Chapter Seven

Two days later...

Crane took another drink of coffee before setting down the mug, the doctor currently sitting at the table by his cot, lightly reading over the morning newspaper articles and letting the breakfast he had just finished eating settle comfortably.

"Huh...stocks are back up...Wayne Enterprises is doing really well...mmm...another murder in Gotham City...that makes four in two days..." Jonathan spoke to himself out loud, his fingers touching over the warm handle of his coffee cup as he chewed a little on his lips.

"...something feels wrong...these murders; they're random but they're frequent...and violent," Crane continued to ponder the latest mystery that was beginning to shock the media and puzzle law enforcement.

Jonathan leaned back in his chair and set down the paper, feeling troubled by the apparent rise in violent crimes throughout the city but in such a way that he was not able to put his finger on.

"I wonder...the Joker's last broadcast was just a few days ago, the same time as these strange murders started happening...could he be behind this?" Scarecrow thought to himself glumly, staring at the plain tabletop and listening to the far-away chirps of a few of the bats that were still sleeping in the nooks of the cave, "...he did say when he found me, it was not going to be pretty...could this have been what he had meant...? Impossible..."

"...impossible," Jonathan voiced, running his tongue over his bottom lip, "...there's no way he would be able to find out I'm here...no one..."

However, the former head of Arkham shot up from his chair and whirled around upon hearing a very distinct sound coming from by the waterfall, his genius mind stilling and racing at the same time.

"Ha ha ha ha hee hee heh ho ho heh ha..." a slippery voice pierced through the air, sending frozen shivers to trail down Jonathan's spine, his eyes widening as he saw several, masked man with guns walk through the falling water and into the cave.

Jonathan's breathing halted for a moment, his eyes widening in fright at the painted clown masks that covered their faces but Crane focused still on the waterfall for the one person whom he was expecting now had yet to show up.

"...nothing's impossible, Jonny...you just gotta...get things moving in the right direction," Joker announced his presence, walking calmly through the pouring water and not even bothering to shake out his long, purple coat.

"Joker..." Jonathan spoke, his voice breaking in the middle of the word much to his building anxiety as he watched as the scarred criminal sociopath walked casually through the puddles and onto the rocky surface of the cave, his gloved hands folded behind his back.

"Uh, that's my name, don't wear it out..." Joker quipped, his voice sickeningly twisted as he almost spoke like a sinister child to the slender doctor in his sights, "...so, how have you been, Scarecrow? From the looks of things...it looks like you have uh...downgraded your living arrangements a bit, hm?"

Jonathan inhaled a large amount of air, trying to steady his resolve and make sense of the situation, as he pursed his full lips and turned to face the Joker directly.

"What do you want? How did you find me?" Crane had to ask the questions that had been plaguing his mind ever since he had heard from Batman that the Joker was looking for him.

Joker cocked his head to a side as he approached the smaller, brown-haired male, his unreadable eyes watching Jonathan's face carefully as he briefly wet his lips with his tongue before replying.

"You see...Jonny, if I may..." Joker spoke almost affectionately to the young man before him, his eyes trailing over Scarecrow's lovely features and down his chest before locking eyes with him again, "...we could use someone like you on our team. I plan on giving this city every bit of chaos it deserves and you...you would be just perfect to help me do that. So, what do you say?"

Jonathan swallowed hard, the words flooding his mind that he was a changed man, that he had kissed Batman, that he wanted nothing to do with crime anymore, that the idea sounded somewhat tempting, but that he was also trying to be a better person no matter what temptation lie in waiting.

"...I..." Jonathan spoke, hating how the word was a mere breath of air and that the Joker stepped even closer to him to be able to hear him, "...I can't. I want no part of something like that...not anymore."

Joker blinked dully at Jonathan's ice-blue eyes, seemingly unimpressed or unconvinced by such a declaration coming from Gotham City's first true criminal mastermind.

"It's interesting that you feel that way, my dear Scarecrow..." Joker preambled another point to be made to the ex-psychiatrist, turning his back and walking away from him for a moment before spinning around to face him once again, "...tell me...do you even know where you are...?"

Crane's eyebrows rose at the question being asked of him.

"Well...um..." Jonathan croaked, failing to find proper words to speak as his nervousness began to increase within himself upon hearing Joker's new tactics.

"I didn't think that you did..." Joker waggled a finger at him comically, clasping a hand on one of his henchman's shoulders as he stepped along a few of the rocks as he continued to speak to a befuddled Crane, "...do you want to know how we found you, Dr. Crane?"

"H-how...?" Jonathan took the bait and hated himself for it.

Joker smiled darkly.

"You see...that night that one of my men tried to talk to you...we followed you, Jonny-boy...we followed you all the way here, but there's something particularly interesting about this place and you know what that is?" Joker spoke flamboyantly, not waiting for Jonathan to answer as he practically hopped to be right in front of Crane's face again, "...the closest house next to this...cave...is the Wayne place."

"Wayne?" Jonathan spoke before his mind could halt the action, the doctor looking away from the sociopath's partially painted face for a moment while he let the information process, "...as in, Bruce Wayne?"

"Uh, the one and the same...his house...is...right over top...of here," Joker took his time in saying such a sentence, a finger pointed upwards before he used his hand to brush back some of his stringy, green-colored hair, "...and you know what I think? I think that that means...that Bruce Wayne, billionaire playboy orphan that he is...is uh...the Bat."

Jonathan blinked, letting the logic hit him with all of its implied weight, his mind quickly checking facts and searching for any errors in what Joker had just told him.

"Preposterous...even if he was, what difference would it make?" Jonathan spoke weakly, not even believing his own words, as he flinched when Joker snapped two of his fingers together, signaling for his men.

