I do not own any characters from Batman. I don't even own Dr. Combs. I only own Miss Steller and Samantha. Also, thank you for all your generous comments. I apologize for the long wait on this chapter.

The Brave One

Chapter Four

Worst Fear

The intelligent criminal, Jonathan Crane was sitting calmly in his cell with a tight jacket strapped on to his thin body. He relaxed and enjoyed the view of the white, moldy wall he was facing. He had been put into solitary confinement after the incident with Samantha and so far he had been stuck in this white room for about a week.

The Warden had been furious with Crane's reckless behavior and punished Crane by also putting him in an electric chair for some shock therapy. Crane was in a lot of pain after that, but it was all worth it. He had been working endlessly to expose Miss Steller's fear and due to his little visit with Samantha he had finally manage to get Miss Steller to have a mental break down.

Even if it wasn't exactly how he planned it, he had caused Miss Steller to experience her fear of losing her daughter.

However, Crane had also found Samantha to be a very fascinating test subject. When he tested his fear gas on Samantha he was expecting her to scream, yet she didn't seem to show any signs of fear. He wanted to know why his toxin caused her to faint. Possibly, the chemicals in the formula of the fear toxin were so strong that it was the cause of Samantha's fainting spell. He would have to find a way to make an improved batch later and then he could experiment on her again.

As he sat in his dark, cell, Crane could hear two pairs of footsteps walk down the hall way. He became surprised when the footsteps ended at his door. The door opened and revealed two guards standing at the opening. One of them was Miss Steller. Crane just looked up at them, slightly blinded by the sudden bright light that had entered his cell.

"Get up, Crane." Miss Steller ordered with slight anger in her voice. "Dr. Combs wants to interview you."

Crane just obeyed her command and stood up from where he sat. Miss Steller and the other guard angrily grabbed Crane by the shoulders and dragged him out of his cell. They walked down the narrow halls with an iron grip on Crane's shoulders.

They pushed and pulled him along until they reached the interview room. Then they roughly shoved Crane in the room and stood by the door. Miss Steller kept her intense gaze on Crane's thin body, watching his every move as he took a seat in the chair opposite from Dr. Combs.

"Good evening, Mr. Combs." Crane greeted the doctor as he tried to get comfortable in his tight straitjacket.

Dr. Combs sat in his comfortable chair with his hands folded neatly in his lap. He sat there wanting nothing more than to run right out of the room and never look back. Crane could see that his hands were shaking. Dr. Combs sighed miserably.

"Hello Crane. I heard that you tried to escape from your cell last week." Dr. Combs replied with courage in his voice, but Crane knew better. He could sense that Dr. Combs was afraid. "Care to explain why you attacked that young girl?"

"I did it for my research." Crane explained while looking over at Miss Steller who glared back at Crane with rage burning in her eyes, which he returned with a smirk. "I wanted to understand Samantha and figure out what she fears the most."

"You caused her to faint." Dr. Combs said as he gave Miss Steller a sorrowful look. Crane was calmly and patiently waiting for Dr. Combs to get to the point. "Don't you feel any guilt?"

"No." Crane answered. He saw from the corner of his eye that Miss Steller was clenching her fists into tiny balls, her knuckles turning white with anger. Crane then knew that he had done some heavy damage on Miss Steller's mind. She was so terrified of losing her daughter that she used anger as a defense mechanism.

Dr. Combs just sighed like he was afraid that Crane would say that. His eyes darted around the room searching for a way out. A way to get out of this situation which he knew was going to unfold into chaos. He didn't want to ask this question because he already had a good idea on how Crane would answer it and it wasn't going to do Miss Steller any good, but he needed to ask it.

"Would you do it again? Attack that young girl a second time?" Dr. Combs asked as he was generally concerned for Miss Steller's daughter. It was the whole reason he had set up this interview. He wanted Miss Steller to see that Crane would go as far as he needed to go for his research, even if it meant killing Samantha to do it. It would be better if she quitted this job while she could. This place is just too dangerous. He was afraid that Miss Steller and her daughter could get hurt or worse if this kept continuing.

"Well, Dr. Combs I think it would be best if I continued experimenting on the young girl. Don't you?" Crane spoke in a sophisticated manner. He was calm and his blue eyes scanned Dr. Combs as he spoke intelligently. For a moment he glanced over at Miss Steller and almost grinned. Her eyes had widened with shock and then turned back into a glare of fury. He couldn't help but delight himself in her pain and fear as he continued to speak. "There is no sense in starting something and then not finishing it. Don't you agree doctor?"

That was it. Before anyone could say another word, Miss Steller rushed towards Crane, screaming and shouting profanities. Her fist was stretched out and she was preparing for an attack. She charged him and punched him right in the face almost knocking him to the ground.

"Don't ever touch my daughter again!" Miss Steller shouted at Crane and stomped out of the room. Crane just sat there rocked back and forth in pain.

Dr. Combs sat in his comfy chair and frowned. His and Miss Steller's worst fears have been realized.