"So where are we going for our third date, my dear?" asked Crane, as he picked up Emilia in his car. "And why didn't you want Lenore accompanying us? She was most distressed at being left behind."
"I am sorry about that, but the place we're going might not allow pets," said Emilia. "Do give her some treats as an apology, won't you?"
"Of course I will," said Crane, nodding. "And she won't stay angry for long. She prefers you to me these days – you could do anything and she'd probably forgive you. But I always seem to be on the receiving end of her wrath now."
"Good practice for marriage, where the woman is always right," retorted Emilia, kissing his cheek. "I'm looking forward to always winning arguments, I must say."
"That's the only thing you're looking forward to about our marriage, is it?" asked Crane.
"That and everything else," agreed Emilia.
He leaned over and kissed her tenderly. "So where to, my love?" he asked, starting the car.
"The Gotham Hilton," said Emilia. "There's a restaurant there."
"Yes, and it's extremely expensive," said Crane.
"You let me worry about that – I'm paying, remember?" she asked.
"I would feel guilty letting you pay for…"
"Jonathan, the woman is always right," interrupted Emilia. "Start getting used to it now. I'm paying for dinner at the Gotham Hilton, and I won't hear any arguments. The reservation has already been made, and they're waiting for us. So just drive us there now."
"You're incredibly bossy sometimes, my dear," muttered Crane. "I wish I'd known that before I proposed to you."
"Would it have changed your mind?" she asked.
"No," he retorted. "But clearly I need to start practicing saying 'yes, dear.'"
"Do it now," she said, grinning. "Drive us to the Gotham Hilton please, Jonathan."
"Yes, dear," he sighed.
She laughed, and they shared another kiss. "I love you," she whispered.
"And I you, my angel," he whispered. "Beyond reason."
When they arrived at the Hilton, the maitre d seated them and handed them the menus. Crane took one look at the prices and was about to object again, but Emilia silenced him with a look. "How's the hunt for your parents coming?" she asked after they had their orders taken.
"They're both alive, unfortunately," retorted Crane. "I searched through the lists of obituaries first, hoping to find them there and save myself the hassle."
"Jonathan, please don't say things like that," said Emilia, sincerely. "You know it upsets me."
"I am sorry, my love," he said, kissing her hand. "That was very callous of your feelings, when I know you would do anything in the world to have your parents alive again. But you'll see when you meet them that perhaps those feelings are not unjustified…"
"I just can't believe that anyone could be so heartless toward their own child as you describe your parents to be," said Emilia. "Surely they must have had reasons, however much you couldn't understand them as a child…"
"Their reasons were that they didn't love me," interrupted Crane. "Not as a parent should naturally love their child. I believe they were both hoping for their son to be some kind of leader of men, someone to do them credit, a person they could live vicariously through, who would make a success of his life the way they had failed theirs, and thus grant them purpose and immortality. I disappointed them on every score, and so they resented me for that. They felt I had an obligation to do them proud – that was the payment they expected for feeding and clothing and raising me. Not the natural duty of a parent to a child, but more like a business deal which I had not held up my end of…"
He trailed off. "Maybe they'll have changed," said Emilia. "Seen the error of their ways. People do, as they get older."
"And sometimes they just get more set in their ways," retorted Crane. "But I will keep my promise to you, my dear. We will meet them. And then I think you will understand, perhaps more than you already do, why life was always so difficult for me."
Their food arrived, and Crane changed the subject to a happier one – preparations for their wedding. If Crane could locate his parents before then, they were aiming for next month. Neither of them wanted a church wedding, not being particularly religious people, so they agreed on a small civil ceremony in front of a justice of the peace, with probably just Tetch and Brittany in attendance, as best man and maid of honor, respectively, and Lenore as the ring bearer, of course.
This took them through to dessert, and then Emilia asked for the bill and paid, despite Crane's pleadings that they at least split it. Then they headed back out into the hotel lobby. Crane started toward the door, but Emilia approached the desk.
"Hello, I've booked a reservation in the suite for Mr. and Mrs. Crane?" she said to the receptionist.