"Hmm. You've been out of the game for far too long, Crane," Joker said with a psychotic chuckle as he men flanked his sides and walked straight towards Jonathan, immediately grabbing onto both of his arms and forcing him down onto his knees, "...with this kind of ammunition, we can do...anything. You following me?"

Jonathan grit his teeth as the masked men handled him harshly, keeping his arms restrained as one of the henchmen grabbed his jaw and forced him to continue looking up at Joker.

"Let's do it, Jonny...just me and you...let us...kill the Bat," Joker offered effortlessly, his voice dancing and his eyes blown wide in merriment as he watched over the struggling brunette male, "...kill the Bat, kill everyone he loves, burn this place down to the ground, then uh...then it can just be the two of us."

Anger flared within Jonathan's lithe frame upon hearing the last of Joker's offers to him, knowing that his treatment would be no better from Joker than it had been from Joker's goon Mickey if he were to be given the chance.

As quickly as Crane's anger blossomed within his chest, so did worry...

Joker had mentioned killing everyone Batman loved.

That meant his butler, the kind, gentle butler that had been taking care of Jonathan for the better part of three days...talking to him like any normal person, fixing him food, consoling him when he needed it, and just...being there for him as if they had been friends for a while.

And it meant Batman himself.

The masked man, who had saved him from Joker's would-be rapist at the bar that night, who had given him a place to hide for while...that man who had touched his face with so much affection and patience, and had kissed him as if he had been dying to do so for a long time.

It had felt wonderful...extraordinary even to Scarecrow.

The vigilante's lips had been like tasting forgiveness wrapped in silk as they had captured his own lips again and again, the sensations having made Jonathan tremble with pure, untarnished life coursing through him from which his blackness felt absolved and sense brought back to him.

And Batman's promise...

"I promise...I won't let anything happen to you,"

"No!" Jonathan yelled out suddenly, remembering the caped crusader's whispered words to him just a few days ago and just how much he cherished them dearly, the criminal not being able to remember a time he had felt so safe and wanted before his time with the mysterious man dressed in black,"...no! None of it! I'll have none of it, you hear me, you fucking bastard!"

"Hmm..." Joker seemed unperturbed by Scarecrow's abrupt outburst as he struggled even harder against his goons, "...uh, wrong answer, Jonny. Now you've really hurt my feelings."

Bam!

Jonathan hunched forward, his beautiful face scrunched with pain as one of Joker's men had punched him squarely in his unprotected stomach, making the smaller man have to gasp for air as he neared the ground.

"What the bloody hell is going on here?" came a pleasantly accented but distraught voice from behind several bookcases, catching everyone's attention as Alfred rushed to the scene.

Jonathan looked towards the sound of the familiar voice that had called out, his twinge of fear exploding inside his chest the moment he saw the white-haired old butler stopping dead in his tracks upon seeing the masked criminals.

Alfred looked down and spotted Crane on his knees on the ground, his wrinkled eyes widening.

"Good Lord...Dr. Crane..." Alfred spoke softly, his gaze heart broken as he held Jonathan's gaze for only a moment more before having to snap his attention to the one brute coming towards him.

"...Al...?" Crane whispered voicelessly as he watched the friendly caretaker look upon the henchman in unmistakeable terror.

Something in the psychiatrist snapped.

"No! Leave him alone!" Jonathan shouted, springing up from his spot on the ground and dashing to Alfred's side, pushing passed the nearing goon in the process.

Jonathan did not stop his steps until he was standing in front of the frightened butler, spun around to face the henchman, and then with a lift of his arm, snatched off the man's clown mask and sprayed the hidden canister in his jacket sleeve of concentrated fear toxin right into his face.

"Ahh! Ahhh!" the man immediately covered his face with his hands, screaming and thrashing around for a moment before toppling to the ground and continuing to convulse, white foam oozing from his mouth and choking him at an alarming rate.

Crane was out of breath but continued to stand protectively in front of Alfred, the bottom half of his dress shirt hanging out of his pants and his jacket ruffled as he watched as the other goon that had accompanied Joker took a few steps back towards his boss.

Joker clucked his tongue and then clapped his hands together slowly, surprisingly everyone in the room.

"See...that's what I like about you, Jon..." Joker winked comically at Crane as he began to take measured steps towards him and the butler, "...you're just full of surprises; you never really know what to expect. Now...here's the deal."

Jonathan held out an arm to his side, his sky-colored eyes never wavering from the Joker as the madman drew closer, the gesture telling Alfred to stay behind him no matter what.

"You come with me now...and we won't kill the Wayne family's last concierge..." Joker offered coldly, licking his teeth and eying Jonathan with even more ice.

"Dr. Crane..." Alfred murmured from behind Scarecrow, not posing a question, not hinting anything particular...just Alfred Pennyworth addressing the young man standing before him, sympathetically saying his name as if it might be the last time.

Jonathan took a deep, steadying breath, knowing that he did not have too many other options at this point.

He would not let the one honest friend he had made since becoming a villain of Gotham City be murdered because of him.

Crane brought his hands to the lapels of his jacket and fixed them calmly.

"Let's go," he replied shortly to Joker, purposefully not watching as the painted criminal narrowed his steely eyes and smirked happily at Jonathan's answer before stepping aside in a grand gesture to allow Jonathan to walk out ahead of him and his one remaining henchman.

Jonathan walked towards the waterfall, hearing the thuds of footsteps behind him from the Joker and his man, and took one, last look towards the butler behind him.

Crane looked upon Alfred's shocked face warmly in that moment, this having been the first real time he had seen the other man, and he tried to muster a small smile to show his gratitude before a rough shove against his shoulder propelled him forward and through the pouring water.