Disclaimer: Batman is owned by DC Comics and whoever else owns it. I in no way claim it as my own; I'm just borrowing. Any OCs are mine and some of the plot that isn't from the movies is also mine.
A/N: This will answer why Chelsie lives in the Narrows. Very minor fluff warning, too.
Also, I forgot to warn you in the last chapter, but this series is gonna turn into a "love triangle" kind of thing between Crane, Chelsie and the Joker.
If you don't fancy that, this fic is not for you.
I wanted to do it because there's so few CranexOCxJoker fics out there, at least that I've found.
And I know Heath Ledger's Joker was supposed to be an asexual kind of fellow, but the fangirls of the masses seem to want it otherwise with all the JokerxOC fics I keep finding. (Aren't we a bunch of twisted freaks, hm?)
Also, I know about Dr. Harleen Francis Quinzel, aka Harley Quinn. You don't have to remind me of her importance in the Batman franchise.
I do a lot of research on characters and the fandom before writing a story.
Why do something that goes into JokerxOC then? Same reason others do it when they are still aware of Harley.
I think the fangirls, myself included in the ranks, like to see him with someone of our own imagining. It's just fun for us. And fanfiction is all about fun, regardless of some tight-assed people acting as if it's serious business. (We all know those types, right? It's hard to avoid them.)
If you're going to flame me about this or anything else, whether now or later, make it interesting! I like to laugh at flames before letting them light my furnace of doom.
Also, rape is mentioned briefly in this chapter, and talked about in the next, but I'm not gonna do a rape scene. I don't think it's really necessary. If you disagree, tell me and I'll write it up and throw it in by fixing a chapter.
PS: Reviews are like the icing on my cookie cake of writing. Share some, okay? Does a girl gotta beg?
That all said, enjoy the chapter, regardless of its shortness. And sorry for the lengthy A/N.
As The Crow Flies
by Syrenia
Chapter Five - Stir Crazy
The next day, Chelsie's things ready by her front door for pick up at a moment's notice, said woman ordered breakfast.
She and Jonathan ate after the simple vegetarian pizza she had reluctantly settled upon ordering arrived, discussing his plans on contacting the mob, getting together some men and finding a suitable hideout.
"Where do criminal masterminds usually hide?" Chelsie asked curiously from one seat away from his seat at the counter, taking another bite of her pizza as she looked at him expectantly.
"I've never had the pleasure of having a hideout before, Chels," he explained, strangely pulling the toppings from his slice of pizza and eating them with a fork before slicing up the remaining bread with bits of tomato sauce. "This will be a new experience for me as well."
After another bite, she questioned, "Do you have a place in mind?"
"I know Arkham Asylum very well, and I know of the lower levels that are abandoned and mostly forgotten," the doctor mused aloud. "I also know entrances that aren't attached to the main building, so I should think this knowledge will be useful."
"It sounds almost too perfect," admitted Chelsie with a half smile. "I mean, who would think you'd hide in one of the first places the authorities or the Batman would go looking for you?"
"It does seem convenient for us, but I'm afraid the lower levels wouldn't be appropriate accommodations for you," replied Jonathan, brow furrowed thoughtfully. "It would be better suited for experiments rather than living arrangements."
She put the end crust of her pizza with the other two pieces on her plate, then shifted her gaze back up to his electric blues.
"Why not put my savings to good use to get a half-way decent living space of warehouse proportions?" she offered her suggestion, eyes guarded as she watched his reaction.
He answered, looking back into her stormy gaze, "I never intended to use you for your wealth, Chels."
"It's not using me if I'm offering it, and especially if it's in my own best interest," the woman reasoned smartly with a small smile and glistening eyes.
He returned the smile, "I concede to your logic, Miss Crow."
The brunette giggled lightly, "Then I'll have to take a little trip to the bank soon."
"Speaking of logic," he began to bring up a question he'd thought over countless times, "why did you choose to live here when no one simply chooses to live in the Narrows?"
"It's about a sense of belonging," Chelsie tried to explain. "I don't belong with the elite of Gotham, though I know my money could afford that kind of lifestyle."
He looked interested, which prompted her to explain further.
"I'm not like the rich and the famous of Gotham," she told him honestly, looking down to her plate and playing with a stick of bread. "I don't have a taste for paling around with them, or going to lavish parties. I don't want to wear uncomfortable dresses and pretend I care about old businessmen with wives half their age."
"I just don't think like them, or act like them," said the woman, shrugging. "And the best way to hide from everyone's attention... was to live in the slums."
With that said, she hopped up from her seat, taking her plate to the trash and dumping the lumps of bread.
"Besides," she muttered, mostly to herself, "I'd hate to be stuck with women who were taller, smarter and prettier than me."
Still he heard, thinking over what to say as she put away her plate and rinsed it out.
It came to him easily, Jonathan replying, "Taller, maybe. Prettier, no. Smarter... decidedly not."