"Of course, madam," she said, typing in the name. "Let me just get your key."
"Emilia, my dear, what's going on?" asked Crane, puzzled.
She didn't respond, but the receptionist handed her a keycard. "Top floor, room number 1849. Congratulations, and enjoy your honeymoon," she said with a smile.
"Thank you," said Emilia. "Come along, darling," she said, taking Crane's hand and leading him toward the elevator.
"But…but my darling, it's not our honeymoon…" he began.
"I know, Jonathan," retorted Emilia. "I just thought…it being our third date…maybe we'd like to spend the night in a nice hotel room together, away from roommates and people like that, and just…enjoy each other's company."
Crane felt himself blushing. "You…you mean you want us…to…to…tonight?"
"Unless you don't want to," she said.
"No, no, no, I do," he said, hastily. "I do, I just…don't want you to seem pressured just because it's traditional."
"I don't feel pressured," she said, squeezing his hand. "I want this."
He smiled at her as they rode up in the elevator. "Do you…um…know…how to do it?" stammered Emilia at last.
"I know the general concept and theory, of course," retorted Crane. "But I have no practical experience of it…"
"Nor have I," agreed Emilia. "Reading is all very well in terms of theory, but in terms of practice…"
She trailed off. "Perhaps…you can rent…adult films through the TV," said Crane. "I have heard about such things being available in hotels. We could maybe watch and learn…"
"That's a good idea," agreed Emilia.
"I've seen part of one once," said Crane. "Someone I know was in one."
"Really?" asked Emilia, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, a woman," agreed Crane. "Not a woman I know in the Biblical sense…" he added, hastily. "She's interested in Batman, so she'd have no interest in a man of my type, and I don't much care for her, actually…"
"You're cute when you're nervous, Jonathan," she interrupted, grinning.
"Aren't you nervous?" he asked her.
She nodded. "And scared. But mostly excited," she murmured, smiling at him. "It's just us, after all. We don't have anything to be afraid of."
They reached their room and unlocked the door, looking around at the beautiful, spacious suite. "My dear, this really must have cost you a fortune," said Crane. "You must allow me to pay for this at least…"
"You can pay for the adult movie," agreed Emilia.
He nodded, turning on the TV and finding the pay-per-view adult channels. "I suppose one just presses enter…" he stammered, over a title called My Dark Knight Rises.
Images appeared on the screen, which Emilia and Crane watched in open-mouthed horror for a few moments. "Well…I'm not doing that," stammered Emilia at last. "Or that. Or…"
"Yes, that's enough of that," said Crane, pressing the power button hastily. "Don't want to put ourselves off the idea. Perhaps it would be better to just…try to figure it out ourselves. Experiment with…what feels natural and comfortable."
"Yes, good idea," agreed Emilia. She cleared her throat. "Well…perhaps you should start by kissing me."
He obeyed, kissing her slowly and gently sliding his hands onto her body, touching her as delicately as if she were made of glass. She responded to the kisses, sliding her own hands up his chest and attempting to pull his jacket off. Crane reached around to try and undo the zipper on her dress.
"Mmm…it's a little difficult…to undress each other in this position," stammered Emilia. "Maybe it would be easier...if we both just undressed ourselves."
"Yes, probably," agreed Crane, drawing away. He pulled off his jacket and tie and then began undoing the buttons on his shirt. Emilia watched him, undoing the zipper on the back of her dress. She pulled her dress down, so that she was just in her stockings, underwear, and bra, while Crane pulled off his shirt. Emilia stared at him, her heart hammering, and her fingers slipping as she worked to unhook her bra.
"Are you all right?" asked Crane, gently, placing his hands on her bare shoulders and running them down her arms.
She nodded. "Slightly terrified to reveal myself to you," she whispered. "That's all. I've never thought of myself as very attractive, and I'm scared that…that I won't be…desirable to you."
