preferred to think otherwise.

"I'm a career woman, Cate," she emphasized, her dark blue eyes flashing intensely. "I'm only focused on doing the best in my field. I'm not a sadist like Crane so obviously is. I would never do anything like what he did to his patients. I would rather die before sinking to his level."

Cate clicked her tongue, sighing, an obvious sign of her surrender. "Sorry if it seemed like I was implying that. I really wasn't. Anyway…Our conversation got way off-track, didn't it? So, how's Mark?"

As a well-versed psychiatrist, Amelia could determine that this was a weak attempt at a subject change. Mark normally made her smile. But, tonight, she found herself inept at that.

Both her career and her life would change somehow, and both she and Cate knew that.


A/N: I would advise you guys to pay close attention to what I just put in this chapter. Dundundun, a comparison between Amelia and Scarecrow! Like Crane, particularly in Batman Begins, Amelia has workaholic tendencies and very high ambitions. In fact, she's vaguely like Penny Young in Arkham Asylum too, come to think of it. But, mainly I wanted to compare Amelia with Scarecrow because the dichotomy there is between them as well.

Oh, heck with it, I don't really need to point any of this out. Just enjoy the story, guys. Hope it's passable for a Scarecrow fic anyway. Even though I'm building suspense before he shows up...XD