"You're too kind, especially for a criminal mastermind," she joked, laughing lightly before turning around and walking up to the counter, leaning against the countertop with hands clasped.
"Only to you, Chels," he assured her, finishing his own three slices of pizza. "The rest of Gotham is only good for aiding me in my experiments, whether by supplying ingredients or being experimented on. ...That's all this city is to me."
Chelsie chewed over her bottom lip, then asked, "If the Batman's here in Gotham, why haven't you decided to move elsewhere? Is it the connections you have here?"
"I would leave given the opportunity as long as my needs for my toxin would be supplied," he admitted, eyes guarded in that certain way that told her he wasn't telling her everything.
She sighed as she looked away, disappointed that he couldn't tell her the entirety of the truth, and he saw the fleeting thought behind the vacant stare.
"...The whole truth," he began as he looked down to his plate, catching her attention, her eyes on his electric blues as they rose to meet her stormy orbs, "is that I don't want to force you into leaving, and I can't go without you."
He watched her reaction, her eyes smiling as she chewed her bottom lip.
"I'd probably follow you anyway," confessed the brunette with a soft smile. "I don't have anyone else... I thought Damian was something to stay for..."
"But since that was vapid and shallow," she continued abruptly with a humorless laugh, "there's nothing else keeping me here but you."
He smiled at her, though Chelsie couldn't see the loving side of it.
'You're both flirting and you don't even realize it,' Scarecrow pointed out with a hollow laugh. 'You're simply too in love to notice, and she's too naive to understand it.'
'Stop ruining our good moments, Scarecrow,' Jonathan demanded in the confines of their mind.
Scarecrow cackled, 'Sorry to rain on your Kodak moments, doctor, but I should point out that you're still staring at her...'
Jonathan blinked, realizing Chelsie was still gazing into his eyes intently.
She noticed his realization, tearing her eyes away, scratching the side of her nose with her forefinger.
"Sorry," she apologized softly, looking up at him sheepishly. "Your eyes are just..."
Chelsie trailed off, shaking her head and turning away so that her back faced him and rested to the counter, the woman hugging her arms tightly.
"What?" he asked eagerly, helping her along. "My eyes are..."
Her cheeks flushed pink as she slowly confessed, "They're just... captivating."
The brunette covered her face with one slender hand, embarrassed, "I sound so stupid... but I just kind of... got lost in them for a moment..."
She breathed out hard against her hand, pushing off the counter and walking out of the kitchen, muttering as she went, "I'm sorry... Nevermind..."
Jonathan leaned to the side as she neared his place on the stool, grabbing her wrist suddenly.
The abrupt act caught her off-balance, Chelsie stumbling backward with a squeak until she was accidentally seated in his lap, sitting sideways.
She laughed at the accident, even more flustered.
"Sorry," Chelsie muttered, biting her lip.
He raised his right arm, wrapping it around her back to support her, then resting his hand to the counter, his other hand releasing her wrist and resting comfortably to her thigh.
"I... don't mind," he said smooth and honestly, watching her cheeks flush.
She turned her head away, locks of hair hiding her eyes, so his hand moved from her thigh and brushed the strands away, tucking them behind her ear.
Scarecrow growled, 'Now would be the time to tell her of your feelings for her...'
'Not yet,' Jonathan replied quickly. 'We have to make certain that she's devoted to us before I confess those feelings...'
"Chelsie," he spoke, the woman looking over to him. "I'll be leaving to meet the new mob leader today."
"You mean Salvatore Maroni?" the brunette questioned, looking to see if she had her facts straight.
"Yes," he confirmed. "I want you to stay here until I return from this trip, understood?"
Nodding, she bit her lip and looked away before warning, "Be careful, considering you don't have any of your toxin anymore."
He smiled slightly, assuring her, "Of course. I will come back sometime before tonight."
With that, he checked the pocket watch she'd given him, finding it was nearly noon.
"I should actually be leaving now," he told her.
"See you later, then," replied Chelsie as she quietly slid off his lap, feet hitting the plush white carpet as she padded off toward her room, closing the door behind her.
After two weeks, plans for where they would stay were beginning to take hold once Jonathan managed to use Chelsie's reserve money to buy a warehouse that actually had rooms and bathrooms.
Eventually, they were settled into the building, and Maroni did agree to send some thugs for Jonathan's use as long as he was given a cut of any toxin profits.
Chelsie, however, was only allowed in her one room, out of sight of the unlawful men.
At night, if he were "home," Jonathan slept beside her.
But on the first night, Chelsie found that Scarecrow would come out, leaving the his other half in a state of unconsciousness.
At those times, he "played" with her, eliciting all the fear he could which usually ended in rape because it seemed to be the only time fright poured from her in waves.
Scarecrow loved to see her afraid, and he didn't even seem to mind the sexual interaction.
Chelsie couldn't fathom why he wanted her fear in particular, but she let it show for him obediently, never putting on a brave face after the first night.
The ocassions happened almost every night, though, and combined with her confinement, she was becoming a little stir crazy.