He kissed her, drawing her close. "I love you," he whispered. "And I am the Master of Fear. You should never be afraid of me, my angel. Because I am afraid of nothing when I'm with you. You are the reason I have finally mastered true fear. Your beauty and your kindness and your spirit saved me from my deepest, darkest fear of being unloved and alone. Just trust me and don't be afraid. I could never, ever hurt you in any way, and I will always, always want you."
She nodded, and then took a deep breath, slipping her bra off her shoulders and letting it fall to the ground. She stared at him then and saw the look of desire in his eyes, the look of wanting her that she had always wanted to see, filling her with unimaginable joy. "Oh, Jonathan!" she gasped, before kissing him passionately. He returned it, pressing her down on the bed, neither of them afraid anymore.
Emilia lay in his arms later, smiling up at him. "Well, that was rather nice, wasn't it?" she sighed. "I can see why everyone speaks so highly of that."
"Yes, me too," agreed Crane, kissing her forehead. "And you're sure I didn't hurt you?"
"No, Jonathan, for the last time, there was some initial slight discomfort, but I think that's only natural when one is stretched in places one is not used to being stretched in by something rather large," retorted Emilia, grinning. "And it was worth it, don't you think?"
"I think that was worth almost anything," he replied, smiling at her. "The idea that we are at liberty to do that again, whenever we like, is utterly incredible. I had no idea that life could hold such new and amazing feelings, certainly not at my age."
"You're not that old," she retorted. "Clearly," she added, cuddling against him.
"Well, you make me feel younger than I've felt in quite some time," he murmured, kissing her.
"Clearly," she repeated, grinning. "Aren't you happy you let me plan the date now?"
"Mmm, I'll let you do it more often," he agreed, kissing her again. "Though I do wish you'd let me pay for dinner…"
"For God's sake, Jonathan!" she laughed, standing up and reaching for a robe. "You can't just accept a nice thing when it comes your way, can you?"
"I most certainly can!" he snapped. "I'll show you," he added, seizing her around the waist and pulling her down on the bed again. She giggled as he kissed her repeatedly, and then gently pushed him off.
"Just let me get a quick shower," she said. "Should give you some time to recover, though I can see it doesn't take you long," she added, grinning. She stood up and kissed him, and then headed into the bathroom.
Crane sat up, just enjoying the afterglow and blissfully considering how wonderful his life was. And how incredible it was that so many wonderful things had happened to him in such a short space of time. He had met the most perfect girl, dated her, asked her to marry him, which she had agreed to, and now they had made love for the first time, and it was even more amazing than he ever could have imagined. For the first time in his life, everything was going great.
He flicked on the TV while the shower ran, flipping over to the news channels. As was usual in Gotham City, they were running a story about Batman's latest act of heroism. Crane found his thoughts wandering – his battles with Batman seemed like ancient history now. The Scarecrow seemed like almost a stranger to him. He didn't need that persona now to shield himself from the world – the world had finally become a loving, warm, welcoming place. He no longer had any desire to hurt others, or to inflict fear and pain and suffering. A warm glow of happiness suffused his heart as he thought finally, just finally, he had moved on with his life.
"Jonathan?" said Emilia's voice. She had emerged from the bathroom in a towel, and Crane instantly flicked off the TV. "What are you watching?" she asked. "Not more of that adult film, I hope…"
"No, my darling – I was just seeing if there was anything interesting on the news," he said. "And thinking."
"About what?" she asked, approaching the bed.
"Just how amazing it is that one's life can change in an instant," he replied. "And how the things you used to depend on and were so certain of can be completely turned around. I never thought, with my life the way it was, that I could ever be as happy as I am right now."
"Well, neither did I," she agreed with a smile. "Especially not with a criminal lunatic," she added, dropping her towel and climbing into bed to cuddle him.
"I will be better, my dear, I promise," he murmured, stroking her hair. "From now on, the Scarecrow is no more."
She beamed. "I love you, Jonathan Crane," she whispered.
"And I love you, my beautiful Emilia Lee," he murmured, pressing her down on the pillows.
In that wonderful, perfect moment, he was so certain of keeping his promise to her. But the best intentions are what pave the road to hell, and the Scarecrow was not yet done with Jonathan Crane.